Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

PR for Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Small and medium entreprises (SMEs) are the backbone of German business. Collectively known as the Mittelstand, they are praised abroad as a symbol of German quality. Acccording to the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), the Mittelstand contains about 1,500 hidden champions.

Many of Industrie-Contact’s customers come from the Mittelstand, although our list of references also boasts many foreign SME names. Family-owned, dynamic, innovative– the Mittelstand philosophy is also ours. This is why SMEs and Industrie-Contact are a perfect match.

What is a hidden champion

The ZEW gives the following definition of a hidden champion: “The ZEW study defines hidden champions as companies with less than 10,000 employees which generate the majority of sales abroad. Hidden champions, according to the study, hold a global market share of one to ten per cent – depending on the size of the respective sales market – and have achieved a growth in sales that exceeds the sector average by at least ten per cent in the previous five years.” The study also shows that 86% of hidden champions operate in industrial sectors, while 14% are active in service sectors.

SME PR is our strong suit!

Industrie-Contact boasts a long list of references in the SME sector. To name a few: Utsch, Christoph Kroschke, Deutscher Auto Dienst, Bode Chemie, Jobst, Dr. Theiss, Kalkhoff Bikes, Bi-Log, Bischoff-Gruppe, Heroal, FingerHaus, Sennheiser, Munters, Körber Schleifring …

Our foreign SME references include FleetData (Portugal), Smartire (Canada), Zumba Fitness (USA), Wonderful Pistachios (USA), Kollmorgen (USA), Trex (USA), CyDen (UK), TePe (Sweden), Icare (Finland), Rivolta (Italy), Arum Group (Spain) and many others.

Classic press work and live communication

The overwhelming majority of SMEs has focused its PR on classic press work and live communication. Building a presence in the specialized media is therefore crucial. This includes both the horizontal and vertical media. Industrie-Contact has helped many SMEs gain a presence with articles in leading German newspapers such as Wirtschaftswoche, Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfürter Allgemeine Zeitung. Stories on hidden champions are particularly effective.

Finally, Industrie-Contact has assisted appearances at trade shows for many Mittelstand businesses. This includes preparing press kits, inviting journalists and conducting interviews at the customer’s stand. Those one-on-one interviews have proven to be successful alternatives to press conferences in the past few years.