Ex-Beiersdorf research boss Björn Held joins Decode

Held (no relation to Decode co-founder Dirk Held) holds a PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of London and was previously head of market research for Germany at skincare firm Beiersdorf, which owns Nivea.

He has also worked as a behavioural scientist for Unilever in the UK and Germany, and on the agencyside as client service director and head of qualitative research for Millward Brown Germany.

Christian Scheier, who founded Decode in 2006, said Held was appointed in line with the company’s aim of applying learnings from neuroscience, psychology and behavioural economics to marketing.