To further promote the agency's digital expertise, Y&R Group Switzerland is creating the position of Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) as of the beginning of the year, according to a statement. The newly created position will be filled by Martin Sauter, previously managing director of Futurecom interactive. His role is to research communicative and technological trends in the digital world and to make the corresponding knowledge available to customers and employees. Process and quality management as well as internal training are also part of the CKO's remit.

Donat Grimm takes over the position of Managing Director of Futurecom interactive. He was CMO at CustVox for the last two years and previously partner at itopia for four years. Donat Grimm has extensive experience in branding, positioning, marketing strategies and communicative implementations in digital media.

Martin Sauter and Donat Grimm are members of the extended management of Y&R Group Switzerland.
 

The Media Focus Advertising Market Trend Report 2012/12 can be here in PDF format can be downloaded.

The fact that the decline was not greater is due to the intensified advertising expenditure in December. According to the survey, advertising pressure in the month of Christmas sales was 1 percent above the previous month's figure at CHF 426.9 million. Over the year as a whole, food and vehicles were again the most advertised in 2012. The food sector held a 10.5 percent share and the vehicle sector a 9.7 percent share of advertising volume in Switzerland. Food advertising was down 0.2 percentage points, while that for vehicles remained the same.

The biggest share shifts in 2012 were in cosmetics and personal care, with an increase of one percentage point to 8.5 percent. This made the beauty and hygiene sector the third strongest advertising force in the market. Telecommunications still had an advertising share of 5.1 percent and dropped from 7th to 10th place with this loss of 0.7 percentage points.

In the stagnating advertising market, there were almost as many advertisers as in the previous year. Their numbers declined by 0.4 percent. Media Focus sees this as the interruption of a trend observed since 2009. From 2009 to 2011, an average of 6.8 percent of advertising companies disappeared from the market each year. (SDA)
 

"I am very proud that we can once again promote long-time employees and thus expand the excellence of our creation," Executive Creative Director Alexander Jaggy said in a statement. The three new creative directors succeed the two departures Fernando Perez and Livio Dainese, who will become partners and members of the executive board of Hinderling Volkart as of February 1 (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Samuel Christ (34) started his creative career at Springer&Jacoby in Hamburg after graduating from Jura. Christ has been working at Jung von Matt/Limmat since 2006 and was responsible for several campaigns for Graubünden Ferien (Obermutten), Migros (Huhn TV spot), Pro Infirmis, smart, Migros Bank and Max Shoes.

Andy Lusti (35) graduated from the copywriting school in Hamburg and joined Jung von Matt/Limmat in 2011 after working for KNSK Hamburg, KSB/SJ and Advico Young & Rubicam. His work includes campaigns for Graubünden Ferien, Migros and Smart.

Maurus Zehnder (34) worked at KSB/SJ and Rod after his debut at Jung von Matt/Limmat. In 2011, the Grisons native returned to JvM/Limmat as Art Director. Zehnder's work includes campaigns for brands such as Graubünden Ferien, Migros, Pro Juventute and Smart.

All three are members of ADC Switzerland and have been responsible for several national and international award-winning campaigns.

"It's no secret that digital agencies struggle to attract outstanding creatives for the big communications idea." Michael Hinderling explained the move in a statement. Hinderling Volkart was founded in 2007 by Michael Hinderling and Michael Volkart. The agency with 25 employees leads brands such as Swiss, SRF, Bucherer and Microsoft Switzerland in the digital space with websites and campaigns. 

As creative directors and members of the Jung von Matt/Limmat management team, Fernando Perez and Livio Dainese were responsible for the communication of Graubünden Ferien, the Migros umbrella brand campaign "Ein M besser", NZZ or Pro Infirmis. Under their leadership, highlights such as the two ibexes Gian and Giachen, the Facebook village Obermutten, the One Minute of Silence for Haiti for Caritas, the bear of Pro Infirmis or the sustainability campaign Generation M for Migros were created. Perez and Dainese's work has been honored internationally and nationally with over 230 awards, including three gold and two silver Effies for efficient communication in addition to Cannes Lions, One Show and D&AD Pencils.

"Livio and Fernando bring many years of experience in conception and implementation of campaigns on an international level and complement our competencies perfectly. We are really looking forward to this biggest strategic step so far," Michael Volkart comments on the repositioning of the agency.
 

At Union 3, she works as project manager for PR and marketing and is responsible in particular for the Zurich Dances and the Sternschnuppe Children's Aid Foundation, as detailed in a press release. Inés Maloigne completed her studies in journalism and organizational communication at the ZHAW in 2006. After entering the communications and marketing industry at X-tra Productions, she worked in marketing at the Lucerne Festival for five years.
 

The starting point: Greed and fear have influenced human behavior since time immemorial. Even today, these primal instincts are the undoing of many investors. When prices fall, they rush to sell. And when prices rise, they miss out on realizing their gains. With rule-based investment models, these basic human instincts are eliminated: Securities from asset classes with good performance are automatically sold, and securities from asset classes with poor performance are automatically added to. These fixed rules lead to better returns. This is also proven by the successful investment models of Harvard and Yale universities, as the agency writes in a press release.

Ruf Lanz's campaign is strikingly different from conventional financial advertising: Using the example of Neanderthals in business attire, it is shown that today it is better not to rely on one's primal instincts. Ruf Lanz collaborated with photographer Jonathan Heyer and sculptor Gerd Caris for the elaborate production.

The three subjects appear specifically in the business press.

Responsible at VZ Vermögenszentrum: Matthias Reinhart, Gabriella Hollenstein, Marc Weber. Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf, Danielle Lanz (creative direction), Isabelle Hauser (art direction), Thomas Schöb (text), Dave Schellenberg (graphics), Nathalie Jakober (consulting), Sebastian Durband (consulting management). Photography: Jonathan Heyer. Model making: Gerd Caris. Image processing: Patrik Rohner.

Raemy, 40, has been with Primus Publishing since January 1998. In 2003, he took an 18-month break due to a detour to another publishing house, before making his comeback at Travel Inside on March 1, 2004. In August 2008, Jean-Claude Raemy moved to Bergen (Norway) for family reasons and continued to work for Travel Inside as a field editor. In May 2011, Jean-Claude Raemy returned to Zurich, took over the post of deputy editor-in-chief and was thus significantly involved in the editorial implementation and design of the magazine, according to a statement. Urs Hirt remains deputy editor-in-chief of Travel Inside. Angelo Heuberger, founder and former editor-in-chief, will remain publisher and member of the editorial team. In the future, he will increasingly take care of tasks in the publishing house.

Rutishauser started at Velvet Creative Office, according to the release, and then joined Troller at Ottiger & Partner BSW a few years ago. Now the two have set up an office themselves - as Trollhauser for concept, text and story.

After a brief career as a cantonal school teacher, Troller moved into the communications industry. He has been a copywriter/concept developer in Lucerne since 2004. As a Germanist, he loves language. Nevertheless, he likes to reduce it - at least the written one - to a minimum. "Writing is DIN A4, copywriting is a Post-It," he says, "and sticking to the essentials." Incidentally, that's what his reportages do, too.

Rutishauser's first career was similarly short: He was a management consultant at the Malik Management Zentrum in St. Gallen - a long way from Engelberg. So in 2002 he started his second career as a copywriter/concept developer. In addition, he was a hearty weekend night porter at the Bellevue Palace, Bern. Today, Rutishauser focuses entirely on text. His hobbyhorse: storytelling. "Who falls in love with bullet points?" Since 2009, he has worked part-time as head of communications for a globally active SME in Lucerne.

Troller and Rutishauser complement each other perfectly. They have known this since their time at Ottiger & Partner BSW in Reussbühl/Lucerne Since then, they have not only mangled each other's texts until they were good. In their private lives, too, there is always something to discuss: one is a Dortmund sympathizer, the other a Bayern fan. One is into heavy metal, the other is a member of the electric polka band Jolly & the Flytrap. They also have something in common: they both like well-tapped evenings. They make the same parenting mistakes with their daughters. And both have a soft spot for armadillos.

In addition to concepts, texts and stories, Trollhauser is also happy to take on project management. Which message is to be conveyed to which dialog group, how, when and in which channels: Trollhauser analyzes and shows it in communication concepts.

In addition to the subjects, radio spots on the theme of "Gebrüder Gym" will be used to promote the new fitness subscriptions that new and existing members can book during the "Open House" campaign. The official opening will take place on January 18, 19 and 20, 2013.

Responsible at David Gym ZH-West: Kathi Fleig. Contact at Hangar 51 | Communications: Mark Seeholzer (CD, text/concept).

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WW: What does KSP's new orientation mean: "Advertising and Sustainability"?
Daniel Krieg: KSP was, is and remains an advertising agency. In the modern sense of 360 degrees. That's what "advertising" stands for. KSP distinguishes and differentiates itself with its profound expertise in the field of sustainability and the communication of sustainability. That's what "and sustainability" stands for. Because in order to avoid boredom, greenwashing or, much worse, unintentional greenwashing on this topic, you simply need more knowledge than on "normal" topics. On the other hand, whether you communicate sustainability defensively or offensively, whether in sub-ranges or as a brand component or even as a central brand driver, you have to know exactly where there are purchase drivers and where there are purchase inhibitors, what is relevant to the imagination or not, to what extent there is a willingness to increase the number of customers, to what extent there are actual or emotional benefits. In addition, you have to know how to deal with all stakeholders on this sensitive issue. All of our existing clients appreciate the fact that KSP has a deep understanding of all of this. And they appreciate even more that we will continue to lead the way in sustainability in the future.

Is this new positioning one reason why Christoph Bürge left the agency?
Yes, that is the reason.

Are there any jobs that KSP wants to turn down in the future?
The orders that we would have to turn down no longer come in at all, because we take a clear stand with "advertising and sustainability". We will never advertise nuclear power. In return, we get a lot of new inquiries, precisely because of our special expertise. But I don't want to get more specific at this point. And yes, in all the contacts we have with customers and potential customers, sustainability is always a high-priority issue. Not the only one, mind you, but an important one. For me personally, it's the topic of the future in general. Out of inner conviction, but also out of business foresight. Since the realignment, I see the future of our agency as green again in every respect. We have a head start of several years on our differentiation topic of sustainability.
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In terms of awareness, the Chocolat Frey ad by the advertising agency Spillmann, Felser, Leo Burnett came out on top, followed by the SBB ad by the agency Contexta and the Ikea ad by the agency Wirz. In the Uniqueness criterion, the Unicef ad by Saatchi&Saatchi is well ahead of the Pastorini ad by advertising agency Lesch + Frei and the ad for Goldau Zoo by Advico Young&Rubicam. Unicef also wins Brand Fit ahead of the ad for Swiss meat by the advertising agency Polyconsult and the Ikea ad. In terms of likeability, Unicef wins just ahead of Goldau Zoo and the Pastorini ad.

Impact-Check of Werbewoche January 2013 (PDF)

Impact check of Werbewoche January 2013 (detailed results, PDF)

WW: What were the reasons for joining forces with a traditional agency?
Alex Schmid: Basically, there were always two options for me: Merger with a dialog agency or integration into a traditional agency. For me, the primary focus had to be on strategic dimensions. These were now right. DACHCOM gains a presence in Zurich and sound dialog expertise, while we on the other hand can expand our offering in the direction of integrated campaigns and have access to digital resources. And all this without conflicts in the customer portfolio.
 
Have you evaluated different agencies?
Over the past 20 years, I have held various talks and negotiations. In the first year, René Hürlimann from Euro was already on the mat and we looked at interesting international options. In Alex Schmid's agency history, I was a network partner twice: at Grey and at Draft. I gained valuable experience and learned what makes sense and what doesn't. Reporting is definitely not one of my favorites.
 
Why did you choose DACHCOM?
In addition to the many rational criteria that have been met, in the end I simply had a good feeling about Christin and Otto Gmeiner. They too have built something up step by step with solid work and their own efforts and are inspired by high-quality campaigns in the interests of their customers. I am convinced that the federalist model of DACHCOM is right and that the two cultures with their similarities and differences will come together well. The fact that it is an owner-managed Swiss agency also had a positive influence on the decision.
 
What advantages will the merger bring?
Our customers will benefit from in-depth brand expertise, a large creative pool of over 20 designers and a wide range of production services. The realization in particular can be offered more competitively due to the close proximity of supply and cost structures. For us, this results in an expansion of our dialog competence to include branding, digital media and the interdisciplinary exchange of experience.
 
Was it difficult to change the name to DACHCOM.DIALOG after 20 years of Alex Schmid? Less in the name than in the appearance. We redesigned the "Alex Schmid" brand last year. That is now a thing of the past. Instead, we now have practice in relaunching, and internal projects like this always pose particular challenges. I'm thinking of the website, for example. We will continue with our existing site, rebrand it and link it to the DACHCOM website.
 
What will change in the way we work?
Not much. I will continue to run the agency as before for an indefinite period. In the short and medium term, it will relieve me of management tasks such as finance, IT and human resources. I will be happy to invest more of the time I gain in acquisition and conception, i.e. what I really enjoy doing.
 
Are results already visible?
We have some joint contacts, but there are no concrete plans yet. The merger only officially took place two weeks ago. So far, one of our customers has requested an agency presentation, which naturally makes us happy that the potential has been recognized immediately. However, we are very motivated to tackle joint projects.

Interview: Andreas Panzeri