Press Release | Gütersloh, 06/08/2018

Bertelsmann Alexa Skill and Annual Report: Innovative Sources of Information about Global Successes

• Bertelsmann’s first Alexa skill delivers information about the company
• New Annual Report is available online and in print
• Motto: “Our Global Success Story of Entrepreneurship and Creativity”

Bertelsmann presents its first-ever own “skill” for Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa. It delivers information about the company to users via voice command. At the same time, the international media, services and education company has released its new Annual Report under the heading “Our global success story of entrepreneurship and creativity.” The publication is available online and in print.

The new Alexa skill makes it possible to listen to the latest Bertelsmann podcasts or company news and ask questions about Bertelsmann via voice command. This gives users an innovative and new kind of information channel, which can be used free of charge at home as well. The Bertelsmann skill is available from the Alexa app store on Amazon or under the following link: bertelsmann.com/alexa 

“Innovative communication offerings like the new Bertelsmann Alexa skill are an expression of our core values of entrepreneurial spirit and creativity,” says Karin Schlautmann, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Bertelsmann. “They help us communicate our growth strategy and the diversity of Bertelsmann’s creative offerings, which reach more than a billion people worldwide every day. This global success story is also at the heart of this year’s Annual Report, and will be a recurring topic in other formats and events throughout the year as well.”

The new Annual Report underscores the Group’s global alignment and highlights its worldwide successes. This year’s motto is illustrated by four individual world maps that showcase the Group’s creative, service and educational offerings as well as its strategic investments. Each of the maps represents one of Bertelsmann’s pillars: media, services, education and investments.

As in previous years, the report consists of separate image and financial sections. The image section provides a comprehensive overview of the entrepreneurial achievements of all Bertelsmann’s divisions during the past year.

The financial section provides transparent and structured information about the key financials and business performance of the 2017 financial year. The two sections are combined in a slipcase and finished with a high-quality lacquer finish as a special haptic feature.

The online version of the Annual Report offers a variety of extras beyond the company information and the extensive financial section. ar2017.bertelsmann.com 

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 119,000 employees and generated revenues of €17.2 billion in the 2017 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for entrepreneurship and creativity. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.