Henkel vs tesa

WPP Media pilots ChatGPT Ads with Colgate, Ford, Henkel, RTL, Volksbanken

WPP Media launched pilot campaigns on OpenAI's ChatGPT Ads in Germany, following its August market entry. The global media agency group developed a "Context-Hint Approach" for each campaign, managing ad creative, activation, and ongoing evaluation. Participating brands include Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, Henkel (Persil), RTL Deutschland, and the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken cooperative banking group. The pilots aim to understand user behavior, ad relevance, and measurement, with a focus on reach, clicks, and interaction data. WPP Media seeks to evolve success measurement beyond reach and clicks toward business outcomes like conversion signals and post-click behavior. Executives from each company highlighted the potential of conversational advertising and the value of early testing in AI-based search and discovery environments.

• OpenAI launched ChatGPT Ads in Germany in August 2026.
• WPP Media ran pilot campaigns on ChatGPT Ads for Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, Henkel, RTL Deutschland, and Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken.
• The pilots used a 'Context-Hint Approach' for each campaign.

Henkel celebrates 150 years with employees around the world

Henkel marks its 150th anniversary on September 26, 2026. Anniversary events for employees take place around the world. Around 18,000 guests expected at an employee festival at the headquarters in Germany. Additional day of vacation for all employees and attractive benefits through Henkel’s employee share program. Henkel expands its global “Researchers’ World” education initiative and plans additional STEM learning opportunities.

AI Helps Henkel Manage Creator Commerce at Scale

During a Brandweek 2026 panel co-hosted with TikTok, marketing leaders from Henkel and Boost Engine discussed how AI and agentic workflows are helping brands manage creator-led commerce at scale. Henkel's Pravana brand generated around 60,000 pieces of content this year, far exceeding traditional production volumes. Boost Engine uses AI for creator discovery, content analysis, and compliance review, augmenting human capabilities. Henkel is exploring TikTok-first launches and seeing success with TikTok Shop, which also appears to drive incremental sales across other channels. The panel highlighted a shift from manual reporting to strategic decision-making, as AI automates repetitive tasks.

• Henkel's Pravana brand generated ~60,000 content pieces this year vs 300-400 traditionally.
• Boost Engine uses AI and agentic workflows for creator discovery, outreach, and compliance.
• Henkel is exploring TikTok-first launches for new products.

tesa Integrates AI into HR, Supply Chain, Production

tesa is expanding its use of artificial intelligence across its entire value chain, as detailed in a Microsoft blog post. The adhesive tape manufacturer has deployed AI in HR, supply chain, and production control. In HR, the "Ask PIA" digital assistant integrated into Microsoft Teams handles routine employee questions about parental leave, IDs, and vacation processes, drawing on SharePoint data. For supply chain, specialized AI agents route queries about forecasting, inventory, and logistics to the appropriate experts. In production, the "Energy Intelligence Platform" optimizes plant operations every 15 minutes, considering consumption forecasts, own power generation, weather, and market prices, to minimize costs and CO2. For example, combined heat and power plants are dynamically switched on or off based on economic and energetic advantages. By 2030, tesa aims to produce climate-neutrally and reduce energy costs by over ten percent, with AI to be progressively integrated into all processes.

• tesa has integrated an AI assistant named "Ask PIA" into Microsoft Teams for HR and facility questions.
• tesa uses specialized AI agents for supply chain management, routing queries to appropriate experts.
• tesa's "Energy Intelligence Platform" computes cost- and CO2-optimal plant operations every 15 minutes.

Sabine Jünger joins Front Row as Europe Head

Sabine Jünger, currently Vice President at Otto Advertising, will become Managing Director Europe of e‑commerce agency group Front Row, effective 1 January 2027. Jünger has served at Otto since 2021 and previously was Head of Agency at Amazon (2015–2020). At Front Row she will join a four‑person European management team alongside Daniel Andrlik (e‑commerce), Chief Product Officer Benjamin Weyrich and Niall Donohoe (B2B marketing). The company—formed in 2022 from the merger of Hamburg’s Finc3 and US marketplace accelerator Fortress Brand—employs more than 600 people worldwide and counts clients such as Unilever, Bosch, Tesa, Sennheiser and Wella. Founders Jan Bechler, Tim Nedden and Björn Sjut will step back from the management team in spring 2027 but remain founding partners and shareholders. Reported by Horizont on 20 August 2026.

• Sabine Jünger will become Managing Director Europe of Front Row, effective 1 January 2027.
• Jünger has served as Vice President at Otto Advertising since 2021 and was Head of Agency at Amazon (2015–2020).
• She will join a four‑person European management team with Daniel Andrlik (e‑commerce), Benjamin Weyrich (Chief Product Officer) and Niall Donohoe (B2B marketing).

Beiersdorf cuts 2026 outlook, launches NIVEA turnaround

Beiersdorf lowered its 2026 full-year guidance and announced a comprehensive turnaround plan focused on the NIVEA brand. The company now expects organic revenue to decline in the low single digits at both the Consumer segment and group level, while the forecast for its adhesives division tesa remains unchanged. Profitability is under pressure from rising production costs and additional investments; Beiersdorf targets a Consumer EBIT margin of at least 11% and a group margin of at least 11.8%. The turnaround plan aims to restore NIVEA's growth across categories and increase market penetration through more affordable and locally tailored products, with management targeting a return to growth starting in 2027 and margin improvement thereafter. The article was published on 2026-08-03.

• Beiersdorf announced an adjustment to its 2026 full-year forecast on 2026-08-03.
• The company expects organic revenue to decline in the low single-digit range at both the Consumer segment and group level for 2026.
• The forecast for the adhesives division tesa remains unchanged.