AI-driven marketing only works with structured data. During the Swiss AI Weeks Hackathon, participants learned how to build their own Marketing Data Foundation using VERZE, a Swiss-made MarTech solution that connects data, algorithms, and campaigns for scalable, omnichannel performance.
Most marketing teams today work with fragmented tools and unstructured data. Yet AI can only deliver meaningful results if it has access to structured, enriched, and versioned data. At the “Swiss AI Weeks Hackathon: AI Ready Marketing Data Foundation Using VERZE”, participants experienced first-hand how to transform raw marketing data into AI-ready, omnichannel assets – and how to use them directly for ads, campaigns, and automation across Meta, TikTok, DOOH, Email, and more.
Led by Peter Erni, CIO of Brain & Heart Communication as well as CPO and Co-Founder of VERZE, the session demonstrated how marketing teams can gain control over their data and radically improve efficiency, precision, and performance.
Defining the Marketing Data Foundation
The Marketing Data Foundation is the missing layer between marketing creativity and algorithmic efficiency. It connects:
- Fixed data patterns: structured marketing messages (headlines, visuals, CTAs, metadata).
- Dynamic data patterns: user signals (behaviour, intent, timing).
When both meet, algorithms can predict who is receptive to which message at what time. This logic forms the basis of Reception Marketing, a data-first approach where timing, context, and relevance replace guesswork.
The Role of VERZE
VERZE is a MarTech SaaS platform that structures, enriches, and scales marketing assets into AI-ready structured data. It automatically gathers unstructured data from websites, PDFs, and editorial systems, cleans and enriches it with metadata, and makes it available in a centralised, searchable marketing database.
From there, marketers can:
- Create multilingual and persona-specific message versions.
- Synchronise structured data with Meta, TikTok, DOOH, Email, and LLMs.
- Feed AI tools directly with consistent, approved datasets.
The result: faster workflows, higher ad relevance, and data-driven learning loops across all channels.
Reception Marketing: A New Logic for Modern Campaigns
Peter Erni introduced Reception Marketing as a shift away from interruption and permission models toward algorithmic empathy: Understanding when and where users are receptive to messages matters more than producing more content. By treating algorithms and machine learning as bridges between static structured data and dynamic user data, marketers can finally stop guessing, and start learning continuously from real-time feedback.
Real Results: Swiss Berghilfe Case
One highlight was the Swiss Berghilfe case study, showing how structured marketing data enables algorithmic optimisation at scale. Results after one year:
- Average CPM: CHF 0.46
- Average CPC: CHF 0.07
- Conversion uplift: 2× more donations
- Cost efficiency: 10–20× lower cost per result
Even with modest media budgets, AI-optimised structured data outperformed traditional campaign setups by a wide margin.
Key Functions Demonstrated
During the hackathon session, Peter showcased several practical modules:
- Data Import: automatic extraction from websites and PDFs.
- Data Structuring and Managing: enriching entries with topic, funnel stage, persona, and tone.
- AI-Assisted Editing: generating new versions, languages, and variants.
- Feed Export: connecting to ad platforms through data feeds (CSV, XML, JSON, MCP).
- Real-Time Synchronisation: ensuring live data updates across all connected systems.
Each participant could follow the process from unstructured data to AI-ready structured data, and test how algorithms react when the foundation is properly built.
Efficiency and Scaling Effects
VERZE typically reduces manual effort for omnichannel content production by a factor of 2 in the first year and 5 or more in subsequent years. Marketing teams gain:
- Centralised control of their structured data.
- Improved algorithm learning quality.
- Significant media budget savings through precision targeting.
Conclusion
So let’s summup our “Swiss AI Weeks Hackathon: AI Ready Marketing Data Foundation Using VERZE”.
Modern marketing needs more than creativity, it needs structured marketing data. VERZE provides the missing link between brand strategy, content systems, and AI.
As Peter Erni summarised:
“Fix your data foundation. Fix your tracking. Leverage algorithms. Structured data is not the future of marketing; it’s the foundation.”
Watch the Session and the Slides
Download the slides: VERZE – Swiss AI Weeks – Hackathon 2025