Expertise, consistency and channel excellence

The trophies that were awarded that evening.

High-tech production and employment figures. Patent applications per capita, competitiveness and education system: In almost all important disciplines, economic Switzerland occupies top positions in the corresponding global rankings. 

And when the term "innovation world champion" is used time and again in reference to Switzerland, it becomes clear that we are dealing with a country that is not resting on its laurels. Instead, it seeks out competition, does its homework and always wants to improve. The local education and training system, which relies heavily on the dual system and thus explicitly on practical orientation, is one of the most important drivers for the continuing success of Switzerland as a place to work and think. 

Reto Böhner showed how far you can go with a consistently practice-oriented approach at the diploma ceremony for marketing and sales managers. The Basel native not only came in as the best marketing manager of the year, but was also the best in his peer group in the individual disciplines of "technical discussion" and "situational questions. Because Böhner was thus loaded with three winner trophies at once, "he could open an ironmongery right away," remarked Kurt Aeschbacher, the presenter of the diploma ceremony.

Year's best marketing manager Reto Böhner, 37, with his partner.

A lively joke, no question. But the triple success also has a serious justification: "For me, practical relevance is the only logical way of continuing education," said Böhner, who works for the Migros Basel cooperative. Sandro Langenegger, the best sales manager of the year, agreed: "Not just going to school, but also maintaining a strong connection to practice" is what the man from eastern Switzerland, who works for Liechtensteinische Kraftwerke LKW, considers the path to success. 

The personal number of annual rings plays a subordinate role in an era that demands and promotes "lifelong learning". This is also evident in the two top performers of the year: Böhner is 37, Langenegger 24 years young. The top duo managed to call up the knowledge they had acquired at the decisive moment and prove their competence in the important fields of action.

Year's best sales manager Sandro Langenegger, 24, with partner.

Whereby "competencies" is one of the most important words for the path of every marketing manager and every sales manager. In a time when Google can provide the current knowledge of the world at any time, aggregated with facts and recent changes, the mere memorization of information takes a back seat. What is much more important: how to deal with the information that anyone can obtain, how to convert bare facts into market success in a mixture of theoretical and practical knowledge. 

This is where the sponsoring associations Swiss Marketing and Kaufmännischer Verband have stepped in. In 2019, the examinations for marketing and sales managers were designed for the first time in a mode that builds more on competencies than on learned knowledge. For this purpose, the actual areas of application of these market cracks were subjected to a reality check in cooperation with more than 100 Swiss companies. This resulted in a new way of assessing the performance of candidates that is closer to reality and qualitatively more sustainable. To ensure that the learning objectives could be tested in a more high-quality and consistent manner, all experts were also subjected to intensive screening and many new capacities were brought on board.

Regarding the figures of the diploma ceremony: A total of 60 marketing managers finished the exam, of which 78.3 percent passed with success. In terms of grades, the overall average was 4.2. 

In the case of the sales managers, 175 people including sales manager key account managers completed the examination - 53.75 percent passed. The decisive factor for this rather low rate was probably the new examination regulations, which focus more strongly on competencies, believe Ibi Bertschi, president of the examination committee for marketing managers, and Markus Hinder, who holds the same position for sales managers. A modest success rate in comparison with many years ago is only one side of the coin. The other important side is that an examination, if it is to be accepted in the market, is characterized by a tough selection process. Those who have gone this way, with all its hardships and privations, can wear the newly acquired title with their heads held high. 

The overall average for the sales managers was. 3.9. The two participants in the new KAM category finished much better: two competed, two passed. A success rate, therefore, of 100 percent. This was achieved in the KAM with an overall average of 4.5.

Markus Hinder, President of the Sales Manager Examination Committee, Ibi Bertschi, President of the Marketing Manager Examination Committee, and Kurt Aeschbacher, presenter of the diploma ceremony (from left to right).

Success rates and grade point averages are only half of the experience at a graduation ceremony. The other half is the emotional side, the customer experience, so to speak. Once again, this other side was managed with charm and wit by TV celebrity Kurt Aeschbacher. 

Where "Aeschbi" felt it was right and important to ask the audience, he did so. He also liked to feel the pulse of the market with the friends of the graduands. Even at 71, the former TV talk show host still has his full arsenal of witticisms and repartee. When one of the top graduates in his category said that he worked in the medical technology sector, Aeschbi's rhetorical punch was guaranteed: "So you're making sure that our health insurance premiums go up? No one can be angry with Aeschbis, because a good measure of mischievousness is one of his core competencies.

If so much is changing so quickly in the world of Swiss business, then this is also reflected in the communicative appearance of the diploma ceremony for marketing and sales managers. For the organizers in Interlaken, this already meant in the run-up to the event that a competent media mix of proven and new media had to be set up, i.e. a contemporary channel excellence had to be established. 

At the top event of the freshly graduated sales and marketing professionals, a cinematic look back at the exam phase was shown. A popular element that shows the success and suffering of the candidates in sound and moving images. Which triggered delighted (and frightened) flashbacks here and there in the hall. 

For the first time, the diploma ceremony for marketing and sales managers was hosted by a Instagram account accompanied. The most important moments, what was happening in the hall - which included Kurt Aeschbacher's seasonal sock pattern - went on and over the air in real time.