Marketing
Marketing
Marketing
Building brand, demand and proof all at the same time
Building brand, demand and proof all at the same time
Building brand, demand and proof all at the same time
The challenge for today’s marketing leaders is to grow efficiently, master AI‑accelerated content and media, and measure what works in a privacy‑first, platform‑shifting landscape.
The challenge for today’s marketing leaders is to grow efficiently, master AI‑accelerated content and media, and measure what works in a privacy‑first, platform‑shifting landscape.
The challenge for today’s marketing leaders is to grow efficiently, master AI‑accelerated content and media, and measure what works in a privacy‑first, platform‑shifting landscape.
The Leadership Challenge for CMOs
CMOs face challenging budgets even as expectations for growth rise. That’s pushing a pragmatic agenda: tight brand plus demand orchestration, AI at scale in creative/media/insights, first party data expansion, and measurement that the CFO trusts. The media market keeps shifting underfoot. Retail/commerce media is one of the fastest growing channels globally, and digital video/CTV continues to take share, demanding new operating models with partners and platforms. Meanwhile, Google’s third party cookie deprecation is no longer imminent, but privacy durable strategies remain essential. Generative AI is no longer a lab experiment: it’s where many organizations report the most frequent deployment. Leading agencies and brands are formalising enterprise partnerships to industrialise AI in creative and media operations.
With over a decade of experience in recruitment, I help professionals and leaders take the next step in their careers. My goal is to build meaningful connections that create real value and lay the foundation for long‑term growth. Today I am proud to be the Managing Partner of Michael Illert Executive Recruitment and share this passion with an incredible team spread across the BeNeLux and DACH region. From here we serve our clients across Europe and the UK. While we believe in leveraging the latest technology, we hold one fundamental principle at heart: human connection and understanding will always be at the core of executive search.
The Leadership Challenge for CMOs
CMOs face challenging budgets even as expectations for growth rise. That’s pushing a pragmatic agenda: tight brand plus demand orchestration, AI at scale in creative/media/insights, first party data expansion, and measurement that the CFO trusts. The media market keeps shifting underfoot. Retail/commerce media is one of the fastest growing channels globally, and digital video/CTV continues to take share, demanding new operating models with partners and platforms. Meanwhile, Google’s third party cookie deprecation is no longer imminent, but privacy durable strategies remain essential. Generative AI is no longer a lab experiment: it’s where many organizations report the most frequent deployment. Leading agencies and brands are formalising enterprise partnerships to industrialise AI in creative and media operations.
With over a decade of experience in recruitment, I help professionals and leaders take the next step in their careers. My goal is to build meaningful connections that create real value and lay the foundation for long‑term growth. Today I am proud to be the Managing Partner of Michael Illert Executive Recruitment and share this passion with an incredible team spread across the BeNeLux and DACH region. From here we serve our clients across Europe and the UK. While we believe in leveraging the latest technology, we hold one fundamental principle at heart: human connection and understanding will always be at the core of executive search.
The Leadership Challenge for CMOs
CMOs face challenging budgets even as expectations for growth rise. That’s pushing a pragmatic agenda: tight brand plus demand orchestration, AI at scale in creative/media/insights, first party data expansion, and measurement that the CFO trusts. The media market keeps shifting underfoot. Retail/commerce media is one of the fastest growing channels globally, and digital video/CTV continues to take share, demanding new operating models with partners and platforms. Meanwhile, Google’s third party cookie deprecation is no longer imminent, but privacy durable strategies remain essential. Generative AI is no longer a lab experiment: it’s where many organizations report the most frequent deployment. Leading agencies and brands are formalising enterprise partnerships to industrialise AI in creative and media operations.
With over a decade of experience in recruitment, I help professionals and leaders take the next step in their careers. My goal is to build meaningful connections that create real value and lay the foundation for long‑term growth. Today I am proud to be the Managing Partner of Michael Illert Executive Recruitment and share this passion with an incredible team spread across the BeNeLux and DACH region. From here we serve our clients across Europe and the UK. While we believe in leveraging the latest technology, we hold one fundamental principle at heart: human connection and understanding will always be at the core of executive search.
Michael Illert
Managing Partner & Founder
Michael Illert
Managing Partner & Founder
Michael Illert
Managing Partner & Founder
Marketing is the Value Activator
Marketing is the Value Activator
We know long‑term success isn’t just about “buying media”; it’s about building a growth system, brand that opens doors, performance that compounds, and measurement that proves it. We specialise in appointing Marketing leaders who turn strategy into distinctive brands, efficient acquisition and measurable revenue impact.
We know long‑term success isn’t just about “buying media”; it’s about building a growth system, brand that opens doors, performance that compounds, and measurement that proves it. We specialise in appointing Marketing leaders who turn strategy into distinctive brands, efficient acquisition and measurable revenue impact.
What separates market leaders from followers
What separates market leaders from followers
Leading marketers now run fully integrated, omnichannel growth operations. They align brand and performance across search, social, CTV/digital video, and retail/commerce media, blending creative, media, and trade to reach buyers seamlessly. Forecasts point to retail and commerce media’s rapid ascent and digital video/CTV’s continuing share gains through 2025. At the same time, they are operationalising GenAI, moving from pilots to production. Top performers scale creative variation, dynamic audiences, and media mix simulation through AI-driven workflows, often via enterprise partnerships that merge model access with process redesign. McKinsey identifies marketing and sales as leading adopters of GenAI. They double down on first-party data and cross-partner collaboration, accelerating consented data strategies and clean-room adoption. Meanwhile, teams must adapt quickly to shifts: Google’s AI Overviews reshape search behaviors, stricter sender rules redefine CRM practices, and the EU’s AI Act enforces new guardrails on general-purpose AI. With budgets tight and media mixes shifting, the future will test CMOs’ ability to prove ROI, govern AI responsibly, and build privacy-durable, insight-rich marketing ecosystems.
Leading marketers now run fully integrated, omnichannel growth operations. They align brand and performance across search, social, CTV/digital video, and retail/commerce media, blending creative, media, and trade to reach buyers seamlessly. Forecasts point to retail and commerce media’s rapid ascent and digital video/CTV’s continuing share gains through 2025. At the same time, they are operationalising GenAI, moving from pilots to production. Top performers scale creative variation, dynamic audiences, and media mix simulation through AI-driven workflows, often via enterprise partnerships that merge model access with process redesign. McKinsey identifies marketing and sales as leading adopters of GenAI. They double down on first-party data and cross-partner collaboration, accelerating consented data strategies and clean-room adoption. Meanwhile, teams must adapt quickly to shifts: Google’s AI Overviews reshape search behaviors, stricter sender rules redefine CRM practices, and the EU’s AI Act enforces new guardrails on general-purpose AI. With budgets tight and media mixes shifting, the future will test CMOs’ ability to prove ROI, govern AI responsibly, and build privacy-durable, insight-rich marketing ecosystems.
Five core areas which drive enablement and innovation across Marketing
CMO & Brand Leadership
Clear positioning, smart portfolio and pricing choices, and a unifying growth story. Drives disciplined, strategic budgeting.
CMO & Brand Leadership
Clear positioning, smart portfolio and pricing choices, and a unifying growth story. Drives disciplined, strategic budgeting.
CMO & Brand Leadership
Clear positioning, smart portfolio and pricing choices, and a unifying growth story. Drives disciplined, strategic budgeting.
Growth & Performance Marketing
Orchestrates demand across all channels, marketplaces, and partners all powered by experimentation and AI.
Growth & Performance Marketing
Orchestrates demand across all channels, marketplaces, and partners all powered by experimentation and AI.
Growth & Performance Marketing
Orchestrates demand across all channels, marketplaces, and partners all powered by experimentation and AI.
Insights, Analytics & Measurement
Turns data into decisions, linking creative and testing insights to business outcomes.
Insights, Analytics & Measurement
Turns data into decisions, linking creative and testing insights to business outcomes.
Insights, Analytics & Measurement
Turns data into decisions, linking creative and testing insights to business outcomes.
Digital, Media & Partnerships
Builds the channel operating system governed for brand safety, transparency, and impact.
Digital, Media & Partnerships
Builds the channel operating system governed for brand safety, transparency, and impact.
Digital, Media & Partnerships
Builds the channel operating system governed for brand safety, transparency, and impact.
Marketing Operations & Martech
Content ops, automation, genAI, consent and identity, and martech. Streamlines tools and strengthens email deliverability and compliance.
Marketing Operations & Martech
Content ops, automation, genAI, consent and identity, and martech. Streamlines tools and strengthens email deliverability and compliance.
Marketing Operations & Martech
Content ops, automation, genAI, consent and identity, and martech. Streamlines tools and strengthens email deliverability and compliance.