That was the Marketing Day 2023
Over 700 participants attended the Marketing Day last Tuesday. The motto was Focus, which was already a challenge given the packed program. Various keynotes, talks and breakout sessions took place at the KKL Luzern. Moderator Kiki Mäder led through the program.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Michel, IMD EMBA, opened the event with his keynote address. With his provocative question: "Do you have a marketing strategy? Are you sure?" he bridged the gap from Darwin to Netflix to the daily challenges for local marketing professionals. Digital transformation and new technologies offer unimagined opportunities and fuel FOMO - the fear of missing out. But those who want to do it all ultimately ruin themselves, because the eierlegende Wollmilchsau remains an illusion, according to Michel. If you want to be successful in the long term, you have to know what's going on, make tough decisions and implement them. After all, it's not the strongest who survive, but the one who can adapt best.
Be open to new things
In his keynote presentation, Dr. Urs Ch. Hofmeier of Schweizer Salinen showed how a traditional business can implement bold new ideas that can develop the business in a new direction while solving existing challenges. For example, in 2018, Schweizer Salinen pioneered the sustainable farming of shrimp in Switzerland with the start-up "SwissShrimp." A classic case of the right idea at the right time with the right partner for sustainable solutions.
Focus Talks: Transformation at all levels
In the first part of the focus talk on "Change The Business", Julia Gamma from BLS, Katja Schönenberger from Pro Juventute, Sibylle Marti from Tilsiter, and Pascal Jenny from KMU Checkup discussed how SMEs can adapt to today's challenges without losing their focus.
Sustainability is still too little present in many SMEs. But a strategy that ignores the topic of sustainability has no future. Entertainment should also have its place, and you should show some courage and show some edge.
Transformation is also an organizational issue. Hierarchies are becoming flatter, and employees are being given more freedom and responsibility. This promotes agility, because the days of annual planning are over. Organizations cannot avoid moving toward their target group. However, not every trend makes sense for every company. The important thing is to always keep your finger on the pulse and try out new things according to the motto "trial and error".
Thinking outside the box
In the second part of the focus talk, Joséphine Chamoulaud from Smile Versicherung, Nadine Gloor from Jucker Farm, Verena Mönig from Skinmed, and Peter Waltenspühl from Kuhn Rikon picked up the thread again. Marketing always remains the same at its core: What are the customer needs and where are the touchpoints? What is new is that companies today have to constantly reinvent themselves.
A look outside the industry can be helpful. However, the focus must not be lost. This is especially true for small teams that cannot afford or do not want many tools. Intuition and customer proximity are important drivers here.
MGB wins Marketing Excellence Award
The Marketing Excellence Awards were presented again this year (Werbewoche.ch reported). Moderator Vanessa Meier presented the awards to the lucky winning teams to great applause. The big winner this year was the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, which won the award in the category large companies as well as the audience award. In the SME category, Graubünden Ferien won over the jury. And Bühler won the special prize for its B2B approach.
Audio advertising conquers Switzerland
In his keynote speech, Ralf Brachat of Swiss Radioworld presented how the medium of radio is reinventing itself through digitization and how radio advertising is conquering new distribution channels. Thanks to new targeting possibilities, advertisers can profit maximally even in a small multilingual market like Switzerland. Brachat also gave the audience a glimpse into the future of audio advertising in podcasts and games.
Breakout Sessions: Insights into practice
The various breakout sessions then went into depth. Marketing professionals from a wide range of industries offered instructive insights into their everyday lives. They presented practical solutions on topics such as new paths in content marketing or the use of artificial intelligence. The audience learned how personality and preferences for advertising content are connected and how they can enchant their customers with a little magic.
Purpose: More than just a buzzword
In her keynote address, Annette Häcki, Managing Creative Director at Jung von Matt Limmat, urged companies to ask themselves the question of meaning. Corporate purpose can be like a North Star for a brand. But to do so, you have to take it seriously and prove it again and again through your actions - both externally and internally. A brand with attitude generates loyalty and arouses emotions. This is not always positive, as the example of Nike shows. Nevertheless, it's worth it, because "whoever doesn't have an attitude will have it attributed to them."
Hero stories are transformation stories
Personality trainer and coach Cristián Gálvez dedicated his keynote to the hero's journey and how to keep focus in times of great change. Every person is permanently searching for three things: Security, self-worth and commitment. A brand must be able to deliver on these promises. The wheel in marketing turns faster and faster and thus brings us again and again to the point where we have to jump into the deep end and leave something behind. Our attitude - our Purpose - sets the direction and helps us tackle the right kite in a world full of them.
Media Talk: An industry in upheaval
Moderator Urs Gredig welcomed media professionals to talk about an industry that is experiencing the greatest upheaval since Gutenberg's time. Matthias Ackeret from Personal, Markus Diem Meier from the Handelszeitung, Bernhard Brechbühl from 20 minutes, Tom Hanan from Webrepublic, Anna Kohler from m&k advertisingweek.chMichael Wanner of CH Media, and Susanne Wille of SRF discussed the important questions: How can the media be led into the future? How can the balance between print and online be found? How can money still be earned with the journalistic offering?
There's life in the old dog yet
The question of how long print will exist was asked 20 years ago. Despite the massive decline in print media, however, the panel is optimistic. It is important to find a balance between the physical and digital product, because both have their right to exist. However, they are critical of the development of bubbles via Google and social media. Young people in particular are consuming less and less news. There is a lack of classification, "the broad information."
Young target groups in particular need different formats, and information must be presented differently. For them, the only thing that counts is relatability, or in other words: What's it to me? The difficulty for the media lies in planning for the future and not forgetting the core audience.
Not to mention that journalism also has to earn money. There are no cross-subsidies from other lucrative business models. Those who are not profitable disappear. It therefore needs new recipes and the courage to try things out. Nevertheless, the panel firmly believes that journalism has a future.
"You are your calendar"
Dr. Peter Krenz from Rebels at Work showed in his keynote how we play by the wrong rules in our everyday work and sabotage ourselves in the process. Nowadays there is no longer an agreed common goal, the rules are constantly changing. To survive here, you need Z.F.D.B. - Time for the Pear.
The everyday life of managers is characterized by hectic and pressure, mostly they can only react. But as Bill Gates said: "Busy is the new stupid". Therefore, clear your calendar to be able to think and keep a not-to-do list. Say no, because that's the only way to keep control over yourself. By the way, this also applies to brands. Because the core of a strategy is also to determine what you don't do. This allows you to focus on the essentials.
Marketoonist: Marketing in adolescence
The finale was provided by marketoonist Tom Fishburne, who always takes the marketing industry for a ride with his cartoons. For him, the digital transformation is a kind of puberty, in that we have many new technologies and tools at our disposal, but our brains can't really keep up with them. Humor helps us focus. The new sparkly thing is not yet a strategy; avoid the funnel view; be led by data, not blinded; and last but not least: Marketing is too important to leave to the marketing department.
What remains - focus
The conclusion of a long and intensive day of marketing: It takes focus to choose the right one from the huge range of options, tools and channels. This includes the willingness to think outside the box and the courage to try out new things, to show attitude and not to shy away from tough decisions.
Surprise guest Kurt Aeschbacher is an example of all this. He has dared to do something new and, with Kurts, supports a platform that puts its heart and soul into promoting good Swiss quality.
