Future of Consumer Marketing

Beyond ROI: Selling Wellbeing to CEOs When Metrics Don't Exist

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Kimberly Breuer, psychologist and founder of LikeMinded, which recently merged with competitor Nilo Health to become the DACH market leader in B2B mental health solutions. After pivoting from B2C to B2B during the pandemic, Kimberly shares how they've built a scalable mental health platform that achieves remarkable engagement rates and successfully positions clinical expertise in corporate environments. Her insights reveal the nuanced marketing strategies required when selling wellness solutions in an emerging category where awareness varies dramatically by region.
Topics Discussed:
Market-driven pivot from B2C to B2B mental health services within three weeks
Regional disparities in mental health adoption (Germany at awareness stage vs. US 10 years ahead)
Contrasting buyer motives: sick days ROI vs. employer branding benefits
Achieving 40% activation rates in a category where 3-10% is typical
Strategic rebranding following competitor merger
Repositioning clinical expertise for corporate palatability
Personal brand leverage as a lead generation mechanism

Scaling Zumper to 78M Annual Visitors w/ Anthemos Georgiades

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, Brett speaks with Anthemos Georgiades, CEO and founder of Zumper, a rental platform that has raised over $180 million and transformed the way people find apartments. With roots in London and now fully American, Georgiades shares the gritty journey of building a marketplace startup in the competitive rental tech space, revealing candid insights about marketing, survival, and the evolving landscape of consumer acquisition.
Key Topics Discussed
Building a two-sided marketplace in the rental industry
Organic vs. paid marketing strategies
Surviving startup challenges during the 2021-2022 market downturn
The future of marketing in the age of generative AI
Content marketing as a growth strategy
Startup resilience and founder psychology

"We Want Fans, Not Customers": WeRoad's Tribal Marketing Success

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Fabio Bin, CMO of WeRoad, one of Italy's fastest-growing travel startups. WeRoad organizes group trips for millennials who don't know each other, creating a unique solution to modern social isolation while revolutionizing travel experiences. Fabio shares how WeRoad grew from 250 travelers to 100,000 annually by building a distinctive brand personality, leveraging content-first marketing strategies, and creating authentic offline communities. The conversation reveals how WeRoad has built a passionate fan base by solving deeper socialization needs rather than just travel logistics, and demonstrates how authentic brand storytelling can drive organic growth across European markets.
Topics Discussed:
Building a travel brand focused on millennial socialization needs
Scaling from 250 to 100,000 annual travelers while maintaining experience quality
Leveraging Instagram as a publisher rather than traditional brand
Creating self-sustaining local communities through events and travel coordinators
Developing a distinctive brand voice that breaks industry conventions
Balancing product standardization with experience quality at scale
Driving organic growth through authentic storytelling and fan creation

From 0 to 2M Users: Fable's Creator-First Growth Story

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, Cory Maran shares how Fable evolved from a book club platform to a comprehensive social reading app with 2 million users and 70,000 book clubs. By focusing on measurement, activation metrics, and creator partnerships, Fable has built a sustainable growth engine that cuts through the noise of mega social platforms to create meaningful community engagement around reading.
Topics Discussed:
Building and scaling a holistic growth marketing strategy beyond traditional user acquisition
Implementing mobile measurement partners (MMPs) to optimize user acquisition costs and targeting
Evolving from a pure community-driven growth model to a hybrid approach incorporating paid channels
Leveraging creator partnerships to generate authentic content and build engaged reading communities
Optimizing for deep product activation metrics instead of surface-level installation metrics
Developing technical infrastructure to support sophisticated growth experiments

From 2 Cabins to 80: Scaling a Hospitality Brand Without Sacrificing Quality

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Julian Trautwein, CEO and Co-Founder of Raus, a venture-backed outdoor hospitality brand that's raised over €11 million. Raus is redefining the hospitality experience by bringing stressed city dwellers into nature through their tech-enabled, off-grid cabins. As a former early Airbnb employee in Europe, Julian brings unique insights on building a category-defining hospitality brand that owns its supply, maintains brand authenticity, and creates experiences that guests are eager to share. Through a sophisticated blend of tech-enabled operations and an offline-first guest experience, Raus has grown from two cabins around Berlin to over 80 locations across Germany and Austria while maintaining a waitlist of 6,500+ potential customers.
Topics Discussed:
Creating a new hospitality category that combines boutique hotel amenities with immersive nature experiences
Building a distributed network of tech-enabled, off-grid cabins in partnership with local landowners
Leveraging scarcity and exclusivity to drive organic growth in early stages
Transitioning from viral demand to sustainable marketing across multiple geographic regions
Developing a vertically integrated business model that includes merchandise and local experiences
Balancing technology and operations to deliver high-quality, consistent guest experiences at scale
Designing hospitality stays as vehicles for promoting health, mindfulness, and digital disconnection

Inside Fissler: a 180-Year-Old Brand's Modern Marketing Playbook

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, our host Roman Kirsch interviews Thordt Clausen, Director of Global Marketing at Fissler, a 180-year-old premium cookware brand generating €750 million in revenue. From their headquarters in rural Germany, Fissler has achieved remarkable success in Asian markets, with Korea accounting for nearly 50% of their global business. The conversation reveals how a traditional European brand maintains premium positioning while adapting to rapid digitalization, particularly in markets where e-commerce dominates consumer behavior.
Topics Discussed: 
Transforming heritage brand assets for digital commerce platforms
Managing global marketing teams across diverse cultural context
Balancing traditional retail experience with e-commerce acceleration
Adapting premium positioning for marketplace environments
Navigating the shift between performance marketing and brand building 
Strategically approaching major shopping events like Singles Day

GoPro's 15-Year Marketing Chief: Stories from Day Zero

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing's ICON SERIES, Rick Loughery, VP of Global Marketing and Communications at GoPro, shares how they built one of the world's most iconic consumer tech brands. As one of GoPro's earliest employees, Rick reveals how they transformed a simple wrist-mounted camera for surfers into a global brand that changed how we capture life's most exciting moments. Through their pioneering approach to user-generated content, influencer partnerships, and niche marketing, GoPro didn't just build a camera company - they created an entirely new category of consumer technology.
Topics Discussed:
Early days of user-generated content and viral marketing
Building brand through niche community targeting
Evolution of influencer partnerships and athlete relationships
Balancing mass-market appeal with core audience authenticity
Leveraging product placement in Hollywood productions
Adapting marketing strategy as a public company
Future of influencer marketing and social media
Lessons For Consumer Marketers:
Master Multi-Niche Marketing GoPro built their brand by speaking authentically to dozens of distinct niches - from skiing to auto racing - with tailored content and messaging for each community. They recognized that a drift racer and an off-road enthusiast require different approaches, even within the automotive category.
Transform Users into Content Creators Before "UGC" was a buzzword, GoPro built their TV commercials entirely from user-generated footage, treating them as 30-second entertainment spots rather than traditional product ads. This created a virtuous cycle where users aspired to create content worthy of GoPro's channels.
Build Strategic Celebrity Partnerships Rather than chasing influencers, GoPro attracted authentic brand advocates like Kelly Slater, who was already buying cameras as gifts before any formal partnership. This organic approach led to relationships with icons like Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn.
Focus on Product Integration Over Placement GoPro's presence in films like The Martian wasn't paid placement - the camera became a character because it solved real production challenges. This strategy made the product integral rather than promotional.
Let Core Users Lead Mass Market Strategy When attempting to broaden market appeal, GoPro learned to let their core users demonstrate innovative uses (like family memories) rather than pushing mainstream messaging that felt inauthentic.
Maintain Authenticity in Influencer Marketing As influencer marketing becomes saturated, GoPro emphasizes genuine product usage and advocacy over transactional relationships, believing the pendulum will swing back toward authenticity.

How LAP Coffee Built a Community So Strong, Kanye West Had to Visit

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Ralph Hage, Founder of LAP Coffee (Life Among People). LAP Coffee is revolutionizing the European coffee market by creating a lifestyle brand that merges micro-retail efficiency with community-driven marketing. In Berlin, where McCafe dominates with 70% market share, LAP Coffee is carving out a new category by focusing on affordable premium coffee, authentic community building, and data-driven product development. Through their innovative approach to retail and marketing, they've grown from a single location to a rapidly expanding brand that's caught the attention of major athletic brands and cultural icons.
Topics Discussed:
Building a community-first brand in a commoditized market
Leveraging micro-retail (30-50sqm stores) for capital efficiency
Creating viral guerrilla marketing campaigns in competitive markets
Developing a data-driven approach to product development through customer feedback
Scaling authentic community engagement across multiple locations
Balancing premium quality with accessible pricing
Sponsored by The Global Talent Co. 

FINN's Strategy for 50% Organic Traffic in a New Category

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, Jan Hansen shares how FINN is transforming car ownership through their subscription model. With over 22,000 customers and a team of 300 people, FINN has pioneered a fully digital car subscription service that includes everything from insurance to maintenance. Through their focus on trust-building and customer experience, they've created a new category at the intersection of e-commerce, subscription economy, and electric mobility.
Topics Discussed:
Building trust for high-ticket subscription products
Balancing paid and organic marketing channels
Transitioning from performance to brand marketing
Creating authenticity in influencer partnerships
Adapting marketing strategies for EVs
Managing marketing during automotive industry volatility
Testing and scaling TV advertising
Sponsored by The Global Talent Co. 

How Levels Built a 600K Email List with 80% Open Rates

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, Ben Grynol, Head of Growth at Levels, shares how they're pioneering the consumer metabolic health movement by transforming medical devices into consumer wellness products. Through their innovative approach to content marketing and community building, they've built a highly engaged audience of nearly 600,000 newsletter subscribers with 65-80% open rates. The company has redefined how to build a market from scratch by focusing on education, partnerships with thought leaders, and extreme patience in their customer acquisition strategy.
Topics Discussed:
Creating a new consumer health category from scratch
Building a content ecosystem across multiple channels
Leveraging partnerships with health thought leaders
Structuring a remote marketing team with virtual assistants
Developing high-engagement lifecycle marketing programs
Balancing education and conversion in long sales cycles
Sponsored by The Global Talent Co.