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Allein der Einsatz der richtigen Farbe kann heute bereits eine Form von Marketing sein. • The use of the right colour can today already be a form of marketing.

T hose who visit the headquarters of the Yelp internet company in Hamburg can workspaces for their employees in such a way that they feel good and are able to work
efficiently. Companies such as Facebook or Yelp employ mainly young people who see
observe a strange ritual now and then. Many young, hip-looking people are work-
ing here in a loft atmosphere with a slight Buddhist touch. They are sitting in front of the internet as a part of their lives. It is thus a comparatively homogeneous group: with
large screens and most of them are on the phone. Suddenly one of them jumps up, runs similar expectations toward their employer and their workspace, perhaps also with sim-
into the centre of the room and proudly strikes a brass-coloured gong. What happens ilar interests as to recreation. For most of the other companies, however, the matter is
next is repeated here several times a day: The colleagues quickly gather around, they more complex: As a rule, they have employees from three differently socialized genera-
cheer and give the person a high five. The gong-striker has just sold an advertisement. tions, Huth declares. They all should feel good in the office but, at the same time, the
One might find the matter of the gong playfully motivating – or cuckoo. But even if the workspace also has to meet economic criteria, hence need as little space as possible and
office concept at Yelp is an extreme case, for many people much has changed not only the costs should be kept low. Also on the wish list of most companies are flexible uses.
in the way they are working but also regarding the environment where they are doing At the same time, the premises should nevertheless be prestigious – and, of course, also
so. Nowadays, offices are more than a desk, a computer and a phone. They are a mes- reflect the company’s brand essence. Today, the right sofa in the lobby is a form of mar-
sage from the company. A few hundred metres from the Yelp headquarters, Facebook keting as well. Huth asks the big questions whenever he starts a project. Questions which
resides. On several floors, the company has turned its German subsidiary into a kind of go far beyond the colour of the carpet and the fabric of the sofa: How hierarchically are
oversized children’s paradise: There is a wall where all visitors may leave their mark by we working? What constitutes a major part of our work: meetings? They simply want
signing their names or gladly also with a drawing. Another wall is painted with motifs furniture”, he says. Yet it is about much more than furniture. How the workstations look
one can use for selfies. “In the ideal case, the office planning manifests and supports the has an impact on the economic success of a company. On the one hand because compa-
work processes but also the company’s attitude”, Thomas Huth explains. He advises nies may hope that their employees stay longer in the office and therefore achieve more
companies on the interior furnishing and, among others, has designed the Betahaus co- when they feel good. This is particularly apparent in the concepts of internet companies
working space in Hamburg – a place for freelancers, start-ups and all the others who do which experts like to call “work-life blending”, hence the merging of working and living:
not want to work at home. Huth says that it is not easy for companies today to design The fun atmosphere is the attempt to no longer give the people a reason to go home.

Ganzheitliche

Arbeitsplatzlösungen

von Humanscale.

Funktionalität, Einfachheit, Langlebigkeit.

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