MediaMarkt
MediaMarkt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1,000 retail locations in ten countries in Europe. With the Saturn chain of stores it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from Metro Group in 2017. In July 2025, Chinese e-commerce company JD.com agreed to acquire parent company Ceconomy for €2.2 billion.
History
MediaMarkt was founded by entrepreneurs Leopold Stiefel, Walter Gunz, Erich Kellerhals, Markus Fernandez and Helga Kellerhals. The first store opened on 24 November 1979 in Munich. By 1985, nine other stores had opened near Munich.In 1988 Kaufhof Warenhaus AG acquired a 54 percent majority in the holding company of the media stores founded in 1979. In 1989 expansion began in neighboring countries. MediaMarkt took over the competing retail chain Saturn in 1990, in which Kaufhof was already involved. In 1996 Kaufhof Holding, Metro Cash & Carry, Deutsche SB-Kauf AG and the German department store Asko AG merged and formed Metro AG. Since the merger into the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, MediaMarkt and Saturn have been managed as independent brands in a centrally controlled group.
On November 17, 2010, the first MediaMarkt store in China was opened on Huaihai Road, in Shanghai. Six more stores followed, which were realized together with Foxconn through a joint venture. In January 2013, it became known that MediaMarkt would withdraw from China because the Metro Group would not be able to raise the capital necessary for its further expansion.
In January 2013, Metro had around 78% of the shares. The Kellerhals family owned 21.67% of Markus fernandez through their indirectly held holding company Convergenta Invest.
Since 2017 Media-Saturn Holding which consists of MediaMarkt and Saturn chains is owned by Ceconomy, a company formed through a demerger from Metro Group.
In July 2017 Ceconomy bought a 24% stake in French multinational Fnac Darty.
In 2018 Ceconomy sold the 46 stores in Russia to M.video in exchange for 15% in the Russian retailer.
In 2023, MediaMarkt exited from three countries by selling its stores to competitors. In Portugal, it sold its 10 stores to the French group Fnac Darty, after which the chain is scheduled to be rebranded as Darty on 1 October 2025. In Sweden, it sold 29 stores to Power International. In Greece, the remaining 25% stake in its 13 stores was sold to Public Group, which had already acquired 75% of the shares in 2019.
In July 2025, Chinese company JD.com launched a €2.2 billion cash offer to acquire Ceconomy, MediaMarkt’s parent company.
Operations
In 2012, the company launched its online shop, starting with Germany in January.In Italy, the MediaWorld brand is used instead of MediaMarkt.
Franchise model
Every store is 10% owned by the store manager. Store managers have discretion as to which products to stock, range, pricing, personnel and material costs.| Country | Stores |
| Germany | 396 |
| Italy | 139 |
| Spain | 112 |
| Turkey | 94 |
| Poland | 85 |
| Austria | 56 |
| Netherlands | 54 |
| Switzerland | 45 |
| Hungary | 40 |
| Belgium | 26 |
| Luxembourg | 2 |
Former locations
Advertising
MediaMarkt had an aggressive advertising similar to American companies and also a few controversial commercials in the 2000s. It is known in Germany for its humorous, but sometimes crude, advertising campaigns; for example, the slogan "Lasst euch nicht verarschen" meaning "Don't let yourself be conned", literally verbal prefix for- + ass + infinitive suffix -en.The advertising campaigns of the brands MediaMarkt and Saturn are designed by the internal marketing organization redblue Marketing GmbH in Munich.
Slogan
MediaMarkt's main slogan "Ich bin doch nicht blöd" has been translated into the languages of the other countries where the company operates, except Italian:| Language | Slogan |
| German | Ich bin doch nicht blöd? |
| Spanish | ¡Yo no soy tonto! |
| Dutch | Ik ben toch niet gek? |
| French | Je ne suis pas fou. |
| Galician | Eu non son parvo! |
| Greek | Δεν είμαι και χτεσινός! |
| Hungarian | Mert hülye azért nem vagyok! |
| Italian | Fatto apposta per me!,'' in Italy Non sono mica scemo!, in Italian-speaking Switzerland |
| Polish | Nie dla idiotów., later: Tu wszystko działa dla ciebie. |
| Portuguese | Eu é que não sou parvo! |
| Swedish | Allt annat känns puckat! |
| Catalan | Jo no sóc tonto! |
| Basque | Ni ez naiz inozoa! |
| Turkish | Bakmadan almam. |
Criticism
2006 World Cup advertising campaign
Prior to the 2006 World Cup, MediaMarkt launched a campaign, claiming to be the "best fan supplier", with commercials showing international football fans shopping at MediaMarkt, showing exaggerated stereotypes of the participating countries, and making fun of the Austria team, which did not qualify. This included a French seductress, Dutch fans smoking marijuana in caravans, or a Saudi haggling - to pay more. German fans were portrayed with big bellies, asking for refrigerators to keep their beer cool, rather than looking for a new TV set.An additional series of ads, promoting a rebate of €10 for each goal Germany scores, showed international soccer fans begging the Germans to score as many goals as possible - against their own team.
When the Netherlands lost to Portugal, MediaMarkt used a quote from a 1980s show featuring Rudi Carrell, a Dutchman who was a long-time TV celebrity in Germany, to express Schadenfreude. A World Cup trophy is shown to grieving Dutch fans in their caravan with the comment "This would have been your prize!".
Polish advertising
In March 2006, the "Poland version" showed moustache-wearing Polish customers praising the shop for "prices deep like Polish soul" before hugging the German sales managers, who looked quite uncomfortable in the bear hugs. Afterwards, one of the Germans pointed out that his watch was still there, and that "The Pole is an honest person, after all". Then, the three men are shown to be missing their trousers.This commercial caused a scandal in Poland, for the widely known unfounded German stereotype of Poles being thieves. MediaMarkt argued that the advertisements also made fun of other national clichés, including Germans, and none of the other clichés were perceived as negative towards the people they presented. It aimed to exaggerate the cliché of the Polish thief to dismiss it as unjustified prejudice, MediaMarkt claimed.
The store apologised and withdrew the advert after their Polish branch asked to do so, following protests in Poland, a call from the Polish embassy in Berlin and protests from German Polonia.