The Speakers of the Best Brands College 2026
Discover the speakers who will share their knowledge and experience in this year's talks.
Dr Julia Shaw, who was born in Cologne in 1987 and grew up in Canada, is a bestselling author and international speaker. After receiving her doctorate in criminal psychology, she became a researcher at University College London. As a specialist in false memories, she advises the police, the military, law enforcement, the judiciary and businesses in German and English-speaking countries. She also works as a true crime expert for the BBC and numerous TV productions. Her books The Memory Illusion: Remembering, Forgetting, and the Science of False Memory and Making Evil: The Science Behind Humanity’s Dark Side were bestsellers. She recently published her latest book GREEN CRIME. Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet and How to Stop Them.
Stephan Betz explores the conflicting priorities between social and technological developments, brand impact and consumer psychology. As a brand and media expert, he has many years of experience in brand and consumer research in a variety of industries. In his current role, he helps companies to maximise their brand impact with databased insights.
Sandra Haberstroh is a passionate market researcher with a focus on the connection between consumer behaviour, brand impact and strategic decision support. In her role as Team Lead Mobility D-A-CH, she empowers companies to achieve lasting impact and make informed market and brand decisions through well-founded insights.
Ramona Jaeckle is Brand Manager at the Handelsblatt Media Group where she leads the strategic brand development for German newspaper Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche magazine. Before that she was Strategy & Business Development Manager at the ZEIT publishing house group and worked in online marketing at public-service radio and television broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. In her current role, she is responsible for the strategic expansion of Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche, regularly working on the concept development and realisation of image campaigns, overseeing brand initiatives to raise the publications’ profiles and accompanying the development of personal brands.
Michael Stücke is a shepherd and the owner of the Schäferei Stücke sheep farm in Löhne, in the north-west of Germany. At his family-run business, he keeps over 500 sheep, practises sustainable landscape management and is committed to preserving traditional sheep farming while taking a modern approach. His work combines farming with social concerns and he is a vocal supporter of animal protection, the visibility of the LGBTQ⁺ community and innovation in the use of agricultural resources. With this outlook, Michael is showing how today’s agriculture can take responsibility while also shaping the future
Nadia Leytes is Client Strategy Director at Serviceplan Cologne. As the Project Lead for Rainbow Wool, she was responsible for the strategic development and international communication of the multi-award-winning campaign. Alongside her work at Serviceplan, she volunteers for schools, NGOs and the rights of the LGBTQ⁺ community. In view of the globally rising anti-LGBTQ sentiment, intolerance and marginalisation, which she has experienced herself, the international and social aspects of this project were particularly close to her heart.
Andy Wyeth is Creative Lead at Serviceplan Cologne and was responsible for the creative development of Rainbow Wool. To do this, he brought together creative people and production partners who are deeply committed to diversity and who helped to bring the idea to life. Born in Nairobi, raised in New Zealand and now based in Germany, he blends a global outlook with in-depth expertise in local brand building. For 14 years now, he has played a key role in shaping some of Germany’s most innovative omnichannel campaigns, consistently delivering bold and culturally relevant ideas that make an undeniable impact.
Filiz de Campos Oliveira, Portuguese-Turkish newcomer at bigFM, a private radio station for young people, began her career in the banking sector. After seven years, however, she realised that she wanted to fulfil her childhood dream of becoming a radio host. She started working at bigFM as an intern in 2021, followed by a traineeship, which paved the way to her own show. Filiz currently hosts the daily afternoon show on bigFM and impresses her listeners with fresh content and her unique personality. In 2024, she won the Deutscher Radiopreis (German Radio Award) in the category ‘Best Newcomer’.
York Strempel is a creative go-getter who lives and breathes radio culture, shapes brands and inspires people. For over 20 years now, the founder, presenter and creative thinker has been making his mark on the German radio scene – as the former programme director of KISS FM, for example. He transforms ideas into audio experiences, blending contents, emotion and attitude into strong brand communication. As Lead Audio Experience at RMS since October 2025, he designs new storytelling and brand experience formats and comes up with cross-media ideas to make audio a tangible experience as a media of the future. In this role he acts as a link between radio stations, market partners and advertising clients.
Mike Bödger is an experienced media expert with a vast industry knowledge of TV, print, digital and (digital) out-of-home advertising. As a digital trailblazer of the 2000s, he was instrumental in the development of rtl.de into a leading marketing platform and established successful cross-media formats such as Big Brother and Wer wird Millionär?[PH1] (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). In senior roles at Condé Nast and the Handelsblatt Media Group, he was responsible for innovative projects, digital transformation and driving sustainable sales growth. With his strong C-level network, in-depth OOH expertise and clear focus on strategic business development, he handles key accounts for JCDecaux / Wall GmbH in the FMCG, automotive, tech and luxury sectors with passion and vision and is actively driving the development of the media landscape.
more Information to come
Since June 2016, Tom Schwarz has been Managing Director of Seven.One AdFactory, the creative marketer of ProSiebenSat.1. Prior to that, the design graduate worked at Ogilvy & Mather in Düsseldorf for almost five years – as the agency’s Executive Creative Director. His previous roles include Executive Creative Director at Jung von Matt/Spree and Jung von Matt/Donau. To date, his campaigns have won over 700 creative and media awards, both national and international. He is also an active jury member in the Art Directors Club.
