Werner Lampert receives the Marketing Leader of the Year award for his lifetime achievements.
On September 9, 2025, the Marketing Leader of the Year Awards were presented in Vienna for the sixth time. In front of an audience of approximately 200 invited guests, the industry platform INTERNET WORLD Austria, together with the Marketing Club Austria, honored the country’s top marketers. In the Lifetime Achievement category, the special award went to organic pioneer Werner Lampert—the creator of brands such as Ja! Natürlich, Zurück zum Ursprung, and retour aux sources. Werner Lampert was honored in a laudatory speech by journalism icon and publisher Armin Thurnher.
Thurnher described Lampert as a “brand builder” who had achieved the seemingly impossible: bringing organic products to supermarket shelves and convincing consumers of their quality.
You made it happen, Werner Lampert; you bet on it with Schalle, the boss of the discount stores. The payoff was much greater: people lived healthier lives, and agriculture began to see the light in the face of industrial production.
Thurnher also emphasized the cultural dimension of his work
The greatest art, in fact, is changing the way people think and feel. And that requires at least one idea… Convincing people to pay more for something worthwhile—that is your achievement. Your work is economic, but above all, it is a cultural endeavor.
Last but not least, he praised Lampert's love of farming and animals
Cows, of all things! The beauty of the cow—yet it is man who erects a monument to her. Divine cattle, that is what you called them, and you dedicated a book to the cow, the beautiful one with eyes like Hera’s.
In doing so, Thurnher traced the arc from the early visions of the organic pioneer to a life’s work that has permanently transformed the food industry.
Brigitte Hanzmann, managing director and marketing expert, has been working with Werner Lampert for many decades. She accepted the award on behalf of the entire team. For her, the award underscores just how essential the work of the LAMPERT company is.
I was able to witness his foresight and visionary spirit as early as the 1990s. Even back then, Werner Lampert explained to me how important it would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now the scientific consensus (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that 37 percent of global CO2 emissions are generated by agriculture and food production.
Organic farming and sustainability are central to everything we do. But today, our goal is to steer agriculture toward climate neutrality.
In politics and society, sustainability and climate change are out of fashion or considered controversial topics. But rocky paths have never deterred us. On the contrary, they strengthen our resolve to work toward sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture.
We are not armchair theorists—that approach achieves nothing in sustainability. Together with our farmers, we collaborate with a high degree of transparency and develop practical measures with them. This allows us to spark a new dynamic in agriculture that is fit for the future. And consumers can actively help shape this change.
Our goal is to rekindle society’s enthusiasm for climate protection and sustainability to secure a livable future for ourselves and our children. We still have the power to make this happen!
Even today, at LAMPERT, we develop brand and communication strategies that have a lasting impact and shape the future: LAMPERT Brand and Communication Strategies