Curious about the entrepreneurial adventure behind inspiring brands, Brand and Strategic Professional Martijn Arets decided to quit his job, hand in his lease car, ignore all uncertainties and follow his dream. For five months, he travelled more than 15,000 kilometres across Europe in a one-of-a-kind 1971 Volkswagen T2 camper van, meeting with the founders, CEOs and brand managers of 20 authentic European brands in what was to prove a unique trip: Brand Expedition. On popular demand, he has bundled the lessons and stories behind 20 appealing European brands such as Lego, Mini, Skype, The Body Shop and Adidas to create Brand Expedition, the book. More information? Check www.brand-expedition.com or send Martijn a Tweet: @martijnarets.

1. READ OUT LOUD
THE STORY BEHIND
- SWAROVSKI -
MORE THAN JUST CRYSTAL JEWELRY

2. BEFORE YOU START….
please look into your camera and tell
us slowly your name, city and
country… Then you can start reading
this paragraph out loud… Have fun!

3. One of the lessons to be learned from
brand expe-dition is that you must
make sure you are very good at
something and that you stay that
way. The Austrian company
Swarovski is aware of this and most

4. defi-nitely lives by it: using crystals as
a basis, this company, which employs
more than 23,400 people worldwide,
has been successful for more than 100
years. With the snow-topped Tirol
mountains in the background, just a

5. stone’s throw away from Innsbruck,
lies the small village of Wattens.
When you enter the town, it is
immediately clear that you have
entered the home base of Swarovski,
with the ‘Swarovski Kristallwelten’ as

6. its biggest attraction. This multimedia
museum attracts 700,000 visitors
anually, making it one of Austria’s
largest tourist attractions. Swarovski is
the largest employer in the village,
employing more than 5,200 people in

7. its factories and offices. During a tour
of the private Swarovski museum, I
decide that many of the designs,
particularly the figurines, are not really
up my street.

8. - END OF RECORDING-