Blog & Inspiration

Diffused sun rays penetrate the blue of the ocean and dimly illuminate the outlines of a man on the brink of a deep dark hole at the sea bottom. This could be the scene of a base jump if we were not many feet deep under-water. Apnea diver Guillaume Néry gets ready for take-off and then dives as if in in slow motion, down into the black abyss of Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. He is holding his breath and so are we.

Never mind that ever-present and domineering three-point stars from Untertürkheim. Focus instead on another global business founded there - in that liberating year of 1945 - and the truly important bit for today: that no fewer than three Dirks were involved in its recently delivered omni-channel project. Kaiser+Kraft, today operating under the umbrella of SDAX-listed and Stuttgart-based Takkt, is a flourishing company in business equipment. With over 50,000 items of office supplies and furniture on offer, from workbenches to complete prefab offices, it direly needed to omni-range all those mail orders all over the world.

Members-only clubs have been around for centuries. This is where the powerful representatives of the society have met, the leaders and thinkers, and all of them minding their own businesses in a like-minded community. Nowadays, golf clubs, a gym membership or spending the evening in a business club have long become routine. You can enjoy privacy, meet like-minded people and often the establishment becomes your second living room. Private country, gentlemens’ or ladies’ clubs look back upon a long tradition, although no doubt their image is a little antiquated if you ask younger people. However, the fact that the tradition of member-only clubs has become a trend among the younger target group is thanks to the concept of Soho House.

„Werkzeuge für höchste Ansprüche“ lautet das Credo von Festool, Hersteller von Spezialwerkzeugen mit Sitz in Wendlingen. Um den mehr als 47 Länder umfassenden Absatzmarkt mit Publikationen über das Sortiment versorgen zu können, setzt das Marketing mit dem InBetween PublicationBuilder auf Automatisierung und Kreativität bei der Katalogerstellung.

The consumers’ golden age: a huge choice of products and services accompanied by endless means of comparison, and information on others’ experiences - all that in unprecedented comfort. What’s convenient and transparent for the customer often presents companies with huge challenges. However, it also presents many opportunities.

Central management of product information in a digital catalogue and its deployment through all channels will allow for increased revenue and considerably fewer costs in data administration. Health service provider PartsSource shows how.

When Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman sits back, relaxes and enjoys delicious food and an exquisite wine, we don’t find ourselves in a luxury restaurant somewhere in Los Angeles or the Hamptons, but above the clouds. As a guest of one of the leading airlines in the world, with Etihad Airways you experience comfort in a class of its own. It’s no wonder that the company was awarded the title ‘World’s Leading Airline’ for the seventh time in a row at the World Travel Awards (WTA) last year.

From the first shower rail to multiple-stream showering pleasure at the touch of a button: since 1901, inventions from Hansgrohe’s Black Forest-based think tank have influenced bathrooms around the world. A lot of what was conceived, developed and designed here has provided the international sanitary branch with stimuli. Some ideas wrote bathroom history and some even cultural history. Over a century after founding the company, the descendants of the south-German shower pioneer are contributing actively to the success of the company. We spoke to Richard Grohe about the passion for his company and posed the question of how you can harmonise traditional inventive talent and digital transformation.

Everything is going mobile, virtual, and computers will do our jobs in the near future. Not so fast. AOL’s digital prophet David Shing puts a few pieces of the “digital story” into context offering a glimpse of how our digital consumption behaviors will adapt thanks to smart brands and omnipresent devices that bridge sight, sound, motion, touch, feel, scent to deliver a deeper emotional experience.

„Was der alles hat“ – dieser Slogan beschreibt das in Österreich ansässige Unternehmen Messerle ziemlich perfekt. Es bietet sowohl für Firmen als auch Privatpersonen ein breites Sortiment an Gastrozubehör, Bürobedarf bis hin zu Werbe- und Hygienemitteln sowie Verpackungen. Nach einem umfangreichen Webshop-Relaunch, durchgeführt vom PIM-Spezialisten Stämpfli, steht den Kunden ein neues Einkaufserlebnis zur Verfügung.

The dream of spaceflight for all should not remain a dream for much longer, at least not according to Sir Richard Branson and his private spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic, which has been working on a space transporter for commercial space flights for many years. Due to technical problems however, the launch has been repeatedly postponed. Now tourist flights have been announced for this year. In addition, the company recently introduced their pilots’ flight suits designed by the Japanese star designer Yohji Yamamoto in collaboration with the adidas Y-3 label. Gone is the well-known image of the white space suit: the future of fashion in unknown galaxies is black.

In business, the marketing department often has to take care of customer data. A task which not only requires legal sensitivity in obvious sectors such as health and security, but also in any other consumer areas. As regards to safeguarding privacy it may be decisive for a company to both strengthen its own reputation as well as that it requires a safe haven from immense regulatory fines. Whether one focuses on the Safe Harbor, Privacy Shield or the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in any case data protection equals brand protection.

CPG companies pursuing digital strategies to improve or increase their top or bottom-line are finding that product (or raw material) information management and the distribution and sharing of information is crucial to their strategy’s success. This article looks at the necessity of a PIM and the underlying and parallel concept of managing your product information supply chain and why understanding this concept will be crucial to the success of a digital strategy.

Milan is leading in fashion and design with modern art playing a somewhat lesser role - but that was until Fondazione Prada started to care. The foundation is funded by the luxury brand bearing its name but emphasizes independence from the business as it aims for a cultural dialogue in the second largest city of Italy.

The beauty brand Estée Lauder has the values of a private company and the financial sophistication of a public company. Their leaders and their employees are driven by passion and new ideas. Today, Estée Lauder’s children and grandchildren are active and involved in the thriving house of beauty that she carefully built over many decades. But for them, it is much more than just a family business, it is a way of life. And that also includes helping other people – for example when it comes to breast cancer.

The teahouse Kusmi Tea is a tea dealer you can't avoid. In the beautiful boutiques, which match the corporate identity of the brand, you find the most diverse of taste creations - not only in the whole of Europe but even internationally, for example in America, Canada or China for example. The shops are mostly designed in the typical Kusmi style. This is where puristic white and transparent elements meet on colourful tins. The roots of Kusmi Tea go back to the year 1867. Founded in Russian St Petersburg, the company has been based in Paris since 1917. A moving and, at the same time, sad story which finds its happy end.

When Alfred Newman- Randy’s uncle - composed only a few bars in 1933, he had no idea that his music piece would continue to become a world famous synonym for the big screen: the 20th Century Fox fanfare. You’ll hear it too when you simply imagine the moving search lights and the equally famous logo of the Hollywood studio which pre-announced stars like Spencer Tracy, Shirley Temple, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor in so many films. Now brace for Matt Damon as he has taken the lead role in their latest science-fiction production as we are heading for Mars!

Rrrring. It’s modern, it’s chic and above all it’s smart. Ringly has a lot to offer and keeps us inconspicuously up to date with the news in all situations. A beautiful gadget, which doesn’t appear to be a gadget at first glance.

What if we could self-diagnose flu before it breaks out? What if we could see how physical training and the food we ingest are shaping our organism at the molecular level? The health product ‘Cue’ comes from the company of the same name. It combines powerful biosensor technology with mobile technology that creates a synergy which will definitely change the way we all approach health.

Cute voice, smart design and equipped with a load of soft skills, this is Jibo. The mini robot reminds us a bit of the endearing ET, the only difference being that ET was an extra terrestrial and therefore a living being. Jibo on the other hand is fully automated. Nonetheless, he doesn’t appear to show any less intelligence.

To begin with we just had ideas and visions that were suggested, discussed, pursued and sometimes discarded again. Light reflexes are now mirrored in convex and concave lines, edges cast sharp shadows, and striking surfaces allow the coloured, metallic paintwork to shimmer in an array of green shades that contrast with the warmth of the luxurious interior copper elements, the cognac-coloured leather seats and the exquisite wooden trimming on the doors. It is here that extraordinary ideas and visions have become shape and form. The design, technology and master craftsmanship generate a new vision of luxury and performance in the car industry. The Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 is one of the most remarkable concept vehicles of the past year.