Michael Leander

Failure is a huge part of success in marketing

Following a career in sales, marketing and management, Michael Leander began public speaking professionally in the second half of 2008. In the years preceding, he frequently spoke as an industry expert at conferences, seminars and trade-show. Since 2008 he has presented in front of thousands of marketing professionals in more than 35 countries.

Marketing speaker Michael LeanderDriven by an increasing desire to inspire and teach others Michael Leander ventured into the speaking and training circuit. His burning desire to convince marketers about the importance of topics such as objective focus through marketing metrics (Return on Marketing Investment), multichannel marketing, recipient control, data quality and the opportunities presented by direct marketing and digital marketing is his main driver.

He believes that “a man’s errors are his portal of discovery” . With a long career in sales and marketing, Michael Leander honestly admits that he has made a great many necessary mistakes in his career. And continues to do so.

Ask any of the consistently successful marketers and they will tell you. Doing it and making the mistakes is easy. But understanding what to learn from these mistakes and then in turn use that new knowledge to improve is essentially what the best direct marketers do well.

Michael Leander is known for his engaging and dynamic presentation style. Hundreds of marketing professionals from more than 75 different nations have labeled him “funny“, “entertaining“, “real expert“, “inspirational” and “most valuable speaker“

20 years of experience

Grounded in his 20 years of corporate experience from publishing, IT software, printing, IT distribution, e-services and marketing consulting, he is a hands-on marketing expert. And one that does his utmost to practice what he preach. That is why you will experience Michael Leander’s presence across multiple marketing platforms. From this blog, to his presence on Linkedin, Facebook, YouTube, Xing and Twitter. And of course you find Michael Leander honing his skills on Google Plus as well.

Experience is a great teacher

Having lived and worked in Asia, North America and Europe, Michael Leander currently resides in Scandinavia with his wife and their three children. With a truly international background, he is accustomed to quickly understanding and relating to different cultures, which his many endorsements will attest to.

But Michael Leander continues to add relevant experience to his portfolio of marketing skills. He has experimented with some success in developing communities of various sizes and quality in the social media space. For example

• Chief Marketing Officer’s Exclusive on Xing (aka Marketingboss)
• Chief Marketing Officer’s Exclusive on Linkedin
• Michael Leander Page on Facebook
• The Email Marketing Masterclass on Linkedin

Retaining clients to keep it real

As the CEO of Michael Leander Company and the Chairman and founder of Markedu, Michael Leander continues to work with a handful of consulting clients at any given time. He believes it is important for the quality and value of his presentations to include these practical experiences. He is also involved in several other operational ventures, which ensures him a constant flow of concrete input and case studies, which he in turn may use in his direct and interactive marketing presentations.

Michael Leander differentiates himself from many speakers, trainers and “experts” by the fact that he has significant experience from the client side – as well as from the consulting/agency side.

He says “When I worked as a CMO or CEO I unfortunately experienced many agency people who just didn’t have a clue. While they were nice, creative and smart people, they just didn’t know how a business really works. I strongly believe that a person with experience from both sides of the table, is more likely to contribute more in terms of real, tangible results. Having experiencing the day-to-day operational issues, politics, obstacles, financial and priority issues businesses are faced with, is a an asset to any individual.

Abstract of Michael Leander’s work experience

Michael Leander speakingMichael Leander’s first two jobs saw him selling door-to-door and being a telemarketer in Florida, USA. A valuable experience, which later proved a great ballast for his continued career in marketing and sales. In his early career, Michael Leander worked as a sales manager in publishing, as a consultant in advertising, as a sales- and marketing manager in a printing company and as a publisher of newspapers and magazines. He is a great believer in getting ones hands dirty and getting into the details of as many aspects of marketing as possible.

He lives and breathes direct (relationship) marketing

All of these positions and a certain book about direct marketing, stimulated Michaels interest in direct marketing early on. In fact so much so, that as a very junior advertising consultant he would go to extremes to sell clients the idea of using direct mail. Luckily for him, one of his very first clients also had a strong belief in direct mail, which allowed him to see first hand what could be done with this powerful marketing weapon.

He says; “I am often amused by how much of today’s marketing really is just old wine on new bottles. What I learned through reading and through practical application 20 years ago still very much applies today. And probably will be just as relevant 20 years from now. But human nature suggests that we reinvent ourselves, our industry, our approach every now and again. It is outright funny to read some of the new material on how to be successful in digital marketing, for example. The reality is that only the media has changed, the techniques for awareness, interest, desire, action hasn’t changed all that much.”

Later as a publisher, he had hones his direct marketing skills so much that he invented a number of unique direct marketing and distribution concepts.

Nearly 10 years in IT software makes a marketer

A turn of events in his publishing business saw Michael Leander enter the IT Software industry in 2003 when he become the Country Manager of a leading Norwegian CRM software vendor. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, Michael went from CRM software over value added distribution to see himself in charge of marketing and loyalty with the largest IT distribution company in the region.

From 1997 Michael Leander headed back into CRM software when he took on a position as the Nordic CEO of the representation of a Canadian CRM software vendor. That company was later acquired by a larger regional CRM player. Under their ownership Michael Leander expanded the CRM company until it was merged with the parent company. Michael stayed on for a while before finally returning to his home country.

Entrepreneur at heart

Following a stint of nearly two years as the sales- and marketing director of a highly innovative e-services company, Michael Leander realized that corporate politics was not his game and decided to become an entrepreneur once again.

He founded Leandersen – a direct and interactive marketing consultancy. Later he acquired Globase an Email Marketing Service Provider (ESP). The two companies merged in 2005 and were subsequently acquired by a German public company in late 2005.

His status as one of the foremost permission email marketing experts in Europe stems in parts from the experience working with blue chip clients at Leandersen – and acquiring knowledge and insights from hundreds of end-users running campaigns through his ESP company.

The non-compete clause years

Early 2006 Michael Leander exited as CEO of Globase. Due to a non-compete clause in his contract, he spent three years researching and practicing social media. Although many considered him somewhat of an expert in digital (internet) marketing at the time, Michael Leander quickly realized that the playing field was changing.

Speaking and training

In late 2008 he began public speaking on the international marketing conference and seminar circuit. In 2009 he once again began consulting clients in the CRM, marketing automation, direct and digital marketing space. Since then he has consulted organizations in many countries helping them increase results in the areas of digital marketing and social media marketing.

Michael Leander has consulted leading marketing automation software companies, which has added to his insight in that growing industry.