The PR Agency for Architecture, Design and New Work

Strong Media Presence with Press Events

Successful Congress Series for designfunktion

Trade Fair/Event Management

hicklvesting organised a successful roadshow with high-profile Press Events presenting renowned speakers in several German cities.

The challenge:

The successful work of designfunktion, Germany’s leading consultancy, planning and furnishing company for working and living environments, is documented in numerous reference projects. Among the well-known clients are internationally operating large corporations and medium-sized companies such as Allianz, Merck, Microsoft, Google, Stroer and Lufthansa. When the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) provided well-founded findings on the current situation in German offices with two studies commissioned by designfunktion on the “transformation of working environments”, hicklvesting was commissioned to make designfunktion’s topic leadership in the planning and furnishing of effective working environments visible to the public through Press Events.

At the Press Event of the designfunktion congress series, Samir Ayoub (left), Managing Partner of designfunktion, spoke on the topic of “Effective Offices” with representatives of companies, science and the media

Our strategy:

Our strategy was based on the conception of strategic event that sustainably anchored the expertise of the company and the quality of its sales contacts in the perception of the German-speaking media. A series of congresses provided the occasion for numerous Press Events in seven German cities. Well-known company representatives, in addition to the management, also representatives of the Human Resources and Facility Management departments, as well as scientists from different disciplines were to convey the results to the press representatives in exciting changes of perspective. The various reference examples provided an excellent opportunity to give a convincing insight into the planning performance of designfunktion and its innovative concepts for the integration of employees.

Raphael Gielgen, Future of Work Life & Learn trend scout at Vitra, gives an insight into latest developments of New Work across international business during designfunktion congress day in Cologne

The implementation:

When designing the programme of the congress series, the focus was on making the best possible use of the individual speeches for PR measures. hicklvesting aligned the content of the Press Events with strategic questions that motivated a lively discussion of the topic. Journalists became part of the dialogue and repeatedly switched from the role of media observers to the role of affected employees who are also experiencing a restructuring of their offices during a rapidly changing working world.

As part of the event series, hicklvesting developed press conferences and launched numerous interviews for designfunktion and the speakers involved. The white paper we created on virulent New Work topics helped to prominently present the company’s entire planning and furnishing portfolio.

“With hicklvesting, we have been working on our positioning as a topic leader in the field of “Effective Working Environments” since 2017. Through expert contributions and journalist contacts, the agency has strengthened our work, and thanks to their often regional commitment, they have become a valued partner throughout the designfunktion Group. Thank you for this valuable work!”

Samir Ayoub, Managing Partner of the designfunktion Group

Samir Ayoub speaks at the press event congress series designfunktion hicklvesting PR agency

Press event and congress series by designfunktion hicklvesting PR agency

Congress series by designfunktion and presse-events hicklvesting PR agency

Samir Ayoub spoke at the “designfunktion Congress Series I: Effective Offices” at the Design Offices in Munich

At the press event of the designfunktion congress series I, Michael O. Schmutzer, founder of Design Offices, spoke on the topic of “Effective Offices”

Udo Ernst Haner, Head of the “Information Work Innovation” team at the Fraunhofer IAO, spoke at the “designfunktion Congress Series III: The Working World of the Future” at the Design Offices in Munich. Photo @ Lennart Preiss

Our results:

At the Press Events in the various cities, hicklvesting was able to welcome representatives of the business and special interest media, daily newspapers, authors of their supplements, women’s magazines and customer magazines on behalf of designfunktion. The decentralised presence of the designfunktion group throughout Germany also made it possible to establish regional media contacts via the Press Events we designed, which could be sustainably expanded. Whether exclusively placed stand-alone publications or multi-part new-work series — continuously sent press materials led to a permanent placement of designfunktion in the German media landscape. The continuation of the press event series over several years helped to achieve annual increases in media presence of up to 500%. Numerous sales leads were generated whose initial contact was traced back to press releases.

Our client:

With locations in 18 cities, the designfunktion group is considered the market leader in the conception and realisation of modern office and working environments as well as the furnishing of objects. The expert teams at designfunktion offer the following portfolio of services from a single source: from individual consulting and planning as well as specific acoustic, textile and lighting design to furnishing, logistical processing, installation and further project management. In addition, designfunktion carries a range of brands from 150 leading international manufacturers, which opens up an unusually wide scope for design in furnishing.