Sir Mary is Switzerland Tourism's new digital marketing agency

The Zurich-based agency Sir Mary prevailed over eleven other agencies in a multi-stage public tender and will now support Switzerland Tourism in national and international online marketing activities.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

The multi-year mandate goes beyond holistic media consulting and distribution and, in addition to the implementation of national and global digital paid media activities, also includes strategic consulting for Switzerland Tourism in the context of the future direction of digital marketing. "We were looking for a partner who could provide innovative answers to the complex challenges in the digital cosmos and advise us on all touchpoints of the customer journey. The fusion of online and offline was particularly important to us here. Sir Mary convinced us with its high-quality elaboration and its experienced, cross-disciplinary team," says Alexandra Weber, Head of Digital Marketing at Switzerland Tourism.

"In the past, Switzerland Tourism has repeatedly proven itself to be a digital leader. Continuing on this path together with them is currently one of the most exciting challenges in the market. We are happy to take on this challenge and create the necessary framework with our expertise in media distribution and a customized agency setup," says Maurizio Rugghia, co-founder and managing partner at Sir Mary.

Leading Swiss Agencies launches "Young LSA" dialog platform

Through a dialogue platform for young and young-at-heart employees at LSA agencies, Leading Swiss Agencies aims to better integrate the concerns of the next generation into the association, promote exchange, and give young agency professionals the opportunity to have a say and actively shape the association’s offerings.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

On Friday, the virtual kickoff meeting marked the launch of the new Dialogwerk platform. 40 young employees from LSA agencies took part and christened the platform "Young LSA" (YLSA) in a voting process. Beforehand, the YLSA core team - consisting of Janine Paumann from Farner Consulting, Nina Rafaniello from Panta Rhei PR, Stefanie Probst from CRK, Dominik Furrer from Furrerhugi and Ilan Olstein from LSA - presented the various projects that will be worked on together in the future. The core team already took these projects with them from their work at BPRA and will now develop them further under LSA following the merger of the two associations. "Since the merger with the LSA, we can pursue our projects with twice as much power and spread them to many more topics and initiatives because all communication disciplines are now united in one association," says Janine Paumann, a member of the core team.

Network and learn from each other

Networking events are planned three to four times a year. After input presentations on current topics, there will be enough time to network, get to know each other and discuss over a cold beer. With a YLSA Academy, the company also wants to create a format that focuses even more strongly on knowledge transfer. A great deal of know-how is available in the LSA agencies. This knowledge is to be passed on to young agency employees in training blocks on specific topics. Learning across agencies is valuable for the entire industry and particularly exciting and instructive for young agency employees.

Close cooperation with other industry associations

In the digital event series "Neuland", the Young LSA organizes events on innovative topics and trends in cooperation with the GPRA Young Professionals and the PRVA Newcomers. The next event will already take place on March 11 on the topic of "Corporate Communication in Transition: How is Artificial Intelligence Changing the Work of Tomorrow?". Christine Dingler, consultant for innovation communication at BCW Germany and co-founder of the Future Narratives initiative, and Reinhard Karger, company spokesperson for the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, will share their knowledge on this topic.

In the future, the international exchange is to go far beyond the virtual framework. In cooperation with the German (GPRA) and Austrian (PRVA) partner associations, a concept for an agency exchange is being developed. Young agency talents are to be given the opportunity to work for two to four weeks in another agency in the DACH region. This will allow them to gain valuable international experience and establish contacts with colleagues from the DACH region.

Farner's birth campaign for the Hirslanden Group breaks taboos

«Childbirth? How wonderful!» This romanticized view stresses out many pregnant women. The latest childbirth campaign, created by Farner in collaboration with the Hirslanden Group, is now setting the record straight.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

"You just have to let go," "Do a water birth," or "You'll have less pain with a C-section." Pregnant women are often confronted with this and similar advice without being asked. A large-scale research shows: This romanticized expectation of their environment stresses many expectant mothers. And the embellished images of happily smiling new mothers in maternity clinics give women the feeling that their uncertainties are not being taken seriously. For the Hirslanden Group, with its ten maternity clinics and almost 7,500 births a year, this was reason enough to launch a campaign away from existing dogmas.

The cross-media creative concept developed with Farner helps expectant mothers with their questions and concerns about pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Films, posters, social ads, banners, ads and the landing page address them honestly and directly with authenticity and sensitivity. The focus is always on the empathetic relationship between mother and couple as well as midwives, obstetricians and nursing staff at the Hirslanden clinics, who position themselves as competent partners for individual needs.

Blunt imagery

The core of the campaign is the blunt imagery created before, during and after the births. The C-section images were produced by Karine & Oliver at the Hirslanden Klinik Aarau. For the other pictures, Farner was able to enlist the services of birth photographer Neely Ker-Fox. The reason: It proved difficult to find women in Switzerland for a birth shoot - a possible indication that childbirth still carries a lot of shame in this country. The Hirslanden Group's campaign therefore also wants to contribute to a less uptight approach to the subject.

From umbrella campaigns to clinic films

The granular digital campaign management also includes measures at clinic level. For example, Farner produced testimonial films for all participating clinics that specifically address the uncertainties and fears of new parents as well as their relationship with midwives and nursing staff - ultimately creating an even more human approach to this emotional event.

Responsible at the Hirslanden Group: Frank Nehlig, Olivia Werth, Sabine Swigulski, Lea Nenniger, Luca Pierini, Joel Glanzmann, Jessica Sidler, Eveline Pigeat, Yana Arrioja, Nadine Blum, Valeria Bieri, Bettina Widmer. Responsible at Visual Eyes: Natalija Fallocca-Bajric, Karine & Oliver; Birth photographer: Neely Ker-Fox. Responsible at Pixel Polish: Stephan Riederer. Responsible at Who's McQueen: Philipp Petersson; Phil&Jones: Phil Meyer, Jonas Schürmann. Responsible at Farner Consulting: Nils Rickert, Fabian Röthlisberger, Martin Fuchs, Bruce Roberts, Barbara Hess, Noëmi Fiechter, Nina Wick, Janine Paumann, Flurina Brändlin, Lukas Günter, Dominique Rohner, Ceng Derlik, Daphne Abderhalden, Nadine Büchler.

Copywriter Daniela Bär launches card series that hopefully no one will need soon

We all die eventually. And because this is true for everyone, we keep losing people who are close to us. For copywriter Daniela Bär, there’s a lack of sympathy cards with the right words for such occasions. That’s why she’s now publishing her own series.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

With the label "Mourning Witnesses" Bär offers direct and honest cards that express that grief is not always silent. "Not even death deserves platitudes and flat phrases," the copywriter thinks. The visual appearance and the cards were designed by graphic designer Dennis Zoller - without angel wings, crucifixes or dandelions.

The cards from "Mourning Witnesses" are intended to help you find words when you are at a loss for words. And are intended for all who want to do without symbolism and dare a little wink even with tears in the eyes.

The card series "Mourning Witnesses" is texted, designed and printed in Switzerland.

Publicis relies on humor for Axa's new SME campaign

For their new SME campaign, Axa Switzerland and Publicis are focusing primarily on digital channels—and cats. Two lighthearted videos show how to create the perfect work environment and quickly become everyone’s favorite boss. Or not.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

"If you take proper care of your employees and offer them a motivating and healthy work environment, you could easily become their favorite boss." The message of Axa Switzerland's current campaign, developed in collaboration with Publicis and Wavemaker, specifically targets SMEs and promotes the HEALTH and motivational Business solutions from Axa. Because with these, entrepreneurs can concentrate fully on their business and their employees.

At the center of the campaign are two films that show with a wink that even the best-intentioned motivational and health promotion measures by companies do not always lead to the desired goal - or can even have the opposite effect. For example, the specially acquired office cats tend to create chaos rather than relaxation, and the monthly award for the best employee for the nerdy work colleague demotivates the rest of the workforce.

"We want to draw attention to the topic of motivation and health promotion in a humorous way, but we also want to consciously sensitize SMEs to this topic, as it is more important than ever to take proper care of your employees, not least in difficult times like these," explains Antonia Lepore, Head Marketing Communication at Axa Switzerland.

Raising awareness for the topic with humor

With its services, the company aims to provide relief and improve the working atmosphere: In addition to up to 20 percent higher pensions and attractive fringe benefit solutions, Axa Switzerland also offers services for the early detection of health risks among employees or assistance for a quick return to work after an emergency. "We support SMEs in creating a motivating and healthy working environment for their employees - so that our customers can concentrate on their core business," says Antonia Lepore.

The campaign will initially launch digitally on Tuesday. After the use of display and online video formats, it will then be extended to the offline area. Based on the resulting user responses, the campaign will be rounded off with mailings and a final mailing of personalized postcards. Axa is also testing the use of GIFs and memes in social media for the first time for the SME segment.

Responsible at Axa: Claudia Suter (Head Branding & Advertising), Benjamin Oberlin (Campaign Manager), Marija Cuk (Content Manager), Juliette Metze (Costumer Manager). Responsible at Publicis Conseil: Steve O'Leary (Creative Director), Marie Pujol (Copywriter), Dorian Rosso (Senior Art Director), Cécile Cuzin (Process Manager), Olivia Rajabaly (Group Account Director), Anastasia Monterrat (Account Manager). Responsible at Prodigious Conseil: Armelle Sudron (TV Producer), Caviar (House of production), Frank Devos (Director), Rien Behaeghe (Line producer), Eva Van Riet (Producer), Anton Mertens (Director of Photography), Karine Friang (Post-production). Responsible at Publicis Zurich: Jan Kempter (Creative Director), Sarah Pietrasanta (Copywriter), Priska Meyer (Senior Art Director), Hannah Zuettel (Junior Art Director), Matthias Koller (Overall Responsibility), Flurin Hardt (Senior Account Director), Tanja Hediger (Account Director). Responsible at Wavemaker: Martina Kratt (Client Service Director), Tim Goldschmidt (Senior Digital Planner), Edwina Gescheidle (Head of Operations), Manuela Twrsnick (Programmatic Services Consultant). Pre press, litho, motion design and programming: Prodigious Brand Logistics.

New female power for Ads&Figures

Ads&Figures is expanding its team: Ximena Paula Barbano will take over the Search Engine Advertising (SEA) team at the Bern-based agency starting in March 2021.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

As Team Leader Search Engine Advertising, Ximena Paula Barbano will lead Ads&Figures' search engine advertising team from March 2021 and further expand the division. Barbano brings a lot of experience in the agency and digital world, in addition to a degree in business psychology and as a coach. Among other roles, she served as PPC Account Manager SEA and International Performance Specialist at Explido and iProspect. Most recently, she worked as Senior Omnichannel PPC Manager at Margarete Steiff in Giengen an der Brenz.

Working together for more diversity and equal opportunities

Not only her professional background fits Ads&Figures, but also the common values would connect her with her new employer, as Ads&Figures writes in the announcement. As a Gold #IamRemarkable Facilitator of the Google Future Workshop, Ximena Barbano is a representative of a global movement for more diversity and equal opportunities in companies. She thus actively supports women and other underrepresented groups in making their competencies and achievements more visible in the world of work.

"In the age of digitalization, we need to focus more than ever on trust, diversity and digital training. For me, the focus is on people and I want to make my concept with Ads&Figures data-driven, strategic, but above all sustainable. My team and I will reshuffle the cards," explains Barbano.

Place of work Bern, residence in Germany and Austria

Even before Corona, Ads&Figures promoted flexible working and modern work methodology with the principle that measurable results count, not the place of work. This suits Ximena Barbano just fine: Born in Argentina, she will commute between her new workplace in Bern and her two adopted homes in Augsburg and Innsbruck.

Erdmannpeisker: Ecumenical campaign tells heavy topics in light colors

«Brot für alle,» «Fastenopfer,» and «Partner sein» have been organizing the ecumenical campaign throughout Switzerland during Lent for years. Erdmannpeisker organized this year's campaign.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

In previous years, different topics were communicated using the same campaign mechanics to improve recognition. This year, the pitch decided on a new, eye-catching campaign look that stands out from the typical NGO campaigns. The new look is intended to last for several years. It looks fresh and positive and stands out with large, strong and aesthetic color combinations. The aim is to create a dramaturgy in which the serious and often difficult topics stand out all the more.

The theme of the Ecumenical Campaign 2021 is "Climate justice - now!". The campaign poster takes up the topic of climate justice and leads consumers from an abstract question to a very personal, emotional confrontation with the topic. The barbecue scene was chosen as a symbol of overconsumption, as the link between excessive meat consumption and climate change is undisputed. The poster visualizes the dark side of consumption in a surprising and evocative way.

The motif is used throughout Switzerland as a poster, DOOH and advertisements

Responsible at the Ecumenical Campaign: Elke Fassbender (Head of Fundraising and Marketing at Bread for All), Matthias Dörnenburg (Head of Communications at Fastenopfer), Mischa von Arb (Campaign Coordinator at Bread for All/Fastenopfer). Responsible at Erdmannpeisker: Gabriel Peisker (Creative Director), Patrick Fawer (Art Director), Marcel Maegerle, Rainer Neusius (Consultant). Photography and image editing: Sandra Gadient Photography, Lily Metzker (Wombat Studio). Media Planning: Tullio Tomasini, Armanda Gadient (Spinas Civil Voices).

Second Corona wave weighs on retail trade in January

Swiss retailers saw a decline in sales in January due to the second wave of the coronavirus. However, in line with government regulations, individual sectors performed very differently: food sales and online retail boomed, while the non-food sector plummeted.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

Overall, retail sales in Switzerland in January 2021 - adjusted for sales and holiday effects - fell by 0.9 percent compared to the same month last year, as the Federal Statistical Office FSO announced on Monday based on provisional figures. Adjusted for prices, i.e. in real terms, the decline was slightly lower at 0.5 percent.

However, the figures for the previous month are significantly worse. Seasonally adjusted sales fell by 4.9 percent in nominal terms compared with December 2020, and by as much as 5.3 percent in real terms.

Very different industry development

However, not all sectors were equally affected by the decline. For example, the retail trade in food, beverages and tobacco recorded a nominal year-on-year increase in sales of 13.7 percent, while the non-food sector registered a drop of 10.4 percent. In particular, the sectors "other goods (clothing, pharmacies, watches and jewelry)" (-19.2%), "publishing products, sports equipment and toys" (-14.6%) and the "other household appliances, textiles, DIY and home furnishings" sector (-7.2%) were particularly affected by the measures imposed by the authorities.

On the other hand, the sectors "Information and communication technology equipment" (+32.3%) and "Market stalls, mail order and internet trade" (+21.8%) reported positive sales figures. Service stations also made a significant difference. Indeed, on an adjusted basis, retail trade excluding service stations recorded slight growth (+1.0%) in January 2021 compared to January 2020, according to FSO figures. This resulted in a 22.2 percent drop in sales for service stations, according to the FSO.

On a prior-month basis, the picture is somewhat different again, with both main groups suffering declining sales. In the food trade, however, this was relatively small at -1.2 percent, while the non-food sector lost 11.0 percent. The biggest drop among the sub-sectors was suffered by the "other goods" group (-15.3%), while goods from the information and communications technology sector were the only ones in stronger demand (+1.8%).

Big ones come through the crisis better

As the store closures imposed by the authorities in January continued throughout February, the figures for the past month are also likely to have been weak. However, March will probably look much better again, as all retailers will be able to reopen their stores from this week onwards - after a total of six weeks of closure. Catch-up effects and high discounts in many stores should then ensure very high sales in March.

The retail trade turnover statistics of the FSO are based on a random sample of around 4,000 companies. It is a monthly survey, with small businesses being asked for their monthly sales figures on a quarterly basis.

This is of interest insofar as the development between the large and small retailers was very different last year. According to the SFSO figures, the Swiss retail sector as a whole recorded a nominal increase in sales of 0.9 percent in the Corona year 2020; in real terms, i.e. excluding inflation, the increase was as much as 1.7 percent.

By contrast, the figures from market research company GfK had shown an increase of almost 8 percent for the year as a whole in the retail sector. However, the GfK survey only takes into account the 40 largest retailers with a total sales volume of around 50 percent. And the BFS figures also showed a plus of 7.7 percent for the 50 largest companies, and a minus of 8.3 percent for the others. In other words, the smaller retailers have come through the Corona crisis much less well than the large ones. (SDA)

Annabelle publishes the women's study "Annajetzt" for its relaunch

The new Annabelle is about to set out on a new journey. The magazine and website have undergone a relaunch, and a new editorial and event space has opened in Zurich’s Viadukt. To coincide with the relaunch, Annabelle is launching the women’s study «Annajetzt.».

Editorial - March 1, 2021

How do Swiss women assess the state of equality 50 years after the introduction of women's suffrage? How satisfied are they with their professional and private situation in 2021? Shortly before International Women's Day and on the occasion of the relaunch of the Annabelle Sotomo surveyed over 6200 women in German-speaking Switzerland. "Annajetzt", the largest women's survey in German-speaking Switzerland, shows in which areas women today see an urgent need for action in politics and society and provides a comprehensive picture of women's moods, from demands for equality and feminist self-image to conflict issues in partnerships or facets of sexuality.

Working life and financial independence: urgent need for action

German-speaking Swiss women see the greatest need for action in terms of equality in the world of work. Only 40 percent consider equality in professional life to have been achieved. In first place is the demand for equal pay for equal work. Here, 85 percent of respondents see an urgent need for action. 72 percent of respondents believe men still have more advantages than women in Switzerland. This is one of the highest values in the Western world.

Even though women definitely perceive progress in the realization of equality in Switzerland, the "Annajetzt" women's survey reveals areas of tension. For example, there is a strong awareness that women should be more economically involved and that financial security in old age in particular is a problem. Older women in particular tell younger women that they should remain employed despite motherhood and take care of their own financial affairs.

Entrenched value patterns & "mental load

However, it is evident that classic value patterns are strongly entrenched in the minds of German-speaking Swiss women. For example, the ideal workload for families is 80 percent for the father and 50 percent for the mother. While this is a far cry from the traditional 100:0 division of roles, it cements the mother's financial dependence. Not even half of the working-age women surveyed could currently finance their own living expenses, and one in five believes that they would not be able to separate because of this.

The unequal distribution of paid work means that a large proportion of the tasks at home are left to women. More than 80 percent of all women state that they do significantly more than their partner when it comes to organizing the household and private life. It is noteworthy that even full-time working women suffer greatly from the so-called "mental load". This indicates that classic value patterns persist among many men as well. The "Annajetzt" women's survey shows that, in addition to political measures, breaking down classic value patterns is also likely to play an important role in eliminating existing gender inequalities.

Satisfaction, partnership and sexuality

Women's satisfaction with their living situation depends strongly on their family and household situation. Women in family households are mostly satisfied with their family situation, but significantly less satisfied with their job and leisure time. Women in couple households without children, on the other hand, are the most satisfied overall. The Corona pandemic has strengthened family and relationships and has had a particularly negative impact on women who live alone.

If we look at women's satisfaction with their sex lives, negative points in particular stand out. Only four out of ten women experience their sex life as satisfactory. Three out of four women have already had sex to do someone a favor. One in three German-speaking Swiss women has had sex without explicit consent. The percentage of women who have experienced sexual violence at least once in their lives is just as high.

Relaunch: magazine, website and location new

The new Annabelle is about to take off after a year of transition and development and under new ownership. With the relaunch of the magazine and website and the opening of the new editorial and event location in the Viadukt in Zurich. With the presentation of "Annajetzt", the relaunch of Annabelle is launched at the same time. The new Annabelle will be published for the first time on Friday. The relaunch campaign will also start then.

"The results of the study have encouraged us in our plan to work with the new Annabelle to offer a women's magazine for all women in all their diversity." emphasizes Annabelle-chief editor Jacqueline Krause-Blouin and adds "after listening to women in German-speaking Switzerland, we now want to offer you a platform to talk to each other as well."

The data collection for the women's survey "Annajetzt" took place between January 21 and 31, 2021. The population of the survey was the female resident population of German-speaking Switzerland aged 16 and over. The survey was conducted online. The data of 6,280 female participants was taken into account for the analysis. The weighting ensures a high degree of representativeness for the female population of German-speaking Switzerland aged 16 and over.

Download Women's Study "Annajetzt

Jung von Matt Brand Identity: Energy connects

Energy is unveiling a new tagline. «Voll bi dir» is meant to capture what Energy is all about: its closeness and connection to the people of Switzerland. Jung von Matt Brand Identity provided strategic consulting to Energy and developed the new positioning.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

Since its launch in 2003, the Energy entertainment brand has developed from a local radio station into a strong media brand. With its own entertainers and entertainment formats, Energy entertains fans on the radio, on social media and at events developed in-house.

But the core of the mainstream brand has remained largely unchanged for 18 years. "Stars & Hits" remains relevant for addressing the target audience, but has been less and less able to capture the vastly changing media needs of a multi-layered community. To make Energy's identity fit for future development, the brand core and brand profile were fundamentally revised.

A positive attitude to life that connects

Following an analysis of the brand status and the brand environment, strategic insights were developed with regard to brand identity, target group appeal and differentiation potential, and the content-related identity fundamentals were worked out in a brand profile workshop.

The decisive factor was to make visible the identity characteristics of the Energy brand that have shaped its success and to interpret them in the context of changing media needs. What has distinguished Energy since its launch and made it successful is its ability to translate the target group's and community's attitude to life into entertainment. Energy has its finger on the pulse of international trends and topics and translates them with local relevance.

Energy has always provided talking points and "shareable content" that sometimes polarizes, but always brings people, opinions and topics together. These essential characteristics were summarized in the brand promise "Entertainment that connects people." The brand profile developed for Energy serves as a sharpened guideline for communication and the development of brand content and experiences. Accordingly, Energy was able - on the basis of the brand profile - to develop the claim and the current campaign independently.

Responsible at EnergyDominique Hufschmid, Romina Stache, Bernhard Brechbühl, Pascal Frei. Responsible at Jung von Matt Brand IdentityJulius Jäger, Diana Geissel, Thomas Deigendesch, Dominique von Matt.

Wapico and the Federal Chancellery declare the Confederation

The Federal Chancellery publishes its annual publication, «The Federal Government in Brief,» in the form of a brochure and as an app. Last summer, the Wapico agency won the contract to design and produce the publication following a competitive pitch.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

In close collaboration with the Federal Chancellery, Wapico has now produced 84 pages in five languages, with photos by Annette Boutellier. The brochure was printed in a print run of 170,000 copies, and the app called "CH info" can be downloaded from the Apple and Google Play Store.

Responsible at the Federal Chancellery: Katrin Hemmer (overall responsibility and text); Sylvia Zemp (typography). Concept and design: Wapico. PhotosAnnette Boutellier.

Seek and you shall find ... right?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is of great importance to marketers, and for good reason: Anyone who disregards the rules of search engines will end up in digital oblivion. m&k editor Robert Wildi asked experts what really matters.

Editorial - March 1, 2021

In order to recognize trends in the field of search engine optimization and decipher their significance, it pays to look at the subject from a conceptual perspective: that's according to someone who should know. As co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of the Internet agency Iqual in Bern, Olivier Blattmann is one of the leading SEO specialists in the country. Search engine optimization (SEO) has three players: the searchers, the providers and the search engine operators. In the commercial case, that means customers, companies and Google, in that order. "The latter is known to dominate this field with market shares of well over 90 percent, and this will not change in 2021," Blattmann said. For marketing professionals, meanwhile, it is important to always stay on the ball when it comes to SEO and to take recognizable developments into account in their own strategy at an early stage.

New Google quality standards

The same tip is given by Nicole Treipl, head of the SEO department at the Zurich digital marketing agency BlueGlass. "Thanks to the machine learning techniques RankBrain and BERT, Google's algorithm is constantly evolving to understand users' search intentions and deliver appropriate answers," she says, diving straight into the subject. Quality is the top priority. According to Treipl, Google sets new quality standards every year, which website operators should adhere to in order to remain present in the search engine's top rankings. Existing standards such as EAT (Expertise, Authority, Trust) remain valid.

In 2021, another quality factor will now be added, according to the BlueGlass specialist. Google already openly refers to this as "Page Experience". With the help of the "Core Web Vitals" (a series of metrics relating to the speed, responsiveness and visual stability of a website), it is measured whether the loading time, the time until the first interaction option and the stability of the page layout are within the scope of a positive user experience. "Core Web Vitals can already be evaluated using various tools such as Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights or Chrome UX Report." According to Google, this ranking factor will be rolled out starting in May 2021, Nicole Teipl knows. For Kevin Näf, Team Manager SEO at Webrepublic, three main trends for organic rankings on Google are accentuating this year. "First, user-friendliness and user experience (UX) will have a significantly increasing influence on the ranking of a website." For him, this is also primarily due to the fact that Google Core Web Vitals, announced in 2020, will be part of the search algorithm starting in May. In addition, Google plans to switch all websites to mobile-first indexing by March, he said. "Accordingly, optimizing websites for mobile devices will continue to gain importance," Näf said. And that's regardless of how high the share of mobile traffic is and which industry a site belongs to.

Finally, the specialist from Webrepublic also confirms that the holistic approach to content SEO is a central key to success the longer, the more. Näf therefore recommends moving away from pure keyword optimization and instead focusing on users, their journey and search intent. "This is certainly a goal-oriented way to make your own content organically visible."

SEO as "information retrieval

What concrete tips do the experts give SEO users to use the current trends profitably for themselves? "Look at SEO from the perspective of information gathering and put yourself more in the shoes of your users," says Sara Moccand, SEO specialist at the Liip agency. As an SEO user, you should think about how information is linked and how it relates to each other. According to Moccand, almost all trends and measures go in the direction of automation. "That's why you should get into automation now at the latest and use machine intelligence skillfully."

For Olivier Blattmann of the Internet agency Iqual, it is clear that in the end the winners will be those companies that have understood the value of SEO at the top management level and approach the topic holistically. This begins with the professionalization of SEO as a service for the entire company. Next, he said, comes integrated search engine marketing along with the closely related discipline of search engine advertising (SEA) and other pull marketing channels. "And at the end is the coordinated and harmonized marketing, communications and sales management across all channels, campaigns and media towards sustainable brand building," says Blattmann, who has worked through this process with a large number of clients and supported them along the way. Blattmann is fond of quoting Marcus Tandler, a veteran of the SEO scene: "The guarantee for a top 10 ranking in Google is an omnipresent TV spot." That really says it all.

10 SEO trends

by Olivier Blattmann, Iqual

For seekers

1 - More spoken search queries on Google.

2 - Many more "W questions," fueled by the language trend.

3 - Generation Y and Z want to be entertained with moving images.

4 - Short, quick info evokes counter-trend of "long-form content".

For search engines

5 - "Core Web Vitals" become ranking criteria.

6 - Mobile-first indexing is implemented by Google.

7 - Artificial intelligence in the ranking algorithms classifies search results and helps to permanently optimize the results.

8 - Google is listed on the stock exchange and therefore owes all shareholders a positive development. Therefore, previously free offers could soon be subject to fees.

For companies

9 - To address the complexity of search engine optimization, companies are professionalizing their SEO efforts.

10 - Advanced companies rely on sustainable, scalable and data-driven search engine optimization.

"SEO delivers 30 percent of our website traffic".

The travel and vacation industry is being hit hard by the Corona crisis. Digital innovation is more in demand than ever to remain visible, as the example of ITS Coop Travel proves. Robert Wildi of m&k in an interview with Marcel Eisele, Head of Marketing and Sales at ITS Coop Travel.

m&k: In Corona times, almost no one goes to the travel agency anymore. How to be found on the net as a vacation provider?

Marcel Eisele: In times like these, it is particularly important for tour operators to be present throughout the entire customer journey. We take this to heart. With as many physical and digital contact points as possible, ITS Coop Travel generates a lot of attention and website traffic.

How do you design these points of contact?

In advertising, we rely heavily on online tools such as SEA, SEO, display advertising, affiliate, email marketing, social media and content marketing. In the field of SEO, we invest a lot in on-page optimization, as this is an effective way to drive visitors to the website. SEO requires discipline, perseverance and constant optimization. Currently we are working on pagespeed, faster loading times and mobile optimization to further improve the user experience. To do this, we use Google's Core Web Vitals report. As another SEO technique, we rely on content marketing. We are monitoring voice search.

Which contents do you play out? Are hotel descriptions and prices still enough for customers?

In addition to a good price-performance ratio and a description of the offer, ratings, location maps, and destination and climate information are now obligatory. In addition, we communicate our advantages as a travel provider, currently offering, for example, very favorable rebooking and cancellation conditions as well as the many advantages of the Coop Supercard, which is exclusive in the industry.

Does a functioning SEO take a central commercial function for a package tour provider like ITS Coop?

For us, SEO is indeed very important and delivers around 30 percent of website traffic in a normal year. On top of that, we have an above-average conversion rate.