It’s a cool, rainy February in Frankfurt, Germany. While I’ve been to Germany many times, all of my visits have been in cool, rainy Februarys like this one.
In show terms, Ambiente is the show of shows. It’s a place where 4,376 exhibitors will try to convince over 134,000 potential buyers, that their product is the next big thing. Buyers from 168 countries converge here to find new products. Most of housewares, kitchen wares, furniture and decorative accessories that you will see in stores next year, will be directly related to Ambiente in Frankfurt.
If you are a buyer here, you’d better know your numbers. How much is freight from their country to yours… how much is the duty? What are the minimum order quantities, quality standards, lead times, exclusivity agreements? Now is your time to ask. You only have so much time here and you can’t afford to spend it kissing frogs.
Ambiente is a microcosm of global business… it’s how millions of people feed their families, educate their children. It’s how they hope to attain a better life. Everything happens because someone adds value to a product and sells it to someone who will pay for it. Here, the buyers are also sellers. To be successful, you must be right more times than you are wrong.
Every year for the past 12 years, I’ve come to Franklfurt and walked past every one of the 4,376 booths in search of hidden gems. I want to find the gems before my arch enemies do. If I find two items or factories of interest… I’ve won. If I find none, then I’ve won as well because I know that they don’t exist on this planet at this time.
Over the years, I’ve seen the rise and fall of trends, colors, textures… and companies. I like to walk the fringes first since most newcomers occupy the less expensive space. I can quickly assess whether you (the exhibitor) “are” the factory or you are a sales agent. I want to work with factories. I can usually tell what your genius is and how it fits into my business… before I even talk to you. You typically have one great product that has led you to the big show. All the other products are just an offshoot of the big idea. If Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn find you here… they can make you rich. Sometimes their demands can bankrupt you as well.
You can’t bullshit me. I’m interested in unique products, processes, techniques for improve product performance… I want to know why your product is better. I don’t want a sales pitch, I want technical information that I will co oberate through testing. I want to know that it’s your idea, and that you’ve created it. I will travel the the ends of the earth to visit your factory and during that visit I will learn everything I need to know to determine whether we can do business. You must be who you say you are and I feel no compulsion to deal with you if you are not. You might be a very nice person, but my job description doesn’t include finding nice people. We can be friends but I will not buy from you. Again, you can’t bullshit me.
I’ve been in and out of hundreds of factories all over the world over the last 30 years. I know old dirt from new dirt, engineering from copying… you cannot fake it til you make it… at least not with me.
The fun side of Ambiente is seeing the breadth of products within product categories and how companies attempt to maintain their relevance. How do 
you innovate to keep your edge? If you can’t improve the technical aspect of your product, maybe you can just make it prettier….. At right is a Dolce Gabbana mixer that costs a few thousand dollars.I’m sure the cake that it makes tastes just as good and determined cook with a wisk. But.. it’s fun to look at.
Another approach is to get a celebrity to pitch your product. Still another is to come up with 50 variation of the same products… size, color, texture. It’s all here… all of it. There are 4,376 booths full of eye candy.
Some companies that exhibit here will be here for the next 100 years. Others will not be here 100 days from now, most likely because they’ve blown the budget on this show and no one found them.
So tomorrow, I’ll use another 10 miles of shoe leather in search the elusive gem…
Untamed Traveler 