GEZE wins German Brand Award

"The award is a testament to how innovative our integrated market launch has been as a landmark ‘Digital First Campaign’. It recognises the bold step we have taken in successfully entering the building networking and smart building business together with our highly motivated teams and partners. This is also reflected in the GEZE Cockpit campaign. With GEZE Cockpit, we have successfully conveyed the new business model both in communication with our customers and new target audiences, and in how we shaped the market launch,” says Gabi Bauer, Head of International Marketing.

Digitalisation as an opportunity

In-depth knowledge of the market environment in the door and window sector has always been GEZE’s basis for continued development of its product range and its ability to innovate without distancing itself from its traditional product segments. That is why GEZE solutions for door, window and safety technology have a high degree of automation and technical intelligence. GEZE is taking the next step in digitalisation, following new paths from product development to market launch. One key challenge was to create the digital infrastructure to allow the development and operation of smart software products.

GEZE Cockpit – developed with users

The GEZE Cockpit building automation system closes a gap in building automation. Integrating automated doors and windows into a building system creates completely new networking possibilities. Understanding the precise requirements of architects and planners, investors, building owners, building operators, installation engineers and system integrators was always a priority for the GEZE Cockpit market launch. As a result, pilot customers were involved in the project even before all the product features were completed. This agile and interactive development approach allowed mistakes to be avoided and significantly reduced the time from product development to the launch of GEZE Cockpit on the market.

The whole package: integrated communication with a new design

The aim was for the launch campaign to clearly demonstrate the step into a new business area and GEZE Cockpit’s high degree of innovation. To this end, a new design was created with a bold, lively key visual that runs throughout the entire campaign and stands out from the well-known GEZE design. Not only did the market launch involve new visual approaches, it is also the first GEZE campaign to follow the Digital First Strategy and use the full

range of digital communication options. The campaign design and implementation were entrusted to the expertise and competence of the Stuttgart agency Von Helden und Gestalten.

Photo: GEZE GmbH

Central element: the GEZE Cockpit microsite

The campaign began with a teaser video. The central and most comprehensive campaign element is the GEZE Cockpit microsite, which was technically implemented by the Berlin agency interactive tools. Different customer groups, partners and influencers can find information there that is tailored to their needs in a clear, understandable and interesting way: it provides an illustration of the system, its benefits and added value, and all its capabilities. It also includes layout examples and reference projects. The service package that is always included demonstrates how comprehensively customers are supported in implementing GEZE Cockpit system solutions. GEZE has of course also included the tried-and-tested tactile feel of print brochures in its multi-channel communication approach.

The GEZE Cockpit microsite is full of inspirational ideas: http://www.cockpit.geze.com/

GEZE Cockpit Days

Employees from sales and services were also involved in the campaign. In addition to the web-based training courses, GEZE Cockpit Days ensured they were familiar with the functionality of GEZE Cockpit and its supporting communication tools.

About the German Brand Award 2018

Initiated by the German Design Council, the German Brand Award is a prestigious award for modern brand management, which is judged by a top-class panel of experts from brand management and brand science. The goal is to discover, showcase and reward brand trends, taking into account the complexity of brand management and the importance of the brand for the company’s success. The high quality of the award ensures the eligibility requirements: nomination by the German Brand Institute, its brand scouts and panels of experts.