Bio- and regenera- tive Medicine as an important growth Market

30 HHL RESEARCH REPORT 2012
Holistic Branding: Strategies
of Multisen sory Brand
Manage ment on the levels
of Manufac turing and Sales
Brand strategies for manufacturers and
retailers regarding the enhancement
of market competitiveness have seen
a growing relevance in the last four
decades . Research on brand management
is therefore promoted with special
intensity in various research projects
at the Chair of Marketing Management .
Questions dealing with the targeted
establishment of a multisensory brand
experience and an analysis of the perception
and behavioral effects thereof
are at the center of attention .
Considering the information consumers
are exposed to every day, companies are
increasingly challenged to attract their
customers’ attention . This results in the
question for brand management of how
product and/or brand experiences must
be designed in order to achieve a level
of differentiation from the competition
and to consequently ensure the consumers‘
attention . A product or brand experience
appealing to all the senses shows
great potential in this respect . Various
examinations based on perception theory
have shown that recall ability can be
increased by coherently communicating
information through different senses .
However, there is very little systematic
knowledge on what characteristics can
be transferred using different types of
multisensory stimuli .
In 2010 and 2011, two more in-depth
research projects were initiated based
on a project to measure the effect and
design of multisensory brand experience,
executed by the chair in cooperation
with Porsche Leipzig . These
theory-based empirical examinations
focused on the multisensory positioning
of company brands on the levels of
manufacturing and sales . While one
project examined what influence colors,
music and scents have on the cus tomers’
perception of the store atmosphere,
their shopping behavior and the profiling
of store brands in fashion retail,
the second project was executed in
cooperation by Beatrice Ermer, who
analyzed the influence of the shapes
and colors of a trade fair booth on the
visitors’ perception . Jenny Müller
worked on a research project which
showed that the multisensory design
of the shop atmosphere has a significant
influence on brand per ception and buying
behavior . Specific effects among consumers
were detected after changing
the color of the room or the background
music . “It was difficult though to determine
an appro priate dose of multisensory
stimuli to convey a predefined
brand identity to the con sumer . Multisensory
brand management is not an
end in itself . The great art is to shape
and use it in such a manner that it works
to the benefit of the uniqueness of the
brand, the feel-good atmosphere and the
brand profile as well,” concludes Prof .
Dr . Kirchgeorg . Some intended effects
of multisensory stimuli could not be
confirmed as ex pected, so that further
questions for future research arose .
In addition to the models based on
behavioral theory, the Chair of Marketing
Management developed a first
monitoring approach to help discover
which colors, shapes or scents contribute
to increasing the perception
of certain brand characteristics by the
target group .
live Communication:
future Scenarios for Trade
fairs and live Communication
in 2020
“Globalization, rapid development
in the Far East and the advancement
of internet-based communication
raise the question whether and how
Germany can maintain its position as
the world market leader in the field of
major international trade fairs,” says
Prof . Dr . Kirchgeorg, explaining his
research approach . Considering the
increasing intensity of the competition,
the German trade fair business faces
enormous challenges which require a
systematic examination of the strategic
implications . The Chair of Marketing
Management offers an important basis
for strategic planning to trade fair associations,
exhibitors and companies providing
trade fair related services with its
“Future Scenarios for Trade Fairs and
Live Communication in 2020” research
project . This is based on a future-oriented
analysis of the competitiveness of the
industry .
The core of the project is the identification
of factors that have a major
influence on the future development of
the German and international trade fair
business . Potential paths of development
are outlined based on various
future scenarios which trade fair
organizers, exhibitors and trade fair
service providers are going to have to
face and which will provide an incentive
for further discussion .
Glossary
Holistic Branding
Research in the field of “Holistic Branding” is focused
on analyses of complex brand objects like companies
(corporate brands), regions, cities and industrial
clusters in multiple stakeholder environments.
Germany is the leading nation in the
presentation of major international fairs
in the field of BtoB products . Therefore,
the future development of trade fairs as
a marketing tool for retail, production
and service companies will be of special
relevance . Using the research results,
various sce narios show which potential
challenges Germany might face as a
trade fair location and which fundamental
shifts the global trade fair business
might have to deal with . Consumer fairs
are facing increasing competition . Since
the year 2000, the average number of
visitors per trade fair has been decreasing
. This is proven by a longitudinal
analysis prepared within the framework
of the research project . So-called special
interest fairs have grown in importance
over the last decade compared to general
consumer fairs . They are far more
focused on specific target groups than
the general ex hibitions . Beatrice Ermer,
Silko Pfeil and Martin Wiedmann contributed
to this project .
Cluster Strategies for
Regional Profiling
These days, marketing and competition
strategies of individual companies are
analyzed in the context of networking
and regional cluster strategies . At the
same time, micro-economic findings
related to competitiveness are applied to
larger units such as regions or even
entire nations . Michael Porter stimulated
this discussion in the late 1980s
with his standard reference “Competitive
Advantage of Nations” . Against the background
of the research field of marketing
science, concepts of marketing were
applied to cities, whole regions and
stakeholder networks (cluster) .
Prof . Dr . Manfred Kirchgeorg‘s chair
has dedicated its research to ques tions
of regional competition and marketing
strategies for over a decade . It is
involved in the cluster activities of
Central Germany through analysis and
monitoring activities in various forms .
For the first time, the Chair of Marketing
Management has prepared a comparative
analysis of the clusters in the region
of Leipzig and drawn up recommendations
for the advancement of economic
development . “After the reunification of
Scenario Positioning in Dependance of
Business Environment & Demand for Trade Fairs
HIGH
Demand for
Trade fairs
loW
Germany, the City of Leipzig faced the
challenge of redefining focal points for a
competitive economic structure . A large
number of traditional industrial value-
added chains in the region of Leipzig
were far behind the inter national
competition and their revitalization
seemed to have little prospect for
success in most cases,” said Prof . Dr .
Kirchgeorg and his research assistant
Kai Weinrich . The examination results
prove that the clusters defined in the
Leipzig region made an above-average
contribution to regional employment,
that some clusters have to be considered
as beyond city limits and that the cluster monitoring
must be improved to increase cluster
excellence . “Promising visions of
turning Leipzig into a leading bank
metropolis in East Germany were
overtaken by reality in the mid- 1990s .
As a consequence, the task was to
connect to competitive competencies
that still existed and to implant new
industrial developments promising
good prospects in the Leipzig economic
structure,” concludes Prof . Dr .
Kirchgeorg . While the Economic
Scenario B
Continental Trade
Shows and Protected
Markets
loW
Scenario C
Smart exhibitions
in a Digital World
Development & Stability
of Business environment
Development Office of the City of
Leipzig organized a number of
cluster-related events and activities
during the initial and buildup phase,
the new phase of “Cluster Strategy
Leipzig 2020” requires the expertise of
companies and scientists, which are to
assume responsibility in the valueadded
chain directly, as well as in
the research and development of the
clusters . The clusters’ potential for
success can only be improved if the
stakeholders actively involved in the
value-added chain are the ones defining
the priorities to be set, according to
Prof . Dr . Kirchgeorg . The definition
and development of fields of activity
demands a more intense dialogue
between all stakeholders of business
practice, science and administration .
The promotion of cluster processes in
Leipzig requires that the activities of
the various institutions become more
bundled together over the next few
years .
SuSTAinABiLiTY And COMPETiTivEnESS 31
HIGH
Scenario A
Globalized Trade
Shows and Common
Growth