Nikolai Nengelken · Interim Management & Consulting
Strategic Brand Management & Communication.
I take responsibility for brands – as an interim manager or as a consultant. Marketing, strategy, communication and creative – with more than 30 years of experience in B2B and B2C.
01 — My work – your benefit
Inside your company or at your side.
Interim Management
I step into a leadership role for a defined period – with a clear mandate, a clear term and responsibility for the result. No recruiting, no long onboarding.
Typical situations: vacancy, repositioning, lack of capacity.
Consulting
Strategic brand management as an external partner. I analyse, develop strategy and concept, and steer agencies and suppliers on your behalf.
Per project or as ongoing support.
»A brand is simply trust.«
Steve Jobs
02 — Brand
Brand is trust.
A brand is more than a logo, a colour or a name. It is the visible, tangible – and manageable – part of your company. It decides between profit and loss.
Strong brands offer identification, take a stance and are carried by the corporate culture. They are where their customers are. Customers become ambassadors – and the brand becomes independent of price pressure.
of brands are considered unnecessary by consumers. They would not miss them.
Havas Meaningful Brands, 2023
Is your brand among the 23 % – or the 77 %?
Love Brands | Trust Brands
Some brands are not just preferred – they are loved. That love is selfish: it demands real added value, a distinct character and a good customer experience. The way there is a strategy built on the company’s values.
The iceberg principle
Only a small part is visible. The brand is carried by what lies beneath.
Corporate Design. Important in the competition for attention. Following every trend dilutes the brand.
Corporate Culture. Values and purpose charge the brand – shaped by the employees. Customers become partners on equal terms.
Authenticity, not facade. Fake identities get exposed – greenwashing ends in a shitstorm. What do we really stand for?
The counterweight. It keeps the brand from capsizing. First define your own pattern of success – rationally and emotionally. Hard to do from the inside.
»A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.«
Seth Godin, author
03 — Mid-sized companies
Brand is a matter for the top. In B2C as much as in B2B.
Many mid-sized companies are hidden champions: innovative, specialised, long-term oriented, often family-run and financially independent. What is often missing is a brand that makes this visible.
Ten reasons for a strong B2B brand
Differentiation
A clear identity is what makes customers choose your brand.
Trust
Quality and consistency sustain long-term business relationships.
Price
Strong brands achieve higher prices and better margins.
Loyalty
Satisfied customers recommend you and stay loyal to the brand.
Recruiting
Talent wants to work for companies with a good reputation.
Efficiency
Well-known brands lower acquisition costs.
Expansion
New products succeed more easily thanks to a head start in trust.
Company value
Brand value is an asset – and convinces investors.
Partnerships
Established brands find partners more easily – and strengthen the brand further.
Resilience
Loyalty and brand commitment carry you safely through crises.
04 — Strategy
Courage and stance.
Strategic brand management steers identity and presence in a defined direction. The easy routes are usually taken by the market leaders. So you need new messages and channels. That carries risks – but above all opportunities.
Brand management is long-term and must sit at decision-maker level. Consensus across all departments does not produce a golden mean – it produces watered-down strategies.
»The biggest risk is not taking any risk at all.«
Fernando Machado, former CMO Burger King
»Brand management is not a democratic process. […] It is about a stringent brand strategy. If that is not right, nothing else works either.«
Tina Müller, former CEO Douglas, former CMO Opel
Strategy with empathy
70–90 %of all decisions are made subconsciously.
People decide associatively, interpretively and selectively – in B2B too. What matters is rarely the product itself, but the experience behind it. It has to be told in the right format and channel. (bvik Trendpaper 2023)
05 — Approach
From analysis to implementation.
Analysis
The outside view is your customers’ view. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, risks – assessed neutrally, independent of hierarchies.
Facts
How is the brand perceived? Where do you stand against competitors? Are you credible? The answers are the foundation.
Strategy
Business goals, brand core and positioning – agreed together, binding for every measure.
Concept
Aligned in content, timing and space. With measurable KPIs.
Creative direction
I steer agencies, copywriters and photographers. That saves costs and speeds up results.
Implementation
As the person responsible for marketing – with your existing team or a team I build and lead.
»Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity.«
Marty Neumeier, author
06 — Working together
Results, not payroll.
We agree scope and term together – from a few days a month to a full-time mandate. After an agreed phase we take stock. The first conversation is free of charge.
Clear costs
Defined period, defined budget, immediately tax-deductible. No overhead.
No fixed costs
No selection process, no probation period, no payroll costs, no absence risk.
Full control
We assess the results together. You decide whether to continue.
A clear position
An honest, reasoned opinion – free from »we have always done it this way«.
Team player
I complement your team or build your marketing department.
Outside view
Free from organisational blindness. New perspectives that move your team.
07 — Trade fairs & brands
Trade fair is brand in 3D.
Germany is a trade fair nation: four venues among the global top ten. Nowhere is the target group denser, nowhere is competition more direct. Size, height and brightness do not make success. What counts is how you bring the brand into the third dimension and make it an attractive experience for the target group.
That is why, at least in B2B, trade fairs belong in the brand strategy – linked to the brand’s overall communication.
»One cannot not communicate.«
Paul Watzlawick | The brand that is not participating sends a message, too.
08 — Trade fair projects
Strategy | Concept | Creative
09 — Testimonials
What clients say.
»Placeholder: client quote, two to three sentences on collaboration and results.«
»You always win. Either you succeed or you learn.«
Author unknown
09 — Clients
Brands I have worked for.
10 — Profile
Nikolai »Nik« Nengelken
Cologne · Brand strategy, creative direction, teaching
My experience saves you time and money.
I have worked on brands and trade fairs for more than 30 years. I support mid-sized companies that lack internal marketing capacity – strategically and, if required, hands-on inside the company.
Company size and budget are secondary. What matters is brand potential, goals and the people behind them.
11 — Downloads
Résumé and references.
PDF files. All content protected by copyright.
12 — Questions & answers
Frequently asked questions.
What does an interim manager for marketing and communication do?+
They take on a leadership role inside the company for a defined period – as interim head of marketing (interim CMO), interim head of communications or interim creative director. With a clear mandate, a clear term and responsibility for the result. Typical situations are a vacancy, a repositioning or a lack of capacity.
Interim management or consulting – what is the difference?+
As an interim manager I work inside the company and lead the team, budget and suppliers. As a consultant for brand strategy, marketing and communication I support you from the outside: analysis, strategy, concept and steering of agencies.
What does an interim manager cost?+
We agree scope and term together – from a few days a month to a full-time mandate. There are no fixed costs, no payroll costs and no recruiting effort. The first conversation is free of charge; afterwards you receive a concrete offer.
Which companies do you work for?+
Mainly mid-sized B2B and B2C companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Company size and budget are secondary – what matters is brand potential and goals.
What experience do you bring?+
More than 30 years in brand management, communication and creative. Among others as creative director and head of design at GES (now Spiro) and as creative director and director of brand strategy at MC² Europe – for brands such as Legrand, VW Commercial Vehicles, Kneipp, BLANCO and Fissler.
Do you also support trade fair appearances?+
Yes. I develop trade fair concepts from strategy to creative and steer stand builders and agencies. The fair becomes part of the brand strategy – not just a product stage.
13 — Contact