MK masterminds: These are the winners

The winners: Samy Liechti (Blacksocks), Peter Metzinger (business campaigning) and Manuel P. Nappo (HWZ).In mid-February, Marketing & Kommunikation launched a search for thought leaders under the motto "Wanted: MK thought leaders. In the three categories "Client/Customer Side," "Service Provider/Media/Implementer/Creation," and "Research/Teaching/Associations," MK readers were able to nominate candidates who had distinguished themselves through their forward-looking work. In the end, just under 80 nominations were received.Jury determines finalistsIn a second step, the MK team, together with jury president Cary Steinmann from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), scrutinized the numerous nominations for the "MK Mastermind" award. Based on the six criteria "Thought", "Done", "Said", "Heard", "Lived" and "Overall", three finalists were nominated in each category, and the personal favorites were chosen in a public vote. The voting caused quite a stir: By the deadline on April 15, more than 1,100 votes had been cast. The nominees fought an exciting neck-and-neck race for the victory and diligently beat the advertising drum in their network. Now the winners have been announced. In the current issue, MK presents the three winners in a big interview.

The Winner is: Samy Liechti, Blacksocks

Unconventional master of socksSamy Liechti, born in 1969, is the CEO of the online company "Blacksocks". The Internet pioneer recognized the opportunities of e-commerce early on. Since 1999, "Blacksocks" has been offering black socks as a subscription on the Internet at www.blacksocks.com. Over the years, the range has been continuously expanded. The company now celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2014 and is known all over the world.When Liechti founded Blacksocks AG in 1999, he was well equipped for self-employment: His business studies in St. Gallen, Paris and Toronto were followed by a five-year career in the advertising and PR industry with leading agencies such as Leo Burnett, Burston Marsteller and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. He brought entrepreneurial spirit, market sense and the crazy idea of the sock subscription to the startup, while his co-founder Marcel Roth brought expertise in textiles. Strictly speaking, Liechti was his first customer, and to this day "sockskription" is based on his demands for excellent socks.With absolute customer focus and consistent outsourcing of production and order processing, the young company overcame the dotcom crisis. The years of growth were followed by internationalization. In 2005, Liechti took over the shares of the founding partner and also holds the reins firmly in his hands as Chairman of the Board of BSX-Holding and Brandlab AG. In recent years, the snowboarder and mountain biker has expanded the classic sock range to include men's underwear and shirts. With contemporary online marketing, clever PR and witty ideas, the storyteller keeps the success story alive. Today, Blacksocks serves over 60,000 customers from 75 countries.

The Winner is: Peter Metzinger, business campaigning GmbH

Pioneer of the campaign theoryPeter Metzinger, born 1964 in Saarland, has been working in campaigning since 1982 and as an independent strategy consultant and campaigner since 1998. He is the author of the book "Business Campaigning - Strategies for Turbulent Markets, Tight Budgets and Big Impacts", in which he already described strategies in the 1st edition in 2003 that are now recognized as essential foundations of social media marketing. A physicist by training, he is the organizer of the Campaigning Summit Switzerland.His studies in physics taught him to think logically, analytically and holistically. Parallel to his studies, he volunteered for Greenpeace Germany from 1984, followed the call of Greenpeace Switzerland in 1991 and advanced to campaign director three years later. In 1997, Metzinger brought his 13 years of experience - and the campaign model written in the same year - to the consultancy and agency business campaigning GmbH, which has had a partner office in Washington D.C. since 2005 and a team in Saarland since 2014.In 2002, Metzinger began networking campaigners intercontinently. In 2008, he and four partners founded The Reputation Rescue Company AG, which provides personnel backup for communications in crisis situations. With seReive, he developed the world's first software for social media marketing back in 2009. Since 1999, the versatile campaigner has been passing on his knowledge of efficient campaign planning, social media and company formation as a lecturer at various universities and further education institutes as well as a Venturelab trainer and Venturekick jury member. The author and co-author of various specialist books is a passionate AC/DC fan, loves riding motorcycles and also enjoys demonstrating his leadership qualities while tangoing.

 The Winner is: Manuel P. Nappo, HWZ

Idea traders in digital businessManuel P. Nappo, born 1971, is head of the Center for Digital Business, the MAS Digital Business and the Social Media Management unit at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich. His main areas of expertise are: Social Media, Digital Communications, Mobile Business, Digital Transformation, Enterprise 3.0 as well as Startups and Tech-Innovation.In 2013, Nappo received the title "Digital Pioneer of the Year" from the IAB for his contribution to digital education and training. As far as digital business is concerned, Nappo is a man of the first hour. After studying international management at the universities of St. Gallen and Gothenburg, he earned his spurs at various companies, including as head of marketing at Rialto Film AG and later as sampling and entertainment marketing manager at Red Bull AG.In 2005, Nappo founded the consulting firm The LNN Group GmbH and the entertainment marketing agency Creative Assets GmbH.During this time, he held mandates as head of entertainment,sports and partnerships at GroupM and as chief networking officer at the web investment company Centralway. Nappo, who claims to be a happy man and to have turned his hobby into his profession, was brought to the HWZ in 2010 by Cyril Meier (Head of the Center for Communications) to set up Switzerland's first social media course of study. In 2012, he founded the first specialist unit for social media and, in 2014, the Center for Digital Business with the associated MAS course. The digital pioneer is also on the board of directors of the leading Swiss crowd-investing platform "c-crowd" and advisor to other startups and companies.