Strategy

The 5 Star Initiative strategic concept defines five milestones for GfK for the next five years.
 
The first initiative, Fact-Based Consultancy, concerns the consistent development of the service offering into high-value, fact-based and continually generated consultancy services for top managers of companies operating in the areas of innovative market research approaches and strategic marketing decisions.
 
The second initiative, TOP 3, is about GfK"s positioning in the international market research market. GfK"s vision is to be number 3 in the sector as well as number 3 in each of the countries significant to market research in Europe, America and Asia and the Pacific, and number 3 in each of its five business divisions. GfK is pursuing this goal internationally in Custom Research, Retail and Technology and HealthCare, and throughout Europe for Consumer Tracking and Media.
 
Thirdly, GfK's Global Reach initiative is geared towards expanding its global network further and opening offices in all countries that are significant from an economic and market research point of view.
 
With its fourth initiative, Full Service, GfK intends to position itself as a full service market research company. This will encompass knowledge and experience of client markets and the relevant regions, a high-quality innovative service offering that can be used globally, which comprises the many facets of the marketing mix as well as the use of the latest methods of complex data collection, analysis and management.
 
The fifth and final initiative, Excellent Financials, defines the financial expectations of GfK for the next five years. The company has set itself the ambitious goal of increasing sales as close to the 1.5 billion euro mark as possible and achieving a margin of 13-15 per cent. The ratio of net indebtedness to EBITDA should be reduced to around 2.