"Experience alone does not win hearts"

MK: Dennis Lück, you are one of the keynote speakers at DEX20. Why is it important for you to be at this event?

Dennis Lück: Events are always a platform for exchange. And since Digital Brand Experience is the absolute - I beg your pardon - "hot shit" of the industry, I look forward to the knowledge transfer with all the smart people on site. So I would be there, too, if I didn't have to climb the stage myself.

What does an event like DEX mean for Switzerland - and for the advertising industry, in which JvM/Limmat plays an important role?

DEX also represents the importance of content. Creating a digital brand experience has become the core of our work, both on the client and customer side. If the importance is particularly high, then there are also events to go with it. The purpose is to go home smarter and fully inspired. And that certainly succeeds at DEX20.

Can you give us a brief preview of your presentation? What can visitors expect?

It gets mega boring and you should plan in your schedule right then to get the coffee or quart one. No, all kidding aside. My talk is about turning a Digital Brand Experience into Digital Brand Excitement. Just because you create an experience doesn't mean you've won the consumer's heart. And that's what I'm trying to convey. As entertainingly as possible, of course.

Hall 622 in Zurich-Oerlikon was already full to capacity for last year's DEX19 - this year the organizers want to top the visitor numbers once again.

They say: "Every digital brand experience must follow exactly one goal: Excite the target group and trigger Digital Brand Excitement." Sounds plausible. Why do so many companies still have such problems getting their customers excited?

That's quite simple: Enthusiasm or inspiration or breaking hearts are not formulated as a goal. Pure functionality still dominates emotionality. This also means that the opportunity to surprise consumers and win them over is missed.

Everyone is talking about experience management at the moment. Adobe, for example, is gearing its entire product range to it, and SAP is following suit. If such companies provide the tools, what role do advertising agencies play in experience management?

Filling functionality with emotions. That's where I see our added value. Regardless of which tool it is.

Is "digital brand experience" now synonymous with "brand experience" in general - just as every type of marketing today actually includes digital marketing? Or are there still dividing lines between on- and offline?

No, it's honestly completely wrong to draw a dividing line there, especially if we think from the target group perspective. There are no dividing lines in a customer journey. There is a fluid brand experience, and that's it. We as an industry need the dividing line
but to emphasize the respective expertise. That's why DEX is called DEX, otherwise there would also be keynotes on the topic of Audio Experience
of a brand.

Give us a few "best cases" - they don't necessarily have to be JvM cases - where a digital brand experience really excited you?

Of course I call them JvM cases now, I'm not stupid (laughs). No, I'm simply the one who knows the most about cases, and I can take a good stand on them. Let's take the new app for the International Motor Show in Geneva. The app ensures that perceptions change away from the pure car show and towards the inspiring mobility festival. Or take Ibis/Accor's social media sitter. It's a completely different form of experience when you can add an influencer when booking a hotel, who then takes care of your own social media channels so that you can take a vacation yourself - something like that is inspiring. But we can talk about that at DEX20. Come in droves, I'm already looking forward to it.

Once again, various companies from the digital and marketing industries will have their own booths to facilitate relaxed networking.