If you love the mountains, you’ve got to protect them.

Have you ever stepped into a store and been overwhelmed by the huge amount on offer – and then realized that everything looks pretty much the same?

The amount and diversity of outdoor goods on the worldwide market has grown tremendously in recent years; buyers can choose from a large number of brands. Supply is exceeding demand.

In order to be successful as a brand in this state of oversupply, an outdoor outfitter has to either invest heavily in advertising to draw attention to itself or have a unique brand position that is highly relevant to particular consumer groups.

We at VAUDE want to make a positive contribution to a better world - that is our vision and our incentive. Our company communications publicize both internally and externally how we do this in specific terms. This allows us to position ourselves clearly as a strong and credible brand. In addition, our status as a role model and the multiplier effect we have on others motivates us. This relates to our suppliers and competitors, to companies in other branches, to our customers and more generally, to the entire target group of outdoor enthusiasts. We are pleased that we can contribute to raising the awareness of sustainability issues in society.

We at VAUDE see it as our responsibility to provide you with information. We want to show you the social and ecological challenges that we need to meet in the production of outdoor gear. We see ourselves in the role of imparting knowledge and, in addition, of offering solutions to existing problems.

Based on our sustainability activities, we provide detailed facts and background information that is relevant to our customers. Would you like to find out more? Or are you missing a certain aspect? Then contact us! We would love to talk to you!

VAUDE places a heavy emphasis on values such as honesty and transparency. We proactively communicate about controversial issues, such as the use of PVC or PFC (fluorocarbons) in our products, and honestly state how far we have come with our efforts.

And how do we do this? In order to reach all of our stakeholders and to provide them with comprehensive information, we use different media such as our website, press releases, video messages and social media.

Our Sustainability Report is one of our most important means of communication. After all, it offers you not only a comprehensive overview of our CSR issues but also detailed, in-depth information for those of you who want to know exactly how and where we manufacture our products.

Tip: The search function at the top right allows you to explore the sustainability report very easily and freely!

Another central communication channel is our vaude.com website. Based on the analysis of website hits, we found that the pages on “responsibility” were rarely visited in 2013. Therefore, we revised our online content in 2014 to integrate sustainability issues into our well-visited product pages. In 2016, product pages continued to be the busiest section of our website. This confirms that supplementing product presentation with environmental and social information is beneficial – it allows us to reach the consumer directly, raising awareness and providing added value as well.

We have created a stronger link between products and sustainability aspects with central placement and the description of relevant ecological information.

On Facebook and Instagram we reach out with spectacular nature photography, quotes and messages that demonstrate our appreciation for the outdoors.

With images such as these, we achieve a broad reach and develop a powerfully viral force for our message. Your reactions (e.g. clicks, likes, shares, comments) provide us with important feedback about the relevance and quality of our posts.

Your reactions on our videos on YouTube also interest us. Both the development of the number of subscribers who watch our videos regularly and the average viewing time per viewer are important values.