Man oh man, Mühlemann

The cat has now been let out of the bag: the advertiser of the year is Beat Mühlemann, the campaign of the year comes from Wirz, more precisely from AD Barbara Hartmann and concept designer Thomas Kurzmeyer, and advertises the customer Pneu Egger. Naturally, the protagonists were particularly looking forward to their appearance. But even more excited were the almost one thousand advertisers who had made it onto the guest list. The phones at Werbewoche were ringing off the hook until shortly before the event, and the people who had been relegated to their places were also typically happy. Bene Abegglen was as happy as Markus Gut for the new Advertiser of the Year, and Martin Spillmann didn't have to shed a tear as he stepped down. With the Head of Migros Marketing Communications, the readers of Advertising Week made the right choice. Mühlemann is regarded as an affable and courageous client. And he distributes his budgets fairly. In addition to the in-house agency Exxtra, other advertising companies also benefit from orders from the MGB high-rise on Limmatplatz.
Logically, the right choice requires the right party. Werbewoche rented the entire Kaufleuten for the occasion. The dance hall was packed with celebrities, and the VIP gallery on the second floor was packed with VIPs. Those who were invited or had enough cash were even able to indulge themselves in the pleasant atmosphere of the Kaufleuten restaurant after the awards ceremony.
Hugo Bigi's band of journalists and editors provided the musical backdrop with sounds from the sixties to the present day, while Anna Maier took to the stage to ensure the speedy handling of the awards and honors procedure. The gourmet element was provided by Oettinger with fat Zino Platinum cigars and Remy Martin with delicious cognac drinks. In short, a successful event. The only thing that briefly spoiled the fun was the crowd during the prize-giving ceremony, although there would have been plenty of room by the stage. People are herd animals, and advertisers in particular.
Beat Fritschhad a lot of work on the advertiser of the year, but in between he did have time to enjoy a cigar. One of these bombastic puros from the Zino Platinum manufactory, for whose format there is still no official name in the cigar guide - the best description would be double Robusto Corona. There was a large crowd in Zurich's Kaufleuten, and not everyone who wanted to be admitted was able to do so. Once again, our Egon award ceremony for the advertiser of the year and the award for the campaign of the year proved to be the industry event par excellence.
Switzerland's highest advertiser for a year: Beat Mühlemann.
Werbewoche Editor-in-Chief Pierre C. Meier (l.) congratulates Advertiser of the Year Beat Mühlemann and hands over the trophy named Egon.

The title for the campaign of the year went to Wirz and Pneu Egger for their cheeky grandmother's thong commercial.
Presenter Anna Maier with editor-in-chief René Hildbrand, who officially announced the name change from TR7 to TV-Star.
Samuel Helbling (l.), Publishing Director of Werbewoche (Media-Daten), at the drinks reception with Robert Schmidli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Media-Daten.
From our parent company Springer Science + Business Media: Hans Peter Meier, Stefan Rühling and Renato Polentarutti (from left).
Publimedia CEO Daniel Strobel (l.) and Urs Schneider from Mediaschneider at the bar.
Well-deserved aperitif: Stephan Suter (l.) from Adlink with Petra Kreussler and Stephan Kümin from The Generation Media.
Monika Schneider (left), advertising manager of Annabelle, with Tamedia magazine boss Uli Rubner and Michi Hermann, Weltwoche.
Waiting eagerly: Edgar Iten, Iten Werbung, Rafael Müller, Werbehaus Zürich, and Piero Schäfer, SW-Kommunikator (from left).
Beat Ruch (l.), Head of Marketing Communications at Sunrise, chatting with freelance copywriter Alain Piccard.
Raoul Wanger beguiled advertisers: Pia Banderini (l.) from Banderini Kommunikation and Barbara Schlup from Cosma Dialog.
In the midst of industry celebrities: Tagi Area Sales Manager Hans-Peter Thoma (left) with Optimedia Managing Director Sandro Prezzi.
The shortlist favorite blondes: Yvonne Müller (r.) from KI-Media and bosom friend Susann Fankhauser with Filippo Leutenegger.
Showing their teeth, but on the friendly side: Andreja Sedlsjak (l.) from Wyss & Partner and Tina Näf from the Aegis Media Group.
TV star Roman Kilchsperger with René Hildbrand (l.) and Francine Bruni, now also TV stars since the relaunch of TR7.
Having a great time in Kaufleuten heaven: Werbewoche advertising manager Thomas Stuckert (l.) and advertiser Markus Cavegn.
Raphaela Höhn feels the urge to get married and got tips from newlywed Gerry Stadler from APG.
Bettina Meier (left) from Springer Science + Business Media Switzerland's Baublatt came along with colleague Barbara Bieler.
Smart ladies: Manuela Reik (l.), Marketing and Sales Manager, and Janine Wettstein, Advertising Manager for the Gernhabe Smart car.
Ringier's people specialists: Barbara Ryter, Ursula Timm and Katja Richard (from left).
Friends of Scholz woo Chris Burkhard: CD/agency manager Martin Denecke (left) and managing director Christian Binder.
Zoo Director Alex Rübel received a check for the Zurich lions from Matthias Luchsinger (l.) and Jean-Claude Bruhin (r.).
Promoter Manuel Nappo, comedian and former celebrity Claudio Zuccolini and Paolo Placa, advertising manager of Mittelland Zeitung (from left).
Beat Mühlemann in charming company: with Anna Maier (left) and Heike Findeis, CEO of SSBMS.
From SW: Managing Director Monika Luck, Kurt Nyffeler and assistants Claudia Facchinetti and Maja Hättenschwiler (from left).
The top management of Springer Science + Business Media Switzerland (SSBMS) even carries Anna Maier on their hands.
The outgoing Advertiser of the Year, Martin Spillmann, with his wife Rita, Marcel Bosshard and Michi Frank from IP Multimedia (from left).
Internet and IT professionals among themselves: Daniel Niklaus (left) from Netlive with Reto Hartinger, Head of Marketing at the search engine Search.ch.
Designed the Pneu-Egger winning campaign: Wirz-Krea team with AD Barbara Hartmann and copywriter/concept developer Thomas Kurzmeyer.
Wirz CD Hanspeter Schweizer (left) and Pneu-Egger Managing Director Gregor Hartmann are also delighted with the win.
Wirz consulting group manager Stefan Ryser (l.) and Pneu-Egger marketing manager Simon Müller were also delighted.
Mixed doubles from Publimag Glattbrugg: Barbara Novak from Sales Support with Marketing Manager Christian Rufener.
Claudia Gillardon (l.), WOZ, with Irene Shirazi, Migros Magazine, and Toni Vetterli, Marketing Manager of the Swiss Press Association.
The Mühle-Wallisellen management committee: Peter Leutenegger from FCBLK with Susanne and Stephan Küng, Initiative Media (from left).
Going on two-person patrol at industry events: Nadine Landolt (l.), Red Cross, with Franziska Wenger from Odlo.
Were happy to be able to escape the hustle and bustle in the Kaufleuten restaurant: Nicole Steinegger and Philip Hofmann.
Table companions at the gala dinner: Katja Genovese from Starplakat with Radiotele boss Bruno Oetterli.
Andrea Blatter (l.), new print consultant at Cinecom, with colleague Karin Rickenmann, Head of Cinecom Sales Support.
Lots of fun: Minolta advertising manager Jacqueline Gervasi with Fritz Steiner, specialist consultant at Antalis' Business Development Division.
Also came to Kaufleuten from fine paper supplier Antalis: Thomas Liedtke, Uschi Ambühl and Hugo Bolliger (from left).
A lot of fun for the men in particular: Isabella Benda (l.) and Sandra Spiess had Zino Platinum cigars in their luggage.
Posing for Advertising Week: communications specialists Dominik Joos (left) and Tiziano Pelli from Panta Rhei PR in Amriswil.
Roger Bondi (left) and Bene Beck from the Swisscom TV series Beck & Bondi, with Irène Abegglen, an expert on the Bernese advertising scene.
Sandro Proietto (l.) and Florian Biafori from Mediabox joked around with Nadine Andres from 20 Minuten.
Andrea Heierli (l.) from Fisch Meier Direkt and Sarah Hiltebrand from the new agency Werbeanstalt (the one with the boar).
They often step on the gas together: Swiss family journo Bruno Bötschi and Silvia Landolt from sports publisher Europa.
Dat Hong with Bernadette Weber (r.) and Claudia Wilden, who will have the occasional offspring.
Together at the bar: Dieter Zachmann (right) and Daniel Pauletto.
Paolo Tonti (r.) and Contexta ADs Reto Schild (l.) and Silvio Truffer.
St. Gallen summit meeting: Oliver Künzler (left) and Filippo Zanchi (right) from Trendcommerce with Helmut Hartinger from Dialogworld.
Le pas des deux: Maya Rippstein (l.) from Gerber Instruments (lab, not music!) and Sandra Bossi from Migros Club School.
Werner Schlatter from Publicitas presented Bettina Meier, a colleague at Publicitas, with the Advertising Person of the Year award.
Wild Things: Christian Suter, Publicitas, Aline Prüfer and Karin Krüger from Beobachter, and ex-Ringier man Markus Will (from left).
In the middle of the hustle and bustle: Michael Studer, Publicitas, Manuela Roth from Microsoft and Guido Schwarz from Vorstadt (from left).