Innovation, sustainability, brand strength

The past few years have been characterised by major uncertainties and crises. Inflation is just one example. In times like these, consumers tend to favour private labels. What does this mean for the brand?

Andreas Mack: Generally speaking, there is a trend towards private labels growing. But if you have a strong brand, always deliver quality, innovate - and innovate sustainably - then you are well positioned for the competition. We do this not only with a strong brand and innovations, but also with consistently very high product quality.

Tesa has actually become a generic term. It's a particular challenge to fulfil this expectation, isn't it?

We have well over 90 per cent supported brand awareness in Germany. In Switzerland, it's around 85 per cent, and in Austria it's also over 90 per cent. Unsupported brand awareness is also extremely high. Yes, Tesa is a generic term and Tesafilm is our hero product, which of course helps us. But you also have to keep working on this standing through quality, high-quality products and new products - and also through the new brand campaign to create more awareness.

Customers need to know what ranges are available. Even in Germany, very few consumers are familiar with the entire product range. They know about sellotape, perhaps a packing tape and maybe the adhesive nail or the Power Strips. In recent years, we have invested heavily in the further development of the consumer brand with the aim of increasing awareness and focussing on new products. And I can say that this has been very successful.

It allows us to expand the brand to include things for which we may not have the core expertise or for which we still have to develop it. How great is the risk of the brand being diluted as a result?

Of course, we always endeavour to listen carefully to what the consumer wants and to understand them precisely. Which products work and are easy to apply - and secondly, do they fit the brand? We analyse this very, very meticulously. We only decide whether to develop new segments once we have enough data. That's what we did in the case of the new kitchen and Tesa Wall ranges. In the case of the kitchen range, we had the advantage that the technology already existed, namely the Power Button for bathroom accessories since Tesa took over ‘Never drill again’. We transferred this and advertised it in the same way. DIY customers have already learnt this to some extent.

So they will already be paying close attention to the extent to which the…