"Family and advertising don't really mix yet".

1. how has advertising changed since you started?

There used to be more Mad Men, more glamor, more drama, more night shifts and more time to develop a really good, unique idea/campaign. Today, there are more Mad Women (more equality), more seriousness, fewer night shifts, less eccentricity and almost limitless possibilities for communication in the age of advancing digitalization.

2. what does not come to the office under any circumstances?

A choleric person. A rubber tree. But gladly: a minipig.

3. what would you most like to promote?

Against the youth and slimming craze, for the integration of older workers in the labor market, for Médecins Sans Frontières, Terre des Femmes, animal rights, a surrealism museum, Swiss addiction support, a Brockenhaus and a zoo.

4. what is your private TV consumption behavior like?

My favorite things to watch are all kinds of documentaries, comedy shows, talk shows and so on and so forth ... in general: way too much and I almost always fall asleep while watching them.

5. if you had not become an advertiser - what then?

• Brain surgeon
• Veterinarian
• Rockstar (unfortunately talentless)
• Paramedic

6. what is it impossible for you to do without?

Black tea in huge quantities.

7. what do you never want to have to hear about yourself?

That I had become bitter and humorless ...

8. a buzz word that gets on your nerves?

Buzz! and many other trend words that would be easier to understand in (good old) German, or understandable at all.

9. what inspired you to enter the advertising/communications industry?

My sister, a copywriter at the time.

10. which advertising medium do you find abominable?

Pop-up banner.

11. why don't you conform to the usual clichés of an advertiser?

I think I do fit some of the clichés of an advertiser, as you might imagine. Except that I'm not narcissistic and I don't wear horn-rimmed glasses.

12. which person would you like to see in one of your campaigns?

• John Cleese
• Alice Schwarzer
• Mats Mikkelsen
• Meryl Streep

Why aren't there more women in the top echelons of the Swiss advertising industry?

From my point of view, it's no different in advertising management than anywhere else in the Swiss economy - women are heavily underrepresented. For one thing, advertising is very competitive, you always need elbows to assert yourself and make your voice heard. Secondly, men have a much larger network among themselves and support each other. Due to the low number of women in decision-making positions, I don't think such a network has been able to develop yet. And: women are often too modest and simply don't have the confidence to take on such positions! Plus: family and advertising haven't really been compatible yet, but hopefully that will change more and more.

Marietta Albinus has been Senior Concept Designer / Art Director at Yellow in Basel since September 2018. Previous positions: 3 years freelance, before that at TBWA Zurich, Havas, Advico Young & Rubicam and Wirz Werbung. Member of ADC Germany and ADC Switzerland.