All nicely design things touch my heart. For example this Posture Chair and Ottoman Set from Modern by Dwell Magazine. Simple, clean, elegant, fair price.

Frottee? Really? Sounds like thrown back to childhood pyjama:-)

This piece is one of my best catches I made in 2016: A frottee polo from Ben Sherman. Found it with 50% discount at Nordstrom Rack. 

Works well for leisure and casual work days, but please be careful when the weather gets too hot, it’s frottee.

This blog is dedicated to my friend Dennis told he started looking for a black watch. So you inspired me to look into this. Black is back and is one of the color trends of watches this year.

For Magazines like QG it is part of their high fashion brand massage to list only watches from 7000€ and up. I doubt that the majority of readers can afford them.

I thought it is time to come up with some ideas below the 1000€ mark. Here are four examples.

Top left: Bulova, is one of my favorite watch brands. The Moonwatch is inspired by the Omega classic and I found it here for about 400€.

Top right: Michael Kors. I have not had this model in my hand, but it appeals clear and strong. I assume it should be available for about 200€.

Buttom left: Armani some diving flair for Saturday night for about 370€.

Buttom Right: A smartwatch from Montblanc for 890€.

There are two watches I like to nominate for my all time favorites. Maybe over time I have to extend the list.

#1 is the “Moonwatch” from Omega.

The first watch on the moon 1969, named Speedmaster Professional. And it was not a marketing story of smart product placement, but later Omega made a great story out of it. A similar and more affordable version is the one Pilot Solar from Seiko.

#2 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss

Maybe the Milgauss variant is a surprise to some of you. For me the greensaphire color has something magic. It now celebrates its 10th birthday.

So if you ever look for a birthday present…. 😜

Are you a fan of loyalty programs? I tell you I am, in case it delivers better service, extras or more personalized offers. My preferred program is Lufthansa’s Miles and More, because it’s s a huge network of business partners, including hotels, rental car provider Hertz, or the credit card service that allows me to collect miles and spend them for upgrades when travelling. Being tall, that is important to me.

What is important to other people may be different. My colleague, Thomas Brence, is loyal visitor of Marriott, because he has access to the free breakfast lounge. Thanks Thomas, for inviting me during our last trip. A great thing to build relationships in business if you can invite people for a breakfast. Are you a loyal member of a certain hotel chain? If yes, what are the reasons for it?

Check out my latest Video on the good and bad of merging loyalty programs, and let me know what you think as a traveler and what you think if you are in the role of leading marketing or customer service at any company.

A benefit of merger or acquisition is realizing the potential of cross- or up-sell opportunities. It is what every sales and marketing leader is aiming at and it starts with data. Think of the recent merger of Tesla and Solar City. Are people driving an electric car, a good target audience for putting solar panels on their roof? Probably. Why? Because electric car owners are probably concerned about sustainability and are likely to want renewable energy. But maybe do not target those that are more concerned with the status of driving a Tesla. Knowing customers’ preferences helps with segmentation and personalization.

Everybody is talking and writing about digital transformation and the impact to customer experience, but what is required to make it really work? Solving such kind of data-driven challenges in an intelligent way is what we do with Enterprise Cloud Data Management at Informatica. It starts with a strong engine to intelligently and trustworthy match and merge different versions of Ben Rund and Benjamin Rund into one single 360 view. 

What sources can you trust for what information, and how to integrate all these sources in real time? How can the validation of certain customer information be automated in an intelligent way? What rules and processes are needed to ensure this? How can my suppliers get alerted when Ben Rund has moved houses? 

And it goes way beyond that by adding the potential of relationships and Big Data sources (see this blog about influencer marketing), placing the next best offering intelligently.

The return of the classic sweater has happened over the last few years. Even the tennis socks, typically a no-go in fashion, are allowed. But please, please …. if you do it, do it with style …. out of the collection of MSGM with Diadora.

VIU is the new rising brand of sunglasses and even have a store in my Stuttgart City.

Here comes my list of favorites

• The Bold
• The Beast
• Pelikamo

Just love Nike. Who does not want to feel like an olympic champ?

Let me know which ones you like most, then I will unveil the brands. Or can u guess the brands? And no…. it is not five times the same pic.

Top left: Armani, top right: Salvatore Ferragamo, middle left: Ferragamo, middle right: D&G, buttom left: Zegna, buttom rigt: Tom Ford.

Strong Italian influence.

You see me posting selfies with new sun glasses I am trying on, asking for your votes. Today I went to a store and they had the model, but not the style I wanted, but also missed the chance to nail me down and make me order online.

This finally made me switch from the retailer to the brand manufacturer. I googled the item number and landed on the website of RayBan, where the offer the configurator to build my individual sun glasses 😎.

Having all the items to configure the final product in a simple way, made me order in just a few minutes. 

Bam. Digital, data-driven sales nailed. I will post a pic when delivered in 3 days. This is a real RayBen!

When in Boston, check out this sneaker store called Bodega. You just need to find the secret door……… or just more simple online https://shop.bdgastore.com/

My name is not Ferris. In my opinion is does not have to be a casual Friday to dress up in all blue.

So today I call it Blue Tuesday when I felt I do it all for blue in the office. My new Nike, socks from Ralph Lauren, raw jeans from G-star, shirt from Olymp and a Sakko from Scotch and Soda.

You can do it. Please share your blue … day.