It’s ‘Wies’n’ time

It’s “Wies’n” time in Munich… Well, not yet. It is Wednesday afternoon and I’m still on the campus of the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel at a career fair. However, I will be on my way to Munich soon, arriving on Wednesday night and staying in a nice hotel near the “Münchner Freiheit.”

Thursday morning, 8:30 a.m.: Is it “Wies’n” time now? Well, not yet. It’s workshop time! We are on our way to Random House’s German headquarters. As it is my first Student Challenge event, I am very curious about the other student challengers. The organization team, consisting of Dr. Nanne von Hahn, Katharina Reeke and Kathrin Mocek from Corporate Management Development, welcomes us. We start off by introducing ourselves to each other. I get to know Janis, Jennifer, Max, Philipp and Svenja, the five other student challengers. I realize that we are a rather heterogeneous group with various backgrounds, but all of us share one thing in common: a profound insight into a specific part of Bertelsmann that makes it very interesting to talk about our impressions of the company and exchange other personal experiences. Unfortunately, not all members of the program are able to attend the event as they are studying abroad. More details about each of us can be found under “Meet Our Students”. 

After an initial introduction, we find ourselves in a conference room listening to Christian Damke, Director Business Development, Verlagsgruppe Random House, and a former member of the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program (BEP), who is giving us a brief presentation of Random House. Afterwards, Thomas Pichler (CFO, Verlagsgruppe Random House) discusses the role of controlling within this context. We learn a lot about the business intelligence solutions that Random House has introduced to create transparency regarding the financial performance of the various publishing houses.

Our actual challenge for the day starts after a brief lunch: “Analyze the attractiveness of the art book market and evaluate Prestel’s position within this market in Germany.” Prestel is a publisher in the fields of art, architecture, photography and design that was acquired by Random House in 2008. We start our challenge with a field study in a local book store and museum shop. As part of that field study, we conduct several interviews with customers and vendors. Afterwards, we present our findings to the Random House colleagues and end up discussing our personal art book buying behavior and the role of art books in the future.

The day ends with dinner at a nice Greek restaurant. The students amongst themselves continue the evening with two visits to the local club scene and finish the night with a table soccer tournament in a bar near the “Münchner Freiheit.” All in all, it was a very interesting, varied and enjoyable day.

Friday morning, 8:30 a.m.: Isn’t it “Wies’n” time yet? No, it is Arvato time and we are listening to Nicole Wilhelm, Tillmann Bross and Franziska May presenting the Arvato activities in Munich. Besides webmiles, Arvato Rewards and various activities in the online marketing services segment, Arvato operates the Deutschland Card in Munich, a customer loyalty program that is also the topic of today’s challenge. Our task is to develop a strategic proposal for the market entry strategy of a customer loyalty card two years back in time. Since it is quite an open question, we have the chance to use our creativity as well as our practical and academic knowledge. Based on various frameworks, we develop a new imaginary market entry strategy for a customer loyalty card in Germany. Finally, we get the chance to present our results to Dr. Marius Lissautzki (General Manager, Deutschland Card) and illustrate our new creative concepts, which form a good basis for discussing the Deutschland Card’s current position in the market. The lively discussion takes much longer than expected as the Deutschland Card team is very open to our innovative ideas.

Saturday, 10:00 a.m.: Is it “Wies’n” time now? Yes, it’s “Wies’n” time! We take the shuttle to the Schottenhamel tent on the “Wies’n” and meet several current and former Bertelsmann employees. Accompanied by “Maß” and delicious “Hendl,” we engage in inspiring conversations about job opportunities and personal experiences. 

From my point of view, the Student Challenge event in Munich offered a balance of professional information and personal motivation in a connective atmosphere.
During the three days, I met very interesting new people and I am looking forward to meeting them again.

On behalf of our group, I would like to thank the organization team as well as the Random House and Arvato colleagues for their outstanding effort and perfect organization.

Julian Hueck