Dino Büscher: The Experience Architect
Dino Büscher’s Vision to Humanize Brands Through Emotion and Immersion
In a world where attention spans are fleeting and brand loyalty often seems like a relic of the past, there is a quiet revolution happening in the way companies connect with people. It’s not about louder ads, flashier graphics, or soulless slogans, it’s about genuine, immersive human experiences. And leading that revolution is Dino Büscher, the passionate, visionary founder and CEO of fischerAppelt, live marketing GmbH.
For over a decade, Dino has helped shape a new kind of marketing, one that doesn’t just speak to the mind, but to the heart. His events and campaigns don’t just inform; they move. They don’t just impress; they connect. And behind every goosebump-inducing moment lies a commitment to something many agencies have forgotten in their race to digitize: the power of human emotion.
A Bold Beginning Fueled by Purpose
Dino’s journey to founding fischerAppelt, live marketing in 2012 wasn’t just a business decision, it was the natural progression of a vision that had been building for years. After a successful 14-year career at BBDO Group Germany, where he led live marketing and events as Managing Director, Dino felt a pull toward something deeper and more meaningful.
He wanted to expand the boundaries of traditional communication, to build something more agile, personal, and daring. “We didn’t want to be a ponderous steamboat,” he says with a smile. “We wanted to be a speedboat – fast, responsive, and creative.”
And so fischerAppelt, live marketing was born, a key part of the broader fischerAppelt group, which itself has been shaping the communications landscape since 1986. Starting with a team of just 20 across Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne, Dino took on the mantle of CEO and managing partner, setting the tone for a company built on agility, innovation, and trust.
Creating Resonance Through Real Experience
Ask Dino what experience marketing means to him, and you’ll see his eyes light up.
“It’s about resonance,” he explains. “It’s about creating moments that stick with people, not just because they’re exciting, but because they’re human.”
In Dino’s world, an experience isn’t a gimmick, it’s a stage where brands and audiences meet eye-to-eye. It’s a place where emotions are not just welcomed but are the main event. “People don’t remember what you said. They remember how you made them feel. That’s what experience marketing does, it bypasses the brain and speaks directly to the soul.”
Memorable Client Campaign Snapshot
One of the agency’s most unconventional campaigns involved turning an empty warehouse into a live storytelling maze for a sustainability brand. Instead of brochures, visitors received RFID bracelets that unlocked immersive content at each station, triggering light, sound, and scent. By the end of the journey, 86% of participants reported an emotional shift toward the brand’s mission. “We didn’t sell, we let people feel,” Dino recalls.
Designing Beyond the Ordinary
One of the trademarks of Dino’s leadership is his refusal to settle for the ordinary. Every project under his wing must go beyond just “looking good.” It has to feel good, and right.
“Our goal isn’t just to inform, it’s to involve. We want people to explore, interact, and be a part of the story. That’s how you touch them on a human level.”
He’s not afraid to dive into complex emotional palettes either. Some experiences are light and joyful; others are solemn and powerful. But all of them are designed with intention. Dino and his team leverage emotions like curiosity, excitement, empathy, and awe to build experiences that don’t just entertain, they transform.
Emotion Over Everything
Dino’s philosophy that “feelings often overcome the power of words” is more than a tagline, it’s his life mantra. He’s experienced it both professionally and personally.
He recalls two moments that left a lasting impression. One, the birth of his two children – an avalanche of joy, love, and silent awe that he says words can never fully capture. The other was a professional triumph: a live stage production during the 100-year celebration of a major corporation, where a specially-composed anniversary song was performed in front of 15,000 employees.
“As the bass vibrated and the crowd sang along, I saw pure human connection, strangers united by music, feeling the same heartbeat. That moment had more power than any speech I could’ve given.”
The Fan Festival That Redefined the Game
Perhaps one of Dino’s most ambitious and proudest achievements came during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the UEFA Euro Fan Zone in Berlin.
As the lead agency and general planner for the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha, fischerAppelt, live marketing helped redefine what such events could look like. They didn’t just aim to host fans, they created a cultural phenomenon that welcomed more than 2 million people across 31 days.
This wasn’t your standard public viewing event. It was a modern, inclusive, multidimensional celebration of football, culture, and emotion. From live music to immersive installations, the event became a place of shared joy and pride, not just for sports fans but for entire communities.
Following this success, Dino led the charge to win the UEFA Euro Fan Zone project in Germany, going up against global heavyweights and prevailing after an intense 18-month pitch process.
And his sights are still set forward. His team is now preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with plans already underway for a U.S. host city fan festival.
Balancing Innovation and Reliability
With creativity often comes chaos, but not under Dino’s leadership.
“Creation needs freedom, but also direction,” he says. That’s the secret to his success: a balance between free-flowing ideas and clear frameworks.
His leadership style is collaborative, empathetic, and disciplined. He allows space for bold creativity while ensuring every campaign remains anchored in strategy, client needs, and cultural relevance.
And as AI continues to reshape the landscape of marketing, Dino is not afraid of change, in fact, he embraces it.
“AI can take over digital tasks, but it can never replace the emotional connections humans make at live events,” he explains. “But it can enhance them. It can help us deliver deeper, smarter, more personal experiences.”
Redefining Innovation with Purpose
Innovation, to Dino, doesn’t mean chasing the latest trend. It means being radically relevant. “Sometimes innovation is about technology. Sometimes it’s about timing,” he explains. In one campaign for a healthcare client, the team deployed real-time emotion analytics to adjust content dynamically during a live event. In another, they replaced conventional product demos with emotional narratives told through actors and augmented reality. What remains constant, though, is a focus on what’s real—“technology must serve the story, not the other way around,” Dino insists.
Cultural Strategy in Global Markets
As brands seek to expand across borders, cultural strategy has become a cornerstone of Dino’s approach. Whether working with clients in Europe, the Gulf, or North America, fischerAppelt invests deeply in local research, partnerships, and authentic narratives. “You can’t just transplant a campaign, you have to plant it in culture,” Dino shares. This mindset has helped the agency build bridges across markets and tailor experiences that resonate universally
A Global Citizen With a Middle Eastern Heart
Dino’s love for the Middle East runs deep. Over 16 years ago, he and his team entered the Qatar market and built an agency from the ground up. Since then, they’ve delivered award-winning projects across the region, building not just campaigns, but relationships and trust.
Traveling and working across different cultures has profoundly shaped Dino’s leadership. It’s made him more flexible, more compassionate, and more aware.
“Cultural nuances aren’t just important, they’re everything,” he says. “They influence how we communicate, how we work, and how we lead.”
He also believes diverse teams are stronger teams. By bringing together people with different backgrounds, languages, and worldviews, fischerAppelt stays ahead of the curve—and closer to humanity.
Shaping Culture Through Experience
Dino’s vision also extends to cultural diplomacy. Through fischerAppelt’s projects in the Middle East and Europe, the agency plays a role in bridging nations and perspectives through creativity. “Every event is an opportunity to shape how cultures see each other,” he shares. One of his proudest moments came from designing a multi-national art-meets-sport festival where artists from five countries collaborated live on a single stage. “It wasn’t just beautiful, it was healing,” he says. Such work proves that live experiences can be more than campaigns, they can be catalysts.
Internal Team Culture
Dino also places strong emphasis on team culture. At fischerAppelt, creativity isn’t confined to briefings or brainstorming sessions, its part of daily life. The company runs internal creative labs, cross-office ideation bootcamps, and emotional intelligence workshops to build not just skill, but connection. “We’re not a hierarchy; we’re a house of ideas,” he says. This collaborative energy has helped attract top talent and retain passionate changemakers.
Leadership at the Intersection of Fatherhood and Adventure
Dino isn’t just a CEO. He’s a father, an adventurer, and a believer in growth, both personal and professional.
What he teaches his children, be brave, trust yourself, stay curious, embrace diversity, is what he models in his company. He encourages his team to support one another, challenge norms, and always move forward with empathy and courage.
At fischerAppelt, there’s room for wild ideas, room for fun, and always, room for people. “We’re dynamic, sometimes crazy,” he laughs. “But we’re always warm. Always human.”
About fischerAppelt Group
The broader fischerAppelt Group, founded in 1986, is one of Germany’s leading agency groups. With more than 700 employees across locations in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, and abroad, the group blends creativity with performance across PR, advertising, digital, film, content marketing, and corporate communication. As a key entity within this powerful ecosystem, fischerAppelt, live marketing benefits from interdisciplinary synergies that strengthen every client activation.
What Makes fischerAppelt Different?
There are plenty of agencies out there that can build a flashy stage or run a high-profile event. But Dino believes what sets fischerAppelt apart is its integrated model and long-term thinking.
Part of a larger agency group that spans eight specialized disciplines and 700+ employees across ten locations, fischerAppelt, live marketing can bring in expertise across content, digital, strategy, data, and design—all under one roof.
That kind of agility and collaboration is rare. It allows the team to build truly multidimensional experiences, backed by real strategy and performance.
“We’ve always been early adopters,” Dino notes. “That curiosity, that willingness to try, fail, learn, and try again, that’s what keeps us sharp.”
Creative Ecosystem for the Modern Brand
At fischerAppelt, Dino leads not just a live marketing agency, but an integrated ecosystem that operates at the crossroads of creativity, data, and cultural intelligence. From motion pictures and digital strategy to influencer campaigns and crisis communications, the agency’s multi-disciplinary approach allows brands to think beyond one-off moments. “The future of marketing is no longer siloed,” Dino notes. “It’s storytelling that lives across mediums, senses, and platforms.” Whether it’s a pop-up experience or a multi-country activation, every campaign is backed by this holistic mindset, ensuring cohesion, reach, and resonance.
Awards and Recognition
Over the years, fischerAppelt, live marketing has earned multiple accolades for its campaigns, events, and innovation. From international awards in experiential design to recognition for sustainability-forward activations, Dino’s team continues to raise the bar. Most notably, the Fan Festival in Qatar earned global praise for cultural inclusivity and production scale. Such awards reflect not just creative excellence, but the agency’s dedication to impact.
Looking to the Future
Experience marketing is only getting more complex and more exciting.
With AI, sustainability, and audience expectations evolving fast, the bar is higher than ever. But Dino sees this as an opportunity.
He envisions a future where marketing isn’t just about sales or impressions, it’s about transformation. About helping people feel more, connect more, and belong more.
And that starts with continuing to innovate, build diverse teams, and stay grounded in human values.
The Role of Purpose in Modern Campaigns
Dino believes that today’s audiences are driven by values more than visuals. That’s why purpose-led campaigns are at the heart of fischerAppelt’s future. “People want to engage with brands that stand for something real,” he says. From sustainability initiatives to diversity-forward campaigns, the team is actively working with clients who are ready to take a stand and lead with integrity. Recent work with NGOs and mission-driven companies reflects this shift, turning live experiences into movements, and brand activations into moments of societal change.
The CEO to Watch in 2025
When asked what makes him a leader to watch in 2025, Dino doesn’t give a rehearsed pitch or a list of awards. Instead, he offers something far more honest:
“I’m a passionate entrepreneur with international vision. I lead with emotion. I challenge my team to be bold, to care deeply, and to go where others won’t. That’s who I am.”
And perhaps that’s exactly what the future needs, not just in marketing, but in leadership overall.
Not just CEOs with strategy decks and pitch slides but with heartbeats.
Beyond Business: Creating Impact Through Emotion
For Dino, legacy isn’t built through awards, it’s built through impact. Whether inspiring a child in a fan zone or moving an executive during a brand summit, his work aims to trigger something deeper. “Emotions aren’t a byproduct, they’re the strategy,” he often says. His teams use everything from immersive scent design and live music to interactive storytelling to pull audiences into brand worlds. “It’s not about selling anymore,” Dino reflects. “It’s about meaning. If people walk away feeling something, we’ve done our job.
Featuring: Dino Büscher
Founder & CEO at fischerAppelt
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Website: fischerAppelt
