The Ambition creates a Head of Strategy & Innovation role, hiring from DB Schenker
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Culture-marketing consultancy The Ambition has appointed Sophie Käppele as its first Head of Strategy & Innovation in Berlin — a client-side brand leader crossing into agency strategy, reflecting the blurring line between in-house and consultancy talent.
What happened
The Ambition appointed Sophie Käppele as Head of Strategy & Innovation, a newly created role at its Berlin unit, effective 15 August 2026. She joins from DB Schenker, where she was Head of Brand, bringing more than a decade across strategy, branding, communication and transformation.
She is tasked with the strategic and technological development of the consultancy — a mandate that pairs classic brand strategy with an innovation remit.
Client-side talent moving to agencies
The interesting signal is the direction of travel. A senior in-house brand leader moving to an agency reverses the more familiar flow of talent from agencies into client marketing teams, and reflects how porous that line has become.
Client-side experience is valuable on the agency side precisely because it comes with empathy for the buyer: someone who has sat in the marketer's chair understands the internal politics, constraints and metrics that make ideas actually happen.
Why 'strategy and innovation' are being fused
Bundling strategy with innovation in one senior role is telling. Consultancies increasingly need to advise not just on what a brand should say, but on how it should adapt to new technology and channels — the two questions have merged.
For a culture-marketing consultancy, that means blending cultural insight with a credible point of view on emerging tools. The Head of Strategy & Innovation title is a bet that clients want both from the same brain.
Our read for marketers
The takeaway for agencies is that hiring people who have lived client-side buys credibility and reduces the translation gap. For in-house marketers, it's a reminder that your experience is a genuinely marketable asset.
And note the fusion of strategy and innovation. If your own team still treats them as separate silos, you may be missing the fact that, increasingly, brand strategy is inseparable from how you adopt new technology.
Quick FAQ
Who did The Ambition hire?
Sophie Käppele, previously Head of Brand at DB Schenker, joined as Head of Strategy & Innovation — a newly created Berlin role effective 15 August 2026.
Why is a client-side hire notable?
It reverses the usual flow of talent from agencies into client teams. Client-side experience brings empathy for the buyer's constraints, politics and metrics — valuable on the agency side.
Why fuse strategy and innovation in one role?
Consultancies increasingly must advise both on what a brand should say and how it should adapt to new technology — two questions that have merged, especially for culture-marketing work.
— Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute
Brand strategy and technology adoption have merged into one question — if your team still treats them as separate silos, you're likely missing how inseparable they've become.
Does your team still treat brand strategy and innovation as separate silos?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Horizont, Campaign Germany.
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Written by Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute
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