esome Media Outcome Magazine 2022 (English)

Dear Partners,

another exciting and busy year is coming to an end. A year in which the so-called New Normal became further established - also in our every day work at esome. Like many companies, we experienced the past three years as an accelerator of the modern working world. Employ ees gained new experiences in terms of space, culture, and technol ogy. These formative factors have a lasting impact on employee en gagement and the attractiveness of an employer brand. The increasing complexity of the already complex VUCA world (VUCA = Volatility, Un certainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) also made it necessary for us to take an even more holistic approach to remain a high-performing and modern company in the changing working world. For us, this implies living the external dynamic internally, accepting the market dynamics, and adapting them in a goal-oriented manner.

In line with our company vision, „We create a place for guaranteed success in digital advertising,“ we strive to constantly reinvent ourselves to create the best possible working environment, exploit poten tial and find new motivation and meaning in what we do. Therefore, we formed and fostered new com petence teams this year, developed mechanisms to reinforce decentralized decision-making, and man ifested our OKR framework even more strongly as a tool that continuously brings us into New Work. In the working world as well as in the client business, this means for us to be able to react agilely to individu al challenges and needs, to be open for change, to recognize market needs before they arise, to keep the focus on our colleagues, partners, and clients, and to strive for constant improvement.

Especially in times of change, development is the key to success. Because one thing is sure: Change is a constant in our New Normal. And the best way to deal with this is to make the best possible use of our competencies and create space for further de velopment and innovation - to stay better and shape the future with our colleagues, partners, and clients.

We look forward to meeting new challenges, discovering potential, and seizing opportunities with you in the next year. We want to thank all our readers for their partnership and trust.

Highlights of the year 6

Objectives & Key Results

10

In this interview, our managing directors Christoph Brust and Stefan Wiegreffe explain how companies can use the OKR framework to achieve alignment across all departments.

Recap of our „Vision & Mission Week“ 14

How to anchor New Work in your own culture 16

Our new Office 18

Home vs. Office 20 We are Family! 22

Social Engagement Day 24

Moments that matter 26 The pursuit of improvement 28

Innovation at esome 30

Our CSO Robert Schöne explains how we live in novation at esome and how to survive in disruptive times and markets.

Higher

demand for quality in the attention economy 32

Seven.One Media and AdFactory CEO Maximilian Klopsch discusses the cross-platform battle for consumers‘ attention

Video market trends 34

Omnichannel Digital Commerce 36

Cinema is dead. Long live the cinema! 40

VirtualMinds CEO Dirk von Borstel describes how „Programmatic Cinema“ takes cinema advertising to the next level.

In-game advertising

Programmatic Anything!

Tom Peruzzi, CTO of VirtualMinds, explains how classic, linear advertising media become programmatically bookable and controllable.

Our partnerships

Planning in special times

In an interview, representatives from LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter outline how the tense political and economic situation is changing the advertising market.

Viewability and video advertising efficiency

Influencers in TV ad blocks 56

Seven.One Media CEO Lennart Harendza shows how “#InspireMe” boosts TV newcomers and wellknown TV brands alike

What was your highlight of the year?

As the year comes to an end, it‘s time to take a look back. We asked our esomies about their personal esome highlight in 2022:

Aleksandra Account Management

“Visiting Hamburg for the first time and meeting my colleagues for an unforgettable summer party was the highlight No.1. I look forward to having such high lights in upcoming years regularly. Another high light in 2022 was being part of the OKR team. I had a chance to participate in the full circle of defining the department’s OKRs, which made me feel more in volved in contributing to the company’s mission and vision.”

Milica Account Management

“My highlight was related to the summer party. It was so lovely spending time with colleagues whom we haven’t seen for years. Also, many Hamburg col leagues came to Belgrade in January for our Christ mas party, and it was lovely spending time in the full office again.”

Bojana Account Management

“Besides great Christmas and summer parties, my highlight was Concept Day, when we came up with some great ideas, which was an exciting project.”

Katrin Sales Steering

“Social Engagement Day - being able to spend the day in person with some colleagues and also to gether with my son - bringing both my families (work and private) together for a good cause. Is there any better?”

Johannes Sales

“Laughing with colleagues in real life is always a highlight. Besides that, the P7S1 summer party was a blast. I felt that we are one big company with many opportunities to come.”

Janna Consulting

“Being welcomed back after traveling for a while. It kind of felt like coming home, and it was so lovely to see everyone again.”

Laura Account Management

“Even though I started only two months ago, I have plenty of highlights already: beginning with a warm welcome from my colleagues, the “housewarming” of the new office & the fantastic summer party.”

Stefan Management

“Besides some parties already mentioned, partic ipating in the Belgrade Business Run was a nice experience. A solid combination of team-building, competition, and having a great time with colleagues, similar to a great time you’d have with friends.”

Sandra Marketing

“Being back in our fancy new office. After two years of the home office, I enjoyed spending time with col leagues in real life - for some small talks at the coffee machine, having face-to-face meetings and brain storming sessions, or team events and after-work activities together.”

Robert CSO/Consulting

“For me, the ProSieben Summer Party was very spe cial. Not because of the party itself, but because of our spirit there. After so many months, you could meet colleagues, project partners, and new friends in person again. An exceptional atmosphere that showed how much we had grown together.”

Desirée People & Culture

“My highlight this year is our newly designed office in Hamburg. I really enjoy being able to choose the en vironment I want to work in every day, and I am happy about this great place to catch up and work with my dear colleagues.”

Fiona Account Management

“My year already started off with a big highlight: Vis iting the snowy, yet sunny Belgrade for an amazing Christmas Party and spending time with our awe some colleagues there.”

Teodora Account Management

One of the highlights was my first day working at es ome in February. It was stressful, as every first day at a new job is. However, a warm welcome from my col leagues made it a great experience. Another high light was the summer party, where I met everyone in person after a long time of communicating only over Zoom.

Frauke Account Management/Client Development

“So many highlights, but I have to go with my firsttime visit to Belgrade for the Christmas Party in Jan uary. Crisp snow, good food, a fantastic party, and an overall spectacular time together with even more spectacular colleagues.”

Daniel Account Management

“Starting at esome in itself at the beginning of the year was a personal highlight, and maybe additional ly, just going through the trial period as a minor per sonal achievement.”

Ana Account Management

“My highlight this year was the external training ‘Suc cess through social competence.’ The resulting im pulses have a positive influence on both my profes sional and private communication.”

Aleksandra Data & BI

“My highlight for 2022 is that I started my career abroad in a company with a culture that fits me per fectly. My team is a great support and committed to giving me the knowledge I’m interested in. I have been included and asked for my opinion from day one as if I have always been here. It’s a blessing to work with people who see you as an equal and valu able team member.”

Objectives & Key Results

Cross-organizational alignment is often one of the leading indi cators for the success or failure of a company. This year, our man aging directors Christoph Brust and Stefan Wiegreffe shed light on what exactly alignment means in a company, what prerequisites successful Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) need, and what goal they are pursuing with the OKR framework at esome. Finally, both explain how the OKR meth od has changed collaboration at esome.

OKR is the management framework of the moment. Arguably, no other agile method is gaining more attention right now. So what is the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) approach, and how does it work?

STEFAN OKR is a holistic method for achieving goals and improving a company’s performance at all organizational levels. The O stands for Objectives. This refers to the directional goals, such as a desired change or innovation, that are to be achieved. The KR stands for Key Results. Key Results show whether these goals have been met. They obtain measurable objectives and can be referred to as the Outcome. It is essential to understand that OKRs cannot be compared with a road map, as would be the case in project management. In project manage ment, everything is planned, whereas, with OKRs, the journey is the goal. Therefore, it is advisable to define the next smaller steps and con stantly reorient oneself based on the current status quo. The focus is on the “why” - in other words, whether or not the efforts have been suc cessful so far. This means that even if you go through a very long pro cess and planning phase, OKRs still make sense. It’s more than chasing a clearly defined goal in advance, making changes, implementing them, and continuously adjusting them. A good metaphor for a better under standing of the framework is a trip around the world. As an example: A trip around the world could serve as my objective. In doing so, I don’t thoroughly plan my entire journey but decide situationally, “What is the next meaningful step? Where do I need to go?”. So I would instead plan in stages. In this case, the Key Result defines how close I have reached my (stage) goal.

How companies can achieve alignment across all departments with the OKR framework

CHRISTOPH What also helps is to consider the OKRs as a basis for experiments. In other words, in the end, you never really know what the right path is - but al ways what you want to achieve. Only at the end do you have the possibility to determine whether you have come closer to the goal. The Key Results can be used to make this goal achievement measurable. As Stefan has already pointed out, you are already successful if you have done everything to get closer to your goal. It is not about achieving the goal 100 percent. I believe that using OKRs is only good when you know this.

STEFAN Our overarching goal is to address the question of “why”: Why do we do something? Espe cially in the dynamic advertising industry, it is essen tial to question processes and goals again and again critically and to adapt them to the current market sit uation. The OKR method allows us to set our objec tives and key results repeatedly.

Exactly. Everything that cannot be planned with sufficient certainty needs such a framework. Especially when things change quickly, and we have to react or act soon, for example, to mar ket trends, the method is thoroughly recommended. A crucial element of the OKR process for me, com pared to more traditional methods, is the focus on the entirety of the company. The most important goals are worked out and communicated to every one. Optimally, everyone knows what contribution they can make to achieving the company’s goals. It is important that the OKRs are not only developed in a few heads but that the whole team is involved. OKRs are used to adapt and improve the way we work to gether continuously. So the three magic words are Interdisciplinarity, Transparency, and Laterality. →

CHRISTOPH

What is your goal with the OKR framework at esome?

CHRISTOPH Very important: Alignment. That means that employees, products, and processes are brought into harmony and aligned toward a com mon goal. OKRs only work if the entire team is behind them and can identify with the common goals. A rigid, linear approach cannot lead to success in a complex and dynamic environment. Therefore, when setting the objectives, it is essential to ensure that they fo cus on the coming quarter and thus describe what is relevant for the company at the current time. In the process of OKR formulation, it is critical to involve the entire company. Successful use requires the in volvement of all teams and individuals in setting the company’s goals. This is the only way to ensure em ployee commitment. Another important point here is the purpose, i.e., that each employee recognizes the meaningfulness of their work. It makes a big differ ence if each colleague develops an understanding of this and asks: “What do I do every day, and does this pay off in concrete terms for the things we want to create at all levels?

STEFAN It is very important here not to forget the big picture. OKRs don’t work in a vacuum. To define them meaningfully in advance, knowing where we want to go in the long term is crucial. In this regard, OKRs make sense for any entity. However, whether it works depends heavily on the approach to implementa tion. At esome, we have developed our own tool to track our goals for this purpose, which we also use to create more transparency across all departments. We call it “Keep Moving.” This enables us to bring the entire team into the OKR process. This way, we achieve alignment across all depart ments and can create synergies. In line with our corporate values #westaybetter and #weinspire, we try to get better together and inspire each oth er. Transparency is essential to us so that each em ployee can clearly understand how to contribute to these goals individually or across teams and depart ments. In the case of goal overlaps, we can support each other or even point out significant differenc es. In addition, we at esome have introduced a socalled Goals Update Meeting (GUM) once a week. This promotes the feeling of a common goal among our employees and that “we are working together to achieve it.” As a result, every employee gets a con crete insight into what is currently being worked on and which synergies can be discovered.

What is needed for successful OKRs?

How has the OKR method changed collaboration at esome?

CHRISTOPH That’s not easy to answer because you need to pay attention to the following: Implement ing OKRs is a long process. A corresponding trans formation can only be observed gradually and is not immediately visible. It is not the idea of one individual but an outcome that is only possible through crossteam consultation and collaboration. At esome, this is the most noticeable point of change for me. In the past, when we faced new challenges, we mainly looked around the responsible department. Howev er, the more we have engaged with the OKR meth od, the more intensively we focus on the obstacles themselves and consider which competencies are needed. This slow dissolving of departmental think ing, to concentrate on individual problems with in dividual competence requirements, is a significant change at esome.

STEFAN Exactly. As with many agile methodologies or processes, you have to distinguish between the OKR process and the mindset behind it. We have seen significant changes on both levels over the last few years. This typical process, which involves all employees, leads to greater focus and discipline, as well as better coordination and alignment between all departments. We are starting to speak a common language. At the same time, a very innovative mind set has been established over time.

What influence does esome’s corporate culture have on the success of OKR?

CHRISTOPH The most critical element of our corpo rate culture, which is indispensable for a successful implementation of OKR, is the team-oriented collec tive. This fundamental idea that we want to achieve our goals in the best possible way, thanks to the trust and close cooperation, drives us. However, OKRs will help us deal with emerging challenges and opti mize our error culture. “Speak up” is also a value that I strongly associate with OKR. The most relevant input is not tied to a hierarchical framework but can come from anyone and everyone - regardless of position.

STEFAN I think the success of OKR and the corpo rate culture influence each other. A corporate cul ture like esome helps to implement the process faster. On the other hand, the OKR way of working also affects the corporate culture. At esome, we are change tested since our constant is change and the openness of colleagues to new things. As Christoph has already said, we are very good at dealing with things that don’t run optimally. We can derive add ed value from it as long as we learn something. This mindset is now once again fueled by OKRs.

Looking back, would you introduce the method again?

CHRISTOPH Definitely. Our experience over the last three years has clearly shown that esome has ben efited from OKRs in many places and will benefit even more in the future. However, it is important that each company individually answers for itself what it wants to achieve with implementation and what it is also willing to give out to involve all employees. In my opinion, it is the best framework to keep employees motivated, to get more purpose in their work, to be able to react faster to changes, to be more dynam ically positioned overall, and to use the expertise of all employees in the company. In this way, every one actively contributes to the company’s success, which is incredibly valuable for alignment at all levels.

STEFAN Like any other tool, the framework can, of course, be misused, and there is no patent remedy for successful implementation. But there is incredi ble value in the fact that we have already taken the first steps in the right direction. We’ve been able to identify what works and what doesn’t. As a result, the process we are using now also makes sense for each team. However, since this process is based mainly on further development and constant optimization, there is still no end here. However, we are delighted with the current status we have achieved so far.

SANDRA BUCHHOLZ Account Manager PATRIK SIMMS Software Engineer

What is driving us?

Acorporate vision makes it possible to define an emotional identity and direct employees‘ thoughts and actions toward a goal. How ever, a vision is only as good as the employees who have inter nalized it and work towards it daily. Over time, this goal can lose focus, and the link with daily work can be missing. Also, the concept can seem overwhelming and intangible to newbies. That is why the idea to imple ment a theme week arose to intensify and strengthen the understand ing of the vision and mission.

At the beginning of the planning process, the project group set two goals: First, formats had to be created so esomies would gain a deeper understanding of the vision‘s and mission‘s meaning. The second goal was to clarify how everyone‘s daily doing contributes to the big picture. In the classic esome way of working, a project group from different de partments quickly came together.

“It was beneficial, and the learn ing curve couldn´t be more triggered. I especially noticed that I was terrible during the first games and didn´t understand many terms, and later I participat ed more easily. The story around Vision & Mission Week was also exciting, and we could see how much effort the team put into it.”

Aleksandra (Data & BI)

“The week around our mission and vision was great! It was an inspiration to see how the project group was highly motivated and came up with many significant actions to make the topic more tangible throughout the company”.

Desirée (People & Culture)

Based on the self-chosen metaphor „space travel,“ we developed in teractive formats in the form of games and competitions. The esomies were to solve tasks to strengthen the understanding of our vision and mission, thus making them more transparent. We embedded a small, overarching story into the week to link all the individual actions togeth er and maintain an arc of tension. In keeping with the theme of „space travel,“ an esome embarks on a journey to reach the North Star esome. There, based on the vision & mission, he is supposed to find the mean ing of his everyday work. On his way, various tasks have to be com pleted. The participants of Vision & Mission Week were able to help him with this. The story‘s frame was told by self-made videos, which added some fun and lightness to the theme week and increased the motivation to participate. In addition to the playful challenges, special Consultation Hours with our CSO Robert Schöne offered the opportu nity for discussion and exchange on the company‘s vision and mission, and interviews with our CEOs Christoph Brust and Stefan Wiegreffe strengthened understanding.

With an internal survey, we verified that the theme week significantly increased the understanding of the vision and mission and the con nection to the daily work. Overall, our Mission & Vision Week was a great success for us and showed us how important and motivating it is to pursue a mission and always keep the goal in sight. In addition, the week brought us closer as a team and showed the esomies once again that each individual contributes to the company‘s success.

How to embed New Work in your culture

GESA VOGEL Director People & Culture

Like many companies, we experienced the Co rona crisis as an accelerator of modern work hypotheses. The increasing complexity of the already complex VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Com plexity, and Ambiguity) world made it necessary for us to take a more holistic approach to remain a high-performing and modern company in the changing world of work. Therefore, we decided to take a holistic and strategic look at our attitude, cul ture, leadership, structures, processes, and strategy.

To get closer to this goal, we first dedicated our selves to the topic of „Outcome-oriented organiza tional structure“ on our own. We translated the the ories of „Team Topologies“ by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais1 into structuring a new area in the first steps. This approach gave us a new perspective on team types and underlying collaboration dynamics. But it helped us only to a limited extent when it came to integrating leadership or competency develop ment.

Thus, we organized two workshops. In the first, ac companied by HRPioneers, we located esome be tween classic and agile organizations based on six dimensions via the Pioneers Trafo Model2. From our point of view, we derived the most important fields of action (leadership and structure). In the second workshop with sterneundplaneten, our consider ations were based on much more fundamental initial questions resulting from the first quadrant, „attitude and psyche,“ of the AQAL transformation mod

el. Here we focused on the individuals in the inner perspective and answered the questions „Who am I?“ and „Why am I here?“. Then we transferred these questions to the organization and derived the main challenges for esome as a company.

We gained valuable insights from both workshops. We learned to better assess the multi-dimension ality of a successful transformation and to deal with the different dimensions along a prioritization that is right for us. In the future, we want to work based on smaller experiments to test hypotheses more quick ly and adapt them in iterations. We realized that we need more clarity as orientation and sharpen what „success for esome“ means. We dedicated one of our corporate objectives to „competency-based decision-making“ by the end of the year. And we have decided to implement this transformation with the organization along agile principles.

Because one thing is sure: a defining constant is change. We meet this by making the best possi ble use of our competencies and creating space for further development and innovation. This step is accomplished by courageously trying out new things, learning quickly from our mistakes, or adjust ing where our solution still needs to deliver the de sired result. We can be even more successful in the future if we do not reinvent ourselves regularly but rather iteratively develop this company together in small increments as the moment and the framework conditions require.

Our 10 Key Learnings

Leadership challenges change

Teambuilding within a hybrid team requires creativi ty, and caring for employees becomes more import ant.

New Work boosts motivation

Modern and unbounded work opens up more scope for individual work preferences (be it location, time, reconciliation of family and work, or loss of facetime).

Office serves a new purpose

The office serves as a meeting place, promotes team building, and creates a space for creative collabora tion.

OKRs impact our results

Translating our strategy into objectives and key re sults increases the focus of our projects and the meaningfulness of our work

Outcome counts

Building competencies and self-efficacy come into focus, and their results measure our team’s perfor mance.

Are you interested in further exchanging ideas and sharing experiences on this topic? If you are inter ested in a meet-up, please get in touch with Gesa Vogel (gesa.vogel@esome.com).

Stop starting – start doing Starting with small experiments and readjusting in the right places takes us further than pursuing the perfect holistic approach.

Technology empowers Digital collaboration tools, such as Miro, Retrotool.io, or Asana, have become integral to our daily work.

Transparency per default Transparent communication promotes participation and active involvement by the team.

Trust as success factor

Trust in the team and their expertise is a decisive success factor.

Work from where you want An employee’s location does not influence the re sults - the additional motivation gained through flex ibility, on the other hand, does.

“As if you are coming home.” That’s how you could describe the feeling when you enter the spacious “port” from the hallway. In August 2021, while many were at home due to the pandemic, renovation be gan at our Hamburg site. Only 36 days later, the of fice shone in new splendor. Our Office and Culture Manager, Lasse Petersen, was involved in the entire process and gives us insights into the new prem ises.

Our new office Hafen

In August 2021, the first walls and doors were torn down here in the Hafen (port). We wanted to create a space for encoun ters. esomies and external guests should feel equally comfortable. There should be opportunities to exchange ideas in a pro fessional but also relaxed way. We realized the concept and the implementation together with our architect Uwe Gärtner (uwegaertner.de).

Anyone who knows the Stadtpark in Hamburg knows that it is a place for relaxation, but also activities. We wanted to convey the feeling of a relaxing day in the Stadtpark.

Stadtpark is our most popular space. It‘s the perfect place in the office for relaxed meetings or video conferencing.

At the same time, this room can also be super used for collaborative brainstorm ing or the like, thanks to the pinboard.

Stadtpark

The Elbstrand offers a large, spacious hallway plus a handful of workspaces. The green „sofa booths“ are sound-absorbing and create a space for short meetings or phone calls.

Work spaces

The Schanzenpark is our „Urban Jungle.“ It should be a retreat for one or two people. Greenery, plants, birdsong (speaking of which, that reminds me: I always wanted to order such a box...), furniture that invites you to relax. An informal meeting or switch off for a moment and „put your feet up“ – This room should be the ideal place for this.

St. Pauli is a place to work together that conveys the bright and casual atmo sphere of the namesake district. Posters and sticker walls like in the bars on St. Pauli, recliners, and a couch, as well as its own refrigerator, invite you to linger here even after work.

St.Pauli

Lasse at the esome bar. Here esomies often meet for a cool drink to end the day.

HOME VS. OFFICE

Home vs. Office, home kitchen vs. team lunch, or even jeans vs. joggers. Two years ago, most people wouldn‘t have had to ask themselves these ques tions every week. The pandemic has shifted our of fice and workday into new patterns.

Borders between work and personal life are blurring. This means that each person has to take more re sponsibility for their work because the company can no longer provide this structure and framework. At esome, this means concretely - to be supported ev ery day technically, spatially, or temporally, to balance one‘s work with one‘s private life in the best possi ble way. With our internal academies and training, we offer our colleagues the opportunity to create this framework and structure themselves.

At esome, we turned a need into a well-thought-out and contemporary work concept, which our col leagues can live sustainably. Today, our office invites us not only to work but also to exchange ideas, cel ebrate, or spend evenings together. Working hours are flexible, processes are digitalized, and the place of work can be freely chosen. This has enabled many to move most of their working life into their homes. Others, however, preferred the return to the office after two truly lengthy lockdowns.

We, therefore, compared the two sides and asked them about their experiences.

ELLA The most significant development for me is that companies have noticed and understood that location and work time is irrelevant and has nothing to do with the work output. Quite the op posite, employees can work more efficiently and are more balanced when they have more auton omy.

SANDRA Being able to decide whether I want to work from home or the office - for me, this mix has its charm.

MARTIN It became increasingly important to be self-structured because the boundaries between work and private life are blurring. In the end, this means: for me, there is a dedicat ed start-time when I start to work, an end-time when I really should finish with work, and also kind of a hard rule to not check e-mails and slack-messag es (where I constantly fail, to be honest). Additionally, I use a to do-list app to structure my todos, and also, the app to take notes is more often used than before to keep track of things.

KARLA A desk, chair, and mouse specifically for my needs and adjusted to my (small) body size; watching and playing with my (outdoor) bunnies for 5 mins of relaxation and fresh air between meetings.

HRISTINA Trying to arrive at the office a bit ear lier, making a coffee, and sitting on the balcony with colleagues while everything still feels calm.

Routine 2: I recently discovered that if I bring cake to the office, at different points of the day, people will come up to me to say it‘s really goodmeaning I get lots of little encouragements and bursts of positive energy that keep me going through sometimes tedious tasks.

SIMON The uncomplicated and quick exchange with colleagues - Even if many possibilities have been created digitally, the direct face-to-face exchange is irreplaceable for me.

What was the most significant development for you that was triggered by the pandemic in the business world?

What do you miss at the office, what you have at home and vice versa?

What tools or routines do you use for a structured workday?

MONA Currently, my working space is located on the 2nd floor, where I go almost only to work. It gets complicated when I still need to finish all the important tasks in the morning; then, the tempta tion is high to quickly sit down at the computer in the evening or between.

PATRIK Do I have to? Sitting at the bar with a few colleagues in the evening and talking about different things is great. But having the office separate from the apartment helps me switch off after a day at the office.

BEREND Having a separate room with a door and kids who understand closed door=work.

HRISTINA Headphones and loud music so you can overhear anyone chatting and imme diately want to join. Also, communicate to others if you are doing something important and want space to focus.

What do you think are the most significant barriers to productivity at home and in the office?

MONA Rather untidy, both in the office and at home, I remain true to myself. Among other things, a second monitor, a lamp, and my head phones are on the table if that interests you.

RIEKE Chatting too much with colleagues be cause you have missed them so much or there‘s soooo much to tell.

How does your desk look like?

KARLA One monitor and the Notebook as a second screen on a stand, a wireless keyboard, a vertical mouse, my mobile, a coffee cup, a tea cup, a teapot with almost 2 liters of herbal tea (try ing to stay hydrated), my small FUNKO Niffler figurine counting gold coins.

PATRIK One 27“ monitor, 13“ MacBook on a stand (to use as seconds screen), own-brought keyboard and trackpad, a glass of water, a coffee, a banana.

How do you switch from work to after-work mode?

ELLA The last step before I end my working day is to survey my day and prepare for the next day –have I forgotten anything today, or did I not have enough time to manage it? What do I have to do tomorrow, and when do I have my first meeting? Then I can easily switch to after-work mode be cause I have everything scheduled, and the thought that I have forgotten something cannot arise. And best is to shut down the laptop and not only lock it – the barrier is higher to boot the computer again than to open it.

SANDRA On the way home, cycling along the Alster, it‘s always easy to switch off and get in the mood for the end of the day.

What are your tips for focused work at home or in the office?

How do you manage to separate your private and professional life?

We are Family

esome awarded as a family-friendly company

The Hamburg Family Seal, an initiative of the Hamburg Senate, is awarded to Hamburg com panies that are particularly committed to the compatibility of work and family. esome was able to convince the Senate, and we are delighted about this award. Family friendliness is important for us and is lived and prioritized here. We look out for each other and shape the future at all levels of possibility.

We talked with our Managing Director Christoph Brust about „family friendliness at esome.“

Why would you describe esome as a family-friendly company?

CHRISTOPH We look out for each other and try to support families as much as possible through flexible working hours and individual solutions. We live and breathe New Work, which doesn‘t stop at the door step. Picking up the child from daycare or making a doctor‘s appointment in between is no problem. It must be openly communicated and coordinated with the team, and nothing will stand in the way.

Does your role as a father give you more ideas on what to implement at esome?

CHRISTOPH Definitely. I realize daily how much or ganizational talent it takes to juggle a job and family. When I get to the bottom of what it would take to make the process more flexible, I often come across new approaches that I integrate at esome. Thus, the role of a father serves to inspire and understand esomies in similar situations.

What is particularly important to you when sup porting parents at esome?

CHRISTOPH For me, trust comes first, as well as rea ching out to each other and finding compromises. Children should not have to suffer because both parents work. „We inspire and lift each other.“ is one of our esome values and does not only refer to the professional environment.

CHRISTOPH That is, of course, possible. However, reducing the working hours does not mean that the previous position has to be given up. Whether full-ti me or part-time, everyone is a fully-fledged mem ber of our team and our aim is to deploy everyone according to their skills and interests. Together we can evaluate where the journey should go and how stumbling blocks can be removed as early as possi ble. There is also nothing to be said against individual solutions. Every family constellation is different, and we at esome encourage that.

What should expectant parents at esome know?

CHRISTOPH The first reaction you get at esome when talking about „pregnancy“ and „becoming a mother or father“ is joy. No matter what it is about, you‘ll find open ears because there is a solution for almost every problem. I know the challenges of being a parent and that juggling is not always easy. Therefore, as is often the case, „Communication is Key.“ So there should be no shyness in addressing the issue or any problem.

Is it also possible to reduce working hours after returning from parental leave?

“I would describe esome as a family-friendly company, as I am very flexible in my working hours, as long as it is compatible with the respective tasks. There is understanding in the team for every situation, and I encounter much helpfulness when mastering the daily chal lenges between child and job.”

ANASTASIA

“esome supported me with my questions regarding parental leave within the scope of their possibilities and always provided all the forms I needed quickly. In addition, I prepared for the birth date and the associated parental leave on my own and organized handovers independently. As long as the work is done by the end of the day, it doesn‘t matter when it‘s taken care of. I appreciate this flexibility!”

BENJAMIN

“I always notice that the (little) person always counts at esome and that the challenges of a working mom, such as the familiarization phase at the daycare center, are met with com plete understanding. Also, my colleagues are always happy when the kids come into the picture during a Zoom session.”

BOYANA

“I am confident that there are few companies that are more family-friendly than esome. After the birth of our twins, when my wife had to go into inpatient treatment for a few days afterward, I could devote myself fully to looking after the children and plan my working day around the family situation as much as possible. Colleagues supported me all the time, both emotionally and administratively, as well as in taking over my tasks.”

ROBERT

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Achieving more together

NIKLAS MATTHIESEN Salesforce & Business Intelligence Manager

Taking a new path in the morning and escaping the daily routine in the office or mobile office to get socially involved is always something spe cial.

All esome employees have the opportunity to take one day off a year from their usual activities to support a social organization or event of their choice. This so-called “Social Engagement Day” (SED) is an ini tiative that was launched last year and has been very popular within the company ever since. Particularly committed colleagues organize day-long events, usually in cooperation with a non-profit organization, to do something good together. The aim of these activities is to give as many esomies as possible the chance to take advantage of the Social Engagement Day offer without incurring large, individual organization al costs. Alternatively, ideas can be pursued and implemented inde pendently, according to the individual ideas of responsibility and sus tainability of the colleagues.

This year‘s Social Engagement Days focused on support for Ukraine and, like last year, took place in cooperation with Bürger-Helfen-Bürger e.V. Hamburg. Among many other initiatives, the association has taken on the task of renovating a building in the city that has been idle for years so that it can serve as a temporary shelter for people, especially families with children from Ukraine. This is a project that many esomies were eager to support. In spring, two teams of ten colleagues restored the former school building with its adjoining dormitory. Over the two days, they cleared out, cleaned, painted, and spruced up the large gar den area. In addition to these tangible activities, we launched a fund raising campaign in March to provide financial support for the people in Ukraine. 50% of the money collected was donated to Aktion Deutsch land Hilft and 50% to UN refugee aid.

Another initiative launched this summer was a call for voluntary blood donations. Several Hamburg col leagues met at the office on June 25 to participate in a nearby Red Cross blood drive. Other esomies, who were, unfortunately, unable to participate in the campaign for time or local reasons, visited blood do nation centers in their area on their initiative.

The cold season and Christmas also always inspire esomies to get into action. For example, Belgrade colleagues supported the Solidarity Kitchen in De cember last year with self-prepared meals. The Sol idarity Kitchen is a Serbian organization that has set itself the task of fighting hunger and poverty with sol idarity and voluntary help. A total of nine colleagues got together in the office kitchen on Christmas Eve 2021 to cook together and put together food pack ages. The menu included the Serbian national dish es Pasulj and Moussaka as well as salads and cakes. The food packages were then picked up by a driver of the organization and distributed to socially disad vantaged families without income in the city.

Furthermore, the clothing and material donation campaign of 2020 is currently repeated to support the Hanseatic Help association in making the lives of needy people in and around Hamburg a little better and more manageable.

Next year, esome social responsibility is to be consid ered even more holistically. An initiative has already been launched to measure our company‘s sustain ability in figures. Inspired by various approaches from the business world, including our parent com pany, P7S1, we want to build on the status quo and take concrete initiatives for improvement to bring about lasting positive change.

DESIRÉE SCHMIDT Senior People & Culture Managerin

I

n 2020, the pandemic triggered a rapid change in the world of work that wasn‘t predictable at this pace. With this shift, the daily job experience has also changed. Employees are collecting new ex periences regarding space, cul ture, and technology. These three aspects are shaping factors for the individual employee experi ence (EX), which sometimes have a lasting influence on the loyalty of employees and the attractiveness of an employer brand. What does this mean for companies? First, it is an opportunity to redesign touchpoints between employees and the company and to focus on target group-relevant moments that matter.

What is important to us in the New Normal? What kind of employer do we want to be? How and where do we want to work together? These and more questions have also been on our minds for the last few months. Minor spoiler: We have yet to find all the answers. Nevertheless, we have started to develop our moments that mat ter to create the best possible working environment for our col leagues.

A place that meets the requirements of modern collaboration

Hybrid working is here to stay. Thus, we established our Mobile Office Framework in 2021, allow ing the team to choose where they work. After all, different tasks require different environments

Moments that matter

and resources. At the same time, we continue to focus on interdis ciplinary teamwork and project work. We redesigned our office in Hamburg last year to have a place that meets the new requirements of modern collaboration. Since March, it has been possible to choose the optimal working en vironment in an area of approx. 1,250m². Employees will find op portunities to focus, be creative, hold hybrid meetings, and put their heads together. Since our team spirit doesn‘t end after work, a large lounge area (our harbor) also invites you to spend time to gether, exchange ideas sponta neously, and organize events. We have the same vision for our office in Belgrade. We are optimistic that renovations will be completed by the beginning of 2023.

Creating memories with gin night, social engagement day, and summer

party

We are not trying to pick up where we left off before the pandemic. Instead, we already redefined our corporate values last year. They serve as guiding principles for our daily interaction, the way we make decisions, lead and work to gether - regardless of where we work. Beyond the daily routine, we create various highlights with which we try to cover as many interests of employees as possi ble and which bring us together (digitally): from esome’s birthday party, Easter egg hunt, and gin night to social engagement days, alum event, bike tour and volley

ball games to the classic summer party. Creating shared memories is valuable for us because these moments create lasting bonds and strengthen our cohesion.

Technology simplifies our daily work routines

For us, the best possible working environment also includes using tools that facilitate work and en sure smooth communication with all stakeholders. To keep internal meeting time more efficient and productive, we introduced new software this year: In a 60-min ute Sync Hour, we take time once a day for short consultations and dedicate ourselves to a specific topic in very short and concen trated slots. The company-wide block also ensures additional accessibility among each other. Since there is also the option to record individual meetings, em ployees who work part-time also benefit from the new tool, as they can view the completed topics at a time of their choosing.

We take inspiration for our mo ments that matter from direct conversations with the team. We have also used a survey tool for two years, giving a quantitative overview of the mood and quali tative feedback. This tool enables us to optimize the employee experience continuously - be cause the next change is bound to come.

The pursuit improvementof

FRAUKE HEINCKEN Associate Account Director

Following Philip Rosenthal‘s quote and one of our corporate values, „we stay better,“ we at esome are constantly looking for ways to improve and to em bark on paths that not only further our offerings but also reinforce our „one esome“ spirit.

In February 2020, we had our first Innovation Day - a day and a half of creativity and teamwork to gener ate new ideas that positively complement our offer ing, our ways of working, and our corporate culture. Away from daily business, the esome office became a place of inspiration where, in addition to generat ing ideas, it was also about spending time together. Since this format was entertaining, strengthened the cross-departmental team feeling, and produced ex cellent results, an Innovation Day 2.0 was virtually a done deal.

Unfortunately, Corona put this format on forced hi atus shortly after its birth. But after two and a half years spent mainly in the home office, Innovation Day was to experience a resurrection – under the new name Concept Day. Themed “Client Handling & Experiences,” Concept Day aimed to develop con cepts that support our daily work with clients and, at the same time, make their experience with us even more positive.

Our esomies submitted hurdles and obstacles they would like to tackle. After an internal committee made a shortlist, five teams each chose a problem state ment for which they intended to work out a concept. This process was accompanied by a group of expe rienced internal moderators who guided the teams through a Design Thinking “light” process.

The participants were free to decide whether they wanted to attend in person or preferred to work dig itally. In the end, the majority chose to work on-site. Out of five groups, three came together in the Ham burg office, one in the Belgrade office, and one dig ital team virtually. Five different ideas then saw the light of day:

█

A slide generator (interactive, internal tool) for more straightforward bookable offers

█ A shared online space for closer and improved direct client contact

█

A Salesforce process for optimized handling of booking changes

█

█

An all-in-one creative upload and submission tool for clients

An internal exchange hub for a better linkage between our Client Facing Unit and the Product Department

Two of these ideas were selected for further devel opment and implementation in the coming weeks. But the most important outcome of this day has not been the great concepts, but the time spent togeth er and the social interaction in our actual “esome spirit.”

And what makes us better as a company, if not that?

“When you stop getting better, you stop being good”

INNOVATION

How to sustain in disruptive times and markets

ROBERT SCHÖNE Chief Strategy Officer

That‘s our vision. However, words must be backed up by actions. Because striving for success for our cus tomers, at every touchpoint of the collaboration with esome, requires a growth mindset, restlessness - in a positive sense - and innovation. Markets are becom ing increasingly disruptive, and dealing with VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) is no longer a theory but has become common prac tice. The „new way“ of steering a business requires us to be nimble on every dancefloor. It means be ing able to react with agility to individual challenges and customer needs, being open to changes, put ting the customer and his actions at the center of our work, and constantly improving as an organization for ourselves, our customers, and our partners.

Never stop learning to secure growth potentials

In times of change, constant development and im provement are crucial to success. Whether it‘s about finding more meaning and motivation in what we do, exploiting even more of the current potential, or ul timately developing esome strategically for the fu ture. Many companies are desperately looking for employees who understand the problems of their customers as well as internal challenges. Creative minds that can quickly develop and implement tru ly innovative solutions are essential for a company’s durability. At esome, we want to actively accompany change instead of reactively observing what hap pens to us.

For this reason, we no longer work „only“ in teams but in so-called circles. These competence groups come together for the most diverse topics, projects, and challenges. Circles in the context of our strat egy are, e.g., our OKR groups, our esome academy team for knowledge & education, Miro facilitators for meetings and workshops, and of course, the circle of innovation facilitators for the highest impact along all processes at esome. To be as excellent as possi ble, we must maintain our hunger for growth in our teams and circles. The willingness to learn, innovate and develop as individuals and as an organization is essential. Only those who continue to learn can be come continuously better and more resilient.

“We create a place for guaranteed success in digital advertising”

Implementing innovation –it’s a fuzzy process!

What does it take to anchor innovation in an organi zation? Such relevant questions, which are still valid today, are clearly stated in a McKinsey article.1

Innovation cannot simply be implemented. Inno vation is more than a buzzword, process, tool- or skillset. Innovation is holistically thought about in an organization and, thus, above all, a mindset that ulti mately influences the culture. For such a mindset, we need to keep examining and asking ourselves:

█ Do we regard innovation-led growth as critical, and do we have cascaded targets that reflect this?

█ Do we invest in a coherent, time- and risk-bal anced portfolio of initiatives with sufficient resources to win?

█ Do we have differentiated business, market, and technology insights that translate into winning value propositions?

█ Do we listen to our customers or personas carefully?

█ Do we create new business models that pro vide defensible and scalable profit sources?

█ Do we beat the competition by developing and launching innovations quickly and effectively?

█ Do we launch innovations at the right scale in the relevant segments?

█ Do we win by creating and utilizing external networks?

█ Are our people motivated, rewarded, and orga nized to innovate repeatedly?

How we leverage innovation at esome

The mindset is crucial, and it’s the winning factor above all. Mindset shows that the employee, not the framework, is the driving force. Openness, empathy, creativity, willingness to change, and co-creation are the focal points that are important to us. Moreover, we’ll all become more coaches than expert nerds in innovation processes. We learn moderation and reflection, how to define good design thinking chal lenges, why the problem space is just as important as the solution space (not jumping to conclusions!), why good listening and observation are essential, what makes user journeys “sexy” and that an MVP can also be a simple role-play. We allocate resources, in vest in training, create space for creative thinking, make room for innovation, and, above all, celebrate success. It’s no coincidence that two of our current priority projects grew out of an innovation cycle and have been strategically transitioned into our OKR framework for further development and scaling af terward. And yet, we are only at the beginning. ShuHa-Ri (follow the rule, break the rule, be the rule), as a famous Japanese learning concept says - that’s our approach. And we’re nowhere near the finish line. We’ve only just begun.

What is the goal?

Innovation itself has no ultimate goal, but it has many purposes. What does that mean for us? We want to shape a resilient organization, use “the power of community” and thus distribute responsibility, make ourselves less dependent on external factors, think and be agile and creative, recognize mistakes as “normal” and thus positively influence the culture. “We shape the future”. This and other corporate val ues guide us and are significantly part of our DNA. We live and love life “in green.” And, we want to co-de termine, co-shape our future. Through innovation as a competence set, as a framework and as a mindset, we ensure that we can continue to determine pre cisely this future ourselves and continue to develop esome into what it already is today. A place for guar anteed success in digital advertising.

More demand for quality in the attention economy

Attention is the currency of the 21st century. Media companies, advertisers, and many more can tell you a thing or two about it. For years, the supply and avail ability of information and entertainment have been increasing, while at the same time, the receptive ca pacity of recipients remains limited. Competition for this scarce resource is all the greater.

In this interview, Seven.One Media and AdFactory Managing Director Maximilian Klopsch talks about the cross-platform battle for the relevant attention of consumers, how successful brand communica tion can still be achieved, and what role the three „Cs“ play in this.

MAXIMILIAN KLOPSCH

Director Seven.One Media & AdFactory

Dear Max, the term „attention economy“ is used, among other things, to show how much time consumers spend on which platforms. What does that mean for brands and their communication?

Attention is a scarce commodity today. Every con sumer has only limited time to consume content. That‘s why we need to understand what role brands and their communication can play in the so-called „attention economy.“ Because if you want to place an advertising message in this fragmented variety of different media and platforms, it has to be right.

Managing

(laughs) YES! Joking aside. We can confidently claim that we know how the different platforms interact and work together. After all, we run on all channels every day with our content and are also platform operators ourselves with our TV channels and Joyn. We also have the privilege of working with the en tire advertising market. As a result, we know very well what successful advertising messages should look like and how to achieve a brand‘s goals. Currently, we see a strong desire for more brand safety and quality.

More quality in communication. But doesn‘t everything in the marketing world ultimately revolve around performance and KPIs?

One does not exclude the other. It’s always brand ing versus performance, TV versus digital. We need to bring these worlds together more. We rely on the three Cs as key factors for successful brand commu nication: “Curation,” “Creativity,” and “Convergence.

Can you explain these three buzzwords in more detail?

“Curation” means that we, as a media company, have the claim to curate the best content from the most talented influencers and, thus, the highest-quality reach. And brands can use that for themselves. Then we also have a big advantage in terms of “creativi ty”: Every day, we create attention-grabbing content that people love to watch. Many of our customers take advantage of this strength of “organically func tioning” storytelling and involve us early on in their campaign planning. And finally, creating advertising products across all media is becoming more import ant. We call this mission “Convergence.” That’s why we created Total Video, a cross-media advertising product that combines TV with digital in one book ing. This way, brands can be sure that their message will be seen, heard, and guaranteed to be played out to their target audience on TV and digital.

What do campaigns that fulfill the three Cs look like?

There are many examples. Together with M.A.C. Cos metics, for example, we curate enthusiastic “Ger many’s Next Topmodel” fans on ALL channels. We’ve been doing something similar for years with SEAT on “The Voice of Germany.” To put it bluntly: We are not marketers. SEAT is not a customer. Instead, we are both senders. We run on channels where we can reach fans and are also creative here, together with the “Comeback Stage by SEAT.” Consumers feel this shared passion and give us a very special quality of attention.

And now you‘re saying for sure that‘s what you do best?

These three trends influence the video market

LETICIA AGUILAR Partner Manager

Technological innovations and the Corona pan demic were catalysts for the growth of video consumption. The resulting change in usage patterns has further driven the shift to digital. As a result, the opportunities to programmatically serve video advertising have never been more significant: today, for example, video is responsible for 82% of Internet traffic. In particular, the boom in over-thetop (OTT) content is driving development in the video market. This creates enormous potential and new opportunities for marketers to reach their target groups and build reach.

1 - Content is still king

Today, videos are undoubtedly the number one among all content formats. Thus, the famous guiding principle „Content is King“ now applies to moving im age content. Still, it encompasses the video content and the context in which the video ad is displayed. For advertisers, this opens up new potential for win ning over target groups, especially contextual user targeting. Since the „cookie calypse“ became known, real hype has developed in the advertising industry around so-called context targeting to ensure reach in the right target group. Not without reason: adver tisers can reach target groups effectively via con textual ads independently of third-party cookies and mobile ID solutions. By matching video ads to the content context, users are engaged while still en gaging with a particular topic. Ideally, the ad prom ises the right solution for the user‘s current „prob lem“ or „need“ and is highly relevant. For example, if a brand wants to advertise a perfume for women and create awareness for it, it would be advisable to play out the video ad in an environment that focuses specifically on perfumes and fragrances. This way, advertisers can reach users in real time according to the corresponding usage situation. If the brand were to conservatively target only women, men who might consider the product a gift would be exclud ed entirely. According to a recent study by Integral Ad Science and Tobii, a global leader in eye track ing, context-sensitive ads are noticed 0.6 seconds faster than non-contextual ads. In addition, the study found that purchase intent is 14 percent higher af ter viewing context-sensitive ads. Furthermore, un aided brand recall improves by a factor of four with context-sensitive ads. In addition to content, it is also essential that brands adopt a clear set of values on topics such as sustainability, diversity, or inclusion to create an authentic brand image.

2 - Trendsetter big screen

The transformation of the TV advertising market, driven by the increasing fusion of TV and digital, of fers new opportunities for advertisers. The advertis ing industry is increasingly focusing on Connected TV (CTV) and Addressable TV (ATV). And not without reason: Streaming, which accounts for a significant proportion of moving image consumption in Germa ny, now takes place preferentially on the big screen. The major media companies have already respond ed accordingly. Big players like Seven.One Media and RTL Group are building a new ecosystem for digital TV and adjusting their inventories accordingly. For example, Seven.One Media has launched „Pro grammatic TV“ (PTV), which offers advertisers the to tal reach of the linear TV advertising block combined with optimized target group targeting. In addition, with the Tech Alliance founded last year, RTL wants to enable broadcasters and advertisers to market and book local and pan-European addressable TV, CTV, or OTT campaigns via a common platform.

3 - Video consumption on mobile & desktop

Competition in the streaming market is fierce, and established services are vying for the audience‘s favor with new tools and apps. The trend towards mobile use of entertainment apps is strengthening more and more. This offers enormous potential for advertisers, especially among the GenZ generation, the so-called „heavy users.“ This is because social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok & Co. continu ously expand their advertising opportunities. Ac cording to a recent study by ExpressVPN and online survey solution Pollfish, the majority of Generation Z spend several hours a day on social networks, with TikTok leading the way: 59 percent of respondents use the app for more than an hour a day. Here, the trend of short, vertical videos is rising rapidly: story formats are becoming increasingly popular. They are bringing a new profile to media culture in the long term. No wonder: 94 percent of users use their smartphones exclusively vertically. As a result, vid eos in vertical format per se generate higher visibil ity and attention and offer first-class opportunities for user engagement through which marketers can reach and activate their target groups.

Marketers have two options on the Open Web that guarantee high advertising effectiveness: they can choose between instream spots, such as classic

pre-, mid-, post-rolls, bumper ads, and out-stream campaigns. In-stream campaigns can play the ad spot before, during, or after the video, ensuring high user attention. With out-stream campaigns, the ad vertising video is placed in the editorial text, e.g., be tween two paragraphs in the article. Both options are justified in media planning and are suitable for ad dressing specific target groups. However, instream campaigns have the advantage of playing the adver tising spot during the video, thus ensuring the user‘s attention. But with out-stream campaigns, there is a risk that users may not notice the advertising.

Despite all the differences, deciding whether an in stream or out-stream campaign should be chosen for a video campaign depends heavily on the adver tising objectives. However, what both options have in common is very high advertising effectiveness.

How can brands leverage these trends across all digital channels to reach their advertising tar gets?

The multitude of video advertising options opens up new possibilities for brands to reach potential cus tomers. To ensure optimal media use and efficient ly reach respective target audiences, advertisers must carefully evaluate which video inventory best suits the advertising objective and whether a vid eo is the favored choice among the many options. The key here is to think across inventory and rely on more than just one to generate the best media out come possible. By including multiple inventories in the campaign strategy, advertisers can increase the efficiency of both price and reach. Thus, by expand ing the platform mix, they can achieve higher net reach and strong brand awareness across all digital channels. In addition, it is essential to develop an un derstanding of individual user behavior and, above all, relevant target groups. It is advisable to focus on particularly affine target groups and to address them authentically in the native environment. Based on us age behavior, for example, the most significant brand awareness for a digital purchase can be generated within GenZ through a targeted combination of CTV and social media.

Omnichannel Digital Commerce

Digital commerce is booming:

In addition to the general trend toward mobile commerce, social commerce and new technolo gies such as „AR shopping“ are driving the rapid development of digital commerce. However, the tense global economic situation is causing a high degree of un certainty among consumers and is putting the brakes on general consumer spending. It is, there fore, even more important for advertisers to create seamless, efficient, and at the same time, trustworthy user experiences. A hybrid approach to users, which incorporates both the digital and analog worlds and addresses users exactly where they are, is the key to success for marketers in 2022.

MICHAEL HINSE Project Lead Consulting

High inflation rates, energy and commodity prices, and the current political developments in Europe are curbing the shopping frenzy and prompting consumers to save. According to the Salesforce Q1 Shopping Index, purchases have declined for the first time since the index was pub lished nine years ago. Compared to the same period last year, sales fell by three percent worldwide and by as much as 15 percent in Germany.

For marketers in digital commerce to meet the chal lenges of this turbulent economic situation with the right tools, new touchpoints must be integrated into the digital marketing mix and harmonized across channels.

Mobile Commerce is stronger than ever

Mobile commerce is one of the significant trends in online shopping. Shopping from mobile devic es enables a more effortless and faster shopping experience. Transactions occur via various mobile platforms such as apps, browsers, and social media. Mobile apps are seeing strong growth. “Adjust,” an analytics platform for global mobile marketing, ob served a 12 percent year-over-year increase in rev enue in its 2021 E-Commerce App Report.

In the mobile device environment, short video con tent and photos, in particular, play an essential role in advertising. This creates new opportunities for ad dressing users, through which marketers can reach and activate their target groups. Advertising place ments must be selected to fit precisely and adapt ed to mobile devices and apps so that target groups can be reached efficiently. In line with the “mobile first” idea, advertising on smartphones can be inte grated into the digital inventory mix.

Undisputed trendsetter: Social Commerce

Social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pin terest, and TikTok offer a seamless shopping experi ence on mobile devices and have made social com merce one of the most important trends.

According to a recent study by Accenture, so cial commerce will account for over 17 percent of e-commerce sales by 2025. By linking product search, inspiration, and the final purchase process on one platform, the user’s shopping experience is fundamentally changing. It is no longer necessary to leave the platform. For advertisers, this opens up new opportunities for brand loyalty. They can also better manage purchase transactions: Shoppable ads, for example, allow users to complete transactions within the native social media environment. On the other hand, dynamic product ads can be used for person alized ads based on users’ browsing behavior.

Hybrid shopping habits are additionally becoming more established through trends such as “commu nity commerce” triggered by influencer advertising and “live shopping events.”

Linking stationary offline commerce and digital online commerce is also possible via advertising measures. For example, a store in the vicinity can be pointed out, or the purchase option in the store can be actively offered. For this reason, advertisers should consider the integration of social commerce into the customer journey when implementing om nichannel marketing strategies.

Shoppable videos remain popular

Moving image formats are particularly popular with marketers because they play a significant role in purchasing decisions. Videos convey more emotion than image-text combinations, and - integrated into suitable storytelling - they create an enhanced user experience. Video commerce shortens the buying process because users can buy products directly from a video. One of the most exciting future trends in this context is “live videos,” which are now becom ing increasingly popular in Germany: Large compa nies such as Douglas and Media Markt have already discovered the trend for themselves and host reg ular live sales broadcasts on their social platforms. →

Conversational commerce for an improved user experience

Users like to buy from merchants with whom they can interact - even in e-commerce. Conversation al commerce combines personal interaction with a digital shopping experience because the purchase and communication with users take place via mes saging apps, website chats, chatbots, or voice assis tants (“voice shopping”). Messaging services such as WhatsApp or Google’s Business are explicitly used in conversational commerce.

This interface allows businesses and customers to connect quickly, efficiently, and reliably in a way they know and trust. Advertisers can address users or specific user groups individually with personalized communication. This way, users can be accompa nied on their entire customer journey, from the first contact to the conclusion of the purchase and af ter-sales management. It is crucial to support users, especially when they hesitate and may abandon the purchase.

Future strategy: Augmented reality (AR) shopping

One of the significant drivers of growth in online retail will be augmented reality (AR) technology. AR makes it possible to add virtual content to a person’s real environment and combine personalization and immersive shopping experiences so that consum ers can engage more intensively. AR thus represents new possibilities for e-commerce in terms of prod uct presentation and therefore offers advertisers valuable new opportunities to engage with users. Be it through shoppable videos, 3D product visualiza tions, or the ability to engage virtual assistants.

According to Snapchat’s new Gen-Z report, consid erable demand exists, especially among the young target group: 88 percent want to use AR for shop ping. Alongside companies such as Amazon, Mister Spex, and Ikea, Snapchat, in particular, is responding to this desire and has upgraded heavily in recent months. The “Catalog powered Shopping Lenses” allow users to virtually try on clothes via augmented reality and simultaneously receive information on the product’s price, size, or colors.

Snapchat has also announced innovations such as the Snap 3D Asset Manager, AR Image Processing, Dress Up, and the AR Shopping Camera Kit. For mar keters in 2022 to ideally exploit the market’s great potential, their campaign strategies must consider specific AR approaches and holistically integrate them into the marketing mix to comprehensively shape the user journey.

The many options for advertising in digital com merce open up new opportunities for brands to reach potential customers. To ensure the optimal use of media and to reach the individual target group efficiently, advertisers must evaluate precisely which platform can offer the ideal environment for the re spective service or product. Not every trend fits, and not every platform check-out favors the buying pro cess. It is also essential to develop an understanding of individual user behavior and, above all, relevant target groups for social and digital commerce.

Unlike traditional e-commerce, only some users look for a new product in advance in a personalized so cial media environment. It is advisable to focus on particularly affine target groups and address them authentically in the native environment: Mobile-first generations, for example, often experience brand loyalty first via social media and then stay in this dig ital world all the way through to purchase. Channel selection can reflect different stages of the buying process: The right stimuli in the inspiration or aware ness phase can build brand loyalty and lead to in creased readiness - or consideration - in the next step, the extended product search, which can ulti mately lead to the final purchase.

Conclusion

Most people currently find themselves in a cross-generational present that has changed dra matically in some cases. This makes it all the more important for advertisers to create seamless, effi cient, and at the same time, trustworthy user ex periences that appeal to users exactly where they are. In addition to being the undisputed trendsetter of social commerce, new technologies such as AR Shopping are rapidly gaining momentum and offer many new opportunities for advertisers. New poten tials are emerging for addressing individual users, which marketers can use to reach and activate their target groups. To select advertising placements that fit precisely, penetrate target groups efficiently, and retarget user groups in a targeted manner, these touchpoints must be integrated into the digital mar keting mix and harmonized across channels.

How can brands take advantage of these trends without getting lost in the possibilities?

esome im Gespräch

#wespeakup

Twitter “Agency Q&A”

Our Account Manager, Milica Joksimović, and our Partner Manager, Leticia Aguilar, gave tips on videos and campaign planning on the platform in an interview with Twitter in September. They point out what makes Twitter different from other platforms, which creatives work best, and how to generate the best media outcome on the platform.

“STELL-MICH-EIN” Speed Interview

“The best ideas come in the shower?” STELL-MICH-EIN set its sights on us in a speed interview in May, and we were more than happy to answer any questions. In eight crisp questions and answers, our Senior People & Culture Manager, Xenia Blawazki, provides insights into the working culture at esome.

“Listen & Grow” Podcast: The potential of in-game advertising

The gaming market is growing rapidly, giving advertisers more and more innovative ways to use in-game advertising as a new marketing channel. In November, our Associate Account Director, Felix Pfanzagl, was a guest on the Listen & Grow Podcast. In a conversation with Ja nina Jechorek from HubSpot’s DACH marketing team, he explains the unique potential that in-game advertising offers, which advertising formats are already being used, and which trends can be expected in 2023 and beyond.

“D25” Podcast: The future of social advertising

D 25 - the “D” stands for “Deutschland” and digitization in equal mea sure. In this podcast, guests tell host Christian Jakubetz from “HYBRID Eins” every week how digitization works for and with them. Our Se nior Account Manager, Jennifer Brockmann, was a guest of Christian Jakubetz in March and talked about the future of social advertising, emerging platforms, and current trends.

Cinema is dead. Long live the cinema!

Programmatic Cinema: Cinema advertising taken to the next level

DIRK VON BORSTEL Managing Director Virtual Minds

No other classic medium has so often been supposedly buried as the cinema. But in most cases, they say that the dead live longer. Film the aters have successfully resisted all disruptions, albeit with losses: from VCRs to DVDs, Blu-Rays, and streaming services to a worldwide pan demic with lockdowns and forcibly empty movie theaters. One of the reasons for this is the exceptional, exclusive media usage situation and reception and the unbroken magic of the super-plus-size screen: Watching movies on the big screen without interruptive commercials has enjoyed sustained popularity for decades. A visit to the cinema is still something special to share with friends and family. The cinema is a place to be mesmerized. And now also a place where advertising can entertain, appeal to, and capture visitors even better.

Programmatic advertising conquers the movie screen

In recent years, cinema has introduced numerous innovations in re sponse to the increasing digitization of advertising, thus catching up in the competition with other media formats. It went from fully digital pro duction and delivery of cinema advertising to new, target group-orient ed planning and steering logic to interactive cinema advertising with augmented reality. The medium has quickly broken down conventional rigid systematics and systems, enabling new, significantly more agile, creative campaign concepts. Programmatic cinema, like many other innovations, is predominantly driven by Weischer.Cinema, the leading cinema advertising marketer in the DACH region, has taken the decisive step into the programmatic marketing world.

Programmatic cinema now makes it possible for the first time to ad dress moviegoers with advertising in a data-based and automated way. In the past, spots were flexibly targeted according to film, location, day, and time. Now this segmentation can also be enriched with data from

the programmatic ecosystem. Target groups are thus modeled from a mix of static and dynamic data, and spots are played out accordingly.

Virtual Minds provides the platforms for data-based, automated media trading: Programmatic buying takes place via the Active Agent DSP with exclusive access to the Weischer.Cinema inventory and the provision of advertising space runs via the Yieldlab SSP. Weischer.Cinema‘s technical infrastructure and ad server ensure the targeted delivery of advertising spots on the playout side.

Since July 2022, moviegoers in 450 movie the aters across Germany have been addressed this way through advertising spots whose booking takes place in real-time. In September, the programmat ic ecosystem was also extended to the 45 cinemas marketed by Weischer.Cinema in Austria. In both countries, advertising space is still booked via Guar anteed and Direct Deals, which Preferred Deals and private auctions will supplement in the coming year.

Cinema lets emotions speak

Each screen-based advertising channel has its me dia- and usage-specific advantages: TV spots build reach quickly, online advertising is the medium of choice for real-time one-to-one targeting, and DOOH provides good visibility in public spaces. But what about cinemas? Cinemas appeal to emotions

like no other medium. This was also recently proven in a study by Weischer.Cinema: In all relevant fields of emotion measurement, including relevance, re flections, attraction, and likeability, cinema adver tising achieved better results than other channels. Programmatic cinema advertising is, therefore, the perfect complement for the cross-screen adver tising mix because the step onto the big screen is easier today than ever before.

Conclusion

With its super-plus-size screen and its unique, un rivaled media usage situation, cinema is one of the most exciting moving image advertising media. Whether stand-alone, in cross-screen campaigns, or in multi- or omnichannel concepts: With the con nection of cinema to the programmatic ecosystem, the communication possibilities for the advertis ing industry are once again multiplied considerably based on efficient digital booking logic.

Playful advertising

Successfully integrate in-game advertising into the marketing mix

KRISTIN HASS Senior Media Operations Specialist

The gaming market is growing continuously and offers users and marketers many oppor tunities to immerse themselves in the gaming world. Restricted leisure activities in the wake of the Corona pandemic have further contributed to this growth. In 2020, the world‘s most extensive enter tainment industry recorded sales of around EUR 8.5 billion in Germany alone, which is expected to be broken again in 2022. Drivers for this are new trends, such as blockchain games, the metaverse hype, and the constantly growing range of new blockbusters. Video games have long since ceased to be a niche hobby; they are more popular than ever with young and old alike and across all genders: In 2020, 58 per cent of Germans between the ages of 6 and 69 reg ularly played computer or video games. It‘s no sur prise that tech giants like Microsoft sense revenue potential here. Just recently, the group announced the purchase of computer and video game provid er Activision Blizzard. Mobile games, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular. A study by the dig ital ad tech platform Smatoo indicated that adver tisements in mobile games are more successful than average. For example, within mobile gaming apps, they are clicked on 3.4 times as often as in other apps on average. There is enormous potential for brands to reach new target groups interestingly.

But how do you succeed in efficient and targeted ad playouts in video and online games? The critical challenge is creating content that positively impacts the gaming experience and fits different players‘ needs and usage situations. For marketers to over come these challenges, exploit the great potential of in-game advertising, and efficiently realize their marketing goals, a holistic marketing strategy and a harmonized view of the various channels are essen tial.

In in-game advertising, a distinction is made be tween two primary forms: static and dynamic ingame advertising. In static advertising (SIGA), firmly defined, non-changeable brand messages are al

ready built into the game during game development. They are unalterably integrated into the game‘s sto ryline and are comparable to product placements in TV shows. With dynamic advertising (DIGA), adver tising messages are placed dynamically in the game on a programmatic basis via media buys. These are temporary advertising placements. In addition, there are established forms such as „Rewarded Ads,“ pri marily in free-to-play mobile games. Rewarded ads allow players to watch a video or play a playable ad in exchange for a reward, such as so-called coins.

A static approach that involves permanently pro gramming ads into the game is no longer appro priate today. Instead, ideal in-game targeting com bines advertising content with the game context and makes it an authentic experience for the target group. Such advertising is particularly effective be cause it can encourage interaction with the adver tising object. However, suppose they are played at the wrong moment or in an inappropriate environ ment. In that case, they are perceived by players as too intrusive, and it harms the perception of the brand. Native integration of advertising is necessary so that it appears to the user as a part of the medium and is therefore not perceived as annoying. But why is efficient and targeted ad delivery so important?

How Programmatic Advertising can take you to the next level

Gamers are a sensitive target group who dislike be ing disturbed in their gaming flow. Programmatic buying of advertising space in games offers adver tisers new ways to reach this hard-to-reach target group. Advertising content can individually be tai lored to user profiles. Information stored in the user

profiles provides information about the gender, age, or interests of the gamer, for example. This makes it possible to address the target group of interest to the advertiser more precisely and results in less wastage. Consequently, precise targeting increas es the ad‘s relevance for the user, and the brand or product is more likely to be anchored in their con sideration set.

Through the dynamic programmatic buying of ingame advertising slots and integrating these into the holistic media strategy, advertisers can operate storytelling across all channels relevant to the target group. A harmonized media view and individual ap proach, in line with the overarching marketing objec tive, enables this to be achieved efficiently. In-game advertising offers new potential for specific adver tising objectives and target groups to contribute to the efficient achievement of goals and be consid ered a relevant channel.

What still is needed for the next level

Currently, in-game advertising still presents mar keters with several challenges. The connections of games‘ programmatically buyable advertising inven tory still need improvement. Due to the lack of stan dardization, there needs to be more broad coverage. Accordingly, it is necessary to automatically build the ability to book ad space on each platform. This is where the game developers come in because the reach can be increased by cooperating with them. In addition, a uniformly defined standard for measuring

success and targeting options is currently still limit ed. Cross-platform or cross-game targeting, such as between Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo Switch, is yet to be possible because user data is usually stored in individual user accounts of the game or platform operators. Thus these are closed ecosystems with out data transfer between them. Some well-known players in programmatic advertising, such as Anzu or Yahoo, with partners such as Adverty, are now bring ing the first scalable programmatic solutions to the market with licensing for Xbox games.

To integrate in-game advertising into the market ing mix as a powerful and additional touchpoint in addressing relevant users, standardization for pro grammatically buyable advertising inventory in ingame advertising is necessary. Then these formats can be fluidly combined with mobile, video, desk top, or even connected TV and DOOH campaigns to create a comprehensive brand experience across all channels.

Conclusion

The pandemic has further fueled the rapid growth of the gaming market, and this trend will continue in the future. The market now offers enormous potential for advertisers. This is because new opportunities are emerging for individual user targeting through which marketers can reach and activate their target groups. However, advertisers face the challenge of creating content that positively impacts the gaming experience and fits different players‘ needs and us age situations. To ideally integrate gaming as a pow erful touchpoint in the marketing mix, there needs to be a standardization for programmatically buyable advertising inventory in in-game advertising. Then, in-game advertising can be fluidly cross-media with mobile, video, desktop, or even connected TV and DOOH campaigns to create a comprehensive brand experience across all channels.

Programmatic Anything

Traditional, linear advertising media become programmatically bookable and controllable

TOM PERUZZI Spokesman of the Management and CTO of Virtual Minds

Eighty-two percent of digital advertising volume is booked and played out programmatically (source: Magna Global, June 2021). This means that automated, data-based media management has now established itself as the standard mode in the digital sector - with consequences for the analog media sector. In addition to a frequently inconsistent ad vertising experience for users in the different media worlds concern ing advertising relevance, advertising pressure, intelligent storytelling, etc., the central challenges also include the increasing requirements of all market sides regarding planning experience and control options, innovative media products, high-quality budget, and yield optimization, and cross-media synergy effects.

Against this background, it was only a question of time - and the avail ability of the necessary technology - that traditional, linear advertis ing media such as TV, radio, and cinema would become bookable and controllable according to programmatic decision logic. In April 2022, the time had come: With the launch of a new platform generation of its media technology - the „Media Manager“ - Virtual Minds, together with ProSiebenSat.1, gave the starting signal for a new era in the marketing of TV advertising: Programmatic TV (PTV).

Programmatic TV: Linear becomes programmatic for the first time

From booking and buying to playout and on-flight optimization to re porting and billing: the media solution designed and developed by Vir tual Minds is aimed at programmatic advertising marketing of broadcast media („One to Many“). It uses a typical ecosystem with the participation of SSP, DMP, DSP & Co. In contrast to systems known and available on the market to date, not only are partial processes digitized but the en tire process chain is covered programmatically.

The platform, which can be seamlessly integrated into existing media technology system landscapes, makes it possible for the first time to provide and play out classic, linear inventories in real-time („real-time

playout“). This is possible using automated optimiza tion logic, such as the event-based real-time exclu sion of advertising campaigns. The ad spots played out in real-time in the linear advertising block are classified by the broadcaster for this purpose. When a request is sent to the media manager, it is com pared to the metadata of the advertising block. As a result, the media manager can optionally select campaigns. This way, the delivery of advertising in the surrounding context, e.g., catastrophes, war sce narios, etc., can be excluded. For motif selection, the broadcaster SSP calls the DSP, and the DSP can independently decide which motif is to be played in the commercial break. The prerequisite is that the broadcaster previously approved the advertis ing medium, and this corresponds to the expected duration. In terms of brand protection, unfavorable placements can be avoided with the help of auto mated individual rule sets. For example, the ad spots can be classified according to their sector or indus try, and the system then prevents them from being placed next to direct competitors.

In addition to inventorying the entire broadcaster program (allocation of ad spots at the ad unit lev el), the solution also assumes responsibility for rev enue-oriented optimization of ad unit composition. The holistic yield optimization integrated into the platform allows parallel processing of classic man aged service (I/O) and programmatic campaigns, which can initially be traded via Programmatic Guar anteed Deals, and in the future, via auctions and private marketplaces. The system‘s architecture is designed to replace pre-scheduling only when per mitted and when it results in higher monetization. This allows broadcasters to digitize their inventory at their own pace and secure (tied to a floor price). Publisher customers can create their inventory in the system and then successfully release it for digital playout. This enables the media manager to achieve efficiency gains on a small scale for the inventories released for exchange.

Last but not least, the system processes and deliv ers relevant target groups and marketing key figures, such as the total number of viewers or listeners and their target group breakdown for planning. It also provides the most crucial real-time tracking data for

campaign management via a dashboard. Both clas sic (historical) planning data of the respective broad caster media (panel/survey-based data such as in the TV sector from AGF/ AGTT etc.) and real-time data (e.g., the TV Insights model based on HbbTV data) can be used. These are fed in via appropriate interfaces and made available for the programmat ic process. In addition, KPIs such as audience reach (how many viewers/listeners were reached - for TV, for example, in real-time with the help of TV Insights reach data and additionally ex-post based on AGF data) are tracked. But also recommendations, i.e., the suggested optimized playlist for the broadcaster, and the delivery status, i.e., the status message about the playout of the suggested playlist, are tracked.

This means, for example, that effective pacing can be used to boost campaigns at any time using pre cisely adjustable over-delivery. Publishers always retain complete control over all processes.

In focus: convergent programmatic video campaigns across all relevant media and channels

Media Managers unlock the huge potential and ef ficiency benefits of programmatic marketing for traditional linear broadcast media while retaining their existing media and business models. Instead of technologically re-tuning ‚one-to-one‘ media and control logic more badly than good, a proper ‚one-to-many‘ first approach closes the media con trol gap between linear and digital channels. By en abling convergent media products, traditional me dia and their marketers in the generic competition are strengthened. It will be inspiring when the first „one-to-one“ channels from the moving image sec tor - above all, Addressable TV (ATV), Connected TV (CTV), and Instream - are integrated into the platform, and convergent programmatic moving image cam paigns become possible across the relevant media and channels. With holistic media control from a sin gle platform, convergent campaigns, products, and convergent KPIs will be possible. This lays the foun dation for TV and digital currency systems, for exam ple, to grow together in the future. This also counts for this crucial area of transformation to remain in the hands of the advertising industry and for the game‘s rules to be independent of US players.

Our partnerships

„We inspire and lift each other, we stay better, we speak up, and we shape the future” are our corpo rate values at esome. These values also define the way we manage our partnerships.

The opportunities for cultivating and maintaining partnerships are vast: Exchange of valuable knowl edge, improvement of services, speed of innovation, and access to exclusive features, to name some of them.

Trustful partnerships and good collaborations are fundamental for making better products and im proving business outcomes. Together with our part ners, we can combine client-centric consulting and scalable automation to solve specific challenges. In

addition, we translate challenges into innovative and tailored campaign strategies with KPI-based out comes.

Close and cooperative partnerships have also en abled esome to increase efficiency for media cam paigns along the marketing funnel. We have API access to many partners through our own media buying and application-focused technology, includ ing all relevant closed ecosystems, DSPs, data, and measurement. We use vast data signals to predict, optimize and validate outcome-based media cam paigns.

All in all, these partnerships inspire, lift, and improve us.

Overview of the development of platform partnerships:

The competition for consumer awareness is growing continuously. Nevertheless, together with esome, we have been able to increase the performance scores of our campaigns and regularly achieve our campaign goals.

Stefan Lurweg, Manager Digital Marketing / Head of Media DE & CH

Planung in besonderen Zeiten – Im Interview mit LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat & Twitter

The global economy has endured a lot in the last two years. The advertising industry is also facing new directions due to the pandemic and political developments. For many companies, this brings unexpected challenges in planning marketing activities and budgeting for advertising campaigns. Advertisers are increasingly looking for more efficient solutions to allocate budgets more result-oriented along their marketing strategy. Another reason is the changing consumer behavior on social networks, which, in addition to the current tense political-economic situation, also brings new dynamics to the adver tising landscape. Digital and social platforms must also respond to these changes. How are global platforms dealing with these “special times,” and what will this mean for the devel opment of the digital advertising market? Together with some of our platform partners, we searched for answers and some clarity in these times.

IN THE INTERVIEW:

Jolanta Baboulidis, Country Director

Twitter Germany: Jolanta Baboulidis has been the Country Director of Twitter Germany since 2018 and is responsi ble for the strategic development of the market in this position. Before her current role, she has already worked in various functions and divisions of the company in San Francisco, Dublin, Lon don, and Hamburg. Jolanta Baboulidis was instrumental in setting up Twitter‘s EMEA headquarters in Dublin and was one of the leading employees who opened up the German advertising mar ket for Twitter.

Manuel Kekeisen, Agency

Visha Kudhail, Director of Business Marketing, Pinterest EMEA: Visha leads the marketing of Pinterest’s ad offering for businesses across EMEA. Before Pin terest, she worked across YouTube Ads marketing at Google, going on to lead industry brand and reputation for both Google and YouTube in the UK. Before that, she spent twelve years at Thinkbox - the marketing body for commercial TV, leading TV campaigns, large-scale events, and initiatives with leading in dustry bodies in the UK.

Development

Lead DACH, LinkedIn: Manuel Kekeisen heads the independent agency business in DACH. His role is to help LinkedIn‘s agency partners grow - both in terms of new business and additional business. Before joining LinkedIn, Manuel spent 7.5 years at Google

Jan Müller, Senior Sector Lead Perfor mance DACH, Snapchat: As Senior Sec tor Lead Performance DACH at Snap, Jan Müller looks after leading performance clients in the German-speaking market. He is an expert in successful app and web performance marketing and user acquisition and supports companies from various industries in achieving their goals on Snapchat. Before Jan Müller directly became part of the Snapchat DACH team in 2017, he worked for Goo gle in Hamburg and was a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group in Munich.

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER The shopping behavior of consumers has changed significantly in recent years. The dialog with the customer takes place even more online, and there is a high demand for relevant information on the part of the consum er. This is a great opportunity for brands to use dig ital channels more intensively to enter into an even stronger dialog with their customers, to understand their needs even better, and ultimately to be even more successful with their products. (...)

JAN MÜLLER, SNAPCHAT At present, several crises are overlapping, naturally causing a great deal of uncertainty throughout the industry. The situation is tenser as a result, and companies pay even closer attention to which investments bring the greatest possible outcome with maximum cost efficiency.

VISHA KUDHAIL, PINTEREST (…) We don’t have a crystal ball or a cheat sheet for all the answers, which is why we need to understand who our audience is and what they need from us. This is where Pinter est can be an invaluable source for brands. People come to Pinterest to plan their futures, find solutions for everyday problems, and decide what to do or buy next. (…)

MANUEL KEKEISEN, LINKEDIN Given the current “special times” we live in, including our macroeco nomic challenges, I see three critical areas for brands: (1) Creative - Brands must rethink how best to struc ture their promotional efforts for maximum impact and be willing to experiment more, especially in the B2B space. (2) Measurement - Brands need to rethink how to measure the impact of their marketing and link their marketing and sales activities. (3) Branding strategy - brands need to rethink how they can use data and insights to underpin their marketing strat egy and stay relevant to their (potential) customers.

MANUEL KEKEISEN, LINKEDIN I believe the macro economic situation affects all industries in one way or another. In recent years, many companies faced new challenges and unexpected uncertainties in the market. In my opinion, in the first year, vertical indus tries such as manufacturing, automotive, and midsized companies became more cautious and were significantly affected by the economic challenges. Companies with lower capital commitment costs (e.g., technology, SaaS, financial services) were bet ter able to deal with the uncertainties in the market. They have recognized that building and maintaining their brand is more important than ever in these par ticular times.

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER The challenges of the last few months around Corona or with a view to the Ukraine crisis naturally bring many changes with them. We‘ve noticed that advertisers rely even more on Twitter as a tool of communication to stay close to their customers and to get in touch with them. If a brand establishes proximity to consumers and is visible with a clear stance, it can benefit significantly from this.

What are the biggest challenges for brands now?

Are all industries equally affected by the current economic downturn?

Facing the current situation, what are the advan tages of digital advertising compared to tradition al channels?

VISHA KUDHAIL, PINTEREST Digital advertising al lows for more efficient targeting along the entire shopping funnel, from the first inspiration until the final purchase. We have to start at the top and get to the open-minded. Those that are open-minded and undecided actually spend more. Digital advertising best captures the complexities of the consumer‘s decision-making journey and is critical in helping people get to the purchase decisions THEY want. On Pinterest, we aim to do exactly that, show you the content and products that are most relevant to you.

MANUEL KEKEISEN, LINKEDIN Being able to mea sure the success of campaigns properly has never been more important. Brands want to understand where to invest in getting the best ROI for their most relevant audience. It’s also essential to connect a customer’s CRM directly to digital marketing plat forms and truly measure the quality and customer lifetime value of their leads. Finally, in digital, it’s much easier to learn and iterate and quickly execute more efficient and effective campaigns for your target au dience.

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER The world has be come so fast-paced and requires more and more flexibility, which has an ever more significant impact on advertising planning. Advertisers who use Twit ter for their campaigns appreciate our flexibility and speed, an advantage over traditional media channels. In this way, we have built strong partnerships and are constantly in contact to be able to react quickly to changing demands of our advertising customers.

Let‘s talk about brand safety. How is the challenge of advertisers not wanting to advertise in the con text of critical or political dialog (e.g., the Ukraine war) being addressed?

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER For us, Brand Safety means Human Safety, and therefore, it has the highest priority on Twitter. We are constantly work ing to make conversations on Twitter safer. To do this, we rely on three building blocks: First, our rules and policies draw clear boundaries on what is and isn‘t allowed on our service. Second, products and features like Conversation Controls help users, and advertisers use Twitter more safely. And third, strong partnerships with companies, NGOs, and associa tions help us improve daily work and take the right actions. With these measures, we guarantee brands maximum brand safety on Twitter.

VISHA KUDHAIL, PINTEREST There is much nega tive content out there, and it‘s hard to get away from it as we become incentivized by additive technology to click on it more and express the outrage we see at world events. There are plenty of places where that happens, but Pinterest is not that space. Pinterest has always been a place that people turn to for inspi ration for their own lives. We hear from our Pinners repeatedly that they feel positive and inspired on Pinterest because it‘s not about the news, validation, or comparing themselves to others. (…) We showed in a study that consumers are likelier to remember, trust and purchase from brands in positive environ ments. So it literally pays out to be positive.

Why is your platform the right choice for cam paigns in challenging times?

JAN MÜLLER, SNAPCHAT In challenging times, it‘s even more essential to pick up people where they like to spend their time, and we reach around 90 percent of 13- to 24-year-olds in Germany with Snapchat. On our platform, you can get Gen Z in a targeted way, and it works best when brands con sider this target group‘s tonality and communication preferences.

VISHA KUDHAIL, PINTEREST On Pinterest, brands have a chance to be a consideration early on when consumers don‘t even have the words to describe what they are looking for, but they know it when they see it. In times of crisis, advertisers and marketers tend to rush to that last-click, bottom-of-the-funnel ROAS as a quick fix. (…)

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER Twitter offers brands and advertisers optimal opportunities to connect with their target audience, i.e., their commu nity. The diverse communities on Twitter are better educated and more affluent than the average Inter net user. Tailored campaigns using our ad formats can reach people on Twitter when they‘re open to information. (...)

What does your platform offer brands to stay efficient and recession-proof their marketing strategy? Are there any innovations or further help in the pipeline?

JOLANTA BABOULIDIS, TWITTER 3 out of 4 Twit ter users confirm that conversations about prod ucts encourage them to buy. This shows how the shopping behavior of communities is changing and, above all, what a significant role the conversation on Twitter about products is playing. Therefore, we offer solutions for our advertisers to serve both the Upper and Lower Funnel effectively. We also recent ly launched Twitter Shopping to make it easier for brands to showcase their products on Twitter and engage with prospects. In addition, we are excited that features like Shop Spotlight and Product Drops will soon be available in Germany.

JAN MÜLLER, SNAPCHAT We see ourselves as a partner to our customers, and it’s our job to ensure they achieve their goals in the best possible way with the budget they invest with Snap. We offer them in dustry-leading AR technology. This is already used by the Snapchat community on a daily basis - not only for fun exchanges with friends but especially for shopping or learning new things. We see great potential with many customers and will continue in vesting in this technology.

VISHA KUDHAIL, PINTEREST We just launched Pin terest’s annual Trend Report Pinterest Predicts for the eighth year in a row. It’s become an invaluable source for brands and the industry’s leading global trend report that accurately predicts what will be big in months to come. In fact, in the past years, up to 80% of our trends have come true. (…) We also re leased a Pinterest Trends Tool a while back, which allows brands to stay on top of their customer’s pref erences and needs.

The impact of viewability on video efficiencyadvertising

METHODOLOGY

Video content streaming experienced an unprecedented boom in Germany during the pandemic, making video one of the most important and effective advertising tools. Advertisers are capita lizing on this trend by targeting video content in their strategy & cam paign planning to impact brand awareness positively. Viewability is one of the key factors for increasing brand awareness and ensuring contact with the target group. In the study of an analysis on the „measurement of viewability“ of video advertising, esome, with the help of global mea surement partners, investigated the following hypothesis: Can the vie wability of video ads influence the view-through rate (VTR) and thus generate a positive effect on the perception of the brand message?

The study used data from over 74 campaigns implemented on the Meta, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter social media platforms in 2021. We performed a deep analysis of the campaigns on measured KPIs within the platforms and the comparison of these metrics in the closed ecosystems, called walled gardens. Over 233 million ad impressions were measured for video campaigns whose main goal was to generate „Completed Views.“ The official viewability standard of the Media Ra ting Council (MRC) was applied to all measurements. According to this standard, a video ad is considered viewed if it is visible for 50 percent of two consecutive seconds (50/2). Therefore, it is irrelevant which two seconds of the video are seen.

Case Study Database

Analyzed Campaigns 74 Measured Ad Impressions 233,078,628

However, to ensure the most remarkable possible objectivity and com parability of the figures, the focus is only on seven campaigns with a total of 62.6 million measured ad impressions.

These seven campaigns were delivered on at least three of the four analyzed social media platforms during their respective runtimes.

Detailed Database

Campaigns rolled out on more than 3 platforms 7

Measured Ad Impressions

Meta Twitter Pinterest Snapchat

62,572,536 38,124,229 12,963,429 8,398,422 3,086,456

The correlation factor r was used to further analyze the campaign data. In this case, the Pearson correlation was explicitly used, as it is the most widely used form of a correlation coefficient.

Correlation between Viewability-Rate & View-Through-Rate 25 % 

Analysis of campaign data revealed a positive correlation between viewability and VTR25. In addition, a moderate to strong positive cor relation was found between the two metrics across all platforms and industries analyzed: overall r= 0.72.

Correlations for individual campaigns ranged from r= 0.3 to r= 0.99 (in dicating a consistent positive correlation between the two metrics).

CONCLUSION

Furthermore, the study proved that visible ads lead users to continue to watch a video, at least in the first quartile (the analyzed video lengths vary between 10 and 30 seconds).

After this first quartile, a moderate positive correlation can be observed, which decreases slightly (towards the 2nd and especially in the 3rd quartile).

The case study shows a strong positive correlation between visibili ty metrics and VTR25. Viewability has a positive influence on VTR. In addition, visible video ads are more likely to entice users to watch a video - at least until the end of the first quartile. From this discernible correlation, important impulses and implications for future campaign optimization, evaluation and prediction can be derived. It shows the in fluence of the visibility of an ad on the behavior of the user(s) to look through a video.

The case study again underscores the great importance of data for marketers and agencies. Data generated and validated by indepen dent measurement service providers can help to optimize current campaigns, as well as provide a solid basis for future campaign plan ning and predictions. A data-based prediction approach is already be ing used successfully by esome for many clients and agencies and, in the view of the Hamburg market leader in the field of KPI & Outcome Advertising, will become even more firmly established in media plan ning in the future.

Progression of the correlation as a func tion of the view-through rate 

Executing complex campaigns on different platforms across the entire marketing funnel is a huge challenge. With esome, we ensure that we take the best approach and pursue the right objectives. We even have the goals guaranteed. The results guarantee and esome‘s expertise in consulting is something we appreciate in our long, collaborative partnership.

Nadine Schieder - Digital Marketing Manager Stellantis

Influencers in the TV advertising block

How #InspireMe boosts TV newcomers and

well-known TV brands alike

LENNART HARENDZA Managing Director Seven.One Media

For two years, the Seven.One Media Group has been inviting influenc ers into the advertising format #InspireMe. These advertisements are being shown during the high-reach TV advertising blocks and profit from the credibility of the influencers. Thanks to their competent part ners in social media advertising and influencer marketing, Seven.One Media can offer a holistic approach to the #InspireMe advertising pro gram. The companies Studio71, Buzzbird, and esome, which also belong to the media group, provide the necessary resources and know-how for conception, influencer management, production, media planning, and a broad network of influencers. The result is an advertising prod uct responding quickly to its client’s current advertising challenges and regularly impressing significant TV brands and newcomers. Especially the cosmetics industry has a high demand for this all-in-one product, but other branches are also pleased with the results.

The process starts by creating the #InspireMe spots, which are at least 45 seconds long. The content of these spots is influencers presenting products and special events on TV, just as they do on social media. Af ter the spot is created, it is first shown in the TV commercial block, thus creating maximum attention among the viewers. Additionally, the influ encers play matching story clips via their social channels. In this way, Seven.One Media created a link between the classic linear TV ads and the social media world, combining the best of both worlds.

Schaebens and #InspireMe – a perfect match

Until the beginning of 2019, the medium-sized cosmetics manufactur er Schaebens invested a large part of its media budget in TV adver tising. In the following years, however, influencer advertising became increasingly crucial for Schaebens. So in 2022, the company first relied on #InspireMe to combine TV and social media advertising. The cam paign successfully unites the advantages of reach from TV, credibility from influencers, and digital performance marketing. In the first half of the four-week TV campaign, Schaebens’ diverse range of masks was

promoted through a 7-second TV clip. After that, multiple 45-second #InspireMe spots with model and book author Sofia Tsakiridou aka matiamubyso fia, kicked off.

Seven.One Media additionally performed an ac companying advertising impact study that proved the great success of this campaign. Aided brand awareness increased by 15 percent. In addition, 44 percent of the participants said they knew Schae bens in the final measurement. The group who saw the #InspireMe campaign had an even higher rec ognition of the brand. About 60 percent of the #In spireMe spot viewers remembered Schaebens. A similar effect was noticeable in the advertising recall. Furthermore, the respondents’ relevant set also proves that #InspireMe puts Schaebens in con sumers’ focus. 38 percent of the #InspireMe con tact group considers the company’s products when purchasing. The performance increased by 16 per cent compared with the data before the campaign was launched.

#InspireMe helped Schaebens establish authentic communication with their potential clients. In addi tion, the brand benefitted from the reach and new target group potential of TV advertisement. On the one hand, the campaign created a lot of new cli ents who might have never gotten in touch with the brand without #InspireMe. But on the other hand, the clients still get emotionally addressed by the in fluencer who represents the audience and there fore focuses on the target group’s interest.

Celebrating diversity with #InspireMe: COTY advertises with male influencer for the first time

The new TV advertising format is also winning over well-known brands who have been advertising on TV. For example, cosmetics manufacturer COTY has already implemented several #InspireMe cam paigns for its brands. In their latest campaign during May 2022, COTY went one step further by spotlight ing diversity as a topic in their advertisement. As their first male testimonial, the influencer Maxim aka max imgiacomo, promoted Manhattan Cosmetics. The #InspireMe spot created by Studio71 showed the influencer promoting the launch of a new conceal er and authentically showcasing the beauty product. Because of its content, the spot attracted much at tention across genders.

Higher performance - Higher outcome. Our solutions rework

Our ambition is to be constantly “ahead of the wave”. In other words, if you want to be a driver of innovation, you must know today what will be asked for tomorrow. Over the past few years, the requirements and expectations in the area of value propositions have changed. As a result, many market players have taken a very close look and positioned themselves in a new way regarding KPI & Outcome. Publishers, networks, or tech provid ers, everyone is talking about Outcome. This means that we are on the right path and setting trends. But it also means: it is time for further development and to think about new client-centric innovations. After all, we want to be innovation leaders, opinion makers, and trendsetters.

Two aspects primarily drive us: On the one hand, the increasing fragmentation and digitization of the me dia environment and the resulting increased com plexity in the planning and optimization of media. On the other hand, the consequent request of advertis ers and agencies for complexity reduction, conver gence, comparability, and impact.

“Of course, clients request innovations or individual solutions. At the same time, however, it is the case that we try to introduce innovations proactively into the market. We receive inspiration for this from our

team, clients, or even upcoming trends. Therefore, our motivation is to generate something “even” bet ter for the clients instead of waiting for a “need”. This is what we mean by innovation leadership,” says Robert Schöne, Chief Strategy Officer at esome.

Our data-driven approach for “advanced me dia planning” and corresponding KPI prediction is unique and can be found almost nowhere else on the market. Robert Schöne explains: “We want to make media easier to compare and at the same time make KPIs more relevant than CPMs. Combined with appropriate measurements and data points along the entire funnel, it gives us the confidence to con tinue being recognized as an innovative, competi tive, and trustworthy partner”.

With the further development of our offer, we strive to remain “ahead of the wave” and to set trends.

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE OFFER? Guaranteed incremental reach, especially at young target groups, by linking TV with the most powerful social platforms without overlap.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Through the Cross-Device Graph, we exclusively build accurate factual TV data from Seven.One Factual with panel data from GfK and activate target groups in a scalable way across all relevant social platforms.

WHAT CAN IT BE USED FOR? Maximum media efficiency in campaign targeting, thus increasing net reach and optimizing target group penetration.

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE OFFER? Guaranteed attention for high-quality video content: embedded in en tertainment content, some exclusive, to combine perfor mance and quality in moving image advertising analogous to TV.

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE OFFER? Guaranteed maximum advertising impact on digital placements validat ed and optimized on the most efficient quality metrics, ver ified by a Brand Lift Study.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Through a fully integrated measurement with external technology partners, we ana lyze KPI probabilities in advance and adjust the playout inflight along quality aspects such as viewability, brand safety, fraud, and advertising impact for maximum impact.

WHAT CAN IT BE USED FOR? Maximum awareness with risk-free data-driven ad spends — viewability first, in cluding brand lift study to measure impact.

HOW DOES IT WORK? We achieve the best possible video performance by combining premium entertainment TV data on social platforms and access to exclusive TV con tent on Snapchat Shows, YouTube, and Facebook Watch. With the additional targeting on a quality metric like View able on Completion, we underpin the claim of maximum digital attention.

WHAT CAN IT BE USED FOR? The triad of data, in ventory, and metrics ensures optimal attention and adver tising impact at „TV level“.

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE OFFER? Lower-fun nel guaranteed KPIs for scaling new and existing clients through exclusive buyer intent data and optimal targeting across all social platforms.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Access to all commerce-rel evant platforms via API and dedicated analytics enables us to efficiently bundle data, media, and attribution for scalable success. In addition, client-specific requirements regarding success, as well as technical infrastructure, are taken into account.

WHAT CAN IT BE USED FOR? A risk-free and incre mental increase in conversions to existing performance measures.

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE OFFER? Acquisition of relevant and high-quality first contacts with the website (or other destinations) through the best possible target group fit and innovative prediction model.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Through partnerships with first-class data partners, we provide cost-effective access to the most relevant target groups for the best possible in tent and highest retention of users on the website.

WHAT CAN IT BE USED FOR? Most promising gain of qualitative prospects across all social platforms.

Automization and efficiency

How our tech department optimizes workflows

ESOME TECH

MARTIN BEHRENDT Senior Product Manager

PATRIK SIMMS Software Engineer

I

f you try to define esome and its services over the last few years, you quickly reach your limits if you think in terms of the usual pigeonholes in the indus try: On the one hand, there are media consulting and execution, which implements campaigns on digital channels for clients and agencies and advises them with their expertise. On the other hand, our not-sosmall tech department aims to develop software and tools and create products that ultimately consist of 0 and 1. Media consulting with tech as a service pro vider? A tech service provider with associated me dia service? We don‘t really know.

But what we do know is: This constellation makes esome unique and opens up potentials that others cannot offer in this way. Since the founding of the company, we have attached great importance to es tablishing and operating our own tech department, which enables us to rely not only on tools on the market but also on our own developments so that we do not have to make any compromises in terms of functionality and pricing.

And so, in recent years, the focus of the Tech De partment has been to support our colleagues in their daily work. Campaigns can be set up more efficient ly, reports can be created and analyzed in a more detailed yet time-saving manner, and new products tailored to market needs have been developed.

But the industry is changing. Every day and every time a little bit faster - so of course also the work of esome. esome itself has developed into a Me dia Outcome Manager, and also the tech depart ment is not only looking inwards but also outwards. It almost sounds banal, but why should only esome colleagues benefit from the expertise of the devel opers in Hamburg and Belgrade when they can also offer customers considerable added value? Espe cially since a transformation has already taken place internally, tech and the tools developed are being used by more and more people from different de partments.

However, it is not only the presence of the compe tence of the developers but also the evident need for technical solutions. The faster the world turns, the greater the need for solutions to keep up by saving time. This already starts with classic communication: While many agencies still send hundreds of e-mails with file attachments for creatives every day and create consultation loops in new mail threads, es ome offers efficient collaboration options with the ClientCollaborationCenter (CCC), direct file uploads, automatic tests, and the Creative Approval Tool. The CCC also provides the possibility of on-demand reporting and performance dashboards, which ulti mately also makes additional communication chan nels superfluous and, at the same time, offers the option for customers to create their own analyses and to get an overview of the performance of their campaigns literally at any time of the day or night. More information on the CCC can be found on the next page.

With another tool, the Outcome Studio, we go even two steps further because through the automat ic campaign creation, optimization, and preparation of KPIs in the aftermath of a campaign, there is no longer even a need for human intervention for mi cro-campaigns, whose profitability is only given by the mass.

Both the CCC and the Outcome Studio are good ex amples of where we are headed: more automation, increased efficiency, and ultimately more self-ser vice for our employees, but also our external part ners. Because if we can save time, others can too. This creates new potential for what ultimately mat ters: generating outcomes.

Our new tool for best collaboration

The new ClientCollaborationCenter brings together all campaign stakeholders

DUSAN OBRADOVIC Senior Account Manager

MILICA JOKSIMOVIC Senior Account Managerin HRISTINA VUKOVIC Account Managerin

Efficiency and communication lie at the center of our work. They are the underpinning components of preparation and execution in any small or big project, making them integral to supporting mutu al success between our clients and us. When they are coupled togeth er, their power becomes even more substantial, and with this goal in mind, we developed a tool that does exactly that. It provides a dedicat ed space for efficient communication, where all stakeholders can share information and actions across all campaign stages.

Communication is a challenging task. It demands time and attention from everyone involved. By having it centered in one shared interface, every stage, from creative brief to campaign reporting, can have its own dedicated space, consequently saving time for our clients with smooth and accessible collaboration.

How does our CCC work?

Our main goal was to build a tool that is easy to use. We achieved this by separating the main components of our collaboration with clients. Let us take you on a tour through our CCC tool.

You will land on the dashboard page when you first open the tool. The overview shows on how many projects and reports our clients currently collaborate with us and the pending actions they have yet to perform. This page is also the start ing point from which our clients can easily access their projects, reports, and external dashboards.

The next stop is the project page, where our cli ents can take one of two actions. The media tab allows our clients to upload all creative compo nents needed for successful ad creation (imag es, videos, and PDF documents, to name a few). All file types are supported and can be filtered. The second screen is called the creative tab and contains ad previews in the real environment of a specific Social Media channel (e.g., Facebook). The previews are created and pushed to the tool by esome, allowing our clients to review, ap prove or reject them and comment on necessary changes.

Our journey continues to the reporting section, which is split two ways. The reports page contains the overview of predefined excel reports our cli ents can access anytime. With a simple down load button and date range picker, our clients can download a report for a specific time frame and review their key performance indicators.

The final stop on our CCC tour is the external dashboard page. If you prefer a graphic illustra tion of your key performance indicators to a stan dard excel report, you will love this page. We can build personalized graphical reports for our cli ents specifically tailored to their needs. →

Challenges and benefits

These days many brands who collaborate with numerous stakeholders (such as creative agencies, performance agencies etc.) are faced with the challenge of organizing the communication path most efficiently. Having that in mind, various stakeholders can use CCC simultaneous ly while covering the whole process, from uploading the creative el ements to reporting. Once the person in charge of creatives uploads these elements, they do not need to invest additional time in informing us about this action, as the project owner is automatically notified when the assets are ready. Once the ad creation is done, clients can easily preview the ad, approve it or reject it together with a comment on what needs to be changed within the ad. Once again, the project owner gets an automatic notification about these actions, so the communication path is again shortened.

By using it, all parties can easily download the up-todate numbers at the time which suits them the most, so they have full transparency through easy access to reports and analytics. Additionally, the whole ma terial (campaign documents such as assets and planning sheets), ad previews, and reporting data are organized based on projects, so all parties have a holistic overview of all running campaign projects.

Feedback from our clients

When we started working with Mazda Austria this summer, we wanted to apply a centralized approach to our ad set-up to make the briefed media and sub sequent ad previews available to all team members at all times.

We introduced the CCC tool to Mazda with a tour similar to the one you took a few minutes ago, fo cusing mainly on Media and Creative tabs. The tour was received with interest and ease, and a note from the client remarking the tool’s uniqueness to esome. Visually displaying Ads from different Social Media platforms in one shared space allowed for a clear overview and a more efficient checking process. It also meant that various team members could participate in the approval phase, quickly picking up on how the tool operates.

Since the digital environment is constantly changing, we continuously listen to the needs of our clients and try to adapt our tools accordingly. So, this is not the end of the story of CCC - we have just started.

Stay tuned and “C U in CCC!”

The results speak for themselves! Even in an environment that is becoming more and more complex, like the automotive industry, we have a reliable partner in esome. The industry expertise that esome brings to the table helps us to achieve our goals and improve our performance. In addition, the collaboration is fun!

Anne Hartmann - Coordinator Social Media & Influential Marketing

The Power of Data

Bundled competencies in the new Data & Business Intelligence Department

In recent years, data has become an increasingly valuable and sensitive resource in the digital world. Not only externally but also internally, the topics of data and business intelli gence have become increasingly important and will remain highly relevant in the future. In our team, competencies have been built up over a long period, and informal working groups have been established and developed deep expertise. With the establishment of the cross-functional Data & Business Intelligence department, we have brought together experts from the respective areas of knowledge and given them an official mandate.

In this interview, Roman Weinberger (Team Lead Data) and Jan Hapke (Director of Engi neering) provide insights into the potential created by the establishment of the new Data & BI Department, how customers and partners benefit from the bundled competencies, and which projects were the focus in 2022.

Data has become an essential resource in recent years. Would you agree with the statement “data is the new gold?”

ROMAN Gold has a long history as a capital invest ment and has always been able to maintain its im portance, so it is often confronted with new themes: Real estate as concrete gold, bitcoin as digital gold, and raw data as the new gold.

JAN That’s true, but I would still rather say “data is the new oil”: sources must be discovered and tapped before data can be “mined.” Besides sizable, estab lished sources like Facebook, Google or TikTok, we are delighted to be able to import data from emerg ing platforms like Xing, IAS, or Amazon DSP. We har monize raw data from various sources and provide tangible insights to our users. Safe, responsible, and sensitive handling is a top priority with oil, as well as it is with data.

The Data & BI Department has been rebuilt since last fall. When you reflect on your day-to-day work, what fascinates you most about your job?

ROMAN Most important: Our fantastic team. The drive of our colleagues and the freedom to shape processes motivate us to rethink established strat egies and seek constant improvement. But we are also spurred on by our industry’s fast pace and dy namism. Our department is very diverse and was designed for “New Work” right from the start. We come from different nations, and our team is spread across Europe. Although we have never been in the same room simultaneously, we still work together ef ficiently and in a good atmosphere. But of course, we all enjoy meeting our colleagues at our home base in Hamburg.

JAN Furthermore, our cross-functionality and thus the cooperation with many different colleagues from various departments spurs us on. Our ambition is to be a one-stop shop for everything that can be done with and from data. Since esome is also a tech com pany, agile working methods and cross-functional teams are in our DNA, and we were able to draw on extensive first-hand knowledge when setting up the Data & BI Department.

What were your biggest challenges in building the department?

ROMAN The biggest challenge was to rethink familiar processes and create new meeting structures and work paths for them. Of course, this also entailed a high level of coordination. But the team was consis tently motivated to tackle new topics, so this trans formation process was exciting rather than stressful.

JAN At esome, we live “New Work,” which implies low hierarchies and less disciplinary structures. Howev er, building a new department presents challenges due to not being guided by a hierarchical framework. In the end, however, we have grown with each one. In particular, the internal support and positive feed back from our colleagues have strengthened us on our way.

What topics are you driving forward with the Data & BI Department?

ROMAN We are responsible for developing, ex panding, and maintaining our data warehouse, which brings together data from various sources and makes it available. We also handle CRM processes via Salesforce and support management decisions with specific BI projects, such as setting up dash boards. In addition, we conduct data science in tending to generate profitable insights from the data and provide reports, dashboards, and APIs for ex ternal partners. The two areas of Data & BI are firmly intertwined. We constantly check whether we can use existing data sources for analysis or if a potential analysis can be a reason to connect new sources. So, it can also be said, “Data is the ingredient, and BI is the cake we bake from it.”

JAN Our focus is on making all data usable where it is needed. We have that firmly embedded in our de partment’s vision. We make data available to internal and external users, meeting the same high quality and transparency standards. At esome, transparen cy is at the center of everything we do. Customers should always be able to track how their campaigns are performing.

How do partners and clients benefit from the new department?

JAN We harmonize data from over two dozen sourc es and make it available directly to our partners and customers through reports, dashboards, interfaces, or direct access. Thanks to our extensive historical data, some of which goes back almost a decade, we can guarantee the best prices and an optimal me dia outcome of campaigns. Our benchmarks can also provide advice. Based on our extensive data pool, we can support with reliable forecasts on the performance of various campaigns and give recom mendations on the relevant KPIs according to the individual campaign goal - so our clients can bene fit directly from our experience. In addition, a broad infrastructure enables a fast and uncomplicated on boarding of new clients. Data can be quickly inte grated into our systems, and clients can access the processed data in various ways.

What projects in particular, have keptyou busy in 2022?

ROMAN To name a few of our current and complet ed projects: For example, we have developed a pric ing tool that enables automated pricing of our prod ucts according to relevant metrics. We also provide colleagues with a benchmark overview across all platforms and industries, broken down according to a comprehensive set of parameters. In addition, our budget allocation tool is also worth mentioning: This enables automated budget allocation between in dividual campaigns based on relevant optimization KPIs and thus serves as AI-driven decision support for daily controlling.

JAN Another major project that has seen another big step forward, especially this year, is our ClientCollab orationCenter. This is aimed at efficient communi cation and collaboration between clients, agencies, and esome. By providing dashboards, we enable stakeholders to get an overview of their campaigns at any time. Everything is accessible at a glance and protected by our login area.

Looking ahead, where are you headed in the coming year?

ROMAN It may sound counterintuitive, but our goal is for the department to act less as a pure data pro vider in the future and enable everyone at esome to query the data they want quickly and easily on their own. To do this, we need to create the appropriate structures and automation that make it easy and in tuitive to work with data. For this purpose, we provide data and support with its handling and the design of the right data mindset.

We are looking for:

█ Data Engineers (m/f/d)

█ Fullstack Developers (m/f/d)

█ Frontend Developers (m/f/d)

Check our career page to get more information: esome.com/en/career

Our Data & BI department is growing!

“Our focus is on making all data available where it‘s needed.”

A look at Stefan Wiegreffe’s homescreen

In its series “Homescreen!” Basic Thinking regu larly presents home screens of people from the social media, marketing, media, and tech world – including helpful and entertaining app recom mendations. For example, in April, our CTO and Managing Director Stefan Wiegreffe showed his home screen and gave inspiring app recommen dations for order, structure and efficiency.

Order, structure, and efficiency

Especially on a stressful workday, two apps are es sential for me to keep the necessary overview: First, Things, a task manager based on the “Getting Things Done” principle, without which I could no longer work. A reliable task manager has become indispensable for me to structure my projects and thus increase my productivity.

On the other hand, there is the app Shortcuts. It‘s been around for a while on iOS, but it‘s now power ful enough to get minor, repetitive tasks done quickly and without many detours. I‘m scratching the sur face, but it‘s nice to see how many processes can now be automated on the smartphone and thus made more efficient.

On the Road

For private trips with my family, but also for work trips, for example, to our location in Belgrade, TripIt has turned out to be one of the best options for me. With this app, I have booked flights and hotels available at a glance and get push notifications, for example, when a flight is delayed, or a gate changes.

Whether in Hamburg or on the road, I use the route planner app Komoot in my free time. Always an ex cellent place to find new running, hiking, or biking routes. Speaking of biking - I ride my bike to the of fice almost daily.

While doing so, I always listen to podcasts and use the standard iOS app Apple Podcasts. My favorites include “Lage der Nation” and “alphalist.CTO Pod cast”.

News, background knowledge, and music

My daily dose of niche news is delivered by the Ap ple app Reeder, one of my most used apps. I can’t live without this reliable and convenient RSS client.

I send longer articles from my feeds or relevant newsletters to Matter. I then have everything col lected in one place so that I can read them during my leisure time in the evening, for example. This way, I avoid missing important industry news from the tech sector and the digital advertising world.

Music always helps me to switch off from everyday work. Here Poolsuite FM, a fantastic internet radio, is one of my favorite apps. The music is to my taste, and the user interface has an excellent retro design.

Security first!

An additional security layer, a second authentication factor, is mandatory. A second factor is only imple mented consistently if the threshold is kept as low as possible. The 2FA Authenticator keeps this lean and straightforward and is, in my opinion, currently the best standalone authenticator app.

Apps in the background

Apps that only run in the background are just as ex citing. Since I hardly ever open them, they are, of course, not at my home screen. However, I use them almost every day because they generate enormous value. For example, I use Tailscale, a mesh VPN, or the app Das Örtliche, which allows me to reverse in coming lookup calls and block spam calls.

Dual studies at esome

XENIA BLAWAZKI Senior People & Culture Manager

Education at esome

At esome, there are many things we are proud offirst and foremost, our training concept. Like no other company, we have understood how valuable it is to train newcomers, especially young professionals, as quickly as possible and to develop them in a struc tured, holistic, and continuous way. Over the past few years, we have created many different formats that precisely pursue this goal: Onboarding workshops, department introductions, weekly lectures, best practice meetings, coaching sessions, and knowl edge management meetings - all to impart knowl edge, share it, increase it, and leverage potential. As a result, we have created a first-class education in the field of digital advertising that is unparalleled in the industry.

Dual studies - what is possible?

By offering dual study programs, we want to go one step further and support and encourage students in their first professional steps. We have been offering dual study programs for several months in cooper ation with the Wedel University of Applied Sciences and the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences. We have already been cooperating with both univer sities for several years. We know from guest lectures and career events that we share a passion for media and technology and, on top of that, a desire to pro vide the best possible education and training. It was therefore evident for us to make ourselves available as a practical partner for the study programs Digital Technologies & Coding (B.Sc.), Computer Science (M.Sc.), as well as Business Administration (M.Sc.).

Why study dual at esome?

The great thing about dual studies is that students can gain their first practical experience in our com pany parallel to their everyday university life. They can apply their theoretical knowledge directly in practice, train valuable key qualifications, and quite incidentally, make professional contacts that will still be useful many years later. Furthermore, their sala ry covers the financing of their studies, and being part of the program increases their chances of be ing taken over. Thus, after completing their training, dual students have created the theoretical basis for a great career and gained years of relevant practical experience. Where their peers are often taking their first steps, dual students are already well prepared for the challenges of a digital or technical career in an excellent job market.

At esome, dual students also benefit from a wellthought-out induction concept that includes crossteam workshops and their buddy. From day one, they learn what it means to be part of a supportive community that sees development as an individual process. They face challenging tasks and varied ac tivities to take the next step in their development as quickly as possible, knowing that a safety net of col leagues always hovers below them.

What’s in it for us? As a result, we are happy to have employees who couldn’t be better trained, know how we work, and share our mindset.

DUAL STUDY PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

Digital Technologies & Coding (B.Sc.)

Dual study program in cooperation with Macromedia

Start 01.10.2023

Duration 6 semesters Language German Application deadline 31.07.2023

Computer Science (M.Sc.)

Dual study program in cooperation with FH Wedel Start 01.04.2023

Duration 3-4 semesters

Language German Semester abroad individually plannable Application deadline 28.02.2023

Business Administration (M.Sc.)

Dual study program in co operation with FH Wedel Start 01.04.2023

Duration 6 semesters Language German Semester abroad individually plannable Application deadline 28.02.2023

AFTER WORK

How long does it take you to get home from the office?

Fortunately, not long! I live very close to our esome office in the heart of Hamburg. It’s a 15-minute walk and just six minutes by bike along the Michel and the harbor - is there a more beautiful duty stroke in Hamburg?

What do you do on your way home?

Very deliberately: Nothing that distracts me. I walkor pedal. It helps me switch off and gets me in the mood for the end of the day.

What do CEOs do after work? What does worklife balance mean to them, and do they prefer Netflix or working out? In the “Feierabend” series, MEEDIA regularly interviews industry personalities about their after-work activities. In the October in terview: our managing director, Christoph Brust

And what, unfortunately, keeps slowing you down? Me. Only myself.

Where do you dream of going?

It’s pretty easy: Australia is my place of longing. The animals, the landscape, the weather, the vastness ... simply a dream!

Do you have a good movie or series tip for us?

Difficult, there are a few. But, in any case, my first good movie and, at the same time, one of the most popular from the Disney forge: “The Jungle Book.” It’s a very timely film about respecting our environment and all the creatures that live in it.

Your favorite book is called ...

Due to my love of food: “Genussvoll vegetarisch” (title of the original edition: “Plenty”) by Yotam Ottolenghi. Eye-opening and an absolute recommendation.

Your favorite restaurant is called ... It’s impossible to decide on one restaurant here. The most important is good food in a convivial atmo sphere. But I love Italian cuisine, i.e., pizza, pasta, and risotto always go well with me.

Stadium or theater hall?

What is irreplaceable for your work-life balance?

As a sage man once said, “Choose a job you love, and you won’t have to work a day in your life.” I agree with that without exception - for me, it’s essential that “work” and “life” don’t feel like they are incompatible worlds. And they currently don’t.

And for whom are you irreplaceable?

For my little son, and in a minor form for my trusted ice cream dealer.

When was the last time you were really spontaneous?

Just a few days ago. When my family’s third flight in a row was canceled on the way back from Italy, we spontaneously decided to take a rail trip back to Hamburg - which made the return trip very adven turous, not just only for our son.

As a passionate FC St. Pauli fan, the Millerntor Sta dium is my third living room (after our own and our beautiful new office). So definitely Stadium! #FCSP

Off the rack or made to measure? „Variety is the spice of life“

What do you like to spend money on? I don’t like spending money on anything as much as on food and travel! Definitely one of the most enjoy able pastimes in life.

And what belongs to your guilty pleasures? Food in general, ice cream in particular.

The meaning of life is ... ... at least for me (still), not wholly answerable.

And someday you will definitely ... ... play the piano again.

„With esome, we found the perfect partner for high-performance social campaigns. Proactive, hands-on, flexible & innovative – a successful partnership that is a joy to work with.

Brugger - Senior Marketing Manager, Seven.One Media

Wolfgang

esome horoscope 2023

CAPRICORN

�� If you try to look at the whole thing re alistically now, you‘ll do yourself and those around you some good. �� Your will to learn and to challenge the status quo drives you H Use your experience and your self-confidence! k 2023 gives you the chance to look at your life from a new perspective. Look deep inside yourself and find your true mission.

AQUARIUS

�� 2023 surprises you with a charisma booster: you will impress your environ ment with your charisma. �� With the greatest care you dedicate yourself to a new project. H Remain modest in your proactivity and be aware that there is often not only one truth. k Changes are coming. Don‘t shy away from them, but try be one step ahead.

PISCES

�� You will notice: You can rely on your colleagues. Now is the time to intensify ties and build new bridges. �� At the be ginning of the year, there are important decisions to be made. Take a step back and focus on the facts. H Try to revive old contacts in the first months of 2023. Be confident and take the first step. You will not regret it. k With self-confident steps you start into the new year and conscious ly reduce external stress factors.

ARIES

�� Dealing with new colleagues is easy for you and you manage to win their sympa thy with just a few words. �� Ambitiously, you strive to become better and better in 2023 and set yourself high goals. But also pay attention to your well-being! H During the spring and fall months, it‘s time to look back. Give yourself a pat on the back and be proud of your accomplishments. k You find a sustainable solution to a long-stand ing problem - thinking not only about to morrow, but also about the day after.

We have looked to the stars and provide an outlook for the year 2023: For each sign of the zodiac, we have structured the look into the future according to our cor porate values:

TAURUS

�� Convincing other people of your in novative ideas will be particularly easy for you in 2023. �� Your commitment to excellence drives you to always achieve the best result - keep it up. H Stand up for your opinion, even if it does not meet with the approval of all parties. k With your stamina, you can achieve ambitious goals. But always watch your timing: impulsive actions will set you back.

GEMINI

�� You will lend a hand wherever you are needed. Your commitment will quick ly bear fruit. �� Initially, nothing seems to move forward and many things stand still. see it as an opportunity to critically ques tion projects. H Your gift for communica tion blossoms and thanks to your flair for the right words, you bring people togeth er and projects forward. k Do not ignore your passions and try to approach them in small steps. With time, your vision will be come clearer and clearer.

CANCER

�� Your everyday life gets new shine and lightness. The optimal time to realize your heart’s projects. �� Health and well-being are more important to you than ever. Your resulting satisfaction also has a positive effect on your work results. H Even if you are shy of conflicts, your ability to com promise helps you out of any challeng ing situation. k You strive to be one step ahead by breaking new ground. Don’t be discouraged!

LEO

�� Don’t keep your experiences to your self, use them to inspire those around you. �� When making an important deci sion, you keep a cool head and manage to take all relevant factors into account. H In a challenging discussion, you fearlessly address issues and take responsibility for your actions. k A great challenge turns into an unexpected opportunity.

�� We inspire and lift each other.

�� We stay better.

H We speak up.

k We shape the future.

VIRGO

�� Your profound thoughts and conversa tions will inspire your colleagues. �� Your willingness to constantly grow and learn will pay off. In the second half of the year, new doors will open for you. H You share your opinion authentically, appreciatively and confidently. Your colleagues will thank you for it. k New people will enrich your life. They will show you aspects of it that were previously unknown to you. Look for ward to it!

LIBRA

�� You dedicate yourself to new projects with willpower. With the right team, it’s even more fun. �� You keep your 2023 goal in mind and do everything you can to achieve it - keep it up! H Well-cho sen words and innovative solutions can smooth the waters in a conflicting situation and correct mistakes. k You are on fire for a new idea! Luck is on your side and by the end of the year you will be one step ahead of your environment.

SCORPIO

�� With your pronounced curiosity as well as enthusiasm, you’ll pull everyone along with you. In the process, some boundar ies will be crossed and redefined �� The time has come for a feedback conversa tion with yourself: Are you living up to your full potential? H Your proactivity and au thenticity will help you overcome a new challenge. Don’t lose sight of the goal! k Go within yourself and find out who you are and where you want to go. It’s never too late and potential obstacles will only strengthen you.

SAGGITARIUS

�� Become aware of your weaknesses and strengths. This insight will help you in conflict situations. �� Your powers seem endless and your energy level is constant ly rising. But make sure to take a breath and reflect in between. H You give others the space to open up authentically and to give words to their feelings. You are happy about every progress. k On a new mis sion, you fearlessly take on challenges and strive to find innovative solutions.

Impressum

MOM - Media Outcome Magazine 2022

Herausgeber esome advertising technologies GmbH Hohe Bleichen 11 20357 Hamburg

Telefon (040) 600 288 100 info@esome.com www.esome.com

Geschäftsführung

Christoph Brust, Stefan Wiegreffe (V.i.S.d.P.)

Redaktion

Senja Brüggemann, Simon Deluigi, Johannes Niehuis, Sandra Schierhorn

Layout & Satz

Johannes Niehuis

Cover Artwork

Simon Deluigi

Mitwirkende

Leticia Aguilar, Martin Behrendt, Xenia Blawazki, Christoph Brust, Sandra Buchholz, Jan Hapke, Kristin Haß, Frauke Heincken, Michael Hinse, Milica Joksimovic, Anneke Köhler, Elisa Majcherczyk, Niklas Matthiesen, Dusan Obradovic, Lasse Petersen, Falko Rieper, Robert Schöne, Desirée Schmidt, Patrik Simms, Jevgenija Stensrud, Rieke Strehle, Jessica Ullrich, Gesa Vogel, Hristina Vukovic, Roman Weinberger, Stefan Wiegreffe

Druck WIRmachenDRUCK GmbH Mühlbachstr. 7 71522 Backnang

Stand der Drucklegung 28. November 2022

Änderungen und Irrtümer vorbehalten.