Rank 2 to 5

Second place goes to Ruf Lanz. One could casually write, "again" or "usual brilliant", but this would not really depict what creative force emanates from this boutique agency. It is by no means normal that Ruf Lanz has been moving so consistently in the thin air of the best for 20 years - they celebrated their anniversary last year. Markus Ruf sums up his second place in the rankings as follows: "Nobody waited for a campaign. It needs an idea that packages the message in such a surprising way that the audience wants to hear it." And for years, the agency, which comprises eight creative minds, has succeeded in this with a consistency that is second to none. Outstanding campaigns for which it rained awards included "Tier im Recht," "Welti-Furrer Fine Art Transport" and "Kein Tier im Visier 2." Further statements give call on Advertisingweek.ch.

Publicis/Notch has catapulted from 7th to 3rd place. Notch has been operating under the Publicis Group umbrella for two years, and together they have produced excellent campaigns in 2021, most notably with Migros specialty stores' video advice, Migros' neighborhood help Amigos and UBS Helpetica. "This year has confirmed two things for us," says Publicis Zurich CEO Matthias Koller. "First, that Publicis Zurich stands for creativity that tackles and moves. And second, that with Notch we offer creativity that connects people and brands with design and innovative technology. When it comes to awarding prizes for this concentrated creativity at award shows, it is clear to us that we only submit real campaigns for real clients. No award ideas, no idea without a brief."

Fourth place goes to Wirz, who paused last year and the year before last. Of course, not in the creative work, but in the submission to competitions. Now they are back in the ranking and stable in 4th place, as they were before the break (see graphic). Wirz has won awards in 2021 with many works; at ADC Switzerland alone, the agency won silver five times with five different campaigns. For Wirz, submitting to ADC Switzerland is above all a commitment to Switzerland as a creative location. Wirz co-CEOs Livio Dainese and Petra Dreyfus see the investment in the submission fee as promoting young talent. "Internationally, we now only submit work that we are really proud of, even if we don't win anything with it," says Dainese. This year, that was the Swiss tourism spot "No Drama" starring Robert de Niro and Roger Federer.

TBWA\Zurich had fallen out of the top 10 last year, ECD Manuel Wenzel explained it this way: "We decided on an award stop pretty much at the beginning of the Covid story, as part of a series of measures we initiated to secure jobs for our people." Apparently a good decision, because this year they're back with a vengeance, knocking agency Havas out of 5th place. Wenzel is particularly proud that TBWA won awards in a wide variety of disciplines, with seven different pieces of work for five clients. His personal highlight of 2021, he said, was the Tesla targeting that TBWA developed for Porsche, because it was a very different kind of idea, a creative agency's disruptive response to the data and performance hype.

Place 6 to 10

6th place in the creative rankings this year was conquered by the agency Inhalt und Form. Karin Estermann, ECD and partner, is proud that the agency could fully count on the team in such challenging times. This resulted in great campaigns, which led to satisfied customers and also to awards. For example, for Aldi Suisse, Carl F. Bucherer, EI Tony and Caotina. Dominik Stibal, CEO and partner, is particularly proud of the "Züribrätt". A self-initiative of the employees of Inhalt und Form, which brought the bar and club life of Zurich into the warm room during the lockdown in the form of a board game. "This allowed us to collect not only several prizes at various award shows, but also over 70,000 Swiss francs, which benefited the Bar & Club Komission Zürich," says Stibal. He added that the "iundf family," consisting of Content and Form, iundf Marketing Technology, and iundf Media Impact, continued to grow in 2021 and was able to expand its client portfolio. "A good sign that the realignment we embarked on five years ago is bearing fruit," says Dominik Stibal.

Although pushed down from 5th to 7th place by Inhalt und Form, Havas has remained stable in the top 10 of the creative rankings for years. Patrick Beeli, CD of Havas Zurich, sees the future of the creative industry as challenging. Ideas have become part of a complex system, he says. The challenge will be to optimally combine creativity and customer-centricity. These should not be mutually exclusive. Gabriel Mauron, CD of Havas Geneva, adds that the right creative strategy, coupled with good entertainment, will enable customers to have an even more meaningful experience.

The Farner Group has worked its way up from 10th to 8th place. Although the creative ranking is very much of significance as an incentive for the industry, Philipp Skrabal emphasizes that the agency did not focus on it in 2021 either. This, he says, is because the significance in terms of the agencies' effective creative performance is distorted. The CCO and partner of the Farner Group sums it up like this: "We are proud of our ranking. Creativity remains match-decisive - in everyday professional life, however, it shows a much more multifaceted face than depicted in this ranking."

Wunderman Thompson remains stable in ninth place. Swen Morath, Co-CEO and CCO, says: "Due to the still tense economic situation in Switzerland, we made significantly fewer submissions than usual in 2021. But it was important to us to submit at least one case for every local award that took place, in order to support the organizers somewhat. We are particularly pleased to have made it into the top 10 of the creative rankings."

Rank 10 this year goes to Dept Agency. Michael Volkart, Founder and Partner, felt that 2021 was very special. He said it marked the launch of Dept as a holistic digital agency in Switzerland. "With the rebranding of Hinderling Volkart to Dept, we can now unite under one brand umbrella what we had been offering and successfully pitching together in Switzerland in the areas of creation and performance for quite some time," Volkart said.

More strategic responsibility

One person who doesn’t think much of such undifferentiated criticism is Rolf Rellstab. The lecturer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) does not believe that marketing is losing its importance—but he does believe that the roles of marketers are undergoing a fundamental transformation: «While marketing was traditionally situated at the end of the value chain and, as an executive function, focused on brand management and advertising, modern CMOs today participate in discussions about the company’s strategic direction and share responsibility for its growth targets,» explains the expert.

«When interpreted correctly, the scope of work for marketing professionals is more important than ever.»

Interpreted correctly, the field of marketing professionals is today «more important than ever.» Rolf Rellstab continues: «The globalization of competition, the enormous influence of digitalization, technological convergence, the erosion of industry boundaries, and the rising expectations of consumers are, to put it mildly, challenging.» Companies must respond to these changes, adapt their strategies, and redesign their business models. «Marketing is responsible for ensuring that this transformation does not overlook customer needs,» says the ZHAW lecturer.

«Chief Collaboration Officer»

Jennifer Chase, CMO of the global tech company SAS, echoes this sentiment. She says she has the impression that, for a long time, marketing was viewed in many companies as an «executive arm»—a kind of service that supports the company’s strategy through implementation measures. «Now, however—and I can speak for SAS at least—we use marketing to help shape the company’s strategy.» One of marketers« »superpowers« must be to become »Chief Collaboration Officers«: Tech manager Jennifer Chase says she now spends considerably more time with her colleagues from various departments to understand the challenges they face. »How can I help them with marketing, and how can we achieve a goal together?”

Mr. and Mrs. «Jack-of-all-trades»

Achill Prakash, the former head of marketing at Swisscom, agrees: «The role of the CMO is becoming increasingly important.» As markets become more complex, he says, marketing is also becoming more multifaceted and interesting. «Perhaps the CMO should even be the Chief Market Officer.»

Prakash also brings up the title “Chief Commercial Officer,” which he believes best captures the role. In the past, Chief Marketing Officers would discuss great advertising with agency heads over expensive lunches and at glamorous events. But those days are over; marketers have now been entrusted with numerous new responsibilities. Today, they must be customer experts, Google specialists, innovation drivers, process optimizers, complexity simplifiers, growth generators, campaign designers, product salespeople, digital media specialists, cost cutters, and much more.

«It’s unbelievable what CMOs have to be able to do these days!» But because while their tasks have expanded, their scope of responsibility hasn’t kept pace everywhere, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer has never truly matured. «Tasks, responsibilities, and authority are often not aligned,» as the marketing expert says.

Prakash, who is now self-employed and runs the consulting firm Better Studio in Zurich, describes the role of the CMO as «vague by nature.» «It’s no wonder that the Chief Marketing Officer’s personality and the power of the discipline get lost in the day-to-day corporate madness.» But it would be short-sighted to blame others for this. «If the CMO’s role isn’t strong enough, we only have ourselves to blame,» the 44-year-old makes clear. (See the points discussed later in this article.).

Digital and data-driven

The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for transformation and significantly accelerated the pace of change on the market and customer sides. According to Jan-Hendrik Völker-Albert, the pandemic has ensured that even the last marketing department has realized it must drive forward its digital and data-driven transformation. «How consistently and boldly this is done will determine success or failure in the future,» explains the head of marketing at PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland. PwC advises clients on all aspects of customer-centric transformation and marketing.

«The roles, responsibilities, and authority of CMOs are often not aligned.»

According to Völker-Albert, the importance of marketing today depends on the industry and sector. «The marketing function supports the achievement of corporate goals and, through revenue directly influenced by marketing, often makes a contribution to the company’s success that is vital to its survival.» Every Swiss company should have one person who takes responsibility for market development and marketing—ideally at the executive or board level: «The marketing function gains greater visibility and influence the more effectively those in charge can demonstrate, based on data, how they impact revenue targets and corporate success.»

To strengthen the marketing department’s position within the company, Jennifer Chase of SAS relies on «marketing for marketing,» as she calls it with a wink: «I can only recommend to every CMO that they launch an internal »marketing-to-marketing campaign’ so that senior management—and then the rest of the organization—understand exactly what we do.” This can be achieved in a few very simple steps: For example, the head of marketing sends a message to the entire executive team once a week, outlining what they can expect from the marketing department in the coming week. “That might sound like a bit of a tactic, but how else are we supposed to communicate with our colleagues?” Something as simple as a weekly email could solve the problem.

Jan-Hendrik Völker-Albert, who previously served as head of marketing at SBB, is convinced that as the importance of marketing grows, the demand for the right talent and the appeal of marketing roles at all levels of the organization will continue to rise. «The pandemic has shown how important the marketing function is to a company’s survival—especially when physical interaction with customers is no longer possible or is only possible to a limited extent,» said the PwC executive.

Effectiveness of Campaigns

How can you quantify a marketing campaign? How do you determine whether the capital invested has led to an increase in actual sales? According to Rolf Rellstab, a senior researcher at the ZHAW Institute for Marketing Management, it is relatively easy to measure the awareness generated by a marketing campaign. But that alone is not enough. After all, you also want to know whether attitudes among the target audience have changed, whether concrete interest in purchasing has been sparked, or whether sales and loyalty have increased. For various reasons, particularly due to the time lag, it is often difficult to demonstrate a concrete impact on purchases. «So we have to live with the uncertainty that marketing campaigns may ultimately not be as effective as we had hoped,» explains Rellstab.

«Modern CMOs have the courage to try things out, test them, and make mistakes.»

What, in the lecturer’s view, defines a good CMO? To succeed in this new role, CMOs need to combine analytical skills with creativity and be both technically savvy and willing to collaborate. «Modern CMOs have the courage to try things out, test them, and make mistakes. They can inspire others and win them over to an idea. A good CMO can generate emotions from data, with the goal of delighting customers.» Chief Marketing Officers thus also become experience designers, as the 42-year-old concludes.

Theses: The Cardinal Mistakes of Marketers

When marketing executives fall behind in their companies, they share the blame—according to former Swisscom CMO Achill Prakash. He has identified four fundamental mistakes that should be avoided.

«No opinion of my own»

Very few CMOs have an opinion they’d be willing to express publicly. You rarely hear them make thought-provoking contributions, neither on LinkedIn nor at conferences. Marketers only step into the spotlight when it comes to advertising, but: «CMOs need to be provocateurs. They need to always be three steps ahead and tell others about it.»

«Too sluggish, too slow»

Many marketing executives today are moving too slowly. But what’s needed are leaders with the character and skills to keep their footing in fast-paced markets. «CMOs can’t just do marketing—they have to be Chief of Speed,» sums up the founder of Better Studio.

«Wanting to be able to do everything»

Another problem, he says, is that many marketing executives «want to be able to do everything.» Because marketing has become such a complex discipline, they have surrounded themselves with a multitude of internal and external specialists. However, these specialists are embedded within a hierarchical structure, and the final decision always rests with the highest authority. But this approach is outdated and reckless today. «CMOs must find new structures in which highly competent experts can make decisions on their own.»

«Not enough entrepreneurship»

Marketing is a craft that thrives on a willingness to take risks. «But we make decisions based on data; we copy others» strategies—and worse still, we just rehash our own old strategies.” That’s why the expert urges us to take more risks and to be able to weather the storm if we happen to make a wrong decision.

This article first appeared in m&k extra for Direct Day 2021.

Film Production Rights / Dubbing Rights

The film footage and the music are two distinct creative works, both of which are protected by copyright independently of one another. To combine the music with the film, the film producer therefore needs the film production right, often referred to as the synchronization right. The producer must obtain this right either from the music publisher or, if the music is not published, directly from the authors. As a rule, compensation is due for this, the amount of which is not predetermined and must be negotiated.

Duplication Rights / Master Rights

When a film uses a song, this constitutes a reproduction of the music. This is because the film—and the music as well—is transferred to a storage medium and made available to the public on the Internet, on TV, or in movie theaters. The right to reproduce the work must therefore be obtained separately. This applies even if only a snippet of the song is heard in the film. The reproduction or transfer/mastering rights are granted by the music producer, which is usually the record company—a label. Here, too, the amount of any compensation is a matter of negotiation.

«Clearing the rights to music for use in advertising is like navigating a minefield.»

What about the Suisa license?

Once the dubbing and transfer/master rights have been clarified, the client or producer of the commercial registers the music tracks used with Suisa. The granting of the Suisa license is a formality and is governed by tariff schedules. Through its licenses, Suisa compensates composers, songwriters, and music publishers. Once all necessary rights have been cleared, the use of the song in the commercial or promotional clip is legally authorized. Of course, there’s an easier way—using so-called stock music from all-in-one platforms on the internet. But be careful: Often, individual tracks on these platforms aren’t 100% «clean» from a rights perspective, and the samples used haven’t been cleared. Furthermore, the «Terms & Conditions» of such platforms often allow only limited licensing uses, which can result in a complete exclusion of commercial use of the music offered. Finally, using files from such platforms always carries the risk that the chosen sound will be heard in many other commercials, causing the project to lose its uniqueness.

A song of your choice at a reasonable price

Obtaining synchronization and master rights may seem time-consuming and expensive; ultimately, however, the effort is worth it, because the impact of a perfectly matched film soundtrack is recognized not only by advertising professionals. With a little patience and skillful negotiation tactics, you can get practically any song—and usually at a reasonable price. The experts at Live-Licensing will support you in the negotiations or handle them entirely for you. They reduce your workload and provide you with budget and legal certainty.

* Daniel Köhler is a lawyer and copyright expert who served for many years as head of the client services department at Suisa in Zurich. He has been self-employed since 2020. Together with an Austrian music publisher and a Swiss media expert, he offers Services and (legal) consulting for clients, advertisers, and producers at.

Lena is visiting her grandpa at home. She wants to ask him about the ways people used to communicate, because she's supposed to give a presentation on the topic in the metaverse.

«Hey, Grandpa, what was it like back then? Did people actually talk face to face?» Lena asks. – «Yes, that was completely normal. People really sat across from each other, just like I’m doing with you right now,» Grandpa smiles and continues right away. «Sometimes people also talked on the phone and wrote letters. Hey, Lena, I’d actually rather learn more about how you guys communicate first. Don’t you talk to each other anymore?» – «Oh, sure, Grandpa, but we prefer to communicate in virtual worlds and parallel universes like the Metaverse. That way, we can go for a walk together with our friends on a deserted beach. It’s all purely virtual, of course. The beach doesn’t actually exist in reality. We create our own virtual worlds.»

«That seems a little unreal to me. I’m still convinced that no virtual world can replace the quality of personal contact. »Hmm, is it really that nice to take a purely virtual walk on a fictional beach?« Grandpa asks. – »Oh, Grandpa, we’re just used to that these days. But please tell us what it was like back then. It can’t be that you guys just talked or talked on the phone.”

«Well, in the early days of digitalization, social media followed the telephone and email. We started posting, sharing, and commenting on Facebook. Later came photo-sharing platforms like Instagram and instant messaging services like WhatsApp,» Grandpa replies. – «Hmm, that really sounds very old-fashioned, Grandpa. These days, we only move around in parallel universes and communicate almost exclusively in these virtual spaces. I think it’s totally normal to be able to chat with my friends like this. We’re not used to anything else. My friends are often far away, but we can still have a good time together,» says Lena. – «Yes, I know, Lena. What’s normal is always what you experienced or went through in your own youth. There’s a world of difference between how we communicated back then and how we do it today,» muses Grandpa. «Maybe I’ll get used to it yet—who knows?»

Jörg Eugster is «The Future Ambassador®.» Here, he regularly reports from the year 2050 on how technologies and ways of life have evolved.

The average age of Nobel Prize winners is a staggering 60 years. And, at least for me, winning a Nobel Prize has a great deal to do with creation or creativity, because these people generally challenge existing ways of thinking, beliefs, and research. They discover and blaze entirely new trails in a specific field. And that, in my opinion, is exactly how the essence of creativity can be described: doing something truly new. In agencies, however, there’s a bit of a youth obsession. This may be because true seniors (pun intended) not only have a few more candles on their birthday cake but also a few more francs on their pay stubs—so they might be a bit more expensive. I think: They aren’t expensive; they’re, in the truest sense of the word, a bargain. Because they simply have a few more tools in their toolbox—and they’re better at using them.

Experience is a valuable asset

My theory: The only thing that can’t be replaced in employees is experience. After all, even if you’re not the brightest spark—that is, not the smartest person around—you can easily make up for it with hard work and dedication. Conversely, if you’re a bit of a slacker and perhaps not exactly a workhorse, you can ideally make up for it with extraordinary brilliance.

But nothing can replace experience. And agencies, their clients, and all colleagues benefit from experience—not just in purely technical matters. They also benefit when it comes to maintaining composure and a clear overview during hectic times, or to training other employees organically and without major procedural measures—on the job, as they say these days.

Of Old Hands and Youngsters

Just how successfully veterans and young up-and-comers can work together was once again impressively demonstrated by Bonucci and Chiellini at Euro 2021. Italy won the European Championship, and I’d argue that these two were just as essential to the team’s defense as the Squadra Azzurra’s very young attack. Nothing makes a team stronger than diversity. There’s no question about it. And that diversity includes players who have a few more years under their belt, cost a bit more, but in return also know and can do a bit more.

So whether you want to win the European Championship trophy, the Nobel Prize, or perhaps a «Lion»—a certain amount of literal seniority certainly doesn’t hurt. On both the client and agency sides.

* Manuel Wenzel, Creative Director at TBWA\Zurich, will be “Wenzel-ing” us in the upcoming print issues of m&k. What does that mean? We’re not quite sure yet, which is exactly why we love it. The advertising industry has a skewed image among the general public—and Wenzel believes that needs to be set straight. We’re excited to see what happens.

This article first appeared in the m&k Print Edition 11-12/2021.

The key to effective performance management is the link to the actual goal or the desired outcome—which is often sales, leads, and so on. It’s always important to look for genuine improvement—ultimately, ROI is always the incremental improvement, such as revenue, relative to the incremental effort. This should be applied clearly and holistically—and performance should be defined consistently across all marketing channels.

Digital interactions have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Is it even possible to filter out marketing-relevant information from this flood of data?

Definitely—but it’s crucial, first, to select the right data that allows for targeted management, and second, to make the best possible use of even imperfect data. There are gaps in digital interactions as well—for example, in the customer journey—and these must continue to be filled probabilistically.

«The most important opportunity lies in shifting the perspective on marketing—no longer viewing it as an indirect cost, but as an investment.»

What data sources are available, and how can they be linked most effectively?

Above all, it is essential to align external sources with internal sources. External sources—such as agencies or online channels—provide important insights into the effectiveness and success of marketing initiatives. Internal sources show how much has been spent and how to evaluate the success of marketing efforts—think of revenue, margins, or customer value. Customer-related data is the linchpin here and must be combined with transaction data.

How can the relevant data collected be used in a targeted manner?

Two approaches are crucial for the targeted use of the data collected: First, it is important to have a clear understanding of the goals and priorities—including how they relate to one another—in order to apply the data in a targeted manner. In the second step, advanced analytics (AI) help identify the most relevant data from the largest possible set of collected data and derive the right insights and actions.

What do companies need to keep in mind in this regard?

Throughout this entire process, it’s important to always maintain a big-picture view and prioritize the company’s goals. It’s also important to ask yourself: How does the data help me achieve these goals in a more data-driven way? The logic behind this is: analyze and understand, test, optimize. Otherwise, you can quickly get lost in the flood of data—which can easily happen when there are too many data points, especially digital ones. In addition, data protection is, of course, an important issue that must always be taken into account.

What impact does data-driven performance have?

Traditionally, data-driven marketing can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing by 10 to 25 percent. This means achieving the same results with less spending, or greater results with the same spending. Above all, the question is: How much should I invest in marketing, in which tools, and for which campaigns—all the way through to optimizing creative content and improving the customer experience.

What are the challenges?

Common challenges in this context include, for example, having too much data or incomplete data. Allocation along the funnel—which becomes more difficult the higher up the funnel the activity takes place—can also cause problems. Then there is the skepticism toward data-driven answers and modeling; or data protection, for example, in online measurement and personalization. In addition to the classic technical and analytical challenges, challenges often arise in the way teams collaborate. Marketing performance cannot be managed in silos—these must be overcome through an integrated management approach within a more agile collaboration model!

And where do you see opportunities?

The most important opportunity lies in shifting the perspective on marketing—no longer viewing it as an indirect cost but as an investment—and managing these investments in an integrated manner. Marketing is thus no longer merely a «leftovers in the planning» but a core variable in a company’s investment decisions: How much do I need to—or want to—invest to achieve a certain level of revenue? How can I focus my activities on what makes the most sense? How can I best personalize communication for the customer?

Are there differences between B2B and B2C?

Of course, there are differences between B2C and B2B, but generally fewer than you might think. First of all, the goals are traditionally different: B2C tends to focus on revenue, while B2B often focuses on leads and customer lifetime value. In addition, different channels are often used—for example, Instagram versus LinkedIn. However, the basic logic of data-driven marketing applies to both—even if B2B has typically lagged behind a bit historically.

What about data protection—are there markets or countries where data-driven performance doesn't work as well as in others?

Data protection is an important issue that has a major impact on what we can measure and activate—and for good reason. The issue is addressed to varying degrees in different regions—in Europe, for example, more so than in the U.S. But many aspects are becoming increasingly similar, both in terms of regulation and technology. Fundamentally, data protection must, of course, be taken very seriously and forms the basis for data-driven marketing. Not everything will be measurable anymore, and we’ll have to shift—once again—from deterministic to probabilistic marketing. This is where the traditional (probabilistic) world of marketing and the (deterministic) world of performance marketing partially converge. In any case, first-party data is becoming increasingly important—that is, data that can be used with the customer’s consent and that helps fill in the gaps and improve predictions.

Will the trend toward digital marketing continue even after the pandemic? If so, why?

Yes, this trend will continue. The pandemic served as a catalyst for the general trend toward digitalization in many sectors. We don’t see a major shift back from online to offline—rather, online continues to grow, while offline is also rebounding after the decline during the pandemic.