From Zalando to 40+ scaleups – Join us for a true Marketing Mastery! In this episode of The Partner Marketing Podcast, Matthias welcomes one of Europe’s most accomplished marketing minds: Dorothee Seedorf, founder of OM3 Consult and former CMO at Project A.
Over the course of their conversation, Dorothee offers deep insights into her 20-year journey across Partner Marketing, startup growth, private equity consulting, and M&A advisory. Read on for a wealth of practical knowledge on marketing strategies, organizational models, the importance of data infrastructure, and how AI is redefining the rules of the game.
From Zanox to Zalando: Building the Foundation
Matthias: “Hello and welcome to a new episode of the Partner Marketing Podcast. Today I have a special guest with me: Dorothee Seedorf, or simply Doro - I hope it's okay if I call you Doro. Doro is a digital marketing consultant with an impressive background. She supports companies in growing digitally, rethinking processes, and taking their marketing to the next level. It’s great to have you here, Doro. Welcome to the podcast. Would you mind briefly introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your background?”
Dorothee: “Thank you very much, Matthias. I'm happy to be here, and thank you for the invitation. I recently realized that I’ve now been working in digital marketing for 20 years. As you already mentioned, it all started back in the good old Zanox days. After five years at Zanox, I moved on to a very unknown player at the time - a company that wanted to sell shoes - Zalando. I helped build Zalando and was initially responsible for offline marketing. Later, I transitioned fully into affiliate marketing, particularly focusing on price comparison sites. I built both the national and international business there.”
Dorthee continues explaining that her career took a pivotal turn when she joined Project A Ventures, a Berlin-based venture capital firm known for its deep operational support. Dorothee became Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and remained in the role for seven years. During this time, she worked closely with over 40 companies, helping them scale or restructure. Her work spanned many industries, from e-commerce to SaaS and beyond.
Inside Project A: Venture Capital Meets Operational Excellence
Dorothee explains that Project A initially focused on early-stage investments and even developed its own business ideas in-house. Over time, the firm expanded its investment model to include co-investments with private equity firms. As part of her role, Dorothee built and led a 16-person team that supported portfolio companies in disciplines such as marketing, business intelligence, and business development.
She emphasizes that Project A never limited itself to a particular vertical. Companies ranged from B2C retail brands like Lampenwelt and Onlineprinters to SaaS platforms and omnichannel retailers. Her experience working across such diverse sectors created a broad learning curve and helped her understand which business models scale - and under what conditions.
Leadership at Kfzteile24 and the Shift to Consulting
After leaving Project A, Dorothee stepped into a more operational role as managing director at Kfzteile24, where she oversaw marketing, pricing, customer service, and business intelligence. Her tenure focused on turning the company into a customer-centric organization and implementing innovations like dynamic pricing.
Eventually, she decided to return to a more varied professional life. For the past four years, Dorothee has worked independently through her firm OM3 Consult, where she supports portfolio companies from venture capital, private equity, and family offices. Her projects range from advising on M&A transactions to serving as an interim CMO or strategic sparring partner for executive teams.
Dorothee: “I’ve been self-employed for four years now. I always put it this way: I think my time at Project A shaped me so much that I get bored quickly if I’m only working on one project. That spirit has stayed with me - I simply need variety in the projects I work on. And that’s why I’m really enjoying being active again in the VC, private equity, and family office space, supporting the portfolio companies of these investors. On one hand, my work often begins with being brought into M&A processes - either when companies are being acquired and I serve as a senior advisor, helping to assess the current situation, or when I’m asked to identify scaling opportunities and explore how the business case could look different based on the potential we see. On the other hand, I also frequently take on roles as an interim CMO or serve as a sparring partner to executive leadership.”
Consulting Mandates: How Dorothee Works with Clients
Dorothee currently manages six to seven consulting mandates at a time, though not all require equal levels of involvement. Her engagements can be broadly categorized into three types: strategic audits, interim leadership, and executive coaching. Sometimes, her work is triggered by a specific business issue, such as declining profitability or the need to internationalize. In other cases, she is brought in to professionalize marketing infrastructure or help digitize legacy retail operations.
She begins most engagements with a deep-dive audit, producing a detailed 70- to 100-page report that evaluates all marketing channels, data flows, and organizational structures. These audits typically result in clear, prioritized action plans and often lead to long-term collaboration.
When asked about ideal go-to-market strategies, Dorothee highlightes that the most appropriate marketing mix depends on the growth phase of the company rather than solely on product type or industry. For early-stage companies, performance marketing channels like Google and Meta are ideal for testing audiences, gathering data, and validating MVPs. However, once product-market fit is achieved, branding becomes crucial for differentiation and long-term value creation.
She argued that performance marketing is like the "engine" of growth, while brand-building serves as the "headlights" that show the way forward. Companies that neglect brand marketing risk becoming interchangeable, especially in commoditized markets with copycat products.
Retention, Red Flags, and Marketing Myths
One of Dorothee’s key observations is that many companies continue to underinvest in retention marketing, despite publicly stating its importance. She notes that businesses often rely too heavily on acquiring new customers, which becomes increasingly expensive over time. Without increasing purchase frequency or customer lifetime value, many companies struggle to sustain profitability.
She also identified common red flags during audits, including an overreliance on a single channel (e.g. generating 95% of sales from Google Ads), poor tracking infrastructure, and low repeat customer rates. Dorothee emphasized the danger of organizations that resist change - especially those with long-established leadership unwilling to adapt to modern marketing realities.
In such cases, her approach is to demonstrate value through small, tactical wins at the operational level, which then helps build credibility and buy-in with skeptical executives.
In-House vs. Agency Models: Striking the Right Balance
When discussing organizational structure, Dorothee expresses a clear preference for building in-house marketing expertise, particularly for core functions like strategy, data analysis, and campaign management. While specialized tasks - such as SEO or creative production - can be outsourced to agencies, she warns against assuming that external partners reduce internal workload. In her view, successful collaboration with agencies requires well-informed internal stakeholders who can challenge and guide them effectively.
She also advises clients to scrutinize agency compensation models, recommending that incentive structures be tied to performance outcomes rather than hours billed.
M&A Consulting: Scaling Value and Managing Expectations
In the M&A arena, Dorothee plays both roles: assessing potential acquisitions for investors and preparing companies for sale. In the first scenario, she evaluates the scalability of business models, identifies untapped revenue opportunities, and assesses marketing infrastructure. When working on the sell-side, her goal is to "polish" the company - by improving retention, diversifying the channel mix, and stabilizing KPIs.
She acknowledges that the M&A market has cooled significantly over the past two years due to macroeconomic uncertainty. Investors are now placing greater emphasis on profitability rather than just revenue growth. Diligence processes have become more thorough, with increased attention paid to team structure and operational resilience.
Marketing in 2025: AI, Attribution, and the New Playbook
According to Dorothee, the pace of change in marketing has accelerated dramatically—particularly with the rise of AI and large language models. She cites examples of how traditional SEO strategies are becoming obsolete, as user behavior shifts toward AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Studies already show that users rarely scroll beyond the top AI summary blocks, resulting in decreased click-through rates for traditional organic search results.
She also highlights how platforms like Google and Meta are evolving into "black boxes," with limited options for manual optimization. Instead, campaign success increasingly hinges on creative excellence and feed quality.
Despite these changes, Dorothee believes foundational marketing principles remain relevant - especially the importance of retention and understanding true channel attribution. She encourages clients to move beyond last-click attribution and adopt testable, data-driven models that reflect actual consumer journeys.
Key Learnings and Advice for Companies
Dorothee’s core message is clear: prioritize customer retention, continuously question existing practices, and remain curious and open to change. She urges companies to build robust data infrastructures, embrace a culture of experimentation, and not fear inviting external perspectives. Organizations that remain internally focused and avoid scrutiny tend to fall behind.
She also advises businesses to move away from the belief that marketing alone can fix structural issues. Instead, growth requires a coordinated effort across product, pricing, operations, and customer service.
Dorothee: “So, my key learning is this: You never stop learning. Always stay curious about new things, always take the next step, and constantly challenge the work you did yesterday. And to come back to my role - what I’ve observed is that when companies are open to external perspectives, they often experience the steepest learning curves. That’s something I would recommend to everyone. Dare to embrace a culture that’s open to failure, allow for a four-eyes principle, and continuously work on yourselves to improve.
Personal Insights: Life Beyond Marketing
In the closing moments of the episode, Dorothee shares some personal favorites and reflections. She mentioned Atomic Habits by James Clear as a recent impactful read, as well as Beklaute Frauen by Leonie Schöler, which explores the historical erasure of women’s achievements. Her favorite app is Komoot, which she uses for hiking adventures in the Alps.
When asked what she would be doing if not working in marketing, Dorothee revealed her long-time fascination with archaeology and said she once dreamed of becoming an Egyptologist. In the future, she imagines herself running a small boutique hotel and café, possibly in the mountains.
The episode offers listeners a rare window into the mind of a marketer who operates at the intersection of strategy, execution, and investment. Dorothee’s experience, analytical depth, and pragmatism make her a sought-after advisor in both the VC and PE worlds. Whether you’re a marketing leader, investor, or founder, her insights serve as a blueprint for building resilient, scalable businesses in an era defined by data, agility, and transformation.
About The Partner Marketing Podcast
The podcast brings together thought leaders and professionals from across the globe. In each episode, our host, Matthias, sits down with guests to discuss the evolving world of Partner Marketing and share personal stories.
For more details, please visit www.tradedoubler.com/podcast