Jan-Niklas Schmidt, 33, Managing Director of Creation at Buddybrand
Jan-Niklas Schmidt is anything but a stranger to taking risks. At the age of 18, he dropped out of high school to become self-employed as a web designer. “I have a pretty good knack for recognizing what technology has the potential to change our lives and I’m not afraid to put all my eggs in one basket,” he says. His understanding of digital helps him here. At the age of ten, he began exploring the home PC and built his first website.
Today Schmidt works at Buddybrand, one of the first social media agencies; their history is closely linked to the rise of Facebook. “Buddybrand and I shared a gut feeling that something big was going to happen with social media,” he remembers. There he rose from junior creative to managing director of creation. He supports some of the world’s largest brands in their transition to social-first brands, including Disney, Red Bull, Microsoft, Deutsche Bahn and Smart.
Social First
He has been doing the job for ten years. Loyalty is important to him: “I think it’s significantly more work to stay and fight for yourself and your goals again and again than to change agencies when you’re first dissatisfied.”
Schmidt is currently working on one of his biggest projects to date: Buddy.AI, an AI platform with new marketing tools. This can, for example, accurately simulate target groups – for research purposes, for direct and concrete creation or product feedback or simply for casual getting to know each other and chatting via WhatsApp.
Schmidt thinks about the future of marketing: “Marketing should be social first because our target groups have long been social first. We are on a very good path, but there is more to come!”
questionnaire
Favorite brand? To be honest, for me it’s not the brand that counts, but rather the enthusiasm and courage of the contacts and those responsible behind it.
Greatest advertisement? Everything from Oatly at the moment.
Your role model? In my office there is a photo of Dieter Rams (former designer at Braun and inspiration for Apple) and one of Michael Scott (Steve Carell in „The Office“). I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’ll leave it at that.
Bester Rat? Always stay cheeky.
What drives you? New.
We have already presented these marketing talents for 2023:
Episode 1: Melissa Manav, Head of Digital Brand Experience Nivea Germany at Beiersdorf
Episode 2: Julia Fabig, Vice President Brand & Communication at Obi
Episode 3: Benedikt Sieweke, CMO of SunExpress Airlines
Episode 4: Christina Volk, 32, Head of Cloud Core Marketing Germany at SAP
Episode 5: Sarah Fütterer, COO and co-founder of Sweetspot
Episode 6: Evelin Eckart, Senior Marketing Manager at AutoScout24
Episode 7: Michael Wingendorf, Managing Director and Partner at Looping One
Episode 8: Neele Karbe, Head of Omnichannel Development at Rossmann
Episode 9: Manuel Faßmann, Director Strategy at EssenceMediacom
Episode 10: Kristina Bonitz, CEO at Diffferent
Folge 11: Nadja Mona Ardinski, Senior Brand Manager at Schweppes
Episode 12: Josephine Wick Frona, Head of Marketing DACH at HubSpot
Episode 13: Julia Weinberg, managing director at Butter
Episode 14: Ilias Benameur, 21, founder and managing director of Gen-Up
Episode 15: Carolin Rziha, Global Brand Creative at Ritter Sport
Episode 16: Juliane Koch, Head of Marketing Strategy & Experience at Deutsche Bank
Episode 17: Susanne Adler, doctoral student at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich
Episode 18: Isabelle Berninger, Strategy Director at The Game
Florian Schaaf
(fs, born in 1998) is studying for a master’s degree in socioeconomics after six months in the editorial office of the “Nordschleswiger” in southern Denmark and has been a working student at sales management since January 2023. In addition to a wide range of interests, he finds progressive topics particularly exciting: sustainability, social entrepreneurship and new work are just a few of the many buzzwords.
2023-12-19 05:33:24
#Creative #Minds #Episode #JanNiklas #Schmidt
