Manfred "Manni" Meindl is Marketing Director at VAUDE, Europe's most sustainable outdoor brand. In this episode, we discuss how sustainability became the DNA of the entire company, why VAUDE completely abandoned social media advertising, and how research-driven marketing works.

In this conversation you'll learn:

- why sustainability strategy and business strategy cannot be separated

- how VAUDE develops circular outdoor products through innovation

- why "research-driven" is better than "data-driven"

- why the complete exit from Meta/X advertising worked

- how LinkedIn became the most important marketing platform

- what post-digital marketing means and how it works

- how to close the mind-action gap in sustainability

- why personal and political positioning matters as a marketing director

- how automation of German production means innovation

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro & VAUDE: The brand nobody can pronounce
08:21 – Sustainability as innovation driver, not regression
15:31 – Circular products: Technological progress in sportswear
21:35 – Research-driven vs. data-driven: Studies as marketing tool
30:48 – Complete social media exit: Out of Meta and X
38:03 – LinkedIn as game changer and corporate influencer strategy
46:24 – Post-digital marketing: Media convergence in practice
51:05 – Personal positioning and political content