Inspiring, informative and inventive, lively and likeable, effective and efficient – the fifth edition of the HAPTICA® live on March 22, 2017 at the World Conference Center Bonn once again proved to be a gain for all friends of haptic advertising. The concept of presenting as many of the facets of the marketing discipline haptic advertising to users and distributors, bundled on one day, obviously meets with great interest on the market: In this way, the organiser, WA Media GmbH from Cologne, was able to register a new attendance record. 175 suppliers (previous year: 142 suppliers) presented their novelties and trends to the audience. Whether grills by Weber-Stephen, porcelain creations by Seltmann Weiden or sound systems of JBL by Harman, whether regional specialities from the farmyard shop or Fair Trade items from all over the globe, whether classics such as ballpoint pens, ties and calendars or niche products like incense smokers and envelopes made of cotton – the entire palette of haptic advertising options was offered to the visitors from marketing and buying departments, advertising agencies and the promotional product trade.
The visitors’ interest kept pace with the growth in the number of exhibitors: 1,946 visitors attended the event (previous year: 1,494 visitors), which corresponds to an increase of over 30%. It was particularly busy in the morning, whereby the rush of visitors slowed down in the afternoon.
In addition to the product presentations at the stands of the exhibitors, the well-attended lecture programme, during the course of which speakers from the marketing sector outlined their experiences in dealing with haptic advertising, was very convincing. The Chief Editor of Yps, Christian Kallenberg, set off on a cult journey back in time to triops and catapults to underline the significance of onpacks for the success of the magazine. Recruiting measures with the aid of haptic advertising were part and parcel of the lectures of Nico Rose (Bertelsmann), Andrea Pflanz (East Saxon Sparkasse Dresden) and Ronny Ullrich (Cromatics), whereas Katrin Schütterle (goDentis) talked about “Health Care with the Aid of Gamification and Haptic Anchors“. Finally, the Executive Director of the Cologne ice-hockey team, the Kölner Haie, Peter Schönberger, reported on the great significance that merchandising has for the ice-hockey club from the cathedral city.
The WA Media team had collected 20 creative examples of campaigns from all over the world for the established Best Practice Special Show. Lovingly decorated and staged, the smallest detergent bottle in the world, a ballpoint pen made out of old bullet cartridges for Reporters Without Borders and a masons‘ calendar concealed under a coat of cement, underlined the creative potential that haptic advertising messengers hold.
Equally inspiring: The exhibition of the 49 award winners of the Promotional Gift Award 2017. The crowning conclusion of the event comprised of the winners receiving their trophies in the scope of the award ceremony of the Promotional Gift Award.
The manifold and diversified offers of the “Experience of Haptic Advertising”, which also included a Facebook photo campaign, branded ice-lollies or the issue of the new free fact brochure, “Facts-to-go”, through to survey results about the promotional product, went down very well as one can see from the numerous visitor statements (see below).
The HAPTICA® live ’18 will be staged on March 21, 2018 at the WCCB.
// Dr. Mischa Delbrouck
Visitor statements: