A MAGAZINE FOR CARPENTERS: CUSTOM WORK.
HOMAG is the world’s leading provider of solutions for the woodworking industry—and the skilled trades, at least in theory. However, due to changes in processes and increasing digitalization, the company’s still-most-important target group—carpenters and joiners—no longer felt truly addressed by the end of the 2010s. The company could not afford to lose revenue or customer trust.
The goal: to use corporate publishing to bring HOMAG closer to the trades. Based on a comprehensive customer survey, we developed a campaign for this purpose: “Hand aufs Holz.” The clear message: HOMAG understands that not everything went perfectly in the past and that it knows what matters most to the trades. The central, deliberately analog element of the campaign is custom work. A newspaper for carpenters and joiners, packed with exciting stories about colleagues, useful practical tips, and detailed technical explanations.
CUSTOM WORK
What started as an 8-page publication has grown to 12 pages to accommodate the reports submitted both internally and externally. The focus is always on the cabinetmaker. “Maßarbeit” is not a sales tool for HOMAG, but rather a growth tool for woodworking shops. Specifically, this means that Schindler Parent acts as an objective editorial team responsible for interviews and photo shoots.
Photo Shoot
In each issue, we feature a woodworking shop. This involves a full-day photo shoot at the shop, which is, of course, free to use the resulting images for its own communication purposes afterward. The focus is less on the HOMAG machines and more on the shop’s employees, products, and history.
SECTIONS
Current topics, a “WOOD IN THE BLOOD” employee profile, and the two-page “SUCCESS STORY” are just as much a fundamental part of “Custom Work” as tips and tricks “FROM THE FIELD,” digital and innovative content in the “WOOD WITH A FUTURE” section, and various new machine releases (“EXCITING & CHIPPING AWAY”). Each issue begins with the “THOUGHTS ALOUD” foreword and concludes with a technical deep dive in “ROOT KNOWLEDGE.”
FACTS & FIGURES
The biannual publication *Maßarbeit* has been in circulation since 2019. Currently (as of July 2024), Issue 12 is in the final layout stage. This means that in a few weeks, 85,000 freshly printed copies will find their way to woodworking shops in the DACH region—as inserts in leading trade magazines or via direct mail.
“Custom work has become an integral part of our communication—and of our woodworking shops as well. We’re thrilled about that. It has allowed us to strengthen our brand image in the skilled trades sector in a sustainable way and further expand our market position.”
BRAND & MARGIN®
How often are company magazines or customer newsletters just flash-in-the-pan successes? Not so with Maßarbeit. Eleven issues so far—with the 12th already in the works—speak for themselves. On top of that, we’ve expanded the magazine to 12 pages because there was simply too much content coming in from the various departments and from our clients.
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