Mikhail Rzhavin
@mikhailrzhavin
Customer-centric CMO driving brand-led growth and GTM execution.
What I'm looking for
I am a seasoned marketing leader with 20+ years building customer-centric brand strategies, consumer insights, and go-to-market execution across global accounts and growth-stage ventures. I combine systems thinking with hands-on execution to turn complex business challenges into clear, measurable growth plans.
At Tetra Pak and Heineken I led cross-functional teams and global account relationships, delivering market-share gains, product launches, and digital service rollouts — including a Connected Package project with 1.3 billion packs coverage and a 5% market-share improvement in a declining category.
Today I lead a strategic branding lab helping enterprises and startups align brand, business, and execution, introducing AI-powered workflows, achieving high client satisfaction, and scaling brands and categories with lasting impact.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Global CMO & Managing Partner
DeepUp / Brandterra.pro
Jan 2023 - Present (2 years 9 months)
Founded and led a strategic branding consultancy focused on mid/large enterprises and growth-stage ventures, delivering client segmentation frameworks, AI-powered marketing workflows, and a product launch that captured 15% share in year one with 9.5/10 client satisfaction.
Managed marketing for Eastern Europe (8 countries, €600M sales), led a 12-person cross-country team and full marketing budget, delivering 5% market share growth, launching the Connected Package (1.3B pack coverage) and tripling plant-based category growth.
Rebuilt strategic relationship with a regional dairy client and led integrated account teams, delivering +50% net sales growth and implementing a client-specific innovation roadmap.
Led marketing operations for a 4-country cluster with a team of 8, rolling out growth initiatives with major CPG clients, implementing a Marketing Services model and achieving 7% YoY growth amid market decline.
Led marketing for PepsiCo across three markets (largest global account), managed multi-million euro budgets and cross-functional programs, launching new packaging and product innovations and raising client satisfaction from 50% to 83%.
Brand Manager
Heineken
Jan 2004 - Dec 2008 (4 years 11 months)
Managed international and local beer brands, driving strategy and activation that grew a local strong beer brand by 1 percentage point and increased ZlatyBazant volume by 65% year-on-year.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
Higher School of Economics
Diploma, Marketing
2003 - 2004
Grade: 5/5
Completed a diploma in Practical Marketing with a thesis on Brand Value Assessment and achieved a GPA of 5/5.
Nizhny Novgorod State University
Master degree, Physics
1993 - 1999
Grade: 4.65/5.00
Earned a Master degree in Physics with a GPA of 4.65 out of 5.00.
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Job categories
Skills
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