Neverland Space is currently showing the virtual reality artwork "XOL" by Los Angeles-based visual artist and musician Lionel Williams. A mystical universe of colors and sounds, XOL offers a fascinating opportunity for people interested in hallucinogens but afraid of the possible side effects. Or as Yves Sinka, one of the founders of Neverland Space and digital agency Y7K, describes the VR artwork, "Virtual reality can trick the brain, shutting out the outside world while leaving the viewer totally immersed, without the side effects of a chemical down." With the VR goggles, you actually feel immersed in a virtual world.

The possibilities of this technology seem unlimited - from e-commerce to 360° architecture models to branding, retail or event experiences. "Virtual reality offers possibilities for addressing customers that are otherwise not found in marketing to this extent," says Patrik Marty, Managing Partner Responsive. This is because the inundation with advertising measures has long triggered a high level of ignorance. VR, on the other hand, offers a virtual world that can captivate customers on every level and thus emotionally connect them with the brand or product.

Google is also hot on the heels of the virtual reality world. With Project Tango, a technology has been developed that enables the system to understand space and movement.
But even with Google's Cardboard glasses, a lot is already possible. It does not offer nearly the same virtual experience as VR glasses from Oculus Rift, for example, but the user can be captivated by interactivity. With Tilt Brush, the user can paint three-dimensional spaces. So while a drawing is created via the movement of the hands, the painter can simultaneously move around in these newly created spaces. This is explained clearly on YouTube: "Tilt Brush The Lab at Google Cultural Institute". Few users are already in possession of VR glasses. Those who are not willing to make the trip to the Museum of Transport or other VR installations can also download the virtual worlds directly on their home computers. However, the animation is omitted - what remains is a 360° video. With Google Cardboard and the corresponding app, these can be watched afterwards without much extra effort. Google's Cardboard glasses are already being used extensively in various areas - precisely because they are so inexpensive. For example, for a movable panoramic view of Google Maps. They offer a virtual world that can be slipped into a trouser pocket at any time. Youtube already has its own channel just with 360° videos. Since these possibilities for 360° video on a brand channel, as well as the 360° advertising videos in True View format (pre-roll) can be used independently by all companies, agencies and advertisers, Google does not have any actual partnerships - the advertising companies do this on their own. Basically, any company, any advertiser can create a 360° video for Youtube.

Some famous 360° advertising/branding videos from Switzerland:

Swiss Int'l Airlines from January 2016 on the occasion of the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen

Grisons Tourism

MySwitzerland.com with a 360° ski run in Laax

Samsung Switzerland to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with Knackeboul

SRF Reportage in 360

Blick.ch with 360° Airbus Swiss View

While for a few VR is already no longer a novelty, but part of the gaming leisure, virtual reality still offers the average user a new world - wow effect guaranteed. This world can not only appeal to the user emotionally, but also without distraction. Are new marketing opportunities opening up here, is it still too early and the technologies not yet developed enough, or is VR just a hype that will fizzle out just as quickly as it came? Virtual reality (VR) is conquering the art market, the first VR glasses are entering the market - what's the hype about?

Virtual Reality - a Hype with a Future

Yves Sinka, co-founder of digital agency Y7K, is convinced of the marketing benefits of virtual reality; he sees the hype as a trend with staying power.

Advertising Week: Virtual Reality - Hype or Trend 2016?
Yves Sinka: Virtual reality will certainly offer many exciting possibilities in the future, both in the arts and in marketing. However, the technology is not yet ready to implement this in a targeted manner. In 2016, virtual reality will definitely not yet conquer our marketing world.

What opportunities do you see in VR for marketing in Switzerland in the future?
Sinka: The possibilities are boundless in the future. One area is certainly e-commerce or the real estate market. But VR could also be used in many ways for event marketing, retail or brand experience. But in addition to the technological implementation, the interest of the customers is clearly still missing in Switzerland - who has an Oculus Rift at home today that still costs around 800 francs? Gamers, perhaps. VR is certainly most likely to be established in the gaming sector.

Which VR projects stood out to you?
Sinka: The outdoor brand North Face, for example, has offered an indoor experience in the store, with virtual reality glasses. The film shows the ascent of a mountain climber, which the Oculus user can follow live. But here, the climber simply had a 360° camera on his back, so the user could follow what was happening around him. Very impressive! But really nothing more than a 360° movie. This is not really virtual reality marketing yet, in my opinion - but is going in that direction. Often these projects are in the "now and wow" category. That's how VR is being used a lot right now. Sapient Nitro, for example, has released a tool for the real estate market. With the glasses in their office, the customer can view the various apartments. There is definitely a business idea behind this.

What fundamentals are still missing in the first place for a solid implementation of VR for marketing?
Sinka: The problem right now is that various fundamentals are missing. For example: Where is the consumer group that has such glasses? The VR glasses from Oculus, for example, were all beta versions and so expensive that almost no one has them. You also need to have a good Windows computer to use the glasses. Macs aren't even supported yet, to my knowledge. Just from a user perspective, virtual reality is still a niche product. Therefore, the assertion in the room that 2016 is the year of the virtual experience is still a bit of a stretch. In addition, there is the generation of content. The technology is not yet advanced enough to create good content. Sure, there are already good 360° videos. But these are often very heavily edited, because otherwise you would see the whole film crew. Accordingly, such videos are still difficult to shoot because lighting and sound are not as easy to influence as is usually the case with moving images.

Which industry do you see as a pioneer for VR ?
Sinka: To be honest: the porn industry. Porn tends to be a pioneer in the field of video, as this is where customers are most willing to buy the corresponding gadgets - i.e. VR glasses, which still cost around 800 francs today. In other areas, such as art or e-commerce, the glasses will certainly come into play sooner. It's just that in these industries, it's more likely to be individual projects. A clothing brand, for example, could set up the glasses in the changing room so that customers can test virtually and without effort which combination of clothes suits them. As I said, there are many possibilities. The only thing is that the technology is not yet mature enough, and VR glasses are usually only found in private homes among the technology freaks - including us at the agency.

Facts
Neverland Space, a project by the Zurich agency Y7K, is an online gallery that puts digital art in the spotlight. It shows works that thrive on the Internet: GIFs, anima-tions, virtual sculptures, videos and virtual reality. The gallery doesn't normally exhibit in a physical space. "But for XOL, it makes sense," says Yves Sinka, one of the gallery's founders. That's because the VR art project gives visitors a chance to experience virtual reality live. The project is on display at the QWSTION Invites store in Zurich. Y7K is offering a VR workshop together with Hinderling Volkart at the end of May. Here you learn the basics to create a small VR experience. Werbewoche is giving away two places: Send an email with a short motivation to [email protected].

A new world of marketing

At the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, visitors will be able to experience the construction of the two Gotthard rail tunnels and the Ticino region up close with one of the first public 3D virtual reality applications until this fall. A different world whose pull could give marketing a new direction in many ways, Patrik Marty and Tuan Nguyen, Managing Partners of Responsive, are convinced.

Werbewoche: The virtual world for Ticino Turismo at the Museum of Transport in Lucerne has a strong appeal. What opportunities do you see for VR in general?
Patrik Marty: Virtual reality allows users to go where they otherwise cannot - whether for physical or temporal-spatial reasons: With VR, for example, we can visit past or future times and feel like we're really there. We can move around in spaces without moving. There are historical or forbidden spaces that can be visited with VR. We can travel long distances, looking around the Grand Canyon while we're actually confined to bed. And we can go to places we are physically unable to visit - like watching the Wernli Guetzli baking inside an oven.

What direction is VR taking for marketing?
Marty: We already use VR in many different ways. On the one hand, for real estate providers: A building that has not yet been built can be viewed before it has been built. The user can also see what the view from the balcony would be like, for example, photographed by a drone. The user has a 360° view of the individual rooms, can move around freely in them and can see into every corner of the apartment thanks to 3D objects calculated in real time. There are plans for even more interactivity in the future - especially for this application. For example, the user of the future should also be able to lift, turn and adjust objects, but also design new objects himself and thus furnish the room himself. Our core competence to date has been in the conception and realization of highly involving sweepstakes. We see a lot of synergies with VR in the future. This way, people can immerse themselves in the brand world at POS, trade fairs, events, etc. via VR glasses. And here, too: The more interactivity, the more people can use their hands, for example, and help shape the world themselves, the more they are also emotionally involved. Virtual reality thus offers completely new ways of addressing customers, captivating them at every level and thus connecting them emotionally with the brand or product. What's more, in the virtual world, the user is 100 percent focused on the brand or product; there is nothing to distract them. When the user is in the virtual world, in the brand world, he sees exactly what I want him to see. That has never been possible with any other medium.

How do customers react to your suggestions to integrate VR into a campaign, for example?
Marty: The demand is definitely there - but for many, VR is still pretty unknown. But a lot of the convincing is done as soon as a customer puts on the glasses and enters the virtual world and really becomes aware of its possibilities.

What is the advantage of a 3D animation over a 360° video?
Tuan Nguyen: The technology required for VR glasses is already available in the gaming world. Games are already predestined for VR. You dive into foreign worlds and interact with them, you can walk everywhere and use every object. With VR, you're now in the middle of it instead of just being there. These previously unheard of possibilities can now be used by our customers for their needs and target group. A 360° video, on the other hand, is more like a movie that you watch passively without being able to interact. With 360° videos, I cannot look behind a tree, whereas this is possible with a world created in 3D, and the user can also cut down the tree with a virtual axe, for example - this is not possible with a film. So the advantages of a world created in 3D are clear.

Virtual reality also enables new applications in the course of enhanced interactivity. Especially in e-commerce or in the event sector.
Marty: Exactly! As soon as a user has an avatar of his own body at his disposal, he can dress himself without having to change clothes - and can still easily look at himself from all sides, for example, whether the jeans fit from behind. This is just one example of applications that I could imagine for the future. With VR, you can do practically anything, it doesn't leave anything out. In the end, it's just a question of effort. Organic objects, for example, which may also move, are much harder to animate than geometric figures. Here, the technologies will still improve a lot.

It sounds like VR could almost completely replace many areas of social contact in the future.
Marty: At the first moment when you use such glasses, you still think "Wow, now you don't have to go anywhere, you could also just live in a box and still experience everything and be everywhere - VR makes it possible to create your own world. But looking back from experience, there was already a fear with the telephone that people would become lonely. The same was true with the spread of radio, television, the Internet and, currently, the smartphone. But the opposite is the case: people have never been on the road so much and have never communicated with each other so much. VR won't stop people from traveling either, but rather perhaps give them a taste - like using Google Earth, for example, you can get a first impression via virtual reality and then decide where you want to go and also see in real life. Nguyen: There's certainly a good reason why Facebook is interested in VR. As I've read, Mark Zuckerberg's longer-term goal is a "connected world." So the plan with VR is probably going in that direction. In the future, users may be able to put on VR goggles and talk to their grandmother on the other side of the globe in the same room.

There are currently three VR glasses on the market.
Nguyen: As far as hardware requirements and setup are concerned, everything comes from the gaming sector. Even the VR goggles. On the one hand, there is the Oculus Rift today. Then there's the Playstation VR, which will be released in the fall and will be the most affordable. This is therefore probably where the proliferation will take place the most; not only because of the price, but especially because the hardware (Playstation 4) is already available in many households. The third pair of glasses is an HTC Vive. This has the advantage that you can physically move around in the room with the glasses.

Basically: VR 2016, hype with a future or ephemeral trend with wow effect?
Nguyen: The technologies are certainly still expandable, especially with regard to animations with organic objects. The gaming industry will initially be the largest industry in this area - Playstation, for example, has 36 million users. Anyone who has the appropriate glasses will be there, but then they can also use them for other applications, so the use of glasses will move beyond the gaming world. Marty: I'm sure the mobile version of VR will see pretty big adoption as early as this year. But the consumer version of Oculus Rift, if ordered today, will arrive in July at best. And then the corresponding hardware (PC with extremely powerful processing power and graphics card) is still missing - so for home consumption, this year will certainly not be the big breakthrough yet. That's why we currently recommend VR campaigns at fixed locations - such as museums, trade fairs, events, factory stores - where we bring the hardware and the target group can consume VR. We see huge potential at trade fairs in particular. The first feedback is extremely positive, VR is a very strong eye-catcher. Many have only read about it, still very few have already been able to use VR glasses and simply want to try them out. However, the hardware will soon become cheaper as soon as the broad masses are interested in it and thus the demand also increases. Oculus, for example, already offers attractive bundles - glasses including a VR-capable PC. I am convinced that VR will become widespread in the next two to three years.

Once such distribution occurs, however, users will not necessarily want to watch marketing films.
Nguyen: There will certainly be an acclimatization and the expectations for VR, as with all new media, will constantly increase. At the same time, the tools are getting better and better and so are the possibilities, so that we can keep up with the rising expectations - for example, with the inclusion of the hands.

Facts
On March 23, the Responsive agency celebrated a premiere with Ticino Turismo and invited guests in the presence of Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and presenter Christa Rigozzi at Switzerland's most visited museum. At the new special exhibition "NRLA - Gateway to the South", visitors may take a seat on one of the three VR stations and experience an impressive journey through space and time in a particularly detailed 360° world. The agency Responsive, which specializes in online, mobile and VR applications, designed the entire VR presence on site for the customer and guest at the Museum of Transport Ticino Turismo and designed and implemented the application in-house. The stations were built in style with discarded original SBB saloon car seats by object builder Cyrus Schwabe also completely in Switzerland - including two mobile Oculus stations completely integrated in aluminum rolling cases. Responsive is happy to present VR on site - the mentioned applications as well as further demos can be experienced directly at the agency's location.

Interviews: Ursina Maurer
 

Marko-Filip Ninkov also worked in the online channel direct sales divisions of Helsana and Swisscom. In total, he can look back on 10 years of professional experience in CRM and performance marketing.

In addition to the classic digital agency portfolio, Havas Digital offers a wide range of data and process-based services: performance campaigns, data enrichment and consolidation, real-time scoring, customer journey tracking and many tools for the automation of cross-channel marketing processes. Havas Digital was founded in January 2014 and serves more than 20 well-known clients from Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Peter Rehnke, Managing Director of Havas Digital, comments: "We have already worked intensively with Marko Ninkov over the last few years and are now all the more delighted to have him join us. In addition to his expertise and extensive network, he will help us make great strides forward in both data acquisition and customer consulting in the performance sector. In the coming months, we want to further establish ourselves as a competent partner for performance-driven CPO and CPL campaigns in the entire German-speaking region."
 

The SRC officially kicked off its anniversary year with the festive opening event on April 2 on the Bundeshausplatz. Around 3500 people experienced an event with many highlights. One of them was the presentation of the anniversary truck, conceived and designed by Renzen, which will embark on a major roadshow throughout Switzerland in the coming months. The sides of the truck are characterized by the anniversary key visual, also developed by Renzen, while the inside of the trailer houses a mobile exhibition. Visitors can experience or perform Red Cross activities themselves on this mobile exhibition platform with various games and interaction options.

The truck will stop at various trade shows, music, cultural and sporting events across the country during the roadshow. Stations: Aarau (AMA), Basel (Muba), Bern (BEA), Zurich (Zoo), Nyon (Paléo Festival), Locarno (Film Festival), Saignelégier (Marché Concours), Estavayer-le-Lac (Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest), Lausanne (Comptoir Suisse), Weinfelden (WEGA), Zug (Zuger Messe), Echallens (Comptoir Régional d'Echallens) and Ecublens (Salon de la Santé). More information about the anniversary activities and the roadshow: 150years.redcross.ch

Responsible at the Swiss Red Cross: Markus Obertüfer (Project Manager 150 Years SRC). Responsible at Renzen Communications, Aarau: Achim Kaufmann (AD); Hanno Lietz (CD/Text); Jan Maurer (Vice-CEO/Consulting).
 

FM reception remains guaranteed for the time being. Good radio reception in road tunnels not only serves the comfort of travelers, but also represents an important element of road safety, Astra announced on Thursday. This is because it would allow emergency services to keep motorists informed with traffic and safety messages in the event of an incident. By 2024 at the latest, SRG and private radio associations plan to switch off FM transmitters. Upgrading the technology is therefore necessary, the statement added. According to Astra, around 200 tunnels over a length of 300 meters are affected. On shorter stretches, DAB+ reception is already possible, it said. New tunnels and tunnels that are being renovated have already been equipped with the new technology as standard for some time. (SDA)

When the annual «Quebec City Magic Festival» rolls around, the Lg2 agency is on hand to pull a great advertising idea out of its hat. Even the ambient campaign for the 2015 edition was a hit (Werbewoche.ch reported). This year's campaign has nothing to hide—certainly not behind a curtain. Because that curtain could come crashing down at any moment.

And even though you’re not supposed to reveal magic tricks, the agency includes a “making-of” video. It’s not clear, however, how many times the setup was reassembled or exactly in front of whom the trick was performed. But as is always the case with magic: You don’t have to know everything—you can just enjoy it. (hae)

With Dennis Lück, a renowned creative takes the helm who brings with him broad experience in developing campaigns for all communication channels and has been extremely successful with strong brands such as Zurich, Tchibo and BMW. "I am delighted that we have been able to attract a creative who is as brilliant as he is versatile to the agency and who will continue to drive the interdisciplinary course forward," says Roman Hirsbrunner, CEO of Jung von Matt/Limmat.

Lück started his career in Hamburg at Scholz & Friends as a copywriter before moving to Zurich in 2011 as Executive Creative Director (Werbewoche.ch reported). For the last five years, the 38-year-old was ECD and member of the management team at FCB Zurich. Lück has been awarded numerous national and international prizes, including several Cannes Lions. He is a member of the Art Directors Club Switzerland and teaches cross-media creativity techniques at various institutes.
 

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at Zurich's Komplex 457. The evening will be hosted by Frank Baumann. The nominees for the Crossmedia Award 2016 have been announced and can be viewed online. Once again this year, the prize will influence the creative ranking of Werbewoche and will be endowed with 10,000 francs. The independent expert jury, headed by Marco Taborelli (Marco Taborelli Consulting), reviewed the 44 cross-media campaigns submitted and nominated the nine most convincing cases for the shortlist (in alphabetical order):
 

Campaign	Agency
Mini BMW - #MINIBlockbuster	Mediaplus Group
Brack.ch - Pack the Brack	Kind regards
The post office - racing packages	Jung von Matt/Limmat
Die Post - The Yellow Tour	Jung von Matt/Limmat
Eichhof - The 9th custom	Jung von Matt/Limmat
Austrian Post - Mission Susi	Dirnberger de Felice Grüber
Graubünden Holidays - Mountain village	Jung von Matt/Limmat
Samsung - Galaxy S6 launch campaign	Equipe
USM - Project50	Scholz & Friends

Anyone who would like to experience the award ceremony in Zurich's Komplex 457 is cordially invited to attend. Registration at Crossmediaaward.ch.

BMW MINI - #MINIBlockbuster

For the first time, the #MINIBlockbuster campaign offered users the opportunity to help create a TV commercial for the new MINI John Cooper Works via Instagram. The images posted under the #MINIBlockbuster created the framework for the first social media user-generated TV campaign. Client: SevenOne Adfactory. Agency: Mediaplus Group for innovative media

BRACK.CH - Pack the Brack

Online retailers are difficult to grasp as a brand and appear anonymous. So the aim was to bring BRACK.CH to life and allow as many users as possible to interact with the brand. We focused on the previously untypical topic of "travel": a suitcase rolled through the story using various measures and channels. Client: BRACK.CH. Agency: Kind regards

Swiss Post/PostLogistics - Parcels at the end of the race

For nine out of ten working people, commuting is a reality. Unfortunately, not being at home also means missing mail items. Swiss Post has therefore worked hard to develop services that are independent of time and place. Unfortunately, hardly anyone knows about them. This should be changed. Client: Swiss Post / PostLogistics. Agency: Jung von Matt/Limmat

Die Post - The Yellow Tour

Swiss Post has to assert itself in a dynamic market. Digital, 24/7/365, independent of location. Swiss Post has new innovative products for this. But nobody knows that. The strong brand is also a barrier - it is seen as established. High time to show what Swiss Post can do. Client: Swiss Post. Agency: Jung von Matt/Limmat

Eichhof - The 9th custom

Eichhof celebrated its 180th anniversary in 2014. A customs campaign was launched to show that the traditional brewery has always and forever been linked to Central Switzerland. With the success of 2014, Eichhof continued to win back hearts in 2015. Where people meet: at the regulars' table. Client: Heineken Switzerland. Agency: Jung von Matt/Limmat

Graubünden Holidays - Mountain village

The marketing cooperation "Graubünden: My mountain village" consists of eight small tourist destinations. The challenge: the competition is getting bigger and louder - mountain villages, on the other hand, are small and fine. A bold campaign is needed to make their voices heard. Client: Graubünden Holidays. Agency: Jung von Matt/Limmat

Austrian Post - Mission Susi

Internal appreciation - external presentation of performance. Every day, postal workers travel 240,000 km through Austria to deliver letters, parcels, newspapers and advertising mail to even the most remote valley. This "service package" was to be illustrated in an employee campaign. Client: Austrian Post. Agency: Dirnberger de Felice Grüber

Samsung Galaxy S6 launch campaign

In March 2015, Samsung presented the innovative Galaxy S6 smartphone with the international claim: Next is Now. For Switzerland, we developed the campaign slogan "What should come next is already here" - and implemented it individually for each advertising medium in a target group-specific way. Client: Samsung Electronics Switzerland. Agency: Equipe

USM - Project50

The Project50 campaign opens up an open and authentic dialog with young opinion leaders and wins them over as voluntary brand ambassadors. In this way, it creates a new desirability for the ageing design icon and introduces a new generation of design-savvy consumers to USM. Client: USM U. Schärer Söhne. Agency: Scholz & Friends Switzerland

The Casemovies can be viewed on Crossmediaaward.ch be considered.

«It all starts with a Nescafé.» Not just the start of the day for all Nescafé drinkers, but also, for example, a conversation with a neighbor you see every day but don’t really know. The more people who live in a small space, the greater the anonymity often becomes. Perhaps stairwells and elevators aren’t the best places for meaningful encounters. Okay, you do wonder why all these nice people in the example shown didn’t exchange a few words with their equally nice neighbors earlier—especially since the balconies are practically within arm’s reach. In any case, Publicis Milan stepped in and solved the problem—in a beautiful way. It included a call to action on the opposite building’s wall, encouraging people to reach out to the strangers right next door. The bottom line: Nescafé isn’t just good for «instant coffee,» but also for building bridges. (hae)

This was decided by the Federal Administrative Court in a public deliberation. The company Publikom from the canton of Zurich had also submitted a bid following the public invitation to tender for the contract in January 2015. However, the contract was awarded to the University of Zurich. In its appeal, the private company complained, among other things, that the University of Zurich had submitted a bid that did not cover its costs. This was only possible because the university was a public-law institution. The offer was therefore cross-subsidized. In its offer, the university had, for example, listed the services of the project manager in terms of the number of hours required. However, these were not invoiced. One of the federal administrative judges calculated in the public deliberation that this was an item of around 40'000 francs, assuming an hourly rate of 200 francs.

Close decision

By a vote of three to two, the Federal Administrative Court partially upheld Publicom's appeal and referred it back to Bakom. The latter must examine whether the University of Zurich should have been excluded from the award procedure on the grounds of a violation of procurement or economic constitutional law. Private bidders are allowed to bid below price in an award procedure. This is not prohibited in Switzerland, as was explained during the public consultation. With regard to a public law actor, however, the legal basis is less clear. The majority of the St. Gallen judges concluded on Wednesday that the principle of competitive neutrality of state action must be taken into account when a public-law entity participates in an award procedure.

First partial contract awarded

The service contract for the analysis of SRF's online offering was put out to tender by Bakom for the 2015 calendar year. The contract also includes an option for the years 2016 to 2018. Because the analysis will examine whether SRG's online offering complies with the license, the Federal Administrative Court has allowed the contract for 2015 - as determined by Bakom - to be awarded to the University of Zurich. Depending on the outcome of the legal proceedings, the option for the years 2016 to 2018 is still to be awarded. The Federal Administrative Court's ruling can still be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. (SDA)

Widespread—but with differences based on age, gender, and region of residence. Smartwatches and smartbands—so-called wearables—are very popular in Switzerland. In a face-to-face survey conducted by the independent market research institute GFS-Zürich in the spring of 2016, 21 percent of respondents said they owned a smartwatch (10 percent), a smartband (8 percent), or even both (3 percent).

As expected, the differences between the Age groups significant. Among 18- to 39-year-olds, nearly one-third (30 percent) of respondents say they own wearables. Among 40- to 64-year-olds, the figure is still about one-fifth (21 percent), while among those over 65, it is only 3 percent of respondents.

Men are more likely to own a smartwatch (12 percent), which is generally more expensive and has more features than a smartband (8 percent). Among the Women The opposite is true: 9 percent say they own a smartband, which, as so-called activity trackers, feature functions such as step and calorie counters, heart rate monitors, and other fitness features.

What's surprising is the Differences Between Germans and Western Swiss. In German-speaking Switzerland, 17 percent of respondents own a smartwatch, a smartband, or both, while in French-speaking Switzerland, the figure is already 32 percent.

Market Leader Samsung

Owners of a smartwatch or smartband were also asked about the model: 30 percent said they own a Samsung model. Apple (22 percent) and Sony (15 percent) followed in second and third place. The Swiss brand Swatch was mentioned by only 1 percent of the wearable owners surveyed.

Future Outlook

Six percent of respondents rate the likelihood of buying a smartwatch in the next six months as somewhat or very high. In French-speaking Switzerland, purchase intentions are significantly higher at 18 percent than in German-speaking Switzerland (3 percent). Samsung is also the market leader in terms of purchase intent: 37 percent of respondents name Samsung as their preferred brand for a potential purchase in the next six months, followed by Apple at 21 percent. The Swiss brand Swatch ranks fourth with 6 percent, behind Garmin. Smartbands have similar future prospects to smartwatches: 5 percent of respondents rate the likelihood of purchasing one in the next six months as somewhat or very high.

About the study

The research institute gfs-zürich surveyed 1,004 people in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland from February 22 to March 12, 2016, as part of a face-to-face omnibus survey covering multiple topics. When it comes to the use of digital media in particular, face-to-face surveys are the preferred method, as they do not overrepresent people who are tech-savvy or active online. The survey is representative of the population aged 18 and older in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3.2 percent at a 50 percent confidence level.

A green revolution is taking over our cities. For some years now, the term "urban gardening" has been used to describe the growing of more and more useful plants in parks or on flat roofs. In line with this trend, Coop is launching its "Gardening Adventure" this spring. Children can learn which plants and animals live in our immediate environment and become gardeners themselves. 120 animal and plant cards are waiting to be discovered, collected and exchanged by the children. An extensive scrapbook is used to store the cards. As a special extra, Coop also offers small seed cups for growing 18 different flowers, herbs or vegetables. With a bit of luck, a voucher for one of the seed cups will be among the trading cards.

Valencia Kommunikation was again entrusted with the promotion. The agency designed various advertising materials from POS posters to Hello Family mailings. For use on TV and the Internet, Valencia produced an atmospheric spot in various versions together with WirzFraefelPaal Productions. In it, we see a gang of children who are enthusiastically gardening and throwing themselves into the gardening adventure with great zeal. The collection campaign runs from 11.4. to 28.5.2016 in all Coop supermarkets, Coop City department stores, Coop Bau+Hobby, Coop Restaurant and coop@home.

Responsible at Coop: Thomas Schwetje (Head of Marketing/Services), Sacha Zuberbühler (Head of Advertising), Catherine Gritti (Project Manager Advertising), Helmut Träris (Head of Sales Promotion/ Coordination CP/Projects), Manuela Kerker (Project Manager Sales Promotion), Oliver Johnson (Head of Digital Marketing), Anja Kapust (Digital Marketing), Karin Heliopoulos (Head of Media). Responsible at The Whole Media: Stephan Küng. Responsible at Valencia Communication: Michael Gerber (CEO), Tommy Schilling (Creative Director), Gianna Burghartz (Art Director), Delia Guerriero (Assistant Art Director), Sebastian Refardt (Senior Copywriter), Diana Aberkane (Senior Account Director), Mirjam Müller (Communications Planner), Emanuel Plüss (Polygraph Team Leader), Marina Korth (Polygrapher) and Patrick Hublard (Polygraph). Responsible at Wirz Fraefel Paal Productions: Cello Schnyder (Director), Stefan Fraefel (Executive Producer), Nina Wirth (Producer).