The big award show in The Hall: spring is as good as it gets

Even the way to the Award Night seemed like a fitting overture. Outside the hall, meadows and trees glowed in lush spring colors; inside, the digital spring was in working form: projects, ideas, interfaces, campaigns, platforms and products that didn't just want to look good, but work. Hosted by Marco Fritsche, accompanied by a live band, three-course menu and a palpably expectant atmosphere, the Best of Swiss Web Night was more than just an awards ceremony. It turned into an evening that gave a tense industry what it currently needs for a few hours: Confidence.

When ideas sprout again

The Swiss communications, web and digital industry is on the move, and this movement is not always voluntary. AI is accelerating processes, budgets are under pressure, responsibilities are shifting and business models are constantly being reassessed. This is precisely why this evening seemed like a counter-image to the general uncertainty. Not because everything was easy here. But because the wealth of submissions made it clear how much strength there still is in this industry when strategy, technology, creativity and the will to implement come together.

Almost 700 guests sat at white-clothed round tables and watched as bronze, silver and gold were awarded in eleven categories in three blocks. In between, there was eating, talking, cheering, filming and congratulating. And time and again, it was clear that this evening was not just about trophies, but about recognition for work that is often created under highly complex conditions.

Swissgrid makes the invisible visible

«Swissgrid 24/7» was named Master of Swiss Web 2026. The client is Swissgrid and the project was developed by Cando. The work had already won gold in the «Technology» and «User Experience» categories. The Master title therefore did not come as a surprise, but rather as the logical culmination of a work that is exemplary in many respects for what good digital products have to achieve today.

Because «Swissgrid 24/7» makes something visible that usually remains invisible in everyday life: the processes in the Swiss high-voltage grid. Millions of data points from several critical source systems are condensed and visualized in a form that is not daunting, but provides orientation. Or, as the jury put it: a kind of control center in your pocket.

In the winning interview with m&k, Markus Imhof from Swissgrid got to the heart of the matter: it was about making the complex interrelationships of the grid easily accessible to employees. Chris Bochsler from Cando added that the real challenge was to bring together large amounts of data, UX, design and user needs in such a way that complexity becomes comprehensibility. And Lucius Bochsler spoke of a «huge surprise» - also because B2B projects often shine less offensively in the public eye than cases closer to the audience.

That is what made this victory so strong. «Swissgrid 24/7» showed that excellence in the digital world does not necessarily lie in being loud. It lies in precision, usefulness and systemic relevance.

A vintage with breadth and depth

The fact that «Swissgrid 24/7» did not act as a solitaire, but as part of a remarkably broad vintage, made the evening even stronger. Gold also went to «Plural - Plattform für demokratische Mitgestaltung» in the Public Value category, to «AgriData» in the Innovation category and to the relaunch of Switzerland Travel Center in the Business category. This is more than just a decorative list of winners. It shows how broad the field has become today: from democratic participation and data rooms in agriculture to e-commerce and service platforms with clear business benefits.

Other award-winning work also made an impression. The Migros work «Grittibänz im Benz» won in the Grand Experience category, Bettybossi.ch took gold in Digital Commerce, and the «AXA Key on Kicking» campaign for the Women's European Championship won an award in Marketing. All this resulted in a tableau that not only signaled diversity, but also showed an industry that cannot be reduced to one style, one format or one impact path.

Brack plays «total» sponsorship»

As strong as Swissgrid's Master title was, one of the emotional highlights of the evening was the Goldbach Crossmedia Award. Brack won this award together with brinkertlück and Mediaschneider with «Unboxing Football» - a campaign that dovetailed e-commerce, football, live experience and sales logic so closely that it became more than just sponsorship communication. An overall experience was created.

The idea: to transfer the familiar unboxing principle to the world of football and make it an experience at all relevant touchpoints around the Brack Super League. During ongoing matches, exclusive offers were activated in real time, tailored to the match action. This included TV, social media, online formats, print, (D)OOH, stadium presence, perimeter boards, stadium TV, branded ball steals, the striking Brack package ball pillar and continuous content on dedicated channels. Brack also relocated selected B2B events to the stadiums and also activated internally with an event for around 1,300 employees in the Swissporarena.

In an interview with m&k, Roman Reichelt, Chief Commercial Marketing Officer at Brack.Alltron, said that the award meant «an incredible amount» to the company because the entire company had worked on it - from product management and IT to the pricing and marketing team. His summary of what makes good sponsorship activation was particularly strong: «Total football. Do it all or not at all.»

This statement is more than just a snappy sound bite. It is a theory of strategy. Anyone who thinks of sponsorship merely as a logo presence remains on the surface. But if you really understand the language, the rituals, the points of friction and the longings of the fans, you can activate sponsorship in such a way that it is not perceived as a foreign body, but as part of the culture. Reichelt said: "You have to be a football fan yourself and know exactly what is annoying in the stadium - and what is not.

The fact that, according to Reichelt, Brack is ahead of plan in terms of traffic, sales, new customer acquisition, brand awareness and sponsorship awareness underlines why this work was not only creative, but also effective. This is precisely what Goldbach CEO Christoph Marty emphasized in a brief interview with m&k: Brack is exemplary for an integrated campaign with a high impact and very good performance data.

Between heart project and prevention show

The Goldbach Crossmedia Award also showed in the other placings how broadly crossmedia can be thought of today. Silver went to «100 Years of Migros», bronze to «The Game of Your Life» by the Fund for Road Safety with Family. The Audience Award went to «Du bisch mir wichtig - Herzenssong über Geschwisterliebe» (You are important to me - heartfelt song about sibling love) by Manuela Stier's support association for children with rare diseases.

This audience award in particular lent the evening an additional emotional level. In her acceptance speech, Manuela Stier made it clear what the work was actually about: siblings of children with rare diseases, who are often less visible, but carry an enormous burden in everyday family life. In an evening full of cases, KPIs and categories, this was a moment that showed that cross-media can not only sell or perform, but also touch people and make a difference in society.

AI is here - but not alone

The evening also made it clear how naturally AI has seeped into digital practice. This was not only evident in Zock's humorously pointed review of the digital year, which ranged from SpaceX, Meta and ChatGPT to fake news, Burger King and Chuck Norris. Above all, it was evident in specific works.

A good example of this is KPT, which won silver in the Brand Experience category together with Family. The «Loyalty Language Model» case was based on producing 10,000 individualized videos in which CEO Thomas Harnischberg personally thanks customers - in Bernese German and with correctly pronounced Swiss names. Christian Reinhard from Family explained in the m&k interview that the challenge lay precisely in developing a model of their own, because existing language models were not yet able to handle such names reliably at the time.

This is perhaps one of the most exciting signals of this year: AI was present in many places, but it was not celebrated as an end in itself. It was a tool, an enabler, an accelerator. The decisive factor remained whether the end result was a better experience, a real benefit or a stronger relationship.

An evening of transitions

The aura of the evening also included an awareness of continuity and transition. Heinrich Meyer was presented with the honorary award - as a formative figure of 25 or 26 years of Best of Swiss Web. It was a dignified, slightly tongue-in-cheek moment that fitted in well with the self-image of this event: you know where you come from without standing still.

Outgoing jury president Daniel Felix was also given his stage - complete with a T-shirt to finally clear up the eternal confusion between his first and last name. In an interview with m&k, he spoke of an emotional last appearance and wished his successor «a lot of patience and good nerves to keep this monkey circus under control». That was funny. And at the same time quite apt. Because as polished and precise as award evenings may seem to the outside world, they are the lifeblood of an industry that is never quite polished, never quite predictable and is often at its best when it takes a risk.

What this night is for

Urs Bucher, founding member of Best of Swiss Web, formulated the core idea of the format in a pleasantly unpretentious way in an interview with m&k: the aim is to give the industry an opportunity to be seen, to recognize the best projects and to show potential clients which agencies and teams are doing something special. That sounds simple. But it is extremely important, especially in a fragmented market.

Because such nights are not just a celebration of self. They are a showcase, a resonance chamber and an assessment of where the industry stands. They show where the industry stands at the moment, which topics are moving it, which technologies it is embracing, which problems it is solving and which stories it wants to tell. And they also show how much craftsmanship, perseverance and coordination goes into projects that ultimately flash by on a big screen in just a few seconds.

It really couldn't have been more spring

The Best of Swiss Web Award Night 2026 was therefore more than just an evening with buoys, envelopes and standing ovations. It was an evening on which an industry showed its best self for a few hours: curious, efficient, humorous, tech-savvy, effective and surprisingly lively.

Spring was in bloom outside. Inside, too. And perhaps that is the best thing about this year: while many people are talking about disruption, pressure and constant change, it became clear here that change is not just something you have to endure. If it is done well, it can also produce something. Or to quote Urs Bucher: «The only constant is change.»

On this evening, it didn't seem threatening, but productive. It could hardly have been more spring.