Peter Thier returning to Erste Group as Head of Communications

Effective 1 October 2020, Thier will lead the Communications of Erste Group Bank AG, thus returning to Erste Group (where he had been responsible for communications at Erste Bank Oesterreich from 2007 to 2012) after having spent the past eight years in the aviation industry.

“Peter Thier has three outstanding qualities: he knows us, he knows other corporate cultures and he is experienced in tackling tasks from different perspectives. I am very happy that after a stint with the aviation industry he has found his way back to the exciting financial sector,” said Bernd Spalt, CEO of Erste Group.

Together with Martin Radjaby-Rasset, the Head of Brand Strategy & Communications at Erste Group, Peter Thier will help to advance the banking group’s communications goals and in doing so focus his activities on innovative areas such as further developing digital content, establishing a Group-wide integrated communications platform, and intensifying Erste Group’s use of social media. The core aim will be to ensure that the integrated branding and communications management that is already being practiced benefits from a structural framework as well to use brand-based communications to reinforce the Erste Group’s corporate culture and external image.

Within the organisational structure, Peter Thier will be deputy head of the area and hold the position of corporate spokesperson for Erste Group. “I look forward to my exciting new role and to working together with all of my colleagues to further develop Erste Group’s communications. It’s also a sort of homecoming for me and that feels incredibly good,” said Peter Thier.

Peter N. Thier launched his professional career while still studying journalism at the University of Vienna by working as a business reporter for Austria Presse Agentur (APA) and the Viennese daily “Der Standard”. In 1998, he switched to the Bank Austria Creditanstalt group, becoming press spokesman of Creditanstalt in 2001. After setting up the communications and marketing department of the Bulgarian company Biochim, Thier became Head of Media Relations at Vienna-based Bank Austria in 2004.  He joined Erste Bank Oesterreich in 2007, holding responsibility for the internal and external communications of Erste Group’s Austrian subsidiary. In 2012, Thier switched to Austrian Airlines, where his  role as Head of Communications saw him handle the communications related to the airline’s restructuring and, most recently, the challenges associated with the coronavirus crisis. Among many other things, Thier developed a newsroom concept for Austrian Airlines.

Peter N. Thier, who has Bulgarian roots, has extensive experience with change projects and crisis communications. He is a lecturer at Danube University Krems and the FH Joanneum university in Graz. From 2009 to 2015, he was member of the board of directors of the industry association Public Relations Verband Austria (PRVA). Thier, who is 47 years old, is married to an art historian originally from Catalonia and the father of two sons.