News 
On the eve of the new year, the 2025 edition of EPHJ to be held from 3 to 6 June is taking shape. It was presented to exhibitors by Alexandre Catton, director of the event, at the now traditional breakfasts held in various cities. The Bern edition welcomed Yves Bugmann, President of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, along with Ludovic Voillat, Secretary General of the Swiss Watch Industry Employers’ Association, to give an overview of the industry.
In 2024, the EPHJ attracted 765 exhibitors (up 2% on 2023) from 11 different countries. The companies present worked for the watch and jewellery (91%), microtechnology (55%) and medtech (52%) sectors. Whether they were there to discover new machines, meet new suppliers, spot innovations or make contacts, 23,000 visitors from 46 countries and five continents attended the event last spring. It’s worth noting that 84% of the audience is involved in the decision to buy the products or technologies identified at the venue.
Significant changes have been noted in the habits of EPHJ visitors and exhibitors. Professionals are making increasingly short visits and are seeking maximum efficiency. In response to the problem of fluctuating business in the various sectors, exhibitors are diversifying their offerings, with a particular focus on medtech. To keep pace with this paradigm shift, the show offers companies support in attracting visitors from other horizons, helping their customers to plan their visit or to communicate even more effectively about their activities before, during and after the event.
The Geneva show’s communications department provides access to a network of 30,000 professional contacts dedicated to high precision. Ongoing links with the press and trade associations, digital communication via several annual newsletters, the website, LinkedIn campaigns as well as the viral effect of social media provide a set of optimal means for reaching a large community of customers and prospects. The mobile app is a tool that meets visitors’ needs during and after the show, with 43% of them planning to use it between two editions. Finally, the EPHJ Sailon Daily, distributed on all the booths, reaches several thousand more people via the website and professional social media platforms.
At EPHJ, new introductions with potentially game-changing effects on the sector rub shoulders with small technological improvements in the production chain. These can contribute to economies of scale, productivity gains, higher efficiency, enhanced precision, improved safety or better quality control. The event has decided to give greater prominence to these innovations by publishing a first edition of the EPHJ Innovation Digest in three languages (French, English, German). While it is not necessarily exhaustive, readers will find it contains the 50 major innovations presented at the 2024 event. This initiative complements the visibility given to the companies nominated each year for the Exhibitors’ Grand Prix and the Innovation Forum.
December 05, 2024