"For us, awards are first and foremost an HR issue."

1. what would you work for free?
Work makes work and should therefore not be given away as a matter of principle.

2. what does not come to the office under any circumstances?
Anything that distracts from thinking.

3. what would you most like to promote?
We are planning to send an NL to health insurance companies and insurers in the first quarter of 2016. Therefore, I would currently say: for health insurers and insurance companies.

4. was there a moment in your life when you thought: Wow. This is great. And it's from me!
No, of course not.

5. Do you fall for advertising? When?
Constantly. Especially at the POS, I'm an easy victim. I simply try out all new products. Even if I'm already sure in advance that I probably won't like a chocolate bar in the "puffer fish banana" flavor.

6. what was the most fun lunch partner?
Clearly the owlish punk icon Malcom McLaren. A madman who did not utter a single thought during the entire meal that I would not have liked to have had in this form.

7. if you had not become an advertiser - what then?
Personal assistant to Malcom McLaren.

8. What inspired you to enter the advertising/communications industry?
Brilliant advertising. To be precise, a longcopy ad for Linn Hi-Fi that featured the following text next to an image of an attractive woman: "She's terrific in bed. She's witty, intelligent and makes her own pasta. She doesn't have a Linn Hi-Fi. But her sister does, and she's the one I married."

9. what would you not promote under any circumstances?
For Linn Hi-Fi. How to do it better?

10. which advertising medium do you find abominable?
In principle, I have no difficulties with any advertising medium. Rather with messages and mechanics that are not adapted to the specifics of the advertising media.

11. name a campaign that has recently caught your eye in a positive way - but did not originate with you.
"Das grosse Osterhasen-Rasen" by Ogilvy Frankfurt for Media Markt. The campaign is not only original and super texted, but also convinces with its comprehensible activation mechanics. A much too rare combination.

What role do awards play in the advertising industry?
Clearly overrated as a means of customer acquisition. But it makes perfect sense for attracting and retaining talented employees. For us, awards are therefore primarily an HR issue.

13. when you have an idea, how do you know it is good?
Even I, the King of digressions, can explain it in one sentence.

The multiple award-winning copywriter and creative director Jörg Bewersdorff has headed the text department of Wirz Wietlisbach Dialog since 2012. After two years on the executive board, he has been CEO of the performance-oriented agency within the owner-managed Wirz Group since January 2016.

The "13 Questions" appear both online and in the print edition of Werbewoche.

Implementation 13 Questions: Thomas Häusermann