Market research on a new level with new technology

With 78 offices in 51 countries, Millward Brown counts the providers of 90 percent of the top 100 global brands among its clients. "Thus, we have a comprehensive understanding of the importance of a global and local focus," explains Sana Carlton, Managing Director of Millward Brown Switzerland. The world-renowned market researchers have been operating in Switzerland from Geneva since 2006. The opening of a Zurich office is "the natural result of the expansion of our clients such as Feldschlösschen and Kraft Foods Europe, for whom Millward Brown acts as a global market research agency."

After 23 years abroad, Max Weber has returned to his home country for the first time to take on a job as head of the business unit in Zurich. This is an ideal appointment, because Weber not only has the international background that is indispensable at Millward Brown. He also has many years of experience in all areas of market research, in particular quantitative brand evaluation and econometric marketing research for global consumer goods brands in the consumer durables sector. Max Weber is also considered a specialist in social media research. He has helped well-known global brands "better understand" the impact of social media on their local marketing plans and implement marketing communications tailored to these channels. Earlier in his career, Weber led Accenture's communications department in Sydney and implemented global CRM initiatives for Fortune 500 companies at Logica-CMG in San Francisco.

And now in his prime, a comeback in Switzerland on the outskirts of Zurich? Max Weber laughs. Admittedly, the area around Binzmühlestrasse is considered Switzerland's new "city of the future. Nevertheless, the skyline of modern concrete buildings still offers little that is cosmopolitan like a cityscape from Shanghai, San Francisco or Sydney. "I don't need that anymore either," Weber is convinced.

There would have been "various alternatives" for his professional future in exciting metropolises in Asia or in the USA. "Nevertheless, it won't be too cramped for me in Oerlikon, because I'll still be connected to the whole world through Millward Brown's network. Whether I'm based in Zurich or Shanghai, my day will be very international," says Weber. He will live in Winterthur. "Here, the distances are so small - I don't see any difference to Zurich," believes the well-traveled man. However, it will be of great importance to him that after so many years of wandering, he will finally know his parents and relatives a little closer to his surroundings again. "This private aspect was an important factor in my decision to return.

Cosmopolitan biography

Max Weber had already emigrated at the young age of 20. Because there were few opportunities to study marketing in Switzerland at the time, he wanted to try his luck in the USA. "The Americans were a long way ahead of us back then," his professional dreams were confirmed. Max Weber earned an MBA in marketing and an MBA in finance. He would have liked to complete a third degree in business administration after already having a bachelor's degree. "At the time, I was downright addicted to absorbing as much knowledge as possible," he looks back.

He was first able to put his findings into practice in San Francisco in the telecom sector. At Logica-CMG, the task was to get to grips with customer relationship management using tools that had just been developed, "so that the customer remains loyal and becomes profitable.

After this start, Weber moved to Australia via Malaysia. He has worked there for the last 14 years, first for Accenture in Strategic Consulting and later as Head of Communications and Media.

Market Research as Human Science

A move to a small but fine marketing boutique also brought him into contact with consumer goods ranging from refrigerators to shampoo. Max Weber was able to specialize in econometric market research and also discovered the possibilities of social media, which were already more appreciated in Asia than here at the time. "This channel is very strong in Asia because social media is an expression of freedom." Especially in China, where many things are still not allowed to be said publicly in the media, such communities play an important role. These res¬ources are naturally also used for marketing and brand development.
Max Weber spent around a third of his time in Australia with regular excursions to China and India. There he set up and managed joint ventures. This was an irretrievable experience, because Weber was able to follow how the markets in these emerging countries had to develop from a retail focus to a first marketing focus.

"If growth is automatically up to 20 percent per year, you don't need to do any marketing yet. But when growth falters or even declines, our services become vital to the economy." In China, consumption has been in such a phase for some time. "That's when you need well-founded market research," Weber analyzes. During this time, he himself was able to learn a great deal about marketing as a "human science" - because the sophisticated strategies of international brands could not simply be transferred to a completely different cultural world with "copy paste.

Max Weber wants to be able to benefit further from this awareness of local conditions in Zurich as well. He brings experience from outside Switzerland, which is very valuable for Swiss companies. But also for international brands in Switzerland or Swiss brands that want to expand abroad.

Max Weber has shared his knowledge in a variety of places throughout his career. He still lectures at universities and technical schools in Sydney, London and Zurich. The marketing specialist is considered a sought-after keynote speaker.

As a balance to his concentrated hours behind the computer and statistics, nature lures him. Here, Max Weber finds his work-life balance while climbing and diving. The underwater adventures in Zurich will probably have to be a little drier. But now the mountains are closer to his grasp than they have been for a long time.
Andreas Panzeri