otto groupBrand

Otto Group

Voice

The Otto Group writes as a group of companies, not as a shop. It speaks about itself in the third person in reports and press releases („die Otto Group"), uses „wir" for values, culture and the about pages, and addresses readers formally.

Rules

  • Readers are addressed with „Sie", or not addressed at all.
  • „Otto Group" with two capitals in running text; the logo alone is lowercase.
  • Gender-inclusive with the star (Mitarbeiter*innen) or neutral participles (Mitarbeitende).
  • Facts before adjectives: figures with base and period, sources named.

Do and don't

DoWrite about „die Otto Group" in the third person in reports and press; use „wir" for values and culture.
DoLead with the result, then the context and the strategic reason. Name figures precisely with unit and period: „EBIT: 641 Mio. Euro (Vorjahr 276 Mio. Euro)".
DoFrame topics through the strategy („Responsible commerce that inspires", the Strategy 2030 priorities) and the view of a family company: long term, across generations, led by values.
DoUse English strategy terms as they are published, in quotation marks when they sit inside German text.
Don'tSay „du" to readers in reports or use shop vocabulary such as Deal, Gutschein or gratis.
Don'tUse exclamation marks, humour or emoji.
Don'tBlur the senders: OTTO results are „OTTO" or „die E-Commerce-Plattform OTTO", not „die Otto Group verkauft".

In their own words

„Seit Jahrzehnten ist die Otto Group davon überzeugt, dass die Wirtschaft für den Menschen da ist, nicht umgekehrt."

ottogroup.com, Werte

„Die Vision ‚Responsible Commerce that inspires' definiert die Leitplanken für die Otto Group."

ottogroup.com, Strategie

„Wir blicken mit Freude nach vorne. Weil wir davon überzeugt sind, dass Qualität, Innovation und Fairness sich durchsetzen."

ottogroup.com, Über uns

More examples and the OTTO comparison: Tone of voice.