Distinctive. Ingenious. The Major German Brands. 000_gdm2016_cat_cover_final.indd 1
distinctive. ingenious.
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A Word of Welcome
The diversity of German design
s i g m a r g a b r i e l f e d e r a l m i n i s t e r f o r e c o n o m i c a f fa i r s a n d e n e r g y
Product design is the deďŹ ning identity of any brand and of the company behind it. A company’s design strategy is a key factor in whether or not it becomes successful. The biggest brands always have a high-quality and distinctive design. And this design plays a crucial role in communicating the brand to potential customers. It is the designer who reconciles the needs of the consumer with the production set-up that a particular company has. Product design can markedly raise the innovativeness of a certain product and can also being people together and create networks. Product design is a decisive factor whenever a new brand is launched. For all of these reasons, it is commensurably important for the German economy.
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Sigmar Gabriel
In Germany, the design industry – from the industrial sector, to the fashion industry, right through to advertising – and the 140,000 people it employs generate an annual turnover of €19 billion. The Federal Government has set up the Cultural and Creative Industries Initiative to foster and support the design industry and to promote cooperation with the traditional industries. We are using this initiative to highlight the innovation potential of design, and are encouraging SMES in particular to use the competitive advantages associated with design. Product designers also have a responsibility for ensuring the right production conditions, environmental standards, and for sustainability. The communication aspect of design also has an important societal dimension to it. This can particularly be seen in the popular approach of design thinking. This method of design draws together specialists from different sectors who work together to solve problems and develop solutions tailored to the needs of the user. It brings the creative and analytical procedures together with one another. I wish all readers of this current edition ‘Distinctive. Ingenious. The Major German Brands’ stimulating reading and interesting insights into the diversity of German product design. Sincerely yours, Sigmar Gabriel
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A Word of Welcome
“German Design�: A Global Brand
d r . f r a n k-wa lt e r s t e i n m e i e r m i n i s t e r f o r f o r e i g n a f fa i r s
Germany has a lot to oer with regard to brands and design. Our brands and our design are creative, innovative and contemporary, and thus greatly enhance the positive image of Germany around the world.
Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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Design is not merely the creation of an attractive product, but means consciously exploring the function of an object and its interaction with the user and the environment. In Germany this is a long-standing tradition, not least thanks to the work of the Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen) and Bauhaus. Bauhaus in particular established the principle of continuously rethinking design anew and considering the impact of design on individuals and society. Design influences our economic and cultural interaction with each other in our everyday lives – across borders and across generations as well. It takes up social issues and responds creatively to them. For this reason as well, it is an important part of our foreign cultural policy that we actively promote and develop. To be successful, design requires one thing first and foremost: innovative companies and entrepreneurs. That is why we have made design a focal point in our international support for the creative industries. The global success of many German companies and their products is based in large part on recognized and soughtafter design. And it shows that our German brands have ensured that “German design” is well-positioned and competitive. Design is an ambassador for the power of German innovation – and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pleased to contribute to making “German Design” as a brand even better known throughout the world. Yours, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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A Word of Welcome
Distinctive. Ingenious.
p r o f. h .c . d r . h .c . p e t e r p f e i f f e r p r e s i d e n t o f t h e g e r m a n d e s i g n c o u n c i l
Why are major brands successful? The principle is simple: we trust what we know. Branded companies have an advantage in the trust of their customers that competitors cannot take for granted. This is an advantage that is very beneďŹ cial to German companies. Prof. h.c. Dr. h.c. Peter Pfeier
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Successful brands use their unique identities to captivate consumers. These identities are usually developed over years or decades and are constantly cultivated and further enhanced. Whether automobiles, sports products or sweets, German products and brands are renowned and loved around the globe. The essential elements of every German brand identity are quality, design and the unique history of the relevant brand. A legend isn’t created on paper, but is given life and made visible only with hard work and outstanding craftsmanship – and this is what makes it distinctive. Products are merely the basis of successful brand work. Corporate communication at all levels has an immense influence on the brand image. Digital communication has made it especially clear that brand management exists in much faster cycles today. The right blend of consistency and change is currently important for German brands in particular, so that they can build on their history of success on the one hand, but are flexible enough to move with the times in order to remain viable on a sustained basis. It must never be forgotten that the most important brand ambassadors are the customers. They have daily contact with the products they love and about which they tell authentic stories. They are the ambassadors for Germany as a nation of design. Since its founding in 1953, the mission of the German Design Council has been to provide optimal support to German companies in the creation of well-designed products and compelling brands. We are thus all the more pleased to have created a genuine treasure trove of German brand identities with this publication, the fourth issue of which we are proud to present to you. I hope that this book, which unites the excellence of German branded companies in concentrated form, will be a source of great pleasure, entertainment and inspiration for you!
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Essay
Superb brand management makes B2B companies unmistakeable. p r o f. d r . k a r s t e n k i l i a n i n i t i at o r o f m a r k e n l e x i k o n .c o m
Many large German brands are nearly invisible. This mostly concerns B2B brands (e.g. mechanical engineering and plant manufacturing) which enjoy worldwide success as hidden champions. Many of these have matured into true brand champions in recent years. But mustn’t brands first be widely known in order to be successful? This is definitely the case for B2C brands, but definitely not for B2B brands. Most B2B brands have a clear focus. Their target audience is small and spread out around the globe. They require only a few hundred or thousand clients who know their brand in order to generate profits in the millions or billions and be highly profitable. The latter results from the distinctiveness of their superb services which find expression in a distinct brand profile. Getting B2B brands on TRACK A clear brand profile requires carving out two to four brand values which are as concrete, causal, relevant and specific as possible – values which are on TRACK. Meaningful brand values speak for themselves and simultaneously provide employees with inspiration and motivation. It is through these values that B2B brands make their way into the feelings, thoughts and actions of employees and become perceptible to clients. TRACK brand values are meaningful and inspirational. They are established within the company, carry significance for clients and are characteristic of the company's own brand in comparison with the competition. What many B2B companies take as a matter of course today was not the case a decade ago. For example, ten years ago at the Würzburg B2B Brand Conference, strategic brand management was still relatively
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Prof. Dr. Karsten Kilian
new to many B2B companies. Most companies were still using operational brand communication. A strategic element was virtually nowhere to be found. In the world of B2B, brands were mostly put on the same level as design. Design, in turn, was put on the same level as styling office equipment and trade show presentations. For some B2B companies this is still the case today. Design is an important part of brand management. It gives brands expression and form. For a long time B2B brand profiling was not necessary Compared to their B2B counterparts, most B2C brands have always been managed and designed strategically. Upon closer inspection, this is especially true of international consumer goods companies such as Henkel, Mars, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Even mid-sized German companies such as Bahlsen, Haribo, Jägermeister and Krombacher have been conducting strategic brand management for a long time. While, until a few years ago, technological innovations were enough for B2B companies to keep the international competition at a distance, this has only seldom proven sufficiently productive for consumer goods brands. This is why additional differentiation at the brand level has always been seen as necessary. Much has changed since then. Brands have taken on a massive increase in significance during the last ten years, even for B2B. And they will become even more important in the future. The main reason for this is that industrial products and services are increasingly being imitated by competitors and replaced by other solutions. Advances in know-how have also decreased considerably in recent years, as Asian competitors have caught up in a big way, having already patented numerous innovations developed in-house. B2B brand profiling is considerably more difficult Not only have consumer goods companies been using strategic brand management for much longer, but branding work is much easier for them than it is for industrial goods and services companies (apart from stiff retail competition). Brand managers for detergents such as Ariel or Persil, for example, are largely able to control brand perception centrally. Small teams make decisions on packaging design, appropriate sales channels, point of sale placements, and how brand values should be presented in the media (e.g. in television commercials or on their Facebook fan page). Successful brand profiling is much more difficult for B2B brand managers for two reasons. Firstly, sales departments continue to dominate in most B2B companies. By comparison, brand management – assuming it exists at all, even in name – is often assigned to the marketing and communications department, which is often of minor importance. This department is primarily responsible for operational communications and design tasks as opposed to being a strategic
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business division that reports directly to company management. Accordingly, corporate design is equated with corporate identity in many B2B companies. A value structure for brand profiling typically does not exist or is merely described in terms of run-of-the-mill brand values such as quality, innovation and tradition. Secondly, it is considerably more demanding to manage B2B brands. While, as already mentioned, B2C brand managers are able to control almost the entire brand image themselves, this is not possible with B2B brands. In most cases, hundreds or thousands of employees significantly influence how a brand is perceived. This includes sales and service employees in particular. In principle, however, almost the entire company is involved, as many employees are more or less in direct and frequent contact with clients (e.g. over the phone, at trade shows, factory tours, workshops and meetings). B2B brand profiling is done by employees In addition to brand profiling, establishing the brand within the company itself plays a central role. Successful B2B companies practice comprehensive internal branding. And not just once, but all the time. The importance of employees as brand ambassadors is set to increase, as even more complex solutions need to be conveyed to clients. Given all the euphoria surrounding Big Data and Industry 4.0, we should be aware that even in ten years time demanding client questions will need to be answered first and foremost by proficient employees. These are the people that make technology usable and comprehensible. They make the advantages of in-house solutions understandable and desirable. Brand values and employees are crucial for B2B It is now clear that brands are more than just attractive print advertisements and stylish trade show stands. This is true even – and especially – in B2B. Brands tell us what a company stands for and what makes it special. And they do this very successfully. For this reason, it will become increasingly important for B2B companies to use the uniqueness of their own brands as a compass when faced with important decisions. Brands make significant contributions to ensuring the long-term economic success of a company. In order to generate preferences in the market, B2B companies must be able to provide superior products and services: superb performance and an unmistakable image. This is what makes many German B2B brands major German B2B brands.
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B. Braun promises constructive dialog and collaboration with customers and partners to ďŹ nd forward-looking and innovative solutions.
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Company B. Braun Melsungen AG Melsungen www.bbraun.com
Founding year – 1839 –
System partner in healthcare.
B. Braun The family-owned B. Braun Group based in northern Hesse is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of medical devices and pharmaceutical products and services. With over 55,000 employees in 64 countries, B. Braun develops high-quality product systems and services for users around the world. Every solution provided incorporates the entirety of our knowledge and skills, the company’s deep understanding of users’ needs – and 177 years of comprehensive expertise. With its constantly growing portfolio of effective healthcare solutions, B. Braun makes a substantial contribution towards protecting and improving people’s health. In developing its own products, product systems and services, B. Braun considers itself to be a companion who knows its counterpart and always aspires to do its best for them – a companion who is motivated to improve things and who thus drives development through constructive dialog with its clients and partners. In doing so, B. Braun enables solutions that are both evolving and progressive. The Braunüle® is one of the Group’s classic examples which impressively demonstrates how it sets and continually advances standards in the healthcare system. Safety in application and process optimization for the client take top priority. In total, the B. Braun product range comprises 5,000 products, 95 percent of which are manufactured by the company.
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Vasofix®, Braunüle®.
Tangible perfection in every sense: the Series 8 generation of built-in appliances.
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Company Robert Bosch GmbH Stuttgart www.bosch.de
Founding year – 1886 –
Engineering and life in perfect synthesis.
Bosch Design For over eighty years, household appliances from Bosch have embodied the integration of advanced technology and practical use in trailblazing design. This is a company tradition: At the beginning of the twentieth century, founder Robert Bosch recognized the value of “good design” for daily use. He provided intensive support to the Werkbund, founded in 1907, an organisation that promoted artistry in the trades, industry and business as well as new architectural principles and paved the way for contemporary industrial design. The Bosch company itself was a pioneer in implementing these principles — and created a sensation in 1933 with its first electric refrigerator in the shape of a drum. The rounded form would later give way to the more practical and even more successful rectangular form. In 1949, Bosch created a model with rounded corners that became a design icon which still influences the archetypal refrigerator today. No wonder the reinterpretation of the Classic fridge has once again become a coveted designer piece more than 60 years later. Today, the latest generation of appliances by Bosch — the Series 8 built-in ovens — is distinguished by its intuitive operation as well as its award-winning, timeless design. Technological highlights such as sensor-controlled programs or the networking and control of all appliance functions via app fulfil the Bosch promise of designing “technology for life”.
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The Bosch Classic refrigerator was launched in 1949, and it’s been a style icon ever since.
Silk-expert IPL, 2016.
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Company Braun GmbH Kronberg www.braun.com
Founding year – 1921 –
Outstanding design meets technical innovation.
Braun In the 1950s Braun revolutionized the design world with its minimalistic, functional product design. Since its founding, the Braun brand has represented technological innovation and products that transform the market, such as the first foil shaver, the first modular hi-fi system and the first oscillating toothbrush, to name just a few examples. The camera flash units by Braun are less well-known today. The EF1 rechargeable flash unit from 1958 was not only a milestone in design, but revolutionized amateur photography with its rechargeable batteries and the flash lamp with a long service life. Sixty years later, Braun has launched a hair-removal product that likewise uses flashes of light. The Silk-expert, equipped with the innovative IPL technology used in beauty salons and dermatology clinics, enables permanent hair removal for home users. Rapid, consecutive flashes of light interrupt the cycle of hair regrowth efficiently and virtually painlessly. The advanced skin tone sensor continuously scans your skin tone and adjusts the light intensity automatically, ensuring safe, effective hair removal. The required technology has been integrated in a compact, feminine design distinguished by its aesthetic yet streamlined appearance that embodies the Braun brand values. The ergonomic design enables a wide range of grip positions and the large activation switch is always easily accessible. High-quality materials and lovely colours enhance the unit’s beautiful functionality.
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Rechargeable camera flash EF 1, 1958.
Design requires passion and determination: it languishes when subjected to hierarchy and control. That’s why we’ve united several strong characters and created an environment where they can work closely together as a team to help make Deutsche Telekom the leading European telecommunications company.
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Company Telekom Design Bonn | Berlin | Darmstadt www.telekom.design
Founding year – 2007 –
TELEKOM DESIGN. We design simplicity.
Deutsche Telekom
Our world has become digital. Everything is connected, and each day our surrounding world is becoming more complex. So naturally, people seek orientation, and look for solutions that simplify and enrich their lives. That’s why design is such an important part of our innovation strategy. We blend design with technological advances in order to build relevant products and services for our customers that serve as bridges between them and technology. For us, design means that no matter what we do, we put human needs first. We think design, we do design, we live design. As we work towards becoming the leading European telecommunications company, design plays an increasingly significant role for our customers as well as for our company. Thus, we focus on designing future customer experiences across all touchpoints. This creates value for our customers, which in turn creates value for Deutsche Telekom. Design is essential for customer experiences that differentiate us from our competitors. It is equally essential that we foster creative and agile collaboration within our organisation – because design supports the digital transformation of our products, brand, and company.
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www.telekom.design
The NOMOS GlashĂźtte brand with its simple, elegant timepieces stands for traditional craftsmanship and the best of German engineering united with outstanding German industrial design.
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Company NOMOS Glashütte/SA Roland Schwertner KG Glashütte www.nomos-glashuette.com
Founding year – 1990 –
The best of times.
NOMOS Glashütte Glashütte: a town nestled among the forests and hills of southeastern Germany, halfway between Berlin and Prague. This is where NOMOS Glashütte builds its watches. The watchmaking company, one of the few owner-operated of its kind worldwide, has been producing mechanical timepieces of the highest quality for more than 170 years. Its watchmakers are amongst the best in the world. NOMOS Glashütte works according to the principles of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen), the predecessor of the Bauhaus movement: Watches of the finest quality are created through a combination of traditional craftsmanship, in-house research and development, and advanced engineering of the highest level—all of which is enhanced by state-of-the-art technology whenever its necessary. Only movements developed and produced in-house are used in these watches – which is extraordinary. Since 2014 NOMOS movements incorporate a proprietary escapement—or NOMOS swing system, as this component is known within the watchmaking company. Only very few watch manufacturers have mastered the production of this component, which sets and keeps the pace in a mechanical watch. The designers at the NOMOS subsidiary Berlinerblau in the German capital give the watches their distinctive appearance. Straightforward German industrial design in the tradition of Bauhaus, Werkbund and Ulmer Schule (Ulm School of Design) is accented by a hint of contemporary Berlin flair. An expert team of well-known designers collaborates with first-class up-and-coming designers on “the best of times”. All NOMOS watches feature uncluttered dials, elegant hands and the slender bezel – in short, a quintessentially clean, spare design. Many models have become classics. More than 130 international design awards testify to the high design and functional quality of the products of this exclusive, traditional brand.
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High-quality materials, exquisite designs and precision: “At Glashütte we try to make the best watches possible,” explain Uwe Ahrendt, CEO of NOMOS Glashütte and Brand Manager Judith Borowski.