Messe Frankfurt has acquired a stake in nmedia GmbH, the European provider in the field of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), with which it is setting up the Group’s “Nextrade” digital B2B marketplace. Philipp Ferger has been appointed second Managing Director of nmedia GmbH effective 1 June 2019 and will share management responsibilities with Nicolaus Gedat.
In addition to his new function as Managing Director of nmedia, Mr Ferger will remain responsible for Tendence and Nordstil as Group Show Director. In future, he will also report directly to Stephan Kurzawski, Senior Vice President of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH.
Trade fair business expertise
Stephan Kurzawski: “Philipp Ferger’s many years of experience in the trade fair business and his specific sector expertise will stand him in good stead in his new position as Managing Director – and will be instrumental in meeting the strategic objectives of Messe Frankfurt in coming years. In this way, we – together with nmedia – will provide our new, digital order tool online with a view to helping to meet the challenges faced by the sector. We wish Mr Ferger every success in his new position.”
Philipp Ferger has a wealth of experience in the trade fair sector. A business administration graduate, he was Assistant to the Executive Board since March 2011, working for Detlef Braun, whose responsibilities included the Consumer Goods & Leisure business segment.
Strategic and operational level
Since 2014, Ferger has been in charge of the regional trade fair concept for the Consumer Goods business segment
This position not only enabled Ferger to take on traditional management duties but also to garner international experience at both strategic and operational level, particularly in the field of consumer goods fairs.
Since 2014, Ferger has been in charge of the regional trade fair concept for the Consumer Goods business segment. In 2016, he was appointed Group Show Director of Tendence.
Nextrade: digital B2B marketplace
Nextrade provides standardised digital order and data management solutions for suppliers and retailers in a single system. Nicolaus Gedat: “For nmedia, the appointment of Philipp Ferger as second Managing Director is the next step for Messe Frankfurt as marketing and sales partner. This will allow it to focus on driving international sales and advancing the success of Nextrade – given its expertise and international network of both industry and retail players, it is in a position to provide key impetus.”
One of the central advantages of nextrade is that both suppliers and retailers use the same system digitally. This eliminates the need to order manually from the individual suppliers – for example on site during trade fairs – thus saving time, money and other resources. Via Nextrade, orders can be placed day or night 365 days a year, regardless of whether retailers have their own merchandise management system.
Digital platform supplements
In their own web shop, suppliers manage the data and marketing materials for their articles on the marketplace. Here, a digital platform supplements trade fair visits in a way that aims to benefit all concerned. A pilot version of the Nextrade digital marketplace will be on display at Tendence (Hall 8, Stand D10), demonstrating how the entire system works.
