Every year, we recognize individuals who don’t just execute CRM or e-commerce strategies but fundamentally elevate what these disciplines can achieve. This year’s winners — Saga Sjöberg, CRM Specialist at Maya Delorez, and Øyvind Moen, Senior product and e-commerce manager at obsbygg.no and obs.no (Coop Norge) — represent two different forms of excellence.
One built a complete, multi-market CRM engine that drives community, revenue, and loyalty. The other delivered a bold, technically complex experiment that unlocked innovation without risking the business. But they both stand out because their work combines strategy, execution, and measurable results in ways that move their organizations forward.
CRM Star of the year: Saga Sjöberg (Maya Delorez)
Building a CRM engine with long-term impact
Saga’s journey at Maya Delorez began with responsibility for Marketing Automations. In just two years, she expanded her scope to leading the brand’s entire CRM efforts, including automations, newsletters, loyalty, SMS strategy, on-site communication, and a complete rebrand of their visual identity in email.
What makes Saga’s work exceptional is how she turned CRM into a connected growth engine, rather than simply a channel that operates in isolation.
The KPIs that define her impact:
- Loyalty member base increased by 221% in 2024
- Logged-in purchases rose from 7% to 29%
- Email revenue increased by 75% year over year
- Annual revenue target exceeded by 11.5%
- Email’s share of total marketing revenue grew from 13% to 16%
These numbers are not the result of a single initiative. They’re the outcome of a cohesive vision for the entire customer journey.
What set Saga apart:
1. A loyalty strategy that changed behavior
Saga built a loyalty program where member-exclusive offers, personalized incentives, and multi-channel messaging encouraged customers to stay logged in and engaged. The jump from 7% to 29% logged-in purchases shows how powerful this shift has been.
2. Connecting CRM to real community
Saga extended CRM beyond screens by introducing offline events across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Events such as equestrian workout sessions and masterclasses with high-profile riders strengthened community ties and created deeper emotional loyalty. These events also contributed to a stronger brand presence and new partnerships in the equestrian world.
3. A complete rethinking of channel orchestration
Saga unified the brand’s tone, design, and experience across automations, newsletters, SMS, on-site pop-ups, and loyalty communication. This consistency is a key reason why CRM performance increased across every KPI.
4. A data-driven approach that respects the brand
Saga pairs analytical decision-making with the strong storytelling Maya Delorez is known for. This is where she stands out: she scaled personalization without sacrificing the brand’s voice.
Saga’s win, in a nutshell:
Saga’s work shows what happens when CRM becomes the spine of customer experience: measurable revenue, strong loyalty growth, and a brand that feels unified across every touchpoint.
E-commerce star of the year: Øyvind Moen (obsbygg.no and obs.no – Coop Norge)
Transforming risk into innovation through technical excellence
In the world of e-commerce, few challenges are more delicate than migrating to a new search technology. It affects product discovery, customer experience, and revenue. Often dramatically.
Øyvind approached this challenge with a combination of creativity, precision, and risk awareness that set a new benchmark for the industry.
Behind Øyvind’s success:
- 4.5% increase in revenue per visit from search on obsbygg.no
- Successful validation of Elevate 4 against Elevate 3
- Migration executed while meeting a contractual requirement of no more than 2% revenue decrease
What set Øyvind apart:
1. Designing an A/B test that wasn’t supposed to be possible
Running Elevate 3 and Elevate 4 — two fundamentally different technologies — in parallel within a live production environment required a highly creative setup. Most retailers would test in a sandbox, but. Øyvind’s approach tested. This allowed Coop Norge to make confident, evidence-based decisions before migrating the entire business.
2. Balancing innovation with commercial accountability
Demanding guidelines were in place due to the contractual revenue protection requirement. Øyvind ensured the experiment upheld this limit while still unlocking growth. The result speaks clearly: Elevate 4 proved it could drive revenue without harming core business performance.
3. Cross-functional collaboration at its best
The experiment required close cooperation between his team, the business, and technology partners, including Voyado. The speed, alignment, and problem-solving displayed throughout the project are a large part of why it succeeded.
4. A model for responsible innovation
Øyvind demonstrated how to innovate without gambling, proving that experimentation and risk management can coexist.
Øyvind’s win, in a nutshell:
Øyvind delivered one of the year’s most ambitious and technically demanding experiments, produced measurable uplift, and safeguarded the business during a major technology transition.
The wrap-up
Saga and Øyvind represent two sides of modern customer-led growth. For Saga, it’s showing how CRM can become an interconnected engine that blends personalization, brand storytelling, community, and measurable business impact.
And for Øyvind, it’s providing proof that e-commerce innovation can be approached responsibly, creatively, and with commercial results at the core.
Both leaders proved that excellence is not only about strong outcomes, but about elevating how their organizations think, collaborate, and grow. Their work sets a powerful example for anyone building the future of loyalty, personalization, and digital commerce.
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