Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service GmbH (MFS) is celebrating its 40th
anniversary this year. Founded in 1984, MFS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Messe
Frankfurt and now consists of two areas: Fairconstruction and Media Services. The
lasting success of the Group’s very first subsidiary is founded on providing
exhibitors with the best possible visibility through stand construction and
marketing services.
“MFS was a great success from the very beginning, characterised by steady growth and
constant advancement”, says Uwe Behm, Member of the Messe Frankfurt Executive
Board, looking back on MFS’s 40-year history: “From the outset, the aim was to make our
exhibitors as visible as possible at our trade fairs and to drive our growth by taking on
board new developments – in recent years, these were mainly led by digitalisation and
sustainability.”
MFS’s two managing directors, Martina Bergmann and Heiko Strutz, attribute the success
of this approach over the past 40 years to the company’s strategic orientation, which is
geared firmly towards the needs of exhibitors. Other key success factors are the constant
stream of innovations being added to the product portfolio and, of course, the specialist
expertise and high service quality of the teams in Stand Construction and Marketing.
MFS started out in 1984 focusing on traditional analogue media such as trade fair
catalogues, magazines and trade fair newspapers. In addition, its range of services
relating to the Frankfurt trade fair centre was rounded off by posters, advertising towers,
display cases and other advertising materials.
Stand construction: the main driver of sales
In 1990, it was joined by a second area, Stand Construction, which was based directly on
the exhibition grounds. Focusing on building and renting fully equipped and individual
stands to exhibitors, it soon established itself as the main driver of MFS’s sales. By its
third financial year, it was already offering exhibitors over 260 flexible system stand
variants and meeting their demands for high-quality presentation forms while aiming to
avoid waste at the same time. Heiko Strutz: “Of course, after over 30 years’ experience in
stand construction, we are well aware that environmentally friendly practices are playing
an increasingly important role and that more and more exhibitors are planning sustainable
trade fair activities. By opting for reusable and therefore sustainable materials and working
together with certified suppliers, we are aiming to reduce waste continually and to
minimise energy and resource consumption. This is the only way in which we can ensure
a sustainable position for the future.”
Now operating under the name Fairconstruction, the stand construction area is one of the
largest providers of system stand construction material in Germany, carrying out some
3,500 projects throughout the year, mainly in Frankfurt. The services it currently provides
range from planning, designing and organising stands to fitting them out with rental
furniture and equipment. For over a decade, Fairconstruction has also been generating
more and more growth from its business outside the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.
While Fairconstruction is responsible for planning and implementing trade fair stands in
Frankfurt and across Europe, Media Services offers all the marketing and promotional
services that exhibitors need to present their brand and message as effectively as
possible before, during and after the event. Every year, it now offers exhibitors at up to 30
Group and guest events in Frankfurt a multi-channel trade fair marketing service tailored
to their individual needs.
Positioning the message
As Martina Bergmann sums up: “Visibility is our currency. And it is of the utmost
importance for our exhibitors when planning their trade fair activities: the higher our
exhibitors’ profile at events, the more chance they have of meeting those customers they
want to work with. It sounds simple, not least because Media Services makes it simple.”
Today, the range of services – which are always geared towards exhibitors and their
individual needs – includes multimedia advertising at high-footfall locations on the
exhibition grounds (indoors and outdoors) and advertising on the internet or in print
publications. As well as maximising visibility, this allows exhibitors and event organisers to
generate a high level of attention for their brand and high reach via the Messe Frankfurt
portal. Martina Bergmann: “Besides traditional trade fair media, we are including more and
more innovative communication channels and platforms in our portfolio. We are also
zoning in on key developments and megatrends in this area so that we can continue to
provide our exhibitors with the same highly efficient support for their trade fair marketing.”
