**Where do I come from?**

I was born in 1970, come from Hanover and have been very lucky to be self-employed all my life. This allows me to deal with what I enjoy most - brands.

My first company was a snowboard label that I founded with my brother when I was at school. During my business studies in Bavaria, I then built up a franchise sports chain and worked in marketing at adidas.

By chance, I got my first assignment for the brand relaunch of a B2B client before my exams. So shortly afterwards I founded a full-service agency in Berlin with the rotor°Mediengruppe. However, our growth got out of control with the advent of the internet and so, at the birth of our first daughter, I faced my first and last bankruptcy.

Then I had the great fortune to meet Jochen Pläcking and founded the brand consultancy kleinundpläcking with him in 2005. Not only did I have a great time with him. Jochen is still my role model in terms of generosity and forbearance. And so we have not only been able to provide strategic support for many large and small brands since then. We have also managed to permanently evolve from a pure brand consultancy.

Today, our strategy team brings companies forward comprehensively in brand, corporate, organisational and sustainability issues. This not only ensures even closer client relationships, but also gives me great pleasure. Over time, I started giving lectures on strategic brand management. I'm still allowed to do that today at WHU in Vallendar.


**What drives me?**

I not only like to be on the move, I also like to move things forward. This applies to me, my family and our company. 
Here I feel lucky every day, as one of six partners, to be able to advise our clients on brand strategy issues. 

I have also set myself the goal of abolishing the ideals of homo oeconomicus and replacing them with more sustainable value creation. I call this homo in mundum.

I know that our generation can succeed in not developing productivity at the expense of individuals or our planet. If we want to act responsibly, all we have to do is define corporate performance in terms of an equal balance of material, human and planetary added value. And if the whole thing is supposed to be fun for us consumers, then I call it RAMP.

In my home town of Potsdam, as in Berlin, I meet people every day who act in a sustainable way. That spurs me on.


**What is my strategy?**

Courage and humility.

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### Vita

- Strategic Brand Management, K'UP
- Lecturer for Brand Management, WHU Beisheim School of Management
- Head of Strategy, AM Creative
- Founder and Managing Director redor°Media Group
- Junior Marketing Manager adidas
- Graduate in Business Administration
- Savings bank clerk
- Founder Klein Schneebretter

### Challenge
The base was the idea of a new company in the commodities and financial investment business. An unprecedented investment platform for strategic metals and rare earths such as gallium for solar technology, indium for TV sets or bismuth, which is used in medical technology. K’UP was asked to lead a holistic innovation process.

### Strategy
Together with the client, K’UP developed the product innovation and backed it up with a corporate and brand strategy, a naming and a stringent product nomenclature. In addition, a digital customer journey was developed and a corporate design was launched, which laid the foundation for a successful start in a new market.

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Erden Invest – Pulling off something completely new in the financial market

**Where do I come from?**

I moved to Cologne in 2015 to study design. In the years that followed, I worked as a graphic designer in various creative agencies, sometimes painting over the edge of the seven semesters, assisting clients with their projects and helping companies position themselves successfully in the market. I've never fully committed myself to one area, but have covered a wide range of areas, from marketing to editorial to social media. Since August 2020, I have been responsible as a strategy designer at Kleinundpläcking for making strategies and the positioning of brands both visible and tangible.


**What drives me?**

For me, design means combining functionality with aesthetics. Translating concepts, opinions and wishes and giving them a form. Paying attention to them and making them think. It was clear to me very early on that I wanted to create something sustainable with what I do that would last. Giving companies a face and creating brand experiences is therefore what drives and motivates me every day. 

I am fascinated by foreign cultures and love to get to know them with a backpack on my back. 


**What is my strategy?**

Stay curious, question things and make people think for themselves.

### Vita

- Communication designer at farbenkollektiv, Cologne
- Working student marketing communication at capinio, Cologne
- Internship creation at Punktlandung, Hamburg
- Semester abroad *Visual Communication* Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
- Working student graphic design at eCouleur, Cologne
- B.A. Media and Communication Design at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Cologne

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**Where do I come from?**

I am a native New Yorker, born in Manhattan and also raised by the sea. In addition to the United States, I have lived in London, Madrid, Rio, and Paris. 
I have built my career across management consulting, brand/channel planning, marketing and revenue generation for brands and agencies alike. 


**What drives me?**

I have an endless curiosity about people and culture. I have traveled, lived, and worked across the globe. This passion for understanding what makes individuals connect, interact with/consume brands, how/where they spend their time/money, their uniqueness, and the connective tissue is what drives me most. 


**What is my strategy?**

Learn through doing; teach by understanding. 
Over my 35 years career, my areas of specialization have spanned across all brand verticals, as well as media and advertising.

### **Vita**

- Global Marketing Strategy (BETC, Bermuda Tourism, NY Lottery, Live Nation, Hamptons International Film Festival, Arbitron, Chanel, KPMG, Venu Magazine)
- Global President, Maydream
- SVP, Senior Planner, McCann WorldGroup
- VP, Marketing and Development, Frankfurt Gibs Balkind (Hill Holiday)
- Manager, Marketing Consultant, Andersen Consulting (Accenture) Madrid, SP
- Marketing Director, Adweek Magazine (Clio Awards; Adbank)
- Masters of Science, Media Theory, Anneberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania
- Bachelor of Art, Political Science and Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusettes
- Political Intern, Social Democratic Party, British Parliament, House of Commons, United Kingdom

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**Where do I come from?**

Originally I come from the Lower Saxony countryside, where I can still be found at harvest time. After studying mathematics at the Free University of Berlin, I started working at Modomoto as an analyst. After several years in e-commerce, I was allowed to build up a young and modern data team as Head of Data and also held this role at Outfittery. During my time in e-commerce, I was able to get to know a wide range of technologies and to draw added value for the business from the most diverse data sources.
Currently, I'm working at Polyteia to use data to improve public management. 


**What drives me?**

I am driven by being able to judge objectively and not having to make decisions based on my gut. Because in a modern world, in which it is possible to make many things measurable, this should also be used for decision-making.
Otherwise, it's hard for me to walk by a basketball court without also wanting to shoot a basket.


**What is my strategy?**

My strategy is to understand, - structure and improve processes.

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**Where do I come from?**

When I asked my PhD advisor in 2003 if I could get a reference from him for my application for a professorship, he replied, "I've been waiting for you to call me about this all along." Very early on, I pursued the goal of becoming a marketing professor. For this purpose, the doctoral thesis after my business studies was an enriching duty for me. The instructive, several years of experience at an international management consultancy - with a focus on pricing and marketing - and the subsequent responsibility as a division manager at an international German trade fair company were the exciting freestyle.


**What drives me?**

My work is not only very close to my heart in terms of content, but also because it gives me the opportunity to optimally balance teaching, research, publications, consulting activities and time for my family. My ambition is to impart content and skills to students as well as to carry out joint projects with companies so that they are well equipped for the business world. In terms of content, as a professor, consultant and author, my focus is on digital marketing, sustainability in marketing and communication, brand management, added-value services/pricing and, in particular, price communication. I'm glad that I've been on board at K'UP since 2011, bridging the gap between research and practice with creative minds, exchanging the latest insights and driving joint projects forward. 

But not only in my job, but also in my private life, as a self-confessed Cologne girl, I am driven by the variety between a lively family with a busy husband and two teenage girls, as well as my preferences for traveling, tennis, skiing and other sports. And once a year, of course, really Kölle Alaaf! 


**What is my strategy?**

My strategy is: Let well-founded data speak for itself, be solution-oriented and act according to the motto "keep it short and simple". All this with positive thinking and fun in the team.

### **Vita**

- Networking partner, K'UP
- Professor of Marketing and Communication, Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences
- Independent consultant, Cologne
- Head of Strategy and Head of Trade Fairs in the Home, Garden and Leisure sector, koelnmesse GmbH
- Senior Consultant at Simon, Kucher & Partners, Bonn


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**Where do I come from?**

Growing up in beautiful Cologne, Germany, after founding a Fairtrade student company, I first moved to Southeast Asia and Vietnam after graduating from high school, where I rode down the coast on a motorcycle. Eventually, I found my way to WHU for my Bachelor's degree and spent three years there, with stops in Indiana and Barcelona. During my time at WHU, I was a proud member of the startup conference IdeaLab! as Head of Finance & Fleet and got to call Arne Klein my professor in my last semester, which ultimately brought me to Berlin and K'UP. Although I'm currently in my Business Analytics Master's program at NOVA SBE in Lisbon, where I'm immersed in a completely new topic, I couldn't quite say goodbye and work as a freelance consultant in the K'UP team alongside my studies.


**What drives me?**

I want to face new challenges every day. No workday is like the one before and no client project like the one before. I know my strengths and enjoy working with smart people on new methods and approaches to identify strategic opportunities for companies.
My goal is to constantly challenge myself and the people around me in their opinions and views and to achieve the best possible results through intensive exchange. Between fitness and surfing, working in the sunshine by the sea is even more fun.


**What is my strategy?**

Seeing the good in every situation and finding clever solutions.

**Vita:**
 
- Strategic Consultant, K'UP
- Master's in Business Analytics & CEMS Master's in International Management, NOVA SBE, Lisbon
- B.Sc. International Business Administration, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany
- Internship, Venture Capital & Business Development, Grupo HS3, Barcelona
- Internship, Controlling & Treasury, Expelo Technology Group, Cologne
- Head of Finance & Fleet 2018, IdeaLab! - WHU Founders Conference

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**Where do I come from?**

As an industrial engineer and historian, I first landed in strategic consulting, from which I particularly took strategic thinking, communication, project management and enthusiasm for equal teamwork.
But soon I was drawn to operational responsibility in the tech and start-up environment. There, I built and transformed companies for over a decade, directly managing all functions along the way - from product & tech to marketing, sales and operations to commercial management & HR. This involved everything from very small companies to corporate size. In addition to a deep understanding of all these functions, I got to experience, learn and shape agility, scaling, good leadership (under uncertainty), dealing with very different people and self-directing, interdisciplinary teams.

In 2016, I finally started my own business as an organizational coach in order to be able to focus entirely on working with people. In doing so, I am helped by my various trainings and continuing education of several years in systemic consulting, Gestalt work, positive psychology and bodywork, among others.


**What drives me?**

I support clients in everything where "human" is involved: from larger change processes to team support and workshop facilitation to individual coaching; from executives to simple employees; from structures to processes to conflict facilitation. I am a process facilitator and coach at heart: listening, structuring, bringing together, questioning, reflecting, moderating, giving impulses, developing solutions together. I like to build on strengths and help to develop and complement them. I am often driven by the question of how the potential of employees can be better developed. And I prefer to provide long-term support - because changes that really work rarely happen overnight.

Besides that, I love ball sports, cinema, Berlin, children & young people, nature and simply life.


**What is my strategy?**

Midwife - the solution is there and just needs support to develop.

**Vita**

- Networking partner K'UP
- Self-employed organizational developer and coach
- Commercial Managing Director Blacklane
- Member of the Executive Board PayPal Germany - among others Chief Product Officer, Chief Revenue Officer eBay, Head of Risk & Service
- Consultant McKinsey & Co
- Industrial engineer and historian

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**Martin Bürger**, born in Berlin in 1987, discovered his passion for China at an early age. He became interested in Chinese while still in school and participated in an AFS cultural exchange to Nanjing. He spent a year at a Chinese middle school and with Chinese families.

After graduating from high school in Berlin, he studied business sinology at the School of International Business in Bremen and part-time business Chinese at the East China Normal University Shanghai. In Shanghai, he worked as assistant to the Bremen liaison office and later as press coordinator for the Bremen EXPO pavilion at the 2010 World Expo.

Since 2012, Martin Bürger has been working as a China expert in various companies. In addition, as managing director of Bürger SinoConsulting, he is also active as a strategy developer and networker with a focus on China.

### Vita

- Strategy developer and networker at Bürger SinoConsulting
- Partner and China expert at Gruppe 7
- Guest lecturer for event marketing at the Berlin School of Economics and Law
- Coordinator for Press and Public Relations, AHK Greater China, Bremen Liaison Office Shanghai, Bremen Booth at World Expo Shanghai
- Business Chinese at East China Normal University Shanghai
- B.A. in Applied Business Languages and International Business Management (Business Sinology) at School of International Business, Bremen
- AFS Cultural Exchange to Nanjing, China

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**Rainer Seiler** is a consultant and entrepreneur in the healthcare market. His focus is on the development and implementation of innovative product and business models as well as benefit-generating care projects for pharmaceutical and medical technology, payers, pharmacies and physician organizations.
Rainer Seiler has over 20 years of management experience in the pharmaceutical, pharmacy and wholesale sectors, including as Managing Director at the Swiss Zur Rose Group and Sales Manager at ratiopharm GmbH.

He is the author of several specialist books on the topics of Pharma Key Account Management, Patient Centricity and Managed Care.

### Vita

- Managing Director solutions Beratung GmbH
- Managing Director Zur Rose Pharma GmbH and mail order pharmacy VfG
- Sales Manager ratiopharm
- Management functions in internat. Pharmaceutical and medical technology companies (Sales, Marketing, Key Account Management, Market Access)

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**Florian Eickhold** has over 15 years of experience in developing climate policies and solutions. After graduating from the University of Cologne with a degree in Latin American Studies, specializing in environmental economics and international politics, he worked on international climate change projects.
Now he designs sustainable carbon market and climate finance projects and innovates key elements of corporate or public climate change strategies.  He works closely with industry, start-ups and social enterprises to develop environmentally sustainable businesses. His areas of expertise include carbon pricing, climate strategies, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and a Paris-based voluntary carbon market. 

**Where do I come from?**

I was born in Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr area at a time when coal was still mined there and burned in blast furnaces. Even though I moved away from there when I was 4 years old, I still have many positive memories of the place and the people there. After different stations in Latin America and Asia I live today in my favorite European cities with "B". Barcelona and Berlin.


**What drives me?**

The search for the right, ambitious but realistic solution and the diversity of the world.


**What is my strategy?**

First to listen and look and then to try to understand new information, to look at it from different angles and then to use new knowledge advantageously.  


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### Challenge
In order to achieve the sales targets and for the international rollout of the offering, it was necessary to sharpen the product strategy and the customer promise. As a stand-alone brand in association with parent and sister companies, the sharpening of the brand positioning was desired on this basis.

### Strategy
Based on an in-depth target customer analysis and segmentation, a medium-term product strategy and development roadmap was developed and defined for the B2B financial product AQOUNT. This was the basis for positioning the brand among the competition and the sales as well as the marketing and communications strategy, which K’UP developed for the client arvato Financial Solutions.

**The Financial Order2Cash operating system**


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arvato Financial Solutions  – From niche player to strong brand

### Challenge
In order to form a customer-centric group from 11 individual companies, K’UP was asked to develop a comprehensive corporate strategy.

### Strategy
Based on an analysis of the company and its organizational structure, a deep market analysis and the development of future scenarios, the business model was adapted, target industries defined and the organizational structure revised. The formation of a modern group of companies is not only a question of corporate strategy, but also requires an extensive brand strategy process as well as an internal communication strategy. Thus, a brand architecture was created that enables common values to be actively lived across diverse locations throughout Europe.

**Your personal supply chain**


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Axxum – From supply chain to customer orientation

### Challenge
The IT consulting and software development company Novatec needed a new brand identity in order to stand out from the competition in a very homogeneous market and to clearly communicate its strengths to the world.

### Strategy
K’UP developed a new brand strategy for the IT consulting company Novatec based on new target customer profiles and thus ensured that the brand was consistently customer-centered. With "the perfect flow", a new brand promise was defined. This and the corporate design that was also developed, Novatec clearly stands out from the otherwise homogeneous competitive environment. 
In addition, K’UP developed a recruiting strategy with the goal of becoming attractive in the employee market for experienced employees in consulting, as well as a communication strategy, on the basis of which a new website was designed. The implementation of which was accompanied by an agency K’UP steering.



**Agile ways of working are supported by a corporate culture that makes the customer part of one's team from the very beginning.**


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Novatec – Preparing a med-size IT consultancy for the future

### Patients run from doctor to doctor, patient data go by mail. Philipp Lück on the demand for realistic digital models in healthcare.

Healthcare is going digital, which is why pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers need to completely redesign their customer relationships. Already, 40 percent of Germans are open to Internet-based systems. In addition to electronic patient records and solutions for managing doctor's appointments, these include medication orders and price comparisons. So the digital transformation of medical care is already taking place. That is why now is the right time to rethink the relationship with patients and customers. This means understanding patients as customers and correctly identifying their needs.



### The challenge: Amazon

Amazon has already realized this step from patient to customer with its "Amazon Fresh" offer. "Amazon Fresh" is a time-window delivery service for weekly shopping. There are likely to be more solutions in the market leader’s environment after the initial offering of drugs. The focus is on convenience for the customer. That is why “Amazon Fresh” already offers at least as good availability as traditional pharmacies in Munich already. Mail-order pharmacies are not far behind. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must be proactive in countering this development with their own ideas. It will be interesting to see what effect the ban on mail-order RX drugs, intended in the current grand coalition’s agreement, will have on the market.


### Self-direction and personal responsibility of patients

Patient engagement is becoming a trend. More and more patients and relatives are taking their own health values via wearables and apps and want to decide on how the data is used. They not only want to understand treatment plans, but they also want to be involved in shaping them. Awareness of a healthy way of living is growing, and doctors are also being selected more critically. While patients naturally move from doctor to doctor, their data still is doing so far too little. Patients want to take responsibility for their own health and want to be respected by doctors as dialog partners. This equal involvement demands new ideas from the drug manufacturers, especially in the treatment of the chronically ill.

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### Current key issues

Drug manufacturers face a dual challenge. New competitors are shortening patients' procurement channels. At the same time, patients see themselves as customers and no longer just demand active ingredients, but knowledge, services and data sovereignty. In all dialogs I am currently conducting, three key questions about the future business model arise all the time:

What role does the company play in the digital sales network of doctors, patients, care providers, health insurers and pharmacies?

What services could a company offer in the direct relationship of manufacturer and patient when the patient has data sovereignty?

How can agile structures and processes be introduced into the marketing and sales organization?

Pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors are also starting to ask themselves these correct questions and define the customer journey with clear business models. In addition to an explicit focus on patients, this naturally includes the discovery of what not to do.


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Patients become customers

**How do you become part of your customer’s journey of life?**
 **How do you become significant, inspiring and generate measurable revenue through this?**

The Management of customer journeys is the art of making the consumer feel that they are understood and recognized in the right moment of their lives.
 
 
### Three questions:

**- How do you want to be emotionally present on your customer’s journey?**
 **- With what do you want to inspire your customer’s life contentwise?**
 **- How can you build a lucrative relationship that your customer will accept?**


 Twelve years ago, we developed our SIL approach out of central marketing, product development and sales KPIs. With brand, innovation and growth we combined brand strength, innovation-premium and customer value for the first time and replaced the BCG-matrix for us by that.

Today the development of modern business models without the interaction of these three increasingly merging sectors became unthinkable. Recently we occupied ourselves intensively with the customer journeys of leading brands. In our current exploration we performed the SIL check on many more companies and were surprised to discover, how much expectation and reality differ in customer experience.

There is a large bank that neglects communication with their customers during initiation, a beauty brand forgets the empowerment of their purchase experience, or a technology provider massively confuses customers with constantly changing product names. Sweets manufacturers confuse with increasingly complex product variants or online marketplaces by using complex pricing structures. Power- or furniture providers propagate customer proximity, but their online presence ranges from outdated to invisible. Some print magazines afford up to three different online presences. Even after premium purchases of phones or cars, the interest in the customer aborts abruptly. And binding a customer positively with the service stage at that point, should be obvious.

We are far away from a strict lead customer experience management and want to highlight a positive example. The brand Red Bull is not only master in extending consumer contacts by using media but knows how to randomly attract their target group’s attention at an early stage.

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# Three Rules:

• Write down your target group’s day-to-day journey and not the journey through your brand-universe
 • Pay attention to the hidden signals with insight potential that could become key moments. It’s well known that conversion rates don’t increase with the number of touchpoints. Try less here.
 • Define the goal of your customer relation (marriage of convenience, friendship, adventure, …) and take your time to develop these carefully. Avoid annoying digital automation and consumption pressure.


 We would love to show you your brands performance in the SIL Check noncommittally. Share your thoughts about customer intelligence, profiles, insights or journeys with us.
 **We are looking forward to getting to know you.**

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT

### Challenge

Teams venturing out of the enterprise experience uncertainty and ask themselves big questions: Will we find new customers? Will we manage to strengthen our offering profile? How do we become visible and build our own brand? The spin-off of the Berlin and Potsdam team of the law firm Boehmert & Boehmert was no different. That's why the partners agreed to entrust us with the development of their corporate and brand strategy.

### Strategy

By analysing the competition, values such as client-centricity, awakening and straightforwardness came into focus. The analysis of the client of the future soon showed us that the business model of the IP specialist law firm is undergoing a strong digital transformation.
Collaborative network approaches are becoming the means of choice for new topics and business areas.
 As a service provider of the future, the firm will therefore automate partial services and pursue a clear platform approach in order to maintain quality, speed and transparency.

 The strategy, as well as our recommendation to focus on the concise name "Nordemann" created clarity. Since its founding, Nordemann has not only been among the Best Lawyers, occupying top rankings in [WiWo Legal All-Star](https://www.wiwo.de/finanzen/legal-all-stars-2021-das-sind-die-besten-anwaelte-ihres-fachs/28079454.html) or Legal 500, but was also named [Media Law Firm of the Year](https://www.juve.de/juve-rankings/deutschland/kanzlei-des-jahres-medien/) by JUVE Verlag one year after its launch.

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Nordemann - Spin-off with distinction

**Where do I come from?**

I come from a family of entrepreneurs - entrepreneurship was practically in my cradle, which I left behind as quickly as possible for a business degree at WHU - Otto Beisheim School.

However, by playing a decisive role in setting up NetMoms, a portal for mothers with children up to 14, I somehow remained true to the topic. At the age of 21, I was still pretty young as the Head of Monetization there, some people thought. But I dispelled their scepticism through pragmatism, hard work and new approaches. From there, I moved on. First to Shanghai, then to Mexico City, and finally to co-found the second company focusing on B2B return-services in Berlin.

With Bertelsmann came the corporate experience. In the Marketing and Retail Executive Board division, I understood processes and working methods of large organizations and built up my own e-commerce division on this basis.

But Berlin and my own StartUp were stronger. More precisely, logistics, customer service and sales. Later, the curated shopping provider Modomoto, where I became COO for more than 200 employees. I explicitly avoid comparisons with childcare facilities. But it made me similarly happy, this responsibility over all customer-facing processes and departments for 3 brands in 7 countries. This shapes my understanding of business models to this day.


**What drives me?**

I am never satisfied. Every process, every customer experience and every product is fundamentally questioned by me. Is it relevant? How can it be improved? What's the way forward? Smart business models, forward-thinking and high-quality products fascinate me.
I find it hard to stand the opposite. I have turned my interests and convictions into my profession, and I am passionate about helping my customers. As a consultant and as a partner. Value-driven management is important to me in all of this, also because I have experienced myself what happens when this is lacking. It makes me happy to lead a company sustainably, to see colleagues grow and to make a difference together.

Sailing, means of transport from the 70s with at least two wheels or water under the keel, and my family are the second big part of my life, despite all my enthusiasm for business.


**What is my strategy?**

To experience, to understand, to identify the core and to develop something sustainable out of it, which we believe in together.

### Vita

- Managing Partner & Corporate Strategy, K'UP
- Chief Operating Officer, Modomoto Curated Shopping
- Pre-Seed Business Angel E-Commerce & Service StartUps
- Freelance Consultant Digital Business Models, L.13
- Executive Assistant Marketing & Retail, Arvato Bertelsmann and Head of E-Commerce Arvato Medienfabrik
- Co-founder and Head of Cooperations & Monetization, NetMoms GmbH
- Bachelor of Science Business Administration at WHU


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**Three strategic measures to handle the shortage of skilled workers**



In the coming years, the shortage of skilled workers will be one of the key challenges facing medium-sized companies. Many companies are already feeling the effects of this; filling demanding positions has become much more difficult and the expectations of candidates have changed. This is the conclusion of the [SME survey](https://kup.id/article/know-your-priorities) conducted by K'UP.



We find that medium-sized companies are not taking sufficient measures to assert themselves on the labor market. Many of the companies we surveyed would like to invest in employer branding and personnel marketing measures to cope with the shortage of skilled workers. But this alone will not solve the problem. 




**We therefore recommend action in three areas:**




**1.	Investing in the attractiveness of the workplace:**


It is not enough to invest only in the attractiveness of the employer to the outside world, because ever since Kununu and Glasdoor came into existence, candidates have been able to find out how things really are at the company. It is now common practice among graduates to approach employees directly and ask them for information about their potential employer. Only those who invest in an attractive employee experience have an advantage on the job market. In the past, mid-sized companies scored points with a secure job, a competitive salary package, canteen and pension plan; today, much more is required.

In addition to a meaningful corporate purpose and lived values, employees expect above all professional and personal development. They want to work together to achieve motivating goals and be supported by their managers in doing so. HR and management improve their employer attractiveness by developing the corporate culture along corporate values, introducing relevant HR tools and establishing coaching as a management tool.




**2. Align HR policy with workforce planning:**


Even well-positioned employers must learn to adapt to the dynamic conditions of the labor market. Their HR policies must deal with higher turnover, shorter retention periods and flexible staffing options (including freelance, external employees if necessary). Personnel processes, especially in recruiting, talent management and onboarding, must be geared to this. Companies that are resistant to the crisis in skilled labor will on the one hand target suitable candidates. At the same time, they also make the most of increased fluctuation, for example by generating external knowledge.




**3. Shaping the future through education initiatives:**


Medium-sized companies should not rely solely on government measures to identify and promote talent. They must identify talent themselves at an early stage and actively close widespread gaps in education. They can do this, for example, by supporting (non-profit) education initiatives. In the process, they also become better acquainted with the local labor market and its players. Scholarships, internships and other activities simultaneously attract talent to the company.




**We would be happy to discuss the findings of this article in more detail in a personal meeting. Please contact our resilience expert [Juliane](https://kup.id/shoulders/juliane-hueppe-1).**

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Three measures against the shortage of skilled workers

**Where do I come from?**

I couldn't imagine a career as a lawyer; instead 'something with people' ,so I started in HR, where I worked passionately for over 15 years in various - operational and strategic - roles. In my last role as EMEA Head of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Olympus, I introduced numerous modern HR tools with the goal of improving the Employee Experience and organizational effectiveness and developing the company culture. With a systemic coaching training, I learned an additional perspective with new methods and developed as a consultant.


**What drives me?**

Work should be fun and offer room for personal development! I firmly believe in that. That’s what I want to work for - creating impact. So - I joined K'UP as a partner in January 2021 and started building up the organizational development area; I advise our clients on how to create effective organizational design and a resilient corporate culture and make companies a "great place to work". Corporate and brand strategy cannot be effective without cultural and organizational development; in turn, an inspiring workplace can only be developed in the context of corporate strategy and brand. What else drives me? Creating value together with a great team. Bringing inspiring people together.

I love living in Berlin, love the mountains and like to eat well, fat and a lot!


**What is my strategy?**

My strategy is: listen, understand, get inspired, inspire, get going, have fun!

### Vita

- Partner Organisational Strategy, K‘UP
- EMEA Head of Organizational & Personal Development and CSR, Olympus Europa SE & CO. KG
- HR Business Partner, De Lage Landen 
- Human Resources Lawyer, E.ON Energy Trading SE
- Lawyer admission

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**What moved the SME sector in 2021?**

When opportunities become blurred in the face of crises. Climate crisis, corona crisis, inflation crisis, debt crisis, trade conflicts, shortage of skilled workers, various supply crises, smoldering EU crises - we live in an era of crises. Sometimes it even seems that we perceive every new situation only through these glasses. Rarely have decision-makers had to find solutions in such a maelstrom of upheaval under such pressure of time. Companies run the risk of being driven to make decisions by others. A strong identity helps against this, and this is created by clear priorities.

We are strategists and see ourselves as an ID Company. That's why we support companies with the guiding principle "Know Your Priorities" in finding and strengthening their own identity.
In the interaction between the company's divisions, the topic of sustainability is increasingly coming to the fore.
"We are convinced that it is particularly important to strengthen medium-sized companies, including the many hidden champions, who do the right thing out of conviction and do not strive to maximize profits at any price," says our corporate strategist Philipp Lück.
"Especially here, in addition to a lot of verve, there is often a need for knowledge about environmental management, climate data and the many upcoming EU-wide requirements for companies" adds Dr. Diana Born, who looks after planetary issues for us. We advise our clients from the SME sector holistically, in which we jointly consider and further develop sustainability, business model, brand and organization.

In order to better understand the crises, tasks and solutions of SMEs, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with CEOs of German companies in the fourth quarter of 2021 and asked them about their most important issues.
These six priorities became clear:




**Sustainability:**
Task: real sustainability instead of greenwashing.
Solution: Understand EU environmental legislation, supply chains and certificates and derive strategies.

**Skilled workers:**
Task: attract skilled workers in an empty labor market. 
Solution: New ways of working and location-independent talent scouting.

**Internal Branding:**
Task: Retain and promote talent.
Solution: Live and strengthen the internal brand.

**Work structures:**
Task: Maintain corporate culture despite home office and pandemic.
Solution: Develop and activate corporate culture.

**Digitalization:**
Task: Create digital progress through overarching systems.
Solution: Holistic digital strategy for all areas of the company.




**If you are interested or have any questions about the study, simply contact our partner [Dr. Marc Herz](https://kup.id/shoulders/marc-herz_de).**

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Know Your Priorities - What Moves the SME Sector

### Challenge
K’UP was approached by the Museum of Natural History Berlin, one of the world's most important research institutions in the field of biological, geoscientific evolution and biodiversity. The museum was to be successfully set up for the future in the long term, involving a wide range of stakeholders from the public, science, business and politics.

### Strategy
To successfully set up the Museum of Natural History long term, the brand and corporate strategy was realigned, which served as a foundation for a revised business model for the museum. The foundation for the new positioning lies in the paradigm shift from a static, passive showroom with dead exhibits to actively preserving nature. This paradigm shift applies to both the digitalization of product development and marketing. K’UP also not only accompanied numerous marketing measures and conceived digital offer innovations, but also initiated the cooperation of the largest international natural history museums on the topic of biodiversity. In addition, care had to be taken to ensure that the many different stakeholders of the Natural History Museum were considered in the development of the strategy.

**From exhibition to digital driver of biodiversity.**


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Museum of Natural History Berlin - From exhibition to digital driver of biodiversity

### Challenge
Within the framework of a call for tenders, the city marketing of Trier wanted a new brand strategy as well as the development of a forward-looking tourism and hotel concept taking all relevant stakeholders into account.

### Strategy
K’UP developed a clear brand strategy as well as a comprehensive tourism and hotel concept for the city of Trier. For this purpose, all relevant stakeholders from city marketing and the civic center to political institutions and interest groups were closely involved in the process.

In addition to a detailed analysis of all current offers, a holistic survey of all internal (citizens, entrepreneurs, students, hoteliers) as well as external stakeholders (visitors and tourists) was conducted. Derived from the DNA of the city, the new, future-oriented positioning of the city of Trier was defined, as well as concrete activation measures for markets, products and offers, sales channels and cooperations were elaborated. Those are the basis for the new appearance and communication of the city.

**Translating history into the future together.**


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Trier – Welcome to the third millennium

### Challenge
The globally growing KWS SAAT SE wanted to realign the brand with changes in the Executive Board.

### Strategy
K’UP reformed the brand value based on an extensive competitive analysis and clear target customer profiles. The positioning "Make yourself grow." targets the company culture, which is characterized by entrepreneurial spirit. K’UP developed a global internal branding concept and introduced a fixed process triad in operational B2B marketing. The successfully optimized brand differentiation was followed by international naming and campaign strategies. Since then, KWS has increased net sales by 38 percent, net income by 66 percent and its share price by 80 percent. As a result, K’UP was entrusted with the development of customer journeys, marketing standards and training, detailed customer (B2B) and candidate (HR) segmentation, as well as strategy development on an international product group as well as joint venture level. 

**Make yourself grow**


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KWS – Living a strong brand value worldwide 

### Challenge
With WHU, one of the leading European business schools turned to K’UP to reposition itself in the higher education market for the future. 

### Strategy
K’UP initiated a sixteen-member brand board to revise the existing brand strategy across all faculties. Based on a deep understanding of the history of the university in Vallendar, K’UP conducted an in-depth target group analysis, extensive market research and value discussions. Thus, in the strategic planning, the product offers of the future were defined, the content-related development steps were determined and, together with the new brand positioning, transferred into a separate strategy house.

To activate the university strategy, K’UP not only developed a multi-year marketing plan, but also accompanied the entire organization in its implementation with an internal participation process. As a result, numerous internal and external communication strategies were launched, digital measures were designed and in-depth market research was conducted. Since then, WHU has been on a growth trajectory and had to expand at its second location in Düsseldorf.

**Courage and Commitment**


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WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management – Role models in times of change

In autumn / winter 2019, in cooperation with the University of Vienna and the University of Nottingham, the strategy consultancy Kleinundpläcking from Berlin interviewed over 20 sustainable start-ups from four different countries to find out what the situation is like for young, sustainable companies. The start-ups came from a wide range of industries such as FMCG, fashion, farming, infrastructure, cosmetics, energy, and many more. Nine crucial core insights for BRAND, INNOVATION and GROWTH stand out:


### Sustainability is not a trend, but a rethinking. 
Sustainability has become an irrefutable trend in recent years. The current social movement is a fundamental rethinking in the minds of many, which is also becoming politically visible through movements like Fridays-for-future. Ecological sustainability will be a hygiene factor for the following generations, without which most offers will not be acceptable at all. A rethinking that remains.

### Sustainability is difficult to communicate.
The added value of a sustainable offer often requires a higher level of explanation. Customers often have to pay extra or rethink what they have learned when switching to sustainable offerings, which often makes it difficult for sustainable companies (especially start-ups). It is therefore important to address explicit target group insights. This uses the limited resources most efficiently in the struggle for the attention of the target group.

### Founders have to live values authentically.
Start-up founders in particular are the personification, the figurehead of their company. Therefore, corporate values and ideals must be authentically reflected and lived by the founders. Authentic does not mean naively idealistic; on the contrary, realistic, disruptive, self-critical and honest.





### Easier financing for sustainable start-ups.
Financiers, business angels, but also public funding and private individuals are currently generous. Green and social start-ups benefit from the trendy topic of sustainability, but also from the conscience of the benefactors. Sustainable start-ups therefore currently find it relatively easy to collect funds; a fact that increases the risk of greenwashing by 'conventional' start-ups.

### Sustainability has different characteristics
Sustainability does not only mean eco-friendly. Sustainability consists of different dimensions - an ecological, social, but also economic dimension. While ecological sustainability is often the absolute focus of sustainable start-ups in the beginning, social (including responsibility for direct and indirect stakeholders) and economic sustainability (including stable, independent company financing) also become increasingly important as the company grows. Ecological, social and economic sustainability are not in conflict, but they often contain potential for conflict.

### THE sustainability does not exist.
If you rethink existing concepts and offers, you will quickly realize that, on the one hand, it is always possible to be better and more sustainable, and on the other hand, the positive effect in one area usually leads to a negative effect in another one. There is never only black and white in sustainability, there are no absolutes, there is only better and worse.

### You have to be able to afford sustainability.
Green and sustainable consumer behavior remains a privilege of an affluent society and a class of higher earners. Only when individual material and social concerns decrease, will the ecological responsibility increase in action and consumer behavior.

### Target groups for sustainable products are globally similar. 
Target groups that put importance in sustainability usually differ only psychographically. These target groups come from all social classes, are independent of age and gender, and know no national boundaries. Regardless of the country: The target groups are similar - cosmopolitan, progressive and very critical.

### Sustainability alone does not sell. 
Customers today are not willing to spend significantly more money on sustainability alone. There always needs to be an additional benefit. Cost savings, better quality, additional features or innovative simplicity. Today, sustainability is a nice-to-have add-on, but soon it will become a hygiene factor. 

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Insights and impulses on sustainability in start-ups

### Reasons, consequences and early warning signs for the failure of brand projects.

Break a leg. And if not: As is well known, you learn from mistakes. In most cases, however, project failure can be identified in advance and counteracted accordingly. 

As part of a multi-method study, Dr. Marc Herz of Kleinundpläcking, together with his colleague Dr. med. Nicco Krezdorn of the Hannover Medical School, identified reasons, consequences and early warning signs for the failure of brand projects. In 2017, the authors conducted an international survey among brand managers (N =221) from 32 countries in which the failure of brand projects was analyzed in detail.

The following questions are answered:

(1) Why do brand projects fail?
(2) What happens when brand projects fail?
(3) How do you recognize the failure of brand projects at an early stage?

#projectfailure #brandmanagement #projectmanagement 


### Four reasons why brand projects will fail

1. **Mistakes in project planning:** If you won’t think through and plan your projects properly, you will increase the risk of a brand project failing. Not only planning for time, demand and budget plays an important role, but inadequate revision of the project can also be a decisive factor. 

2. **Unclear project goals:** If the goals in a project are unclear, you are more likely to have problems with your project. Here the obstacles are unclear and unrealistic goals. Constantly changing targets are just as bad. After all, if the project goal is constantly being changed, it is difficult to stay on track. 

3. **Critical stakeholder relationships:** Basically, if stakeholders of a project don’t understand each other, things are starting to look bad for the success of a project. Poor communication and power struggles among partners not only promote the success of a project, but only have a positive impact on its failure.

4. **Principal-agent problem:** Characteristic of the so-called principal-agent problem is that two parties in a project are asymmetrically informed, which significantly facilitates the failure of projects. If one side hides its intention, information, actions and relevant properties of the project, it will turn out to be a problem project faster and is therefore doomed to.


### This is fine?

Not really. Because if you are dealing with a brand project that fails or is about to failing, you can expect three negative consequences:

1. Waste of economic resources: Time is money - this catchphrase becomes reality here. When brand projects fail a lot of effort is wasted, resources have been invested in vain. 

2. Impaired career opportunities: Besides the waste of resources, the effects on the personal level of the responsible project managers are devastating. Anyone who has been involved in a project that didn't work out, won’t seem useful for upcoming marketing activities. 

3. Personal frustration: Inevitably linked to this is the personal frustration of managers from failed brand projects. After all, negative results won’t have a positive effect on one's mood, at least at first.


Reasons, consequences and early warning signs for the failure of brand projects

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### Keep your eyes peeled during the project
Project managers should not wait until it is too late and the brand project collapses. Damage control is a thing of the past. Early warning signs show when you should be alert and take countermeasures during the project or else you will end up in shambles later. 

1. Advance warning: If there are many similar projects that is often a bad sign for an upcoming project. In addition, possible negative predictions by experts should be taken seriously, these also tend to be a preliminary sign for failure of a future project.

2. Ongoing warning: In an ongoing project, adjustments of project goals are often a sign of impending failure. Constantly shifting deadlines and changing schedules in an ongoing project are also warning sign that the success of the project is on the brink of failing. Finally, problems among stakeholders are often an early warning sign a project is about to fail.


### Be smart don’t fail

You learn from your mistakes - so they say. But it's even better to learn from the mistakes others made. Analyze the reasons why other brand projects have failed, and don't repeat the mistakes. Recognize early warning signs before and during ongoing projects. And if your brand project does threaten to fail, take early precautions against negative consequences.


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FAILED – MORE FAILED - MOST FAILED?

1. ### How semantic and episodic brand memories influence the behavior of consumers and what this means for brand management.

The first impression counts. This is equally true for humans as well as brands. But Consumers rarely choose their brand as they reach inside a supermarket shelf. Those who maintain a (good) memory, are verifiably more successful. Dedicated memories of a certain brand are critical for success. Make a mark is a popular catchphrase – but how? 

As part of a multiple method study Dr. Marc Herz of K’UP, together with Dr. Katja H. Brunk, deepen the understanding how brand managers can improve the brand memory of potential consumers.

Part of the broad range research design which the team of authors conducted in 2017, are collage techniques and one-on-one interviews (N = 118). These consist of open and closed survey elements and a subsequent content analysis. Hence the study is a statement of the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods and was published in Psychology & Marketing.

The study focusses on the following topics:

**1. Types of brand memories**
 **2. Differences between users and non-users**
 **3. Impact of brand memories on brand perception**

### Types of brand Memories
 Pure stimulus-based purchases triggered by a decision based on the product information of the immediate environment are relatively rare. Almost all purchase decisions are dependent on the consumer’s memory and brand memory, respectively. Conceptually there is a difference between episodic and semantic memories: 

**Semantic brand memories** 
 These kinds of memories comprise broad, generic and factual knowledge of the brand. More precisely they represent a combination of context-independent facts that are communicated directly and explicitly by brand managers (e.g., elements of corporate identity like color, logo, claim), as well as facts that are indirectly relayed (e.g., about the history of the brand or the company).

 

**Episodic brand memories** 
 Unlike semantic brand memories, this is about retention of affective brand interactions that relate to individual consumers. These can be personal, autobiographic memories that are related to a brand. By definition episodic brand memories are context-dependent as they are related to emotions or specific places.

### How users and non-users differ regarding brand memories

The results of the study show that brand users differ distinctly from non-users regarding their brand-dependent memories. The results can be summarized as follows:

**Memories of brand users**
 Customers that are active users of a brand show particularly episodic memories as well as a combination of semantic and episodic memories. In contrast to non-users, users of a brand have fewer all-semantic brand memories. Therefore, it seems that the use of a brand leads to increasingly personal, autobiographic and therefore to episodic memories and in the process overshadows the pure semantic knowledge.

**Memories of non-users**
 Non-users of a brand often only possess – if there are memories at all – specialized knowledge of a specific brand. Non-users mostly remember a broad, generic and objective knowledge about a brand. However, a significant part of non-users exhibits episodic brand memories.
 These results show that episodic brand memories can also be created through experiencing brand usage of others, for example through acquaintances, families or even unfamiliar online media. This means brand managers are verifiable able to influence episodic memories of non-users via interactive brand strategies, the “experience of others”. An option that didn’t seem intuitive to date in research.

### What is the impact of brand memories?
If brand users as well as non-users show both types of memories, is a differentiation practically obsolete? Results that show how episodic and semantic brand memories influence brand perception clearly indicate the opposite:
 
**1. If there are semantic brand memories it will reflect positively in the brand’s perception of quality.**
 
**2. Episodic brand memories have potential to invoke a positive emotional reaction in the consumer.**
 
The fact that both types of memories influence brand perception and consumer ratings differently, underlines their relevance for differentiation for managers even more.

The results show that semantic brand memories rely heavily on company and brand communication and that episodic memories are not as easily controllable and actively shapable. They are too dependable on the consumer’s personal experiences and dispositions. It shows that episodic brand memories have the potential to build a relationship between brand and consumer though.

So innovative below-the-line activities and context specific brand experiences to positively influence brand memories of potential users are in demand. With rising individualization, contextuality of brand experiences will rise in the future. And with rising contextuality higher emotional memories will be created. It is therefore essential in a journey to only apply a few specific touchpoints for best usable and scalable experiences. 

Anybody who knows their customers and is in dialogue with them, can ask them directly what they expect and in which context they would like to interact with the brand. Lifestyle configurators used in automotive or by various app providers can provide new approaches for an individual control of the journeys.

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A question of lasting impact

Since I became a partner at K'UP, I've been asked more and more, "Do we need a digital strategy?" Whether it's Wirtschaftswoche, Handelsblatt or middle class magazines, they all declared it a duty for managers, CEOs and corporate leaders to develop a digital strategy, preferably immediately.

Yet this request is already limping in the choice of words. The first specialist article defines digital strategy as "the path to Industry 4.0," the next specialist journalist writes under the heading "This is Microsoft's digital strategy" about the distinction of communication on Facebook and LinkedIn. And so, often without hesitation, implementation is actively started, CDOs are appointed, customer experience managers are hired, or agencies are commissioned.

But I don't think there is a digital strategy at all. In my view, most companies are currently facing a host of fundamental questions ranging from target group’s expectations, business model scenarios, competitive positioning, product innovations and organizational structures to IT infrastructures. They are all strategic parts of an integrative corporate strategy, and each bring diverse digital questions with them.
For example, market research has long been revolutionized by customer intelligence, use case development has been set up as a separate product management sector, media planning has been pulled forward into the strategy, advertising production has been bundled, and organizational processes have been made more agile and automated.



***Digital transformation also does not require digital strategies, but modern brand and business strategies.**

We support companies in their digital transformation every day. But brand and business strategy never only consist of digital issues. Just as consumers do not distinguish between digital and analog consumption. Otherwise, we might have spoken of analog strategies in the past. So, if you want to prepare your company for the future, you have to change your perspective.

A corporate view that only focusses on added value limits the field of action; advancing the brand and business model from the customer's point of view will reveal new horizons.
The view from the customer's perspective enables the finding of significant touchpoints by listing all performances and services before, during and after the purchase in a timeline. This is where improvements start that strengthen a holistic customer experience.

And it is precisely this that shows modern, enlightened customers whether a company can handle digital issues or not. Mercedes-Benz, for example, is demonstrating courage by using digital conventions in addition to trade fair formats, implementing the change internally as well.
Digital transformation does not require digital strategies, but modern brand and business strategies that are integrated into a company-wide process to change. Ask yourself how your company is facing agile operations and constant improvement. Write death scenarios and inclusively push for organizational rethinking. Enable innovation and a willingness to change bottom-up - it's the corporate culture that shapes a holistic customer experience. A big part of the success is already dormant within your organization. 



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There is no digital strategy*

### Drivers and barriers in the use of virtual reality glasses

Virtual reality allows users to immerse themselves in new worlds. Technology and reality fuse more and more together. This means users can experience environments that are completely separate from reality. 

Using VR glasses to virtually furnish a living room, design the interior of a future car, get to know the new working environment of a company or spend the time off in a digital, virtual world - VR enables many potential use cases that are far from being exhausted and that go far beyond gaming. For virtual reality to really apply in real life, VR glasses must be part of everyday life. In German-speaking countries, only around 1.5 percent of the population own VR headsets. 

What are the reasons why many people have had little experience of using them so far? And what can VR manufacturers learn from these consumer insights? 

Dr. Marc Herz from the strategy consultancy Kleinundpläcking GmbH and Prof. Dr. Philipp A. Rauschnabel from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich explore these questions in their recent study "Understanding the diffusion of virtual reality glasses: the role of media, fashion and technology," published in 2019 in the journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Using a representative quantitative online survey, they asked N=611 German consumers* about their position on the wearability and potential use of VR glasses. 

**Figure 1: Forecast for virtual reality sales worldwide from
2016 to 2021 (in billions of US dollars)**.

**Figure 2: Forecast for the number of virtual reality users worldwide from
2016 to 2020 (in millions)**

### Drivers and barriers for the use of VR glasses.

### DRIVERS

The survey results clearly show positive drivers for the use of VR headsets. Most consumers see an added value of VR headsets especially when it comes to their functional usefulness (for example, performing certain tasks more easily) or their entertainment value, so their entertainment factor. 

Respondents also clearly see the media components as an advantage of VR headsets, this means virtual presence and "virtual embodiment" - in short, the possibility of virtual immersion in new worlds. 

While wearing comfort significantly influences the position of the respondents, they see potential in VR’s fashion component, so its perceived fashionability. Accordingly, companies should not only focus on technology itself, but should always keep in mind that virtual reality headsets will also require to be comfortable and visually appealing.


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### BARRIERS

Most respondents associate the use of VR headsets with privacy risks. There is a fear, that private data is collected and used without consent. Objectively, privacy risks are much higher with many other technologies that people use (more) intensively - such as smartphones – but they are not perceived that way. To minimize the perception of risk, trust building measures are clearly recommended for VR manufacturers and distributors. 

Physical risks, like a fear of injury due to loss of control of the surroundings, and a fear of psychological harm had no significant influence on the position of the respondents. However, they stated fears of health risks, particularly a fear of eye damage when using VR.

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### LESSONS FOR BRAND MANAGEMENT 

Brands that embrace virtual reality early have a good chance to benefit from early developments. IKEA, Lego, Domino's Pizza and others already demonstrate with their apps what is possible. In this context, keeping an eye on this underestimated potential and taking advantage of it is important. 

Rethinking product development when integrating virtual reality is also important. So far, the focus has been on pure functionality and technology. In the future, the design aspect will play a much greater role in the wishes of consumers. Focusing on the gaming industry enabled the technology to mature to a high degree but reduced its reach outside the group of early adopters. Considering mass suitability, further reducing the size of the devices, making them more fashionable and offering them at lower price points must be the goal now. 

Virtual reality enables new touchpoints in the customer journey, which may complete or even revolutionize the customer experience. VR allows companies to approach and present themselves to their stakeholders in new ways. Virtual reality enables new touchpoints in the customer journey, which may complete or even revolutionize the customer experience. VR allows companies to approach and present themselves to their stakeholders in new ways. 


### VIRTUAL REALITY AND HUMAN FUNCTIONALISM

In our daily work as strategists, we are driven by the overarching question of Human Functionalism: In an era of digitalization dominated by enthusiasm for technology, how can we strengthen the human perspective? How can we give human rhythm to a growing technological pace? Do we not only need to sharpen but also rediscover or even redefine our instincts to protect the humane? 

**VR can bring us closer to distant realities.** Aid organizations, for example, use VR headsets to show us the plight of refugees. Human rights organizations let us see the world from the perspective of persecuted minorities. But VR also lowers costs: designers use VR to develop cars, doctors and pilots train for emergencies in virtual training environments. 

**VR can distance us from reality.** If we create new identities that allow us to escape from our here and now in virtual worlds, we can gain new experiences. Who never wanted to feel like a Formula 1 driver or a rock star? But the danger lies in the amount. If we spend more time in virtual realities than in real ones, we run the risk of not only losing touch with reality, but also of losing any sense of humanity. Because if we can act without consequences, we neglect the social aspect, and everything revolves around itself. The result would be everyone against everyone.

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Virtual becomes reality

**Where do I come from?**

From Munich to Bath in England, via Vienna to Berlin. That's the short version. To be more precise, I studied business administration at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, followed by market research and consulting in England, then a PhD in management at the University of Vienna, and now a partner at K'UP. As soon as I arrived in Vienna, I fell in love with research and method development with a focus on branding, destination image and psychology. I have been writing scientific articles and teaching at various international universities for years. I am attracted by research on social developments and the bridge between academia and practice. I am driven to work with exciting people from different backgrounds and corners of the world to come to new, relevant insights.


**What drives me?**

I believe that good strategy must be built on real knowledge. It drives me to always create new approaches, try new methods and find approaches to get real insights from them. At K'UP, I've been leading a team since 2021 that explicitly cares about these new approaches and insights. We develop new methods for research, enable more efficient and better strategy work, and connect ourselves, our partners, clients and bright minds.

My driver in this is my family, my son and music. I've been playing in different bands for years and love to discover new things.



**What is my strategy?**

Re-thinking, critically weighing, finding the best insight.

### Vita

- Partner researcher, K'UP
- Lecturer and guest speaker at international universities
- Author and ad-hoc reviewer for top international journals
- Analyst, Zenith International Ltd, Great Britain
- PhD Management, University of Vienna
- Diploma in Business Administration, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich


### News and Publications

- Herz, M., & Krezdorn, N. (2020). The More You Know–High versus Low Experience Effects on Project Management Decisions. In Forum Markenforschung 2018 (pp. 107-122). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
- Micevski, M.; Halkias, G.; Herz, M. (2019). Multiple consumer identities and the crossover effect of the EU identity in predicting domestic and foreign product preferences. Journal of Business Research
- Herz, M. & Rauschnabel, P. (2019). Understanding the Diffusion of Virtual Reality Glasses: The Role of Media, Fashion and Technology. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 138, 228-242.
- Herz, M., Arnegger, J., & Mayer, M. (2018). How Stable is Event-Related Country-Image Change?. In Forum Markenforschung 2016 (pp. 141-157). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden
- Herz, M., & Arnegger, J. (2017). Country Image Formation, Stability and Change – A Longitudinal Assessment of the Image of Azerbaijan. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing.
- Herz, M., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2017). I Use it but Will Tell You that I Don’t: Consumers’ Country-of-Origin Cue Usage Denial. Journal of International Marketing.
- Diamantopoulos, A., Herz, M., & Koschate, N. (2017). The EU as Superordinate Brand Origin: An Entitativity Perspective. International Marketing Review.

Challenge

Strategy

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