Nuremberg Shines

There's no toy show anywhere in the world as overwhelming—and at the same time as convenient—as the Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. With nearly 2,767 exhibiting companies, the show is more than twice the size of the American International Toy Fair when it comes to sheer numbers of booths to see, and considerably larger than the Hong Kong show (about 1,950 exhibitors), yet logistically it is so well organized that seeing what's on display, if given enough time to cover it all, isn't nearly as overwhelming as one would think. That's some feat considering there were approximately 1 million products on display this year, more than 60,000 of them brand new, according to show organizer Spielwarenmesse eG.

What helps immensely in maximizing viewing time at the show is its layout. Sure, there are 17 halls—several of which feature bizarre, asymmetrical floorplans—and they are spread across what must be kilometers (it's not uncommon to see reps and other business-types zipping from one end of the convention complex to the other on Razor scooters), but each hall is focused on a specific product segment, so that if you're not interested in buying electric trains or radio-controlled vehicles, you can skip Hall 7 entirely because it's one giant hall full of electric trains and R/C and nothing but. This year's show was the first with a refined layout that shuffled more than 1,000 exhibitors in order to better focus what had already been pretty specific product groupings in the individual halls.

Unfortunately, skipping halls wasn't in my mandate and neither did it seem to be among anyone else's—the show was packed. In fact, it set a new attendance record with 80,300 visitors, the first time the show broke the 80,000 mark. Among those who attended, more than 50 percent traveled to Nuremberg from outside of Germany, another first for the show, with attendees originating in 120 countries—the result, in part, of a push by Spielwarenmesse to increase attendance at the show from abroad, especially among Eastern European buyers, attendance by whom rose 13 percent (particularly from Russia). Attendance from North Americans was said to have risen by 6.4 percent, while attendees from Asia grew 7 percent.

“It's important to us that [growth from international buyers] happens,” Ernst Kick, CEO of Spielwarenmesse eG told Playthings. He added that the other major initiative for the 2007 show, refining its layout, made the event “much clearer and easier to follow [in order] to get a market overview of a category.”

Among major European toymakers, consensus seemed to be that the show's record attendance was being felt in noticeably greater traffic and higher orders than in prior years. Dirk Engehausen, Lego's director for Central and Southern Europe, was quoted in a local press report as saying that after just three days, the company's booth tallied its 10,000th visitor. Roland Gaugele, spokesman for toy train maker Märklin, said “the level of orders was already above the previous year and better than planned. If this continues, it will be the best fair [for Märklin] in years.”

Of the nearly 100 U.S. companies exhibiting at this year's show, most seemed to echo their European counterparts' reviews. And even when they didn't, they agreed that the show's role for their company was the same as their overseas competitors'—to increase the business they did with European retailers.

Jordan Kort of What Kids Want!, Northridge, Calif., a first time exhibitor at the show, said his company was in Nuremberg this year to focus on upping the European distribution of its mainly Disney and Nickelodeon-licensed outdoor toys. That Nuremberg is an “open show, versus Hong Kong where you only see people in an appointment-only, closed room,” was a main part of the show's appeal in that walk-ins by potential new customers were always possible, he said.

Craft kit and wooden toys maker Shure Products, Chicago, was in Nuremberg for the third straight year. Its goal continued to be “connecting with existing foreign buyers and to meet new ones,” according to Thomas Shure. It was “a good show for us,” he told Playthings. “We've gotten a lot of new business in all kinds of foreign markets.”

Specialty market ride-ons maker PlaSmart, Ontario, came into Nuremberg looking to grow its European distribution beyond the markets it managed to crack in its first year abroad: Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Last year, its display in Nuremberg led directly to distribution deals in Central and South America, “so that's an excellent argument for being here,” said Sylvia Jackson, the company's sales manager.

Of the U.S companies exhibiting in Nuremberg, several, surprisingly, were showcasing 2006 product instead of the latest additions to the lines they would publicly debut just a few days later in New York. The reason, according to several manufacturers, is the European Union's stricter toy testing regulations. Some companies would rather show product they are certain already meets those standards than preview products still undergoing the testing process, explained one rep for a U.S. manufacturer. “The Europeans want proven winners,” he added, “and that's what we're showing.”

Other manufacturers, though, were previewing their latest designs and doing so in a bigger way than in years past. Jada Toys, for one, previously let its European distributors handle presenting its toys to buyers here, but this year the City of Industry, Calif.-based company decided to build its own booth to better support its efforts to increase exposure of the Jada name in a market where consumers more typically confuse its Chub City brand name with its company moniker.

K'Nex, Hatfield, Pa., also unveiled a stand-alone booth this year in an effort to “make a statement about its brand in Germany, the largest construction toy market in the world,” said Michael Araten. This year, it will debut new packaging in Germany to better separate its brand from the market's many competitors.

The 2008 Spielwarrenmesse International Toy Fair will be held February 7-12.