Mara has already gained many years of experience in the advertising industry and last worked for Omnicom Media Group Switzerland as a Digital Media Consultant. Before that, she worked in different marketing departments and knows the client as well as the agency side. 

With the addition of Bünder, the Campaign team now includes four people who can offer clients support from conception and media planning to the production of special formats and reporting. 

Patrick Stüssi, CEO of TheIndustry, relies on the potential of the employees: "We want to be innovative, offer our customers impeccable service and be a strong player in online advertising. This requires top employees who bring stamina, passion and energy. We are pleased to have found the perfect reinforcement for our campaign management team in Mara." 

TheIndustry recently launched the Double Dynamic Sitebar and would like to continue to expand their product range (Werbewoche.ch reported).

• Only 19 percent of German companies place data at the center of their CXM.
• German brands blame their own corporate culture (30 percent), fragmented technologies and a lack of data skills (24 percent each) for inadequate customer experiences.
• 43 percent see great potential in AI for future CXM success.

Not even one in five German companies (19%) place data at the heart of their customer experience management (CXM). This puts Germany behind the UK (20 percent) and French (27 percent) markets when it comes to the experience-oriented use of data. In addition to strict data protection regulations (26%), German companies primarily blame their own corporate culture with a clear departmental mindset and the resulting data silos (30%, UK: 22%, F: 28%) as well as a lack of data skills (24%, UK: 27%, F: 22%).

Another important obstacle to CXM for German corporate decision-makers is the lack of a standardized technology that brings together all data and makes inspiring customer experiences possible in the first place (24 percent, UK: 24 percent, F: 23 percent).

"The optimal interplay of technology, data and human excellence only unfolds its full potential with the right corporate culture - a corporate culture of data-based decisions. A culture that promotes interdisciplinary and cross-departmental initiatives that always put the customer at the center," says Christoph Kull, Vice President and Managing Director Central Europe at Adobe. "Integrated solutions help with a holistic view of the customer and are increasingly becoming the central prerequisite for inspiring customer experiences."

It all depends on the right technical infrastructure

Very few German brands believe that they already have the right technical foundations and integrated data functions to provide inspiring customer experiences.

The lack of ability to link data from different sources is a particularly big headache for the decision-makers surveyed: in only 12% of German companies is the respective platform able to link known and anonymous data for cross-channel customer profiles in real time (UK: 16%, F: 26%). Only 15 percent of platforms (UK: 19 percent, F: 25 percent) manage an open and smooth transition from behavior-based, transaction-based and operational data.

Brands are increasingly relying on AI in CXM 

Almost one in two German brands (43%) believe that AI and machine learning have great potential to further improve their future CXM. For 30 percent, the use of AI is therefore already one of the top priorities for 2020 (UK: 29 percent, F: 30 percent). The focus of future AI use for German companies is primarily on the additional knowledge that can be gained through AI-based access to previously hidden information (33%, UK: 36%, F: 33%).

The benefits of AI for targeting (28%, UK: 36%, F: 42%), personalization (28%, UK: 32%, F: 38%) and targeted segmentation (28%, UK: 31%, F: 36%) are also important to them.

"High-performance AI like Adobe Sensei is already enabling companies to successfully scale their CXM to deliver personalized, individual and relevant experiences to thousands, even millions of customers. However, these best possible customer experiences can only be created with the right company organization and the right technical infrastructure. This is where companies must not neglect their homework, as these two components have always formed the foundation for successful CXM," says Christoph Kull.

This year, Black Friday falls on November 29, 2019. Not only do many consumers receive their salary before this day, but it is also only around three weeks before Christmas. A well-chosen date, therefore. GfK assumes that sales on this year's Black Friday will exceed previous records. 

In the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Brazil, sales generated during the Black Friday week already exceed those of Christmas sales. In China, on the other hand, Singles' Day is the most important shopping event of the year. It generates three times the sales of a normal week. The second most important shopping event, "618.JD", which took place in the middle of the year, also generated good results for retailers. 

"Both Black Friday and Singles' Day are well-established promotional weeks for retailers worldwide. Our studies show that, regardless of where they live, consumers are always open to good offers as long as they really deliver added value - in other words, an honest price reduction," says Anja Reimer, GfK expert in the field of consumer behavior. "Both events respond to consumers' desire not to miss out on good deals and to get hold of higher-quality branded items at the best possible price. In addition, consumers around the world are always looking for ways to make their lives easier. According to our GfK FutureBuy study, 43% of consumers in Switzerland agree with the statement that there is simply too much choice in many categories. Retailers can offer real added value by reducing the number of offers, making it easier for consumers to find and buy the products they want this November."

Consumers inform themselves more before buying 

Today's consumers are smart and are spending more time than ever before on thorough research before making a purchase. According to the GfK study FutureBuy almost half of consumers in Switzerland (48%) say that they compare prices more often today than they did a year ago. The fact that the Black Friday shopping event has been portrayed negatively in the media in some markets in the past has led to many consumers taking offers, discounts and promotions with a grain of salt and spending even more time comparing prices before making a purchase.

In terms of multimedia products, the promotions on and around Black Friday had a strong impact in 2018. Compared to the first Black Friday four years ago, sales even doubled in more saturated categories such as smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions and cameras. Compared to the previous year, the volume for the same product groups in Black Friday week rose by over 25%, or from 60 million to 75 million Swiss francs.

The trend is moving away from low-cost to higher-quality products in the range 

This year, a trend towards higher-quality products is emerging. With the right offers, premium brands can turn more product enthusiasts into buyers than in other weeks. According to the GfK Consumer Life study, 38% of Swiss consumers would prefer to own fewer but higher-quality items. 47% state that it is important to them to treat themselves regularly and indulge themselves. 

Reimer summarizes: "The successful concept for the coming promotion weeks will be to match the right premium products with consumer demand. If this happens within a manageable framework of honest offers, consumers will easily make a purchase decision this year."

Christian Fehrlin, VRP Deep Impact and Winsider, and Christoph Hugenschmidt, Managing Director and Partner Huron (from left to right)

Inside-it.ch was launched in 2004 by Hans Jörg Maron and Christoph Hugenschmidt, Medinside in 2015. The three media and associated products, such as the Inside Channels forum and the video format, are now being rapidly developed further. All employees and the two founders of Huron will remain on board and the editorial team will be expanded. The publishing house will remain at its current location in Zurich. Christoph Hugenschmidt will hand over operational management of the publishing house to Joël Herde, who is already operational director of Winsider, at the beginning of January 2020. 

With the sale of their publishing house, the two company founders are securing the future of their media. As part of a larger publishing house that belongs to a digitization house, the online media can now be developed more quickly and respond to new reader needs and advertising market demands. Work on a redesign and the development of new Inside-it.ch products is already in full swing.

The online store offers shoes, outdoor clothing and outdoor equipment. Kanari.ch relies on Farner as its performance marketing partner. The agency developed a multi-stage performance campaign for the online store.

Various shopping campaigns are used in the Google and Facebook advertising networks, including SEA, Google Shopping and Google Smart Shopping, Facebook Dynamic Remarketing, conversion rate optimization and transactional mailings. Farner develops and deploys the mailings along differentiated email journeys and optimizes their performance using conversion copywriting, among other methods.

Managing Jung von Matt/Tech: Jan Rohleder, Stefan Bruggmann, Michelle Danilschenko and Christian Koop (from left).

"Technology is the most important driver for creative communication. Having a tech boutique on site reinforces our focus on this," says René Schwarz, Chief Experience Officer at Jung von Matt/Limmat. As in Germany, Jung von Matt/Tech combines creative excellence with the technological requirements of today and tomorrow to help clients implement complex tech projects in marketing communications.

Brand Experiences and Business Solutions

Jung von Matt/Tech stands for technology-driven brand experiences and business solutions. This means: websites and progressive web apps based on a high level of brand understanding and with perfect networking to all customer-relevant interfaces and corporate websites as comprehensive business solutions in complex peripheral systems. Always at the center: the user and the customer. Through consistent customer centricity, technological possibilities and customer needs are ideally aligned.

Technology that inspires

Jung von Matt/Tech will launch on January 1, 2020, and will be led by a four-person management team consisting largely of former Jung von Matt/Limmat employees. Stefan Bruggmann from the web agency webexcess, which specializes in Neos CMS, is a new addition to the team. He is responsible for development. Michelle Danilschenko is responsible for creation and design, Jan Rohleder for project management and Christian Koop for technical consulting. What the whole team has in common is a consistently digital way of thinking and working and a wealth of experience in large-scale technology-driven projects. "We love technology and want to use this love to inspire customers to new perspectives and solutions," says Michelle Danilschenko.

Closely networked at home and abroad

Jung von Matt/TECH benefits from strong networking both within and outside Switzerland. Close project collaboration is planned with Jung von Matt/Limmat as well as with 180heartbeats + Jung v Matt in Warsaw. Another important sparring partner is Jung von Matt/TECH from Germany. The Hamburg-based agency has developed platforms for BMW and Google, among others, and has established itself as an agency for digital platforms, products and services since its founding in 2018. Christopher Roskowetz, Managing Director of Jung von Matt/Tech Germany, says: "We are proud to now have a sister agency of the same type in Switzerland and look forward to a close and productive collaboration on client projects from Switzerland and abroad."

Christoph Caviezel and Thomas Städeli (from left).

Public relations in the sense of professional public affairs is becoming increasingly important as a communications discipline. This is because companies, associations, administrations, and also society want to be involved in the political decision-making processes at an early stage and actively participate in them. Wirz Public Affairs supports clients in conducting this dialog at the interface of business, politics, science and society in an even more targeted manner in the future.
 
Thomas Städeli, CEO of Wirz Brand Relations and co-owner of the Wirz Group, is delighted: "The brand competencies of Wirz Brand Relations and the experience of Christoph Caviezel in the field of public affairs complement each other perfectly. The expanded offering covers an important and, above all, very topical communications discipline."
 
Christoph Caviezel brings with him a great deal of experience in political communication. After graduating in law from the University of Fribourg, he worked in various companies in the field of communications. In 2004, he became a personal assistant to Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss in the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. After that, he assisted numerous personalities from politics, administration and business in political communication.
 
"I am very pleased to be part of the Wirz Group. Successful public affairs communication is always an interplay of strategy and content, design and technology. With the proximity to the Group's specialists and the new location at Hirschengraben in Bern, clients can receive comprehensive support and assistance," says Christoph Caviezel.
 

The following projects were presented on Tuesday on the stage of the Sales Power 19 at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute GDI in Rüschlikon:

Category large enterprises: CSS Insurance, market leadership thanks to future-proof sales. The award was presented by John Charles, Head of PostMail Sales, Post CH.

Patrick Koller, jury president, Bruno Schmid and Andreas Gehrig, CSS, and John Charles, Post CH (from left).

SME category: Supertext, World Domination, presented by Paul-David Becker, Managing Partner BSP. International.

Laura Fernàndez and Fabian Dieziger, Supertext.

Special price: SwissShrimp, Fresh Shrimp from Switzerland, presented by Sebastian Wowra, Founder and CEO Pink Tree Communications. Participating agency: Polarstern.

Jörg Bruppacher and Rafael Waber (from left) from Polar Stern.

Audience Award: Raiffeisen, Sales Excellence Raiffeisen Banks, presented by Patrizia Serra, Brand Manager Business Media, Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland. Participating agency: ZEB.

Felix Wenger and Marco Schärer (from left), Raiffeisenbank.

Having grown up in Spain and completed his master's degree in Barcelona, Felix Schmorell worked for Media-Saturn in Barcelona and later for Kuoni Reisen in Switzerland, among others. In his last job as Head of Development at Dialog Verwaltungs-Data, he led the development of software for public administrations.  

He brings 10 years of experience from the IT industry and has held many different roles in international companies.

The KVF had already addressed SRG's production sites in January as part of various parliamentary initiatives. The background to this was also the announced downsizing in Bern and Geneva and the centralization in Zurich and Lausanne. The Commission stands by its arguments.

The diversity of the specific journalistic work in the regions is more important than the respective production location, it wrote in a press release on Tuesday. In addition, the law and concession already specify in sufficient detail how SRG must organize the regional language offerings. The question of locations should therefore not be regulated at the legislative level.

The KVF rejected the Geneva initiative by 15 votes to 8. The minority wants to support it. It is of the opinion that it is crucial for the diversity of the media landscape that SRG remains regionally anchored and produces its broadcasts at various locations. SRG has since partially withdrawn its centralization plans. (SDA)
 

230 people died in traffic accidents in 2018, and over 3,500 were seriously injured. In such traumatic situations, where shock and despair dominate and simple procedures can become overwhelming, Roadcross offers personal and individual support and assistance to those directly involved and their relatives. The focus of the current campaign is therefore also on the individual help and advice provided by the Roadcross helpline. 
 

Responsible at Roadcross: Caroline Beglinger (management), Mike Egle (project management), Salome Eichenberger, Stefan Krähenbühl (project collaboration). Responsible at tbd.: Tom Seinige, Sandro Nicotera, Alexandra Niggeler, Susan d'Erlanger / glimpses Films (Romeo Janczer, Miriam Rivas).

Directly affected persons and relatives of traffic victims have recorded their personal experiences on streetcar trailers. They show the helplessness, the despair and the excessive demands after an accident and at the same time prove how important it is in these situations to have a contact person who is personally there for you. 

The agency tbd. is responsible for the idea, concept and realization of the campaign. The event was filmed by Glimpses.

The new communication concept is designed to focus on those who make Benu. Friendly, assuring: experts in their field. In the commercial for Benu, Franz&René portrays pharmacists who are supposed to advertise. It quickly becomes clear: pharmacists are more competent advisors than advertisers. Thus, the competence of pharmacists is to be emphasized.

Mistakes are ultimately human

Since November 4, upside-down posters have been on display in Switzerland.The story of the - in terms of advertising - clumsy pharmacist is also shown in a TV spot in French-speaking Switzerland. 

In addition, the advertising pharmacist can be seen on the cover of the Benu magazine, which is sent to Swiss households. The small human error is intended to highlight what sets Benu apart: the quality of its advice. This is also underlined by the campaign slogan: "More competent in advice than in advertising".