"There's no better way to express the convergence between advertising and digital"

You became "Advertiser of the Year" in 2017, how has that changed your life?

Dennis Lück: It has definitely enriched my life. You can say what you want about titles, but this one has already attracted a lot of attention. Fortunately, it was not only directed at me, but also at the agency I work for. Inquiries as a speaker, guest author or in the field of new business can already be traced back to the title. So it certainly has a decent value.

They were also very happy at the award ceremony.

Yes, I have a hard time suppressing emotions.

Then you also celebrated well?

Yes, it was like that. It didn't stop at just one beer. We celebrated with the whole communications team, the industry and the customers together. I celebrated with everyone who had a stake in the title. It's important for me to say that the title of "Advertiser of the Year" is not for one individual. "Advertiser of the Year" is actually "Trainer of the Year." So I invited everyone I've ever worked with. And then we took apart a metal bar.

Who are you rooting for this year?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of them. All three candidates deserved to be awarded. That's why I'm really excited to see who I can pass the scepter on to at the Best of Swiss Web Award Night.

Does it make sense to you that the "Advertiser of the Year" is now being awarded as part of Best of Swiss Web?

I was delighted to see that something is now growing together. For me, it's both logical and refreshing that the "Advertiser of the Year" is awarded in an environment like Best of Swiss Web. There's no better way to express the convergence between advertising and digital.

How far have the advertising and web industries converged in recent years?

In my opinion, approximation falls far short of the mark. Nowadays, the advertising and web industries live in a shared apartment. You don't always see everything the same way, you sometimes do things without each other, but you live and eat in the same place.

As an industry, do you also expect to benefit from the new format?

Absolutely. The new "Advertiser of the Year" will be chosen by a larger and, in part, different audience, which will make him or her known beyond the current playing field. And of course I hope that the subsequent elections will also be well mixed with candidates from the advertising and web industries.

You have now been active in the advertising industry for over ten years. First in Germany and now also in Switzerland. How has the industry changed in that time?

I rather wonder what hasn't changed. I think the only thing that hasn't changed is the passion for creativity. The rest has been completely turned upside down and reinvented again and again. We are in a perpetual transformation mobile. Constantly changing is the new normal.

Can you give an example of these changes?

When I started, a media plan fit on a beer mat. Today, when you draw up a media plan, you need a whole wall. And: The biggest change for me is that we have changed from the target group to the target person.

What does it mean?

When I started out, we tried to address target groups. Today, we have reached the technological stage where we can address target persons. The individualization of the approach is far advanced.

Could this be achieved by knowing more about the individual?

Exactly. On the one hand, we know more and more through data. On the other hand, we can also address the target person better and better through means such as Programmatic Creativity.

What is needed in the industry to further advance the digital transformation?

know-how, the right talents and the courage to dare and try out new things. And when I use the word trying out, that certainly includes a good culture of making mistakes. Another important aspect for me is to achieve a different way of looking at data. We have to learn to love data. Data is nothing more than a huge pot of insights. And we have to use them for communication and creativity.

What does it take to handle the data?

You need a fantastic tool for that: the brain. You need people who can read data, analyze it, and turn it into insights. It's not for nothing that data engineers are in such high demand right now. So it takes exactly this type of brain to fish out the needles from the haystack of data with which we can then prick.

The trend in the advertising industry is increasingly toward loose associations of advertisers and creatives for individual projects. Will there still be agencies as we know them today in ten years' time?

One thing makes me believe that we will still need agencies as we know them today in the future: it's the team spirit that can only develop in an agency. It is the team spirit that gives rise to outstanding ideas. When I say that creativity is a team sport, I also mean that I still need a well-coordinated team and not a loosely thrown-together mercenary squad. Which doesn't mean that we're going to radically change the way the team plays together in the next few years.

How does the way we work need to change?

We need to look at the customer experience as the holy grail. Every idea - whether it's a communication idea or a service design innovation - must solve a specific problem on the customer journey. Linking the right questions with surprising answers is our job. Generating fun ideas is no longer enough.

So there is a need for even greater customer orientation?

Exactly. I'll make a slightly limp but figuratively simple comparison: You can imagine the customer journey as the styling of a person. One agency is commissioned to design a T-shirt for him or her. Another agency takes care of the hairstyle, and a third takes care of the accessories. In the end, the person looks in the mirror and thinks, "Shit, what's going on here?" The holistic customer experience of the Journey is not right. We have to take care of the overall impression.

Would you describe yourself as a digital pioneer?

I think digital pioneer is an exaggeration. But "passionately digital", I would underline that. For example, I was able to write small programs in Basic at the age of 10, and later I added C++. That was a long time ago. Then I got involved with data creativity at a very early age. I also made sure that the first Creative Data Lions came to us in Switzerland. From the very beginning, I believed that data was my new playground.

What skills will be required in the future when dealing with data?

The ability to analyze data precisely and create added value for people and brands from it. That will be elementary.

How do you train the interaction between artificial and creative intelligence?

Training is the appropriate term. We have to train it, practice it again and again, try out new possibilities again and again. After all, "training" means "not yet being able to do". But it's also important to consider artificial intelligence as a player in the game. The creative intelligence must make something bigger out of the artificial intelligence. They have to cross-fertilize each other. It has to be an interplay.

Which technologies will still shape the industry in the future?

You can probably name a thousand things here: What I find most exciting is the convergence of man and machine.

What will advertising look like in 10 or 20 years?

I don't think advertising will look any different in 10 to 20 years. We will still have the job of selling tomato soup. Only the channels, the way as well as the formats will change very radically. There will be a scaling of communication on thousands of formats and on hundreds of thousands of connected devices.

Anything else you'd like to say to the winners at the Best of Swiss Web Award Night?

I am proud of everyone who won something at the Best of Swiss Web Award! Best of Swiss Web must be an evening of envy and raucous celebration. Let's celebrate each other's achievements as an industry and toast to them!

Interview: Christoph Grau, Netzwoche

Notice: This interview is from Netzwoche No. 06 / 2018 and was conducted on the occasion of the "Best of Swiss Web" Awards 2018 and the first-time integration of the "Advertiser of the Year" into the gala evening.