Executives at Bionade and ING-DiBa Receive ''Chief Marketing Officer
of the Year'' Recognition
Booz Allen Hamilton presents awards to promote excellence in marketing
International jury honors two German managers as the best European
heads of marketing
Awards underline the importance of strategically-oriented marketing
and innovative marketing communications
MUNICH (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) November 8, 2007 --
Management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton presented “CMO
of the Year 2007” awards to marketing managers
for two leading European companies at an exclusive gala evening in
Frankfurt yesterday. The prizes were presented to Wolfgang Blum, Head of
Marketing for the popular drink Bionade, and to Klaus O. Schmidt, Board
Member and CMO at Europe’s most successful and
strongest-growing direct banking operation ING-DiBa, in acknowledgement
of their visionary marketing services. Booz Allen created the award for
marketers in Europe in recognition of the growing importance of
marketing as a vital corporate unit and strategic success factor.
An elite jury of international experts selected the prize winners from
over one hundred nominees, via a four-stage selection process. Members
of the jury included Hugh Burkitt, CEO, The Marketing Society; Dr. Olaf Göttgens,
Vice President Brand Communications, Daimler AG; Karen Halpert, Vice
President Marketing for MasterCard Europe; and Prof. Laurent Maruani,
Professor at the HEC Graduate School of Management. In addition to
strategy and organisation, they also assessed categories relating to
brand and marketing communications, product design and pricing, and
customer relations. Four other candidates were named as finalists: Jörgen
Andersson, Marketing Director, H&M Kent Hahne, CEO, Vapiano
International; Dr. Rainer Hecker, CEO, Loewe; and Astrid Schulte, CEO,
bellybutton.
Marketing heads face ever-growing challenges, as they anticipate and
respond to changes in the market and in the competition, in the wide
range of information channels and in the social environment. “Lifecycles
for new products have shortened dramatically. Today's customers form an
outstandingly well-informed, critical clientele. Top marketers therefore
need to contribute and assert their knowledge and expertise at all
strategic levels within the company – from
involving customers in product development through to ultra-efficient
database management,” said Gregor Harter, jury
member and Vice President at Booz Allen. “These
marketing leaders make an outstanding contribution to corporate success.“
The prize-winners 2007
Wolfgang Blum hit upon a product which was something of a “sleeping
giant” when he began advising Bionade in 1999 –
and he turned it into a cult brand. Today, Bionade is the third-biggest
brand for sparkling fruit drinks in the German food retailing sector.
The product is exported to 18 countries, including Australia. For 2008,
the company plans to break into the US and Japanese markets.
On joining Bionade, Blum recognised that the brand’s
potential was far from being fully exploited, and he completely
repositioned the brand, moving it away from being a “sensible
mineralised drink” and consistently towards
being the modern soft drink for the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health
and Sustainability) generation. In doing so, he created a completely new
market segment: one where Bionade is the clear market leader.
Blum has also demonstrated that even with a modest marketing budget, it
is possible to build up an internationally successful brand –
without advertising, but simply by using intelligent viral marketing.
Through targeted events sponsorship in the culture, youth and sports
segments and a massive presence in the right prestige venues, Blum
generated enormous demand.
Ultimately the retail and gastronomy sectors could no longer afford to
ignore Bionade. Strong distribution partners like Deutsche Bahn,
McDonalds and Starbucks came on board. Sales rocketed from one million
bottles in 2001 to 70 million in 2006. By the end of 2007, sales of over
200 million are expected. This rigorous brand positioning, hand in hand
with intelligent, innovative brand communications, impressed and
convinced the jury.
Klaus O. Schmidt played a key role in forging Europe’s
biggest direct bank and the third-largest German bank for private
customers out of what used to be a trade union-owned finance institute,
ING-DiBa. Schmidt joined what was then the “Allgemeine
Deutsche Direktbank” in 1993 and took on the
role as head of marketing. In total, the bank has changed its name three
times since then.
He has succeeded – throughout all these
changes – in positioning the ING-DiBa brand
clearly in the minds of consumers when it comes to brand values: a
direct bank which stands for transparency, fairness and reliability. He
has also anchored these values internally, which form the backbone of
its brand management. In parallel, the business model is consistently
focussed on direct banking. Offering a limited number of
clearly-structured and easily comprehensible products has prepared the
ground for successful marketing to broad target groups.
As a direct bank with no branch network, Schmidt has built the bank’s
communications on two pillars. High-quality data management links all
customer information generated as part of direct marketing –
forming the core element for superior customer service. In addition, the
highly visible sponsorship of the German national basketball team
communicates the brand values. With this mix, not only has Schmidt
achieved sustained 70% brand recognition for ING-DiBa, but marketing has
also clearly played its part in the almost tenfold rise in profits at
ING-DiBa between 2003 and 2006. It is an impressive success story, which
is acknowledged by the jury in awarding the title “CMO
of the Year 2007.”
For more information about the competition and the jury, please visit: www.cmo-award.com.
About Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton has been at the forefront of management consulting
for businesses and governments for more than 90 years. Providing
consulting services in strategy, operations, organization and change,
and information technology, Booz Allen is the one firm that helps
clients solve their toughest problems, working by their side to help
them achieve their missions. Booz Allen is committed to delivering
results that endure.
With 19,000 employees on six continents, the firm generates annual sales
of $4 billion. Booz Allen has been recognized as a consultant and an
employer of choice. In 2007, for the third consecutive year, Fortune
magazine named Booz Allen one of “The 100
Best Companies to Work For,” and for the past
eight years, Working Mother has ranked the firm among its “100
Best Companies for Working Mothers.”
To learn more about the firm, visit the Booz Allen Web site at www.boozallen.com.
To learn more about the best ideas in business, visit www.strategy-business.com,
the Web site for strategy+business, a quarterly journal sponsored
by Booz Allen.
See the original story at: http://eon.businesswire.com/releases/marketing/booz_allen/prweb568080.htm
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