Andrea Bison wins the title of "Advertiser of the Year" 2024

Andrea Bison, founder and co-CEO of Thjnk Zurich, beat fellow nominees Jan Kempter, Creative Director at Wirz, and Gabriel Mauron, CCO at Havas Switzerland, in the race for the title of "Advertiser:in of the Year" 2024.

After four nominations, this year the German-born advertising expert receives the most important personal award in the Swiss communications industry. As her predecessor André Hefti, CMO of Switzerland Tourism, aptly put it in his laudatory speech: "The question was never whether you would be Advertiser of the Year, but only when."

In 2016, Andrea Bison and her business partner Alexander Jaggy, who was named "Advertiser of the Year" in 2014, founded the Thjnk Zurich agency. Their vision: "To create a place where people enjoy working". Just a few years later, Thjnk Zurich has become a relevant player on the Swiss agency scene: Campaigns for well-known companies such as Migros, Denner, Ochsner Sport and Sunrise have repeatedly won awards both nationally and internationally, which has propelled the agency to the top of the Swiss Creative Ranking 2022, among others.

The newly crowned "Advertiser of the Year" received her "Egon" statue on March 26 as part of the award night at the Razzia in Zurich to great applause from her predecessor André Hefti. Her mentor Michael Trautmann, who co-founded Thjnk Hamburg almost twelve years ago, provided a big surprise.

Andrea Bison grew up in Kassel and was fascinated by the world of advertising from an early age. She studied business administration with a focus on advertising and communication and has worked in the advertising industry her entire professional life. Before moving to Switzerland, she worked for various well-known German agencies. She now lives in Zurich with her husband and two sons.

Also nominated were ...

Jan Kempter

As Creative Director at Wirz since 2021, Jan Kempter was nominated for "Advertiser of the Year" for the first time this year. At Wirz, he led the successful "The Migros Beer" campaign and the viral Swiss tourism story "The Ride of a Lifetime", among others. Jan Kempter's career in advertising began more by chance through a copywriting competition for toothpaste: before Wirz, the Graubünden native worked as a copywriter at Jung von Matt Limmat and Publicis Zurich before being promoted to Creative Director in 2018.

Read the interview with Jan Kempter here.

Gabriel Mauron

Gabriel Mauron, the creative director of Havas Switzerland and the only ADC member in French-speaking Switzerland, was also on the ticket for the title of "Advertiser:in of the Year" in 2024. Over the course of his career, he has worked for agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi and Leo Burnett. Mauron lives in Geneva, is married and has two teenage daughters.

Read the interview with Gabriel Mauron here.

More on this year's "Advertiser:in of the Year" award

• The article about this year's nominees can be found at here.
• The Hall of Fame of all previous "Advertisers of the Year" can be found at here.

About the award

Werbewoche has been awarding the title "Advertiser of the Year" since 1977. Since 2001, the winner has received the "Egon" designed by Zurich artist Max Grüter. The three nominees were put forward by the Werbewoche.ch community and selected by the expert jury. The final decision on who would win the title was then made 50 percent by Werbewoche.ch readers via online voting and 50 percent by the jury. Each jury member had one vote. m&k Werbewoche.ch as the organizer abstained from voting.

The jury of experts

The "Advertiser:in of the Year" expert jury is made up of former "Advertisers:in of the Year". The jury members 2024 (in alphabetical order):

• Alexander Jaggy (Thjnk Zurich)
• André Hefti (Switzerland Tourism)
• Curdin Janett (entrepreneur, formerly Content and Form)
• David Schärer (Breitling, formerly Farner/Rod)
• Dennis Lück (Brinkertlück Creatives, formerly Jung von Matt Limmat)
• Livio Dainese (Wirz)
• Martin Walthert (Digitec Galaxus)
• Peter Brönnimann (self-employed, formerly Publicis)
• Petra Dreyfus (Wirz)
• Regula Bührer Fecker (Rod/Team Farner)
• Thomas Wildberger (Prophet, formerly Publicis)