Archive for month: June, 2016
Dr. Tonio Kröger, Managing Director of antoni GmbH, in an interview with Professor Riekhof
Dr. Tonio Kröger is one of the speakers at the 6th Göttingen Marketing Day. In the run-up to the event on November 11, 2016, Professor Riekhof spoke with Dr. Tonio Kröger.
Prof. Riekhof: You founded the agency antoni together with André Kemper in 2015. Aren’t there enough agencies already? Or have you discovered a special niche for yourself?
Dr. Kröger: Certainly there are enough agencies on the market. We did not discover a niche, but we have faced the challenges of the market with our agency and focus all our energy on a single client and their special needs. A concept that can of course be duplicated in this form.
Prof. Riekhof: Agencies are professionals in helping companies sharpen their brands. Does this also apply to the agencies themselves? Do agencies have a really sharp brand profile?
Dr. Kröger: Agency life is a people’s business. Thus, the profile of an agency is not only shaped by the range of services, but also very much by the people who run the agency. Charismatic and visionary personalities thus also help an agency to a sharp and distinctive profile.
Prof. Riekhof: And what is the brand profile or brand promise of antoni?
Dr. Kröger: We love the open and honest announcement. It makes us fast and builds trust. Our way of working, our ideas – everything unfolds more impact and power when it is simple. And this is also simple: We focus all our attention on one goal. We act courageously and remain humble. What we think, we say. What we say, we do. This applies both to our interaction with each other and to our cooperation with the customer.
Prof. Riekhof: You have some experience in consulting the automotive industry. How indispensable is long-term industry experience? Do you sometimes need people without the supposedly necessary expertise, but with an outside perspective? Or is an intensive understanding of customers indispensable?
Dr. Kröger: Basically, you should have a good understanding of what you are doing. Especially in the automotive industry, long-term industry expertise and understanding of market rules is invaluable.
Prof. Riekhof: Consumer behavior is changing, the media landscape is undergoing a dramatic upheaval. What does this mean for brand communication?
Dr. Kröger: The brand and thus brand communication is becoming more and more the differentiating factor. Especially in the area of technically complex products, whose features are increasingly converging over time, the brand as a sender is gaining in importance. It creates trust and helps the consumer to orientate themselves.
Prof. Riekhof: Content marketing is currently on everyone’s lips, even though content marketing has been around for many decades (just think of the Michelin Guide, which has little to do directly with tires). Is content marketing a short-term fashion phenomenon for you, or will it become a new paradigm in marketing?
Dr. Kröger: Content marketing will certainly not become a new paradigm. But content marketing will certainly become more challenging and demanding. Technical developments make it possible to supply not only certain target groups, but the individual customer (segment of one) with information and content tailored specifically to him in the channels relevant to him.
Prof. Riekhof: Thank you very much for the interview.
Reinhard Vogt, member of the board of Sartorius AG, in conversation with Professor Riekhof
Reinhard Vogt from Sartorius AG will speak on November 11, 2016 as part of the 6th Göttingen Marketing Day. Professor Riekhof spoke with Reinhard Vogt in advance.
Prof. Riekhof: Sartorius looks back on an extremely successful corporate development. Are there any special success factors that you can reveal to us?
Vogt: There are a number of success factors, but the most important is probably the strategy developed in the 90s, which had focus and differentiation as essential content.
Prof. Riekhof: What role do innovations play for Sartorius? Is Sartorius perceived as particularly innovative in the market?
Vogt: Innovations play a big role, but only when they can be commercialized and lead to differentiation.
Prof. Riekhof: Innovative companies can often achieve price premiums. How is Sartorius positioned against the main competitors here?
Vogt: Sartorius operates in the biopharma sector in a premium segment, with the topic of “Value Pricing” being of utmost importance. If we create the greatest added value, which we are mostly able to do, we can also achieve the highest prices.
Prof. Riekhof: What special focuses does Sartorius set in marketing? Which communication channels play a special role today and in the future?
Vogt: The focus of marketing is always differentiation and creating added value for the customer. Communication channels have changed a lot in recent years. Trade fairs, for example, play an increasingly smaller role, and all digital communication channels, including social media, are becoming increasingly important in B2B.
Prof. Riekhof: Some international B2B corporations have a very carefully developed brand portfolio. How does Sartorius deal with product brands?
Vogt: This is a complex topic, especially against the background of constant acquisitions. In principle, one can say that we integrate products of acquisitions that can be assigned to our field of competence directly into the Sartorius brand portfolio, but use a migration strategy for acquisitions of new technologies. However, it is important that we bring clearly recognizable Sartorius design features into all products.
Prof. Riekhof: Even in the B2B sector, online business is becoming increasingly important, especially in cooperation with distributors. What challenges do you see in relation to the online channels for Sartorius?
Vogt: Online business is becoming increasingly important in the B2B sector. We assume that by 2020 already 30% of our business will be handled online, but one must distinguish between procurement tool and buying tool. The big challenges are undoubtedly content management and the adaptation of all processes to the online tool.
Prof. Riekhof: What role does direct dialogue with your customers play in the marketing strategy? Are there forums where users can exchange information about the production processes in which Sartorius products are used?
Vogt: No matter how you look at it, even in the highly technologized B2B sector, the emotional area plays a crucial role in every purchase decision. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has not lost its importance for marketing and sales to this day, probably even increased. The satisfaction of these needs is most likely given by direct dialogue. Professional congresses and forums are ideal meeting places for direct dialogue in a neutral environment.
Prof. Riekhof: Sartorius owns a number of patents in the field of augmented reality. What is the background, where do you see the future fields of application?
Vogt: We see the applications in various areas such as sales, marketing, training and customer support. The topic here is also innovation and differentiation.
Prof. Riekhof: Thank you very much for the conversation!
Interview with Markus Reischl from Salesforce Germany by Professor Riekhof
Markus Reischl is one of the speakers at the 6th Göttingen Marketing Day on November 11, 2016. Professor Riekhof conducted an interview with Markus Reischl, Regional Vice President Alliances & Channels EMEA Central Salesforce Germany, in advance.
Prof. Riekhof: Brands and marketing traditionally play a lesser role in B2B business than in B2C business. If you compare yourself with your direct competitors: is marketing and branding more important at Salesforce?
Markus Reischl: Absolutely. Although Salesforce is the market leader for cloud-based CRM solutions, we have to establish “Salesforce Germany” as a brand in Germany. That was also the reason why we moved our WorldTour in Germany from Munich to Hanover to CeBIT. We design individual customer journeys for our customers across all digital channels such as email, mobile & social media…or also via Pardot for B2B marketing automation/mailings…
Prof. Riekhof: What does the Salesforce brand stand for?
Markus Reischl: Salesforce stands for “Customer Success & Customer Centricity”. Salesforce also stands for a unique business & technology model. Thanks to multitenancy, all Salesforce customers are always up to date thanks to a common infrastructure and automatically receive three releases per year. With the metadata platform, we have an easily adaptable and scalable platform, with the adjustments remaining even after an update. Salesforce also stands for an open ecosystem with a wide range of partner applications that are available to our customers via the world’s leading marketplace “App Exchange”. In addition, Salesforce stands for “Giving Back” with our philanthropy model 1- 1 -1. 1% of employee time, 1% of equity, 1% of our products for charitable purposes.
Prof. Riekhof: If you were to describe the principles and strategic orientation of marketing at Salesforce: what do you place particular emphasis on, what is at the center of marketing activities?
Markus Reischl: The customer is always at the center and what the customer has achieved with Salesforce: higher sales productivity, better response times in service etc. If you go to a Salesforce event today, Salesforce communicates the possibilities of the solution or various clouds (Sales/ Service/ Marketing/Community/Analytics/App Dev/IoT) via concrete “Customer Success Stories”.
Prof. Riekhof: Salesforce is growing internationally by about $1.5 billion per year, which is enormous growth that is unparalleled. What are the success factors that generate this growth for you?
Markus Reischl: “Customer Success”. If we let our existing customers report on their successes, we get potential customers excited. Salesforce as a “brand” lives and grows with and through satisfied customers.
Prof. Riekhof: Such high growth must first be managed by an organization. Are there strategies for internal marketing to integrate the newly added employees (number?) each year and explain to them what Salesforce stands for?
Markus Reischl: Onboarding at Salesforce is a process perfected down to the last detail. Every employee goes on a 1-week boot camp and prepares for two to three weeks in advance via video studies and must also pass corresponding “badges” before the boot camp to be admitted. In addition to all the content, the company culture “Ohana” is in the foreground. Thus, every employee flies to the Salesforce headquarters in the USA for the boot camp to experience the company culture on site and to carry it back into the regions.
Prof. Riekhof: Salesforce relies on cloud computing. Customers entrust you with their very sensitive CRM data. Salesforce even works for companies that are in direct competition with each other. How do you manage to get customers to trust Salesforce so much?
Markus Reischl: TRUST is our #1 value. https://trust.salesforce.com
Prof. Riekhof: Salesforce consistently relies heavily on digital channels in customer communication. Can you give us examples of how you make Salesforce digitally tangible for your customers?
Markus Reischl: So, first of all, we ban every Customer Success Story on video, and these videos can be accessed by our customers via YouTube. Here are some examples:
Coca Cola: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAYS8C3g_k4
Bugatti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGPCPGefPSE
Dreamforce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRS1y4_zNug
In addition, Salesforce relies on the Community Cloud to network certain user groups accordingly and to integrate them into a communication flow, such as for the Customer Community: https://success.salesforce.com
The Partner Community: https://partners.salesforce.com
The Marketing Cloud for individual customer approach (1-1 Customer Journeys) is essential for our direct approach.
To name just a few examples: https://www.salesforce.com/marketing-cloud/overview/
Prof. Riekhof: During our visit to the Salesforce headquarters during our Silicon Valley excursion of the PFH Göttingen, we learned that Salesforce sees itself as a premium provider that also realizes premium prices. What is the most important argument with which you justify premium prices to your customers?
Markus Reischl: Customer Success!
Prof. Riekhof: Thank you very much for the interview.
Report on the research project StadtRAD Hamburg
About the recently published report on the research project, which PFH conducted together with DB Rent – a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn – for the users of the bike sharing StadtRAD Hamburg, the following online portal is referred to: idw – Science Information Service
Maik Richter, Managing Director of the agency Heimat Berlin, in conversation with Professor Riekhof
As part of the 6th Göttingen Marketing Day on November 11, 2016, Maik Richter from the Heimat agency will talk about the success of the Hornbach campaigns. In advance, Professor Riekhof conducted an interview with Maik Richter.
Prof. Riekhof: Hornbach is the hardware store with the cheekiest and at the same time most attention-grabbing advertising compared to its direct competitors. What do you attribute this to?
Maik Richter: The courage and intelligence of all those involved. And having decided to do it differently than everyone else. And to move away from a product-, price- and offer-driven communication and to go their own way. Hornbach has been doing this for over 15 years. We don’t always have to be the cheekiest – and we’re not always – but those who understand the DIY enthusiast and his needs best. The DIY enthusiasts feel this. They find themselves and a “brother in spirit” at Hornbach. From the very beginning, we have been concerned with understanding what drives hardware store customers, DIY enthusiasts and makers. And then implemented it in communication in such a way that Hornbach is also understood by its (potential) customers, is recognized as “one of us”. In a way that of course first has to get attention in order to be heard at all. The presentation is spectacular, the core and thus the messages of the Hornbach advertising are always relevant for their recipients.
Prof. Riekhof: What does Hornbach advertising convey? What is Hornbach’s long-term positioning? Is there a risk that each campaign sends a new message, so that the brand core is not visible enough?
Maik Richter: Hornbach stands for “passion for projects”. And is thus the aforementioned brother in spirit of every DIY enthusiast. This spirit is in all Hornbach campaigns – and especially in the daily activities of all those who work at Hornbach. So it’s not just about a big promise, but about a kept promise. This substance in the brand and its performance gives tailwind for this type of communication. Hornbach will not disappoint its customers. And that’s how we communicate. Based on communication, nobody will expect poor performance. On the contrary: good advice, good products, a wide range and good prices are expected. Even if we don’t talk about it in detail in a large part of the communication. You are right, each campaign sends a new “message”, in the form of a campaign motto, a product like the Hornbach hammer made of tank steel or refers to current events. However, this always comes from the core of the brand and its attitude. The result: You can recognize Hornbach advertising immediately.
Prof. Riekhof: Do you test new campaigns before they go on air? Have there been any significant findings that have led to changes in campaigns?
Maik Richter: Yes, we test all campaigns before they are implemented. And the insights gained have also led to changes. For us, it is crucial that our messages arrive and in this context something is changed here and there so that it can be better understood. However, it is important not to be “Mafo-dependent” in the classic sense. The respondents reference with what they know. And so you can run the risk of nipping something new in the bud. Although the opposite happens to us in Hornbach research: Sometimes an idea is not “Hornbach enough”. Consumers have understood the Hornbach way and are immediately critical as soon as a campaign is in danger of becoming interchangeable and might also be conceivable in this form with a competitor.
Prof. Riekhof: How is the marketing budget distributed across the various channels, and what will the distribution probably look like in 3 years? Does Heimat as an agency look after the activities for all channels in the sense of “Integrated Marketing”?
Maik Richter: I’m afraid I can’t explain that to you in detail. A little secret recipe has to remain. As the lead agency, we take care of all channels and, together with the Hornbach marketing team and the media agency, ensure a meaningful design and a sensible size distribution. We started playing across multiple channels with Hornbach very early on. With Ron Hammer, a viral hit was created as early as 2006, without “viral” even being a buzzword. “The borderless house”, the “Hornbach hammer made of tank steel” were campaigns that mainly used digital channels. At the core is always the idea – and if it’s good, it’s media-neutral at first and finds its way to its target group in the right place. The brand has a lot to say, the substance is there and this goes from the TV spot to the POS. In social media, on hornbach.de, in the Macher magazine for example. But also at the regulars’ table, when the DIY enthusiasts talk to each other. We want to be in people’s minds when they need a partner for a project. And not to talk them into one.
Prof. Riekhof: How do you organize the internal agency work for Hornbach? Are there several teams working on Hornbach campaigns to unleash more creativity?
Maik Richter: There is a whole team, also called “Unit”. This not only unleashes more creativity, as you say, but a large team is also necessary to cope with the sum of communication tasks. We not only have a certain number of major campaigns a year, but much more. This ranges from the development of a private label to daily action on social media.
Prof. Riekhof: Can you tell us what the resource deployment for the marketing campaigns at Hornbach looks like compared to the competitors? Does Hornbach spend more money on media campaigns?
Maik Richter: I’m pleased about this question. Because it almost implies a bit that one could think that. The opposite is the case. Hornbach spends less money on it, but is still the communicative leader in the entire industry. This is due to the – as you called it at the beginning – “cheekiest” communication. The one you notice, the one you remember, the one you like to deal with. And the one you then discuss at the regulars’ table or with friends. And this media redistribution costs nothing, but still takes place.
Prof. Riekhof: How is the success control of the campaigns designed? Are there standardized success controls and scorecards with which campaigns are compared in terms of their media performance?
Maik Richter: The performance is continuously measured and we see exactly when certain evaluation parameters change. Individual campaigns work differently strongly, but all at a very high level. Most of the time we already know in advance which campaign will become audience favorites and then stand out accordingly, but sometimes there are also surprises. We get this very quickly through research.
Prof. Riekhof: What does a creative process at Heimat look like? How do you find the extraordinary ideas, such as the “Do something against ugly” campaign? And do these ideas always find immediate acceptance with the customer?
Maik Richter: There is no real process. That’s probably part of the secret. We try a lot and don’t stick to things if it turns out they don’t work properly. We discard a lot – and stay in a good mood. What also belongs to it are the opinions of colleagues. Each one is important. There is no classic hierarchy, the better idea decides. And we have many, very different characters in our team. There is also friction. This mix of – let’s say – common sense and madness is certainly very helpful. Above all, however, it is the close look, the empathy into the target group of the DIY enthusiast, to always find topics and ideas that connect to their very own motives. And thus are relevant and lead to success. With the customer, things always gain acceptance when they make sense in the way just described. We talk about the form of design here and there, of course. But through a common basic conviction we quickly agree and we as an agency never have to persuade the customer to dare something, on the contrary. Prof. Riekhof: Thank you very much for the conversation.