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: Technology
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
GROWING PLAYFULLY
The new LEGO People House BY SANDY STRASSER A place for work and fun. A space to cooperate and play. These are some of the elements of LEGO’s new office building. Starting this year, it will serve as a global meeting point at the headquarters of one of the world’s leading toy manufacturers. We spoke…
MARITIME FUN
Welcome on board with Compass BY TEMEL KAHYAOGLU Compass is Europe’s largest mail-order company for motor boating and sailing sports. Ever since its foundation in 1979, the company is independent and family-run. Together with his wife, owner Michael Dehler is the second generation to lead the company in over 25 years. Today, with over 30,000…
Riversand Technologies Joins Demandware LINK to Accelerate Commerce Innovation
Riversand Technologies, an innovative leader in Multi-Domain Master Data Management (MDM) and Product Information Management (PIM) today announced that it has become a Demandware LINK Technology Partner, joining a best-of-breed community committed to accelerating the adoption of innovative commerce technologies that are complementary to the Demandware® Commerce Cloud. Through the LINK Technology Partner Program, Riversand…
A PANORAMIC VIEW
How to keep full control during digital transformation BY CHRISTIAN COLMER “Speaking to the pilot is strictly forbidden!” It was with these words that Picasso once curtly interrupted someone who was admiring his work. Successful CMOs do just the opposite. They are pilots who seek dialogue and keep an ear to the ground for customer…
MARKETING MATERIAL AND EYEBASE
MRM is the next extension of DAM BY WOLFGANG KAUFMANN Yet another three-letter acronym … Just as ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and its subordinate system, DAM (Digital Asset Management), have become second nature, people are already talking about continuing efficiency improvements with MRM (Marketing Resource Management). And indeed for many companies, MRM has already paid…
DAM — IN THE CENTER OF THE IMAGE LIFE CYCLE
Modern Digital Asset Management for the creation, organizing and distribution of your media files BY CHRISTIAN LEEGER With the constant influx of new products, improvements and updates, as well as the changing needs of distribution channels, product information systems are being kept on their toes. Graupner/SJ, a leader in RC-toys, recently reorganised its entire communication…
Stibo Systems on expansion plans and management changes
Stibo Systems is set to expand the investment in multidomain MDM in the DACH region and announces change in DACH management Over the recent years Stibo Systems have strategically executed a fantastic transformation journey focusing on continuous development and growth of Stibo Systems to the company’s current position today, as a leading multidomain MDM vendor. Following on…
TEMPLE OF ART
About the desire for the very special BY SANDY STRASSER Now, will ya’ give me? Sold!” Just some of the typical rants heard at the premises of Christie’s, the world’s oldest and most respected art business. Since on December 5, 1766 James Christie conducted his first auction in London, the house has expanded into no…
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
Volkswagen’s commitment to design and technology in the era of digital transformation BY SANDY STRASSER At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, Volkswagen Group defined new goals for the future of mobility. With digitisation at the top of its agenda, the largest car manufacturer in the world hopes to bring in new business and…
INTERFACE
How to create greater flexibility for your data BY GABRIELE MATTHES The TKD Kabel GmbH is one of the largest suppliers of cables, wires, ready-to-connect cables and accessories for virtually all industries worldwide. The company has locations in Europe, America and China. Its focus is on markets for materials handling, industry and cable tracking chain…
CULTURAL MIX
Head of Alibaba Germany Terry von Bibra on their online expansion plans BY SANDY STRASSER The Chinese online merchant Alibaba has arrived in Germany. The huge demand for international brands in China has triggered a veritable battle for access to coveted goods. We talked to Germany boss Terry von Bibra about Alibaba’s plans to achieve…
BE YOURSELF
… just the way you are BY SANDY STRASSER We are into great designs and into small details. We are all about quality and understated looks. We started out with denim and advanced into collections. We go beyond borders and believe in true friendship. We value our heritage, love today, long for tomorrow. We are…
Frequent Errors During Multi-Channel Communication
For a long time now, companies have used more than one channel. The number of touchpoints a customer or potential customer can use to come into contact with a company is growing continually with the digital movement. Across all channels – in online shops, in catalogues or at the point-of-sale – the customer expects consistent…
I, ROBOT
Machines with finesse BY SANDY STRASSER Robots are on the rise all over the world. Experts in the field speak of it as Industry 4.0. Google and Facebook have become fierce competitors in the development of artificial intelligence whereas Kuka Roboter is a leading pioneer in the field of robotics and systems engineering. All innovations…
DECISIONS FROM THE HEART
Substantial customer loyalty BY JÜRG WEBER Consistent brand management – anytime and everywhere – is at the essence of any business. Consider it the best way to safeguard its health. Protected access then becomes the practical solution for sharing data and knowledge. The eldest private insurance company in Switzerland (Bern, 1826) got in touch with…
ON THE GO
Mobile shopping for advanced consumers BY JANINA EGE Shopping was still relatively simple in the nineties. Now, however, technical achievements such as the smartphone and changing consumer behaviour are transforming the shopping process. According to a study by Demandware, a Salesforce company, the traffic channel that brings in the most customers for retailers is mobile….
CLOUD WORKING
Business solutions for mobile teams BY CLAUDIA PELZER The market for online data storage has been battled over for years, and yet, some newcomers, like the start-up Box, have managed to penetrate it and even expand their business. The technology platform increasingly focuses on enterprise customers and particularly seeks to stand out from the competition…
HIGH-FLYERS
Airbus and Siemens shaping the way into a new aviation future BY SANDY STRASSER One of the greatest industrial challenges in our days is flying without kerosene. Hybrid-electric propulsion systems can significantly reduce fuel consumption of aircraft and minimise noise load. To push this technology, Airbus and Siemens have signed a collaboration agreement. In doing…
BATHROOM INSPIRER
Creating your dream bathroom with virtual reality BY SANDY STRASSER A bathroom can be an oasis, a private retreat in one’s home where one can relax; some may even feel as though they are going through a thorough process of rejuvenation. Richter+Frenzel, a German wholesaler for plumbers and builders founded as far back as 1895,…
DIGITAL BOND
Data management then and now BY SHAMANTH SHANKAR Always-on technology isn’t new. In fact, most of us grew up with a version of this tech in our homes – the telephone dial tone. In 1908, German engineer August Kruckow created the first dial tone as a signal to users that their phone was off-hook and…
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Hollywood’s heroes of the silver screen BY SANDY STRASSER Many generations have grown up with the blue-and-gold logo of the American entertainment giant Warner Brothers. The company based in the Californian city of Burbank is one of the so-called “majors” – the six largest film companies in the United States. Along with Columbia Pictures, the…
KING OF ENTERTAINMENT
ProSiebenSat.1 loves to entertain you BY SANDY STRASSER Range meets ideas: it is with this innovative concept that ProSiebenSat.1 has become the number one media investor in Germany. By exchanging TV advertising time for company shares or revenue sharing, the media group has built an attractive e-commerce portfolio over the past few years, which today…
SENSE OF FORM
Understanding mail-order as a precision craft BY SANDY STRASSER Delighting people with what you do is often precisely the factor that decides one’s degree of success in the catering industry, the food retail sector and the hotel and restaurant trade, among others. In addition to personal commitment, high-quality, visually-attractive presentation is also what counts here…
ON HER WAY
Lancaster triggers the next stage with online sales BY TOBIAS SCHLOTTER George Wurz and Dr. Eugène Frezzati are names that will ring a bell with only a few. However, Lancaster, the company they founded, is known around the world. The two men met at random in Monaco in 1946 and soon realised they both dreamt…
HORIZONTAL LEADERSHIP
Interview with Member of the Siemens Managing Board, Janina Kugel BY SANDY STRASSER Companies seeking to be both sustainable and globally successful must uncompromisingly face the challenges of continuous digitisation. For these high-reaching and specialised transitions a leader who operates according to the right philosophy is an absolute prerequisite. Janina Kugel is exactly that person….
COGNITIVE GENIUS
IBM and the milestones in artificial intelligence BY CLAUDIA PELZER Cognitive systems can change the way companies will be thinking, acting and working in the future. With Watson, IBM is developing a semantic search engine that can collate and answer questions asked in natural language. In the future, this kind of software could support us…
WATERLOVE
Denim looks with the sustainability factor BY SANDY STRASSER Water is the most important commodity of all on our planet, as well as for the people, animals and plants that inhabit it. We are all aware that it is the most precious of all resources we have and that usable reserves are becoming increasingly scarce….
READY FOR COLOUR
Axalta colours up the industry BY MICHAEL BAUMEISTER Axalta Coating Systems’ story of success goes back to the year 1866 when Otto Louis Herberts laid the company’s foundation in the German city of Wuppertal. He was the first to introduce coatings in Germany – initially for horse-drawn carriages, later for the first automobiles. Since then,…
FASHION-TECH
Welcome to the dawn of the digital fashion age BY NICOLE KIDD Last year was the year of wearable technology; and in particular, the year of the Apple Watch. Next up: smart clothing. From the ‘cognitive dress’ that broadcasts your emotional colours to conducting fabrics, Samsung has a division which at the Consumer Electronics Show…
AS IF BY MAGIC …
About the future and fascination of driverless driving BY NORA MANTHEY The automobile industry’s latest hot topic are autonomous vehicles. Will machines soon take over control entirely, reducing drivers to mere passengers, or will the new technology open up space in terms of time and freedom? As one of the world’s largest automotive, ZF Fried-richshafen…
