Body Look July 08: 15th Innovation Forum Body, Beach & Legwear

Body Look July 08: International Trade Fair for Body, Beach and Legwear (27 to 29 July 2008). On 26 July 2008 in Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, CCD South “Partnership is not about looking at one another but looking in the same direction together.” The partners here are retailers and manufacturers who share a common goal: the Point of Sale. The Point of Sale is the direct way to the consumer and, hence, crucial for joint success

There is a need for information in the industry. This also became clear once again on Saturday at the 15th Innovation Forum of Body Look,  Germany’s only international trade fair for body, beach & legwear. Just under 100 participants from retail, industry and the media followed the four experts’ talks and later entered into a dialogue with them on partnership-based relationships between industry and retail. With this the Innovation Forum underlined its significance as a key meeting point for the bodywear sector once more.
In their welcoming addresses both Igedo CEO & President Frank Hartmann and Director Kirstin Deutelmoser as well as Body Look Project Manager, Angelika Grammozi, expressed the wish: “The Innovation Forum provides momentum, offers answers and primarily promotes communication. Make use of Body Look in future, too, to meet with decision-makers from trade and industry. Only concerted action will allow you to come up with productive concepts for your PoS success.” Find a summary of the most important messages of the 15th Innovation  forum:
Retail Fashion Planning – the PoS from the retailer’s point of view Matthias Schafhauser of b_werk Markenarchitektur GmbH in Metzingen kicked off his lecture with a live percussion act symbolising the dynamism and energy generated by two partners acting in sync.He stressed the importance of the Point of Sale: “Customers/shoppers are won over or lost at the PoS. The central issues that retailers have to address are: “(How) does the shopper perceive me as a brand? What is the message and the selling proposal of my brand?“ In his view strong manufacturing partners provide support here in the form of merchandise information systems, vendor-managed areas and logistics.
Retailers, in turn, have to increasingly focus on their core competences and invest into their own brands. Sales area management, merchandise presentation with one’s own message, placement of anchor brands and regional references in communication were key tasks, he felt, and in order to develop a high-impact strategy for the PoS holistic and neutral consulting was required. He closed by demanding: “Partnership must not mean that retailers lose their own profile.
Optimal cooperation takes the differing responsibilities of both partners into consideration: the industry looks after the system business while retail caters to the PoS.”Growth-Oriented Range Policy Carl Blauen of Carl Blauen Unternehmensberatung in Cologne took a closer look at ranges as a focal point. Based on his extensive  experience acquired in focus groups he presented data from a panel representing over 40 retail enterprises. “Underwear and lingerie retailers often do not exploit the sales potential offered by range policy to the full. More often than not possible extra sales are foiled by a lack of ranges with a clearly discernible profile.” Successful retailers stand out from their competitors primarily with a clear range strategy focusing on growth segments, coordinated sales floor concepts, a manageable supplier/brand portfolio, gradual trading up, a low error-rate in NOS/basic item handling and a rising share of fashion and innovation driven segments in their ranges. His conclusion: “Reliability and confidence are the decisive quality characteristic for your shoppers.”
The opportunities of regional outdoor advertising Claudia Weber of Wall AG convinced the audience with numerous examples of innovative outdoor advertising approaches. She disproved the prejudice that this advertising tool was less suitable for smaller budgets and regional campaigns and explained the proper procedure involved in planning both bigger and smaller campaigns. “Lingerie and beachwear are perfectly suited for this eye-catching form of communication. Use this opportunity to reach your target group with creative ideas. Regional and local outdoor advertising options are particularly attractive for retailers.”
Recipe for Failure or how to prevent a good partnership permanently  Heinz-Josef Nötges of Nötges & Partner in Paderborn explained what characterises a good partnership with a great deal of humour. Respect in cooperation, both partners acting on an equal footing, a clear division of tasks and assuming responsibility were the factors he saw centre stage here. In his opinion, compromise can never form the basic prerequisite for partnership. “The point is that each partner makes his standpoint clear and confronts their counterpart with it time and
again to be able to arrive at a constructive solution together.” At the Igedo Fashion Fairs Düsseldorf 1,750 exhibitors and collections from 52
countries are presented in the exhibition halls of the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre and at Düsseldorf Fashion House 1 + 2.