Thiemo Gillissen

Fractional Chief Growth Officer

Thiemo Gillissen

Amore Loui

Industry

Food & Beverage, Direct-to-Consumer, Hospitality

Client

Amore Loui GmbH

Project

Brand Creation

Services

Brand Strategy
Naming Architecture
Verbal Identity
Visual Identity
Packaging
Website
360° Commerce Concept
Content Strategy
E-Commerce

Year

2025

Background

Amore Loui is a premium food brand built around one of the most iconic products in the world: Neapolitan pizza. Designed as a modern, scalable concept, the brand operates across multiple touchpoints—from direct-to-consumer products and retail to physical experiences such as pizza events and hospitality formats.

The ambition was not to create just another pizza brand, but to build a category-defining lifestyle brand that merges product quality, cultural relevance, and a distinctive identity. In a highly saturated market, where most competitors compete on price, tradition, or locality, Amore Loui set out to create a new space—premium, playful, and deeply rooted in Italian food culture, yet designed for modern consumption contexts.

Background

Amore Loui is a premium food brand built around one of the most iconic products in the world: Neapolitan pizza. Designed as a modern, scalable concept, the brand operates across multiple touchpoints—from direct-to-consumer products and retail to physical experiences such as pizza events and hospitality formats.

The ambition was not to create just another pizza brand, but to build a category-defining lifestyle brand that merges product quality, cultural relevance, and a distinctive identity. In a highly saturated market, where most competitors compete on price, tradition, or locality, Amore Loui set out to create a new space—premium, playful, and deeply rooted in Italian food culture, yet designed for modern consumption contexts.


Challenge

The central challenge was to build a brand that feels authentically Italian, while also being clearly differentiated from traditional pizzerias and mass-market frozen pizza brands. Amore Loui needed to operate across very different environments—e-commerce, retail shelves, events, and potential physical locations—requiring a highly flexible but consistent brand system. At the same time, the brand had to balance premium perception with accessibility, avoiding both clichés of Italian heritage branding and overly minimalist “startup food brands.” Another key challenge was creating a modular brand architecture, allowing for extensions such as product lines, event formats, and sub-brands (e.g. experiences, B2B offerings), without losing coherence.

Challenge

The central challenge was to build a brand that feels authentically Italian, while also being clearly differentiated from traditional pizzerias and mass-market frozen pizza brands. Amore Loui needed to operate across very different environments—e-commerce, retail shelves, events, and potential physical locations—requiring a highly flexible but consistent brand system. At the same time, the brand had to balance premium perception with accessibility, avoiding both clichés of Italian heritage branding and overly minimalist “startup food brands.” Another key challenge was creating a modular brand architecture, allowing for extensions such as product lines, event formats, and sub-brands (e.g. experiences, B2B offerings), without losing coherence.


Solution

I developed Amore Loui as a modern Italian lifestyle brand, combining emotional storytelling with a clear, scalable system. At the strategic level, the brand is positioned around the idea of shared moments, indulgence, and simplicity done right: bringing people together through high-quality food experiences. This foundation informed the verbal identity, which blends playful, warm, and slightly cheeky language with a confident premium tone. Visually, I created a bold and recognizable identity that draws inspiration from Italian culture without becoming nostalgic. Strong typography, high-contrast layouts, and a vibrant color system establish a distinctive presence across packaging, digital, and physical environments. A key component is the flexible brand architecture, enabling extensions such as D2C products, pizza events, and B2B offerings under one coherent system. Packaging was designed to stand out on shelves while reinforcing the premium yet approachable positioning. The digital experience was conceived as a headless, scalable commerce setup, allowing the brand to seamlessly combine storytelling, product sales, and future expansion into new formats. Together, strategy, identity, and system create a brand that is not just a product—but a platform for growth across channels and experiences.

Solution

I developed Amore Loui as a modern Italian lifestyle brand, combining emotional storytelling with a clear, scalable system. At the strategic level, the brand is positioned around the idea of shared moments, indulgence, and simplicity done right: bringing people together through high-quality food experiences. This foundation informed the verbal identity, which blends playful, warm, and slightly cheeky language with a confident premium tone. Visually, I created a bold and recognizable identity that draws inspiration from Italian culture without becoming nostalgic. Strong typography, high-contrast layouts, and a vibrant color system establish a distinctive presence across packaging, digital, and physical environments. A key component is the flexible brand architecture, enabling extensions such as D2C products, pizza events, and B2B offerings under one coherent system. Packaging was designed to stand out on shelves while reinforcing the premium yet approachable positioning. The digital experience was conceived as a headless, scalable commerce setup, allowing the brand to seamlessly combine storytelling, product sales, and future expansion into new formats. Together, strategy, identity, and system create a brand that is not just a product—but a platform for growth across channels and experiences.


Impact

Distinct market position

Clear differentiation from both traditional pizzerias and mass-market brands.

Strong brand recognition

Bold identity that stands out across digital, retail, and physical touchpoints.

Scalable architecture

Flexible system enabling new products, formats, and business models

Premium yet accessible perception

Balance of quality, playfulness, and cultural authenticity

Multi-channel readiness

Brand built to operate across D2C, B2B, retail, and hospitality

Credits

Thiemo Gillissen
Sophia Ostler
Johanna Plösch
Yumi Pohl

Shany Freissler (Creator)
Florian Purkarthofer (Video)
Marion Luttenberger (Photography)
Verena Poschner (Interior)



“Building everything from scratch was a true collaboration. We didn’t hand over a brief, we built the brand side by side. It never felt like an external process, but like one team shaping every detail together: from the experience to how the brand shows up. That closeness is what makes it feel so authentic today.”

“Building everything from scratch was a true collaboration. We didn’t hand over a brief, we built the brand side by side. It never felt like an external process, but like one team shaping every detail together: from the experience to how the brand shows up. That closeness is what makes it feel so authentic today.”

— Philip Oswald, Founder & CEO

Based in Lisbon.

Working with founder-led companies across Europe.

I’m Thiemo Gillissen, a Fractional Chief Growth Officer with more than 15 years of experience building companies and leading growth across strategy, positioning, technology, AI and M&A. Bring me the growth question that keeps returning to the leadership table.

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Fractional capacity. Executive ownership of growth.

Fractional capacity.

Executive ownership of growth.

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