Insight Out: An Interview with SUSHI BIKES CMO Lisa Willmann
Lisa Willmann shows how to get the most out of a limited marketing budget. In our interview, she explains what role courage and purpose play in her marketing for SUSHI BIKES.
Marketing’s Boldest Voices: content creation with purpose, courage, and optimized processes
In “Insight Out: Marketing’s Boldest Voices,” leading industry thinkers discuss their views and give practical insights into their strategic marketing. As CMO of SUSHI BIKES, Lisa Willmann has overseen bold marketing campaigns, including TV commercials.
About Lisa Willmann
15 years’ e-commerce experience, marketing with humor, and a personal mission to create impact that goes far beyond the product.
What’s been your boldest marketing move so far – and why would(n’t) you do it again?
I think our TV campaign this year was a very bold marketing move. It shows a man in underpants riding our SUSHI BIKE through Barcelona. The ad is true to our slogan: an e-bike that comes without everything because you simply don’t need it anymore.
We all know the budgets that are needed to make a TV commercial. And the ad was definitely a gamble. But I’d do exactly the same thing again anytime because it stood out from the crowd. As a brand, we really increased our visibility, and above all, we strengthened our positioning – that we’re simply a bit different.
When was the last time you stepped outside your marketing comfort zone – and why was that necessary?
We recently switched our content strategy to social first. That means moving away from high-quality and incredibly elaborate productions and embracing more imperfection, approachability, and entertainment. If you’ve viewed content as more of an art for years, and you have to make perfectionists do a complete U-turn in this area and put out content that sometimes isn’t perfect, that’s a huge change and a true feat of strength. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to understand that the world of content creation has changed, and you need to adapt to it if you want to continue to be successful.
Imagine you had to start your marketing campaign from scratch tomorrow – with an unlimited budget: What’s the first thing you would do differently?
It seems I have a knack for doing original marketing with a very limited budget, and I’m known as a firm believer that you don’t need an enormous budget to attract attention. Speed, creativity, and the right intuition are more valuable to me; that’s why I’d take a similar approach even if I had an unlimited budget. But my unspoken dream is still a large-scale OOH campaign in Germany’s major cities. I think that’s what I’d do if I had a really generous budget. In addition, I’d use a bigger marketing budget to lend our support as a company and a brand to organizations that share our values. We need more statements like the one that Duolingo made this year when they decided very quickly to support Berlin Pride financially because many large former supporters had pulled out due to the current political situation.
When you think ahead to 2026, what strategic challenge keeps you awake at night?
The questions that often come to my mind are: What kind of content will triumph in 2026? Will consumer sentiment finally recover, and will stability return to the e-commerce industry – or are we going to stay stuck in crisis mode forever?
Where do your best ideas come from – when you’re not in marketing mode?
I’m actually most creative when I’m either on my bike and not thinking about work at all or I’m taking my dogs for a walk. When the daily pressure of meeting tough deadlines dies down, that’s when I come up with my wildest ideas.
What message would you like to send to your colleagues throughout the marketing business?
Please start to use your brand reach to champion socially relevant topics. Have more courage. And have the courage to not be liked by everybody out there. We need more statements like Duolingo’s this year, and I’m convinced that it’s the brands that stand up for what they believe in now that will succeed in the long term. If you do mainstream marketing, at some point, you’re going to become invisible.
SUSHI BIKES: modern, bold marketing with a clear edge
Lisa Willmann puts her stamp on marketing at SUSHI BIKES. On the one hand, that means a commitment to social-first content. And on the other, the brand also stands for a clear attitude and campaigns that successfully leave the mainstream behind.
Don’t miss any important news from the world of digital marketing, both nationally and internationally! Subscribe to the new DMEXCO newsletter “Digital Digest” and receive the latest information directly in your mailbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
