In the third quarter, net profit amounted to 806 million dollars, as the company announced on Tuesday. This means that the Group almost doubled its profit compared to the same period last year. Facebook also saw strong growth in revenue: from July to September, Facebook was able to increase its revenue by 59 percent year-on-year to 3.2 billion dollars.

"This was a good quarter with strong results," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Despite this encouraging news, announcements about next year caused the price of Facebook shares on the stock exchange to fall by around ten percent after the close.

CFO David Wehner announced plans to increase spending by 55 to 75 percent in the coming year. Facebook plans to invest heavily in investments such as the messenger app WhatsApp and the 3D glasses company Oculus. In addition, sales growth in the final quarter will slow to 40 to 47 percent year-on-year.

Strong growth in mobile advertising

Internet giants such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo earn their money primarily through advertising. So far, Facebook has been most successful in making a breakthrough in the increasingly important mobile market. Two thirds of its advertising revenue, which has risen by 64 percent to 2.96 billion dollars, comes from the mobile business. A year ago, it was only half.

The number of monthly Facebook users climbed from 1.32 to 1.35 billion in the last quarter. In the particularly popular mobile market, it grew from 1.07 to 1.12 billion.

WhatsApp makes millions in losses

For the first time, Facebook also announced details of its new subsidiary WhatsApp, which the company bought for 22 billion dollars. The company posted a loss of 232.5 million dollars in the first six months of this year, compared to 58.8 million dollars in the same period last year.

Analysts pointed out that investors need to take a long-term view of WhatsApp. The most important thing at the moment is to gain more users. There are no ads on the chat software. Zuckerberg has stated that he is in no hurry to make money with WhatsApp. (SDA)

Facebook: Expansion of WhatsApp & Co will be expensive

With the surprisingly quirky commercials, the agency wants to show the absurdity of an insurance comparison without Huk-Coburg. The films have been available online throughout Germany since mid-October. (uma)

Giuseppe Sammartano already worked at Ticinonline until mid-2013. In the meantime, he was CEO of Oltner Tagblatt. He will also become a member of the Executive Board.
 

To encourage existing customers to choose their insurance and to attract potential new customers, Helsana plays on the theme of proximity with three different product ads: By advertising its childcare service, for example, the health insurer demonstrates proximity by showing that it understands what families need. With the PRIMEO example, it underlines that it is leading the way with new, innovative offers in order to be close to the needs of its customers. And last but not least, the customer service ad communicates the company's geographical proximity. Helsana has more than 40 locations throughout Switzerland.

In addition, KSP flanks the classic product ads with environment-related text ads and posters, as well as a banner campaign that playfully takes up the theme of proximity and thus makes it tangible for customers.

Responsible at Helsana: Connie Raif (Head of Marketing/Sales), Dierk Schehrer (Head of Sales Promotion/Advertising), Monica Cabano (Sales Promotion/Advertising), Marco Wermelinger (Sales Promotion/Advertising). Responsible at KSP: Uwe Schlupp (Creative Direction), Sebastian Krayer (Art Direction), Christian Stüdi (Text/Concept), Lea Baldinger (Graphics), Audrey Isaak (Consulting Management), Angela van der Sman (Consulting), Roman Tanner (DTP). Photography: Mallaun Photography. Image processing: RTK Media Technology. Media Print: Carat Switzerland. Media Online: Isobar Switzerland.

The online classifieds portal Tutti.ch and the online appointment scheduler Doodle, both subsidiaries of the Swiss media company Tamedia, want to simplify the appointment-finding process between buyers and sellers, as Tutti.ch writes. As a first step, a recommendation email was created to inform new Tutti.ch users about the advantages of the digital appointment planner Doodle. Firstly, the seller can precisely define the handover location. Secondly, only the appointments that are possible for the seller are displayed. Thirdly, once the buyer has found a suitable date, he can confirm it directly.

The collaboration between the two websites is to be systematically expanded in the coming year.
 

Swiss newspapers such as the Tagesanzeiger, NZZ, Basler Zeitung, Weltwoche and Blick, but also major German newspapers such as Süddeutsche, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel and Die Welt can be found on the Genios press portal. In addition to searching current issues, users can also search the archive of the last ten to twenty years.

The entry takes place via the website Bib-east-switzerland.genios.com. Those who have a user card from the affiliated libraries also have access from home. The articles can be printed, sent and saved for personal use, the release says.

The e-media platform continues to be available for browsing digital daily editions online. Dibiost available. (SDA)
 

The latest edition of this popular publication presents the 1146 museums, collections and exhibition venues in Switzerland according to a systematic count. Brief portraits, illustrations and pictograms provide the most important information about the collections in a clear and concise manner and invite you to visit them. Thanks to the clear structure, visitors will not only find addresses and opening times, but also numerous details regarding infrastructure, travel options and parking spaces, cafés, disabled access and child- and family-friendly offers.

The Swiss Museum Guide has been published as a book. It is also available in an electronic version at Museums.ch available. The mobile app for the museum guide will be released at the end of the year.

Since its foundation in 1966, the Swiss Museums Association has carried out a survey of all museums in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein every four years.
 

Koller will also be the new Head of New Business from 2015. According to the press release, the aim of the new editorial organization is to provide greater support for cooperation between editorial teams working in related subject areas and the positioning of the individual titles. Each specialist editorial team will remain independent. In addition to Andreas Heer, deputy editor-in-chief of Netzwoche, Fabian Pöschl (CE Today) and George Sarpong (IT-Markt) have been appointed deputy editors-in-chief of the respective titles.

The previous editor-in-chief of Netzwoche, Rodolphe Koller, will remain editor-in-chief of the ICT Journal of Western Switzerland. As the new person responsible for New Business, Rodolphe Koller is realizing an expansion of the offer for the target group of CIOs in French-speaking Switzerland. Over the past two years, Rodolphe Koller has successfully repositioned Netzwoche as Editor-in-Chief and has undergone a redesign that will take effect from January 2015.

Netzmedien is a Swiss media company specializing in information and communication technologies (ICT) and consumer electronics. The publishing house publishes the bi-weekly specialist magazine Netzwoche, the monthly ICT Journal for French-speaking Switzerland, the channel magazines IT-Markt and CE Today and the Swiss ICT Yearbook. Together with simsa (Swiss Internet Industry Association), Netzmedien is the initiator and sponsor of the Best of Swiss Web and Best of Swiss Apps awards.

Picture: It-markt.ch

Green meadows, impressive mountains, lively cities, living traditions. Anyone who Googles "Switzerland" today is presented with Switzerland as a country with a razor-sharp profile that portrays many clichés. Advertising in particular often and gladly makes use of these clichés to say "Switzerland".

But Switzerland is becoming ever more complex, diverse and dynamic - the country continues to change organically. What does the image of Switzerland of the future look like? What are people's opinions and hopes about it? Which image of the future of Switzerland has the power to motivate people and give them joy and energy? This is a question that Swisscom would like to explore.

To this end, Swisscom is donating the prize money of 20'000 francs from the 2014 GFM Marketing Prize to research and develop the future image of Switzerland, the company said in a statement. In collaboration with Rod Kommunikation, people from all over Switzerland were invited to share what their Switzerland of the future looks like.

A number of people have already taken part - including many Swisscom employees. On the website My-switzerland-of-the-future.ch their opinions are presented in words and pictures. The statements of the participants are aggregated in a cloud, which displays the most frequently mentioned terms in real time. The project continues to grow with each statement. The survey results form the starting signal and thus the basis for conceptual work on the image of Switzerland of the future.

And what is your picture of the Switzerland of the future? Draw it with:

My-switzerland-of-the-future.ch
Ma-suisse-du-futur.ch
La-mia-svizzera-del-futuro.ch
My-future-switzerland.ch
 

Sporty newcomer at Koch

The traditional golf tournament European Open returns after a five-year break. As the second largest tournament in Germany, the licensing rights were acquired by 4Sports&Entertainment in Baar ZG. In a pitch with international participation, Koch was able to convince with a redesign of the brand and was awarded the contract for the overall communication. The development of the overall visual appearance as well as sponsor presentations are already in the implementation phase. In the coming months, the complete repertoire of print, web and motion design will follow, including event design on site. The European Open 2015 will take place in Bad Griesbach in September.

Generic drug advertising with desirable side effects

Ogilvy & Mather is pleased to welcome Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, the generics division of Novartis, as a new client in the agency portfolio. First work will be seen in early 2015.

Edelman Switzerland new PR agency for HKP Group

HKP Group, a management consultancy specializing in compensation, performance management and talent management, is repositioning itself in Switzerland as of January 1, 2015. As part of this realignment, it is changing PR agencies. Edelman is now responsible for HKP Group. "Together with the Edelman Switzerland team, we will communicate the new set-up of our Switzerland organization and continue to work on its successful positioning," says Thomas Müller, Head of Marketing & Communications International at HKP. "To this end, we will use media relations with clear target group communication to highlight our core topics in Switzerland."

Schaerer and Partner: Everything for your life's dream

The Baden-based full-service agency Schaerer und Partner is the new lead agency of the Bauarena in Volketswil. As a year-round exhibition, the Bauarena is a source of inspiration, information and supply for all topics related to building and living. More than 200 renowned suppliers and brands help builders to realize their life's dream on 20,000 square meters of exhibition space. In a pitch, Schaerer und Partner successfully prevailed against three other agencies. The first implementations with a focus on the areas of event, TV and online marketing will be on display from November 2014.

Kurt Aeschbacher is now represented by Andreas & Conrad

The people management agency Andreas & Conrad signs one of the most popular and high-profile Swiss presenters. Andreas & Conrad will strategically accompany Kurt Aeschbacher and will take over the agency activities for moderation assignments with immediate effect.

Soliciting donations is a serious matter. But when the appeal is staged in a playful way, it not only leads to more donations, but also to unusual reactions from the recipients. For example, Terre des Hommes' current litter throw on the subject of child labor in gold mines inspired a young boy to publish his re-enacted gold mine experience for Terre des hommes on YouTube.

Responsible at Spina's Civil Voices: Lorenz Spinas (CD), Andrea Reinhart (AD), Susi Kammergruber (text), Claudio Lurati (consulting).

This is the result of a study by the University of Arizona, which was presented on Tuesday at the annual congress of the American College of Surgeons. Researchers first counted how many employees left the parking lot distracted for a week. The test subjects were then informed about the dangers: the dangers of using a cell phone while driving correspond to an alcohol level of 0.8 per mille, a text message costs five seconds of attention. At the same time, educational posters were put up in the cafeteria. When the researchers observed driving behavior again six months later, the number of distracted drivers was 50 percent lower. 

Anyone who drives knows that typing text messages in particular is fatal, as it takes your full attention away from the road for a short period of time. Surprisingly, you still occasionally see drivers who are apparently unaware of this danger. Or they don't care. As the study above shows, in many cases the simplest sensitization and education is enough. The agencies of this world have been trying to do this for years. Sometimes creatively, sometimes less so. In any case, "Don't text and drive" is almost an advertising category in its own right, such is the number of campaigns launched and disseminated. To celebrate the topic, here are 35 examples - better and worse. But according to the study, even the worse ones were enough to achieve the desired effect. (hae)