A full house in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof: On Tuesday evening (February 28), the Best Brands Awards 2023 attracted around 550 guests from business, retail and the media, as well as numerous celebrities, including Natascha Ochsenknecht, Franziska Knuppe, Frank Thelen, Marc Terenzi and Verena Kerth and Laura Osswald to the Munich Grand Hotel. At the 20th presentation of the so-called brand Oscars, courage was the focus of the festive event.
At the beginning of the event, Florian Haller, CEO of the Serviceplan Group, promoted “joie de vivre, optimism and the courage to face the future”. Then keynote speaker Sebastian Steudtner (37) illustrated what he understands by courage. The big wave surfer from Nuremberg told how he made it from his first bodyboard as a nine-year-old on a family vacation in Brittany against all odds to his big success on October 29, 2020. On this day he conquered the 26.21 meter high wave in the sea off Nazaré, Portugal, with his board. “I was a pioneer from day one. No one from Germany became a professional big wave surfer before me,” he said. For him there were no role models or infrastructure such as in Formula 1 or in football. “I managed to become by far the most successful big wave surfer of all time and to change the sport,” summarizes the world record holder. He is currently working on the next big wave; However, he has long since put the findings from his research into the sea, waves and materials to the service of environmental protection.
Special guest Sebastião Salgado (79) also tied in here. He talked about his brave reforestation project in Brazil.
At the awards ceremony itself, the big winner of the night was Danish company Lego. It won one of the three top awards “Best of the Best Brands” and a little later the award “Best Brand Overall”. But instead of a manager, a big red Lego brick picked up the prizes on the stage. That brought back memories of the past year. Superhero Spider-Man personally accepted the award for the gaming brand Sony Playstation. Without a word, he darted down the stairs in the ballroom in the manner of a comic hero, accepted the award, thanked him politely and darted back up the other staircase and away. The Lego brick was naturally a little less flexible.
Bosch and Nivea also received awards in the “Best of the Best Brands” anniversary category. And in the category “Best Corporate Sustainability Brand” the drugstore chain dm creamed off.
After the award ceremony, the show act Jan Delay stood
“I’m looking forward to the day when you think: oh today I have nothing to do, now I’ll go see all these great films I made at concerts, wow…” he said with a smile . And added a little more thoughtfully: “The day will never come … Instead, you produce data garbage that you never look at again. And you take the moment away – and maybe others too,” he pushed, referring to the many raised and hands with cellphones behind. Short break. “But I didn’t want to push the mood now,” he laughed and continued to perform in the sweat of his brow and to the delight of a truly mobile-free audience.
