Title: IFA 2020 Story: Interview Jens Heithecker, IFA Executive / Haier Date: 03.09.2020 Location: IFA Berlin, Germany Duration: 15:16 Shotlist 00:00 - Several Impressions of Entrance and Global Press Conference 01:13 - Interview with Jens Heithecker, IFA Executive Director 01:16 - "Every Business is human. And every business has to be done between human beings.And we learned over the last couple of weeks - yes, we have zoom, we have all the other devices, but at the end, we are tired of this. We want to come together, we want to see in the eyes, we want to have a feeling for the other people, and we want to feel the emotion of the get together. 01:44 - "Our exhibitors reacted very different. Depends where they are based. Are they based in UK for example? Imagine: Four five month ago in UK the situation was worse. And they couldn't imagine that the IFA could happen, that people, that journalists come around the world from other countries to Berlin for a tradeshow. They could't imagine. In other global companies like in American Companies often there is a travel ban. On the other side a lot of companies said yes, that's an idea. And we solved the main problem and safety they didn't know what happened in September from then in three four month. What will happen to the pandemic? What will happen here. So we offered them to reduce the risk of preinvestment with smaller presentations, with more flexibility, so that we can see how is the pandemic doing and so that we can decide very late in June, July how to to this, and at the end you see, al lot of exhibitors are already in this show presenting the innovations and you see other companies officially not being exhibitors but communicating around IFA. In the city - or in the internet online. And this is the real power, the inner power of IFA, even this companies are attracted to IFA." 03:19 - Good question: What is the "New Normal". We don't know the future yet. Yes, what we try to bring is a bit of normality back. Normality in this times of pandemic, we have no clue what will really happen in the next year on the long term. Like in the travel industry: At the moment everyone is saying: we don't go back to the Normal in Tourism. Personally, if I can travel to my most beloved destination vor holiday, if I feel safe for this destination, I would immediately travel. But I don't feel safe. Maybe - hopefully in one year from now on, we will feel safe, much safer than today. The pandemic is hopefully done, is finished. And then I think we all see a strong IFA, a strong trade show around the world again, and a strong tourism as well. 04:18 - Of course we had many challenges. One is the technical challenge. We try to develop a new platform, an easier platform for this virtual IFA as a media hub. As a media platform. Where we easier can stream our press conferences here, where we can stream our partners, where we can stream our partners, where we can show the products of our exhibitors in the much easier way then before. For this way it had only two months, and it was a challenge. The real challenges were two. The one is: What will be the rules, the regulations by the authorities. Because in Germany and in Berlin it is the same as in any other state of Germany. We saw that the regulations were only made for the next two or three weeks and if you plan a show you need a frame work at least for eight, ten weeks. So in the mid of august we had no clue what's the real regulation in the states, and we had an assumption. And at the end we were right with this assumption. This was a good thing. But it was a challenge and we had to be very flexible for new regulations, new restrictives. And the third was trust. Trust of our attendees, trust of our exhibitors in the situation, in our organization, that we can organize a save environment in this time here in this halls, here on our exhibition site. 05:55 - "I don't think that there is a new impetus. Of course, they didn't stop to innovate, even during Corona. Maybe it was little bit harder to coordinate all the people, all the staffs often enough innovation means co-innovation, means bringing together innovations from different companies from different industries and this in times where you can't travel, where you can't get together, it's complicated. But I think there is another function that is totally underestimated. If we have our normal trade shows, this is a competition of innovation between the exhibitors. And what they do before a trade show, they coordinate all activities in developing, marketing, sales communication, whatever, to be ready with new innovation at the trade show - in fear that the competitor has more innovation. Means this acceleration of innovation inside the companies because they have to develop this to a new point of exhibition is totally underestimated and if you have no trade shows - and we have seen this in some companies there is a delay of new products of two months of three months of four months. And at the end this is bad for the markets and for the consumers." 07:13 - "I think it is the first experience we can share with a lot of other trade show organizers in-house and with other competitors. We had a lot of trade show organizers from around the world here, watching out, who do we do this, that's the one point. We have learned our own things. Our team was so in - not in fear, but really worried to do every thing to avoid any risk, that maybe we have done a little bit to much, but for a first time, for a first show, for a first experience, we did it in the right way. For the next one we will see what's necessary, and maybe what's a little bit to much because its a burden for our attendees, for to have three or four registrations or whatever needed, whatever was needed this time to feel save and to give this feeling of safety to all of our attendees." 08:13 - Interview with Thomas Wittling, CEO, Haier Deutschlang GmbH 08:16 - "Wir wissen alle, dass das momentan auch für die Hausgeräte-Industrie eine schwierige Phase ist, dass wir alle beeinflusst sind von der Pandemie. Für uns ist einfach wichtig, die IFA als größte Presseveranstaltung, als größte Endverbraucher Veranstaltung, des Jahres 2020 auch zu besetzen. Auch, wenn wir hier nicht viele Händler haben werden. Die Message, die wir hier rüber bringen wollen als Marke: Wir stehen zur Messe, Wir stehen zu Berlin und wir stehen zur IFA." "Well, we all know that this is currently a difficult phase for the household appliance industry, that we are all affected by the pandemic. For us, it is simply important that the we are at the IFA, as the largest press event, as the largest consumer event in 2020. Even if we will not have many salesmen here. The message we want to convey here as a brand is, that we stand by the exhibition, we stand by Berlin and we stand by the IFA." 08:43 - "Ein Kühlschrank, der erkennt welche Lebensmittel sie in den Kühlschrank reinlegen. Der erkennt, welche Lebensmittel, wenn sie eine Liste hinterlegen, fehlen in diesem Kühlschrank. Der automatisch diese Lebensmittel dann also auch bestellt. Das ist ein Kühlschrank, der Sie wesentlich mehr unterstützt beim tagtäglichen Leben, als in der Vergangenheit. Der auch analysieren kann: Die Lebensmittel, die du jetzt in dem Kühlschrank hast, reichen um dieses oder jenes Gericht heute zu machen, also der auch Kochvorschläge damit auch ergibt. Der die Haltbarkeit der Lebensmittel einordnet, um auch zu sagen: Das Lebensmittel läuft relativ bald ab, kannst du dir vorstellen das heute zu essen? Also es ist sehr vielfältig." "A refrigerator that recognizes which groceries you put in the fridge. It recognizes which groceries, if you put a list in it, are missing in this refrigerator. Which automatically orders these groceries. This is a refrigerator, which supports you much more in your daily life, than in the past. Which can also analyze: The groceries you have in the refrigerator now are enough to make this or that dish today, so it also makes cooking suggestions. It classifies the storage life of the food to also say: The food will expire relatively soon, can you imagine eating it today? So it is very diverse." 09:21 - "Also die Nachfrage insbesondere nach Kühl- und Gefriergeräten ist in den letzten Monaten extrem gestiegen. Die Verbraucher haben sehr viel eingekauft. Und durch diesen hohen Einkauf, war natürlich auch notwendig die Lebensmittel zu lagern. Das heißt: Kühl- und Gefriergeräte sind um 80% gestiegen gegenüber den vergleichbaren Vorjahreszeitraum. Die Geräte werden größer. Die Geräte haben ganz andere Feature, die in der Vergangenheit gar nicht relevant waren. Das heißt, der Bereich Kühlen und Gefrieren ist einer der Segmente, der in der aktuellen Situationen deutlich an Relevanz gewonnen hat." - "A refrigerator that recognizes which groceries you put in the fridge. It recognizes which groceries, if you put a list in it, are missing in this refrigerator. Which automatically orders these groceries. This is a refrigerator, which supports you much more in your daily life, than in the past. Which can also analyze: The groceries you have in the refrigerator now are enough to make this or that dish today, so it also makes cooking suggestions. It classifies the storage life of the food to also say: The food will expire relatively soon, can you imagine eating it today? So it is very diverse." 09:52 - "Also man muss schauen, dass man das Thema 'Connectivity IOT' eigentlich weiter stärkt, dass wir auch versuchen unsere Online-Präsenz in der Kommunikation mit dem Verbraucher zu stärken. Wir haben zum Beispiel in China 35 Millionen Verbraucher, die in dem Netz von Haier kommunizieren und da geht es nicht nur um dem Bereich Küche, da geht es auch um den Wohnraum und den Schlafraum und das Badezimmer, also wir gegenüber das normale Ambiente hinaus. Und das sehen wir auch in Europa, als eine der wesentlichen Plattformen, diesen Bereich eigentlich über das normale Maß als Hausgerät hinauszuführen. Denn Vernetzung hört bei der Küche nicht unbedingt auf, sondern geht über den gesamten Bereich." "So you have to see that the topic of 'Connectivity IOT' is actually strengthened further. We also try to strengthen our online presence in communication with the consumer. For example, we have 35 million consumers in China who communicate on the Haier network, and it's not just about the kitchen, it's also about the living room, bedroom and bathroom, so we're going beyond the normal ambience. And we also see this in Europe as one of the essential platforms for taking this area beyond the normal household devices. Because connectivity does not necessarily stop with the kitchen, but goes beyond the entire area." 10:34 - "Also generell ist die Plattform 'Einbaugeräte' für einen asiatischen Hersteller eine Plattform, die für uns sehr wichtig ist. Der deutsche Markt spielt sich zu 50% im Einbaugeräte Sektor ab. Da hat der Haier bisher unter der Marke Haier noch keine Geräte, die wir platziert haben. Das heißt, wir konnten 50% des Marktes nicht abdecken. Mit der neuen Gerätebaureihe, die wir hier präsentieren, die tolle Design-, tolle Ausstattungsmerkmale hat, werden wir also auch in Europa diesen Bereich unter der Marke Haier positionieren. Und das ist eigentlich unser Highlight der Messe für dieses Jahr." "So in general, the platform 'built-in devices' for an Asian manufacturer is a platform that is very important for us. The German market takes place to 50% in the built-in appliances sector. So far, Haier has no devices placed under the Haier brand. This means that we could not cover 50% of the market. With the new appliance series that we present here, which has great design, great features, we will position this sector in Europe under the brand Haier. And this is actually our highlight of the fair for this year." 11:07 - "Die gesamte Vernetzung des Haushaltes ist etwas, was höhere Relevanz in Zukunft haben wird. Der Verbraucher erwartet von seinen Hausgeräten, dass sie nicht nur das erfüllen, was sie normal machen - nämlich kochen und waschen. Sondern, dass sie kommunizieren, dass sie sich in einen Haushalt eigentlich einbinden. Und die Zielsetzung der Haier Group ist in Europa Marktführer im Bereich 'Vernetzung IOT' zu werden. Und mit dieser Positionierung werden wir auch hier einige Produkte zeigen, die dementsprechend dieser Strategie folgen." "The entire connectivity of the household is something that will have greater relevance in the future. Consumers expect their household devices to do more than just what they normally do - cooking and washing. But that they communicate, that they actually integrate into a household. And the goal of the Haier Group is to become the European market leader in the field of 'Connectivity IOT'. And with this positioning, we will also show some products here that follow this strategy accordingly." 11:39 - Footage Haier H-Wash 500 / Candy Nova / Hoover H Dry 15:16 - END