ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Most stands at ISSA-Interclean give pride of place to their products and cover their walls with positioning statements.

This is perfectly understandable, but it was a pleasant change to visit the Wepa stand which had the appearance of a scene from a children's fairytale.

Log cabins, pretend trees, fake signposts and a storage cupboard in the style of a hunting lodge made the booth stand out from its neighbours. And suspended above it all was a 360 degree image of rolling green countryside.

"That's the view from my office window," explained Wepa's head of sales Ralph Kaufmann. The company is based in Sauerland in rural Germany, an area known for its hunting, skiing and cycling.

"Many of our customers know the area well and come to Sauerland on holiday," said Kaufmann. "So we thought we would bring Sauerland to the show and create a pleasant environment in which to meet our customers."

Among the latest offerings from Wepa - which manufactures paper products and dispensers - is the Wepa BagPack. This is a packaging system for hand towels that has a handle and perforations for easier opening and carrying. However, products appeared to be merely incidental on the company's heavily-themed stand.

"We are very proud of our region and we wanted to show our roots," said head of marketing Matthias Post. "But let's face it - hygiene papers aren't really sexy. So it has to be all about the storytelling."