Heidelberg Materials
150 years of progress, made in Heidelberg
The company anniversary we had the pleasure of accompanying in June 2023 was 150 years of Heidelberg Materials. A globally operating DAX group, a leader in the building materials industry, with approx. 51,000 employees at 3,000 locations in over 50 countries, whose roots are still anchored in our home town. The latter should also be expressed in the concept.
Furthermore, it was important to the client to keep the celebrations small and meaningful. Heidelberg Materials is aware of its corporate responsibility, which is why sustainable management is now firmly anchored in the company strategy.
Thus, our focus was on strengthening the corporate culture and team spirit, presenting the connection to the city of Heidelberg in an innovative as well as sustainable way, and furthermore making the history and development as well as the current and future orientation of Heidelberg Materials a topic.
The motto "150 Years of Progress" thus united several anniversary elements that took up precisely this claim and character, made them tangible and carried them outwards.
It was also important for us to develop a beautiful story that would carry the anniversary beyond the actual day of the celebration and make it a theme.
The idea: a total of 150 pieces of concrete furniture made of sustainable building materials, together with newly planted trees, were to form so-called "innovation meeting points".
The starting signal for this campaign was given on the day of the anniversary celebration for the approximately 1,000 employees, which took place in the character of a summer festival on the premises and in the courtyard of the company headquarters.
The event was accompanied by the opening of a permanent exhibition in the reception hall of the head office, which is still open to the public and provides information not only about the milestones in the company's history, but also about the company's future topics.
Our conclusion: it is not always necessary to use big stage shows and sensational effects or to book spectacular locations. The character of an anniversary is always also dependent on corporate culture and values.