Markus R.
Director CXIC Publicis Sapient
Experience
Director CXIC Publicis Sapient
Publicis Sapient
Abu Dhabi aimed to optimize and digitize all government services to improve speed, comfort, efficiency and macroeconomic value by saving citizen and employee time, measured against Estonia and UK benchmarks.
"TAMM" brings all government services together into intuitive user journeys by 2028, enabling fully digital interactions from applications to organizing a Formula 1 event.
Created a value-effort matrix to prioritize high-value, quickly implementable journeys.
Led a steering committee as Head of Strategy, balancing economic impact with user-friendly journey mapping and design.
Coordinated four consultancies (Publicis Sapient, KPMG, IBM, PwC) to set up an agile organization, ensure quality standards and minimize time to deployment.
Delivered:
Prioritized service offerings by value/effort
Rapid prototyping and testing
Developed a "Lifetime Education Account" digital vault linked to the UAE Citizen Pass for ongoing education support
Agile development and deployment for the "Work & Education" and "Culture" journeys
Synchronized progress within an agile release train structure
Achieved by 2023:
Ranked among the top 3 government service portals worldwide
Launched 108 user journeys across 10 application domains, delivering over 60% of the roadmap
Team-generated economic value exceeding USD 3 million per month by 2021
Director CXIC Publicis Sapient
Publicis Sapient
Supported Philip Morris’ shift from tobacco products to a smoke-free wellness brand by finding and acquiring new value pools (e.g., hotels, apps, tourism) and mapping out a roadmap from cigarettes to a wellness network.
Drove rapid conversion of smokers to IQOS users in 12 pioneer markets as a tactical first step.
Took a multistep approach:
Value hunting to maximize brand-aligned ROI and define acquisition policies and digital business models
Developed a roadmap for smoker conversion and organizational transformation, including staff training and expert recruitment
Selected markets and designed customer journeys for IQOS adoption
Built two international customer experience journeys (consumer and retailer) to identify critical conversion points and retailer support needs
Adapted global journeys for local test markets, then ideated and launched initiatives from subscription models to referral campaigns
Executed implementation phases:
Set up and managed a team of business analysts, brand, research and forecasting experts (3 months)
Established quantitative and qualitative research teams for journey mapping (2 months)
Developed hypotheses with a 20-person cross-functional team to formalize consumer feedback (over 6 months)
Led multi-day workshops in 6 countries to test and refine hypotheses and secure market buy-in (4 months)
Evolved the journey model into a predictive system with normative strategies for various scenarios (3 months)
Deployed the top two initiatives per market and compared results to forecasts (4 months)
Outcomes:
The journey model and initiatives became high-ROI tools embedded at PMI
Successful IQOS launch in 5 of 6 markets and post-launch optimization in North Africa
Secured follow-up engagement to transform PMI’s organization along the journeys
Consultant
Ritter Sport
Tackled the misperception of Ritter Sport as a big, generic brand, despite its small, family-run structure and ethical supply chain.
Identified the “Olympia” variety as a highly polarizing fan favorite, with 1,600 loyalists asking for its return.
Defined strategic goals:
Relaunch “Olympia” as a limited edition to show responsiveness to fans
Reposition Ritter Sport as a flexible, ethical family business
Implementation:
Brought back “Olympia” as a limited edition
Engaged fans as brand ambassadors through personalized outreach, gift packs and a community platform
Set up an influencer portal for fans to collaborate on campaigns and ideas
Amplified fan-created content through cost-effective TV spots, posters and in-store activations
Results:
Grew the fan base from 1,600 to over 100,000 in 8 weeks
Generated over 2,000 mentions on fan blogs and influencer channels
Increased variety awareness from 21% to 67% in 10 weeks
Boosted overall brand favorability by 25 percentage points
“Olympia” became the top-selling variety during the campaign, surpassing the flagship “Vollnuss”
Achieved 46% higher chocolate sales than direct competitors
Kept top-selling status for 12 weeks post-campaign, leading to permanent inclusion
Improved overall advertising efficiency by 12%, earning the Gold Effie in 2010
Summary
In Germany and the US I'm known a) as the founder of two successful agencies (conv[inc]e in Silicon Valley, elbkind in Hamburg) and b) as the former director of Publicis Sapient's "Consumer Experience & Innovation Consulting" division. As a consultant I'm “a strategist above all else, a leader in implementation, and an innovation and marketing expert as needed”. Consequently, an employer or client can expect me to identify a company's challenges end to end – from the board level to department heads to teams – to structure them strategically, break them into work packages and then guide their agile implementation.
I can bring special expertise in these areas:
- Strategy, business model planning & change management (in digital transformation) (relevant cases: Abu Dhabi government, Philip Morris, EnBW, Viessmann…)
- Innovation, consumer experience, brand strategy (relevant cases: Ritter Sport, Underberg, P&G…)
- Business development (as a startup founder and as head of units at large companies)
- Project management & agile methodologies (relevant cases: NIVEA, Rossmann, 1&1…)
Regarding expertise across verticals: As a consultant I dive into and research new fields quickly. However, I spent 20 of my 25 career years in FMCG, automotive, telecom, entertainment/media and public service/government – and that's where I add the most value.
What I do: The common thread in all my work is organizing cross-functional teams that deliver innovative products and ROI-optimized business models with real value for end customers.
Languages
Education
Stanford University
Psychology · Stanford, United States
Hochschule Pforzheim
Diploma in Business Administration · Marketing Communication · Pforzheim, Germany
Pater Delp Oberstufe
High School Diploma · Physics & Art · Dieburg, Germany
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