Entrepreneurship that sets the standard

What defines a true entrepreneurial team? An unwavering belief in their vision? The courage to take decisive action? The resilience to keep going despite obstacles? At Burda, entrepreneurship comes to life when all these qualities come together — when ideas are transformed into action. When we see an opportunity, we have to seize it quickly, decisively, and with the full power of Burda," says Marc Al-Hames, member of the Executive Board at Burda, explaining the company’s Purpose value. That’s exactly what the Blue Ocean team did with its ‘Customer Loyalty’ division— earning them the BurdaAward in the ‘Entrepreneurship’ category last week.

The Courage to Innovate

Based in Stuttgart, Blue Ocean Entertainment is one of the world’s leading publishers of media products for children and young audiences. A part of Burda since 2014, the company dominates the children’s magazine market with 80 regular titles and makes a significant contribution to Burda’s overall success.

Blue Ocean’s Loyalty Success: From Bold Idea to Market Leader

In 2016, Blue Ocean took a bold step into a new business area: loyalty programmes for retailers. The goal was clear—to build lasting customer relationships and strengthen brand loyalty. Fast forward to 2024, and the company has successfully launched eight large-scale loyalty programmes across Europe. Among the most notable are the Playmobil campaign at Intermarché in France, spanning over 2,100 stores, and the Edeka campaign in Germany, reaching around 7,000 stores.

The impact of these programmes speaks for itself. Not only has the team significantly increased brand loyalty, but they have also driven sales beyond €30 million.

The Secret to Blue Ocean’s Success

The Burda Awards jury was particularly impressed by this remarkable growth. “Blue Ocean Loyalty has become a cornerstone of Blue Ocean’s 2024 business — and, in turn, of the entire Burda publishing group,” said Marc Al-Hames in his award speech.

Simon Peter, Editor-in-Chief, and Max Müller, Managing Director, accepted the award in Munich, visibly overjoyed. “Our success is the result of hard work. It took us two years to develop our first loyalty campaign. But over time, our ideas became sharper, our strategies more refined—and 2024 was our big breakthrough. And we’re only just getting started."

Outstanding Examples of Entrepreneurship

Blue Ocean wasn’t the only team to impress the judges. Two other outstanding projects were nominated for the Burda Award 2025 in the ‘Entrepreneurship’ category:

• BurdaForward’s ‘Experts Cockpit’: A cutting-edge platform that leverages generative AI to connect experts with Burda brands, delivering trusted and high-quality content.
• BBC History’s Apple News Project: By refining its content strategy and placing a stronger emphasis on Apple news, the UK team successfully generated £1 million in business.

Step by Step to Success

What do these teams have in common? A commitment to innovation and the courage to take bold action—an entrepreneurial mindset that we can all bring to our daily work. And who knows? Maybe next year, it’ll be your team standing on the Burda Awards stage.

Until then, congratulations to Blue Ocean’s Customer Loyalty team—and to everyone who embodies Burda’s entrepreneurial spirit every day.