With a mix of new and familiar themed worlds, the special areas have been designed to inspire visitors and help them orientate themselves quickly.
Tech2Play
At Spielwarenmesse, running from 2nd to 6th February, theme-based and target group-specific special areas will provide visitors with inspiration for the new commercial year. The themed worlds will also provide a setting for innovations from all product groups at the show.
In Hall 3A, the topic of sustainability will be brought to the forefront by means of a special area devoted to the Toys go Green megatrend. Here, buyers can experience relevant products on four themed islands. ‘Made by Nature’, ‘Inspired by Nature’ and ‘Recycle & Create’ each focus on specific materials, while in ‘Discover Sustainability’ the topics of environment and climate are portrayed through toys and the educational value of play. Specialist presentations at the Toy Business Forum complement the portrayal of this topic at the fair.
The new Service Provider Area will include test institutes and suppliers from fields such as marketing. Creative agencies such as Die roten Reiter (a subsidiary of Spielwarenmesse eG), together with their partners, will be presenting their services on a shared stand under the slogan ‘Future of Exhibition’. This exhibition addresses the issue of how technical opportunities will be shaping attendance at the trade fairs of the future. Also in the Service Providers’ Area will be the DigitalMobil Handel, presenting an experiential zone for various retailing innovations, ideas for point-of-sale and the ideal customer experience.
Innovations and new products will be the focus of the StartupArea in Hall 8. This is where young innovative businesses from Germany and international startups will be presenting their creative product ideas. More new products can also be found next door in the TrendGallery. In its new location, this special area brings stimulating innovations together in a compact space, as well as displaying the nominees and winners of the highly regarded ToyAward; the award for new products at the Spielwarenmesse.
Buyers who are seeking to supplement their range with stationery products should visit Hall 4, where the Insights-X Area will be providing not only information on the trade fair of the same name but also product presentations, in particular from the Back to School sector.
On the Friday of the fair, in Hall 11.1, the Internationale Spieleerfindermesse – Game Inventors Convention will be held for the first time, for a specially selected group of participants. At this event, games authors will be presenting their prototypes to editors from around the world. The popular GamesCafé will be a meeting point for the board games sector, where games innovations can be tried out in a relaxed atmosphere in the foyer of Hall 11.0.
The Tech2Play activity area in Hall 4A presents the broad spectrum of electronic toys in the categories of ‘Robot Toys’, ‘RC Toys, ‘Virtual Play’ and ‘Electronic Learning’.
Christian Ulrich, spokesperson of the Executive Board of Spielwarenmesse eG, commented: “With our special areas, we provide active support for retailers in putting together their product ranges and offer them fresh stimuli and ideas that will continue to have an effect even after the Spielwarenmesse is over.”
