SPIELWARENMESSE - NUREMBERG TOYFAIR 2023 SHOW REVIEW

SPIELWARENMESSE - NUREMBERG TOYFAIR 2023 SHOW REVIEW

What a very great pleasure to be back in Nuremberg after the Covid-19 induced hiatus of the last couple of years! As I write this I am exhausted from the sheer volume of great toy & game people I have met across the last 5 days. From Wednesday until I left on Sunday I had relentless back to back meetings with old friends and strong business contacts....nowhere else can you meet so many great people and useful business contacts.

These shows are always experienced subjectively i.e. my experience will always be different from yours. Maybe you had a booth which got less passing traffic or maybe your key retail buyer didn't swing by - but from an objective perspective Spielwarenmesse 2023 can only be viewed as a triumphal return and a great success. I will let the Spielwarenmesse team announce their numbers and metrics, but there were no shortage of people walking the many many Halles based on my own observations. if you experienced it differently, please feel free to comment & add your own thoughts to the mix :)

According to numerous first time attendees I spoke to, the sheer scale of the show is both highly intimidating and wondrous at the same time. The big and mighty are there from all around our industry, so arguably if you didn't create good opportunities there it's more likely to be down to your own failings, because the vast majority of the couple of hundred people I spoke with said the show had been great. As ever though, success comes from effective follow up after the show - a positive reaction to products & good conversation at a trade show is normally some distance and several further interactions away way from the the hard tangible proof of success that a purchase order represents!

The broader perspective is that the Toy market is sailing through some rough waters with the tide against it from some directions. Nearly every major market was flat at best or down in 2022, and that's hardly good news - one of my contacts informed me that the market in Germany was down 5% for example in 2023...but that the regression comes on the back on a couple of great years. And as I keep repeating to those willing to listen - our industry is performing a lot better than many other industries we could be working in.

I greatly enjoyed returning to the Toy Business Forum presentation program this year. I repeated the topic I spoke about back in 2013 - THE FUTURE OF TOYS. This time I looked at what predictions I got right last time, which predictions I got horribly wrong and looked forward making predictions about what will and what won't change in the next decade. As is often the case at these shows, I met many enthusiastic new market entrants after my talk, and I could not escape for sometime after the presentation as I answered their many, many questions!

If you want to watch my presentation on 'THE FUTURE OF TOYS', you can see it here (lasts about 30 minutes), just click the Spielwarenmesse Digital link:

As far as the outlook for the Toy market across Europe in 2023 is concerned, the feeling was a little on the grim side. The one word I heard most often throughout this year's show was 'inventory' - in warehouses and sitting out in retail. While the mood was upbeat overall, the high energy of the show has to be set against a cloudy outlook. Fingers crossed 2023 goes better than many attendees & exhibitors expected based on the conversations I had.

On a final note I wanted to share some evidence of the sheer scale of this mighty show, and wanted to reinforce why the first advice I give anyone attending Spielwarenmesse for the first time is to wear comfortable shoes. On Day 4 of the show, when many international visitors had left the show and I was able to walk throughout I completed more than a half marathon distance just walking round looking at Toys & Games and speaking to people. My total distance walked on the show days (including walking between bars in the Aldstadt in Nuremberg sometimes until very late!) was 74.85 kilometres, or 46.8 miles. So Spielwarenmesse turns out to be not just the best business networking and business development opportunity of the year, but also the best of exercise regimes as well...

In conclusion then - Spielwarenmesse - Nuremberg Toy Fair 2023...it was so great to be back after all this time!

OTHER CONTENT

Have you listened to my PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast? Listen here:

Interview with Der Spiegel on 'The Future Of Toys'

To read more than 20 Toy & Game business articles I wrote for Spielwarenmesse.de - the official Blog of the Spielwarenmesse-Nuremberg Toyfair, just click on the link below.

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