How is the german digital industry doing? And how can we keep up with GAFA? And how do we make people care? Philipp Westermeyer, Founder of OMR, has the answers.

1. STATE OF THE
GERMAN
INTERNET
2019
STATE OF THE
GERMAN
INTERNET
2019
STATE OF THE
GERMAN
INTERNET
2019
STATE OF THE
GERMAN
INTERNET
2019

2. €53 BIL
€65 BIL
ZALANDO
UNITED INTERNET
PROSIEBENSAT.1
DELIVERY HERO
AXEL SPRINGER
SCOUT24
ROCKET INTERNET
HELLO FRESH
STRÖER
TRIVAGO
XING
CTS EVENTIM
ZALANDO
UNITED INTERNET
PROSIEBENSAT.1
DELIVERY HERO
AXEL SPRINGER
SCOUT24
ROCKET INTERNET
HELLO FRESH
STRÖER
TRIVAGO
XING
CTS EVENTIM
2019
GIX2018
THE YEAR
IN REVIEW
Since OMR18, the GIX has been
under enormous pressure.
Source: Yahoo finance, April 23, 2019
GIX (German Internet Index):
Digital Core Business
Valued > €1 Billion
B2C

3. Meanwhile, Chinese platforms have
remained stable despite deteriorating
global economic conditions. Seemingly
immune to market developments, the Big
Four added €500 BIL in market cap.
2019
GAFA20182019
BAT20182019
GIX2018
TENCENT
ALIBABA
BAIDU
ALIBABA
TENCENT
BAIDU
APPLE
AMAZON
GOOGLE
FACEBOOK
APPLE
AMAZON
GOOGLE
FACEBOOK
€2915 BIL
€2400 BIL
€883 BIL€900 BIL
€53 BIL€65 BIL
Source: Yahoo finance, April 23, 2019
THE YEAR
IN REVIEW

4. So, the listed German Internet has been
dwarfed even further by the global platforms
compared to last year. Let’s see what else
stood out in Germany, USA and China. Actually,
there are some reasons for optimism...

5. There were numerous start-ups
able to secure investments.
Some private unicorns were
even able to form. These
investments could also translate
to a stronger GIX in the future.
MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN STARTUPS
GERMANY
Source: OMR Research: Undisclosed investments
>€25 MIL from 2018 until March 2019

6. There were numerous start-ups
able to secure investments.
Some private unicorns were
even able to form. These
investments could also translate
to a stronger GIX in the future.
MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN STARTUPS
GERMANY
56,6M
150M
26M
500M
33M
56M
166M
35M
55M
132M
140M
35M
392M
60M
40M
41.5M
26M
34M
26M
110M
83M 28M
26M
30M
100M
50M
35M
44M
88M
264M
29.5M
460M
46M
Source: OMR Research: Undisclosed investments
>€25 MIL from 2018 until March 2019

7. MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN VOICE
USA
Voice is the absolute talk of the
town. To give you an idea:
Amazon alone has more than
10K staff members on their
voice team now—and is looking
to hire >2,000 more.

8. MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN VOICE
USA
Voice is the absolute talk of the
town. To give you an idea:
Amazon alone has more than
10K staff members on their
voice team now—and is looking
to hire >2,000 more.
Source: amazon.jobs, Wall Street Journal

9. Even though the statistics are
not always reliable, China is
investing heavily in AI. First
results: More than 10 Chinese
AI unicorns are already on the
scene.
Source: Forbes
MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN AI
CHINA

10. Even though the statistics are
not always reliable, China is
investing heavily in AI. First
results: More than 10 Chinese
AI unicorns are already on the
scene.
Source: Forbes
MASSIVE
INVESTMENTS
IN AI
CHINA

11. The macro perspective and our global
snapshots might give you both a bit of a
headache and some optimism. Let us get to
OMR’s core competence: Marketing.

12. Source: Forbes
RECAP
2017
In 2017, our message
was that your product is
key to your marketing.
Credits:HunkeOMR2017

13. RECAP
2018
Last year we tried to
figure out how to win in
the platform economy.
Credits:WöckenerOMR2018

14. Source: Forbes
This year we believe the most important
question to answer is...

15. HOW DO
WE MAKE
PEOPLE
CARE?
HOW DO
WE MAKE
PEOPLE
CARE?
HOW DO
WE MAKE
PEOPLE
CARE?

16. It is hard to get people to stop scrolling and grab
their attention for at least a millisecond, to
engage, to call to action in an extremely noisy
world. We were inspired by the following
example...

17. Price comparison platforms
are among the biggest ad
spenders in Germany. Almost
everybody can save a pretty
penny by switching power
companies. Given that power
has no specific properties and
switching is really easy... Who
wouldn't take advantage?
HARDER
THAN
EVER

18. Source: BNetzA, Monitoringbericht 2018
HARDER
THAN
EVER
Last year, 9 out of 10
Germans refused to switch
power companies—despite the
massive savings.
90DON’T CARE

19. Source: Forbes
To be able to get a slice of the attention and
activity pie, we believe you need to address
people’s instincts. Being OMR, we thought
we’d go to the root and focus on our basest,
most archaic instincts...
If vast ad pressure plus a no brainer deal won’t work:
HOW CAN WE MAKE
PEOPLE CARE?
HOW CAN WE MAKE
PEOPLE CARE?
HOW CAN WE MAKE
PEOPLE CARE?

20. THE
SEVEN
DEADLY
SINS
These will provide an ancient
playbook for this modern
phenomenon: getting you to
make people care.
Credits:wikipedia.org

21. WRATH WRA
WRATHWRATH
WRATHWRATH
WRATH
WRATH
WRATHWRATH
WRATH
HWRATH WRA
WATH
WRATH
WRATHWRATHWRATH
RATH
WRAT
#1 ZORN
People are quick to go irate
and get angry—very angry—
especially on the Internet.
Pandering to wrath is
actually a highly effective
marketing tactic.
#1 WRATH

22. UPROAR
#1 WRATH
Nike made Colin Kaepernick
their testimonial. The former
NFL quarterback protested
police violence against
minorities by taking a knee
during the national anthem.
Credits:ran.de
Credits:spiegel.de

23. UPROAR
#1 WRATH
The issue became a social
flashpoint; his mere image
provoked outrage and caused
an uproar.
Credits:ran.de

24. UPROAR
#1 WRATH The share price plummeted the day after the campaign started
but then bounced back and actually increased. Why? The
uproar came from people outside the target audience. In
response, progressive, wealthy and urban people bought into it.
At the heart of this campaign is not an attitude or mindset, but a
clever marketing tactic.
SHARE PRICE
21.08.2018 - 19.9.2018
SEP. 4, 2018
DAY AFTER CAMPAIGN START
SEP. 17, 2018
TWO WEEKS AFTER
CAMPAIGN START
Source: Yahoo finance

25. UPROAR
#1 WRATH
Another mainstream
brand took a similar
road. Gillette's shift
from traditional
advertising ploys to
call out toxic
manhood created
the uproar.

26. UPROAR
#1 WRATH
The wrath
translated into
an attention
spike.
GILLETTE WILKINSON
GOOGLE SEARCHES
DEC 18 - JAN 19
JAN. 16, 2019

27. UPROAR
#1 WRATH
German mainstream
companies also
employed this tactic as
well. The Katjes’
campaign to promote
their now vegan sweets
provoked right-wing
extremists.
Credits:hiveminer.com

28. 2017
FEB - APR
2018
FEB - APR
+28%
SALES
UPROAR
#1 WRATH The negative reaction from the usual suspects, like this
representative of a populist right-wing party, was presumably
intended; the product sold extremely well.

29. ESIREDESIREDESIREDE
REDESIREDESIREDESIR
DESIREDESIREDESIRED
SIREDESIREDESIREDES
EDESIREDESIREDESIRE
ESIREDESIREDESIREDE
Creating "desire" is fundamental
to marketing—no big news. But
maybe we have a new
perspective to offer.
#2 DESIRE
#2 BEGEHREN

30. #2 DESIRE
COLLABORATION
Who is that
tattooed
gangster?
Who are
these three
old guys?
Credits:egofm.de
Credits:zeit.de

31. COLLABORATION
#2 DESIRE
Collaborations are
nothing new to the music
industry. German hip-
hop artists Gzuz and
Beginner collaborated
on the track "Ahnma."
Besides creating the
song they shared their
(mostly) unrelated
fanbases to broaden
their reach.
GZUZ X BEGINNER
Credits:juice.de

32. RIMOWA X
OFFWHITE
IKEA X
HAY
CROCS X
BALENCIAGA
COLLABORATION
#2 DESIRE
This tactic spread
widely into the
marketing space and is
easy to adapt. Create
desire for you and your
product within the
complementary target
group of another
brand.
Crocs x
Balenciaga
Rimowa x
Offwhite
Ikea x
Hay
Credits:pinterest.de
Credits:china-gadgets.de
Credits:schöner-wohnen.de

33. NVYENVYENVYENVY
VYENVYENVYENVYE
VYENVYENVYENVYE
VYENVYENVYENVYE
VYENVYENVYENVYE
VYENVYENVYENVYE
#3 NEID
How to exploit people’s envy:
Create something everybody
wants but few can get.
#3 ENVY

34. DROP
#3 ENVY
Drops cause massively
long queues for an item
that others will envy.
Let’s see how to
engineer this.
Credits:vice.de

35. RIMOWA X
OFFWHITE
IKEA X
HAY
CROCS X
BALENCIAGA
COLLABORATION
#2 DESIRE
Develop special
product
Create desire
through scarcIty
Communicate the
time of the drop
1 2 3Credits:hypebeast.ch

36. DROP
#3 ENVY
This quite costly hoodie is re-
sold to fashion addicts at a
huge mark-up, which is
indicative of the level of envy.
The benefit for Supreme is the
attention though.

37. DROP
#3 ENVY
This tactic can also be employed
even if you happen not to be
Supreme. It has worked for
chocolate, credit cards and an
eCommerce shop for biker gear
as well, just to name a few.

38. RIDEPRIDEPRIDEPRID
PRIDEPRIDEPRIDEPRID
EPRIDEPRIDEPRIDEPR
IDEPRIDEPRIDEPRIDEP
RIDEPRIDEPRIDEPRID
PRIDEPRIDEPRIDEPRID
#4 STOLZ
Being an insider might
make you feel proud.
Brands can trigger huge
engagement hooking
people on pride.
#4 PRIDE
PRIDE
PRIDE

39. MEMEBAITING
WHAT ARE
MEMES?
#4 PRIDE
Memes create new contexts. They are
the inside jokes of the digital era. If
you get it or even create a new
iteration of the meme, you proudly
feel like you are "in the know."

40. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
MEMEBAITING
MEME VS JESUS
#4 PRIDE
GOOGLE SEARCHES
JAN 04 - MAR 19
MEME JESUS
Actually, memes are
bigger than Jesus.

41. #4 PRIDE
MEMEBAITING
Netflix is a master of memebaiting. To
promote “Bird Box,” they created a
challenge asking popular streamers to play
their games blindfolded. Eventually, the
meme went viral.
Credits:horizont.de

42. #4 PRIDE
MEMEBAITING

43. #4 PRIDE
GOOGLE SEARCHES
APR 18 - MAR 19
BIRD BOX AQUAMAN
MEMEBAITING
MARY POPPINS
APR 18 MAY 18 JUN 18 JUL 18 AUG 18 SEP 18 OCT 18 NOV 18 DEC 18 JAN 19 FEB 19 MAR 19
We cannot judge the quality of
these films. It is a fact though that
Bird Box generated considerably
more attention than other big
budget films released that day.

44. MEMEBAITING
THE KING
OF MEMES
#4 PRIDE
Why? He creates products that
become memes. His name is
Demna Gvasalia, creative director
of Balenciaga.
Credits:nytimes.de

45. MEMEBAITING
#4 PRIDE
One of many examples:
His IKEA-like tote
transformed products of
mass consumption into
high fashion.
Credits:wmagazine.com

46. #4 PRIDE
MEMEBAITING
The product became a meme that went viral — to the
benefit of both Balenciaga and IKEA.

47. MEMEBAITING
BALENCIAGA VS HERMÈS
#4 PRIDE
GOOGLE SEARCHES
APR 14 - MAR 19
BALENCIAGA HERMÈS
DEMNA GVASALIA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019OCT 2015
Since he took on the role, the brand profile
grew almost exponentially surpassing legacy
high fashion brands.

48. #4 PRIDE
MEMEBAITING
As the organizer of an annual Festival, our founder Philipp
really took note of this one. Taking one for the team. If you
don't get it check out the Fyre Fest documentary…

49. REEDGREEDGREEDGR
EEDGREEDGREEDGREE
EDGREEDGREEDGREED
GREEDGREEDGREEDG
REEDGREEDGREEDGR
EEDGREEDGREEDGREE
#5 GREED
#5 GEIZ
Even though it got a
bit harder, greed
still is a great way
to trigger your
audience.

50. RIMOWA X
OFFWHITE
IKEA X
HAY
CROCS X
BALENCIAGA
DISCOUNT
SALES
EVENTS
#2 DESIRE
Combining discounts
with a clearcut
timeframe, sales events
are a global
phenomenon.
Singles’
Day
Cyber
Monday
Black
Friday
Credits:zdnet.de
Credits:twitter.com
Credits:reuters.de

51. DISCOUNT
BLACK
FRIDAY
#5 GREED
Hamburg-based fashion
brand “About You”
shows how to
operationalize greed.
Special discounts are
available only if you
download the app.

52. #5 GREED
DISCOUNT
BANNER
Banners are a bit out of fashion. But actually they do work
when combined with discounts. If a certain threshold is
crossed attention converts into action.
Source: Yahoo finance, April 23, 2019
40%
DISCOUNT
50%
DISCOUNT
+100%
CLICKS +60%
CONVERSION
HABITUAL DISCOUNT
IN THIS SEGMENT
Source: OMR
Research

53. #5 GREED
2018:
€2.3 MIL
PROFIT
DISCOUNT
These guys‘ eCommerce business—selling the leftover
inventory from sports brands—grew without investors to an
impressive profit.
Credits:lvz.de

54. #5 GREED
DISCOUNT
POWER OF DEAL
PLATFORMS
How? By primarily taking advantage of such
deal platforms. This marketing channel is a real
opportunity.

55. LOTHSLOTHSLOTHSLO
THSLOTHSLOTHSLOTH
SLOTHSLOTHSLOTHSL
OTHSLOTHSLOTHSLOT
HSLOTHSLOTHSLOTHS
LOTHSLOTHSLOTHSLO
#6 GEWOHNHEIT
People like
their habits.
#6 SLOTH

56. #6 SLOTH
CLASSIC
DISTRIBUTION
MAIL
Addressing people online has become quite an expensive
endeavor as bidding algorithms coupled with a super noisy
environment equals high costs. Sending a letter has the price of
a stamp and a lot of people still read their mail.
Source:OMRReportThePlaybookhttps://omr.com/report/

57. “Fond of” grew impressively by
pushing their Ergobag school
backpacks to the top of parents
minds. Their marketing tactic?
CLASSIC
DISTRIBUTION
RETAILERS
#6 SLOTH
*
90MIL
€
Revenue
2015 / 2016 2016 / 2017 2017 / 2018 2018 / 2019
* estimated
69MIL
€
55MIL
€
34MIL
€
Source: OMR Podcast
#161, Bundesanzeiger

58. GE
BI
MS
BS
GE
MG
BN
AC
WI
W
MA
KA
A
DO
L
HB
H
N
S
M
F
E
DO
DU
D
BO
DO
HH
B
#6 SLOTH
CLASSIC
DISTRIBUTION
RETAILERS
50,000
CITIES INGERMANY WITHMORE THAN
INHABITIANTS
Instead of Instagram or
Pinterest, they addressed
classic retailers in larger
cities both for distribution
and taste making.

59. CLASSIC
DISTRIBUTION
RETAILERS
#4 PRIDE
Specialized stores like
this one in Hamburg
are the cornerstone of
Ergobag’s success.

60. The same tactics apply
to very successful toy
innovator Toniebox and
the hyped-up Swiss
running brand "On."
Both went to the places
where people
habitually looked for
toys or running
expertise.
RETAILER
#6 SLOTH
Source: OMR Podcast
#166 und #188
Credits:genialokal.de
Credits:on-running.com

61. #6 SLOTH
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION
SHOPPABLE ADS
Sloth based marketing applies online as
well. Totally frictionless shopping makes it
even easier to click and buy on the
platform where you already are.

62. LUTTONYGLUTTONYG
UTTONYGLUTTONYGL
TTONYGLUTTONYGLU
TONYGLUTTONYGLUT
ONY
LUTTONYGLUTTONYGOne more sin. In our eyes,
there is one platform that
embodies gluttony: Instagram.
#7 MASSLOSIGKEIT
#7 GLUTTONY

63. LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM
#4 PRIDE
German rapper
BonezMC grew to
almost 2 mil followers.
Credits:hiphop.de

64. LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM
#4 PRIDE He basically lacks any and all restraint on
sharing his life and broadcasts constantly.
Every dot represents an Instagram story
posted in the last 24 hours.

65. #7 GLUTTONY
LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM
93STORIES INONE DAY

66. LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM
#4 PRIDE
He has 120 mil
impressions—in a bad
week. Some TV stations
would kill for that reach.
And he is in complete
control of his content.
Can this be used by
brands as well?
Credits:Kerouche

67. LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM
#7 GLUTTONY
Of course it can! Take
this online shop from
Bavaria for gourmet
meat. They are
passionate about their
product and the show
never stops.

68. #7 GLUTTONY
2018:
+165K
FOLLOWERS
LEVERAGE
INSTAGRAM

69. #1 WRATH
UPROAR
SEVEN WAYS
TO MAKE PEOPLE CARE
#2 DESIRE
COLLABORATION
#3 ENVY
DROP
#4 PRIDE
MEMEBAITING
#5 GREED
DISCOUNT
#6 SLOTH
CLASSIC DISTRIBUTION
#7 GLUTTONY
LEVERAGE INSTAGRAM
These archaic instincts can serve as an
inspiration for your marketing.

70. BIG THANKS
TO OUR PARTNERS

71. Presentation by
Philipp Westermeyer
AN OMR
PRODUCTION
Nina Schliefer
No agency GbR / Grafik
Michael Wanker
Presentation Consulting
Francesca Veit
No agency GbR / Grafik
Eike Dehning
dhng Consulting
Roland
Eisenbrand
Martin Gardt
Torben Lux
Scott Peterson
Corinna Bremer