In the second practical dialogue in the summer semester 2025, the Institute of Retail, Sales and Marketing welcomed the internationally active and renowned brand positioning expert and lead partner of Ries Global Michael Brandtner. Michael Brandtner, author of books including ‘Radikale Markenfokussierung’ and ‘Siegermarken’, gave an impressive and practical demonstration of brand strategies on their way to becoming ‘winning brands’.

His theses: Buying decisions are not made at the point of sale, but exclusively in the minds of customers. The success of a brand is always relative and depends on its own strategy and the strategies of its competitors and how well the brand positioning works in the mental context.

Building on this, Michael Brandtner formulated six key principles, which he underpinned with numerous practical examples:

#1: ‘Our brain loves market leaders’

#2: ‘Our brain loves new categories’

#3: ‘Our brain loves either-or decisions’

#4: ‘Our brain loves verbal simplicity’

#5: ‘Our brain loves visual simplicity’

#6: ‘Our brain loves repetition’

The three strategic cornerstones of brand success are the verbal focus, the visual focus and then the brand name, as successful examples such as Flixbus, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Milka, etc. show.

We would like to thank Michael Brandtner for his practical and relevant insights into the world of brands and their paths to ‘winning brands’ as well as Dr Ernst Gittenberger for moderating this exciting evening.