Port marketing: Bremen plans closer cooperation with its North German neighbours at trade fairs in 2013

21.02.2013

In 2012, Bremen’s ports achieved the best results in their history and also fared well compared with their competitors during the crisis. “But that is no reason to slacken the pace of our port marketing activities,” comments Holger Banik, Managing Director of bremenports. On Thursday (21.2.2013) bremenports and Via Bremen e.V. announced the main dates in their trade fair and events programme for 2013.

This year, the twin ports will be represented at diverse trade fairs in various continents. “Some of the joint stands attended by logistics companies will appear under the ‘German Ports’ brand,” explains Banik. These joint stands are organised by the neighbouring ports in Bremen and Lower Saxony and occasionally include other North German coastal regions. Hamburg, for example, will join the stand in Sao Paulo, Brazil (“Intermodal South America”, 2 – 4 April). Other trade fairs which will feature a stand under the ‘German Ports’ label include Moscow (“transrussia”, 23 – 26 April), New Orleans (“BreakBulk USA”, 24 – 26 September) and Istanbul (“LogiTrans”, 20 – 23 November).

Michael Skiba, Marketing Director of bremenports, confirms that this cooperation with the company’s partner organisation “Seaports of Niedersachsen” has repeatedly proved effective when planning joint marketing activities and that it was hoped that the port of Hamburg would take part in the interregional joint stand more often in future.

“There are various advantages when the North German states join forces at logistics fairs in other countries,” says Banik. “The participating regions and companies can present their portfolios at a much larger stand, which makes a better impression on the customers. A joint stand also generates valuable synergies, in that less organisational work is required and costs can be reduced.”

“Companies from Bremen’s port sector are also planning joint stands under the Via Bremen brand at other trade fairs,” states Klaus Platz, Managing Director of Via Bremen. “The ‘transport logistic’, which will take place in Munich from 4 to 7 June, is an absolute must, as it has meanwhile evolved into the premium logistics fair in Europe.” The stand at the fair in Bavaria will have a floor area of 425 square metres, enough space for 24 business enterprises and organisations from Bremen and Bremerhaven to present their products and services.

The decision is still outstanding on whether Bremen will attend the following trade fairs: “Eurotrans” in Brno, Czech Republic (11 – 14 September, focus on industry and forwarding), the container shipping fair “CILF” in Shenzhen, China (14 – 16 October) and the PPI Transport Symposion in Baltimore, USA (28 – 31 October). A new name in the range of international logistics fairs is the “Freight Expo” in Houston, Texas (17 – 19 November). Again, it is not yet clear whether sufficient logistics companies will attend to make a joint Bremen stand worthwhile.

This year, bremenports is planning to extend its “logistics talk” series. “This event provides a discussion forum for port businesses and port customers,” explains Banik. The company is planning to hold “logistics talks” in Budapest and Prague (12 – 14 March, together with its partner company Eurogate), Linz (9 April, also with Eurogate), Bad Homburg (20 June, with TFG Transfracht) as well as Stuttgart (7 November). The events in Berlin (27 November) and Leipzig (28 November) will be held in cooperation with BLG Cargo. Another “logistic talk” will be organised together with Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world leader in the automotive shipping business, and is scheduled for 19 September in the Ruhr area.