Markus gained his doctorate from Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht University (Netherlands). He further holds a Master in Philosophy from Maastricht School of Management, a Master in Science (Digital Marketing) from IE Business School (Madrid), an MBA from the Queensland University of Technology (Australia), a Master in Technology Management from the Open University (UK) and a Bachelor of Business from the School of International Business (Germany). Before joining SZTU Markus taught marketing, digital technology and sales at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. He further teaches marketing at the Swiss Marketing Academy and guest lectures at the Karel de Grote Hogeschool in Belgium.

Markus has published various books on TikTok; two received best-seller awards on Amazon in 2020 and 2021. Three of his latest conference contributions on TikTok marketing have received best presentation awards. His latest book on Short Video Marketing is being published in 2022 in Switzerland, while his first book publication in China “on how to market to Western consumers via Short Video” is expected to print in 2023. As an active Social Media user, Markus is the only academic with a TikTok account of over 650k followers, which gave him KOL status in Europe. His current research interests include disruptive marketing technologies, algorithmic commerce, the metaverse, brand strategy in the age of content discovery and virtual humans.  

Before joining academia, Markus served as Head of Marketing for various multinational corporations, including the Chinese market leader in the photovoltaic industry. His work has been honored with numerous industry and marketing awards. Markus is also the founder of several startups, serves on the advisory board of the European CMO Council and holds 2 active board member seats in Switzerland and Australia. He is married and has two kids. If he is not active on social media, you can either find him at the university gym, or walking his dog Sammy.