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The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 5: Kathy Johnson's take

Here's the next installment in my mini-series about national brand identity, to wit: What's the DNA of the phrase "Made in Germany?" I asked Kathy Johnson, one of the principals of Consort Partners, what the term means to her. 

Both she and her husband Dominic have extensive experience working with German entrepreneurs and they know their way around the Pacific Rim, so they bring a trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific perspective to the topic. Here's what Kathy had to say:

“Made in Germany.”  For some, these words might evoke images of fast cars rocketing down the autobahn.  For others, it might mean a large frosty stein of beer served up by a blonde-haired blue-eyed maiden in a dirndl.  And for others, it may simply be a way of describing precision engineering.  

The perception, imagery and notions coupled with “Made in Germany” are indelibly linked with the overall impression, or brand, of Germany.  Thus, for me, the question of what does “Made in Germany” mean is another way of asking “what do I think about, or feel, when I think of Germany.”

A strong nation brand can do many positive things for a country.  It can increase the receptivity and perceived value of exports.  It can also attract more tourists, retain talent and increase foreign direct investment.  All of these factors greatly contribute to the financial health and well-being of a nation, so the exercise of building and sustaining a strong nation brand is not taken lightly.  

Consumers around the world know more about nation branding than they imagine, as they can define a nation in one word – the essence of the brand:  Italy = sexy, France = luxury, USA = commercialism, Switzerland = precision, Japan = technology, Britain = heritage, Germany = engineering.   We can also extend this same exercise to thinking of companies that personify the brand of a nation:  Italy = Gucci, France = Chanel, USA = McDonald's, Switzerland = Rolex, Japan = Sony, Britain = Burberry, Germany  = Mercedes.  

If we take this exercise one step further, then we could also make a generalization that the brand Mercedes is a shorthand example of what “Made in Germany” means.  But what happens when this brand-informed image faces change or challenge? Mercedes got bought by Daimler (with a less recognizable household name), and the global economy slipped into crisis and faces increasing uncertainty and volatility.  This is especially evident in the auto industry, where even stalwart Daimler has recently forecast a full year loss in 2009.

Does that mean that “Made in Germany” will absorb the same negativity and challenge?  Should we look to other brands to personify the “Made in Germany” nomenclature – perhaps something other than an auto manufacturer?  How about a solar energy company?  Or a biotech manufacturer?  Or a pharmaceutical company?

If we look at Japan in the 1950s, “Made in Japan” essentially meant cheap, flimsy goods of low quality.  Indeed, in 1945 Mr. Masoru Ibuka formed Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo with a determination to overcome this stereotype.  His mission was also buoyed by Sony’s success at manufacturing the first pocket radio. Japan gradually reversed the negative “Made in Japan” stereotype, and by the 1970s and 1980s, “Made in Japan” was a worldwide symbol of quality and technical superiority.  

However, a backlash began where some Americans were distrustful of Japan, so the Japanese began to address this issue with names like Canon, Panasonic, and Honda, to appear more Western.  By the time the bubble burst in 1991, Japan’s image was fracturing.  Was it modern and Westernized, or was it ancient and traditional?  Was it Mitsubishi and Isuzu, or was it Canon and Honda?  Tourism floundered. Foreign direct investment shriveled.  “Made in Japan” to some meant leading-edge technology and to others it meant leading-edge rip off. 

Now more than ever, in our world of connectedness – when we  can Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Google our way into the daily lives of friends, strangers, celebrities, corporations and board rooms around the world, it’s important to actively promote a strong national image, which in turn solidifies what “Made in…” means.  

And while the older generations may have imagined Germany as the studious straight-A student who isn’t a whole lot of fun but is a brilliant engineer; the new generation seems to have a completely different idea of what Germany looks like, feels like, stands for and produces. 

And now back to the original question… What does “Made in Germany” mean to me?  I envision bold creativity and originality born out of individuals who are challenging the status quo, of brave entrepreneurs who push aside judgment and fear of failure to launch new companies, products and ideas in the face of skeptics and antagonists, and of earth-friendly, sustainable approaches to life and living.  And, yes, I do think of that frosty stein of beer too, preferably accompanied by a crusty, salty brez’n (pretzel). 

The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 4: Miko Matsumura´s take

"Made in Germany" is a wide and varied term. So far, we have covered sextants, roller pens, cars, the entrepreneurial spirit, and green building standards. I am happy about the following reflection of the identity of a national brand by Miko Matsumura, whose company was acquired by German Software AG. He has quite an original take on the long-term view woven into the term "Made in Germany."

I was made in the United States, my own DNA was "made in Japan". It's accidental that I can comment on "Made in Germany." My silicon valley startup company, INFRAVIO, was acquired by webMethods... which was again acquired by Darmstadt based Software AG, all within the span of a single year. Made in Germany reflects a powerful way of thinking about the passage of time. This time concept applies to both the process through which raw materials of any kind are transformed into products but also value of long-lasting relationships and experience.

Software AG just announced its 40 year anniversary on May 30th. Its founder Peter Schnell made software that is still in use by thousands of large organizations in 70 countries around the world. I recently travelled to Brasilia to visit Banco do Brasil, one of these long-term customers. This forms a baseline expectation of what "reliable" software is -- software that can last the duration of the working lifetime of a person...and beyond.

This feeling is made deeper by a conversation I had with Hans-Christoph Rohland, the operational lead of our R&D unit. He spoke about the architecture and evolveability of software--and how quality is defined by both the expectations and experiences of the user. This understanding carries with it the interconnectedness of the maker, the thing made and the user through a relationship that can stand the ravages of time.

I think of what Paul Saffo said about how "Made in Germany" affects makers as well as users. There is a powerful link between the makers and how things are made. I once asked Karl-Heinz Streibich, the CEO of Software AG about his ten-year plan to turn our company into a 1 billion Euro software giant... as an American, I was greatly puzzled by a CEO who could make statements about anything beyond next quarter, let alone ten years. He said that by having your own plan, you prevent any outsider from measuring your performance -- and you know where you are by your own map.

This map is supported by longer-term employment contracts and expectations, as well as the presence of the German Works Council (Betriebsrat / labor union) on the Supervisory Board. This kind of longevity builds experience, wisdom and long-lasting relationships into the social fabric of the company. Our Founder runs the Software AG Foundation, which is a large socially responsible foundation that owns 27% of the company and thereby extends those relationships into the broader world community.

All of these behaviors speak to a long view of creation that American companies just don't seem to be able to attain.

I'll be the first to admit that my view of the totality of "Made in Germany" is very limited. I know there are many German companies that may be very different. But I wanted to reflect on the most striking aspects of my limited journey to understand the quality and value of what's being made here.

The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 3: Architect Prisca Weems' take

In my quest to get a handle on what "Made in Germany" means to thinkers and visionaries in different industries, I asked Prisca Terven Weems about her thoughts. Trained as an architect, she is the principal of Future Proof in New Orleans. The sustainability consultancy has seen its business soar since Katrina hit and intelligent rebuilding efforts were finally on people´s minds and in demand. Here is her take on the question of the identity of a national brand. (This installment again ties into this month´s issue of brand eins dedicated to identity):

Working in the green building industry in the UK and then the US, Made is Germany is the standard to which we measure and re-align our course. 

Rapidly developing markets are subject to fluctuating and non-specific standards of achievement, and we often measure the technical sophistication of our efforts against  German achievements to determine if we are accomplishing a high level of quality in our outcomes.

What attracts me to this process is the common sense approach in the German technical arena- a blend of passive and active solutions grounded in transparency and shared goals of high performance and applicability. 

It is not uncommon for new "trends", such as cradle-to-cradle, to find predecessors in German-designed process. The tradition of precision and craftsmanship seems not to have been lost to younger, more affluent generations. As a result, conversations around quite technical issues are informed, relaxed and are not ego-based. Smoke and mirrors are left for amateurs. This is the mark of quiet confidence for which our team strives.

The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 2: Mike Sigal's take

After futurist Paul Saffo´s short essay, I asked Mike Sigal, CEO of the Guidewire Group, what the term "Made in Germany"  means to him -- in line with the current issue of brand eins about identity.

Mike´s consultancy is, among other things, well known for producing the DEMO tech showcase twice a year, unearthing new products and services long before they appear on most people´s radar screens.

Since Mike had just returned from Berlin, scoping out German start-ups for his firm´s Innovate Europe! event, he has a pretty good story to share:

It’s probably no surprise that the first thing that popped in my mind when I was asked about Made in Germany was the BMWs I’ve owned and loved. A 2002 and a 327i. Such wonderful cars. Oh… and of course my Braun and Miele home appliances… well designed… precisely manufactured, and flawless in delivering on the promises of ownership.

But those are well-known by many and well-established. I was fortunate enough to have a more recent and personal experience with Made in Germany that introduced me to the contemporary German environment and the entrepreneurs and startups it’s producing.

It was wonderful to re-familiarize myself with the city and its brand of German culture after the 10 years since I last visited Berlin. The city was nothing short of wonderful. The thoughtful and refined blending of new and old architecture. Sitting out to enjoy a warm spring day and a cold Berliner on Potsdamer Platz. The stark yet powerful design of the Holocaust memorial.

 It wasn’t so much each individual site, but rather the blending that made the experience so memorable. New and old together. Modern and historic. And all in perfect balance. That was distinctly German. You could feel the energy and no more so than during our Going Global workshop. At Guidewire Group, we meet more than 1000 startups a year. Our experience at the workshop in Berlin highlighted what makes German startups distinct.

MyPrinting is helping individuals get their photos into posters to share with their friends…and monetizing social networks.

Plista is helping individuals find the internet content that’s important to them…personally.

Tracks & Fields is empowering independent musicians to succeed without major music labels.

Precise. Humble. Thoughtful. Well-executed. Energetic. Modern. Timely. These companies and the entrepreneurs behind them are personification of "Made in Germany."

Up next, in part 3: architect and sustainable design thinker Prisca Terven Weems, founder and principal of Future Proof in New Orleans and her take on "Made in Germany."

The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 1: Paul Saffo's take

What is, and what is in a national brand?

I asked some astute observers of current affairs and business men and women around the U.S. for their definition of the term "Made in Germany." This poll in 500 words or less is part of the latest cover package of brand eins, which revolves around identity and identification. Not all the submissions I solicited made it into the printed version. That's why I am running a mini-series on what some sharp minds think when they hear the well-worn term "Made in  Germany."

I'll start with Paul Saffo, a futurist and technology forecaster in the Valley, who offered an amazing blend of retro and sc-fi connotations in his definition. And, yes, he is looking for a Plath sextant, if there are any navigation buffs out there. (Portrait copyright Mikkel Aaland.)

It has been a long time since anything was designed and manufactured in the same country, but even in a time of borderless globalization, but there is still something special about "Made in Germany."  It is a matter of function -- and esthetics.  My favorite pen (a rollerball) on my desk is American-branded (and manufactured god-knows-where), but it was designed in Germany, and the cartridge in it was manufactured in Germany.  I have dozens of other pens, but there is an indefinable something about this one that causes me to keep it in arms reach when I am at my desk -- that is "Made in Germany."

This distinctiveness of course depends on present-tense design skills -- designers designing today, for today's needs.  But it also derives from Germany's cultural and entrepreneurial DNA.  Memories of Germany's reputation for product color consumer expectations.  I was prepared for my favorite pen to be excellent because I am surrounded by historic examples of German design/manufacturing excellence.  For example, I have a two historic Plath marine sextants sitting in my office.  Beautifully designed and made, they were a blue-water mariner's most accurate position-finding tools until the advent of GPS.  My only regret is that despite searching for years, I still cannot locate a Plath Artificial Horizon to use with my sextants.

This historic DNA also affects makers as well as users. A designer's perspective is affected by what is around them, and thus if they are surrounded by a tradition of excellence and artifacts of that tradition, it cannot but create unique new products. Designers steeped in the German tradition, exposed to the excellence of earlier inventions, and fully participating in the global product world will create wonderful -- and uniquely German-- innovations for years to come."

Next: the Guidewire Group's cofounder and CEO Mike Sigal on "Made in Germany."

Innovation @ Work -- It's All a Game!

As I pointed out in a recent piece in The Economist, companies large and small are luring employees into innovation and ideation exercises built around prediction markets which at times resemble online games. There's more going on in this space than the article allowed to describe, so here is some additional information about interesting players. 

Yes, I know, crowdsourcing has become a well-worn buzzword among innovation experts who recommend it as a panacea for all sorts of creative bottlenecks within organizations. Harnessing the so-called "wisdom of the many" allegedly leads to better, faster and more original results than bringing in the consultants. It's a claim that has been hard to prove since it requires tracking a crop of ideas until a few innovations finally show up in the market.

A growing number of companies of various sizes and industries, ranging from postal carriers to big pharmaceutical manufacturers, are now putting the concept of collaborative innovation to the test. They have dumped their quaint suggestion boxes in favor of turnkey solutions for internal crowdsourcing that often resemble online games. Not only does this approach make it easier to engage employees, it is also sitting well with the coming wave of “millennials” entering the workforce – a demographic cohort reared on a diet of social networks, ubiquitous access, and incessant messaging.

California-based Spigit is one such upstart that powers innovation marketplaces from IBM and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club to Southwest Airlines. The firm builds hosted prediction markets where any company can let their staff wager on promising ideas, and it recently began renting its service through the on-demand software provider Salesforce.com. Cofounder and CEO Paul Pluschkell told me that employees will submit more ideas, spend more time discussing and rating them if they are drawn into a game where the individual cubicle dweller stands to gain reputation and even financial rewards.

The right type of remuneration, however, is a contentious issue among crowdsourcing proponents. Bring cash into the ideation game, and the social aspect of collaboration falls victim to fierce competition, according to the purists. The minds behind the Swiss company Cassiber, for instance, believe that transparent rankings and leader boards provide plenty of incentives in the innovation management systems they are running for customers such as Siemens Building Technologies and supermarket chain Safeway. The key to success, they believe, is an ideally streamlined funnel to let ideas filter up from the staff to the boss so they can evolve into commercially viable innovations.

Interactive tools, which made their debut on the Web, lead the way in making crowdsourcing schemes as efficient as possible. New systems such as Cassiber’s go beyond the common browser form. Employees can text their suggestions into the digital hopper and even phone in ideas, which a speech recognition engine then transcribes. It also automatically extracts key concepts from the submissions and clusters them into related topics, so managers don’t have to manually go through hundreds of entries and attached comments. This is no trivial problem as large innovation management systems can encompass upwards of 150,000 users. Automated sorting and sifting stands to increase the chances of surfacing valuable ideas, which would otherwise languish in spreadsheets or other silos.

How then does an enterprise measure whether these ongoing brainstorming exercises are worth the investment or just a time-consuming distraction for its staff? Pfizer’s research and development arm provides one case study. It has been running a crowdsourcing system powered by Imaginatik for its 11,000 scientists since early 2006. The pharmaceutical firm has held 150 idea competitions or “challenges,” which yielded 15,000 tightly focused ideas, the company’s innovation manager Robin Spencer told me. “Ask serious, clear questions in an open, easy-to-use electronic medium, and anyone can and will participate.” The average participation rate of 1-2 percent may sound low, he admits, but the total of 2,900 authors still engaged more sharp minds than any gathering could.

Beyond the plain browser interface for Ph.D.s awaits a whole range of new tools which will make idea generation and innovation management more appealing to the Net generation. The tech consensus is that anyone born after 1980 expects collaborative tools at work to provide suggestions and feedback and to connect across and beyond the company hierarchy.

 

Imaginatik’s founder Mark Turrell, who has spent the past ten years refining innovation management systems like the one at Pfizer, believes that future employees will demand to game an orderly system and that executives better listen. “They want to be amused and entertained. If a more chaotic setting makes you money, you should do it.”

There is a catch, though. Companies that want to tap into this creativity have to weigh communication and interface design expectations from staff in their twenties against regulations to protect intellectual property, as well as against securities and labor laws or the sensitivities of participants who want only partial disclosure.

Thanks to new turnkey solutions it looks as if organizations will be able to have it both ways. For the youthful front-end, they can borrow tools from the world of games such as infinitely customizable dashboards, earning the next level of access by slaying an idea challenge, or letting an impromptu expert group take the shape of a warrior guild. Spigit has already made the leap and lets customers install leader boards of their most successful idea pickers in the virtual world of Second Life. It can't be belong before inventive employees can also earn part of their salary in an "idea world" on the other side of the screen.

Zappos -- Cultural Lessions for the Recession

Back in the fall of 2008, when things looked only slightly less bad than they do now, I profiled e-commerce miracle Zappos.com for brand eins. CEO Tony Hsieh had caught my attention for a while as he was traveling the conference circuit and talking about corporate culture, particularly how treating your employees very well is the foundation for everything else a company does and sells. He and his management team are selling by investing in their staff's buy-in, not by cutting corners.  

I decided to take a closer look at the company and spent two days at their headquarters in Las Vegas --blown away by the energy, motivation and at the same time close scrutiny and attention that everybody, even potential new hires, receive. (Their warehouse facility in Kentucky is different and I did not have the opportunity to look at that part of their operation. Stats suggest, though, that turn-over there is also significantly lower than in the rest of the fulfillment world.) 

The visit and additional reporting around the zappos phenomenon led to the story "Die Spass-Firma" in the November issue. If that sounds familiar, turn to the feature that Fortune just did on their unusual atmosphere of work at play, or play at work. 

It's a perfect blend to grow during the during the downturn: being in e-commerce, selling fast and easy at a discount over retail, plus treating your staff as the first customers of your brand. That's a winning formula:

Bei Zappos.com gehören Gewusel und Herumalbern zum Kern des Geschäftsmodells. Ganz bewusst: In Zeiten unpersönlicher Web-Händler setzt das Unternehmen auf E-Commerce mit menschlichem Antlitz. Dabei unterscheidet es sich auf den ersten Blick nicht von anderen Online-Versendern. Zappos verkauft Schuhe im Internet. Das allerdings erfolgreich: Mehr als eine Milliarde Dollar wird 2008 umgesetzt werden. Die Mehrzahl der Mitarbeiter nimmt am Telefon rund um die Uhr Bestellungen entgegen oder packt Kartons. Trotzdem schafft es Zappos, bei seinen Leuten inbrünstige Liebe zur Arbeit und zur Marke zu entfachen. Bei Zappos gleicht kaum ein Arbeitstag dem anderen, und jeder einzelne Mitarbeiter soll möglichst viel möglichst selbst entscheiden.

Spaß ist fester Bestandteil der Firmen-Philosophie. Zappos betrachtet seine Mitarbeiter als seine eigentlichen Kunden: Wenn sich Angestellte wie Könige im eigenen Betrieb fühlten, überträgt sich das auf die Kunden und sorgt auf Dauer für mehr Produktivität und höhere Umsätze, so die Überzeugung.

And that description of why they're thriving in the double cut-throat environment of e-tailing and call centers doesn't even take into account how aggressively the whole zappos crew is using twitter and other forms of media, new and old, to spread the gospel. In fact, the otherwise messy homepage links straight to the several hundred employees who are twittering.  

zappos, in fact, has built such a strong presence as the go-to company for new economy workplace questions, that they recently started charging for their advice, called Zappos Insights. Or you could call it e-learning sold below retail, fast and easy.

Plugging the Cubicle into the World -- Notes on Office 2.0

What stood out at this year´s Office 2.0 conference? To my mind, it wasn't the several dozen small vendors who are peddling their piecemeal solutions to collaborate, schedule meetings and so forth. What mattered were the big names at the event, the people from behemoths such as GE, who made a compelling case that Web2.0 is thriving within large, multinational organizations. GE has built his Support Central platform in-house and shied away from plugging any external solutions into its social media empire. It's a matter of scale, cost and security. 

Then there are players such as Sun Microsystems, once at the forefront of corporate blogging. Sun now is building out an on-demand social learning exchange which looks like a cross between Facebook and YouTube. Not only can its employees upload documents, they can now record their own rants, musings and lessons for the team or the whole world to see. How did that sales guy close the deal -- details at 5! Others can subscribe to these channels on their handheld devices, so even manuals and how-to guides for technicians become dynamic and social. 

Plus, Sun plans to use this education bazaar as part of its future performance reviews, what the program's head Charles Beckham calls "community equity" -- the more you post, the larger your audience, the more links you gather, the higher your review will turn out. Hermits need not apply anymore -- which is a strange notion for a tech company. Don't these guys rely on reclusive brains here and there? I'm worried that mandatory chatting and sharing is a bit too much. 

My round-up in German ran on the MIT Tech Review's site.

Office 2.0 -- bringing Web2.0 into the enterprise

Right after Labor Day, the mad merry-go-round of tech conferences starts up again. The first one to hit San Francisco was Office 2.0, organized by tech whirlwind Ismael Ghalimi. 

It's a two-day event bringing together start-ups and larger vendors who want to sell companies of all sizes on the promise of Web 2.0 technologies. This time, plenty of serious names were there, talking about their in-house experience and experiments -- ranging from the US Army to GE and Wachovia Bank. It seems that sharing, collaborating, posting on wikis and blogs let people network their way out of the cubicle. 

I'll post more on the nuggests of wisdom from Office 2.0 later, but here's Ismael in a quick video, explaining why this rather small gathering matters at least as much as the TC50 hype-fest coming up next week. 

brand eins legt weiter zu

Diese erfreulichen ivw-Zahlen zum gerade abgelaufenen zweiten Quartal 2008 stammen von meinem Verlagskollegen Michael Ruehl in Hamburg (via Xing Group):

Mit einer verbreiteten Auflage von 107.368 Exemplaren hat brand eins um 8,8% gegenüber dem 2. Quartal 2007 zugelegt. Die verkaufte Auflage ist um 7,6% auf 96.586 Exemplare gestiegen, die Aboauflage um 4,3% auf 26.600 Exemplare. Besonders positiv hat sich der Einzelverkauf entwickelt, der um 19,5% auf 30.838 Exemplare angewachsen ist. 30.838 Leser entscheiden sich also Monat für Monat an Kiosk oder Bahnhofsbuchhandel für unser Magazin und machen brand eins damit zum bestverkauften Wirtschaftsmagazin im Einzelverkauf.

Da erscheint es mehr als passend, dass es im neuen Schwerpunkt des August-Heftes um Liebe und Leidenschaft geht.