Since Wednesday, Agence Trio is the first Western Switzerland partner agency of the influencer platform Kingfluencers. Aware that influencers are now an important part of the marketing mix and following the positive results already achieved by the campaigns for PubliBilke and Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP, the Lausanne agency is cooperating with the Zurich-based start-up. The latter has around 1,500 influencers in its catalog, from small ones to the names of the biggest stars on both sides of the Saane.

Christian Reiter, CEO and co-founder of Kingfluencers, on the new partnership: "This approach with the oldest communication agency in the country allows us to serve our clients more easily. Agence Trio is a reference in terms of quality and creativity, so I'm happy about this new collaboration!"

Michael Kamm, CEO Agence Trio: "It is important to professionalize and fully integrate influencer marketing into global communication strategies to achieve optimal advertising impact. With Kingfluencers, we can now optimally benefit from a top-of-the-line set of tools to achieve the ROI our clients expect.÷

"The growing popularity of social commerce, the changing role of Instagram and Facebook, influencer marketing and the explosion of video content are just some of the developments that online marketers will have to analyze and integrate into their strategies in the coming year," explains Socialbakers CEO Yuval Ben-Itzhak.

The most important findings

• Ad spend on Instagram Stories increased by 70% year-on-year, while ad spend on Facebook Stories only increased by 0.3%; Instagram Stories now account for 10% of total social media ad spend in Q3.
• The e-commerce category continues to grow, taking first place on Facebook and second place on Instagram in terms of total interactions. The fashion industry dominates Instagram, extending its lead in engagement from 27.8% in the second quarter to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2019.
• Social commerce is becoming an important trend: brands are enabling their customers to buy products directly via social media platforms.
• Sporting goods, beauty and e-commerce brands have the lowest exit rates on Instagram Stories. Brands from the food, beverage and financial sectors, on the other hand, struggle to keep the attention of their audience.
• Advertising mentions using the hashtag #ad by Instagram influencers increased by 60%. Of the companies analyzed, Walmart is the leading brand in influencer marketing (1370 mentions from 856 influencers).
• Video engagement has exploded across all platforms, driven by new formats such as Facebook Live, IGTV and interactive add-ons for Instagram stories.
• Mobile First: Marketers need to prioritize mobile advertising, as paid ads are now seen 95.8 percent of the time on mobile devices, compared to just 4.2 percent on desktop PCs.

Outstanding engagement on Instagram attracts advertising spend

Although brands still spend the majority of their ad spend on the Facebook feed (more than 60%), the data shows a long-term decline in the volume of ad spend on Facebook. With a tenfold increase in ad spend on Instagram Stories from January 2018 to the end of the third quarter of 2019, it is clear that marketing budgets are increasingly being allocated to Instagram. The reason for this is obvious: Instagram has a significantly higher engagement rate than Facebook.

When comparing the 50 largest brand profiles in the world on Instagram and Facebook, Instagram continues to have more interactions on profile posts than Facebook. While advertising expenditure for Facebook is declining, advertising expenditure for the Instagram feed has risen and has accounted for at least 20 percent of total advertising expenditure since the first quarter of 2019.

Social commerce picks up speed

"Of all the trends this year, we believe that social commerce will have the biggest impact in 2020. It will soon be possible to cover the entire marketing funnel from product discovery to product purchase and subsequent customer support via social media," explains Yuval Ben-Itzhak. "In 2020, we will see social media platforms integrating more and more e-commerce functions directly into their platform."

Video content is becoming increasingly popular

With Facebook Live, IGTV and add-ons for IG Stories, Facebook and Instagram have created interactive video formats. Measured by the average post interaction, Facebook Live is now the most attractive post format on Facebook with more than twice as many interactions as image posts, while regular Facebook videos follow in third place.

Video content on Instagram almost caught up with image posts in terms of average post interaction in the third quarter. The growing popularity of video is a trend that marketers should consider this holiday season and in the coming year

"Mobile First" is a must

Looking at all brand advertising accounts across Facebook and Instagram, the cost per click (CPCs) on desktop ($0.25) is almost twice as high as on mobile ($0.13). In addition, paid ads are seen 95.8 percent of the time on mobile devices, compared to just 4.2 percent on desktop. This is a slightly greater imbalance than in the second quarter of 2019 and underlines the fact that the "mobile first" premise is fundamental for marketers.  

The Christmas card, which was written by handwriting robot Sophie, was developed by VW together with the Zurich agency KSP. The mixture of handwriting and new technology not only expresses the high level of appreciation for the pre-bookers, but also the great anticipation of starting a new era together with them next year.

The campaign shows what you can do with 50 francs: You can afford something extra on a trip, fulfill a long-cherished shopping wish, or even pay for a subscription to online gaming. This added value was communicated through various channels. Anyone who applied for a new credit card during the promotion period received the 50 francs credited to their account as an initial gift.

The various subjects of the campaign were geared to the target groups of travel and gaming enthusiasts as well as to the overall topic of shopping. They were played out via a campaign with advertisements in major print titles, personalized mailings, displays on websites such as Tripadvisor, and posters and flyers in Post and PostFinance branches.

Around ten different videos were played out on social media to show in a humorous way how practical a credit card is and what you can afford for the inaugural gift of 50 francs.

In Flagranti was responsible for the concept and realization of the promotion campaign. Media planning and booking was carried out by Havas Media and Webrepublic.

Normally, the larger the surface on which you communicate your message, the more attention you generate. But sometimes it can work the other way around.

For example, Bank Cler communicated its support for the Swiss cinema film "Bruno Manser - The Voice of the Rainforest" and its brand attitude with a very unconventional use of the medium of cinema. 

Namely, after the first film images appeared on the screen, there seemed to be a malfunction of the cinema projector. Gradually, the visible image shrank to a meager fraction.

Shortly thereafter, the audience received the resolution: the tiny screen area still being played corresponds proportionally to the remaining rainforest area on Borneo. And thus the last retreat area for the Penan people, the indigenous people on the island.

Before the film restarted, it was thus demonstrated how reckless deforestation is causing the primeval forest - unfortunately not only on Borneo - to literally disappear from the scene.

The ski regions of Adelboden and Lenk, which have been operating together for some time (Adelboden-Lenk, dänk), invited tenders for a pitch for a new key visual. The aim was to anchor the region in the target groups of sporty singles and families as snow-sure and attractive and to secure the sale of day tickets.

Integral & Leuenberger came out on top against four competitors with the most convincing overall package. The centerpiece is a film from which stills are used for the images in all media. Due to the weather-dependent short-term nature of day ticket sales, the central implementation is carried out via a digital signage campaign that addresses target groups promptly via social media and digital marketing. With these considerations, the marketing for Adelboden-Lenk has been placed on a new footing for the coming years. 

For this mandate, Integral & Leuenberger is working together with In Flagranti Communication (strategy, support for digital measures) and In Flagranti Design (corporate design).

Grieger takes over from Adrian Lustenberger, who is retiring after 23 years. Since 2003, Grieger has worked in management positions in marketing, communications and sales for companies in Munich, Hamburg and Basel.

After working in key account management in the consumer goods industry, he focused on the architecture, design and construction industry in recent years. Maximilian Grieger will take up the new post on January 01, 2020.

#Wiehnachtshit did not make it into the official Swiss hit parade, but at least into the top 10 of the most successful Swiss songs of the week. The song of the current Galaxus Christmas campaign The "Galaxus Xmas Singers" - consisting of Baschi, Fabienne Louves, Carlos Leal and Stefanie Heinzmann - landed a veritable Christmas hit. 

The song also already has considerable streaming figures on Spotify. Anyone who buys or listens to #Wiehnachtshit is doing good: all proceeds from streaming and sales go to Pro Infirmis. Digitec Galaxus has already worked with the organization in connection with this year's awareness campaign. (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The composition is by Matthias Kräutli, the lyrics were written by Matthias Kräutli, Chris Niemeyer and Niels Vije. If you want to sing along, you can download the sheet music here as PDF download

Commission spokesman Stefan Engler (CVP/GR) recalled that the survey system was only introduced at the beginning of the year. Already another changeover to be made, is not indicated. Engler also pointed to the clear No to the No Billag initiative.

Companies also benefit from a functioning and independent broadcasting system, the commission spokesman added. If companies were exempted from the levy, private households would also have to pay more.

Hannes Germann (SVP/SH) supported the motion. He also justified it with the ruling of the Federal Administrative Court last week. The court had come to the conclusion that the current tariff system of the radio and television levy for companies contradicts the constitution.

It suggested to the Federal Council that the system, which comprises six tariff levels, should be differentiated. The Federal Council has announced an analysis of the tariff system for next year. Paul Rechsteiner (SP/SG) recalled that the initiative called for an abolition of the corporate levy and not an adjustment of the tariff system.

The National Council had adopted the initiative in the fall session with a clear majority. Gregor Rutz, the SVP member of the National Council from Zurich, who had submitted the parliamentary initiative, spoke of double taxation. Company owners and employees would already have to pay a tax as private individuals.

The electorate approved the levy system at the ballot box in 2015. This also introduced the corporate levy. This contributes 170 million Swiss francs per year to the levy pot. (SDA)

When the deal fell through a few weeks ago, Liberty had left itself a loophole (Werbewoche.ch reported). "We look forward to continuing our discussions with the Sunrise Board of Directors or Sunrise major shareholder Freenet about a potential transaction," Liberty CEO Mike Fries had said at the time.

Now the door will be closed, according to a statement on Tuesday. The reason given is that the Sunrise board of directors and major shareholder Freenet could not reach an agreement.

UPC is now focusing on its turnaround plan, it said. "And we are, of course, exploring other strategic options in the market," the statement said.

In this context, the industrial logic of "convergence" from mobile and fixed network infrastructure is undisputed, it is emphasized. As is well known, there is only one mobile communications provider left on the Swiss telecommunications market in addition to Sunrise and Swisscom: Salt. (SDA)

Spinelli will report directly to Francois Bornibus, SVP & President EMEA, and will be based in Milan. He will help drive greater interaction between Lenovo and its customers and reinforce Lenovo's commitment to delivering smarter technology for all.

Spinelli joins from Fing, a start-up offering a B2C marketplace for smart home hardware and professional services, where he was CEO. Prior to Fing, he was Managing Director of Canon's digital services business. Spinelli has led several start-ups in his career, in addition to positions in multinational corporations such as Intel and Acer.

"It's 2019 and the world's never been angrier". Some people will probably agree with this statement from Rovio. The game developer thinks that letting off a little steam can be a positive thing.

The machine is actually set up like a normal vending machine, but you don't pay with money, you pay by hitting, shaking and yelling.

On November 21, 2019, the machine could be insulted and beaten up by passers-by during eight hours. The event was accompanied by wrestler and actor Big Show, who actively supported and cheered on the participants.