In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Nora Staudt, who leads marketing for Spread Group, a €200+ million revenue print-on-demand pioneer based in Leipzig. After joining Spread Group two years ago, Nora has been driving a significant marketing transformation, shifting the company from an almost exclusive focus on Google ads to a diverse, multi-channel strategy with a stronger emphasis on branding and retention. Through her journey, she reveals how established e-commerce businesses can evolve their marketing approach while balancing innovation with customer needs in the personalized apparel space.

Topics Discussed:

• Transforming marketing at a 20-year-old e-commerce company
• Diversifying from Google-centric marketing to social and other channels
• Balancing marketplace curation with personalization for 100+ million design combinations
• Navigating the shift from occasion-based to everyday fashion use cases
• Creating authentic, less polished content that resonates on social media
• Managing marketing across multiple brands and global markets
• Implementing AI for content creation while preserving authentic creativity

Lessons For Consumer Marketers:

Launch Strategic Marketing Diversification Beyond Google 

When Nora joined Spread Group, they were investing 99% of their marketing budget in Google. By assembling dedicated paid and organic social teams, she systematically diversified their channels to reach customers where they now search for inspiration, resulting in significant new customer acquisition streams beyond search.

Pair Channel Expansion with Experience Alignment 

As Spread Group expanded into social channels, they recognized the need to align their website experience with the inspiration-focused social content. Their discovery was that channel diversification requires consistent user experiences—people inspired by social media expect that same inspirational approach when landing on your website.

Integrate Established and New Marketing Talent 

The transformation involved merging team members who had been with the company for 15 years with new hires from fast-paced startup backgrounds. Rather than creating friction, this combination created positive energy by pairing institutional knowledge with fresh perspectives and dynamic approaches.

Prioritize Authentic Over Polished Content 

Their most successful campaign featured a social media manager creating content with her child at home around Mother’s Day. This authentic, homemade approach went viral, reinforcing that today’s consumers respond better to genuine, less-polished content than highly produced marketing materials.

Localize Content, Not Campaign Structure 

For global markets, Spread Group found that performance marketing campaign structures don’t require significant localization, while content needs heavy localization. This insight led them to hire market-specific content creators while maintaining centralized campaign management.

Leverage AI for Production Efficiency 

Spread Group is using AI to handle repetitive tasks in content production, copy creation, and translations, allowing their creative teams to focus on true creativity and ideation. This has resulted in significant cost savings while increasing creative output.

Balance Curation with Personalization at Scale 

With over 100 million design combinations available, the company faces the challenge of presenting customers with the right options without overwhelming them. Their solution combines algorithmic curation with design inspiration that helps customers overcome the intimidation of starting with a blank canvas.