The keynote speaker at the launch event was Professor Hermann Simon, who coined the term “Hidden Champion”. Hermann Simon is an entrepreneur, management consultant, professor emeritus of economics, author and speaker. In his presentation, he addressed the question of what characteristics distinguish Hidden Champions. According to his definition, these are medium-sized companies that are number one, two, or three in the global market, or number one on the company’s continent, determined by market share. They have an annual revenue of less than €5 billion and a low level of public awareness. This is because the vast majority of these companies do not deal in consumer goods but focus on industrial goods. Hidden champions also focus on their market niche, which they serve worldwide, and each of them achieves superior know-how and a high level of production depth in their rather narrow field. Furthermore, the area of research and development plays a major role, as companies can only achieve and maintain a top position through constant innovation. Hidden champions spend twice as much on research and development and register five times as many patents as the industry average. The focus on customer proximity is another characteristic of these companies. The innovations must provide the customer with a benefit, a real added value. 38 percent of the employees of these companies have regular contact with customers, compared with only 8 percent of well-known large German companies.

Find out more about the campaign and the winning companies here: https://www.hidden-champions-thuringia.de/en/