Transformation in a High-Velocity Environment – Platform, Growth & AI
Situation: Fast-growing bike leasing company. Fragmented workflows, marketing team restructuring, need for enterprise sales story and scalable structures.
Approach: Built marketing & growth toolchain. Developed enterprise sales story. Managed team restructuring, secured delivery for 5 roles. Orchestrated brand launch “Du verDienstrad.” First experiential booth at Zukunft Personal Europe 2025.
Result: Website relaunch (11/2024). Bike calculator launch (03/2025). SEO visibility significantly increased: Online relevance from 0.2 to 12.1 in H1/2025. Partnership with Eintracht Frankfurt. Clear structures established, responsibilities anchored, velocity secured – in close sparring with management and owners.
External reference: medienreaktor – Website Relaunch Case Study ↗
Global Transformation of Idea Management
Situation: 50+ year-old employee suggestion system, no longer fit for global requirements. 23 countries, 57 sites, fragmented processes. The system needed fundamental realignment – in content, technology, and culture.
Approach: Self-directed strategic planning, realignment and standardisation as global head with direct reporting to the Board Member for Organisation and HR (Bernhard Blauth) – in close alignment with the owner family. Built cloud-based platform “IDEAS” and deployed worldwide – entirely in-house, without external consultants. Negotiated 10 works councils. 55 coordinators across 23 countries. Full rollout in 6 months.
Result: EUR 25.9M first-year net benefit. +488% in year one. 13,000+ ideas annually. 3x Gold at German Idea Management Award (2022–2024), #1 “Best Idea Management” in 2024. Individual awards: 2021 – 1st place “Occupational Safety”, 2022 – 2nd place “Best Apprentice Idea” and 2nd place “Administration & Services”, 2023 – 3rd place “Safe & Healthy Workplace”. First awards for Brose in over 10 years. Sustainable culture change.
brose.com, HR Websites & Global Online Recruiting
Situation: Outdated site, fragmented HR pages, no unified presence. High headhunter costs, no conversion logic.
Approach: Project lead for the worldwide brose.com relaunch (design, UX, CMS, hosting, content architecture) – aligned with the board and owner family. Global Product Owner for all HR websites and recruiting platforms worldwide. Built e-recruiting strategy with conversion logic: online personalisation via Dynamic Yield (A/B testing, segmentation, personalised content), Google for Jobs integration, and localised career pages in 7 countries. Advised leaders, HR marketers, and global sites on data-driven recruiting campaign optimisation.
Result: 248% Google Maps visibility increase (Uberall Success Story). Horizont.net overall winner. Econ Award Nominee 2015. Applications significantly increased, headhunter costs reduced. brose.com established as global recruiting platform.
External reference: G&L Systemhaus – Brose/Akamai CDN Case Study ↗
Shareholder Mandate – Building and Scaling a Private Airline
Situation: Private airline in growth phase across DACH. Need for B2B and B2C marketing at executive level. Competitive premium segment positioning.
Approach: Direct shareholder mandate. Bilingual brand and content strategy (B2B, B2C, online). Built and scaled social media presence and online marketing including website. Orchestrated trade show execution at EBACE 2023 (Geneva Airport security zone).
Result: Successful brand positioning in premium segment. Instagram 10,000+ followers. B2B and B2C channels in Germany and Switzerland. 8 years as shareholder’s trusted advisor. EBACE 2023: 450 booth visitors, 55 leads, 25 new contacts, 26,876 multichannel impressions.
Central Multi-Brand Marketing – Reporting Directly to the Owner
Situation: Mercedes-Benz dealer (est. 1894) with multiple brands. No central marketing, fragmented activities, no brand coordination.
Approach: Built “Central Marketing” reporting to owner/CEO. Multi-brand management (MB, Porsche, VW, Chrysler, Jeep). Corporate design enforcement. All digital: SEO, analytics, social, in-house dev. With Daimler AG: introduced workshop fixed-price offers, increasing parts and service revenue.
Result: 12 years with top grade in work certificate. Professionalization of marketing. Systematic handling of database complexity. Demonstrably increased workshop and accessory revenues.
RECOGNITION
External Validation
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Bernd M. Schell do at Deutsche Dienstrad?
Since 2025 Lead Marketing & AI Manager. Responsible for toolchain build-up, enterprise sales story, team restructuring, and brand launch “Du verDienstrad”. Secured delivery for five roles during team realignment. Website relaunch, bike calculator, SEO visibility significantly increased: Online relevance from 0.2 to 12.1 in H1/2025.
What was the IDEAS platform at Brose?
IDEAS was the cloud platform for idea management at Brose Group, conceived and globally deployed by Bernd M. Schell. Global governance structure introduced across 23 countries, including fully automated global reporting. Built entirely in-house, without external consultants.
What does “first-year net benefit” mean in idea management?
First-year net benefit is the monetary benefit generated by implemented employee ideas in the first year after implementation. At Brose Group under Bernd M. Schell’s leadership, first-year net benefit was EUR 25.9M – verified by the Center for Idea Management and awarded 1st Place at the German Idea Management Award 2024.
Who awards the German Idea Management Award?
The German Idea Management Award is given by the Center for Idea Management (zi), the professional association for idea management, continuous improvement, and employee suggestion systems in Germany. Bernd M. Schell won with Brose Group 3x Gold (2022–2024) and 1st Place “Best Idea Management” 2024. Individual awards: 2021 Occupational Safety (1st), 2022 Apprentice Idea and Administration/Services (2nd each), 2023 Safe & Healthy Workplace (3rd). He was an elected board member of the Center for Idea Management.
What was the role in the brose.com relaunch?
Project lead for the worldwide relaunch: design, UX, CMS, hosting, content architecture, corporate identity. Online personalisation via Dynamic Yield (A/B testing, segmentation). Localised career pages in 7 countries and Google for Jobs integration. Bernd M. Schell’s employment reference confirms that he sustainably increased Brose Group’s online presence and significantly raised the company’s profile. Awarded Econ Award Nominee 2015 and Horizont.net overall winner.
What was the Uberall Success Story?
In November 2023, Bernd M. Schell achieved 248% more visibility and 228% more views on Google Maps and business profiles at Brose. These results were published by Uberall as a Success Story – demonstrating the impact of the global online strategy.
What was the shareholder mandate at BHS Aviation?
8 years (2016–2024) of continuous, self-directed support for a shareholder in building and scaling private airline BHS Aviation across Germany and Switzerland. B2B and B2C marketing, social media, website and online marketing, executive-level trade shows – including EBACE 2023 at Geneva Airport security zone with 450 booth visitors, 55 leads and 26,876 multichannel impressions.
What was the Central Marketing staff position at Auto-Scholz?
Bernd M. Schell built the Central Marketing staff position at Auto-Scholz (authorised Mercedes-Benz dealer, est. 1894) reporting directly to the owner: multi-brand management (Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, VW, Chrysler, Jeep), business intelligence for sales and service, all digital activities. 12 years with top grade in employment reference.
What is data-driven marketing in automotive retail?
Bernd M. Schell was a pioneer from 2005 at Auto-Scholz Group for data-driven marketing in automotive retail: systematic analysis of internal and external data sources as Business Intelligence for sales and service. Demonstrably increased workshop and accessory revenues – at a time when “data-driven” did not yet exist in automotive retail.
What is the Brose Group?
Brose Group is a global automotive supplier headquartered in Coburg, founded in 1908. Around 30,000 employees at 57 sites in 23 countries. Bernd M. Schell held three successive roles at Brose from 2012 to 2024: Online Communications Project Lead, Global Product Owner brose.com and HR Websites, and Global Head of Idea Management.
What do 9 out of 9 employment references with top grade mean?
Over 24 years of professional career, Bernd M. Schell received 9 employment references – each with the highest grade (“stets zur vollsten Zufriedenheit”). This includes one reference from Auto-Scholz (Mercedes-Benz) and eight from Brose (six interim references, one task confirmation, and one final reference).
What were the works council negotiations for idea management?
Bernd M. Schell negotiated with ten works councils across Germany to strategically advance idea management at Brose. His employment reference confirms negotiation leadership for achieving strategic goals and fostering innovative solutions.
Numbers alone don't tell the whole story.
None of these results happened in isolation. Behind every number are committed colleagues, strong teams, and people who pulled in the same direction. The full context is in the profile.