Consumer preferences are changing, and with them, the requirements for customer loyalty: Ogilvy & Mather invited Swiss marketing executives to a briefing.  
Consumers have changed. They compare products, exchange opinions with other consumers, rate them, and make recommendations. All of these activities run counter to traditional advertising theory. The challenge posed by a new generation of consumers—the «Consumer 2.0,» as trend researchers call this phenomenon—is a major topic of discussion. Advertising agencies, too, have made it their mission to make «social marketing» tangible. Just recently, the Zurich-based advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather invited the marketing heads of local companies to discuss customer loyalty in the age of digitalization. Under the title «A Shift in Relationships? Insights on Customer Loyalty in Today’s Brand Communication,» Larissa Pohl of Ogilvy Brains in Frankfurt explained the new challenges facing brands. Right at the start of her presentation, Pohl addressed the benefits the industry had hoped to gain from customer relationship management (CRM) in the late 1990s. Back then, CRM solutions in the form of clever software were hailed as a magic formula for solving all marketing problems. Thanks to technological power, it was believed possible to improve customer relationships, boost sales, and make marketing more efficient all at once. It was all an illusion. Ten years later, the realization set in: CRM doesn’t work as a technology. The idea of simply cramming customers into a database turned out to be a flop. «In essence, companies were buying expensive sports cars without gas and without a driver,» says Larissa Pohl. Customers were hoarded in databases, but no one knew what to do with them. The widespread expectation among executives that computer-based CRM solutions would deliver quick results turned out to be a fallacy. «You can’t buy CRM. You have to work hard to achieve success,» says Pohl.
Thus, a shift in thinking has taken place. Today, the customer is at the center of attention as a person—not just as a statistical figure. However, this does not make customer loyalty any easier. On the contrary. Today’s customers are constantly redefining themselves at ever-shorter intervals, slipping into new roles at will, and can be classified into consumer stereotypes only with great difficulty. A constant shift in identity is taking place, raising the legitimate question: What is relevant to today’s consumers?
Acquiring customers is a long-distance race. For Larissa Pohl, relevance means that brands must create experiences that go beyond mere product performance. «Brands today have an important role to play in customers» lives and must find the strength to embody their brand identity in their interactions with them,” says Pohl. On the one hand, this requires effective relationship management. On the other hand, in her presentation, Pohl outlined five key points about what constitutes a good customer relationship today.
 
The first step is to define the target groups even more precisely, because with many products, a small group accounts for the majority of sales. This is why it’s often referred to as the 80/20 rule: if you compare the number of customers with their cumulative revenue, it becomes clear that approximately 20 percent of customers account for about 80 percent of revenue.
Based on this rule of thumb—Pohl’s second key point—he recommends targeting the areas where the «big players» are active. To do this, it’s important to understand customers: what their values are, what guides them, and what motivates them. This must be followed—as the third point—by a contact strategy tailored to the customer segment and guided by the motto: «Don’t count the people you reach; reach the people who count.» Those who follow this guiding principle will never have to raise their voices in the market again. «Communication that is relevant and personal,» said Larissa Pohl regarding the fourth key point of her presentation, «needs only a brand-specific creative idea—but that’s something you always need.» The reason: Rational customer loyalty lasts only as long as there is no emotional alternative.
Larissa Pohl illustrated her points using Deutsche Bahn as an example. Years ago, the company introduced loyalty cards: Passengers who travel frequently and collect points enjoy benefits. The success has been remarkable. The number of rail cards in circulation rose by 40 percent within three years. Larissa Pohl summarized her remarks with the fifth key point, a maxim by David Ogilvy: «Loyalty cannot be bought; you must earn it.»
And what will customer loyalty look like in the future? Larissa Pohl sees the future in the effective use of all available channels as part of a «360-degree communication» strategy. However, she does not dispute that the Internet will continue its triumphant advance. «Everything is going digital,» says Pohl. Consumers are «always online» and demand consistent communication.
The Shift Toward the Capricious Consumer: Today’s new consumer navigates a network of relationships in which opinions, trends, and behaviors spread more widely and more rapidly than ever before. As Pohl explains, for the so-called Web 2.0 generation, the question is not «Who am I?» but «Who do I want to be?» The target audience is becoming complex and diffuse. It will therefore be important to identify the influencers within target groups, as technological upheavals have given them new platforms that allow them to exert influence on brand worlds. Brands cannot control this networked behavior. It is therefore more important to foster a dynamic exchange process in which recognition can take place. The example of Dove demonstrates just how successful such a process can be. Pohl believes that the «Real Beauty» initiative impressively illustrates how brand values will be communicated in the future.
«The consumer has gone from being a dog to a cat,» says Pohl, describing the consumer. This metaphor illustrates how the customer has evolved from a loyal brand advocate to a fickle consumer who no longer believes everything advertising says. This gives rise to new demands on brand communication: «Brands must be inviting, rather than just trying to persuade. They need to tell more stories and embrace and encourage dialogue.»
Pohl’s conclusion: Today, brands must stand out in a sea of uniformity; they need to gather more information about customers, identify opinion leaders, and ultimately embrace change. Ogilvy has humorously summarized this in its own motto: «Dada, Data, Alpha, Beta.»   
Christian Lüscher
 
 
 
 
Dada, Data, Alpha, Beta—With this pithy motto, Ogilvy describes the challenges brands face on the Internet.
Dada:
Dadaism stands for artistic rebellion. Creative work must surprise, whether through words, music, art, or design. How can the advertising industry today create, protect, and influence brands? The motto is: stand out at any cost. Data:
The Internet has become a veritable treasure trove of data. This wealth of data enables new forms of storytelling and facilitates consumer analysis. Alpha:
Stands for thought leadership. Only a few drive word-of-mouth, shape values, and create the necessary differentiation within the target audience that a brand needs today. Beta:
It is synonymous with constant evolution on the web. "Beta" represents the continuous advancement of technology and new ways of thinking.

 Food Do you know how to save a burnt sauce? Or how to give dry bread a second life? The new book "Kückentrick 77" from Waskochen.ch provides these and other answers to everyday kitchen questions. The cooking platform spent a year collecting simple kitchen tricks from its community and published them in a separate chapter on the website. As a partner of this campaign, Teflon non-stick coatings from DuPont rewarded every published trick with a cooking pot. Waskochen.ch selected 77 of the 150 tricks submitted and turned them into a book. The book was designed by Fauxpas, a Zurich-based graphics agency.

 
Film With a total of 304 commercials submitted, the Spotlight advertising film festival is bigger than ever before. The industry event will take place for the 11th time on April 25 and 26. In addition to the awards presented by the expert jury, the audience will also award prizes to their favorites. Parallel to the festival, the Spotlight Congress will focus on the topic of "Advertising - in the midst of life".

The Young Evangelical People's Party (JEVP), notorious for its aversion to sexist advertising, has struck again: in Basel and Zurich, it has pasted over posters for the current Euro RSCG AIDS prevention campaign. The subjects are too hot for the young politicians: "This is a new level of escalation", Niklaus Hari, General Secretary of the JEVP, told 20minuten.ch. Copulating couples have never been seen on Swiss billboards before, and the images suggest that sex is harmless in any situation. "You should still have your head in the game and think about condoms," the young politician continued. However, this is exactly the message of the campaign - it doesn't seem to be obvious enough for Hari.
His party is particularly bothered by the visual language of the posters, which it has explained in an open letter to the Federal Office of Public Health. The necessity of AIDS prevention is undisputed, but the subjects lack the necessary sensitivity in the visual language. The motifs are incomprehensible, especially for children: "I can already hear children asking their parents: What are they doing there?", fears Hari.
In addition to the open letter, JEVP also resorted to tangible means: It covered posters in Zurich and Basel with warning stickers pointing out that "youth violence and sexual offences are rooted, among other things, in the over-sexualization of our society through such images. This does not protect children and young people, it endangers them!". At least the warning stickers can be removed.

 
Reisen Freiburghaus und Partner advises you to rely on the services of a travel agency when planning your vacation. 
Competition from the Internet is forcing travel agencies to act. In 2007, the Swiss Travel Agency Association invested in a positioning campaign for the first time. Now the Freiburghaus agency has been commissioned to continue the campaign.
The association members represent an impressive 80 percent of total sales in the travel sector. However, more and more consumers are planning and booking their trips themselves, supported by information services and direct booking options on the Internet. Freiburghaus is countering this trend with the advantages of professional advice. The campaign includes TV commercials and advertisements throughout Switzerland as well as various accompanying measures and, of course, the Internet.
The media partner is Travel Inside. The trade magazine has launched a survey on the new campaign and granted Werbewoche insight. The results show that travel agencies think it is important to go on the offensive, even if the mostly small companies have to dig into their pockets to do so. Unfortunately, "the campaign itself is of course not the main topic in the industry at the moment", according to member Media Touristik in Basel.
The exclusion of Swiss/Lufthansa from the campaign has been the subject of much discussion. Walter Kunz, Managing Director of SRV, comments: "It was simply not possible to provide the services to LX/LH included in the priority partners' service catalog without undermining our credibility with the members. As it was no longer possible to stop advertising, some partners have increased their contributions, which is a clear signal. In principle, however, the campaign and the dispute with LX/LH have nothing to do with each other." Other members even believe that the "fight against Swiss" has "earned the small travel agencies a lot of sympathy".
Andreas Panzeri

 The online marketing company Zanox opens an office in Zurich. The joint subsidiary of Publigroupe and Axel Springer is thus expanding into Switzerland. Zanox will enter into a strategic partnership with the Publicitas unit Web2com, with the aim of offering holistic online solutions. The two partners want to dovetail display advertising and performance marketing, i.e. branding and sales processes. Philipp Scheidegger, Head of Interactive at Web2com, is pleased about the new collaboration, according to a statement. In the future, customers will be able to obtain solutions from Zanox and Web2com from a single source in a "one-stop store" principle. Swiss advertisers would also have the opportunity to internationalize their activities via Zanox's global network. The Zurich Zanox office is headed by Torsten Trogisch, Regional Sales Manager AT/CH.

The Biel-based agency Erdmannpeisker is the lead agency responsible for implementing the new corporate design for Swisscom SMEs. The image was created by the Moving Brands agency with the aim of offering a wide range of application and design options, according to a press release. In addition to an image brochure, Erdmannpeisker has now designed and implemented four divisional brochures as well as various product brochures and price lists as a first step. The results should make the "breath of fresh air" at Swisscom visible and tangible. Erdmannpeisker is also expected to produce a campaign for the telecommunications company soon. Responsible at Swisscom:
Guiseppe Luciano, Beatriz Fernandez. Responsible at Erdmannpeisker: Gabriel Peisker (Creative Director), Jörg Fassmann, Anna Kiefer (Art Direction), Lindo Ganarin, Cornelia Beutler (Text), Sybille Erdmann, Claudio Garovi (Consulting).

 
Elektronik Inhalt & Form shows that M-Electronics offers services as well as devices. 
 
The consumer electronics market is dominated by cut-throat competition. Interdiscount and Fust are now united under one roof. Media-Markt has secured one billion in annual sales in Switzerland within 15 years. In this environment, M-Electronics faces "tough competition on a daily basis", as Jürg Meyer at Inhalt & Form analyzes the situation. All four specialist stores offer comparable products. They all try to undercut each other with a similar price structure. However, "this is no longer enough for the consumer", Meyer is convinced. Price is "a very decisive sales driver. But today's responsible consumer also increasingly expects services." This is where the Inhalt & Form strategy comes in, because "M-Electronics has a lot to offer here". The company wants to score points with its home delivery service, above-average warranty services, its own service organization and after-sales services, which are the focus of the new campaign. It starts with the theme of "free home delivery". It dramatizes the comic situation of transporting a large television. Two further image TV commercials, linked to a specific offer, will follow and will each be accompanied by full-page advertisements in daily newspapers.
 
 
Andreas Panzeri

 
Online II With Swisster and World Radio Switzerland, there are two English-language offerings in French-speaking Switzerland that could get in each other's way.  
Since November 5, 2007, the English-language World Radio Geneva has been broadcasting under the name World Radio Switzerland (WRS). Founded eleven years ago, WRS was a private radio station for the international community in Geneva. After countless disputes and problems, Radio Suisse Romande took over a substantial shareholding and the patronage of WRS. Last year, the existing public limited company, in which Radio Suisse Romande, the BBC and Geneva business circles were also involved, was definitively dissolved. SRG took over the radio station's activities with the aim of establishing a national service. WRS has a budget of 3.9 million and a team of 20 people in total, including 14 journalists, one of whom works as a correspondent in Zurich.WRS was able to make gainsWRS has a VHF license for the Lake Geneva region. According to radio director Philippe Mottaz, the radio station has increased its reach here by 9,000 listeners per day since last November, and visits to the website have increased by 63 percent. In other areas of Switzerland, however, WRS can only be received via cable, internet and - gradually - via DAB (digital audio broadcasting) in accordance with its license. As Alfons Birrer from Bakom explains, the English-language program can currently only be heard via DAB in French-speaking Switzerland and in some German-speaking parts of Switzerland.
The license provides for a transitional period until November 08, after which WRS must be able to be received throughout Switzerland. WRS is therefore still a long way from reaching full speed. Another problem is supplying Swiss households with the appropriate receivers, which consumers have so far been reluctant to buy. However, Birrer is convinced that DAB will become established "after a longer transition phase".
Christophe Rasch, editor-in-chief of the Edipresse online newspaper Swisster, lets it be known that he doubts this. FM radio in the Lake Geneva region is okay, but he does not believe in the national plans via cable, satellite or DAB and the WRS website is not very convincing so far. "WRS is no competition for us." Philippe Mottaz counters: "There is a need for English-language media in Switzerland. The fact that Edipresse is venturing into this market is proof that we are on the right track." As far as Swisster is concerned, he can only say: "Que le meilleur gagne!"     
Helen Brügger

 
Festivals The first International Advertising Festival took place in Dubai. 
The Middle East is getting closer. In addition to the growing financial markets, the real estate market and the flourishing tourism industry, the marketing and advertising industry is now also discovering the importance of this region. Dubai has become the economic center of the region, and with its different cultures, nationalities and religions, it offers opportunities for everyone and for everything. The potential is great, "very great and far from exhausted," says producer Michael Kindermann, who was the only Swiss delegate at the festival. 
Dubai Lynx, the Advertising Festival in Dubai, was launched by Emap Media Limited, the same company that organizes the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Dubai Lynx focuses on the Middle East and North Africa and showcases their creativity in the field of advertising in a highly professional setting.
Work was presented from the areas of print, outdoor, TV/cinema, media, direct, radio, interactive and integrated. Following a shortlist, the winners and the Agency of the Year (JWT Dubai) were honored at the closing gala dinner for 1550 guests. "A wonderful evening where the dress code was respected and everyone was delighted to receive their award," Kindermann enthuses.
In terms of content, there were top works on display. Works in which one could naturally sense the cultural influences and recognize the open approach to international styles. Here, too, it is of course important to stand out through originality, and humor is cultivated just as much in the Arab world as in Europe or America. "I was able to talk to many creatives, marketing people and filmmakers from the region. We have all learned once again during these days that the world is getting closer and needs are becoming more similar," said the owner of Snap Film.
He and many others had a hearty laugh at the screening of the TV and cinema spots for the eventual Grand Prix winner. "The commercials for a music channel from Egypt are simply perfect and show how well different cultures can be reconciled. I still have to laugh when I watch the commercials ..." Kindermann is convinced: "I'm sure this campaign will also win an award in Cannes."
On the website of the Dubai International Advertising Festival
  The Swiss delegate was particularly impressed by the seminar on the Jumeirah brand and its global marketing strategy as well as Steve Harrison's speech "How to build a creative culture". The Lynx debate with Fady Chamaa (JWT Cairo), Ed Jones (Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai) and Walid Kanaan (Impact BBDO KSA) on the topic of whether the Middle East can follow the general upswing with a creative advertising industry was also impressive. A heated debate in which the audience also took an active part.
"For me as a European and globally minded person, the development in the Middle East and especially in Dubai is simply fantastic and challenges me as an open-minded entrepreneur to be active in this market, also in order to be able to take advantage of the trends, developments and news for our customers in the domestic market," Kindermann is convinced.
Zurich-based Snap Film has been cultivating and intensifying contacts with Dubai and the Middle East for over a year now. The fact that the company speaks perfect French has of course also "opened the heavy and double doors" in some countries. During this time, Snap Film has already learned and experienced a lot. "The services from Switzerland are attracting a lot of interest, and we want to further expand these contacts and our offering in the coming months."
Editing: Andreas Panzeri

Books Minus times minus equals plus. This has already worked in mathematics. Now the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has adapted the law for advertising. Carla Del Ponte has written a book about her work entitled "The Hunt - Me and the War Criminals". The FDFA has now muzzled her. The ex-chief prosecutor of the UN tribunal is not allowed to advertise her book in her role as Swiss ambassador because it contains explosive information which, according to the FDFA, she makes as a private individual. The department also requires Del Ponte to coordinate interviews and articles about the book individually with Bern. This negative policy has now been received negatively in the media.
"10 to 10" has looked into the ban. Comments are printed across the board in the newspapers. Conclusion: The advertising ban should actually be awarded the Effie. (pan)

 
Online I Edipresse wants to address Switzerland's English-speaking population with Swisster. The Lausanne-based publisher is thus entering into competition with SRG's English-language radio station, World Radio Switzerland. 
"The idea is simply captivating," says Christophe Rasch, project manager and editor-in-chief of the English-language news service "Swisster," which was launched on March 31. He is thus handing out flowers to his own address: Edipresse seems to have indeed found a new market niche. "One-fifth to one-quarter of the active population of French-speaking Switzerland is English-speaking or uses English as a colloquial language," says Rasch, looking forward to a target audience that is set to grow strongly in the coming years. This audience does not read local newspapers because they have no local ties," says Rasch. According to the publisher's research, this is a highly educated audience with high purchasing power that relies on public transportation to get to work, where they read free newspapers to familiarize themselves with the French language. "But that doesn't meet their information needs, and that's where we step in," Rasch said. With Swisster (a contraction of "Swiss" and "Napster"), which targets the English-speaking community of French-speaking Switzerland, estimated at about 100,000 people, and brings news, commentary, background and services five times a week. Swisster has an editorial staff of six people, including four journalists (two in Lausanne, one in Geneva and one in Zurich) appropriate to the ambitious project.
The Tribune de Genève already had an English-language corner. However, Edipresse quickly discovered that it needed its own editorial department in order to appeal to its target audience in the long term. Christophe Rasch: "The perspective is different, the interests are different, the processing and the weighting of the story have to be different." In addition, he says, there are topics that local media don't cover enough, such as information in the areas of research and development or business, all topics that a mobile population working in international organizations or top sectors of the economy can't find anywhere else. "Also very important are our services: Tips and advice on health, the school system or taxes." Swisster works, for example, with doctors from the Hirslanden private clinic, who respond in English to questions sent in.
Edipresse has secured the collaboration of various partners, such as the private bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch or the Lausanne ETH, which contributes scientific and technological content. For news, Swisster relies on Edipresse's two regional newspapers, Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures, and works with Philippe Hersant's two Neuchâtel newspapers, which contribute topics from the Jura Arc region - a remarkable collaboration between partners who are fierce competitors in the print sector, or at least pretend to be. The British Times is also among the partners with whom Swisster collaborates on content.
The business model is surprising, because the online newspaper is not exclusively ad-financed. It has a free section and a paid section. In the free section, there are topics that are older than 48 hours, in the paid section, the daily news and services. Rasch relies primarily on many collective subscriptions from companies (subscription price 300 francs per year), but a subscription to a certain number of accesses or article packages is also possible. "We want to become active on a national level very quickly," promises Rasch. Deals" with German-speaking Swiss partners, such as Inside Switzerland Magazine in Zurich, and above all the expansion of the target audience to around 350,000 people are enticing.
Edipresse has already gained experience in the field of foreign-language online news services, with the aforementioned "English corner" on the Tribune de Genève website and with a Russian corner there. The online magazine Nashagazeta employs two people and attracts between 400 and 500 visitors per day. Nashagazeta boss Nadia Sikorsky is convinced: "People read us not only in Geneva, but as far away as French cities like Lyon or Evian." Sikorsky doesn't want to cultivate a Russian-language garden spot, "but actively contribute to the integration of the Russians who live here." That includes getting them interested in Geneva, but also getting Genevans interested in Russia: "We help break down prejudices."
Helen Brügger