"Those who can differentiate themselves from outsized competition through specialization will survive"

1. which advertising should be banned?

The kind that underestimates consumers or takes them for fools.

2. Does the classic agency model have a long-term future?

Yes and no. Those who can set themselves apart from the overwhelming competition in their Circle of Competence through specialization will survive.

3. which professional colleague would you take with you to a desert island?

Because I enjoy being with intelligent and humorous people: Markus Ruf, Matthias Freuler, Peter Brönnimann or Dominik Imseng. But at the moment I'd rather be with an intelligent and attractive professional colleague.

4. the best book you've read recently?

Uwe Kopf, "The eleven brains of the silkworm caterpillar". Rolf Dobelli, "The art of the good life".

5 Which print media do you subscribe to privately?

The time. And unfortunately I can't quite make it to the next number.

6. what do you think about owned media?

Clever companies use it. But it only works if you can really take care of it.

7. ever thought about leaving the advertising industry?

I, or rather Matter + Gretener, have already left them for the most part. We don't just get creative when it comes to using the right communication channels with the right ideas. As a management consultancy for communication, we support our clients much earlier and give them a real competitive advantage. A well-known example: the crowdfunding campaign for Saas-Fee, one of the most innovative marketing campaigns of recent years.

8. why don't you conform to the usual clichés of an advertiser?

Because I don't take myself too seriously.

9. when you have an idea, how do you know it is good?

When I would have liked to have had them myself.

10. what is currently overestimated?

Digitalization instead of ideas that make a difference.

11. what do you never want to have to hear about yourself?

You were a bad father.

If you could create a campaign with an unlimited budget that would reach large parts of the world, what would your message be?

Plastic is a substance the earth cannot digest.

13. can you tell us a little secret?

The Wesleys Kitchen restaurant on Josefstrasse serves excellent Hong Kong street food.

Daniel Matter has won over 170 creative awards in Switzerland and abroad and has been nominated for Advertiser of the Year several times. Daniel Matter is one of the veterans of the Swiss scene. He has been working in the communications industry for 35 years and has been an independent entrepreneur for a quarter of a century. For the past twelve years, he and his business partner Marcus Gretener have formed the communications consultancy Matter + Gretener, which made headlines across Europe with its crowdfunding campaign for the Saas Fee ski pass, among other things.