Marcel Pfeifer named Landwirtschaftsverlag's new Chief Subscription Officer
Marcel Pfeifer will join Münster-based agricultural publisher Landwirtschaftsverlag on May 1, succeeding Paul Pankoke, who will retire at the end of 2026 after 43 years with the company. In his new role, Pfeifer will report directly to the executive board.
Most recently, Marcel Pfeifer served as Chief Subscription Officer for the Schwäbische Verlagsgruppe. Before that, he oversaw reader and user markets for Funke Medien's daily newspapers and worked at Axel Springer.
Malte Schwerdtfeger, Managing Director of Landwirtschaftsverlag, commented on the leadership appointment: "In Marcel Pfeifer, we have gained an outstanding expert and the ideal successor to Paul Pankoke. With his deep understanding of sales and management for both analog and digital media products, he will provide exactly the momentum and strategies we need for our most important revenue stream—the reader market—in the years ahead."
Schwerdtfeger expressed heartfelt gratitude to Paul Pankoke "for his decades of successful work at Landwirtschaftsverlag across various departments," adding: "He played a pivotal role in strengthening our position in the sales market, contributing significantly to our company's dynamic growth and economic success."
Marcel Pfeifer shared his thoughts on his new employer: "Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster knows how to excel in sales. Being able to bring my experience here means a great deal to me. I'm very much looking forward to continuing this journey with the team while developing fresh ideas to drive the commercial success of these exceptionally strong brands—whether in print or digital. The high journalistic quality of these titles is a powerful motivation to deliver equally strong performance in sales."
For Landwirtschaftsverlag, subscriptions are by far the most important sales channel and primary revenue source. Leading agricultural trade publications and market leaders such as top agrar, profi, and Wochenblatt are available almost exclusively by subscription. Even consumer titles like Landlust, with nearly 300,000 subscribers, or essen & trinken derive their sales strength largely from subscriptions. In total, more than one million subscribers in print and digital trust Landwirtschaftsverlag's offerings.
The Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster corporate group, with its media and service offerings in agriculture, food, and rural living, is one of Germany's highest-revenue specialist publishers, generating around €130 million in total sales.
The group employs approximately 900 people at its headquarters in Münster and at additional locations in Germany, Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands.
