1
PSI – The International Network of the Promotional Products Industry
PSI 2018 – The Leading European Trade Show of the Promotional Products Industry
9 to 11 January 2018, Exhibition Centre Düsseldorf
12 January 2018
Final Report
Promotional products market continues to grow
PSI 2018 even more international
Professional, Strong and International: That’s what the three letters in PSI have always stood for. But this time, Europe's largest trade show of the promotional products industry really reinforced the meaning behind its initials. That’s because PSI 2018 sent out the call, and even more international visitors from around the world came. Some 58 per cent of visitors travelled from outside Germany, one in seven of them from overseas. The sea of flags representing the participating nations at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre was correspondingly colourful. Almost 90 countries showed their colours in Düsseldorf, turning the trade show into the centre of the promotional products world for three days. That’s a new record. With that, PSI set the tone for a dynamic start into the new business year. In total, organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland counted 925 exhibitors from 37 countries (prior year: 988) and 17,342 visitors (prior year: 18,094); among them were 1,200 industry customers, who, upon being invited by a distributor, had an opportunity to attend PSI on the last day of the event. With those results, PSI seamlessly built upon last year’s record-setting figures.
“Digital only” – that was yesterday. In demand today are advertising vehicles you can touch. Translated into the language of advertisers, this means: consumers, especially millennials, are increasingly looking for authentic brand experiences, have fewer reservations and fears of identifying with brands, and are open to showing themselves with those brands. “We’re currently seeing something in many areas that might best be described as an analogue or haptic revolution. These days, in the age of digital reproducibility and arbitrariness, people are looking for things they can experience in tangible and multisensory ways. This is a megatrend which of course has a positive impact on the promotional products industry”, says PSI director Michael Freter at the conclusion of the three-day promotional products industry exhibition.
Industry sales in Germany top €3.5 billion for the first time
This assessment is reflected as well in the latest industry data, which traditionally is published at PSIby the GWW, the umbrella association of the German promotional products industry. That’s because the industry in Germany for the first time exceeded the magic turnover threshold of €3.5 billion (prior year: €3.47 billion). It’s a trend GWW president Frank Dangmann expects to continue: “Today, virtually every large company and 75 per cent of all medium-sized companies in Germany deploy promotional products in their customer communication.” One out of every five surveyed companies plan on investing more money in promotional products in future, he adds. The industry – especially in Germany and Europe – is expecting an extra boost from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Positive Europe-wide forecast for 2018
Growth of 5.3 per cent is forecast for the European market in 2018, according to the current PSI Industry Barometer, the survey of nearly 1,000 promotional products distributors across Europe conducted by the PSI Institute ahead of the trade show.
US market also expected to grow
And the industry’s growth trajectory will continue in the “homeland” of Facebook, Google and Co., too. The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) has estimated sales of $22.9 billion for the just-finished business year, an increase of about 3 per cent over the prior year. Ranked Number 1 among the top sellers: textiles, particularly T-shirts and caps. This, too, is a megatrend – sustainable production and a traceable supply chain. Based on his experience, says ASI president Tim Andrews, “millennials are open-minded in regards to promotional products, but they’re also picky when it comes to compliance with environmental and social standards.”
Megatrends and new products front and centre at PSI
The megatrends mentioned by Michael Freter and Tim Andrews were a defining feature of this year’s PSI, as well. “There’s an unmistakable trend towards sustainability and high-quality products”, says Michael Freter. The latest PSI Industry Barometer underscores this statement. It found that more than 90 per cent of the surveyed promotional products suppliers and distributors now have certified or verifiably sustainable products in their assortments. For more than half of the suppliers and distributors, the share of sustainable products even exceeds 30 per cent of their complete range.
Sustainable and oftentimes high-quality – those labels apply to virtually all product segments. Just look at the stationery range, which benefits as much from the renaissance of writing culture as from the combination of analogue writing instrument and digital “processing”. Or take the promotional textiles segments, which was particularly strongly represented with approximately 200 exhibitors and which embodied sustainability with special exhibits like the “Walk of Cotton” and with products that appeared in the look & feel of the retro trend represented by petticoats, Polaroids and (vinyl) records. Stylish on the outside, ultra-modern and sustainable on the inside.
Staging promotional products as lifestyle products – that’s what defines the nature of PSI. Be it on the PSI Catwalk, in the GUSTO Pavillon or with many surprising product ideas and innovations at the stands that can be seen in this form only at PSI. For example a singing bottle opener in a mini football shape that intones Word Cup fan chants during use or an umbrella that changes colour depending on the amount of rainfall, finding the good even in the saddest weather, or a drinking bottle made from silicone that can be shrunk down to pocket size when empty. All those examples drive home the point PSI director Petra Lassahn is making when she says, “Where our power to imagine the diversity of promotional products ends, the PSI Show begins.”
The next PSI Show will take place in Düsseldorf from 8 to 10 January 2019.
Note: PSI’s visitor, exhibitor and floor space figures are calculated and certified according to the uniform definitions published by FKM – German Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics.
PSI Testimonials:
“For me personally, this is my first PSI. Participating in this trade show is extremely helpful when it comes to meeting all the actors in this dynamic market all in one place. It’s impressive that the entire industry meets here. PSI is a very dynamic and international platform that draws industry representatives from across Europe and from overseas. We even had someone from South Africa at our stand.”
Wolf Creemers, CEO, Giving Europe
“PSI is still the most important trade show, the place where the entire industry gets together. Everyone is here – including the international market players. The atmosphere here is excellent. The date at the beginning of the year is a particularly great choice, because this is the time when everyone is thinking of the future and kicking off the year with new ideas.”
Kai Gminder, Managing Director, Gustav Daiber GmbH
“PSI is an excellent platform for us to meet our customers and be close to the distributors. The level of Internationality is very high here. For example, we had visitors from Russia, Scandinavia and the Netherlands at our stand. They don’t just visit our stand because of the products but also to advance the market together and to discuss new ideas. Our focus this year was on sustainability. Both the interest and the response were great.”
Alexander Ullmann, CEO, uma Schreibgeräte Ullmann GmbH
“PSI went very well for us this year. We had a steady stream of visitors at our stand, and we even recorded a slight increase over last year on the three trade show days. We also engaged in some interesting talks with industry customers. In our opinion, this is very important, as well, because in this setting we can show how quality-oriented and professional our industry is. There’s no better place for that.”
Dennis Dennig, Authorised Officer, JUNG BONBONFABRIK GmbH & Co. KG
“For Moleskine and its international partners, PSI has been one of the year’s three most important events since 2013. For us, the trade show is the international showcase of the industry, and it makes it possible for us to present our brand message to a diverse and international target audience. That’s how we reach exactly the market participants we’re looking for. We want to tell a story with our brand, and I think we managed to do that. That’s why PSI went very well for us again.”
Martin Hopp, CEO, Moleskine B2B Distribution Germany, Austria, Switzerland
“We’re very satisfied. This year was a test run for us with the new Best Practice Islands, which is why we came here with an open mind and without bias. We had some excellent discussions; the level of internationality, in particular, is very high at PSI. The trade show is a great platform for textile finishing, since the industry is moving towards textiles in general right now. We wanted to see what’s interesting for the market and, above all, tap into new segments. We managed to do that. We leave the trade show with new input and new ideas. We already have some ideas on how to make the Best Practice Islands even more attractive next year.”
Michael Hildebrandt, Business Unit Manager, POLI-TAPE Klebefolien GmbH
“I’m at PSI for the second time, and at the conclusion I can say that the trade show was very much worth it for me. I came to advertise my bags, which worked out wonderfully. The response to my invention was excellent. Even Sony and Bild newspaper officials were at my stand. I’ll definitely return next year.”
Joan McLean, Owner, RecordBagz
“PSI went very well for us. Participating in the trade show is a form of market research for us, a way to see what’s needed in the market – and that’s what we then develop. This year we brought along transfer printing for end users. Doing so we were at precisely the right trade show because everything here is about products that are customisable and ready for the right finish.”
Paul Arndt, Managing Director, Paraa Solutions