#3 PRESTAT London / Micaela Illy, what are the challenges in reviving and rebranding a royally approved heritage brand?

In the 7th episode of the ONE.OF.A.KIND podcast, I chat with my fellow strategist, the brilliant Kristina Bonitz. Known for her no-nonsense approach to strategy and her innovative methods for transforming businesses, Kristina excels at making bold decisions. The session was recorded in Hamburg, with a lot of sunshine and laughter. In our discussion, we challenge the strategic practices of our industry and explore how businesses can contribute to creating a positive future—and why they must take on this responsibility. Tune in to discover what role creativity can play and why Kristina enjoys pushing people into cold water - metaphorically speaking. Kristina's high positive energy is truly inspiring; after our conversation, I feel empowered and ready to take on the world.  www.kristinabonitz.com

Together with Luca Buonamici, Partner & Strategy Director and Miriam Frescura, Associate Creative Director, both at Milan-based agency AUGE, we talked about their approach to revolutionizing the Bahlsen brand, one of the most successful sweet biscuit companies in Europe. They envisioned a glorification of the product, putting the biscuit in the center of the design and by that breaking most design rules. Tune in to find out why for Luca “talking” is the start of every successful brand strategy.

In this 5th episode, I sat down with Veronica del Castillo. She is the CEO of Carbone Interior Design in Zurich. She led projects like the Ritz Carlton in Miami, the Neues Schloss of the Marriott Autograph Collection and most recently, the AP House in Zurich. She describes her job as creating settings for stories to happen. For her, stories make the difference; they create a typical red thread and a dialogue that you can interact with. In this episode, we talked about how she comes up with these stories, where she finds inspiration, and her structured design approach with the magic number three. Tune in to find out more about this charismatic Columbian powerhouse and, of course, her number one tip to good brand strategy.

In this 4th episode of the O.O.A.K.PODCAST I spoke to a very experienced marketeer, Tommaso Vincenzetti, he is the CMO of Italian luxury furniture brand B&B Italia. B&B Italia is a leader in the contemporary furnishing sector, known around the world for its product innovation + quality, its service and of course Italian design. It has won four Compasso d’oro (Golden compasses), the most prestigious Italian Design award. Tune in to find out what the company believes in, what role brand strategy plays in business decisions, how the industry has changed over recent years and which golden rules Tommaso follows. I’d say, you can feel the highly innovative nature of this company in everything they do – but listen to it for yourself.

In this episode I am talking to Micaela Illy. She is the CEO of heritage chocolate brand Prestat. Micaela is the fourth generation of the iconic Italian coffee company, the company that acquired Prestat in 2019. The London-based Prestat was created by the inventor of the chocolate truffle and celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. In this podcast she discusses her approach to brand strategy, talks through her process step by step and talks about the challenges she faced when refreshing the well-known British brand. To my surprise, Micaela followed intuitively almost every step of the brand strategy process layed out in the ONE.OF.A.KIND MASTERCLASS. www.prestat.com https://www.instagram.com/prestatfinesttruffles/

Fabian Messer is an experienced brand strategist in the hotel industry. He works for the Swiss agency Positioner dealing with ambitious travel and hospitality brands in the market. Fabian, an avid traveler himself, led us through his beginnings before outlining the specific needs and challenges a hotel typically faces in their branding process.  www.positioner.com Fabian's Instagram: www.instagram.com/chillax.ch/

For the first episode of the O.O.A.K.PODCAST, I sat down with Andreas Kaufmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of LEICA Camera AG, one of the world's finest camera brands. We talked about the history of LEICA, the importance of distribution, art and, of course, the brand's brand strategy today.  www.leica-camera.com