Benjamin Pagel

Troubleshooting Deluxe || Growth Strategy & Operations || Interim Leadership

Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

About

Navigating through the “messy middle” – where strategy tends to die. Helping brands and businesses to overcome the disconnect between shiny vision and operational reality. Partnering with leaders who need the architecture to make things happen. Key Ingredients: • Commercial Creativity: Balancing brand magic with P&L logic. • Rigorous Simplification: Removing the headache of excessive corporate complexity. • Applied Strategy: Pinning down what really matters to get it done.

Experience

  • Strategy Lead at glu-works
    Dec 2013 - Present · 12 yrs 7 mos

    Strategic Marketing || maintenance, repair & operations www.glu-works.com Growth strategy development and deployment across diverse geographies and industries. Most notably: CPG, Retail, Automotive. Helping brands and businesses to navigate ambiguous environments that require assessment from different angles. Applying “commercial creativity” that cuts through excessive corporate complexity. Translating insight into action that drive results.

  • Global Planning Director (Mars Inc. Petcare) at BBDO Worldwide
    Dec 2007 - Nov 2013 · 6 yrs

    Unified multiple pet care brands across Europe and globally with a consistent strategy and clear consumer-centric positioning. Led the strategic process within a complex international matrix organisation - in close partnership with senior global leadership client-side. Delivered distinctive brand platforms for each portfolio brand to guide all deployments within the organisation and collaborations with partner agencies.

  • Director of Strategic Planning at Jung von Matt
    Sep 2006 - Nov 2007 · 1 yr 3 mos

    Mercedes-Benz: Strategic planning lead across all car lines and markets. RWE: Extensive reassessment the brand's strategic foundation to inspire a relevant and engaging creative expression.

  • Strategy Director at Scholz & Friends
    Jan 2004 - Aug 2006 · 2 yrs 8 mos

    Tchibo: Strategic agency lead across all product categories (food & non-food), markets (DACH & Central-Eastern Europe) and communications channels. Mars Inc. Snackfoods: Strategic agency lead on portfolio and marketing strategy development for Mars Snackfood’s European ‘Nutrition for Health & Wellbeing’ hub. SCA: Strategic agency lead on the development of a new master brand strategy (Zewa), portfolio- and communications approach across Western- and Central-European markets

  • Senior Strategic Planner at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide
    Jul 2002 - Dec 2003 · 1 yr 6 mos

    DWS Investment: Strategic lead on brand and campaign developments for DWS Investment (Deutsche Bank’s mutual funds provider). Vodafone: Strategic lead for localisation and deployment of an evolving global brand expression in partnership with Vodafone and JWT HQ’s UK.