The management team: Jean-Marc Demeulemeester, Philipp Koch, Michael Koch.

There are just under 50 advertising agencies in the canton of Thurgau. Only one of them has so far also been accepted into the BSW Leading Swiss Agencies association. Koch Kommunikation in Frauenfeld, founded in 1969, has set its sights on great things.
 
"We used to be a blue-collar agency. Clients came with an idea, and we implemented something beautiful. The clients were satisfied with it. With the end customers, our ideas generated the desired success," says Philipp Koch, describing the concept of the old days. "A few years ago, however, the feeling set in: We have to go one step further." Today, Koch Kommunikation "questions more and also looks in other directions." The new strategy is called: "more creative solutions - from the concept to the entire implementation".
 
This process was initiated in April 2012 with a strategy workshop. There, the two brothers Philipp and Michael Koch, as owners, and the Creative Director Jean-Marc Demeulemeester, who had joined the company the year before, realized that Koch Kommunikation was pretty much "fifty fifty" in the areas of classic advertising and digital communications, both in terms of personnel and orders. It's a mix that remains rare in today's agency scene. "In addition to classic advertisers, we employ our own developers who develop websites, apps, social media and other online campaigns," explains Michael Koch. A head start that Koch Kommunikation therefore wants to make even better use of in the future. Accordingly, the new direction was defined: "creative, active, interactive." Koch Kommunikation employs 18 people. Most of them work at the headquarters in Frauenfeld. Some of them are also deployed in Brüttisellen for individual assignments. The agency operates a branch office there. This came about when Koch Kommunikation was able to take over some of the services from the digital sector from its former IT partner UMB. As one of the leading IT service providers in Switzerland, UMB had previously purchased web design services from Koch Kommunikation. When the company in Brüttisellen wanted to sell its web business, Koch Kommunikation was able to take over these customers. These include, for example, the ice hockey club ZSC Lions and the soccer club GC.
 
These references also opened the door to a pitch for the Swiss Football League a year ago, for which Koch Kommunikation was now allowed to implement the entire Internet presence. Various interfaces and a responsive site ensure that live data, match reports, statistical data, etc. are available to the user. Cross-media tasks are one of the core competencies, for which more and more customers come to Frauenfeld who previously sought their fortune in the advertising stronghold of Zurich. On the other hand, it is somewhat more difficult to lure the necessary creative people away from Seefeld to Thurgau. "But the advertising location of Eastern Switzerland is becoming more and more interesting," says Philipp Koch with conviction. Last but not least, this region is also home to numerous companies that sell their products throughout Switzerland. And thus also carry their advertising "made in Thurgau" out into the country. Not only Frifag Märwil, the third largest poultry producer in the country, for which Koch Kommunikation has been in charge of advertising for over 20 years.
 
In Thurgau, the apple does not fall far from the tree in advertising either
Philipp Koch already "worked" in advertising as a child in his parents' house. Father Hans-Peter had set up his agency at home in the early days. So Philipp's first jobs were wrapping mailings. As a teenager, an apprenticeship at Publicitas in Winterthur followed. "That was my big opportunity. The apprenticeship finally awakened my passion for marketing and media." Philipp Koch went on to train as an advertising assistant at Sawi. Then he joined the family business in 1990.
 
The agency was founded in 1969 by the father as a one-man company with only one client. When this client fell away, the advertising agency suddenly found itself without work. But challenges provoke growth - and so Koch Kommunikation quickly blossomed again in new strength and soon with six employees. Since then, things have gone steadily upwards, "but within the framework of healthy growth". During this phase, an external job offer was also tempting for Philipp later on. He could have worked for six months with an agency owner friend in New York. "But because my father constantly gave me more responsibility, I couldn't simply leave for six months in the midst of the booming development in Frauenfeld," is the only thing that Philipp finds a bit of a shame in retrospect. Otherwise, he feels "completely fulfilled" to have now driven the second-generation family business forward to become a flourishing SME. Brother Michael Koch also started out packing envelopes for his father when he was young. Then followed an apprenticeship at the publishing and printing house of the Thurgauer Zeitung. Here, Michael was also introduced to the world of media planning. Later, he also joined his father's up-and-coming agency for a short time. After two years, however, the big city of Zurich lured him. Together with a colleague, he opened his own office on Limmatquai. "We did the marketing and communications for the entire Pierre Hairstylist chain of stores," Michael recalls of his wild years. But because his office partner ticked a bit differently and his father urgently needed reinforcements at the same time, the expatriate returned to Frauenfeld.
 
 
New responsibilities and sporting challenges
 
"I had to grab my chance." Added to this was the responsibility when his father died unexpectedly in 2003 and the two brothers had to take over the family business completely. Michael, who has since specialized more and more in the area of the Internet and also trained in programming, is now Head of Management and as a "digital expert" is primarily responsible for customers such as the Swiss Football League, ZSC Lions and GC in the online division. Philipp, whose business card reads Head of Consulting, is more concerned with classic projects. "However, the distribution of roles can be creatively adjusted." Even more consistently responsible for creation has been Jean- Marc Demeulemeester for three years. With the experienced creative director, the Koch brothers wanted to usher in a new era in the history of the largest advertising agency in Thurgau. The goal is creative quality. That means: Together with Jean-Marc Demeulemeester, they want to really take off again as a CD. Jean-Marc Demeulemeester discovered his "primal love for advertising" while still at school and began an apprenticeship as a graphic designer at the age of 16. In the subsequent merry-go-round through renowned agencies, the communications professional and designer won numerous awards, including a Bronze Lion in Cannes. In the course of his career, Jean-Marc Demeulemeester developed from Junior Art Director at Advico Young & Rubicam to AD at Publicis.
 
Further stations were Metzger Lehner Worldwide Partners, J. Walter Thompson and then Lang Gysi Knoll, today Neue Lgk. Here Demeulemeester worked for four years as creative director. The advertising with the creatively peeled potatoes for Swiss farmers, which is still present today with ever new menu suggestions, dates from this time. The concept "We don't let ourselves be hindered" for Pro Infirmis also got its start with Jean-Marc Demeulemeester.
 
In 2006, CD set up his own business with his wife Caroline Demeulemeester. In Winterthur, the two wanted to be "a kind of boutique" where advertisers could provide very personal service to their clients. These included Swiss Post. However, the structures of the mini-agency were a bit too small for the national player. So in January 2008, Jean-Marc Demeulemeester moved his newly acquired Swiss Post contract under the umbrella of GGK in Zurich. He then worked at Hermann Strittmatter's agency for three years as creative director, until he set up his own business again in 2011 as a creative consultant, only to join the Koch brothers in Frauenfeld in April 2011 as a supplier of ideas. As with Neue Lgk, the task of taking an agency to a new dimension attracted him to Koch Kommunikation. "Building something new is much more exciting than sitting in the feathered nest of an international network agency, " says Demeulemeester, describing his drive. And what he succeeded in doing at the new Lgk, leading the agency to a national size, is now also his goal with his new partners Philipp and Michael Koch. "At Koch Kommunikation, I was also interested in the fifty-fifty concept with an equal weighting of digital and classic. And all within the framework of a manageable entity. Now we just need to ignite one more stage."
 
Andreas Panzeri

Immo Hütte took over responsibility as Country Manager at Tradedoubler Switzerland as of January 2013. He succeeded Catrin Rubenson. The native German has been working for Tradedoubler in Zurich since 2004, until now as Deputy Managing Director. The 33-year-old has a degree in business administration and in-depth knowledge of the Swiss online industry. Hütte is a specialist in the areas of affiliate and display marketing.
 
WW: What do you hope to gain as new insights from the Affiliate Marketing Conference?
Immo Hütte: Tradedoubler has been in business in Switzerland for around nine years. So we know a lot about the market itself. Basically, I'm hoping for good discussions with existing advertising customers as well as potential new customers at the conference in Zurich's Volkshaus. And of course also with websites, in order to discuss the specific current needs in each case. After all, the market and needs are constantly evolving.
 
Where are the trends heading?
In Switzerland, one trend is basically the professionalization of websites, but also of the people in charge at the advertising customers. There is much more know-how in the market among website providers. There is increased use of product lists and entire store extracts from advertisers. A lot is being done with voucher codes, and many special content pages are being created. In addition, the whole thing is being marketed much better, and much more creative advertising media are being used than just the previous standards familiar from classic branding. In addition, topics such as re-targeting, mobile shopping and RTB continue to be among the trends in affiliate marketing.
 
One presentation is entitled "Special case Switzerland": What is special about us?
The presentation will be given by Olaf Bertschinger from Tradedoubler Switzerland, and I don't want to get ahead of him. The background is that Switzerland is a very independent market and partly also lags behind in the development as far as online marketing is concerned. Much of what happened in other countries a few years ago is now coming to Switzerland. This does not only have disadvantages. You can and should also benefit from it, such as not having to make the early mistakes of other markets again.
 
What is the role of Tradedoubler in the development of affiliate marketing?
In Switzerland, we are clearly a pioneer. In 2005, we opened a local office in Zurich. Since then, we have been building up affiliate marketing here. In this phase, it was about explaining to publishers and advertisers how this business works in the first place. In this respect, we at Tradedoubler have very much shaped the market and marketing, developed it and also led it in a certain direction. I say that quite deliberately because we are an international company and we know what mistakes have been made in other countries - also by other networks. We have deliberately and successfully tried to avoid that here.
 
Where do problems need to be overcome, for example in data protection?
Actually, it is not a problem because all data in affiliate marketing is collected anonymously. However, there have been discussions about the setting of cookies on a European level for quite some time. There is more and more concrete talk of a ban, and that will have an impact on some providers. The most popular browsers will also place more restrictions on the setting of cookies. Tradedoubler has developed a lot in this area and is technically well equipped for this.
 
Do you fear that consumers will one day become oversaturated with advertising?
The danger exists when I am suddenly spammed by advertising after visiting a store. That's why you have to be careful to use affiliate marketing in a very regulated and conscious way. Then the user will not feel persecuted. He will rather perceive advertising as added value, which practically excludes the danger of oversaturation.
 
You've been with Tradedoubler since 2004. What has changed in the industry during these years?
At the very beginning, we stirred up the industry quite a bit, because the Swiss market was and is a classic CPM market. Performance marketing was still in its infancy. That has changed dramatically. In the meantime, it is impossible to imagine many marketing departments without the topic and it is an integral part of the marketing mix. The market has become much more professionalized. We no longer have to explain to a potential customer what affiliate marketing is. You can also see the development through the entry of more and more competitors and agencies. We are now at a stage of market maturity where it can already go to the next level.
 
What is the next level?
On the one hand, an even larger offer on the part of web publishers. That they make better use of advertising space and don't see performance marketing as cannibalizing display marketing, not least because it uses completely different placements. But also in the very banal area: There are many Swiss online stores that are not yet active at all for their marketing. And many big brands are just now developing an online store at all. We will then reach the next level by bringing together the larger offering and the increased know-how in the market.
 
Will traditional stores lose more and more customers to the Internet in the future?
It all depends on how you look at it. If you establish yourself online early on, you can also pick up new customers there for your traditional business. In many areas, however, there will certainly be a shift from offline to online.
 
You have been Managing Director of Tradedoubler Switzerland since January 2013. What are your goals?
We've seen continuous hefty growth rates over the last nine years, both in affiliate marketing and in display. Now I would like to encourage the market to make even more use of the opportunities offered by online marketing. For example, to really track every campaign completely and to get the maximum out of it; at best down to the shopping cart, so that you can draw conclusions and optimize for as many areas within a company as possible. With Tradedoubler we have everything from niche websites to premium sites in our portfolio and can therefore combine campaigns and affiliate marketing like no other and deliver optimized based on detailed user data.
 
Interview: Andreas Panzeri