Pfleiderer has won not just one, but two 2024 German Brand Awards. Learn more about Pfleiderer's sustainability strategy "Naturally sustainable" that impressed the jury.
"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well."
This quote from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos summarises Pfleiderer's own ethos, as well as those applied by the German Brand Award jury, in a nutshell. Initiated by the German Design Council, the German Brand Awards are awarded annually in recognition of the most successful market campaigns in Germany by a jury consisting of high-profile branding and branding science experts.
The jury assesses the following criteria:
- Uniqueness and brand characteristics,
- brand presence,
- differentiation from competitors
- and target group relevance.
The branding, i.e. the brand management, should considers aspects such as sustainability and continuity; it should also be future-proof. Factors like the design quality of the brand image, the homogeneousness of the brand experience and the financial success also play a decisive role in the judging process.
Double win at the German Brand Awards 2024
Pfleiderer pursues a consistent sustainability strategy, and communicated its principles, voluntary commitments and goals to the public with the communication campaign NATURALLY SUSTAINABLE. It not only includes sustainability standards for the materials, but also for the climate in the regions where we source our raw materials, and the people who work for Pfleiderer.
The jury decided the campaign merited a 2024 German Brand Award, and not just in one, but in two categories: Pfleiderer collected the accolade "Winner" in the category Excellent Brands: Building & Elements, as well as in the additional category Excellent Brands: Sustainable Brand of the Year. The latter is a jury award, which the companies cannot enter themselves for: the winners are chosen by the renowned jury members from the German Brand Award winners in all categories.
Authentic sustainability communication impressed the German Brand Award jury
"Demonstrable sustainability standards have already been at the top of our agenda for a very long time," says Stefan Göldner, the head of Pfleiderer Germany's communications department. "That is what we wanted to communicate in an authentic way with our campaign. The two awards impressively confirm that we have managed to do this extremely well." The campaign itself was also in line with Pfleiderer's sustainability strategy – and therefore focused primarily on the use of digital media.
Brand success thanks to 360-degree campaign
As credibility is Pfleiderer's top priority, it was decided to not only use external disseminators as brand ambassadors, but also company employees who explained Pfleiderer's strategy in brief statements. If you'd like to find out what they said in these impressive statements? The entire basis for the campaign is explained in our Sustainability report.
"An image video, an online special, an image advertisement, social media and testimonial measures, as well as, of course, a respective presentation for our sales agents – we developed a modern 360-degree campaign that made it possible to successfully reach a wide audience", says Stefan Göldner. "The aim of good communication is to show us as we are: aware of our responsibility, customer- and future-oriented, and consistently sustainable, which is precisely what this campaign did."
Top jury selects German Brand Award winners
An independent, interdisciplinary jury hailing from the business and the research community, consultancy firms, service providers and agencies awards the prestigious German Brand Award to companies whose brand management performance has been particularly impressive. The awards in the additional categories, for which the companies cannot actually enter themselves, is particularly sought-after. "That is why we are especially pleased to have won the 'Sustainable Brand of the Year' award,", says Stefan Göldner. "It signifies that we have successfully managed to get our message across – and indirectly, it also honours the sustainability efforts made by all of Pfleiderer's employees and partners."
The German Brand Award 2024 for the campaign "Naturally sustainable" emphasises Pfleiderer's pioneering role in the engineered wood industry. It proves the worth of a commitment to eco-friendly and resource-saving products, and that sustainable business practices and innovative solutions go hand in hand. This success once again confirms that Pfleiderer is a future-oriented industry partner that is aware of their responsibilities – and that will also continue to forge ahead with groundbreaking and ecological developments in the future.
