The topic of net neutrality is currently on the political agenda because cable operators would be technically capable of transporting data in different qualities. For example, they could transmit TV services from Teleboy and TV services from Swisscom in different qualities. Until recently, this was technically very complex, says Andreas von Gunten, member of the Swiss Digital Society. Until now, the Internet has functioned according to the "best effort" principle: as long as there is free transmission capacity on the network, all data is treated equally.

In Switzerland, it is Swisscom, Sunrise, Orange and Cablecom who have the last mile to every Internet connection. This means that customers can sign an Internet contract with an alternative provider, but the four major Internet providers have what is known as end-customer access. They could theoretically restrict the content available on the Internet. In fact, they have no interest in doing so, as Swisscom spokesperson Schulze emphasizes. However, the telecommunications providers insist on certain freedoms in the design of their products.

Since 2013, a working group of the Federal Office of Communications has been discussing whether a law is necessary to safeguard net neutrality. The working group has not yet come to any concrete conclusions. The recently published report outlines the demands of the various interest groups. It also identifies various motives for the unequal treatment of data, which can also have positive effects for end customers. For example, network management is sometimes useful to ensure the quality of an internet service or to block illegal content. "This is necessary and provided for by law," emphasizes Schulze. However, given the current legal situation, Internet providers could also demand payment for transporting content and services to customers. This is where the difficulties begin for critical circles: "It would be like posting a letter and the recipient would also have to pay postage," illustrates von Gunten. Accordingly, network operators could transport their own services and those of commercial partners with particularly good quality or throttle those of competitors.

These are the fears. But what violations of net neutrality are already taking place today? There are only a handful of concrete examples that proponents of net neutrality can currently cite. Their central accusation concerns Orange's preferential treatment of the Zattoo and Spotify services and Swisscom's preferential treatment of Swisscom TV air. For example, if you book a subscription with Orange with a limited data volume, the data transfer when consuming Zattoo is not deducted from this data volume - however, if you use an independent provider such as Teleboy, you use up the purchased data volume.

Orange provides the lines for its own services free of charge, so to speak, while customers pay for the services of other providers. For von Gunten, this clearly puts the small media companies at a disadvantage: "This puts one provider in a better position than the other. If I as a consumer want to use Teleboy, this is also clearly against my interests." Swisscom spokesperson Schulze appeases: Subscriptions with a limited data volume are not a future business. There are no longer any volume restrictions in the fixed network sector anyway. At the end of June, 58 percent of mobile customers already had an Infinity offer - and the trend is rising. Of the remaining 42%, many did not own a smartphone anyway. For von Gunten, however, the problem is of a more fundamental nature. It starts with the fact that many network operators offer their own content and services in addition to Internet access. From the cable operators' point of view, this is obvious. "The Internet connection alone does not generate as many margins. That's why network operators are expanding their media offering." However, it is incompatible with their core task. "The profit of a single state-affiliated company should not be valued higher than the overall social aspect. I would be in favor of cable being part of the public service. But then there needs to be a clear separation between access and content."

For the digital society activist, the genius of the Internet is the "innovation without permission" principle. "Anyone can put an idea online and see if it works on the market." There is a danger that in future this will only be the case for content providers who also operate their own network - and that no more independent innovative services will emerge over time. The issue of competition is also at the heart of the discussion. According to the Bakom report, many companies are dependent on the openness of the Internet at the start of their activities. In more and more sectors, a growing proportion of value creation and communication is taking place via the Internet. This is particularly true for start-ups in the media sector. They are dependent on low market entry costs. Von Gunten is also convinced that these subscriptions are ultimately not booked by customers because they are tailored to their needs. " Customers choose a low-cost combined offer and are initially happy that Swisscom TV is included free of charge. If they want to switch to other services later, there is a certain hurdle. Switching is not as easy as the network operators like to claim. You are often tied to a contract for over two years and there is a lot involved in such a package. Customers usually don't care that much about a single service, even though they would prefer it." A global service like YouTube is so relevant that customers would definitely consider switching networks, replies Schulze. Von Gunten agrees. Competition will probably lead to all major providers offering the central programs. "You will hardly have to do without Netflix or YouTube. But a small provider can no longer enter the market. Competition cannot solve this problem." The digital society is therefore calling for net neutrality to be enshrined in law - for example as part of the revised Telecommunications Act or in a separate law. It should ensure that anyone offering internet access transmits all data without discrimination. "We don't deny that providers have to invest more and more. But these costs should be borne by the end customer - for the bandwidth they want." In contrast, Swisscom sees no reason to block services - especially not from small providers that hardly burden the networks. The cable operators therefore consider a legal regulation to be superfluous.

Simone Isliker

The grid operator

Interview with Olaf Schulze, media spokesman for Swisscom

"Regulatory intervention should only be made where it is necessary and sensible."

 
WW: What is your attitude towards a legal regulation of net neutrality?
Olaf Schulze: Swisscom is in favor of an open Internet. However, we do not understand the need for legal regulation. Industry observers are consistently of the opinion that there has been no violation of net neutrality in Switzerland and that the likelihood of one occurring is low. Regulatory intervention should only take place where it is necessary and sensible.
 
So there is no unequal treatment of Internet data?
There is no recognized definition of the term net neutrality. Net neutrality in the strictest sense, meaning that all data on the internet is treated equally, has never existed and will never exist - for the simple reason that internet capacity is limited. In the event of a traffic jam, equal treatment of data packets for a YouTube film with data packets for telemedicine or the control of electricity grids could not be justified. A narrow interpretation of net neutrality would lead to restrictions that are disadvantageous from the customer's point of view. In Switzerland, however, no services are blocked or slowed down as a matter of principle.
 
However, there are fears that the transmission quality of TV services will be throttled by Swisscom and that they will then have to pay for good transmission quality.
I can rule out this scenario. You have to look at the competitive situation in Switzerland. The customer has the choice between various providers. No provider can afford to block or throttle a service.

The Internet TV provider

Interview with Karim Zekri, co-founder of Teleboy

"A two-tier internet is emerging."
 

 
WW: What is your attitude towards a legal regulation of net neutrality?
Karim Zekri: In a Bakom survey a year ago, I was still of the opinion that the competition should regulate this itself. I'm not a fan of too many laws. In the course of the debate and the discussions I took part in, I revised my opinion somewhat. Today, I believe that net neutrality needs to be enshrined in law. This is because it has become obvious - due to the attitude of Swiss internet providers, but also due to the latest developments in the USA - that they will abuse their power.
 
What are your fears if such a regulation does not materialize?
A two-tier internet. Internet providers will demand money from individual operators to ensure that their content and services reach the end customer. Or they will discriminate against services that compete with their own services. Just as Skype was once blocked on the Swiss mobile network or non-transparent peering policies for network access led to video streams being jerky even though the consumer's bandwidth was sufficient.
 
Do you already feel disadvantaged as an independent TV provider?
We see a disadvantage in the fact that certain TV services (such as Zattoo or Swisscom TV air) are included in some cell phone subscriptions and do not count towards the data volume of the subscription. I am convinced that the majority of customers will not opt for the subscription for this reason - but they are more likely to use the service than Teleboy. Orange claims that the customer is paying for this offer. But the subscription price also includes other additional services. This distorts the market.
 
The service providers have also invested billions in network expansion and thus taken on an investment risk.
The service providers are not in the red. They just can't make as much profit as they would like and have to invest the margins in network expansion. But that is also their job. Of course, they would prefer to leave network expansion to one side and only make the existing infrastructure available to those who pay. However, this would lead to a standstill in innovation and a clear disadvantage for consumers.
 

The subjects (Werbewoche.ch reported) generated a PR value that exceeded the funds invested many times over. Mario Stübi, Head of Communications at the DSJ, says: "The impact of the campaign is overwhelming! It was particularly helpful that many media consumed by our young target group (Blick am Abend, joiz, 20minutes, Watson) also reported prominently." We also received personal feedback from a Federal Councillor: "Didier Burkhalter was present at the youth parliament conference when we unveiled the subjects. He had to laugh heartily. He may not have looked like that before, but the idea was a good one."

It remains to be seen whether and how the umbrella organization Swiss Youth Parliaments (DSJ) will now achieve the campaign's goal of promoting the involvement of young people in youth parliaments and the establishment of new youth parliaments. It will be interesting to see. (uma)

 

1. you could swap your smartphone with someone else's for a day. Would you? And if so, with whom?
With my mother: She still has an ancient Nokia, on which you can't receive e-mails, load apps and actually only make phone calls.

2. what does not come to the office under any circumstances?
Potted plants. This bleak picture of plants not watered for weeks makes me depressed. And experience shows: Every orchid that blooms, no matter how pretty it is, ends up in an agency as a withered, withered something or other. It seems that advertisers rarely have a green thumb.

3. what do you want most like to advertise?
For beer. Precisely because we are often asked whether a brand of sparkling wine or pantyhose should not necessarily be advertised in an agency run by women, we would like to have a really down-to-earth beer in our portfolio. Which of course doesn't mean that we can't create something wonderful for sparkling wine or pantyhose as well.

4. what advertising should be banned?
Anything that says "as individual as you" underneath.

5. do you tell other people how much you earn?
Do you say it?

6. the best self-promotion?
When we as an agency are recommended by existing clients. This has happened several times in the short time since Pam Hügli and I have been running Alpha 245, and it makes us extremely proud. It means that we have done everything right for the existing customer.

7. was there a moment in your life when you thought: Wow. This is awesome. And it's from me!
Yes. What a nice change of pace from thinking "I wish that was from me."

8. has your media behavior changed in the last three years? (If yes, how?)
 If I forget my iPhone at home and can't be reached for a day, can't play Samschtig Jass on the streetcar, and can't answer any e-mails, I do get a little nervous. In short, I think I use my cell phone more.

9. Do you fall for advertising? When?
I fully believe that these anti-aging creams, should I ever use them when I reach a certain age, will model away all the years I have lived less healthy.

10: Is the opinion that you can't grow old in agencies true, or is that a prejudice?
I guess you can. But the sad truth is that there are very few older employees. I've often wondered what they do for a living. Not every copywriter is a Martin Suter or Thomas Meyer and quickly writes a bestseller.

11. a buzz word that gets on your nerves?
Sustainability. Wasn't this once the "Unword of the Year" in 2012 or something? It would have deserved this word.

Can you tell us a little secret?
Sure. In return for a cover story on one of our works in Werbewoche? Yes? We can discuss that in detail over lunch.

13: Why would you advise or advise your children not to seek a career in advertising/communication?
I'm on maternity leave right now and I have to confess: When I look at my little daughter like this, I want her to learn something real, like being a professional tennis player. After all, her mommy can't grow old in advertising (they say), and she probably lacks the Martin Suter gene, too.

Since January 2013 Diana Wick Rossi Before that, she worked at Havas and, from 2005, at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett on Aemtlerstrasse - first as a copywriter, then as creative director and member of the management team. In Cannes, her ideas were awarded three silver lions. In addition, she has won many other awards - not only for creativity, but also for the efficiency of her advertising campaigns. Diana Wick Rossi is a member of the Art Director Club Switzerland and acts as a juror in various national and international juries.
 
Thomas Häusermann

 

Hardly any daily newspaper, TV or radio station can still be blindly relied upon when it comes to the selection, validity and competent preparation of information. What is put into the public domain is not automatically true and well-checked. The 2014 yearbook "Quality of the Media" confirms the grounding of information depth and competence in Swiss journalism: The Swiss media are getting worse and worse, from SRG stations to subscription newspapers and private television to online portals. There is a lack of relevant topics, no classification. Breaking news instead of background reporting, entertainment instead of information.

Unfortunately, the authors of the study are right. If you want to be well informed, you have to look and listen very carefully, you can't simply rely on any statement, you have to remain alert, ready to bite. There is a great danger of falling for misinformation - not only as a reader, but especially as a journalist. The fact that a false, incorrect or misleading report becomes a source probably happens regularly. But not all sloppiness is as serious as the recent WDR tank picture hoax.

The blame for this quality debacle lies, of course, with the evil journalists, who - fie! - no longer do their job properly. The guild itself is happy to scold its colleagues. Journalists have no understanding at all for such sloppiness. Until they get caught themselves.

What no one thinks about is that producing media has also become a torture. Everyone is crying out for quality, but no one wants to pay for it. Last of all, the readers and the advertisers. Some read, others prefer to advertise in a free newspaper rather than in one of the great flagships of Swiss journalism. Almost every third franc spent on advertising in the 45 largest Swiss newspapers ends up in one of the four free newspapers. Ergo: Whoever is cheap wins. So where should the impetus come from to write high quality? The Pulitzer Prize cannot be won with clean manual work alone. Neither is a higher salary.

What happens when quality no longer pays? When the much-vaunted rethinking among publishers, advertisers and subscribers doesn't set in? When hard-earned facts can be read for free in the blink of an eye, without citation of the source, of course, and misquoted to boot? Let's remain stubborn. If there's no more high-quality journalism, there's no way to stimulate demand for it.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor in Chief

[email protected]
 

In the animated stop-motion film, two initially unrelated words become a single term with a completely new meaning. This is a metaphor for the thought processes that the author magazine wants to trigger in its readers: recognizing connections and thus gaining new insights. Because in this way - and this is also the moral of the film - you have invested your reading time profitably.

The spot can be seen on S1 TV from November 7.

Responsible at Schweizer Monat: René Scheu, Urs Arnold. Directed by: Adrian Wisard. Responsible at Shining Pictures: Caroline Braun, Bettina Tschus, Stefan Bircher. Responsible at Havas Worldwide Zurich: Frank Bodin (overall responsibility), Michael Kathe (creative director), Andrea Huber (art direction), Anne-Marie Papas (junior art direction), Beat Gloor, Oliver Kessler, Yannick Schaller (text), Nuria Büchi (consulting).
 

The 51-year-old will take up his post in January 2015, as the media center announced on Thursday. Spilker comes from Biel BE and has many years of experience in journalism. He also completed a diploma course at the Catechetical Institute of the Faculty of Theology in Lucerne.

Together with Charles Martig, Director of the Media Center, Spilker is responsible for the further development of Catholic journalism and the launch of new products, according to the statement. From January 6 Kath.ch daily stories from church, religion and society are offered in multimedia form. (SDA)

We have a suspicion: Is it possible that our expectations of marketing using big data cannot be fulfilled? Because there is simply too little data in our country compared to the USA, where most of the success stories that point the way here also come from? It is difficult to provide evidence for this conjecture because much is a matter of judgment and there is a lack of well-founded insights. Therefore, we rely on the following circumstantial evidence.

First, let's take a look at the U.S., which in these matters lives up to its reputation as the land of opportunity. Good insights are provided here by the Federal Trade Commission, FTC, which published a report on data brokers in May of this year after almost two years of investigations. Nine selected companies (Acxiom, Corelogic, Datalogix, eBureau, ID Analytics, Intelius, PeekYou, Rapleaf and Recorded Future) were asked to answer an extensive list of questions. Most of these companies offer products for marketing, while others are active in risk mitigation or tracking. Because, unlike in Europe, legislation in this area is not based on a fundamental right but kicks in when concrete damage has been done, the handling of data is much freer. For many companies, the obvious thing to do is to sell their data for as much profit as possible. In negotiations among business partners, it is common to also regulate the exchange of data. At the center of these activities is the complex and correspondingly confusing industry of data traders. Across multiple trading levels, data is not only delivered to end users, but also exchanged among these brokers. They themselves collect data at all levels of government, such as when it comes to bankruptcy information or voter registrations, and from commercial entities that offer data on consumer purchasing patterns, web behavior, warranty registrations, and other details about everyday consumer behavior. More than half of the data brokers surveyed said they also analyze other publicly available information, such as telephone and other directories, newspaper articles, and details that consumers post on the Internet such as on blogs and social media.

It so happens that data brokers store billions of information elements, capturing virtually every American consumer. One of the new data brokers surveyed stored 1.4 billion pieces of information about business transactions with consumers, creating 700 billion aggregated data elements. Another data broker's database includes $1 trillion worth of transactions with consumers. And yet another data broker adds three billion new records to its database every month. So it's not surprising that one of these data brokers has 3000 data segments for just about every American consumer. The business of data brokers is not easy: a sophisticated technical infrastructure has to be operated, data not only has to be procured but also checked for quality and, if necessary, additionally processed and updated again and again. And then it is a matter of drawing the right conclusions from all these mountains of data by means of statistical analyses. Where "right" here means classifying consumers into more and better categories and achieving higher hit probabilities than the competition.

"Mobile Mixers" and "Married Fine Spirits"

Harmless is the assignment to consumer interests. For example, "dog owner," "winter sports enthusiast," or "responds to mail-order advertising. It becomes more critical when consumers are categorized by ethnicity or income: For example, low-income Latinos or African-Americans in particular are categorized as "urban mix" or "mobile mixer." Other tricky specifications concern, for example, the age of the consumers. "Rural undecayed" includes single men and women over age 66 who have low levels of education and wealth. Meanwhile, "married sophisticates" include childless upper-middle-class couples in their thirties. Other delicate categories involve aspects of health: "expecting parents," "interest in diabetes," and "attentiveness to cholesterol."

What makes European data protectionists' hair stand on end is the basis for good business for American data traders: data from the online and offline worlds are combined. This is done primarily using information that is entered when registering on websites, especially the users' postal address. The web users' browsers are then marked with a cookie so that they can be shown advertising content based on their offline activities as well.

Everyone squats on their own data

This American practice is in marked contrast to the Swiss reality: In the Werbewoche survey on Big Data among large Swiss companies (see Werbewoche 19/2014 of October 24, 2014, p. 36f), when asked about the sharing of data, even anonymized data, it always sounded the same. Typical example: "Swisscom complies with legal requirements at all times and preserves the privacy of its customers. In particular, Swisscom does not sell any personal data to third parties. Such an approach is ruled out by the Data Protection and Telecommunications Act and our GTCs. When processing location data, there are clear legal requirements in Art. 45b of the Telecommunications Act, which we naturally adhere to. Accordingly, commercial exploitation of personal location data would only be possible with the consent of customers." The telecommunications giant, meanwhile, is also the only example in the survey that reported sharing anonymized information: "This is sold on the market - for example, anonymized average speeds and travel times on the freeways as part of the 'Travel Times' project for the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA). " It's different for the other of the companies inquired about, such as the two major distributors: "Coop does not pass on anonymized or highly aggregated data to third parties either." And, "We do not provide any data outside the Migros Group." The suspicion is growing stronger: If no one is passing on data, they are all simply relying on their own data, supplemented at best with generally available data on demographics, etc.

It becomes clear that if you can only evaluate your own data with Big Data analytics methods, you are, to a certain extent, sitting in a data desert and cannot swim in a data lake. Then, even with the most modern technology and the best personnel, you won't get anywhere, just as when broadly collected and diversely processed data can be used according to the American model. For example, a (fictitious) major retailer sees that customer Anita always shops at the same store, but never has any meat in her shopping cart. So Anita is addressed as a vegetarian and pointed to the latest vegi products. But Anita buys her meat needs from the butcher she trusts, especially since her big-box store doesn't have an open meat counter. If the wholesaler could (as in the USA) compare its data with the findings of the data brokers (where, for example, information from payment transactions is included), it would align its communication with Anita in such a way that she would also buy meat products from it in the future - instead of irritating her with grain picker information (and damaging its own brand in the process).

No sign of a data protection U-turn

In order to achieve better framework conditions for the use of big data in marketing, there needs to be a veritable about-face in data protection legislation and ultimately a Swiss go-it-alone approach to data protection. This will only succeed if there are industry-wide coordinated procedures to strengthen the public's trust in commercial data collection and thus pave the way for politics. However, there are no signs of such an initiative: In the Werbewoche survey, no agreement was found in response to the question of whether the requirements and restrictions of data protection are seen as an obstacle to the introduction and development of Big Data. Quite the opposite: "Swisscom does not consider the requirements and restrictions to be a hindrance, but rather necessary and sensible. Data protection must not be softened in order to preserve the privacy and associated freedoms of citizens."

Christoph J. Walther
 

Under the motto "Switzerland sees pink - show your colors!", numerous actions were posted here, messages of solidarity were written and thus made visible to all. The trilingual Campaign page is particularly user-friendly, as it is reduced, equipped with well thought-out filter functions, and responsive. Part of the campaign were also the foldable lanterns, which could be labeled with a personal wish. They were enclosed in the Cancer League's donor magazine "aspect" and distributed via the networks of the cantonal and regional leagues and partners. Participation was also possible on the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #bekennefarbe.

The new site is now being further developed in a second step: In the future, women affected by breast cancer and their relatives will be able to exchange information even better on the platform.

Responsible at Maxomedia: Matthias Gerber (Team Leader Consulting), Andrea Gysi (Consulting), Reto Schild (CD), Thomas Kägi (AD), Raïssa Fasel (Graphics), Anouk Karrer (Text).
 

It is also well known that television advertising has an influence on the success of a brand, especially in the long term, by promoting the brand image and creating trust and loyalty. However, the longer-term effects are still less well analyzed and quantified than the immediate effects. New study results on the long-term effects of TV advertising are now available from Germany.

Using a regression model, market researchers at GfK for Seven-One Media examined the return on investment (ROI) of TV advertising in German food retailing in more detail. In addition to exposure to advertising, the model takes into account a number of other independent variables - from personal consumer characteristics to promotions - in order to predict purchases and identify the impact of TV. The model is based on actual purchase data from 30,000 households from the GfK consumer panel, TV usage data from the TV panel and advertising investments from the advertising statistics over a period of twelve months. The previous study of almost 200 brands from different sectors using this model has already provided interesting findings. For example, the additional sales generated by TV commercials in the short term average EUR 1.15 per advertising euro invested (ROI in the first year). The longer-term ROI for a 5-year period averages EUR 2.66. Two out of three brands surveyed achieve a long-term ROI of more than one, while 43% of all brands achieve a long-term return on investment of more than two.

The returns are obviously even greater in the food retail sector, as the current study of three retailers, including two full-range retailers and one discounter, shows. In the case of the first retailer, one euro invested in TV advertising generates additional sales of 2.52 euros in the first year. The 5-year forecast is additional sales of EUR 4.02. For the second retailer, the ROI is even higher: in the short term, additional sales of EUR 5.61 were calculated per invested TV euro, while the long-term ROI forecast is EUR 10.42. TV spots offer the greatest payback for the third retailer examined. Here, every advertising euro generates additional sales of more than 10 euros in the first year (11.43), while the 5-year forecast is even over 20 euros (23.46).

Another interesting finding: image-oriented campaigns generate more additional sales than a product- or price-oriented advertising approach. In the full-range segment, the 1-year ROI of product-oriented spots is 1.57 euros. In comparison, image-oriented spots achieve a 2.6 times higher short-term return (EUR 4.07). Even in the long term, image-oriented advertising for full-range retailers generates a higher return on advertising than product-oriented spots (EUR 6.05 vs. EUR 2.47). The advantage of image-oriented advertising in discount stores is even more impressive. Product- or price-oriented commercials obviously have little impact on sales for discounters, whose competence is low prices anyway (short-term ROI 0.06 Euro, long-term ROI 0.13 Euro). Qualitative, image-oriented arguments, on the other hand, trigger significantly stronger sales impulses: the 1-year advertising ROI of image-oriented spots is EUR 3.05, the 5-year forecast EUR 4.49.

Clemens Koob

Key Facts

- The analysis of around 200 brands from different sectors shows: in the short term, every TV euro generates additional sales of EUR 1.15 (1-year ROI), and EUR 2.66 in the long term (5-year ROI).
- Returns are even higher in the food retail sector.
- Retailer A has a short-term ROI of 2.52 euros and a long-term ROI of 4.02 euros.
- Retailer B achieves additional sales of EUR 5.61 per TV euro invested in the first year; the 5-year forecast is EUR 10.42.  Retailer C even achieves a short-term return of 11.43 and a long-term return of 23.46 euros per euro invested.
- Image spots generate a higher advertising return in the short and long term than product-oriented spots.

To communicate this, SBB used numerous PR measures, activating games and samplings at stations, loudspeaker announcements and the use of "trashbusters" on trains to draw attention to the message.

The introduction of the waste separation system is supported by the "Thank you" campaign, which was again further developed by Rod Kommunikation and made from real waste by Nora Fehr.

Responsible at SBB: Jan-Hendrik Voelker-Albert, Myriam Siksou, Nadia Stillhart Diallo, David Brunnschweiler, André Koop, Yvonne Roth, Christian Fricker. Responsible at Rod Communication: Nora Fehr (realization subject, image editing), Julien Vonier (photography).

But first, for those who don't know it yet: Pinterest, made up of the words "pin" and "interest", offers users a place to organize their visual finds from the web (including animated GIFs and videos as well as images) thematically and share them with others. The images can be shared, commented on and favorited in a similar way to Twitter.

In addition to ideas for craft projects, recipes or travel ideas, users from all over the world (mainly the "women" target group, which is otherwise underrepresented on the web) also like to share products such as new clothes, jewelry, furniture or decorative items - simply everything a woman's heart desires. As Pinterest is ideal for presenting products clearly, more and more companies are now using the platform and actively integrating it into their own marketing strategy. Design and fashion products in particular, but also tattoo inspiration or landscape images - simply anything that looks good in a photo is perfect for use on Pinterest. Thanks to the new "place pins" function, you can now even add your pins to an interactive map within your Pinterest account. This is a particularly interesting function for companies in the catering and hotel industry: the possibilities for positioning a brand have increased enormously with the new function.

The American supermarket chain "Whole Foods Market", for example, presents its products on various themed boards: from topics such as cooking, eating, gardening to healthy eating. The link to Whole Foods products is simple: the recipes, instructions and tips usually contain ingredients that are available from the organic supplier. Whole Foods Market is thus running a successful content marketing campaign and has already been able to inspire over 191,000 followers with this strategy.

The car manufacturer Mercedes presents not only every model series in the range on a total of 53 pinboards, but also insights into car shows, developments and design concepts. This appeals to car fans in particular, who associate the brand with positive emotions and impressions rather than purely with the products.

In addition to the international players, local companies such as chocolate manufacturer Lindt are also trying to break new ground. Lindt not only shows its own products on its Pinterest account, but also addresses other topics, such as various chocolate creations, with which interested fans and customers can create new combinations and try out recipes themselves. Added value that interests users beyond just chocolate.

What makes Pinterest particularly interesting? In my opinion, the digital pinboard reflects the trend towards more images on the internet, combined with increasing mobile internet usage. Companies can build up a focused community without big words, but with strong imagery, and at the same time keep their products in the conversation, which of course makes perfect sense from a marketing point of view. I'm curious to see when the first offline campaigns with Pinterest will be launched.

Manuel P. Nappo, Director of Studies CAS Social Media Management HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich.

www.fh-hwz.ch/smm

The agency was inspired by "The Frog Prince" and "Sleeping Beauty" by the Brothers Grimm as well as "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" from the Arabian Nights. Matching these fairy tale worlds, the selection of tree decorations, tableware and table linen was arranged in an atmospheric way. The three catalogs are now available in all Interio stores.

Responsible at Interio: Reto Waidacher (CEO), Anne Witte (Marketing). Responsible at the New LGK: André Benker, Hans Tanner (Creative Direction), Roland Buob, (Stephan Wittwer, Art Direction), Corina Martin (Graphics), Heike Gross (Text), Denise Paluselli, Nick Schoberth (Consulting), Marcel Koch (Photography), Alexander Wegner, Regula Wilson (Styling Foto). Production: All In Production. Lithography: Matter of opinion.