Munich, March 26, 2019 - Gigaset receives the German Traditional Brand special award for its "Consistency of Corporate Values". The PLUS X AWARD jury recognizes companies that have remained loyal to Germany as a business location, that have borne responsibility for their customers, employees and partners for decades, and that exert a great positive influence on their industry with their stable value. Gigaset thus ranks among the "who's who" of the German economy - Adidas, BMW and Zeiss, for example, also received the award.
"We are exactly where we belong," says Klaus Weßing, CEO of Gigaset AG. "We have been producing in Bocholt since 1942 and have been selling our cordless DECT-phones all over the world for 25 years. But they are still manufactured here at home in Germany - like almost all of our products." More than 500 employees develop, design and produce not only landline telephones and business telephony solutions, but also innovative smart home systems and, since 2018, even smartphones at our Bocholt headquarters. Durable quality "Made in Germany".
"We are one of the many German companies that have had to reinvent themselves time and again since the beginning of digitalization," continues Weßing. "Despite all the changes in communication behavior, however, we have always focused on two key strengths: Our competence in landline telephones - we are the leader in Europe. And the fact that we have left the lion's share of the value chain for our products in Germany - from purchasing through production to logistics."
Committed to our own values
"The willingness and courage to make mistakes during a company's history, to learn from them, to orient oneself to the customer's wishes and to adapt oneself to the spirit of the times are traditional values for me," says Donat Brandt, founder and president of the PLUS X AWARD.
For Gigaset, the German award is a valuable confirmation of the strategy the company has pursued in recent years. While business with fixed-line telephones declined slightly, CEO Klaus Weßing focused intensively on putting the company on a broader footing with new product fields: "We set the right course in good time: Smart home, smartphones and the professional segment for corporate customers are recording constant growth over time. At the same time, we have never neglected our roots in the phones business. And we expect a lot from the smartphone models to come." In 2018, the GS185 was the first smartphone to be produced in Bocholt. In March 2019, Gigaset introduced the GS280, the next smartphone manufactured in Germany with a large display and a powerful battery, thus further underpinning the innovation story from NRW. Sustainability also plays a major role for Gigaset - not only production takes place in Bocholt, but also the repair of all devices. In its own repair center, Gigaset can repair its own devices even after many years - this reduces costs for the customer and protects the environment.
Tradition makes us strong for the future
"Exemplary brand management is not only the backbone of our German economy, it also makes an incomparable contribution to the 'brand Germany'," says Donat Brandt. "It is not only part of our economic culture, of our striving for excellence, but it is precisely the credibility, the comprehensibility and the strength to drive great ideas and innovations that make German ideas and German corporate management trend-setting for the world markets.
The PLUS X AWARD is a tailor-made start for a year in which the freshly awarded traditional German brand Gigaset will launch a whole range of new products on the market: The Gigaset Smart Home systems will be further expanded. Several smartphones have been announced and innovations are coming from the professional sector, creating new communication options for small, medium-sized and large companies. "We have a lot planned for 2019. And our agenda until 2025 has been set," concludes Klaus Weßing. "Our corporate tradition and Germany as a business location will always play a role in everything we do. The award as a traditional German brand will always remind us of this."