The cloud as the perfect data manager BY SHAMANTH SHANKAR As retailers grow, efficiently managing data across their application landscape becomes increasingly central. Business users and information technology (IT) leaders therefore require data management solutions which provide insights to them and relevant information to their customers along their purchasing lifecycle. For this reason, accommodating scale,…
Category: RESSORTS
SOUNDMACHINE
A classic becomes modern BY SANDY STRASSER Record players are the interior trend of the year, with the comeback of vinyl music currently omnipresent. But what exactly makes the sound system of yesteryear an absolute must-have today? Using new technologies, these new record players usually come with a USB connection, allowing music to additionally be…
HUNGRY FOR RESULTS
Global player in the digital fitness industry BY ANJA FAHS This app is really tough! My muscles were burning like fire and during the last ten jumps my legs started to feel heavy as lead, yet there were still squats to do, which would be the final straw for my trembling muscles. Quitting is not…
FREE SPIRIT
A girl and her eagle BY ANJA FAHS As soon as its mistress removes the protecting cap, the great eagle turns its head and looks around with its piercing eyes. It is still perched on the young girl’s arm. Suddenly, it spots its prey and in two great beats of its wings, it flies up…
Temel Kahyaoglu in conversation with Jürg Weber
Temel Kahyaoglu, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Jürg Weber, CEO censhare (Schweiz) AG, on Corporate Newsrooms Jürg Weber is the CEO, co-founder and co-owner of censhare (Schweiz) AG. Throughout his career, he has acquired in-depth experience in product management, purchasing management and sales marketing at both nationally and internationally active trading companies. During this time, he…
STEFAN SAGMEISTER
BY NADINE PELZER / SABINE STAHL What makes people really happy? This is precisely the question the acclaimed designer Stefan Sagmeister has asked himself. The very personal documentary ‘The Happy Film’ is the result of years of research and self-experiments on the way to happiness. His work inspires and fascinates, and is known for its…
THERE IS SOMETHING IN THE AIR
BY NADINE PELZER Time is a magical thing. Sometimes we feel it racing past, and sometimes it seems to stand still. But what if the time could suddenly catapult us into entirely different spheres? If we could let time literally intoxicate and sprinkle us? We can … At first glance, one could believe the simple…
NEXT GENERATION
Cult brand Abercrombie & Fitch reinvents itself BY ANJA FAHS At the end of the 19th century, someone stepping into ‘Abercrombie & Co’, a small shop on the waterfront in downtown Manhattan, would have found him- or herself in the midst of a large selection of expensive and in some cases quite exotic outdoor and…
THE NEW AGE OF COMMUNICATION
The challenge of personalisation and localisation BY MATHIAS WURTH Through digitalisation, the world has become smaller. The multitude of online distribution channels and social media at our disposal today also means we can communicate in various ways with more people in more time zones simultaneously. For a standard campaign, an average company uses at least…
THE MAGICAL KINGDOM OF SIAM
The Keemala Resort takes you away to foreign worlds BY ANJA FAHS In the old Kingdom of Siam in the rainforest-covered hillsides of the Thai peninsula of Phuket, there is a mysterious place. High above the beach, small buildings, like giant birds’ nests, are visible through the dense leafy cover of the jungle, hidden in…
MOMENTARY DECISION
Interview with photographer Jim Rakete BY SANDY STRASSER In a career of almost 50 years as a photographer, he captured the German elite of acting and music - Jim Rakete. Many great international personalities too, trust him and his sense for what truly makes a portrait. With us he spoke about the beginnings of his…
TIMELESS ELEGANCE
Interview with Slowear Managing Director Roberto Compagno BY NADINE PELZER Carefully designed details and an immaculate fit combined with top-quality material is the recipe for timeless items of clothing. For 60 years, the Italian Slowear Group, which consists of 4 brands, has been passionately devoted to manufacturing products which are beautiful, sustainable and reliable at…
Thomas Lucas-Nülle in conversation with Michael Kugler
Thomas Lucas-Nülle, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Michael Kugler, Managing Director Contentserv GmbH, about the Ability to Execute Mr. Kugler is an industrial engineer and has more than ten years’ experience in various specialist and management positions, from consulting and marketing through to product management and sales. He is regarded a pioneer in the area of Product…
HUMAN SUBWOOFER
Basslet is the first speaker to be worn on the wrist BY DR CLAUDIA PELZER To not only listen to music, but to feel it – that is the vision of the Berlin start-up Lofelt, the creative minds behind the Basslet bracelet. They have been working on the prototypes since 2014. In 2016, a Kickstarter…
TIME TO GREEN
Audi connects with traffic lights in the US BY THOMAS LUCAS-NÜLLE If you know in advance when a traffic light will turn red or green, you will drive more relaxed and efficiently. Audi is the first car manufacturer to connect with the urban surrounding – an important step towards autonomous driving. This service is called…
NEW BUSINESS
On the trail of the customer BY SARAH GRECHENIG Digitalisation has not only turned our everyday lives upside-down, it has also extensively revolutionised commerce. Developments in eCommerce have actually strong-armed digital transformation. The boundaries between sectors have become more fluid, those selling insurance today may be selling cars tomorrow. Nothing seems impossible any more. As…
Temel Kahyaoglu in conversation with Robert Schneider
Temel Kahyaoglu, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Robert Schneider, CEO w&co MediaServices, on the rising significance of integrators Since 2009, Robert Schneider has been the Managing Director at, and a shareholder in, w&co MediaServices GmbH & Co KG, a full-service media services provider based in Munich, Germany. Prior to this, he had been a manager at…
WHEN TWO LEGENDS MEET
Zenith El Primero Range Rover Special Edition BY ANJA FAHS Two big names and at the same time two legends with a bit of common history. In 1969, Zenith presented the famous Chronograph El Primero. In the same year, the British car manufacturer Land Rover introduced the prototype of the first luxury off-road vehicle: the…
ROYAL TOUCH
Culinary secrets from the Royal Chef BY NORA MANTHEY Carolyn Robb was the Royal Family’s chef for thirteen years. She travelled with Prince Charles and was there when Prince William and Prince Harry lost their mother, Princess Diana. Her expertise and experiences inspired a cookbook: ‘The Royal Touch, Simple stunning home cooking from a former…
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
All hands on deck! The stiff breeze of digital transformation becomes a formidable storm. For a good ship with an excellent team a unique opportunity to reach the finish line in front of the competition. Similar to the wheat races of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the largest sailing ships were racing under extreme…
NAVY UNDERSTATEMENT
As versatility, timelessness, and effortless style go, the navy blazer is the piece of clothing that’s hard to beat. In fact, it’s one of the cornerstones of the modern male wardrobe – a classic item which can be worn at the weekend, in the evening and most importantly, in a smart casual office environment. The…
Benelux DIY Market Retailer Selects Riversand Technologies for Managing Product Information in the Cloud
Maxeda DIY Group to utilize Riversand’s PIM to effectively manage product information for an integrated Omni-channel experience. Maxeda DIY Group, the leading do-it-yourself retailer in Benelux, has selected Riversand’s Product Information Management (PIM) and Media Asset Management (MAM) solution to efficiently onboard new products, manage product information and media assets in Cloud as part of their strategy…
Temel Kahyaoglu in conversation with Ania Hentz
Temel Kahyaoglu, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Ania Hentz, CEO silver.solutions on, what makes B2B eCommerce so special Ania Hentz is the founder and Managing Director of silver.solutions GmbH. With a background in marketing, Ania Hentz identified the potential of the Internet in 1999 and founded her own IT company in collaboration with Frank Dege. She is…
FEEL COMFORTABLE
In and out of slippers in style BY CHRISTIAN PECHER Just be relaxed and keep the slippers on when you go out, suggests the London label mahabis, which offers slippers with separate outer soles. Comfortable slippers in a lovely Scandinavian design are thus transformed into stylish outdoor footwear and vice versa. Who says functional wear…
SUCCESS IS IN THE PRODUCT MIX
Orsay persuades with bright omnichannel BY JÜRGEN BURGER There is hardly any industry spinning faster than fashion. Collection chases collection as customer preferences change virtually monthly. Fashionable companies, especially those with young target groups, must thus offer new products practically every week to ensure consumers’ continued interest in the brand. Even for the most experienced,…
SMART FABRICS
Google unites textiles and technology in its Jacquard project BY DR CLAUDIA PELZER Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group (ATAP), which focusses on researching future technologies, is currently transforming textiles into interactive surfaces. Here, new weaving techniques are being developed that permit sensors and electro-conductive yarns to be integrated into fabrics. At the annual Google…
FASHION GOES TECH
Interview with founder of TheCurrent Liz Bacelar BY NADINE PELZER / SABINE STAHL Smart watches, rings, handbags or jackets – where wearables are concerned, a lot of things have happened in recent years. Still, fashion and retail seem to find it difficult to cooperate with the tech business. Liz Bacelar, however, has managed to do…
Temel Kahyaoglu in conversation with Upen Varanasi
Temel Kahyaoglu, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Upen Varanasi, CEO Riversand, on what the future of Master Data Management looks like Upen Varanasi sets the overall strategy and vision for Riversand. He brings extensive experience in the areas of PIM, PLM and Content Management. A University of Missouri and IIT alumnus, Upen holds Master’s and Bachelor’s…
DIGITAL NOMADS
Live, work and play around the world BY ANJA FAHS Distance is an illusion. Today we live in an era in which flight connections and various ways of communication have shrunk the world. New possibilities to stay loyal to your social environment have opened up, even if you are thousands of kilometres away. We are…
EXPRESSIVE
Interview with Franziska Kunz, Global Head of Art Deutsche Bank AG BY ANJA FAHS Art has always been collected by private individuals but also by companies. Just think of the Medici with their Florentine family empire, or of today’s large and medium-sized companies. Art stimulates creativity in a business, shows a sense of culture and…
HARMONIOUS MOMENTUM FOR HAMBURG
The Elbphilharmonie has opened BY DR STEFAN POLLAK Germany has a new landmark. On the 11th of January, the Elbe Philharmonic opened in the Hamburg harbour district. The question may be asked if 10 years of building and 800 million euros of investment have been worth it. Time will show if a definite answer can…
PERFUME AS HANDMADE ART
Exclusive, pure, unique BY ANJA FAHS Sweet and smoky — if there is one trendy scent, it is sandalwood. A warm, strong basic note, which is intensive, woody and spicy at first. Combined with cedar, cardamom and leather, it creates a subtle masculine fragrance whose strength is, however, mellowed and rounded off by violet and…
FUTURISTIC SUPERMARKET
Amazon focusses on stationary retail using sensors instead of cash registers BY DR CLAUIA PELZER A supermarket with no queues at the checkout – but with lots of high-tech and sensors in the shelves. The amount due is simply debited online upon leaving the store. No more annoying queuing at the checkout. The online retail…
Marketers, let it rain gold in 2017!
On the road to success with digital business, personalization and data protection BY ANDRES DICKEHUT Andres Dickehut, CEO of marketing service provider Consultix, set off on behalf of Das Produktkulturmagazin in search of digital marketing trends. He has been advising international clients on customer engagement, eCRM, customer lifecycle management and eCommerce since 1994. ProCampaign®, one…
CREATING THE NEW
Is adidas’ new business model leaving competitors far behind? BY SANDY STRASSER Whether a product fulfils its purpose, whether it’s trendy and stylish, and above all whether it has its finger on the pulse of time — these factors are increasingly being decided by the customer in the digital age. It is he who not…
CYBER CRIME
Tracking down the perpetrators BY SANDY STRASSER As people conduct more of their private lifes online, attackers are increasingly focused on using the intersection of the physical and digital world to their advantage. In 2015, the American software company Symantec saw a resurgence of many tried-and-true scams. Cybercriminals revisited fake technical support scams which saw…
BEAUTY IN MOTION
Mercedes-Maybach luxury BY ANJA FAHS Each year in August, the world’s vintage car fan community transforms Pebble Beach in California into a superlative beauty pageant – a summit for the most exquisite classic automobiles. This year, it proved to be the perfect venue for premièring the exclusive Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, a luxury-class coupé of the…
WORLDS OF WONDER
Adrenaline kicks in ice and snow BY NADINE PELZER The ability to tell stories through images is a rare gift. A gift that Mark Fisher is lucky enough to possess. With great passion and dedication, he captures human emotions on a background of alpine landscapes. As a result, he produces breathtaking images of extreme situations…
MAN OF THE FUTURE
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff creates Artificial Intelligence for anyone BY NADINE PELZER Artificial Intelligence is creating new ways for people to engage with technology and with one another. Various forms of AI already power for many years some of the world’s most popular consumer experiences, such as Apple’s Siri or Facebooks deep learning facial recognition…
DRESSED
Interview with Falke Managing Director Paul Falke BY SANDY STRASSER Fashion is driven by our own quest for beauty. The need for people to adorn themselves and to look for, and gradually find, their own style is also the driving force in fashion. Sock manufactory Falke has committed itself to developing stylish fashion for modern…
BORN TO RIDE
Where man and machine are one BY ANJA FAHS Every man dreams of fingering his own oily motorbike in order to make it his own custom machine. Imagine a cool garage somewhere at a beach where the sun shines and waves crash on the sand, and where the surfboard leans against the wall as it…
DIGITAL TO THE TOP
Interview with Dr Torsten Wingenter, Head of Digital Innovations at Lufthansa German Airlines BY JÜRGEN BURGER The Lufthansa Group is a globally operating aviation group with a total of 540 subsidiaries and affiliates. Over the last financial year, these were organised inter alia in the business segments of Passenger Airline Group, logistics, technology, catering, etc….
BALANCED
The importance of personnel development BY TEMEL KAHYAOGLU How can companies win the most talented employees while skilled workers are scarce today? How does good and honest loyalty work in detail? Dirk Jurkowksi, Managing Director of Xtentio GmbH, and graduate psychologist Silke M. Jürgensen reveal the positive effects a consistent strategy for personnel development can…
START ON PAPER
Continue everywhere BY SANDY STRASSER To let one’s thoughts run free in a surrounding that is both beautiful and exclusive: the feeling to write on paper by Montblanc with the respective pen or fountain pen remains unparalleled for many. For more than a hundred years, the label is synonymous with writing culture and master craftsmanship….
IDENTIFYING THE FUNDAMENTAL
Interview with actress Iris Berben BY SANDY STRASSER The courage to speak out and to not simply gloss over potential grievances. It has always been important for actress Iris Berben to stand by her opinions. She has always remained true to herself – both in her personal life and in her career. She vehemently defends…
Temel Kahyaoglu in conversation with Saim Rolf Alkan
Temel Kahyaoglu, Chief Analyst TGOA, in conversation with Saim Rolf Alkan CEO ax semantics about the two classes in e-commerce Saim Rolf Alkan is the CEO of ax semantics, one of the pioneers in the area of automated copywriting. Based on his many years of experience with the requirements of content production and quality as…
KOBE BEEF
The Beefbar Butcher Shop BY ANJA FAHS No other foodstuff invokes our basic instincts like a juicy steak being grilled on the barbecue and we catch the spicy aroma of caramelising meat. Meat is pure pleasure, and it is also healthy, in view of the fact that it has been one of our most important…
DYNAMIC, NOT STATIC
Effective content is a matter of data management driven by demand BY MATTHIAS KANT Communicating across all channels is a challenge all companies face in times of cross-channel. But only those that provide high-quality information in their external communication while creating a personalised customer experience will have success in the long-term. Modern content management must…
GENERATION HUMAN
Why companies have to rethink in view of the ‘War for Talents’ BY THOMAS LUCAS-NÜLLE The emerging generation of working people has changed just as strongly as the working environment itself. The classical office or industrial workplace has in many cases disappeared and been replaced with flexible structures and tasks. At the same time, the…
TRAFFIC GUIDE
What traffic information will do in future BY THOMAS LUCAS-NÜLLE TomTom is a market leader in providing traffic services and products around the globe. With a market reach of 47 countries, its services aim to make the journey of the driver both safer and faster. However, the customer portfolio of the company, although indeed placing…
RETRO PERSPECTIVE
The sound of style BY NADINE PELZER Bluetooth speakers generally sound pretty well and are easy to use. In terms of style however, they rarely blend in with, shall we say, more carefully orchestrated surroundings. Not so the Caruso, a rather hip example which cleverly combines acoustics with storage space and sports a gramophone mimicking…
DATA SYNERGIES
Interview with Ingrid-Helen Arnold, President SAP Business Data Network By Temel Kahyaoglu In view of the digital economy and the Cloud, CIOs are today taking on important strategic leadership roles. Forward-looking CIOs have recognised that the Cloud is here to stay. For this reason, they are preparing their companies for a digital future that will…
MULTILANGUAGE
Learning to understand the customer’s language BY RAM APPIKATLA Nowadays market analyses show significant change in behaviour and demand of retail. It is therefore imperative for retailers to not only have a physical presence but to be present across channels also - to engage in omnichannel retailing ideally. To do this efficiently, targeted and while…
