Stefan Mair is building thought leadership at Contcept

Stefan Mair Joins Contcept Communication in Zurich and Berlin

The PR and communications agency Contcept Communication has hired Stefan Mair as a Senior Consultant for Thought Leadership. Stefan Mair will strengthen Contcept Communication’s teams in Zurich and Berlin, bringing with him more than 16 years of experience at the intersection of media, business, and innovation.

Mair worked for many years as a journalist for media companies such as Ringier and Axel Springer—including in editorial leadership roles at business publications such as the *Handelszeitung* in Zurich. Most recently, he was responsible for international editorial projects for 120 media brands within Ringier’s Global Media Unit. In this role, he oversaw the global expansion of the EqualVoice initiative to promote the visibility of women in the media, as well as the implementation of AI projects based on Palantir Foundry. In addition, Mair is an author: he wrote a book about Ringier’s EqualVoice initiative and the story of the Swiss health-tech startup Ava, and for many years hosted the startup podcast Upbeat.

New Thought Leadership Unit at Stefan Mair and Contcept Communication

A key focus of his new role is establishing a specialized thought leadership unit. The goal is to strategically position clients as thought leaders in their target markets. In addition, Mair advises high-profile individuals on their personal and public positioning and oversees AI projects agency-wide.

Barbara Ryter, co-founder of the agency, describes the strategic rationale: «A key focus of his work is establishing a new thought leadership unit to strategically position clients as thought leaders in their target markets.»

Andreas Messerli, also a co-founder, adds: «Stefan brings a rare combination of deep business acumen, excellent journalistic instincts, and a passion for future-oriented digital topics such as AI. With him on board, we’ll make a real splash in the area of thought leadership for our clients in Switzerland and Germany.»

AI is transforming the communications landscape

Mair himself attributes the focus on thought leadership to structural changes in the media system: «The media and communications landscape is changing rapidly due to AI. It is being flooded by a wave of commodity content. This makes it all the more important today to build genuine subject matter authority. We make this thought leadership visible to the public, AI systems, the media, and stakeholders. We support prominent figures in positioning themselves as opinion leaders with conviction and substance.»

Concept Communication has offices in Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Berlin, and Munich and supports companies with strategic positioning, media relations, thought leadership, content creation, and digital communication.