Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 35 2024

Good morning, has your sense of security been shaken by the terrible knife attack in Solingen? Young people stab at random at people standing around them, whose only mistake is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, where an Islamist radicalised on the internet thinks he has to pave his way to heaven. Weapons bans do not help here, but, as it seems, only massive control of the messages circulating on the internet. Fake news is the basis for radicalisation and an increasing inability to open up to arguments. Why is it only totalitarian states that manage to restrict the freedom of the internet? Because there is no freedom in these countries! – but that doesn't mean that we in the still free countries have to stand by and watch as radicalised enemies of freedom destroy the very foundations of freedom. But it probably also means allowing automated surveillance on a larger scale. A difficult balancing act...

If such acts are classified as terrorist, the consequences are usually not covered by insurance. If something like this happens in connection with an art fair or another cultural event, the question arises as to whether the acts were committed by individuals or groups of individuals to achieve political, religious, ethnic or ideological goals with the intention of spreading fear or terror among the population or parts of the population and thereby influencing a government or state institution. In this sense, the attacks on works of art in museums could also fall under this consideration.

At the Rhenish Carnival, hardly any mediocre carnival speaker of either sex can get by without boring jokes about Düsseldorf. The beer-fuelled rivalry between Kölsch and Alt is also legendary. This coming weekend, the Düsseldorf and Cologne galleries will bury the feud, which only affects others anyway, and organise the DC-Open. The programme can be found here. If you are still looking for a destination after that, you could head for an art fair in Sydney. The Sydney Contemporary starts on 4 September. A week later, you should be in Berlin when the Positions opens its doors at the old Tempelhof Airport. We are pleased to be able to award a prize for the best booth, as chosen by a jury. And if you still have the time and inclination, you can then travel from there directly to Vienna for the Viennacontemporary... You can read about the costs of trade fair tourism for galleries this week in Stefan Kobel's article. He has more to say on the subject.

How important are brands? If you believe the augurs, Coca Cola still occupies a leading position. In the insurance industry, it is Allianz that is way out in front. But how important is the brand name really for the respective brokers and customers of risk carriers and also brokers? The older among our readers may still remember insurance companies such as Schlesische Feuer, Magdeburger, Vaterländische, Colonia, Nordstern, Albingia, Wintherthur and Union des Assurances de Paris (UAP) - all now in the belly of AXA, which emerged from a mutual insurance association. The association swallowed the brands and expanded its market presence, you could say. The association HDI also took over the limited company Gerling and? clearly the name disappeared. Now two mutual associations in Germany are joining forces: Barmenia (from a formerly independent small town of Barmen, now part of Wuppertal) and Gothaer (from a smaller town in the German east). Under which brand will they continue to sail? Quite Solomonically, it is called: Barmenia-Gothaer Versicherung is to be the name. Since everything is digital these days, the argument about printer's ink no longer applies. This marriage will remain a tongue twister for the time being. Dictation programmes have difficulty with both names. So let's go on a joint search for a new, catchy name: First, we take the old names apart letter by letter: BAR MEN (IA) and GOT H(a)ER - that already gives us a nice idea in German: ‘Barmänner haben Sie bekommen’ (you've got barmen) - but wait, that's not allowed in Germany, which is becoming more and more conservative and is moving back towards the Biedermeier era! and immediately triggers a gender debate. What can be made out of the letters? BARGOT, GOTMENIA, ARGOT (but only if you don't want to be present in France) GOBAR, GARMENIA, MENGOTHER, MENGO, GAROT, GOTERBARMEN, GOTHABARMEN... - it's best to hire an agency that can develop a word mark that fits the company's strategy, under which everyone can then come together again. Unlike brokers, agencies don't really care what comes out of it. What matters to them is their personal customer loyalty. However, an established brand is a great help when selling products that require explanation, as insurance does.

Have a good start to the week - next Monday we'll know more about the state of the German soul in Saxony and Thuringia

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Solothurn and Cologne