BASF Poland appoints new managing director

Between 2012 and 2015, BASF increased its total revenue in Poland by more than 15%, expanded special projects in sustainable development, and promoted innovation and education in chemistry. This period also featured significant transactions (the acquisition of the TDI business from CIECH) and investments (the construction of a catalyst plant in Środa Śląska near Wrocław, valued at EUR 150 million).

New managing director for BASF Poland

Andreas Gietl has spent the past five years of his career in South America. From Germany, he earned a business management education at the University of Applied Sciences in Ludwigshafen and the University of North Carolina. Gietl began his career at BASF in 2000 as a Marketing Analyst for Styrenic Polymers Europe at the company’s headquarters in Ludwigshafen. He later held various roles, including Head of Crop Protection Portugal (2004–2007) and Staff Division President (2008–2010). In 2010, he was assigned to Brazil as Director of Performance Chemicals South America. Since 2013, he has served as Vice President of Decorative Coatings Solutions South America in São Paulo.

Concepts from the article

Marketing. A set of activities aimed at understanding customer needs, building offer value, communication, acquiring customers, and measuring results. Includes strategy, research, branding, media, campaigns, sales, and analytics.

Why it’s important: It brings order to the entire process: from understanding the customer, through the offer and communication, to measuring results. Good marketing starts before advertising — with the product, pricing, and distribution.

When to apply: Continuously, as a company function — not a one-off action: research, strategy, campaigns, analysis, iteration.

Risks of skipping it: Without strategy, marketing reduces to random promotional actions — lots of traffic, little direction, and results that can't be replicated.

Marketing. Ein Bündel von Maßnahmen zur Ermittlung der Kundenbedürfnisse, zur Schaffung von Wert für das Angebot, zur Kommunikation, zur Kundenakquise und zur Messung der Ergebnisse. Umfasst Strategie, Marktforschung, Marke, Medien, Kampagnen, Vertrieb und Analytik.

Dlaczego to ważne: Ordnung in die Gesamtheit: von der Kundenverständnis über das Angebot und die Kommunikation bis hin zur Ergebnismessung. Guter Marketing beginnt vor der Werbung – mit Produkt, Preis und Distribution.

Kiedy się stosuje: Ständig, als Unternehmensfunktion – nicht als Einzelaktion: Forschung, Strategie, Kampagnen, Analyse, Iteration.

Czym grozi pominięcie: Ohne Strategie reduziert sich Marketing auf zufällige Werbeaktionen – viel Traffic, wenig Zielrichtung und Ergebnisse, die nicht reproduzierbar sind.

Summary

Andreas Gietl, a German national with a business management background from the University of Applied Sciences in Ludwigshafen and the University of North Carolina, becomes the new managing director of BASF Poland. Over the last five years, he has worked in South America, serving since 2013 as Vice President of Decorative Coatings Solutions South America in São Paulo.

He has been with BASF since 2000, starting as a Marketing Analyst for Styrenic Polymers Europe at the headquarters in Ludwigshafen. His predecessors in Poland achieved notable results: between 2012 and 2015, company revenue increased by over 15%, and a catalyst plant in Środa Śląska was built for EUR 150 million.