Advertiser of the Year 2017: Vote now!

Dear Werbewoche readers and subscribers. With the publication of this issue of Werbewoche, I am delighted to be able to give the starting signal for the election of the "Advertiser of the Year 2017". The award has been presented by Werbewoche since 1977, and each year it honors a personality from the communications industry who has positively shaped and influenced the past advertising year with their work and personal appearance in public. The person in question is an advertiser who not only has an impact on the industry internally, but can also be - or already is - an ambassador for the industry externally.

The person to be awarded must have stood out for continuously good performance in the past advertising year, not just for one standout or a few pieces of work.

In our understanding, the advertising year comprises the past calendar year plus the period of the current year until the nomination of the candidates - i.e. for the "Advertiser of the Year 2017" from January 2016 to the end of March 2017.

In 2016, Werbewoche has appointed a top-class jury to nominate the maximum of six candidates for the "Advertiser of the Year" award. The jury is made up of the last eight "Advertisers of the Year," two representatives from French-speaking Switzerland, and a four-person young jury; it is chaired by the editor-in-chief of Werbewoche, which organizes the award. (Impressions of the jury meeting in the current issue) All jury members are entitled to vote, Werbewoche and its staff are not.

This year, we're making it very difficult for you. Because the four candidates nominated as potential "Advertisers of the Year 2017" are all thoroughbred creatives who are convincing both professionally and personally: Livio Dainese, Dennis Lück, Johannes Raggio and David Schärer. All four have been working in the industry for quite some time and deliver convincing advertising ideas non-stop.

They are distinguished by very different careers and a creative "handwriting" that is completely different from person to person. In the end, the decision will be less one of professional quality; rather, sympathy for the advertising personality and his or her style will tip the scales in this vintage.

Cast your vote now for one of the four nominees. All subscribers to the print edition and the Werbewoche newsletter are eligible to vote. Log on to our website at Advertisingweek.ch/electionwdj2017 and click on your candidate. Voting is possible from now until April 21, 2017, 23:59.

Who will receive the 2017 Werbewoche "Egon" at the awards ceremony in Zurich's "X-tra" on the evening of May 18, 2017, will remain a secret until the event. The award will be presented by Werbewoche and last year's "Advertiser of the Year," Thomas Wildberger.

We are looking forward to a fast-paced, exuberant evening. It's time to celebrate advertising and its creators once again!

Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor in Chief

f.heinrich@werbewoche.ch