CEO MONTHLY / DECEMBER 2025 24 The Man Behind Germany’s Leading PR Agency ecognising the link between people and communication from a young age, Gerdt Fehrle studied both German and philosophy, published his first collection of poetry, and wrote a Constance Literature Prize-winning novel all before establishing leading PR agency Prospero PR in 1999. Today, more than 25 years later, the agency has harnessed the unrivalled capabilities of PR to deliver successful communications for a number of prestigious clients, including Siemens, Yaskawa, and Linde, all to name just a few. “Since the agency was founded, we have counted the world market leader in mechanical and plant engineering among our clients”, Gerdt beamed. “We didn’t achieve that by chance.” He continued: “We have top graphic designers, videographers, and translators. We also have external copywriters, a tax consultant, and an accountant, among others. This enables us to support global corporations with a small team.” An external partner also helps the team to implement an annual fixed sales strategy, bolstering this growth. The same focus on people and communication that Gerdt has nurtured from a young age continues to prove imperative in serving these clients, so much so that both of these areas are reflected Gerdt Fehrle is the visionary mind powering Prospero PR, a Munich-based PR agency renowned for the concrete results it provides to clients through services including trade press and its leveraging of a meticulous step-by-step method to cover all the bases. Comprising a small team, a wider network of professionals, and one rigorous focus – communication – the agency’s success knows no bounds. With Gerdt being named the Most Influential CEO 2025 – Communications, Publishing & Thought Leadership (Germany) and Prospero being recognised as the Best Communications & PR Agency 2025 – Germany, we sat down with this owner to learn more. R in Prospero’s mission, as well as its core values of reliability, loyalty, transparency, and price integrity. This set of values is the driving force behind Prospero, not profit, and adherence to these traits at every turn has fuelled growth now for nearly three decades – growth Gerdt is proud to oversee and help nurture from his position. Describing himself as an ‘enabler’, Gerdt works tirelessly to help his team be the best they can be. The end goal here is for these talented individuals to not actually need Gerdt, and given he has helped to build a small, aligned workforce comprising some of the finest experts working in the industry today – some of which are, by Gerdt’s own admission, much better than him – he is edging closer to this every day. Gerdt considers the strength of Prospero’s team to be his greatest success as a leader, and it is hard to argue. Of course, as with any great leader, this ability is something that has been honed over time, and all of this did not always come so easily to Gerdt. For example, during the early days of Prospero, the agency was a classic example of an ownermanaged company, simply as Gerdt did not know any other way. Although this almost dictatorial system conflicted with Gerdt’s own values, it took time for the company to evolve past this. A year of coaching proved imperative in Gerdt loosening his grip and embracing collaboration. Whilst his influences as a leader have undoubtedly been shaped by the many fantastic authors and business writers Gerdt has read over the years – the sum of his knowledge across which is reflected in his book, ‘The Da Vinci Principle’, available here – the fundamental fact of the matter is that Gerdt has succeeded primarily because he has always met the real people, those who both compensate for his weaknesses and empower him by tolerating his strengths. For Prospero, the result is a agency with a culture defined by maturity. Exploring this further, Gerdt explained: “The team is maturing, as am I. My role is becoming increasingly that of a mentor and primus inter pares. I can fulfil this role because I am the owner and managing director, but I also listen carefully when the experts correct me, which I enjoy.” He continued: “At the same time, I have always had a strong sense that I carry the company, society and, to a certain extent, the future in my spinal cord. This means that I can make decisions with far more confidence than others in our company.” Fuelling this is Gerdt’s status as a ‘red and yellow’, this in relation to the Insights Discovery model, which is itself grounded in the work of renowned psychologist Carl Jung. The colour red is associated with making decisions and getting results, whilst yellow reflects inspiration and teamworking capabilities. During an internal analysis carried out by Prospero, it was discovered the team are mainly green and blue, favouring both relationships/ collaboration and detail/ structure, respectively. Naturally, this led to some clashes. These results helped Gerdt overcome some of the alienation he felt from his team, which was at one point so bad that he considered quitting. However, following these outcomes, Gerdt told us: “We no longer had a conflict situation, but a power situation. The team realised I was behaving this way because I am red and responsible for the company. That’s why it still exists. I noticed that the team cover green and yellow – caring and loyal – and blue, meaning they are customeroriented. That’s exactly what a service agency needs.” With this level of understanding to boot, Prospero is better prepared to solve one of the main challenges any business must face as a result of its reliance on an economy: the phenomenon of crises.
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