Managing Director, Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH
“Maintaining consistency in brand management is an important recommendation. This consistency also provides guidance for employees.”
How important is branding to the management of your company?
At Alnatura we manage the company through our brand. We view the spirit of our brand as a living organism that permeates our entire company. The Alnatura brand embodies the vision of "meaningful for people and the planet." We align all our actions with this vision, whether we are cooperating with new trading partners or building a new warehouse. Take our warehouse, for example: we built it using trees from the Odenwald region. We replanted every tree we used. When we built the Alnatura office building a few years ago, we also focused on sustainable construction: the building is practically a passive house, some recycled building materials were used, and it has clay walls. The Alnatura Campus was built on a former concrete-sealed American military site, which Alnatura returned to nature. We have created leased land for organic gardens and built a Waldorf kindergarten here. Our vision of "meaningful for people and the planet" permeates everything we do.
How does the brand specifically help you run your business and make decisions?
The brand, or more precisely, the brand soul, is a common thread running through our company. With every decision we make, we ask ourselves: Does this decision best reflect our brand?
In order to make decisions that are in line with Alnatura's values, every new employee is trained in our brand soul. We are currently planning to expand our logistics facilities. We are considering how we can implement a sustainable solution. Finding a good solution is also a major challenge for us. Alnatura often decides against things that would be economically advantageous but are not acceptable to us for ecological or sustainability reasons.
In your opinion, what are some mistakes in brand management that should be avoided? For
me, the first mistake is thinking that a branded item, the product, is the brand. I think this is often confused. Another mistake is to believe that brand management is the responsibility of the marketing department or an external advertising agency. That cannot work. Advertising does not make a brand better; credibility and consistency do. In my opinion, brand management must be driven from within. It is the responsibility of the company's management to clearly embody the brand's spirit within the company.
What advice would you give other companies on brand management?
That's an interesting question. When it comes to brand management, I recommend that other companies don't leave their own playing field, but stay where they have positioned their brand. You often see this kind of maneuver when a brand gets into trouble. Companies then try to break away from the brand essence. In Alnatura's case, for example, it would be a mistake to compete with cheap organic suppliers. We would then be unable to meet our own quality standards or our social standards. Maintaining consistency in brand management is an important recommendation. This consistency also provides guidance for employees.
Which company do you admire for its brand management?
Even though I'm not a watch fan, I think the Rolex brand is an admirable example. Rolex has a clear product with clear positioning, communication, and target group. The brand's sponsorship commitments, such as sailing, equestrian sports, tennis, golf, and cultural events, are also in line with the brand. The watches have also hardly changed in appearance for decades. The brand's recognizability has been maintained. That is exciting brand management. Incidentally, Alnatura has also been consistent for 30 years: we want to offer the best organic quality at affordable prices.