Business News
FESPA Mexico Creates Driving Force for Wide Format Decision-Makers
Monday 06. September 2010 - Exhibitor quotes can be found in the attached Language Download
Visitors and exhibitors have hailed the third FESPA Mexico (26th- 28th August 2010) an outstanding success. Attracting nearly 9000 visitors to the three day fair, many exhibitors commented that it was the busiest show they had been to in a long time and that sale targets were readily achieved if not surpassed.
For the first time, more than half of the visitors to FESPA Mexico 2010 comprised influential managers, managing directors, owners, with 42% describing themselves as decision-makers- an increase of 10% from 2009. The Mexican audience made up the bulk of the visitors, with businesses represented from across the country.
“FESPA Mexico is now an established event within the wide-format calendar and we are proud of the excitement and positivity created by the exhibition each year, 2010 being no exception,” says FESPA Managing Director Nigel Steffens. “The reputation of the exhibition has continued to grow as is apparent by the increasing number of high calibre of decision-makers who now consider it an essential date for their annual diary. The feedback we have received from exhibitors clearly indicates that they travelled to FESPA Mexico with specific sales objectives and have not been disappointed.”
The proportion of decision-makers at FESPA Mexico was especially encouraging following a difficult 12 months in the Mexican financial market. With the economy severely affected by the Swine Flu epidemic, economists had predicted that the economy would not return to pre-recession levels until the middle of 2011. Nonetheless, FESPAs Mexican audience has maintained a positive outlook, as demonstrated by the FESPA World Wide Survey, which showed 48.4 per cent of Mexican participants would look to invest in wide format printers over the next 12 months. Reflecting the confidence of Mexican wide format printers, respondents generally held a more positive and optimistic attitude towards the future of their businesses and the industry than their counterparts in the rest of the world.
In recognition of the Mexican printing industrys innovative attitude, the theme of this years FESPA Mexico was Revolution, the message being that to help print service providers progress along the road to recovery, they need to adopt a revolutionary approach to business. Throughout the exhibition, visitors and exhibitors took this message on board, participating in the numerous interactive sessions, including 60 Minutes to Innovate, the FESPA Conference Programme that included talks from Scott Fresener, CEO of T-Biz Network International and Eusebio Garcia, Sales Manager Latin American , Nazdar.
“Mexican PSPs have been working extremely hard to pull themselves out of the recession and to revolutionise the way in which they approach their business strategies,” says Frazer Chesterman, Managing Director, FESPA. “From the signs we have seen at FESPA Mexico, the countrys print industry is ready to make the changes necessary to propel itself forward and to emerge from the recession with renewed energy and strength.”
In addition to a packed events schedule, the FESPA Mexico Awards were held on Saturday 28th August. Designed to recognise print excellence and innovation in the Mexican graphics imaging industry, the Gold Award winners in the five categories were as follows:
Screen Printing: Walking to Inspiration – Forever America
Garment Decoration: Marvel – Serigráfica Industrial y Comercial
Digital Printing: Estilo Tradicional – Q-Avi Diseno y Publicidad
Vehicle Wrapping: Hummer Modelo – Prodigyo Imagen Visual
Outdoor Media: Decoración de cristales en oficina Inmobiliaria – Prodigyo Imagen Visual
Winners were presented with trophies in recognition of their achievement and were given free access to the FESPA Conference Programme and entry to the exhibition. They also received four months membership to the Mexican Association, Amerografics.
Exhibitors at FESPA Mexico 2010 have been quick to comment on the success of the show, using descriptions such as “spectacular”, “fantastic” and “even better than 2009”. Paul Borucki, Vice President North American Operations, Kornit Digital remarks, “FESPA Mexico has been a fantastic show and by far exceeded our expectations. There has been excellent traffic throughout the event and the calibre of visitors has been phenomenal, with serious buyers and people interested in doing business, which is a positive indicator for the Mexican market.”
First time exhibitor Andrea Negretti, President Italy Branch, D Gen adds, “This has been our first time at FESPA Mexico, supporting our distributor, Wide Media, and it has been a fantastic show. We have seen a great interest from the Mexican market for textile printing and had serious buyers on our stand, so much so that we have sold several machines.”
Carlos Ramirez, Inkjet Business Manager, AGFA, concludes, “FESPA Mexico 2010 has been spectacular. There have been so many visitors to the event and the quality has been of a really high standard, weve sold a number of machines during the show and made some promising contacts.”