SRF satirist Elsener has often made jokes about the FDP. However, the FDP leader found the sketch, in which the demand for personal responsibility is compared to the negligent use of weapons, offensive. However, she had only discussed the general SRF guidelines with the SRG, Gössi told the SonntagsZeitung.

After her intervention with the SRG Director General, the satirical criticism of SRF boss Nathalie Wappler apparently ended up with presenter Elsener, who took it as a muzzle. He was told that jokes about the FDP were no longer welcome. However, Swiss television denied this to the SonntagsZeitung. (SDA/swi)
 

The campaign is aimed at young adults under the age of 25 and is intended to inspire them to open a "Free25" account with Migros Bank. The animations were realized by Neil Stubbings.

The quick cut and the plot are meant to signal how easy and uncomplicated it is to sign up for an account at MigrosBank. And with a bit of luck, the young new customer will soon be on vacation.

The pet food business is one of Nestlé's growth markets. Already one in eight Swiss francs of the annual 91.4 billion sales is generated with food for our four-legged companions. The competition from Mars (Whiskas, Sheba, Cesar) is still powerful, but the global multinational from Vevey wants to make up ground on them.

Nestlé has suffered a setback in trademark law. As the Switzerland at the weekend writes in its current issue, the company wanted to register the revised Gourmet logo in the Swiss trademark register. However, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) rejected the claim for protection. A three-year legal dispute ensued, and the Federal Administrative Court has now confirmed the IGE's assessment: the Gourmet logo is not considered unique enough to be protected under trademark law.

Further appeal to federal court possible

Opposite the Switzerland at the weekend a Nestlé spokeswoman said that the decision had been taken note of. However, she did not say whether the company would accept the decision or take it to the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne. However, the decision has no effect on the existing rights and on the use of the brand in Switzerland and Europe.

The Gourmet brand has existed for over 30 years and is now part of Nestlé's Purina pet food brand. Gourmet is sold in over 40 countries. Nestlé still sees a lot of potential in the pet food sector. A year ago, for example, the Group bought a majority stake in the online company Tails.com, which specializes in personalized pet food. Anyone who creates a profile of their dog can put together a diet plan tailored to them (size, weight, breed, etc.).

The 15 jury members from science and practice determined the following entrepreneurs as contenders for the coveted prize:

Large companies

• CSS Insurance with the project "Market leadership thanks to future-proof sales".
• Globe magazines with the project "Globus Sales Transformation 2016 - 2020
• Raiffeisen Group / Raiffeisen Switzerland with the "Sales Excellence Raiffeisen Banks" project

Small and medium enterprises

• Samsung Hall with the project "Way to the event location No. 1".
• Supertext with the project "Superstext World Domination
• Swissshrimps with the project "Fresh shrimps from Switzerland
• Transformer Baden with the project "Event Innovation: Flexible Pricing Model

The award ceremony will take place on November 12 at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute at Sales Power 19. At the diverse event, leading companies and scientists will explain how to be successful in sales and distribution. 

Stage demo at the Business Innovation Week with founder Ewa Ming (left) and daily presenter Patrizia Laeri (center).

"This is not just an event, it's a movement!" Patrizia Laeri shook up the BIW Future Conference with a demonstration in the StageOne Event Hall on Thursday. New concept, new brand - the premiere was a success. "These are the formats of the future, in order to keep providing inspiration to look at the Swiss innovation laboratory in a completely different way," said Microsoft Switzerland CEO Marianne Janik in her plea to rethink the future and take action.

The Future Conference in StageOne, Live Experience Expo in Hall 622 and the Academy program are a mixture of event formats that have challenged one or two visitors. For business philosopher and BIW keynote speaker Anders Indset, one thing is clear: "I find BIW exciting because we can really go into depth over a three- or four-day period thanks to this variety of different topics. This diversity belongs in today's world. We need this complexity: it's not about simple answers, we can't just rush through, we have to take these topics seriously. I find the format very exciting!"

SuisseEmex focused on marketing and communication in the context of digitalization. BIW, on the other hand, has a different target group focus for Ewa Ming: "BIW is a business event that is committed to the current future topics of the modern working world across all departments and disciplines." This is a quality of BIW that Dr. Christian Keller also emphasizes. The General Manager of IBM Switzerland says: "When it comes to helping new technologies achieve a breakthrough, it is essential that fears are allayed. And that's why it's important that it's not just specialists talking shop with each other, but also that the range of participants from different industries is broadened and that they address and deal with this topic."

In the rapidly changing event and trade fair market, BIW founder Ewa Ming is breaking new ground with BIW - with all the opportunities and risks: "Of course we would have liked more participants. But we have launched a new event concept and a new brand. We have definitely provided proof of concept," says entrepreneur Ming with a smile and a tear in her eye. Now it's time to analyze, take on board the many qualified feedbacks and further develop the new format. "With BIW, we have a rough diamond in our hands that is now being polished." Above all thanks to the exhibitors and partners - especially the key partners AXA, Salt and Avatarion - the premiere was a success. For the next edition, further strong partners are needed to support this new approach conceptually and financially.

Hardly anyone knows this better than Christian Müller. The co-founder of OMR Rockstar, the European digital festival, started in 2011 with 200 guests. In his keynote speech, the marketing expert emphasized the spirit of the new BIW concept: to make a festival-style event successful, the visitor experience is very important. "We invest a lot of time, money and, above all, love in this."

Ewa Ming and her team have designed the community, the inspiration space and the ecosystem for "Business Innovation". The BIW founder is planning a new edition for 2021 and is convinced: "We have now created a prototype that has enormous potential."

The spot shows in a dramatized way how the heroic employees of Alltech - the conquerors - in a chivalrous manner confront the monster, the domestic bathroom dragon, and transform it into a new, modern bathroom.

The production of the video, which is only 20 seconds long, was relatively time-consuming, as both the old and the new baths had to be built in original, dismantled and torn down again. "We were surprised at the effort involved in 20 seconds of film," says Yannick Hersperger, the responsible project manager on the client side.

"We are in the process of eliminating the last objections," says RTS director Pascal Crittin in an interview with the newspaper Le Temps of Friday. The relocation of news broadcasts planned for 2024 still has to be approved by the SRG Board of Directors, he said. Around 200 jobs will be affected by the relocation.

Opposition to the relocation was not as fierce in French-speaking Switzerland as in the case of the move of the radio studio from Berne to Zurich, which has since been largely called off. Opposition came mainly from Geneva.

"The RTS working group has come a long way with the authorities of the city and canton of Geneva," says Crittin. "Geneva is important to us and will not be neglected." TV magazines, sports, fiction and documentaries would remain based in the RTS tower in Geneva.

News from radio in western Switzerland is already produced in Lausanne. Merging the news sector creates synergies to strengthen the regional editorial offices in the cantons, starting with Geneva, Crittin continues.

Several programs are discontinued

Only on Thursday, RTS had announced that it would discontinue several TV and radio programs from January 2020 to save money. For example, the TV programs "Au cœur du sport", "En ce temps-là", "Mauvaise langue" and "Toute une vie" will be canceled. The summer production of "Mise au point" and "Couleurs d'été" will also be eliminated. On the radio, the chronicle "Past Future" and the 5 o'clock broadcast of La Première will disappear from the airwaves.

Ten to eleven of a total of around 400 jobs in the news department will be cut. The cuts are to be made as far as possible through natural fluctuation. RTS wants to avoid layoffs if possible.

The reason for the cost-cutting exercise is SRG's falling advertising revenues and lower radio and TV fees. Director General Gilles Marchand informed staff around ten days ago that SRG would have to reduce its costs by a further 50 million francs in the coming year (Werbewoche.ch reported). RTS has to contribute just under CHF 15 million. (SDA)
 

Workbook Sales Strategy

The toolbox to build, analyze and optimize your sales. 

• Author: Michael Pellny and Claudius Bähr
• Publisher: Publicis, 2019
• Pages: 208
• ISBN: 9783895784767

This book explains how a sales organization can be successful in saturated and digitalized markets in an understandable and comprehensible way. It is well structured and covers all important aspects. The authors systematically deal with the individual fields of action and focus on practical implementation. For sales managers, especially in medium-sized companies, this workbook is an excellent blueprint for building, managing and developing their sales team.

Innovation culture of the future

How agile self-organized companies master digitalization.

• Author: Florian Rustler
• Publisher: Midas Management Verlag, 2017
• Pages: 288
• ISBN: 9783038765035

The traditional hierarchical corporate organization seems to have had its day. Instead, self-organization is being propagated, as in Florian Rustler's book. The author provides interesting insights into companies that are already working in a self-organized manner. However, there are still very few of them. The majority of companies are still organized hierarchically, and one may doubt whether this will change so quickly. Nevertheless, the book is a recommendation for anyone interested in alternative forms of work and management.

Reinventing Customer Engagement - Reinventing Customer Relationships

How banks and insurance companies are mastering digital transformation.

• Author: Roger Peverelli, Reggy de Feniks and Walter Capellmann
• Publisher: FinanzBuch, 2018
• Pages: 256
• ISBN: 9783959720939

Do traditional financial service providers stand any chance at all against the nimble fintechs? Yes, say the authors of this book, but only if they succeed in letting a breath of fresh air blow through their customer relationships. Illustrated with many examples and graphics, the book explains the new challenges and shows how financial service providers can stand out from their competitors with customer engagement. Above all, marketing managers and product developers at banks and insurance companies can use the many tips to prepare themselves for the next stages of digitization.

The growth imperative

Why the economy must keep growing even when we have enough. 

• Author: Mathias Binswanger
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH, 2019
• Pages: 309
• ISBN: 9783527509751

There can be no growth without growth. Swiss economist Mathias Binswanger makes no secret of this fact. Using various models and examples, he explains in detail why the capitalist economy cannot exist without growth. He also gives critics space and points out the weaknesses of their arguments. However, Binswanger does not propagate unrestrained growth, because he is very aware of the massive problems it causes. A readable, differentiated examination of the foundations of the capitalist economy.

• In the USA alone, retailers that currently generate a third of total industry profits are threatened with takeover or even insolvency
• Winners build their own ecosystem or dominate through market power and favorable prices
• Regional champions and product specialists can also hold their own

Changing consumer habits and digitalization have fundamentally changed the rules in retail. Until now, local market leaders in particular have been able to achieve respectable profit margins. However, in the face of competition from online giants such as Amazon or Alibaba, size, market leadership or operational excellence alone are no longer enough. Traditional retailers today have to offer their customers more: a distinctive product range, cross-channel services and an appealing brand. In addition, there is a constant pressure to innovate, especially in IT.

In the US, for example, retailers that currently still account for around 30 percent of industry profits there are threatened with takeover in the coming years, with some even facing insolvency. "The retail industry is struggling with major problems in terms of growth, innovation and the use of customer data," explains Bain Partner Miltiadis Athanassiou, who heads the Consumer Goods and Retail practice group in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. And even the industry giants are at risk if they continue to adapt to change so slowly.

Online retailers' lead is growing

The financial markets have long since reacted to the precarious situation. Contrary to the trend in other sectors, retail valuations have been falling for some time. The ratio of enterprise value to turnover has fallen by 4% annually for most retail groups since 2015.

In addition, the gap to online retailers is widening. Each of the world's ten largest retail groups is expected to invest an average of 100 billion US dollars less in IT than Amazon over the next five years.

However, the competitive environment is also challenging for newcomers. "Young, innovative companies often attract a lot of attention, but their business models usually lack scalability and profitability," says Athanassiou. "These substantial weaknesses are often masked by high investments and impressive market capitalization."

Consistent action is needed

The study describes five types of retailer who, with the right measures, are successful even in an era of new consumer habits and digital changes:

1. Ecosystem playerBrowse, inform, chat, play and buy. Anyone who offers customers such a comprehensive consumer experience in one place has a largely secure future. Such a one-stop store system grows not least through the integration of other sellers, who thus gain access to potential customers, but also to services such as logistics, marketing, data analysis or payment mechanisms.
2. Market leaderIndustry giants that dominate their markets with sufficient capital and high market shares can further expand their leading position if they are fast and innovative. To do this, they need to make above-average investments in their IT, their stores and their online presence.
3. Discounter: Low-cost retailers have good prospects if, like Aldi, Lidl or Primark, they offer a satisfactory shopping experience despite low prices. These companies need to expand into new regions, reduce their costs and innovatively expand their range.
4. HitchhikerThe small group of retailers that are characterized by an unusual store design or very special products can hold their own despite their lack of size. To do so, they use the infrastructure, logistics, IT or data analysis capabilities of large partners. They maintain their independence through first-class product development and excellent marketing.
5. Regional pearlsEven retailers that are only represented in a specific region can survive in their niche. If they continue to rely on excellent staff and outstanding customer service, they will be able to stand up to the global giants, even if they expand their local offerings.

Speed is the trump card

Regardless of the business model, every retailer should prepare for further disruptions in the market, consolidate their own position and expand it with the help of innovations.

Customer wishes must have priority in all sales channels. Investment in IT and data analysis must be emphasized, but savings can be made in other areas. For example, more technological support means that less manpower is required in areas such as product range composition, pricing or warehousing.

Last but not least, the development of new products or IT systems must be accelerated through agile working in cross-divisional teams. "No retailer, no matter how successful, can rest on its laurels," emphasizes Bain expert Athanassiou. "On the contrary: many need to become even faster if they want to maintain and improve their competitive position." (pte)

Three independently operating campaigns had created networks via fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram to deceive others about their true identity and goals, Facebook announced on Thursday. Among other things, critical content about countries such as Qatar, Iran and Turkey was disseminated and the independence movement in the Indonesian province of West Papua was promoted.

According to the company, a total of 443 Facebook and 125 Instagram accounts as well as 200 pages and 76 groups from the United Arab States, Egypt, Nigeria and Indonesia were affected. 

However, Facebook manager Nathaniel Gleicher also made it clear in the statement that the deletion of the pages, accounts and groups was due to the action taken and not because of the content. "We are working tirelessly to uncover and stop this type of activity. We do not want our services to be used to manipulate people," he wrote.

More than seven million users followed one or more of these pages, the report continued. Around 3,000 users joined at least one of the groups. And around 193,000 people followed one or more Instagram accounts.

According to the report, one of the campaigns originated in the United Arab States, Egypt and Nigeria. It mainly promoted content from the Emirates and spread criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, Qatar and Turkey. (SDA)
 

The former search engine operator has evolved into a multi-online service provider. As customer needs have grown continuously and in the course of digitalization, Help Media now includes video productions and an address store for direct marketing measures in addition to business directory products, online advertising, domain reservations, publication services on numerous online portals and products to increase reach and customer loyalty.

With the company headquarters in Freienbach SZ and the additional domicile in Zurich, the German-speaking Swiss market can be better served. The location in the "Airgate" office building also provides the basis for further expansion of the new online projects and products to meet the high demands of digitalization.

Marketing, sales, IT and service decision-makers came together at the annual Swiss CRM Forum with the motto "Artificial intelligence in CRM" to find out about the latest trends in customer relationship management and customer experience management and to exchange ideas among like-minded people. 

The results of the BSI survey on trends show, among other things, that the great interest in AI and marketing automation is being overtaken by the reality of data silos.

Great interest in AI

The survey underpins the great interest in AI in the context of customer relationship management: two thirds of experts stated that they believe AI could relieve and support them in their day-to-day work. However, only 6% of survey participants have implemented AI projects in their company to date.

Just as many believe that AI is just a buzzword with no added value. "We have observed that a large majority are very open to the topic of AI. There is a general interest and a willingness to engage with the topic," explains Charlotte Malz, Marketing Manager at BSI and initiator of the survey.

Many touchpoints - little integration

Data is a prerequisite for the success of AI projects. This data must be available centrally in a system so that it can be processed further. The catch: the number of touchpoints that customers can use to get in touch with companies is constantly growing - but in very few cases are these touchpoints fully networked, which prevents a holistic customer view. According to the survey, 91% of respondents now use social media in their customer interactions; 68% rely on customer portals and 43% on mobile apps. More than a third also operate a physical branch network and a web store.

WhatsApp as well as video and live web chat are also enjoying increasing popularity. Wearables and beacons, which are currently only used by 6% of the companies surveyed, could provide added value in the future when developing new service models, ecosystems or platforms that are also based on a good database. 

The catch: silo structures

However, only 6% of the companies surveyed currently offer omnichannel in the sense that the touchpoints are seamlessly connected so that data can flow unhindered. For the majority of companies (72%), the touchpoints are only partially connected, while 21% still operate completely in silos.

After all, two thirds of survey participants already work with customer journeys; one fifth plan to actively design the individual steps of the customer journey in future - an important prerequisite for a seamless customer experience, the number one trend topic.

Priority 1: Customer experience

Charlotte Malz has also observed the continuing trend towards customer experience management: "Customer experience management is right at the top of the list of priorities. The CRM community has recognized the importance of this holistic approach to designing processes from the customer's perspective," says the expert. "The survey showed that customer experience management is now understood to mean that data management, touchpoint management and customer journey management are integral components of this concept," says Charlotte Malz.

The topics of marketing automation, customer lifecycle management, analytics and personalization based on individual customer interactions are also on the agenda of many of the companies surveyed. "However, the prerequisite for all these approaches is a good database and end-to-end touchpoint integration as well as working with personas and customer journeys. Without this, the concepts remain just promising-sounding buzzwords," says the marketing expert.

Complaints and loyalty management are also part of a holistic customer journey - topics that, as in previous years, marketing experts are less intensively dedicated to than acquiring new customers.

Marketing automation - the answer to hyper-personalization

Almost half of the companies surveyed already use marketing automation in conjunction with CRM to provide their customers with personalized services, content and offers that are curated and relevant to them. 23 percent are considering the use of marketing automation. 17 percent are currently operating in isolation, i.e. without a CRM interface, and 11 percent do not yet use automation in marketing.

"Marketing automation is the answer to the megatrend of hyper-personalization, where the approach is no longer based on customer segments, but on the individual activities of individual customers - and in real time, if desired. For example, customers who click on a certain link, open newsletter articles, etc., receive different landing pages, content or invitations than customers who do not react to an action," says Charlotte Malz, describing the concept. 

Great opportunities for SMEs too

Marketing automation in conjunction with AI is also the great passion of Christoph Bräunlich, AI expert at BSI and speaker at the Swiss CRM Forum. "The participants showed great interest, particularly in the topic of transfer learning and the practical implementation of machine learning (ML) and AI in a marketing context," says the AI expert.

Transfer learning makes complex data models, such as those used by Facebook or Google, usable for smaller companies without requiring a great deal of computing power. "In the past, machine learning was only possible with immense effort and in-depth knowledge of complex tools. In combination with the simplicity and methods from transfer learning and ML processes, AI will achieve a breakthrough in marketing automation - even for smaller companies. To achieve this, the ML tools used must be able to access company data directly - for example from a CRM system - in order to generate maximum added value from the customer's perspective and gains in efficiency and effectiveness from the company's perspective," explains Christoph Bräunlich.