Thomas May

He learned the advertising trade in the 1980s as an assistant to Walter Lürzer (CEO of Lowe, Lürzer) in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. He has been a lecturer at the University of Angewandte Kunst in the Graphic Design and Advertising department for 21 years and has been teaching “Branding & Planning” at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in the Media and Communications Consulting program for the past 2 years. After 12 years as an account executive, account director, and managing director (Planning and New Media) at D,M&B, he moved to BBDO in 2005 and served as CEO of the Austrian branch. His keen interest in the convergence of the offline and online worlds amid the ongoing transformation of communication led him to Pjure, where he served as a partner and managing director.

As a client consultant and strategist, he is responsible for a multitude of award-winning campaigns (Effie, IAA, etc.). He loves his two children and modern branding. For him, in our fast-paced and fragmented world, brand fame and the brand strategy behind it are the most important currency. For him, the driving force behind this is modern planning and branding tools, as well as extensive experience in brand management. His motto: Advertising is movement in the mind—brand consultants must dance and must never sit down.

His course on branding (“Building and Managing Brands in a Time of Communicative Upheaval”) covers the entire advertising creation process: from client briefings, brand strategy, and brand presentation to presentation techniques. Modern branding is developed using creative and inspiring planning and branding tools in team settings and workshops. The goal: to create advertising just like in a real agency.