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- Crises & Litigation
In critical situations such as legal disputes, cyberattacks, operational incidents, or compliance issues, the legitimacy or even the very existence of companies and their top decision-makers can be at stake. In every case, there is a significant risk of reputational damage and harm to the business. Crises are difficult to manage without preparation. In an acute situation, it is crucial to act swiftly and reliably, engaging in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders to secure their trust. This requires not only solid preparation but also experience, composure, and procedural confidence.
We offer the necessary expertise and experience to:
- support you in crisis prevention through proactive risk and issue management as well as continuous monitoring, thereby strengthening your company’s resilience
- prepare your organization for potential crisis scenarios by establishing appropriate processes and guidelines and developing practical, tested crisis communication plans and documents
- equip your team for various crisis scenarios through realistic training and simulations, ensuring crisis readiness
- provide calm and competent guidance through the acute phase of a crisis situation—24/7 on-site if necessary
- assist you post-crisis with targeted reputation rebuilding, systematic analysis, and the initiation of necessary improvements.
Marcus Brans advises clients from the industrial and technology sectors, private equity, family offices and professional services. He will focus on advising clients on M&A, restructuring, transformation, crisis and financial communications as well as C-level consulting, CommTech and litigation PR.
Prior to entering the field of consulting, Marcus Brans spent over 25 years in various management and consulting roles. Most recently, he established and managed an in-house communications consultancy for Triton Funds and its portfolio companies. Prior to that, he was responsible for global communications, strategy and marketing for the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler as Senior Vice President. His broad international experience in corporate, capital market and strategic communications is complemented by his experiences at Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling.
Marcus Brans studied management and politics at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich and holds an MBA from the Universities of Minnesota and Vienna.
Alexander Cordes heads our Berlin office and advises clients on strategic communications as well as financial communications and M&A transactions. In addition, his main areas of expertise include C-level consultancy and communications advice on political-regulatory and legal issues. Alexander worked as a corporate spokesman for many years. Most recently as Head of External Communications for thyssenkrupp AG in Essen and Head of External Communications Finance & Strategy for Commerzbank AG.
Trained as a lawyer in Münster, Sheffield, and Düsseldorf, he also worked for regional newspapers in Bremen and Münster, the European Parliament in Brussels, and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai.
In addition to her current responsibilities in management, Sandra Fabian has 20 years of experience in financial communications and investor relations. She has also advised numerous companies on all matters of strategic communications and positioning. Before joining the company upon its founding, Sandra worked for an international communications consultancy and has many years of corporate experience as an IR manager at ALTANA and Fresenius Medical Care.
She holds a degree in business administration and studied international business at the University of Paderborn.
Vanessa Haumberger, Managing Partner, advises clients on public affairs and government relations at EU, federal, and state level from our Munich and Brussels offices. Her focus is on regulatory issues including sustainability and ESG, as well as strategic communications in special situations.
As a public affairs and networking expert, she contributes extensive experience from the aviation, transportation and logistics industries. Before joining GAULY, she worked for Munich Airport for almost 20 years in successive functions, most recently as Head of Policy and Region and Deputy Head of Communications.
Vanessa Haumberger grew up in Brussels. She studied business administration at ISM Dortmund, and holds an MBA from the University of Seekirchen (Austria).
Helge Hoffmeister heads our Frankfurt office. With over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, he advises clients in all matters of strategic communications, with a focus on special situations that are critical to success and reputation. His areas of expertise include crisis communication, M&A communication, reputation management, CEO and executive communication, change management, the (further) development of purpose and values statements as well as digital communication.
Before entering consulting, Helge spent 12 years in successive positions in corporate communications at Bertelsmann, where he last served as Senior Vice President overseeing strategic communications.
Helge studied media management at the Institute for Journalism and Communication Research (IJK) of HMTM Hannover and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). He holds an Executive MBA from the TUM School of Management (TU Munich).
Andreas Martin offers stakeholder management support in challenging situations such as restructuring, strategic reorientation, reputation crises, and M&A processes. Decision-makers also take advantage of his expertise in financial communication and corporate brand positioning.
Before joining GAULY, Andreas was a principal at Roland Berger, where he managed communications in transformation projects. Prior to that, he headed Edelman’s Corporate Reputation department in Germany as well as the External Communications department at mg technologies.
Andreas is a trained business journalist (Cologne School of Journalism) and holds a degree in economics.