"Of course, companies want to know how the market is reacting"

Werbewoche.ch: Ms. Colledani, Mr. Reiser, what prompted Link to carry out continuous brand tracking with the Swiss Brand Observer tool?

Laura Colledani: We have been tracking brands for a long time. We have many customers who ask us for brand tracking once or twice a year; they want to understand how the brand is received by the Swiss. Nowadays, however, there is a growing need to keep an eye on KPIs such as brand awareness, brand attractiveness, and advertising perception on a continuous basis rather than just selectively.

And you have now condensed this into a data stream, so to speak, throughout the year with the Swiss Brand Observer?

Stefan Reiser: Yes, you could put it that way. From selective knowledge about brand performance, we are now at a kind of data stream that can be continuously queried by brands via licenses. This has enabled us to create the largest consumer voting system in Switzerland.

So you buy a license to track?

Laura Colledani: Yes, exactly. We track about 200 companies throughout the year. 2022 was the first year that was fully tracked. We offer the licenses to the companies, and there is a lot of interest.

Can companies only track their own brand?

Laura Colledani: No, those who have a license have access to all 200 brands.

And can you filter that? For example, if you only want to see how the target group between 20 and 30 reacted to a particular campaign. Or only women between 50 and 70?

Laura Colledani: Yes, you can set the various filters and then get the results you are looking for. This is also very exciting for agencies because they can see how a campaign they created for a company is received on the market.

Who exactly do they interview so regularly, what is the composition of the panel?

Stefan Reiser: Link operates one of the largest panels in Switzerland with 115,000 panelists. This represents the Swiss population, and we survey a representative sample from it every week, which creates our Swiss Brand Observer in real time, so to speak.

Now, for the first time, Link has presented an award, or rather two awards. Based on data streams, they have determined which brands received the most attention from the Swiss population in 2022. This is the Swiss Brand Observer Top Brand Award 2022which is awarded in the categories "Innovation," "Brand Attractiveness" and "Corporate Social Responsibility. Another award was presented for the brands that have developed most rapidly in 2022, working their way into the hearts of the Swiss:inside, so to speak. These brands received the Swiss Brand Observer Top Mover Award. Can brands also win both awards?

Laura Colledani: Could, but it didn't happen now the first time. But of course you can win in several categories.

The winners have now been informed and, for an additional fee, can purchase the online seal certifying that they are Top Brand 2022. Will this be used actively?

Laura Colledani: Yes, the reactions are positive and the understanding is there among the companies to contribute financially so that they can carry this seal of approval. And of course there is also a physical award that the company can put on the shelf (laughs).

But no award night?

No, that is not planned, but who knows - maybe it will develop. We are only at the beginning of the journey.