As of July 1, 2020, Rebecca Veiga will take over as head of the Coop Group's national media office. The 29-year-old communications expert has been working as Coop's media spokesperson for one and a half years and most recently held the position of deputy head of the department. She studied corporate communications and, before joining Coop, worked at Zurich Airport, where she served as media spokesperson, among other positions. Rebecca Veiga succeeds Andrea Bergmann, who is taking a new career path at her own request.

Melanie Grüter becomes media spokesperson

On September 1, 2020, Melanie Grüter will join the Coop Media Office as media spokesperson. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English and Media Studies and has been working for Coop for four years. Most recently, she was jointly responsible in sustainability communications for the "Good Deed Day" and the Deeds Instead of Words campaign.

With the first campaign, the partners want to offer the people of Geneva and Ticino the opportunity to win a stay in the respective other tourist region. The second competition is aimed at German-speaking Swiss. Quick decision-makers can receive a free train ticket if they visit both destinations in one trip this summer.

"Many Swiss will be booking vacations in their own country this summer," explains Angelo Trotta, director of Ticino Turismo. "Thanks to the partnership action with our colleagues from Geneva, we want to help promote domestic tourism - and on the one hand invite the German-speaking Swiss to visit both other language regions this year. On the other hand, we also want to encourage guests from French-speaking Switzerland to get to know Ticino."

Adrien Genier, Director of Genève Tourisme, is also pleased with the collaboration. "This collaboration shows the complementarity and diversity of the Swiss tourism offer. This summer is the ideal opportunity for our guests to rediscover their own country while enjoying a guaranteed change of scenery."

Geneva and Ticino families to discover the other canton

Three families each from Ticino and Geneva (2 adults and 2 children) can win one in the other canton to redeem by the end of the year. The prize includes 2 nights in a 4-star hotel with half board and round trip transportation. The contest will be open from Wednesday on the websites Ticino.ch/letessinvousinvite and Geneve.com is switched on.

Quick decision-makers in demand in German-speaking Switzerland

The first 20 families from the German-speaking part of Switzerland who combine two nights in the canton of Ticino with two nights in the canton of Geneva this summer 2020 will receive the train ticket they need on Ticino-geneva.com can secure, free of charge for the whole family.

Unaffected by the constant changes in the shopping landscape, Bärtschi Optik has proven to be a safe and successful address in Bern's city center since 1945. To honor this milestone, Kargo Kommunikation was commissioned with the conception and implementation of an anniversary campaign.

The three anniversary faces with the 2020 glasses form the key visuals. They adorn various prominent billboards in downtown Bern and smile from hanging posters on buses and streetcars. Via social media paid ads, they are sometimes static, sometimes animated and are played out in different creatives in three waves through specific targeting of the respective target group. In addition, committed customers can use Instagram to create a specially created AR filter and congratulate Bärtschi on his anniversary via digital media.

New set up style check

The digital style check on the Campaign page was relaunched together with Novu as part of the 75th anniversary: Following the motto "75 years of style advice", the question game pays tribute to the great icons in style, music and film of the last 7 decades and highlights the diverse fashion of the last 75 years.

What is good for people must not harm the planet. With this basic idea, Be the change develops and produces nutritional supplements for sports and everyday life.

To sharpen its brand positioning and bring additional customers to its online store, Geyst is rolling out a digital activation campaign this summer that focuses fully on the heart of the brand and its founders: Authenticity. The chosen "Be" duct builds on the brand name, reinforcing its memorability. The aim is to create a brand experience that clearly stands out in the supplement market.

The campaign consists of target-group-specific ads and stories that are cleverly played out on the appropriate channels and targeted at four individual Landing pages lead. A mix of emotion (moving image), information, and incentives motivates people to click on in the Store.

Marco Dettling has over 20 years of advertising experience at home and abroad. He learned the advertising trade from scratch, both on the client and agency side. Most recently, he worked for Jung von Matt/Limmat before moving to Bellevue. He has developed into a brand expert on global brands as well as small and fine clients. He describes himself as an unconventional thinker with strategic creativity.

Dettling is looking forward to a well-rehearsed and sworn-in team, which maintains long-standing and cooperative relationships with clients. Saatchi & Saatchi is a small, agile creative agency. "Nothing is impossible" for him means to see and go new ways communicatively to connect brands with moments that matter in people's lives.

In addition, the group has been working intensively on the integration of Notch Interactive in recent months. The seamless collaboration of digital specialists with the established team at Saatchi & Saatchi is central to him.

(Image: Youtube.com)

The new Head of Communications joins CS from the European Central Bank (ECB) as of January 1, 2021. At the ECB, she was also responsible for communications. She will report to Chairman Urs Rohner, CEO Thomas Gottstein and Antoinette Poschung, whose deputy she will become.

On January 1, 2013, Graeff took over the then newly created "Communication and Language Services" department at the ECB and thus provided communications support to former ECB President Mario Draghi for almost the entirety of his eight-year term. Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde has led the central bank since November 1, 2019. (SDA)

The extensive survey of the 35 most influential Swiss online and multichannel providers confirms this: Online stores were the beneficiaries of the eight-week lockdown. "Based on the data available at the beginning of June, we expect growth of 22 to 30% in 2020 and thus a doubling to tripling compared to the previous year," summarizes study director Ralf Wölfe.

Growth of foreign platforms slows

Over the last five years, foreign suppliers have developed twice as fast as domestic ones. This has changed for the first time. It remains to be seen whether 2019 has initiated a trend reversal here. The growth expectations of Swiss providers are high. No one expects stagnation or a decline.

Merging offline and online channels in a meaningful way

"If you want to survive in the new networked world of offerings, your products and services have to be exactly where they are most useful for your target group," explains Datatrans Board Member Urs Kisling. "The separation of analog and digital worlds no longer makes sense." Providers are increasingly combining different channels to give consumers the easiest way to access and buy. E-commerce is becoming commerce.

Social media goes e-commerce

How intelligent networking can work can be seen, for example, in increased mobile commerce and the rise in sales activities on social media. Platforms are adding order buttons and new payment functions, and retailers are taking advantage of these and uploading entire product catalogs to WhatsApp, for example. With success, says Urs Kisling: "In mobile commerce, the main winners are those providers who focus on simplicity and service for users."

Growth trend in e-commerce stable

The study panel's expectations for e-commerce growth over the next five years are high: two-thirds of the companies surveyed expect their industry's e-commerce revenues to have grown by 50% or more in 2025. No one anticipates stagnation or decline.

According to a statement on Tuesday, the government wants to ensure that Basel Tourism can fulfill the performance mandate of the canton and provide the associated services for guests. It is also intended to prevent Basel Tourism from having to restructure or get into debt.

In addition, the government is providing Basel Tourism with 300,000 Swiss francs for a marketing campaign. This is intended to stimulate demand, according to the communiqué.

As the central organization for tourism promotion, Basel Tourism was hit hard by the Corona crisis. Protective measures and the economic slump led to a drop of almost 54 percent in overnight stays in Basel hotels alone from the beginning of January to the end of May. (SDA)

As team leader, she assumes strategic and operational responsibility for media and reputation work. Before joining Corporate Communications, Catherine Mettler worked as a journalist and presenter for Swiss Television (SRF).

An expert jury will select their favorites from the nominated companies and agencies. IAB Switzerland will announce the setting and date of this year's award ceremony.

"This is the tenth time we have been able to present this award for outstanding performance in the Swiss digital advertising market," says Urs Flückiger, Head of the IAB Switzerland office. "For the companies, agencies and personalities who receive the award, this accolade is always very important. The list of nominations was long and the expert jury can now choose their favorites from the finalists. We created the new Digital Entrepreneur of the Year award to recognize the innovative start-up entrepreneurs who are enriching the digital market in Switzerland."

Election mode and nominations and 2020

The awards are presented in the categories Digital Marketer of the Year, Digital Agency of the Year and, for the first time, in the category Digital Entrepreneur of the Year. An expert jury, made up of the IAB Executive Board and the IAB Advisory Board as well as representatives of the Swiss Advertising Clients Association (SWA) and Leading Swiss Agencies (LSA), selects the winners.

Who qualified for the Digital Marketer in 2020?

The nominees are companies that have attracted attention with their digital advertising campaigns in the past year: both the range of measures used and creativity play a role in the assessment. The following four brands are among the nominees for the Digital Marketing Award in the "Digital Marketer of the Year" category:

• Audi
• Emmi
• Lidl
• Rivella

Which agency can call itself Digital Agency of the Year?

The award goes to the agency that uses digital marketing measures sustainably and strategically throughout the entire customer and sales cycle in order to guarantee customers an advanced digital brand experience across all touchpoints. The jury may make its selection from the following nominations:

• Ads&Figures
• Farner Consulting,
• MediaCom
• Media Law Firm

New award for the "Digital Entrepreneur of the Year"

The digital advertising industry has produced many exciting young companies in the technology sector. The IAB Switzerland would like to recognize these initiatives and is therefore presenting a new award for a start-up entrepreneur who has developed, expanded or changed the market with a digital business model and whose service or technology is helping to further develop the digital advertising market. The nominees for the award are

• Stephan Frey (Attackera)
• Sam Lutz (Drop8)
• the team of Ginette Lumbiarres and Alban Grossenbacher (GoTom)

Further award categories: Digital Lifetime Award and Digital Newcomer of the Year

In addition to the awards already mentioned, IAB Switzerland presents two further awards for which no general nomination is possible. A personality who has developed and shaped the digital advertising market with their work is honored with the Lifetime Award. And finally, the IAB Switzerland will once again select a Digital Newcomer of the Year. The person qualifies by achieving the best result in the final examination of the "Digital Marketing Basic Course" diploma course at the IAB Academy last year.

The results of a study conducted by Phillip Ozimek from the Department of Social Work at Münster University of Applied Sciences point to this connection. Together with Hans-Werner Bierhoff and Katharina Hamm, both from Ruhr University Bochum, the junior professor of social and media psychology surveyed a total of 355 Facebook users about their usage behavior using an online questionnaire.

"Our results show that people with difficulties in emotion regulation in particular tend to use Facebook more intensively," explains the researcher. "Those who are not so good at controlling their own emotions use social platforms as a tool to make them feel better in the short term, so to speak."

Another influencing factor is social comparison orientation: "People whose self-esteem depends heavily on comparison with others use Facebook and the like more often," says Ozimek. "This is because social platforms offer countless opportunities to present themselves and compare themselves with others." An overview of the entire study is currently available in the online journal Current Psychology published article, available at Fhms.eu/Article-Ozimek.

Ozimek's research focuses on social media and he had already investigated why people actually use them in his dissertation. "They are mainly used for self-regulation," is his most important finding. Under certain circumstances, however, social networks can also intensify negative feelings such as depression, especially when used passively. Ozimek has summarized his central assumptions in his Social Online Self-Regulation Theory. In the future, the doctor of psychology is planning further research projects on the use and impact of social platforms. He is currently conducting a study on "Social media use and personality" in cooperation with the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit at Ruhr University, for which he still needs test subjects.

Amazon is once again the most valuable brand in the world. Last year, the online retailer topped the BrandZ ranking of the world's 100 most valuable brands for the first time. The company from Seattle (USA) has now impressively defended its top position: marketing consultancy Kantar - which publishes the ranking together with WPP - calculated a brand value of USD 415.9 billion for the retail giant (+32% compared to 2019). Amazon thus accounts for around a third of the total growth of the top 100. The BrandZ brand value study determines the value of the largest global brands by combining an analysis of key financial figures with a survey of 3.8 million consumers worldwide.

Technology brands remain particularly present at the top of the ranking. With Apple (2nd place with USD 352.2 billion), Microsoft (3rd place with USD 326.5 billion), Google (4th place with USD 323.6 billion), Tencent (7th place with USD 151 billion) and Facebook (USD 147.2 billion), there are five tech brands in the top ten. While Apple remains Amazon's first pursuer with solid growth of 14%, Microsoft and Google swapped places. Microsoft increased its brand value by 30 percent. One reason for this is the growth of the cloud-based workplace ecosystem with Office 365 and Microsoft Teams. The solutions have helped users to continue working as usual during the COVID-19 lockdown. Google, on the other hand, only recorded moderate growth of five percent.

The world's most valuable brands have increased their total brand value by 5.9 percent and USD 277 billion despite the impact of COVID-19. This makes them more resilient and less volatile than during the 2008/2009 financial and economic crisis. The Top 100 portfolio outperformed the market - including the S&P 500 and MSCI World equity indices. In order to incorporate the impact of COVID-19 on performance into the ranking, the study uses data that reflects share price performance from April 2020. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the growth of the top 100 was still nine percent. The total brand value of the global top 100 reaches the USD 5 trillion mark for the first time - equivalent to Japan's annual GDP.

"The continuous growth in value of the BrandZ Top 100 is proof of the importance of strong brands. Especially in times of crisis, as in the case of COVID-19, it shows how important long-term investments in marketing activities and brand management are. Companies that continuously and consistently focus on brand development are more robust in difficult times and overcome crises more efficiently. Another lesson from the current ranking: innovation and creativity are important growth drivers as people spend more and more time online," explains Christoph Prox, Managing Director Brand, Media & Communication at Kantar Germany.

A quarter of the world's most valuable brands now come from Asia - 17 of them from China. Alibaba (USD 152.5 billion, +16%) is the most valuable Chinese brand in sixth place, followed by internet giant Tencent (USD 151 billion, +15%) in seventh place among the world's most valuable brands. The highest newcomer to the top 100 also comes from China. The video portal and social network TikTok enters in 79th place - with a brand value of USD 16.9 billion.

Key findings from the BrandZ study 2020

Driven by the large e-commerce companies, the retail sector recorded the strongest growth with a cross-sector increase in brand value of 21%. More than half of the brands in the media and entertainment sector are among the top 20 fastest-growing brands: Netflix moved up eight places to 26th (USD 45.9 billion, +34 percent), Instagram moved up 15 places to 29th (USD 41.5 billion, +47 percent), LinkedIn moved up to 43rd (USD 29.9 billion, +31 percent) and Xbox moved up 22 places to 65th (USD 19.6 billion, +18 percent).

The e-commerce giants Amazon, Alibaba and JD (rank 52, USD 25.5 billion, +24%) demonstrated their innovative strength and agility in difficult times. However, this also applies to traditional retailers such as Walmart (rank 27, USD 45.8 billion, +24%), which has successfully expanded its e-commerce services.

Many brands, particularly in the health and wellness sector, have found new and creative ways to engage with consumers in order to gain or strengthen their trust. Leisure sports brand Lululemon (USD 9.7 billion, +40%) is one of the fastest-growing up-and-comers in this segment. Growth was boosted by the fact that the company has shifted its focus from yoga-inspired clothing to clothing suitable for work and now also offers online yoga classes for home use.

"Innovation has proven to be a key driver of growth in this year's Top 100 - and a successful way to counter the potential downturn. Creativity is also a particularly important aspect for the world's most valuable brands. Tech giants such as Amazon, Apple and Google successfully combine both and remain relevant to consumers precisely because of this. On this basis, they make it easier for people to choose their brand," says Christoph Prox.

These are further important results and trends from the current BrandZ ranking:

• MasterCard is in the top ten for the first time this year, which is due to the company's strong financial performance. This is supported by the growing brand value, in particular due to a stronger connection to the consumer. MasterCard is becoming increasingly relevant in the everyday lives of its users and is building a close emotional bond with them through targeted positioning.
• Five newcomers in the top 100: The list of newcomers is headed by TikTok, followed by UnitedHealthcare (rank 86, USD 15.8 billion), Bank of China (rank 97, USD 13.7 billion), Lancôme (rank 98, USD 13.6 billion) and Pepsi (rank 99, USD 13.3 billion).
• Creating your own ecosystems has become an important trend in the global economy. Haier (rank 68, USD 18.7 billion) is the leading brand for IoT ecosystems for the second year in a row.
• Half of all top 100 brands come from the USA
• Sustainability is the new luxury: younger consumers value the quality features associated with luxury as well as sustainable materials and less packaging. Brands that combine these are rewarded by consumers. This year, four luxury brands made it into the top 100, led by Louis Vuitton (19th place, USD 51.8 billion, +10%).