IWA OutdoorClassics 2024: exploring new horizons

The 50^th anniversary of IWA OutdoorClassics 2024, the leading European exhibition for the hunting and target sports industry, opened new horizons for many. To the Pulsar team, it was an annual opportunity to present the upcoming product launches, meet up with long-time partners, start new friendships and explore the changes in the industry.

Staying at the forefront of innovations

The jubilee of IWA’24 attracted more than 40 000 visitors from 120 countries and a wide range of new products were presented among the 9 thematic halls of the exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany.

Pulsar stayed true to its main goal by presenting several new innovations. Starting with the lineup of the big players like the new multispectral binoculars Merger Duo NXP50, the extended family of the Telos thermal monoculars (as well as the concept of upgradeable products) and the full range of HD resolution thermal devices.

Greeted with great interest by the exhibition visitors were also a more compact version of the Merger LRF XP35 thermal binoculars and the new Axion XQ30 Pro thermal monocular as well as some significant firmware updates, like the one enabling ballistic calculations in Pulsar’s non-LRF riflescopes.

From the first hour of exhibition hall 4A was filled with curious visitors, hunting enthusiasts, rescuers, nature observers, dealers, distributors, and journalists, among the many others.

Seeing how the number of participants offering optics increases every year, Pulsar is proud to be at the forefront of technological innovations. The two-story Pulsar booth got major attention during the entire four days of the exhibition.

Getting to know the new and the existing products

According to Pulsar marketing team representatives, many of the visitors came to get acquainted with a specific device, the presentation of which they had already seen on social networks. While international bloggers, journalists and filmmakers were mostly interested in new product launches and curious to learn about the company’s plans for the future.

Exploring new horizons was one of the goals set for the Pulsar team too. People from different departments all had different goals and tasks. From communicating to the visitors, networking with business partners, giving interviews to the journalists and exploring where the industry is heading in general.

Real hunters sharing their insights

This year Pulsar invited several brand ambassadors to take part in the exhibition. Being avid hunters, they not only share the passion for nature conservation but also use Pulsar products in their hunts and are eager to share their experience.

Christoph Studeny came to IWA straight from another exhibition Die Hohe Jagd & Fischerei which took place in his homeland Austria. He admits to being surprised by the grandeur of IWA OutdoorClassics 2024.

“Due to the fact that it was my first time at IWA, the area felt surreal big for me. As if I would not have the chance to see it all in one single day or even two. IWA is basically about guns, knives, optics, and tactical things, compared to Hohe Jagd which is more about hunting, fishing and outdoor industry,” considers the Austrian hunter.

Christoph noted that IWA is way more international than Hohe Jagd. And that comes very naturally, considering IWA being a B2B exhibition. So, the visitors he met while working at one of the Pulsar stands were mainly interested in new product features and pricing. A bit different than in the Austrian exhibition where the visitors were focused on how to choose the Pulsar device that best suits their needs. 

A shared desire for excellence and adaptation

The second floor of the Pulsar stand where the meetings with partners took place was as busy as the first one throughout the four exhibition days. According to Sviatlana Rykhtar, Pulsar chief sales officer, IWA is used not only for presenting the product line but also for networking with the partners.

“During our annual meetings at IWA, we review the past year’s achievements and develop a strategy for the future together with our distributors in different countries. As for the general mood among distributors, there is a recognition that increasing competition challenges us to redouble our efforts in promotion, training, better marketing, after-sales support, and, of course, bringing innovation to the market. Our partners are looking forward to our new products as well. We and our distributors share a common desire for excellence and adaptation to changing market conditions.”

According to S. Rykhtar, IWA OutdoorClassics 2024 was a great place not only to show what is new with Pulsar and where the company is heading but also to evaluate the direction of the entire hunting industry for the next three to four years.