The fact that around 95% of apps are hardly downloaded or not downloaded at all should not dampen enthusiasm, but rather encourage a realistic market assessment and considered action. As there are no download guarantees, there are some important points to consider and stumbling blocks to avoid when developing an app.
It is important that the app focuses on one functionality and thus offers the user added value or a quick solution to a problem. As listing in the Apple App Store is not guaranteed, it is advisable to take Apple's specifications into account when developing ideas.
The most important work comes after brainstorming: functions and interaction paths need to be defined and recorded down to the last detail. This work must include the promotion and interaction mechanisms, such as Facebook connections, as well as the sound concept.
Mapping the paths through the app uncovers breaks and obstacles in the use flow. Involving concept developers, programmers, designers and copywriters ensures that their requirements are met. It pays to work thoroughly, as subsequent modifications are unnerving and costly. Since Apple alone determines whether the app is listed in the store, it pays to involve experienced app programmers who are familiar with Apple's requirements and validation processes.
New apps are found while browsing the App Store. An attractive app icon attracts attention. If the description is also formulated in an appealing way, the chance of downloading increases. Unfortunately, not enough attention is always paid to this fact. Recommendations from the personal environment, the Apple Store and a top position in the download charts also have a major influence on the attention paid to the app. Today, however, it is almost impossible for a new app to achieve the necessary attention and awareness without coordinated initial communication.
The prerequisite for a successful app is to deal with the requirements of the users, Apple and the promotion mechanisms. If this is not done, there is a high probability that the app will join the ominous 95 percent that are ignored or barely noticed.
Imre Sinka
dotpulse web agency Zurich

The subscription concept is valid throughout the entire network area without any time or geographical restrictions. The success of the U-Abo brought about a turnaround in passenger frequency; the number of passengers doubled within three years, according to a press release from the Crome agency. Today, the U-Abo is the core product of the Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz TNW with over 2 million sales per year. Around 80 percent of all passengers travel with the U-Abo.
The campaign, which has been running for three years, aims to surprise, amaze and provoke. To this end, the posters and advertisements present more or less amiable heads that dramatize certain stops or excursion destinations or make seasonal references to calendar events in the Basel region, such as the Basel Autumn Fair. The tongue-in-cheek local references are intended to reinforce the regional anchoring of the campaign as well as the likeability of the TNW brand.
Responsible at Crome: Bernhard Wenger (Creative Direction), Nicole Wermelinger (Consulting), Thomas Strecker (Concept), Helge Dilger (Art Direction), Patrizia Stalder (Graphics), Leu und Partner (Photography).

The Zurich-based advertising agency Neutral won the pitch for Bucherer's communications account in spring 2010. The new image campaign shines under the motto "Experience Luxury". The subjects are "an important step towards the perception of Bucherer as a contemporary heritage house that combines grace and class with traditional craftsmanship and an understanding of service," explains Jörg Baumann, Director of Marketing and Sales. Michelle Nicol at Neutral sees the element of connection. The international luxury brand is the combination of passionate craftsmanship and an inspiring shopping experience. Bucherer combines joaillerie with haute horlogerie, precision with passion and tradition with zeitgeist. Bucherer positions itself as a house of these inspiring connections and consistently implements the concept with the integrated marketing platform in internal and external communication as well as in all media and markets. Founded in 1988, the company is now managed by Jörg G. Bucherer in the third generation and is both a creator of watches, jewelry and jewels and a retailer with 14 stores in Switzerland and an expanding presence in Germany and Austria. pan

In future, the company Le Monde Libre, founded by Pierre Bergé, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, will hold around 60% of the shares in the group. The trio is investing an estimated 110 million euros. The Annual General Meeting approved the planned capital increase, the newspaper announced on Tuesday evening.

The entry of the investors means a drastic change for the journalists. Until now, they have exercised power in the company via the editorial company SRM and its partners. With the entry of Bergé and his partners, the journalists' share of capital will now be diluted. For the first time, the editorial team will lose control of the newspaper. However, Bergé, who is joining forces with the banker Pigasse and the founder of the internet provider Free, Niel, wants to guarantee the editors their freedom.

The Group had to borrow 25 million euros last year. It had already borrowed almost 70 million euros in 2005.

Paul Widmer was Schaller's deputy for many years and former head of the Bern office. The publishing divisions in Zurich and Berne will remain unchanged under the management of Elmar zur Bonsen, Peter Christoph and Andy Schärer.
Infel is active in corporate publishing and employs over 45 people. The Swiss company acquires clients such as Ernst&Young and DKSH.

These include the Swiss Creative Industries Association, which was founded in 2009 and is already working on the December issue of Klartext, as well as the rival publication Edito, with which the magazine is considering a merger. Klartext goes back to the predecessor organization of Comedia, the Swiss Journalists' Organization (SJU). The SJU launched the Klartext Foundation 30 years ago and has supported it significantly ever since. A partnership is now being negotiated with the Edito publishers' association, which in turn includes the Swiss Syndicate of Media Professionals (SSM) and Impressum. According to a press release, the Klartext Foundation Board is currently in talks with the Edito publishers' association about a possible joint venture project. The foundation and the association would publish a joint media magazine as equal partners. The magazine would be launched in spring 2011 at the earliest, and a delegation from the foundation board is currently in talks with a delegation from the association following consultation with its founder, the media union Comedia.

The current TV and cinema series radiates joie de vivre and ensures a positive response from viewers.
Let yourself be carried away and take a look behind the scenes of the energy spot in the making of, currently in "Die Werbewoche" on Star TV on Thursday at 19:45 or as a stream on Startv.ch.

The launch of the new Windows Phone 7 has caused quite a stir in Zurich. Numéro 10, a specialist in buzz marketing, called for a suitable game via Facebook. "Experience more with Windows Phone 7." After all, the smartphone represents a new era in mobile gaming. This includes, for example, the ability to find a lost smartphone at any time using the "Find my phone" service. And this is exactly how the scavenger hunt "The Race" across Zurich worked. The first command was given on Facebook. Later, there were ringing phone booths. In these, the participants had to catch the new instructions from sponsor Swisscom at the right moment until, after further creative chicanery at the finish line, 20 winners could finally win the new phone or even 7,000 francs. pan

It's the kind of job that can later be described as an almost unsurpassable anecdote in the history of an advertising agency. "We were asked if we could shoot a movie commercial for an airline in ten days," say Laurent Ulrich and Michel Alraun. The two have been in business as videographers with their company Maybaum for around five years. Image films, commercials and company portraits are among their core competencies. The fact that they actually made it into Bern cinemas with the above request in just ten days with a 3D animation has since earned them the contract for a comprehensive advertising campaign including a new CI for the rebranding of an entire airline.
SkyWork at Belpmoos Airport decided this summer to go on the offensive with a new image. The regional airline from Bern wants to present itself as a "modern, flexible and personal airline" on the market in future. SkyWork was aware that the company needed a new, uniform image in order to achieve its goals. Having already had a positive experience with the cinema film, SkyWork asked Maybaum for support once again. Alraun and Ulrich recommended graphic designer Susanne Riegler. She has her own studio right next door to the film people in the "Creative Center" in Baden. In the former premises of the Grey advertising agency, around a dozen different start-ups from the creative sector have now found a shared address with a suitable infrastructure. Ulrich, Riegler and Alraun have not yet decided whether three of them will merge to form a "real" advertising agency following the success of SkyWork. "It is an option."
Because Riegler's new logo was appealing and the newly acquired investors wanted to get started immediately, the management decided to forego another pitch. "Take off in one minute" was the new strategy for SkyWork. Then an uncomplicated management team with aviation pioneer Alex Gribi, son Nicholas and the young managers Daniel Borer and Tomislav Lang pushed all the levers forward.
"Within a month, we developed a dossier with a two-year marketing plan that convinced the Board of Directors and the SkyWork management," Ulrich, Alraun and Riegler summarize the further development. What is needed for a campaign? How can a regional airline advertise throughout Europe even with a small budget? How many resources do we want to use for which target groups?
In the end, the creative trio from Baden presented three possible models "where the client could see exactly what and how much he could expect for his money". Various media plans were drawn up. A concept has now been chosen in which posters will be put up in the Bern region as far as Fribourg and Neuchâtel. In the city of Berne, a bus and a streetcar will feature SkyWork's design. The same buses will be used in Biel, Thun and Emmental. SkyWork will have a regular presence in local cinemas and on Tele Bärn. Megaposters will be put up directly at the airport. Railboards on public transport. The "take-off" for all these print media is scheduled for next spring when flights begin. There will also be guerrilla campaigns, social media and a text message competition. The very broad mandate also includes a motivational brochure for employees as well as various gadgets, from pens with logos to sugar sachets. The many building signage, vehicle lettering, aircraft paintwork, uniforms and a planned in-flight magazine are also complex special jobs. The trio in Baden also designed SkyWork's new website.
The new corporate design in all these measures combines long-standing tradition with dynamism and innovation. "At the same time, different colors in the logo draw attention to the different divisions," explains designer Susanne Riegler. The blue color refers to all of SkyWork's activities, the green color reflects freshness and environmental friendliness - the aircraft are newer in this respect than many of its competitors - and finally, the gold color represents the exclusive and elegant business aviation segment.
On this new basis, an unprecedented marketing campaign is being implemented for SkyWork, which includes a new claim: "Your personal way to fly" in addition to the livery and refurbishment of the aircraft.
A "dream job" for the Ulrich, Riegler, Alraun team, where the three of them were constantly faced with new challenges. Where do you print a ballpoint pen at low cost? Which parts do we use to add which color to the new uniforms? What needs to be considered when an airplane is resprayed? Who can embroider our logo onto the leather of the seat upholstery? Who can produce a miniature model of the new aircraft as a gadget for merchandising as quickly as possible?
In this sense, much of the job was also "learning by doing" and this in a record time of just four months. The successful completion on time for a media conference last week at Belpmoos was only possible "thanks to a very constructive and open collaboration" with the similarly young management team at SkyWork. From the very beginning and throughout the entire development period, the customer showed just as much trust in the ideas of the creative team as they did in the business practices of the airline. "We only signed a joint briefing with order confirmation towards the end. New ideas and tasks were simply added every day." In the meantime, the new advertising agency in Baden, which has not even been formally founded yet, has been rewarded with a two-year contract for SkyWork.
"Your personal way to fly"
Many people have already flown on a SkyWork plane on vacation. Tunisia, Greece and the Balearic Islands have so far been popular destinations with departures from Bern. However, very few passengers are likely to have noticed during their flight who they took off with. This will change in the future. SkyWork is not only expanding with additional aircraft. For the first time in its history, the long-established Bern-based company is now launching a comprehensive marketing campaign with ideas from Maybaum. SkyWork's growth course is to receive an additional boost with the newly launched claim: "Your personal way to fly".
The company owned by the aviation pioneer family Gribi has been operating at Belpmoos for 27 years. During this time, SkyWork Airlines has become the home carrier of the small airport in the Swiss capital. In addition to the local hero, Air France, Lufthansa, Cirrus Airline, Darwin and flyBE also offer flights to Paris, Southampton and Munich, for example. Helvetic will also land in Bern in the summer. SkyWork intends to strengthen its growth strategy in this attractive regional airport environment and will be opening new or competing destinations with Berlin and Hamburg from January 2011. To this end, the frequencies of the existing services to Barcelona, Berlin and Hamburg will be increased. The carrier also intends to continue working with vacation providers as a charter. As a visible sign of the "take-off", a dedicated travel agency will be opened in Berne. All in all, SkyWork intends to create a further 50 new jobs by 2013, with 60 employees to date.
Alex Gribi, the Bernese aviation pioneer and senior partner of SkyWork, has brought additional investors on board for this expansion. As their representative, Daniel Borer has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of SkyWork. As CEO of the holding company, founder's son Nicholas Gribi will also lend wings to the generational change at SkyWork. "We are trying to exceed our customers' expectations," promises the medical and business administration graduate. Tomislav Lang is CEO of the airline division. For him, the new logo, in which the previous nostalgic font has given way to a modern design, is a "departure for new horizons".
Andreas Panzeri
Laurent Ulrich
He presents himself on the Maybaum.ch website as a "communications expert, camera virtuoso, initiator, globetrotter". Ulrich started out in the retail trade and then trained in communications planning at Sawi. Nevertheless, he did not end up in an advertising agency. In 2006, he became self-employed and began his business activities in the field of video production with Alraun in Burgdorf.
Susanne Riegler
The trained polygrapher is the only member of the SkyWork team with a real past in an advertising agency. Riegler has worked in various larger and smaller agencies in Zurich, including Jung von Matt/Limmat. Since April 1 of this year, Riegler has been based at the Creative Center in Baden. As part of the independent mix of creative start-ups concentrated here, she offers "concept, graphics and implementation" as a one-woman show under the name Unikom. The collaboration with office neighbors Alraun and Ulrich has "intensified quite a bit" with the contract for SkyWork.
Michel Alraun
He introduces himself on the Maybaum.ch website as a "master cutter, visionary, fairy godmother, camera connoisseur, bon vivant". Alraun began his professional training with advertising technology at the Bern Trade School. Even earlier, however, he "shot a short film in every spare minute". He was a permanent guest at all kinds of film festivals. His first job was working on a new CI for Migros Genossenschafts-Bund Aare. Michel Alraun became self-employed at the age of 25.

Philippe Gaydoul talks about how to develop a brand into a premium brand
with the conference moderator Patrick Rohr. Gaydoul, who at the age of 28 has already won the Denner
Group, has owned the Swiss brand Navyboot, among others, since 2008. A brand does not have to appeal to everyone, but must position itself clearly, as the Berner Marketingtag association quotes him in a press release. The coffee brand Nespresso also has a strong ambassador: ladies' darling George Clooney. Marketing manager Sina Leemann gave an insight into the company's 25-year success story, citing "quality, continuous innovation and the experience" as the most important factors.
Michael Hengl demonstrated to the audience what "collective intelligence" is capable of. The owner of "1492 GmbH" has helped to initiate a cultural change and innovation leap at Nokia, as the association's press release explains. Hengl's message: "The results are better if you involve the masses or the team in the search for solutions." Hengl vividly demonstrated that the risk is worth it with an interactive game for the audience. They piloted a flight simulator as a collective. Michael Hengl's view of the future: "The use of collective intelligence is only just beginning. If it is used more intensively, the areas of responsibility of managers will change massively."
Geneva's pioneering winemaker Jean-Daniel Schlaepfer has a different background. The former lawyer and career changer was not afraid to break rules and taboos in order to realize his vision of top wines. His success has proved him right.
Bern Marketing Day
The Bern Marketing Day took place for the 14th time in 2010. The Bern Marketing Day Association is responsible for organizing the event. Its members are the regional clubs of Swiss Marketing, the Institute of Marketing and Management IMU at the University of Bern and the Department of Business and Administration at Bern University of Applied Sciences. The aim of the Bern Marketing Day is to provide practical know-how as well as food for thought, ideas and solutions on the topics of corporate management, marketing, sales and communication.
On November 2, 2011, the 15th Bern Marketing Day will be all about Switzerland. The event revolves around the questions: "What is it that makes Switzerland such a prominent presence all over the world? And why, with all this prominence, are we usually frighteningly reserved?" The Bern Marketing Day 2011 will explore these questions under the motto "Best of Switzerland".

Despite this, turnover rose by two percent to 6.4 billion dollars compared to the same period last year. However, the early settlement of debts had a negative impact on the company's profits. The bottom line was only 522 million dollars, a decrease of 21 percent. In the long term, however, the action pays off for Time Warner: the company saves on high interest payments.
Media groups around the world have recently benefited from the economic recovery and the resulting increase in advertising expenditure. German market giants such as Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1 filled their coffers again and expressed optimism.

The secretly recorded video shows former opposition leader Deniz Baykal accompanied by a woman who is not his wife. As the official news agency Anatolian reported on Wednesday, YouTube refused to remove the recording. This was enough for the court in Ankara to have the platform blocked again. This was just a few days after a ban of more than two years had just been lifted.
When I tried to open the YouTube page on Wednesday, a message appeared saying that the Turkish telecommunications regulator had blocked the site.