Swiss Brand Congress: Back to new records
With 500 participants and 75 speakers, the Swiss Brand Congress surpassed old records. Under the title "Reinventing Brands", international stars of the brand world met in Zurich to discuss the future of the brand industry.
The Swiss Brand Congress again achieved record numbers this year. The largest industry get-together of Swiss brand decision-makers took place for the 12th time at the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich. Now with two main stages and 13 forums, some of which were filled to capacity.
On stage and also in the audience, the "Who's Who" of the brand world shook hands. Among them were brands such as Hugo Boss, Credit Suisse, Google, TikTok, Meta and Logitech. And compared to last year, both organizers and participants were visibly in a good mood about finally meeting again for a direct exchange after a long time apart.
Tests, courage and data for digital marketing
The "Tech & Digital Stage", which was held for the first time, was very popular. "We can dare to do much more in marketing than we think," summarized Roman Reichelt, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Credit Suisse. He presented the marketing strategy of CSX, the banking app that became successful in a very short time. Paul Wiedmeier from Meta showed that in the digital world, there is an increasing need for testing and optimization of campaigns: "Trust the algorithm," he appealed to the audience.
There are some challenges ahead for marketers. Yves Mäder from Google Austria and Switzerland, sensitized the participants to build up their own data, as the popular "third party cookies" will no longer be available from the end of 2023 and Switzerland will also launch a new data protection law.
Customers as fans
There were many topics to discuss on this day. Nevertheless, a trend emerged whose strategy many brands are following. "We want to turn our customers into fans. To become loyal customers who buy again and again," Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss, put it in a nutshell. That, he said, is the biggest challenge, because customers have to be emotionalized. The brand must be credible and tangible for the customer.
This is underlined by Stefan Smalla, CEO of digital retailer Westwing, who adds: "Brand strength and customer loyalty is what counts". 85% of purchases at Westwing come from customers who visit the website more than 100 times a year. How it works. Westwing combines content and sales to create a unique eCommerce experience, turning customers into repeat customers.
The positive response to the congress shows that, despite all the challenges, the brand industry continues to look to the future with optimism. With new ideas and concepts, it will try to hold its own in an increasingly complex environment. The next edition will take place on June 14, 2023 at the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich.
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