Strategic
Communications

Dirk T. Schmitt is advising companies on their communication strategy as well as on crises and mergers & acquisitions (M&A). Dirk has advised on more than 60 domestic and international transactions and was most recently chief representative of a Dax 30 company. As managing director of an international strategic communications consultancy, Dirk advised large corporations on communication in politics and media, as well as with investors and other stakeholders. Dirk studied political science in Mannheim and Munich, and later business administration at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) and Toronto. He has received numerous awards, including the “Press Office of the Year” accolade from the Federal Association of German Press Officers, and has held honorary positions in associations, foundations and academic societies.

Dr. Alexander Falkenberg has conducted private equity, M&A and financing transactions with a volume of more than USD 30 billion. Alexander was Chief Investment Officer at a private equity firm with a portfolio value of more than USD 3 billion. Previously, he worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. Alexander holds a PhD from the University of St.Gallen (HSG), an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a ‘Diplom-Kaufmann’ (German business administration degree) from the European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel.

Philipp T. Meyer has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications. Before founding Rosenberg Strategic Communications, Philipp spent eight years building one of the first and most successful branding studios in the publishing and media industry with ‘F.A.Z. Manufaktur’ at Germany’s ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’ newspaper. He has developed over 90 concepts in communication for renowned clients such as BlackRock, UBS, HSBC, Sanofi, LANXESS, UNO and the German state of Saxony. Before that, Philipp worked in brand management for an internationally operating consumer goods company in Switzerland, among other activities. At Rosenberg Strategic Communications, he is responsible for strategic marketing communications consulting, advising companies on their positioning in special situations. Philipp studied business administration with a focus on marketing at the universities of Münster, the University of St.Gallen (HSG) and in the USA.

Alexander Schmidt has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications. In various positions at well-known communications consultancies, he has supported listed companies, private equity and owner-managed companies. He advises on communications relating to corporate finance issues as well as restructurings and turnarounds. Alexander Schmidt is also well versed in issues management and crisis communication. He studied literature and history and holds an Executive MBA from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Entrepreneur, CEO, consultant, strategist: Rainer Westermann designs mission-critical communications and manages reputation risks for his clients in Germany, the US and Canada.
Litigation communication, crisis prevention and management, and executive communication are his specialties. Rainer has repeatedly swapped the perspective of the consultant for that of the responsible decision-maker - for example, as head of communications at Infineon Technologies or as a board member of LHS Group, Atlanta, a NASDAQ-listed software company. As CEO Germany of Burson-Marsteller, he repositioned the company. In Toronto, he built up the corporate communications and investor relations department for Fleishman-Hillard Canada.

Rainer's expertise is in demand: He is board member of Reputation Advisors International, and since 2021 he has been Chairman of the Board of the Life Sciences Acceleration Alliance e.V., Munich, as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning and a lecturer at the TUM School of Management.

As head of communications in the aviation industry and as press spokesperson for an industrial holding company in the Dax, he advised executive and supervisory boards on complex communications issues: from media relations and crises to change and executive communications, and public affairs. In these roles, as well as an economist and speechwriter for an international strategy consultancy, his journalistic background was of great benefit to him. Thomas spent more than twelve years as a political and business editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Handelsblatt publishing group (Wirtschaftswoche).

Andrea Schmitt has spent more than 25 years in executive communication, specialising in project and event management activities for major financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Citibank and Targobank. She has operational experience in leading large teams, process management and optimisation, and has stewarded company in-house training and coaching projects. Over the last 12 years, she has focussed her energies on both large-scale gatherings in public spaces and events for employees and executives. Further to this, she also works in internal communication for a service provider in the banking sector. Andrea currently manages a social welfare facility on a voluntary basis, and previously lived in Asia for several years where she assisted social projects for an international women’s network.

He was press spokesman in a DAX40 company and then head of communications in a pan-European trading holding company. There, Max Niklas Gille managed a wide variety of crisis and change situations. He further developed the communications work in these companies across all channels and advised top management on reputation issues. This included, for example, CEO positioning in social media. Niklas holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen and an MBA in Communication and Leadership from Quadriga University Berlin.

Jorg Keller is familiar with both the internal and external workings of companies. He has worked in the communications industry for more than 18 years. Most recently, he was Head of Communications Classified Media and Spokesperson at the international media and technology company Axel Springer. There he was responsible for the media relations and the positioning of the Board of Directors. He was also responsible for parts of the internal and external corporate and financial communications of the group. Furthermore, he supported numerous M&A transactions of Axel Springer and its subsidiaries. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant for national and international communications consultancies. He mainly supported clients from the financial and real estate sectors in media relations, corporate and board positioning as well as in special and crisis situations. Jorg holds a degree in political science.