EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Dr
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Dr Karsten Ottenberg CEO of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH An Entirely New Take on the Keynote speaker Dr Karsten Ottenberg, CEO of BSH Home Appliances, gives The question Dr Ottenberg raises in his keynote is: “What does consumer experience mean for the home appliance sector on its path from analogue products to digital solutions and on to cognitive assistants?” We asked him just what this means… Focusing on the consumers’ experience in the kitchen means shaping a highly dynamic paradigm shift. As manufacturers we have to learn to consistently understand the world from the consumers’ perspective – how they see their world and what expectations they have. Fortunately, we don’t have to start from scratch. The home appliance industry is characterised by an extensive knowledge of consumers that has been acquired and honed over decades. And we can build on that today. The opportunities for reshaping our everyday lives through digitisation are fascinating. The connected kitchen as the living centre of the smartly connected home is another area that will inspire our consumers’ lives in a new and fascinating way. Now it’s our task as a home appliance manufacturer to give meaning to the opportunities that arise for consumers in the kitchen. We have to create experiences, emotions and closeness that can be integrated into our consumers’ lives and offer them genuine benefit. And I’m convinced that only those solutions that are intuitive to use and provide convincing added value that is easy to incorporate into everyday lives will be successful – from analogue products to digital solutions and on to cognitive assistants. With this mindset we are presenting Mykie for the first time. Mykie is still a concept of Home Connect, about to leave our labs to start cooperating with people. With him we are embarking into the world of intelligent household assistants. Mykie will speak with you, create joint experiences with your friends and family, find the right information at the right time and help you with a lot of daily tasks around the kitchen. So the shift in perspective is going more and more to the consumer experience. How do you ascertain, measure or judge this? Today, everything and everyone is connected with each other. Therefore, it’s no longer only about the individual product, but about how it interacts both with the user and with other products and services. At the same time, the real and virtual worlds in which our consumers live are increasingly converging and permeating every area of our lives. Consumer experience is thus becoming more and more important. However, creating a high-quality consumer experience requires more than just technological expertise. It’s about being able to understand the reality of people’s lives with our knowledge and capability, and enrich it with solutions and experiences. That applies as much to all our product areas as it does to all the moments in which our consumers come into contact with our products and brands. As mentioned above we have to learn to consistently understand the CREATING A HIGH-QUALITY CONSUMER EXPERIENCE REQUIRES MORE THAN JUST TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE world from the consumers’ perspective. We have to understand their different needs and expectations across the globe. The primary prerequisite for learning and understanding is listening – listening with openness, closeness and appreciation – the kind of listening that asks questions, anticipates desires, and recognizes living habits and interprets them appropriately. 40
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW How are expectations and demands changing as lifestyles evolve? As lifestyles become more individualised, consumers increasingly expect offerings that match their personal situation, both practically and emotionally. The offering must quite simply fit. For many people nutrition in general is an important element of their way of life. That means they not only intensively care about how their food has been prepared but also about where it comes from and how its ingredients have been cultivated and processed. This results in a high demand for in-depth information, preferably in real time. And then there’s the social aspect. Personal experience is hugely important today. Nevertheless, an experience is all the more intense when you can share it with someone – that was already true in the analogue world. That’s why it’s vital that we make sure with our offerings that personal experiences can also take place in a social context, if so desired, whether it’s people exchanging recipe ideas and personal cooking tips with each other in real time, and – virtually – trying out new dishes together or laughing together about little mishaps. Others will perhaps prefer to simply share their experiences with friends or family. In the digital world, we as a manufacturer now have the opportunity to satisfy this need at almost every individual moment – on demand and in real time. And this applies not only to the social aspect, but to everything that goes beyond the appliance’s pure functionality. In the connected world we live in all this has to be taken into consideration when developing futureoriented solutions. First and foremost, it’s not about technological implementations, but about creating personalised solutions – whether it’s in the design and manufacture of new products, product enhancements, or smart services and solutions. This approach broadens our horizon, since traditional business models change and new ones arise. The individual home appliance remains essential in terms of function and design, but new experiences through active content create modern added value that is independent of the appliance in terms of time and space. And that applies to all of our product developments: The crucial point in this context will be the extent to which we will be able to develop digital solutions on the basis of our portfolio of globally successful analogue home appliances. For example, in the future our consumers will have access to a wide range of inspiring content and – supported by Mykie as a personal assistant – will be able to enjoy new fascinating experiences in their households. What will a kitchen be like in ten or fifteen years’ time? What will be different? The kitchen as such a vital living space will play a major role in the evolution described above – as a place where people cook together and enjoy themselves and, beyond that, as an expression of their own individuality. By delivering individualised solutions and relevant services the future household will fulfill peoples’ needs even more flexibly than today. Creative, digital communication offerings will open up opportunities to entirely new experiences in the kitchen living space and make cooking together with others easier and more inspiring. Our digital platform Home Connect already brings together the advantages of the connected household: With a wide range of applications, the cross-brand app accompanies our customers through their day in an easy and intuitive way. In co-operation with technology partners and developers, Home Connect is continuously working on offering future-oriented solutions and services with relevant added value that convinces our consumers – whether it’s mobile ease of use, individualised services, reliable security or transparent energy management. How important is IFA in terms of conveying your key messages to your distribution partners and expanding markets? There’s no better place than IFA to look into the future and talk about innovations that will soon after play a role in people’s lives – also for our industry. As the Consumer Experience incredible insight into a paradigm change in the industry world’s leading exhibition for consumer electronics and home appliances, IFA is therefore a first-class platform for us to discuss new perspectives and strategies for the future of the home appliance sector. It’s an ideal place for us to meet and engage with our distribution and network partners, experts and customers MYKIE WILL SPEAK WITH YOU, CREATE JOINT EXPERIENCES WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, FIND THE RIGHT INFORMATION AT THE RIGHT TIME AND HELP YOU WITH A LOT OF DAILY TASKS AROUND THE KITCHEN BOSCH TAKEOVER OF BSH PART OF BROADER GLOBAL STRATEGY The German engineering group Robert Bosch GmbH last year purchased Siemens’ 50% stake in household appliances joint venture BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH. The acquisition by Bosch fits into the company's broader strategy to develop intelligent technologies, including energy-efficient "smart home" products. In a statement, Bosch said, “BSH pursues a long-term strategy geared to innovation. It has an international presence and is committed to social responsibility. In addition, BSH fits in well with our strategic imperative ‘Invented for life’. With smart technology, a high level of convenience, and user friendliness, BSH wants to make people’s lives around the world easier and more pleasant with its products and services, and to conserve natural resources with especially efficient appliances. Technologically, we can intensify our collaboration with BSH in areas of future growth as well, especially in sensors, electronics, and the internet of things.” In a deal penned in 2014, and agreed in January 2015, Bosch paid an estimated €3bn for Siemens's stake, making BSH a wholly owned subsidiary of Bosch. The deal was also part of a larger effort by Siemens to shed its noncore businesses, while moving away from producing consumer products. In 2013, Siemens sold its stake in a telecommunications equipment joint venture with Nokia Corp for an estimated €1.7 billion. IFA KEYNOTE Friday 2 nd September 2016 CityCube Berlin, Hall A - Level 1 10:30 am www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 2 nd September 2016 41
