75 years of SWA: Annual meeting on the topic of "Next Gen Marketing"

The SWA's anniversary annual meeting focused on the trends and challenges of tomorrow's marketing. In his welcoming speech, SWA President Roger Harlacher emphasized right at the beginning how much has happened in the field of AI since last year: "The development is gigantic - AI has definitely taken its place. What we need now is a deep dive into the new technologies and the marketing of the future."

According to Harlacher, speed is the biggest challenge here, but reflection is also required. Because in a world in which more and more is possible faster and faster, values and reliability are becoming more important for brands, and orientation and trust are gaining in significance. Hence his appeal to the audience: "Let's be inspired by the new possibilities and technological trends for brands, but let's also take enough time for reflection".

Strong SWA in its anniversary year

The SWA was founded in 1950 and is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. Roger Harlacher was particularly pleased that the SWA is still a strong voice in the Swiss advertising market at the age of 75 - even stronger than ever before. After a successful year for the association with numerous activities such as webinars, expert group meetings and various initiatives, the SWA was able to announce a new record number of 215 active member companies.

There were five departures from the Board of Directors and four new Board members were elected. This means that the 11-member Board of Directors from various sectors is once again complete.

There was a surprising change in the Executive Committee. Roger Harlacher announced that he had decided to step down as President. After 16 successful years, he felt the time was right for a successor. He brought Jan De Schepper, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Swissquote, onto the stage right away (Markt-kom.com reported). Jan De Schepper expressed his thanks for the introduction and is looking forward to the exciting topics and challenges in the association. On behalf of the Board of Directors, he also announced that Roger Harlacher had been appointed Honorary President for his services.

SWA Director Roland Ehrler also took the opportunity to bid Roger Harlacher a fitting farewell. As a special farewell gift, he received a painting specially created for the occasion by his son, freelance artist Luca Harlacher. After the emotional farewell to Roger Harlacher, Johannes Hapig welcomed the guests as host and led them through the evening with wit and charm.

Kemp-Robertson and Polomski: What the future holds

The first keynote speaker was Paul Kemp-Robertson, Chief Content Officer at Lions, who presented the eager audience with "44 Ways to Win in 2029". At the same time, he emphasized that there is not just one path that leads to success, but many paths. In addition to some predictable inputs such as "Understand your emerging buyers" or "Win the internet every day", Kemp-Robertson also presented some surprising tips that brands can use to stand out in the age of AI: "Focus on what will not change" and "Over-index on trust".

Kemp-Robertson also emphasized the importance of creativity and vision. His advice to the audience: "Be a visionary, not a creator". And to management he recommends: "Don't kill creativity in the name of efficiency". Because he is certain that something will still be true in 2029: "It is creativity that makes brands famous". Not entirely unironically, he concluded by telling the guests: "Ignore predicitons about the future." Because we all have it in our own hands how we face the future.

The second keynote speaker Jens Polomski, LinkedIn Top Voice for AI and co-founder of SnipKI from Cologne, was on the SWA stage for the second time in a row. He reminded the audience that AI is more than just a text generator and showed impressive examples of what AI can achieve not only in the audiovisual sector, but also in medicine and materials research.

Polomski emphasized the possibilities that AI offers us to implement ideas quickly and cheaply. Even without programming skills, we can build and integrate tools ourselves. And at a speed that is almost unbelievable. Polomski needed just over eight minutes to create his own image generator with AI. He concluded by advising the guests: "There are no more excuses for not implementing ideas", and looking to the future, he is certain that "there is still a lot to come".

Panel discussion and aperitif riche

After the two presentations, Johannes Hapig hosted the "Next Gen Marketing Podium". Jens Polomski was joined on the panel by "Advertiser of the Year" Andrea Bison (Thjnk), Yaël Meier (Zeam) and Jan De Schepper (Swissqoute).

At the end, SWA Director Roland Ehrler thanked the audience for their patience and quickly moved on to the celebratory stand-up dinner. The mix of guests from customers, agencies and marketers as well as the 75th anniversary provided plenty to talk about for a long time.

The next SWA Annual Meeting will take place on March 19, 2026 at StageOne in Zurich.