Photo: Pierre C. Meier

WW: Dominik Kaiser, you are not the only one who is unhappy with the new TV data. But only you went to court, only you are constantly in the media. Seen in that light, you are a lonely fighter ...
Dominik Kaiser: The impression is deceptive. Telesuisse also communicates effectively with the media; ten regional TV stations have just terminated their contract with Mediapulse because they have no confidence in the correctness of the figures. But it's true: Goldbach, the marketer of the German private stations in Switzerland and also of us, works more in the background. We, too, waited a long time before voicing our demands publicly, because basically the ratings problem doesn't belong in the media, but would have to be solved differently. Until the end of March, we tried to find an internal solution with Mediapulse. Only when this did not work, and because we received no answers to our letters and demands, did we go to court. Immediately after the high court granted the super provisional injunction, we offered Mediapulse to find a solution without publicity. Mediapulse decided on a different path and went to the media. Since then, we have also been communicating openly about the ratings debacle.

As mentioned, Goldbach is keeping a very low profile. As an observer, you could get the impression that 3+ is being sent ahead and letting you fight the feud.
That is your interpretation. Goldbach is very active in the background. Together with Publisuisse and Mediapulse, the company has just drawn up an action plan with around 50 points. This includes almost all the points that we are also demanding. But to answer your question: It takes courage and perseverance to stick your neck out. However, based on our work with Mediapulse and Publica Data so far, I believe that this is the only right way to go.

What do you mean by that?
Cooperation in the past was often not constructive. Even in the old system, we noticed and questioned irregularities in the data. In very few cases were our inquiries answered completely, and when they were, it was always only after repeated inquiries. Another example: We have been trying for eight years to obtain from Mediapulse, in return for payment, the pin data that is customary internationally and was also available in the old system - to date without success.

But the changeover of the measurement system involved the industry. The Board of Directors and the User Commission, both made up of stakeholders, waved the change through. The discussions didn't start until the data was in.
The discussion started after Mediapulse published the data in January and immediately blocked it again and it became clear that something could not be right. We already demanded a test of the whole system at the end of January. The User Commission (UC) was not involved in many decisions. As far as I know, only one assignment rule was discussed in detail in the UC, for example. The others were not discussed at all or were addressed only very superficially. Assignment rules are critical in the new audiomatching system because the system does not know directly what is being watched, as it used to, but often has no clear information. To date, after much pressure, the UC is only aware of a small portion of the assignment rules. If committees are not informed, they cannot have an active say. That the UC has signed off on everything is therefore not true.

A delicate point. Can you substantiate this?
Since 3+ did not have a seat in the UC until now, I do not have any minutes. We have only been allowed to have a representative since May 13. I got my information from conversations with commission members.

Nevertheless, shouldn't the broadcasters and marketers be taking themselves by the nose? They could have reacted before the data was available.
I can only speak for 3+. We insisted too little last year when Mediapulse informed. We asked whether the panel households could be recruited representatively in the short time and connected on time, whether the different feeds of the German stations could be mapped with audiomatching, or whether a feature film running on three different stations at the same time could be assigned to the right channel. The answer was always: no problem. The rules according to which the signals are assigned were not explained to us. We would have had to ask and insist. The fact that we didn't do that last year is a big mistake in retrospect. Especially with the example of the movie or series that runs on several stations and is played back without advertising, it is technically impossible, with the audio signal alone, to recognize on which station it was recorded. The system has to guess. Besides, we begged in vain until the end that there should be at least one month of parallel operation.

The aforementioned problem of allocation could be circumvented with watermarking.
That's why we already lobbied for watermarking last year. But Mediapulse assured us that this was not necessary and that watermarking would only be introduced later, if at all. We should have exerted more pressure here, too.

You always emphasize that 3+ is interested in a constructive dialog. What is your proposed solution?
The industry needs numbers - not only our customers and the agencies, but also ourselves. As long as we don't have data, we can't optimize our program planning and it's difficult to decide which shows to buy or produce. That's why we are very interested in a quick solution. That's why we made concrete demands for the first time at the end of January on how to restore the credibility of the system, followed by a major effort to find errors, and finally compiled a catalog of points that would have to be adjusted. Basically, there are three levels involved: a. the panel corresponds to the Swiss population and is therefore representative, b. is the system measured correctly and does it work, and c. does the industry know the background and details of the TV research, in other words, is the system transparent. On all levels, there is great need for adjustment or catching up.

What are you doing to get the numbers back as quickly as possible?
We are ready to actively collaborate. But Mediapulse seemed little interested until recently. Even Mediapulse has not disputed so far that the distribution types as well as the urban-rural distribution are not correctly weighted and that the PC-only households (households that do not have TV) can be mapped as we suggested. These undisputed errors must be corrected retroactively. They lead to a noticeable distortion of the audience figures on average and to considerable differences at the level of commercial breaks and programs.

Can you elaborate on this?
If we compare the panel's figures with those of the Federal Statistical Office, for example, the rural population is heavily overrepresented. The proportions of the distribution types (IPTV, cable digital and analog, etc.) would have to be adjusted to the information provided by the providers. And a third point: As long as TV use on tablets and smartphones cannot be recorded, households without TVs must not be included. We know from online TV providers such as Zattoo, Teleboy and Wilmaa that the vast majority of web TV usage is via tablets and smartphones. Particularly in the case of PC-only households, TV usage is massively underestimated if tablets and smartphones are not included.

However, this is not just a methodological problem, but is related to Apple, whose policies do not allow apps to communicate with each other.
That's true, and without it, it's not possible to measure PC-only households in a representative way. That's why we shouldn't even pretend that this is the case. The fact that tablets and smartphones are not measured has only been known since the beginning of winter. If this had been known earlier, the decision would certainly have been different.

Are these all the demands?
We also propose to test the system on the fly and over the raw data. Switzerland is probably the most complex country for audio matching. The signal has to be compared with almost 400 TV stations and many more radio signals. The two-channel sound leads to a doubling for some stations, stations with country-specific advertising windows like RTL have three feeds (Switzerland, Germany, Austria). In addition, many programs run more or less simultaneously on different stations. The test would show whether the system assigns signals correctly even in difficult situations. Another demand: transparency. We want the research basis to be disclosed. We want to know the assignment and weighting rules and have insight into the New Establishment Survey to understand the basis of the panel. This is in line with the EBU's international standard GGTAM (General Guidelines for Television Audience Measurement).

Read the rest of the interview subscribers online or in the print edition.

Interview: Isabel Imper and Pierre C. Meier

Federal government takes Mediapulse measurement system under protection

The hairstyles can be used short, long or tousled as required and depending on the current fashion trend.

Responsible at Hair Styling: Alexandra Luchsinger (overall responsibility).Responsible at Cavegnwerbung: Markus Cavegn (Art Direction), Peter Rettinghausen (Text), Sarah Hepp (Graphic Design).

Raphael Prinz has been working for SRF as a producer and editor for "Arena" since October 2008. He has also worked at times for "10vor10" (newsdesk, reporter) and "Schweiz aktuell" (editor). He also regularly worked on voting Sundays, Federal Council elections and "Arena vor Ort". The 35-year-old from Kriens (married, father of one son) completed his studies in political science and media studies at the University of Bern in 2003. He already wrote for the Neue Luzerner Zeitung during his studies and was subsequently domestic editor from 2003 to 2006 and head of the politics department at the NLZ from 2006 to 2008.

Raphael Prinz: "I am delighted and honored to be able to report on the important topics of Central Switzerland with its six different cantons in the future. I am particularly looking forward to meeting interesting people and giving them a voice. Central Switzerland is very close to my heart. I grew up in Kriens and have always lived in Kriens, despite working in Zurich.

Photo: SRF/Oscar Alessio
 

"Sweet," says actor Carlos Leal in UPC Cablecom's commercial with a smug undertone to the breeze of the DSL offers, before having his head blown off by a wind machine, which is meant to symbolize the higher speeds for data in Cablecom's cable network. Now it's the sweets in Swisscom's DSL network that the cable industry is craving: In recent years, Swisscom subsidiary Cinetrade has acquired exclusive broadcasting rights for national sporting events, especially in soccer and ice hockey. With this content (and not higher speeds), Swisscom's TV offering has an advantage in the market. For this reason, three cable network companies have demanded from the Weko that Teleclub offer cable customers not only sports channels 1-3, but also 4-29 and the "Teleclub Live Sport" offer, and thus the same sports content as Swisscom TV.

This means that the play that has long been common practice abroad is now also being made here: Those who lose out in deals for sports rights resort to legal maneuvers. After all, the industry association Swisscable, together with SRG, also submitted a bid when the Super League put the TV rights out to tender, but fell by the wayside. And this is by no means the first time that the two sides have settled their differences before the Weko and/or the Federal Court. However, it is not without a certain irony that a good ten years ago it was exactly the other way around: Cablecom was only prepared to distribute Teleclub services via its network after a decision by the Weko. Now, at the beginning of April, the Weko announced that a preliminary investigation had "revealed indications of violations of antitrust law by Swisscom and Cinetrade or their pay TV provider Teleclub", which is why a proper investigation had been opened.

Fight for the last piece of cake

The digital TV market in Switzerland has been fiercely contested since the launch of "Bluewin TV," which has since been renamed "Swisscom TV," on November 1, 2006. The telecommunications giant thus entered the territory of the cable TV networks, which for their part were increasingly offering telecommunications services. To enhance its own TV offering, Swisscom began broadcasting first league matches, whether in football or ice hockey, from all stadiums, making Swisscom TV a must for serious sports fans. "We see live TV events as an important element in differentiating ourselves in the market. Sport supports the growth of the entire TV business in general," explained the Swisscom media spokesman at the time (see MTJ 10-2008, p. 34 ff). In the meantime, 85 percent of all households are connected to digital TV networks, and the obligation to broadcast analog programs ends at the end of 2014, as the Federal Office of Communications, Bakom, announced in mid-May. So it's all about grabbing as big a slice as possible of the last piece of the pie.

What is remarkable is the way Swisscom is involved in sports coverage. In the fall of 2004, it acquired 49 percent of the shares of Teleclub owner, CT Cinetrade AG, which today buys the sports rights for soccer and ice hockey in Switzerland. Although a full merger failed at the time because of a ruling by the Federal Court, the telecommunications giant announced in early May that it would now increase its stake to 75 percent. (Note the combined use of the "salami tactics" and "let the grass grow over it" stratagems). Cinetrade Group's activities include pay TV (Teleclub), movie theaters (Kitag), and exploitation of film rights via video and DVD. But Swisscom has also upgraded its online and mobile content and operates an editorial department for its sports portal on the web, the size of which, according to the imprint, can easily compete with the major media houses.

Leutenegger's agility

The role of Swisscable president Filippo Leutenegger in this affair is not without a smile. The FDP National Council member and former Arena presenter is known as a fighter against the SRG (for example, as president of the "Aktion Medienfreiheit" association). He said in an interview with Werbewoche last fall: "I want the media to be able to report freely, if possible without state interference and without being censored - that's part of the media's basic mission. That's why I'm not a fan of media politics - the less the state interferes, the better." And no sooner does the desire for competition in the media industry come to fruition than it doesn't. In a Swisscable media release at the start of the Weko investigation at the beginning of April, the otherwise emphatically pro-business politician is now even talking nationalization: "Football and ice hockey games are co-financed by the public and therefore belong to the public."

Publishers not against Swisscom

In view of the publishers' opposition to SRG, the Swiss Media Association should follow the arguments of its board member Leutenegger and oppose the market-dominating position of the ex-monopolist and its involvement in the content sector. But Urs F. Meyer, managing director of the association, waved it off when asked by Werbewoche: "The fact that the federal government holds a majority of shares is absolutely not comparable with the situation at SRG, where politics determines everything. (...) For the private media houses, it makes a big difference whether a competitor has to finance itself and hold its own in the market or whether it receives fees set by the state and operates under the blurred guise of public service." Tamedia and Ringier don't like to take a stand against Swisscom either - this is at least the impression given by the decidedly undifferentiated answers given by the respective press spokespersons to the relevant questions posed by Werbewoche.

The sports federations would suffer

If the Weko and later the Federal Court were to follow Swisscable's argumentation in favor of pooling sports rights, these would lose considerable value. This would affect sports associations such as the Super League, which today is largely financed by TV rights. With the license agreement now in force, it receives 28 million francs per season and has thus almost reached a price level (converted to games and inhabitants) comparable to the German Bundesliga. It is hard to imagine that anyone would pay anywhere near that amount if (according to whatever settlement model) the games had to be handed over to the competition for live broadcasting. And with such a regulation, Switzerland would be alone in international comparison.

Berlin Philharmonic as a role model?

Does the Roman emperors' recipe for success, Panem et Circenses (Bread and Games), also apply in a modern democracy to keep the people under its spell? Should fee money therefore be wasted in bidding races for TV rights, even if they reach ever more dizzying heights? Or is a media world conceivable for the moving image in the future that corresponds to the habits of print: everyone pays for what they want to read or see - whether as a subscription or in individual sales at the kiosk. Smart TV will make this possible. When the TV rights for Swiss soccer are next negotiated in 2016, many households will have TV sets that, when switched on, show an overview of the most popular apps (as with a smartphone) and not (as today) a live TV channel. Live TV will be accessible via one of the numerous apps, but will be less and less in demand. A typical example is Samsung's flagship app with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which offers live performances and an extensive concert archive as a premium service. Sports associations are already moving in this direction. The Super League's website is to be relaunched in the summer and its own reporting, including video, is to be expanded, as Claudius Schäfer, managing director of the Swiss Football League, told Werbewoche. Meanwhile, handball matches are already largely broadcast on the Internet.

Such a development is important for the communications industry: If sports broadcasts can be used today primarily via the sponsorship channel, distribution via smart TV or Internet TV opens up further interesting possibilities. In addition to a premium offer for the live broadcast of sporting events, other offers (e.g., with a more or less long time delay) that are financed via advertising are conceivable. Unlike today's TV advertising, spots can be played out according to the profile of the respective customer, making specific targeting possible. Such ads can be traded via the mechanisms of real-time bidding and can be designed free of licensing requirements. However, such new opportunities will only arise if the advertising industry approaches sports broadcasters at an early stage (now!) to establish joint solutions. Otherwise, in the next round of contracts, the high-reach sports such as soccer and ice hockey will proceed according to the motto "better a bird in the hand than a pigeon on the roof" and continue to rely heavily on existing partnerships.

Christoph J. Walther

 

Advertising for glasses is - logically - made for people who don't see that well. But the fact that they see as badly as the current opticians' advertising makes them believe could end up damaging business for Visilab, Fielmann and Co. After all, "seeing badly" is not the same as "being blind". And no one who is dependent on a visual aid wants to be advertised as needing a wheelchair for their face. In that case, it's better not to buy glasses and, thanks to this celebration of poor eyesight, to avoid looking at these ghastly subjects.

Horn glasses to go

Fielmann, for example, is currently delighting us with an all-too-successful head doctor visage, of course trendy gray-haired and with black horn-rimmed glasses à la Marc Sway. The guy is somehow disgusting, angular as carved and long-nosed like Pinoccio. And he looks so slimy-soft and at the same time so venomous down from his billboard, that I get all sick and queasy around the heart when I see him. I have given him the name Kurt and always look away quickly when he appears in my field of vision - which has already led to dangerous situations in road traffic. In view of this advertisement, if I were asked what I would have done differently in my life looking back, I would answer: "I wouldn't buy my glasses from Fielmann in the first place!"

Visilab takes a nicer approach: Photomodel Xenia Tchoumitcheva makes the glasses snake here. But even she looks silly with horn-rimmed glasses that are far too big, over lips that are far too red, and with her hair parted in a popo style. If there's one positive thing about glasses, it's that they give the wearer an intellectual touch. If they are the right ones, that is. That's why in the eighties, anyone who thought anything of themselves wore a nose bike. But these black or tripe peep-toes, which are so much in fashion at the moment, unfortunately don't dress any visually impaired person very well. Nature can still have meant it so well with him.

Model Roger Willemsen

Unfortunately, "MC Optik - E Schwizer Idee" did not come up with any other idea than to press horn-rimmed glasses into the face of his brown-haired, big-toothed natural boy with a milk mustache for the race for the poorly sighted. After all, the note "model example" is noted next to the photo. So theoretically, you don't have to run around in a Roger Willemsen outfit today. After all, there are also beautiful glasses that are advertised with beautiful subjects, aren't there? Hope dies last. In any case, in view of the current advertising, one may be grateful for once to one's already existing visual impairment and additionally squeeze one's eyes shut very quickly. Double is better.

Posture with beautiful frame

The advertisers responsible must be blind. Or they didn't look closely enough. In "Der Film," comedian Otto Waalkes has already unintentionally delivered a wonderful plot for a glasses ad. It's guaranteed to stick in your head. Two beautiful young people run toward each other on the beach with their arms outstretched - and past each other. The commentary: "They are young. They're in love. You need glasses." Why not a little humor and courage in advertising? Anything is better than more bullishly smiling, beautiful to unattractive people gawping down from billboards. Consumers won't lose their cool, after all.
 

The Switch Junior Web Award competition is open to children and young people from elementary school to secondary school. The most creative projects will be honored at the seventh award ceremony. According to the press release, the participating school classes impress with the wide range of topics covered by their web projects: Travel and the associated CO-2 emissions, respect for fellow human beings or a dance film are just a few excerpts from the wide range of work submitted. Urs Eppenberger from Switch: "I am fascinated by the care that the young people put into researching and designing the websites."

Double award for fantasy city

The clever inventors of the website "Futuretown" are the 5th/6th graders from the Uster elementary school's gifted and talented program. They were honored twice, winning not only first prize in the "Primary" category, but also the jury prize. The jury was impressed by the story of their fantasy city due to its clear concept with a socio-critical aspect and a pinch of black humor. "The Futuretown website is high school in terms of storytelling, concept, emotionality, commitment and fun," wrote the jury in its laudation. At the award ceremony at the Kongresshaus Zurich, each student will win a tablet, a DVD hi-fi system or a printer, depending on their ranking. In addition, experience days at Swiss Post, Microsoft and Google will be awarded for the jury prize, the audience prize and the programming prize.

Promoting young talent on the web

Since Switch launched the competition in 2007, over 1,000 projects have been submitted. The Junior Web Award is designed to give schoolchildren the opportunity to create their own website and practice using web technologies in a fun way. Switch supports them with information material and easy-to-use CMS programs. The competition will enter the next round in August: Interested teachers can register from August 12, 2013 at. Juniorwebaward.ch register.

The winners of the Switch Junior Web Award 2013.

Further information on the winning projects

 

Throughout the promotion period, there is a Rolex worth 5'100 Swiss francs to be won every day. A total of 20 watches will be given away. The participant who scores the highest number of points on the slot machines programmed especially for the competition will be allowed to take the noble piece home. Participation is free of charge. And of course, Play Girls can also try their luck.

The promotion will be advertised with promotion teams, F12 and F200 posters, radio spots and advertisements in the catchment area, as well as online and at Swiss Casinos Zurich POS.

Responsible at Swiss Casinos: Peter Meier (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Martin Vogel (Head of Marketing & Communications), Jonas Scheidegger (Communications Planner), Esther Bättig (Head of Marketing & Communications), Nina Vetsch (CRM & Digital Marketing Planner). Responsible for content&form: Serge Riedener (Creative Direction), Karin Estermann (Art Direction), Fabian Zahner (Text), Jan Löchler (Graphics), Claudio Zier, Nina Marti, Andrea Melileo (Consulting). Photography: Rico Rosenberger, Subiaco People & Promotion.

To the radio spot

The station can already be received in HD quality on Swisscom TV. Dmax is part of the global Discovery Network and was launched in Germany in 2006. The station's programming features documentaries, factual entertainment formats and lifestyle magazines tailored specifically to the male audience. The focus is on adventure and discovery, motors and engineering, technology, unusual professions and travel. Goldbach Media wrote this in a statement on Thursday. The station is focusing on strong, passionate personalities and novel program formats, it said.

 

In an old hut of a cable car station next to a dusty microphone, an antique computer and a roaring radio, they offer users complete and competent advice. For all their professionalism, a snide comment slips out every now and then. They draw on more than 160 sayings in the process.

It is the first time that users can interact directly with the Capricorns. Those who want to experience the intense Vacation advice who perseveres to the end will receive vacation suggestions perfectly tailored to their needs from over 90,000 combinations. There are also a few surprises to discover in the travel agency. For example, it's worth clicking on the radio, the lamp or the ibexes' tails.

Responsible at GRF: Gaudenz Thoma (CEO), Gieri Spescha (Head of Corporate Communication), Mike Frei (Corporate Communication). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy (Executive Creative Direction), Samuel Christ, Livio Dainese, Fernando Perez (Creative Direction), Alain Eicher, Florian Siegrist (Text), Claude Eberhard, Daniel Serrano (Art Direction), Lukas Frischknecht (Graphics), Sarida Bossoni (Art Buying), Nicolas Schobert, Roman Meister (Consulting), Elefant Studios (Animation), Jingle Jungle (Sound), Severin Gehrig, Dissenter (Programming Frontend), Edge5 (Programming Backend).
 

In terms of awareness, the Seat ad by the Saatchi advertising agency came out on top, followed by the McDonald poster by the TBWA advertising agency and the ad for VW by the Vizner Borel agency. The ad for Fritz + Fränzi by the advertising agency Jung von Matt won the Uniqueness criterion, ahead of the ad for Helvetas by the advertising agency Spinas Civil Voices and the ad for Orange by the agency Publicis. In the Brand Fit criterion, the McDonalds poster won ahead of the ads for Helvetas and Orange. Helvetas is ahead of Fritz + Fränzi and the ad for Held eco by the advertising agency Startbahnwest in terms of likeability.

The Advertising Week Impact Check May 2013 (PDF)
Results_Report_Advertising_Week_Impact_Check_May_2013.pdf

We’re inundated with news and tips about social media. Everyone means well—myself included. But nothing beats your own experience. So get started right away and give things a try. Here’s a guide to the social media mix.

Mobile first!

«Mark Zuckerberg has insisted that every new feature for Facebook be developed for mobile first.» We should all follow his lead, because 70 percent of all Facebook visits already come from smartphones. That’s 54 percent more than a year ago. This boom has also taken hold in advertising: In the first quarter of 2013, mobile ads accounted for 30 percent of Facebook’s advertising revenue of 1.25 billion. On YouTube, too, one in four video views already comes from a smartphone or tablet. According to eMarketer, social media traffic via mobile devices will grow by another 43 percent in 2013. Responsive design is good because it ensures that content is displayed in a way that matches the device’s dimensions. Responsive content is better, because the needs of mobile users on the go are different from those of users sitting in an office chair or on the sofa. For example, they are exposed to the elements, attend events, are on their way to work, stroll through shopping districts, or admire tourist attractions. This gives rise to ideas that enrich the real-time user experience with context-relevant ad content, thanks to GPS localization and big data.

Mix it up!

The social media platforms that users love the most are compatible with one another because that’s what users want—they want to customize their own experience by combining the best features from different platforms. The technical principle behind open application programming interfaces (APIs) is designed to enable the seamless integration required for this. Here are two examples: Do you sell comfortable lingerie, and is your target audience made up of ambitious businesswomen between the ages of 30 and 50? Then upload the best shots from your photo shoot exclusively to Pinterest. That’s because Pinterest is the social media network for stylish, interested women who are influencers. With an average time spent of 405 minutes per month per user, it has the highest engagement rate, and sharing the curated content via Facebook, Twitter, email, or embedding is incredibly easy and widely used.

Have you heard of Psy? His music video «Gentleman» racked up 38 million views on YouTube—after just 24 hours—in April 2013, and 248 million after two weeks. Psy’s first hit, «Gangnam Style,» reached 1.5 billion views within a few months. Welcome to a new era of media with new effects. The video launched on YouTube and was then further amplified via Facebook and Twitter. You, too, can achieve this kind of synergy—provided you establish your presence right from the start on the most popular platforms, which are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. Add to that LinkedIn, Xing, and SlideShare for B2B, as well as Instagram and Pinterest for sharing your visual content.

Into the News Feeds!

The answer to the question of the best possible ad placement across the entire digital universe can only be: in the news feeds of social media platforms. According to a recent eMarketer study, «sponsored posts» and «sponsored tweets» are 46 times more likely to generate clicks, likes, comments, or retweets than ads that appear outside the news feed in the «right-hand column»! Whether it’s LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook Home—all platforms have designed their mobile apps around the same full-screen, single- or two-column news feed experience. This means that, in a modern media mix where 70 percent of usage is on mobile, placements outside the news feed can slowly but surely be forgotten. Finding the right social media mix, therefore, largely depends on understanding the algorithms—the programs that assign posts to individual users’ newsfeeds.

EdgeRank is the algorithm Facebook uses to determine which posts appear in individual users’ news feeds, with the goal of showing users content that is as relevant and tailored to their needs as possible. EdgeRank operates on the principle of relevance, which is how all leading search engines and social networks organize content today. The formula consists of three variables:

1. Affinity – It highlights the relationship between users. If a user interacts frequently with your content, their Affinity Score increases, and the algorithm is more likely to feature your posts in their News Feed. We refer to posts that allow you, as a brand, to appear directly in users« news feeds as »owned media content.« Since 2011, the number of brand posts has increased sixtyfold. Even with a good Affinity Score, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get your content seen. »Earned media content« offers a better chance of making it through. These are stories—such as positive reviews of a company or its products—that users post themselves and which then spread through their friends» news feeds. Brands that provide the material for positive brand experiences worth sharing have a competitive advantage. «Paid media content» offers the third—and only predictable—path into news feeds. With this approach, you can promote your own content, which will then appear in the news feed with the label “sponsored,” depending on the platform.
 
2. Edge Weight – Highlights individual users« content preferences. How often has a user engaged with the same or similar content? Do they respond to text, photos, videos, or calls to action? Did you know that calls to action and images generate five times more engagement than text-only posts? Today, 50 percent of all newsfeed content includes images or videos—twice as much as a year ago. The trend across all social media networks is toward visual storytelling—because visual content elicits the highest engagement rates from users. Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter with its short-form video platform »Vine,” and YouTube with its new advertising and partnership models are the darlings of the raging social media image storm.

3. Time Decay is the third variable. It measures the recency of a post and how it performs over time in terms of engagement within the Facebook community. «Decay» is fascinating because it provides insights and opens up opportunities for creativity. 90 percent of all reactions on Facebook and 92 percent on Twitter occur within the first hour after publication. According to an Edison study, over 42 percent of all social media users also expect a response within an hour after posting a query on a brand page. Users welcome and reward brands« timely references to »breaking news« with high engagement rates—provided the posts in question are published within that first hour. Real-time posting is one of the strongest drivers of engagement in the news feeds of social media platforms. This dynamic gives rise to the most creative campaigns—examples include this year’s Super Bowl ads—and advertising companies and agencies are beginning to set up organizational units fully dedicated to »speed posting.” Examples include Nestlé’s Digital Acceleration Team (DAT) and the Social Intelligence Command Center (SICC) at the American communications firm Edelman. According to Edelman, real-time posts have increased engagement in clients’ news feeds by 400 to 600 percent.

Get started now and visit my blog. There you’ll find the article with related links. And—as always at this point—a warm invitation to contribute your own posts to my Blog to spark lively discussions.

Beat Hürlimann

The video shows the FCZ women in preparation training. It went viral in no time at all and achieved over 100'000 YouTube views in 24 hours. On a specially realized for the FC Barcelona Website Messi and Co. can accept or decline the challenge. In this way, the kickers from Zurich made headlines in Blick, and all relevant Swiss sports and soccer portals doubled down. The sports bible Marca and a dozen other Spanish media reacted promptly, as the agency writes in a statement. This is how the story was launched worldwide.

Responsible for FCZ Women: Marion Daube (overall responsibility). Responsible at Serranetga: Remo Prinz (overall responsibility), Tino Elsener (project management), Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor (creative direction), Thomas Blumer (concept/text), Julia Miller (screen design), Erwan Eydt, Diego Dirren (programming), Christos Margaris (motion design), Tom Kolinski, Nick Läder-ach (direction/editing), Tobias Bühler (camera), Nick Baer (PR).