Introducing: OTTO’s new tech influencer

Hi Frederike! How did you come to be a corporate influencer?

FREDERIKE FRITZSCHE: I don’t know if I’ve only just become one, or whether I was already part-way there. I have always been happy to share my experiences and things I’ve learnt as someone who didn’t originally start out in IT. Becoming the official Tech Ambassador was just a logical consequence of that. In the tech world, I quickly noticed that my colleagues constantly wanted to explore and exchange ideas about new technologies. It’s something that I personally find very interesting.

Although there are other corporate influencers in OTTO’s scheme, you are the first official Tech Ambassador. What’s the difference, and what do you particularly like about your new role?

I'm allowed to engage with new technologies all day long and then tell other people about them. It’s a dream! And that’s probably also the biggest difference between me and my peers who are corporate influencers – I get to do this all day long.
As a lead in the “Women in Tech” workstream, I am hugely committed to getting women interested in IT, so I fulfil a second very important function in my role as Tech Ambassador: I not only want to spread the message that OTTO is a modern tech company, but I also want to show that tech talents feel at home with us. If I can then convince just a couple of women to go into IT, then I’ve achieved my personal goal.

What does a typical working day look like for you, Frederike? What are your tasks?

Every day is different. But it’s important for me to be constantly expanding my network in order to gain a good insight into current themes in tech. I also like sitting in on different teams’ activities. One of my favourite projects is “Tech Snack”, a video series: it involves me coming together with our experts to explain OTTO tech topics and then posting the video on social media.
I also get to browse around for new tech topics at trade fairs and conferences, and I’m often invited to speak at those events myself. On top of that, there are media requests, so occasionally I give interviews or go on podcasts as a guest. I regularly post insights on themes from the tech world that I’m exploring or that I find interesting on LinkedInand Twitter.

As Tech Ambassador, you’re now representing a company. How do you manage to convey OTTO’s aims and values in a credible and accessible way? Do you have a formula for success?

For me, the most important things are to be authentic and not to seek perfection. If you’re not credible, people perceive that straight away. I ask myself what kind of content my target audience will be interested in. How can I add value? Why would someone want to read my contribution? And I try to interact with my followers and discuss things with them. That’s how I learn even more about how I can best align my content with their interests. The topics that OTTO offers are so diverse that it’s a while before you’d get bored. But even so, I always ask myself before I upload anything: would I want to read this post myself?

Why are you so passionate about tech, and what’s your favourite tech topic?

I want to keep learning and I just feel good being in an innovative environment. It’s almost impossible to come down on one favourite topic. There are myriad different applications for artificial intelligence, for example. AI forecasting is just one aspect: it helps us offer our customers a better shopping experience, to make our logistics processes more efficient and also to give momentum to the issue of sustainability. After all, the most sustainable thing is not to buy/sell/make a product in the first place.