Goodbye BDAE!

In August 2009, the first issue of our German newspaper, "Leben und Arbeiten im Ausland", saw the light of day, with almost all the sections that our readers are familiar with today. It was one of my very first projects after joining BDAE in May of that year, aimed at developing the company's public relations.

A few years earlier, I had completed an editorial internship before working as a business journalist. The opportunity to create something at BDAE, which was still largely unknown at the time, outweighed my simple journalistic curiosity. I hoped, however, that BDAE policyholders would be interested in more than just insurance cover, and that they would be interested in subjects affecting their personal situations: information about life abroad, which I wrote first as a solo writer and now as part of a team.

In the language of public relations and marketing, we often talk about the added value we want to offer customers over and above the basic services and products. It is essential to define this added value in concrete terms. BDAE has always wanted to be more than just a provider of international insurance solutions and legal advice. Here, "knowing your customers" is something we live by every day. Many of our staff have lived abroad themselves or are keen travellers.

They understand what it means when a customer embarks on an adventure abroad. This journal and all the initiatives that go with it have been designed for our current and potential policyholders. Their main aim is to provide them with relevant content relating to their life and work abroad.

This newspaper was the starting point, followed by several web platforms, including the online magazine Expat News, social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and our video series "Experts Abroad". And alongside the new products, there will certainly be many other offers for all those who have chosen to live abroad. However, all this will happen without me as head of corporate communications and marketing. After 15 years with BDAE, I'm not saying "Goodbye Deutschland", but "Goodbye BDAE". This decision was preceded by a long and emotional process of reflection, but sometimes it's time to change circumstances, to reinvent yourself. Who better to understand this than those who leave their country, temporarily or permanently

Looking back, we don't always know what will remain, or what exactly will come next, but it will be new and different. So it is with immense gratitude for the wonderful years I spent at BDAE, which was not only a 'job' for me but also a professional home, that I write these last lines for 'Living and working abroad'. I personally know many of the policyholders and subscribers to the paper, and have had the honour of interviewing several of them for the paper, some of whom have even become friends. The same goes for some of my colleagues. So it's with gratitude that I look back and embark on a new adventure. I wish all our readers all the best, and may they live safely abroad, in keeping with the BDAE motto!

Your Anne-Katrin Schwanitz