In the current study by the Institute of Brand Logic, tourism experts from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and South Tyrol were asked about their assessments of the Corona crisis.

"For destinations and businesses, the Corona crisis poses an economic threat," says Markus Webhofer, founder and CEO of the Institute of Brand Logic. "How big this challenge turns out to be depends on the duration of the crisis as well as the intensity of the measures to contain the pandemic." With this in mind, 56 percent of the tourism decision-makers surveyed expect a combination of long duration and moderate measures to be the most likely scenario.

The journey goes in the direction of future trends 

Most respondents also see the crisis as a catalyst for key future trends such as wellness, safety, experiencing nature, regionality and sustainability: "Drastic cuts like the Corona crisis often accelerate already existing developments," says Webhofer. "For tourism businesses and destinations, their future success will depend on whether they manage to find a response to these future trends.""

Guest behavior as a factor of uncertainty

In addition to the trends, another decisive factor for future success is whether and how the behavior and decisions of guests will change in the long term as a result of the Corona crisis. So far, the tourism experts surveyed are largely unanimous on only one point: 77 percent expect guests to become more hygiene-conscious.

How should tourism destinations and companies now respond to the challenges? In the short term, respondents almost unanimously see closer exchange and coordination between stakeholders as the most important lever. In the long term, crisis prevention and working on future trends are on the agenda.

Key findings include a decrease in cost-per-click (CPC) in the regions affected by COVID-19 and a significant increase in the amount of time people spend online during the global pandemic. The report also shows an increasing user engagement rate with influencers who create authentic content that users can identify with - as opposed to influencers who put on a perfect show. The developments described in the report offer brands the opportunity to achieve greater reach with potentially lower advertising spend and to reach an audience that spends more time online.

Users spend more time online

Data from Socialbakers shows that people are spending more time online during the global pandemic due to social distancing. In March, for example, fans of Facebook brand pages in Europe were online longer every day than in previous months. Online activity was highest at 20:00. The biggest difference compared to previous months was recorded at weekends in the evening, as many people would normally have been out with friends at this time. A comparison of the months of February and March shows that online usage time increased by 13.2% on Friday evenings and 14.8% on Saturday evenings.

Lower costs for more range

Five of the six regions analyzed by Socialbakers saw a decrease in CPC in March due to the COVID-19 crisis. The decrease in ad cost per click ranged from 22.1% in South East Asia to 42.4% in Southern Europe. While the overall reach for brand pages on Facebook decreased from mid-March, brands that took advantage of the decrease in advertising costs to promote posts saw an increase in reach of 28.6% (March 13 to April 13).

Recovery in advertising expenditure and CPC

When looking at the various regions around the world, the expected decline in advertising expenditure around public holidays is evident everywhere. After advertising expenditure rose again in some regions at the beginning of the year, it fell back to the level of the public holidays or even below in the first quarter due to the pandemic. East Asia is an exception: Stores reopened and advertising spend has increased by 12.7% since the beginning of March. The CPC also recorded an increase of 30.7% in East Asia last month, returning to fall 2019 levels. Since April, advertising investment and CPC have also been recovering in Western Europe and other regions (see charts below).

"During the pandemic, we have learned how important social media is as a go-to place for consumers to discover content. People have been spending more time on social media to consume content, and at the same time brands have been forced to hold back their budgets in response to economic uncertainty," explains Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO of Socialbakers. "This has created an opportunity for companies to increase reach and engagement at a lower cost and stay in close contact with their target audience."

Change in influencer marketing: authentic content performs better

A development that is most likely also linked to the global pandemic: In the first quarter of 2020, the number of influencers who published promotional posts with the tag #ad or other sponsored hashtags dropped significantly. In March, 11,341 Instagram influencers associated with brands used the hashtag #ad - the lowest number since August 2019.

Another change is the absence of celebrities from the list of top influencers. In the first quarter of 2020, the top influencers were authentic, natural characters who published relatable content and focused on real-life situations. Socialbakers' data suggests that users currently prefer to engage with more authentic content that they can better identify with - perhaps because it conveys the feeling that we are all in the same boat.

Instagram beats Facebook in terms of reach and engagement

One trend that is continuing despite the pandemic is the ongoing success of Instagram. Instagram's total reach is now 28% greater than Facebook's as measured by the top 50 brand profiles on both networks. Engagement is also stronger on Instagram: total interactions are more than 16x higher than on Facebook. Nevertheless, brands still post more content on Facebook. When comparing both platforms, almost 60% of all brand posts from the top 50 profiles were published on Facebook.

You can view the complete report (PDF) with supporting graphics here.

GoTom was founded in 2015 by former Tamedia/TX Group employees Ginette Lumbiarres and Alban Grossenbacher. The SaaS solution optimizes various process steps such as the creation of offers, the creation of campaigns and programmatic deals in the AdServer, and the sending of invoices.

Christian Griesbach has been active in the digital marketing and technology industry for more than 20 years. Since January 2019, he has served as Managing Partner at the consulting firm Despove Executive Search & Consulting. Previous positions include Managing Director DACH & Eastern Europe and Executive Vice President Publisher Management EMEA at Teads, General Manager Digital Marketing and Sales at Axel Springer marketer Media Impact, and co-founder and Managing Director of digital marketers Mediasports and Mediasquares. He started his career in 1998 at the ad server provider and marketer 24/7 Real Media.

The agency decided to stage the numerous mobility elements. It photographed road surfaces and typical signage such as parking spaces, line markings, pedestrian crossings, lifebuoys, floating elements, ropes and much more, and then superimposed them. The visual concept of superimposing was also used for the individual portraits of the board of directors to illuminate their different facets.

Sécurité Routière advises drivers to apply their solidarity and prudent behavior, which they have implemented so successfully in recent weeks during the lockdown, to their driving habits as well. In fact, in contrast to the route taken every day at home, since Monday many more people are again sharing a road on their way to work, which once again highlights the importance of safety and consideration.

Serviceplan has translated these ideas into two films for the French Department of Road Safety, which will be played out digitally and on television.

In this long-term campaign, Grosspeter is relying on two "fresh" advertising ambassadors from the region - namely from the heart of Basel's Daig. ViznerBorel's concept of short radio plays and short films is based on the legendary "Spalenberg 77a" broadcasts for Radio Basel.

The protagonists of the campaign are the Burckhardts, an elderly couple from the proverbial "Basler Daig". They are among the better-off. Nevertheless, the fat years are over. Even the Burckhardts - with ckdt - have to keep an eye on expenses here and there. Despite her status, Mrs. Anne-Marie Burckhardt seems to have her pedicured feet a little closer to the ground than her husband Ferdinand Burckhardt.

Of course, cars and mobility are always a topic of conversation in the lives of the two pensioners. This results in an endless number of entertaining stories from the Daig - summarized in the series "Neus vo Burckhardts".

Burckhardts are played by theater greats

Two well-known theater stars have been cast in the leading roles of the Burckhardts: Basel actors Hedy Kaufmann and Peter Richner play Anne-Marie and Ferdinand Burckhardt. So far, the first season of six radio play episodes has been realized. Further radio play seasons are planned, as well as short films at a later date. The episodes of the first season can be heard on Radio Basilisk in northwestern Switzerland and online from May 11.

"Dave has everything we need to tailor our reporting even better to the needs of our listeners, especially in these turbulent times," says station boss Roger Schawinski.

Dave Burkhard will be supported by Adrian Sutter. The long-standing editor and Radio 1 head of sport will be his deputy. Before joining Radio 1, Burkhard worked at Radio Top for ten years. Among other things, he was Head of Sport, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief ad interim. He replaces Jan Vontobel, who is moving to the newsroom at Radio SRF. "I would like to thank Jan for his great commitment and wish him all the best for his professional and private future," Schawinski is quoted as saying.

When it comes to innovation, the construction industry still has a huge amount of catching up to do: what is created in its own innovation centers is all too often only aimed at a niche segment. The real needs of the emerging markets - where the greatest construction activity takes place - are hardly taken into account.

The building materials manufacturer LafargeHolcim is counteracting this by launching the digital innovation platform "LH Maqer". The aim is to bring together digital minds, industrial and software companies from all over the world to enable cost-effective and, above all, impactful innovations.

As a long-standing brand partner of LafargeHolcim, MetaDesign developed the brand architecture, naming and visual identity for "Maqer". The brand should be characterized by simplicity, agility, conciseness and boldness - from the name to the logo and the colors to the digital applications.

Inhalt und Form also works from home and is obviously highly efficient: in the midst of home offices, conference calls and sofa breaks, the Zurich agency has won what is probably the first home office pitch in Switzerland. It beat off competition from other agencies to secure the mandate from the newly merged Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, OST for short. At the same time, it also made unofficial Swiss pitch history. The first subjects of the launch campaign will be on display from the end of August.

Ina Invest is a newly founded spin-off company of Implenia and is responsible for part of its development portfolio. The company creates residential, working and living space for people and attaches great importance to sustainability. Ina Invest's range of services covers the entire real estate value chain, with development, realization and operation based on high ecological principles.

"It was important to us to make the ecological orientation of Ina Invest tangible in the branding with the aim of giving the brand and its appearance a fresh and dynamic design," says Daniel Schranz, Managing Partner and Creative Director of GRIP.

As part of the relaunch, the website primarily aimed at investors was redesigned for the Capital Market Day on April 21, 2020. Iva-invest.com developed.

In recent days, the University Hospital Basel has noticed that people have been avoiding the hospital since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic - whether out of fear of catching the virus or out of misplaced consideration for the staff. Depending on the diagnosis, this can have life-threatening consequences.

The campaign developed by the Fünfstern agency therefore focuses on two core messages: it draws patients' attention to the fact that all treatments are once again possible in all clinics and at the same time raises awareness of the importance of not postponing necessary treatments, as the University Hospital Basel can fully guarantee patient safety at all times.

The campaign was implemented in the new corporate design of the University Hospital Basel and is now being played out on social media, in various online channels, on local radio and in the local press.

"Our goal is to further strengthen the community - and to do so with the right topics and the right measures at the right time. This includes dovetailing activities even more and intensifying the exchange of knowledge and information among community members via digital channels in addition to personal contact points," explains Daniel Kaczynski, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the agency Swisscontent, the parent company of Women in Business. The established channels include the magazine Women in Business as an anchor medium (including the annual extra issue "Top 100 most successful women"), the web portal Womeninbusiness.ch, a newsletter and various social media activities as well as the talk series "Women's Talks," the "Woman of the Year" event, events at the point of sale, workshops, "Women's Travel" and the exclusive "Top 100 Circle.

In the future, the team of Women in Business with its managing director Christine Lesnik, will draw on the journalistic and digital know-how of Swisscontent, which will invest more in the community.

Editorial office under new management

In the course of the realignment, the previous editor-in-chief Irene M. Wrabel has decided to devote herself to other mandates in the future with her company Punktwrabel Kommunikation. Her task will be taken over by an editorial team headed by Brigitte Selden. Brigitte Selden, who holds a doctorate in art history and is a trained journalist, worked for around 20 years for various Swiss media, including many years for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In addition to the Zurich department, she worked for the domestic department and the feature section. Her main topics were architecture, design and urban planning. Before joining Swisscontent, she was involved as an author in various book publications. Most recently, she served as editor and social media manager in corporate and marketing communications at Geberit International.

Investment in the community

"Already the May issue of Women in Business we produce under the aegis of Brigitte Selden. Also in May, our newsletter will appear in a new look. We are also undergoing a structural soft relaunch of our website. Furthermore, we are developing new digital formats that, in addition to the physical events, offer dialog and exchange opportunities for community members," continues Christine Lesnik, Managing Director Communities and Women in Businesssome of the innovations. For example, a digital event series called "Women in Business Live Talk" will be launched at the beginning of June. The focus of all activities is on journalistic quality with a range of topics relevant to the target group and great information and entertainment value, as well as the expansion of digital channels.