From January 2022, Bernd Volf, a proven technical innovation expert, will bolster the Global Media Unit as Chief Technology Officer of Ringier. Since 2018, he has managed various IT, tech/data and innovation projects for Ringier AG and the Blick Group on a mandate basis. In the 2020/21 period, he held the role of Technical Product Owner for Blick, served as project manager for the Blick app and had overall responsibility for the development of Ringier Connect and the underlying technology of OneLog, the single sign-on solution of Swiss Digital Alliance. Volf began his career in mechanical engineering and automotive construction, before making the switch to IT development and consulting in 2005. From 2011, he worked as Head of Applications for projects focusing on B2C services and distribution for TX Group. In 2018, he started his own business specialising in tech innovation and consulting.
Dr Patrick Rademacher, Head of Strategy & Intelligence in the Ringier Global Media Unit, will commence his new role as Chief Operating Officer on 1 October 2021. Rademacher joined Ringier AG in 2017. As Head of Special Projects for the Group CEO, he has supported Ringier CEO Marc Walder with the digital transformation of the company since then and will continue to do so going forward. He is Ringier’s project manager for Swiss Digital Alliance, among other things, and serves on the board of OneLog AG. Before joining Ringier, Rademacher worked as a strategic consultant at the top management consultancy vogt media consulting from 2010 to 2016.
Peter Chabrecek, Head of Business Development within the GMU since August 2021, will take over the strategy part from Rademacher and will act as Head of Strategy and Business Development from October. For the past 10 years, Chabrecek has served as Head of Strategic Projects for Classifieds and as Senior Group Investment Manager at the holding company of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, the east European joint venture of Ringier AG and Axel Springer SE.
Ladina Heimgartner, Head of Global Media and CEO of Blick Group: «I am delighted that the management team of the Global Media Unit is being enhanced to include the positions of CTO and COO. In Bernd Volf and Patrick Rademacher, we have appointed two proven media experts who will continue to drive the Global Media Unit forward in operationally and technically innovative ways. Peter Chabrecek is a perfect match for the important area of strategy and business development. Together with the rest of the GMU team, we will address the challenges that we face as an international media company, and utilise the innovative strength of the Ringier companies more effectively across the Group. We will support the media portfolios of each country and continue to expedite their growth and success with the help of data analytics, market insights and scalable technologies.»
Global collaboration between the 120 media brands
Heimgartner has been building up the Global Media Unit for the past 10 months. The focus is on sharing knowledge and improving collaboration between the approximately 120 media brands across 12 national borders, and the strategic management of cross-border issues. The aim is to increase the relevance of Ringier’s media brands in the international media business, leverage synergies and continuously increase the innovative strength of the media companies.
In addition to Patrick Rademacher, Peter Chabrecek and Bernd Volf, the core team of the Global Media Unit comprises Bernhard Brechbühl (Head of Content & Publishing Innovation), Katia Murmann (Chief Product Officer), Gaël Hurlimann (Head of Subscription), Tim Kollmann (Head of Digital Sports Media), Rui de Freitas (Head of Advertising), Laura Crimmons and Jes Scholz (Chief Global Marketing Officers).
Ringier AG, Corporate Communications