Added value trade fair: Cooperation of the Lucerne Fair with the Olma Fairs

In this interview, Markus Lauber, Chairman of the Executive Board of Messe Luzern (left) and Nicolo Paganini, Director of the Olma Messen St. Gallen Cooperative and member of the National Council (right), talk about new cooperations and investments in today's trade fair environment.

Olma Messen St. Gallen is investing over 160 million Swiss francs in the "Olma Neuland" construction project. Nicolo Paganini, why this step?

Nicolo Paganini: The project is not only a commitment of our company to the trade fairs, it is a commitment of the entire population to the Olma trade fairs as a meeting place. The results of the votes on the financial contributions from the city and the canton were clear: The meeting place is popular, the great benefits are known and the personal exchange is a need. With this investment, we are creating new areas of very good quality and with unique innovations that are suitable for events of various kinds - that is what is in demand.

Is that where the project name "Neuland" comes from?

Nicolo Paganini: Indeed, the size of this project is new territory for us. Moreover, the covering of the city highway literally creates new land, which makes room for the new building. Olma Messen St. Gallen is also breaking new ground together with Messe Luzern. For their trade fairs Tier&Technik and Suisse Tier, they are realizing a cooperation project in digital channels. 

Why this cooperation?

Markus Lauber: This digital space is infinite and knows neither hall nor cantonal boundaries. In order to be able to cover it broadly, smaller trade fair organizers like us have to manage digital projects in cooperation. This is the only way we can continue to achieve our goal in the future: exhibitors meet new customers and visitors find exhibitors who support them in finding specific solutions.

Nicolo Paganini: We saw it the same way. Everywhere people are discussing how the analog world can be meaningfully networked with the digital world. Now, finally, someone came up with a concrete idea. That's why it wasn't hard for us to jump in.

How does cooperation between competitors work? Can both trade fairs coexist?

Nicolo Paganini: The cooperation gives the product even more relevance. Furthermore: The competition is no longer another exhibition center. On the contrary: If Luga is doing well, Olma is doing well, if Suisse Tier is doing well, Tier&Technik is doing well. The competition are the other communication channels. In the positioning of the fair in the midst of countless marketing measures, it makes sense to enter into cooperations with supposed competitors.

Markus Lauber: For exhibitors and visitors, it is an enormous added value if we rely on the same solutions and agree on one and the same structure for our digital channels. That creates simplification and synergies for everyone.

So more collaborations are desirable?

Markus Lauber: Yes. We are open. The strong point of the cooperation is not that Lucerne and St. Gallen are involved, but that it is open. The larger the digital network, the greater the relevance for the individual events and the benefits for exhibitors and visitors....

The full interview will appear in the print edition of Expodata Live Kommunikation on November 7, 2019. Photos: Matthias Eberle. Interview: Irene Reis.