smartclip expands leadership team, promoting Gloria Eichler to Chief Product Officer and creating three new Vice President roles

Hamburg, 7 March 2024: smartclip, RTL Group’s adtech development unit and leading provider of adtech solutions across Europe, today announced a number of senior leadership changes. Gloria Eichler has been promoted to the newly created C-level position of Chief Product Officer (CPO). Additionally, three new Vice President (VP) roles have been created — Mirjam Naves takes the role of VP Projects & Processes, Shira Leffel assumes the role of VP Marketing & Product Education, and Christian Osterhues takes the role of VP People & Culture.

The new leadership appointments — all in-house promotions — mark the next stage in smartclip’s transition into a company purely focused on developing advertising technology, following the split from its media division last year, which is now part of RTL AdAlliance. The management restructure focuses on key areas identified as being strategically important to bolster smartclip’s new positioning in the marketplace and will ensure the company continues to be at the forefront of the fast-evolving adtech landscape. The expansion of smartclip’s leadership team also reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to improving diversity and gender equality in the adtech industry. Women now make up 40% of smartclip’s leadership team, exceeding the industry average of 28%.  

In her new role as CPO, Gloria Eichler is responsible for smartclip’s strategic product direction, ensuring the company continues to deliver on its mission to build cutting-edge adtech solutions that meet the needs of European broadcasters and publishers. Since joining smartclip over 12 years ago, Gloria has held several technical roles in platform development and ad delivery optimisation, including her most recent role as VP Ad Platform. Her appointment follows the promotion of René Wagner to Chief Technology Officer in 2023, marking the first step of the now completed reorganisation process. They join long-time Co-Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Thomas Servatius and Dr. Oliver Vesper.

Additionally, three new VP roles underline smartclip’s strategic focus on its people, partners, and growth. Christian Osterhues takes the position of VP People & Culture. His new role encompasses leading smartclip’s recruitment and training strategies, with a focus on amplifying smartclip’s commitment to its people and enriching its positive and dynamic company culture. Mirjam Naves assumes the role of VP Projects & Processes, heading major strategic integrations and development projects. Mirjam will be instrumental in refining and optimising the company’s operational processes, enhancing efficiency, and driving continuous improvement across all departments — helping to sustain smartclip’s competitive edge and facilitate its growth. And as VP Marketing & Product Education, Shira Leffel will continue to oversee the marketing and product education teams while additionally taking the lead on identifying marketing synergies across all RTL adtech entities as well as its technology partners — maximising collaborative opportunities for adtech development.  

Thomas Servatius, Co-CEO at smartclip, said: “Last year was a landmark year for us as we completed our transformation into a pure-play adtech company. This shift necessitated a strategic revamp of our organisational structure as well as our brand identity — both signalling a new era of focus and innovation. We’re excited to build on this momentum in 2024 as we continue to develop cutting-edge advertising technology that puts the interests of European broadcasters first.” 

“I’m a firm believer that our people are the cornerstone of our success, and I’m therefore delighted to welcome Gloria to the C-level team as CPO, her experience and impressive track record will be instrumental to the continued success of our products, as well as Mirjam, Shira, and Christian, who will all play important roles in ensuring smartclip, its products, and its people continue to thrive as we take on our new market focus. I am also very pleased to see our leadership team moving closer to gender parity. Achieving 40% female representation is a significant milestone for us as we continue to lead the way in furthering diversity and inclusion in our industry.”

About smartclip

smartclip is the adtech development unit of RTL Group — Europe’s leading free-to-air broadcaster group. Our proprietary advertising technology is custom-built for the needs of European broadcasters and publishers — enabling media owners to implement smarter monetisation strategies. We are committed to delivering the most innovative ad experiences spanning in-stream, out-stream, addressable TV, connected TV, audio, and gaming — ultimately empowering brands with true cross-screen storytelling opportunities on all devices.

Headquartered in Hamburg, smartclip has offices in Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Gütersloh, Amsterdam, and Paris. For more information: Please visit www.smartclip.tv and follow us on LinkedIn.