Christoph Pietsch

Christoph Pietsch (40) began his career in 2006 with an apprenticeship in Marketing Communications at GREY Group Germany. He subsequently joined the agency full-time while completing his degree as part of the company's leadership development initiative, the "Tiger Scholarship", designed to prepare future executives. Between 2009 and 2015, he held a variety of roles across the agency group before being appointed, in October 2015, as the youngest Chief Marketing Officer on the management board of a European WPP agency. In 2017, Pietsch joined Omnicom's DDB Group as Group Chief Marketing Officer. 

Alongside his executive responsibilities, Pietsch has been actively involved in numerous organizations across the marketing, cultural, startup, and creative industries. He served for many years on the executive boards of the GWA (German Association of Communications Agencies) and the Marketing Club, and is a member of the Advisory Boards of the New Business Circle Germany and Beyond Gender Agenda. He is also a founding member of "Enkelfähigkeit", an initiative launched by HANIEL CEO Thomas Schmidt. In 2017, Ceconomy AG appointed him as a mentor for the RetailtechHub, the accelerator program of MediaMarktSaturn. Since 2018, he has served on the advisory board of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia's "Medien-Digital-Land NRW" initiative, and since 2023 he has been a mentor for Scale-up.NRW, the state's startup acceleration program. 

Pietsch has received numerous accolades for his unconventional approach to agency marketing and business development. German trade publication Werben & Verkaufen (W&V) named him multiple times among the industry's Top 100. In 2017, he received the inaugural CREA Honorary Award for his outstanding contribution to agency marketing and communications. In 2018, Business Punk included him in its Top 100 Watchlist, followed by Capital Magazine, which named him to its prestigious "Young Elite – 40 Under 40" ranking. Together with his colleagues at DDB Group Germany, he was part of the team recognized as Agency of the Year 2019. In 2020, industry publication HORIZONT named agency leaders May, Janik, and Pietsch Agency People of the Year. 

Since February 2021, Pietsch has been a member of the Management Board of Publicis Groupe DACH, serving as Chief Growth Officer. He oversees business development, corporate communications, and brand strategy across the German-speaking markets. Under his leadership, Publicis Groupe was named W&V Agency of the Year 2022, while Pietsch and his colleagues were recognized as New Business Agency Personalities of the Year 2022. In 2023, HORIZONT included him in its Top 40 Under 40 ranking. 

In February 2024, the World Economic Forum appointed Pietsch as a Young Global Leader. Initiated by Hilde Schwab, the program annually selects around 100 exceptional leaders from around the world who are committed to "improving the state of the world" and invites them to join its global leadership community. In the same year, the 80-member THE BEST AGENCY CMO jury honored him with the "Braveheart of the Year" award for his outstanding contributions to the agency industry. In 2025, Campaign named him New Business Personality of the Year. 

Beyond his corporate career, Pietsch is actively engaged as an entrepreneur and investor. He founded and continues to develop Creative Hive, a leading community platform for the creative industry. He also supports startups including O.C. Hairsystems, Beyond, DISAYA, VISUS ONE, and the art marketplace Meet Pablo as an investor. In addition, he serves as a Member of the Advisory Board for Kraftling and HOLY.