Ulrich Klenke: A world in magenta

m&k: I like to ask people like you—who are well-known both within and beyond the communications industry—a question that’s almost heretically simple. It goes like this: What exactly is your job?

Ulrich Klenke: I actually get asked that more often than you’d think! Or, let’s put it this way: I have a title—it’s called Chief Brand Officer—and I have to explain it over and over again. People want to know: «Why does Telekom need a Chief Brand Officer?» And right after that: «Why aren’t you a ‚real‘ Chief Marketing Officer?» (laughs) My answer to the first question is: Because our brand is currently worth 73 billion US dollars. There has to be someone who develops it further and protects it. That’s my job. And the answer to the second question is: «Our Chief Marketing Officer is, strictly speaking, our CEO. Together with him—or rather, on his behalf—I shape the brand.»

«Our brand is currently worth 73 billion U.S. dollars. There has to be someone who can develop it further and protect it.»

 

Brands play a crucial role in the telecommunications sector. Why?

Because it’s incredibly difficult to stand out in this industry. All providers can offer more or less the same infrastructure, the same backend, and the same devices. Of course, we strive—and to be honest, we go above and beyond!—to make our infrastructure just a tad better than the competition’s, to offer better service, and to provide our employees with excellent training. But where we have the most leverage is with our brand. That’s where we have the greatest freedom. We can shape it so that it stands out more than others, so that it comes across as a «premium brand,» and so that it conveys values that are part of our corporate DNA …

 

… and that’s why you’re not just designers, but—as you just said—also «protectors.».

Yes. When you have an asset as valuable as the «Telekom brand,» you have to manage it centrally and take care of it. That said, the aspects of «protection» and «development» always overlap. We could debate exactly where to draw the lines—but, for example, we make sure that all national markets reproduce Telekom’s protected shade of magenta identically, from the U.S. all the way to North Macedonia. A world in magenta, with as few deviations as possible. At first glance, this might sound like a minor detail—just specify the color once and you’re done—but it’s a massive undertaking. Trade show booths, posters, signs, commercials, banners… Ten thousand different materials; ten thousand opportunities to misjudge it if no one is looking closely. Note: Precisely because we place so much emphasis on magenta, we also have to make sure that no one else rides our coattails—that no company creates a visual association with us by using a similar color, even though we don’t want that. I mean, I can understand the temptation; magenta is just—sorry—an awesome color: loud, striking, positive. That’s exactly why it’s our color. (laughs) If someone wants to ride our wave, our legal team steps in—there’s no other way around it.

 

And how do you develop the brand—in other words, how do you carry out the second, important part of your job?

Where should I start? (laughs) You immediately pinned on one of the pins we’re handing out in the lobby (points to a «T» on the journalist’s sweater); Of course, we don’t do this just for fun, but so that employees outside HQ can carry a little reminder with them and represent the company a bit. That’s where it starts. But it goes much further than that: If we assume that the technological aspect of our work isn’t an ideal unique selling point, then we have to ask ourselves: What makes us special? How do we elevate what we do to a meta-level through branding? That’s where the word «Connection» comes in—it simply sounds best in English, so we’ll leave it at that; this is where we say: We don’t sell phone plans; we sell—«Connection.» Connection. We make human connection possible, even across the greatest distances, reliably and affordably. Everything we do—and this is the «bottom line»—serves the goal of bringing people closer together. Whether it’s families during the pandemic who needed stable internet to video call their grandmother, or continuous investments in network quality so that a married couple can say «good night» to each other even when they’re on two different continents.

 

All of this, in turn, points to the values you mentioned earlier. If a brand champions the narrative of «connection,» it must openly reject anything that divides people.

Exactly. Racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism… none of that has a place in our company, nor in our brand or our communications. This isn’t some sales gimmick where we make claims that we don’t ultimately live up to—we actually live by these principles. In a few days, the entire executive board is heading to Krakow; of course, we’re not going on a «management retreat» at a resort hotel—we’re visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp. Tim Höttges has said—and I agree with him completely—that it’s more important than ever not to lose sight of history. So we’re making sure that doesn’t happen.

 

Speaking of homophobia: Even though you’ve been quite reserved in expressing your values, you’ve already become the target of political smear campaigns. But you continue to stand up for them. Why?

Well, I’d be happy to tell you that story. From it, I’ve learned a great deal about our presence in different cultural contexts, about steadfastly holding onto our convictions, and about the sometimes surprising dynamics in the markets. We made a Christmas movie that was shown in every country where Telekom operates. The film was the same everywhere; we simply dubbed it appropriately for each country. A young man comes home to his family; they talk about what’s been going on in his life, and one might—note: might!—interpret that he is gay. But this isn’t emphasized in an offensive way; it’s not even the focus of the film. There are no religious offenses, no supposed boundary violations—nothing.

«Then there were two or three people who said, »Klenke has really lost it now.’”

 

Some viewers in Eastern Europe saw it differently.

Yes. In one of our markets, a right-wing government had just been confirmed in office, so there was already tension in the air, and then an ugly narrative took hold in certain circles—and I’ll quote it here, though the wording is terrible and I would never use it under any circumstances: «Telekom is showing gay propaganda!» 20,000 people signed a petition to stop the commercial from airing on TV. Our country management wasn’t intimidated by this; they gave interviews and said, «This is our commercial, and it’s staying exactly as it is.» But of course, we’re not an NGO—which means we didn’t «double down,» but simply let things be and risked losing some customers. In return, the ad went over really well with young target audiences, and in Germany—because the market accepts it—we actually ramped up the equality message even more, since we saw that this interpretation works. What I’m trying to say is: We stand by our brand and our values—especially in times of crisis—but we don’t provoke just for the sake of provoking. We believe in the power of nuance.

 

But a little creative provocation is okay, right? Their «Wacken shirts» with slogans like «Connected Til Death» were a huge success, a bestseller, and a rare example of how a large corporation can effectively extend the impact of event sponsorship in a truly entertaining way.

Thank you very much for the compliment! But I have to temper your enthusiasm a bit: We’ve sold about 6,000 of these T-shirts, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say that everyone in Germany has one in their closet. But those are good numbers for a corporate sponsorship campaign; and our employees love the shirts, too—I noticed that when I was recently invited to give a presentation to the works council of the technical field service. At events like that, you often hear criticism of headquarters, but once it became clear that I was the guy behind the Wacken merchandise, the mood was great. (laughs) Of course, you can only do something like that if the executive board is willing to let the brand venture into those kinds of spheres. You’ll recall that I referred to Tim Höttges earlier as our de facto CMO, and when it came to the shirts I mentioned, he was the first person I presented the idea to. After two minutes, he said, «Brilliant. I want that.» That’s when I knew, okay, the boss is on board. Then there were two or three people who said, «Now Klenke has lost his mind,» but in the end, the whole thing was a complete success. That does put pressure on you, though—when you pull off something that amazing, the people who thought it was cool will say after a month, «Okay, so what’s next?»

 

Success requires continuous replication … or rather, continuous improvement, right?

That’s exactly it. I can tell you exactly how many creative awards we won in 2023: 251, to be precise! These include major awards like the «Grand Effie,» which are truly significant for the German marketing and communications industry. If we don’t win them in 2024, people will ask, «So, what’s going on at Telekom now?» But for many juries, it wouldn’t make any sense to award major prizes to the same company two years in a row. But try explaining that to someone who isn’t familiar with the intricacies of the awards business. All they’ll understand is: «This year… we didn’t win anything.» (laughs)

 

Let’s briefly return to those who, when it comes to Wacken, said, «Klenke is losing his mind»: Even with the backing of the CEO, it can be complex to reform a traditional brand—one that many people have associated with certain things for decades. How do you strike a balance between the familiar and the new?

The theory of innovation I follow is pretty clear on this: People look especially to societal «innovation leaders.» If these «thought leaders» approve of what’s happening, then the rest of the people follow their lead. That’s it. Demographically speaking, younger people are naturally in the lead, so we’re rejuvenating our target audience—tailoring our content and tone to people who haven’t been Telekom customers for ages—and making sure that those who’ve known the brand for a long time are «brought along» too. After all, they also want a brand that doesn’t bore them, one that fits into the present… and maybe they want to feel young again. (laughs) At the same time, we’re not stopping our outreach to more traditional target groups: As the jersey sponsor of FC Bayern, we’re in every newspaper and on every sports news program every weekend—in the classic way—and that’s not going to change. Nor are we changing certain product campaigns where we deliberately take a back seat to cater to the preferences of older people. But in general, as I said, we’re strategically moving our communication «forward.».

 

What’s actually more important: one-off campaigns and scoops that attract a lot of attention—or consistent brand visibility?

Definitely the latter. People—and I’m no different, nor are you—don’t think about a new device or a new mobile carrier every day. They only do so at very specific moments in their lives. And when those moments—those turning points—arrive, we need to be «top of mind» with our brand. I want someone whose cell phone breaks to immediately think, «I should go to a Telekom store.» Without a certain «background noise» that we create in everyday life, that’s not possible. I always say that the CFO is the brand manager’s best friend—because he provides the fuel for it. Of course, you can also operate under the assumption that investing in long-term advertising campaigns and consistent brand maintenance is too expensive, but then you’ll get caught in a downward spiral where you’ll have to compete with rivals through discounts because you lack other tools… and as a company—as a brand—you’ll hardly ever recover from that. That’s why: it’s better not to make this mistake at all!

«We take responsibility, and we talk about it.»

 

Where is the «Telekom brand» headed in the future?

There’s even more of that spirit, even more of it… to show the world out there who we really are. We take responsibility, and we talk about it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we gave away data packages to make social distancing a little more bearable. In Poland, we supported Ukrainian refugees; during the flood disaster in Germany a few years ago, we made our technology available. I could give dozens more examples, but I just want to say this: We’re aware of our size, and we know what kind of responsibility that size entails. Our employees are enthusiastic about our initiatives outside our «core business» and are already actively sharing what we do with the world… we will follow their lead and set corresponding communication priorities.

 

And as for your position in the—as you yourself said—highly competitive telecommunications market, are you also optimistic?

Yes. But I find it almost more exciting to start looking at who we could take as a model outside of this market. Who should our peers be when it comes to purpose and customer experience? Can we expand in different directions? Who can we learn from, and who do we need to keep an eye on? Speaking of which: Of course, that doesn’t mean we aren’t keeping an eye on our competitors. (laughs) We’re in a tough market—you’re right about that—and we need to leverage the strength of our brand to become increasingly successful commercially. We want to project confidence in every country where we operate—and there’s still a lot of work to be done there. If only because the competition varies from market to market and is embedded to varying degrees in consumers« awareness. We also don’t have an identical product portfolio everywhere—sometimes we offer only landline solutions, sometimes »mobile-only,« and sometimes a combination of both… and so on. Add to that the purchasing power of the respective populations, the general prevailing mood, and the economic climate, and you’re constantly faced with new challenges. However—if we didn’t like challenges, we wouldn’t be doing any of this, would we? (laughs) And I’m deliberately saying »we” now, because in this interview we’ve talked a lot about me and my work: Without the people who do outstanding work in our various markets, nothing would work at all. I really want to mention that here.

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Ulrich Klenke has been Chief Brand Officer at Deutsche Telekom AG since April 1, 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the national and international brand management of Europe’s leading telecommunications group. Ulrich Klenke is a proven expert in marketing communications and is regarded as a thought leader in both content and strategy. Before joining Telekom, he served as CEO at various advertising agencies, was CMO at Deutsche Bahn, and worked in the automotive industry—including stints at Volkswagen and Daimler.