After 25 successful years, Stefan Hamacher, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the MEDIA Central Group, is retiring from operational business. With his distinctive retail expertise and his flair for innovative solutions, he made the Mönchengladbach-based company a trendsetter in the world of offer communication and market leader in unaddressed household advertising.
Hamacher will be succeeded by Ingo Wienand, who has held various management positions in the MEDIA Central Group since 2007, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. Stefan Hamacher comments: "With his outstanding knowledge of the industry and excellent leadership qualities, Ingo Wienand has played a key role in the impressive growth and great success of the MEDIA Central Group over the past 15 years. I am looking forward to handing over the management of the Group to him."
New CEO Wienand has ambitious plans for the Group
Wienand has ambitious plans for the Group: "Establishing the MEDIA Central Group as a leading solution provider for 360° offer communication and reach manager specialising in haptic and digital targeting are our declared goals. As an important partner of the retail trade, we know the challenges of the market inside out. With Offerista Group GmbH, we have sharpened our digital profile and already strengthened our position as experts in convergent retail communication." With this focus, the Group is benefiting significantly from successively increasing budget shares for digital offer communication. Wienand is also focussing on opening up further business areas, particularly through data and system-supported solutions.
Leading specialists for 360° offer communication
The MEDIA Central Group is thus taking the next step on its way to becoming the leading specialist for holistic offer communication. In order to be able to address the complex media landscape for customers in an even more solution-orientated manner, the MEDIA Central Group is also merging its subsidiary brands MEDIA Central and Offerista Group under the common umbrella of a holding structure. In this way, the MEDIA Central Group ensures the neutrality of all subsidiaries and at the same time optimises higher-level processes.
In order to do justice to the changes, the management will also be expanded to include new areas of responsibility. Offerista founder Benjamin Thym joins the management of the MEDIA Central Group. In the newly created role of Chief Digital Officer, he will be responsible for the expansion of the digital offering. The position of Chief Administration Officer will be held by Dr Vincenzo Del Popolo, most recently Head of Commercial Administration and a member of the MEDIA Central management team.
From 1 April 2022, the management of the MEDIA Central Group will thus consist of Ingo Wienand (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board), Dr Vincenzo Del Popolo (Chief Administration Officer) and Benjamin Thym (Chief Digital Officer). The Offerista Group is managed by the Managing Directors Benjamin Thym and Tobias Bräuer.
The management of the subsidiary MEDIA Central consists of a six-person management team with an unchanged focus on the print business. In addition to his role as CEO of the MEDIA Central Group, Ingo Wienand will also take over as Chairman of the Management Board of MEDIA Central and thus continue to be responsible for the business activities of the market leader for haptic offer communication.
About the MEDIA Central Group
Strong brands for strong communication solutions: The MEDIA Central Group unites MEDIA Central, the Offerista Group and the foreign companies MEDIA Central Poland and MEDIA Central Czech Republic under one roof. The MEDIA Central Group supports its customers as a trusted partner and holistic solution provider for successful 360° offer communication. The Group's solutions and services make a significant and measurable contribution to increasing sales in the retail sector. As the market leader in unaddressed household advertising, MEDIA Central manages over 15 billion brochures every year. The Offerista Group is Europe's largest network for digital retail marketing and bundles over 260 platforms and reach partners in its own native network. The Group has over 400 employees at 11 locations in 6 countries and currently serves customers in 24 countries and from all sectors.