The new strategy initiated in 2013 with the election of Frank Bodin as President will be systematically continued this year. After repositioning and digitization, two further major projects are on the agenda.

The academy for creative, digital and strategists

A Herculean task is the plan to expand the popular ADC/BSW creative school, which is run on a part-time basis, with the involvement of other partners such as the APGS Account Planning Group Switzerland. Under the working title "Creative & Digital Academy," the new school program is currently being developed at full speed, with the goal of also offering creative professionals in digital and special agencies, as well as strategists, an extremely attractive in-service training program with the best industry minds and lecturers. The invitation to tender will be issued in spring 2016, and the school will start after the summer vacations in 2016.

The Creative Week from March 7 to 12, 2016

The second major project is next year's Creative Week. For the first time in its 40-year history, ADC Switzerland, in cooperation with the Design Department of the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, will offer a whole week of insight into the work of the Swiss creative industry to a wider public. Also a premiere: the judging and thus the discussions, which usually only take place behind closed doors, will be open to the public. And then a permanent exhibition of the submitted works is planned, as well as guided tours, lunch speeches and workshops with leading representatives of agencies and clients.

Value of creativity for the economy

The impressive review of the year showed those present how active ADC is in Switzerland. Be it in the field of education or the extremely successful commitment to the promotion of young talent with the Young Creatives Award and the new Young ADC. Be it the many events in the ADC Gallery, which has become an important platform for creatives, or the numerous cooperations such as with Photo 15, ewz Selection, Keystone, Le Grand and Essence 15. At the end of the meeting, ADC President Frank Bodin also emphasized the importance of partners who recognize the value of creativity for the economy and therefore invest in it. It is no coincidence that Switzerland leads the global innovation rankings. Bodin acknowledged and thanked in particular the merits of the partners publisuisse, APG/SGA, Schweizer Presse, Die Post, Publicitas, Die Privatradios and Ringier Publishing Media.

Board confirmed with applause

Where many things are made new, continuity in leadership is important. The ADC Switzerland board was confirmed by the general meeting with applause: Frank Bodin (President), Remy Fabrikant (Vice President and Events/IT), Peter Brönnimann (Creative Academy and Public Relations), Nadine Geissbühler (Gallery), Philipp Skrabal (Education/YCA), Markus Gut (Judging), Alexander Jaggy (Members) and Martin Spillmann (ADC of Europe). Also thanked with great applause was the managing director Gioia Bozzato and her team.
 

It therefore wants to combine educational and regulatory measures in the protection of minors. The rapid development of new communication technologies, their use by ever younger children and practically unlimited Internet access pose challenges for the protection of minors. The 3rd National Expert Forum on the Protection of Minors from Harmful Media in Bern offered 350 experts the opportunity to shed light on and discuss these challenges. It was opened on Monday by Federal Councillor Alain Berset. The dangers lurking on the internet include access to inappropriate content such as violence or pornography, cyberbullying or sexual abuse. However, the new media also offer opportunities for the learning and development process, emphasized Berset according to a statement from the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO). Effective youth protection must therefore take into account both the positive aspects, the skills to be promoted and prevention.

Combined strategy

Berset referred in particular to the Federal Council's decision, presented and widely discussed in May, which provides for a combined strategy with educational and regulatory measures in future. For example, there is now a national contact point for youth media protection where interested parties can find up-to-date information and assistance for everyday parenting. However, the Federal Council believes that there are gaps or problems with implementation when it comes to regulation. To date, for example, there is no standardized age of admission for cinema films throughout Switzerland. According to the press release, the effectiveness of youth protection filters on the Internet is also inadequate. And too many young people are able to obtain films and video games that are unsuitable for their age group - according to test purchases, around half fall through the net. The federal government will now examine whether the media industry's self-regulation should be tightened and supplemented at the legislative level. In addition, more international cooperation is to be sought in the internet sector. The event in Bern marked the conclusion of the national "Youth and Media" program launched in 2010 to promote media skills. From 2016, activities at federal level will be continued indefinitely, together with the cantons, private organizations and players in the media industry. (SDA)

Whether postal agencies, Pickpost points or My Post 24 parcel machines: Today, Swiss Post offers numerous new access points and innovative services that meet changing customer needs. To bring the benefits of these new services to life at the interface between the digital and physical worlds, Swiss Post is launching The Yellow Tour campaign today, designed by Jung von Matt/Limmat.

A campaign that shows in concrete terms how simple postal services are today, regardless of location and time: Swiss singer and songwriter Bastian Baker is proving this on Swiss Post's specially created The Yellow Tour. Supported by Swiss Post services, he is performing seven concerts with all the extras. Postlogistics is responsible for transporting the band's equipment and the stage set. The Postbus is used as the tour bus. There, Baker will use the free Postbus WiFi to chat with his fans during the journey. Anyone who sends in a selfie during the tour using the Postcard Creator app will subsequently receive a printed postcard from Post, complete with Bastian Baker's original signature. All ticket sales are handled by post offices and the online post store. In addition, of course, the Post also provides its traditional services with letters or parcels and delivers Baker's fan mail, for example.

The Yellow Tour will be launched in September and is the start of a multi-year communication campaign by Swiss Post to introduce private customers to the world of new postal access points and services. The campaign message will be featured in various TV commercials, print ads, online displays, at trade fairs, events and, most importantly, on a web hub.

On the trilingual page TheYellowTour.ch fans can follow, almost in real time, how Baker experiences his tour with the help of the Post's offerings. And they can also learn more about the services and how they can use them themselves. Of course, they can also buy concert tickets or win them via a competition and watch the concert in Zurich in the livestream.

Responsible at Swiss Post: Anke Mosbacher (Head of Marketing Communication and Brand Management); Monica Miraldi (Head of Marketing Communication Services). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy (Executive Creative Direction); Rob Hartmann, Andy Lusti (Creative Direction); Samuel Wicki, Daniel Gremli (Text); David Hanselmann, Christina Baeriswyl, Matthias Fürst (Art Direction); Nathalie Brogli (Graphics); Matthias Städeli, Marco Dettling, Monika Arnold, Roman Meister, Roman Mösli (Consulting); Stefan Naef (Strategy); Sarida Bossoni, Deborah Herzig (Art Buying). Responsible at Jung von Matt/PR: Remo Brunner, Liên Burkhard, Cyrill Hauser, Christoph Kinsperger, Cosima Lang (PR & Content). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Next: Marco Zimmerli (Creative Direction Digital); Annina Walker (Art Direction Digital); Julia Grass, Oliver Vedolin (Digital Consultant); Ralf Brändli, Ursula Christen, Raphael Prader, Jonas Grümann, Simon Caminada (Technology). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Impact: Dominik Habermacher, Benjamin Herz (online media planning/performance marketing). EQAL (film production); Lea Rindlisbacher (production); Michael Fueter (direction); Jonathan Heyer (photography); Aldo Todaro (photography web).
 

In April, the Federal Court ruled that fee payers would not have to pay VAT. In future, SRG will have to pay the annual VAT of CHF 35 million from its own funds, as SRG announced on Monday. This was the result of investigations by the federal government. In addition, the revised Radio and Television Act (RTVA) stipulates that the proportion of fees paid by private local and regional broadcasters will increase from four to up to six percent. This will further reduce SRG's income from mid-2016, when the law comes into force. The budget for 2016 and the following years will be around CHF 40 million lower than today, SRG continues. SRG's annual revenue currently amounts to around CHF 1.65 billion. SRF is to save around CHF 12 million, RTS CHF 8.5 million and RSI CHF 5.5 million. The Rhaeto-Romanic RTR and Swissinfo will contribute around CHF 600,000 and CHF 200,000 respectively. The General Management and the Business Unit Sport will save a total of CHF 8.5 million. A further CHF 4.5 million is to be cut from national and supra-regional projects.

Cuts to the program

A working group headed by SRG Finance Director Beat Grossenbacher is preparing the specific measures, according to reports. Cuts to the program are also to be expected. Initial details should be clarified from October and then communicated, as SRG spokesperson Simon Denoth explained on request. According to Denoth, job cuts will be unavoidable. However, specific measures are not yet known. SRG intends to negotiate a social plan with the media union SSM from October.

In a statement, the Swiss Syndicate of Media Professionals (SSM) criticized the fact that SRG alone would have to bear the financial consequences of the Federal Court's ruling on VAT. The victims are not only the employees but also the viewers.

The Syndicom trade union also expressed concern about the planned cuts in a statement on Monday. The cost-cutting measures should neither jeopardize the quality of the public service in the media nor be carried out at the expense of SRG employees, according to Syndicom.

It was only in July that SRG announced a CHF 20 million savings program for the current year due to declining advertising revenues (hae/SDA).

The communications networks heralded the digitization of Switzerland and are now driving it forward in all regions. Numerous innovation-driving companies from the telecommunications sector are united in the new name. For telecommunications and digitization, Suissedigital is to become the leading national association, according to a statement. President Pierre Kohler: "Suissedigital expresses where the journey is heading: we want to develop into a competence center for digitalization in Switzerland. It is our members who have initiated the digitization of Switzerland and are consistently driving it forward in all regions - not just in the centers. Thanks to them, basic digital services are becoming a reality for everyone."

Simon Osterwalder, CEO of Suissedigital, told the media on Monday that he was proud to lead such a committed and pioneering association. "We are now naming what will become all the more important in the future: That our members, who have been building digital Switzerland for more than 20 years, can drive the necessary basic services for everyone in Switzerland and thus strengthen their role in the digitization of society."

The new association name points to the future: the majority of services today run over the Internet connection (all over IP). As enablers of the digital future, the communications networks are very close to customers throughout the country thanks to their regional and local roots. The moment of the new name is also symbolic: it comes at the time when analog television is becoming history. Suissedigital will be appearing in TV and print advertisements over the next few weeks.

Suissedigital is the trade association for Swiss communications networks. It is made up of 200 private and public companies that supply around 2.6 million households with radio, TV, HDTV, Internet, telephony and other services.

The 38-year-old Gujan looks back on a twelve-year career in market research on the client and agency side. He first worked for SAM Sensory and Marketing and then for Coop Genossenschaft Basel as a project manager in market research before joining Isopublic in 2011, where he was head of research. Jürg Gujan holds a degree in Food Engineering from ETH Zurich and a Master in Advanced Studies in Marketing Management and Business Administration from the University of Basel.

At Marketagent.com Switzerland, a company specializing in online market and opinion research, Jürg Gujan will take over as Managing Director from Ursula Kaspar, who informed the Board of Directors in the spring that she wished to step down from management for private reasons. She will continue to work as a senior consultant for Marktagent.com Switzerland. "Without Ursula Kaspar, we would not have been able to anchor Marketagent.com Switzerland as a permanent fixture in the Swiss market research scene in such a short time, and we owe her a great debt of gratitude for this. We are pleased that she will continue to support us in the future," says Marco Taborelli, Chairman of the Board of Marketagent.com Switzerland. "At the same time, we are convinced that we have found the right man in Jürg Gujan to further develop our institute in digital market and opinion research."

Gujan took up his post as Managing Director of Marketagent.com Switzerland on September 1. On the same date, the Board of Directors appointed Cornelia Eck, who has worked for the institute since April 2013, as Deputy Managing Director.
 

The first TBWA\Disruption Talk was all about social media and what moves young people today. Three panel guests, who know the success factors for a successful dialog with young people like no other, reported from their everyday social media lives. Youtuber and face of Probro Patrick Reiser told how he quickly turned a YouTube channel about body building into a fitness-related business model with his own clothing line, nutritional supplements and kitchen utensils. After less than a year, he already has over 100,000 followers.

Julia Graf is the most successful Youtuber in German-speaking Switzerland and currently reaches 760,000 subscribers with her beauty channel. She gave an insight into her everyday life as a one-woman business and her various roles as a make-up artist, photographer, image editor, video producer, marketing manager, content manager, model, promoter, secretary and speaker. Sandra Lehner, Head of Branded Content at the social TV channel Joiz, outlined do's and don'ts in social media based on various campaigns.

In their presentations, the speakers talked about their careers, their YouTube hobby, which gradually turned into a full-time job, and gave tips for communicating on social media. Authenticity is the buzzword of the hour. The speakers agreed that humanity must not just be a marketing phrase, but must be tangible in communication. This starts with the right colloquial language and ends with admitting mistakes and dealing with them creatively. In particular, the future importance of real-time and image-based communication, e.g. via Snapchat and Periscope, was repeatedly emphasized and explained with examples.

The subsequent aperitif provided an opportunity to talk to the speakers, who were available to answer questions until late in the evening. Patrick Reiser, Julia Graf and Sandra Lehner opened up completely different perspectives on a phenomenon that is increasingly becoming a challenge for many brands. Polarizing, insightful and certainly disruptive - that's the impression the first TBWA\Disruption Talk left on the guests.

True to the motto of the evening, the entire event was captured by the participants themselves using selfie sticks:

(f.l.t.r.): Jasmine Segginger (TBWA), Kevin Hogg (ProBro AG), Patrick Reiser (ProBro AG), Julia Graf (Youtuber), Mischa Janiec (Probro), Dario Bässler (Probro), Sandra Lehner (Joiz), Simon Rehsche (TBWA)

(f.l.t.r.): Cristian Vaccariello (Sunrise Communications AG), Dang Nguyen (Sunrise Communications), Bettina Klossner (TBWA), Tobias Händler (Sunrise Communications), Jasmine Segginger (TBWA), Carmen Beckmann (Sunrise Communications), Petra Zehnder (TBWA)
 

Under the leadership of Patrick Theus, Wilmaa has continued to develop successfully on the web and mobile in recent months, increasing visitors to 270,000 unique users and launching new offers. The digital marketing expert (Dipl. Werbeleiter SW) is leaving Wilmaa at his own request to take on a new challenge and venture into self-employment: "The timing for the change is ideal: Wilmaa is doing well and Roman Reimann, with whom I already worked at Goldbach, is the perfect successor to ensure the quality and success of the platform. Over the past year at Wilmaa, I have learned a lot about the promising web TV market and now also know how it works on the publisher side. This rounds off my many years of experience from advertising and media agencies as well as from the intermediary/marketer side. I am now looking forward to advising customers more directly again and will continue to be available to Wilmaa on a project basis."

At Wilmaa, Roman Reimann, Head of Wilmaa Box since 2014 and responsible for the launch of the TV Box, will take over Patrick Theus' areas of responsibility as of September 1, 2015. Roman Reimann joined Goldbach in 2008 in Product Management and Business Development after five years as Head of TV Buying and Media Research at Mediacom. Among other things, he led the successful market launch of the Goldbach Video Network and was involved in product management for Wilmaa from the very beginning on the marketer side. Roman Reimann completed his Master of Advanced Studies in Communication Management at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts/FHZ in 2009.
 

The 2015 diploma ceremony was staged in a festive and dignified manner by TV personality Kurt Aeschbacher. Around 500 people from all over Switzerland and neighboring countries attended the national diploma ceremony for new sales specialists with a federal certificate of proficiency last Friday at Lucerne's Grand Casino. A total of 484 candidates took the demanding examination, 67.6 percent of whom were successful. The overall grade point average in 2015 was 4.3. Since 2010, no more candidates have passed this demanding exam, which underscores the high value of the sales specialist title - among young talent as well as among companies.

Human component remains important

In his speech, Hans-Jürg Gehri, President of the Board of Examiners, pleaded for the human component in sales: "You have acquired more knowledge, and knowledge is power. But don't forget that with greater knowledge, you not only gain more power, but you also take on more responsibility." Responsibility for larger budgets, but also for employees. People are always the focus, Gehri said, and those who internalize this have excellent chances on the job market: "Capable sales professionals are in high demand!" Examiner Nicole Beck-Taubenest expressed her appreciation for the candidates' commitment: "These are months to years of your life that you have invested in your further education. A very good decision! You have intensively dealt with the core topics of your professional training and in it you have acquired new competencies, new knowledge and a new certainty."

Excellence honored

As in the previous year for the first time, a more comprehensive award for the best graduates was presented. As the best of the year, Corina Wermelinger was honored with a Swiss Marketing Junior Sales Manager Award.

Nicole Beck-Taubenest, Head of Examinations; Corina Wermelinger, Best of the Year; Hans-Jürg Gehri, President of the Examination Commission (l.t.r.)

Other top performers in the written subjects were Suzana Jovanovic (Sales Planning), Ivan Spataro (Sales Promotion/Advertising), Oliver Trinca (Marketing), Lukas Nick (Distribution), Maria José da Silva and Livia Zuber- bühler (Accounting/Controlling), Andrea Roggenmoser (Business Statistics) as well as Dervish Aliu, Stefanie Buchser, Benjamin Guyer and Raphael Hadorn (Legal Studies for Salespersons).

In the oral subjects the following were awarded: Nicolin Camenzind (Presentation and Sales Technique/Sales Talk), Miriam Keiser (Personal Leadership), Romy Bollinger (Market Research), Michele Iosca (Rheto- rics/Goods Presentation and Merchandising), Robert Giesch (Self-Management) as well as Valentino Zampino (Sales Process).

Festive and lively

The graduation ceremony of the Sales Professionals 2015, hosted by the best-known Swiss TV personality Kurt Aeschbacher, provided a worthy conclusion of the continuing education cycle. As in previous years, the keyboard virtuosos Chris & Mike provided the atmosphere. A successful graduation ceremony that will be remembered for a long time in terms of festivity, liveliness and visitor interest.
 

Communication requires strategic foresight with conscientious planning, broad experience, professional equipment and a well-coordinated team. As explorers, we love adventure and the mountains. This guiding principle has many points of contact with our services and approach to the implementation of projects. The crew consists of diverse multidisciplinary specialists who complement each other perfectly, and the approach is similar to an alpine expedition - with the goal of leading the client's products or brand to the summit.

Marc Tabeling (Relounge) and David Oreiro (Field of View)

Sichtfeld is focused on staging brands and products impressively and effectively with images and specializes in branding, brand image worlds and film productions. From SMEs to innovative companies in Cupertino (CA), Sichtfeld's productions are highly regarded. "For us as a team, the goal is to create imaginative, striking imagery and brand experiences - whether for innovative startups or established major clients," explains David Oreiro, creative director, in a statement.

Relounge develops and manages holistic and integrated communication solutions that appeal to all the senses. The agency combines information with emotions and successfully implements them. In addition to classic communication, live communication is a central service offering of Relounge. "There is an exciting story behind everything, and we tell it. Communication is not a one-dimensional affair. By involving all human senses in communication, we achieve creative communication that connects brands with people," says Marc Tabeling, dipl. communications manager IAA.
 

The special attraction of the Casinotheater is the stylish combination of theater, restaurant and event under one roof. The theater aims to do one thing above all: entertain the audience well and offer them an all-round successful evening - both in the theater and in the restaurant. Founded in 2002, the Casinotheater is a company supported by artists and sympathizers, which runs a year-round theater operation at its own risk and without public contributions. With a lot of heart and soul, it has developed into a unique platform in Switzerland for small stage art and cabaret.

The communicative appearance is now getting a refresh after 13 years - just in time for the reopening after the renovation of the theater house. The Casinotheater Winterthur brand is positioned close to the original core, which will be further developed for the future and shape the brand image: From artists for you. Casinotheater Winterthur is accessible, surprising and personal. For this reason, the overall appearance of all communication tools online and offline appears bolder, fresher and more striking.

The visual appearance is also being redesigned, and the logo has been streamlined for online use and made more concise. As a result, all communication media, print and digital, from the program brochure to the campaign subjects and the website, are now undergoing a redesign.

Responsible at Casinotheater Winterthur: Esther Locher (Head of Marketing & Communications), Marc Bürge (CEO), Nik Leuenberger (Artistic Director). Responsible at Partner & Partner: Christoph Eschmann (Overall Responsibility/Strategy), Gianfranco Acocella (Creative Direction), Martina Sager (Social Media), Stefan Weber (Digital)

 

Although ad blockers and user acceptance are among the top 10 challenges in digital marketing, only one in five online marketing measures are based on CRM data. This was the result of a recent online survey conducted by the Hamburg-based performance agency Eprofessional in the run-up to Dmexco, for which 113 online marketing experts were surveyed.

Data-driven marketing will be one of the top topics at this year's Dmexco. Ben Prause, Managing Director of Eprofessional: "Companies themselves have the best data for marketing. The CRM system and also onsite user data from your own website are the most solid sources for understanding users and addressing them efficiently with advertising. There is still a lot of untapped potential that companies should exploit before investing heavily in third-party data." According to the survey, one in three online marketing experts also considers the quality of third-party data to be poor.

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Companies should decide about their data

In addition to user data from CRM and web analytics, companies gain additional information about the surfing behavior and interests of users via their advertising campaigns, so-called second-party data. The majority of online marketing experts agree on the question of who owns this data. 76 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that data sovereignty must lie with the company. Six out of ten argue that companies need their own data management platforms (DMPs) to decide for themselves which data is passed on to publishers and how. Just under one in three (28 percent) believe that passing on conversion information to Google, Facebook & Co. damages their own business basis.

Ben Prause: "Companies must now finally start to delve deeper into their data landscape and structure it. In order to work sustainably and successfully with all available data in digital marketing, companies should strengthen themselves with appropriate experts at an early stage, whether through recruitment or external partners."

Ben Prause (Photo: ZVG)