In the lecture "The power of secret seducers: How our buying behaviour is subliminally influenced" at the Solinger Tageblatt in the Gründer- und Technologiezentrum in Solingen, Professor Tobias Langner discussed how brands permanently influence our consumer behaviour as secret seducers.

He explained how the reward centre in the brain can be activated when certain purchasing decisions are made, while at the same time deactivating the areas of the brain responsible for critical awareness, and Professor Langner also showed how consumers can escape the subliminal influence of brands and thus protect themselves from unwanted consumption.

Further information can be found in the preliminary report and in the follow-up report to the lecture.

In the lecture "Influence through media and advertising in the 21st century: Results of the Wuppertal Living Room Study" at the open day at the University of Wuppertal, Professor Tobias Langner , together with Julian Felix Kopka and Lennart Borgmann, discussed how media and also advertising can permanently influence and change our lives.

This is the subject of the "Wuppertal Living Room Study", which Professor Tobias Langner is currently conducting together with Julian Felix Kopka and Lennart Borgmann. The study is investigating the media and device behaviour and advertising perception of consumers in the Bergisches Land region. One of the most modern mobile eye-tracking glasses in Europe is being used, which is able to record evening media consumption in private households through the eyes of the test subjects. This makes it possible to record key findings on the intake and processing of media and advertising content, such as temporal structures, gaze patterns or the parallel use of multiple screens, such as smartphones and TVs.

After the presentation, visitors had the opportunity to slip into the role of a test subject at the Chair of Marketing's stand and gain exciting insights into the world of eye-tracking technology.

Lecture at the Remscheider General-Anzeiger: In the lecture "Von der Liebe zu Marken und anderen Irrationalitäten des menschlichen Konsumverhaltens" at the Remscheider General-Anzeiger in the Klosterkirche in Lennep, Professor Tobias Langner discussed how emotions and brands permanently influence our consumer behaviour.

He explained how the term "brand" is defined, why strong brands are even loved and what effects this love triggers in us. Professor Langner also highlighted key strategies that can protect us from the seduction of brands and unwanted consumption.

Further information can be found in the preliminary report and in the follow-up report to the lecture.

Reaching customers with your own communication is more difficult than ever. How can you ensure that advertising messages effectively influence customers today - and preferably before a communication measure is activated?

Professor Tobias Langner and Tobias Klinke provided exciting insights from marketing research on this question in their presentation at the Bergisch Land Marketing Club. The two consumer researchers gave 40 guests a guided tour of Germany's most modern brand laboratory at the University of Wuppertal in a digital event format.

The impact of brand communication is being researched there with the help of equipment such as eye-tracking, emotion recognition, skin resistance measurement and EEG. Right at the beginning, Tobias Langner emphasised the central hurdles of communication and the benefits of the laboratory procedures: "In order to be successful, brand communication must succeed in establishing contact with the recipient, triggering emotions and conveying information. We can analyse whether and why a communication measure succeeds in doing this in our laboratory."

The participants made active use of the chat function during and after the presentation, resulting in an exciting and interactive discussion.

As part of the new event format "Marketing in Dialogue" of the Bergisch Land Marketing Club on 6 February 2020, Tobias Langner gave the keynote speech "Marketing for regions: What a city can learn from strong brands."

In his presentation, he transferred lessons from strategic brand management to the marketing of cities and regions. Among other things, he emphasised the role of the city's own residents: "What the people of the city think is of central importance. Residents must be proud of their city and develop into brand ambassadors."

He also pointed out potential for improvement for the city of Wuppertal: "Events help to build a positive attitude and improve the image. We don't have an event of supra-regional importance."

After the presentation, the 50 participants, including important representatives from business and science, culture, politics and administration, discussed how the planned activities should be used to strengthen the Wuppertal city brand using the example of Wuppertal's "ENGELS 2020" programme.

You can find a review of the event at

• Westdeutsche Zeitung
• Atelierhaus Vok Dams
• Marketing Club Bergisch Land

As part of the new event format Ma(h)lzeit?! - Lunch break with added value, Tobias Langner and Dirk Temme accepted the invitation from Silke Asbeck, Managing Director of the Historische Stadthalle, and Carsten vom Bauer, Managing Director of CULINARIA, who organised a themed lunch on "Marketing for regions". In their presentation, the two professors explained how to develop a city into a strong city brand in seven steps. The seven steps at a glance:

Step 1: Make the city brand the cornerstone of city marketing!

Step 2: City marketing always starts on the inside!

Step 3: Strong city brands offer unique points of fascination!

Step 4: Find an authentic positioning that suits the city!

Step 5: The realisation must be relevant for the most important target groups!

Step 6: Smart city brands advertise themselves!

Step 7: Have staying power!

You can find a short review under:

Aterlierhaus Vok Dams

The city newspaper Wuppertal

It was back to the future in midsummer temperatures for more than 60 guests and members of the Marketing Club Bergisch Land on the evening of 19 April at the University of Wuppertal. The event focussed on a journey through 70 years of marketing history. Honorary President Hartmut Happich hosted the evening, during which the speakers Dieter Lübcke, founder of the Bergisch Land Marketing Club, and Professor Langner, Chair of Marketing at the Bergisch Land University, presented the guests with an entertaining mix of current affairs, theory and practical knowledge with many examples and showed the developments in marketing from decade to decade. For example, important milestones such as the development of the marketing mix (the 4Ps: Price, Promotion, Place and Product), the BCG matrix or the founding of the first marketing chair, which still characterise marketing today.

However, it was not only the past that was important on this evening, but also a look into the future. At the end of the event, Prof Dr Tobias Langner put forward eight theses on the future of marketing and explained the associated challenges.

Thesis 1: (Not) everything will be digital.

Thesis 2: Industry boundaries are falling: Amazon & Co. are shaping our expectations - always and everywhere.

Thesis 3: Attention is becoming the most expensive currency in marketing.

Thesis 4: The target group of the future is the individual.

Thesis 5: Ethnomarketing will gain in importance.

Thesis 6: Many consumers only pay lip service to sustainability.

Thesis 7: Marketing is a profession and not just a vocation.

Thesis 8: The "Chinese Wall" between science and practice must come down again.

Further information on the evening can be found here.

On 25 January 2018, the Bergisch Land Marketing Club hosted a festive event to kick off the year as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. The event focussed on the Wuppertal-based company Vorwerk, which was awarded the German Marketing Prize for its Thermomix product range last year. In his laudatory speech, Professor Tobias Langner emphasised the outstanding marketing strategy of the Thermomix. Above all, the strong brand loyalty and the great significance that the kitchen miracle has in the lives of customers became clear in various forums.

Professor Langner then hosted the rest of the evening, during which TV chef Andreas Hülsmann also reported on his experiences with the Thermomix. The professional chef describes the Thermomix as "his right hand" and uses it in the professional kitchen for soups, creams, pastes or foams - as a "sidekick" that takes a lot of work off his hands. This was followed by an emotional speech by Dr Stefan Hilgers, who gave an insight into the development of the Thermomix and made it clear how much heart and soul goes into the appliance. The event was concluded by Vorwerk Board Member Andreas Friesch and Marketing Manager Verena Lütke Uhlenbrock, who gave a detailed insight into the marketing strategy and its implementation. A total of 200 guests and members of the Bergischer Marketing Club were able to enjoy a thoroughly successful evening in honour of the Wuppertal-based company Vorwerk in the charming ambience of the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal.

Further information can be found here.

The new Mercedes G-Class was presented to the international trade press in Metzingen from 6 to 10 November 2017. Prof Dr Tobias Langner and Junior Prof Dr Daniel Bruns were invited as scientific experts to explain what makes a brand icon in several presentations. The two brand experts explained the features that make the G-Class an icon and how it manages to provide customers with an exceptional product experience. The findings from their own research work on the subject of brand love played a central role in these explanatory approaches, with Gunnar Guethenke, CEO of Mercedes-Benz G GmbH, providing further insights into the development of the G-Class.

The event took place in the special ambience of the Motor World Manufaktur in Metzingen and was exclusively open to selected guests from the trade press. In addition to the expert presentations, the interior of the G-Class, for example, was presented in a darkroom. Guests were also able to take a virtual reality test drive on the G-Class' local mountain in Schöckl, Graz. Alongside the presentations, the individual components that characterise the G-Class and make it a brand icon were presented in an exhibition. The interior of the G-Class was presented to the German and international press through a combination of science-based presentations and an unusual world of experience.

You can find the blog post by Daniel Bruns here.

Christmas is approaching. Wishes need to be fulfilled and suitable presents need to be bought. Every year, the choice becomes greater and the decisions more difficult. It is therefore not surprising that we usually do not make our purchasing decisions rationally at all and that brands influence us through emotions. The Schumpeter School Forum organised an event on this topic last Tuesday. The series of events organised by this cooperation addressed fundamental questions about influencing purchasing behaviour.

In his welcoming address, Ralf Ehser, spokesman for the local management of Deutsche Bank, pointed out that we are constantly overwhelmed by emotions and that expertise is temporarily switched off. The evening's speakers, Professor Tobias Langner from the University of Wuppertal and Customer Marketing Manager Felix Withöft from Vorwerk, reported from research and practice. From favourite brands and irrational consumption to emotions running high, the 120 or so students and alumni of the University of Wuppertal and selected Deutsche Bank customers were able to learn a lot about their own consumer behaviour.

The experts also gave an entertaining insight into the secret recipes of marketing managers and how to build strong brands. This may well have given some of the audience food for thought. As a result, there were also helpful tips at the end on how to counteract the influence of secret seducers. "We have to accept that there are no rational decisions. Emotions influence us always and everywhere. We should always be aware of our susceptibility to seduction when making important decisions. What helps: sleep on it and then critically scrutinise whether the purchase is really that good and necessary," advises Langner.

On 05.11.14, Professor Dr Tobias Langner gave the keynote speech at the Rhineland Research Dialogue - organised by the IHK Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid - in the guest house at the Freudenberg campus.

In his lecture"Developing and managing brands successfully", Professor Langner presented four recommendations for successful brand management, each of which he illustrated with catchy practical examples.

You can find the programme of the research dialogue here.

On 27.11.13, Professor Dr Tobias Langner gave the keynote speech at the 8th B2B Brand Conference in Würzburg.

In his presentation, Professor Langner highlighted seven sins of B2B brand management and explained how they can be avoided.

You can find a review of the conference here.

On 14.04.11 Professor Dr Tobias Langner gave the keynote speech at the 2nd Media & Marketing Congress in Wiesbaden.

In his presentation, Professor Langner put forward seven uncomfortable theses on the future of marketing.

You can find a review of the congress here.

On 7 October 2010, Professor Dr Tobias Langner gave the opening lecture at the Efficiency Day 2010 in Berlin.

In his lecture "Meeting the customer where it works: effective ways to efficient communication", Professor Langner presented eight different problems within brand communication, which he described as efficiency killers and which should be avoided in brand management.

You can find the agenda of the 7th Efficiency Day here.