Earning the Audience’s Attention: How Markus Zwilling Drives Brand Visibility Through Editorial Storytelling
The global media landscape is shifting away from static advertising towards deeper, more meaningful connections with audiences. For brands, the challenge is no longer simply to communicate a message, but to create content that people actively choose to watch and remember. Markus Zwilling has built much of his career around that idea as a filmmaker, Executive Producer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Managing Director (MD) of new step media GmbH. His work has generated more than 300 million organic views and substantial audience growth for client brands, while his experience has also led to invitations as an international keynote speaker. In 2026, he is featured among TPT’s Top 20 Leadership Stories of Visionary Icons.
His work reflects a broader move away from conventional corporate communication towards content designed to earn attention rather than assume it. As the founder and Managing Director of new step media GmbH, Zwilling brings more than 20 years of experience in content development and production, working with brands including Mercedes-Benz, Fresenius Kabi, and Porsche. “Our work is defined by creative boldness and a commitment to quality – qualities reflected not only in awards, but above all in strong audience engagement and positive brand perception.”
At the heart of his approach is a creative framework that helps companies communicate their values through human, visually compelling stories. “We have the ability to organically increase brand visibility.” His aim is to develop content that is aesthetically strong, emotionally engaging, and memorable. His work spans the automotive, pharmaceutical, financial, sports, and food sectors, as well as branded content more broadly.
Zwilling’s current strategy looks beyond conventional media approaches to explore editorial and interactive storytelling models that reflect changing audience expectations. Together with his team, he develops concepts intended to challenge established marketing habits without losing sight of the brand behind them. “Why? Because I do not believe that traditional marketing alone can still build a brand on a broad scale today. People expect more – and brands need to recognise that. Sometimes, it is simply about going the extra mile in developing a story.”
As companies seek to remain relevant in an increasingly crowded digital environment, his teams continue to produce content across countries, industries, and platforms.
The Power of Independent Production
Zwilling built his creative company partly out of professional setbacks that ultimately pushed him towards entrepreneurial independence. There were two defining moments. Several years ago, he worked in the United States on the production of a science programme for German television. The project did not develop as he had hoped, and after returning to Germany, he initially found himself unemployed. “That situation forced me to ask myself a simple question: Why not develop and produce documentaries and factual programmes independently?” He already understood editorial workflows, how broadcasters think, how stories are structured, and what professional productions require. That became the starting point for his own film and television production company.
The second key moment came shortly afterwards, when he was asked to produce a film for a pharmaceutical company. During the initial discussions, he realised that journalistic storytelling and corporate communication have more in common than many people assume. Both require complex subjects to be made understandable, credible protagonists to be identified, and stories to be told in a way that keeps people watching voluntarily. Step by step, this insight evolved into a creative agency that combines editorial thinking with strategic brand communication, bridging the gap between traditional journalism and corporate storytelling.
Earning the Modern Viewer’s Attention
Zwilling closely observes changing media consumption habits to understand what keeps audiences engaged in an increasingly crowded digital environment. Today, people are constantly exposed to content. For filmmakers and brands alike, attention can no longer be taken for granted. It has to be earned every single time. In the past, a professionally produced image alone could make an impression. Today, that is no longer enough. Audiences have higher expectations, less time, and virtually unlimited choice. If content does not feel relevant, it can be dismissed within seconds.
He encourages clients to look at communication through the eyes of the audience rather than solely from an internal corporate perspective. Relevance does not mean that every story has to be loud or spectacular, but it does need to offer value. That value may be emotional, informative, entertaining, or inspiring. A story can last 30 seconds, three minutes, 20 minutes, or even longer, provided viewers feel their time is being rewarded. One of the most important rules is: Develop content from the audience’s point of view, not only from the sender’s perspective.
Evolutionary Steps in Visual Marketing
Zwilling’s approach has evolved from producing individual corporate films towards developing continuous, multi-platform content systems. The original idea was simple, he explains: “We wanted to work with clients who were prepared to take new steps – visually, but above all in the way stories are told.” That philosophy inspired the name new step media.
From the beginning, the aim was to move beyond predictable communication and create content distinctive enough to remain in people’s minds. That philosophy continues to shape the agency’s approach as platforms, formats, and audience behaviour evolve.
The core vision has not changed, but the channels, formats, and expectations have. In the past, the focus was often on producing one major film. Today, Zwilling says, the team increasingly thinks in terms of serial formats, cross-platform content systems, and long-term storytelling worlds. Taking new paths also means accepting a degree of uncertainty. There is no guarantee that every idea will succeed. But companies that simply repeat what everyone else is already doing should not be surprised if they struggle to stand out. As brands look for new ways to strengthen their digital presence, his teams continue to explore fresh approaches to visual storytelling.
Balancing Creative Quality and Commercial Realities
Zwilling believes that creative quality and commercial thinking are not opposites. Good creative work requires clear parameters, realistic budgets, and teams that are treated professionally and fairly. Careful planning and transparent allocation of resources also help protect production teams from unnecessary last-minute changes that can affect both efficiency and quality.
He is equally aware that marketing budgets are under increasing pressure. At the same time, quality comes at a price. Experienced, motivated, and fairly paid people tend to deliver better work, which ultimately affects the final result. “We are, of course, a commercially responsible company. We have obligations towards our employees and our clients.” For him, good leadership means setting priorities, calculating transparently, and communicating clearly about what can realistically be achieved within a given budget. In the long term, he believes fair pricing and reliable partnerships are more sustainable than short-term cost-cutting.
The Dynamics of Authentic Digital Engagement
Zwilling encourages clients to examine their content from the perspective of the person who ultimately decides whether to watch it. Effective storytelling creates a response. It moves, surprises, informs, or changes perspective. Ideally, something remains with the audience after the content has ended. A beautiful image alone is rarely enough. Without a relevant story, it can quickly become superficial.
At the same time, strong stories are difficult to find and develop. That is where much of the real creative work begins. Many brands start with the question: “What message do we want to send?” Zwilling would ask another question first: “Why should anyone voluntarily spend time with this content?” That, he believes, is the first question that needs to be answered.
He also pays close attention to audience behaviour and performance metrics to understand whether content genuinely holds people’s attention. After the first few seconds, every additional second of viewing is a conscious decision. If content feels too much like traditional advertising, audiences often lose interest. That is why the story should come first. It needs to suit the platform, audience behaviour, and viewing context. The brand message should then be integrated naturally rather than appearing as an interruption. Metrics such as watch time and interaction are not merely technical figures. They provide useful evidence of whether content genuinely reaches and engages its intended audience.
Adapting Across Diverse Industries
Zwilling moves between highly regulated sectors and consumer-focused industries by applying a structured, research-driven approach. “Our clients differ significantly in terms of industry, communication style, and budget.” Yet the central challenge is often the same: How can a subject, product, or message be made understandable and relevant?
As a trained journalist and filmmaker, he learned to familiarise himself quickly with unfamiliar subjects. “Before developing a concept, we therefore ask several basic questions: Who is the audience? What prior knowledge can we expect? What genuinely interests them? In what situation, and with how much attention, will they consume the content?”
The team adapts the structure, tone, and format of each project to the specific requirements of the client and industry. A financial topic requires a different tone from an automotive story. Medical communication demands a different level of precision and responsibility from entertainment. But the core principles remain the same: clarity, credibility, relevance, and a coherent structure. Authenticity does not mean making everything look identical. It means ensuring that the format, language, and story are appropriate for the brand, the audience, and the channel. As companies look for new ways to communicate increasingly complex topics, his team continues to develop concepts across platforms and industries.
Managing the Technological Shift
Zwilling approaches the rapid growth of automated media tools with both curiosity and caution. AI can be extremely useful in research, planning, analysis, post-production, and parts of the production process itself. But it is not a guarantee of effective content. There is a widespread assumption that AI automatically makes production faster, cheaper, and better.
“I think that is too simplistic. AI-generated content still requires people who understand storytelling, visual language, branding, and audience behaviour.” A weak idea does not become a strong idea simply because it can be produced in more variations. Human judgement remains essential in deciding what is relevant, distinctive, and worth producing.
For Zwilling, AI is only as valuable as the person directing, evaluating, and refining it. That requires more than prompting skills. It requires experience, judgement, taste, and the ability to assess results critically. The greatest opportunity lies in making processes more efficient. The greatest risk is creating an even larger volume of interchangeable content. As production becomes easier, original ideas, real experience, credible people, and a distinctive point of view may become even more valuable.
The Dynamics of Collective Responsibility
Zwilling believes in respectful working relationships and relatively flat hierarchies on set, particularly during demanding productions. He tries to make one principle clear to everyone: Every person contributes to the result. Whether someone is a camera operator, sound engineer, editor, or intern, a film is never created by one individual. “We succeed together, and when something does not work, we deal with it together.” People who work with him know that he expects a lot. At the same time, he aims to offer reliability, trust, respect, fair payment, and genuine responsibility.
For him, culture is often visible in small details. On long production days, teams need proper breaks, good food, and the sense that their contribution matters. Nobody should feel like an interchangeable resource. “Our standard is simple: professional in our work, respectful in the way we treat each other, and united as a team in the final result.”
Transforming Setbacks Into Strategy
Zwilling continues to draw lessons from the early professional experiences that shaped his career. “My time in the United States was one such experience. I went there with high expectations, but in the end, it did not work out. I could have viewed that experience purely as a failure. Instead, it became the starting point for building something of my own.”
That experience shaped his attitude towards mistakes and unexpected developments. He learned that failure is often not the end of a journey, but a change of direction. As a leader, he therefore tries to analyse mistakes quickly and honestly: “What did we misjudge? Which assumption was wrong? What should we change next time?”
He believes in a culture where people can speak openly about mistakes without immediately being judged. The important question is not whether something goes wrong, but whether something useful is learned from it. That mindset continues to influence the way his teams approach complex productions and new creative challenges.
The Convergence of Personal and Corporate Branding
Zwilling sees a growing connection between corporate brands and the people who represent them. People connect with people. Many decisions are based not only on products, services, or company messages, but also on trust in specific individuals. That is why he believes companies will increasingly need recognisable faces – not simply traditional advertising personalities, but credible people from within the organisation.
Founders, executives, experts, and employees can all communicate knowledge, values, and perspectives in an authentic way. By giving these individuals a visible role in communication, companies can make their brands more accessible and build trust with their audiences.
On platforms such as LinkedIn, personal profiles can often generate significantly more engagement than corporate accounts. Companies should therefore consider building visible personalities who can credibly represent particular subjects and areas of expertise. Corporate branding and personal branding will not replace one another; Zwilling believes they will become increasingly interconnected.
Redefining Corporate Longevity
Zwilling measures entrepreneurial success less by rapid growth than by long-term independence and stability. Many agencies and production companies have disappeared from the market in recent years. “We have now been operating for more than seventeen years, with locations in Germany and Switzerland.” For him, that continuity is an important form of success.
Maintaining this independence depends largely on long-term, transparent relationships with clients. It is only possible when clients trust the company, return for further projects, and build relationships over many years. Long-term partnerships therefore mean more to him than short-term figures.
“My goal was never to become as large as possible, as quickly as possible. My goal is to remain relevant, independent, and economically healthy over the long term.”
Grounded Rules for Future Creative Teams
When speaking to the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers, Zwilling prefers practical advice over grand statements:
“Legacy is a very large word, so I would reduce it to three simple thoughts.
First: Never forget the most important person you are creating content for: the audience.
Second: A truly good story can often outperform a larger budget, a famous name, or a technically perfect production.
Third: However passionate we may be, we should not take ourselves too seriously. We create content. We can inform, move, and inspire people, but we are not saving the world. Perhaps that perspective helps us remain ambitious while keeping our feet on the ground.”
As companies across industries continue to rethink how they communicate in an increasingly digital world, Zwilling and his team remain focused on creating authentic stories that connect people, build trust, and deliver lasting value for brands.