Cervelo Appoints Clemens Zimmermann as Global Marketing Director
The thirty-seven year old Zimmermann joins Cervelo after a twelve-year marketing career with the BMW Group at their worldwide headquarters in Munich, Germany. He takes over the position of Global Marketing Director from Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen, who going forward will concentrate on strategic tasks for Cervelo.
During his tenure at BMW, Clemens held a variety of progressively senior marketing and sales positions; beginning in 1997 as an in-house sales and marketing consultant. In 2001 he became Manager for MINI Marketing Planning & Brand Strategy, coordinating the planning of the worldwide brand and product re-launch that same year. For the next three years he served as the Personal Assistant to the Senior Vice President, BMW Group Marketing, before being promoted in 2005 to Senior Product Manager responsible for the all-new BMW X6 model line. His last assignment was as the Global Launch Manager for the BMW X6, where he was responsible for all central communications and the worldwide market introduction.
"While Cervélo is not a large "traditional" marketer, we connect with our customers in many different ways, from our Cervélo TestTeam to our éRide program and from our website to our retailers. We have felt for some time that we could do more for our customers in this regard, and Clemens has the experience and the energy to make that happen," said Gerard Vroomen. "We're ecstatic that Cervélo now has the ability to attract people of Clemens' stature. His combination of skills will serve Cervélo well as we defy the bike industry trends and continue our rapid growth."
"Being a keen cyclist since my teenage years, this new position is like a dream come true. Having the global responsibility for a premium brand represents a fantastic new opportunity," said Clemens Zimmermann. "I consider Cervélo to be one of the most exciting brands in the bike business, with an impressive list of achievements in their short 14 year history. Cervélo occupies a positioning similar to the brands I was working on before: they are perceived as the thought and innovation leader at the top end of the market. In terms of translating technological advances into consumer marketing instruments, I can make a viable contribution to Cervélo's continued growth. The fact that they have their own professional cycling team makes this position all the more fascinating."