Development of an integrated communication concept from the fairs point of view in the age of digitalization explained at the example of the Hannover fair appearance realized by Siemens

Abstract

[EN] The master thesis deals with all communication activities around the Hannover Messe, realized by the communication department of Siemens under the influence of the current mega trend “digital transformation”. The master thesis explains the resulting necessity of customer centricity and the demand of extraordinary customer experiences. Siemens answer to this challenge is the Brand-to-Demand (B2D) approach that focuses on the outside-in perspective, which implies an orientation towards external demands. With this regard, the pull-communication becomes increasingly powerful. The resulting coordination challenge behind all communicational efforts is highlighted within the master thesis. Beyond that, the objectives of integrated communication will be defined. Furthermore the outstanding importance of target group definition in order to guarantee an appealing customer approach will be explained. At this point, the definition of customer persona profile types turns out to be enormously helpful. Moreover, the explanation and the characterization of digital communication channels constitute a major part of the master thesis. According to the findings, exclusively a welldeveloped interplay of online communication measures, especially on social media and on stage activities can pave the way to an inspiring customer experience. The interplay between different channels can be subsumed under the term “intermedial integration”. Within the last years, earned media has become more and more powerful because of the increasing “influencer” trend. On top of everything, the interaction between customers has essentially increased in importance. This is called customer-to-customer communication (C2C). Despite of all electronical communication channels, people still search personal contact, which explains the constant importance of fairs within the communication mix. Taking all this into account, a specific communication concept for the Hannover Messe will be formed and explained. Because of changing circumstances suited answers are necessary. Moreover, the master thesis provides a theoretical performance measurement of the Hannover Messe communication with regard to three different main levels of impact: Positioning/engagement, visibility/awareness and business impact.