Blog articles by Julia Görnandt

Articles by

Julia Görnandt

As Director of SKIM Germany, Julia Görnandt leads the SKIM office in Berlin. She works closely with leading consumer health and consumer goods companies in the DACH region to understand how purchasing decisions can be made across channels and how brands can influence them. Julia holds a MSc in Psychology and before joining SKIM she researched at Stanford University in California.

e-Commerce experts share advice for brands adapting to AI

By Julia Görnandt on October 2, 2018

Key takeaways on voice and digital assistants from ESOMAR Congress 2018

Artificial Intelligence, voice and digital assistants were all the buzz at ESOMAR Congress 2018. The promise is that when these technologies come together in digital personal assistants, they’ll make our lives easier, remove our “choice stress” and will become our trusted advisors. Sign me up! But, how will voice technology affect consumer behavior and how will brands tackle this new decision environment?

Our recent voice trends research included qualitative interviews with digital and eCommerce experts on this very topic. At ESOMAR, some of these respondents participated in our “Brands on Fire – How to adapt to the new market reality of AI platforms” panel. Danone, Wehkamp, Beiersdorf, Ericsson and SKIM had a lively discussion on the digital implications of AI for brands, marketers and insight professionals. I, along with Yasemin Ozdemir, had the honor to moderate the panel. Here’s what you missed and need to know.

“Hallo Google, Alexa, Magenta: How’s voice changing German consumer behavior?”

By Julia Görnandt on September 18, 2018

Voice technology and Artificial Intelligence were all the buzz at IFA, Germany’s largest consumer electronics show in September. Established players launched new products in Europe and there were a few surprise offerings from new market entrants.

Google introduced its premium smart speaker -the Google Home Max- here in Germany, along with a bilingual voice assistant feature that responds to queries in English and German interchangeably. And telecom giant Deutsche Telekom introduced plans for its own smart speaker activated with the magic words “Hallo Magenta.” This introduction is the first smart speaker coming from a German company and includes Amazon’s voice assistant “Alexa” too.

As I was setting up our new office in the heart of Berlin, I reflected on how much technology has disrupted consumer behavior from the time I grew up here. Is Voice all hype in Germany? How and will German consumers embrace these AI technologies? What are the implications for brands?

My team and I recently set out to answer these questions in Germany, and also in the US and UK. We explored from the consumer and brand perspective.

Here I’m sharing the Germany insights, which we unveiled at ESOMAR Congress 2018 in Berlin.