MediaMarktSaturn receives the renowned reta Award for its internal AI platform "Sandy". Every year, the EHI Retail Institute honors international retail companies for their outstanding technology projects. The category "Best Artificial Intelligence" honors innovative AI projects that improve decision-making, personalization and efficiency in retail.

This year's reta Award of the EHI Retail Institute in the category "Best Artificial Intelligence" goes to MediaMarktSaturn. The award recognizes the company's in-house developed AI platform "Sandy", which creates a corporate and data protection compliant environment for the use of generative artificial intelligence in the company.

"We want to make everyday life easier for both our customers and our employees with innovative solutions that deliver exceptional value. Sandy is an important project for the intelligent, digital transformation of our company. With this comprehensive and modern AI platform, we offer our employees a secure, company-compliant space to test the latest AI tools, use them in their daily work and continuously develop their AI skills," explains Sandro Kurpiers, AI Lead at MediaMarktSaturn Technology.

Sandy provides access to leading AI models from providers such as OpenAI, Google or Meta and ensures strict security and privacy protocols. By consolidating multiple AI model subscriptions into a single, efficient platform, the company has achieved significant cost savings. Since the launch of Sandy in March 2024, employees have accessed it approximately one million times and generated approximately 50,000 images. In an internal study, employees also reported that they were able to work more efficiently by using Sandy.

The platform offers the ability to customize the settings and content according to the user's individual needs and knowledge, using predefined profiles for beginners, advanced users and experts. Sandy is now integrated with systems in ten of the eleven countries in which the Group operates. The platform is continuously updated and further integration of the latest AI models is constantly evaluated.

Artificial intelligence is a central component of MediaMarktSaturn's innovation strategy to keep pace with the dynamic market environment and to actively shape the future of retail with innovative solutions for customers and employees.

Space rethought in MediaMarktSaturn stores: With Space-as-a-Service, Europe's leading consumer electronics retailer is transforming some of its existing sales areas into experience spaces for the latest technologies, innovations and other services. Customers will be able to experience and test products and technology solutions live in even more stores. At the same time, partners and brands will have more opportunities to showcase themselves in-store and shape their approach to customers.

MediaMarktSaturn makes the shopping experience even more attractive - online, in the app and in the store. With Space-as-a-Service, defined areas in the store are continuously filled with changing themes, products and services to bring them to life and offer customers even more experiences. The current focus is on the further roll-out of Experience Zones and Entrance Statements in the stores as well as boutiques for partners in the TechVillage stores, which along with the Xperion stores belong to the lighthouse formats of MediaMarktSaturn. Across the group, there are currently eleven Lighthouse locations and more than 10,000 m² of space that have already been transformed into experience spaces in over 360 stores in six countries - Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Hungary and the Netherlands. By the end of the 2025/26 financial year, more than 750 of the Group's approximately 1,030 stores should have at least one of the two experience spaces - Experience Zones and Entrance Statements - and there should be up to 20 Lighthouse stores with boutiques in Europe.

"Space-as-a-Service is an important strategic growth area for us that has a positive impact on several areas at once: We enhance the stationary shopping experience, create additional experiences for our customers with constantly changing themes and innovations, offer other companies and brands an all-round carefree package to showcase their products and solutions as simply and easily as possible in our store network and optimise our space productivity and thus the profitability of the company," says Marcus Tengler, Vice President Real Estate & Store Concepts at MediaMarktSaturn.  

Focus on Experience Zones, Entrance Statements and Boutiques

The Space-as-a-Service concept was first introduced in the TechVillage stores. The concept is based on an Italian piazza: the classic sales areas are located in the centre, with the boutiques arranged around them. Partners can rent these and present their brand world and latest innovations in a very individual setting. Due to the high degree of customisation, the boutiques are rented for several years.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, MediaMarktSaturn is presenting a campaign that rethinks traditional gift-giving. Instead of the annual chocolates, roses and the like, the electronics retailer is showing how technology can create emotional experiences with a focus on its own brands. 

Ingolstadt, February 3, 2025

Flowers wither, memories last: For this year's Valentine's Day, MediaMarktSaturn is showing how technology can create moments full of love that will be remembered forever. Because technology can make shared experiences unforgettable.

This year's Valentine's Day campaign from MediaMarktSaturn focusses on endless love. It is following an elderly couple. After many years together, Valentine's Day is all about one thing for our couple: creating and holding on to memories full of love. Because their affection is timeless. These shared moments are accompanied by the latest technology: in the commercial, the party speaker from the MediaMarktSaturn own brand PEAQ plays as they dance together. It provides a musical background for the couple's emotional bond, as the real gift for Valentine's Day is time spent together. The PEAQ Party speaker enhances the story, especially as it’s used by an elder couple, bridging tradition with contemporary technology. This underlines how MediaMarktSaturn products not only fulfill technological needs, but also enrich valuable interpersonal experiences. They foster genuine connection and shared moments, showing that the true value of a gift lies in how it enhances these emotional experiences.

Michael Schuld, CMO of MediaMarktSaturn: "At MediaMarktSaturn, we want to create Experience Electronics to enrich people’s life. Nothing can convey this idea as well as good storytelling. With our Valentine's Day campaign, we are once again showing how our products bring people together."

The campaign is published in Germany, Spain, Türkiye, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The electronics retailer is using TV, in-store promotions, digital advertising and social media. In Germany, the campaign will be shown online from February 10 to 15.

Saatchi & Saatchi and Tempomedia Filmproduktion GmbH were involved in the realization of the campaign. Publicis Media was responsible for the media budget.

Check out our Campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqhn9k4LBUQ

MediaMarktSaturn is not just any retailer. Our employees are the key success factor on our path to becoming an Experience Champion. As diverse and multifaceted as our company is, our employees, their tasks and backgrounds are just as diverse. They are our Experience Champions - because they create a unique shopping experience for our customers. Here they tell their stories.  

Michael Glossner has been part of the team at MediaMarkt in Solln for 24 years. He began his training as a retail salesman in 2000, gained a lot of sales experience and then moved to the Service Center. 

In 2006, Michael lost his sight due to a stroke of fate. And he first had to adjust to his new life situation himself. 

MediaMarktSaturn is now making its strengths as a European omnichannel platform even more accessible to advertisers: With InStoreAds, the entire customer journey is optimally covered with a seamless 360-degree Retail Media offering on all digital and stationary touchpoints. InStoreAds are already available on around 21,000 TV screens in around 650 stores in five countries.

InStoreAds can already be booked in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Turkey and the Netherlands. Advertisers and partners can now extend their online communication with the existing Sponsored Product Ads, Sponsored Brand Ads or A+ Content to the point of sale in the stationary market. The advertised product or brand is positioned even better and benefits from a seamless omnichannel approach to the customer in combination with other retail media offerings.

"The optimal customer journey seamlessly combines digital and physical touchpoints, and we have come full circle with InStoreAds and the additional advertising opportunities directly at the point of sale. With our customised product offering and relevant first-party data, we create an outstanding omnichannel experience for our customers and offer our partners scalable advertising potential to increase their advertising efficiency," said Torsten Ahlers, Managing Director of Media-Saturn Marketing GmbH.

First-party data intelligence

As an omnichannel retailer in eleven countries, MediaMarktSaturn has more than 40 million loyalty customers across the group and more than 2.2 billion customer contacts per year across all channels, which means it has very good data quality, including in-store, mobile and online. "Our strength lies in the fact that we can analyse our shoppers in detail, anonymously and in compliance with data protection regulations, in order to target them at the right time with the right action. We can break down the impact of communication from awareness to transaction. In addition, we will soon be offering our endemic clients comprehensive omnichannel reporting for this purpose," adds Torsten Ahlers.

The correct use of first-party data not only improves the effectiveness of onsite campaigns on the web or in the app, but also has a strong effect offsite in the market, paving the way for the integration of in-store transactions into the customer journey. "As we generate a large part of our sales in our bricks and mortar stores, integrating in-store transactions into the customer journey is a logical and decisive step to ensure 360-degree coverage of our retail media offering," explains Torsten Ahlers.

The further roll-out of InStoreAds is already underway in Switzerland and Spain and will be completed before the end of this calendar year.

Just in time for the Christmas season, MediaMarktSaturn is presenting the next phase of its international collaboration with Jürgen Klopp, the company's new brand ambassador. Under the motto "Enjoy a relaxed Christmas", this year's campaign is all about a stress-free Christmas season.

Ingolstadt, November 14, 2024

With their new Christmas campaign, Team MediaMarktSaturn and coach Jürgen Klopp are enabling a relaxed festive season and focusing on the retailer's gift ideas and services. The campaign shows MediaMarktSaturn as the reliable partner throughout Europe that enriches the Christmas experience with customized services and thus ensures a relaxed holiday season. After all, this is exactly what the holidays are all about: more time for family and friends.

In MediaMarktSaturn's new Christmas commercial, brand ambassador Jürgen Klopp shows how the electronics retailer's wide range of services make shopping an experience that focuses on the needs of our customers. At MediaMarktSaturn, they benefit from a comprehensive range of services that go far beyond individual gift advice: with express delivery, orders arrive directly at our customers' homes within 90 minutes. The Click & Collect service also offers additional flexibility: orders that have been conveniently reserved online can be prepared and collected from the store in just 30 minutes. This saves time. The "Ready to go" service makes it even easier to get started with new smartphones, for example, by setting up the devices ready for use. Anyone buying larger technology products can also take advantage of the professional installation service and enjoy the devices immediately ready for use.
 

Michael Schuld, CMO of MediaMarktSaturn, emphasizes: "We have a powerful team and we are underlining this with our Christmas campaign this year. To make our team even stronger, we also have our new team member Jürgen Klopp on board. With his authentic and likeable manner, he shows how easy and relaxed the holidays can be with our services. Together with him, we offer our customers not only the right products, but also comprehensive services that ensure a carefree Christmas. After all, it is precisely these services that set us apart from the competition and make us the Experience Champion." 

The campaign will be shown in all eleven countries in which MediaMarktSaturn is active. The campaign spot will be adapted locally: Thanks to the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI), Klopp speaks all national languages. MediaMarktSaturn has further developed and trained its in-house language AI for this purpose. In this way, the company is taking a new step in the international adaptation of campaign content.

In Germany, the campaign will run from December 2 to December 24 and can be seen on TV, online video, in cinemas and at the point of sale. The agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and BWGTBLD were involved in the production.
 

MediaMarktSaturn presents a flexible and innovative audio branding and strengthens its brand presence with a new sound logo. The company is also working on an AI brand voice based on employee voices. An exclusive brand song, which the electronics retailer produced with rising artist FAEM, rounds off the 360° audio experience.

As of autumn, MediaMarktSaturn is creating a new sound experience: with the introduction of comprehensive audio branding and a sound logo, the international electronics retailer is creating recognition value that sticks to the ear. At the same time, the company is working on an AI-generated brand voice consisting of samples recorded by employees and is launching a brand song entitled "Let's Go (Another Dimension)" together with the artist FAEM. The introduction of the comprehensive sound experience follows on from MediaMarktSaturn's design relaunch and adds an auditory component to the sharpened brand positioning.

MediaMarktSaturn is now making its purpose "We create Experience Electronics to enrich people’s lives" audible: the audio branding was developed based on the central brand elements of MediaMarktSaturn. This includes an audio version of the iconic brand swirl, a soundtrack of the company slogan "Let's Go!" and other memorable elements that contribute to recognizability. All sound elements can be flexibly and dynamically combined with each other and can therefore be used in a variety of ways. In addition to a catchy musical theme, various sound effects were also combined to create a recognizable sound. 

The music and sounds were composed and produced in such a way that they function modularly and can reflect different moods. This allows them to be adapted to a wide variety of video assets. Generative AI is used here: it recognizes the tenor of the clip and provides it with coordinated music and sound effects.

MediaMarktSaturn is also working on a memorable brand voice for all countries in which the company is active. The special feature: The brand voice is generated with the help of AI from voice samples of the MediaMarktSaturn team. To this end, the company launched an internal casting in which all 50,000 employees were asked to record sample texts. Recordings are now being made with the selected participants in all eleven countries. They will then be used to train a voice model. The resulting brand voice will be used in advertising, videos and other means of communication, e.g. in store announcements.

Michael Schuld, CMO of MediaMarktSaturn, says: "With our new audio branding, we are showing what our brand DNA sounds like. The launch was a logical next step to further strengthen the MediaMarktSaturn brand. To achieve this, we used the latest technology and created a 360° sound experience and a brand voice using artificial intelligence - a coherent brand experience for all the senses. And that's not all: with our new brand song "Let's Go (Another Dimension)", which is available on all streaming platforms, we are expanding the experience radius of our brand even further."

To further strengthen the audio branding, MediaMarktSaturn has released the catchy brand song "Let's Go (Another Dimension)" with the artist FAEM. He pours the innovative and hands-on spirit of MediaMarktSaturn into sound. In the song, FAEM addresses his experience as an artist: big challenges can only be mastered together. This approach is also reflected in MediaMarktSaturn's attitude: the company wants to develop into an omnichannel service platform as part of a comprehensive transformation and is uniting a strong team to tackle this together. The brand song can be streamed among others on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer.

The audio branding is currently being rolled out across all eleven MediaMarktSaturn countries. It was designed together with the audio agency German Wahnsinn, MetaDesign and Saatchi&Saatchi. The brand voice is set to go live in the first countries in spring 2025 and is being developed together with German Wahnsinn. German Wahnsinn and FAEM were involved in the brand song.

MediaMarktSaturn is not just any retailer. Our employees are the key success factor on our path to becoming an Experience Champion. Our company is as diverse and multifaceted as our employees, their tasks and their backgrounds. They are our Experience Champions - because they create a unique shopping experience for our customers. They tell their stories here. This time: Fabio Trogant, Content Creator.

Fabio Trogant started out as an apprentice in one of our stores. His unique selling point: Fabio speaks sign language. This made him an important contact right from the start: "The fact that I speak sign language has helped me with many customers." He is particularly keen for more colleagues to courageously bring their special skills into their day-to-day work: "There are many colleagues out there who can also do something unique. Be brave - together we can be the best! No other competitor can offer that." Because the diversity of our employees and their individual skills make us what we are: innovative, dynamic and close to people. 

MediaMarktSaturn is using a GenAI-based voicebot to support its customer hotline. The voicebot uses the FAQs on the MediaMarktSaturn websites to provide relevant information quickly and around the clock, thus solving the most common customer queries. The voicebot has been successfully launched in Germany in September, the first test phase started in Austria and the Netherlands, and the rollout will continue in Spain in early 2025. 

MediaMarktSaturn is expanding its digital services and is now using an innovative AI solution to further improve its customer service. The new voicebot, which was developed in collaboration with Parloa, is based on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and makes it possible to answer customer queries on the hotline automatically and in natural language. If the caller generally does not want to speak to the voicebot or the voicebot cannot provide a solution to the request, callers are forwarded to a customer service employee.

"With the integration of the new voicebot, we are continuously improving our digital service offering," explains Henny Steiniger, Vice President Services & Solutions, Customer Experience & Care. "By using artificial intelligence, we are not only increasing efficiency, but also offering our customers a service that is available around the clock. This is in line with our vision of offering innovative and intuitive solutions that make our customers' everyday lives easier."

24/7 availability and shorter waiting times

The voicebot is available around the clock and offers immediate assistance, even outside of the hotline's opening hours. During the initial integration phase, only a limited number of calls will be routed to the voicebot during hotline hours. The voicebot is optimized to clearly understand customer concerns and create a natural, pleasant conversation atmosphere. Customers can ask questions in a natural phone conversation without having to navigate through a menu. The artificial intelligence then draws on the extensive FAQ knowledge on topics such as product advice, repair and warranty services, deliveries or returns to provide the right answers quickly and comprehensibly via voice output. This further increases the efficiency of the customer hotline and reduces waiting times for customers. 

AI-powered customer service expansion

In addition to the voicebot's existing options, it is currently being tested whether and how other functions, such as information on order status or product availability, can be integrated. 

The use of Artificial Intelligence is a central component of MediaMarktSaturn's innovation strategy in order to meet the changing requirements of the retail sector and develop new solutions - both internally for MediaMarktSaturn employees and externally in the interface with customers. 

MediaMarktSaturn has long relied on innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to continuously improve its customer service. In addition to the chatbots "Emmi" (MediaMarkt) and "Sammy" (Saturn), which are successfully used in the online stores, a voicebot based on artificial intelligence has been available in Austria since this year, for example. It can answer pre-trained standard questions such as store opening times or the nearest store. The new GenAI voicebot now offers the next level of interaction that further optimizes the customer experience on the hotline.

The football coach supports the marketing activities surrounding the MediaMarktSaturn brand as an ambassador. A comprehensive launch campaign in Germany marks the start of the long-term collaboration, which will also be rolled out internationally from December.

Ingolstadt, October 9, 2024

Germany's most internationally renowned football coach has a new team: Jürgen Klopp is strengthening MediaMarktSaturn's marketing activities. The perfect match, because "The Normal One" has proven one thing many times in his career: He can unite teams with different people and their strengths under a common goal - and lead them to maximum success. The collaboration, which is now starting in Germany, is international in scope. As part of the Christmas campaign from December, it will be rolled out across all eleven countries in which the electronics retailer is active.

Michael Schuld, CMO of MediaMarktSaturn, says: "Instead of 50,000, we are now 50,001 in Team MediaMarktSaturn: We have successfully signed Jürgen Klopp as a new brand ambassador for our group - because every strong team also has a strong coach. With him, we have a strong and very likeable face for our company who will accompany us through our campaigns at brand level. Jürgen Klopp is authentic. He is passionate. He is close to people and allows them to surpass themselves. That makes him the perfect partner on our path to becoming an Experience Champion."

In Germany, the company is launching the cooperation with a launch campaign. Here, too, the focus is on the team concept: Klopp introduces his new team during a visit to one of the around 400 stores. He emphasizes the efficiency of the employees and their customer focus. Because only a strong team can really create Experience Electronics and combine it with the best Shopping Experience for all customers.

The brand campaign starts on October 9 and will initially be seen on television, in online videos, social media and at the point of sale. The team concept will also be integrated into the product communication: The MediaMarkt and Saturn team will act as presenters for this and recommend products.