I ran marketing at Veganz through its €47.6M IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Before that I spent fifteen years learning what the CMO seat actually asks of you — mostly by getting it wrong.
That is what this site is for.
Today I lead Germany for Madre Brava, an NGO working across the plant-based food sector.
Before that I was on the executive board of Veganz Group AG as CMO. I joined without a classic marketing background — I studied art in Italy and came from SEO and software — and I was surrounded by Unilever-trained colleagues who already knew everything. So I read. I tested theories. I stayed curious. Eventually I ran the marketing side of a listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The move from Head of Marketing to executive board member was the hardest transition of my career. Almost none of what worked before still worked. Campaign craft did not translate to a boardroom. A great creative brief did not translate to a CFO conversation. Performance dashboards did not translate to an equity story.
"Wir stehen dafür, dass wir anecken, wir sind eine Marke mit Haltung. Wenn man eine Haltung hat, muss man sich auch der Kritik stellen."
We stand for being uncomfortable. We are a brand with a stance. When you take a stance, you take the criticism that comes with it.
— Retail & FMCG Summit 2024
The move taught me the one thing no marketing course teaches: the commercial logic of the brand. That is what GPS for Marketers exists to close — for anyone crossing the same gap.
Selected talks across DACH and Europe.
Yellow Stage panel with Birk Angermann, Janine Hummel and Jim Rudall on email as the marketing channel that still holds — with AI, interactivity and personalisation.
On how Veganz used Civey survey data to find, understand and reach potential vegan buyers — and how that data shifted the brand's sales and marketing decisions. Stand A4/J23.
Masterclass with Steffen Braun on real-time data in campaign measurement and audience marketing. Hall 06.1, Stand C034.
2. Retail & FMCG Summit. On whether the vegan movement can shift the food system, and why a brand with a stance has to face its critics.
On the shifting logic of digital marketing.
Forum. On what it takes for plant-based to move from a category to a habit.
Selected appearances.
Recent publications.
In Regenerative Zukünfte und künstliche Intelligenz. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Table.Forum Zukunft der Leitmedien. Read on table.media →
Two courses. One brand. One thesis: marketers need orientation, not more tools.
The GPS from Head of Marketing to CMO.
Eleven lessons. Market science, P&L, brand vs performance, channel, pricing, board, investors, media. The commercial vocabulary a Head of Marketing rarely gets taught — and needs the day the promotion arrives.
Founding Access — €419 →The GPS for AI marketing outputs. The BRANDEXPERT system for teaching AI your brand — so every output looks and sounds like you.
See the AI Course →For keynote invitations, closed-door workshops with a marketing team, or advisory conversations — write directly.
ceo@gpsformarketers.comThe biweekly
Two issues a month for marketers crossing from execution to leadership.
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