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off the spending tap as quickly as it was turned on , leaving brands with gaps in their revenue and in their event marketing budgets . IFA needed to evolve .
“ The show needed a new narrative ,” says Morgan . “ IFA lacked compelling reasons to attend – more than visiting exhibitor stands . That is why we created a full programme of both speaker and live content to entice brands and visitors alike .
“ When we were given the keys by Clarion , we found a show that had been big on white goods in recent years . However , there was little on rapid growth markets like smart health , gaming , robotics , sustainability and AI . These areas were missing from the show ’ s blueprint .”
Despite having a showfloor spanning over 40 halls , one of the issues the pair found at IFA was that white goods brands were taking the majority of the space , leaving little square meterage for content activation . The answer was clear to Merlin . It was time to make use of the show ’ s destination : Berlin .
“ While we encouraged some brands to consider smaller spaces alongside sponsorship opportunities , it became apparent that the city of Berlin was a big pull to brands and visitors alike , but it had been under utilised .”
Berlin
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Shelley Morgan
Brutalist Berlin Known by some as the ‘ Grey City ’ due to its Brutalist post war architecture and the Wall that came down in 1989 , Berlin is a city of art , culture and creativity . Germany ’ s capital , nevertheless , attracted 12m visitors in 2021 , a statistic not lost on Morgan and Merlin .
“ I spent a lot of time in Berlin and it is a fantastic city ,” recalls Morgan . “ Some shows you run can be in places that are not far off being a cultural vacuum , but having IFA in Berlin was a gift of an opportunity .”
“ We tell event organisers more than ever that their show is all about the destination ,” adds Merlin .
“ CES has the bright lights of Vegas on its doorstep , TNW has the vibrancy of Amsterdam , while SXSW has Austin , a city ranked as one of the best places to live in the US . These shows utilise their destination as they know people need and expect more than
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just an event . Berlin had to become part of the IFA experience and part of the show ’ s festivalisation strategy .”
Working in partnership with Visit Berlin and the local government , the duo created a new platform and brand – Berlin Tech Week while hosting gaming and other events throughout the city .
“ Not only did visitors and brands expect more from a post pandemic IFA ,” says Morgan , “ we also knew that if we got our sales strategy right that we would run out of space , even in Messe Berlin .”
Despite the lack of data , IFA ’ s newly formed sales team quickly filled 40 halls with 2,200 brands including Samsung , Hisense , Honor , Bosch Siemens , Miele , Meta , Tesla and SpaceX covering over a staggering 130,000sqm . The duo also were able to deliver a nice parting gift to the new IFA Management team of € 25m ( USD $ 27m ) in revenue and € 8m in onsite rebook for the 2024 show .
Bett revamp The success of IFA in such a short turnaround wasn ’ t the first premium show Morgan and Merlin had managed to ‘ flip ’. As well as revamping Africa Oil Week , back in 2018 , the duo were on hand to help rejuvenate Hyve ’ s newly acquired Bett .
“ We redefined Bett ’ s audience groups , core marketing and sales strategy while completely revamping the digital content offering ,” Morgan recalls .
“ When we came on board , the show was 13 % down on its revenue number . But by the time the show came around , the new sales strategy we implemented saw Bett finish 8 % over target ,” adds Merlin .
With the dust settled on a successful comeback for IFA the duo are already working on a number of projects and are super energised for the year ahead .
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