Markus Roder
International strategist with a focus on innovation, consumer experience & neuromarketing
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" consolidates all government services into intuitive user journeys by 2028, enabling fully digital interactions from applications to Formula 1 event organization.
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 establish 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 safe linked to UAE Citizen Pass for continuous education support
Agile development and deployment for "Work & Education" and "Culture" journeys
Synchronized progress within an agile release train structure
Achieved by 2023:
One of the top 3 government service portals worldwide
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’ transformation from tobacco products to a smoke-free wellness brand by identifying and acquiring new value pools (e.g., hotels, apps, tourism) and designing a roadmap from cigarettes to a wellness network.
Drove rapid conversion of smokers to IQOS users across 12 pioneer markets as a tactical first step.
Conducted a multistep approach:
Value hunting to maximize brand-aligned ROI and define acquisition policies and digital business models
Roadmap development for smoker conversion and organizational transformation including staff training and expert recruitment
Market selection and customer journey design for IQOS adoption
Built two international customer experience journeys (consumer and retailer) to identify critical points for conversion and retailer support
Adapted global journeys for local test markets, ideated and executed initiatives from subscription models to referral campaigns
Executed implementation phases:
Set up and managed a business analyst, brand, research and forecasting expert team (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 (>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 top two initiatives per market and compared results against forecasts (4 months)
Outcomes:
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 organization along the journeys
Consultant
Ritter Sport
Addressed misperception of Ritter Sport as large and interchangeable with competitors despite its smaller, family-run structure and ethical supply chain.
Identified the "Olympia" variety as a strongly polarizing fan favorite with 1,600 loyalists requesting its return.
Defined strategic goals:
Relaunch "Olympia" as a limited edition to demonstrate responsiveness to fans
Reposition Ritter Sport as a flexible, ethical family business
Implementation:
Reintroduced "Olympia" as a limited edition
Engaged fans as brand ambassadors through personalized outreach, gift packs and community platform
Established an influencer portal for fans to collaborate on actions and ideas
Amplified fan-created content via cost-efficient TV spots, posters and POS activations
Results:
Grew fan base from 1,600 to over 100,000 within 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 top-selling variety during campaign, surpassing flagship “Vollnuss”
Achieved 46% higher chocolate sales versus direct competitors
Maintained 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
I am known as the founder of two successful agencies (conv[inc]e in Silicon Valley, elbkind in Hamburg) and as the director of Publicis Sapient's Consumer Experience & Innovation Strategy Team. My relevant experience here covers four areas:
- Brand strategy & CX (Consumer Experience) (e.g. at Philip Morris, EnBW, P&G…)
- Digital transformation & touchpoint planning (e.g. TAMM Abu Dhabi, Underberg)
- Project management & agile methodologies (e.g. NIVEA, Rossmann, 1&1, Viessmann…)
- Business development (as a startup founder as well as unit head in major companies)
Each of my roles has delivered a demonstrably positive ROI, up to winning a Golden Effie and two finalist spots. My goal for every new project or employer remains: to bring cross-functional teams together to do their best work with fun and motivation, while creating innovative products, business models, and strategies that deliver real value to end consumers.
Skills
- Brand Strategy
- Business Development
- Product Development (Including Rapid Prototyping)
- Innovation Management
- Change & Stakeholder Management
- Design Thinking
- Consumer Experience Planning
- Neuromarketing
- Social Media Marketing & Community Management
- Lean Methodologies (Including Lean Startup & Management)
Languages
Education
Stanford
Sponsored Guest Listener · Psychology · Stanford, United States
Hochschule Pforzheim
Diploma in business administration · Marketing communication · Pforzheim, Germany · Final grade 1.3
Pater Delp Oberstufe
Abitur · Dieburg, Germany · Final grade 1.4
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