The five product groups are TABLE AND KITCHEN (articles for the table and products for the kitchen); HOME DECORATION (Furnishing accessories, decorations, textiles and design objects); CLASSIC (Classic furnishing accessories, bomboniere and silver objects for the home), GIFTWARE (Fancy goods, gift articles and stationery); BIJOUX, JEWELLERY AND ACCESSORIES (Gold and costume jewellery, accessories). “The strategy used to bring together (and then arrange) the five containers was to suggest the vastness and the fragmentation of MACEF as an aggregation not so much of products as actual “show containers” (some with different dates and durations), also with a view to a greater and better identification and positioning of each of these worlds in the future” says Martini.

There are numerous collateral events: from the successful “Costume Jewellery Oscars” organized by the Ornamenta magazine and designed to highlight the creative verve of companies in the sector, to another edition of Art&Flowers, organized by Floral Designer, the fifth edition of the International Martini Prize for design and numerous initiatives concerning food. Even bigger than before is the Creazioni events area organized in collaboration with Artex, the Centre for Artistic and Traditional Tuscan Crafts, and designed to provide a space for those not so few traditional crafts enterprises (not exclusively Italian) able to produce small series of objects characterized by a high degree of creativity and mastery. Creazioni brings together truly original research and skills that give the professional visitor unique, appreciable signs that differentiate MACEF and give it recognition on the international trade fair scene.

The concept which inspired the Creazioni initiative – the presentation of previews to the distribution sector – also continues at the Club House in the Service Centre, a unique space reserved for overseas buyers. Here, in an elegant atmosphere enlivened by tasting sessions of traditional Italian wine, a very special event will be held called “The shapes of things to come”, where design will be the guest of honour. A number of projects still in the design and testing stage will be presented to buyers for ideas and suggestions on the best way to complete their development. “This is an initiative without equal among other trade fairs – says architect and designer Marco Migliari, the organizer – because it will mean innovative products can be given a test run by influential buyers before making their entry into the market. The dimensions, colours and shapes of new products still under development can be evaluated to make them as close as possible to what qualified distributors deem to be the expectations and tastes of the current market”.

Another similar initiative designed to promote quality craftsmanship - called D’A Gallery Point – is promoted by the D’A Gallery association and will be held in Hall 10. The creative artisans involved (about ten) will put their work on show in small equipped areas. In the same area, the Ediemme Bookshop will be present with copies of the all the editions published in the magazine’s first 18 years of existence, a retrospective on Wladimiro Tulli (ceramics from 1957 to 1997) and the works featured on the covers of D’A magazine during 2007. Completing the area will be the D’A Cafe with the chefs from Locande Occitane backed by Poderi Luigi Einaudi, reiterating the philosophy behind their cuisine: “simple dishes, noble flavours and a no-waste culture”.

Still on the topic of food and the numerous initiatives organized directly by exhibitors, we should mention the pairing between Eataly, the biggest enogastronomic market in the world which brings together small producers who have been producing limited quantities of the highest quality food for generations, and Guzzini. All in Hall 5, to be inaugurated on Friday, 18 January from 12.00 noon to 2.00pm (the event will be opened by Nello Martini, Macef Exhibition Director, Oscar Farinetti of Eataly and Domenico Guzzini. President of Fratelli Guzzini). On Saturday 19 and Sunday 20, Eataly, Guzzini and Macef will continue to offer tasting sessions on the theme of all-Italian good eating and living.

The publicity campaign devised by Hi Communication also underlines the same concept of a show that is increasingly a point of reference for buyers and distributors of products for the home. “With the slogan where the world is at home – says Martini - MACEF wants to reiterate its commitment to building an international show, both with regard to exhibitors and to visitors. The internationality of the visitors, which has increased over the past few years, is guaranteed by the fact that MACEF, to a greater extent and better than any other trade fair event, represents “made in Italy”, that is, the design and production of thousands of mainly small or medium businesses whose market is the world and who are able to attract thousands of buyers to Milan and to Italy.

However, these buyers want to compare Italian and international production. And so it is that MACEF, while it remains the great “made in Italy” show, has been able to count for years on an average of 25% foreign exhibitors – businesses that come to Italy to penetrate the Italian market (among the ten richest in the world) or to meet their foreign clients here in Milan.

The promotional campaign for this edition of the International Home Show has been very active, both internationally (with a special “promotion desk” and tailor made initiatives held between April and October in Chicago, Hong Kong, Montreal, Tokyo, New Delhi, Bangkok and Sao Paolo) and at home with strong ties with those institutions charged with promoting local businesses (such as the Chambers of Commerce) or with the associations which represent the visitors (Confcommercio). Progetto Sud, which made discounted travel packages available to over 1,100 visitors from the regions of Southern Italy, will be on offer again.

Among the communication tools, the show’s web site is going from strength to strength, both from the information point of view (www.macef.it has reached 1 million pages viewed) and as a business engine (10 thousand tickets sold on-line for the last September MACEF). The www.mymacef.it portal created to provide exhibitors with immediate solutions to all possible technical or bureaucratic problems, continues to be a big success, with 70 thousand hits (nearly a thousand new users registered in the past two months), a success rate which is also the result of an active information campaign through a fortnightly newsletter.

The heart of MACEF remains that of a great trade fair at which exhibitors collect direct or future orders and develop the business contacts made at the show. Alongside this, which remains its basic prerogative (and which differentiates MACE from other big Italian trade fairs which over time have become more than anything shop windows and “events”), MACEF is developing its own specific propensity for communication, inevitable in an era of globalization. And it is doing it, together with its exhibitors, by creating marketing initiatives aimed at improving and developing the relationship between exhibiting companies and distributors (retailers, specialist shops, large-scale distributors, wholesalers…)..