For this purpose, a pop-up agency will be set up at Rod Kommunikation from February 15, 2020, where eight young people between the ages of 16 and 25 will create the advertising campaign under expert supervision for one week.

Interested parties can register at Projuventute.ch/popup-agency register. Participants will have the opportunity to work on a national communication and gain insights into the creative industry, learn from media people and influencers. Participation will, of course, be remunerated and meals and accommodation will be paid for. The deadline for registration is January 19.

More and more Swiss companies and agencies are using Twitter as a communication and advertising platform. Professionalization on the part of clients and agencies requires in-depth knowledge of the many and constantly new possibilities in order to make the most of Twitter's potential worldwide. To meet this need, Twitter has been offering certified training in Switzerland since 2019.

The Twitter Academy Switzerland is primarily aimed at employees of communications and marketing departments, media managers and agencies. Twitter ambassador Frank Bodin and three proven Twitter experts from Httpool lead the course, which consists of four modules and a final test. The course is free of charge. The course language is High German. Each course participant who successfully completes the test receives a personalized certificate. Registration is on a first come first served basis. You can find more information about the course here.

"There are still many users who are afraid to create their own website. Yet it really is the easiest thing in the world," says Alessandro Ianeselli. The campaign for Hostpoint using digital name-dropping should be just as easy and simple. Digital terms are often on everyone's lips, but many people don't really know what they mean.

The campaign with the slogan "Simply Internet" explains the terms clearly, peppered with a pinch of humor. Because when it comes to having your own domain, website, web hosting or e-mail address, Hostpoint not only wants it to be easy, but also fun. With this campaign, Hostpoint wants to sharpen its profile as an accessible, reliable and understandable web hosting provider.

This winter, the campaign will be played out throughout Switzerland in three national languages on all digital channels, in various print media, and also on posters.

Credit Suisse's marketing is continuing on the path it began in May and is now launching a second comprehensive campaign. "Like the youth campaign 'Zieh's durch', the positioning as a 'bank for entrepreneurs' is now also intended to pay tribute to the brand essence of Credit Suisse," says Roman Reichelt, Head of Marketing & Sponsorship.

In the campaign for entrepreneurs, Credit Suisse wants to celebrate faith in itself and its ideas. Accordingly, the guiding idea across the campaign is not the question "Why?", but "Why not". As a self-confident statement, "Why not?" is intended to be the unifying element of the campaign and to appeal to entrepreneurs who not only take on challenges, but seek them out.

"Where others see a drone, a hemp leaf or a mushroom, entrepreneurs think of fire source detectors, pharmaceuticals or packaging materials," says David Schätti, Head of Initiatives & Advertising Corporate Clients, describing both the mindset and the creative idea behind "Why Not."

Credit Suisse wants to position itself as a fast, reliable partner that can keep up with these ideas and offer the right services and advice. The bank communicates services such as paperless account opening, the uncomplicated online loan, or initiatives such as the upcoming Entrepreneur Day in the multi-level campaign from the awareness, to the consideration, to the performance level. The data-driven digital, social, out-of-home, print, and POS ads are segmented by target audience.

The Harbourclub, the network of communications executives from Swiss companies and organizations, has appointed its board member Hans-Peter Nehmer as president effective January 1, 2020. Hans-Peter Nehmer is Chief Communications Officer at Allianz Suisse, where he is responsible for the insurance group's corporate communications and corporate social responsibility activities in Switzerland.

Previously, he held the same position at UPC Cablecom and the internationally active Hotelplan Group. Before switching sides to the PR industry, Nehmer worked for more than ten years as an editor and presenter at the private radio station Radio Z and on Swiss television. He has been jury president of the Swiss Annual Report Rating since 2015. His appointment is subject to election by the Annual General Meeting on March 13, 2020.

Hans-Peter Nehmer takes over from Dominique Morel, who has led the club for the last five years and will leave at the end of March 2020 for statutory reasons, as he will no longer be active as Head Marketing, Communications & Sales at KPMG, but as a consultant for Marketing, Reputation & Customer Experience. "The Harbour Club would like to thank Dominique Morel for his great commitment. He has shaped the communications landscape in Switzerland with his innovative ideas and done much for the reputation of the profession. He is handing over a well-ordered house and I look forward to continuing the Harbourclub on this foundation. Given the many challenges in corporate communications, this is an exciting task," says Hans-Peter Nehmer, commenting on his appointment.

The future board of the Harbourclub

• Hans-Peter Nehmer (President), Allianz
• Larissa Alghisi, Julius Baer
• Edi Estermann, SRG/SSR
• Myriam Käser, Skyguide
• Salomé Ramseier, Hoerbiger
• Roman Sidler, Geberit

The CO2 discussion has also affected the meetings industry. CO2 emissions play a major role, particularly with regard to travel to and from the respective location or the energy required for overnight stays and the preparation of meals. The ConferenceArena is setting a good example and will be climate positive for the first time this year. "Climate positive means that 120 percent of the CO2 emissions generated in connection with the trade fair will be offset or overcompensated," explains Roger Schaer, Managing Director of ConferenceArena.

This is being done as part of Carbon-connect's partner project with a forest conservation and reforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon, as trees are excellent CO2 stores.

Pascal Freundreich, CEO of Carbon-connect, will explain how your own company events can be organized in a climate-neutral way during a presentation at the ConferenceArena on February 6 in Zurich-Oerlikon. In addition, international experts will speak on topics such as "Digital event organization today", "Meeting success thanks to poker strategy" or "Fitter through everyday business life".

At the heart of the commitment is an eight-part film series with celebrities. Melanie Winiger versus Baschi, Stress versus Gilbert Gress - in duels, two celebrities aim to reach a common goal in six hours. They start at different locations in Switzerland. The only way to travel is by car.

Whoever finds more rides wins the autograph hunt. During the ride, the celebrities talk to the drivers about very personal stories about individual motorized mobility. The webisodes are available on the Content Hub Myautograph.ch and will be advertised on TV, in print and in the digital space. A second season with four more Swiss celebrities will follow in spring.

Farner produced the AUTOgram duels together with the production company John Allen. The film series is accompanied by a b advertising campaign. It features six portraits of people from Switzerland who use cars for very different needs and in different ways. The photographs were taken by Stephan Schacher.

The Meinautogramm.ch content hub is the connecting element and provides information in blog articles on topics such as electromobility, mobility of the future, multi-mobility, infrastructure and the economic importance of the automotive industry, safety and the environment. In this way, Auto-Schweiz and Farner aim to communicate various facets of individual mobility in an entertaining and informative way.

A luxury watch from Zurich watchmaker Maurice de Mauriac as a gift, a free flat tire repair at the Gorilla bike store or half-price admission to the hammam at the Volkshaus or the Dolder ice rink: the Hello Zurich Pass currently offers 150 exclusive benefits in the city of Zurich and online stores. "Unlike other discount programs and deal providers, we work with our partners on a long-term basis - so most of the benefits are valid all the time," says Hello Zurich Managing Director Christian Schiller in a press release.

Furthermore, Hello Zurich does not charge partner companies any fees or other charges to be part of the pass. It is more important that the local businesses offering a benefit fit in with the city magazine, Schiller explains the concept. For example, small Zurich fashion labels, craft businesses and trendy restaurants are included. "But traditional establishments such as the Hotel Schweizerhof and the Kunsthaus are also taking part," says the Managing Director. In addition to permanently valid offers, partner companies can also post short-term offers under certain conditions.

Pass is intended to appeal to the local population and tourists

In addition to the local population, the hellozurichPass is also intended to appeal to tourists. Thanks to the carefully selected offers, they can use the pass to get to know the city away from the tourist hotspots. The pass is available from 8 francs per month. Anyone who buys an annual or six-month pass receives a physical pass for their wallet in addition to the electronic pass on their smartphone.

The Austrian, born in 1969, has a degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration with a focus on marketing, according to the information. She has held positions including marketing manager for Wolford in Italy and various roles at jewelry and crystal company Swarowski. She has been company director of Christ watches and jewelry since 2016.

The position at the top of the renowned department store had become vacant after longtime boss Franco Savastano left Jelmoli for rival Globus in late summer 2019. (SDA)
Photo: Christ / Coop

"Binge watching" is a term with a rather negative connotation. It means that content is consumed in excess. That tends to have a flair of coolness among young people, because adults turn up their noses at it. But streaming services also want to grow beyond a youth audience and not just be seen as fast-food platforms," says Stefan Caduff, business manager of the media psychology institution Sapia, when asked by the news portal Pressetext.

Study author Mareike Jenner has examined the changing reputation of binge watching by looking at the debate surrounding the Netflix series "Dead Girls Don't Lie," which deals with the topic of suicide among teenagers. According to the researcher, the series faced a lot of criticism for this portrayal, which also triggered a discussion about its format.

Netflix released all 13 episodes of each of the three seasons so far in one go. The binge-watching of an already controversial series was perceived as questionable by many critics.

Term "binge watching" taboo

"Concerns about teen audiences historically often point to general fears about the impact of media on 'uneducated' audiences," Jenner said. The researcher says that in public discourse, binge watching is increasingly perceived as "bad" or "harmful" television.

It's now considered a sign of class to return to watching series with a time gap between episodes. The streaming service Disney+ is already following suit, releasing only one episode of series every week.

Netflix is also beginning to see this trend. According to Jenner, the term binge watching no longer even appears in the platform's advertising campaigns. The well-known actor Guy Pearce appeared in the Netflix series "The Innocents" last year and said in an interview that Netflix had forbidden him to use the term binge watching in promotions. (pte)

Swiss online retailers had a great year in 2019, as a survey by the news agency AWP shows.

Christmas business at the Coop's online retail subsidiary Microspot once again exceeded the previous year, which was also good, said a spokeswoman. Sales growth compared to the previous year was in the "clear double-digit range". For the Coop Group as a whole, however, Christmas business was "in line with the good previous year".

Brack, the online retailer belonging to the Competec Group, also reported significantly stronger growth for November and December than in previous years. "The increase is also higher than expected compared to the annual average," said a spokesperson.

Migros subsidiary Digitec Galaxus is a little more cagey: "We don't communicate exact figures for Christmas business." However, the company was able to make gains on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are important indicators for Christmas business.

Online trend for toys too

Migros confirms the shift from bricks-and-mortar to online retail. According to a spokesperson, the orange giant recorded significant growth in the online area of its non-food range in 2019, while its bricks-and-mortar business declined at the same time.

Migros cites the toy industry as an example of this: while online retail has long been very important in the toy industry abroad, this trend is now also becoming clearly noticeable in Switzerland.

People were apparently also busy shopping in book retailing: Christmas business to date has been pleasing for Orell Füssli, it said. "We are slightly ahead of the previous year in terms of sales."

Business in the larger department stores was stable to slightly positive: At Loeb, Christmas business was on a par with the previous year, according to Loeb boss Ronald Christen. The Migros department store subsidiary Globus, which is up for sale, reported an increase in sales of around 2 percent.

Weather dampened buying mood

The stationary business was dampened somewhat by various factors. According to Migros, the daily constellation was better last year with a Sunday sale on December 23.

In addition, the weather did not allow any Christmas spirit to emerge for a long time. According to the Orell Füssli spokesperson, the relatively mild days initially dampened consumers' buying mood. Loeb also felt the effects of the mild weather when selling jackets and coats.

Meanwhile, online retailers are benefiting from the fact that promotional days such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Singles Day are becoming increasingly accepted by the public and are being supported by retailers on an ever wider scale, according to Brack.

On the other hand, there were no new toys or technology products worth mentioning this Advent: "No new must-have smartphones, no new games consoles," said a spokesperson. "And no new hype toys that absolutely had to be under the tree."

Lego and perfume

Consumers also tended to stick to the classics when it came to Christmas gifts. According to the retailers surveyed, perfumes, consumer electronics, smartphones and board games such as "Brändi Dog" were particularly popular. Lego and Playmobil are still the top sellers when it comes to toys. There was also a lot of hype surrounding the Pokémon brand.

Mr. and Mrs. Swiss are also sticking to the tried and tested traditions when it comes to food, as Coop and Migros report. Classics such as chinoise or cheese fondue, table grills and delicacies or "Schüfeli" are still served on these days. Smoked leeks and turkey are also popular.

Christmas bonuses and gift cards

The Christmas period continues to have an impact on retailers. For Orell Füssli, for example, the days up to January 3 still counted as Christmas business. Others have already started selling out.

Microspot, for example, already started this at Christmas. "That's why the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve are always strong sales days." This also remains the case in January, as many customers redeem the gift cards they received at Christmas. At Coop, New Year's Eve celebrations with friends and family also generate additional sales.

As Migros reports, many children are also spending their Christmas bucks these days, once again boosting toy sales. (SDA)

"AR represents a huge opportunity for the advertising industry. Such applications are fun, and they make advertising cool. It enables brands to combine entertainment with information. That's a big advantage, because users want to be entertained as quickly as possible when they pull out their smartphones," says social media expert Tim Weisheit in an interview with news portal Pressetext.

"Modern Surprise Egg"

With Snapchat Scan, users simply focus their camera on a brand logo, such as McDonald's Golden Arches. The feature recognizes the logo and displays AR elements that match the brand. These can include special filters, 3D elements and special information.

"Gamification, or playfulness, is becoming more and more prevalent in branding. Just the logo or ordinary advertising - people have seen that too often. AR applications, on the other hand, offer something new. You can think of this feature as a modern surprise egg," social media expert Hendrik Unger tells Pressetext.

Patent already exists since 2015

According to Social Media Today Snapchat patented a similar concept back in 2015. The basic idea was to be able to scan the menu in a restaurant and thus obtain additional information through AR, for example about the calorie or fat content of the food. But the feature was also intended to be used for advertising and branding right from the start. Restaurants should be able to use the scan to present discount offers and promotions.

Snapchat's plan is to present ads triggered by visual impressions, similar to the ads presented for keywords on Google. Snapchat first implemented the idea of AR elements through brand logos on its "Spectacles" smart glasses in 2016. When users of the glasses look at the Spectacles logo, they are presented with a custom AR filter. (pte)