Direct customer contact is becoming more important for marketing success

At the 36th German Marketing Day in Munich, marketing managers from Germany and abroad presented innovative tools and best-practice examples, such as the 2008 Marketing Prize winner Lufthansa, under the motto “Marketing for success – that’s how it works”.

According to Bernd, the prime example of Lufthansa deserves the award. M. Michael, President of the German Marketing Association, because it has developed into a full-range supplier with premium standards in air traffic: “Marketing is done here for people and a culture of indulgence is created.” The jury saw mobile check-in as proof of technical excellence , and the founding of a “Brand Academy” in spring 2009 is proof of the company’s outstanding brand orientation.

“We must continue to try to inspire consumers,” is the message from Karl Georg Musiol, Vice President of the German Marketing Association. “Times are getting tougher, but these are really good times to show what marketing can really do.” Fortunately, the German Marketing Report 2008 shows that marketing is not lacking in self-confidence. 51 percent of the 400 members of the DMV surveyed believed that the importance of marketing would increase significantly or at least slightly in the future.

For 90 percent, it is also extremely important to know target groups and to address them in a targeted manner, but only 45 percent believe that they are actually good at it. That is why Musiol advises increasingly looking to be closer to the customer, continually revitalizing the organisation, structure and processes and taking employees with you.

A stronger connection with sales and trade marketing, greater internationalization in the development of strategies and the question of how sensitively companies deal with customer data would also be more important. The detailed Lufthansa case study and other interviews and articles on the topic of the congress can be found in the special edition “Marketing for success: Invest responsibly and win sustainably”.

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