5 questions with Hansjörg B. Gutensohn

What does digital transformation mean for your business?

At the moment, one of the most important issues that wholesalers must deal with in the area of product communication is how to target and personalise communication with their customers. Addressing the right people with the right product information through the right channels is the primary goal of modern marketing. However, the challenges to the required systems and interfaces are anything but trivial. Our task is to support our customers in meeting these challenges.

What is the impact of digital transformation on your customers?

For many years, the so-called " shotgun approach" was the preferred strategy in product communication. It was aimed at reaching the widest possible audience, i.e. as much information as possible was to be communicated simultaneously to as many customers as possible through as many channels as possible. In many cases, this was both ineffective and costly. Only if you really know and understand the customer will you be able, in a further step, to target him with specific and personalised data.

How important is product information for the digitisation process?

As the line between “online” and “offline” continues to blur, consumers have to cope with a huge amount of information. Nowadays, the range of products is such that it exceeds by far the actual needs of individual customers. Finding the right product or the right information requires further differentiation. More and more consumers and business clients consider that information, in particular product information, is only valuable when it is up-to-date, targeted and relevant. A product communication strategy that is tailored to individual needs is therefore essential in order to be successful as a company.

To what extent does Product Information Management contribute to an efficient and successful customer relationship?

The success of a customised approach depends on the quality of your product data. The decision of whether to buy a certain product or not largely depends on whether your product information is up-to-date, relevant and complete. Not only the way of addressing customers, but also the products themselves are becoming more and more specific and complex.

This is why so many individual product characteristics have to be taken into account when entering detailed product information. With a PIM system that offers customisable attribute sets, maintenance is more efficient and straightforward. The products can easily be classified into several different categories. Each product occurs only once in the system. Through the flexible attribute sets and categories, publications can be produced very efficiently and adapted to specific needs, for example for an online shop or a catalogue aimed at specific target groups.

Different characteristics, prices, sort orders and assortments can thus be printed or displayed to suit a particular market or target group. With this approach, companies benefit from a solution that allows them to decide for themselves who is to be targeted with which information and in what way. Product Information Management provides a high level of personalisation.

With mS3 Publish, it is possible to fully automate the generation of printed and PDF catalogues. Why is print still an important issue for your customers?

Product catalogues or brochures are still important means of successfully addressing customers.
To ensure that print publications have a maximum impact without wastage, they must be tailored to the customers’ individual needs and made available as soon as possible.