Up for blogging! How corporate blogs are giving OTTO a face

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Basic information
Hamburg, March 2014
Topic: Corporate blogging
Up for blogging!
How corporate blogs are giving OTTO a face
Whether it’s fashion, e-commerce, careers or sustainability, with corporate blogs, customers
aren’t the only people OTTO is reaching through various discussion platforms. Social-media
tools are an important instrument for the online retailer to conduct personal dialogues with
consumers, applicants and journalists – and in doing so, to bring the brand and corporate
values to life.
“Oooops, we did it again” – it’s not the first time ‘Two for Fashion’, OTTO’s fashion blog, has scooped
a renowned Fox Award: it won Gold in June 2012. The award recognises the prize winners for their
outstandingly efficient corporate publishing. That said, OTTO doesn’t only engage in dialogue through
its already multi-award-winning fashion blog: it opens up multiple windows to the inside and outside at
the same time through additional corporate blogs on specific topics. For example, OTTO offers
insights into the topic of careers with its Azubiblog (Trainees' Blog). Besides this, those interested in
the topic of e-commerce are well-catered for on OTTO’s eStarter blog − and OTTO also initiates
discussions on the topic of sustainability on the online platform Utopia using blog posts. The latest
addition to the stable, OTTO’s interior furnishing and design blog Roombeez provides inspiration for
new interior-design ideas and tips on how to do it ourselves.
Corporate blogging allows OTTO to engage with very diverse target groups and look at specific topics
in great depth more effectively than classic channels allow. Whether they’re customers, potential
applicants, current employees or journalists, readers come into contact with employees themselves on
these platforms and in doing so get first-hand information. In this regard, for OTTO the blogs’
credibility always has topmost priority: they show who is personally behind the OTTO brand, as the
Otto (GmbH & Co KG) · Unternehmenskommunikation · Wandsbeker Straße 3–7 · 22172 Hamburg
Telefon +49 (0) 40 64 61 4010 · Fax +49 (0) 40 64 61 4490
www.otto.de · www.otto.com · www.ottogroup.com
AG Hamburg, HR A 62 024, Persönlich haftend: Verwaltungsgesellschaft Otto mbH, Hamburg, AG Hamburg, HR B 13 762
vertr. durch: Hans-Otto Schrader (Vorsitzender) · Dr. Rainer Hillebrand (Stellvertretender Vorsitzender) · Alexander Birken ·
Dr. Michael Heller · Dr. Timm Homann · Hanjo Schneider · Jürgen Schulte-Laggenbeck · Dr. Winfried Zimmermann
Aufsichtsrat: Dr. Michael Otto (Vorsitzender)
2
authors are given clear prominence.
Passionate bloggers
“By blogging, everyone in the company becomes a journalist”, explains Francesco Ferreri,
ECommerce Manager at OTTO and eStarter blogger. Besides Ferreri, the other OTTO bloggers are
people with a great personal affinity with the blog topics. The corporate blogs become very lively and
credible thanks to the personalities behind the posts.
In particular, two young fashionistas behind the OTTO fashion blog ‘Two for Fashion’ have made a job
for themselves out of their passion for fashion and lifestyle topics.
The bloggers Kathrin Leist and Thuy Ha are experienced fashion experts who also ran their own
fashion blog before ‘Two for Fashion’; today they report on styles from fashion capitals around the
globe and the OTTO world. Besides the two main authors, ‘Two for Fashion’ also often features
guest authors, and OTTO employees number amongst them.
A beehive of good interior-design ideas
Creative DIY guides, new furnishing trends and in-vogue interior design – at Roombeez, established
interior-design bloggers provide all this and more in their comprehensive insights into the home
interiors and lifestyle scene. “The Roombeez name symbolises a beehive of good interior ideas, where
the bloggers pool the nectar of their top discoveries”, is how Senior Project Lead René Murowski
explains the choice of name. With Roombeez OTTO is again relying on the multiblogger concept −
although differently to Two for Fashion, the new concept is not based on permanent hosts but on
multipliers who are already well-known in the social-media sphere. “Especially when designing what’s
inside our own four walls there is the widest-possible range of tastes and preferences. With an
extensive team of bloggers, who each stand for a differing style of interior, we are offering the user a
broad identification spectrum”, says Murowski. Reflecting this, the blogger team comprises media
designers, interior architects and professional bloggers.
Jasmin Guhlich, one of the Roombeez editorial contributors, is an interior architect based in Hamburg
who has already made a name for herself on the scene with her own design blog. “Blogging is a great
opportunity for me to share my photos and ideas, show the pearls I’ve discovered and to present
beautiful shops and places”, she says. “A home truly becomes a home when we design it with things
close to our heart.” Along with the other contributors she fills the blog with photos, videos and editorial
content on interior design and lifestyle. The interiors appearing in the blog can then be restyled with
OTTO products, for example – and there are also DIY tips that encourage the blog’s readers to roll
Otto (GmbH & Co KG) · Unternehmenskommunikation · Wandsbeker Straße 3–7 · 22172 Hamburg
Telefon +49 (0) 40 64 61 4010 · Fax +49 (0) 40 64 61 4490
www.otto.de · www.otto.com · www.ottogroup.com
AG Hamburg, HR A 62 024, Persönlich haftend: Verwaltungsgesellschaft Otto mbH, Hamburg, AG Hamburg, HR B 13 762
vertr. durch: Hans-Otto Schrader (Vorsitzender) · Dr. Rainer Hillebrand (Stellvertretender Vorsitzender) · Alexander Birken ·
Dr. Michael Heller · Dr. Timm Homann · Hanjo Schneider · Jürgen Schulte-Laggenbeck · Dr. Winfried Zimmermann
Aufsichtsrat: Dr. Michael Otto (Vorsitzender)
3
their sleeves up. Besides the interior bloggers, in-
house OTTO bloggers regularly contribute reports
on the latest trends from the interior-design trade fairs and congresses.
Things are different with OTTO corporate blogs reporting on e-commerce and OTTO as an employer.
The authors of the eStarter and Azubiblog blogs all have their main employment in different areas and
positions at OTTO. They run the blog together and add new posts to these, in addition to their daily
duties. There is no fixed list of criteria to become part of the blogging team and potential blogging
candidates are approached directly by the teams. “Artificially involving people rarely works as it also
depends on personal motivation besides specialist know-how”, explains Ellen Nagel who, as an HR
Analyst at OTTO also coordinates the eStarter blog. The authors of the OTTO Azubiblog have a
special interest in blogging about their experiences: the blog’s seven authors are all in training at
OTTO and post about their day-to-day work from a very personal perspective.
More than just a fashion blog
“Almost 1,000 comments – that was the highest number achieved by ‘Two for Fashion’ back in March
2011 when it gave away tickets to see Take That”, explains a delighted René Murowski, Social Media
Manager, Dialogue Marketing at OTTO. “Even when ‘Two for Fashion’ focuses all its activities on
dialogue with the readers, this figure isn’t an everyday occurrence even for us”, says Murowski. As
reader interaction is more important than ever, ‘Two for Fashion’ has long since stopped relying solely
on its own blog as a communications channel; ‘Two for Fashion’ is becoming increasingly a
socialmedia magazine with its own Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest accounts. As
content spreads across different channels, fans can consume ‘Two for Fashion’ exactly where they
like to hang out. The team around Kathrin and Thuy utilises user-responses from all channels to
inspire new ideas and continually develop further. With around 700 videos, ‘Two for Fashion’ is now
the fashion blog with the highest video-density in Germany; what’s more, on average it offers its
readers moving-image material on every second post. The Web-TV format ‘Two for Fashion TV’
launched in June also shows how the cross-media networking of a blog can work.
At Roombeez too, dialogue with the customer is not limited to the blog. The editorial content is
extended in a topic-specific way on communications platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube
and Google Plus, and new target groups are approached. “We go looking for potential new customers
wherever they gather. With regular promotional activities we then try to lead them to our blog”,
explains Murowski.
Talking shop with experts
It isn’t just fashion that sparks a good discussion – OTTO also has a lot to report on the topic of
ecommerce which is why this company engages with the public on this specialised topic through its
Otto (GmbH & Co KG) · Unternehmenskommunikation · Wandsbeker Straße 3–7 · 22172 Hamburg
Telefon +49 (0) 40 64 61 4010 · Fax +49 (0) 40 64 61 4490
www.otto.de · www.otto.com · www.ottogroup.com
AG Hamburg, HR A 62 024, Persönlich haftend: Verwaltungsgesellschaft Otto mbH, Hamburg, AG Hamburg, HR B 13 762
vertr. durch: Hans-Otto Schrader (Vorsitzender) · Dr. Rainer Hillebrand (Stellvertretender Vorsitzender) · Alexander Birken ·
Dr. Michael Heller · Dr. Timm Homann · Hanjo Schneider · Jürgen Schulte-Laggenbeck · Dr. Winfried Zimmermann
Aufsichtsrat: Dr. Michael Otto (Vorsitzender)
4
eStarter blog. “Our experiences show that topics
we reflect on critically trigger the most
discussions, as readers notice that we are being honest”, explains Ellen Nagel. In addition, the
eStarter Team appeals to readers to join in the discussion. The posts on the OTTO blog for trainees
are also followed very closely by potential candidates: “In particular, readers and journalists loved our
report on the office-chair race between OTTO trainers and trainees”, explains a delighted Denise
Bensien who, as an HR Analyst at OTTO, looks after the Azubiblog. Increasingly, applicants are
posing questions during the interview on topics raised in the Azubiblog and in doing so, are providing
OTTO with feedback that the blog is being perceived as an information tool. Recognised trade journals
have also already started picking up on posts from the Azubiblog.
Guest blogger
Whether it’s takeaway cups, carbon diets or eco labels – even on sustainability, OTTO opens up
discussion with the public. At utopia.de, savemynature.com and betterplace.org, OTTO is represented
with its own corporate profiles where it blogs about the latest sustainable-consumption trends and also
without direct reference to OTTO. The platforms are supported by a three-person Social Media Team
from the Company and Brand Strategy area at OTTO. On the online platform Utopia, ‘Changemaker
Companies’ engage in discussion with the users, ‘Utopists’. OTTO isn’t just one of the founder
members of Utopia: it is also the most active Changemaker. “The Utopists give us a lot of feedback on
our blog posts, which in turn triggers discussion about other sustainability-related issues”, explains
Alexandra Hess who, as a Junior Project Manager, looks after the postings on the Corporate Social
Responsibility blogs together with her two colleagues.
Visit http://www.otto.com/de/newsroom/materialien.phpfor further information as well as image and
video files on the topic of ‘Corporate Blogs at OTTO’.
For an overview of the latest postings on our corporate blogs, visit the Social Media Room at
www.otto.com
Press Contact:
Ulrike Abratis, Tel: +49 (40) 64 61-8630, Fax: -4490, E-mail: [email protected]
Otto (GmbH & Co KG) · Unternehmenskommunikation · Wandsbeker Straße 3–7 · 22172 Hamburg
Telefon +49 (0) 40 64 61 4010 · Fax +49 (0) 40 64 61 4490
www.otto.de · www.otto.com · www.ottogroup.com
AG Hamburg, HR A 62 024, Persönlich haftend: Verwaltungsgesellschaft Otto mbH, Hamburg, AG Hamburg, HR B 13 762
vertr. durch: Hans-Otto Schrader (Vorsitzender) · Dr. Rainer Hillebrand (Stellvertretender Vorsitzender) · Alexander Birken ·
Dr. Michael Heller · Dr. Timm Homann · Hanjo Schneider · Jürgen Schulte-Laggenbeck · Dr. Winfried Zimmermann
Aufsichtsrat: Dr. Michael Otto (Vorsitzender)