Werner Samland worked for Infowerk in Nuremberg for several years, where he was responsible for corporate development. At Speck Print, he heads the Prepress & Online department. He is also a member of the management board. According to a Speck Print press release, he is responsible for providing customers with faster, more secure and more efficient creation and production processes using web-based solutions and thus taking account of the new realities in marketing departments with regard to time-to-market, so that marketing messages can be placed on the market noticeably better and faster.

Social media practitioners who have entered their websites on the WEmad.org social media overview were asked how they see the future development of social media. This resulted in a broad cross-section that reveals the following trends.

The bosses want to see figures

Social media has grown up - it is no longer a playground where all kinds of new things can be tried out in a carefree manner. And as is usual with adults, they have to make their own living and be accountable. The Werbewoche survey clearly shows that social media has increasingly reached top management and is being managed accordingly. Says Beat Kluser, Online Marketing Manager at V-Zug AG: "Social media are supported and backed by management. Qualitative and quantitative goals are defined according to the social media strategy and are regularly monitored." Demonstrating a clear return on investment (ROI) from social media activities is likely to become a reality in many companies in 2013, as company bosses are increasingly less willing to invest resources in marketing experiments with social media without receiving a clear return. A global survey of 1,200 CEOs conducted by London-based Fournaise Marketing Group last summer revealed that 80 percent of them were dissatisfied with the results of their marketing managers and did not trust them. 69% of CEOs in the B2C sector stated that marketers were living too much in a creativity and social media bubble and were too focused on metrics such as "likes", "tweets", "feeds" or "followers", which they could not use to prove concrete growth in demand.

Budgets are getting smaller - or shifted

As a result, budgets for social media will become smaller. René Schwarz, partner at the cross-media communications agency Maxomedia, analyzes this: "The presences have been built up and exclusive social media campaigns have not been successful enough." However, social media expenditure is not being cut back everywhere; in some cases, social media is being favored at the expense of conventional channels, as Leandro Roder, Head of Communications at RailAway AG of SBB, reports: "For the first time in 2013, we are making savings in some places and have planned a budget shift for social media. "

No longer going it alone

Being an adult also means taking on one's own role in the world with others. For social media, this means that they are increasingly being integrated into the overall communication work. Mathieu Janin, a communications consultant from French-speaking Switzerland, puts it this way: "Social media can and should no longer be used in isolation, but should be precisely coordinated with other communication tools." This requirement applies to SBB, for example, as Oliver Tamas from SBB's social media team reports: "We are constantly trying to accompany or strengthen conventional activities on social media. Integrated campaigns are still the exception, but the aim is to increase them in future." Beat Kluser is also moving in this direction: "We are striving for and practising integrated communication as much as possible. For V-Zug's 100th anniversary in 2013, we will also be pushing ahead with this approach. " Social media channels are also integrated into the planning of campaign measures at Switzerland Cheese Marketing AG, as Manuela Sonderegger, responsible for public relations, explains. And she names a clearly defined function for this: "They help us to receive direct feedback from consumers. " For Marie-Christine Schindler, a PR consultant and author specializing in social media, using social media effectively and successfully as an amplifier in combination with conventional communication activities is also a goal worth striving for. However, she notes critically: "But when I observe how poorly social media integration has been implemented on some websites, I think there is still a lot to do here. So far, I know of few examples that work in a consistently integrated, cross-media and networked way."

Nothing works without pictures

The majority of people are visual creatures, which explains the surge in success of visual social networks over the past year. Pinterest, for example, had one million active users in July 2011 and could boast a community of 20 million just one year later. The same goes for Instagram: When Facebook boss Zuckerberg bought the company at the beginning of 2012, there were 860,000 daily active users. From September 2012, the number skyrocketed to 11 million. The continued unbroken success of YouTube - the second-largest search engine after all - also confirms this trend. Every month, more than 800 million unique users visit YouTube, accessing over four billion hours of video content. Social media practitioners in Switzerland have come to realize that if you want to communicate successfully, you need visually appealing content. René Walker, Head of Communications at bicycle specialist Thömus AG, says: "Images are becoming increasingly important. We practically don't post any news on Facebook without a suitable picture." And according to Oliver Tamas, the same rule applies at SBB: "Every post has a visual element. Posts with images or videos have higher engagement rates than text-only posts."

Optimize for mobile

Good images and short texts are an important recipe for success, especially when it comes to the mobile use of digital content, which continues to grow rapidly. As with other media, social media practitioners would do well to take this trend into account and optimize their content accordingly. One person who has recognized this is Sven Beichler, CEO of Myswisschocolate: "There is huge potential here. That's why we will also be moving in this direction, with offers, apps, partnerships, etc.".

Score points with your own content

However, even those who accompany content with images and focus on mobile are falling short: good original content is often needed, and companies will increasingly have to come up with appropriate strategies. Peter Metzinger from Business Campaigning Switzerland sums this up as follows: "The more of your own content you offer, the more likely you are to stand out from the crowd. In addition, targeted corporate branding is only possible with self-generated content. If this is relevant to your social media activities, you are forced to create your own content." A content strategy includes curating content from third parties and from your own company as well as branded entertainment productions. SBB, for example, has already gained initial experience with the "Die Sparfahrer" campaign, in which a sales promotion was advertised using daily and unconventional YouTube videos.

Advertising on Facebook is booming

Because advertising in the traditional sense is hardly used in social media anymore, content is increasingly interwoven with advertising. Various participants in the Werbewoche survey reported that they regularly place advertisements and sponsored messages on Facebook and have had good experiences with them. Targeted advertising on Facebook is therefore expected to continue to outperform traditional media.

Customer service is being expanded

For companies with intensive customer service, handling this via social media is of great strategic importance. This can save on resources and thus establish a solid return on investment for the corresponding social media activities. In addition, such publicly visible support has a positive effect on the brand image. Some national companies such as Swiss, Swisscom and SBB are leading the way here. Oliver Tamas from SBB, for example, says: "Customer service on Facebook is an important element of the social media strategy. Its importance will increase with a Twitter channel." And Beat Kluser is also thinking about an expansion at V-Zug: "With the first Swiss cooking and washing advice service on Facebook, V-Zug has been offering a popular service for a good eighteen months. A further expansion of such customer service interfaces is certainly conceivable and suitable for various topics."

Fancy trends are coming, but later

More recent developments in the social media sector, such as social TV, social news, social e-commerce and second screen shopping, are considered to be interesting by the survey participants, but are not expected to reach new heights in Switzerland in the current year.

Facebook above all else

When it comes to assessing the various social networks, there is only one provider that everyone agrees on: Facebook is everywhere. The prevailing view is that the hype among the younger generation is over and the older generations are now increasingly jumping on board. The video network YouTube is considered to be of consistently high importance. Although they are growing steadily, Twitter and Google+ are only expected to play a minor role in Switzerland in the future. In the professional sector, Xing and Linkedin are considered established. Meanwhile, the special interest platform Pinterest hardly plays a role in Switzerland, as there are still hardly any users here. This also applies to the photo-sharing app Instagram, which can be used to share photos on social networks.
 
Christoph J. Walther

Serranetga developed the brand strategy, claim and the international communication platform "Better hearing starts with a story" for Connect Hearing. Tell us yours." At the core of this platform is the idea that every individual deserves a hearing solution tailored to their circumstances. The agency wrote this in a statement on Thursday.

To kick off the campaign, four TV commercials were shot for the USA. In them, four Connect Hearing clients describe a key situation in their lives that was no longer fun or easy to cope with without hearing aids. The spots and print adaptations of the touching stories have been running in the USA since January 2013. New countries are being added on an ongoing basis. Local customer stories are always collected and used for communication.

Responsible at Serranetga: Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor (Creative Direction), Daniel Pieracci, Simon Kümin (Text), Fabian Keller (Strategy), Daniel Zuberbühler (Consulting), Remo Prinz (Overall Responsibility). Responsible at Connect Hearing / Sonova: Renato Di Rubbo (Director Marketing), Beat Meier (Marketing Manager), David Resch (Senior Marketing Manager). Film production: Niels Vije (Producer), Cello Schnyder (Director), Roli Schmid (Cinematographer), Parthenon Films USA (Service Production), Christos Dervenis (Executive Producer), Friedrich Kleinhapl (Music), Gregor Rosenberger (Jingle Jungle), Jürgen Kupka (Color Grading).

About the spots:

The Story of Uwe - Connect Hearing
The Story of Freddie - Connect Hearing
The Story of Lisa - Connect Hearing
The Story of Frank - Connect Hearing
 

Firstly, if you look at the advertising campaigns for casinos, you wonder whether this product doesn't deserve more creative, original and unbridled advertising. Even conservative insurance companies have shown much more advertising ingenuity. Secondly, it's about the design technique with illustrations. Before you have an idea, here's the idea: "We'll use an English illustrator. Yes, very good idea." You then show the customer your glamorous portfolio. And they are thrilled. But the advertising idea is still missing. And the advertising solution now looks just as unimaginative and stiff. Failure.

My theory. First of all, the problem of working with illustrations: In our example, the creatives completely forgot, or didn't know, that illustrations offer possibilities that photoshops can only dream of. This opportunity has been missed. Let us remember Herbert Leupin's clown for knees, who juggles the letters on his knee, the covers of Der Spiegel magazine, the New Yorker or the numerous opera house posters by Domenic Geissbühler (the opera house also offers spectacle and play). Lürzer's archive contains countless examples of outstanding campaigns using the illustration technique.

The countless movies such as Ice Age, Shrek and Toy Story show us how far the imagination can go in illustration.

In addition to the missed opportunity for the casinos, I am also annoyed by the unspeakable children's chocolate jumping jack on TV.

So illustrations are an ideal advertising medium. But even this technique needs an idea. Otherwise you'd better leave it alone.

On the subject of advertising for a casino, the client and its advertisers should have come up with a better campaign. I understand that casino advertising is a novelty in Switzerland. But the fact that the people at "Baden im Glück" and Swiss Casinos can only come up with these clichés makes me wonder. Advertising has a disease: the "unimaginative, non-dropout virus". I think that the clients carry this virus and have infected the advertisers with it. But I believe that this disease should be curable.

My pick of the week is that the post office has improved its service and friendliness. After all, they broke a 500 ml bottle of Olio Nuovo that was packaged in accordance with postal regulations. They called me immediately and refunded the value of the goods and the postage.

The problems themselves are doing great thanks to excessive alcohol consumption. People suffering from lovesickness, depression and unemployment can be happy that they are finally no longer so lonely. The new Blue Cross commercials express this in a memorable way. They have been broadcast on Radio 1 since the end of last year and tell of the miraculous increase in mental and physical problems caused by alcohol.

If the in-depth psychological analyses of the spots seem a little superficial, change the radio station. (uma)

Spot1
Spot2
Spot3

Responsible at Blue Cross Zurich: Henrik Viertel (Head of Communications and Fundraising). Responsible at Advico Y&R: Markus Gut (overall responsibility), Dominik Oberwiler, Martin Stulz (CD), Martin Stulz (lyrics), Ramun Knapp (consulting) Jingle Jungle (studio), Michael Schwarz (sound engineer).

Teaser image: Keystone

The world is ruled digitally. Consumers are online, connected, mobile and geolocalized. They tweet, like and share. They indulge in video snacking. This change is provoking a break with a communication model that is already outdated after 20 years. "Cross-media and 360° communication are outdated," says Gilles Aeby from Numéro 10, as is the approach of being able to address a uniform target group with a single message via linear channels. "It's time for campaigns to reinvent themselves around convergence and multiplicity," says the progressive strategist from Numéro 10. Multi content, multi target, multi device and multi screen. This is the new world of synchronized communication. At Numéro 10 in Bern, the idea is to be offered to clients in future under the motto "SyncBig" as part of a reorientation of the agency.

"SyncBig" is a new approach to synchronized communication that tells a brand story in a variety of episodes. It addresses different consumer profiles through classic, dynamic, digital, mobile and social media, all of which are networked with each other using interactive technologies.
After gaining several years of experience in buzz, viral and guerrilla marketing techniques, Numéro 10 launched the first Swiss cell dedicated exclusively to dynamic disciplines in 2008: BUZZILLA by numéro 10. "Our agency was therefore able to offer its clients real added value. We optimized the synergies between classic communication and alternative marketing actions - a real response to the new requirements." Numéro 10 is now going one step further. "SyncBig!" is a new approach to synchronized communication that tells a brand story in a multitude of episodes. It addresses different consumer profiles through classic, dynamic, digital, mobile and social media or touchpoints, all of which are networked using new, interactive and participative technologies - transmedia.

More than just a new buzzword

Transmedia is still a relatively new term for a way of telling stories that is only made possible by the social web. A communication campaign synchronized with this technology tells a brand story, divided into numerous entertaining, eventful and sales-promoting episodes, which are linked to the social networks. The narrated episodes always match the affinities and sensitivities of all the brand's consumer profiles. The synchronized communication campaign connects all of the brand's episodes and builds bridges between classic, dynamic, digital, mobile and social media, all of which are networked using new and interactive technologies. Numéro 10 defines nine dominant Swiss consumer groups. These are categorized according to their lifestyle, use of new technologies and media consumption. In this environment, a synchronized communication campaign addresses the most relevant consumer profiles for your brand so that the right messages reach the right target groups in the right place and at the right time.
 

With the fragmentation of media reception in traditional narrative media, which no longer function as the one "big campfire" around which everyone gathers, transmedia storytelling embodies the hope for a new integrating and activating narrative art. Transmedia storytelling is distributed storytelling across a wide variety of media platforms, which together form a "story universe" whose individual narrative perspectives do not necessarily have to be in a linear or mutually dependent sequence.

It's a warm welcome at Pixeldisko. Despite the icy cold. Othmar Küng and Marc Schadegg stand in front of the agency shed, wrapped up thickly, to greet the guests as they arrive one by one. Food stalls are set up around the entrance, just like at a street market. Next to a chestnut house, antipasti specialties are laid out on a large counter. Another stand offers a selection of hot and cold drinks.

Business clients, partners and friends - with and without children - came to the agency party on this December evening. Those who had never been to Pixeldisko before came to get an idea of the design agency. Others came to meet the team outside of work.

Pixeldisko's home in Zurich's Hottingen district is a building steeped in history. Since the middle of the 19th century, the three-storey building has been the workplace of craftsmen and artists, such as the expressionist Helen Dahm and the Swiss painter Otto Morach. Even though the rooms have now been renovated and instead of a workbench, there is modern office furniture on the old wooden floor. The current tenants are continuing the tradition. Pixeldisko's self-image is more that of a craft business than an advertising agency: "We are primarily designers, typographers, lithographers and concept developers - not directly advertisers," says Managing Director Othmar Küng, who founded Pixeldisko six years ago.

Küng himself learned his craft as a designer in a small regional print shop in eastern Switzerland. Back then, he still worked on some of the typesetting by hand at the light desk and exposed it himself using a repro camera. If he could, Küng would still take over every single production step today. "So that a product looks exactly as we imagined it in the end." Work that is now developed by a team of eight people and specialized partners and accompanied to the end.

For the past year, Küng has no longer been solely responsible for the agency's fortunes, but shares the management with CD Marc Schadegg. Someone who "ticks the same box". Küng and Schadegg have the same approach and the same standards for their work. And they share a love of detail. "We're passionate about the little things," says Schadegg. The two of them could have an in-depth conversation about the space between an A and a B on a business card, if it were appropriate. A fulfilling day for them. Or they use the time to rummage through the Chocolat Frey company archive to find inspiration for nostalgic packaging for the chocolate manufacturer's 125th anniversary.

Service instead of self-realization

The customers that Pixeldisko supports in terms of communication and design come from a wide range of sectors, from small businesses to international corporations. Sometimes Pixeldisko defines a business card for a friendly tailor or a small carpentry business. Another time it is the visual brand identity of a shop-in-shop concept for the camera manufacturer Canon or a B2B online tool for UBS. "The store around the corner is as exciting for us as a major customer," says Schadegg. A small project for a start-up company is followed by a major project as lead agency for Chiquita, where the craftsmen feel "supported and inspired by the machinery". Clients from the culture and entertainment sector are also a contrast between small and large. On the one hand, there is Dabu Fantastic, a Swiss band that has accompanied Pixeldisko since its foundation. On the other, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, international film distributors for whom Pixeldisko realizes outdoor and advertising campaigns and promotions, among other things.

In essence, it is always about engaging with a customer, being a service provider. "We don't come to work primarily with the idea of realizing ourselves," says Küng. "We try to implement things in the spirit of the customer." Even if that means developing forms for internal company processes. "Some may see that as very dry work. We see the fulfillment of our task in answering the questions as to whether the design grid is correct. Whether the line spacing is large enough so that the forms can be filled out by hand. Whether a PDF could be filled out directly online to simplify the processes," says Schadegg. They get their satisfaction when the customer is happy at the end. When he realizes that the right paper has been chosen. When they are happy that the business card fits in their breast pocket. Or when they don't feel taken by surprise by the text, but approached with style.

In their appearance, Küng and Schadegg come across as uncomplicated and shirt-sleeved. But at Pixeldisko, care is never neglected. Not even at the agency party. The atmosphere is relaxed, but everything is well thought out. From the reception to the food stands to the farewell. The cup specially made for the festival is quickly filled with mulled wine or punch on arrival. A welcome gift in view of the cold to warm the cold hands. Finally, the drinking companion is placed in a paper bag waiting at the exit and carried home in comfort.

Isabel Imper

The photo sets of the models are already available on the website www.special.ch. All that's needed now is clients with a little courage. Since 1968, Special in Zurich has been known throughout Switzerland as a people model agency for photographers and advertising agencies. This January, the range of services has been expanded to include an additional section entitled "Handicap models". "We are doing this together with the Mister and Miss Handicap organization and hope that we can integrate people with disabilities into advertising," says Christa Stutz from Special. For the agency, it is also "a challenge and at the same time an attempt to sensitize other people". With this in mind, half of the proceeds will go to the handicap organization.

Special is convinced that long-standing customers such as Schindler Lifts, Bernfon, SBB, Suva and other insurance companies will certainly take advantage of this offer. The service has already been publicized in a report on Tele Züri. Television was present when the new models took the photos for their first set cards.

Andreas Panzeri

A few days before Christmas, the stress was perfect: after a few less serious blunders in the kitchen, household and on the street, I thought the temporary climax of the disaster was that I had washed my dear husband's wallet along with his jeans - at least in the wool wash cycle without pre-rinsing. In return, the chaste housewife even gave it a tumble, which meant that some of the money cards only survived in part. Well, well done, money laundering for beginners. My husband enjoyed it. And I got him a Christmas present: a new wallet.

Even at this point, sending Christmas cards was out of the question. But it got even worse. On one particularly ugly day, it took me a very long time to find time to go to the bathroom. And as I was trying to make myself comfortable there, my cell phone plopped out of the back pocket of my festive trousers straight into the orcus. In a flash, I went under the fishermen, and lo and behold, my cell phone looked undamaged. Nevertheless, I decided to have it professionally dried. But where you used to be able to open the cell phone, take out the battery and dry the whole thing out, today - at least with the Apple phone - there is only a small drawer with the SIM card. That's it.

Hoarfrost on the display

Two hours after the incident, my phone suddenly showed four wintery foggy corners and the message: "Your iPhone is not equipped for this function." Every time I used it. A short time later, the display was only readable at a 110-degree angle under a ceiling spotlight. A good friend advised me to be patient, so I deposited the piece of crap on our kitchen table and started baking gingerbread for our little crispy house. Just as I had finished fretting over the broken gingerbread, my cell phone began to emit unfamiliar beeps. A dying man's groan, I thought. I should have been wrong.

Suddenly, the watered ringtone turned into a pre-Christmas helper - and started ringing through my entire phone list on its own. After all, a sonorous gentleman's voice informed me who had just called: my sister in faraway Milan, our family doctor, my husband's cousin's husband and our bank. My professor from university, our garage, a long-lost girlfriend and the hairdresser. Help! As I didn't have a hammer to hand, I simply ripped the SIM card out of the cursed device, because no amount of input could stop the mischief.

From necessity to virtue

The next day, I hardly dared to turn my cell phone back on. In retrospect, however, the whole incident turned out to be practical, as I was able to claim, somewhat embarrassed, to the many people who called me back that I had just wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The surprise was (mostly) great, the joy over the pre-Christmas warm-up contacts (mostly) mutual and the Christmas cards (all of them) finished in one fell swoop.

And I already knew what 2013 would bring me: a new cell phone. Happy New Year!
 

Libor Voncina led the mobile communications service provider in the Belgian market, KPN Group Belgium, for five years, previously Telekom Slovenija. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Avaya, Lucent Technologies and IBM. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from IMD in Lausanne.

At this year's festival, a jury will for the first time select the most groundbreaking technologies, including apps, tools, programs, hardware or software developed to enable excellence in communication. Cannes Lions' Swiss representative, Publicitas Cinecom, wrote in a statement Thursday. "Great ideas realized through the use of innovative technologies - such as Nike+ Fuelband (winner of the 2012 Titanium Grand Prix) - are already honored at Cannes," explained Terry Savage, chairman of the Lions Festival. "The new 'Innovation Lions' category is different. It honors the actual technology that helps the winning work break through and drive the industry forward."

Submission requires a concept description and proof of concept. All shortlisted submissions are invited to present their technology to the jury in a 10-minute presentation followed by a question and answer session. After discussion and voting, the jury will award an "Innovation Grand Prix" and "Innovation Lions" at the award show on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.

Entries for the "Innovation Lions" and all other categories can be submitted from January 24 to April 19, 2013 at. www.canneslions.com be submitted.