CeBIT is dead again!

In May a year and a half ago, I wrote: "And a summer party will not save the IT spectacle. It didn't have to come to this, but arrogance, ignorance and short-sightedness have prevented any positive development of the trade fair concept. [...]

CeBIT is dead because innovative ideas are lacking, because there is no communication concept for this event - not even SAP organizes a CeBIT press conference, those responsible are content with a handshake from the Chancellor and a few nice press photos.

If you had nothing to say at the "old" CeBIT, what do you want to communicate in June 2018? Until the speechlessness of IT providers such as SAP and their partners is broken, any new trade fair concept - regardless of the date - will fail."

In the 21st century, every successful action is based on a consistent and sustainable communication concept. The CeBIT summer festival was incorrectly positioned and communicated.

"It is true that everything can be justified in some way, but the phenomenon of language lies in regularity and consistency in action"wrote the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 to 1951) around 100 years ago.

The Hannover Messe company's greed for money allowed those responsible to justify all sorts of things - but there was never any correspondence with reality.

Wittgenstein is right when he talks about regularity, which is sustainability, so that something new always arises from something once said. Ultimately, the death knell of CeBIT, but also of a European Sapphire, was the speechlessness of all those involved.

"The main impetus for the international SAP community still comes from Europe. Although there are SAP development centers around the world, it is undisputed that Hana was invented in Potsdam at the Hasso Plattner Institute and former SAP CEO Professor Henning Kagermann in Berlin is the "inventor" of Industry 4.0, and double-entry bookkeeping was developed in Venice in the 15th century.

There are enough topics, innovations, visions, SAP partners and existing customers to position a successful Sapphire in Europe - you just have to have the right concept! This is where SAP failed completely.

Top management and marketing failed to read the signs of the times and develop new concepts and event formats."

The same applies to the ex-CeBIT organizers. Anyone who, like SAP, believes that a Ferris wheel at CeBIT is a communication concept is bound to fail. In this respect, Hanover needs a new trade fair management with a concept and SAP needs a new marketing management that understands B2B and does not drive in circles with B2C thoughts.