Pleasure to meet you!
Dr. Christian kurtzke - passionate to bring the new into the world.
Welcome to my personal homepage!
I am a highly passionate, strategic and entrepreneurial executive with 20+ years of international experience in leading premium, luxury-lifestyle & design brands, in "Sports & Fashion", "Watches & Jewellery", "Technical Luxury Accessories" and "Home Deco, Interiors & Art".
Profit from a track record of driving substantial performance improvements, visionary brand repositionings, turnarounds of existing business as well as product innovation with strategic brand extension and growth into new categories and channels.
I bring along a profound Strategy and Sales & Marketing experience in developing brands across international multi-channel retail distribution networks (offline, online and contact centers).
Having launched my own AI-based digital venture already launched in 2000, I am not only an early adopter of new digital technologies but could also gather substantial entrepreneurial experience.
“How intensively do you drive the de-materialization of your products? -
As the future will be about (professional) services, applications, experiences and IP”.”
Some of my work experience as transformational CEO:
Former CEo, porsche LiZENZ- & HANDELSGESELLSCHAFT mbh & Co. KG ("PORSCHE DESIGN GROUP")
I was in charge of leading the strategic transformation of the luxury-lifestyle business - which is today a fully-owned subsidiary of the famous sports car corporation. Its portfolio includes high-end watches, premium sports & fashion apparel and luxury accessories, such as eyewear and luggage. The task included an integrated transformation on several levels: Brand, Products, Sales & Marketing and Organization & Structures
We started with a strategic re-positioning of the brand, along with a re-definition of brand communication across all channels and media, digital in particular. A focusing of the product portfolio, in combination with the development of key innovations in each of the categories, was key to successful transformation. Further brand extension into technical luxury categories as "Android smartphones", "convertible notebooks" and "sound systems" was successfully executed to strengthen and leverage the technical DNA of the brand.
Further focus areas of my work included retail-network optimization and retail-performance enhancement, as well as re-structuring of the formal organization and processes, with a particular emphasis on sales.
Former ceo, meissen COUTURE luxury group
For over 6 years I managed the strategic turnaround and re-positioning of MEISSEN. the 300 year-old German fine porcelain brand. Within two years we brought the company to profitability, in a very challenging market environment that was coined by rapid decline and witnessed the brancruptcy of well-known traditional brands, such as Wedgwood and Rosenthal, for example. Key to this success was a combination of fostering product innovations, a strategic re-juvenation of the brand in order to attract new customer groups, as well as a comprehensive cost-reduction initiative.
In order to build a basis for sustainable growth for the future we re-positioned the brand as a luxury-lifestyle brand, driving brand extensions into the following two product categories: "Home Deco & Interiors" and "Joaillerie". For marketing purposes, a capsule "MEISSEN COUTURE" collection was presented during Milan Fashion Weeks, inspired by historical MEISSEN patterns and designs
In 2014, the brand transformation and brand extensions got awarded the Luxury Lifestyle Award 2014 for best National Brand Positioning.
Leading the New York Shooting of the MEISSEN Joaillerie Fine Jewelry Collection
Presenting the new MEISSEN COUTURE® Home Collection at Maison et Objet in Paris.
Orchestrating the MEISSEN COUTURE Bridal Fashion show during Milan Fashion Week
Former Principal, Boston Consulting group
As part of BCG's global organizational-design practice group I lead international projects that were focusing on re-designing organizations in a variety of industries (consumer goods, financial services, etc.). In addition, I managed the business analytics part (business modelling and business planning including potential analysis) for the successful acquisition of a well-known German consumer brand by an international Private Equity (PE) house. In a global exercise which included collaboration across 42 countries I also lead the development of the new service-offering of BCGs organizational practice.
Former VP, Business Transformation & Culture Change, SIEMENS AG
During about 4.5 years at SIEMENS I supported the CEO and board of SIEMENS's largest division in its strategic transformation, in order to manage the transition from a regulated to a de-regulated global market environment. This included the business building of several business units, including their respective strategic baselining. the vision & mission development.
On a corporate-wide level, I was in charge of the SIEMENS divisions culture-change and, in particular, of five global initiatives:
Customer-Excellence-Initiative, Innovation & Intrapreneurship-Initiative, Global Team-Building-Initiative, Leadership-Initiative & (Digital) Infrastructure and Systems-Initiative.
One of the important outcomes was the development of SHARENET - the global knowledge-sharing network which helped to save over 250 Mio. Euros in 1999 by facilitating digital collaboration.
(years before facebook or linkedin were founded), and which was awarded the American Productivity and Quality Council´s (APQC) Best-Practice Award.
Awards & Achievements
Luxury Lifestyle Award 2014 for best National Brand Positioning
Several Design Awards, including German Design Award 2017 in Gold
Author of the book „The Knowledge-Based Company“, Hanser Verlag
Founding Member of „Meisterkreis“ (German Luxury Association),
collaborating with Italian Altagamma, French Committe Colbert and British WalpoleEuropean Information Management Award (for most innovative product)
Several international technology patents (held jointly with AT&T Bell Labs and SIEMENS)
Best-Practice Award of the American Productivity & Quality Council
Inventor of SHARENET - the global digital knowledge-sharing network of SIEMENS
Krone-Award (for the best doctorate dissertation)
Erwin-Stephan-Award (for fastest studies in Engineering)
Prix-Monods (for best French Dissertation in Philosophy)