Lars SILBERBAUER

About Lars Silberbauer

Lars Silberbauer is an award-winning global marketing executive with a proven track record of driving growth, digital innovation, and cultural relevance across industries including consumer technology, entertainment, branded play experiences, broadcast media, and global sports.

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In 2025, he was selected by McKinsey & Company as one of just 25 global CMOs to join the Marketing Academy Fellowship - a highly selective, invite-only, year-long accelerator program designed to prepare senior marketing leaders for CEO-level impact.

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He most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer at HMD Global, home of Nokia Phones, where he led a strategic brand repositioning and spearheaded high-impact global partnerships. These included the globally successful Barbie phone collaboration with Mattel, a strategic alliance with FC Barcelona, and a purpose-driven campaign with Heineken that introduced the Boring Phone - a centerpiece of The Better Phone Project, designed to spark a global conversation around digital overconsumption.

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Before joining HMD, Lars served as Global Senior Director at the LEGO Group, where he led the company’s digital transformation from the ground up. When he started, LEGO had no official presence on social media. Under his leadership, LEGO became the most engaging brand in the world on social media (Mediapost, 2016), was named the #1 toy brand on YouTube and social media by Adweek, and achieved over 1 billion views across LEGO’s YouTube channels. In 2014, he launched LEGO® TV in 40 markets—a native mobile platform delivering high-quality animated content for kids.

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Lars’s work at LEGO earned global recognition and multiple top industry awards, including Cannes Lions, Lovie Awards, and an Emmy. He was also named one of Europe’s 25 most innovative and influential marketers by The Holmes Report.

Following LEGO, he joined Paramount as Senior Vice President of MTV Digital Studios, where he revitalized the MTV brand across digital and social platforms—driving new audience growth and engagement through creator-led content and entertainment innovation.

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Earlier in his career, Lars served as an executive at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), leading global Brand, Marketing, and Digital strategy. His initiatives helped modernize the Olympic brand and extend its reach across emerging digital platforms worldwide.

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Before stepping into global brand leadership, Lars spent over a decade in the digital and broadcast media industries as a digital strategist and creative lead—working across traditional and emerging media. He led the creative direction for the illumination design of the Danish Radio Concert House (designed by Jean Nouvel), and began his digital career in New York focused on web development and user research.

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Lars holds double BAs and an MA in Media Science and a HD in Innovation and Organizational Strategy. Today, he is a frequent and sought-after keynote speaker at global forums, where he shares insights on brand transformation, digital leadership, content strategy, and the future of media and technology.