This article first appeared on ntv.de
Europe’s largest electronics retail chains Media Markt and Saturn belong to one company: Holding Ceconomy. In Germany, the Saturn brand is playing an ever smaller role – and may be on the verge of extinction.
As the “Lebensmittel Zeitung” reports, six branches in Germany have already been renamed Media Markt after their renovation. And according to Focus Online, ten more branches are to be renamed this year. In Germany, both chains together have around 400 stores.
A company spokeswoman told ntv.de that the name changes were based on “comprehensive environment and market analyses.” Due to the local conditions and the results, “we are increasingly relying on the Media Markt brand at individual locations”.
For many years, the Holding Ceconomy had relied on a strategy with two brands. The idea was to reach two different customer groups. Saturn was positioned as a premium brand, while Media Markt had price-conscious customers in mind.
But step by step, Saturn and Media Markt moved closer and closer together – mainly for cost reasons. At the latest with Saturn’s “Greet is cool” advertising campaign, the differences between the brands became smaller and smaller. In the meantime, even the prices in the branches no longer differ from each other, and the online presences are almost identical. “Our customers have access to the entire range everywhere. Through joint campaigns, we also leverage marketing synergies,” said the spokeswoman.
Is Ceconomy gradually saying goodbye to the Saturn brand, like elsewhere in Europe? The spokeswoman did not confirm this. Both brands are valuable and have many fans. The current situation is “that the added value of the two brands clearly exceeds potential efficiency gains through one brand. Wherever we can further strengthen the two brands, we do so”. Site by site, “how we can best contribute and use the strengths of our two brands (…) is being reviewed.” Up to 90 percent of the more than 1,000 stores in eleven European countries are to be modernized by the 2025/26 financial year. According to the information, some Saturn stores will reopen as Media Markt after their modernization.
Ceconomy, Europe’s largest electronics retailer, emerged in 2017 from the split of the Metro Group into wholesale and food retail on the one hand and electronics markets on the other and has been independent ever since. Media Markt and Saturn are managed under the Ceconomy umbrella.
