These are Germany's five best CMOs

The countdown has started: The CMO of the Year Council has identified the top five Chief Marketing Officers in Germany who are up for the title of “CMO of the Year 2017”. The top five are Eric Liedtke (Adidas), Claas Meineke (Edeka), Henning Strauss (Engelbert Strauss), Jens Thiemer (Daimler) and Hildegard Wortmann (BMW). The 20-member jury is now charged with choosing the winner. The announcement will be made on the evening of Innovation Day, on September 28th, as part of a gala event in Munich.

Munich, August 10th 2017 — The CMO of the Year Award is Germany's highest accolade for the role of Chief Marketing Officer. It is characterised by the motto “From CMOs for CMOs” because all the nominations are made by the CMO of the Year Council which is currently made up of around 50 CMOs. Individuals who receive multiple nominations are automatically included on the shortlist, from which the Council identifies the Top 5.

The Top 5 for 2017 are (in alphabetical order):

• Eric Liedtke, Adidas AG
• Claas Meineke, Edeka AG & Co. KG
• Henning Strauss, Engelbert Strauss GmbH & Co. KG
• Dr. Jens Thiemer, Daimler AG
• Hildegard Wortmann, BMW AG

The 20-member jury, which is likewise manned by CMOs as well as marketing and media experts, will make the final decision on who from the Top 5 receives the award of “CMO of the Year 2017”. Prof. Dr. Anton Meyer, Head of the Institute for Marketing at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (LMU) and Chairman of the jury, explains: “The focus of the jury for the decision between the five individuals, all of whom deliver outstanding performances and carry a great deal of responsibility, are the following evaluation criteria: success, image, innovation and internationalism. The tasks of the CMOs are becoming more and more challenging and complex against the backdrop of digitisation, automation and globalisation. The integrity, integration capacity, courage and conviction of CMOs are therefore more important than ever. The award of the ‘CMO of the Year’ title should be an honour, a model and an incentive all at the same time.”