Professional background

Eleftherios Hatziiannou (aka Lefti) started his career in 2001 working with one of the leading automotive corporations – Daimler AG. After gaining his bachelor degree in business management specialized in marketing and sales – he joined the Mercedes-Benz global marketing team and became a project manager in sports and event marketing before he moved on into advertising. He has worked on automotive brands such as Mercedes-Benz, smart and Maybach.

During a time-out for personal growth, re-orientation and a failed start-up – he understood that the social web was where his passion lies. It was time to re-join Daimler and pioneer the social web for the brand with the three-studded star.

When Eleftherios left – Mercedes-Benz had reached over 2 million fans on Facebook, established presences across multiple social media platforms and collaborated with numerous online communities- just to name a few accomplishments. Later he joined s. Oliver (the fashion brand) to jump-start their new media presence, social media engagement and blogger relations.

During his successes with large corporate brands – Lefti had already started consulting on the side and officially branded his business as Peopleizers in late 2010.

Read more about Lefti’s career on linkedin

Personal story

Lefti was born as the 4th son of a Greek immigrant family near Stuttgart, Germany. He grew up close to the hometown of Mercedes-Benz and fell in love with the brand at a young age. While working in the forge and foundry facilities of Daimler during his holidays – he watched Mercedes-Benz grow and succeed falling in love with powerful brands and the people who make them.

Being able to work internationally as a intern (in South Africa and Greece) – he discovered his other passions: Traveling the world and working with people from different cultures.

His first internet experience did not pay off at all! When the tech bubble burst in 2000 – he lost almost all of his money. He later said about it: “I may be poor in money, but definitely rich in experience”. He never abandoned the internet though. It was a tremendous resource which allowed him to learn from the best, connect and collaborate with like-minded people and to get inspired by many of the wonderful success stories related to it.

He decided to officially launch Peopleizers in late 2010 in order to combine his passions with his profession. He had always loved to help people and give advice – if he could. And it`s his greatest pleasure to see people and brands unleash their full potential. But as much as he loves technology – he believes that “…no machine can do the work of one extraordinary (wo)man” (inspired by Elbert Hubbard).