Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Yvonne Wutzler and Thorsten Mühl of Cosnova Become the First Duo to Win “CMO of the Year” 2025 – A Triumph of Team Spirit, Creativity, and Community Focus

For the first time, a duo has been honored with Germany’s most prestigious marketing award at the CMO Award Night: Yvonne Wutzler and Thorsten Mühl from Cosnova are the new “CMO of the Year” 2025.

The 19-member jury, composed of members of the “CMO of the Year” Council and leading marketing and media experts, recognized the outstanding achievements of the two executives, who have transformed essence and Catrice into global social media powerhouses through their innovative Social Entertainment strategy.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award together with my colleague Thorsten,” said Yvonne Wutzler, Chief Marketing Officer at Cosnova. For her, the award is a recognition of the entire team’s creativity and passion, which strives daily to make beauty accessible to everyone.

Thorsten Mühl, Chief Digital Marketing Officer, adds: “We design marketing that is social and community-first, aiming to redefine the content game. At the same time, we’re driving forward AI and digital innovation – this synergy is key to staying relevant in today’s culture.”

Through their “TikTok & Social Entertainment First” approach, creative content formats, and targeted pricing strategy, Wutzler and Mühl have turned essence into Europe’s best-selling cosmetics brand. With 3.5 million followers, innovative platforms like Roblox and Twitch, and the use of generative AI, their team produces thousands of pieces of content in-house, reaching millions of young consumers every day. The result: a record-breaking €954 million in revenue in 2024, up 17 percent from the previous year.

Prof. Dr. Sven Reinecke of the University of St. Gallen, spokesperson for the jury, summarized:“Yvonne Wutzler and Thorsten Mühl exemplify what modern marketing means – teamwork, community building, and innovation. Their success fully justifies this first-ever joint CMO of the Year award.”

The award ceremony was hosted by Wolfram Kons and opened with an inspiring keynote by Jimmy Nelson. Event partners included Serviceplan Group, REPUBLIC, Ad Alliance, Spotify, Snap, and the Institute for Marketing & Customer Insight, University of St. Gallen.

An award that sets new standards – and a duo that embodies the future of marketing: digital, creative, and collaborative.