There are two ways to optimize a website for mobile devices: adaptive web design and responsive web design. Before deciding on one of the two methods, the following questions need to be answered:
 
- Does the visitor access the website using both a mobile device and a laptop/desktop?
- Do website visitors via smartphone, tablet or laptop have the same requirements in terms of information content and design?
- Which interactions (filling out forms, etc.) should the tablet or smartphone user be able to carry out?
- What is more important: website use on a specific output device or a stringent design?
- How much time and money should go into the design and implementation of the website? How much in maintenance?
etc.

Web analytics data is helpful in the decision-making process. They document which devices (smartphones, tablets) visitors use to access the website, what they look at and where they leave the site. With these insights into the needs of the different types of visitors, the right decisions can be made.

Adaptive Web Design

If the information, design and navigation of the website are optimized for the device used, adaptive web design is in use. Mobile websites such as those of SBB, Google, Leo etc. are typical independent implementations of the website in Adaptive Web Design with an independent structure and design. Implementation in Adaptive Web Design is simple, and this method guarantees high performance. On the other hand, adaptive web design is inflexible and geared towards the display sizes of certain devices (iPad, iPhone). As long as the visitor uses exactly these devices, the display is optimal. If they use a Samsung tablet with a smaller display instead of an iPad, the output is no longer optimal. It should also be noted that the adaptive website requires a dedicated URL.

Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design is the optimal solution for websites whose entire content should be accessible on all devices without restrictions in a uniform design. Thanks to a flexible design, the website can adapt to any display size (see http://teixido.co) and can always be accessed via the same URL. This sustainable solution automatically covers the requirements of mobile devices with new display sizes. This in turn makes the design and implementation complex and time-consuming.

Prior needs assessment

The implementation of a website in Responsive or Adaptive Web Design is not always mandatory. The decision depends on the orientation and use of the website. It should also be taken into account that a website that has been implemented with a CMS (content management system) can be used to its full extent on a desktop, laptop or tablet. Whether the website should also be optimized for smartphones depends on its relevance for this user group.

Imre Sinka

 

Zurich is not only home to Google's European think tank. A young Zurich start-up also wants to use the World Wide Web even more sensibly from here. The platform Stablish.me is declaring war on networks such as Xing and LinkedIn. "Our goal is to match talents with the right jobs," Benedikt Escher and Dominic Zünd explain the concept. On Stablish.me, everything revolves around the crucial question: "What are you really great at?" The answer is not given by the user himself, but by network contacts and friends by giving each other "badges" for special skills and characteristics. So far, 170 individual badges are available, which are awarded for "skills ", "personality traits" or "specific achievements". The result is aggregated profiles that show at a glance what makes someone special. Students, graduates and young professionals can thus show potential employers how others rate them.

"This allows much more credible conclusions to be drawn about an applicant than resumes or self-created online profiles such as those on LinkedIn or Xing," the two young entrepreneurs are convinced. After all, they have already been able to experience this effect more than once on their own. Benedikt Escher comes from Hamburg. There, he saw a report on TV about the university in St. Gallen and thought it was a "great university, because at the HSG you have the freedom to be involved in professionally working student initiatives alongside your studies." Escher earned a bachelor's degree in international relations. "It's a pretty broad degree in which you can pursue a wide variety of issues."

Benedikt Escher then gained his first professional experience - like most of his generation - with practices at Lufthansa and Credit Suisse. "Those were two large corporations, and in that environment I sensed: this corporate world couldn't have been everything after all." Escher additionally sought to satisfy his curiosity with a second degree in Rotterdam. There, he earned his first master's degree in entrepreneurship. He then completed his second in international relations during a comeback in St. Gallen. In the meantime, he also realized professionally that he "had to be entrepreneurial somehow". At this stage, the call for applications from the Institute of Information Systems at the HSG came in handy. It was possible to apply for this competition even without an already fixed business idea. During the "casting" of the candidates, Benedikt Escher was randomly assigned to a team of two with Dominic Zünd for the following workshop. "We didn't know each other beforehand." Dominic Zünd grew up in Zuzwil and studied business psychology in the Limmat city. This subject appealed to him "because it covers a very broad spectrum and allows a fundamental understanding of the processes and interrelationships of human interactions." Zünd had also previously enrolled at the HSG, but then "intuitively" decided on the University of Zurich. V

or his master's degree, Dominic Zünd also completed two internships. First in the marketing department at Debrunner Acifer in St. Gallen. He then gained further experience at Hannes Zaugg. This business consultancy specializes in interactive media projects. Dominic Zünd was allowed to "supervise and drive forward" various social media projects for a year. During this phase, he also learned about the competition of the Institute of Information Systems. At the HSG, they have been pursuing such design thinking projects for existing companies for quite some time. "In order to strengthen its reputation and apply the method to a start-up for once, as well as to prove its enormous potential," the Institute of Information Systems decided to invite tenders for a start-up project. The candidates were selected on the basis of their personalities, "which should complement each other as much as possible". Such a profile was requested in various interviews. Then several teams were assembled and put into a workshop. "Normally, a design thin- king project starts with a clearly defined problem.

For our start-up, however, we began with a white sheet of paper." On the blank ground, the task was to get an idea off the ground in a relatively short time. In the first "dry run," Escher and Zünd developed a concept of how social channels could reward "good behavior." The concept was not realized. However, it convinced the jury in St. Gallen: The Escher Zünd team is capable of "mastering" a larger project in the field of design thinking. Just one week later, they had to pack their bags. With a starting capital of 100,000 Swiss francs in the bag, which a group of 56 crowd investors, including numerous experienced entrepreneurs, had collected via the C-Crowd platform, Escher and Zünd traveled to another workshop in Stanford together with the regular Design Thinking course at the HSG. It was here in California that the design thinking method was originally developed. What all design thinking projects have in common is that you don't develop an idea and then go to the market and see if anyone wants it. The approach is the other way around: "You observe people's needs and analyze what unmet needs are out there," explains Benedikt Escher. Then you feel your way toward how you could solve this problem.

The researchers build "prototypes," test them on the target group, and use the feedback to constantly refine them until, in the "best case scenario," the developer can deliver a mature and actually usable product to the market. Over the next six months, Escher and Zünd boiled their 80 "prototypes" down to three. One of those ideas was an app for sharing items not constantly needed, such as a personal lawn mower. Finally, after about six months, only one idea was pursued. "For Stablish.me, we and our investors saw the greatest need and therefore the best opportunity." Between spring and fall 2012, the basis for Stablish.me was further fleshed out. In late fall, the project was developed to the point of market readiness, and the platform went live in a beta version in December. During this time, the team was continuously professionalized. In addition to the two founders, the first employee has already joined the team in Zurich. In addition, three software developers in Budapest and two designers in Poland work full time for the start-up. "We were forced to outsource like this because we couldn't pay similarly trained specialists here until now." In Switzerland, he said, it is "very difficult" to find idealistic people for a start-up. "Real talent in the online sector would rather work for Swisscom or Credit Suisse for much more money. And if they're willing to accept a lower salary, they usually start a startup themselves right away and pursue their own ideas there." Regardless of this situation, however, Escher and Zünd are more than happy with their colleagues in the East.

"The collaboration also works very well in terms of communication." To finance this professionalization, Stablish.me was already able to raise a further capital injection of 140,000 francs last summer via its own crowdfunding portal. In the next few days, a capital increase of 500,000 francs is scheduled. This will be used primarily to build up the company's own development and sales team and to intensify marketing. So far, the young entrepreneurs have done almost no advertising for their invention. Nevertheless, more than 3800 users are already registered on the platform. "Now it's a matter of cranking this number up massively." Initial successes were seen in recent days following a report in 20 Minuten, "which generated many new users in one fell swoop." To this end, of course, the network should also spread "from within." That the idea of Stablish.me is indeed a need among the target group can be proven by various feedbacks in the meantime. "The whole HRMarket is boiling and you realize there that you have to do something. You can't do recruitment the traditional way anymore." One problem, for example, is that almost all applicants the same age as Escher and Zünd have almost identical qualifications when they start their job search. One graduated from college with the highest grades possible.

In addition, you can show two internships. And one or two semesters abroad are also standard. But how can you set yourself apart from your competitors with this profile? Benedikt Escher and Dominic Zünd are convinced that the recommendations and personal qualifications on Stablish.me can provide recruiters with much more information on which to base their decisions. Because the users of Stablish. me, for example, also get a personal face with the personality badges in addition to their credentials. "But these are not worthless comments from well-meaning friends," the pair counter the project's critics. "At the heart of our platform, there is a very complex control system that evaluates and ranks the recommendations, much like the search algorithms at Google," the inventors explain. Zünd and Escher are therefore also convinced that their idea cannot be stolen from them so easily. And the business model? Both the advanced search and the targeted matching of talents with suitable jobs are to be offered for a fee in the future. Strong interest has also already been registered by various companies in using Stablish.me internally as a talent management tool. However, Stablish.me will remain free of charge for individual users. After all, a platform is only really successful when "as many people as possible can benefit from it". And that was also a basic idea during development in the spirit of design thinking.

Andreas Panzeri
 

Every artist and art lover knows that the frame determines which picture or which section of a picture we see and how we perceive a picture. "Framing" has therefore also become a buzzword, even a paradigm, in communication research. It should help us to better understand why certain topics reach an initial attention threshold and are suddenly perceived publicly, but also how the discussion then develops further.

Let's resist the temptation to work our way through the current topic of horsemeat when looking at framing and instead take a look at how journalism has "framed" advertising over the last 50 years. For decades, the matter seemed clear: ever since Vance Packard published his bestseller "The Secret Seducers" in the 1950s, the advertising guild had been one of the forces of evil and had set out to manipulate people like puppets. Journalists, on the other hand, were the do-gooders and enlighteners of the world, and among us '68ers there were endless discussions about whether honest, credible journalism was only possible in media without advertising. At least the left-wing alternative Taz in Germany made a virtue of its necessity: because most advertisers were out of reach for it anyway, it boasted of being a (largely) advertising-free medium. At the same time, however, it was very successful in attracting paying readers.

Meanwhile, most mainstream journalists had completely lost sight of where the money came from that enabled media such as Der Spiegel or the New York Times to use investigative research to rap the knuckles of the world's powerful - from Franz-Josef Strauss and Richard Nixon to George Bush and Wen Jiabao - and make their faces sweat with fear. In the good times, American subscription newspapers generated up to 85 percent of their revenues from advertising; in Germany and Switzerland, this figure was probably closer to two thirds of their income. In any case, it was enough to not only make many publishers filthy rich, but also to provide editorial teams with lavish fat rings.

The fact that there would be no research-based quality journalism without the devil's own advertising only came into focus when this financing model began to crumble in the face of the internet revolution. And even today, many journalists and media researchers, who unanimously and thoughtlessly lament the progressive "commercialization" of the media business, hardly give an account of why the industry and thus the editorial offices have been doing so well for decades: The business model was so profitable because it consisted of many larger and smaller monopolies and oligopolies tacitly tolerated by the antitrust authorities and media policy. These really fleeced the advertising industry - state-monopoly capitalism sent its regards and showed its grimace, but everyone who otherwise liked to stylize themselves as reliable agents of enlightenment or the market economy apparently closed their eyes to it.

The Internet has turned this situation on its head. There, at least the "old" media are exposed to fierce competition. The news websites and journalistic offerings of the competition are just a mouse click away. Meanwhile, the octopuses Facebook and Google are generating monopoly returns from the new advertising business, which finally enables advertisers to reach their target groups without wastage. And while advertisers are gradually saying goodbye to traditional advertising - first the classifieds customers, then the discounters and branded companies - journalists, media researchers and other incorrigible optimists are wishing for advertising to return as the savior that will finance journalistic content. Or they hope for more state money and foundations to finance quality journalism.

Only two suggestions are apparently taboo and do not fit into the current journalistic framing of the newspaper and media crisis: if each of us gave up our daily cappuccino in the coffee shop to help finance our favorite online news site instead, journalism would be saved. And if less soap operas, fewer sports rights, less entertainment fluff and more foreign correspondents and journalistic research projects were financed from the available concession money, this could also serve the common good - and journalism that would finally be truly independent of advertising.
 

The university is looking for a specialist for the Swiss media landscape, but the race is dominated by German candidates. This prompted Tagesanzeiger.ch to ask on Wednesday: "Will the topic of Switzerland continue to lose importance at the University of Zurich because German professors are in the majority at many institutes?". This is because the chairs at the Institute for Journalism Studies - in addition to Bonfadelli - are currently held by three Germans, a naturalized German, an Austrian and the Swiss sociologist Kurt Imhof, although Imhof is only 50 percent affiliated with the institute.

The recently published list of invited candidates also includes only German candidates, writes Tagesanzeiger.ch. It was clear from the advertisement that a Swiss person would almost certainly be suitable for the vacancy. Nevertheless, no Swiss has made it onto the shortlist. The problem with this, as one student told Tagesanzeiger.ch: "It's as if only specialists in German literature were invited to the hearings for a position in Swiss history". The university management could therefore veto Bonfadelli's successor. More decisive than nationality is likely to be the fact that the chosen candidate is not sufficiently familiar with the local media landscape, Tagesanzeiger.ch concludes, and that the Swiss research field of the vacant chair will therefore no longer be adequately covered.

Appointment lectures for the successor of Heinz Bonfadelli on March 5/6 in the main building of the University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 71, KO2-F-152.

Teaser image: Climate-network.uzh.ch
 

The four campaign subjects are now in use in the greater Baden/Wettingen area as posters, advertisements, bus hangers and outdoor bus advertising.

At Radio spot you also hear that tax bills can also be quite pleasing.

Kreienbühl und Vogler is also responsible for the redesign of the entire corporate identity, including the logo, website and all business stationery.

Responsible at Epochal Treuhand: Rade Kostic (Managing Director), Ivonne Näger (Head of Tax and Audit). Responsible at Kreienbühl and Vogler advertising agency: Reto Vogler, Oli Kreienbühl, Lorenz Wahl; Sascha Stanic (programming); radio production: Tonstudio Malz, Daniel Hobi.
 

"Once again, an internationally active, renowned wholesale company has to cease business operations after more than five decades due to the threat of insolvency...", it continues. The advertisement is a collection of news-oriented synonyms with the core message "everything must go, come by and buy cheaper". The picture of a storage room, accompanied by a caption, was probably intended to support the impression that this was a journalistic report. However, the second column provides more information: "All fellow citizens are now called upon to make extensive use of their right to act...".
For once, a simple liquidation advertisement was transformed into a publicity report.

Three years ago, a Zug-based company tried to sell its "unique masterpieces" in the Zollikon community hall. This is what the Tagesanzeiger.ch in March 2010. The company Alektra Mercantile, Shipping & Financing, based in Zug, is at work in Zollikon. Now the same company is trying again, but this time the public limited company is called the Swiss Oriental Carpet Group. The name was changed around three weeks ago. (uma)
 

The heart attack ends a life before it is over. That's the "unhappy happy ending" in a spot by Contexta for the Swiss Heart Foundation. The film was realized with storylines directed by Tobias Fueter. It follows the great love of a man from birth to death. Admittedly, life - as is the case in real life - does not always play along nicely according to wishes. Nevertheless, it comes to a happy end. If it weren't for a heart attack. The love story tips over into drama. Contexta's intention is neither to lecture nor to frighten, but simply to show how precious every minute of our lives is. The TV spot will be shown as an impressive 2-minute long spot at the beginning, but then also in shorter versions, up to a 15-second short spot. As a first step, the TV campaign has the task of raising awareness of the Swiss Heart Foundation and thus supporting its fight against the number one cause of death in Switzerland. The foundation is non-profit and independent, financed mainly by donations, legacies, bequests and sponsoring. It supports important research projects with the aim of developing new prevention, diagnosis and treatment options.

In a second step, the TV spot is also intended to serve prevention and show the population what each individual can do against cardiovascular diseases. The campaign is thus a real affair of the heart in every respect. This is also evident on the very beautifully staged campaign platform: Storyofhearts.ch. pan

 

What this is about: Since I have been working in advertising and am now writing about it, there have always been competitive tenders. As the younger generation of advertisers confirms to me, this custom has not diminished. On the contrary. Today, even pitches, as the nonsense is called, are put out to tender, in which the advertising agency has to cede the copyright for its creative work from the outset.

CHF 10,000 to a maximum of CHF 15,000 is paid for a presentation. However, the agency that responds to such a pitch produces an effort and external costs that would theoretically cost 50,000. The best creatives, the most attractive consultant, the CEO, external market research institutes, media specialists and even film productions are called in for the presentation. Once the agency feels that it has found an ingenious advertising idea that is effective for presentation, it needs two more alternatives so that the client committee (CEO, marketing and advertising manager, their assistants and sometimes also the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the CFO) have something to shoot at this presentation show. If you also shoot a pilot commercial, the costs increase again. If, as is increasingly the case, a German agency flies in with eight people, it costs less because the Germans present themselves for free.

My theory: If this presentation carousel worked, we would have better advertising in all media and I could bury my mothball idea. I think this effort is uneconomical, inefficient and unwise. Nowadays, any advertiser could find out everything about an agency via the Internet. They can even find out about the chemistry with the advertisers using the agency's own presentation. So why waste so much time and money on competing presentations? The client and agency work together to develop a clever briefing, create an attentive and entertaining implementation and, if possible, run the advertising idea for many years. In any case, the most successful advertising is the long-term one and the one that stays with the same agency.

I know that there are professional colleagues who don't get involved in this pitch nonsense. They use their creative thoughts for their existing clients and not for unprofessional marketing advertising helpers. Finally, this truth: once the pitch is won, the agency delegates the support to a second guard. Even the attractive consultant is no longer involved. The client cuts the budget and worsens the basic idea. Only losers on both sides.

My pick of the week is that, according to my research, more and more advertisers no longer want to take part in such nonsense. Your word of honor!

 

Demonstrations will be held at five locations in Switzerland between 12 noon and 2 pm. There has been no contract since January 1. And the first companies are already beginning to worsen working conditions, Syndicom said in a statement on Wednesday. The unions are ready to take action.

Many colleagues in the Swiss graphic arts industry are not prepared to stand idly by and accept the deterioration in working conditions demanded by the Viscom business association, Syndicom continued. This was demonstrated by the 95% of votes in favor of industrial action in the union ballot. The aim is to reinstate the old CLA as quickly as possible without any compromises. Neither the increase in weekly working hours by 2 hours to 42 hours nor the further reduction in night work bonuses are the right answers to the problems of the graphic arts industry.

The day of action on March 1 is also a protest against all those companies that have already worsened working conditions or intend to do so, Syndicom continued. Like Ziegler Druck in Winterthur: not only does the management want to reduce the bonuses per night hour worked to 30 percent in two stages. The protection of vested rights (CLA 2012 Art. 223 Para. 4) is also to be abolished without replacement. The implementation of this reduction package would mean a loss of between CHF 500 and CHF 1,000 per month for those affected.

The day of action will take place on March 1 at the following locations:

Winterthur, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Ziegler Druck, Rudolf-Diesel-Strasse 22

Lucerne, 2.30 to 4.30 p.m.: Kapellplatz

Fribourg, from 12 noon: Assembly in front of the Paulus printing works (boulevard de Pérolles 38)

Program:
From 12 noon: Speeches by NR Christan Levrat and Alain Carrupt, Co-President of Syndicom and others.
12.30-13.30: Demonstration through the city and handover of a petition with over 7,000 signatures for the preservation of jobs.

Geneva, 12.30 to 13.30: in front of the Rochat-Baumann printing works (rue Plantamour 34 aux Pâquis),

Glovelier, 12.30 to 13.30: café de la Poste

 

In contrast to individual comparative measurements, the media usage of all user groups shows only minor fluctuations over the course of the year. What is striking, however, is that individual socio-demographic differences during extraordinary events such as the European Football Championships and the Summer Olympics are important signals for the use of advertising, according to the study. In this context, it is hardly surprising that the spikes in TV usage are attributable to men. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to listen to the radio, read online newspapers or go shopping online. Only when it comes to reading online newspapers can we speak of a moderate but stringent downward trend among those surveyed, which could perhaps be due to the discussion or occasional introduction of paywalls.

Online activities with different trends

The results of the study also show that e-activities are developing very differently over the course of the year. Social media shows a slight but continuous upward trend, as does online shopping, which is growing steadily. There is also an overall upward trend, albeit with fluctuations, in the use of search engines. It is striking that the increase in usage correlates with major international events. The use of online games, on the other hand, is very seasonal, with the winter months proving to be the main driver.

Detailed results of the Electronic Footprint study and the latest data in the areas of TV, radio, teletext, AdScreen, Internet TV, performance marketing, in-game advertising and mobile marketing are presented by the Goldbach Group in the Goldbachguide available.

Electronic Footprint - user trends for e-media

The Goldbach Group's Electronic Footprint provides information about user behavior in electronic media. The study, with several survey waves per year, primarily reveals short-term changes in behavior. Over time, it should also be possible to identify usage curves that indicate future and plannable media use.

 

Many companies want to target young people specifically. After all, young people with purchasing power are both today's customers and those of tomorrow. The only problem is that communication is anything but easy. If adults try to come across as cool, young people usually find it embarrassing. You don't do yourself any favors by saying "totally rad," "crazy" or "easy. What's more, young people quickly see through marketing messages and reject them as soon as they seem untrustworthy.

Companies lack sensitivity not least because of their distance from young people. "To know what makes young people tick, it's not enough to read magazines, ask around or be present on social media platforms," says Fabio Emch of Jim & Jim, an agency specializing in youth and student marketing. "You have to engage very intensively with young people." To do this, Jim & Jim relies on quantitative and qualitative market research. In addition to representative surveys, the agency offers so-called brand sessions. At these, companies can exchange ideas directly with young people and have their products and services, their advertising and communication analyzed by young people.

Four such sessions took place on February 21 at "brandBoost" in Zurich. Among others, the free advertising platform Ricardolino. ch, the little brother of Ricardo.ch. The online platform was particularly interested in finding out more about the usage behavior of young people, as Oliver Schibli, Managing Director of Ricardolino.ch, explains: "Digital natives tick differently when it comes to media usage."

Ricardolino.ch under the magnifying glass

Armed with a notebook or tablet, the 25 young people are waiting for their turn at the brand analysis. They don't yet know which company is behind the session. Because Ricardolino.ch first wants to ask the young people about the topic of classifieds in general. Do you sell or buy used things online? Which platforms do you use? Only then will the secret about the customer be revealed and the young people will be asked in two further questionnaires about their opinion of Ricardolino. ch in two further questionnaires. Have you already heard about Ricardolino.ch? Where from? Have you already used the platform? Are you familiar with the commercials? Do you like them?

The real core of the Brand Session, however, follows after the survey, when the debate is opened. In rounds of five to seven people, the young people discuss together with a Jim & Jim employee. How is the handling? What could be improved? What features are missing? At this point, the representatives of Ricardolino.ch, who have held back so far, also join in the discussion. Schibli and his team ask more questions, dig deeper. What did you mean by that? Why is an app important to you? The young people have more than enough suggestions. Even when the session is officially over, one or two comments are still made, the young people pester Schibli with questions. Does it already have that? And what about...? Quite to the delight of Ricardolino. ch: "The session has opened our eyes in some areas and provided us with valuable input," says Schibli. "We got a sense of what young people think of Ricardolino.ch and our advertising campaign. And how they feel about the topic of free classifieds in general." Now the evaluation of the session or the questionnaire is still missing. Until the results are available in black and white, Ricardolino. ch will have to wait a few more days.

Isabel Imper

In a nutshell

"brandBoost" (formerly Trend Day) is one of the three sub-events of the Swiss Forum for Youth Marketing and Youth Culture Boost, which took place in Zurich on February 21. In addition to the brand analysis, marketers could expect a series of lectures in the afternoon in which they gained insight into trend research, marketing practice and the lifeworlds of today's young people. The speakers included Kris Hoet from the Belgian agency Duval Guillaume Modem and Alexander Mazzara from Joiz. Finally, the "talent boost" followed in the evening, where young people and students presented their talent companies - in the categories Multimedia & IT, Art & Design, Science & Technology and Entertainment. Initiators and organizers of the forum are Jim & Jim, an agency specializing in youth and student marketing, and the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Chur.

 

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Young and cool - that's not enough
 
Fabio Emch is a specialist in youth and student marketing. In this interview, he explains how companies can address young people in the right way and why it is essential to engage with them in depth.

 
WW: When it comes to youth marketing, companies can do a lot of things wrong. What is the biggest mistake you can make?
Simply put: ingratiation. When companies try to act young and be cool. Young people don't like that. They immediately realize when something is not genuine.
 
Can you give an example?
In most cases, ingratiation is seen in industries that are far removed from the lifestyles of young people. When banks or insurance companies target young people, there's a great danger that the marketing will have an ingratiating effect. I also feel that the current organic advertising of a retailer with rappers goes in this direction. Our studies show that organic is not such a big issue for young people. Whereby one must say here: The company probably wanted to generate attention precisely through this slightly ironic content.
 
How do companies avoid ingratiation? Or, to put it another way: How do they communicate properly?
This varies depending on the brand and the industry. There is no patent remedy. Basically, it's not enough to say "we're young and cool. You have to immerse yourself in the lives of young people and find out what offers are exciting for them. What are their exact needs? A company has to offer young people a real advantage. Let's take insurance: Adults are security-oriented when choosing their insurance model, whereas young people are more interested in saving and making a profit. Marketing must be specifically geared to this need.
 
How does Jim & Jim find out what young people are interested in?
On the one hand, as a specialized agency, we draw on a wealth of experience. On the other hand, we seek contact with young people. When we design a campaign, we ask young people what they think of it. In addition, we offer brand sessions, such as those that took place at Boost. Companies benefit enormously from direct exchange with young people.
 
In what way?
Customers can have a conversation directly with the boys and follow up if necessary. The youngsters, in turn, share what they hope to get out of a fire. At the TCS Cooldown Club, for example, the focus was on the attractiveness of offers. It emerged that the young people want added value in the area of cars and mobility. They don't want to go to the movies for less because they are members of TCS, but rather to benefit from cheap tires or a discounted toll sticker.
 
How important are brand ambassadors in positioning a brand with young people?
The use of brand ambassadors has been proven to work well. Successful examples from the youth and lifestyle scene are Michael Jordan (Nike Air Jordan), Kelly Slater (Quicksilver) or Iouri Podladtchikov (Quicksilver). The situation is different when working via seeding in the scene. This does not work for every brand and not systematically.
 
When does it work - and when doesn't it?
There are the hip brands that come out of the underground and are suddenly in, without you knowing exactly why. At the moment, for example, the Revolution fashion label. Such brands usually have brand ambassadors from the scene who appear on blogs and are photographed in 20 Minutes Friday. However, as a big brand, this system is difficult to use. An insurance company can't simply hook itself such a brand ambassador. That would be untrustworthy. Both from the point of view of the brand ambassador and from the point of view of the brand.
 
Does it make sense for established brands to target young people with a new brand?
Provided the new brand is in line with the corporate strategy, absolutely. Fashion and sports brands regularly launch new labels that are based on the young. But also the cantonal banks, which appear together under a new name with the "STUcard," or Mobiliar insurance with "MobiJeunes." The idea is to attract the young with entry-level labels with which they can better identify. The goal must be to introduce these customers to the "old brand" through efficient community marketing.
 
We always talk about THE young people. In fact, it's not a uniform target group. Is it true that young people can be differentiated by music, fashion and sports?
Yes. Music in particular is very important in the lives of young people and therefore offers great emotionalization potential for brands. Orange, for example, works with the music streaming service Spotify and offers young people the opportunity to access their music from their smartphone. Or festivals are also an ideal positioning platform. The challenge is: Where is the "brand overkill"? How do you appear as a brand?
 
Does youth marketing have to go beyond advertising campaigns? Or, to put it another way, do you have to offer young people a service?
I think it's going in that direction. Young people pay a lot of attention to discounts and special offers when making purchasing decisions. How can I profit? Where can I get something cheap? They are familiar with the tricks of how to save.
 
Are teenagers bargain hunters?
In principle, yes. Often inevitably. According to our studies, price has an above-average influence on young people's purchasing decisions. But if a product is particularly trendy, they'll buy it - no matter how much it costs. If the new iPhone is hot at school, they'll get it.
 
Keyword digital natives: What implications does the media use of young people have for marketing?
Thanks to the Internet, blogs and social media, young people today are very well informed about offers and the latest trends. Even if they live in a remote mountain village. At 13, when they open their first bank account, it's still their parents who decide. Relatively soon, however, things reverse. Then parents ask their children whether they should buy a Mac or an HP computer. Youth marketing is therefore very demanding. You have to know which channels young people use for information and what influences them. Otherwise, you're quickly out of the window.
 
Would you describe young people in general as open to advertising?
We've already touched on it: Young people are not a homogeneous target group. Market research (Sigma study, Sinus) segments them into milieus: The consumption-oriented hedonists are very open to advertising. The conservatives are influenced by advertising, but do not admit it. The progressives, on the other hand, tend to be critical ... Basically, I would say: If something comes across as cool - and if the offer is suitable for the young, young people are open to advertising.
 
Youth marketing has not been practiced professionally for too long. How would you describe the status quo?
There are major differences throughout Europe. In England or Germany, professionalized youth marketing is already a huge topic. There are specialized agencies and media that approach young people separately and deal intensively with how young people are socially embedded and what concerns them. In Switzerland, the idea that you have to empathize with young people in depth in order to appeal to them is not yet as widespread. At the moment, people are starting to deal with the topic more actively.
 
What is the evidence of this?
Recently, there have been youth media like Joiz that clearly position themselves above young people. VW has specific offers aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 28. So does TCS with the Cooldown Club. Targeting young people is important. Studies show that people become attached to a product or a brand between the ages of 15 and 20. This is the age at which people begin to engage with brands (Generation Network 2011).
 
How do you think youth marketing will evolve?
I think there will be even more experts who deal specifically with young people. Banks, insurance companies and telcos already have youth officers and young customer advisors who look after young people. Specialization will continue to increase. Recently, a CEO of a large agency told me that the measurability of campaigns is becoming increasingly relevant. Knowing the target group precisely is therefore becoming a more important criterion for campaigns.
 
Media interest is currently focused in particular on the Ü-50 or Ü-60 generation ...
The fact that older people and senior citizens are a big topic at the moment shows that it is important to address the target group specifically and to deal with it intensively. You have to know what makes the target group tick. In my opinion, this focus will continue to increase.
 
Interview: Isabel Imper

Various media have also taken a look behind the scenes in recent weeks and have been on tour with the TCS. This has resulted in TV, radio and newspaper reports on the continuous deployment of TCS patrols in snow and ice. The campaign is currently present throughout Switzerland and, in addition to breakdown assistance, also promotes the TCS offers for car insurance, legal and travel protection.

Responsible at TCS: Marcus Brugger (Head of Marketing Services). Responsible at Wirz Corporate: Marcel Morach, Stefan Zahler (design), Nicole Suter, Fabienne Huwyler (art buying), Andreas Bosshart (digital), Olivia Neubauer, Andrea Laube (PR and project management), Thore Lingel (overall responsibility). Photographer: Noë Flum.