The company is now entering a new phase with the US financial investor. The publisher of Bild and Welt had already published its key business figures for 2019 at the end of February. According to these, costs for the Group's restructuring pushed sales down by 2.2 percent to around 3.1 billion euros and adjusted earnings (EBITDA) by almost 15 percent to 630.6 million euros.

For 2020, the media group expects stagnating revenues and a decline in profits of between ten and 20 percent due to investments and restructuring. Profits in the booming business with job and real estate portals on the Internet are expected to fall by a high double-digit percentage in the current year.

These classified ads have been the growth driver at Axel Springer for years. Last year, however, adjusted Ebitda in this area fell by just under four percent. In this area, "depending on acquisition opportunities, further acquisitions are also expected to contribute to growth. (SDA)

Environmental awareness is part of the company's brand identity: cab driving should be comfortable and sustainable. That's why the fleet relies on hydrogen and hybrid cars. In addition, the CO2 emissions of the cabs are to be offset with climate protection projects.

Furthermore, Sergeant has created a customer journey for Airport Taxi Zurich that fits the modern passenger at the airport. An app is designed to enable discounted cab bookings and a comprehensive Website introduces the company. The branding should be clearly recognizable at every touchpoint; from the vehicles to the application tool to the uniform of the cab drivers.

As a partner of Airport Taxi Zürich, Sergeant has accompanied the development of the company and the brand from the very beginning. The entire online and offline communication is designed and produced in-house at the agency.

A full takeover of the founders' shares was already planned in 2015 when the majority stake in Architonic was acquired. "Together with the operational management team, we want to strategically develop Architonic as a brand and as a company and consistently focus on sustainable growth," says Felix Graf, CEO of the NZZ Media Group.

Stephan Bachmann took over the role of CEO on January 1, 2020 and has been managing the company together with founder Tobias Lutz and an extended Executive Board since then. From July 2016 to the end of 2019, Bachmann was COO and a member of the Executive Board at Architonic. During this time, he initiated and implemented key adjustments to processes and organization. Since January 2018, he has increasingly dedicated himself to market and customer tasks and has taken on a co-CEO role together with Tobias Lutz and Nils Becker. "The appointment as CEO was the logical next step in the strategic development of Architonic," says Etienne Jornod, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NZZ Media Group.

All founders will continue to actively shape Architonic in various roles. Tobias Lutz will retain his current responsibilities as part of the management team. Thomas Navello will also continue in his role as Lead Software Developer. Nils Becker and Dieter Schumann will be available to the management in their new roles as consultants.

Daniela Schwarz, Director Operations, Renata Menet, Director Finance & HR, and Miljan Vranic, Director IT Development, have been appointed to the extended management team as long-standing employees and due to their outstanding track record. Together with Stephan Bachmann and Tobias Lutz, they form the new operational management of Architonic.

Architonic's Board of Directors was also adapted to the new circumstances at the Annual General Meeting in March 2020. The new members are Felix Graf, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Sigrun Albert, Head of Products at the NZZ Media Group. Jörg Schnyder, CFO of the NZZ Media Group, and Nils Becker remain on the Board. Tobias Lutz, Attilio Capella, CEO ad interim of Moneyhouse, and Caroline Bjoenness-Vetter, former Head of Group Finance & Accounting of the NZZ Media Group, have stepped down.

The turnover of the former Tamedia, which has been operating under the new name TX Group since the beginning of the year, increased by 6.8 percent to CHF 1.08 billion last year. This growth was driven primarily by the acquired companies Goldbach, Zattoo and Basel Newspaper. In organic terms, however, sales fell by 5%.

Operating profit at EBIT level fell by 46.5% to 70.4 million. In addition to the difficult environment for press advertising, the decline is primarily due to increased depreciation and amortization as a result of the acquisitions, investments in digital platforms and paid media as well as impairment losses on goodwill. The margin therefore fell further to 6.5% from 13.0% in the previous year and is well below the management's medium-term target of 15%.

Finally, profit fell by a disproportionately low 24.5 percent to 97.8 million. However, this includes extraordinary gains from the sale of Localsearch (18.7 million) and Starticket (7.2 million).

Shareholders are to receive a dividend of CHF 3.50, one franc less.

The management is not satisfied with the Group's performance in the past year: "The result for the 2019 financial year does not meet our ambitions," writes Chairman of the Board of Directors Pietro Supino in the annual report. Existing trends in the advertising market towards Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple have accelerated. New international competitors are finding their way into the Swiss market and the further development of technical possibilities is increasing the risk of disruption, added CEO Christoph Tonini in the communiqué.

No improvement in paid media

Paid media remained under heavy pressure in 2019. As a result of the renewed sharp decline in advertising revenue from printed newspapers and magazines, revenue fell again by 3.9% to 512.9 million. Operating profit at EBITDA level fell by 11.8% to 43.9 million, which corresponds to a margin of 8.0%.

In the Commuter Media and Marketing division, revenue increased by 24.4% to 293.7 million, mainly thanks to the full-year consolidation of Goldbach. The operating margin at EBITDA level was maintained at 24.6%.

Expansion of marketplaces costs

In the Marketplaces and Ventures segment, the accelerated investments in the further development of the marketplaces had a negative impact. As a result, the EBITDA margin fell to 29.2% from 41.4% in the previous year. In terms of revenue, the business division increased by 13.4% to 272.9 million, not least thanks to the newly consolidated TV streaming platform Zattoo.

All of the Group's digital offerings together now contribute 51% of the TX Group's revenue and 84% of its adjusted EBIT.

In the current year 2020, the Group is focusing on costs. TX Group is reviewing the services offered by its central services. The individual Group companies are also reviewing their own efficiency programs, the Group writes in the presentation on the annual financial statements. (SDA)

The aim of the adaptations is to inform a broad public in the region of Northwestern Switzerland in a serious and competent way about the current situation, the expected development and the impact of the virus. From 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., the editorial team will continuously inform about the status of the spread internationally, nationally and in the region, provide the latest facts about the impact on the economy, the labor market as well as the situation regarding drug development, present background information and inform the population about the further effects.

Telebasel's online and social media channels will serve as primary channels. In order to also provide timely information to segments of the population that have less online affinity, the Telebasel TV program will be expanded with hourly news updates. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., all new developments will be communicated as updates in the hourly news. Press conferences of the FOPH, the Health Departments of Basel City and Baselland, as well as other important information events, will be broadcast live.

Restructured newsroom

In order to be able to provide these editorial services, Telebasel has restructured its newsroom accordingly. "Telebasel takes its task as a regional information medium seriously and wants to inform the population professionally and without scaremongering. The situation is currently changing by the hour and we are taking this dynamic into account. It is also important to us to inform older people who are not necessarily online in a timely manner, and that is why we are also introducing the hourly news updates on TV," says Michael Bornhäusser, Executive Director of the Foundation Board, about the editorial change.

Coca-Cola has continued the experiment with 20 minutes realized as part of the campaign "For a Switzerland of #mitenand" launched in January, in which the company wants to stand up for a colorful and discrimination-free society (Werbewoche.ch reported). Social clichés and prejudices were to be addressed and questioned. Wunderman Thompson is responsible for the implementation.

A prominent banner on the front page of 20 minutes already drew attention to the action. Terms such as female doctors, managers or politicians were marked with an asterisk (*) referring to the explanation of the experiment at the end of the newspaper. In addition, female readers* are invited to participate in a Online discussion participate

A lot is done to ensure that Emmi's cream cheese, Emmi Luzerner for short, retains its mildness. In addition to factors such as feed, cow husbandry and milk processing, the daily flute playing of a little girl also plays a role, as shown in the spot that the agency implemented for Emmi - even if this is only melodious in her fairy-tale children's world.

Fairy tales, cave masters and GIFs

With the spot, the agency and Emmi continue the story from the 2016 campaign and show that even small contributions contribute to the mildness of the Lucerne cream cheese. In addition to the campaign for Emmi Luzerner, Jung von Matt/Limmat has also implemented TVCs, online and offline measures for Gerber Fondue and Emmi Kaltbach.

With the TVCs for Emmi's fondue, the agency converted GIFs into moving images for the first time and showed everything that can go wrong during a fondue evening - and how Gerber Fondue remains the consistent guarantor of success.

The campaign for the cave-aged Kaltbach cheese in turn tells the story of the interplay between cave and master. In several spots, cave master Michu reveals what is important in maturing the cheese and how selected cheese wheels become true masterpieces of taste.

Because the poster sites of the national transport operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen were not put out to public tender, the French media company JCDeaux filed a lawsuit. Thus, the operators Exterion Media and Ngage Media were prohibited from using the poster sites.

The many empty poster sites provided the ideal opportunity for Publicis to launch a guerrilla campaign. With all that white, the agency had to think of its client Aquafresh. Together, the agency and the toothpaste manufacturer took advantage of the empty billboards to promote the Aquafresh White & Shine product and put a smile on the faces of passers-by with a little humor.

In less than 24 hours, over 1,500 billboards were covered with toothpaste stickers that - as the toothpaste itself claims - left no residue when removed. The ambient guerrilla campaign reached several hundred thousand commuters and received high media attention.

On Monday, the company announced that journalists from the Blick editorial team, who are not dependent on the infrastructure in the newsroom and therefore do not necessarily have to be on site, will work from home until further notice. (Werbewoche.ch reported). The prevention measures extended on Tuesday are intended to provide employees with the best possible protection against infection with the coronavirus. In addition, public transport should also be relieved.

Consistent implementation would also avoid possible quarantine situations resulting from mostly harmless suspicious cases, which would further unsettle the employees concerned.

For the international Ringier companies in a total of 18 other countries, this directive has the status of "recommendation" and will be implemented on a country-specific basis. (SDA/swi)

The endless game

Strategies for lasting success. 

• Author: Simon Sinek
• Publisher: Redline, 2019
• Pages: 272
• ISBN: 9783868817461

Game theory distinguishes between finite and infinite games. In the former, it's all about winning; in the latter, it's all about staying in the game. Simon Sinek applies this to the business world in order to highlight the advantages of sustainable economic activity over short-term profit-seeking. He is harshly critical of the Anglo-Saxon market economy. He argues for a better capitalism and shows how this could be implemented at the business level. Managers at all levels should read this original and inspiring book.

Win with questions

How successful salespeople close more deals. 

• Author: Peter Haupt
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH, 2018
• Pages: 231
• ISBN: 9783527509348

Selling is not an academic discipline, but a practical matter. Peter Haupt's handbook for B2B sales makes this clear. He focuses on the things that are successful in day-to-day business. The salesperson's communication behavior plays the main role. Because the small target group that matters is demanding and cannot be impressed with rhetoric tricks. The reader learns what is important in B2B sales from the initial contact to the follow-up order.

Hyperfocus

How to work less and achieve more. 

• Author: Chris Bailey
• Publisher: Redline, 2019
• Pages: 272
• ISBN: 9783868817478

The concept of hyperfocus actually comes from medicine and refers to unconditional concentration on a single thing while everything else becomes unimportant. Chris Bailey's book is about consciously focusing on things that boost productivity. In doing so, Bailey taps into the mindfulness trend and shows how it can be used productively. So the topic is timely, but the way the author handles it is sometimes too rambling. Nevertheless, the book contains many practicable tips, both for the professional and private sphere.

Feel Good Management - requirements and areas of responsibility

Practical handbook with case studies. 

• Author: Jessica Lange
• Publisher: Springer Gabler, 2019
• Pages: 170
• ISBN: 9783662583111

Satisfied employees make companies more productive, more resilient and more attractive. Investing in employee satisfaction therefore makes good business sense. In her book, Jessica Lange recommends creating a separate function in the company for this purpose: the feel-good manager. Apart from this new term, there is unfortunately not much in the book that cannot already be read in other works on the subject of employee orientation or corporate culture. At least the book gives prospective feel-good managers a practical overview of their field of activity.

Thanks to numerous innovative features, it is even more digital, even more connected, and even more intelligent than its seven predecessors. After the announcement at the beginning of the year with the cheerful fail campaign on social media, the Watson cooperation and the SMS newsletter, the classic launch campaign has now started in two phases. First the awareness phase with new subjects in the "Vibrant Power" look and directly following the leasing campaign in the reduced product appearance of the new brand design. The campaign can be seen on TV and in cinemas, DOOH and OOH, in print, on banners and at POS.

The campaign designed by Publicis Zurich for the Migros furniture store enters a new round. This time with a promotion: the customer receives 20 percent off the product of his choice if he specifies what this Micasa item goes with in his home.

Among other things, the promotion is advertised with cheerful commercials. Once again it becomes clear that Micasa goes perfectly with everything you already have at home. For example, the floor lamp from Micasa to the armchair on which the husband constantly reads the newspaper since he retired. The campaign is now running on numerous offline and online channels as well as at POP.