Blog & Inspiration

The way we work has changed dramatically over the past few years. Mobile terminal devices are allowing work to be carried out anywhere and are highly attractive to many employees. However, despite all the flexibility, collaboration remains a fundamental factor – not only for the creative process. But technology is even entering this sphere: we spoke to Birgit Jackson, Commercial Director Europe at Sharp Visual Solutions, about the new Windows Collaboration Display and the role of technology in collaboration. 

Sunlight falls obliquely through the high, pointed Gothic windows of the old church, making the geometric patterns on the walls shine like a rainbow. The bright color spectrum conjures a kaleidoscope of patterns and shapes into the room. It is broken only by the jumps of the skaters practising their moves on a half-pipe running across the nave. This unique place in the small town of Llanera, in the Spanish Asturias, is called “Kaos Temple”. The temple has been a pilgrimage destination for skate culture lovers since the church was transformed into a kind of skatepark.

Anyone looking for the right pair of headphones is spoilt for choice nowadays: in-ear, on-ear or over-ear? With or without noise cancellation? More bass or a clearer sound? Not to mention other factors such as brand affinity, price, shape and colour. These decisions are set to become a bit more difficult in future, as the new headphones by nura guarantee an unprecedented and unique listening experience. What makes them so unique is the fact that they adapt individually to the user’s sound profile.

Nicolas Feuillatte conveys with incomparable playfulness the lightness of being that is inherent to its champagne as well as the basic philosophy that true luxury is all about emotion and pleasure. The enchantingly elegant design and playful elements – such as the new augmented reality app that allows the owner of a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte to also visually enter its world – do the rest in order to give the noble beverage a very special place in which people can enjoy this pleasure with all their senses.

Charcoal has been a hot commodity ever since top chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver began cooking over open flame. “Live Fire” is the name of a trend that essentially elevates the classic BBQ in the privacy of a garden to the heights of an exclusive culinary experience. The London Log Company is the first to fuel the fire, and its founder Mark Parr built his entire empire on wood. Our London editor Nora Manthey spent a day in the woods with Parr to learn how to extract the black gold from the trees in the county of Kent.

Rugged cliffs, a grey sky and the wild sea. The beauty of the Faroe Islands is a pure and rough one. Exposed to the salty wind, dark and wooden dry houses stand all over the islands with fish and pieces of lamb meat hanging at their sides and interiors. In the midst of this impressing, chill nature, the Michelin-starred restaurant “Koks” offers a cosy refuge with all the flavours and the amazing spirit of the islands beautifully arranged on its plates. We spoke to Poul Andrias Ziska, head chef at Koks, about their concept, inspiration, and the unique experience of the Faroese cuisine. 

Nail-biting action scenes and stunningly beautiful locations are highlights of every James Bond film. In the blockbuster ‘Spectre’, Ice Q, the unique gourmet restaurant located on Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden, Austria, furnished the backdrop for a futuristic clinic and delighted filmgoers with its tremendous architecture and spectacular glass façade. Now the restaurant has been joined by a world’s first at an altitude of over 3,000 metres. 007 Elements is a cinematic installation in which everything revolves around the world of James Bond.

Those who seek to market their products in this day and age face a very complex challenge. Shorter product development cycles and sales and marketing materials tailored to specific target groups with constantly changing requirements mean an increase not just in the number of relevant output channels but also in the frequency with which documents must be newly drafted or adapted. This is compounded by the fact that a large number of locations, participating bodies and departments favour coordination efforts and a potential for error that can easily jeopardise the efficiency of the processes involved. Counteracting this requires publishing solutions that are flexible and scalable. We speak with Alexander Dressler, Managing Director of InBetween, about the properties and features such a solution must have. 

Claims that technology has taken the helm, that marketing has outlived itself and that brands have lost their previous crucial role to corporate strategy can be heard all around. Technology providers say that brands have long since been a thing of the past. A number of companies are saying that marketing has been phased out in general, with its tasks having instead been taken over by new silos such as “social media marketing”, “influencer marketing” and other current buzzword constructions. Nevertheless, the brand continues to be crucial to the success of companies and their strategy, according to the majority of entrepreneurs and executives. 

Heute wächst alles zusammen, das gilt insbesondere in der Kommunikation. So müssen beispielsweise die Inhalte der Webseiten mit denen der Kataloge übereinstimmen, und damit das gelingen kann, werden Unternehmen, Verbände und Agenturen von Database Publishing-Systemen unterstützt. Wie man sich die Arbeit mit einer solchen Lösung vorstellen kann und mit welchen Herausforderungen Unternehmen dabei rechnen müssen, erzählte uns Michael Lutz, Geschäftsführer bei Codeware, in einem Gespräch über neues Denken und schwäbische Gründlichkeit. 

Caught between content-hungry consumers and the need for business efficiency, content management professionals of various disciplines and almost every industry vertical are unifying around a common best practice: single-source publishing. The following article explores this topic, its benefits and how organisations can realise the value of their content.

Design, innovation and groundbreaking technology. These terms are justified when thinking of the most recent collaboration between two British super brands. The joint project by the two top-performing brands is called Belstaff X McLaren, and with good reason, as we look forward to the latest masterpieces created through precision, engineering and authenticity. The collaboration not only incorporated McLaren’s motto “Everything for a Reason” by adapting the materials and design to the new 600LT, it also took many smaller details into consideration, leading to a unique collection through the added long-standing experience of Belstaff. Our editorial team was able to try out the new pieces during a test drive with the 600LT at the Hungaroring in Budapest.  

As a pioneer of foot care in Germany, Hellmut Ruck GmbH faces growing demands in the field of product information management. The company has set itself the particular task of meeting rising customer demands with regard to the visualisation of products through various channels and has brought apollon on board as a digitalisation partner. 

All that is visible from afar is a deep, narrow incision in the slope of a Tuscan hillside – however, a large building soon becomes apparent. An extraordinary building, hidden between the olive groves, the vineyards and the oak forests. Here, wine is the very essence of every thought, of all work and of welcoming guests and visitors. This is a temple to wine and, above all, an homage to the Tuscan landscape and its vineyards. We are in Bargino, just half an hour by car from Florence, and today home to the new headquarters of Marchesi Antinori and the Chianti Classico wine estate.

Infinite stretches of white and a silence only a surrounding of snow and ice can bring forth. The biting cold air is relentlessly waving over the dazzling ground as the quiet scene suddenly gets in motion with dozens of dogs cutting their way through the snow. The Finnmarksløpet is known for being one of the most difficult sled dog races in the world, and we were talking to Petter Karlsson, this year’s winner of the famous race.

Knowledge and data management today has become an essential managerial process necessary for creating, sharing, storing, using and managing the knowledge and information of any organisation. It is a collection of systematic approaches used to facilitate the flow of information and knowledge between the right people at the right time in the right format at the right cost, so they can act more efficiently and effectively to create value for the organisation and achieve a competitive advantage. Needless to say, no one would argue that data management or knowledge management does not need to be made an organisational priority. But there are technical and organisational complexities to consider and hurdles to overcome that can make it very difficult to realise the potential. We sat down with Katie Fabiszak, CMO of Riversand Technologies and 20-year data management industry veteran, to talk about the critical need for and potential roadblocks of harnessing an organisation’s data with the aid of today’s data management technologies.

What makes a decision a good one? Can this be computed on a purely rational basis? What role does luck have to play in this? Stephan Kalhamer is a mathematician – and a professional poker player. He coaches top managers and teaches them what risk management means in very specific terms: He describes the optimal situation in the game of poker – and in everyday business life: ‘The mathematics have to be on my side; then there is no more luck, and my wager works for me’. He tells us what constitutes smart negotiating, and why poker is not a dubious gamble but rather a mental exercise for strategists.

Information is the be-all and end-all of a company’s process management. Information needs to be transferred at the right point in time in the appropriate quality and right format to the correct recipient, all while occurring in the right location. It is no wonder then that information logistics projects are challenging. They take longer when organised poorly, ending up more expensive than planned. Digitalisation in particular requires central, optimised and automated processes. Companies must now face this challenge and plan their PIM/MDM projects in a rational manner. We asked the specialists Marc Hölzle, Principal Technical Consultant, and Michael Mezger, Principal Business Consultant, from the consulting firm parsionate in Stuttgart about what advice they have for companies to successfully plan and implement a project. 

No other restaurant has influenced the gourmet scene over the last decade as profoundly as René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen. So-called ‘New Nordic Cuisine’ was hyped across the globe as a result of Redzepi’s cooking. Without a doubt, Noma is the embodiment of the current gourmet age and – similar to El Bulli in Spain – has shaped the culinary world to an extraordinary extent. It was all the more devastating when René Redzepi announced the closing of his restaurant in Copenhagen last year, choosing to embark on a world with small pop-up gigs instead. 

The future may start anyplace, anywhere, anytime - or so Nena sang back in the early nineties when her songs became so popular, she had to sing them in English too. Numerous number one hits in the German charts, guest roles in film productions, voice overs and a long list of prizes and awards are the prominent cornerstones marking a lifelong career. Nena already knew as a child that she wanted to be on stage and has taken things as they come ever since. She is living in the moment and still, after four decades in show business, manages her success with her relaxed manner and familar smile on her lips. 

Er ist das älteste aller Kommunikationsmedien für Produktinformationen und trotz der unvergleichlichen Entwicklung des Internets und den damit einhergehenden disruptiven Veränderungen für Unternehmen noch immer putzmunter. Oft totgesagt, aber immer wieder auferstanden, findet der Katalog nach wie vor seinen Platz im Marketingmix unterschiedlichster Unternehmen. Jochen Janke beschäftigt sich seit 20 Jahren mit Katalogen und spricht mit uns über den Wandel und die Zukunft des Mediums.