For the third time, the traditional Swiss Party took place on the Croisette. 115 Swiss creatives and their guests drank, celebrated, danced and flirted at the Plage Miramar. They were invited and fed with fine cuisine by the sponsors Publicitas - as Swiss representative of the competition - as well as Swissfilm Association and ADC. The advertising week has online reported about the event.

The photo impressions of the advertising week can be found here as a PDF file. Pictures: Andreas Panzeri

The Swiss Lions and Shortlist Places 2013
 

According to Wikipedia, a Goldberg machine is "a nonsense machine that intentionally performs a specific task in a cumbersome way, with numerous unnecessary detours and complicated individual steps. The cumbersome execution of a simple task has no practical use, but is intended to provide pleasure in observation."

These chain reactions have always been a pleasure. In the past at the Museum of Transport, today on YouTube. Especially when dogs take part for a change. After all, we all like dogs. It doesn't matter that the transitions were helped along by the computer and that the machine is less of a one-take than it seems at first glance. (hae)
 

The Tamedia boss also spoke about the allegedly planned swap with Ringier (Le Matin for Le Temps shares). And also about the recent involvement with Starticket.

WW: Tamedia's turnover in 2012 fell by 6 percent compared to the record year of 2011, but profit amounted to 152 million francs. Nevertheless, you and publisher Pietro Supino described 2012 as "disappointing" and "unsatisfactory". Why is that?
Christoph Tonini: Disappointing? No, we said that the result was pleasing in a difficult environment. But if sales and profit are down, that must give us pause for thought. The profit also includes one-off, extraordinary effects. Operating profit was almost CHF 40 million lower, which is of course not good news.
 
You are now planning to save a total of CHF 34 million over the next three years. Why is that?
We have noticed that not only classified ads, but also traditional newspaper advertising is migrating online. This is a structural, not an economic development. If we take it further, our print media will have to reach a cost level that is 34 million lower than today in three years' time if we want to continue to talk about a profitable business. There are also many indications that the structural change could become even more pronounced.
 
How did you arrive at this figure?
The savings target over three years corresponds to around 3.6 percent of our total costs of CHF 849 million. Tamedia wants to make de facto savings of 1.2 percent per year. In relation to our print sector, which also includes printing plants and distribution, it is a total of 6 percent, i.e. 2 percent per year, although the annual decline in sales here is 5 percent. In view of this, 2 percent savings per year must simply be achievable.
 
So things could get even worse?
Yes, then we need to adjust our goals further.
 
The first step is thought to be a swap between Tamedia and Ringier: you cede the loss-making Matin to Ringier (allegedly without Matin dimanche), in return for which Tamedia receives Ringier's stake in Le Temps and thus a large majority there. How concrete are these plans?
Over the past ten years, Le Matin has regularly generated substantial losses in the millions. Thanks to many large and small measures, the Matin team has always managed to stem the losses somewhat. But in the same period, advertising revenues have fallen even more sharply, by more than two thirds since 2000. And unfortunately there is no sign of a turnaround. In this situation, it would be irresponsible not to consider all the options that could help to bring Matin out of the red and secure the future of this great newspaper. However, I don't want to say who we are talking to about which ideas.
 
Back to the cost-cutting measures: Tamedia admitted that it had communicated these "clumsily". Is it possible to communicate savings of 34 million cleverly despite huge profits?
The first awkward thing: we only talked about savings, but we are also looking for improvements on the revenue side. Of course, we were aware that we would not find our way back into a growth market. Secondly, we happened to communicate the measures the evening after our annual media conference. As a result, the 34 million savings were directly offset by the profit of 152 million, although the profit is actually lower, as I said. Another point: we obviously did not succeed in involving the management in the overall considerations in advance and communicating the calculated figure of 34 million as what it is: a target that we set ourselves together. Instead, the figure was perceived as an order, and individual employees suspected that we already had the specific projects in the drawer. But that is not the case. We wanted to show that we are at the beginning of a process.
 
The protest in French-speaking Switzerland was much stronger than in German-speaking Switzerland. Were you surprised?
Yes, we did not expect this reaction. After all, our earnings target is just one of several goals. We want to ensure the sustainability of our media, maintain the diversity of the press - especially in French-speaking Switzerland - and, of course, be economically successful. Each individual measure will be assessed against the background of all these goals.
 
Print, journalism and quality journalism are Tamedia's core areas, it has been said time and again. But there is no investment in the core area. On the contrary, this is precisely where cutbacks are being made.
Stop! In the last ten years, there has probably been no other Swiss company that has invested so much in this core business: Just think of the mergers with Espace Media or Edipresse Suisse and the purchase of the Zurich regional newspapers - all investments in journalism, in newspapers. Added to this is the expansion of online journalism. So Tamedia believes in print and in the business of journalism.
 
In the last two years, however, you have mainly invested in Search.ch, Jobs.ch and now also in Starticket - all portals without journalistic content.
In fact, we are not investing in journalistic media here. But in the classifieds business, which was originally our core business. In this respect, the investment in Jobs.ch or Search. ch is an investment in the future for us: if advertising continues to migrate online, we as a Swiss media group will benefit, not just providers from abroad who are far removed from the media. The same applies to Homegate.ch and Starticket. In this way, we can stabilize the economic situation of the company.
 
Will what you earn through Homegate, Jobs, Search or Starticket be available to the publishing brands again? Or are these portals just money machines in the service of shareholders?
We invest the money we earn - no matter where - in areas where sustainable business can be created in the future. We have largely financed the online news business with the current profits of the newspapers: The profit from the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten was reinvested in the expansion of 20 Minuten Online. However, this only makes sense as long as these media continue to grow and the investments have a chance of success. With this in mind, we will continue to invest in news sites and journalism in the future. We believe, for example, that the way forward for regional newspapers is a paid model combined with financing through advertising. That is why we are investing here. If this model works, we will invest even more.
 
Nevertheless, it would be logical to give the money you earn with the online sections back to the media brands that have lost the sections.
No, the two business models have completely decoupled. Above all, however, classified portals also require considerable investment, for example in technology, in order to remain fit for the future. In these businesses, the returns have to be high because we never know how sustainable they are.
 
In 2012, Tamedia's digital turnover grew by 2.7 percent to 148.2 million Swiss francs, accounting for 13 percent of Group turnover. How high was the profit share?
Online reported a loss in 2012.
 
This makes it all the more dramatic: what print loses cannot be nearly made up for by online, especially as mobile communication cannot be lucratively commercialized. Sooner or later, your media brands will run out of money. Will Tamedia still be active in publishing at all in 10 to 15 years?
You could have asked this question ten years ago. Since then, the Tages-Anzeiger has lost over 300 million francs in sales due to the decline in job advertisements in print. It should no longer exist today. But at the same time, we have managed to become much more efficient in the editorial department, the print shop, distribution and through cooperation agreements. That's why the Tages-Anzeiger continues to be published every day and reaches more people than ever before as a newspaper and news portal. Because we have achieved this, I have no fears for the future.
 
Change of subject: On Monday you announced the takeover of Starticket. Is Tamedia also going the way of Ringier and becoming an entertainment company?
No, 20 Minuten and Starticket have been offering tickets together since 2010 and work together to advertise events. In addition, probably no one in Switzerland concludes more media partnerships than our media. The investment in Starticket is therefore a logical next step, especially as Starticket is incredibly strong online with Print@home and we want to further expand our digital activities."
 
This may make sense from an entrepreneurial point of view, but won't the journalistic credibility of Ringier suffer?
No, our editorial teams will continue to report on all events that they find interesting. 20 Minuten reported extensively on the Rihanna concert in Zurich at the weekend, even though no one from our media group was a media partner. Anything else would be unreasonable. The customers of our editorial offices are the readers, not the ticket marketers.
 
Another comparison with Ringier: its online revenue share is 18 percent, and it increased by 29 percent in 2012. Why is it so much more at Ringier than at Tamedia?
I don't know Ringier's figures in detail. But in the short term, it's difficult to make a comparison. In addition, we don't primarily want to achieve higher sales, but more profit. What is clear, however, is that Ringier made a major investment in a leading Polish portal. That gave us a boost. In contrast, we closed activities such as Scoup.ch and sold Swissfriends. ch. In addition, the existing media, especially the news sites, did not develop in line with our expectations. The new acquisitions, on the other hand, will only have an impact on the result in 2013; we will grow massively. We also have a number of digital offerings that we cannot yet consolidate, but in which we will acquire a majority position in the coming years, such as Doodle.
 
Your online businesses are probably also more labor-intensive than Ringier's?
Yes, we operate several news sites, Ringier exclusively Blick.ch. But it is also clear that a news site will never achieve the margin of a classifieds site. But that shouldn't be the expectation either.
 
The commercialization of mobile use is a problem. But why is Tamedia suffering more here than Ringier, for example?
Because our mobile traffic is significantly higher than that of Ringier. At 20 Minuten, over 60 percent of hits are now mobile, so it has a greater impact if we don't achieve our goals for the commercialization of mobile use.
 
What is Tamedia doing?
Just as we set up online sales teams in the past, we are now also sending out special mobile sales teams: after all, a new form of advertising also requires different customer care. We have also carried out initial test cases with SBB and Migros to show that mobile advertising works. The results are very promising. Of course, we are still a long way from achieving the same level of commercialization as with desktop computers, but increases of 50 percent from a low level give us cause for hope.   
 
Interview: Markus Knöpfli

Five years ago, a store operator could rely solely on search engine marketing as a sales promotion tool. Not any more. Consumers are more likely to become aware of an online store via price comparison services than via search engines; investments are made the other way round. It is also interesting to note that 40 percent of consumers state that they become aware of an online store via TV and print advertising, while only 1 percent of store operators invest in these channels. There is an obvious discrepancy between the behavior of online shoppers and store operators, as a German study* shows. In particular, online store operators seem to underestimate the impact of traditional advertising. In contrast to search engines, it generates attention and trust. This trust in turn has an influence on click behavior: Consumers are more likely to click on a search result with a familiar name.

However, consumers rarely place an order after the first click on a banner or a search result. The evaluation and purchasing process in the online world is more complex. During the "customer journey", which extends over several stages until the purchase is made, the consumer uses a wide variety of points of contact with the provider: For example, a banner catches their attention, later the consumer searches for the offer via a search engine and then uses a price comparison website to compare providers; before finally ordering from the web store of their choice, they look at review websites. The "customer journey" has different characteristics for each industry and each store. The current Google study "The Customer Journey to Online Purchase" shows typical industry patterns, unfortunately without Swiss patterns. Unfortunately, only website operators know that the individual customer journey can be accessed via Google Web Analytics.

However, search engines and price comparison services do not have to be the first port of call when searching for products. Another study* shows that for 40 percent of consumers, the online store from which they last ordered is the starting point for their product search. Store operators can use this finding for their sales promotion in order to avoid the (expensive) battle for the first places in the search results: Why not win customers with classic (offer) advertising, convince them with the offer and service of the online store and draw attention to offers with newsletter marketing. Online marketing instruments such as banners, search engines or price comparison services are used along the customer journey to pick up undecided consumers in niches. Such thought models require a consistent strategy, a professional web analytics setup and the continuous analysis and interpretation of the efficiency of the measures.

* Link to the studies: bit.ly/11Q34kx

Imre Sinka
 

The number of media companies surveyed for the Media Trend Award hardly changed from the previous year. There were 42 applicants in the media provider category, and 20 in the media marketer category (see box). Broken down into media categories, this means: 25 print media companies, 9 poster providers and 28 electronic media companies. And thus, for the first time, more electronic than print media companies entered the race. If you want to win the Media Trend Award today, you have to make a good overall impression on the top 750 advertising clients and the biggest advertising agencies, and convince all the media agencies of your good performance in planning and handling media orders.

This year, 347 clients and 50 advertising agencies expressed their overall impression of at least one of the media companies surveyed. 15 media agencies scrutinized and evaluated the performance of the media companies. When querying the individual media companies, each respondent can decide for him/herself which company he/she wants to assess and which not. He/she is therefore not forced by the survey system to give an answer that he/she cannot or does not want to give. This leads to the fact that the individual companies receive a different number of assessments. Naturally, larger companies or those that have been on the market for a long time receive more assessments than smaller ones.

APG - most frequently rated media company

Not only large and small media companies are assessed with different frequencies, but the media genre also has a major influence on the frequency of incoming assessments. Print media companies are judged most frequently. Thus, all print media companies from German-speaking Switzerland receive 100 judgments and more. 20 Minuten with 236 and Ringier Blick Group with 196 judgments receive the most, while St. Galler Tagblatt and Südostschweiz receive the least with 100 judgments. In the other media categories, the differences between the most and least rated media are much greater. Among the billboard providers, for example, APG receives 260 ratings and CCO 188; Swissplakat (WWP Plakatwerbung), however, only 39. The situation is similar among the TV marketers. Here, Goldbach Media receives the most judgments with 167, followed by Publisuisse with 140. The newcomer to the market, WerbeWeischer, was judged least often. Just 31 judgments are on the books. Online providers and marketers are judged even less frequently. Google came out on top with 111 ratings. It is followed by 20min.ch with 96 judgments. The fewest judgments were received for Adwebster with 35 and Adello with 26.

Online providers with significantly higher share of voice in the media market

Even more interesting is the change in these values compared to the previous year. Although significantly more clients assessed the media companies overall (2013: 347; 2012: 286), fewer assessments were received for almost all media. This is primarily due to the fact that the vast majority of respondents now only assess those media they know from their communications work. This results in fewer, but harsher judgments for the individual media companies.

But not all media companies are affected by this development to the same extent. One category can stand out: the online providers, not all of them, but some of them particularly well. Compared to 2012, 20min.ch has gained 29 additional viewers, Blick.ch 19 and Newsnetz 12. Google has also made gains (+6). These online providers have thus significantly increased their share of voice in the media market. Not only in comparison with the other online providers and the online marketers, none of whom made any gains. They also made gains compared with all the others, especially the print media companies and billboard providers, all of which suffered losses (fewer ratings received). Among the print media, the Tages-Anzeiger lost 15 reviewers, the Ringier Blick Group 13 and the NZZ 8. 20 Minuten (-1) and AZ Medien (-2) got off almost unscathed. Among the billboard providers, APG lost 18 and E-Advertising as many as 20 evaluators. The losses among TV marketers were only slightly lower: Tele Züri -15, Publicitas Cinecom -13, Publisuisse -8, and Goldbach Media -3. We will keep a close eye on this development in the coming years, as this is the key to success, not only in the award but also in business. Let's leave here the consideration of the number of assessments received and thus the level of awareness and turn to the assessment itself.

20 minutes to the seventh, but with new pursuers

20 Minuten remains the best media provider in the Swiss media market for another year. 20 Minuten takes the overall victory thanks to consistently high performance in all assessment criteria. Overall, its 2013 score of 7.92 is only 0.07 points below that of 2012. In detail, this looks as follows: The clients gave 20 Minuten exactly the same grade as in the previous year (7.88). 20 Minuten gained points with the advertising agencies (+0.39) and with awareness (+0.11). 20 Minuten suffered a setback in the assessment of its services by the media agencies (services -0.24, consulting competence -0.22 and price/performance ratio -0.43).

APG now in 2nd place and CCO only a hair's breadth away in 3rd place

In contrast to 20 Minuten, APG was able to improve its overall score by 0.1 points to 7.71 compared to the previous year. The gap to 20 Minuten has been reduced by 0.17 points and is now 0.21. The development of APG's individual scores is exactly the opposite of that of 20 Minuten. Where 20 Minuten has gained, APG has lost and vice versa. APG has therefore lost ground in the advertising agencies (-0.16) and in awareness (-0.1), but gained ground in the media agencies (services +0.28, consulting competence +0.42 and price/performance ratio +0.2). Clear Channel Outdoor can be described as the unlucky one. Already knocked off the podium by APG last year by 0.02 points, this year it is again pushed down to third place by APG by even less (0.01 points).

And where is the NZZ?

Four times in a row in second place, previously multiple winner of the award, the NZZ does not make it to the podium this time. Worse still. It also has to admit defeat by a New Comer and thus falls back to fifth place in 2013. Its overall score is 0.16 points lower. Only among advertising agencies did it gain (+0.22), while among clients it lost slightly (-0.08). The losses in individual performance (service -0.16, consulting competence -0.43 and price/performance ratio -0.37) were more significant.

20min.ch - new shooting star

And now for the surprise of this year's award, 20min.ch. Last year, the top-rated online provider was still in 15th place with a score below seven (6.96). 2013 saw a big leap forward. With an increase of 0.71 points, it is now in fourth place, just 0.04 behind second place. This means that for the first time, the best online provider is also ahead of the best TV marketer. How did this come about? As we saw above, 20min.ch has the most additional ratings to its name. This has improved their score for awareness by 1.66. On the other hand, the rating by the clients has become worse (-0.11), but the rating by the advertising agencies has improved (+0.4). The media agencies are downright enthusiastic. The service performance is rated the highest of all media companies with 8.29 and the consulting competence even with 8.59. The price/performance ratio is sufficient. In terms of price/performance ratio, a 7.86 is enough for third place.

Goldbach Media best media marketer thanks to good performance

Goldbach Media repeated its victory from the previous year and at the same time increased its lead over Publisuisse by 0.19 points. On the one hand, Goldbach Media gained 0.12 points, while Publisuisse lost 0.07 points. Goldbach Media receives the most ratings of all media marketers. This gives it the best score in terms of awareness. Goldbach Media also has the best price/performance ratio of all media marketers. The decisive factor for winning the award, however, is that Goldbach Media has improved even more in other areas than in price/performance ratio (+0.29): services (+0.64) and consulting competence (+0.47). The ratings for clients (-0.06) and advertising agencies (-0.09) declined slightly.

Publisuisse in second place with mixed scores

Publisuisse dropped to second place last year after winning the award four times. And that is where it has remained this year. It also has to make do with a slightly lower overall score (-0.07). It has lost a lot in terms of name recognition. Compared to Goldbach Media, Publisuisse received significantly fewer ratings (-27). On the other hand, Publisuisse continues to shine with the best score of all marketers among clients (7.82). Publisuisse made the strongest gains among advertising agencies (+0.32). Although this is only enough for third place, Publisuisse is still clearly ahead of Goldbach Media. The situation is exactly the same for services and consulting expertise. In terms of price/performance ratio, on the other hand, almost the entire improvement in scores from the previous year was lost in 2013. In third place, we again find Mediabox. Unlike last year, when it received the highest score from the media agencies for all three individual services, this time it is only good enough for two 2nd places. Like Publisuisse, it has also lost the price/performance ratio gain it made last year. On the other hand, it received the best score of all marketers in the advertising agency category, and also a healthy increase of 0.49 points in the client category. As last year, Publicitas Cinecom was ranked fourth. This was possible thanks to a very balanced score and, above all, the second-best score among clients. However, Publicitas Cinecom is hard pressed by Ringier romandie, marketer of TF1, which has entered this category for the first time. Publicitas Cinecom is only 0.02 points ahead of Ringier romandie.

Online marketers are not getting off the ground

Goldbach Audience, which already lost 0.26 points in 2012, lost another 0.18 points in 2013 and thus three more places in the rankings. It even has to admit defeat to Adello, which was surveyed for the first time. The latter achieved two top scores: In service performance (8.5) and in advisory skills (9.0). But even this only puts them in 9th place among all marketers. Many (too many) online marketers are found at the bottom of the rankings. This somehow does not fit in with the upswing that online marketers have brought about this year.
 
AUTHOR : WALTER WEDER

Dr. Walter Weder is co-owner of the Media.Research.Group and initiator of the advertising market study.

You can find the method description here in PDF format.

 

Between half past five and six in the morning, the lights go on in Barbara Wieser's office. A cold chocolate and a bite to eat, the first e-mails are sent. The fact that Wieser's apartment is just one floor up from her office comes in handy. "Ten meters to work is incredibly convenient. No time is lost there."

The young headhunter is enterprising. And even more so since she started her own business, Digital Heads. "I go full throttle every day." After one year, the 33-year-old can already present a decent list of completed mandates. Among other things, she has found a CEO and a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) for an e-commerce portal, filled the position of CPO (Chief Product Officer) at a media group, and found a new Managing Director for an international agency network. She is currently looking for a Product Manager E-Commerce for an online marketplace and a Chief Technology Officer for the central digital advertising marketing of a large Swiss media group.

"A headhunter needs charisma, joy and love for people."

Wieser seems to have the right nose when it comes to matching companies with the right people. The headhunter asks the crucial questions and has an ear for her clients. "Barbara works in a structured manner, follows up, clarifies open points immediately and fills positions effectively. Thanks to her great commitment, her expertise and her good network, mandates are handled quickly and competently," says Manfred Strobl, CEO of the media agency OMD, which has already awarded several mandates to digital heads.

"Barbara doesn't beat around the bush, but looks for concrete clues and solutions. She gives feedback and doesn't leave you in the dark. That's goal-oriented," says Urs Schweizer, Head of Print/Services at the NZZ Media Group. Wieser does not want to waste time. When companies part with top management or specialists - and vice versa - there is usually little time left for succession planning. Wieser is prepared for speed in the recruitment process. "We are very flexible." In the search, however, she is meticulous. Even if a valid candidate is already in the portfolio, she scans the market again from the beginning. "There's always another new star emerging somewhere." If her gut tells her there's a more suitable candidate out there, she's happy to put in an extra round.

Sometimes a candidate profile is particularly difficult to find. Then the recruitment process is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Other times, the difficulty lies in convincing the desired candidate to move to Switzerland from an attractive position abroad. That's where Wieser's sales flair comes in handy. "I experience Barbara as a positive and open person who approaches others. She has a very winning manner," says Schweizer. "You can tell right away that Barbara does her job with great enthusiasm," says Strobl. She is charming and persuasive, but remains persistent.

"As a headhunter, I have to have a good elevator speech in store and generate interest in candidates within a very short time - even when cold calling."

If a mandate was particularly challenging, the joy is all the greater when the deal is a success. This was the case, for example, when she recruited a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for a German company. In the course of the search, the candidate profile had to be adjusted again and again, and new parties were constantly making demands. It took four months to sign the contract. A test of patience for the headhunter. "Normally, we are much faster."

Wieser is well established in the media and online industry. She started out in communications at Zurich Airport and then worked at Swissport Zurich. As trade fair manager at Maurer + Salzmann, she got to know the entire communications claviature until she was "discovered" by a headhunter - at just 26 years of age. It was Hans Hofmann, recruiting for the media and online communications world.

At Hans Hofmann & Partner, she learned the headhunter's trade from scratch. The research area, the direct approach, dealing with clients. At first, she worked as a consultant in the younger executive sector, and in the last two years, as Managing Partner, she covered the search for specialists and executives in the new media. "Hans and I were a good team," Wieser says today about her former partner. After seven years, however, she still wanted to stand on her own two feet. Headhunting is a people business. She wanted to prove that clients and candidates believed in her - without the umbrella of Hans Hofmann & Partner.

The headhunter carefully cultivates her network. She is present at important industry events, seminars and client events and makes herself visible to marketers, media agencies, online portals, advertising agencies and media companies.

"The peak is never reached. The network can always get bigger."

The fact that Wieser is extremely young for the headhunting profession comes in handy when recruiting younger specialists. Here, she effortlessly manages to establish a rapport. But age doesn't seem to be an issue for her clients either. "She's mixing up the scene, which is a good thing," Schweizer thinks. Her proof of performance is in place. Over the years, Wieser has developed her own methodology for the recruiting process. Today, she focuses particularly on interpersonal factors - listening, feeling, sensing. She makes heavy use of online media and social media for research to come across candidates and get an idea of who they are (Does the candidate run a blog? What's their network like?) For contact, she prefers the phone - or still prefers to make an impression in person. "I pay attention to how someone moves, how their voice sounds, how the handshake is. You can read a lot from that."

"Under no circumstances should candidates ask me how I came across them. This comes across as if they are not aware of their abilities."

When it comes to the interaction between candidate and headhunter, Wieser has clear ideas. "With a headhunter, you should appear just as professional as in the job interview." It starts with the e-mail contact (what is the structure, are the attachments in order?), continues with the combox announcement, the appointment (how flexible is the candidate?) and ends with the first meeting.

Even though Digital Heads on Zollikerberg looks like a modern apartment, business manners are not set aside. Anyone who stops by on a hot summer day in a casual leisure outfit won't win any sympathy points. If Wieser is bothered by a candidate's attire, she lets him know. "For the client interview, we need to work on the clothes a little more." Lighting a cigarette at Wieser while talking to her in the lounge on the terrace is also not a good idea. Anyone who keeps her waiting is charmingly but firmly told. "I'm glad you're here. My expectation of you is rising by the minute." Does she overlook such faux pas if a candidate is professionally convincing? After all, not every job is looking for sales talent. "Of course, " Wieser says. "It's part of our job to put ourselves in the candidates' shoes." If, for example, the introverted technical specialist doesn't put the pedal to the metal in the initial interview with the company, Wieser is happy to lend him a hand and emphasize his merits and knowledge.

Wieser works exclusively on a mandate basis. She offers various models for the placement: Her fee is either based on the candidate's gross annual salary or a fixed mandate fee (flat rate) is agreed upon, which is billed in three parts, for example: at the time of the assignment, at the time of the candidate's presentation, and at the time of closing. Once the contracts are signed, the "on-boarding process" begins. Wieser remains in contact with the client and the candidate. If communication difficulties arise, she acts as a mediator. It is in her interest that the employment relationship gets off to a successful start. After all, she gives her clients a guarantee of success - at management level, the guarantee is twelve months. If the candidate and the company part company during this time, she looks for a successor free of charge.

Wieser tries to keep fees for clients as low as possible. She does the research and market scanning herself, and avoids creating expensive personality profiles or assessments whenever possible. That resonates with clients. "I appreciate that Barbara manages the candidate search from A to Z," says Strobl. "As an owner without a lot of overhead, she also stands out from the competition with a fair price-performance ratio." Wieser also sometimes grants special conditions to young companies with whom she seeks contact. She wants to keep her finger on the pulse and follow the latest changes. Occasionally, she comes across an interesting candidate at start-ups for a transfer to a larger company. Or she recruits for the start-up itself. When it expands and needs a head to lead it into the next phase, Wieser finds the right "hood ornament.

"I am surrounded by exciting personalities, by "winners". I get to help shape their future and grow with them. That is a great enrichment."

The fact that new companies are constantly being founded, especially in the digital sector, is a benefit for digital heads. Wieser is currently focusing on big data. But she is sure that there is still potential in real-time advertising. She finds it equally exciting to follow the transformation process of publishing houses into the digital future. In line with Digital Heads' claim of "Creating Future," she ensures that companies are well positioned for the future with the right profile appointments.

Conversely, Wieser is happy to help candidates plan their careers and find out in which company they can best develop their potential. "My goal is to find candidates a job as great as the one I had the pleasure of finding myself," Wieser says. "I want everyone to start the day with the same joy."

Isabel Imper

 

For Daniel Hartmann, it is a return to Radio 105, which he had already supported ideally and financially when it was founded in 1997, briefly also as a shareholder. Hartmann was co-owner and president of Contexta Holding in Bern until he sold his shares in 2011. As Managing Partner, he ran the business of Contexta advertising agency BSW.

Giuseppe Scaglione will continue as operational manager of Radio 105 and will be co-owner alongside Hartmann.

The new ownership still has to be approved by the Federal Office of Communications Bakom.

(left: Daniel Hartmann, right: Giuseppe Scaglione)

.
 

In Switzerland, too, more and more people are becoming enthusiastic about this digital service. Streaming may not revolutionize media use overnight, but it is gradually conquering everyday life. This is shown by the latest figures from the "Streaming Report" by NET-Metrix, which is based on a survey of around 3,200 internet users aged 14 and over throughout Switzerland. The global popularity of streaming is also evident in Switzerland. Around 3.5 million consumers in this country use video and audio content via the internet. That is around two thirds of Swiss online users (65 %). A comparison over time shows that the use of streaming services is constantly on the rise: in 2011, there were only around 3.1 million consumers (59 % of internet users) who at least occasionally consumed web TV, video content on TV, news and video portals, web radio or podcasts.

The number of streaming heavy users has also risen during this period: around 620,000 consumers in Switzerland now use online services daily or almost daily to watch their favorite TV shows or listen to their favorite music. This represents an increase of around 34% compared to 2011 - two years ago, the number of heavy streamers was just under 470,000. This means that around one in nine internet users in Switzerland (12 %) now belong to the group of heavy streamers.

So which streaming services are most popular with the Swiss? According to the survey, video portals such as YouTube, Clipfish and MyVideo are used most frequently. 54% of internet users watch videos here several times a month or more. TV and news portals and similar sites follow in second place (41 %). Special web TV services such as Wilmaa, Zattoo or Teleboy are used by almost one in three online users (29 %) at least several times a month. In terms of audio services, live streaming web radios (35 % use; up 2 percentage points) are more popular than canned content: the user community of archive content such as podcasts has shrunk by 3 percentage points to 27% compared to 2011.

The survey also shows that the socio-demographic structures of streamers and online users are generally converging - a further indication of the popularity of streaming. Nevertheless, according to the current report, there are still more men (57 %) than women (43 %) among streaming users. And the younger population continues to make up the lion's share of streamers: six out of ten streaming users (60 %) are aged 39 or younger.

Streaming users also differ from all online users in terms of digital adoption. They are online more often than the average internet user and use more devices to visit the web. For example, 88% of streamers, but "only" 81% of online users surf the internet daily or almost daily. Streaming-heavy users are online even more often than the average streaming user (multiple daily web use: nine out of ten vs. seven out of ten people). In addition, 55% of streamers use three or more devices to access the internet. Among streaming heavy users, as many as 62% use multiple devices. In contrast, less than half (46%) of online users use three or more devices to access the internet.

Clemens Koob

Key Facts

- 3.5 million Swiss people stream video and audio content (65 % of online users).
- 620,000 even use streaming daily or almost daily (12 % of online users).
- Video portals such as YouTube are the most popular. 54% of online users use them several times a month or more.
- This is followed by TV/news portals (41 %), web radio (35 %) and web TV services (29 %).
- The structure of streamers and online users as a whole is gradually converging.
- But there are still differences: More men (57 %) than women (43 %) use streaming. 60 percent are up to 39 years young.
- Streamers are online more often and use more devices to access the Internet than the average online user.

 

Jost Wirz has been an active member of the board for the past 17 years. "The Zurich Chamber of Commerce can play a very important and trustworthy role in the constructive dialog between business and society - and this seems to me to be of crucial importance today, when the population is much more critical of business than it already is for a wide variety of reasons," says Geri Aebi about the election.

The name "Boost" and the claim "Activating Shoppers, elevating sales" already define the core competence: "All our activities and services serve the goal of increasing sales," explains Alban Haas, Director Client Service Switzerland at Boost in Cham. The company offers services in three areas: shopper marketing, collectibles' promotions and loyalty programs. The story began in 1987 with Shop Display AG in Basel. Following various developments, various specialists in the shopper activation sector merged in December 2012 to form the international Boost. The company now has three branches in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. Over 150 top international brands in more than 15 countries are served from these locations. "Our goal is to become the number 1 in Europe in the next five years," explains Alban Haas. Boost already generates annual sales of around 150 million Swiss francs across Europe. And the company has already put out feelers to China and Hong Kong with two offices.

Shopper marketing

In the area of shopper marketing, Boost develops customized concepts for promotions, tastings, product sampling campaigns, roadshows, direct sales campaigns, events and exhibitions. The specialists at Boost rely on the knowledge that "only 4 percent of consumers have a clearly defined budget when they enter a store". In order to "activate" these undecided shoppers in the store, Boost has around 1000 agents in Switzerland working around 60,000 days a year. Boost employs three in-house creative departments to design its promotional materials. Boost also offers individual customer support, including inbound and outbound call services. The aim is to achieve rapid sales success as well as long-term customer relationships. In addition to Coop, the consumers of various telecommunications providers are also looked after in Cham by a total of over 100 specially trained call agents. Boost has its own training academy for coaching, product and sales training.

Loyalty programs

Everyone in Switzerland has probably already come into contact with Boost's loyalty programs. The company in Cham looks after Coop's Supercard. With over 4 million cards, 11 million orders for rewards have to be processed here. Boost also manages Air Miles, customer loyalty programs for banks and insurance companies as well as various benefit programs for employees in the B2B sector.

Collectibles' Promotions

The promotions with trading cards are aimed specifically at retailers and manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods. Such promotions usually run for six to eight weeks. Collectibles have a positive and lasting effect on the brand image. With the help of social networks, collectibles campaigns have a very high hype potential. During the "Twistymania" campaign at Migros, tens of millions of figures were distributed to consumers in seven weeks. The "Nanomania" developed by Boost two years ago was subsequently also implemented in various countries in Europe. Increasing sales is only one aspect of such campaigns. By handing out the coveted "Jokers" exclusively on Wednesdays, retailers can also control their customer flow. Mothers whose children are desperate for a "Joker" will do their bulk shopping on Wednesdays, when people are at work. As a welcome side effect, supermarkets are not overcrowded on Saturdays when the big-spending singles and couples are shopping. Alban Haas does not see any danger of the concept dying out. The next concepts are already in the pipeline. "However, we all know that you shouldn't overdo it."

Andreas Panzeri

Boost specializes in sales promotion at the point of sale and loyalty programmes. Boost employs more than 260 full-time and 2600 part-time staff in its branches in Switzerland, Benelux and China. Alban Haas has been working in the field of trade marketing and advertising for several years. He has been Director Client Service at Boost since 2012. Prior to Boost, he worked for Blue Spirit Communications in 1999 - first as Account Director, then as CEO of the company in 2010. Laura Mattiucci has worked as Marketing Manager for Boost since 2011 and was previously responsible for PR & Communications at CMA in Milan. Laura holds a diploma in Public Relations and a Master of Science, Bauhaus University Weimar.

 

The spot has been on air since July 1. In addition, four million Swiss households will receive mail from Battery-Man on July 5. In a large-scale mailing, Battery-Bags, practical bags for collecting batteries, will be sent throughout Switzerland.

Battery-Man is present on Facebook with around 18'500 fans. The figure is receiving lively support from the Swiss population, the agency said. Last year, the battery response rate rose from 69 to 72 percent, it said.

Responsible at Inobat: Max Zulliger (Managing Director), Karin Jordi (Head of Communications). Responsible at Polyconsult: Mike Brodbeck, Jeannine Kaiser, (consulting), Silvio Truffer, Roger Ghezzi (CD), Petra Brönnimann (AD), Ramon Niederhauser, Peer Fankhauser (graphics). Responsible at Shining Pictures: Reiner Roduner (Producer), Jyri Pasanen (Director), Tobias Dengler (Cinematographer), Alex Kirschner (Music).