This episode of Meet the Experts is presented by Berlin School alumnus and co-founder of SOMMER + SOMMER and martech consultancy, XQ Digital, Leonard Sommer. He spoke to Scott Brinker, Vice President of Platform Ecosystem at Hubspot and a renowned expert in the field of Marketing Technology.

Sometimes referred to as the “Father of Martech”, Scott’s work and research has chronicled the rise of marketing technology and its impact on marketing strategy, management and business culture over the past decade. He spoke to Leonard about the rapid expansion of Marketing Technology, the disruption felt across traditional marketing mediums, and how companies can better equip themselves to scale up their digital marketing.

"You need to have role-models and you need to have mentors in order to help women to get to the top."

In this week’s Meet the Experts, Julie spoke to Executive Strategy Director at the Service Plan Group and recent Berlin School Graduate, Dr. Rosa Kriesche about her Executive MBA thesis, titled ‘The Leadership Ideal: Style Values and Sex Role Stereotypes’ and it addresses the facts behind the leadership gender-divide in the Creative Industries and asked how we can be doing more to empower women in these fields.

Rosa’s thesis went on to win the Michael Conrad ‘Outstanding Thesis’ Award this year.

"When you have a pre-programmed way of doing things, you tend to repeat it. That's your lifeline. Innovation tries to break through this psychological pattern."

This week we interviewed Katja Nettesheim, Founder and Managing Director of Mediate_, Professor of Digital Transformation at Steinbeis School, and guest speaker at our Executive MBA in Creative Leadership.

Katja is focused on discovering & implementing smart new ways to boost a company’s revenue, especially in unchartered territory such as the Digital Transformation. Her philosophy consists of building digital businesses together with her clients - mediating not only digital revenues, but also cultural change.

She hosted a panel as part of our EMBA program titled 'European Digital Transformation and Innovation Landscape' with Cem Ergün-Müller, Head of Digital Open Space at Deutsche Telekom, Moritz Klämt, Global Digital Director at Henkel and Daniel Simon, CCO at Aperto.

"Newsroom leaders have to bring creativity to this discussion."

This July, we celebrated a new class of creative leaders at our annual Graduation Day. One of the graduates was journalist, entrepreneur and professor, Paul Glader.

He sat down with us to discuss his Berlin School journey and his Executive MBA Thesis: Vetting the News - Solving Information Pollution in the Post-Truth World.

"Things change. We need to not only accept change, but encourage change."

Meet the creative mind behind the ‘Burger King Whopper Detour’ - Gabriel Schmitt, Berlin School Executive MBA Participant and Executive Creative Director at FCB NY. Whopper Detour is the turf-invading campaign which invited BK customers to order a Whopper for 1¢, but only when the app was activated on or near the grounds of Mc Donald’s! We spoke to Gabriel about the fierce success of the campaign, the fine line between being "a smart ass and an asshole", and the importance of embracing industry change to create streamlined creative strategy and agency culture.

If you're not familiar with the Whopper Detour, you can check out the campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOJXVnDqnc

"It's important to use your position, however big or small that is, to effect as much good as you can."

Keryn Nossal is an Executive MBA participant with a story to tell. Several stories, in fact. Keryn is the Founder and Managing Director of Fancy Films, a women-run creative content agency based in Melbourne, Australia.

Inspired by the #MeToo Movement in 2018, Keryn and her team created ‘From A to Me’ as part of the #100DaysforChange project in Australia. The web-series, which recently won the International Award of Distinction at the US 2019 Communicator Awards, documents the stories of a diverse range of women breaking the glass ceiling of their industries and speaking out for those still fighting for their voice. During her visit to Cannes Lions, Keryn took some time out from the busy festival to speak to Julie at the Berlin School about creating 'From A to Me', the experience of running a women-led organisation, and the importance of using powerful voices to give others a seat at the table.

You can find out more about 'From A to Me' here: https://fromatome.com.au

"the catalytic change depends on creating a sustainability market-place of people and actions."

Throughout the month of June, Rio will play host to LivMundi Festival - a month-long series of events encouraging leaders and local community members of all backgrounds to come together and take action on sustainability through projects, installations, talks and educational initiatives. We spoke to LivMundi Founder, Luciane Coutinho, and Curator, Ana Lavaquial - both Berlin School alumni - about the festival's origins, the role of creative leaders, and the importance of inclusivity and education to the conversation on sustainability.

You can find out more about LivMundi's ongoing initiatives here: https://www.livmundi.com

"I think the human factor in journalism is getting stronger."

In our final dispatch from this year's SxSW festival, we spoke with Head of Digital Programming at Deutsche Welle

At this year's festival, Ellen caught up with Managing Director of XQ Digital and Berlin School alumnus, Leonard Sommer, and discussed the most interesting trends shaping the world of technology and striving for ethical journalism in a world of complexity and adversity.

"Most people think you can't learn empathy. I think you can - you can train it."

In our 2nd dispatch from this year's SxSW festival, we chatted with Head of Digital Channels for Microsoft Germany, Magdalena Rogl.

She sat down with Managing Director of XQ Digital and Berlin School alumnus, Leonard Sommer and they discussed the role of empathy and emotional intelligence in a position of creative leadership, as well as the need to implement A.I. ethically.

"To stay relevant to the consumer, you need to constantly come up with new offerings and new ideas."

This week's special guest is Bessie Lee, Founder and CEO of Withinlink, a China-based startup incubator and early stage venture fund, focused on Marketing Technology that supports China's media communications industry. Lee spoke with Julie from the Berlin School about her work at Withinlink, the trends and challenges of innovating and staying relevant in China, and some key advice for empowering innovation in large organizations.

Bessie Lee will be leading a session with our Executive MBA class as part of this year's Asia module.

Find out more about our part-time, flexible Executive MBA program here: https://www.berlin-school.com/executive-mba