In recent years, the Swiss technology group has continued to expand its business areas worldwide with the strategic goal of innovation leadership. In this turbulent context, Kaba now wants to focus on its strengths without losing flexibility. For this reason, Kaba involved Meta Design's various locations for the brand process at an early stage - in addition to Switzerland, particularly in North America and Asia.

Based on the brand promise "Beyond security," Meta Design worked with Kaba to develop a user-friendly modular, systematic framework of containers, colors and images, which in turn are combined with sound, fact-based communication content. The way the new brand is prepared and implemented allows Kaba to credibly communicate its innovative capacity globally, as well as provide an inspiring brand experience that embodies Kaba's claim to leadership - and goes beyond security.

The new brand identity will be successively rolled out and implemented worldwide in the coming months.
 

The other subjects play with the voyeuristic habit of looking closely, especially where something seems to be hidden. For example, some of the subsequent motifs show packages that have been torn open, allowing a glimpse of the actual packages on offer. The viewers of the subjects are thus led to want to find out more. The large-scale advertising campaign can be seen on posters, ads, flyers and in the electronic media.

A special feature among the four new banking packages is the FC Basel package, which was put together especially for all FC Basel fans. The "sporty" bank package includes discounted FCB tickets and other red-blue benefits in addition to many bank offers. The packages are designed to make the "financial life" of BKB customers more convenient, faster as well as easier and offer everything from a single source at a fixed price - starting with the account and ending with e-banking. BKB customers also benefit from price advantages, preferential interest rates and additional services such as free admission to the zoo or swimming pools.

Responsible at Basler Kantonalbank: Mathias Von Wartburg (Head of Competence Center Marketing), Miriam Gramelsbacher (Advertising), Samuel Maier (Sponsoring), Thaddaeus Jermann (Dialog Marketing), Patric Theumer (E-Marketing). Responsible at Crbasel: Gabriel Heuberger (creative direction), Judith Mann (text/concept), Daniel Roth, Jochen Pach (art director), Thomas Fux (consulting management), Felix Schregenberger (image editing), McHighend (print/litho).
 

The Digital News Initiative (DNI) aims to "promote high-quality journalism in Europe through technology and innovation", writes Google. On Tuesday, the company announced that it would support the DNI with 150 million euros over the coming years (Werbewoche.ch reported).

According to Managing Director Steven Neubauer, the NZZ is in constant contact with technology companies and other publishers in order to further accelerate learning and innovation processes. For this reason, the DNI is of interest to the NZZ. NZZ has set itself the goal of launching a new product on the market every quarter. For this to succeed, the technology must also become more agile and faster. The participation is also an issue at Ringier-Verlag, as spokesman Edi Estermann said on request. It is being discussed with the editorial teams, but nothing has been decided yet.

Dispute over news hits in Google search

According to Google, the eight publishing houses from Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands that are among the DNI founding partners have already been joined by others. Industry associations are also included.

The DNI intends to gradually expand the program. It is "still open to anyone in Europe who is involved in the news industry". The aim is to promote innovation in the field of digital journalism through long-term collaboration and exchange between media companies, journalists and information technology providers, as Google writes. The company wants to help newspaper publishers to develop "sustainable news models".

Observers see the news initiative as an attempt by the US company to improve its strained relationship with publishers in Europe. There is a dispute in several European countries over the question of whether Google has to pay publishers money when small fragments of their articles are displayed in the news search engine Google News and in general Google searches. (SDA)

Around ten days ago, the same district court in Baden issued a super-provisional injunction prohibiting the program "Kassensturz" from rebroadcasting an interview with the mayor of Spreitenbach, Valentin Schmid, which was broadcast in February, or leaving it on the Internet (Werbewoche.ch reported). The mayor had consented to an interview at the time. According to SRF, the district court justified its ruling by stating that this consent also included agreement to subsequent broadcasts. The municipality of Spreitenbach now has ten days to appeal the ruling to the higher court. (SDA)
 

More than half of the test subjects (58.8%) were able to recall the SBB’s romantic ads. However, the campaign does not stand out in terms of overall appeal. Here, SBB achieved a Top Box score of only 5.9 percent, putting it almost on par with Walder Shoes (4.3%). Although the new Walder brand identity also achieved good scores in unaided recall (44.9%), only a few felt that it was a good fit for the brand (6.9%). This is hardly surprising in this case, as the company has only just begun giving the brand a more modern look with its new identity. The Chocolat Frey ad received consistently good ratings and was remembered by 48.6 percent of the test participants. The ad that stood out the most from other advertisements in newspapers, magazines, and periodicals this time was Emmi YoQua’s (5.5%), with an unaided recall of 45.5 percent. The least popular ads, aside from the CS ad, were Dar-Vida’s «smart snack,» even though both ads achieved good awareness ratings of over 41 percent.

The subjects surveyed:

Details on the research question and methodology can be found at Advertisingweek.ch, Webcode Impactcheck.

View the detailed results report (PDF)
 

The reports and comments in the program on the inheritance tax initiative were one-sided and incorrect, the move is explained. Last Monday evening, the SRF business magazine reported on the initiative, which will be put to the ballot box on June 14, in a special report. In a statement on Thursday, the Swiss Homeowners' Association expressed concern about "the editorial error". The HEV described it as "irresponsible" that a broadcaster financed by fees would broadcast such one-sided reports in the run-up to an important referendum and claim that 98 percent of the population would not be affected by the inheritance tax. It therefore submitted a complaint to the ombudsman's office of Swiss Radio and Television (SRF).

About the show

The popular initiative "Taxing inheritances worth millions for our AHV" (inheritance tax reform) calls for the introduction of a national inheritance and gift tax of 20 percent. Inheritances and gifts totaling less than CHF 2 million are tax-free. The SP, Greens, EVP and CSP as well as the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and the Christian organization ChristNet are behind the petition. With the tax on large inheritances, they want to distribute wealth more fairly. Parliament and the Federal Council are against the initiative. (SDA)
 

Especially not if the attention is negative in nature. After all, most of those who add their two cents think Salt is stupid. And the rest are not interested in the fact that Orange has been renamed. The main thing is that their cell phone works. But beware: people associate Salt with slightly higher prices. And even those who don't really give a damn should care. Brand experts are amazed. A few years ago, a lot of money was invested in building up the Orange brand. And now a new, even sillier name has been added.

It is understandable that the mobile communications provider wanted to save the license payments to France Télécom. But, to quote Herbert Grönemeyer: "... it really doesn't have to be him! What's the point?" Couldn't there have been better alternatives to Salt? Couldn't something more crisp be found among the 737 possible brand names that the group evaluated? I suspect that, once again, too many cooks have added salt to the soup. Audi, for example, was once called "Horch" after its founder August Horch. When he left the company after disagreements with the CFO, a new name was sought. In 1910, a high school student in Zwickau found a new name in the form of Audi, the Latin translation of "horch" or, more commonly, "listen. Orange in Latin? Arausio. Better than Salt. The big brands Haribo and Adidas carry their founders in the label: Hans Riegel, Bonn, and Adolf Adi Dassler. So how about XaNi - for Xavier Niel - or Jojö - for Johan Andsjö? A bit silly. Aldi also works with the name of the founding brothers: Albrecht Discount. "Orange is now called XaTel." Not bad at all. And reminiscent of Natel, as many Swiss still affectionately call their mobile. Or if it absolutely has to be a spice, Pepper or Chili certainly pop more than Salt. Above all, the company would have only had to darken the brand color a few nuances instead of having to change from cheerful orange to drab black and white. Besides, everyone would have known how to pronounce the name.

And then Orange also botched the communication: Last Friday, one day after the launch, an ad appeared in Blick with the text "Something new is coming on Monday." Nothing, dear salt shakers, is older than yesterday's news ... And on the Internet, subjects with the text "Salt. is now called Salt." appeared. Some people tried to understand the message. Without success. On the other hand, the Franz & René agency had a lot of laughs and sympathy on its side with its quickly placed ad for Sel des Alpes - "Sel des Alpes remains Sel des Alpes".

The icing on the cake: Orange customers received an SMS on Monday with the text "Orange is now called Salt. In the next few days you will also see our new name on your cell phone." As if it were a huge deal to swap names in the system. Often, one pinch too many is enough to make the whole soup inedible.

Well, maybe the mobile provider will change its name again in three or four years. Then they'll have a little practice. Or it will be like Omo and Raider: Omo is now called Omo again. Twix is called Raider again. Salt wasn't so great - unfortunately.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
 

As already communicated in the fall of 2014, Director Peter Edelmann will retire on April 30, 2015. Edelmann served Zürcher Oberland Medien for almost 40 years, 19 of them as a member and eight as Chairman of the Executive Board. Under his commercial and technical leadership, the company successfully implemented the major technological changes that had become necessary in the media industry in the 1980s and, from 2008 onwards, set the strategic course in good time to master the future with the trend-setting three-media strategy.

The Board of Directors has elected Dani Sigel to succeed Peter Edelmann as of May 1, 2015. The 51-year-old Sigel is familiar with the media scene from his previous professional activities, both from a publishing and a journalistic perspective. He was Publishing Director and Managing Director of Liechtensteiner Volksblatt AG from 2002 to 2013. Since January 1, 2014, he has been in charge of subscription services and marketing at Zürcher Oberland Medien.

As early as March 31, 2015, Editor-in-Chief Christian Müller stepped down from his position as Head of Publishing in order to work in the future with his own company in the field of communications consulting and organizational development. At the time of his departure, Müller had been with Zürcher Oberland Medien for exactly 21 years, most recently as Editor-in-Chief for seven years. Under his leadership, the company implemented its three-media strategy, which has resulted in, among other things, ZO-Online as the strongest regional news portal in the canton of Zurich.

Since April 1, 2015, the new Editor-in-Chief has been 53-year-old Christian Brändli, who was previously Christian Müller's deputy and has been working for Zürcher Oberland Medien since 1988. After completing his studies at the University of Zurich to become a historian, Brändli took over the "Zürcher Oberland" department. In 1996, when the Zürcher Oberländer took over the Anzeiger von Uster, he became the head paper's editorial director in Uster. In 2008, he changed his place of work back to Wetzikon, where he was in charge of the daily newspapers as head of the page-making team.
 

To ensure that they don't miss a ride, a driving training session, or any other important date, ViznerBorel has unceremoniously transformed the "brochure" into a striking wall calendar that every Porsche fan still loves to own or hang up. The dates to remember are already entered "by hand" in red. And to ensure that everyone always knows exactly what's happening where and when, the wall calendar comes with a practical pocket version.

Porsche also keeps its customers up to date on new products. This is done, among other things, by means of suitable advertising subjects that are available to dealers and also originate from Vizner Borel's workshop.

Responsible at Porsche Switzerland: Yves Becker-Fahr (Head of Marketing); Nathalie Busslinger (Head of MarCom). Responsible at Vizner Borel: Lajos Vizner, Guillaume Borel (overall responsibility), Eveline Jakob (consulting), John Leuppi (creative direction), Gian Maurizio (art direction), Florian Steiner (art direction), Paco Alborghetti (graphics).
 

According to the press release, the initiatives include analyzing the potential development of digital and analog inventory using ad serving solutions and the development of e-commerce platforms for all APG|SGA customer categories.

Nicolas Adolph, Head of the Digital Competence Center, is responsible for managing the ad serving project. Reto Pensa, who will report directly to the CEO, Markus Ehrle, will be responsible for the project management and further development of sophisticated eCommerce platforms and front-end solutions for the advertising and acquisition market from September 1, 2015. Reto Pensa has been Head of Business Development at Xentive since 2011 and specializes in the planning and implementation of business process outsourcing and system integration in the media sector.
 

All these years, people thought that Billag was an expensive joke. Only the Federal court ruling on Wednesday brought clarity: the fees are actually a piece of cake. The whole thing would have cost just CHF 451.10 per year. Public service at a discount price. Well, nobody could have guessed about the VAT, but now we know. The additional 11.30 francs per year will open new doors for many household budgets. But what to buy? As we all know, you're spoiled for choice. So here are some suggestions on how you could invest the money wisely.

Suggestion 1: Felt horse, small

Available on the page Kinderschaetze.chalso available in brown. Unfortunately, the Billag amount is only enough for the small version, the large one (left) costs 12.70 francs.

Proposal 2: Letter, hand-delivered

Particularly popular for court documents and debt collection - more information on Post.ch (but beware: the price is for a change incl. VAT).

Suggestion 3: PC mouse Speedlink MICU

Available from Microspot.ch - and only there at the Billag bargain price: At competitor Digitec.ch the product costs 16 francs. Presumably with extra VAT.

Suggestion 4: A tube of Assan Gel

Available from Concoridia - not only has anti-inflammatory but also analgesic properties. Ideal for getting over the pain of overpaying fees in recent years.

Suggestion 5: Lipstick Lipstick No. 15

Available from Nail-scout.com. Included: Elegant metal sleeve.

Suggestion 6: A bottle of white wine

Available from La Cave du Courset in the attractive 50 cl bottle with screw cap. There are more pointless gifts than alcoholic drinks. Especially when you're giving yourself a present.

Suggestion 7: A pack of Hawid clamp bags

Belongs in every well-stocked household and is available from Ipag.

Suggestion 8: Gluten-free wholemeal flour

With this gluten-free four-grain baking fun, you are not only bang on trend, but also bang on budget. Available from Portanatura.ch.

Suggestion 9: A pack of granulated food

Available from Aquariumredsea.ch . Contains all the valuable omega fatty acids and is therefore the perfect addition to your gluten-free bakery product. Everyone loves Sera Marin granules - even freshly imported fish that have never been fed at all.

Proposal 10: Donation to the federal budget

Continue to pay VAT on your Billag fee - on a voluntary basis, of course - and support the federal budget in the process. We all thank you.

Thomas Häusermann

Schools and the administration are not yet ready. And smaller companies are adapting faster than large ones. The "Digital Transformation Report 2015" published on Wednesday summarizes key digital skills and findings from almost 200 surveys. With the "Digital Maturity Check Plus", companies can compare their digital maturity with this reference data.

The internet and mobile have changed our communication, our purchasing behavior, our media usage and even our lives. Companies cannot escape this "digital reality": the highly dynamic nature of technologies and changing business models require companies to regularly review and adapt their own strategic position in the digital competition. However, the differing understanding within companies regarding the necessary skills and digital maturity makes this task very challenging for managers. Against this backdrop, the University of St. Gallen and the strategy consulting firm Crosswalk, together with a panel of experts, have developed the "Digital Maturity Model", which management can use to manage the digitalization of the company as a whole.

The survey conducted between November 2014 and February 2015 provides an interesting picture of the state of digital development in Swiss companies and organizations:
 

• Companies in the information and communication sector have the highest level of maturity, while schools and administration have the lowest.
• Small companies with fewer than 100 employees achieved a higher overall level of maturity than larger companies. Above all, skills such as a willingness to take risks, an open error culture and digital affinity are more pronounced in these companies.
• Participants from management rated their company significantly better than employees at other hierarchical levels.
• "Flexible working", "Digital affinity" and "Business area expansion" are the criteria for which the participants achieve the highest levels of fulfillment.
• In contrast, "performance measurement", "automation" and "analytics" are the areas in which most participants perform less well.

"We are very pleased to be able to offer the management of companies and organizations a comprehensive and up-to-date basis for shaping the digital transformation of the company with the "Digital Transformation Report 2015"," says Bramwell Kaltenrieder, Managing Partner of Crosswalk. The study report, which presents the "Digital Maturity Model", survey results, best practice examples, industry evaluations and recommendations for action, can be downloaded at Crosswalk.ch/dtreport2015 can be ordered free of charge.

With "Digital Maturity Check PLUS"  Crosswalk offers a consulting package based on the "Digital Maturity Model" and the study data, which provides management with points of reference and areas of action on the path to becoming a digital company. The "Digital Transformation Report 2015" is part of the "Swiss Digital Transformation Initiative", which was established by the Institute for Information Systems (IWI-HSG), "Best of Swiss Web" and Crosswalk and is supported by Swisscom.