The experimenter
Madeleine Linter is Chief Corporate Development at Affichage and, as such, the go-to person for all promising ideas related to posters.
Madeleine Linter is Chief Corporate Development at Affichage and therefore the point of contact for all forward-looking ideas relating to posters. APG has been successfully gluing paper for over 100 years. If you look at the developments that have turned the communications industry upside down over all these years, Madeleine Linter can only marvel at how "the same USPs are still effective" with posters. You have to ask yourself: in what period of time is an innovation relevant?
At Affichage, the aim is to take a pragmatic approach to innovation in line with customer requirements. The simple question is: What will happen in the next three years? For the somewhat more complicated answer, Affichage set up Project Pi in 2006. This think tank is not institutionalized as a department, but is "open to anyone who would like to make their mark with an idea". Madeleine Linter is responsible for collecting, evaluating and finally passing on the ideas correctly.
As Chief Corporate Development, Linter is responsible for the entire Group and works on two different tracks. In addition to Project Pi, she also advises the holding company on its expansion abroad. Affichage has already acquired various companies in Italy, Romania and Greece. Where the development will go next must of course remain a secret during the evaluation phase.
Linter's second track is more open. Anyone can take part in Project Pi. Advertising agencies can come with new requests. Technical providers want to install new hardware for APG. Salespeople can also implement unusual ideas for their customers. Ultimately, everyone has to make a contribution to Pi in the search for meaning: What is a relevant technological development?
"So it's not about us carrying out invention and research ourselves," says Linter, explaining the principle. APG also does not want to decide which technology will survive in the future. "I'm not a clairvoyant and I don't know whether it will be the LED screen, plasma or LCD." However, Linter is clear about her mission: all APG employees must be trained "so that none of these new technologies can scare us". The company also wants to keep pace with developments for its customers. "If someone comes to APG and wants something, we'll do it."
A poster with a built-in screen on which a trailer for the Bond film "Casino Royal" could be played has already been realized. Another Pi project was a cross-media campaign in which Switzerland was asked to choose a new capital city. The project caused quite a stir and has since been evaluated as part of a thesis at the University of Zurich. An e-board auction in Zurich's main railway station, scented posters in Aarau and a public game contest on the e-board are further experiments with which Pi has gained valuable experience for the future. So far, the ideas have been contributed by a product manager, employees from procurement, IT specialists and the e-advertising subsidiary.
If an employee wants to carry out such an innovation for a customer, the project is allocated a budget. Hardware and software must be organized by the experimenters themselves. Pi then requires documentation and, if possible, research in the market for feedback to the customer. Finally, a recommendation is drawn up internally: Should the innovation be offered further or not? How much will it cost? What is the lead time? The well-traveled Madeleine Linter knows that Switzerland has "a handicap in terms of outdoor advertising and innovation due to the extremely strict restrictions". In Asia, three-dimensional cars can be hung on the wall. In Germany, in the World Cup year, goalkeeper Olli Kahn was seen running across the width of the highway in the form of a gigantic doll. In many countries, entire bridges can be covered with electronic posters. For Linter in Switzerland, however, it is a proud challenge that APG simply has to come up with even more ingenious innovations with Project Pi. "We have to operate within a discreet framework. The technology we use is more sophisticated. We are less conspicuous. But we do it more perfectly - because it's more discreet."
Madeleine Linter first joined Affichage in 2000 as an external consultant. When the subsidiary E-Advertising was founded, she was hired as interim manager. From there, she finally moved into Corporate Development in 2006.
At the very beginning of her career, today's manager of the future wanted to become an archaeologist. When she realized that she would hardly be able to excavate pharaohs in Egypt, but could at best write on bones in a museum, she switched to forestry. However, even during her studies, she was made aware that she could "at best become a cantonal civil servant". So she ended up studying economics in St. Gallen and later qualified as a lawyer. Linter worked at the Zurich High Court and also completed a Master of Comparative Law at the University of San Diego. As the lawyer realized that she would much rather approach problems in a constructive way like an economist, when she received an offer from McKinsey she immediately felt: "This is the leap!"
At the "nation's cadre factory", she learned that management also means making unpopular decisions. That was the time of major staff cuts. Linter later joined the strategy team for the sales of international companies. This brought her to McKinsey in Milan. From there, a love affair finally led her to Bolzano. There she spent six months playing golf. But that bored her. Linter founded her own consulting firm and wanted to give more importance to dealing with people. Her Lexington Company specialized in training employees to stay on even after an inevitable restructuring. This also worked in her own company when Linter, with her commitment to Affichage, was able to sell her start-up, which now has 30 employees, in such a way that Lexington is still successful.
Andreas Panzeri
At Affichage, the aim is to take a pragmatic approach to innovation in line with customer requirements. The simple question is: What will happen in the next three years? For the somewhat more complicated answer, Affichage set up Project Pi in 2006. This think tank is not institutionalized as a department, but is "open to anyone who would like to make their mark with an idea". Madeleine Linter is responsible for collecting, evaluating and finally passing on the ideas correctly.
As Chief Corporate Development, Linter is responsible for the entire Group and works on two different tracks. In addition to Project Pi, she also advises the holding company on its expansion abroad. Affichage has already acquired various companies in Italy, Romania and Greece. Where the development will go next must of course remain a secret during the evaluation phase.
Linter's second track is more open. Anyone can take part in Project Pi. Advertising agencies can come with new requests. Technical providers want to install new hardware for APG. Salespeople can also implement unusual ideas for their customers. Ultimately, everyone has to make a contribution to Pi in the search for meaning: What is a relevant technological development?
"So it's not about us carrying out invention and research ourselves," says Linter, explaining the principle. APG also does not want to decide which technology will survive in the future. "I'm not a clairvoyant and I don't know whether it will be the LED screen, plasma or LCD." However, Linter is clear about her mission: all APG employees must be trained "so that none of these new technologies can scare us". The company also wants to keep pace with developments for its customers. "If someone comes to APG and wants something, we'll do it."
A poster with a built-in screen on which a trailer for the Bond film "Casino Royal" could be played has already been realized. Another Pi project was a cross-media campaign in which Switzerland was asked to choose a new capital city. The project caused quite a stir and has since been evaluated as part of a thesis at the University of Zurich. An e-board auction in Zurich's main railway station, scented posters in Aarau and a public game contest on the e-board are further experiments with which Pi has gained valuable experience for the future. So far, the ideas have been contributed by a product manager, employees from procurement, IT specialists and the e-advertising subsidiary.
If an employee wants to carry out such an innovation for a customer, the project is allocated a budget. Hardware and software must be organized by the experimenters themselves. Pi then requires documentation and, if possible, research in the market for feedback to the customer. Finally, a recommendation is drawn up internally: Should the innovation be offered further or not? How much will it cost? What is the lead time? The well-traveled Madeleine Linter knows that Switzerland has "a handicap in terms of outdoor advertising and innovation due to the extremely strict restrictions". In Asia, three-dimensional cars can be hung on the wall. In Germany, in the World Cup year, goalkeeper Olli Kahn was seen running across the width of the highway in the form of a gigantic doll. In many countries, entire bridges can be covered with electronic posters. For Linter in Switzerland, however, it is a proud challenge that APG simply has to come up with even more ingenious innovations with Project Pi. "We have to operate within a discreet framework. The technology we use is more sophisticated. We are less conspicuous. But we do it more perfectly - because it's more discreet."
Madeleine Linter first joined Affichage in 2000 as an external consultant. When the subsidiary E-Advertising was founded, she was hired as interim manager. From there, she finally moved into Corporate Development in 2006.
At the very beginning of her career, today's manager of the future wanted to become an archaeologist. When she realized that she would hardly be able to excavate pharaohs in Egypt, but could at best write on bones in a museum, she switched to forestry. However, even during her studies, she was made aware that she could "at best become a cantonal civil servant". So she ended up studying economics in St. Gallen and later qualified as a lawyer. Linter worked at the Zurich High Court and also completed a Master of Comparative Law at the University of San Diego. As the lawyer realized that she would much rather approach problems in a constructive way like an economist, when she received an offer from McKinsey she immediately felt: "This is the leap!"
At the "nation's cadre factory", she learned that management also means making unpopular decisions. That was the time of major staff cuts. Linter later joined the strategy team for the sales of international companies. This brought her to McKinsey in Milan. From there, a love affair finally led her to Bolzano. There she spent six months playing golf. But that bored her. Linter founded her own consulting firm and wanted to give more importance to dealing with people. Her Lexington Company specialized in training employees to stay on even after an inevitable restructuring. This also worked in her own company when Linter, with her commitment to Affichage, was able to sell her start-up, which now has 30 employees, in such a way that Lexington is still successful.
Andreas Panzeri
