D – The PSI Show opened its doors in Düsseldorf again from January 7–9, 2025. “Europe’s leading trade fair for promotional products, incentives and merchandising” continued on its growth course: 600 exhibitors (2024: 567 exhibitors) presented their trends and novelties in Halls 9 to 11 of the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. The attendance also rose slightly compared to last year: Overall, according to the official figures, 11,062 visitors from 74 countries (2024: 11,003 visitors from 69 countries) attended the show.
Many exhibitors were pleased with the number and quality of the discussions, like Maike Bott from Prodir: “On Tuesday and Wednesday we were practically rushed off our feet.” Peter Kaspar from Kalfany Süße Werbung also praised the event: “We are satisfied with the number of visitors, but above all with the quality of the discussions. We were delighted that we were able to discuss many concrete projects and ideas. Despite the challenging economic situation, we sensed that the industry wants to make a difference. That boosts our confidence for the coming year.”
Among others, Joan Pera from Arpe was pleased to welcome an international audience: “It is important to have a central, European trade show platform and I have the feeling that the PSI is going down very well again internationally, which is great, of course.“ Volker Griesel from Fare on the other hand had hoped to greet even more international visitors: “I am a fan of the PSI Show, because the industry presents itself at its best here. We reached all of our regular customers from the D-A-CH region here, but I had hoped to encounter even more international distributors from markets like France, Great Britain, Belgium or the Netherlands. Evidently, other trade fair events like the ones in Coventry, Lyon or Breda are having an impact here.”
Diversified programme
As in the previous years, what characterised the PSI Show, particularly in Hall 10, were the many elaborately staged stands that didn’t just focus on the product highlights, but indeed also offered an ideal opportunity for networking. With attractive and elaborate stand designs many of the exhibitors contributed towards the high-quality visual appearance of the show, which is conducive to the industry’s image. The Newcomer Area in Hall 11 on the other hand tended to have smaller, uniform stands. Nevertheless, the area attracted plenty of attention and was used to find new products and suppliers.
Thanks to its wide variety of exhibitors, the PSI Show also provided a huge and above all diversified offer of products. This was confirmed for instance by Thomas Derhaschnig from Nowak Werbeartikel: “We are present with seven people from our team. We are maintaining contacts and scouting for new products. I have noticed in the process: There really are more innovations on the product side again, whereas the degree of innovation was considerably lower the last few years.”
The PSI visitors were also presented with a diversified range of inspiring and impressive options. For example, in the Textile Village in Hall 9 the brands, manufacturers and suppliers of promotion textiles exhibited their latest designs and revealed the trends for the coming season. “An important market,” according to the PSI Director, Petra Lassahn, “because textiles, whether promotional, team or workwear, are among the most important products for more than 50% of our visitors.”
Furthermore, the individual design of products also played a major role. The Customising Area brought French flair to Hall 11, because under the motto “Vive la France”, visitors were able to have individual promotional products customised with French motifs per UV-print, embroidery, laser engraving and several other textile printing methods.
Alongside product highlights, lectures on exciting themes – for example on service, branding and inspiration as well as on the themes AI, sustainability and the relationship between innovation and tradition or the theme of effective haptic communication.
In addition, the trade audience in Düsseldorf had the opportunity to attend a glamorous highlight on the first evening of the show, the PSI Night. The party presented plenty of networking opportunities with industry players and offered an ideal platform for establishing contacts within the industry amid a relaxed atmosphere. There were also further networking occasions that continued late into the evening, for instance at the stand party of Giving Europe or at the diverse receptions, association get-togethers and anniversaries of various exhibitors.
A detailed follow-up report will be published in the next edition of eppi magazine, No. 155 (February 19, 2025).
// Helen Lorenz
Photos: Sophia Arnold, Till Barth, Mischa Delbrouck, Mika Gehlen, Andreas J. Haller, Helen Lorenz, Claudia Pfeifer, Michael Scherer, © WA Media
