50 years of tomorrow!
Now is the time to unleash the world-changing power of sport and the outdoors
ISPO integrated service-portfolio creates valuable connections and moments among business professionals and among consumers. 365 days a year. Worldwide. Challenges of today cannot be dealt with yesterday’s solutions. hence ISPO encourages new perspectives in the market and the sports industry. The future of the sports industry was shaped in the heart of ISPO and it is unleashing the world-changing power that lies in sports and outdoors and placing it in the spotlight of society.
Team TEXtalks interviewed the Exhibition Director of ISPO, Lena Haushofer who strongly believes that driving forward partnerships, initiatives, and innovations beyond the trade fair, and discussing current pressing issues is vital.
TEXtalks: Can you explain how and why the idea of ISPO came into existence?
Lena Haushofer: ISPO celebrated its premiere in March 1970 with just over 800 exhibitors and more than 10,000 trade visitors. In 2022, ISPO Munich alone hosted over 1700 exhibitors and more than 40,000 trade visitors. And with ISPO Beijing and ISPO Shanghai, there are two trade fairs, especially for the Asian market. The basic idea of ISPO is to bring together the sports industry. And that means more than organizing trade fairs. Accelerating sports is our journey into a new era since 2017. We are liberating our business model from the constraints of being only a tradeshow, without turning our backs on this veritable melting pot either – because they are more relevant than ever but need to be looked at from a broader angle. We sell valuable connections which accelerate the global evolution of sports. Globally, all year round, across target groups.
TEXtalks: ISPO is known as the global ecosystem of sports. Can you highlight a few ingredients for ISPO’s huge success?
Lena Haushofer: One of the recipes for our success is definitely the providing of “ valuable Connections”. We create and develop throughout the sports market. ISPO connects and facilitates valuable contacts between brands, business professionals, retailers and consumers worldwide.
ISPO is more then a trade fair – it is a platform that plans ahead and seeks early solutions to current challenges such as supply chain delays, energy crisis, sustainability etc. Our world is facing massive upheavals for which brands, companies and organisations need to prepare. ISPO helps brands to find orientation and to chart a path in a certain way. We focus on innovation, as the sports industry thrives on innovation. The sports market is constantly evolving, eagerly embracing innovative ideas and passing them on to the active. Recreational athletes and sports professionals form the test laboratory, the touchstone and the consumer base for ever new products.
TEXtalks: How is ISPO driving and promoting the evolution of sports?
Lena Haushofer: We are service providers, accelerators, door openers, partners, a network, thought leaders, experts and trainers. Supporting and promoting sport in all its facets is an essential part of our DNA. We understand our clients and their customers – speak their language, understand their world because it is ours. When we bring our clients forward with the power of our network, we strengthen sport at the same time. We are the worlds leading platform for sports business and give sport the important voice that corresponds to its position in many of our societies.
TEXtalks: ISPO has been doing great work by promoting sustainable products and innovation. Can you please highlight a few examples that have become a symbol of success through the ISPO platform?
Lena Haushofer: There are a lot of exceptional products that have caught our attention. The Swiss running shoe brand ON, for example, started as the winner of an ISPO brandnew award in a segment where there is truly no shortage of products. Today, the brand is one of the hottest running shoes among consumers.
This year, we honoured 58 products in the final session of the ISPO Awards 2022. One of the awards went to the snowboard brand Doubledeck. The company presented a completely new snowboard technology at ISPO Munich 22. The Bow-Construction is supposed to improve power transmission and make canting almost impossible when snowboarding. on the second day of the trade fair, Doubledeck already informed us that the company had sold all of its boards.
With the ISPO Award and the ISPO Brandnew Award, we help innovative and sustainable products and brands gain more visibility. This year’s Brandnew Award was won e.g. by Ida Sports, an Australian company that manufactures sports shoes especially for women.
TEXtalks: When global brands struggle to become climate neutral. ISPO has set even bigger goals beyond climate, beyond ISPO Munich, beyond the ISPO group, and the sports and outdoors industry. How is ISPO going to achieve that?
Lena Haushofer: We see it as our responsibility as a sports industry to ensure greater sustainability. For some years now, ISPO has seen itself not only as a trade fair, but also as an international network of platforms. We offer exchange opportunities to clearly analyse where the sports industry stands in terms of sustainability, so that we can jointly define and plan intermediate steps. I believe that in this way we offer relevant sports brands an important framework for future sustainable brand development.
Messe München, the organiser of ISPO, has set itself the goal of operating in a CO2-neutral manner by 2030 we are well on the way to achieving this goal.
TEXtalks: How does ISPO’s network-oriented management consulting help sports brands solve their challenges and realize plans for their own benefit?
Lena Haushofer: It was clear to see that ISPO Munich has, in the meantime, become far more than just a product show for the sporting goods industry: It is the platform for driving forward partnerships, initiatives and innovations beyond the trade fair, and discussing current pressing issues. Just one example: Winter sports in Europe is facing what is probably the biggest challenge yet. At ISPO Munich we have organized a panel of prominent speakers that discussed all the pressing issues to find solutions for the future of winter sports.
TEXtalks: ISPO Textrends is a unique platform to learn about innovative fabrics, fibers, and accessories for functional textiles. This year, how many products compete for Textrends Awards 2022?
Lena Haushofer: This year 350 products were judged by the international jury of textile experts – with 317 awarded within Textrends. We got 10 categories, in which innovative fabrics, fibers, trims, and accessories can be entered. At the jury meeting two categories will be added: Accelerated Eco and Performing Finishes. The Products are reviewed by two international juries of experts. The best entries are chosen and will benefit from extensive sales and promotional services.
TEXtalks: What is The Future Lab, and how does it accelerate the development potential of the sports industry?
Lena Haushofer: Future Lab is the new heart of ISPO Munich. It will serve not only as a venue for discussions about new products and transformation, but also enable visitors and exhibitors to look beyond the horizon of their own industry in the Retail, Digitize and Sustainability Hub. This year the hall also served as a stage for a large number of athletes who attended ISPO Munich. The presentation of the newly conceived ISPO Cup was held in the Future Lab on the evening of the first exhibition day. At the ISPO Cup Night the award was presented to Patagonia for exceptional social engagement.
TEXtalks: With the efforts ISPO is making for sports, it can be said that the future of sports is in the safe hands. What are your expectations for the changes and trends in the near future?
Lena Haushofer: We are dealing with a lot of challenges in the sport market, such as disrupted supply chains, changing order cycles, rapidly rising energy prices, climate change and increased digitalization. No single person or brand alone can bring “safety”. We are all challenged to work on the future of our sector. That’s why it is so important to have a common platform where we can discuss together about challenges and solutions.
ISPO Munich 2022 has shown us once more that change is gonna happen permanently and many brands are ready to go new, more sustainable ways and invest in promising solutions.
