brand eins in February – Tough.

This time around, Brandeins is about “The Brand“. And, of course, about “Marketing“. In the end, it comes down to “Sales“.

I admit that all three topics are extremely interesting for me. More often than not, I despair when having to tackle one of the problems. Consequently, this magazine is exactly what I needed.

Since I was travelling all last week, my first chance to look into the magazine was on Friday evening. After returning from the theatre Von morgens bis mitternachts (“From Morning Till Midnight”) by Georg Kaiser, I actually managed to do a little browsing very late this Friday night.

Strangely, the midnight reading supplemented the play I saw. Both (Brandeins and the theatre) made me thoughtful. Thoughtful in the sense of “re-flective”. It also goes well with the central statement of the play: Money is detrimental for the value.

It is no longer necessary for me to praise Brandeins. By now, all IF blog readers know how enthusiastic I am about Brandeins. Consequently, here is an overview of some of the choicest bits:

In my opinion, the interview with Markus Giebel, the boss of the biggest private real estate company in Dubai (pages 20 ff) is more than provocative. On page 132, I discovered “management and moralization”, which is a topic I am extremely concerned with. The article was a further inspiration for me.

However, “the driven one”, Ivar Niederberger (directly after the moralization article) has made quite some impression on me – especially the last sentence: Luck has two letters – DO. That is exactly as I, too, see it.

The introduction to the focal point “The Hard Core” – almost scientific – is probably the best article I ever read on brands.
Since my life is dominated very much by interrupts, I always enjoy the opportunity to do some speedy reading on the numbers and the short articles “for in between”. The same held true this time.

Somehow, Brandeins fits perfectly into the New World as I would wish to see it.

Now I sincerely hope that the 28 days of February will be long enough for me to find time for reading all the other articles, as well.

RMD
(Translated by EG)

P.S.
In order not to be considered one-sided: here are two more magazines I read last week. I also want to praise them very much:

1. KULTUR & TECHNIK (Link) – CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
   Das Magazin aus dem Deutschen Museum – The Magazine Published by the “Deutsches Museum”
   Very recommendable!
2. LETTRE INTERNATIONAL · 87 · WINTER 2009 (Link)
   EUROPAS KULTURZEITUNG    – EUROPE’S CULTURAL JOURNAL
   I had not known about this one until Thomas gave me a copy when we were on a business trip. Thanks!    
Lettre tackles a variety of interesting themes on a very high level. You need a little time and leisure for reading it. The good news is that there is plenty of time, because the next edition will not be published before March, 2010. And there is quite a chance that, by then, I will again hit the pages, probably during my next nice vacation?