Star taps Thomas Biedermann to lead media and advertising

Star has named Thomas Biedermann as Global Head of Media & Advertising as the consultancy expands beyond agency work to serve brands directly. The move comes as marketers face fragmented systems, weak data integration and pressure to build AI-ready operations.

Why it matters: - Star is widening its media and advertising business beyond agencies to help brands modernize marketing operations and data systems. - The appointment signals a push to capture demand for AI-ready marketing infrastructure, tighter brand-agency integration and better control of customer data. - The shift targets pain points that can slow ROI, raise costs and weaken customer experiences.

What happened: - Star appointed Thomas Biedermann as Global Head of Media & Advertising. - Biedermann will lead the vertical’s global strategy, strengthen agency-network relationships and expand services for brands. - The company said the role is aimed at helping brands build more connected marketing capabilities for the AI era.

The details: - Biedermann brings more than 20 years of international leadership experience in media and advertising. - His background spans both agency-side and consumer-side roles. - He previously served as Managing Partner at iProspect. - Biedermann also spent more than eight years as SVP and Managing Director at Merkle | DWA. - Earlier roles included senior media and customer proposition positions at Sky Deutschland, plus leadership posts across digital media, publishing and advertising. - Star said it will continue working with agencies and media owners while expanding directly to brands. - The company plans to help brand marketing teams modernize in-house data, MarTech and marketing operations. - Star also plans to integrate those capabilities with agency platforms and build secure technology foundations for AI. - The company said those changes can give brands more control over customer data, improve speed and cost efficiency, and support more consistent customer experiences and privacy compliance. - Michael Schreibmann, CEO and co-founder of Star, said media and advertising has been a core vertical for nearly two decades. - Schreibmann said brands need partners that understand how brand and agency ecosystems work together. - Schreibmann said Biedermann will deepen agency relationships while bringing Star’s domain expertise and technology capabilities to more brands. - Biedermann said marketing is undergoing a fundamental transformation in how agencies serve clients and how brands manage their own ecosystems. - Biedermann said Star combines platform development expertise, AI innovation and user experience knowledge. - Biedermann said that positions Star to help agencies and brands transform marketing operations and build competitive advantage in the AI era.

Between the lines: - Star is positioning itself as a bridge between agencies and brands rather than only a services vendor for one side of the market. - The strategy reflects a broader industry shift toward first-party data, tighter systems integration and AI-enabled automation. - Star’s messaging suggests the company sees broken martech stacks and disconnected workflows as the main barrier to better marketing performance. - In 2025, Star commissioned Forrester Consulting to survey 310 senior marketing decision-makers at companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue. - The study found that 50% struggled to track campaign ROI because of fragmented marketing systems. - Only 8% reported seamless data integration between brand and agency platforms. - 47% said their agencies’ marketing technology fell short on AI-driven automation and optimization.

What's next: - Star will continue expanding its Media & Advertising business for both agency clients and brand marketers. - The company’s near-term focus is likely to center on systems integration, platform development and AI-enabled automation. - Biedermann’s appointment suggests Star plans to accelerate work with agency networks while selling more directly to brands. - More information is available on Star’s LinkedIn page.

The bottom line: - Star is betting that the next phase of marketing transformation will be won by companies that can connect agency ecosystems, brand data and AI infrastructure in one stack.