The fan maker
Vogel Szenenmarketing specializes in turning consumers into fans. With a keen understanding of people and their passions, CEO Joko Vogel establishes brands and products within the scenes that best suit them.
He repositioned Parisienne, launched various Axe and Rexona fragrances for Unilever, brought the X-box games console to Switzerland, launched Feldschlösschen's Cardinal Draft as a beer for young people, and launched Lipton Linea.
General Motors, Coca-Cola, McGregor, Microsoft, Nestlé, Japan Tobacco International and Unilever regularly rely on his intuition. Because Joko Vogel (40) is able to empathize with investors and gamers, skaters and fitness queens, hobby chefs and snowboarders, fashion freaks and those with a sweet tooth. When Vogel wants to get buyers excited about a brand or product, he doesn't sort them into the classic marketing pigeonholes, but looks at which scenes they move in: "People can't be segmented by age, income and place of residence," says the marketing specialist. "For example, if you want to sell something to seniors, you're spoiled for choice: Do you appeal to hiking enthusiasts or jassers, culture fetishists or golfers, millionaires or model train fans? They all belong to the same age group, but have very different interests. That's why you have to communicate with them in a scene-specific way." That's exactly what Vogel scene marketing does: The agency tailors its below-the-line
marketing measures to the wishes and needs of scene members.
Scene applause guaranteed
Most customers who commission Vogel Szenenmarketing want to launch a new product or give an already introduced one a sales kick. The brand already has a face and is aimed at a defined target group that has so far been addressed via classic communication channels. Vogel then takes a close look at the target group and segments it further into relevant scenes. "We consider for which scenes the product would be interesting at all and whether the brand fits these scenes. Scenes always have a theme, so golf, electronic or something similar. We try to integrate the brand into the scene via that theme."
An example: In 2007, Unilever approached Vogel Szenenmarketing with the request to launch the Axe shower gel "Shock" at young men between 17 and 25 years. For men in this age group, cars are a central theme, so Vogel came up with the idea of targeting the scene of car freaks and tuners: In the "Axe pimps you up" campaign, young men could either win a new car, or a tune-up of their favorite on four wheels. To do so, their vehicle had to be voted the ugliest car in Switzerland. At relevant scene meeting points such as car washes, gas stations, rest stops, parking lots, parking garages, shopping malls and at car shows, cheekily styled Axe promo girls approached vehicle drivers, informed them about the campaign and handed out samples of the shower gel from a freezer. Those who wanted to take part in the campaign were given a sticker with a PIN stuck on their vehicle. In addition, the promo girls photographed the car and recorded the coordinates of the driver. The data about the participating vehicles were published on the website belonging to the action. On the Internet, participants had the opportunity to invite their friends to vote for their car, and it was also possible to follow the route of the promo girls online. Unilever also ran an online campaign to accompany the promotion. The promotion ran for three weeks in four Swiss regions. Then the ugliest car could be chosen by entering the PIN on the Internet or by cell phone. The owner won a car makeover, and the new car was raffled off among all participants. A film in the style of "Pimp my ride", broadcast on MTV and TV M3, documented the transformation of the ugliest car. As a grand finale, Vogel organized an Axe party during the Auto Tuning Fair in Bern, to which all participants and voters were invited. The launch of the shower gel was a complete success: it boosted Unilever's sales, and many media outlets reported on the campaign. No wonder Unilever has been relying on Vogel scene marketing for more than ten years.
Long breath important
If scene marketing is to work, you need patience. "You don't create credibility and acceptance in a scene with a snap of your fingers," Vogel emphasizes. "You have to give it a little time and build up a relationship of trust with the scene members. Scene members don't want a brand that just throws money around. They only accept a company that engages with the scene, takes an honest interest in it and is committed. If that's the case, the company will also be successful." And sustainable success: Because once a brand or product is part of a scene, it's hard to imagine it without. Members of the scene are very loyal consumers.
Joko Vogel currently has several exciting projects under his wing: With his help, for example, Swiss Olympic is tackling the volunteer scene. Vogel is also working on a concept for an energy drink that is intended to hold its own alongside Red Bull without occupying the same scenes. To find the right target groups for the drink, Vogel invited representatives of a wide variety of scenes to a roundtable and interviewed them together with his client. "We wanted to know what makes people tick, which brands are already present in their scene and are considered innovative, and who the opinion leaders are in the respective scenes," Vogel describes his approach. "Scene representatives can tell you exactly what a company needs to do to be successful in their scene. For example, one skater told us they needed someone to build them ramps. Skaters would have no problem with a supporting company's logo on the ramp. After all, the company helps them live their sport." Currently, Vogel is organizing a second roundtable on the same topic, but on an international level. It is important to the marketing professional that his customer is present at all these discussions. This is the only way he can get a feel for how to successfully integrate his brand into one or more scenes.
Score with professional partners
Joko Vogel is well networked. If necessary, he integrates specialized partners into his projects, be they PR experts, online marketers, event organizers or specialists in classic communications. "This way, my customers really only pay for the services they use," he emphasizes. Vogel Szenenmarketing is currently the only Swiss agency that can demonstrate broad experience in scene marketing. "In the meantime, however, large classic agencies are also trying to offer scene marketing," says Vogel. "We welcome that, because this development raises awareness among companies of how relevant scenes are." Incidentally, scene marketing is not just an issue for liquid large companies. A foundation, a small TV station or a specialized bookstore can also target their scene. Vogel: "Scene marketing has no limits. After all, we work with emotions, and almost any topic can be emotionally charged. With that, you can attract attention and interest scene or daily media without it having to cost a lot. What matters is the idea."
Constantly independent
Joko Vogel was born in Zurich. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a veterinarian - while his parents dreamed of him taking over their pharmacy. But their offspring decided early on to go his own way. "By the age of 16 at the latest, it was clear to me that I wanted to be my own boss one day," he recalls. After finishing commercial high school, he worked for two years in a small trading company in Rüschlikon before founding a beer import company at the age of 23. In 1997, Vogel sells the beer import company to his best customer. From 1993 to 1996, as founder and president of BEX AG, he organizes the BEX beer fair every year at the Kongresshalle in Zurich. In parallel, he works as a consumer development manager at British American Tobacco until 1998. In the summer of 1997, Vogel founded SOS & Vogel Gastro AG and opened the Kantorei restaurant in Zurich's Niederdorf district. In the fall of 2003, SOS & Vogel Hotel AG added the Plattenhof design hotel in Zurich.
But Vogel is far from done with founding companies: In 1998 he opens Vogel Szenenmarketing, in 2000 Eye Media, an agency for digital media, in 2001 ID Event AG and in 2004 the PR agency Primeur. At the beginning of the year, Vogel merged his companies with the promotion agency Fastbreak to form the agency association Compresso. Compresso's clients now get above- and below-the-line marketing from a single source under this umbrella, from PR, promotions and media planning to events, online and scene marketing. "Compresso is set to become Switzerland's one-stop shop for scene marketing," says Vogel, outlining his plans for the next three years.
In his free time, Joko Vogel indulges in sports: he plays soccer and ice hockey, snowboards and races bikes, and toils in triathlons. And he is part of the organizing committee of the "Tortour", Switzerland's first non-stop cycling race lasting several days. Every year in August, the route leads from Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Neuhausen am Rheinfall - once around Switzerland. For the approximately 1,000 km and 15,000 meters of altitude, individual riders and teams sit in the saddle for about two days. It is clear that Vogel will be part of the six-man Compresso team in 2010, competing not only against world-class cyclists but also against teams from the NZZ, Swisscom, the Zurich city police, IWC, TUI and Mercedes. It is not unlikely that one or the other future Compresso customer will be among the competitors on the bike. Sport connects. And pedaling is always worthwhile.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
General Motors, Coca-Cola, McGregor, Microsoft, Nestlé, Japan Tobacco International and Unilever regularly rely on his intuition. Because Joko Vogel (40) is able to empathize with investors and gamers, skaters and fitness queens, hobby chefs and snowboarders, fashion freaks and those with a sweet tooth. When Vogel wants to get buyers excited about a brand or product, he doesn't sort them into the classic marketing pigeonholes, but looks at which scenes they move in: "People can't be segmented by age, income and place of residence," says the marketing specialist. "For example, if you want to sell something to seniors, you're spoiled for choice: Do you appeal to hiking enthusiasts or jassers, culture fetishists or golfers, millionaires or model train fans? They all belong to the same age group, but have very different interests. That's why you have to communicate with them in a scene-specific way." That's exactly what Vogel scene marketing does: The agency tailors its below-the-line
marketing measures to the wishes and needs of scene members.
Scene applause guaranteed
Most customers who commission Vogel Szenenmarketing want to launch a new product or give an already introduced one a sales kick. The brand already has a face and is aimed at a defined target group that has so far been addressed via classic communication channels. Vogel then takes a close look at the target group and segments it further into relevant scenes. "We consider for which scenes the product would be interesting at all and whether the brand fits these scenes. Scenes always have a theme, so golf, electronic or something similar. We try to integrate the brand into the scene via that theme."
An example: In 2007, Unilever approached Vogel Szenenmarketing with the request to launch the Axe shower gel "Shock" at young men between 17 and 25 years. For men in this age group, cars are a central theme, so Vogel came up with the idea of targeting the scene of car freaks and tuners: In the "Axe pimps you up" campaign, young men could either win a new car, or a tune-up of their favorite on four wheels. To do so, their vehicle had to be voted the ugliest car in Switzerland. At relevant scene meeting points such as car washes, gas stations, rest stops, parking lots, parking garages, shopping malls and at car shows, cheekily styled Axe promo girls approached vehicle drivers, informed them about the campaign and handed out samples of the shower gel from a freezer. Those who wanted to take part in the campaign were given a sticker with a PIN stuck on their vehicle. In addition, the promo girls photographed the car and recorded the coordinates of the driver. The data about the participating vehicles were published on the website belonging to the action. On the Internet, participants had the opportunity to invite their friends to vote for their car, and it was also possible to follow the route of the promo girls online. Unilever also ran an online campaign to accompany the promotion. The promotion ran for three weeks in four Swiss regions. Then the ugliest car could be chosen by entering the PIN on the Internet or by cell phone. The owner won a car makeover, and the new car was raffled off among all participants. A film in the style of "Pimp my ride", broadcast on MTV and TV M3, documented the transformation of the ugliest car. As a grand finale, Vogel organized an Axe party during the Auto Tuning Fair in Bern, to which all participants and voters were invited. The launch of the shower gel was a complete success: it boosted Unilever's sales, and many media outlets reported on the campaign. No wonder Unilever has been relying on Vogel scene marketing for more than ten years.
Long breath important
If scene marketing is to work, you need patience. "You don't create credibility and acceptance in a scene with a snap of your fingers," Vogel emphasizes. "You have to give it a little time and build up a relationship of trust with the scene members. Scene members don't want a brand that just throws money around. They only accept a company that engages with the scene, takes an honest interest in it and is committed. If that's the case, the company will also be successful." And sustainable success: Because once a brand or product is part of a scene, it's hard to imagine it without. Members of the scene are very loyal consumers.
Joko Vogel currently has several exciting projects under his wing: With his help, for example, Swiss Olympic is tackling the volunteer scene. Vogel is also working on a concept for an energy drink that is intended to hold its own alongside Red Bull without occupying the same scenes. To find the right target groups for the drink, Vogel invited representatives of a wide variety of scenes to a roundtable and interviewed them together with his client. "We wanted to know what makes people tick, which brands are already present in their scene and are considered innovative, and who the opinion leaders are in the respective scenes," Vogel describes his approach. "Scene representatives can tell you exactly what a company needs to do to be successful in their scene. For example, one skater told us they needed someone to build them ramps. Skaters would have no problem with a supporting company's logo on the ramp. After all, the company helps them live their sport." Currently, Vogel is organizing a second roundtable on the same topic, but on an international level. It is important to the marketing professional that his customer is present at all these discussions. This is the only way he can get a feel for how to successfully integrate his brand into one or more scenes.
Score with professional partners
Joko Vogel is well networked. If necessary, he integrates specialized partners into his projects, be they PR experts, online marketers, event organizers or specialists in classic communications. "This way, my customers really only pay for the services they use," he emphasizes. Vogel Szenenmarketing is currently the only Swiss agency that can demonstrate broad experience in scene marketing. "In the meantime, however, large classic agencies are also trying to offer scene marketing," says Vogel. "We welcome that, because this development raises awareness among companies of how relevant scenes are." Incidentally, scene marketing is not just an issue for liquid large companies. A foundation, a small TV station or a specialized bookstore can also target their scene. Vogel: "Scene marketing has no limits. After all, we work with emotions, and almost any topic can be emotionally charged. With that, you can attract attention and interest scene or daily media without it having to cost a lot. What matters is the idea."
Constantly independent
Joko Vogel was born in Zurich. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a veterinarian - while his parents dreamed of him taking over their pharmacy. But their offspring decided early on to go his own way. "By the age of 16 at the latest, it was clear to me that I wanted to be my own boss one day," he recalls. After finishing commercial high school, he worked for two years in a small trading company in Rüschlikon before founding a beer import company at the age of 23. In 1997, Vogel sells the beer import company to his best customer. From 1993 to 1996, as founder and president of BEX AG, he organizes the BEX beer fair every year at the Kongresshalle in Zurich. In parallel, he works as a consumer development manager at British American Tobacco until 1998. In the summer of 1997, Vogel founded SOS & Vogel Gastro AG and opened the Kantorei restaurant in Zurich's Niederdorf district. In the fall of 2003, SOS & Vogel Hotel AG added the Plattenhof design hotel in Zurich.
But Vogel is far from done with founding companies: In 1998 he opens Vogel Szenenmarketing, in 2000 Eye Media, an agency for digital media, in 2001 ID Event AG and in 2004 the PR agency Primeur. At the beginning of the year, Vogel merged his companies with the promotion agency Fastbreak to form the agency association Compresso. Compresso's clients now get above- and below-the-line marketing from a single source under this umbrella, from PR, promotions and media planning to events, online and scene marketing. "Compresso is set to become Switzerland's one-stop shop for scene marketing," says Vogel, outlining his plans for the next three years.
In his free time, Joko Vogel indulges in sports: he plays soccer and ice hockey, snowboards and races bikes, and toils in triathlons. And he is part of the organizing committee of the "Tortour", Switzerland's first non-stop cycling race lasting several days. Every year in August, the route leads from Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Neuhausen am Rheinfall - once around Switzerland. For the approximately 1,000 km and 15,000 meters of altitude, individual riders and teams sit in the saddle for about two days. It is clear that Vogel will be part of the six-man Compresso team in 2010, competing not only against world-class cyclists but also against teams from the NZZ, Swisscom, the Zurich city police, IWC, TUI and Mercedes. It is not unlikely that one or the other future Compresso customer will be among the competitors on the bike. Sport connects. And pedaling is always worthwhile.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
