Beatrice Cox-Riesenfelder is just as at home on the international stage as she is at home. I met her in Cannes at the Lions; we were both invited to the United Nations gala dinner hosted by the International Advertising Association (IAA). She serves on the board of the Austrian chapter and is also Vice President for the Europe region, as well as a member of the IAA’s global board in New York. She exudes an international flair, yet at the same time comes across as down-to-earth and approachable—a true Viennese woman, in other words.

In her role as Director of Sales, she can once again navigate the network with ease and really enjoys it.

Beatrice loves interacting with people, which is why the head of marketing at the news magazine «Profil» maintains close ties with her clients and partners. She has held this position since October, initially as an interim manager during a crisis, but now as a permanent member of the publishing house. She knows the business inside and out, having spent her entire career in the media. She spent over 20 years at ORF in a wide variety of positions, then worked at a cosmetics company and took on consulting assignments through her own firm, In Commerce. She thrives in challenging environments and is solution-oriented. New formats are needed to broaden the portfolio and to both support and challenge the community as well as advertisers. She enjoys this work. The «Zeig Profil» Award comes at just the right time.

Making Society a Little Better

The award is being presented for the first time this year. The purpose of the award is to honor companies, organizations, and individuals whose projects have demonstrably made society a little better. Nominations are accepted in various categories, such as sustainability, innovation, society, the creative industries, and entrepreneurship (see box).

Beatrice Cox-Riesenfelder has forged partnerships alongside her sales team, drawing on her network to do so. Above all, the Viennese native is glad to finally be working more closely with people again. «I’ve held several executive positions, where you’re more focused on strategy, finance, and administration,» she says. Now, in her role as Director of Sales, she can once again navigate her network like a fish in water—and she’s really enjoying it.

She feels at home in the port city of Cannes, as the smell of the sea reminds her a little of her childhood.

The magazine «Profil» has been in publication since 1970. Its owners are committed to promoting independent political discourse in Austria. It has approximately 28 full-time employees and, of course, also works with freelancers. The readership is stable, with a circulation of 83% and 33,000 subscriptions. Mediaanalyse 24 has found that 259,000 readers pick up the magazine every week. Naturally, the goal is to maintain this level, if not increase it.

What is the key factor in selling?

Beatrice understands journalism—she studied it at the University of Vienna. That makes a crucial difference when it comes to sales. Because she knows the hurdles and challenges from the publisher’s perspective, but she also knows what clients want and in what kind of journalistic context they want to see their ads. Another advantage Beatrice brings to the table is her MBA, which she earned in Frankfurt at the age of 30. She wanted to learn how to better manage the administrative side of business, and so today she’s just as skilled at handling finances, developing strategies, managing personnel, and leading a team as she is at selling. This extensive body of knowledge also guided her in founding her own company. She dealt with clients just as much in her own company as she does now in her current role as an employee. The most important tools for working with clients, she says, are empathy, a network, a good team, authenticity, and tenacity. And, of course, you also need a good product; otherwise, the strategies come to nothing.

How does one become who one is?

Beatrice Cox-Riesenfelder was born in Vienna. Her father worked for IBM, and the family moved to France for his job when Bea was still a toddler. Together with her two brothers, she came to know and love life in France. However, work takes the family back to Vienna, and then, when Bea is 12 years old, they return to France. She loves the language—which she speaks fluently, of course—but also the landscape, the people, and the sea. Something inside her will always feel French. After finishing school, she returns to Vienna despite all this. She begins studying journalism. Beatrice has always known that she wanted to work in the media industry, but also that she isn’t a journalist. Marketing, communication, and sales—those fields resonated more with her. So, while still a student, she started working at the daily newspaper *Der Standard*, and after graduation, she moved to a lifestyle magazine before joining the country’s largest media company, the ORF, where she worked for over 20 years. When she turned 30, she decided to learn more about business. So she earned her Master of Business Administration. Beatrice was offered a chance to venture into a completely different world when she began working as managing director at a cosmetics company. She did that for over a year and learned a great deal. After the management structures there changed, she decided to move on and returned to the media business.

«I'm a doer»

She joins a wide variety of organizations, serves as a board member, and remains open-minded and curious. She organizes, initiates processes, questions the status quo, and refuses to conform. When her life circumstances change, she reassesses all her volunteer activities. What’s important? What can she do without if necessary? Everything is put to the test. What remains is the IAA—the International Advertising Association—which interests her most outside of her profession. She is active on a global level and becomes General Secretary under the IAA’s Indian World President. In addition, she is also active in IAA Austria, the largest chapter of this global association. The chapter’s importance to the advertising and communications industry in Austria has grown out of its history; members joined forces early on to strengthen the industry both internally and externally.

Beatrice is approached by the Global Board, which asks if she would like to take on a more active role and serve as Vice President for the Europe Region, reporting directly to headquarters in New York. She agrees, and so she dedicates herself not only to her own country but to all of Europe in the field of advertising. She serves on the Global Board, which she greatly enjoys, as she has always had an international outlook. Every year, she travels to international meetings and conferences, which often take place in Asia. There, all the chapters come together to discuss their activities and priorities, which vary in focus from country to country. The International Festival of Creativity in Cannes is also a regular item on the agenda. And so she’s sure to see the other managing directors and Global Board members in Cannes—on the beach, with a drink in hand. It’s a great opportunity to take a break from talking about advertising and just bond.

Where does she get her strength?

She and her husband share a passion for golf. They play in tournaments, practice, and travel with friends to destinations where they can both vacation and play golf. For Beatrice and her husband, who puts just as much passion into his job, this is the perfect balance. Your mind has to be completely clear when playing golf; otherwise, the quality of your swing suffers. Clearing your mind during your time off also helps you build up the patience and focus you need for periods of intense work. This is how Bea finds balance and doesn’t lose her enthusiasm or enjoyment when things get stressful in sales.

The next Cannes Lions in June 2025 are sure to take place. The IAA will host its traditional United Nations gala dinner as it always has, and Beatrice Cox-Riesenfelder will feel right at home in the French port city, since the smell of the sea reminds her a little of her childhood.

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The politically independent «Profil» magazine» is presenting the «Zeig Profil» Award for the first time. Companies, organizations, and individuals can submit their successfully implemented initiatives that have brought about lasting improvements to society. The submission period runs through mid-September.

m&k: Claudia Goldin, your winning of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics was a historic event—not only because the award itself is so prestigious, but also because you are the first woman in history to receive the prize «on your own»—and not as part of a research group. It’s fitting, then, that your studies also have a strong historical focus: In your field of expertise—the role of women in the labor market—you analyze datasets that in some cases date back centuries. Why?

Prof. Claudia Goldin: Because that gives you a completely different perspective. I’m interested in long-term trends and changes—not what happened yesterday and may have already disappeared from the news today. I know that many people find it difficult to intellectually transcend their own generation—so I want to provide context; I especially want to show women—who are at the center of my research—that this is the history in which you are embedded. The best thing for me is when someone has read one of my books and writes to me: «I recognize my grandmother in this analysis!» I make a great effort to write in an accessible and understandable way so that my works can reach a broad audience and aren’t reserved solely for academics. I want to … bridge generations. And for that, I need the datasets you mentioned in your question.

 

Still, you wouldn't describe yourself as a historian or sociologist, but rather as an economist?

Oh, yes, absolutely. I believe too strongly in markets to ever be happy in any of the other disciplines (laughs). There’s the capital market, the labor market—more or less transparent and, in principle, easy to describe—as well as hidden markets with their own dynamics and mechanisms operating in the shadows, on the fringes of our perception. They all have one thing in common: they shape our everyday lives, determine how we behave, and influence the decisions we make. Sociologists and historians would probably disagree with this idea of the enormous power of markets. They consider other factors or structures to be essential. We can learn a lot from each other, but my field remains economics.

 

We’ve already touched on your penchant for «century-long analyses»—but there’s already a wealth of material on that topic; you’ve given interviews and recorded podcasts about it. If you don’t mind, let’s start by talking about one of your more recent works: a 2022 study that examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the labor market—and what consequences it has had for women, but especially for people with lower levels of education.

Yes, of course. Let’s take a step back and recall what life was like during the first two years of the pandemic—and how it was reported. I felt compelled to examine the specific effects of COVID-19 on the labor market primarily because I was reading an overwhelming number of newspaper articles and forecasts at the time that seemed… very drastic to me. On the one hand, we had reports from female journalists who were working from home, caring for their children or sick relatives, and simultaneously writing about how challenging everything was—who then drew trends and predictions from their own situations and thereby shaped a narrative: namely, that the pandemic would have far more serious consequences for women than for men. And that these consequences would extend far into the future. There were articles claiming that, overall, women would be set back by a decade—oh, what the heck, even three decades! —and then the consulting firms jumped on the bandwagon… claiming, as McKinsey did, for example, that one in five women—or one in four mothers—would soon have to give up their jobs. That estimate was way off the mark; in the end, it was perhaps one in sixty, or in some fields, one in a hundred. It seemed to me that there was a lot that needed to be set straight.

«I'm interested in long-term trends and changes—not what happened yesterday.»

 

They began to do some research. What did they find out?

First of all, there were indeed several factors suggesting that the pandemic recession was, in fact, a «she-cession.» You see, a «normal» recession tends to be reflected in trade—in a reduced flow of goods, for example in the construction or transportation industries, that is, in sectors where many men work. The recession triggered by the pandemic, however, primarily affected the service sector, because services often require in-person interaction. You can’t get a haircut via Zoom, to put it bluntly. A particularly large number of women work in the service sector, just as they do in schools and daycare centers, which were closed during the lockdown—a situation that, on the one hand, left educators and teachers without work and, on the other, placed an enormous strain on mothers at home. All of this tied in with the dire reports and forecasts I had mentioned. And the slant of the articles written by female journalists who were themselves affected by the situation was, of course, completely understandable. Nevertheless … we were having the wrong discussion!

 

Please explain that to me.

You can only combat injustice and inequality if you correctly identify the root cause. Was this really a «men-versus-women» issue? Did women really have to fear being set back 30 years? No. While it’s true that the pandemic’s impact on men and women differed measurably, a person’s level of education had a far, far greater impact than gender on how well—or how poorly—they weathered this extraordinary period. And McKinsey and Co. neglected this factor in their scenarios. Women, just like men, were able to switch to «remote work»—if their level of education and the associated profession allowed it. Those who could not—men and women alike!—were often employed in jobs that require no college education, not even vocational training. They were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. But—and this, too, is an interesting phenomenon—not only in a negative way.

 

Could you explain that?

COVID-19 has set in motion a «reshuffle» of the labor market—at least when analyzing the situation in the United States. Many people who had low or unstable incomes were able to save enough money during the lockdowns and thanks to stimulus measures to consider changing jobs. Will this trend last—or will they return to their old jobs? It’s hard to say. But at the lower end of the wage spectrum, there hasn’t been nearly as much movement—as much economic mobility—in a long time as there was during the pandemic and in the months that followed as it subsided.

 

These are surprising findings—and it will be interesting to see how global labor markets develop in the coming months. As for «remote work»: There’s a certain group of employees who won’t be willing to give it up, right?

That’s my assumption. Even now, in late summer 2024, a significant portion of work time in the U.S. is spent working «remotely.» There are studies on this topic—most recently by Nick Bloom, Jose Maria Barrero, and colleagues—and there are national surveys such as the U.S. government’s American Time Use Survey. When JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon muses that he’d like to have all his teams back in the office, I have to smile: That might happen at individual companies, but not on a broad scale. Despite all its horrors, the pandemic has shown us what’s possible. It’s like The Wizard of Oz—just as little Dorothy always had the option to return to Kansas, so too did a part of us always have the option to make our work models more flexible. We just needed external pressure to make that happen.

«I believe too strongly in the principle of markets to find happiness in any field other than economics.»

 

But now we really need to talk once again about the differences—the unfair differences—between men and women in the labor market. Even though the pandemic had less of an impact here than some feared, we’re still a long way from gender equality because of internalized biases and «unpaid care work,» aren’t we?

Yes. Here, market forces come into play again: For heterosexual couples with caregiving responsibilities, the market incentivizes them to specialize. Typically, one person takes a job that is relatively flexible and allows them to be on call at home, while the other person takes a job that pays better but offers less flexibility—and often requires being on call at work. Earning less money overall would be unattractive, and a nanny is often unaffordable … which is why this «division of labor» is the typical scenario.

 

Could we illustrate this with a specific example?

Of course. Let’s take the example of a young male lawyer and a young female lawyer. They fell in love at university, both graduated with honors, and then joined the same prestigious large law firm. After a few years, the female lawyer becomes pregnant. If both stay at the large law firm, they’ll need full-time childcare; if they split the caregiving responsibilities fairly, they’ll both have to leave the firm. Of course, they could look for a boutique firm that specializes in—I don’t know—family law or environmental law, and reduce their hours. But they usually have significant student debt and want financial security. So they say: We’ll split the roles. One of them keeps the job at the large law firm, while the other takes a few steps down the career ladder and gains more flexibility.

 

The problem is simply that—as far as I can tell, still in most cases—the woman «climbs down the ladder.» She gives it up for the sake of her family.

That’s right. Because for women, this is practically part of their cultural heritage. Of course, there’s freedom of choice—in theory. But there are also social «norms» that have put women at a disadvantage for millennia when it comes to «unpaid care work.» And coping with the burden of millennia… they can’t do that in just one or two generations; it takes time. By the way: I certainly don’t want to lump all men together; I also see fathers in my neighborhood who take their role very seriously. But overall, there are still far too few of them.

 

If we need to get through to people—if we need to send the message that there is now genuine freedom of choice, that the wheel of time has turned further—then we need political measures to support that. Are there any countries that can serve as examples here?

(laughs) It may sound almost a little … ironic, considering how undesirable autocratic forms of government are … but the countries with the most comprehensive measures for gender equality in the labor market have historically been the communist countries—in particular, the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Take, for example, Katalin Karikó, a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. She says the only reason she was able to have both a child and a scientific career was the support she received from the Hungarian government during the Soviet era. She received every conceivable form of support, including a private nanny… because raising children was considered a «collective responsibility.».

«There are social »norms' that have put women at a disadvantage for millennia."

 

And it never occurred to the United States to… well, copy this model?

Oh, yes, yes. We were so close. In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed the Universal Childcare Act, which would have provided significant support to working parents. However, President Nixon vetoed it at the last minute. He justified his decision by arguing that implementing the measure would be tantamount to importing communism into the United States.

 

One could certainly speculate about how things would have turned out without his veto… But I’d like to ask you something else: Whenever I have the opportunity to speak with world-class scholars who also teach—like you—I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the current state of modern education. As you mentioned in another interview, you began your academic career by asking «curious questions»—and only then discovered a degree program that matched your questions. Is that still possible today, or are the curricula too heavily geared toward efficiency?

Ultimately, we’re also having a conversation with universities about markets and customers. These customers—the students—pay for their education, often with government support. So the key question is: What do customers want? The answer to this question largely determines which fields of study universities expand into. In the U.S., for example, over 20 percent of bachelor’s degrees are now awarded in business, and another 13 percent in various health professions. This means that one-third of all degrees are earned in fields that, while enormously important, are not traditionally associated with the «freer» pursuit of expanding knowledge or fostering intellectual curiosity.

 

Is this something you have an opinion about? Something you might find… regrettable?

That is simply a fact. In addition to business and health sciences, another 15 to 20 percent of degrees are awarded in the fields of biomedicine, biology, and engineering. All of this shows that universities are increasingly focusing on practical, career-oriented education. Large «liberal arts colleges»—here at Harvard, for example, where the liberal arts form the core of the curriculum—are becoming increasingly rare. But, to state it once again very clearly: Universities have a duty to adapt to the needs of their students—the principle of supply and demand. I don’t think there’s any reason for regret here.

 

But when it comes to your own students, curiosity—thinking outside the box—is still important to you, isn't it?

My students are generally incredibly smart and extremely capable. They grasp what I’m talking about, and they come to my seminars with at least … an understanding of what it means to acquire and develop knowledge, even if that’s sometimes only possible in small steps. They understand how important research and academic discourse are for society. Still, I’m under no illusions: Most of them look for a job in the financial sector after graduation. Sometimes there are reunions, class reunions… I see them again, and they tell me how much my work has shaped them. That’s nice; it makes me happy. But how much of that can they actually put into practice in their jobs at hedge funds? (laughs)?

 

I have to «come clean»: I think it’s a real shame that your approach—the curiosity with which you began your career, the courage to ask yourself and others the really, really big questions—has become the exception.

Well, when your full-time job is «asking questions»—when you’re conducting research and teaching, engaging in discussions, and writing books—there are certainly moments when you have doubts. Who am I reaching? Am I really making an impact? What’s the reward for all my hard work? A career in the financial sector might promise «success» more quickly.» (laughs).

 

Perhaps that is precisely why we should end this conversation with a «big question»: What will you be working on next?

Coincidentally, on the same day that I received the Nobel Prize in 2023, an essay I wrote was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It is titled «Why Women Won» and is based on lectures I have given. In the essay, I focus on women’s rights—examining how they gained more and more rights in the United States in both the private and public sectors, particularly during a very important period between 1963 and 1973. I’m currently revising «Why Women Won»; I’m not entirely satisfied with it yet. I was also recently asked to give a talk at the European Central Bank—I’m calling it «Putting Babies into the Macroeconomy,» and I still need to tweak that a bit as well. Oh, and: A few days ago, I threw the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game, so I had to train pretty intensively in baseball. Maybe I’ll stick with it (laughs). In any case, I have plenty to do.

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Claudia Goldin is an American economist. She has been a professor of economics at Harvard University since 1990. At the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, she served as director of the Development of the American Economy Program from 1989 to 2017 and is co-director of the Gender in the Economy Working Group. In 2023, she received the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for her research on gender-specific differences in the labor market. In her free time, Goldin pursues a special hobby: she trains dogs—currently a Golden Retriever named Pika—and trains them to become search and rescue or therapy dogs.

A quick tap on your phone and Instagram opens up—a gateway to the world. A quick glance in the morning to see how your friends are doing. Amid beach photos and selfies, you find out what’s been happening in the world. Or what might have happened? How do we know that what we’re reading actually happened that way? Do we perhaps even lose our critical perspective when we read about an event multiple times? And can we really judge where the information comes from? Much of what’s posted on social media is exciting, inspiring, and indispensable—but what happens when independent and reliable journalistic content is pushed aside and there’s no longer a free press we can trust? It’s hard to even imagine.

Fundamental Forces Versus a Delicate System

Fundamental forces are currently affecting our delicately balanced media system—a combination of the dominant interests of tech giants, the mechanisms of social media, and developments in artificial intelligence has the potential to transform everything as we know it.

«Advertisers can fulfill their social responsibility by directing their advertising budgets specifically toward the free press.»

Our democracy is based on the idea that people can inform themselves through a wide variety of media and thereby form their own opinions. This, in turn, serves as the foundation for personal decision-making at the ballot box and for accepting other points of view. Hopefully, this daily exposure to a diversity of media and opinions will lead to the realization that one can reach one’s own conclusion, even as other people arrive at different decisions.

Ideally, politics arises from an exchange of knowledge and a kind of tug-of-war over the best arguments. And even if, after this tug-of-war, one cannot align with the majority opinion, one can still trust that the opinion many people consider reasonable will prevail. Media diversity is fundamental to democracy—which is why the special and worthy-of-protection role of a free press is enshrined in the Constitution. It is not without reason that dictatorial regimes always try first and foremost to restrict and control the media.

A free press is essential not only for a robust democracy, but also for a strong society and community. This is because it reports what actually happened, what is true and important—for many people, not just for one’s own peer group. And what would the economy be without the transfer of knowledge provided by trade journals? People place their trust in a free press, and it establishes a shared standard—a common understanding of truth and knowledge. It fosters connection and acts as the «glue» that binds people together. But the free press is under threat, and with it, social cohesion and our democracy.

Why is a free press under threat?

It is common knowledge that the free press has always been funded in part by advertising revenue. However, this revenue is being siphoned off by the big tech giants. The British research institute WARC forecasts that the global advertising market will grow to over one trillion U.S. dollars by 2024—but more than half of this market will go to the five technology conglomerates Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, ByteDance, and Alibaba (if you’d like to check the figures yourself, everything is freely available online—the headline «Global advertising to top $1 trillion in 2024, as big five attract most spending» leads directly to the article via Google—and yes, it’s a bit ironic to have to refer to Google in this context!). The «login giants» make a lot of money off of us and our content without ever hiring journalists, managing a publishing house, or taking on any responsibility. According to their own statements, they merely provide a technical infrastructure.

Infrastructure? Gatekeeping!

These technical infrastructures have long since become gatekeepers. With their black-box algorithms, they alone determine what is shown to the masses and what is not. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that purely economic interests lie behind these market access points. It’s in the nature of things. Isn’t it up to us, then, to change that?

Readers Make the Difference

First and foremost, readers make the difference. They often pay for information that is supposedly free with their data, time, and attention. Attention for content that may not be true? Spot the mistake! According to a representative Allensbach study, 91 percent of German citizens say that independent journalism is relevant to the functioning of democracy (here, too, we’d like to refer you to the internet: You can find the survey in question under the headline «Large Majority Perceives Society as Divided—and Journalism as Important for a Functioning Democracy»). Good journalism, however, which is committed to the code of ethics, costs money. When people buy newspapers, magazines, or trade journals at a newsstand or through a subscription, they’re not just choosing a single publication—they’re also choosing an entire system that they find relevant.

Invest specifically in a free press

Advertisers can fulfill their social responsibility by directing their advertising budgets specifically toward the free press. This is not only an investment in our social and political fabric, but also in our own future, because the free trade and sale of goods, as well as the free exchange of knowledge, can only take place in a free world.

«It is not without reason that authoritarian regimes always try first to restrict and control the media.»

And what about policymakers? They must, time and again, create fair framework conditions so that the free press has non-discriminatory access to the market and can be economically viable in a free market. As a media association representing the free press, we are in constant dialogue with policymakers in Germany and Europe. It is our mission to represent the interests of our approximately 350 member publishers, which offer nearly 7,000 magazines and media titles. We are committed to the continued existence of the free press, the freedom and diversity of opinion, and the future of market-based journalism—as a guarantor of the free democratic basic order. One of our most important issues at present is artificial intelligence (AI).

AI outshines everything

Our publishing houses have been actively involved in the digital transformation for three decades. However, the changes that the use of AI will bring are unlike anything we have seen before. In the summer of 2023, the MVFP became the first media association in Europe to publish an AI declaration—developed in consultation with its member publishers. The declaration states that AI is fundamentally changing our lives and is impacting the very core of publishers’ value creation. This development opens up exciting prospects for publishers, both journalistically and commercially, but it also brings with it ethical and economic challenges.

Three Key Demands

In this context, the association is putting forward three key media policy demands to ensure the survival of the press system in its current form: First, we need the right to determine how our content is used so that we can retain control over its exploitation even in the age of AI. Otherwise, competing products could all too easily be created for free and against our will. Second, appropriate compensation must be ensured, because when generative AI uses our content, we must be fairly compensated for it. Without licenses and transparency regarding use for training purposes or the creation of «original» content by AI providers, the future of the free press is seriously jeopardized. Third, the burden of proof for the use of content from our media offerings must not fall on the rights holders. Rather, the burden of proof must be shifted to the AI providers, since only they know which content their systems have used and which they have not.

Meanwhile, AI continues to advance at an exponential rate, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish at first glance between the output of machines and that of humans. Computer science professor Yoshua Bengio recently wrote in an interview with the *Süddeutsche Zeitung* that humans are capable of self-doubt and can question their own positions. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, will repeatedly insist that it is right, even when it is not. Independent journalism is always skeptical. And that’s a good thing. All of us—politicians, publishers, advertisers, and media users—can make a difference through our behavior and decisions—specifically, in determining how and by whom we want to be informed in the future. Who’s with me on this?

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Anina Veigel She has been advocating for the interests of magazine publishers since 2012. She is the managing director of the Bavarian and North Rhine-Westphalian regional offices of the MVFP (Media Association of the Free Press) and a member of the board of the Bavarian Press Academy. Previously, she—who holds a degree in communication studies—worked for Hubert Burda Media and Condé Nast, as well as a consultant and lecturer.

Sustainable products are often packaged in green, blue, or even «eco-brown.» These colors are commonly associated with sustainability. The idea is for customers to immediately recognize at the shelf that a product is sustainable—after all, many people indicate in surveys that they are actually willing to buy sustainable products. And according to these surveys, they’re also willing to pay a premium for these products. In theory, this all sounds good, but when people stand in front of the supermarket shelf, they often reach for conventional products instead of sustainable ones. This is where the attitude-behavior gap («I think sustainable products are important» versus “When I’m in front of the shelf, I decide otherwise”) comes into play.

«Eco» Must Become Mainstream

For the green transformation of our society and economy, it would certainly be all the more important for more green products to be sold. This is crucial not only for the environment but also for companies« revenue. After all, at some point, the investment in sustainable production and green products should pay off! So how do we manage to »bring green products into the mainstream« or—in other words—»democratize” them?

Other things take center stage

A recently published study has summed up the challenge. Unlike people who already buy green products—and do so with complete conviction—mainstream consumers do have sustainable goals, but these are not the decisive factors in their purchasing decisions. For these groups of people, other factors take precedence, such as price, quality, or how well the product and its brand fit their lifestyle. Other studies have also clearly shown that the terms «vegan» and “sustainable” do not always carry positive connotations. People associate them with higher prices, sacrifice, or being told what to do. And sustainability labels often don’t shed any light on the matter; rather, they tend to add to the confusion. So if the word “sustainability” and related terms don’t have positive connotations in the mainstream, why don’t we make products “accidentally sustainable”?

Just do it, without talking too much

«Accidentally sustainable» would mean that products are sustainable, but this attribute isn’t highlighted in their marketing. Take Oreo, for example: While the cookies are vegan, this isn’t actively promoted in their marketing. Or take Magnum. The vegan version of Cremissimo’s bourbon vanilla ice cream: A few years ago, it was still advertised using green colors, and the word «vegan» was prominently featured. Last year, the green was replaced with a trendy purple. The «vegan» label has gotten smaller and is almost disappearing—making it «accidentally vegan,» so to speak. «Accidentally sustainable» would be a departure from what’s widespread in marketing today: sustainable attributes are heavily emphasized. This appeals to a certain segment, such as “green believers,” eco-enthusiasts, or organic shoppers. Mainstream consumers, however, think differently!

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Prof. Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer She is an associate professor of marketing and one of the co-directors of the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight at the University of St. Gallen (IMC-HSG). In our magazine, she writes monthly about exciting, sensational, or curious marketing studies from around the world. This month’s article is based on this study.

This column first appeared in the print edition of m&k, No. 6-7/2024.

The name Elizabeth Jane Cochran probably doesn’t ring a bell. She is better known by her pen name, Nellie Bly. Elizabeth Cochran, born in Pennsylvania in 1864 and died in New York in 1922, is considered the first female investigative reporter in media history. After training as a teacher, she began writing for the *Pittsburgh Dispatch* in 1884. In 1887, she joined Joseph Pulitzer’s *New York World* as a reporter; Pulitzer would later become famous as the founder of the Pulitzer Prize. For her first investigative report, she feigned mental illness and had herself admitted undercover to the women’s asylum on Blackwell’s Island. There, she experienced firsthand the brutality of the caregivers. On October 9, 1887, her report «Ten Days in a Mad-House» was published. The report brought Nellie Bly lasting fame and caused a huge sensation. Society’s treatment of marginalized women became a widely discussed topic. And the article sparked a veritable boom in investigative journalism.

«The most important prerequisite for the development of investigative journalism was (...) a change in the newspapers themselves.»

In the years that followed, many newspapers employed women who worked undercover in factories, institutions, hospitals, or tenement buildings to report on working and living conditions and expose scandals. These undercover investigations sometimes lasted weeks or even months. The women who sneaked into these workplaces incognito were somewhat derisively referred to in the industry as «stunt girls.».

Content for a new audience

Nelly Bly and her colleagues undoubtedly needed a great deal of courage to expose themselves—body and soul—to the abuses they were reporting on. The most important prerequisite for the development of investigative journalism, however, was a change in the newspapers themselves. At the beginning of the 19th century, daily newspapers were an expensive luxury that only the upper middle class could afford. A readership that was hardly interested in whether working-class women were being mistreated in mental institutions or under what conditions workers toiled in the ever-larger factories.

«The women who sneaked into the studios in disguise were somewhat disparagingly referred to in the industry as »stunt girls.'"

Starting in the mid-19th century, new, industrialized printing presses made it possible to produce newspapers in large print runs at low cost. These papers were called the «penny press.» They cost only one cent per issue, making them affordable even for the working class. This called for new content—stories about the people who interested this new readership. Since many newspaper titles competed with one another on the street market—especially in the major cities—sensational topics were in high demand. Topics such as those provided by the investigative journalism of Nelly Bly and her colleagues.

Unique Selling Point of Professional Media

So, at the beginning of this major research effort was a new media product: cheaply printed newspapers that used new methods to attract the attention of a broad audience. The strategy: sensational stories drawn directly from the audience’s everyday lives, which stood in stark contrast to the stuffy, upper-class journalism of traditional newspapers. And today? We find ourselves in a similar situation once again. Investigative journalism has become the defining feature of professional media and therefore plays a crucial role once again.

«Journalists compensate for their lack of investigative authority with conspiratorial tactics.»

Yet the word «investigative» actually promises too much: An «investigation»—that is, an inquiry—requires state authority. An investigating judge or the tax authority can conduct an «investigation» by virtue of their office. Ever since Nelly Bly, journalists have compensated for their lack of investigative authority with covert tactics: they conduct undercover research or rely on whistleblowers, informants, and data leaks.

Resignation of a U.S. President

Probably the most famous anonymous informant in media history is «Deep Throat,» an anonymous source who set the Watergate scandal in motion. His information provided Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the *Washington Post* with the crucial leads for their investigation. They uncovered the connection between a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration. The scandal led to the first and only resignation of a U.S. president in 1974: Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment proceedings.

«The effort involved in an investigation like the Panama Papers is enormous. Only large, professional media outlets are capable of undertaking it.»

Of all the journalists who drew inspiration from Nelly Bly, Günter Wallraff is the best known in the German-speaking world. Like Nelly Bly, Wallraff had himself admitted undercover to a psychiatric clinic and exposed the clinic’s appalling treatment of alcoholics. He is best remembered by the general public as «Ali,» a Turkish guest worker. The result of his investigative reporting was the 1986 book *Ganz unten* (*At the Bottom*). It sold over five million copies in Germany alone and was published in 38 translations. It is thus considered the most successful German nonfiction book since 1945.

Wallraff Before the Federal Constitutional Court

The companies that Wallraff infiltrated for his undercover investigations repeatedly took him to court. Among them was Axel Springer Verlag: In 1977, Wallraff worked for several months at the *Bild* newspaper in Hanover under the name Hans Esser. Wallraff subsequently accused the newspaper of conducting its investigations unscrupulously and demonstrated serious journalistic misconduct on its part. Axel Springer AG was not willing to let this stand and filed a series of lawsuits against Wallraff and his investigative work. When the Federal Court of Justice ruled largely in Wallraff’s favor, the «Bild» publishing house even took the case to the Federal Constitutional Court—without success.

«Investigative journalism serves as a counterbalance to the flood of opinions on social media.»

But compared to the investigative reporting of recent years, the exposés by Nelly Bly and Günter Wallraff seem downright endearing. The journalists who published the so-called Panama Papers in 2016 didn’t even need to go undercover: documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that provided evidence of a whole range of tax offenses and money-laundering schemes. The information was made public by a whistleblower who leaked 2.6 terabytes of data to two journalists from the *Süddeutsche Zeitung*. Among the files were emails and documents from hundreds of prominent figures, including politicians and former and current heads of state and government. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) took more than a year to analyze the data. On April 3, 2016, 109 media outlets in 76 countries published the findings—with impressive results. In Iceland, for example, the head of government was forced to resign. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from office due to corruption allegations.

Almost like in the intelligence service

In 2018, the investigative collective Correctiv, in collaboration with media outlets from twelve countries, published an investigation into the largest tax fraud of all time: Taxpayers worldwide were defrauded of 150 billion euros. According to the report, Germany’s treasury is short 36 billion euros, Switzerland’s 4.8 billion euros, and Austria’s 1.2 billion euros. For the investigation, two reporters posed as billionaires looking for investment opportunities. They met with investment bankers undercover. These deals are so complex that the investigation is still ongoing today.

When does research become investigative journalism? There’s no clear-cut definition. One thing is certain: «investigative» sounds more important. The term “investigative journalism” is typically reserved for particularly extensive and large-scale research projects. One hallmark is the use of covert methods such as undercover operations, undercover investigations, informants, and data hacking—almost like a secret service. The journalists involved therefore operate like agents. They meet in hotel rooms, cover their tracks, use prepaid cell phones, and avoid email.

A Much-Needed Unique Selling Proposition

The effort involved in an investigation like the Panama Papers is enormous. Only large, professional media outlets are capable of mustering the necessary manpower and expertise. This gives media outlets like the *Süddeutsche Zeitung* or *Der Spiegel* a much-needed unique selling point. These days, any 14-year-old with a cell phone and a TikTok account can get attention. Entertainment is available in abundance on the vast expanse of the internet. We’ve long been living in the much-cited «Age of Access»: Everyone has access to so much content at any time that boredom has become a foreign concept. But the vast majority of videos on TikTok and YouTube, as well as posts on Instagram and Threads, are completely trivial.

Investigative journalism—from Watergate to the Panama Papers—is the opposite: hard to access, sometimes difficult to understand—but it’s effective. Presidents and heads of state are forced to step down. You can’t get more impact than that. This is how professional media regain their relevance—and credibility. Investigative journalism thus represents a countertrend to the «Fox & Friends» model, the daily news talk show on Fox News. There, the motto is: opinions instead of facts—or even worse: opinions presented as facts.

Objectively and slowly

The Swiss School of Journalism MAZ offers its undergraduate students the course «Journalistic Self-Conception.» The MAZ distinguishes between 14 different career profiles, ranging from researcher to community journalist to writer. To this end, the school has developed a positioning chart: the X-axis represents speed, and the Y-axis represents objectivity. This results in a quadrant chart that distinguishes between fast and slow journalism, as well as between objective and subjective journalism. Social media and its emotional content fall into the «fast-subjective» quadrant. Since traditional media compete with social media for the attention of internet users, the proportion of content in this quadrant has also increased significantly in paid media. Investigative journalism is the opposite: it is objective and slow. Investigative journalism is therefore not only a counterweight to the “opinion soup” on social media and on television networks like Fox News, but also the best way for professional paid media to differentiate themselves and prove that high-quality journalism works.

Nellie Bly had already experienced that. Her investigative reporting changed society. She herself must have enjoyed her fame. In 1888, she proposed a new adventure to her publisher: a journey following in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s novel *Around the World in 80 Days*. On November 14, 1889, she boarded the «Augusta Victoria,» a steamship of the Hamburg America Line. She traveled—largely on her own, by the way—to England, met Jules Verne in France, and from there, faithfully following in the footsteps of Phineas Fogg, traveled through the Suez Canal to Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Seventy-two days after her departure, she arrived back in New York. She later married Robert Seaman, a manufacturer and millionaire, and worked as an inventor. For his steel factory, she developed a novel milk jug and a stackable trash can. She received patents in the U.S. for both products—though no longer under the pseudonym Nellie Bly, but under her real name, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman. An investigative journalist who left her mark.

She is the most-streamed singer on an album release day, the highest-earning female musician, has sold the most vinyl records in a single day, and managed to occupy all ten spots on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time—Taylor Swift has already broken many records. With her hit «All Too Well,» she also achieved something that had never been done before: a ten-minute hit reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Ten minutes—given the average attention span of eight seconds (the famous goldfish comparison) that people are often said to have these days, listening to this song all the way through would almost be a record in itself. Listening to music for half an eternity—attention span times 75. By the way: Around this point, a goldfish would stop reading and turn its attention to other things.

The ideal TikTok video is between 9 and 15 seconds long; on Instagram Reels, it ends after 90 seconds; on YouTube Shorts, after just 60. That’s an extremely short amount of time in which you have to successfully convey content and messages. Young people, in particular, are used to quickly scrolling back and forth between content, constantly receiving new input, and interacting in a matter of seconds via emojis or likes. Commercials, they say, must get to the point in the first few seconds if they want to reach anyone. No wonder people’s attention spans seem to be on a downward spiral—a roller-coaster ride, in fact.

Social Acceleration

This is also shown by a study conducted by the Technical University of Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, University College Cork, and the Technical University of Denmark, which found that social media leads to a kind of «social acceleration.» This means that society’s attention span for any single topic is getting shorter and shorter. What was «in» today is «out» tomorrow, and while in 2013 a hashtag on Twitter—let’s call it X—remained in the top 50 list for an average of 17.5 hours, three years later it stayed there for only 11.9 hours. The same trend was observed with movie ticket sales, hashtags, and even the use of certain phrases in books. The researchers explain this by noting that while the total amount of attention in society remains constant, the topics and content competing for it are becoming increasingly densely packed.

«When emotional stories are oversimplified, their impact falls by the wayside.»

«The media landscape and the way media is consumed have changed significantly in recent years,» explains Volker Neumann, Managing Director at the JOM Group and an expert in hybrid communication. «Even those who are still reached via TV today are often sitting on the sofa with a smartphone or tablet, which reduces their attention span for the twelve-minute commercial break.» According to Neumann, attention as a KPI in media planning is more important today than ever before. «After all, advertising effectiveness is primarily a function of visibility and relevance. And to achieve both, I need the attention of my target audience. That’s no easy task in an era of a highly fragmented media landscape and a high level of noise that bombards us every day.»

Countertrend

At the same time, a ten-minute pop song is a hit, there’s a new craze for books on TikTok, and YouTuber Paluten’s latest podcast episode runs over an hour. With a total runtime of three hours, *Oppenheimer* was the most successful biopic of all time. How does that all fit together? «At first glance, there’s no contradiction here, because every fast-paced trend always brings with it a certain counter-movement,» explains Neumann.

The Berlin-based institute Eye Square has also been studying the topic of attention for 25 years. The researchers conclude: Yes, attention spans are decreasing. «We’re noticing accelerated media consumption, particularly among younger target groups,» says Matthias Rothensee, Chief Scientific Officer & Partner. «For younger study participants, the optimal length of a YouTube video is between three and five minutes. That’s far shorter than typical TV shows in the »80s or «90s. Media content from the last century also stands out for the almost eerie slowness of its camera movements.» Content is adapting; today, it’s becoming shorter and more condensed. AI tools that condense content to the essentials are booming. But this also fuels a growing need to slow down. «Evolutionarily speaking, humans are designed to have rest periods between phases of intense concentration. This carries over, in part, to media consumption,» says Rothensee. The media researcher knows that the longing for intense emotional narratives continues to drive people. And that applies to advertising messages as well. “Emotions take time—in tests, we repeatedly find that emotional stories are often over-condensed today, for example, for the 15-second YouTube ad. But in the process, their emotional impact falls by the wayside,” says Rothensee.

KPI: Attention

Attention is competing with an ever-increasing number of offerings, and media is being consumed differently—but emotions are what matter most. What does this mean for advertisers? One thing is certain: Focusing on the attention KPI pays off. The study «The Attention Payoff» by IAS and YouGov showed that 77 percent of German media experts report a significant improvement in sales opportunities since implementing an attention strategy. «Advertisers need to understand the attention performance of different platforms and incorporate that into their creative work,» says Matthias Rothensee. However, he notes an important distinction: namely, between creative attention and media attention: «On the one hand, the platform—with its mechanisms and contexts—offers me a kind of canvas. On the other hand, of course, it’s the creative execution that ensures this canvas is used effectively.» Recycling messages across different platforms is the wrong approach, says the researcher. Instead, he says, «advertising messages should be tailored to consumers based on the platform.» Anyone who does this with content that the target audience actually wants to see—content that excites them and provides added value—can be almost certain of capturing their attention. Just like Taylor Swift.

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INTERVIEW

«A break from the daily TikTok frenzy»

Dr. Matthias Rothensee, Chief Scientific Officer and Partner at Eye Square, is an expert on the economics of attention. In a brief interview with m&k, he explains how this topic is being researched—and whether all of our «attention spans» have really gotten shorter.

m&k: Advertising has always been about grabbing attention. So why is this topic still so relevant?

Dr. Matthias Rothensee: Because the volume of media content continues to grow. The platform economy of social networks is designed to capture attention for as long as possible, thereby competing with established media. Gaming is a major trend among younger demographics and also consumes a great deal of attention. And so, in today’s increasingly digitized business models and saturated markets, it is essential to capture attention, process it, and fill it with messages.

 

You've been conducting research on attention for 25 years. What has changed since then?

Consumers’ attention is a precious commodity that they are increasingly learning to use strategically. We’ve realized that not all attention is good attention, and not every message requires prolonged focus. Social media is ubiquitous with its attention-centric business models and has demonstrated how attention can be monetized. At the same time, due to the glut of media content, consumers are increasingly forced to make sensory selections—and they do so with their eyes. Today, people spend only about one-third as much time looking at digital advertising messages as they did ten years ago.

«We've realized that not all attention is good attention, and not every message needs to hold people's attention for a long time.»

 

They say people's attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Is that true, or is there simply more information available?

We’re noticing an acceleration in media consumption, particularly among younger audiences. We’ve grown accustomed to consuming media content more quickly and in a more condensed form. At the same time, even among younger audiences, there’s a need to engage more deeply with topics. Media consumption has clearly shifted, but even young people sometimes feel the need for a long, intense, unhurried media experience—a break from the daily TikTok frenzy. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the coming years, a kind of digital avant-garde emerges for whom taking breaks from the flood of information becomes increasingly important.

m&k: In the TV movie you presented, *The AI Manifesto*, the often rather abstract discussion about the possibilities and consequences of technology is applied to cultural practice. To be honest, I was surprised—and a little shocked—at how far AI has already come. Were you, too?

Collien Ulmen-Fernandes: Yes. It’s incredible what AI is already capable of. A few weeks ago, a cameraman showed me the AI tool Sora. Sora produces film sequences that are almost indistinguishable from real films—people, houses, landscapes. I couldn’t believe that none of it was real. I wondered what this might mean for the film industry. And then the request for the «AI Manifesto» came in.

«As you can see in the TV movie, by the end we can't even tell which scenes were written by a person and which by a machine.»

 

Four cultural professionals and four AI experts, all from different backgrounds, are reflecting on how we’ll make films in the future—and, in a broader sense, whether people are still needed for culture and art. What made you want to take the lead on a project like this?

I’ve been exploring the possibilities of generative AI for some time now. You hear a lot of things—one director told me that he now does all his dubbing using AI-generated voices. A radio weathercaster said he no longer delivers the weather report himself—an AI now does it for him—and since then, his earnings have gone down. AI has now become a fixture in the writers’ room for many films and TV series; it also translates, effectively replacing human writers and translators. Job losses due to AI are a reality, and many people aren’t prepared for it at all.

 

For me, there are many scenes in the «AI Manifesto» that give me food for thought: the discussion about which script was written by AI and which by a human; the question of copyright; the words of the actress who «actually isn’t really into a script that comes from a machine.» Which scenes have particularly stuck with you—and why?

As you can see in the TV movie, by the end we can no longer tell which scenes were written by a human and which by a machine. And that’s exactly where the problem lies. If we can’t tell the difference, we can’t possibly reject it. Here’s an example: A documentary film producer told me that they needed a voice-over for a nature documentary. They commissioned three companies: two that offer AI-generated voice-overs—in other words, a machine writes and speaks the voice-over—and one that uses real people. The results were presented to a test audience. They were asked to rank which film was most likely to have been created by humans. The astonishing result: The AI-generated films took first and second place, while the one created by humans came in third.

«It's incredible what AI is already capable of.»

 

When you recently spoke about the «AI Manifesto» at the «4Gamechangers» innovation festival in Vienna, you raised the very interesting point of «age shaming» of actresses. AI could make it possible to film using «eternally young» versions of popular actresses. Do you think the industry is cynical enough for this to pose a real danger?

Definitely. The industry has always been cynical. The things actresses have to put up with. I know actresses who were already cast in a movie and then recast because they developed acne or gained a little weight. Body shaming and age shaming are commonplace. Even now, actresses over 47 are hardly ever cast. The other day, an actress said to me, «There are so many teen moms in movies.» I didn’t understand what she meant. Then she said, «Just calculate the age difference between the actresses playing the mothers and their on-screen children.» Since then, I’ve been doing that all the time, and it usually comes out to a 13-year age difference. That’s what she meant. The mother role should actually be cast with an older actress, but it isn’t.

 

And anyway—if I may ask you, as an industry insider: Are there already some people in production companies, studios, and executive suites who say, «AI will lower our costs—and maximize our profits»? There are indeed such voices in media companies… I hear statements like that every day at our company.

Of course. That’s absolutely clear. It’s becoming nearly impossible to tell the difference between AI-generated and human-created content, and it reduces costs. That’s another aspect addressed in the «AI Manifesto.» If it saves so much money, what company can—or would—still afford not to use AI?

 

In your TV interview, you call for the industry—and then society at large—to come together to address the challenges associated with artificial intelligence. Have you noticed a lobby already forming, or is that more of a hope for the future?

No, on the contrary. The director of the «AI Manifesto» explained that it was very difficult to find participants for the documentary. Many people responded that we might have to grapple with this issue in twenty to thirty years. Many people are completely unprepared for this powerful AI avalanche that’s currently bearing down on us, and that’s exactly what our manifesto aims to call for: We must address this issue now and prepare ourselves now. Otherwise, we’ll be overwhelmed.

«If it saves so much money, what company can—or would—still afford not to use AI?»

 

What would we be missing if AI were to create our movies—our art—our culture? What would you personally be missing?

Sure, it would be technically possible for digital actor avatars to sail to the digital Hudson Valley on a digital dream ship. It’s doable. Anyone who doesn’t believe that should take a look at the «AI Manifesto.» One of our experts, Sven Bliedung von der Heide, offers exactly that: digital actors. And at some point, they’ll be cheaper than real ones. So far, Sven has been working mainly for the American market, on major Hollywood productions. As a result, a lot of costs would be eliminated: Digital actors don’t need air-conditioned or heated break rooms, no makeup artists, and no catering; they don’t go on outings with the crew or throw parties on Deck 9. All of that—the experiences and moments on set—would no longer exist.

 

There is also mention of the positive opportunities that AI offers, for example in the film industry—such as the script for the eulogy in the background. The ethicist we consulted aptly describes the technology as a «raging river that we can, however, steer along certain channels.» Do you share this optimism?

This topic both fascinates and frightens me. In the «AI Manifesto,» «Tatort» director Mira Thiel asks the question: «Tool or weapon?» That sounds relatively dramatic, but it really hits the nail on the head. It’s up to us to ensure that AI remains a tool and doesn’t become a weapon.

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«The AI Manifesto»

For the ZDF TV movie *The AI Manifesto*, host Collien Ulmen-Fernandes invites four filmmakers and four AI experts to grapple with a question that is uncomfortable—at least for the filmmakers—: When will AI disrupt the film industry and the broader cultural sector? The answer: The disruption has already begun. «Das KI-Manifest» is available for free in the ZDF media library.

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Collien Ulmen-Fernandes is a German television host, actress, and author. She became known to a wider audience through her work at the music television channel VIVA; later, she began appearing in film and television productions as well. She now works primarily for public broadcasting, focusing on critical documentaries that explore topics such as (religious) miracles or the power of AI. She is also a regular cast member on the ZDF classic «Das Traumschiff.».

m&k: Guntram Friede, as Celonis’s head of marketing, you manage one of the fastest-growing tech brands today. Let me start by asking you a question—perhaps a somewhat naive one: What exactly does your company «do»?

Guntram Friede: It may sound like a sweeping statement, but there is a huge gap at the heart of many companies today. Every department speaks its own language, and systems don’t work together. Processes are difficult to understand—and even harder to optimize. This is where «Process Intelligence» comes into play. You can think of «Process Intelligence»—and specifically «Process Mining»—as a core component of our platform, acting as a kind of X-ray machine for processes. By analyzing existing company data, it reveals at a glance how business processes operate and where there are weaknesses or inefficiencies. Specifically: We help companies like BMW, Lufthansa, and Uber create a digital twin of their business processes—one that’s realistic, dynamic, and «end-to-end.» The visualization is designed so that all departments can understand it—and work together to solve problems. Celonis also makes it smarter and easier to integrate old and new technologies and orchestrate existing systems. And: AI will provide another huge boost in this area.

 

To what extent is this important for clients in marketing and sales, as well as those in other areas of the company?

As a CMO, this is exactly the question I ask myself all the time—I want to demonstrate that there’s a sense of urgency; that something needs to be done. All too often, the biggest obstacle in our sales processes is still «inaction» or simply accepting the status quo. But I’d be happy to give you a few examples of why neither is a good idea.

 

You're welcome.

During the pandemic, many companies realized they needed to optimize their accounts payable processes to improve their liquidity. However, they weren’t—and still aren’t—quite sure what steps to take to achieve this. A similar situation can be observed when supply chains are disrupted—or when inflation rises and CFOs are frantically trying to figure out which levers to pull to mitigate the consequences. We can provide support in all of the examples mentioned. Celonis has clear «mission statements»: We don’t want 30 percent of all containers shipped globally to remain empty because their routes and capacity utilization were poorly planned. We don’t want large companies to continue paying invoices twice, or for one in five orders at online stores to be canceled on average due to avoidable stockouts. Companies can—and must—save these resources. Not only because of the enormous costs incurred by flawed processes, but also for the sake of sustainability. I’m particularly proud that our technology creates real added value here. While the transition of entire business models—for example, toward climate neutrality—takes a long time, Celonis enables improvements—and thus CO2 reductions—to be achieved very quickly. For example, in logistics, this is achieved by avoiding the aforementioned empty runs. Another increasingly relevant issue where we can help is the shortage of skilled workers. Companies—as well as government agencies—expect to have to manage with a shrinking number of qualified employees in the future. The result: Process efficiency must increase in order to continue handling tasks reliably and keep customers happy.

You were the head of marketing at Salesforce in Switzerland, then at a startup, and now you’re at a young, rapidly scaling tech company. What sets your marketing roles apart from those in other industries or roles with a stronger B2C focus?

B2B marketing in the technology sector has its own unique characteristics, of course, but it also presents exciting challenges that don’t exist in other B2B roles or in B2C. The products I’m privileged to market are complex—and require an in-depth understanding of their specifications; otherwise, I’ll come across as untrustworthy. I must be able to communicate effective value through sound technical knowledge. I need to be able to make it clear: «Here’s a challenge you’re facing, and with us, you can solve it!» I also have to convince a broader group of stakeholders. In our line of work, purchasing decisions are typically made through negotiations involving various interest groups, bringing IT managers, CTOs, and CIOs into play, as well as CFOs, procurement, and senior management. Everyone needs to be «on board.» This makes the marketing and sales process longer and more complex. And that makes it all the more important to develop individualized, tailored proposals that address the «pain points» of everyone involved. Finally: Generalizations are never a good idea, but it generally helps people in roles like mine to stand out through thought leadership—for example, via presentations and a strong presence at industry events.

«We don't want large companies to continue paying every fifth invoice twice.»

 

What aspects of B2B marketing—especially in the technology sector—aren't yet working the way you'd like them to?

I believe this applies to modern marketing as a whole: We should rely much more heavily on data analysis to track and measure the effectiveness of our campaigns. Monitoring lead generation, MQL conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and customer lifetime value should be part of a CMO’s daily routine. Digital marketing via paid and owned media is also essential and still has a great deal of potential. But let’s not forget: Even in B2B marketing—and even when it comes to topics like technology—communication and culture should never be neglected.

 

What does that mean?

Many tech companies operate globally, which is why we need to tailor our marketing campaigns to specific countries, cultures, industries, and personas. All of this must be done while maintaining consistency in our message. If I don’t speak the language of potential clients, or if I’m not familiar with their customs and business practices, then I can’t effectively reach them.

«There is a huge void at the heart of many companies today.»

 

We've known each other for a while now and have done several interviews. At Salesforce, you had a comfortable playing field in Switzerland, and during your stint at the startup, you were able to lay the groundwork. Was Celonis the logical synthesis of both?

After more than twenty years in the tech industry, I think I have a pretty good sense of when something special is being created. I took my time with the «due diligence» and the discussions with Celonis… and was given that time, which I really appreciate. And then the «match» was perfect—even without a dating app (laughs). What appealed to me… phew, so many things: I enjoy building something from the ground up, orchestrating various marketing campaigns, discovering talent, hiring them, and helping them grow. I enjoy achieving success with my team and celebrating that success. I’ve always placed a high value on intrinsic motivation and personal responsibility—both in myself and others—and an organization the size of Celonis is exactly right for me right now. Plus: There’s a lot of overlap with the consulting roles I take on part-time at other startups.

 

And what exactly?

At Celonis, we’re focusing heavily on «revenue marketing,» which is also a key priority in my consulting roles at other startups. Every day is filled with listening, learning, and adapting. I really enjoy that. Topics like leadership, culture, and performance—which I use as indicators of my own success—all come together here. It gives me a real «boost» that our founders and the Celonis leadership team are fully behind my belief that marketing is a crucial factor in our rapid—yet sustainable!—growth.

The fact that you mentioned the Celonis founders brings me right to my next question: What does your company’s story actually say about Munich as a «hidden champion» in the DACH tech industry?

Despite its global ambitions, Celonis is «as Munich as it gets»: The three founders—Bastian Nominacher, Alexander Rinke, and Martin Klenk—got their start more than ten years ago as part of a student project at Bayerischer Rundfunk, developing software for process mining. And we are just one example of many success stories in the Bavarian capital. Tech hubs like Munich attract the right talent, companies, and investments, which form the basis for innovation in the form of patents, new products, and new startups. Major corporations such as Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Germany, Huawei, IBM Watson, Microsoft, and Salesforce have chosen this location, and I firmly believe that this trend will continue to gain momentum. I also find it exciting to see how the startup ecosystem will develop. The city has seen a number of truly significant exits and has produced a highly impressive pipeline of established, high-growth startups. Alongside us are companies like Flixbus, Personio, and Ottonova, which make a major contribution to Munich’s appeal as a hub of innovation. This is fertile ground on which a great deal will continue to grow in the future. Of that, I am absolutely, absolutely certain.

«Celonis is—despite its global ambitions—»as Munich as it gets.'"

 

I know you hate being labeled the «world champion of announcements.» And, as a result, you’re not particularly fond of questions about forecasts. Still, I’d like to know: What is your medium-term plan for marketing Celonis and the future development of your business?

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m very reluctant to brag about our successes or make promises about the future. I’d rather show what we’ve actually already accomplished. For example: As of today, we’ve helped Celonis customers save more than five billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the «Here comes your value» clock is ticking faster and louder than ever, because our clients are deploying Celonis technology on a broad scale, and we’re receiving new requests for collaboration every day. Take a look: Already, about fifty percent of the world’s 200 largest corporations, as well as two-thirds of all DAX-listed companies, are using Celonis solutions. In 2024, we were named a «Leader» in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms for the second year in a row, securing the top spot in both the «Vision» and «Execution» categories. As I said, I don’t like to get carried away with announcements. But: I expect that we’ll continue to build on these trends with our talent and our technology. The more successful our customers are, the faster that will happen. Of course, I also bear responsibility: I need to tighten the reins on communication, because there’s definitely still a need to educate people about Celonis. But that doesn’t bother me—it’s more like déjà vu: When I started at Salesforce about fifteen years ago, I first had to help people understand why their data from an Excel file needed to be migrated to the cloud as a matter of urgency. (Laughs). It takes a lot of hard work and patience. That’s just how the game is played.

 

A naive question at the beginning, a naive question toward the end: With Salesforce, you sponsored the Zurich Street Parade and commissioned hot-air balloons shaped like your «Einstein» mascot; you launched guerrilla marketing campaigns and ventured off the beaten path. Is that your trick for making technology topics «sexy»?

I want to bring technology to life through the marketing I oversee—and explain to people quickly and simply how they can benefit from using it. To do that, it’s much more important to listen and adapt first—the colorful images and fanfare will come later. (Laughs). Right now, I tend to think of myself as the «Chief Market Officer» and don’t make too much of the «-ing» in marketing. I’m also a mediator: our developers, our founders… they all love the product because they created it. I’ve long been «on fire» and share their enthusiasm. But I have to make it clear to people outside our bubble where that fire—that passion—comes from.

 

I didn't upset you by bringing up your past «stunts,» did I?

No, you’re forgiven. (Laughs). Just kidding—honestly, I think it’s great when people remember brand and value campaigns that ran in the past. Clearly, they evoked positive emotions and memories that created relevance and impact for the brand. There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, the «B» in B2B doesn’t stand for «boring.».

 

I’m not ready to give up just yet: Can you give me a few hints about what we’ll be hearing from Celonis in the coming weeks and months? You don’t have to promise me anything—just a glimpse of what’s to come would be enough…

All right. We’re adding even more value for our clients and will soon be taking a leading role in the field of «process mining and AI.» Algorithms are a core component of our software, so naturally, we’ve been working on this area for a long time. But the potential seems… almost limitless. We know there’s so much more that’s possible. The foundation is a unified data model that has been developed with extreme care to provide the best possible basis for AI applications. You know yourself that outdated or contradictory data—inadequately prepared data—is one of the biggest sticking points when using AI, especially when critical decisions need to be made. If you ask me about visions… former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once said you should go to the doctor with those (laughs)… I’d actually rather talk about goals again. In marketing, we need to launch strategic partnerships and explain to our target audiences through impactful campaigns that everyone can understand: «Here we are. This is who we are. And here’s why we can help you.» Now that you’ve asked me so many questions—may I wrap things up with a bit of shameless but friendly self-promotion?

 

As an exception.

We’re renovating and expanding our Executive Briefing Center in Munich—it’s set to become the most innovative facility of its kind in all of Europe. A place where our experts can meet with decision-makers to present our solutions to them in an immersive environment. We’ll bring «process mining» to life in a playful way. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to call it «sexy.».

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Guntram Friede is the DACH CMO at the Munich-based technology company Celonis. Previously, he worked at an app startup and as CMO of Salesforce Switzerland, among other roles—so he has been in the tech industry for more than two decades in total. He also shares his expertise as a speaker, startup consultant, and business angel.

 

This article first appeared in the m&k print edition 6-7/2024.

There’s something about the sustainable lifestyle: Many consumers embrace it because they recognize, rationally, «that there’s no way around it,» yet deep down, it gives them a knot in their stomach. At least that’s what Johanna Gollnhofer, director of the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight at the renowned University of St. Gallen, has observed. Gollnhofer has even written a book on the subject, which will be published this fall. It’s titled: «The 60% Potential: Using Marketing to Inspire the Masses to Embrace Green Consumption.» For Gollnhofer, it starts with the packaging: Products wrapped in eco-brown packaging and bearing labels such as «recyclable» or «vegan» trigger a desire to buy only among die-hard eco-enthusiasts, but cause unease among everyone else. «The vast majority of consumers associate this with sacrifice, higher prices, or a lack of taste,» the professor notes.

Chocolate Bunny Without a Bell

Take chocolate, for example: To find out what criteria shoppers use to choose their products, the design agency Popular Packaging and the market researchers at Behaviorally took a close look at the packaging of various chocolate brands. The result is clear: Primary sustainability cues in the design—such as untreated cardboard or muted colors—do not influence consumer preference—quite the opposite.

«The chocolate bunny has to do without a bell, and the tequila without a sombrero.»

Too many green elements, combined with a text-heavy design, don’t just detract from the visual appeal. They also overshadow what makes chocolate delicious in the first place: the promise of taste, which the study’s authors consider the «universal driver of purchase.» So, anyone who focuses too much on sustainability loses emotional impact—which is the death of any brand.

Less is more

Less is more—that’s also Geoffrey Hildbrand’s conclusion when it comes to green packaging. As a Strategy Partner at the Hamburg-based design studio Popular Packaging, he contributed to the chocolate study. To comply with the new requirements of the EU’s «Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations» (PPWR for short), which stipulate that 70 percent of packaging waste must be recyclable by 2030, companies must do one thing above all else, according to Hildbrand: «Build brand value with less packaging and less effort.» This means that chocolate bunnies today have to do without bows and bells—and tequila bottles without plastic caps. «No matter how distinctive these elements may be, we need other solutions,» the expert clarifies. To ensure that packaging doesn’t look dreary due to sustainability requirements, but still has that finishing touch, Hildbrand recommends that companies incorporate packaging design early on in the conceptual phase. But this also means no longer automatically relying on industry packaging standards, even if they promise sustainability. «Many dairy product manufacturers are now questioning the use of three-component cups,» reports the design expert. After all, the responsibility for separating the individual packaging components cannot be shifted onto consumers—especially since the cup’s design often doesn’t even allow for it.

«Brands should be environmentally conscious, but they shouldn't come across that way.»

Danone has found a good solution to this challenge for its Actimel brand: Instead of using an extra plastic sleeve to display the brand name, the logo is already integrated into the cup. The necessary product information is printed on the banderole. «They’ve done everything right,» Hildbrand praises: «This reduces plastic, ensures recyclability, keeps material streams clean, and saves costs.» Ultimately, consumers—who are confronted with images of mountains of plastic waste in the news almost daily—appreciate this as well. And because retailers have largely stopped using plastic bags in favor of paper, the belief has taken root in people’s minds: “Plastic equals bad, paper equals good.”.

Plastic is «bad,» paper is «good»?!

For Andreas Zopfi, this equation is wrong. «The value of sustainable packaging has increased significantly in the minds of consumers,» confirms the managing director of the Swiss Packaging Institute in Oberwangen near Bern. But what is truly eco-friendly and what isn’t? In the public consciousness, paper and cardboard are generally considered the ideal solution—but that’s a fallacy. «Packaging made from renewable materials like paper isn’t eco-friendly per se,» Zopfi explains. «Consumers often don’t realize when they’re buying a type of paper that isn’t waterproof, for example.» To provide better protection, the paper is then coated with plastics—and is thus often no longer recyclable. According to the packaging expert, a material is only the best choice if it can be reintroduced into the cycle rather than ending up in a landfill. In addition, the goal is to achieve the best possible protective function for the packaging while using as little material as possible. Especially in the food sector, no compromises should be made in order to prevent food waste. «Studies show that reducing food waste by 3.5 percent eliminates the packaging’s ecological footprint. In this regard, I often can’t condone the ‚plastic bashing‘ either.»

Customers' lack of knowledge leads to quick results

According to the institute’s director, however, marketing departments sometimes take advantage of customers« lack of knowledge to achieve quick results—a strategy that Zopfi calls »greenwashing.” The example of a granola bar wrapper supports his claim. In a research experiment, one group was given a bar wrapped in plastic, while another group received the same bar wrapped in both plastic and paper. The result: The test subjects perceived the paper-and-plastic packaging as significantly more environmentally friendly than the all-plastic packaging. A follow-up experiment also found that consumers are not only more likely to buy products in mixed cardboard and plastic packaging, but are also willing to pay more for them.

Marketing: Should We Stay Away from Packaging?

For Andreas Zopfi, the solution lies in using packaging that is suited to the requirements of the product being packaged. Plastic wrap is suitable for direct contact with the product, but cardboard is better for outer packaging and shipping. «Whether the packaging is made of paper, cardboard, corrugated cardboard, plastic, sheet metal, or aluminum should not be decided by marketing, but by product management,» he believes. He notes that color, coatings, and texture serve marketing purposes alone but often hinder recyclability. «Establishing a circular economy—especially in the area of plastic packaging—is absolutely essential,» he insists.

Not an easy task …

In Austria, too, many companies are currently facing the challenge of using sustainable packaging—while still making their products look appealing. «It’s important to keep in mind that most products actually have to sell themselves at the point of sale through their packaging, since only a small portion of products are advertised,» notes Ernst Krottendorfer, managing director of the Austrian packaging network Packforce Austria. He, too, sees a challenge in reconciling packaging design—which is increasingly dictated by legal requirements—with aesthetic standards. It’s no easy task.

… but it's worth the effort!

Despite all the challenges and complications, Geoffrey Hildbrand points to the German drugstore chain dm, for example, as proof that the effort is still worthwhile. While established manufacturers tend to focus on reducing or substituting materials, they see completely redesigned packaging as an opportunity for growth. «In the retail sector, we’re seeing a number of new investments in production, which consumers notice and appreciate,» says Hildbrand. For example, with its newly designed private label Balea, the drugstore chain dm demonstrates that eco-friendly packaging doesn’t have to look eco-friendly—but can also convey «lifestyle quality» through appealing design. Johanna Gollnhofer confirms the pioneering role of the dm brand, which is both green and glamorous. According to the marketing expert, brands are welcome to be environmentally conscious, but they shouldn’t come across as such. As an example, she points to the car manufacturer Tesla, which doesn’t position itself as sustainable, but rather as innovative: «That makes consumers much more eager for a green future.»

Net advertising revenue in Switzerland is stagnating. According to the latest advertising statistics, direct marketing generated net revenue of 747 million francs last year. This means that nearly 18 percent of Swiss advertising spending falls into this category. Only promotional items, with revenue of 875 million Swiss francs, surpass direct mail or direct marketing (DM). Press, online, and TV advertising follow in third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively. The 747 million generated through DM is divided between unaddressed and addressed mailings. In 2023, 62 percent of advertising mailings were unaddressed. However, all these brochures and flyers in our mailboxes accounted for only 22 percent of net revenue. The lion’s share—namely 78 percent of the 747 million—came from addressed mailings. This was despite the fact that their volume accounted for «only» 38 percent.

«Targeted advertising will become even more effective in the future because it will reach target audiences more precisely.»

Even though advertising revenue from direct marketing declined by nearly six percent last year, «physical» dialogue marketing still has its place, according to Christian Huldi, president of the Swiss Dialogue Marketing Association (SDV). The expert highlights the importance of customer centricity and customer relationship management, which cannot be successfully implemented without «dialogue.» «The importance of these topics is growing rapidly.» For Huldi, one thing is clear—companies must do more and more in this area, because a successful customer journey cannot be achieved without direct marketing.

The barrier at the mailboxes

As the NZZ recently reported, the percentage of mailboxes with «No Advertising» stickers is increasing by about 1.3 percent each year. According to Swiss Post, approximately 1.7 million Swiss households currently do not have a «No Advertising» sticker on their mailbox. As Daniel Schönmann, Head of Advertising Research and Communication at Swiss Post, notes, the proportion of mailboxes with «No Advertising» stickers—around 45 percent—is significantly lower in rural areas than in larger metropolitan areas, where about 55 percent of mailboxes have such a sticker. In Switzerland’s major cities, however, about 70 percent of mailboxes had a «No Unsolicited Advertising» sign last December. According to Schönmann, it is important to note that the number of “No Unsolicited Advertising” signs refers to mailboxes and not to people. This reach would therefore differ from the advertising reach. “In a single-person household, the notice has a different impact on reach than it does in an extended family,” says the marketing expert.

Advertising reach is reflected in the MACH Strategy published by WEMF AG for Advertising Media Research. According to the latest MACH Strategy, 55 percent of the Swiss resident population aged 14 and older does not have a «No Junk Mail» sticker. When considering regular users, unaddressed direct mail achieves a reach of 46 percent. For addressed direct mail, the figure is as high as 56 percent. «Direct mail therefore remains one of the media formats with the widest reach in Switzerland,» emphasizes Daniel Schönmann. Cost-conscious industries in particular—such as retailers and nonprofit organizations, which pay close attention to return on investment (ROI) when selecting their media mix—rely heavily on physical mailings. The coffee specialist Tchibo Switzerland, for example, which has been on the market here for over 20 years, has worked with magazines and brochures from the very beginning. «We send out a catalog every month, which has a direct impact on the success of our online channel,» explains Eva Wasser, Senior Manager of CRM & Communications at Tchibo Switzerland. The catalog focuses exclusively on presenting the products, although the selection online is considerably larger than in the stores. Sales generated through direct mail are measurable and can be clearly linked to this marketing measure. Tchibo (Switzerland), headquartered in Wallisellen, employs around 340 people and has operated its own stores, distribution centers with major retailers, and its own national online store since 2001. As an owner-managed company, Tchibo does not disclose specific figures: “What I can say is that we continue to believe in the brick-and-mortar channel and regularly serve it with a relatively large volume of sales,” explains Wasser.

«The Swiss Direct Marketing Association maintains a very active exchange with direct marketing associations in the DACH region.»

Tchibo Switzerland evaluates the success of every mailing. Thanks to targeted selection, all direct marketing campaigns break even within two weeks of being sent out and generate significant sales. For the company, which was founded in Hamburg in 1949, 360-degree communication is a given and has become indispensable.

The Future of Direct and Dialog Marketing

The trend toward «No Advertising» stickers is on the rise. A study by Ipsos Switzerland commissioned by Swiss Post concludes that those who do not have a «No Advertising» sticker are making a conscious choice not to have one. Such individuals therefore wish to receive direct mail. Precisely because of this conscious decision to receive unaddressed mail, Swiss Post expects that the proportion of mailboxes without a «No Advertising» sticker will gradually stabilize. According to Dr. Christian Huldi, an expert in customer relations and customer experience, a personal and individualized approach remains indispensable. He also notes that, both today and in the future, there will be industries and companies for which direct mail will continue to be a worthwhile investment. Huldi is 100 percent convinced that dialogue marketing will survive—«including the physical kind»! As an example, the SDV president cites the «revival» of physical customer magazines in many industries. “In my opinion, this is linked to the oversaturation of email newsletters.” The Zurich native, who brings 30 years of industry experience to the table, therefore recommends direct marketing to all companies. He sees great potential especially in the B2B sector: “As soon as a company relies on CRM, it won’t work without dialogue marketing.” Christian Huldi also specifically recommends dialogue marketing to startups, due to the quick and easy scalability and measurability of ROI, as well as their limited budgets.

A More Personalized Approach Thanks to AI

The use of artificial intelligence will benefit DM. This is because, according to Frank Hannich of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, AI will make it much more efficient to tailor communications based on customer data and customer responses. «This will reinforce the trend away from mass marketing toward personalized communication, thereby also increasing the appeal and affordability of dialogue marketing,» says the head of the Customer Management & E-Commerce Department at ZHAW. Professor Hannich also sees the expected flood of digital messages produced using generative artificial intelligence as an opportunity for physical mailings: «Physical mailings will stand out as a result and are more likely to be perceived by customers as thoughtful and personal.» Daniel Schönmann of Post Advertising echoes this sentiment: «Addressed advertising will become even more effective and important in the future because target groups can be addressed in an increasingly data-driven and thus more targeted manner.» Through this targeting, physical advertising catches up with online advertising in a key area while retaining its advantage in terms of attention and impact. This is because direct marketing always appeals to multiple senses at once.

The Decline in Unaddressed Advertising

If you take a closer look at the latest figures from the Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation, you’ll see that unaddressed direct mail declined slightly more sharply last year than addressed mailbox advertising. From Post Advertising’s perspective, this can be explained by two special factors: First, some major advertising clients are no longer distributing their brochures in mailboxes but instead as inserts in the print media of their parent companies, namely the Coop newspaper and the Migros Magazine. These volumes are therefore still present but are not captured in the direct mail statistics. Second, there were several bankruptcies among previous advertising clients in the mail-order sector in 2023.

A Look at the DACH Region

Direct marketing is a major topic throughout the DACH region. In Germany, direct marketing figures are compiled annually in the «DM-Monitor.» The latest edition of the Monitor shows that four out of ten companies have recently increased their dialogue marketing budget. However, direct marketing is defined slightly differently in this study. According to Christian Huldi, owner of DataCrea, it’s important to note that in Switzerland, due to the smaller market, customer retention is much more important than customer acquisition. The Swiss Dialog Marketing Association maintains very close ties with the DM associations in the DACH region. The associations are currently working on a new and appropriate definition of dialog marketing. «We want to convey that dialog marketing is indispensable for modern, digital marketing as well as for CRM and CEM.»

It is a very simple but powerful image. Each finger stands for a current industry topic: agencies and AI, brand and attitude, the industry and young talent, appreciation and remuneration and the synergy of creation and strategy. When it all comes together, it creates unexpected pressure.

1. agencies and AI: AI has come to stay

So now it's out: "Apple Intelligence" is Apple's answer to AI. However, the successful word creation does not hide the fact that certain circles had expected a reaction to this topic from Cupertino earlier.

But what is the communications industry's actual response to the rapid development of AI? Artificial intelligence undoubtedly has the potential to fundamentally change the day-to-day work of advertising agencies. In addition to making everyday tasks easier, right through to more extensive tasks, there is a great deal of added value, particularly in the area of production. If you understand and master the technology and use it correctly, AI can help to generate high-quality output that opens up new avenues or replaces conventional ones.

Despite this progress, however, there are still limits and hurdles that are currently restricting its use. In particular, there are still many legal issues that have not yet been conclusively clarified. This concerns not only copyright law, but also extends to the areas of data protection, usage regulations, liability and contract law. There are uncertainties along the entire value chain - from the operator to the user - and until there are no precedents in Europe, many decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

"AI, attitude, talent development, self-confidence and the synergy of strategy and creativity are key topics that help us to provide our customers with the best possible support."

The hype surrounding AI has raised expectations that in many cases were not realistic. This disappointment is unfortunate, as AI can actually increase our creativity and productivity. The reasons for the unfulfilled expectations are misunderstandings about the nature of the transformation. AI transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. Companies will not become 60 percent more productive overnight just because they give their employees access to Chat GPT. The AI transformation will keep companies busy for years - just like digitalization. It is the biggest upheaval in the field of knowledge work for decades. It requires strategic as well as technological and cultural adjustments.

To put it in the words of the band "Wir sind Helden": AI has come to stay.

2. brand and attitude: everything but a mere marketing strategy

One thing is certain: the communications industry finds itself in a time in which attitude and purpose are becoming increasingly important.

Initiatives such as Pride Month and the democracy initiative of the German association of leading communication agencies GWA in Germany to warn against populism in the mega election year show that brands and agencies are increasingly taking an active role in social issues. In our country, too, pitches are increasingly being judged not only on strategy and creativity but also on the way a brand speaks. This development is fundamentally positive, as it underlines the responsibility of the communications industry to contribute to positive social change. Advertising as pure product placement is no longer in keeping with the times.

In addition, a strong attitude can help brands to stand out from the competition and build a deeper connection with their target groups (topic of love brand vs. soul brand). A prerequisite for attitude is authenticity. Simply painting the brand logo in rainbow colors is not enough. Attitude must be lived. This means that companies and agencies must act consistently both internally and externally and reflect their values in all areas of their activities. The challenge is to convey this attitude credibly and sustainably without it being perceived as a mere marketing strategy.

3. industry and young talent: an inspiring work culture is essential

To counteract the problem of young talent, agencies must train the next generation themselves.

The question of a possible problem with young talent in the communications industry is complex. On the one hand, there are still many young talents who want to enter the industry. On the other hand, there is always a shortage of talent because we are in competition with many other industries and companies. The variety and number of opportunities has increased massively.

In order to counteract the problem of young talent, agencies must train the next generation themselves, promote talent and offer attractive working conditions. This includes not only fair remuneration and development opportunities, but also an inspiring work culture and an environment that promotes creativity and innovation. It also means demanding respectful and appreciative treatment in all customer relationships. This releases energy and leads to more creativity.

4. appreciation and reward: celebrate successes more strongly and make them more visible

Our campaigns influence public awareness, shape brand images and make a significant contribution to the commercial success of our clients.

The work we do within the communications industry is enormously valuable and important. Our campaigns influence public awareness, shape brand images and contribute significantly to the commercial success of our clients. As mentioned, we also have a certain amount of responsibility to contribute to positive social change. It is therefore crucial that we as an industry take more pride in our achievements and are aware of the importance of our work.

To counteract the trend of looking at our own work with too little pride and giving a pure service mentality the upper hand, we should celebrate successes more and make them more visible. Case studies and success stories can help to illustrate the impact of our work and boost self-confidence within the industry - as well as within our own agency. Internally, managers should encourage their teams and recognize their achievements. Externally, greater communication of successes can help improve the industry's reputation. It's about changing the narrative and clearly emphasizing the value of our creative and strategic work.

5. synergy of strategy and creativity: pairing instead of silo culture

Strategy and creativity are mutually dependent and must go hand in hand in order to develop successful campaigns.

Strategy and creativity are mutually dependent and must go hand in hand in order to develop successful campaigns. Without a clear strategic direction, creative ideas can come to nothing and without creative excellence, a strategy remains ineffective. In our work, we must ensure that these two areas are closely interlinked and inspire and complement each other.

To prevent a silo culture from arising in the first place, we promote interdisciplinary collaboration and started forming pairs in our agency at an early stage. These pairs from different disciplines - strategy, creation, consulting - work together on projects from the outset. This makes it possible to bring in different perspectives and develop integrative solutions.

Unimagined power

To summarize, the communications industry is in a constant state of flux and we as an agency are constantly working to adapt and evolve. AI, attitude, talent development, self-confidence and the synergy of strategy and creativity are key topics that help us to remain successful, provide our clients with the best possible support and keep our finger on the pulse.

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This article first appeared in the m&k print edition 6-7/2024.

2024 is a football year, an Olympic year, a US election year - and the "Year of the News". For twelve months, the partners of the #UseTheNews media initiative in the DACH region will be drawing attention to the importance of trustworthy information and promoting the safe use of news, especially among young people. A broad alliance of private and public stakeholders, media companies, associations and institutes is supporting the initiative. A dedicated campaign and many other activities will give reputable media a platform - and help young people to distinguish them from fake news.

"False information spreads faster than the truth."

An important effort that is probably more relevant than ever in 2024: misinformation is on the rise, as are technologies that make it appear ever more credible. It spreads like wildfire - yes, even faster than the truth. At an event on current challenges in the field of digital communication, experts from the agency Masterplan Media cited a study by the MIT Sloan School of Management, according to which online fake news reaches users six times faster than facts. And on Platform X, falsehoods are 70 percent more likely to be replicated than the truth.

Democracy and advertising

A problem that not only affects society and democracy, but also the advertising industry: "The topics of brand safety and fake news are very important to us as an agency and one of the biggest challenges at the moment," says Masterplan Media Managing Director Carsten Riemann-Kafsack. "As a media agency, we are obliged to generate the greatest possible advertising success for our clients from the resources we use. Alongside other factors, the environment in which an advertisement is placed plays a key role in determining the chances of attracting attention and the duration of viewing of the advertising media used and is therefore a fundamental factor for advertising recall and advertising impact."

An analysis by Comscore and the Newsguard platform, which indexes trust ratings for news and information websites, shows that around 2.6 billion US dollars flow to publishers of misinformation and disinformation worldwide every year in the form of programmatic advertising - from false health claims, anti-vaccination myths, election misinformation and partisan propaganda to other facets of "fake". Misinformation about the Israel-Gaza war alone supports 349 (!) globally known companies with programmatic advertising, according to Newsguard.

Influence on brand perception

Another loss is not so easy to quantify: namely the influence that this type of advertising has on brand perception in various dimensions. The Magna media network from IPG and Zefr, a provider of brand safety and suitability indicators, have now jointly investigated this. For the "Ads in Misinformation" report, the study authors conducted an analysis with more than 2,000 social media users. The participants saw different ads in the context of real and fake news on topics such as health, climate or politics, as well as AI-generated texts.

It turned out that brands that advertised in the context of fake news had a higher recall value than those that appeared in standard environments - especially in the political sphere. Brand recall is a KPI that many would like to see, but not in this case: brands that appear in the context of misinformation are seen as less trustworthy - even by customers who regularly buy this brand. In other words, brands are losing influence on respect and trust among their most important clients, the study notes. 63% of respondents believe that misinformation has a negative impact on the perception of the brand. "It is a fake story. It makes the brand look fake, too," said one of the respondents.

"Only when consumers are able to distinguish real news from fake news will fake news no longer stand a chance."

The authors of the study paid particular attention to the area of sustainability and wanted to know: What is the impact on brand perception of a "green" brand that advertises in the context of fake news on climate change and environmental issues? It turned out that these brands also lose credibility - almost half (44%) even question the brand's sustainability efforts. Magna and Zefr state: advertising in the context of fake news means wasted advertising expenditure. The two companies therefore recommend that brands invest in tools and strategies that ensure their ads end up in a safe environment.

Support tools and providers

These are, for example, ad verification platforms such as Integral Ad Science (IAS) or DoubleVerify, which help advertisers to ensure that their ads do not appear on problematic websites. Tools such as Zefr assess the suitability of advertising with regard to the content on which it is to appear. Other providers specialize in the detection of fake news and disinformation - such as Newsguard, a rating system for the trustworthiness of websites and reliable sources. Many platforms and publishers also offer their own solutions to ensure a safe environment.

Masterplan Media uses a combination of different components. According to Carsten Riemann-Kafsack, it is important to discuss the topic transparently with clients as a consulting agency - because security is also a question of price. "It's better to do without unreflected mass reach, but to advertise in the right environments," says the expert. Ultimately, the challenge is to appear "brand-safe" and effective at the same time. And for this to succeed, everyone is called upon: publishers, who must ensure the safety of their environments, agencies, who must verify suitable sources and exclude unsuitable ones - and the brands themselves, who should not only focus on quantitative reach, but also on its quality.

A journey on the "Fake Train"

And last but not least, the consumers themselves. Because only when they are able to distinguish real news from fake news will fake news have less and less of a chance. The German Federal Agency for Civic Education is therefore promoting greater news literacy with an unusual format: in "Fake Train", a new game show that has been available on Amazon Freevee since the beginning of June, the well-known Youtuber Rezo takes prominent passengers (including influencer Twenty4Tim, rapper Xatar, stand-up comedienne Parshad Esmaeili and Youtuber Rewinside) on a train journey and puts their knowledge of fake news, disinformation and conspiracy narratives to the test. If they manage to debunk the lies, they will reach the next stop - on the long journey towards the truth.

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INTERVIEW

"Everyone must make a contribution"

Roland Ehrler heads the Swiss Advertising Client Association (SWA), the most important client association in the Swiss advertising industry. In this short interview, he explains what can be done to combat fake news in the advertising environment.

m&k: Roland Ehrler, fake news and disinformation are an ever-growing problem - to what extent for advertising clients too?

Roland Ehrler: Credible media are attractive advertising platforms for advertisers. In this sense, fake news and disinformation also harm the advertising environment and thus the communication of advertisers.

 

How can the industry take countermeasures, what is currently being done?

First and foremost, it is up to news publishers to ensure that no fake news is spread. This is the responsibility of national publishers and international platforms. There are also country-specific initiatives - in Switzerland, for example, "Digital Ad Trust Switzerland" - with which the advertising inventory of publishers can be regularly certified. And finally, advertising clients and their commissioned agencies can ensure that their advertising does not end up in the environment of fake news when purchasing online.

 

Where do clients see the biggest challenges?

I don't know of any company that wants to support fake news. Unfortunately, especially with programmatic bookings, there is no 100% certainty that advertising will not be delivered in such environments. The same applies to ad fraud or brand safety. This is due to the complexity and size of the World Wide Web. Even if the online industry's control options are constantly improving.

 

Whose responsibility is this issue? Is it the platforms, the media agencies - or the companies themselves?

Quite simply. Everyone is in the same boat here and it is therefore a shared responsibility of the industry. Everyone has a part to play in keeping fake news under control.

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This article first appeared in the m&k print edition 6-7/2024.