The Asia-Pacific APAC economic region is the global leader in the use of financial apps, but there are also signs of impressive growth in Western markets: Financial app downloads in Asia have grown almost fourfold in just four years. This growth was driven by the introduction of super apps such as WeChat and Alipay. While there were around 383 million downloads in 2014, 1.84 billion downloads were recorded in APAC in 2018.

In Europe and North America, the strong growth trend is still in its early stages. More and more consumers want to use exclusively mobile banking services as well as always available and seamless financial services. The strong momentum in the regions indicates that these markets are on the cusp of exponential growth.  

"Interest in financial apps has grown enormously in the last four years," says Paul H. Müller, Co-Founder and CTO of Adjust. "But high download figures do not always lead to high user loyalty. That's why it's important to use analytics to anticipate user needs, define customer segments, address them and build deep relationships with each individual user."

Financial apps are strong in customer loyalty

Almost a third (32%) of users return on the first day, and 15% are still using the app on the third day after downloading it. In a comparison of 15 app categories, banking apps occupy a strong third place. Even on the 30th day after download, these apps are only just behind news (18%) and music (17%) in terms of retention.

Payment apps drive innovation

The acceptance of payment apps is stable, but the rather average retention rates indicate that marketers need to use more channels and methods to activate and motivate their users. An analysis of the retention rates of 15 different app categories shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement with payment apps.

"The growth and retention rates we're seeing in financial apps show that mobile will very soon become the most important tool for managing money," predicts Danielle Levitas, EVP Global Marketing and Insight at App Annie. "The winners will be the apps that offer their users easy onboarding in the app, intuitive user experience, reliable security and a customized experience." (pd)

The store would also serve as a pick-up and return point for orders placed with the Digitec and Galaxus websites. It replaces a branch of the specialist retailer Melectronics. All existing employees would continue to be employed.

Migros has a 70 percent stake in Digitec Galaxus, as the company is officially known. This now operates eleven stores in Switzerland in addition to the two online stores Galaxus (household, garden, pet supplies, sports and leisure) and Digitec (IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications). In 2018, Digitec Galaxus had achieved sales of 992 million Swiss francs. (SDA)

Digital media have become an integral part of the everyday lives of children and young people. In addition to many opportunities and freedoms, the use of smartphones also brings challenges and can lead to problems. This makes it all the more important for children to learn how to deal with the stumbling blocks of the digital world. 

Empowering children to use digital media

Pro Juventute is working on the development of an app to help children aged 9 and over deal with social media and messenger services. At this age, most children get their first smartphone and develop an independence that is often difficult for parents to manage. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, the app enables children to acquire online skills and safety and will initially be available in German-speaking Switzerland from August 2020 following a pilot phase.

Thomas Brunner, Head of Counseling and Support at Pro Juventute: "As the father of two boys, I experience every day how important the internet and social media are for children. At the same time, as head of 147.ch, I see how many children and young people have negative experiences in the digital world. The app makes an important contribution to the development of a responsible and healthy digital existence."

Exchange with parents

Parents play an important role in media education. Together with their parents, children learn to look at media content critically, select it, enjoy it and talk about their media experiences. This is exactly where the app comes in: Parents receive background information via web access, which supports them in their role and makes them fit in an ever faster changing digital world. Parents cannot monitor or limit the user behavior of children and young people. 

Pro Juventute has been committed to protecting and empowering children in their use of digital media for many years. The development costs for the app are high and with the Crowdfunding project Pro Juventute wants to cover part of the costs.

Agence Trio has been working with the Fribourg public transport company TPF since 2015. At that time, a communication strategy was developed with "Givisiez Ensemble", which enabled TPF employees and the general public to get to know the gigantic operations center under construction at the time. The center was launched in September. The communication concept was developed entirely by Agence Trio: branding, merchandising, posters, social media, signage and the creation of a variety of activities, games and animations.
 
In October, another collaboration between Agence Trio and TPF followed at the Comptoir de la Veveyse 2019. The agency was commissioned by Fribourg's public transport company to create a concept designed to wake visitors up from their daily grind. The creative team developed a stand with a public and a private space as well as an animation area. The whole was equipped with backlit information panels, two interactive areas and an AR system so that residents of the region could get the best possible picture of the various aspects of the "Châtel-St-Denis program".

This is a large-scale renovation project that includes the relocation of the train station, the construction of the new cantonal road and the creation of a green path. Trio was responsible for the creation of all the promotional material, the coordination of the video productions, as well as the visual design of the graphic interfaces for the interactive areas and the invitations to the ten micro-events at the stand.
 
To implement the projects for TPF, Agence Trio worked with various Swiss companies, including Atracsys Interactive, Collaud & Criblet, Swiss Event Rentals, Biella, Flyerline, Terroir Fribourg, Sharingbox, Eigenmann Expo, Raumgleiter and Pro Scène.

Also this year Al Mulinetto shows itself with an artistic appearance. The small winery from the south of Switzerland is known for its artistically staged performances. The dramatization of the always limited edition of Merlot, Grappa and Nocino was implemented with creatures from mythology. Thus, the Merlot is as rare as the opportunity to meet a dragon. Or the Nocino, with its 450 bottles, is as rare as the opportunity to run into a sea monster. 

The illustrations are by illustrator Silvan Steenbrink of Art Box Amsterdam. The three subjects will be used as posters and in trade magazines.

"Our business model ensures that groups like Amnesty International - which currently runs ads on Facebook - reach supporters, raise money and advance their goals."

Amnesty International had criticized in a report that Google and Facebook control the most important channels through which billions of people use the Internet. At the same time, their business model is based on "ubiquitous surveillance" and that endangers human rights. Google left the accusations uncommented on Thursday.

Facebook also owns the WhatsApp and Messenger chat services and the Instagram photo platform. The video platform YouTube is also part of Google - and the Internet company also develops the dominant smartphone system Android. Among other things, Amnesty International sees a problem in the fact that people would have to open up access to their data in order to use Facebook and Google services. (SDA)

Image: SRF

Gredig will leave the English-language finance and business channel CNNMoney Switzerland at the end of January 2020, the channel announced Thursday. Gredig will take over as host of the new weekly talk show in the Thursday evening slot at 10:25 p.m. starting next year, SRF said in a statement. The name and exact start date of the vessel are still open.

In addition to his hosting role in the new talk format, Gredig is also making his comeback as News Anchor. Because Susanne Wille and Arthur Honegger are taking on additional duties, a fourth person is being added to the "10vor10" moderation team.

With the introduction of the new talk show, SRF 1 is changing its programming structure on Thursday evenings. The knowledge magazine "Einstein" returns to its traditional 9 p.m. slot. The foreign magazine "#SRFglobal" remains in its 10:25 p.m. slot every first Thursday of the month. Gredig's new talk show then goes off the air.

Gredig was quoted in the SRF release as saying that he felt it was a great privilege to be able to host both "10vor10" and a new talk format. Gredig already held various positions at SRF from 2003 to 2017.

For its part, CNNMoney Switzerland announced the hires of Haig Simonian and Olivia Chang as new hosts with Gredig's departure. Simonian, formerly of the Financial Times and The Economist, will host a new business talk show starting in February 2020. Chang will take over as host of "Global Agenda." (SDA)
 

NET-Metrix Profiles 2019-2 includes reach and audience data for 165 Swiss web properties, mobile/desktop sites, iOS and Android apps, and 17 networks.

Top 10 web offerings continue to show growth in reach

Almost all of the ten websites with the highest reach continue to expand their reach. The biggest winner is Watson.ch (+5.6 percentage points), which is now used by around 1.6 million unique users per month. This corresponds to 25.5 percent of Swiss online. However, the online offerings of Bluewin (+4.0 percentage points), SRF (+3.2 percentage points), and NZZ (+3.1 percentage points). The ranking within the top 10 remains virtually unchanged: SBB takes the top position with around 3.4 million unique users per month, followed by the German-language edition of 20min.ch and Srf.ch (each around 2.9 million unique users per month).

Top 5 Mobile Sites, iOS and Android Apps

The increase in reach of watson.ch results in particular from the significantly higher use of the mobile site (+4.9 percentage points). While the other of the top 5 mobile sites also gained reach compared to the previous wave, app usage remained roughly at the level of survey wave 2019-1. The most-used apps - both Apple iOS and Google Android - are and remain the apps of the SBB and the German-language phone app of 20min.ch.

PostFinance has set itself the goal of becoming a digital powerhouse and the number 1 digital bank in Switzerland. The challenge for Wunderman Thompson was to develop a new campaign for the digital service offering that is bold, direct and has a digital touch in terms of appearance.

Furthermore, Wunderman Thompson should address different customer groups - with varying degrees of digitization - under one strong umbrella that fits both the image level and the product level. When it comes to digital innovations, PostFinance is also often underestimated. It was found through surveys that customers want functions or solutions, but some of them are available but not known or not known enough.

The insight of Wunderman Thompson: Often in life, you are afraid of the unknown or have reservations about it. Simply because you don't know it. But once you get into it, you may find that you love it after all. With the confident and humorous campaign claim "who knows me, loves me" made from a digital banking perspective, Wunderman Thompson has created a communication umbrella that serves and picks up everyone. 

Each statement made by digital banking refers either to digital banking as a whole or to a digital feature. For example, the statement "You can easily make an appointment with me" promotes the possibility of making an appointment for a consultation online, "You'll get there with me even if you have bags under your eyes," the new login option via Face ID, or "With me, you'll never have to go out in the rain again," the "Scan + Pay" function that allows users to scan deposit slips and pay bills.

Statements were also made to match the respective locations. At streetcar and bus stops, for example, digital banking promises that it will never keep you waiting. At shopping locations, Digital Banking encourages people to spend money together. And if these arguments still don't convince you, digital banking has even more reasons at the ready and cheekily claims that thanks to it, you generally have more time for yourself, your hobby or sex.

The new campaign comes with a colorful look that is designed to fit the digital world. The measures created by Wunderman Thompson were designed to be channel-specific and will be used throughout Switzerland as TV commercials, OOH, DOOH, online & social media video ads, banners and social media content.

The TeleBärn editorial team: Markus von Känel, Chantal Beljean and Daniel Schifferli (from left to right).

Von Känel has been a producer at TeleBärn for more than two years and is also responsible for special broadcasts and election coverage. Previously, the 47-year-old ran his own film production company and had already worked at TeleBärn from 1999 and 2012. Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chantal Beljean will remain, the broadcaster announced on Wednesday.

Daniel Schifferli is a new addition to the editorial team, who will develop the channel digitally and complete the management trio. The former top curler and media and communications scientist has been working as a video journalist at TeleBärn for three years.

Adrian Grob, former editor-in-chief of TeleBärn, is moving to the communications department of Inselspital. He is leaving the station at the end of December after five years. (SDA)

The Moosalp region has a lot to offer. However, the area is a little less steep than elsewhere in the Alpine canton of Valais, which makes it much more relaxed. The ski slopes and bike trails are quieter, the hiking trails more leisurely, and the meadow in front of the Gault Milau restaurant is flat enough to lie down on after a meal.

Under the motto "Hie chusch embri", Junghänis has created a world of experience that invites visitors to enjoy relaxing activities and simply switch off.

The centerpiece of the repositioning is the new Websitewhich presents the wide range of offers in the Moosalp region. Junghänis has redesigned all communication media, from stationery to advertising material.

In its latest exhibition, the Museum of Communication in Bern takes its visitors into the world of inhibitions. Under the motto "Schweinehunde und Spielverderber" (Pig Dogs and Killjoys), the museum takes a playful approach to a phenomenon that everyone is familiar with. The intense and emotional exhibition experience aims to enable visitors to develop a conciliatory relationship with inhibitions.

In addition to a meaningful subject, with which inhibitions are staged visually effective, Eyeloveyou is responsible for the development and implementation of the means of communication online as well as offline: poster, folding flyer and opening invitation are supplemented by digital measures, which correspond to the national orientation of the Museum of Communication.