When a venue with over 110 years of history reopens, it takes more than just a nice logo or a new website. For the reopening of the historic Palais Mascotte in Zurich, the Zurich-based creative agency Inhalt und Form, in collaboration with Branding & Design Director Philip Stolte and operator Isabel-Sophie Loheit, developed a comprehensive brand and communications strategy that blends the past and present into a distinctive, contemporary identity.

The goal was to reposition the Palais Mascotte not just as a club, but as a cultural venue: open, urban, sensual, and deeply rooted in its history. That is why the club has deliberately reverted to its original name from 1916—Palais Mascotte. Inhalt und Form provided strategic and operational support throughout the entire transformation process and was responsible for developing the overall communications concept. The services included conceptual work as well as creative support right through to implementation. In addition, the Iundf Group handled media planning, PR work, and the Social Media Presence and the design of the new website.

From the Panorama Bar to the dance floor

The result is a brand identity that reestablishes the Palais Mascotte as a cultural destination across all touchpoints. With its reopening on January 29, 2026, the Palais Mascotte returned as a club and gathering place with many new features.

At the new Panoramabar, guests are welcomed for after-work drinks starting at 5:00 p.m. and kick off their evening at the high-end cocktail bar. The bar and club merge into a seamless experience: carefully curated DJs and live acts—ranging from Italo disco to disco funk to Chicago house—along with local talent and international collaborations like Toy Tonics, bring energy, vibrancy, and a unique network to the dance floor. The event venue is also available for corporate events and hosts occasions such as—to name a recent example—the «Advertiser of the Year 2026» award show.

Person in charge at Palais Mascotte: Isabel-Sophie Loheit (CEO/Owner). Contact person at the Iundf Group: Philip Stolte (HOH Agency, Branding & Design), Dominik Stibal (CEO), Mato Bilic (Motion Designer), Andreas Bartneck (Media Strategy), Wolf Mocikat-Wein (Media Planning).

With his many years of experience as Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Partner at Jung von Matt in Germany and Switzerland, he brings with him the necessary skillset from which the iundf Group can benefit for the next growth spurt.

m&k spoke to Stefan Näf and Dominik Stibal, CEO of the iundf Group.

m&k: Dominik, where does the iundf Group stand today - and what are the plans for the future?

Dominik Stibal: We started merging the disciplines of creation, tech and media over six years ago and have already been able to build up a lead over the competition. However, creative and strategic excellence at the interface between creation and technology also makes the difference between mediocrity and top performance. This is where we will expand massively.

Stefan Näf: I have known the iundf Group for a long time and have been lucky enough to get to know the teams and their way of working. What impresses me is the enormous technical depth, especially in areas such as campaigning, data-driven marketing, media and web development. With my arrival, we are consciously investing in strategic development - especially at the interface between creativity and technology.

Where can you, Stefan, take content and form even further in the future?

Stefan: The market is dynamic - and demanding. On the one hand, competition between agencies is growing, while on the other, client requirements have changed significantly. I see a real opportunity here for smaller agencies like the iundf Group. We think digital-first, act agilely, use data intelligently and develop individual solutions with high efficiency and proximity to the customer. This makes us a strong partner in a market that demands speed, relevance and impact.

What exactly will you contribute?

Stefan: I come with many years of experience in marketing, brand and communication strategy and look forward to bringing this perspective to the iundf Group. My goal is not only to improve strategically together with the team, but also to further develop the creative output - bold, relevant and future-proof.

Dominik: Stefan understands the interplay of strategic insights and creative excellence along the funnel like few others in Europe. He can bring this know-how to us and implement it for our clients. We enrich his experience, which he has gained at the largest and most successful brands in Europe, with our agility, speed and interdisciplinarity. Hands on with strategic vision.

Where do you see opportunities to better develop the potential for customers in the future?

Stefan: The know-how and expertise in the specialist agencies is huge. There is a saying: "If you are the smartest person in the room, leave the room" - these are rooms I want to stay in for longer. My job will be to improve the joint processes, integrate the interfaces even better and certainly add more smart and creative people here and there.

What role does AI play at iundf in the future positioning of the agency group?

Stefan: Logically, AI plays a very big role. Fortunately, iundf is home to many smart entrepreneurs who are constantly questioning the status quo. We are constantly adapting our agency model to the new possibilities and opportunities.

Dominik: AI is seamlessly integrated into our everyday lives, in line with our claim "Creativitiy meets Technology". We are keeping pace with developments, sounding out and embracing the new possibilities. The next step will be agents to improve interdisciplinary processes.

Customer needs and requirements have changed significantly in recent years. How can you make the success of marketing activities measurable? Across all disciplines?

Dominik: We consistently focus on the objectives of our customers. It is their goals that are to be achieved. To make success measurable across all disciplines, we rely on an integrated data strategy that includes both qualitative and quantitative KPIs.

Stefan: In creation, we measure brand awareness, engagement rates and conversion optimization. In media planning, we analyze reach, click rates, cost-per-click and return on ad spend (ROAS). In the tech area, we rely on tracking implementations, user tracking and attribution modeling to clearly understand the contribution of each measure to overall success. Ultimately, our approach combines all data points in a central platform to enable transparent performance measurement and thus continuously optimize the effectiveness of our measures. We will therefore do everything we can to become even more data-driven, creative and measurably more successful.

The iundf Group unites the four agencies Inhalt und Form, iundf Marketing Technology, iundf Media and iundf Dewave under one roof.

With Hyundai, the Iundf creative forge Inhalt und Form has brought one of the world's largest car manufacturers on board. In addition, the current image campaign for Hunn Gartenmöbel has been on show in Switzerland since March.

Also since March, Inhalt und Form, together with the media unit Iundf Media, has been giving the start-up for rental suits Adretto a fresh look with a new image campaign. Also for the construction site camera manufacturer Avisec a new branding will be developed over the course of this year. The first works should be on display in Switzerland soon.

The Iundf Group also welcomed further new clients in the sports, insurance and e-commerce sectors in spring. In view of the current difficult market environment, it was "a great first quarter", according to the agency.

The Iundf Group unites the four agencies Inhalt und Form, Iundf Marketing Technology, Iundf Media and Iundf Neo under one roof. In 2024, the media unit's service portfolio for strategic media planning and consulting is to be further expanded and strengthened. To this end, the Group has brought Andreas Bartneck on board as Head of Media. The media professional has over 20 years of experience in the media industry and has already worked for companies such as Omnicom and Mediacom.

"With Andreas, we are gaining an experienced media expert who, with his passion for digital media and his open-minded approach, will strengthen and further develop the Iundf Group's media expertise together with his team," said Iundf CEO Dominik Stibal in a press release issued on Tuesday.

In his role as Head of Media, Andreas Bartneck will work closely with the other Iundf agencies and use innovative media strategies to help offer clients holistic communication solutions.

"The combination of creativity, technology and strategic media planning offers enormous opportunities for advertising clients to pursue their communication and campaign goals. I am very much looking forward to being able to fully exploit this potential together with the team," says Bartneck, who has headed Iundf Media since the end of February 2024.