Huge success for ViMove

Allendorf (Eder),  Aug 7, 2020  – Circled our earth more than seven times: that is only one of many records set during the Viessmann campaign "ViMove for climate". The members of the global Viessmann family, their friends and family, the family company’s trade partners and the athletes associated with Viessmann have achieved extraordinary things within the four-week climate protection project. All participants cycled, jogged or walked exactly 296751 kilometres in the campaign period. Already after two weeks, our target of 50000 trees was exceeded by 15000. For every kilometre run and for every three kilometres cycled, the company is donating a young tree that will absorb large quantities of climate-damaging CO2  over the course of its life and convert it into vital oxygen. During the second part of “ViMove for climate” another 85000 trees were added - in total 150000 trees. A remarkable effort from all participants: just over half of the trees were a result of the immediate Viessmann employee’s commitment. The rest was run and peddled by family, friends, Viessmann athletes and trade partners. The participants from the countries Italy, France, England, Turkey and Germany were particularly sporty.

"I am immensely proud of the achievements of our family members and our business partners, who have made a contribution for future generations all over the world," says Co-CEO Max Viessmann, delighted with the huge success of the campaign. And this is a strong message, especially in the challenging times of the Corona pandemic. "Together we can all contribute to creating living spaces for generations to come," added the Co-CEO, who himself put the pedal to the metal.

More than 5000 participants from over three dozen countries involved

Around 5000 members of the Viessmann family, their family, friends, the Viessmann partners and athletes from more than three dozen countries worldwide took part in the campaign and posted their contribution to the environment in the form of photos or fitness tracker screenshots via the employee app, thus demonstrating their performance. The feedback was overwhelming and consistently positive. Manuel Wohlfarth, Managing Director of Viessmann IT in Allendorf, for example, says: "From the very first day, ViMove was a real challenge for my colleagues and me. We regularly encouraged each other to find out who could contribute the most trees day after day". Andrej Jautze, Managing Director of Viessmann in China, added: "My colleagues and I went to great lengths to plant as many trees as possible with our collected kilometres. In addition, we set up our own Chinese landing page for our customers, which resulted in an incredible number of customers getting involved in the project".

The campaign was equally enthusiastically received by the large circle of Viessmann partners, who, despite their full order books, participated in ViMove in the evening or at the weekend with lots of fun and ideas. Christian Schramm, from Marktleugast, is one of more than 630 craftsmen and women who joined the sports activities for climate: "Corona will pass, even if it may take some time. But protecting the climate is a task for today's and future generations". The owner of the Hörath company in Upper Franconia was also active, cycling 30 kilometers and thus contributing 10 trees. Inspired by their boss, half of the 16 employees walked or cycled another 671 kilometers or 272 trees.

And, of course, the winter sports athletes sponsored by Viessmann also participated with great commitment. Ski jumper Richard Freitag, together with all the other Viessmann athletes, covered 1279 kilometres. He says: "As with climate change as a whole, every little bit helps and everyone can contribute. You can take a break at any time, but every kilometre counts. I think that's the great thing about it."

Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Thomas Heim, who initiated and organized the project with his team from marketing and sports sponsoring: "We are all thrilled by our shared success. 150000 trees for climate: that is something we can be proud of.”