"After the first day of interning at a big agency, I was hooked."

1. what does not come to your office under any circumstances?

Pigeonholes. Or, to be more precise, pigeonholing.

2. which print media do you privately subscribe to?

Fly Fishing and Thrasher (the latter for nostalgic reasons).

3. the best book you have read lately?

"Oh dear, I'm growing!". A very helpful read.

4. the best testimonial ever?

Jean-Claude Van Damme for Volvo.

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

I don't think one possible alternative is enough: If my school grades had been better, I would have tried studying medicine. If my training as a carpenter hadn't been so boring, I would be building furniture today. If I hadn't missed the university application deadline, I would be an architect today.

6. Do you fall for advertising? When?

"Falling for" is perhaps the wrong wording, it sounds like you're supposed to be deceived by advertising. But I like to be convinced or impressed by good advertising. For example, the "Episode Leak" from Netflix.

7. what is impossible for you to do without?

Clearly: family.

8. a buzz word that gets on your nerves?

AI, AR, VR.

9. what inspired you to enter the advertising industry?

I didn't go into advertising with a specific goal in mind, but rather ended up here by chance (see question number 5). But after the first day of my internship at a large agency, I was hooked. Where else do you come into contact with so many exciting people, so many interesting brands, so many innovative technologies and so many creative ideas? You experience and learn something new every day. I think that's great.

10. when is there a bad mood in your agency?

When the agency beer comes to an end.

11. when you have an idea, how do you know it is good?

When it elicits a "wow" from me, even the second time I look at it.

12 Which advertising campaign from your childhood left a lasting impression on you?

"Bonduelle is the famous tender vegetable in a can". The jingle still haunts my head from time to time.

13 What is currently overestimated?

Predicting what the world will look like in 5 or 10 or 20 years. As a child, I had a picture book called Life in the Year 2000, which predicted flying cars for the turn of the millennium. Unfortunately, my car still runs on four wheels. On the other hand, the book didn't mention the Internet at all. Or that the rotary dial telephone would become a smartphone that could access the knowledge of the whole world and take photos. What's really exciting are the future innovations that nobody can imagine yet.

Swen Morath (born 1973) has been working for Y&R Group Switzerland since May 2015 and has been a member of the Executive Board since July 2017. As Chief Creative Officer, he is responsible for creation. A trained communication designer, he has received numerous national and international awards for his work and also has international experience. In his professional career, he worked at Landor Associates and Skylab Design in London. Further stations in his career were Lowe Corporate in Zurich, Heye DDB and Publicis, also in Zurich.

The "13 Questions" appear both online and in the print edition of Werbewoche. Realization: Thomas Häusermann.