STATE OF THE
GERMAN
INTERNET
2021

MAY 20, 2020
JUNE 8, 2021
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72
GIX +51%
Let’s get right into it with a look at the
GIX. Impressive 51% growth was
driven by larger caps like Delivery
Hero (+32%), Zalando (+52%) and
HelloFresh (+120%), as well as some
newcomers. Auto1, MyTheresa (both
IPOed), trivago, zooplus (now
valued >1B) offset the de-listing of
AxelSpringer and Rocket Internet.
MARKET CAPS IN €B
Source: Google Finance / Yahoo Finance
German Internet Index:
Digital Core Business,
valued >€1B, B2C

EIX
397
279
+42%
European Internet Index:
Digital Core Business,
valued >€1B, B2C
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MARKET CAPS IN €B
The same holds true for the EIX, as
listed European digital companies
had an excellent year. Key drivers
include Spotify (+35%), Booking
(+40%), Yandex (+60%), Farfetch
and Kindred (+200%), plus
newcomers Kahoot (Norway), The
Hut Group (UK) and Global Fashion
Group (Luxemburg).
Source: Google Finance / Yahoo Finance
MAY 20, 2020
JUNE 8, 2021

BAT
1139
1052
+8%
BAT:
Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent
In contrast, the major Chinese
platforms had a rather poor year
regarding growth. The reason: The
Chinese government prioritized
increasing their power and turned up
regulatory pressure. If you recall: the
cancelled IPO of Ant Financial and
the temporary disappearance of its
and Alibaba's CEO Jack Ma at the
end of 2020.
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MARKET CAPS IN €B
Source: Google Finance / Yahoo Finance
MAY 20, 2020
JUNE 8, 2021

GAFA's total value is, again,
overwhelming. Just the additional
value created in roughly one year is
in the range of €1400B. To put it
another way, GAFA's growth in the
past year alone is 3.5 times the total
value of the EIX.
GAFA +36%
5172
3810
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GAFA: Google, Apple,
Facebook, Amazon
MARKET CAPS IN €B
Source: Google Finance / Yahoo Finance
MAY 20, 2020
JUNE 8, 2021

GIX
72 109
+51%
EIX
279
397
+42%
BAT
1052
1200
+8%
GAFA +36%
3810
5172
The good news:
While the absolute
value of GAFA is
beyond compare,
Europe is catching up
in terms of growth.
We still fancy the idea
of illustrating the
dominance of the
digital behemoths
annually.
Source: Google Finance /
Yahoo Finance
MARKET CAPS IN €B
MAY 20, 2020
JUNE 8, 2021

12.9
2.5
2.1
€17.5B
€19B
Last year we compared
revenue from AirPods
with that of RedBull,
Puma and Bose. We
kind of liked the idea
and found that this year
AirPods revenue bested
that of Snapchat,
Twitter and Spotify—
combined.
Who knows, maybe
next year Apple's
AirTags will also be
worth its own story.
AIRPODS REVENUE VS TOP TECH COMPANIES 2020
Source: StatsPanda, OMR Research

2020: +€400M GMV
EACH DAY
€400M SALES
EACH YEAR
HAMBURG
MÖNCKEBERGSTR.
Source: Amazon Annual Report 2020,
Handelskammer Hamburg, OMR Research
Amazon's GMV (Gross
Merchandise Value - the
value of everything sold
on Amazon) grew by
€400M. Each and
every single day of
2020. All this stuff will
not be sold elsewhere.
To put that into
perspective, €400M is
the total value of all
goods sold on
Hamburg's Möncke-
bergstraße, our little
Champs-Elysee, 5th
Avenue or shopping
mile—in an entire year.

HAMBURG
MÖNCKEBERGSTR.
2020: +€400M GMV
EACH DAY
€400M SALES
EACH YEAR

PAST 12 MONTHS*
DIGITAL
WINNERS
*Early June 2021.
All right then, so the listed digital companies are
very much trending in the right direction. Now,
let's take a look at the:

We already spoke
about the GAFA
companies impressive
growth.
#5 +36%
Source: Yahoo Finance (June 8th 2021)

Even though ARK
Innovation ETF and
superstar investor
Cathie Wood took
quite a hit in early
2021, its total value
almost doubled in the
year.
#4 +80%
#5
Source: Yahoo Finance (June 8th 2021)

A couple of single
stocks, like Peloton or
Tesla, clearly
outperformed ARK ETF
in the last 12 months,
to come in third in our
Digital Winners
rankings.
#3 +220%
+140%
#5
#4
Source: Yahoo Finance (June 8th 2021)

Cryptocurrencies are
kind of a rollercoaster
asset, a nail-biting
investment thriller. If
you happened to have
invested about a year
ago, there's a good
chance you're just fine
with where things
stand now.
#2 DOGE: +12700%
#5
#4
#3
BNB +1960%
ETH +940%
BTC +240%
Source: CoinGecko (June 8th 2021)

Our top spot goes to
this guy from
Wisconsin. He
became the world's
top living artist in the
last 12 months. His
name is Mike
Winkelmann…
#1 No. 1 Living Artist
#5
#4
#3
#2

…better known as
Beeple. An NFT (Non-
Fungible Token) of his
piece “Everydays: The
First 5000 Days" was
sold for roughly
42,300 Ether at
Christie's in February
2021. Given the
growth of the Ether, this
would convert to
roughly €85M today
and thus surpass Jeff
Koons' "Rabbit" as the
most expensive artwork
by a living artist.
Kudos!
#1 No. 1 Living Artist
#5
#4
#3
#2
Beeple Source: OMR Research,
Christie’s, New York Times

If there are winners,
then there must be
losers as well, right?
Well, truth be told
finding digital losers
this year was difficult.
Even travel or leisure
companies, like Live
Nation and trivago,
considerably grew
their market cap.
Some smaller
companies saw their
value decline slightly,
but overall we could
not really find anyone
that could be called
"losers."
This leads us to the
basic question:
PAST 12 MONTHS:
NONE!
DIGITAL
LOSERS

HOW TO
CREATE
DIGITAL
VALUE?

In our last State of the German Internet
keynotes, we opined that value creation is
accelerated by bundling when platforms are at
work, customer access is under control, services
are combined and flywheels are set into motion.
This year, we want to focus on creating value by
unbundling. In our eyes, this is the most relevant
trend in the past year. The most compelling
example for this is…

… the unbundling of
banks. A traditional
bank might look like
this.

This lady might be
busy with her
checking account. This
service is offered, for
instance, by these new
players.

There are also a host
of new players
offering all kinds of
payment services…

… credit card
services …

… and trading
options.

The total value created through the unbundling of
banks is already massive, but has still not
materialized fully. It has disrupted entire
industries and even applied pressure to digital
platforms. Ebay feels competitive pressure with
regard to second hand, as does Google when it
comes to travel and shopping.

Let's change gears now and focus on the
applicable. What six trends might be worth
keeping an eye on for your company in the near
future?

D2C*
DECONSTRUCTING
*DIRECT TO CONSUMER

<
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<
<
Two of the most
frequently asked
questions last year
were, "What is D2C
and how can I
become a D2C
brand?"
To start, this is how
traditional retail is set
up. Items are offered
in a third-party shop to
customers.
RETAIL

This, by contrast, is
D2C.
D2C

<
<
The most obvious
advantages: Cutting
out the middleman
means higher margins,
a deeper
understanding of your
customers and having
full control over your
brand image.
PROFIT
MARGINS
BRAND IMAGE
CONTROL
DIRECT
RELATIONSHIP
💎

The best example of a
global brand
transforming into a
D2C brand is Nike.

2017 2018 2020
2019
D2C ANNOUNCEMENT
<
<
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In June 2017, Nike
announced its plans to
focus on D2C in the
future. The
performance of Nike
stock underlines the
value it has created
since.
NIKE SHARE VALUE
Source: Nike, Yahoo Finance

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<
<
It's by no means
merely the global
legacy players that
can benefit from a
DTC strategy. Several
European brands
created value by
adopting the practice.
So how exactly are
they doing this? Let's
break it down in our
"D2C Playbook."
EUROPEAN PLAYERS
≈ €1B
VALUATION
>€300M
ACQUIRED FOR
≈ €1.2B
VALUATION

BUILD A
COMMUNITY
STEP #1
D2C
PLAY
BOOK

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Each of these
companies either
grew out of or are
firmly rooted in a
niche community. The
key pillars to
successful community
building are:
Proximity to influencers
and opinion leaders
and strengthening the
relationship.
#1 BUILD A COMMUNITY
PROXIMITY
TO COMMUNITY
INFLUENCERS

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Being a relevant and
authentic content
creator within the
community. This can
be straight forward,
like with tutorials or
simple tips on how to
use your products.
#1 BUILD A COMMUNITY
PROXIMITY
TO COMMUNITY
INFLUENCERS CONTENT
CREATION

<
<
Creating and
maintaining a thriving
offline community. This
could be travelling the
world to engage with
your community, like
GymShark did, or
opening up pop-up
stores and organizing
offline events.
#1 BUILD A COMMUNITY
PROXIMITY
TO COMMUNITY
INFLUENCERS
CONTENT
CREATION OFFLINE
CONNECTION

<
Personally interacting
with your community.
Take the example of
German hype brand
6PM.
#1 BUILD A COMMUNITY
PROXIMITY
TO COMMUNITY
INFLUENCERS
CONTENT
CREATION
OFFLINE
CONNECTION PERSONAL
INTERACTION

<
<
INSTAGRAM
@achraf: Here is your exclusive
code to the 6PM Shop: XYHECZ 🔥
1m ago
6PM founder Achraf
has reset the bar for
creating both
engagement and
proximity. This post
triggered over 24K
comments—all because
Achraf personally
asked if anyone wants
a code to buy his
clothes a little earlier.
And would you
believe it: he still
answers every single
PM himself.

<
<
PERSONAL
INTERACTION
SUMMARY: BUILD A COMMUNITY
PROXIMITY
TO COMMUNITY
INFLUENCERS
CONTENT
CREATION
OFFLINE
CONNECTION
So, this is step one:
Walk your talk!
Live, breathe and be
your community.

SHARPEN
YOUR
PRODUCT
STEP #2
D2C
PLAY
BOOK

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#2 SHARPEN YOUR PRODUCT
If your product is hard
to differentiate, try to
stand out with a
unique story. Sneaker
brand Veja is a prime
example with their
spin on sustainability.
UNIQUE
NARRATIVE

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#2 SHARPEN YOUR PRODUCT
Part of your owned
narrative can also be
special editions. Nike
attracts their
community to their
proprietary channels
via exclusive offers
and products.
UNIQUE
NARRATIVE
SPECIAL
EDITIONS

<
<
<
#2 SHARPEN YOUR PRODUCT
Finally, the 101 of
marketing: scarcity.
Make sure that it's
(sort of) hard to get
your stuff. This creates
hype and FOMO.
UNIQUE
NARRATIVE
SPECIAL
EDITIONS
ARTIFICIAL
SCARCITY

PUSH
CUSTOMERS
INTO YOUR
PROPERTIES
STEP #3
D2C
PLAY
BOOK

#3 PUSH CUSTOMERS INTO YOUR PROPERTIES
REDUCED SUPPLY
TO 3RD PARTY
RETAILERS
Now that you got
your community's
attention: How to cut
out the middleman?
Starve the retailers.

#3 PUSH CUSTOMERS INTO YOUR PROPERTIES
Create your own
physical space. And
make sure that the
touch and feel is right
—it needs to express
your brand.
<
REDUCED SUPPLY
TO 3RD PARTY
RETAILERS
SMALLER &
MORE PERSONAL
STORES

#3 PUSH CUSTOMERS INTO YOUR PROPERTIES
Establish your own
digital environment.
SMALLER &
MORE PERSONAL
STORES
REDUCED SUPPLY
TO 3RD PARTY
RETAILERS
ENGAGEMENT
THROUGH APPS

BUILD
YOUR OWN
TECH STACK
STEP #4
D2C
PLAY
BOOK

<
<
Last, but not least:
your backend needs
to be up-to-date. We
have been looking at
Nike's tech stack using
the website "Built
with." To structure the
tech stack, we
clustered the tools into
three areas: Shoptech,
Mar(keting)Tech and
ContentTech.

<
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<
SHOPTECH MARTECH CONTENT-
TECH
Our analysis of 40
D2C brands found
that these tools were
the most frequently
used. If you happen
to need some
guidance with tools,
check out OMR
Reviews—our software
reviews platform—and
profit from the know-
how and experience
of the OMR
community.

SUMMARY: DECONSTRUCTING D2C
#1 BUILD A
COMMUNITY
#3 PUSH
CUSTOMERS INTO
YOUR PROPERTIES
#4 BUILD YOUR
OWN TECH STACK
#2 SHARPEN YOUR
PRODUCT

CREATOR
ECONOMY

Influencer marketing was the talk of the town the
past few years. The next level is the creator
economy: People with audiences large enough to
create their own brands. Why? People tend to
follow people on social media and as such these
"creators" outscore brands on organic reach and
do not need to invest heavily in paid ads.

<<
<
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<
236M 25.3M
SOLD TO
"COTY" FOR
€544M
The best example is
the Kardashian-Jenner
clan. A significant part
of Kyle Jenners 236M
followers followed
Kylie Cosmetics as
well. In 2019, it was
sold to US cosmetics
giant "Coty" for over
€500M. Safe to say,
there is money to be
made here.

The core competence of a creator does not
usually entail fulfillment or sourcing, meaning
there is a mutual benefit in finding a suitable
creator in your niche and building a common
brand. Worth keeping in mind: The creator
economy is not exclusively for fashion or
cosmetics.

MrBeast:
62 M
Subscribers
<
<
<
Jimmy Donaldson, aka
Mr Beast, has one of
the largest followings
on YouTube in the
world: 62M followers.
Late last year, Mr
Beast decided to
become Mr Beef…

<
<
<
<
... and opened a
massive number of
burger joints at once.
It’s hard for a creator
to do this on his or her
own. So he partnered
with Robert Earl,
founder of Planet
Hollywood. Earl's
company "Virtual
Dining Concepts"
launches new food
chains in
collaboration with
creators and music
stars. He supplies the
infrastructure, so-
called "ghost
kitchens," ...
300
RESTAURANTS
ROBERT EARL
FOUNDER PLANET
HOLLYWOOD

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<
... while Mr Beast
brings the audience.
Just one video
generated 22M
views, pushed the
MrBeast Burger app
to the top of the App
Store and sold 2M
burgers—in less than
two months. Our
advice: Make creators
your business
partners, build
companies together
with them!

8-Year old Ryan Kaji is
the world’s top-earning
Youtube star
€164M
RETAIL
SALES
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<
Another one? This is
YouTube's top earner
Ryan Kaji. He
basically unpacks toys
and reaches 30M
subscribers. Toy
company Bonkers saw
this opportunity and
launched a series of
best-selling toys with
him.
Ryans World:
29,8 M
Subscribers

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And in Germany?
AboutYou is a pioneer
on co-creation, from
creator collections
and brands to
dedicated companies.
A prime example is
the cooperation with
Lena Gercke. A
winner of "Germany’s
Next Top Model," she
generated an
estimated €50M in
revenue for AboutYou
since they began their
co-op.
€50M
IN 3 YRS

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But even smaller-scale
companies can get in
on the game.
Hamburg-based start-
up Goodlife Company
sells low-sugar,
healthy snacks called
"Hej Natural." They
partnered with
Germany's biggest
fitness influencer
Pamela Reif to co-
create "Naturally
Pam." The creator
brand outreaches the
mother brand by a
significant margin.
Naturally PAM:
228K
Subscribers
HEJ Natural:
80K
Subscribers

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Even classic companies
can become part of the
creator economy. Family-
owned juice company
"Dietz" founded a spin-off
to launch new brands.
"BraTee," featuring
German rapper Capital
Bra, is their top release so
far.
So please note: Combining
creators reach with
traditional business know-
how is within reach for
quite some different
companies in terms of size,
location or product.
6M UNITS
SOLD IN 2 MONTHS

METAVERSE
THE

The term "Metaverse" was coined by US science
fiction author Neal Stephenson. In his book,
Snow Crash, he describes a virtual parallel world
with its own economic system, in which people
congregate. It inspired a lot of tech founders and
is one of the current hype buzzwords on the US
tech scene.

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<
Sprawling games such
as Fortnite and Roblox
are probably closest
to reaching metaverse
status at the moment.
Massive numbers of
people meet and
spend chunks of time
here each day. So all
this attention and time
spent spurred on a
new development…
350M
ACCOUNTS
202M
MONTHLY
ACTIVE USERS

<
<
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… including virtual
currencies, creator
communities,
proprietary app
stores. These games
are becoming a
permanent virtual
environment, a place
where people meet to
do… well, just about
anything.
GAMES LEVEL UP TO
PLATFORMS

Take Fortnite's "Party
Mode." Players lay
down their weapons
and spend time
together, listening to
music, dancing,
chatting…
PARTY TIME

<
<
<
MOVIE TIME
… or watching movies
together. The trailer for
Christopher Nolan's
latest flick, "Tenet,"
was first shown
exclusively in Fortnite,
while Disney screened
an exclusive Star Wars
trailer and The Fortnite
Movie Theater showed
"Inception" in full.
Hollywood Studios
seem to prioritize the
metaverse.

< <
<
<
<
CONCERT TIME
Concerts, too, are a
thing here. Travis
Scott, one of the
biggest hiphop
superstars, played live
three nights in a row
as an avatar in
Fortnite, Lil Nas X
performed on Roblox.
33M people watched
the show (and no,
that's not a typo.
33,000,000 people
really watched the
show!).

<
<
These gamers, maybe
"gamers," are also
recreating their
favorite fashion pieces
for their avatars in the
metaverse as an in-
game expression of
their offline
personality. One such
way is by reverse
engineering their
favorite clothes pixel
by pixel as shown here
on Animal Crossing.
FASHION TIME

<
<
Finally, believe it or
not, people also tie the
knot inside the
metaverse. When
corona caused
weddings to be
cancelled en masse,
some couples said "I
do" in virtual events in
Animal Crossing.
TIME FOR LOVE

Ok, there is a lot going in the metaverse, which
leads us to the question: What does this all
means for us? How do we get into the game?

BREAKING INTO
THE METAVERSE
AS A BRAND

<
<
<
The most direct
method to personalize
avatars is with "skins"
and "virtual items." In
some games, this
happens through
costly brand
collaborations with
games, e.g. Nike
placing its "Air Jordan
Skin" in Fortnite. In
other games you still
can sneak in your
branded accessories.
Take, for example, this
Valentino dress.
#1 SKINS & VIRTUAL ITEMS

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<
#1 SKINS & VIRTUAL ITEMS
Valentino worked with
an influencer to rebuild
this upscale fashion
dress for Animal
Crossing. She posted
the Valentino dress with
a special code on her
Instagram account so
that gamers could
wear that dress within
the game.
40K
INSTAGRAM
FOLLOWER

<
A second option is to
create microgames or
worlds within the
metaverse. This has
been done by Warner
Bros. to promote
"Wonder Woman 84."
Roblox users could
explore the "paradise
island of Themyscira,"
train alongside warriors
and collect Wonder
Woman-ish specific
items.
#2 GAME-IN-GAME EXPERIENCES

<
<
This micro world
generated
approximately 25M
visitors. Compared
with the reach of the
YouTube trailer,
Roblox was able to
deliver roughly 2/3 of
the reach.
#2 GAME-IN-GAME EXPERIENCES
25M
IMPRESSIONS
40M
VIEWS

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<
A third option of
sneaking into the
metaverse is with
guerrilla tactics. This is
Stevenage FC, a small
fourth-division football
club sponsored by
Burger King. Why is
that?
#3 GUERILLA MARKETING

<
<
<
Since Stevenage can
be chosen as a team
on EA Sports' FIFA.
Basically, you can play
with Stevenage against
the biggest clubs or
even chose global star
players to be on the
team in the Burger
King jersey.
#3 GUERILLA MARKETING

Free kick, free Whopper meal! Score a free
kick with any @StevenageFC superstar,
share the video on here and win a free
Whopper meal! #stevenagechallenge
Burger King
@BurgerKingUK
<
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<
<
#3 GUERILLA MARKETING
Probably nobody
would have noticed if it
didn’t come along with
a social media
campaign called the
"Stevenage
Challenge." Players
were asked to post
videos of their goals
with Stevenage FC
using a dedicated
hashtag to win free
burgers meals. The
campaign was quite
the hit.

1.2B
IMPRES-
SIONS
<
<
Players had fun
choosing Mbappé,
Ronaldo, Messi or
Neymar to take free-
kicks and score goals
for burgers—and they
did so with Burger King
on their otherwise
priceless chest. The
result: 1.2B (!)
impressions.
So much on the
potential of the
metaverse. Here's a
quick recap of three
ways to crack into it:
#3 GUERILLA MARKETING

BREAKING INTO THE METAVERSE AS A BRAND
#1 VIRTUAL SKINS
& ITEMS
#3 GUERILLA
MARKETING
#2 GAME-IN-GAME
EXPERIENCES

EFFECT
STREAMING
THE

There is a new social-media phenomenon that
we've dubbed the "streaming effect." Every year,
new shows launched on Netflix, Disney or
Amazon create a global buzz on specific topics.
This is a chance for brands to ride this pop-
cultural wave.

<
<
New shows create
global attention. These
numbers show the
views new original
content shows on
Netflix posted within
the first 28 days only.
76M
70M
65M
64M
82M
NETFLIX’S MOST-VIEWED ORIGINAL TV SHOWS

BIG BRANDS X STRANGER THINGS
Huge global brands
show that signing
license deals are one
means of surfing this
wave.

Source: dailymail.co.uk/
femail/article-9114935/
Bridgerton-inspired-surge-
sales-19th-century-style-
items.html
<
<
<
EBAY TRENDS
+39%
corset
+300%
wisteria plants
+42%
afternoon tea set
But again, this trend is
not limited to the
biggest players. The
streaming effect creates
hype around all kind of
things. We looked at
trends on ebay after the
launch of "Bridgerton"
and what we found was
items inspired by the
show blew up.
(If you asked yourself
what "wisteria" is: a
plant known in German
as „Japanischer
Blauregen“)
Source: Daily Mail

<
<
10,449 RESULTS
bridgerton
To understand how
you can piggyback off
such trends to build a
business, take a look
at Etsy, a marketplace
for handcrafted stuff
and smaller sellers.
The Bridgerton wave
hit these shores as
well.

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<
One can find almost
any item related in
some way or another
to the show here.
Some small sellers or
solo entrepreneurs are
generating astonishing
amounts of sales.
This development has
not been lost on
Netflix. Just a few
weeks ago, in June
2021, Netflix launched
their own shop to take
full advantage of the
streaming effect.

<
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<
And then there is our
friend Flemming Pinck
from Hamburg. His
fashion label Inferno
Ragazzi showcases
how reactiveness to
pop-culture events can
generate revenue.

When everyone was
binge-watching the
Michael Jordan
documentary "The Last
Dance," Flemming
made a shirt.
While everyone was
talking "Tiger King,"
Flemming made a shirt.
Daft Punk broke up,
Flemming made a shirt
right away.
(Certainly, they are all
sold out by now—he
knows how to create
scarcity as well.)

CONTENT
EMBEDDED

This one is not quite as apparent at first.
Everybody knows content marketing. Look no
further than Red Bull on how you can win over
customers with content. This past year, however,
we witnessed a new level of escalation, content
marketing 3.0 so to say and named it: Embedded
Content.

<
<
<
<
If you happen to be in
a market with poor
differentiation and
strong competitive
pressure, acquiring
customers on Google
is really, really, REALLY
expensive. Take for
example a gambling
company. Suffice to
say these click prices
are not your best bet to
win new customers.
Source: Google Keyword Planner
sport bets
online casino
€37.99
€49.38
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS

<
<
<
<
So what can be done?
Penn National
Gaming, a US casino
operator, bought a
major stake in the
sports publisher
Barstool. They
launched a new sports
betting app and made
considerable revenue
from the start.
Source: Vox, Penn National Gaming
www.barstoolsports.com
€148M
ACQUIRED
36%
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS
€2.7M
REVENUE IN
FIRST 10 DAYS

<
<
<
<
<
<
<
Even more important
the acquisition:
included the 100M
unique monthly users
of Barstool, which
happen to be quite
attracted to sport bets.
So given the
acquisition price of
€148M we would
contend that they paid
€1.48 per lead
instead of almost €50
per click!
€37.99
€49.38
€1.48
€1.48
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS
sport bets
online casino
Source: Barstool Sports

2018 2019
2017 2020 2021
ACQUISITION OF
BARSTOOL SPORTS
The stock market liked
the deal. Penn
National stock moved
sideways for years,
but roughly tripled
since the embedded
content deal was
made public.
Source: Yahoo Finance
SHARE VALUE PENN NATIONAL GAMING

<
<
<
We see the same
game in the field of
business software:
high on competition,
low on differentiation.
If you happen to be
someone like HubSpot
you need deep
pockets to buy clicks
for software tools.
software email marketing €54.64
Source: Google Keyword Planner
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS

<
<
<
<
<
www.barstoolsports.com
€22.4M
So what did they do?
They bought the
business and
marketing newsletter
"The Hustle." Coming
along with the 22M
sticker price are the
roughly 1.5M
subscribers within a
highly relevant target
group.
Source: Hubspot
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS

<
<
<
<
<
In our eyes, the deal
enabled HubSpot to
buy a lead for €15
instead of a click for
€55.
To put in other words:
The trick is not to buy
a piece of pie, the
trick is to buy the
whole F***ING
bakery.
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER ACCESS
software email marketing
€54.64
€14.39

<
<
<
<
Finally, a somewhat
different case of
embedded content.
This is Hans Thomann
Jr. out of Treppendorf
in Bavaria. He sells
music supplies online
and has the same
challenge as any other
online merchant:
Amazon.

<
<
<
<
So what did he do?
He bought a basket
full of highly
specialized publishers
and online community
hubs. The result:
against all odds
Thomann has fended
off Amazon and is
said to be the global
market leader within
its niche of music
aficionados.
Source: OMR, thomann

ATTENTION?
UNDERPRICED

Our last topic pertains to getting you some really
valuable content. Something, you can use right
away to boost your business. The question is:
where is your marketing money best spent. I
know, I know we are more than 100 slides in, but
look alive! There are immediate opportunities
ahead…

<
<
Attention is a costly
good. The average
price of reaching
1000 people on
Facebook / Instagram
in Germany has
grown steadily over
the last years. But
there is a place on the
Internet where you
can get more for less.
Source: ZweiDigital, Frankfurt
2019 2020 2021
€3.83 €4.07
€4.66
AVG CPM

These two guys are
into cast-iron frying
pans. To be able to
actually produce them,
they launched a
crowd-funding
campaign to raise the
capital needed. Then
they started
advertising.

<
<
<
To do so, they used
this ad on Facebook
and essentially the
same one on Reddit.
Within Reddit there
are thousands of
"subReddits" and one
of them with a
following of 250K
members is really just
about cast-iron frying
pans.

<
<
<
<
CPM:
€11.65 €0.21
Astonishingly, the price
to reach 1000 people
with almost the same
creative is more than
50x times higher on
Facebook than on
Reddit. In other words:
The price on Reddit is
less than 2% for
exactly the same
amount of attention.
Arguably, the Reddit
community has even a
better product market
fit.

<
<
<
Another example is
Erlich Textil. This a
label for sustainable
underwear from
Cologne. For a limited
lingerie collection, they
placed ads both on
Instagram and
Pinterest, again using
almost the exact same
creative.

<
<
<
Result: Reaching
1000 people on
Pinterest is about 1/3
the price than it is on
Instagram. And when
you factor in that the
Pinterest audience is
easier to convert into
sales, this attention is
quite a deal.
CPM: €8.09 CPM: €2.68

<
<
<
Same trick, different
sector. einfach.immo
is an investment
consultant firm from
Stuttgart. They
address younger
clients seeking to
invest long-term in
real estate to build
wealth for retirement.
They use lookalike
video ads on
Facebook and TikTok.

<
<
Same story here, too:
The price on TikTok to
reach 1000 people is
roughly 1/50 of the
price on Facebook.
70% of Tiktoks users
are under the age of
25 - which matches
perfectly with the
target group of
einfach.immo.
CPM: €30.76 CPM: €0.66

What you need to know: These examples show
that there is quite a great deal of underpriced
online attention to be found for almost any
product and often entails an additional benefit
regarding your target group.

SUMMARY
#1 #2 #3
DECONSTRUCTING
D2C CREATOR
ECONOMY
METAVERSE
THE
#4
#5 #6
STREAMING
EFFECT
THE
CONTENT
EMBEDDED
ATTENTION
UNDERPRICED
6 trends to inspire your marketing in 2021.

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