In February 2023, an earthquake destroyed large parts of south-eastern Turkey. MediaMarktSaturn and the Turkish subsidary responded immediately and sent first relief supplies by truck to the affected regions. MediaMarktSaturn decided to expand its aid there on a sustainable basis.

To do this, the company entered into a partnership with TEGV (Turkey Education Volunteers Foundation). TEGV is one of the best-known NGOs that are experts in providing various educational programs for children in need, especially in disaster areas. They have their own program with mobile education units called "Fireflies". In the second half of 2023 MediaMarktSaturn expanded these mobile educational units for children with four themed MediaMarkt trucks and various learning modules in the areas of informatics, art and creativity. The support is planned over four years, the company aims to reach more than 24.000 children, and it includes the trucks as well as all the necessary technical equipment, aids and the educational program. 

“It is important to us to be directly and sustainably involved in our social commitments and donations - both on the company side and in the many campaigns initiated by our employees. We are therefore very happy that we can now further expand our support there,” says Karsten Wildberger, CEO of MediaMarktSaturn.

Omnichannel advantage: Marketplace sellers at MediaMarktSaturn benefit from an enormous reach, a high awareness level and a top infrastructure in the online shop, in the app and now also in stationary stores. In a pilot project in the Tech Village at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, a fitness equipment provider from the Marketplace is using around 22 square meters of floor space to present its products in the perfect light. In line with its omnichannel strategy, the pilot is a further step for MediaMarktSaturn to become even more attractive for its partners and customers.

In an initial test phase from November 2023 to January 2024, the fitness provider will be exhibiting various products across 22 square meters. The entire range of topics will be covered: from "Get started" with body analysis and consultation to "Get better" with training equipment and wearables to "Recover" with products for muscle therapy and wellness. In most cases, these are products that require comprehensive advice and that customers would like to test and experience live on site before buying. To this end, the store has its own fitness expert who provides information about the products, answers questions, assists with the online ordering process and also offers personalized fitness analysis and consultation.

In addition to the expert on site, tablets are available as digital touchpoints in the exhibition area. Visitors can thus get an initial overview of the products and technical data themselves at any time. On a landing page specially designed for the "Fitness & Wellness" theme world, the products on display are not only highlighted in the store, but also online. The purchase is also concluded via the digital touchpoint directly via the seller's online offer in the Marketplace.

"With our Space-as-a-Service offering, we want to provide our Marketplace sellers with a new platform that has a particularly strong presence. We are combining offline and online perfectly by taking advantage of our omnichannel strategy and presenting the products in the best possible way both online and in-store," explains Christian Kollesch, Director Marketplace International at MediaMarktSaturn.

"We are starting with a pilot in the fitness and wellness sector in Germany and want to roll out this concept in other countries in future and extend it to other categories that perfectly complement our core assortment. This will enable us to offer our customers an even more extensive product portfolio," adds Marius Lückemeyer, CEO Marketplace at MediaMarktSaturn.

Marketplace as a growth area

The Marketplace plays an important role in MediaMarktSaturn's strategy to improve the company's profitability, focus its own core product range on selected growth areas and at the same time offer customers an even more extensive assortment of products online. To this end, MediaMarktSaturn is continuously expanding its Marketplace offering, with around 1,000 sellers offering more than one million items (as of June 2023; an update will be provided on 18 December at the annual press conference). At the Capital Markets Day (2 June 2023), the company announced its goal of achieving around 750 million euros in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) via the Marketplace in the 2025/26 fiscal year. In addition to Germany, the Marketplace is already live in Spain and Austria, and is set to go online next in the Netherlands and Italy in the current 2023/24 fiscal year.

With its new international Christmas ad, MediaMarktSaturn once again focuses on the topic of mindfulness and advocates using its product and service offerings to spend more of your precious time with your loved ones over the holidays.

We've all been there: you're visiting family over the holidays and instead of spending time with them, you have to set up and calibrate various devices. MediaMarktSaturn's new 60-seconds commercial for Christmas shows that solving technical problems can take a lot of time. Time that should rather be spent together and can now be reclaimed thanks to MediaMarktSaturn's versatile services. The spot is accompanied by a reinterpretation of the Christmas classic "Driving Home for Christmas" and can be seen on TV, in cinemas and online in Germany from November 30, 2023. Special forms of advertising are also planned, such as contextual placement on the radio directly after the song.

The spot focuses on a young woman who travels to visit her family over the festive period. Instead of spending valuable time with them, she has to solve various technical problems for her parents or grandparents. This or something similar is the situation in many households during the holidays. With its new campaign for the 2023 Christmas season, MediaMarktSaturn is focusing on its wide range of products and services for customers.

To further emphasize this message, MediaMarktSaturn has transformed Chris Rea's song "Driving Home for Christmas" into "Driving Home to Fix this". The popular Christmas classic, which focuses on the anticipation of spending time with your favorite people, now takes on a whole new meaning and underlines the message perfectly: "With the new campaign, we are taking the theme of mindfulness, which was already our focus on Valentine's Day, one step further: the last few years in particular have shown us that time together is the best gift of all. With our wide range of products and matching services, we are giving our customers back exactly this time and taking care of all their technical needs in the meantime - in line with our new Experience Electronics strategy," explains Michael Schuld, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group.

The campaign is designed according to a 360-degree approach and is supplemented with 15-second spots for TV and online, which show which products, gifts and matching services shoppers can benefit from during the Christmas season and beyond. For example, anyone who doesn't want to worry about how to transfer data and set up their smartphone when buying a new one can save a lot of time and stress with MediaMarktSaturn's Get Started service. MediaMarktSaturn takes care of the initial set-up, function checks, installation of a Google or iOS account and the latest updates for the new smartphone.

Customers in Germany also benefit from an extended exchange right until December 31, 2023 for all products purchased between November 23, 2023 and December 16, 2023.

Those who want to get their presents even faster can use Click & Collect. With this service, products ordered at www.mediamarkt.de and www.saturn.de can be collected from your local store within 30 minutes if they are directly available in the selected store.

The video can be viewed here:

MediaMarktSaturn is introducing Self-Service, an important strategic development in its retail media offering. This provides partners, customers and agencies with new and huge potential in campaign management. Campaigns can now be controlled directly by customers themselves, monitored in real time and optimized at any time according to their own needs.

MediaMarktSaturn, with over 2.2 billion customer contacts per year across all channels, offers its partners, customers and agencies classic retail media products such as Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) or A+ Content combined with highly professional reporting and analysis options. MediaMarktSaturn is now one of the first providers in the retail media sector in Europe to offer a Self-Service for Sponsored Product Ads. The Self-Service has already been successfully introduced in Germany and is being used by the first partners. Final preparations are currently underway in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, where the Self-Service will also go live shortly.

"In today's fast-paced world, it is crucial to be flexible and to be able to react to changes in real time," says Torsten Ahlers, Managing Director Media-Saturn Marketing GmbH, explaining the new product. "With our Self-Service, we offer our customers exactly that: control and optimization in real time according to their individual needs. At the same time, we are giving agencies specializing in retail media an exciting opportunity to further professionalize and expand their offerings in this area."

In addition, MediaMarktSaturn's managed service offering will continue to be available to partners and customers, with campaign management, reporting and recommended adjustments being carried out by MediaMarktSaturn's retail media experts in consultation with the customer. "However, in order to be able to serve the 'long tail' and sustainably increase volumes, Self-Service is fundamental for us and an important strategic step," adds Torsten Ahlers.

The expansion of Retail Media plays a central role in MediaMarktSaturn's corporate strategy in order to sustainably improve the Group's profitability. Gross profit from the Retail Media business is expected to increase almost tenfold to around €45 million by the 2025/26 financial year.

With its "Colorful Weeks", MediaMarktSaturn is bringing color into the dreary season. The new, international retail campaign combines the central shopping experience with attractive tech offers. Online, on TV, at POS and social media, the colorful campaign is characterized by dynamism and joie de vivre, thus continuing the campaign platform Let's Go! perfectly. The stars of the campaign are the company's employees themselves.

Colorful instead of monotonously black: Just in time for what is traditionally the darkest advertising period of the year, MediaMarktSaturn is taking a colorful approach with its new, international campaign. From October 30th to December 4th, the "Colorful Weeks" will offer a welcome contrast to the otherwise rather drab color scheme of the Black Friday campaigns. The idea behind it: In the dark days leading up to the Christmas season, MediaMarkt stores and the online shop offer a colorful alternative and a positive setting for a month full of top deals.

The annual Black Friday is one of the strongest sales days of the year in the retail sector. This is also the case at MediaMarktSaturn. But this year everything is different. With the "Colorful Weeks," Europe's market-leading electronics retailer is offering numerous deals for five weeks in its online stores and around 400 MediaMarkt and Saturn stores in Germany. And it's deliberately colorful: "In the otherwise dreary, black-tinged month of November, it seemed only logical to us to provide a strong counter-impulse here that reaches our customers emotionally and puts them in a positive mood," says Michael Schuld, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group.

From October 30th until the end of "Cyber Week" on December 4, the "Colorful Weeks" will take place. The colorful promotion weeks kick off with a host of attractive offers. This will be followed in quick succession by Singles Day, Black Week and the famous Black Friday on November 24th. As a new finale to the hottest deal weeks of the year, "Cyber Week" will start in Germany on November 27th and end on December 4th. The campaign idea comes from the creative agency Saatchi&Saatchi, which has already been responsible for the campaign platform Let's Go! created last year since its launch. The overarching campaign strategy is based on the company's new brand statement and strategic realignment, which focuses not only on the product range, but also on the customer experience at all touchpoints, a wide range of services and personal advice.

"Colorful Weeks" - nothing is more authentic than the own team!

What's special about this year's campaign? The star is the team! MediaMarktSaturn is putting its own employees in the spotlight. They were able to apply with creative photos and videos via a casting platform for all countries in which the company is active. The aim was to create a mix that was as representative as possible across all countries. The turnout was overwhelming: In the end, 40 colleagues were invited to the campaign shoot. Here, over 350 motifs and ten moving image sequences were created for online, TV and social media.

"Basically, the own team brings the most authenticity and credibility to a retail campaign," says Michael Schuld. "The joy in our work and the passion for the company is palpable in every frame created - this joie de vivre and dynamism simply leap over. I'm very proud of this great team, whose personal commitment has made this campaign something special."

The goal of this two-day event was to create a starting point for the structured integration and operationalization of artificial intelligence in the form of LLMs to open up new application areas for MediaMarktSaturn. To this end, 35 specialists and developers from both companies worked together on three different use cases from this area and were to develop functioning prototypes.

The following three use cases were worked on: 

• AI live advisor: the goal was to create a chat and voicebot for AI-enabled customer support online and in the market. This approach promises a new level of customer advice and support. 
• SEO optimization: LLMs offer great potential for improving search engine optimization. Here, work has been done in particular on automated SEO mark-up and metadata creation. On this basis, MediaMarktSaturn intends to further expand the reach of its online stores. 
• Hyper-personalization and digital marketing: Solutions were to be developed that deal with the creation of modules for text and image generation for marketing purposes in social media, newsletters and online stores. The systems promise to address customers even faster and more individually. 

One thing was clear at the end of the two-day hackathon: it was a complete success. All three groups were able to present promising prototypes that are now being further developed. We are excited about the interdisciplinary collaboration, the commitment of the participants and the progress that was achieved in the short time. We are looking forward to the further implementation of the prototypes and hopefully see them in live operation soon.

At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of CECONOMY AG, the mother company of MediaMarktSaturn, extended ahead of schedule the Executive Board contract of Dr Karsten Wildberger and appointed him as Chairman of the Management Board for a further five years one year before the end of his current term of office. The ordinary reappointment is effective from 1 August 2023 and runs until 31 July 2028.

Wildberger has initiated a comprehensive corporate transformation aimed at consistently aligning the company with customer needs and introducing an efficiency-optimized management structure. Thanks to his strategic course setting, MediaMarktSaturn is on its way to becoming a growing omnichannel provider with a digital focus and profitable service business.

"Dr Karsten Wildberger has driven the transformation of MediaMarktSaturn extraordinarily successfully and with great commitment over the past two years in a very challenging environment for the industry and the company. Under his leadership, MediaMarktSaturn has consolidated its role as European market leader in consumer electronics retailing over the past two years," says Thomas Dannenfeldt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CECONOMY AG, on the reappointment. "In view of his impressive performance, Karsten Wildberger's contract extension is a logical decision to ensure MediaMarktSaturn's continued positive development and future success. We are pleased to be able to continue the excellent and very trusting cooperation with Karsten Wildberger. He is an important guarantor for continuity and the further strategic development of the company."

Dr Karsten Wildberger holds a doctorate in physics and started his management career as a partner at the Boston Consulting Group. There he advised companies in various industries on strategy and digitalization. This was followed by various international management positions at T-Mobile, Vodafone and Telstra. At Telstra, an Australian telecommunications company with around 400 shops, he was the board member responsible for the entire retail and service organization, product development and digital transformation. From 2016 to 2021, Wildberger was a member of the Board of Management of E.ON SE, where he was in charge of Sales, the growth area "Decentralized Energy Infrastructure", Energy Procurement, Electromobility, Marketing, Digital Transformation and IT.

"I look forward to continuing to work together and am certain that we will lead MediaMarktSaturn into a successful future together through the consistent implementation of our corporate strategy, which focuses on the customer and the customer experience," says Dr Karsten Wildberger. "In the past two years we have already achieved a lot and I am proud of the commitment and achievements of our employees. Together we have laid the foundation for omnichannel excellence, further expanded the growth areas of Services & Solutions and the Marketplace business unit and introduced attractive store formats. But there is still a lot of work ahead of us. Together with the management team, we are developing MediaMarktSaturn into a customer-centric service platform that integrates sustainability into all aspects of our business and delivers excellent services and customer experiences."

MediaMarktSaturn's brick-and-mortar business is a central component of the company's strategy: Following the successful opening of six large Tech villages in Europe, MediaMarktSaturn is now presenting a newly opened store in the Xpress format for the first time in Germany. As part of its omnichannel strategy, the consumer electronics retailer's innovative store concept combines service, an assortment tailored to customer needs, and digital elements that enhance the shopping experience. At the same time, the company is driving forward the ongoing modernization of its classic "Core" formats. For example, the electronics retailer is upgrading a first MediaMarkt in Italy with high-quality design elements and Experience Zones where customers can try out products.

"Our motto is: the right format in the right place. Large Tech villages in the metropolises, medium-sized stores with plenty of service and advice, smaller stores with a selected assortment where customers can also access our entire range and pick up goods ordered online on site – that's our approach," says Karsten Wildberger, CEO of MediaMarktSaturn. "With our new store formats, we are even closer to our customers and cater more individually to their needs. This makes our online shopping more regional. This is because products can be tried out in the store around the corner or quickly picked up in the store nearby. In addition, the productivity per unit area in the new stores is increasing. Our strategy will enable us to operate more stationary locations close to our customers in the future, but on a smaller footprint."

Omnichannel concept in action: the Xpress format launches in Germany

The new MediaMarkt in the Xpress format in Groß-Gerau, Hesse, will present a selected, reduced tech assortment with around 3,500 products ready to take away on around 950 square meters from June 29, 2023. In addition to the popular classic services such as repair or TV calibration, various digital shopping elements will facilitate and enhance the shopping experience and show what omnichannel means for MediaMarktSaturn. In addition to personal advice from employees on site, customers have the opportunity of contacting a digital salesperson via online live chat or video call. Via a so-called digital shelf extension, products that are not on display on site can be presented on a digital screen almost in their original size.

With the new store format, the company is primarily addressing those customers for whom simple and convenient shopping in the immediate vicinity of their home is a priority. Customers benefit from the availability of MediaMarktSaturn products and services at a retail partner or local supply center. The so-called one-stop shopping concept has already proved successful in Hungary, Turkey, Spain and Austria. Now it is also being launched in Germany. The MediaMarkt stores in Burghausen and Böblingen were already converted into stores in the Xpress format in spring 2023, and the company has been testing the concept here for a few months – with success. Further stores in the Xpress format are planned in Germany, as well as expansion in Europe for the future.

Blueprint for the further development of the Core format: The MediaMarkt in Lucca

The new MediaMarkt in Lucca, Italy, is an important milestone on the way to becoming an Experience Champion. There, the electronics retailer is implementing its "Look&Feel Evolution" concept for upgrading stores in the Core format for the first time. From special Experience Zones that focus on trend themes such as electromobility or gaming and invite customers to try out the various products, to a reinterpretation of the color code and a new, more sustainable modular furniture system - the focus is always on the customer experience. The concept was developed internally and will now be expanded to other stores in Europe.

Modernization of the store portfolio moves forward

In addition, MediaMarktSaturn is making very targeted investments in the expansion of its stationary stores. 30 percent of the stores have already been modernized, and this figure is set to rise to 90 percent by the fiscal year 2025/26. This is paying off: The productivity on the shopfloor in the modernized stores is 10 percent higher than in the older ones. By the fiscal year 2025/26, the electronics retailer also plans to reduce location costs (rental costs & IFRS 16 depreciation, occupancy costs, location depreciation) and increase overall sales area productivity by up to 10 percent.

Ingolstadt, 23 May 2023: With the term "Experience Electronics", MediaMarktSaturn is repositioning itself as a retailer of technological products, services, and attendances to an even greater extent and focusing on the customer experience, the seamless customer journey across all channels, and personal advice. But how do you manage that? Only with a cross-divisional team effort. The Customer Intelligence, Experience, and Care department plays a central role in this, using the "Service Design" method to manage projects with interdisciplinary teams. For this, they have now been honored with the Customer Centricity World Series Award, in which more than 90 international jurors evaluated over 210 submissions and awarded the winners for outstanding customer experience initiatives. Two further final placings for MediaMarktSaturn in the categories "Customer Insights & Feedback" and "Customer Experience Team" rounded off the success.

In what is known as a "Service Design Sprint," the teams at MediaMarktSaturn use data and other insights such as mystery shopping, customer surveys, or web analyses to localize potential for improvement or wholly new processes, for example, in the customer journey. Interdisciplinary teams from the stores, category management, IT or HR departments work closely with the customer experience teams. The problem is analyzed holistically, and concrete CX action plans with prioritized measures are developed. Following successful implementation, the corresponding measurement of success also falls within this area, for example, with the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to determine customer satisfaction.

This holistic and agile method of collaboration has already enabled the Customer Experience Team to complete numerous projects successfully. Among other things, it has established the Click & Collect Express (online ordered articles can be picked up from the store within 30 minutes), improved the repair offers in the stores, introduced the purchase of used technology with a trade-in offer in the stores, and also designed and implemented special training courses for employees. The Net Promoter Score (NPS), currently at a record high of 53 points (up 5 points on the previous year), confirms that these projects have also increased customer satisfaction, among other things, and that MediaMarktSaturn is on the right track towards a successful future.

The relationship between love and technology can be complicated. That's why MediaMarkt and Saturn are striking calmer tones on the occasion of Valentine's Day: Eyes glued to the cell phone display, gaming adventures demanding full attention, the perfect selfie more important than companionship - the new campaign spot urges a more mindful approach to technology in everyday life and appeals for more time for loved ones. From February 13, the spot will run on TV and in cinemas, as well as online.

The TV spot to kick off Valentine's Day is very different from the familiar clips of the two electronics retailers. A slow narrative tempo and calm music create a melancholy mood. At the same time, the 45- or 60-second spot focuses on mindfulness and takes the "Let's Go" campaign theme to a new level.

"We're taking a new approach with our campaign on the occasion of Valentine's Day and we’re questioning what we offer. Technology can be distracting and disrupt harmonious togetherness," explains Michael Schuld, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer of MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. "This makes it all the more important to remain mindful and to use technical possibilities prudently. For the holiday of love, we want to set a highlight in brand communication with this campaign and call on people to take care of each other."

In accompanying 15-second product spots, MediaMarktSaturn shows how to do it right. Whether it's fireside romance with the new TV set or freshly brewed coffee by the bedside: thanks to more mindfulness for the people we care about, the balancing act between enthusiasm for technology and harmonious togetherness can be achieved.

Valentine's Day highlight products

Anyone who wants to create more romance with a TV fireplace or dimmable lighting in the living room will find highlight products at special prices at MediaMarkt and Saturn for Valentine's Day. From February 13 at 9 a.m. to February 28 at 8 p.m., technology must-haves are beckoning at sensational prices in the MediaMarkt online store and the Saturn online store. In the more than 400 MediaMarkt and Saturn stores nationwide, the promotion will also run from February 13 to 28.

In addition, myMediaMarkt customers and SATURN CARD customers will receive ten times the points or bits on all promotional items. By the way: If you are not yet a myMediaMarkt or SATURN CARD customer, you can register at www.mediamarkt.de or www.saturn.de and get the extra benefits of the upcoming promotion right away.

Further information is available in time for the start of the campaign at
https://www.mediamarkt.de/de/campaign/valentinstag
and www.saturn.de/de/campaign/valentinstag.