The company resulting from the merger operates under the name WM Partners. The merger has created one of the largest independent asset managers in Switzerland, with around 50 employees and over four billion Swiss francs in client assets. Within just three months, the Zurich agency Evoq, which specializes in brand development and communication, conceived, designed and implemented the new appearance of WM Partners. In addition to the logo and claim, letterheads, labeling and communication materials, the website www.wmpartners.ch was also created and programmed in the new corporate design. According to a statement, the new appearance with the independent logo font is intended to underline the company's core values: Independence, individuality and professionalism.

Responsible at WM Partners: Heiner Grüter (CEO). Responsible at Evoq: Colmar von der Goltz (Client Service Director), Oliver Weibel (Executive Board evoq labs), Sara Streule (Senior Design).
 

The adaptation for the Swiss market of the original campaign from Krow UK will be emblazoned on various Swiss billboards from March 24 - an online campaign will follow.

Responsible at Fiat Switzerland: Guy Nelson (Managing Director Fiat Group Automobiles Switzerland), Mirco Cardinale (Head of Brand Marketing Communication), Rosa Prieto (Fiat Communication Manager). Responsible at Alpha 245: Patrick Senn, Balz Chen (text), Hekuran Abdyli (art direction), Diana Rossi (creative direction), Daniela Steffen, Dominic Häuptli, Kinga Binkowska (consulting), Pam Hügli (overall responsibility).
 

Products, product ranges, communications and media have become increasingly similar in recent years, and brands more interchangeable. Many of the brands have lost their individuality. But it is precisely this that must once again increasingly take center stage - even though, of the 100,000 brands advertised, a household uses only 400 on average. The future of the brand is its individuality. The focus will be on brand management that plans on qualitative, emotional and brand-specific values, from the brand to the media to the point of sale. These words sum up what Monika Saeger, Managing Director of the Serviceplan Group, calls "the neglected potential" and which was the topic of the 5th marketing meeting of Mediaschneider and Serviceplan.

Based on the results of a GfK study in the German market, the five speakers explained to the 150 or so guests how the new data can be used to turn a benefit-oriented brand into a value-based brand with high growth potential. "Lifebrands instead of just benefit-oriented lightbrands are the goal," Saeger put it succinctly.

The participants, for example from Swisscom, BMW, Axa, Victorinox, Swiss and many others, discussed the new study results and the consequences to be drawn from them for everyday marketing in a lively manner at the subsequent Apéro Riche on the Lake Side Terrace in beautiful spring weather.

Download "5th Marketing Meeting (Abstract)" (PDF)

Barbara Evans, Facit Media Efficiency, Peter Haller, Serviceplan Group, Urs Schneider, Mediaschneider, Monika Saeger, Serviceplan Group, Wolfgang Twardawa, GfK Consumer Panels
 

1. what inspired you to enter the advertising/communications industry?

Ideas that make you think, "Shit, I wish I'd had that idea myself."

2. if you had not become an advertiser - what then?

Stuntman.

3. what would you work for free for one month?

For everything that I feel like doing and that I enjoy.

4. where and how have you ever bluffed in your life?

Never. Or was that a bluff now?

5. what advertising should be banned?

Boring.

6. the best self-promotion?

All the work that you like to show your colleagues.

7. do you fall for advertising? When?

Sure, on good advertising gladly every day.

8. has your media behavior changed in the last three years? (If yes, how?)

In terms of content, no. But I look far too often at a screen as big as the palm of my hand.

9. do you tell other people how much you earn?

I don't know myself at the moment (we are in the middle of building up our agency and prefer to invest in it).

10: Is the opinion that you can't grow old in agencies true, or is that a prejudice?

I don't know. In any case, I've always learned a lot from old hands.

Have you ever thought about leaving the advertising industry?

No. As soon as you have such thoughts, it's probably high time to change industries. Because good advertising also thrives on the desire to create it.

12. a buzz word that gets on your nerves?

Beard - if that passes for a buzz word.

13. which websites do you use regularly? (private/professional)

Thrashermagazine.com

Reto Vogler founded in 2013 together with Oli Kreienbühl Kreienbühl and Vogler Advertising Agency. The two were previously a creative team at SFLB for three years.

During the Easter holidays and in the weeks that follow, chocolate consumption in Switzerland increases noticeably. After all, all those chocolate bunnies need to be eaten. This year, for the first time, there is a healthy alternative to gluttony. True to the new claim "Voll Korn, voll schlau", erdmannpeisker has created an Easter bunny exchange campaign for Dar-Vida. Until May 10, Easter bunnies weighing 140 grams or more can be exchanged for a Dar-Vida surprise packet at the Hug Chnusper store in Malters and the HUG Ringli store in Willisau. The chocolate handed in will be donated to the aid organization Tischlein-deck-dich. The campaign will be advertised in the Lucerne area. It strengthens the positioning of Dar-Vida as a smart alternative to unhealthy snacks in a friendly way and helps to tap into new target groups.

Responsible at Dar-Vida: Karin Strik (Head of Brand and Product Management). Responsible at Erdmannpeisker: Gabriel Peisker and Sybille Erdmann (overall responsibility), Daniel Hesse (AD), Daniela Müller (consulting), Céline Baltensperger (final artwork), Urs Zwyssig (text).

Facebook's ad business continues to grow, with click-through rate (CTR) and ad impressions up 20 percent and 41 percent, respectively, in Q1 compared to the previous quarter.

In addition, while revenue per visit (RPV) from Facebook increased by 2 percent over the same period, it fell by 23 percent for Twitter and 36 percent for Tumblr following a strong holiday season. These are the findings of Adobe's latest Social Media Intelligence Report, which tracks the development of paid, earned and owned social media on a quarterly basis.

The Adobe Social Media Intelligence Report is the industry's most comprehensive analysis due to its extensive data set. It is based on 260 billion ad impressions on Facebook, 226 billion Facebook posts, 17 billion referred visits from social networks, and 7 billion interactions with brands including comments, likes, and shares. Paid social media data was aggregated from Adobe Marketing Cloud data.

"Social media continued to grow in the first quarter of the year - missing the expected dip after a good holiday season," said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst, Adobe Digital Index. "Marketers are getting better at reaching audiences across multiple social media channels, and companies such as Facebook are changing their algorithms and adding features such as autoplay video. This is impacting brands and how users use content."

Other interesting findings of the study:

- Paid Social Media: Ad clicks and ad impressions on Facebook are on the rise, with clicks growing at a faster rate. They grew 70 percent year-over-year and 48 percent quarter-over-quarter. Ad impressions were up 40 and 41 percent, respectively. CTR virtually exploded by 160 percent year-on-year, and increased by 20 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, Facebook's cost per click (CPC) fell 2 percent year over year and 11 percent quarter over quarter.

- Earned Social Media: Brand posts with embedded videos picked up significantly in Q1, with 58 percent more interactions quarter-over-quarter and 25 percent more year-over-year. Facebook video play rates increased 785 percent in a year and 134 percent in Q1. Auto-play video was introduced by Facebook in the fourth quarter of 2013. Text-only brand posts Facebook is losing market share and interaction rates are dropping, but posts with links increased 167 percent quarter-over-quarter and 77 percent year-over-year.

- Owned Social Media: Revenue per visit from Twitter and Facebook increased by 5 percent and 11 percent, respectively, compared with the previous year. However, Twitter's RPV decreased 23 percent quarter-over-quarter. RPV coming from Tumblr increased 55 percent year-over-year and decreased 36 percent quarter-over-quarter. LinkedIn shined with a 15 percent market share of social traffic to B2B high-tech sites. Only Facebook generated more traffic in this area in Q1, with a 52 percent market share.

You can find everything about the study and graphics at the following link:
Adobe Digital Index: Social Intelligence Report (PDF)

Only the best works from the various continents that have previously won awards from the ADC of Europe, the Asian Adfest, the Latin American FIAP and the Eastern European Golden Drum take part in this award. In each category, only 5 works manage to be nominated. It is therefore all the more pleasing that there were nine nominations for Swiss agencies this year. And Leo Burnett Switzerland was once again able to make a big impression with the Swiss Life turnarounds - and won the Print category ahead of work by arguably the best print agency in the world, Brazil's Almap/BBDO.

All the works submitted were awarded prizes first by ADC Switzerland and then by the ADC of Europe - the success is once again a sign for the ADC that it has a good nose for the upcoming international awards with its judging.

The Swiss Winner:

Swiss Life Turning Sets by Leo Burnett (Winner Category Press)

The Swiss nominations:

Garnier "Beards" by Publicis (Health category)
August 1 Emmentaler by Leo Burnett for Emmentaler (Cat. Food)
NZZ "Binary Code" by Jung von Matt Limmat (Cat. Media Publications)
Swiss Life reversible sets, Leo Burnett Switzerland (Corporate category)
Ruf Lanz for Autism Forum (Cat. Radio)
Garnier "Beards" by Publicis (Press category)
NZZ "Binärcode" by Jung von Matt Limmat (Cat. Media Innovation)
Marionnaud "Memory" by Wirz (Cat. Direct Mail)
Swiss Life Turning Sets, Leo Burnett Switzerland (Cat. Most Insightful Idea)

 

Posterprint-online.ch offers the best in digital poster printing, according to a press release. Equipped with the world's largest digital printing machine, it can not only produce standard posters and megaposters, but also a wide range of other materials in the POP and POS sectors, even in very small print runs. The latter is particularly interesting for small and medium-sized companies, but also for clubs and private individuals. They can all let posters speak for themselves easily and affordably thanks to Posterprint-online.ch - that is the message of Openroom's colorful out-of-home campaign for the whole of German-speaking Switzerland. The Zurich agency lets the posters do the talking: the slightly provocative texts playfully emphasize the power of posters and invite the customer to the website Posterprint-online.ch where an online competition is also being offered during this campaign. There he can order his own poster quickly and easily.

Responsible at Posterprint-online.ch, Bachenbülach: Pierre Marti, Christoph Dürig (overall responsibility). Responsible at Openroom, Zurich: Creative Direction: Eric Voser (Creative Direction); Dietmar Kreuder (Text); Remo Wyss (Art Direction); Monica Kissling (Consulting).
 

The subject of child trafficking is not really very funny - but it is a fact. Reporters from the Sunday Times wanted to uncover the disturbing goings-on and laid a trail: They placed an ad in a Bulgarian forum. "Hello, we would really like to have a baby, maybe two. We are willing to pay whatever it costs."

The bait was swallowed. Not by human traffickers, however, but by the Bulgarian TV station Nova. They discovered the advertisement and sensed a promising story. Reporters were assigned to Heidi and Richie - the supposed English couple - who from then on posed as baby sellers. After various telephone conversations, the parties met in a restaurant in Sofia.

The undercover Sunday Times reporters (above) sat opposite Nova reporter Veronika Dimitrova and her companion (below) - to film each other with hidden cameras.

After minutes of conversation, the alleged human traffickers explained to the supposedly interested parties that buying a baby was also illegal in Bulgaria. Disappointed, the Englishmen ended the meeting. A few days later, they broke up the game of hide-and-seek by email and revealed themselves as reporters. Their Bulgarian colleagues did the same. Hilarious denouement!

However, as Veronika Dimitrova explains in the concluding TV report, the English reporters refused to comment on the baby purchase story on camera. Investigative journalism has its limits somewhere. (hae)

The Nova contribution (with English subtitles):

Ostdeal.ch and Zentraldeal.ch are enjoying increasing demand, according to the press release. In order to meet the needs of the increasing number of users, the offers are now presented in a clearer, more appealing and more user-friendly way. The use of Ost- and Zentraldeal via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has also been optimized. The offers are divided into categories and the ordering and purchasing processes have been simplified. Each portal offers at least six deals a week at heavily discounted prices. The spectrum ranges from restaurant visits, wellness and beauty treatments to helicopter flights, language courses, furniture and cars. For their part, the providers of the deals benefit from attractive conditions under which they present their products or services on Ost- und Zentraldeal.ch. In addition to generating new customers, they receive comprehensive advertising services on the print, online and radio channels. Here the publishers use their regional roots and reach in Eastern and Central Switzerland. The deals are also actively advertised via newsletters and Facebook. After a successful 2013, the now seven-strong team is confident of securing further market share. In the first quarter of 2014, the portals already recorded an increase in traffic of over 30% compared to the same period last year.

Martin Garling takes over the position of Head of Sales & Administration with immediate effect. Before joining PPN, Garling worked at Tradedoubler Switzerland since 2010 and was most recently responsible for campaign management. Prior to that, the communications expert had worked for AOL Germany in Hamburg since 2005.

Almar Lee Gloor joins the team as a Digital Sales Consultant. He has many years of experience in sales and customer consulting. His most recent positions include Mediaplanet and Jobs.ch.

Almar Lee Gloor (left) and Martin Garling (right)