"Niuws" offers users hand-curated news on various topics. 50 curators - all experts in their fields - link to relevant articles in their boxes. With curating, Hogenkamp has picked up on one of the big trend topics at an early stage.

Advertising Week: Eight months have passed since the Launch of "Niuws" past - how are things going so far?
Peter Hogenkamp: It's actually great. The app doesn't have that many users yet, but those who are there are real fans. What's more, people who want to curate regularly sign up themselves. And the marketing is going well. The best compliment for me is always when someone writes to say that they were skeptical at first, but have now looked at it, think it's great and now want to take part.

Do the curators decide on the themes themselves, or are there criteria?
The curators can suggest their subject areas. If there are several subject areas, we take a look ourselves to see what might fit.

But "Niuws" is aimed at a certain target group, where should the whole thing fit in? Suppose someone came up with ice hockey...
... With ice hockey, the question would be how broadly you would define the term, how many articles are published every day about Swiss ice hockey, for example. Probably not many, and there's not much to curate. Not every topic is suitable for curation - for example, all tabloid topics: Let's say two trains collide down there (pointing out of the window onto the tracks at Zurich's main station, editor's note), and after five minutes it's in 20 Minuten or Watson and a quarter of an hour later it's everywhere. I don't have to curate the best article. Sports topics would be possible, however, if someone is deep in the subject matter, but then probably more trouvailles.

There are now 50 boxes. Is the number open to increase, or will it become too confusing and counterproductive at some point?
That's a good question - we haven't answered it yet (laughs). We started with 15 and we already realize that some of the structures are more suitable for 20 or 30 boxes ... with 50 it can get a bit confusing. On the other hand, when we started and the number of curators grew very rapidly, we thought about what would happen if we had 300 of these boxes? Would we still have enough topics? We would have; of course we are becoming more and more "niche". Theoretically, however, you can include any specialty, because there are always industries and people who are interested in them. And they don't interfere with the others. The enormous amount of content available is a frequently used argument against all types of digital media. There may be hundreds of thousands of podcasts or news media - but all the ones I don't read don't bother me. Otherwise you'd be standing in front of the newsstand with the same argument and think: "It's a complete disaster how many magazines there are." But nobody does, because nobody forces you to read them all.

Can anyone who wants to take part actually do so?
No. At the beginning, we thought about whether we should open up the app and let everyone curate. But we want to keep it exclusive to a certain extent. We look at what people did before, we don't want them to use us as a link slinger and only curate their own stuff. When you open it, you immediately need filters so that no spam slips in, but because it's closed we don't have a problem with that, we don't need any supervision in the strict sense. But we still check it regularly.

The curators still do the job voluntarily, on the side?
Exactly. You actually do it for the opportunity to position yourself above it. To do this, you need the aforementioned exclusivity. For the curator, it's a certain reward to be the only one on a topic. If five industry competitors could also open a box like this, the whole thing would no longer be so interesting.

And what role do celebrities like Viktor Giacobbo play?
Celebrity is always relative to a target group. We have several of them who are prominent in their respective scenes. Heike Scholz, for example, is very well known on the topic of mobile, Barbara Josef for new forms of work, Thomas Lang and Malte Polzin, who alternate in the area of e-commerce. Martin Steiger, lawyer for digital law, is on "20 Minuten" every third day as an expert on digital law. Viktor Giacobbo is indeed a "real" celebrity with a broad impact. We once thought about doing more along these lines, we had the idea of "A week with ...", in which various CEOs etc. let us look over their shoulders while they read for a week, but this is still in the pipeline. In the meantime, we are very happy with Viktor Giacobbo, who curates every day in an exemplary way and always finds great things ...

...but without a concept...
...without a thematic bracket, but not without a concept. They are simply found objects that he finds funny or remarkable. He can curate what he thinks is cool. Just like on Twitter, where many people have no concept of what they link to, including me.

The app is free - how do you earn money with it?
When you start a start-up, it's always uncertain whether you'll make money with it, and if so, how. We now have five products and have found at least one paying corporate customer for each of them. At an insurance company, the innovation team will soon be curating a "Member Box" for its own employees. We have "Public Boxes" from sponsors: Sozialinfo and Swissbanking - which is funny because the two are also at different ends of the spectrum. But that also shows that both can use it. But we also have normal box and article sponsorship. Like on Twitter, paid links inserted into the feed. And we offer a product that we make for AXA: "Curation as a Service". The app user doesn't notice any of this. In other words, we regularly provide AXA's social media team with curated news via internal channels, currently on the topics of cyber security and road safety. Funnily enough, in French and Italian. In principle, they can do it themselves in German.

So that's what special curators do?
Exactly, paid curators. If you work below the surface, so to speak, you have to get paid for it, of course, because then there's not much prestige involved.

Five products - which will be the main source of income?
After eight months, we can't yet say: this or that will be the killer. It's always like that with a start-up, you have to feel your way to where it will "pour in" afterwards. Where it's worth sending a salesperson out on the street and saying: Here's the price list, call everyone and go sell. You don't know that at the beginning. I always say that honestly, because it's the same with all start-ups anyway. However, I have noticed that it can also be held against you if you say publicly: "We have all kinds of ideas for refinancing." In an interview for a German portal, the author then wrote: "Hogenkamp doesn't yet know how to finance the whole thing." As I said, this is true, but it is inappropriate if it sounds flippant. Digital media start-ups are often accused of having no idea how the money will come in. That's definitely not the case with us. We are already generating revenue.

What does "Niuws" think about native advertising?
What native advertising is always depends on what your core service is. We don't write articles, we just link to them - so we can't sell sponsored texts. Right from the start, we had the idea of offering sponsoring in the sense of company-sponsored boxes and "sponsored links".

But would it be possible for renowned curators to insert articles that are paid for behind the scenes?
No, of course not. Sponsored links are sold centrally by us and then displayed as such and clearly marked. The principle is now also known and accepted by Twitter and Facebook.

The app looks sophisticated and useful - but will potential users find out about it? I would probably never have heard of it if we hadn't published an article about the launch...
I'm glad you think so. We have also concentrated on development so far and haven't spent a penny to promote growth. So far, we've only grown through word of mouth, mainly through recommendations and a bit of social media.

So, is the growth good?
9000 downloads, 7000 registered users, mainly in Switzerland; fewer in Germany. Of course, you could say we'd rather have 100,000, but I don't think it's too bad considering that it only grew from recommendations.

Are there plans to expand into other countries?
That always depends on the financing. At the moment, we are mainly focused on sales and I am in the process of talking to various companies about sponsorship and all the products. We'll have our next round of financing sometime around Christmas and then we want to grow even more.

No problems with the authors who provide the content?
No, there's no stress. I had already emailed the big players in Switzerland and Germany before the launch. They always had two questions. Firstly: Do you link to our site? That's the case. Secondly, do you display advertising above our advertising? We don't, because we don't use traditional advertising banners. The publisher's original advertising remains visible. After that, everyone is actually relaxed. Even recently at the Media Congress, when I presented "Niuws" to the User Market and Advertising Market Department of the Swiss Media Association. Every time someone asks, because they still have the old cases and the whole Google News discussion, which was very heated two years ago, in their heads ...

...the difference is not really that big...
Yes, but the discussion has largely died down. My favorite example is always FAZ vs. Perlentaucher from 2006, when the FAZ sued the site Perlentaucher.de, a kind of "Best of Feuilleton", for not being allowed to link to the FAZ website. That kind of thing makes you scratch your head today. Today, digital people or publishing people in general understand more about digital than they did ten years ago - and it would be bad if they didn't. That's why such discussions no longer arise.

From your time at the NZZ, you also know the other perspective of the publishers.
Exactly. I got to know Elia Palme, the founder of Newscron, when I was still at the NZZ. I called him up because I saw that he was processing NZZ content in his Newscron app, at that time purely algorithmically, i.e. using software. I asked him exactly the same questions back then. He showed me a graphic and said: I'll send you 50,000 users every month. I replied: Great, then go ahead.

Curating seems to be quite trendy ...
That's right. We are proud to have started early on. I came up with "6 to 9" with Ronnie Grob in 2007. After eight years without a break, he recently gave up collecting links - most recently on the "Bildblog". In 2009, we created a newsletter called "C36daily" based on the Internet Expo at the time. And last year we started to develop Niuws. In the summer of 2015, all the "big players" in Silicon Valley suddenly started talking about curation; Apple, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. So we were a bit ahead of the hype.

Is the reason for the hype that the flood of information inevitably requires it, or simply because it is much more economical to organize content instead of creating it yourself?
No, I don't think so. It is indeed a flood of information that also offers opportunities if you help to sort it. You can say it's more economical, but that's not the point, you still have to provide a service that helps people.

Today, digital intermediaries - Uber, Airbnb, Booking.com, Google, Amazon - are booming. Isn't "Niuws" doing the same thing?
Sure, we sit between the content creator and the user. But as you say, Google has always done this, only completely automated. Our service is to discover good content. Small content creators in the "long tail" that are not 20 Minuten or Blick or NZZ, where many people go anyway, can be happy that there is an authority that finds and links good content like a truffle pig.

Is a desktop version also planned?
Yes, I definitely want that in the medium term. I don't think we are "mobile only", we don't want to be, even though mobile is the big hype and mobile growth is at its highest. The professionals we are targeting still sit in front of a desktop computer half the day and want to use the service during their lunch break, for example, not just on the streetcar or on the sofa. Nevertheless, mobile is of course deeply embedded in our DNA. Our curation process, for example, also runs entirely on the smartphone.

Couldn't you just copy "Niuws"?
I don't think so. Firstly, because of the curators - in many areas we already have "the" person who is best suited to a topic. And secondly, because of the underlying technology, which users are not even aware of. The founder has been developing it for five years. I often compare the app to an iceberg because you can't see the machine that lies beneath it. Our database automatically imports 100,000 articles every day, new ones are added every five minutes, it clusters, filters, sorts and ranks them. This is a powerful tool that the curators then use to select the five articles they want to link to, for example. This software from Newscron already existed before, we just added the curator interface with "Niuws" last year.

That does sound like a powerful tool...
... Yes, whenever I demonstrate it, I always hear: "Wow. I didn't even realize that." Thanks to this machine, I'm also quite relaxed when it comes to "How are you going to earn money?". With this powerful software that ploughs through 100,000 articles a day, and since curating is totally hip at the moment, we will find customers - whether B2B or B2C, it doesn't really matter in the end. Maybe we don't even need 100,000 users because the app is just the showcase. Our previous corporate customers have all contacted me of their own accord after using the app. If you end up with 100 B2B customers who use our "curation engine", you might not need to earn much money with the app.

And at some point the whole machine will be sold?
That would be conceivable, of course. When someone asks me about it, I always say that I really enjoy my work, but subliminally, of course, I always long for the time when I can lie on the sofa again ...

...or found a new start-up.
Exactly (laughs). I don't have to do it for 20 years now - but I've never done that anyway, I've always started something new after five years.

Interview: Thomas Häusermann

Peter Hogenkampborn in 1968, from Detmold, studied and completed his doctorate at the University of St. Gallen. He has been working in the Internet industry for 20 years and is considered one of the leading experts in the German-speaking world in the field of online media. Hogenkamp founded various companies, including the usability consulting firm Zeix and the social media agency Blogwerk, which he sold to the German WEKA Group. From 2010 to the end of 2013, he was Head of Digital Media at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Since 2014, he has been President and CEO of the start-up Newscron SA in Lugano, which launched the aggregator app "Niuws" at the beginning of 2015. The app is available for iOS and Android and can be downloaded free of charge from the website Niu.ws can be downloaded from the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store.

This interview previously appeared in the print edition of Werbewoche 18/2015.

The Zurich public transport company (VBZ) is recording an increasing number of laser pointer glare attacks against its driving personnel. In 2013, 14 drivers were blinded by laser pointers, but in 2014 there were already 38 cases. And the trend is rising. VBZ is now taking decisive countermeasures with an awareness campaign designed by Ruf Lanz (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The campaign has generated a great deal of media coverage in recent days. 20 Minuten, Blick am Abend, NZZ, Tages-Anzeiger, Zürichsee-Zeitung, Landbote, SRF Schweiz aktuell, TeleZüri, Teletop as well as Radio SRF, Radio 24 and Radio Energy picked up on the campaign and addressed the danger posed by sneaky laser pointer attacks. And also the harsh punishments that are threatened for it. In addition, numerous people showed their solidarity with the VBZ driving personnel on vbz.ch/stopplaser and thus said: Stop laser pointer attacks!

Particular importance was attached to the homeliness of the bathroom. The new campaign visual shows people who are not bathing, but making the bathroom their second living room - in keeping with the claim "At home in the bathroom. The images emphasize warmth, appear light and inviting through brightness and light accents, and present the brand in a human and likeable way. Talsee's design aspirations are clearly expressed. And the writing also lets customers immerse themselves in the bathroom just by reading it.

In addition to the emotional arguments, Talsee's rational strengths are communicated with new clarity. "Swiss made", "since 1896", "award-winning design" and "custom-made" were identified as convincing advantages and are reflected throughout the campaign. The new appearance will be applied to all means of communication, offline and online, transferred.

Responsible at Talsee: Bruno Scherer (Managing Director), Rebecca Steiner (Head of Marketing & Design), Urs Kaufmann (Head of Central Sales). Responsible at Rosarot: René Karrer (Creative Director), Andreas Steiner (Concept, Text), Andrea Bissig (Art Direction), Sven von Osten (Graphics, Design), Chantal Jenny (Project Management).
 

The non-profit organization was founded in 1996 under the name Childcare Service and today operates over twenty daycare centers under the "Kids & Co" brand on behalf of 185 member companies that offer their employees professional childcare. The online presence Profawo.ch has now been adapted to profawo's appearance and today's technical standards. The nearest daycare center can be easily found via Google Maps. The content, which grows with the site, offers employees and employers background information and specialist articles on the topic of "family and career". Parents receive a monthly newsletter; companies are informed four times a year.

Responsible at Profawo Switzerland, Bern: Monika Stampfli (Managing Director); Isabelle Kirschbaum (Deputy Managing Director). Responsible at Insor (project management, realization): Gregor Favre. Responsible at Basel West Corporate Communications (conception): Thomas Aerni (consulting); Markus Siegenthaler (editing); design: Manuel Bürli (design). Photography: Kolt, Olten; Yves Stuber.
 

With around 14,500 courses, the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) is the second largest training provider in Switzerland. Few people know that there is much more than the obligatory emergency aid course. To communicate this, Maxomedia launched a campaign this week. It draws attention to the courses offered by the online portal Redcross-edu.ch attention. On the educational platform, the Swiss Red Cross and its Red Cross rescue organizations and cantonal associations offer a wide range of courses on topics that can affect any of us. From childcare and dealing with dementia to conflict management, you will find valuable information for all situations in life. This is also what the new claim aims to convey: "Knowledge for life".

The knowledge gained from the courses enables everyone to act quickly and correctly in difficult situations. Maxomedia's campaign takes up this idea not only in terms of content, but literally. And allows the viewer to act from the very first contact with the online advertising media: With questions about situations that require immediate action.

The questions are challenging and the correct answers are often surprising. To provoke a quick reaction, visual stylistic devices put the viewer under additional pressure. A countdown and flashing text inserts subtly create stress; in the animated version, the banner also continues to fill up until the correct answer is given. If the user clicks on one of the answer options, they are redirected to Redcross-edu.ch. The overlay reacts accordingly to the selected answer and resolves the question. The Switzerland-wide online campaign relies on targeted targeting and retargeting. In addition to various banners, communication also takes place via social media, Adwords, advertisements and flyers.

Responsible at the Swiss Red Cross: Lukas Sallmann (Head of Marketing and Communication), Janine Wenger (Marketing GI IZ), Dino Beerli (Head of Redcross-edu.ch), Markus Schenk (Head of Marketing GI IZ), Albin Seite (Head of Online Marketing), Markus Imboden (Head of Technology redcross-edu.ch). Responsible at Maxomedia: Bernhard Herzig and Simon Muster (overall responsibility), Frank Salathé (Head of Digital), Tatjana Meichtry (consulting/project management), Daniel Rödel (AD), Antonia Bekiaris (text/concept), Alba De Zanet (graphics), Noah Moor (digital design), Joel Stüdle (UX/UI design).
 

In total, Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung reports 20'994 digital subscriptions sold, of which 12'685 are attributable to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and 8309 to the NZZ am Sonntag. The 26 percent increase in replica circulation compensated for the decline in print: total paid circulation remained stable at 98'868 (-1.7 percent) for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and 116'583 (-1.9 percent) for the NZZ am Sonntag.

Total circulation declined slightly. This is due to the lower number of free subscriptions. "We have deliberately reduced the scattering loss due to the free subscriptions and thus optimized our circulation. You can see this in the pleasing development of the readership figures," explains Steven Neubauer, Managing Director of NZZ. Last week, Wemf reported 274'000 readers for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. That is around 14'000 more than in the previous year. At the NZZ am Sonntag, the number of readers rose year-on-year by 2000 to 423'000 readers.

On the morning of October 8, 70 guerrillas suddenly landed in the streets of Bern. Their mission: to place crosswalks with the message "Orange brings forward" and to paste over existing crosswalks. These scenes were repeated in other cities in Switzerland.

This guerrilla action "Orange brings forward", carried out by Numéro 10, aims to show that even political parties can spread their convictions with a smile and without panic and fear mongering.The action is intended to give a positive perspective to the upcoming elections thanks to numerous actions that enlivened the streets and surprised passers-by. Cheerleaders, classical dancers, a bride and groom with their guests, "fake" policemen and athletes crossed the orange crosswalks in front of the astonished eyes of the public. On the Bundesplatz, CVP candidates with President Christophe Darbellay crossed the pedestrian crossing Beatles-style.

The aim of this action was to use humor to remind CVP sympathizers and the undecided to vote on October 18. The guerrilla action "Orange brings forward" was accompanied by a national digital campaign and newspaper ads.

 

Whereby "celebrating" is a bit of an exaggeration. Rather, the label addresses an omnipresent problem that is often annoying but rarely discussed: Many men's underpants don't fit well. Tommy John wants to change that. Firstly with a product that fits perfectly (claim: "No adjustment needed") and secondly with a campaign that aims to change nothing less than the way men think about their choice of underwear. "We couldn't understand why everyone in the industry was doing the same thing. Underwear and underwear advertising hasn't really changed since Marky Mark and 1992", says Josh Dean, Head of Brand at Tommy John. "We're not afraid to be different and address the uncomfortable truths of the male world. By drawing attention to the fact that there is a solution to the problem, we are tackling a taboo in a humorous way." The 60-second spot was created by the Preacher agency. And it works perfectly. (hae)
 

George Clooney sips capsule coffee, Robbie Williams suddenly drives mid-range cars. The watch industry has not been spared the celebrity craze in advertising either. A major Swiss manufacturer is advertising its "agent's watch" to coincide with the movie due to be released in November. However, the main actor himself wears watches from another brand remarkably often in his private life. "Paid brand ambassadors are a very expensive betrayal of the customer," says Thomas Steinemann, CEO of DuBois et fils, in a statement. The Swiss watch brand is taking a different approach and turning its own watch wearers into brand ambassadors for a rare luxury item: only a maximum of 99 of each model are built. "With this concept, we are growing in Asia, Europe and America, and awareness is increasing through our customers and the shareholders that we were able to win as shareholders in our factory during a crowdfunding campaign," says Steinemann. The luxury watch industry is currently in the midst of a wild downturn; the market has shrunk considerably due to the global economic situation and the enormous price increases by manufacturers.

Rarity instead of celebrity bonus

Compared to other manufacturers, DuBois et fils has created exceptional exclusivity through strict limitation. For Steinemann and its customers, this is where the added value lies, especially as the brand philosophy also extends to the buyer. Rarity ensures special value. "The DuBois et fils concept does not involve spending a huge marketing budget. Either the product is good and finds independent distribution - or it's not," is the summary of the watchmaker from Switzerland. For Thomas Steinemann, turning the traditional world of luxury marketing on its head is a positive side effect: "We are the oldest watch factory in Switzerland, which has been producing watches without interruption since 1785. That was the most important reason for me to do something different from other brands."

Independence is the trump card

With his own self-confidence also comes a strong independence, which Steinemann wishes for the entire industry: "Concessionaires and jewelers are under increasing pressure from the big brands. In terms of sales and display, they quickly find themselves with only limited control of their own premises. Consumers tend to want very exclusive watches - in the sense of rare, not just expensive." The retail market is therefore beginning to view brands such as DuBois et fils - independent and exclusive - with growing interest. Meanwhile, more and more watch companies are up for sale, as one insider reports: "In Switzerland, brands such as Maurice Lacroix and Glycine are on the market, and there are also initial rumors in Glashütte. The sales crisis has hit many companies hard - with consequences such as short-time working and enormous job cuts," says Thomas Gronenthal, trade journalist and jury member of the Watchstars Award. (pd/hae)

Swisscom is taking a 50 percent stake in Eos Commerce, a company founded by Coop, which will go live in 2016 with the new online marketplace under the name Siroop. Both partners, Coop and Swisscom, intend to contribute their expertise in digitization, e-commerce, marketing and retailing to the start-up. Siroop.ch will be accessible to all market participants. Currently, the employees of the start-up are developing Eos Commerce's platform and evaluating external retailers. Siroop will initially start with a pilot in one region, and in 2016 the marketplace will cover the whole of Switzerland.

Voting decisions - just like purchasing decisions - are not only guided by rational considerations, but are also influenced by emotions. Philipp Zutt, head of the management consultancy Zutt & Partner, is convinced of this, as he told the business magazine Bilanz. Consequently, a party must also arouse emotions. The SVP is a master in this discipline, as a qualitative study of 100 test subjects carried out by Zutt's company shows. The People's Party achieved a score of 31.8 index points. This is lower than certain chocolate and car brands, which achieve record scores of over 40 index points. However, the SVP is significantly higher than the other parties, which - with the exception of the SP - only achieve values of around 20 index points and are therefore on a par with the banks. It is also important that parties have a clear emotional profile, emphasizes Zutt. The SVP also scored well here, as did the Greens. The other parties worked according to the motto "A bit of everything, but nothing really". Zutt's conclusion: SVP and Greens have a concise language. "All the other parties are not doing a good marketing job."

Picture: Bilanz/Zutt & Partner