Company history of Marketing Factory

First sales approaches in an industry that is not necessarily known for its experimental and progressive innovation drive. We are operating in an environment in which, even in large organizations, the only web-enabled computer is in the basement of the IT department, and incoming mail is centrally recorded, printed out and distributed by in-house mail. But our concept continues to take shape, as this excerpt from an early internal document shows.

Due to numerous clients within an industry with partly complementary portfolios, the idea of creating an overarching portal arose quite quickly. The portal was intended to provide end customers with manufacturer-independent information and advice on all aspects of their DIY projects. The focus is not on the product and brand, but on the actual application and problem. What do I have to do and what do I need if I want to renovate my living room or lay new tiles in the bathroom? This is how bau-markt.de, heimwerker.de and gartenwelt.de were born. Over many years, these portals developed into the leading online portals with the widest reach on the German-language internet. For us, this exceedingly successful and instructive era ended in 2016 with the sale of the portals to a Berlin-based startup. A difficult, but also lucrative decision.

On February 1, 1996, Marketing Factory Consulting GmbH is founded and registered. The company's first office is located at Oelser Straße 9 in Düsseldorf-Eller - in a factory loft, which matches the company's name. Marketing Factory was initially founded as a management consultancy with a focus on the internet. This was at a time when the internet was just beginning to commercialize itself and companies were starting with their first, simple web business cards. Due to the professional background of the company's founder, Peter Faisst, there was a clear focus on companies in the construction and home improvement industries in the early years. These included manufacturers, such as Metabo or Uhu, as well as both media and associations, such as Rohn-Verlag, the magazine "Selbst ist der Mann" or the Bundesverband Deutscher Heimwerkerfachmärkte.

January 01, 1998 Move to the old village school in Meerbusch-Ilverich.

October 23, 1998 - Foundation of the company "Virtueller Baumarkt AG," the first online DIY store in Germany. The startup's shareholders include the Burda Publishing House and Kingfisher, Europe's largest operator of DIY stores at the time.

In 1998, we launched our first e-commerce project in the form of an extranet for KATAG Fashion retailers - to sell NOS products.

Our first content portal heimwerker.de was launched on April 1, 1999.

On April 7, 1999, Marketing Factory Digital GmbH (MFD) was registered. MFD was founded as a subsidiary of MFC. The purpose of MFD was to consolidate our own projects and activities such as heimwerker.de and to separate them from the actual core business with our clients.

July 17, 2000: Relocation of the company headquarters to the Alte Seilerei in Meerbusch-Osterrath, after the space in the old village school was no longer sufficient and the preservation of historical monuments made a reasonably rapid expansion of the office space seem illusory.

In 2003, the first Marketing Factory website based on TYPO3 goes online.

Shortly after the launch of our website, the first TYPO3 website of our client Metabo was also launched.

January 1, 2006: Relocation of the company headquarters to Stephanienstraße 36 in Düsseldorf. Return of Marketing Factory to the city where it was founded.

In August 2006, launch of the live shopping portal www.schutzgeld.de, following the example of the U.S. company Woot. Like in this case, MFC uses its own projects to independently and freely evaluate new concepts and uses them to gain knowledge for the benefit of all clients.

April 1, 2011: Relocation of the company headquarters to the current location at Marienstraße 14 in downtown Düsseldorf.

2016 Sale of heimwerker.de and gartencenter.de to a Berliner-based startup.

2016: In October 2016, we were awarded at the TYPO3 Conference with the TYPO3 Award in the category Enterprise/Industry for the relaunch of the Kaldewei website.

At the end of 2017, the company founder Peter Faisst and his wife Katja retire from Marketing Factory. Karoline Steinfatt, Ingo Schmitt and Christoph Allefeld will be taking over the company shares as of January 1, 2018. Even though Peter has not yet seen his much longed for and deserved bronze bust come to life, the two will nonetheless remain with us in their miniature format.

Marketing Factory Consulting GmbH is discontinued. The business continues under the umbrella of the former subsidiary Marketing Factory Digital GmbH.