The way to make the difference
Strategic brand marketing
Dirk Kartes has worked for some smaller brands but also for some major ones including McDonald’s, ProSieben, Sky and DPD, BtoB and BtoBC. He was also in charge of the creative agency HEYE and the digital agency Red Urban.
As Vice President in the Scout24 Group, he was responsible for brands and digital marketing.
Dirk Kartes has managed several companies and has been responsible for 71 major brand campaigns and projects in various positions.
The entire consultancy team is staffed by excellent experts. We love to challenge smaller and middle sized companies. From diamond to brillant.
What’s in it for you?
Capital
Investors and shareholders see brand leadership at the corporate level as one of the most effective strategies.
Brands are the elixir of resilient business success. Companies with strong brands and a sustainable substance develop significant competitive and cost advantages. Yet brand name and awareness alone are not enough.
The most important thing is the continuous professional, strategic review of the company’s positioning which must be resilient and up-to-date. An older Sat Nav without the latest updates won’t necessarily find the best route.
Next level
Brand marketing is one of the primary instruments in a company’s cockpit, and functions as a strategic Sat Nav among other things for:
– the next customer, sales and turnover level
– productivity increases through employee activities
– internationalisations
– market or corporate changes (e.g. new competitors or next generation)
Transformation
One of Germany’s first nameable digital transformations took place 15 years ago, when all PROSIEBENSAT1 television stations became multimedia brands (Dirk Kartes was leading part of this change value team).
To change from television to multimedia was a fundamental vertical cross selling activity, connected to a marketable brand structure.
In 2018, PROSIEBENSAT1 did 30% share of sales through digital business.
Better data
Data first: we analyse markets and develop insights. We use different sources and complement our own qualitative analysis.
Our personal view is: 9 out of 10 markets are price driven “me-too” markets.
What’s your strategy?
Preference building
Common knowledge, self-evident facts and simple work priorities do not make brands unique and do not build brand capital.
Brand values combine both behavioural and perceptual values. On the one hand, values are THE distinguishing feature in the age of Industry 4.0. On the other hand, companies have a powerful global responsibility. Holistic brand strategy also positions the company in the context of its universal responsibility for life and resources.
We match corporate identity values with customer data (moral values, mindsets, living environments etc.).
Competitive experiences
It does not matter whether we are talking about services or production, B2B or B2C, the welcome received at the reception desk of a hotel or about dispatching an airfreight order.
The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses when it comes to decisions.
Consultant Roland Berger: “business is 50 percent ratio and 50 percent gut feeling“.
How do you work against automation and interchangeability?
Clear roadmap
Some of the key questions to be raised at the beginning of a corporate strategy project include such honest things as, what goals do (did) we want to achieve? what happens in the world?
In planning phases, everyone needs support. Daily business is running – and it’s helpful to add perspectives, questions and – most of all – answers through research, processes, strategies and ideas. That’s our “Mehrwert”. Brand starts in marketing, but has to involve the entire system. That’s what we call “strategy activation”. At this stage we form your orchestra. The result is an everywhere perceptible experience.
People behind you
According to numerous studies: employees who understand the bigger picture, who are allowed to take the initiative in line with the overall plan and who feel part of a strong community with shared brand values, work more than 30% more efficiently, not least because of their satisfaction, orientation and position within the organization.
We sit down with all employees of a company to point out the opportunities for each department to activate the brand strategy in concrete terms.
“Just having a book of foreign grammar in your pocket doesn’t mean you actually speak that language.”
Susanne Bösen
Project Planning Sales Business-to-Business
Dirk Kartes and his team connect people with brands. I learned to perceive things with more clarity and to make daily decisions within the context of the brand strategy. Brand work has become applicable to everyone on a daily basis. Everyone is an important part of the brand.
New work
We support you in business analytic, brand strategy, marketing and strategy activation. We respect all your existing partners. In case we are asked, we identify further resources. Such as suitable designer, campaigning agencies or content creators.
We think, full service isn’t the future. We believe in experts and in “Mehrwerte”.
Petra Wurm
Client Business Partner
Consumer Goods and Retail
GfK Gesellschaft für Konsumgüterforschung
Consumer Goods and Retail
GfK Gesellschaft für Konsumgüterforschung
I have known Dirk for many years and across different stations of his career. I always highly valued and appreciated the both qualitative and quantitative angle he put into his work. But not only is he really good at what he has been doing these past years, but he is also a very sociable person to be around.
