In the spotlight: SWA-ASA Switzerland’s Roland Ehrler

I was born and raised in… the German and French-speaking part of Switzerland. The city is called Biel-Bienne and is about 30 kilometers from Bern and 100 kilometers from the Swiss Alps.

I started in the marketing industry… via newspaper marketing. With further education and various professional certifications in marketing and advertising I worked my way up. It’s hard to imagine today, but we learned to write on typewriters with 150 characters per minute and survived without computers and smartphones.

My proudest career achievement is… during my time working for Swisscom. We launched the first GSM mobile subscriptions in Switzerland and the world’s first prepaid cards for mobile phones. It is said that even the White House and other VIPs were our clients.

Our priorities for 2020 are…

1. More added value for our members;
2. More transparency along the digital value chain; and
3. More data about media usage, advertising impact and pricing for marketers.

A very specific challenge in the marketing industry in my country is… the current coronavirus situation and its impending impact on our association as well as our members. Otherwise, despite Switzerland being a non-EU country in the middle of Europe, we face the same regulatory challenges as our colleagues from national industry associations in the EU.

If I could change one thing about the industry today, it would be… to commit all partners in the marketing industry to maximum transparency and openness.

What most people don’t know about me is… as a young man, I was a transmission officer in the Swiss army. I spent two years in the military and got to see many beautiful places in Switzerland.

One fun fact most people don’t know about my country… In addition to chocolate, watches, cheese and snow, Swiss people are the third happiest people in the world, according to the World Happiness Report. We are humorous, happy but maybe reserved, so you just need to get to know us better!

Want to know more about Roland and the Association of Swiss Advertisers (SWA-ASA)? Get in touch with him here.

This is part of a series of monthly interviews with heads of national advertiser associations in WFA membership.