We must learn a different way of thinking
COLUMN Peter Metzinger* on the idea behind the Campaigning Summit Switzerland and why networked thinking across several disciplines is becoming increasingly important.An essential feature of the digital revolution is the networking of individuals, organizations and companies. The nature of markets (for products, opinions and ideas) can be better understood by grasping the relationships between the individual players than by trying to understand them in isolation and detached from their networks. For marketing, communication, election campaigns, PR, public affairs, change management, etc., relational thinking, which deals with precisely these relationships, is therefore becoming increasingly important. The same applies to the individual disciplines. Good PR only exists if its relationship to marketing is clarified, good public affairs is integrated into its relationships with management, PR and marketing, etc. This is very reminiscent of integrated communication, but there is more to it because the relationships between players must now also be considered.The Campaigning Summit Switzerland aims to strengthen this thinking and to illuminate, promote and develop relationships between departments, training courses and disciplines. The resulting program is a carefully curated mix of topics that offers inspiration and new insights for everyone.Campaigning is the art of moving people by means of strategically planned and well thought-out actions. Every campaign starts internally. How do I motivate employees? How do I motivate them to give their all so that the campaign has an external impact? What do I do if external challenges, such as the digital revolution, require a complete overhaul of the business model? How do we steer our company through this change?Ralf Stüber, Head of Business Customer Development at PostFinance AG, and Sunnie J. Groeneveld, CEO of Inspire 925, will provide answers to these questions on March 13 in their presentations on "Digital revolution - transformation of an industry, symbol of change" and "Catalyst engagement - successfully implementing inspiration as a business strategy".Campaigning is also the art of being able to pull out all the stops and develop integral approaches by thinking outside the box. Daniel Graf, founder of gamechanger.ch and better known for his social media campaigns, will therefore address the question of how successful campaigns combine the two worlds of online and offline, while Sid Balman, Managing Director of turner4D from Washington DC, will explore the question of why Switzerland was unable to protect banking secrecy. Is the US actively campaigning by pulling out all the stops to achieve its goals and has Switzerland underestimated this? If so, how can you still make your voice heard in Washington DC and what stops do you need to be able to pull out?How do you use big data sensibly, how do you develop good strategies through the data jungle? Can companies benefit from knowledge gained during election campaigns in the USA? Celinda Lake, one of the Democratic Party's leading pollsters and political strategists, will answer these questions.The Campaigning Summit Switzerland will be opened by Stefan Klapproth with a short speech. This time, the discussions will be led by experienced campaigners - Peter Metzinger from Zurich and Markus Sorg from Barcelonaa.
