Interfilière rolls out international branding strategy

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Jan 23, 2013

The textile and accessories trade fair for lingerie and swimwear, which holds four sessions a year in Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai, is now using one tagline and logo for all its shows.

Soon to celebrate its 30th birthday, the biannual Parisian trade show expanded to Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2005 and 2006 at the periphery of major local trade fairs held there. To clarify the relation between all these events for buyers and exhibitors, the organizer Eurovet decided to implement a common logo and visual communications for the four shows.

“The name was not being stressed enough,” said Laurence Nerée, show director of Interfilière Paris. “And trade shows have become more upscale, developing a couture attitude. The quality of exhibited goods has strongly evolved. So we are adapting to this market development by changing our communication.”

This couture attitude is the focus of the 2013 ad campaign for promoting the different Interfilière sessions. It depicts a young woman playing hide-and-seek behind bolts of fabric. But while the setting is similar for each trade show campaign, the four models wear different outfits suited to the cultural expectations for each show region.

“The Interfilière Hong Kong and Shanghai are not just exports of the Parisian show to Asia,” said Laurence Nerée. “These are real Asian trade fairs with local exhibitors and, of course, local buyers. What we are exporting is simply our expertise as organizers.”

It remains to be seen if this new global identity positions Interfilière to expand into other latitudes, such as conquering the Americas after Europe and Asia. “Four Interfilières is already good,” said the show director with a smile. "But that’s part of what we are asking ourselves. Still for now, we’re not there yet.”

Meanwhile, this Interfilière branding is in step with a phenomenon sweeping through the world of show organizers. The most recent example is Première Vision, which for the first time used a single campaign for its five international exhibitions.