Mirco Gluch 🐽

Piggyback

- Building team structures, strategies, and workflows for successful marketing and social media management
- Optimization of content output, engagements, reach and follower numbers through tried and tested tactics
Selected clients: Zalando, Trade Republic, N26, foodspring, Getsafe and many smaller brands

Agency Founder - Social Media Advisor, Consultant, Workshop Host, and Interim Head of Social Media

Getsafe

- 15,000 new followers, grew organic reach by 10x , and content pieces per week by 5x
- Team, workflow and strategy development for the social media presence of Getsafe
- Launch of TikTok as a new channel
- Development of over 10 regular content formats
- Campaign development and execution of the #failmoments campaign
- Main responsible and initiator of cross-functional 360° content marketing project

Interim Head of Social Media

Trade Republic

- 120,000 new followers across the different social media platforms
- Recruiting and setup of the social media team
- Launch of 3 new markets and their respective channels (Spain, Italy and Netherlands)

Interim Social Media Lead

foodspring

- Responsible for 400,000 new Instagram followers and 85,000 new YouTube subscribers
- Leading, building and developing a team of 12 social media and community managers
- Won 3rd most engaging FMCG food brand Instagram account award in Germany by socialbakers
- Managing the social media team and the channels through global pandemic and rebranding
- Conception, creating and managing of social first campaigns such as #mynewnormal
- Improving the team's content creation output in terms of quantity and quality
- Establishing a follower first and test&learn mindset among the team

(Interim) Head of Social Media

Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf

- Overseeing the organic social media channels, paid social advertising and display campaigns for Peek & Cloppenburg, Jake*s, Review and Ansons
- Content strategy updates for the individual brands and their channels, resulting in significantly better social metrics such as followers, reach, CPM and CPC
- Establishment of new marketing approaches such as influencer road trips and events, meet&greets, instore workouts, Instastories as a channel and Instastory-takeovers
- Budget allocation, budget controlling and budget planning for the year ahead
- Campaign analytics and media plan optimisation for future campaigns based on learnings

Head of Social Media

Zalando Media Solutions

- Executing successful launch, brand positioning and corporate design definition of Collabary - Zalando‘s influencer marketing platform, fast becoming Europe‘s number one workflow tool
- Social media and content marketing management of Collabary across various channels
- Leading the acquisition team towards signing up 2000 high quality social media influencers
- Driving influencer related tech-development, such as influencer categorisation, influencer-brand-fit definition, and influencer profile facelift

Sr. Influencer Marketing Strategist

imk, Institut für Marketing und Kommunikation

- Teaching brand strategy, brand positioning, brand management seminars
- Highly practical and hands on tutoring

Tutor for Brand Strategy

Multiple Clients

- Supervision of the corporate design relaunch of a footwear eCommerce
- Interim Head of Marketing for Mirapodo
- Art direction and photo production for campaigns across various online and offline media 
- Organisation of brand management, content and fashion inspiration workshops for various clients

Freelance Fashion Marketing Consultant

Zalando

-	Brand conceptualisation and brand positioning of Zalando Collection
-	Visual brand development – corporate design, corporate identity and 
	picture language
-	From strategy to market entry – launch event & pop up store in Berlin Mitte
-	Negotiation, planning and execution of marketing campaigns throughout online and offline Zalando channels
-	Marketing management of designer collaborations with Kaviar Gauche and Penkov
-	Creative lead and execution of seasonal campaign photo productions
-	Managerial responsibility for interns and some junior brand managers
-	Analysis of CRM data and market research results
-	Monthly representation of zLabels on Zalando‘s New Hire Day

Brand Manager - Zalando Collection

-	Collaborative effort in developing 20 private labels’ names, logos, corporate designs, and briefing of the individual product ranges
-	Negotiation, planning and execution of the entire marketing mix
-	Analysis of marketing relevant sales and customer data

Brand Performance Manager

-	Business development and calculation of cases for future potential private labels
-	Sales Controlling of the first private labels and the overall Zalando performance
-	Fashion trend forecasts for Zalando’s buying department
-	Website development for private labels

Project Manager Private Labels

envain

-	Created T-shirt brand whilst at university, including naming, creative, product, sourcing and trademarking

Founder of Fashion Label: Gamble for your t-shirt

💭 Imagine your brand's social media channels are growing with ease, your community is expanding and you’re even having fun doing it.
This is what collaborating with Piggyback looks like. 🐽

I’m Mirco, Founder of the Social Media Accelerator, Piggyback.

I’ve worked with some of the fastest growing companies and best marketing teams in the world including Zalando, Trade Republic, N26, foodspring, Wholey, vly, Getsafe, Nike, CLARK, and many startups.

At Piggyback, we help you ditch average, upskill with cutting-edge tactics and escape the competition through workshops, mentoring and our hands-on team accelerator program.

How can I help your company?
🚀 Grow your brand's social media channels with powerful strategies for high reach and high engagement content.
🚀 Upskill your team and help them get processes in place that take them from overwhelm to success with ease.
🚀 Keep learning, innovating and growing with fresh industry best-practice and tools.

Want to work with me? 🤝
1. Bespoke workshops to drive instant results
2. Bespoke social media strategy to get you to your goals
3. Mentoring to supercharge and support your team 
4. Accelerator program where we roll our sleeves up and get your socials thriving

I’m passionate about fitness, healthy food & beverages, A.I., clean energy and climate, mindfulness, wellness, innovation and longevity.

Ready to take your social media channels to the next level?
⚡️ DM me with the word "CALL" to set up a chat and take the first step towards transforming your social media marketing.

Still reading? Wow! 
Make sure you’ve got the 7 day crash course to supercharge your social media.
⚡️ Link in bio to get free growth hacks, proven workflows, community boosting, free tools and much more.

Mirco Gluch

Spotify crashed our Christmas event this year.
And so did someone else.

Last week, our team got together for our Pigsmas Christmas event, and this year was an extra special one.

That’s because we welcomed a brand new team member, Can Kalin, who actually had his very first day with us that day.

Naturally, we pulled out all the stops to celebrate his arrival and make our Christmas event a good one for the team.

We kicked the day off with a brunch in our office, prepared by Japanese chef Yumi. 

Later, we focused on some work stuff, where I gave the team a presentation on Piggyback’s three-year vision and some of our future goals.

After, we got into the fun part as the team ran their own workshops: one guessing which songs were trending on TikTok, and another all about astrology, where they we found out where each of us sits on the astrology spectrum.

Halfway through the day, we briefly had to step back into work-mode when Spotify Wrapped suddenly (and also sort of expectedly) dropped.

(But in true Piggyback fashion, we rallied and got one out for our clients in exactly 28 minutes... Impressive, I know.)

We then ended our busy day with a three course vegan dinner in a restaurant with a very fitting Piggy backdrop, which we, of course, chose because of it.

A big thank you to the entire Piggyback team and of course, for all your work this year. I’m so excited to start the new year with all of you, and with our new addition to our team!

Social Media Accelerator for Startups to Unicorns ⚡️ Ditch average content, upskill your team & supercharge your social channels | AI & Social Media Workshops, Speaker, Strategy & Team Extension 🐽

I had a very important conversation yesterday... Here's what it was all about:

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of joining Anna Suznjevic from Important Conversation (see what I did at the beginning there) on stage at Soho House Berlin, where we explored the power of relationships and co-creation.

(And this event ended up being the perfect example of exactly that!)

Over the evening, we talked about: 
– Why human consultants still matter in the age of AI, especially when advising the C-level 
– What makes a great briefing, and why the best ones solve one specific problem 
– How consultants differ from coaches 
– My own experience and journey, including the many pivots that led to the north star we now follow at Piggyback 

Massive thank you to Anna for having me and for being such a great host, and thanks to Soho House for the wonderful hospitality. I had such a great time!

One of the bravest things to do when the world is on fire is this:
Grow your business.

Why are we still doing it?

Because there are still genuinely hundreds of companies across Germany (and Europe) that genuinely need our help.

When I look at the social media presence of so many brands, there is a huge amount of opportunity just sitting there, untouched.

So many brands have great products, strong teams, and a lot of potential, but they are completely lost in the noise when it comes to social.

They don’t really understand their audience, their content lacks strategy, and their storytelling is flat.

And that’s exactly why we’re still growing, even when conditions around us aren’t perfect.

Growth for us is not about headcount for the sake of headcount (especially not in this climate).

It is about increasing our ability to solve real problems for real companies who need support, even if they don’t realise it yet.

Tough markets don’t mean all the opportunities are gone.

They just make it clearer who is willing to step up.

LinkedIn friends: I’m speaking at an event at Soho House tomorrow and have a few tickets to give away. Want to come?

At 6:30 PM tomorrow, I’ll be on stage at Soho House, talking about consulting for bigger businesses, with Anna Suznjevic from Important Conversation.

If you’re in Berlin and want to come along, comment “I’m interested”. 

I’ll then do a random draw and put a few lucky winners on the guest list.

Winners will get a DM on LinkedIn with all the details.

Hope to see you there!

We were in the top 0.1% of consultancies for checking our clients' views and engagement immediately after hitting post.

Check out that and more in the one you’ve all been waiting for… our Piggyback Wrapped! 🎁

Comment with your own proudest business or personal stat below.

The more ridiculous, the better.

Piggyback Wrapped 2025

AI browsers are quietly becoming one of the most useful tools for social media managers. 
And barely anyone is using them yet.

In this week's newsletter, I break down exactly what AI browsers are, what they can do, and the reasons why those in social media should start paying attention to them now.

Read the full newsletter here 👇

BROWSER, BROWSER ON THE SCREEN… If you’re a social media manager, chances are you have a million tabs open at once. Analytics in one place, content pl

Open article: How AI browsers will change how you manage social media by Mirco Gluch • 4 min read

How AI browsers will change how you manage social media

Social Media Managers: I’ve created an AI course just for you.
And for this weekend only, it’s just €199 plus VAT instead of €249.

Wrap up your year by diving into practical AI workflows built around real-life examples from our project partners, including Maniko, P&C, ImmoScout24, and RTL.

Created by social media experts for social media experts, this course puts your pain points, goals, and day-to-day challenges at the heart of every module.

By the end, you’ll have mastered AI for your everyday workflow, cut your weekly workload by up to five hours, and turned once-tedious tasks into effortless routines.

Ready to get started? 👋

Just head to the link in my profile, enter BLACKWEEK at checkout, and that's it! The code is valid until Monday evening.

P.S. The course is available in English and German, and all you need is ChatGPT Plus.

I need your help naming our flagship offer.
Piggyback’s “Accelerator Program” often gets mistaken for coaching... but we go in and do the actual work.

What the program really is: We "piggyback" on your marketing team for 6–18 months, produce content, post, run community management, handle reporting, set up workflows + tools, and (if you want) help hire and train the in-house team.

Who it’s for: B2C start-ups and scale-ups with somewhat untapped social (e.g. because growth came from other channels so far), and B2C Mittelstand under new marketing leadership who want to finally crack social.

This program does ~75% of our revenue, so the naming is kind of important :)

What should we call it? 
Vote below... and drop better ideas in the comments. 👇

Best name for our 6–18 months, hands-on social program?

Shubham S.

Brand Manager at Dole Singapore-Malaysia | Consumer Goods Marketing | Helping new marketers grow in their careers

A believer in the power of brands to influence sustainable lifestyle choices, I love scaling brands from 1 to 10 rapidly. 

-------- Current Role:----------

At Grab, to grow key QSR brands’ reach and revenue in SEA. I am handling end to end enterprise services on Grab for them. 

-------- Past Roles:----------


I was building Kind Kones, a plant based ice cream brand with no palm oil or negative additives. 

Whether it's door to door selling to presenting in board rooms, I donned every hat with humility. 

I helped a team of 40+ people to expand the business in SG/MY/Middle East. 

Before that,  I expanded Dole's business through in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia and Brunei. 

I also led Dole juices launch in Jollibee, Fairprice and 2600 7-Eleven stores, apart from regular retail listings and marketing.

Previously, I was leading marketing and BD for India business where I helped Dole reach $1M + revenue in Year 1, including co-branded partnership with McDonald’s in 150 stores.
 
I also love to distill interesting marketing and startup concepts to help young folks grow.  

Hence, I write on LinkedIn. 

-------- Japan experience:----------

Previously, I was the youngest Project Lead in Japan in Energy sector but soon realised my heart was in marketing. 

To confirm that my heart's voice isn't a quarter life crisis, I conducted food tours in Tokyo, dabbled in own sandwich business and consulted in food industry. 

The love for marketing was confirmed!  

The issue of sustainability is also close to my heart. 

-------- Student life:----------

So, prior to FMCG life, I published research papers in the field of Sustainable resources and technologies like Bio-fuels, Bio-Lubricants, Gas Emission control and also filed a patent related to Fuel Oil Storage. 

I have also developed a sub-$100 Solar Dryer for rural community which can work beyond sunset.

My outdoor interests range from Copy Writing, Geo-politics, Snowboarding, Mountain Trekking.  Food-trotting in groups and other times I can be found writing and creating food recipes.

Chief Operating Officer

2016. Japan. Age 23.

Got a call from my manager:  

“Fly to Malaysia. The boiler we shipped to a power plant site is leaking.”

🍍A leaking boiler is a potential blast hazard.

I had zero experience fixing one.  

Never been to Malaysia.  

Never seen a construction site.

Yet I packed my bags and flew out — no plan, no backup.

Day 1 — 9 AM.  

🍍The site manager looks at me, goes hysterical, and throws a pen in frustration.  

Not because I was late or rude but because my manager had sent a rookie.

Stunned but focused, I rushed to inspect the damage.  

By end of the day, I had a 15-day plan to fix the mess — weekends and nights included.

We worked quietly, keeping it off the client’s radar.  

Formed a team, found local fabricators, poached workers, and used Google Translate to communicate.  

It was messy, scrappy, and relentless.

16–17 hours a day.  

40°C heat.  

Rain, mud, and welding sparks.

🍍We finished the job in 13 days. 

I stayed another 18 months.  

The “rookie” who showed up clueless earned respect through hustle, despite abuse. 


Get your hands dirty when you’re young.  

Future corporate struggles will aww cute! 


#shubhamspeaks

Shubham Sharma 🍍

Grab | ex-COO Kind Kones | Bain Advisory | P&L Management | QSR

No alternative text description for this image

Boomerang! 

A few years ago I was working on scaling Dole banana plantations in Vietnam, 

Away from the Philippines as climate change was bringing plant diseases rampaging miles and miles of plantations. 

Today, the alternative Dole Vietnam farms are up and running and supplying my current office at Grab. 

That’s what I love about tangible consumer businesses, 

you can see sustained visible impact. 

Banana Boomerang! 


#shubhamspeaks

Few books leave you with an impression, 

Rare are those which are implementable. 

Ikigai 365 is one of those. 

Congrats Shivendu Nadkarni for co-authoring this gem. 

The book is set is Japan and takes you through 4 seasons of life (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) as a metaphor. 

Each chapter talks about a normal person finding reasons to feel fulfilled. 

Whether it is caring for someone, watering plans, serving that ramen everyday, it’s the small pleasures that give meaning to life. 

🍍I anxiously think about my purpose when I will grow older. 

It will definitely be around mentoring and serving people (not gadgets, expensive toys) 

🍍So , The one that most resonated with me was the story of Masako san, who even at 83, after death of her husband, runs a Ramen shop with just 2 items and practices dance to feel alive. 

It’s not about survival, everytime she finds hard to go, the look on a satisfied customer keeps her going. 

I lived through the same feelings during my life running an ice cream chain. It’s funny despite our differences, I can relate. 

That’s the beauty of this book. 

You can relate to and reflect on any phase of life. 

Well done, Shiv and team! 


PS: I am gifting 3 copies of this. Comment below if you would love to have one. Amazon link in the comments. 


#shubhamspeaks

I was the only judge with no banking-lending background 

in a shark-tank like pitch sessions by Grab’s fin-tech folks. 

I felt a little out of place initially but soon caught up. Thanks to my struggles being an SME operator previously. 

And boy! the passion to serve the underserved individual businesses such as a food stall owner was palpable. 

🍍The aggregators with who the small operators interact daily do have a better chance of serving the short term cash or even cheaper ingredient needs. 

Using the whole Grab ecosystem of mart, mobility, payments gives us a better chance to help than traditional ways. 

Kudos to the winners for creating a win-win product for food stall guys and us. 

Thanks for organizing Yesh Gunewardena. 


#shubhamspeaks

Hilarious consumer insight from my Vietnam trip,

'We don't want to smell like fried chicken in the day', 

So, we order delivery. 

Certain fried chicken brands have really old stores with limited seating and bad ventilation. 

It has repulsed the consumers, especially women, from dining in and opting for delivery instead. 

Hence, the lunch segment is very strong in Vietnam.

The future is delivery-focused, sleeker & cleaner stores in VN. 

HVAC guys? that's your cue. 

#shubhamspeaks

As I wrap up my trip to Jakarta, I’m leaving with 2 powerful takeaways that speak volumes about Indonesia’s dynamic trajectory.


🇮🇩 The Rise of Homegrown Champions

I couldn't help but notice the palpable sense of national pride in domestic food and beverage brands.

From the iconic flavors of Pagi Sore and Sari Ratu to the modern coffee culture of Fore Coffee and Kopi Kenangan, my Indonesian friends vehemently insisted I try them all.

This push signifies more than just great taste; it reflects a nation's growing economic self-esteem and the success of local entrepreneurs. 



🍍Leading with Heart

The team, particularly under the leadership of Roy Nugroho, is one of the best I have encountered in the region. 

Their true north star is fostering genuine relationships and authentic care for our clients. 


Especially amid the intense platform and merchants competition, it is hard for brands to tread solo and this team becomes their partner towards growth. 


A huge thank you to the team for the valuable insights and partnership this week. 


Sampai jumpa lagi, Jakarta!

World's largest restaurant company- YUM (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Habit Grill), just released a report on Food trends, 

3 things are hard to miss: 

🍍 Rise of Sauces: 

In moments of stress, sauces act as emotional pick-me-ups. 

Sauces are 2.4x more likely to bring excitement to an occasion compared to other food items. 

Being relatively cheaper to make and a high-margin product, this is good news for the brands. 

🍍 Cool-ness trumps cravability

“Is very cool” is now the No. 1 attribute driving category momentum for QSR brands (followed by ”has food I crave”).

Products that deliver affordability plus a sense of everyday luxury—something premium, customizable, or cravable—hit the sweet spot. 

🍍 Me-economy

People want foods to be solo and personalized. Even food such as pizza, which was group meal, is now being converted to smaller individual serve. 


Serve solo, cool and saucy products. 

#shubhamspeaks

Everyone's raging over fried chicken. 

Yet the QSR industry is ignoring a monumental, profitable opportunity: 

🍍 Sauce forward-Healthier Chicken (rotisserie/grilled).

This is a massive strategic error because it misses the fastest-growing consumer segments:

The Health-Conscious Mover (40% are looking to cut fried)

The Gen-Z protein person (75% are looking for natural proteins)

People who are purchasing from non-QSR local brands. 

These are customers willing to pay a premium for quality.

🍍Here's something I would love to see: 

🍍 Introduce a high-margin Rotisserie/Grilled Protein Bowl or "Guilt-Free Wrap." 

This uses the new protein as a premium add-on to existing menus, appealing to the customization trend.

🍍 Operations: Zero cooking oil, Batch cooking , combi-oven and high humidity heaters to keep the chicken moist. 

🍍 Flavor & Transparency: Use bold, global sauces (Soy Garlic, Chili-Lime) to make the roasted chicken exciting. Market it based on wellness attributes like "Lean Protein" and "Clean Prep."

The first major QSR brand to successfully scale a premium, non-fried chicken menu will win future consumers. 

What do you think? 


#shubhamspeaks

Unpopular opinion: 

Brands who let Marketing lead the relationship with food aggregators win long term, 

Brands that let operation/delivery folks run the show find it hard to grow the user base and overindulge in promos. 

This is very true for franchisees who see food aggregators as solely a delivery channel 

and not as a marketing channel. 

I have seen QSR/Coffee/dessert brands triple their business in 18-21 months once they switch to marketing happens. 

If you are a franchisor or franchisee, time to audit this relationship. 



#shubhamspeaks

The narrative that QSRs thrive just because consumers are broke is fundamentally flawed. 

In 2025, flat pricing guarantees margin compression.

The winning strategy is the Barbell Playbook:

🍍 The Barbell Menu: Drive essential traffic with low-margin value items, but secure profitability with high-margin LTOs (the 'heavy' end). This is crucial for boosting the average check size.

🍍Margin Amplification: Integrate cultural merchandise or character collaborations (like Labubu) with premium LTOs. This delivers vastly superior margins beyond food cost alone.

🍍Digital Segmentation: Use food aggregators (30-50% of sales) strategically. Push high-margin LTOs through these channels to reach the ready-to-spend customer, while handling low-margin volume in-store.

This strategy executed by leaders optimizes for both traffic and profit across the polarized income spectrum.

What's your observation on this? 

#shubhamspeaks

taplio

The Battle

Mirco Gluch

Shubham S.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMirco Gluch's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreShubham S.'s LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Mirco Gluch

Shubham S.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mirco Gluch's LinkedIn Performance

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