Conrad Fritzsch, former head of digital agency model & data activation at Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler, has moved over to the agency side as global transformation officer at Publicis Emili, the shop which handles Daimler.
In the newly created role, Fritzsch will continue to drive the adoption and scaling of the new agency model in order to achieve Daimler’s transformation goal from car manufacturer to digital automotive champion, with a specific focus on:
- Scaling the model to integrate all business units
- Broadening the geographic footprint to include all regions, specifically Germany, the U.S. and China
- Driving the connected hubs model and ways of working globally
- Developing a global working and cultural model to drive the transformation
Fritzsch will also support Publicis Groupe’s drive in productizing, packaging and scaling the Publicis Power Of One model to other clients.
Fritzsch has been integral to the marketing and digital transformation of Mercedes-Benz over the past four years, and since Daimler appointed Publicis Groupe two years ago in one of the most significant holding company pitches of the year in 2018. Following the pitch, Fritzsch led the establishment of the new agency model to drive data-driven activation and marketing in cooperation with Publicis Emil, deploying the agency in 40 markets and reshaping how data is used at Daimler to engage, excite and win the loyalty of customers.
Fritzsch’s unique experience has been built over an interesting career and life: as an East Berliner pre unification of the wall, his experience in transformation began early. In 1993, he founded an agency that specialized in communications for people in East Germany which required targeted and personalized advertising to convey products and their campaigns from the West. He then founded the online music TV station tape.tv, before moving to Daimler in 2016 with the brief of establishing the “Digital House” which would accelerate Daimler’s vision to become the number one automotive digital champion. Under his leadership, he created the “Digital House,” desiloing critical departments of expertise spanning IT, marketing and developers, to bring together an integrated hub with locations including Stuttgart, Berlin and Portugal. The “Digital House” is building new and critical capabilities to be a key element in enabling and driving digital sales systems and customer engagement.
Justin Billingsley, global CMO Of Publicis Groupe and chairman of Publicis Emil, commented: “Conrad is a true change-driver and his partnership has been critical in enabling the rapid implementation and successes of the agency model created for Mercedes-Benz. The success of the model is not one sided, it takes change for both partners to create a team, without boundary or silo, dedicated to one vision: in this case achieving the digital transformation of Mercedes-Benz. Conrad’s appointment is the next natural phase of transformation for Mercedes-Benz and I‘m delighted that he’ll be working with us more closely than ever before.“
Fritzsch stated: “At its very core, transformation is a cultural mission. Cultural change is critical and over the past few years, my focus has been to drive this change at Mercedes-Benz through the unification of global processes and regions, destruction of silos and challenging the traditional ways of thinking. Through doing this, we facilitate a global transformation of marketing, a new and connected world in which Mercedes-Benz can make better decisions through data, with increased consistency, efficiency and effectiveness. Our focus is then to look at how we enable the Mercedes-Benz brand to connect with customers globally by delivering impactful stories and experiences, driven by data and connected by technology, to influence hearts and minds globally.”
Fritzsch’s appointment was confirmed in March 2020, prior to the Publicis Groupe hiring freeze response to COVID-19.
