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Behind the scenes: Have you wondered what a board committee actually does? Today I want to shed some light on this.

When I got appointed to the board of Hapimag last year, I also joined the Customer and Product Committee (or short CPC). And since this May, I am chairing our CPC.

Typically, proper boards have at least two committees (or ‘Ausschüsse’ in 🇩🇪):

The Audit Committee (AC), responsible for ensuring that all of the company’s finance and legal matters are in order. The AC reviews and approves budgets, evaluates major investments and appoints the auditor (an external company dual-checking all the numbers).

The Nomination and Compensation Committee (NCC) that oversees all highest-level HR matters. It searches for and proposes a new CEO to the board, defines the C-level compensation, and proposes new board members if the company needs one.

At Hapimag, we also have a third board committee, the aforementioned CPC.

We have this additional function because growth is a topic very central to our agenda and so we believe it should receive specific board attention.

The areas our CPC oversees are:

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Customer understanding
📈 Shareholder acquisition & retention
💻 IT/AI landscape
🏖️ Customer experience.

We see all of these essential to re-ignite Hapimag’s growth. And we’re proven right: last year was the first year we grew the number of active shares again since 2010 (!).

Committees typically meet once per quarter and consist of selected board members, ExCo, those members of the management team responsible for the above areas and sometimes (as in our case) external advisor experts.

What I found interesting is that committees per se have no decision-making power; they rather support the operational function and prepare any decisions that are going to the full board – this is where decisions are made. We actually have a clear functional chart that outlines exactly who is allowed to make what decisions and on this guideline the board is always the top-level instance.

I love the CPC work as it is a great bridge between high-level operational discussions and very directional strategic board tasks. Sometimes it is challenging to keep the right flight level, but I believe we are doing a good job 😀.

The preparation is meticulous — from agenda setting to the preread documents, that are often 25+ pages long, ensuring that every member of the CPC enters the discussion with the right information. Of course there are also detailed minutes post-meeting.

I believe that any company that has a very specific focus topic such as growth at their heart should consider implementing such an institution. We for sure benefit from it.

Over the past years, I have taken on several mandates as an interim CMO. It normally starts when a CEO or founder comes to me (or another interim CMO) because somebody has left and isn’t replaced yet or somebody was meant to show up but hasn’t. Oooops 🙈.

While that’s a valid use case, there is more to it.

With an experienced interim CMO, you buy competence that doesn’t just keep the ship afloat, but also fuels your growth engine. 💥

The only downside: As a founder, you will likely want to hire your interim CMO into a permanent role and they will likely say ‘no’. At least I always did – except for once. 😉

Here is what founders and CEOs can and should demand from their interim CMO:

1️⃣
We bring an outside view based on having seen many situations, therefore being able to make a very quick judgment on what’s working, what isn’t and where potential opportunities lie (new approaches, new channels, new markets) 🔍

2️⃣
We don’t care about legacy, there is no ‘if I admit that what we’ve done in the past was wrong, I lose credibility’, it is only about what works ✅

3️⃣
We have a tremendous and proven network from past experience, I literally know the perfect partner for anything that needs to be done and can onboard them extremely fast 🤝

4️⃣
Some things only need to be done once and done well. Like building a strong brand foundation, setting up infrastructure or a measurement framework or establishing a strategic growth model. Once delivered, these tasks can be executed for 36 to 48 months 🧱

5️⃣
We can assess what type of hire and team the function requires in the long run, therefore preventing you from hiring the wrong profile for the permanent role that follows 👥

6️⃣
An interim CMO has a different level of conversation with the founder/CEO and the full ExCo due to their experience and seniority. We will also tell you the truth because we don’t fear losing their job. And we understand the expectations of investors, boards etc. 💬

➡️
For me as an Interim CMO/CGO, I see my job as successful if I leave an organization significantly stronger (= more growing, more profitable, more resilient and smarter) than when I started. And all of that within a much more compressed timeline than is normally the case. ⏱️

If any of this resonates with you and your org need a growth boost, let’s talk. 👇

“We want to grow active users. Fast.”

That’s what the founders of a community-driven financial analytics platform told me when they briefed me for an audit 2 years ago.

In these processes, I don’t just look at the marketing stuff such as channels, tactics, and attribution. I also look deep into the business number and plan.

And that’s when it got interesting: They didn’t need more MAUs/DAUs – as a matter of fact that would even make their numbers worse. Instead, they needed more paying premium users.

So when I presented the audit, I first showed how more users means actually more burn, due to high acquisition cost without corresponding revenue.

While this user growth looks great on a pitch deck, it is those premium users that look great on the P&L.

From there I recommended the way forward: focus FIRST (for the next 18 months) relentlessly on converting users to the premium category and only once blended LTV across ALL users has increased as a result, THEN scale up marketing.

This was followed by a suggested roadmap for monetization:

1. Refine the value proposition for premium users
2. Develop CRM and in-app tactics to convert free into paying users
3. Focus product strategy around creating a premium experience worth paying for

Fast forward 18 months (this is straight from the Founder’s LinkedIn post):
📈 Over 400% YoY growth in paid subscribers and the strongest business results they’d ever seen.

Now, that’s a strong position to start investor conversations from.

If you think an audit just confirms what you already know? I’d challenge that. Sometimes it is the one step you need to take to understand the real problem to solve.

If you’re not sure whether you’re solving the right problem to increase the value of your company, let’s talk.

Many CEOs and founders I am speaking to tell me they want a higher CR1 (the percentage of site visitors that become leads) and a lower CPL – believing that this automatically drives business success.

True, if you run a lead gen business, CR1 matters.
 But it’s not that straightforward:

A high CR1 isn’t always good
A low CR1 isn’t always bad

To explain this I use a nightlife metaphor.

💡 Consider your landing page your bouncer. It is good if not every visitor gets in.

For a great night at the club, you want people who are excited and ready to party —
not those who just want to stand on the side and watch

Same with your funnel.

Your LP and leadform should help filter out the wrong leads, and bring forward the ones who are ready to engage — and ultimately, buy. Not the ones who waste your sales team’s time.

This is where LPs often fail: they focus too much on converting everyone.

Result:
🚫 Sales teams get bogged down with low-quality leads
📉 Low lead-to-close rates frustrate the org
💸 CAC is creeping up fast

The best landing pages don’t just convert — they qualify.

✅ They ask the right questions
✅ They share enough info to scare off the wrong crowd
✅ They make it easy for serious buyers to raise their hand

Next time you are thinking about your funnel, bear this in mind:

Don’t just chase a higher CR1.
Think like a club owner.
Hire a smart bouncer.
Let the right people in.

If you’re a founder, CEO, or CxO who’d like to discuss this further, I’d love to chat. 
Your acquisition funnel is likely the single most important success factor for effectively growing your business.

I took this picture in the dressing room of a clothing store in Valencia, and I can’t get over how much respect I have for this shop to put such a statement there.

But they are anything but stupid; while they may be losing a bit of short-term revenue, they gain long-term loyalty. And by doing so, we all win for one piece of clothing less that lands on a landfill. Much applause for Edmmond Studios for making their customers think. 👏🛍️

And in the end, I actually didn’t buy what I tried on that day.

Most businesses should take a page from this book.

And yes, it does remind me of the famous 2011 Black Friday “Don’t buy this Jacket” ad from Patagonia. But in this case, I truly appreciate a bit of borrowing – and I actually imagine that Patagonia would feel the same. 🌟🧥

🔥 This is a topic I’ve been discussing with many of my clients recently, so I wanted to share an excellent ‘Oldie but Goldie’:

A while ago, Byron Sharp published an article called “Why Paid Search is Like Shelf-Space.”

Here is my take on it.

I firmly believe that (Paid) Search is a fantastic channel, especially during Go-to-Market, as it can achieve highly efficient growth. 💥

However, it’s crucial understand the channel’s role in the marketing mix. To illustrate, let’s compare an online business to a brick & mortar retail setup. In this view, search is akin to customers already being inside the shop. Once that’s the case, it’s absolutely essential that we convert as many of them as possible, both on the search engine and on our website – arguably our most vital marketing tool. 🛒

Every lost customer here should be taken personally because they were actively seeking what we have to offer. 🕵️‍♀️

BUT relying solely on search will always limit us to the number of people actively searching for our product or service (obviously), those who are already in-market with the highest intent.

Real growth, the kind that makes us into category leaders, will only be unlocked through what happens in other places. In channels where we can introduce our offering to people who didn’t know they needed it or might not even be aware such an offer exists. 🌍

To make this happen we need to follow Byron’s advice: “This is the magic of good creative advertising combined with broad reach media. The opportunity to reach brains that are not currently interested in the category.” 🎯

While I agree with nearly everything he says, I want to challenge one point:

In his article, Byron Sharp asserts that “paid search is like shelf-space, and, like shelf-space, it needs to be always on.”

I believe there are a few exceptional cases where it does make sense NOT to invest in search, and these are when one (or more) of these three situations exist:

1) We’re operating in a category that doesn’t generate searches because people are unaware it even exists (in such cases, our primary goal is to ‘get people into the store first’).

2) Our conversion funnel isn’t competitive compared to other players bidding on the same keywords (if so, we need to address this).

3) Our organic (non-paid) presence is so robust and there are no ads due to lack of competition that we rank on the actual top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) anyway (Congratulations!). 🏆

By the way, if you’ve made it this far and haven’t yet read Byron Sharp‘s and Jenni Romaniuk‘s book ‘How Brands Grow,’ then I strongly recommend doing so. IMO, it might just be one of the most pivotal marketing books ever written. 📚

I’m curious to hear whether you agree or disagree.

Most organizations I have worked with have some kind of marketing performance dashboard that they look at daily or weekly. Sometimes this is built in Google Sheets or – preferably – in a sophisticated tool such as Looker.

And in most of the cases, what sits on top of these dashboards are KPIs and absolute metrics such as spending, the number of visits/leads/sales, and subsequently, unit acquisition cost metrics like CPV/L/A.

However, what most of these dashboards don’t show are conversion rates broken down by each individual funnel step. Yet, in my opinion, exactly these conversion rates are the most crucial metric. Not only do they help to understand at a glance how much you “don’t sell,” but they are a vital tool to show improvement (or the opposite) over a time period.

Let’s first look at an upper-funnel conversion rate to illustrate this.

Most performance marketing publishers, regardless of whether they let you bid for conversions or leads, essentially operate on a cost-per-click basis. Let’s look at the Conversion Rate 1, also referred to as CR1 or e-commerce rate. It calculates the conversion from site visit to the first meaningful interaction such as a lead or making an order.

With a reasonably broad targeting and a mass marketing product, your CR1 would normally be in the area of 1% to 4% (see here for more benchmarking information). There can be valid exceptions, but if it is lower, you really need to question your product-market fit and/or funnel – and if it is higher, you should see if you can broaden your targeting or diversify channels.

Why is CR1 so important? The answer is simple.

Because any efforts that you can make to increase your CR1 will have an incredible effect on your overall performance. According to an Adobe study, the global e-commerce rate benchmark is 2.58%, which means out of 100 visitors to your website, 2.58 take a meaningful action.

That’s not a lot. Imagine a shop that has 100 visitors a day and less than 3 make a purchase.

Now imagine that you put as much effort as you put into your offsite activities (ad assets, campaign management) into a hypothesis-based test and measure framework and as a result you manage to create one more purchase for each 100 visitors. You will gain 1 percentage point of CR1.

This does not sound like much, but what it means in reality is that you increased your performance by more than 38%. Remember, you already paid the publisher for all of those 100 visitors. This means you achieve a 38% performance increase at no extra cost. Not only will your ability to generate revenue go through the roof, but your unit acquisition cost will reduce dramatically.

Of course, there are already many businesses out there who built conversion machine websites (e.g. booking.com, HelloFresh, Amazon, to name a few), but in my experience, most marketing organizations still spend more time on what happens off-site than what happens on-site. Yet, the resource invested in improving conversion rates can have much higher multiples.

Where do you invest your resources?

Are you spending as much time as you should on your lead-generation funnel and form? Are you constantly thinking about the information structure of your website and landing pages? Are you permanently coming up with hypotheses about what could be done to make more of your visitors act? If not, you should.

Again, imagine you own a shop on the high street and out of 100 visitors a day, less than 3 would make a purchase. All the others just come in, browse, and leave. You could either question the quality and intent of your visitors (another story for another article) or you could take action and work every single day and test new approaches.

This is the retail mindset that we marketers need to live up to.

We are great at celebrating each sale. But, we need to look equally as closely at those people who came to us and haven’t bought, as we need to look at those who bought.

As a matter of fact, we should take every single potential customer lost on the way personally. And we should ask ourselves what we could have done better.

That’s why the conversion rate should be your most important metric.

The above illustrates the importance of the CR1, but it doesn’t stop there. If you know lead-gen businesses, then you know that in many cases, the hot leads (i.e. those that are ready to convert) get handed over to the sales department to be converted into orders.

But what happens to the ones that are not that hot? I have seen too many businesses where these just get ‘parked’ or worse, forgotten/ignored.

Also here, you should take every non-converted lead as a personal insult because a) you have paid for them already, and b) they must have been somewhat interested; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been on your site and provided their lead information.

So, find out why they didn’t buy and develop programs or tactics to get them to buy. Maybe they need to find out more about the product? So give them more information. Maybe timing wasn’t just right? So, keep them engaged until the timing is right, and they will come to you first. Or maybe it was just too expensive? Then think about a one-off discount (after all you have no more acquisition cost).

The essence is always the same, no matter which conversion rate we will look at:

Rather than investing more money into getting more visitors, the secret to success lies in making more from the visitors you have. This should have always been the case, but in the currently much more challenging startup climate, it is more important than ever.

So:

Think like a retailer. Be creative. And take every lost potential customer 100% personally. Make the conversion rate your hero metric.

Being a true G.O.A.T., he took the audience through the different stages of his exceptional career 🚀. For each of these stages, he highlighted a person who was instrumental and connected them to individual learnings 💡.

He did this without being preachy, but yet highly emotional , full of gratitude, and with quite a bit of humor too.

What an incredible role model, hard worker 💪, and exceptional athlete 🏅:

– Born in a small town in Bavaria 🥨 (like me :-))
– Left Germany to play in the NBA at the age of twenty ✈️
– Played for the same club (Dallas Mavericks) throughout his entire professional career
– Won every title there is (NBA MVP in 2007, 14x NBA All-Star, NBA Championship in 2011)
– 6th highest scorer of all time in the NBA

But more importantly, what a person!

I had the pleasure to meet Dirk twice in the mid-00s during commercial productions when I worked for Nike. Each time, he was humble, nice, and really funny, without any superstar behavior at all. During lunch breaks, our entire crew sat around on transport boxes eating pizza together 🍕.

There is this one story where apparently all the Mavericks players were asked what personalization they would like to have for their seat in the Mavericks jet ✈️ – and while most opted for gaming consoles 🎮, Dirk asked for a bookshelf 📚. Not sure if it’s really true, but the fact that it absolutely could be says it all 🤷‍♂️.

So yes, I am a Dirkules fanboy – and that is okay with me 😅.

But even without that, his speech is an absolute gem 💎 and if you only watch one thing today, then this should be it: 📽️👉

Oh, and for a bit of nostalgia, here’s a little memory from the Nike Battlegrounds shoot in 2004 in Dallas 📸.

As startups are pushing for more and more growth, they often encounter a unique set of marketing challenges that can either be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. In this article, I’ll first walk you through four structural growth barriers that frequently emerge during the Series A phase and in the second part I’ll explain why these are problematic and give some pointers on how to overcome them for sustained success.

1. The Home Market Comfort Zone: the launch market works really well and it is responsible for >80% of the overall revenue
2. The One-Channel Wonder: One acquisition platform does all the heavy lifting, this is mostly a performance channel such as Paid Search or Paid Social
3. Brand basics only: There is a brand (and often it is implicitly strong) but it lacks a proper manifestation and key aspects of good brand management are neglected (e.g. design or tonality)
4. A Motley Crew of marketeers: The marketing team has grown organically from a group of very talented ‘growth hackers’ but is not structured according to a strategy

So far so good. Generally, this is totally fine for the GTM phase but as a company approaches new ambitious revenue targets and potentially a next funding event – these traits quickly become bottlenecks and need to be addressed to unlock the next level of growth. 

Eliminating growing pains

To achieve the next level it is critically important that a) there is awareness in the leadership team for the need to change and b) to be prepared to invest into making the changes.

And here is why it matters and some thought-starters on how to get these 4 points right:

International expansion – Escaping The Home Market Dilemma

In almost all cases the business plans calls for a significant share of international revenue, yet we realize (often painfully) that an one-size-fits-all marketing playbook approach does not work. Founders and marketing teams have gained a fundamental and very thorough understanding of their target audience and for what performs in the years since launch. Now, they are confronted with an audience that has very different needs – and in many cases also category knowledge. What worked in the home market suddenly doesn’t work that well any more in the new market(s). This is when it becomes crucial to start working with tools that in the past didn’t need to be used, such as qualitative and quantitative research, different messaging structures and conversion funnels to really understand the new market in depth.

Diversification of acquisition channels – Leaving the Comfort Zone

The one channel that efficiently brings new customers to the business is maxed out – and more often than not, this channel is Paid Search. Performance on paid search is driven by the amount of searches for a topic and the ability to convert the traffic bought. Typically, there is not much room to grow as the wider (and thus less relevant) the keywords become the more expensive acquisition gets since CVRs are decreasing. With that, new channels are needed. Yet, they normally work very different from the existing core channel and require an entirely new setup as they may need different funnels, may sit much higher in the path to purchase and they most certainly require a different approach to creative and measurement. Get ready to (almost) start again.

Brand manifestation – From Logo to Legacy

Of course almost all companies that made it that far have defined the rudimentary foundations of a brand: there is a logo, a font, a color palette and a vision and mission statement. But often this is it and the founders or one of the very early employees act as the ‘brand manager’ and most knowledge exists in their heads. Yet, as the company gets bigger and more and more people and external partners are working with the brand, it becomes incredibly important to have a professional brand toolkit – which btw is also an invaluable item to have for the onboarding of new employees as they need to understand (and be convinced of) the brand. What is needed now is some ground work, not to reinvent the brand but much more to distill the already existing elements, refine and sharpen them, fill the gaps and put it all in really solid, workable and inspiring structure.

Marketing team – Building an organization for impact

Undoubtedly, the best teams are designed around a mission and a strategy and the objectives to be delivered upon within this strategy. But the reality in most start-ups is different. Typically, everybody in the marketing team does a little bit of everything and while some really good expertise has been built (especially around the main channel, see above) there is a lack of a professional setup of experts that are able to deliver a more complex strategy. This is when it becomes crucial to very clearly set your marketing strategy and build the team around it, ideally keeping your rockstars and helping them to grow by complimenting them with ‘A players’ that bring in outside domain expertise.

🚀 Level up 🚀

By correctly addressing these 4 points every company will be able to put themselves in a top position (from a marketing POV) to unleash their next level of growth.

If you feel that you are limited by these 4 areas and you could need help with tackling this – let’s connect and talk. I have worked with many startups and founders over the years on exactly these topics and I am more than happy to explore solutions together with you.

Last but not least, I hope this article was helpful and would love to hear what you think in the comments. Feedback is always appreciated. Thank you 🙌!

This article was originally published on Linkedin on August 11th, 2023.

They are all descriptors for groups of people that evoke pictures that are much richer than just the sum of their words that describe them.

Do you know who you are for?

To be really, really good at what you are doing, you need to understand who you are doing this for, what drives the people that will buy, consume, subscribe to your product or service.

Having worked with some of the greatest brands over the past 20 years, I want to talk about a targeting concept that is hugely powerful but almost always underutilized.

The problem with target groups and personas

In asset development marketeers work with Target groups or target audiences, these are often paragraphs consisting of demographic descriptions, category behavior (e.g. travels 2-3 times per year) with some desires and needs sprinkled onto it. These descriptions often come form the media buying side where they help to identify the right channels and properties but very rarely do they evoke a clear picture.

In product development on the other side it is very typical to work with personas. We all know these: This is Lisa, she is 32 years old, works since 4 years in a bank as a customer service representative, on her way to work she listens to podcasts about xy and in her free time she likes to… and so on… Typically a product has 3 to 4 customer personas. While these do evoke a (very detailed) picture they fail to deliver a high-level comprehensive view that can guide all of our activities as company and brand builders.

The solution: Conceptual Target

One of the most powerful approaches I have come across over the years is the approach of the conceptual target.

I first came across this in the brilliant book ‘The Hidden Agenda’ by Kevin Allen, PhD, one of the most helpful business books I have ever read – especially if you are in any way in a position where business development is part of your remit.

A conceptual target is a group of people who share a powerful, driving common agenda – be it a value or a goal. It’s a descriptor that evokes a powerful image, much richer than the mere sum of the words that make the name. It is a moniker for the group of people that is essential to grow and develop your business.

Too abstract? Let me provide some great examples.

“Soccer mums” – without the need for pictures or mood videos, these two words immediately evoke a powerful image of a suburban, SUV-driving mom who deeply cares about the wellbeing of her family and children. It is a super-powerful concept. This insight was recognized by Bill Clinton’s election campaign team in 1996, leading them to focus on this previously neglected group as a central part of their campaign efforts. By doing so, they not only established the term “soccer moms” in the common vocabulary but also secured victory in the election. According to Wikipedia: “The intense media focus stemmed in large part from the media’s belief that soccer moms had become the most sought-after group of swing voters in the 1996 elections. In the end, suburban women favored Clinton by 53 to 39 percent, while suburban men voted for Dole.”

Marriott’s ‘Road warriors’ – this is one of my favorite examples from Kevin’s book. During their pitch for Marriott, they faced the challenge of transforming the perception of the typical customer of their hotel chain, often seen as salespeople spending lonely evenings at buffet restaurants and hotel bars, into something more aspirational. They delved into the mindset of these individuals and discovered that they identify themselves as fearless fighters who venture out every week to promote and sell their company’s products. They play a vital role in driving business growth, and they are willing to sacrifice time with their families to fulfill their missions. The concept of ‘Road warriors’ embodies a powerful and aspirational image, elevating the perception of these customers beyond mere business travelers.

Nike’s ‘Football crazy kids’ – During the early 2000s, I had the opportunity to work for Wieden+Kennedy on the Nike football account, and the conceptual target was ‘Football crazy kids’ – and it is genius. Just from hearing this description, you can visualize these FCKs (as we called them) right in front of you. They are passionate about the ball at their feet, idolize footballers, and are fully immersed in the football culture. Having this conceptual target at the forefront guided the entire Nike football operation, influencing decisions such as which players to sign and which products to launch. It even played a pivotal role in creating some of the greatest ads ever made (like ‘Airport’ and ‘The other game‘). Every time a decision needed to be made, the question asked was, “Will this be right for our FCKs?”

KAYAK’s ‘Travel Pros’ – when I was responsible for travel search website KAYAK’s European Marketing we needed to find a way to distinguish ourselves from the perceived millions of other travel websites out there. So we looked inside first and defined that the core of the brand really is built around ‘confidence’: The confidence to find the best flight or hotel option for you, the confidence to get the best price, the confidence to have the best information to make the best decisions. We then looked at travellers insights and saw that people look up to those ‘pro travelers’ who travel so much that they always know which seat to choose and which hotel to go to. With that we established the conceptual target of ‘Travel Pros’ a very rich and powerful image. As a result, even those who wouldn’t typically be labeled as travel pros started using KAYAK to enhance their travel experiences.

The Conceptual Target as a Guiding Light

The conceptual target should guide all company activities from product development to distribution and service. It’s not just about branding or ads; it’s about aligning your entire business strategy with the powerful image evoked by your conceptual target.

Developing Your Conceptual Target

So, do you know the conceptual target for your business or brand? If you do then ask yourself if it is powerful and image-evoking enough. And if you don’t then you better get going and start to develop it.

Here are the (rather simplified) key steps of the process:

1. Identify what your product really stands for (e.g. change, empowerment, creativity).
2. Look at the mindset, values, or commonalities of your main and best customers.
3. Illustrate your findings through words, images, or describing actions.
4. Connect the results into the most powerful and meaningful essence.
5. Brainstorm a powerful image-evoking name with your team.

Apple’s Legendary ‘Think Different’ Ad: A Perfect Example

Undoubtedly, one of the most powerful pieces of advertising ever created has been built around the idea of a conceptual target: Apple’s legendary ‘think different’ ad. This is to ‘the crazy ones’.

Let’s Discuss Your Conceptual Target

If you need help in developing the conceptual target for your business, feel free to reach out to discuss further. Your conceptual target can be the driving force behind your business success and bring clarity to all your (marketing) efforts.

This was originally published on Linkedin on August 7th, 2023