Adidas Switzerland now runs together with Statement

The Zurich agency for brand and consumer activation Statement supports Adidas Switzerland in the launch year of the new Boost models in the running category. The agency is responsible for building an urban running community. First implementations are already planned from spring 2015. "We chose Statement as additional reinforcement because the agency showed us creative and complementary ways and possibilities to the already planned classic communication," says Guido Mazzolani, Brand Marketing/PR Manager of Adidas Sport, Market Central.

Open Up communicates for Sectoral Asset Management

The PR and communications agency Open Up convinced the managers of Sectoral Asset Management, a company specializing in the management of investment strategies in the healthcare sector, as part of an agency evaluation. The company, which recently expanded its presence in Switzerland, focuses exclusively on healthcare investments. In order to achieve the targeted growth, communications in Europe will be strengthened. The aim is to raise awareness of the Canadian-Swiss company and to convince potential investors of the approach and potential of healthcare investments. Open Up has been engaged for this purpose.

The contract covers the management of communications activities in Germany, the UK and Switzerland. While media relations outside Switzerland are implemented by partner agencies, the Zurich agency is responsible for public relations in Switzerland. This involves, among other things, the media accompaniment of roadshows and the coverage of the topic via interviews and specialist articles. In addition to media relations, Sectoral Asset Management is launching an international advertising campaign, which is being developed and implemented by the Swiss advertising agency Blue Spirit. This will be launched in March 2015.

Wirz Wietlisbach Dialog smokes Winston in the future

Wirz Wietlisbach Dialog has just won an interesting account. With Winston from Japan Tobacco International (JTI), the company will in future be advertising a cigarette brand that is one of the top brands in this market in Switzerland.

The collaboration is the result of a one-stage pitch, which the dialog experts from Uetlibergstrasse won last year. The fact that Wirz Wietlisbach Dialog is only now announcing the New Business success is due to the fact that the agency wanted to produce concrete results first.

These results include, among others, the launch for the line extension "Winston Authentic" and the activation campaign "Blue Lights Igloo Nights". What both campaigns have in common is that they were conceived and implemented in a channel-neutral manner. In addition to personalized online and offline measures, all POS advertising materials were created by the performance advertisers within the Wirz Group.

Jung von Matt/PR now supports Accor Hotels Switzerland

Jung von Matt/Public Relations is now in charge of Accor Hotellerie Schweiz with 56 hotels of the brands Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure, Adagio City Aparthotel, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget. The agency prevailed over its competitors in a multi-stage process. The scope of work includes brand PR and influencer marketing measures in addition to classic corporate communications. In addition, the team provides interdisciplinary consulting support in all areas of marketing communications. "With Jung von Matt/Public Relations, we have found the creative and interdisciplinary partner that matches our ideas of contemporary brand PR," explains Christophe Julliard, Director of Sales, Distribution, Marketing and Digital Strategy at Accor Switzerland.

On Thursday, the Council of States amended the bill, which is now ready for the final vote. The only controversial point was whether a fine should also be imposed for negligent violation of the ban. The small chamber has now accommodated the National Council on this point and removed the penalty for negligence from the revision of the Consumer Credit Act. Intentional violation of the ban on aggressive advertising, on the other hand, can be punished with a fine of up to CHF 100,000.

This would make the law so toothless that it could be rejected outright, said Anita Fetz (SP/BS), who had also campaigned for the punishment of negligent injury. Pirmin Bischof (CVP/SO) disagreed: the threat of punishment for intent not only covers intent, but also contingent intent. An entrepreneur who accepts the violation of the ban on aggressive advertising must therefore also expect a fine. The two chambers had already agreed on the main features of the bill in earlier consultations. In particular, they rely on self-regulation:

The credit industry itself can define what advertising is considered aggressive. The law requires them to regulate this in an agreement. A draft is already available. According to this, the distribution of credit application coupons on the street, for example, should be avoided in future. If no agreement is reached or if the Federal Council deems it insufficient, it can determine when advertising is considered aggressive.

According to the law, creditworthiness should not only be checked if there are doubts about the accuracy of the applicant's information. The credit company can now generally request documents, such as an extract from the debt collection register or proof of salary. The rules for express loans will also be tightened. (SDA)

Image: Parliamentary Services 3003 Bern

The program is dedicated less to current affairs and more to lifestyle and women's issues. However, it is not a station just for women, said media spokeswoman Mélanie Duperrex to the news agency SDA on Thursday. The program is aimed at everyone, but with a feminine touch. The menu includes a dozen programs on lifestyle as well as G and culture topics. "We don't do local news," said Duperrex. Although the programs have a connection to current affairs, the aim is to discuss the background. The station's boss, Leila Delarive, will also be appearing on screen in a weekly talk show in collaboration with editor-in-chief Fred Valet. When it launches, Becurious TV will have around 20 employees and an annual budget of CHF 1.5 million. (SDA)

This is advertised with posters, advertisements, web banners and direct mailings to homeowners and house builders - with the involvement of EgoKiefer specialist company partners. The specially designed microsite Egokiefer.ch/climateprotection shows prospective customers how much energy and money can be saved with Minergie windows from Egokiefer using the implemented energy saving calculator.

Responsible at Egokiefer, Altstätten: Michel Duff (Head of Marketing Services Switzerland); Lidija Radovanovic (Campaigns and Digital Media); Jeanina Bereuter (Documentaries), Severine Schläpfer (Exhibitions & Events). Responsible at Agentur am Flughafen, Altenrhein: René Eugstair (Creative Direction); Dominique Rutishauser (Art Direction); Valeria Hörler (Graphics); Miriam Egli (Text/Consulting); Michael Jäger, Jäger & Gejagte GmbH (Programming).
 

Blog, share, tweet, like

88 out of 100 Swiss are regularly on the Internet; three quarters of them even count themselves as heavy users and are online at least every day. They find out about current events, check their e-mails, watch videos, shop, book a trip, participate in online games, look for an apartment or a job, and exchange information on social media platforms. These include not only Facebook and Twitter - but all sites on which users exchange information, create something together or share bookmarks, videos or photos. In Switzerland, people are particularly busy blogging, sharing, tweeting and liking. Wikis and social networks are the most popular. Fifty-six percent, or 3.2 million online users, use these services regularly.

Social Media Heavy Users

According to the semiannually updated NET-Metrix-Base study, social networks are clearly ahead in terms of daily use: More than half of social media users can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn and the like virtually every day. Media sharing - the exchange of videos, photos and music (e.g. YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Last.fm) - is still practiced to this extent by 15 percent. By contrast, just 250,000 Twitterers are active on the microblog every day.

Digital natives are social media users

The data set expanded to include the topic of "social media" with this publication of the Net-Metrix-Base study also enables detailed analysis of the social media usage of a wide range of target groups. For example, it becomes clear that younger people access social media platforms much more frequently than older users. While almost 90 percent of 14- to 35-year-olds use social media, the figure is still around 65 percent for 36- to 54-year-olds and two-fifths for those over 55. The most popular form of social media, even among the youngest age group, is social networks, closely followed by wikis. In a good third place is media sharing. While almost one in five in this age group is on microblogs/Twitter, among silver surfers (55+) it is only one in twenty.

The industry association ASW has accepted the owner-managed agency glaswerk as a new active member. In the admission test conducted by experts, the agency was able to successfully demonstrate its comprehensive expertise in all areas of professional and human qualifications. Glaswerk was founded in Baden in 2010 as an agency for strategy, design and communication. The team led by owner Tobias Gläser has since grown to seven permanent employees and supports well-known clients from various industries, such as Brother Switzerland, Swissport Zurich, Protektor Profil, BSW Security, Entlastungsdienst Schweiz and many other accounts.

In 2007, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that "raclette" was not a protected Valais term. The reason for the decision: the name has only been used explicitly for the cheese since the 1970s; before that, it was only used in Valais for dishes with melted cheese. This not only pleased cheese makers in the rest of Switzerland, but also foreign cheese producers, who could continue to sell their approximately 1500 tons per year in Switzerland undisturbed.

For example, the Austrian company Berglandmilch, which produces the "Schärdinger Raclette" in Styria. Without a guilty conscience, as the then head of marketing at NZZ revealed. Raclette is hugely popular in Austria, but the dish is hardly associated with Switzerland. "Raclette is simply a fat semi-hard cheese from the Alpine region."

"Fat semi-hard cheese from the Alpine region" - rarely has one of our most beloved national foods been spoken of so uncharitably. Until now: The wide-reaching American viral video blog Viralviralvideos.com now headlines "European Grilled Cheese" and describes a video showing a standard raclette oven that couldn't be more Swiss. With Schärdinger raclette in it. And red wine. Your own fat semi-hard cheese from the Alps!
 

The video was uploaded back in 2013, 2015 on Reddit.com and is now spreading like wildfire as Americans are blown away by the way their Grilled Cheese Sandwich (also known as "Käseschnitte" in Germany) is prepared. "In Europe, they have a different way of making a cheesy sandwich snack"... "Using a special machine, European dairy company Schärdinger demonstrates how they melt up some of their Schärdinger Raclette cheese right off the block".

In a short space of time, the video has mobilized over 105,000 enthusiastic viewers. For comparison: Schäringer's video "Soft cheese sticks wrapped in puff pastry" has attracted just 7100 viewers to the screens after almost a year. Incidentally, these soft cheese sticks are an old Swiss tradition.

Conclusion: The rest of the world seems to be completely unaware of the deep Swiss attachment to raclette - but freaks out when you put a raclette oven on the table. Perhaps an approach worth pursuing for Switzerland Tourism. (hae)
 

Teletext advertising print finished at the same level as the previous month 49 (49), and digital out of home picked up after a lower December 2014 673 (662). Total electronic media also fell slightly lower 649 (651). This is shown in the January edition of the Goldbach Index (Gemi) for advertising print in the overall market and electronic media.

Compared to the same month in 2014, the overall market increased 649 (636), mainly due to the performance of TV 653 (632) and Internet 768 (742). The other genres finished lower: Radio 398 (423), Teletext 49 (59) and Digital out of Home 673 (692).

WW: Microsoft Advertising has dropped out of NET-Metrix. Why?
Vanessa Marr: First of all, there are technical reasons for this. NET-Metrix collects reach data on the basis of page-related measurement tags. The insertion of such local measurement tags in global consumer products such as Skype or Outlook.com has become increasingly impossible for Microsoft. For this reason, we have only been able to correctly report the msn.ch portal in the last 18 months, but not Skype, Outlook.com or Xbox. However, since we market our entire portfolio in Switzerland, a coverage representation only for MSN is not a sufficient solution for us: After all, our performance values are incompletely represented and do not allow a fair comparison with other local providers - and this was always the most important reason for us to participate in NET-Metrix. In addition, agencies and customers are increasingly buying and booking target groups or ad impressions, and thus the advertising medium is moving into focus. Incidentally, these assessments also coincide with the research-related demands as formulated by the IAB Europe or the IAB Switzerland. The reach of individual websites, as provided by NET-Metrix, is thus becoming increasingly secondary. They play a central role in the strategic decision as to which site makes it into the media mix, but not in the operational sales process. Third, NET-Metrix provides an incomplete picture of overall online usage because it is limited to specific end devices and to participating websites.

What would NET-Metrix have to offer to bring Microsoft back?
We like to come back to the table when the advertising material is at the center of the research, when it is possible to track what was actually delivered in the course of a campaign and which target groups were reached and how often. Furthermore, the research should cover our entire portfolio of offers. For us, it is not a viable way to be able to report only a part of our inventory. Online has evolved massively, and research has to reflect that. We need to move away from media marketing research and towards campaign-oriented research. Only then can we collect accurate reach data for a campaign. If NET-Metrix offers the possibilities we need for our business, we will be very happy to be back.

Do you have a replacement for the NET Metrix numbers?
As an international company, we have been working in parallel for years with Comscore, a third currency that is not officially accepted as a market currency in Switzerland. Comscore works with user panels, so it's a sampling model similar to TV research. For large offers in Switzerland, the Comscore data is quite representative and surprisingly similar to the data from NETMetrix. We will now use this data in customer communications. We regret that we are no longer directly comparable in the market. Media agencies and publishers do not use Comscore at all, or only in a rudimentary way. So we present ourselves on the basis of the data and pass the reports on to our customers. By the way, other international online marketers do the same.

If the NET-Metrix and Comscore data are comparable, don't the systems have the same strengths, but also the same weaknesses?
Yes, Comscore is not a replacement for NET-Metrix. For one thing, Comscore is not the locally accepted currency, and for another, it does not yet offer a campaign-oriented measurement solution - at least in Switzerland. Comscore does, however, provide user-centric measurement. This helps the complete representation of our portfolio and has the great advantage that we see Google, Facebook, etc. mapped, which gives a more complete picture. Still, Switzerland needs a new solution and NET-Metrix would be predestined to provide it.

How does the exit from NET-Metrix affect your business?
We have already pointed out our withdrawal to some customers, and some have also asked us why we have not appeared in the NET-Metrix audit for some time. However, since we can explain our reasons in detail, our step meets with understanding. Besides, people know our reach and it will not change dramatically from one month to the next. For those who would like to have specific figures on the user profiles, we can provide Comscore data. Since NET-Metrix, as mentioned, plays a secondary role in the planning, it is not necessarily missed.

But if neither you nor your customers miss NET-Metrix and it works well with Comscore, why go back?
When NET-Metrix makes the switch to advertising-centric research, forms a basis for planning and booking, and plays a role similar to TV and print for the designation of a campaign, it becomes very relevant again. Because only with NET-Metrix we are comparable in Switzerland and remain transparent. We do not intend to run an extra train. But we want to be able to map our entire offering correctly and thus be comparable.

What is the importance of Switzerland as a location for Microsoft Advertising?
A high one. We have recently expanded the Swiss market in programmatic advertising, are active in the IAB, and also want to be a relevant player locally. We have international products, but they are very popular and in demand in Switzerland and are used heavily. Skype and Xbox are part of Mr. and Mrs. Swiss' equipment. And we successfully relaunched MSN with Swiss content last fall.

What can the Swiss market expect from Microsoft Advertising this year?
That we actively seek dialog with our customers - after all, we can't currently show certified ranges. That also has its advantages, because then we argue about other qualities: What makes us different from other vendors? Microsoft has a technological DNA, which creates a lot of dynamism. And our advertisers also benefit from this dynamism: they can play advertising material on all three screens if they want to. Or they can decide which audience they want to target. They can choose implementations that make them stand out from the crowd, for example with advertising on Skype or X-Box - keyword branding. We make advertising that stands out, but doesn't disturb our users.

Interview: Anne-Friederike Heinrich  

Vanessa Marr (39) has been Country Manager of Microsoft Advertising Switzerland (Werbewoche.ch reported). She is responsible for the strategic and operational management and further development of the globally active marketer of digital advertising space in Switzerland. Marr has over 12 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Before joining Microsoft in 2009, she was responsible for market and media research and communications at Goldbach Audience. She also worked in the research department of SRG SSR. Microsoft Advertising markets all advertising spaces of the Microsoft portfolio: the MSN portal, Skype, Outlook, Xbox, Bing as well as the performance networks and content on mobile devices. 
 

In demand

The advertising week has Dr. Rolf Schmitz, CEO of NET-Metrix, for a statement on the subject. His answer: "Our measurement model requires a strong interaction with the respective customer in order to implement a uniform measurement logic for all customers according to the specifications of the Swiss market. Due to their supply and company structures, large international groups are sometimes interested in using uniform, strongly synergetic models across all country markets. Specific solutions for individual country markets can then unfortunately not be implemented, or only with disproportionately high effort. Naturally, we will remain in contact with Microsoft Switzerland and hope to have sufficient points of contact for a continuation of the partnership in the future. afh