With around 380 members, the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Marketing (AfM)” (working group for marketing) is the central association of German-speaking professors of marketing and sales management. This year, Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences had the honour of hosting the traditional annual conference. The organising team of Prof. Dr Brigitte Kölzer, Prof. Dr Rudolf Hiendl and Prof. Dr Eckhard Lachmann had prepared an exciting programme of specialist lectures, company visits and discussions.
First, however, it was time to honour the founder of AfM: Prof Dr Egon Heil, who taught marketing at the Rosenheim Faculty of Business Administration in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He organised the first AfM conference in 1973. Without his initiative, the AfM would not exist in this successful form. This was emphasised by the speakers of the AfM, Prof. Dr Anna Riedel and Prof. Dr Jörn Redler, in their welcoming address. University President Prof Dr h.c. Heinz Köster "outed" himself as a former student of Prof Heil and praised his exciting lectures. To great applause from the AfM members present, Egon Heil was then awarded honorary membership of the AfM.
The specialist presentations that followed covered the entire spectrum of current marketing issues: Timo Bernsmann (TwoFour agency), Markus Reheis (Gabor), Benedikt Böhm (DynaFit), Ralf Schneider (GWW association / Werbemax), Gregor Ries (Eder Group), Rudolf Klötscher (BSH) and Lorenz Stiglauer (Flötzinger brewery) reported on the current trends in their markets, "from old school to AI", so to speak. After a fresh beer in the Flötzinger Braukeller, the evening was rounded off with Bavarian specialities in the Bräustüberl. The next day was followed by company visits to Adelholzener, Bora and TechDivision with insights into the brand world and marketing activities of these companies. And there was no shortage of professional dialogue among colleagues either: in the evening, a hike to a mountain hut with the best view of the Rosenheim landscape was on the agenda - so this year's annual conference ended just as it began: rustic, authentic and at the same time future-oriented.
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