12 Theo brings the crowds in at LSS Theo Paphitis told a packed standing-room-only audience at day one of London Stationery Show that there is no substitute for hard work if you want to succeed in business. Theo started off with a surprise, telling the audience that as a young boy that he hated school, he hated academic studies and he hated writing. “I’m dyslexic. I couldn’t spell. My writing was a mess. In fact, the last thing I thought I would ever get involved in would be stationery.” His first exposure to Ryman came at his first job after leaving school at a London brokerage firm. “I found myself needing to write memos. The first ones I did were such a mess, they sent them back to me and told me to try again. One lunchtime I took myself down the Borough High Street and went to Ryman and there I bought a calligraphy set. I took it home and practiced every night for a week. My writing improved, but my spelling didn’t. So back to Ryman, this time to buy a dictionary. So then my spelling improved.” Fast forward to 1995 and Theo bought Ryman out of administration. Key to the success of Ryman has been linking technology to the high street store to get people into the store. And that is exactly what Ryman has done with its print on demand greeting card app. “The app enables us to offer something completely unique in the online greeting card industry using the strength of the High Street. Like others, you can download the app and personalise one of thousands of cards, but what makes ours unique is that you can then collect the card in a Ryman store within just 60 minutes. “We’re linking technology with good oldfashioned retail.” Theo was asked about his favourite products at the moment to which he replied: “Posca pens and Legami pens. I absolutely love Posca pens, I love the colours and I love playing with them. You can do so much with them. And Legami is an amazing fashion-led brand. It really is something different and new.” Summing up with some advice, not just to retailers, but any business owner, Theo said that a business will only survive “if it has a reason to exist. You must know what you are in business, what will you do differently, why will someone come to you, what is the reason they will buy from you. There is no substitute for hard work.” 40 years of Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service GmbH 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 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 types of advertising materials. 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. 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.” For more information, visit: www.instagram.com/messefrankfurt
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