DMEXCO Podcast by Verena Gründel Weleda’s CDO Andrea Lederer on Digital Transformation in the Fast Lane
In this episode, Verena Gründel talks to Andrea Lederer, Chief Digital Officer at Weleda, the iconic natural cosmetics brand loved by Bella Hadid.
Andrea shares her journey of digitally transforming a 105-year-old heritage company, building e-commerce structures from the ground up, and aligning digital goals with brand values like premiumization and sustainability. They discuss how Andrea restructured teams, harmonized global data, launched new digital campaigns, and what it takes to move fast without losing sight of brand identity.
5 Data-Driven Takeaways from the Podcast:
When Andrea joined, the digital team was "somewhere in marketing" — not linked to sales or customers. Reporting systems were disconnected. “As global CDO, I couldn’t even tell you how much we were selling digitally,” she says. That changed fast.
She aligned her strategy with Weleda’s four corporate goals: internationalization, digitization, premiumization, and product innovation. “We asked: what role does digital play in each? Then we translated it into team and individual goals,” Andrea explains.
She also brought in structure. “We clarified roles, cleaned up CRM, launched paid media, and set pricing rules.” Quick wins like Prime Day campaigns and social media boosts delivered instant ROI without compromising brand positioning.
- Weleda’s first D2C-webshop launched in 2024.
- Today, 40% of webshop traffic comes from paid media.
- Global sales achieved double-digit growth in 2025. Digital were outpacing traditional channels.
- Andrea restructured and re-hired nearly the entire digital team.
- In autumn 2025 Weleda launched it’s first social-first campaign ever: for the new product Booster Drops-
When Andrea joined, the digital team was "somewhere in marketing" — not linked to sales or customers. Reporting systems were disconnected. “As global CDO, I couldn’t even tell you how much we were selling digitally,” she says. That changed fast.
She aligned her strategy with Weleda’s four corporate goals: internationalization, digitization, premiumization, and product innovation. “We asked: what role does digital play in each? Then we translated it into team and individual goals,” Andrea explains.
She also brought in structure. “We clarified roles, cleaned up CRM, launched paid media, and set pricing rules.” Quick wins like Prime Day campaigns and social media boosts delivered instant ROI without compromising brand positioning.
“We didn’t go below the market. We just adjusted our pricing to become competitive,” she clarifies.
+++ Stay up to date until then with Verena's newsletter, DMEXCO Digital Digest – the most important news from the world of digital marketing in Germany and internationally, delivered straight to your inbox.https://go.dmexco.com/digital-digest-current-edition