VISITORS to The Big 5 show “will be able to see for the first time the really massive commitment of Henkel to the Middle East and Africa”, according to Thorsten Schneider, marketing manager professional adhesives.

Henkel, considered to be the world’s largest manufacturer of adhesives, has built an impressive 100-sq-m double-decker stand at the exhibition, where it will be showcasing its major brands of adhesive technologies for construction professionals and craftsmen and consumers, as well as its range of general and industrial adhesives such as Loctite.

These include key innovations from Henkel Polybit, a leading manufacturer for waterproofing and construction chemicals with the brands Polybit, Ceresit and Thomsit in the Middle East and Henkel Consumer and Craftsmen Adhesives, which delivers system solutions in strong bonding, sealants, PU (polyurethane) foams, piping and renovation and decoration with the brands Pattex, Metylan and Tangit.

This massive investment in The Big 5 show experience mirrors Henkel’s commitment to the region following the relocation of all of its special business units (SBUs) dealing with the Middle East and Africa, which were previously located in Germany, Turkey, Austria and France, into a single regional office set up in Dubai Silicon Oasis in Dubai, UAE.

As a result, the stand will be fully staffed with its technical managers as well as SBU managers and business directors all the way up to Kim Targesen, Henkel’s general manager for the GCC region and Csaba Szendrei, vice-president adhesives, Middle East and Africa.

Henkel will have a number of novelty attractions on the stand to engage and educate visitors about the wide range of products on show. These include the ‘Pattex tower’, which visitors can help decorate by sticking on pieces of glass, mirror and rock using the legendary contact adhesive.

“We want people to be part of the Pattex exercise. Unfortunately, there is not enough space to do the hanging man exercise,” Schneider says, referring to the popular worldwide advertising campaign whereby a person is hung upside down secured by just three drops of Loctite contact adhesive on his shoes. “We have done that in Europe using one of our board members but you need at least 30 sq m for that and we are already squeezed for space to show off all the products we have here in the Middle East,” he says.

There will be no lack of amusement, however, as Henkel will be showing the full range of hilarious Pattex ‘no more nails’ brand television commercials that are airing in the US. There will be a spinning wheel quiz, whereby visitors can spin and win gifts in return for answering a small questionnaire about Henkel and their familiarity with its products.

In addition, Henkel hopes to emulate its 2009 success by entering two new toluene-free contact adhesive formulations into this year’s Gaia awards. The new formulations are the result of Henkel’s commitment to sustainability, which has won it numerous prestigious international awards. Not only is toluene highly addictive it also causes cancer and Henkel is believed to be the only company producing toluene-free contact adhesives in the Middle East, according to Schneider.
Henkel is aiming to have its entire range of consumer and craftsmen adhesives free of harmful solvents by 2013.
Henkel can be visited at Stand A 171 in Hall 4.