> To the articles (PDF)

It’s almost as if an outdoor advertising provider were putting up posters on the lowest level of an underground parking garage: Often, display ads served—and therefore billed for—on digital media channels have no chance of even reaching the user. Now, solutions for measuring visibility are increasingly emerging, bringing this dark secret of online advertising into the spotlight. At the end of March, the market research firm Comscore presented the detailed results of a comprehensive study showing that, on average, 31 percent of display ads never reach users. Depending on the website, this figure ranged from 7 to 100 percent. The reason for these lost impressions is quickly apparent: the ads are placed on the website in such a way that users hardly ever see them (below the fold), or they scroll past before the ad can even be displayed. On average, 4 percent of the ad impressions examined were delivered outside the targeted distribution area due to failed geotargeting—for example, in regions where the advertised product is not available at all. In 72 percent of the campaigns analyzed, at least some of the ad impressions appeared alongside content that was incompatible with the advertised brand. Although the study focuses on the U.S. (it examined 12 national brands with 3,000 placements on 381,000 websites, resulting in 1.7 billion ad impressions), there is no reason to assume that the situation here is fundamentally different. This is because, in Switzerland as well, there is no neutral and comprehensive evidence regarding the actual performance delivered in online advertising—such as the added value of targeting and, above all, the advertising impact achieved.

Some publishers and agencies have already responded to these shortcomings. Stefano Buzzi, Head of the Advertising Market at Newsnet & Tages-anzeiger.ch, reports on a pilot project to measure ad visibility that Tamedia is currently conducting with the company Meetrics. Hendrik van Dyck, Head of Online at Mediaxis, explains that because the ad server provider (Adform) supports the measurement of visibility rates and duration, they can advise clients on qualifying ad impressions. And Andreas Jorgella, a partner specializing in business development at The House Agency AG, notes that as an agency, it is «essential to integrate our own tools» to enable a certain level of verification of performance metrics as well as more in-depth, client-specific analyses. As a tool provider, the agency collaborates with Alenty.com, among others, and uses Adition’s ad server, which integrates the necessary tracking and measurement methods. He expects this to become standard practice in other ad server solutions as well in the future, which would, among other things, help prevent counting discrepancies.

As a look at the U.S. market shows, proving the viewability of ad impressions will be a dominant issue in the online advertising industry going forward. As a result, various industry associations launched a joint initiative (Making Measurement Make Sense, 3MS) to establish basic rules for measuring visible impressions. And as one of the first media companies to take this step, the American publisher Forbes, which publishes the business magazine of the same name, announced that in the future it would bill only for ad impressions that were actually visible, using a solution from Comscore. Similar considerations are also being made here. For example, Buzzi of Tamedia says: «In the future, it must be a given that campaign reports include quality information on ad placement.» And he hopes: «In the long term, this should also lead to higher budgets.» It will be interesting to see in the future exactly how these new insights into online advertising will impact the industry. If more qualitative performance data becomes available, this is likely to put downward pressure on prices initially. Can shortfalls due to lack of visibility or incorrect delivery be offset with better qualitative reports and correspondingly optimized planning? Or can higher prices be charged with better proof of visibility? After all, it has always been known that not all ad impressions had the same chances of visibility. However, until now there has been no reliable data on this, so discounts may have been calculated that are larger than what now appears to be actually justified.

In any case, this topic will continue to be the subject of much discussion. «The entire industry is called upon to act,» notes van Dyck of Mediaxis. For him, technical standards aren’t the top priority; instead, he emphasizes: «What’s important is an understanding of the issue among clients, agencies, and providers, as well as technical solutions.» Jorgella agrees: «However, we see standardization not only at the technical level of tools (ad serving, tracking, targeting, and bidding tools), but also in terms of knowledge and how we handle them.» He emphasizes that the harmonization of campaign design with planning and media execution as a cohesive whole is «given far too little consideration» today. For example, it is wrong to evaluate and optimize a brand-focused campaign based on click-through and conversion rates instead of assessing it using traditional and qualitative brand metrics. This likely means that, both today and in the near future, market participants will continue to have to deal with a wide range of individual tools and instruments. Christoph J. Walther

The current social media high flyers
Anyone who makes it onto the social media charts on WEmad.org in the
has gained the most over the past three months*.

 

The new brand will be brought to life at Drupa at the beginning of May, according to a press release. In the following months, the strategy and design will be implemented at all touch points worldwide. Peter Schmidt Suisse is supporting this process with the implementation of key applications, brand ambassador training and a branding hotline.

Bobst is a supplier of equipment and services for the folding carton and corrugated board industry and for processing flexible materials.

From a legal point of view, a quotation is an application for the conclusion of a contract. With a quotation, you invite your customer to conclude a contract with you under the conditions stated therein. In practice, questions often arise as to whether and for how long a quotation is binding.

If you do not explicitly mark your offer as non-binding, you are bound by it. Your customer can bring about the contract for the agreed service with the consent. If you do not want to be bound, you must expressly mark your offer as "non-binding". For this purpose, terms such as "subject to change" or "only as long as stocks last" are also frequently used.

Clear statements avoid trouble

Offers in catalogs, on flyers or on the Internet are non-binding by law. In order to prevent ambiguities, it is worth pointing this out. With regard to the temporal validity of offers, two cases must be distinguished:

If you explicitly set a time limit on your offer, it will be valid until that time expires (for example, "valid until August 13, 2012" or "valid until 6 p.m. tonight").

If the offer is not limited in time, the customer must accept it without delay according to the law. But what does "without delay" mean? If an offer is made verbally, for example on the phone, the provider is only bound during this conversation. If the customer does not accept the offer and calls back an hour later because he has changed his mind, the provider is no longer obligated to deliver on the terms offered an hour ago. He is no longer even obliged to deliver or sell anything at all.

The customer must not wait too long

If, on the other hand, an offer is sent by e-mail or letter, the provider is bound to his offer without specifying a validity period for as long as it usually takes for the customer's reply to reach him. In the case of mails and letters, this means one to two days. To avoid any misunderstandings, it is always a good idea to limit offers with a clear deadline.

The price is binding if it is calculated exactly or stated as a lump sum in the offer. In this case, the customer does not have to pay any additional costs. Unless you have informed him of any price changes, for example with the sentence "Prices are subject to change". In the case of quotations that are only approximately calculated, the rule of thumb in practice is that the customer must accept a maximum deviation of 10 percent.

If your customer does not answer after you have sent him a quotation, you should pick up the phone and ask. This is the only way to find out whether you really did not get the order and, above all, why not. Moreover, at this moment you have the chance to start new negotiations. Perhaps you will still be able to make a deal in this way.

For reasons of evidence, it is advisable to prepare quotations in writing above a certain volume and to have them signed by the customer. Also, always point out under what circumstances you will charge for the effort involved in preparing the quotation or estimate.

Book tip
Professioneller schreiben, 180 letter and contract templates for everyday Swiss business. The business reference book "Professioneller schreiben" contains 180 ready-to-use templates that no SME should be without. Whether credit assessment, collection and debt collection or ordering - this practical collection of samples is supplemented by examples and legal recommendations from the Beobachter consulting practice. 1st edition 2010, Beobachter-Buchverlag, ISBN978-3-85569-421-1 320 pages incl. CD-ROM, hardcover, Fr. 58.-

Do you need legal advice?
The Beobachter Consulting Center offers you and your employees expert telephone consulting on legal issues concerning your company - 6 months for only Fr. 99.-. Order the consulting package for SMEs at www.beobachter.ch/kmu or 0800 83 0800.

I have been involved with wine for over 20 years. I write about it, taste wines from all over the world, analyze wine ranges and follow the global wine evolution. I have also always been interested in wine advertising, so I have been collecting wine advertisements for several years - from trade magazines as well as from national and international consumer media. In general, there are two very different types of advertising: those that show a product and mention the winery, and those that focus on a region or a country - without putting a specific product, i.e. a specific wine, in the foreground. In general, it can also be said that most advertising does not really make you want to uncork a bottle of wine, especially as it is either too wordy, too unclear, too touristy, too interchangeable, too packshot-heavy or even too complicated. Unbelievable - especially since we're talking about wine here. A product that triggers something emotional in all of us, that we have all tasted at least once, that doesn't need to be explained to anyone and that in most cases makes us feel good. Wine is not bought for its functionality (of course there are exceptions), but for its emotional ability to add a special something to the moment. For me, advertising is most successful when it creates an image that the consumer can connect with on an emotional level. Wine and emotions simply go hand in hand. So why is there not more convincing wine advertising? Perhaps this question is easier to answer if we first ask ourselves what good wine is. Wine is indeed a gift from the gods. Wine is an elegant drink that combines culture, pleasure and joie de vivre. Today, wine is also a lifestyle, a trend and sometimes even a luxury. Even a simple glass of wine can be the result of years of wine experience, gained in different countries and continents and passed down from generation to generation. Wine has the ability to make a meal festive, to fill a company with joy and to increase our quality of life.

What is a truly great wine?

We live in a time that is characterized by fashions, globalization and general availability. This also has an influence on wine and the style of wine. Wines are vinified differently today than they were a generation ago. What was a great wine yesterday may have been eclipsed by an even greater wine today. However, it is important never to forget that the quality of a wine is also a subjective perception. Nevertheless, the world's most important wine critic Robert Parker has written an interesting definition of what a truly great wine is in his book on the world's greatest wine estates ("The World's Greatest Wine Estates"). It must fulfill four points. Firstly, it must simultaneously delight our palate and our spirit. Secondly, it must be able to actively hold the connoisseur's interest. Thirdly, it must reveal the character traits of its creator. And fourthly, it must reflect its terroir of origin. Four points that should not be forgotten when implementing an advertising campaign for a wine brand or a wine region - at least a few of them.

Most wines come from a terroir that has exciting stories to tell - why don't we tell them? Most wines are produced by personalities who have exciting biographies and family stories - why don't we learn about them? Most wines are enjoyed with food, whether at home or in a restaurant - why don't the campaigns take us into the kitchens of restaurants and consumers? Of course, there is a catch to this story, especially as wine is alcohol and not every market or country is allowed to advertise alcohol equally freely. Not to mention the so-called country campaigns, some of which are even financed by the state. They have to comply with so many requirements and regulations that there is a great danger that the result will hardly be noticed by the wine connoisseur due to all the consensus. Keyword country campaigns: 18 EU countries, for example, received large sums of money for the realization of wine image campaigns in 2009 and 2010. Italy received 238.2 million euros, Spain 213.8 million and France 171.9 million. The sums received by Romania (42.1 million euros) and Portugal (37.8 million euros) are considered smaller sums.

Let's take a look at the wine industry. Over the last 15 years, global wine consumption has grown from 227 to 238 million hectoliters (+4.8%) - with global production at 260 million hectoliters. Asia (+3.7%) has benefited the most from this growth, followed by America (+2.2%), Oceania (+1.1%) and Africa (+0.3%). Europe has lost share. In 1995, its share of total consumption was 72.1 percent, in 2010 it was 64.9 percent - with a downward trend. The decline is primarily the result of lower consumption in the three largest wine-producing countries Italy, France and Spain. Global wine exports developed very positively. In 1995 it amounted to 55 million hectolitres, 15 years later 93.5 million hectolitres (+70%). In short, it can be said that never before has so much wine been exported to other countries as we are currently experiencing.

Where is the future heading?

But back to wine advertising. The following four examples caught my eye among the abundance of bland wine advertising. They address either a community idea, fashion, celebrity or even "Mad Men" (although the Riedel campaign is older than the "Mad Men" series).

Let's take the ad for Château Rauzan-Ségla. The winery is owned by the Chanel Group, to which Karl Lagerfeld also belongs. To mark the 350th anniversary of the Bordelais château, Lagerfeld, Chanel's creative director, designed a special label. The fact that it is the highly acclaimed 2009 vintage, of all vintages, that is now being launched on the market with a special label is unbeatable in terms of marketing. The ad is simple, clear and elegant.

The advertisement for Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - another top Bordeaux - is similarly positive. The winery was taken over by the Roederer champagne house a few years ago. The advertisement shows the label on a black background, with the shape of the bottle framed by an extremely decorative pattern (such wallpaper can be found in the château). The message is clear and simple: "Le Vin est une Civilization. "

The Riedel display is simple and elegant. Wine lovers know that the right wine glass is essential. The Austrian family business Riedel has been a leader in wine glasses for years. They work tirelessly to ensure that wine connoisseurs from all over the world find the right wine glass. The ad speaks for itself and is very eye-catching when flicking through a magazine. The motif for the Australian wine brand De Bortoli is graphically similar. What is addressed and implemented here is the idea of community. The slogan reads: "Wine is to be enjoyed with family and friends."

Intense discussions are currently taking place in the wine world about where the future of wine is heading. There are no clear answers - they range from "natural wines versus industrial wines", to "new aromatic wine styles", "clear regional typicity despite global warming", "global versus local" and "the new influence from Asia". The marketing of wine is also a major topic. Never before have there been so many different wines and new wines coming onto the market with every harvest. How they end up on our dinner tables is one of the major challenges facing the wine industry. Chandra Kurt

 

What still excites me? What is still really exciting? Urs Schrepfer has already seen a lot in advertising. After graduating with a degree in German studies, he spent 10 years at Advico, where he developed from copywriter to CD. When some of his colleagues left and Spillmann Felser founded Leo Burnett, Schrepfer also moved on to Jung von Matt/Limmat. Before returning to Advico as Executive CD and Managing Partner and then as Executive CD at TBWA. "A lot of good times came together," he looks back. One day, however, he reached the point where he realized that organizing and managing had become much more important than finding creative ideas. Especially in network agencies. "Over time, you're made a CD because you're seen as a not-so-bad creative and because you're good with people. And at some point you realize: I'm just sitting around in meetings." Especially if you work in the executive sector. Schrepfer continues. "There are many good things about it, but sometimes as a creative you want to ground yourself a little more." - Having time, sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper and generating ideas. In other words: "Back to the roots." In such a mood, Urs Schrepfer thought to himself: "I've never worked as a freelancer before."

The same experiences

Christian Bobst was in a similar frame of mind when he and his long-time friend and creative partner were once again discussing God and the agency world over a beer. That evening, they both realized: "We were moving in the same direction independently of each other. We wanted more time for our own projects," explains Christian Bobst.

He studied graphic design and started his career in advertising at Wirz. Christian Bobst later moved to Advico as AD, where he already worked with Urs Schrepfer as part of the team. When the founding of SFLB turned the agency in Gockhausen upside down, he was lured to Berlin, where Bobst was able to gain valuable experience abroad at Jung von Matt/Spree for two years before Schrepfer brought him back to the new Advico, where he became CD. And since then? "I was no longer interested in moving up the management ladder. The higher up you get, the more time you spend on politics and meetings," Bobst analyzed in much the same way as Schrepfer. And he has never tried freelancing either. So he finally came up with the idea: "We could do it together."

This type of shared office can be set up "without any great risk". You see whether the assignments develop in the desired direction and how the resulting lifestyle actually works out. "Otherwise, we can always return to an agency," say Bobst and Schrepfer, as corresponding offers are open to both of them.

Formally, the two are now registered as two individual companies. In practice, they function as freelancers who work as a team, primarily for agencies. In May, the unconventional "start-up" on Zurich's Quellenstrasse can already look back on two years of success. For their client portfolio, Schrepfer and Bobst relied on a certain range of regular agencies right from the start. "Which doesn't rule out the possibility of new ones being added all the time." The aim is to achieve an ideal mix of larger and smaller agencies. These "smaller" ones in particular are often found in other corners. "Agencies in the areas of PR, corporate design or the Internet that don't have a traditional department themselves have asked us several times for particularly exciting projects."

But even with the big agencies, freelancers don't just have to be content with the role of stopgap. "Of course, we are occasionally booked when there is a need. But we are also called in for important prestige campaigns, perhaps to provide a broader range of services." Bobst and Schrepfer present some of their ideas as anonymous ghostwriters. However, their work for Swisscom at Saatchi & Saatchi, for example, as well as various jobs for Euro RSCG, where Christian Bobst stood in for the CD Axel Eckstein for three months, was openly acknowledged. And Schrepfer took over the pitches.

Occasionally also separately

However, it can also happen that Schrepfer and Bobst do not work together for a longer period of time. "Everyone also has scope for favorite tasks and their own projects," explains Schrepfer, who immediately denies that he is working on a novel. "I simply like the new situation of being able to focus on what I enjoy most in advertising." You are no longer constantly "multi-tasking" with seven projects running simultaneously. "We really have time for new ideas and can concentrate on one topic." With their model, Schrepfer and Bobst not only generate a "gain in work quality", but also a better quality of life when you no longer have to constantly get bogged down. "It's very important to us that we can concentrate on something and work very precisely." When there are two of you and you've been working together for years, "a day can be very productive". Searching the entire creative spectrum for a possible solution for ten hours without distraction - hardly any CD who is permanently employed in an agency and also has to deal with spontaneous phone calls from their clients can afford to do that.

Conversely, however, Schrepfer and Bobst do not want to interfere with their competencies as CDs. "Even though we were both CD ourselves: As freelancers, we see ourselves as creative suppliers. But we work specifically towards a certain breadth of ideas. That's our concept. We don't want to play CD in our jobs, we just want to help solve a problem for the agency by suggesting different ideas."

Bobst and Schrepfer have also been able to get to know a few "very good CDs" at smaller and as yet unknown agencies. "The new and small agencies are growing a lot and work very innovatively. They come from a completely different mindset because they didn't grow up in the traditional sector. But they know exactly what they are doing. However, they don't have as many people to deploy. Then they bring us in."

A freelance team must be a relief for the client. Because both have been responsible as CDs for years, Schrepfer and Bobst can imagine what a CD expects in a particular situation. "We come away from a presentation with a good feeling when we know Now someone's heart is lifted." In the past, it was a good feeling when they were able to sell their own idea or push through a campaign. Today, as externals, the two want to "take something off the CD's hands and inspire it to take new paths". Schrepfer and Bobst see one of their qualities as being able to come up with a wide range of solutions in a short space of time. "As a freelancer, you have to listen very carefully, quickly get to grips with a new subject and also pick out the nuances."

As a freelancer, you are not let loose as an "uncontrolled missile". You have to be a controlled speedboat. This form of service can also be a very valuable addition to a pitch for stressed agencies.

Advertising has become more and more sophisticated as it has become increasingly interlinked. "You used to do TV, print and a bit below the line. Today you need involvement," Bobst is convinced. To achieve this, you can no longer simply break down the classic and its idea into the various measures, but have to break an idea down from the bottom up. "What do we want to achieve? What media can we use to set this in motion?"

To achieve success in this way and develop a strategic umbrella idea, experience and knowledge of a wide range of media are required. Which Bobst and Schrepfer can of course guarantee, even with their often younger clients. It is not least in such new territory that the two feel very much at home.

The circle opens

"People are always talking about the advertising pie and are usually talking about maybe seven agencies. But the small pie has now become quite big," says Schrepfer. He enjoys this opening up. Today, people from a wide range of disciplines contribute their ideas to advertising. "That's why we as freelancers have to be able to play the whole keyboard." Schrepfer also sees an untapped area of commitment in product development. Christian Bobst wants to use his newfound freedom in the freelance working model more for photography and documentary work. He sees a trend towards advertising, PR and journalism being brought together more in the future. "How do I document true stories in an attractive form?", he sees as a possible task for him in this communication. "Tell stories, but authentically," is his aim. He identifies such a need on websites: documenting the activities of companies and organizations in an inspiring way with video, photos and sound. "This requires material. But it has to be affordable," Bobst calculates, referring to the development of Mediastorm.com in the USA. The demand for moving images is likely to develop into an attractive market based on the multimedia possibilities of the Internet. The term "authenticity" has already become a buzzword in advertising. What is actually "authentic" in some current cases, however, remains to be discussed, says Bobst. Bobst's various works for the aid organization Heks can be seen as successful examples of advertising using real information. In April, he spent three weeks traveling in Senegal. Before that, he documented development projects in Georgia and the Philippines. Together with filmmaker Peter Indergand, the small team put together a whole package including a documentary film, TV commercial, posters and photo documentation.

"Thinking outside the box," says Christian Bobst about this commitment. "After 15 years in advertising, you end up in a mental glass house. You want to question yourself and stop using the same mechanisms over and over again." For Urs Schrepfer, such impulses can also come from the immediate environment. For example, in the form of targeted collaboration with other specialists. "With people who come when you need them."

A new agency could perhaps emerge from such a network one day. However, it would not be a clone of the existing models. "The future certainly needs more capable speedboats than another big tanker." Andreas Panzeri

The working model of Christian Bobst (l.) and Urs Schrepfer also allows for new
freedom for your own ideas and also offers a better work-life balance.
 

An extremely topical subject, controversial and highly emotional, and tailor-made for a media-critical debate. One would think.

But what happened? The mistake already happened in the selection of the guests. On one side was Roger Köppel as publisher and editor-in-chief of Weltwoche. On the other side, Hannes Britschgi was invited as a critic. Although Britschgi can look back on a long, successful journalistic career outside tabloid journalism and today heads the Ringier School of Journalism, he has an Achilles' heel: He was once editor-in-chief of SonntagsBlick. Not of Blick, mind you, but of SonntagsBlick. But nonetheless, the stable odor of the Ringier tabloid warhorse, which God knows he is not, clings to him. To have him appear as a media critic and antipode against Köppel must therefore be described as naive. It's clear that this Achilles' heel was of course also a ready-made target for Köppel.

Hugo Bigi as moderator did his best to steer the conversation in an orderly fashion, but he did not succeed. Köppel primarily defended the article, which had taken up an explosive topic, and Britschgi tried to focus the criticism on the cover of the Roma child, which should actually have been the topic of the broadcast. But that failed thoroughly. The two opponents debated past each other for almost thirty minutes. Opinion against opinion, accusation against accusation. Not exactly a brilliant event for improving the image of journalism among the general public.

And then this audience had its say. With certain sensitive topics, the call-in is sometimes dispensed with. This time, however, they wanted to let the audience have their say as well. Not exactly a wise decision, because it was to be expected that the highly emotional topic would also provoke highly emotional reactions. So the road to chaos was forged and disaster took its course.

The swear words just flew. Köppel was criticized by an old lady who stammered indignantly, but "Blick reporter Britschgi" was called "hypocritical," "Blocher hater," "Tubel" and "cruel.

It is a pity that the opportunity for a well-founded media critique was wantonly missed.

Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
 

Käppeli is retiring. Beatrice Brenner is a communications advisor to Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann and was editor-in-chief of the Axel Springer magazine IO Management. She also previously worked as an editor at Finanz und Wirtschaft and as Head of Communications for the Infrastructure Division at SBB.

At Maz, Brenner will head the Communications department and help shape the further development of the institution as a member of the Executive Board. This was announced by the School of Journalism on Wednesday.

There was also a change on the Maz Board of Trustees. Daniel Suter, President of Impressum, replaces Anne-Regula Keller. Martin Spieler replaces Catherine Duttweiler as representative of the Swiss Conference of Editors-in-Chief and Thomas Kropf succeeds Franz Zölch as lecturer representative.
 

The Appwhich runs on mobile Apple and Android devices, offers readers a magazine-like reading experience for various newspapers, magazines and online news services. The individual sections and articles can be conveniently browsed through, and articles can be easily forwarded or shared on social media, according to an NZZ press release. By participating in Google Currents, the NZZ is underlining its claim to be present on new innovative channels and to reach its numerous readers in Germany and worldwide even better.
 

The focus here is on high flexibility in use and simple administration of the ads. A concept was developed in which image, sales and product advertising media are coordinated in terms of content and form. Due to the rapidly changing market requirements, they can also be used directly by Schild itself. No programming skills are required for this, because the advertising media are so-called instant ads whose content can be dynamically adapted and changed according to the situation.

Instant Ads are primarily used in Schild's affiliate program.

Responsible at Schild: Roman Desponds (Online Shop Manager). Responsible at Plan.Net Suisse: Yvan Piccinno (Managing Partner), Dominique Lardi (Client Advisor and Project Manager).
 

More than 5.8 million people aged 15 and over find out about current affairs every day. This is according to the KommTech study by Publica Data and IGEM. Almost 75 percent use a daily newspaper subscription for this purpose. A figure that has remained virtually unchanged for three years. However, the proportion of those who use the Internet for this purpose has risen. From around 49% to almost 63%. It remains to be seen which websites they use to do this. And this is precisely where Total Audience 1.1 provides more precise information than the analysis published a year ago. In conjunction with the daily use of online media (Unique User per Day, UUpD) now reported in the Net-Metrix Profile, a value for daily use can be reported for the websites of daily press titles that is comparable with the readers per issue (LpA) of the printed newspaper.

> Read the full article from the current print edition here.
 

Time is racing. Just a few years ago, terms such as livestream, rating platforms and viral marketing were only known to IT professionals - today they are tools that every marketer must have in their repertoire. Professional associations such as Swiss Marketing must respond to such developments in order to keep their talents up to date. Knowledge needs to be constantly updated.

Cadences ever shorter

With this in mind, Swiss Marketing is running a major update program: "Currently," says Claude Dubois, Head of Examinations, "the new guidelines for marketing specialists (MFL) have been completed. The remaining three guidelines for sales specialists and sales and marketing managers should be adapted by the end of the year so that they can be put into operation in 2014." The lead time seems long, but during this process, the sponsoring associations of the respective professional examinations must give their approval, the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology OPET must agree, and the schools need enough time to adapt their scripts to the new guidelines. The guidelines can be seen as a kind of "examination law", a set of learning objectives that defines what the candidates must be able to do, what the institutes should teach and how the experts should structure their cases. A paper that is intended to keep pace with the times. "In the past," says Dubois, "the guidelines needed to be refreshed every ten years or so, but today these cadences have become much shorter due to the rapid pace of development."

Basically, says the education professional, the essence of integrated communication has been strengthened for the new guidelines in terms of content, technological developments have been taken into account, overly academic terms have been removed and the practical approach has been strengthened. "All of this was always done with the intention of bringing our talents up to date," says Dubois. In addition, the topic of taxonomy points was given high priority and external knowledge was incorporated. Making understanding observable The six cognitive taxonomy levels refer to a system that goes back to the US psychology professor Benjamin Bloom, who used it to provide a formal framework for assessing an examinee's intellectual abilities. Swiss Marketing enlisted the help of Zurich-based adult educator and communications consultant Marcel Allenspach, who has also trained MFL experts in this field. "The principle of taxonomy levels," says Allenspach, "allows learning objectives to become transparent and observable." A very widespread didactic concept that can be applied to any type of learning content, regardless of subject. A candidate's learning objectives are grouped into six levels - K1 to K6, which are described using specific verbs. An example: At taxonomy level 1 ("knowledge"), the aim is to present what has been memorized without errors. A candidate should therefore name, recite and reproduce. K2 then aims to explore the candidate's understanding; they should be able to explain in their own words, give practical examples and generalize. The system extends through the further stages of "application" (K3), "analysis" (K4) and "synthesis" (K5) to "assessment/evaluation" (K6), where the candidate should "assess, check, refute". Important for understanding the six levels: K6 does not necessarily have to be "more difficult " than K1, but at this highest level, significantly more is required than simply reproducing memorized facts.

Rumba or samba? Salsa or merengue?

Allenspach describes his work as follows: "I was responsible for the formal classification of the learning objectives according to the content requirements of the subject directors. This linguistic and structural work can be seen as a kind of 'taxonomy policing'." Or, in more popular terms and applied to the world of dance music: You get ready-written works from composers. The taxonomy expert then determines whether these contributions are rumba or samba, salsa or merengue: "You determine the musical form, so to speak, but you don't compose it yourself," Allenspach explains. The taxonomy specialist pours the learning objectives into the six different levels, thus creating a grid that makes the learning objectives questionable, verifiable and assessable - or makes the samba really danceable.