Michaela Märkl, GE Germany

Director Marketing Communications

Michaela Märkl holds a unique dual role at GE. She manages the marketing, media, and advertising initiatives for GE Germany and works on the Corporate Global Brand Marketing team with initiatives that span all global markets. This unique perspective is invaluable for an organization that relies on both global consistency and best practices, as well as local insights and target nuances to effectively support the brand around the world. Michaela also breaks the mold with the initiatives she's led. She was a key creator and contributor to the company's "We are the GE in Germany" campaign in 2012-2013, a campaign that helped reintroduce the brand in a tough challenger market (Siemens' home country) and reverberated throughout paid, owned, and earned media. The campaign became a rallying cry for the GE business and is still being talked about by employees and customers.

More recently Michaela drove GE's "Tomorrow is Made in Europe" campaign, created to bolster brand familiarity during our integration with Alstom. As part of that campaign, Michaela has led experiential programs, events with partners like The Economist and European Voice, and a daily content partnership with Handelsblatt. The new Europe campaign is driving attention among business decision makers and government officials across the Continent.

Michaela is a true internationalist. She spent six months working with the global brand marketing team in New York, and splits her time now between Frankfurt, Berlin, and other European cities where initiatives are in full swing. She appreciates the healthy tension between global and local marketing and walks the line as she wears hats from both groups. This unique point of view helps her recommend the right direction to steer the GE brand around the world.