Sebastian Hupe, Senior Activation & Experience Manager at Electrolux Switzerland, explains: "We want to offer our partners communication platforms with additional added value and promote direct exchange. The concept of Aroma inspires, surprises and leaves room for encounters." The roadshow will start in Bern at the end of February.

In his role as Key Account Manager, Khevan Hauser serves national and international pharmaceutical companies and their media agencies. He provides consulting services throughout Switzerland in all three language regions.

Hauser moved from News Aktuell, where he spent the past few years as a key account manager advising clients on their PR activities. He brings more than 20 years of experience in sales and customer service. "We are delighted to have gained an experienced consultant in Khevan," said Marc Goetti, CEO of Excom Media. "The DooH industry is constantly changing. Advertising opportunities are increasing, but so is the complexity associated with them. With Khevan, we have found a passionate consultant who is definitely up to the challenges in a dynamic market environment."

Under the name Neo Solutions, Neo Advertising offers a service for the development, implementation and operation of digital visual communication solutions. This is aimed at the public and private sectors, retail, industry, international organizations and service companies that have a need for digital customer and/or employee communications.

Driven by the digital transformation, the digital signage market has grown very strongly over the last three years. To drive this growth strategy, Neo Advertising has brought Joël Dufour on board as of January 1, 2020. As Business Development Manager, he will look after demanding customers with his experience in the development of complex digital communication solutions.

The ex-Novartis boss wanted to protect the "1901" brand for meat from his farm in Uruguay (logo on the left). However, the Spanish ham producer Comapa was already on the market with the same brand (logo on the right). Vasella therefore had to have his "1901" brand deleted. Since leaving Novartis, Vasella has worked as a farmer and cattle breeder in Urgugay, among other things.

Picture: Handelszeitung

Pallas Kliniken is a clinic group in German-speaking Switzerland specializing in ophthalmology and aesthetic medicine. In order to make the offers of the 18 locations even better known to the general population, Pallas Kliniken is entering into a communicative partnership with Republica.

The creative agency from Bern will take care of new and fresh campaigns in the areas of aesthetics and ophthalmology as lead agency with immediate effect. Furthermore, the agency advises the Pallas managers on the levels of corporate communications and employer branding and offers support around marketing and communication.

The first results of the collaboration will be shown on various channels in German-speaking Switzerland from February.

Throughout 2019, Switzerland was the scene of strong demand for middle management profiles. In the German- and French-speaking regions, candidates with specialist skills were in high demand.

This dynamic can be explained in particular by the digital transformation. Indeed, Swiss companies have sought to improve their operational efficiency by focusing on data. As a result, many companies have recruited specialists in the fields of data analysis and big data.

In German-speaking Switzerland, the top management market has remained relatively quiet due to high wage costs. Most companies have therefore focused their recruitment on middle management rather than top management.

In French-speaking Switzerland, an increase in recruitment in the commodities trading sector was noted, particularly due to the establishment of new companies in the Geneva region.

Wages at the center of the decision-making process?

In general, the level of remuneration in Switzerland has remained constant, including in the area of Sales & Marketing. Salaries have mainly risen in the IT sector and in niche areas for which highly specialized profiles are sought.

"Companies have continued to develop new strategies to attract and retain talent, for example by introducing flexible working solutions (60 percent or 80 percent of jobs) and a greater number of days off. Even though salary is a very important factor for job satisfaction for 38 percent of Swiss professionals, the most important factor is a good work-life balance (very important for 53 percent of Swiss professionals), closely followed by an interesting content of daily work (50 percent)," explains Christian Atkinson, Director Robert Walters Switzerland.

According to the study, salary and benefits are the most important factor in the Sales & Marketing sector with 96%. However, a good work-life balance is also very important for 93% of professionals.

In 2020, the focus is on expert profiles

The labor market should remain solid this year and remain unaffected by the global economic uncertainties. Large international companies and SMEs will continue to invest in recruitment, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, banking, financial services and medical sciences. In addition, SMEs in Switzerland will benefit from local tax cuts, which may lead to an increase in recruitment.

"In 2020, the strongest growth is expected for expert profiles in the areas of tax, regulation, compliance, law and IT. In addition, the development of new ways of working will continue, with particular appeal for interim management, which will become increasingly popular to meet companies' needs for flexibility, profitability and expertise," adds Christian Atkinson, Director Robert Walters Switzerland.

The study reveals that the positions of eCommerce Manager, Key Account Manager and Digital Marketing Manager will be particularly in demand in the area of Sales & Marketing.

67% of managers are confident about the future: 61% of professionals in Switzerland expect to receive a pay rise this year. Around 78% of professionals in the sales & marketing sector expect a pay rise, 81% expect a bonus.

Netflix thus exceeded its own forecast and also market expectations. At the end of the quarter, the company had a good 167 million paid memberships.

However, Netflix continues to struggle in its US home market, where Hollywood giant Disney and Apple have also recently launched streaming services.

Only 423,000 subscribers were added in the fourth quarter. This was significantly less than expected, which put the share under some pressure in the after-hours trading. Netflix also fell short of expectations in its outlook for the current quarter with a global increase of seven million customers.

Profit and revenue surprised positively in the final quarter. Netflix achieved a surplus of 587 million dollars. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the company had earned only 134 million. Revenues grew to 5.5 billion dollars - a significant increase of 31 percent year-on-year.

Last week, 24 Netflix productions received Oscar nominations. The streaming service thus outshone all other studios. (SDA)

Most recently, Mathias Bettschart was Head of Advertising Market National at Somedia Promotion, which gives him tremendous value to the Converto team as the company expands. He draws on broad experience in the advertising market and media landscape at Ringier and Mediaplanet Switzerland, Austria and Germany, making him a key figure in Converto's networking, client acquisition and growth plans.

Bettschart's responsibilities will include strategic growth plans, pan-European expansion, managing the sales team and actively cultivating customers as well as leading pitches and acquisitions.

The newly established Executive Committee of Goldbach, consisting of Mark Luck, Alexander Duphorn, Roland Wittmann, Nicole Klose, Philipp Mankowski, Michi Frank, Marco Gasser, Ralf Brachat, Thierry Furrer, Stefan Wagner and Raoul Gerber (from left to right).

As of January 2020, Goldbach's core business, the marketing and placement of advertising in private media and out-of-home, will be joined by the titles of Tamedia and the media group of 20 minutes. The newly founded Goldbach subsidiaries 20 Minuten Advertising and Goldbach Publishing, which will also expand third-party print marketing, are responsible for this. Neo Advertising, which has been affiliated with Goldbach since the beginning of the year, is responsible for Out of Home.

In the decentralized organizational structure of the TX Group, all marketing activities of TX have been located at Goldbach since the beginning of the year. In the course of these changes, Goldbach is getting a new Board of Directors and expanding its Executive Committee.

New Board of Directors 

After several years as Chairman, Jens Alder returns to the Goldbach Board of Directors as a member. TX Group Board members Martin Kall, Konstantin Richter and Pietro Supino as well as Samuel Hügli, Head of Technology & Ventures, join the Goldbach Board of Directors as new members. Sandro Macciacchini, Head of Finance & HR of TX Group, and Christoph Tonini remain members of the Goldbach Board of Directors, whereby Christoph Tonini will be replaced as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Goldbach by Pietro Supino after his resignation as CEO of TX Group as of June 30, 2020.

Executive Committee expanded 

At the beginning of January, Nicole Klose (HR Business Partner) and Mark Luck (Director Controlling, M&A, Strategic Projects) as well as Marco Gasser (Managing Director 20 Minuten Advertising AG), Philipp Mankowski and Thierry Furrer (both Managing Directors Goldbach Publishing) joined the Executive Committee of Goldbach around CEO Michi Frank.

The Executive Committee also includes Raoul Gerber (Deputy CEO Goldbach Group), Alexander Duphorn (CEO Goldbach Media), Ralf Brachat (Managing Director Swiss Radioworld), Stefan Wagner (Managing Director Goldbach Audience) and Roland Wittmann (Chief Strategy Officer).

"With this new setup and the broad-based management, we are strengthening our presence in the market. The expanded offering also increases our marketing relevance. Our customers choose from comprehensive, high-reach advertising offerings that include print, online, TV, radio and outdoor advertising. Our new setup allows us to join forces to tackle the current challenges in the advertising market," says CEO Michi Frank.

What looks like an April Fool's joke at first glance is effectively the case. As part of the "Digital Wellbeing" initiative, the tech company has launched the "Envelope" project in collaboration with the design studio Special Projects, a digital detox app with an accompanying envelope.

The DIY case reduces the smartphone to its original function - telephony. The casing only consists of a keypad and a speed dial button. Another button lights up certain number keys under the cover to show the current time.

In the promotional video, the developers explain that they want to make Envelope as accessible as possible for a digital detox. The basic idea is to get by without a smartphone for as long as possible and thus increase well-being.

Envelope is currently only available for the Android model Pixel 3A. When downloading the app, users are sent a PDF that they can print out and cut and fold to size.

If you need a few more features to get through the day without your smartphone, Special Projects has another solution in store. The "Paper Phone" is supposed to combine all the applications you need on one A4 sheet. All you have to do is predefine the applications, print them out, cut them to size and fold them. Simple as that. Who needs their smartphone then? (swi/pte)

Bobst/Schrepfer: hardly changed since 2012, just a little older.

In addition to his work as an art and creative director, Christian Bobst has been working for over 10 years - and continues to do so - as a reportage photographer, including for GEO, Star, the Time and the NZZ.

Urs Schrepfer was Executive Creative Director at various Swiss agencies for many years and was responsible for the Seats for Switzerland documentaries with authentic stories of Swiss passengers. The films were realized by six different directors from the Ludwigsburg Film Academy.

Bobst/Schrepfer have worked together on campaigns such as Leica Zoom, were already on the road as a freelance team from 2010 to 2014 and also worked together last year as copywriters and photographers for the WOZ app campaign.

With "TCS Benefits", members of the mobility club can benefit from various discounts and reductions at over 320 partners worldwide. To make the benefits program even better known, Wirz Activation has developed a mailing with a folding technique in which the mailing envelope and the personalized letter are made from one piece. This is intended to provide both an eye-catcher and optimum reading guidance.

When the envelope is opened, readers initially see nothing except a small flap with an invitation to pull it. If the addressee does so, the letter unfolds, which is supposed to have a better effect than a conventional letter with this interactive gamification element.