Mammut - balancing act between the old and new world of communication

In terms of communication, Mammut still has to move along two paths - analog and digital.I meet Rolf G. Schmid at Mammut's headquarters outside Lenzburg. The modern building exudes the spirit of an open-minded global sporting goods company as soon as you enter, and the first thing I ask Mr Schmid about is the importance of digitalization at Mammut. "At Mammut, communication with end customers and specialist retailers is of central importance. The digital possibilities play an important role in this," emphasizes Schmid. "At the same time, however, it is unthinkable to cut off the 'old world'. We are therefore consciously performing a balancing act here in order to ensure proximity to our customers and sales partners. At the same time, however, this leads to a 'budget stretch' as we have to serve two communication worlds with the same budget. And yet we still want and need to focus firmly on digital communication - so the importance is high." It is also interesting to note that the industry is highly complex with two collections per year and that up-to-date data is therefore very important for decision-making and management. At Mammut, the topic of "digital transformation" is anchored in the two functional strategies of marketing and IT.New website plannedWhat specific example can be used to illustrate Mammut's digital transformation? "We are about to launch our new website, which will then be followed by the first B-to-C web store - our first digital direct sales channel for end customers." The new website is all about optimizing data and image management, making the product presentation more attractive with 3D options and linking different application worlds. "Another driver for the adaptation of the website was also the functionality on mobile devices. "And at what speed is Mammut driving the digital transformation forward? "On the scale between 'slow' and 'very fast', 'fast' applies to Mammut. We don't generally aspire to be a first mover, but we do want to be in the top third. In the area of social media, our aspirations are higher. We are already managing to keep the time spent on the website above average with attractive and exciting content - we will continue to defend this benchmark in the future."Disillusionment is spreadingWhat are the initial findings from implemented digitalization projects? The CEO is somewhat disillusioned by this answer: "The hoped-for benefits and planned savings are never as great as we had hoped." Schmid sees one explanation for this in the fact that too much is bought in terms of technical solutions compared to what is actually used. As a result, the conclusion is clear to him: "Buy less and use it." Schmid adds that the effects must also be differentiated according to stakeholder. For example, investments in the area of social media would primarily have convenience benefits for customers. On the other hand, he sees efficiency benefits for areas such as finance and sales if the provision of data for reporting is improved.Speed as a challengeAnd what are the two biggest challenges of the digital transformation for Schmid? "The speed at which digital change is taking place makes it challenging for me to filter out what is relevant for Mammut from the multitude of new offers and possibilities. This is where I ask myself the question - what do we really need?" Using the supposedly banal example of digital expense recording, Schmid makes it clear that process simplification is obvious from the perspective of the central, administrative office. What is underestimated in his view, however, is the additional decentralized effort for the individual employees. This type of full-cost view is still not addressed enough in investment applications."Not everything that is digital is better per se"At the end of the conversation, I ask Rolf G. Schmid what else he would like to add. "Not everything that is digital is better per se." With this, the CEO points to a certain digital credulity in which questioning is neglected. Rushing down the digital path would also entail risks. He illustrates this by collecting additional information without first asking himself what this additional data would be used for. "In my view, the high school is to ensure corporate management with as little data and figures as possible."As part of the digital series in Marketing&Communication by Christoph Oggenfuss (markITing ag), the first two seasons were entitled "Digital - not trivial" and "Digital - from Talk to Walk". The third season, "Digital - walk before you run", is all about the right pace of transformation.