Würzburg, June 27, 2008
"Sustainability, credibility, trust! - Guarantors of success for good B2B communication": This was the motto of the 46th Würzburg Advertising Symposium held on June 23-24 at the Vogel Convention Center. The 250 or so participants included advertising managers and marketing directors from major German companies as well as CSR experts. In addition to presentations, workshops offered the opportunity to exchange ideas. "I would like to expressly congratulate the brains and movers and shakers behind this event for their good sense in focusing on CSR many months ago, because CSR has developed into a real trend topic in recent months and weeks," explained Stefan Rühling, Managing Director of Vogel Business Media, at the start of the two-day event.
The diagnosis of all six keynote speakers was clear: the world of values has changed and this also has an impact on the social commitment of companies. Dr. Kerstin Ullrich from GIM, the Society for Innovative Market Research, presented the Delphi 2017 study, which describes the trends and changing values in the coming decade. Particularly striking: the strong trend towards individualization is out, a degree of saturation has been reached. And just as private and professional life are becoming more intertwined, the corresponding values are also overlapping.
"Have you ever searched for yourself on Google? Some people are surprised at what comes up. The same goes for companies!" The renowned PR blogger, communications consultant and reputation manager Klaus Eck makes it clear how important it is to take care of your "good reputation" on the internet. This applies to both people and companies. Managing directors have a significant influence on a company's image.
Jörg Ihlau from Service-Plan Public Opinion highlighted the CSR perspectives for companies. Instead of "dusty CSR reports, emotions, events and images" should be used. This is the only way for companies to build credibility.
Siemens manager Dr. Thomas Kaiser, Head of Corporate Responsibility, called for elements of credibility through professionalism. Against the backdrop of the current image debate at Siemens, he profoundly demonstrated the strategic importance of CSR.
Frank Merkel, head of the B2B advertising agency wob AG, made it clear: "The communicative task is to create credibility. This is the only way to convince and create love brands!" Transparency is a basic prerequisite for credibility.
Klaus Flettner, Managing Director of Change Communication and President of the German Communication Association, focused on how companies and organizations can communicate with each other. Successful CSR requires credible and good partners. Consistent and cost-efficient brand management is also important.
The highlight at the end was provided by media scientist Prof. Dr. Klaus Schönbach with his witty and profound contribution on what media will have to achieve in the future. Above all, an important function of print remains the "principle of reliable surprise". The journalistic quality of information will become a decisive factor in the future: "People are looking for orientation and structure to classify and evaluate topics!"
Information on the program, speakers and topics at www.wwf08.de
