Digital transformation enables companies to be closer to their stakeholders - with communication that is more personal and relevant. However, while technologies are developing rapidly, many companies have some catching up to do with their communication systems, data and technology infrastructures. Companies are therefore often only able to make limited use of the new opportunities offered by data-based value creation.

Farner Consulting translates the far-reaching possibilities of technological change into new communication and marketing applications in the agency's own innovation laboratory "Farner Lab". The communications agency has now joined forces with Marc van Nuffel's data & technology agency Du Da and is now combining the areas of communications and technology homogeneously as Commtech.

"In order to solve the data and technology node in companies, we bring Du Da to us. In more and more customer projects, the data and technology infrastructure is an obstacle rather than an accelerator. We don't want to stop at the front end, we want to support the entire infrastructure and the processes behind it," says Daniel Jörg, Partner and Head of Digital Marketing & Research at Farner Consulting.

DU DA - Data & Commtech by Farner

Du Da will become part of the Farner Group on July 1, 2019. Du Da will continue to operate under its own name and independently in the market, but will also be clearly positioned within the overall Farner Consulting portfolio. The newly renamed Farner subsidiary "Du Da - Data & Commtech by Farner" will continue to be managed by Marc van Nuffel. In addition to his role as CEO of Du Da, he will take on the newly created role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Farner Consulting. The Du Da Board of Directors now consists of Farner partner and digital strategist Daniel Jörg, Farner CFO Roland Oberhauser and Marc van Nuffel.

The joint Data & Commtech offering includes the development of:

• Cloud-based data & content infrastructures
• Integrated marketing automation & personalization
• Conversion-optimized websites, apps & experiences
• Conversational AI & Voice (Skills & Actions for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant)
• Technical SEO
• Lab prototyping / PoC and MVP
• Digital Marketing Transformation Consulting

"Data is the new oil, information gathering is gold, interpretation and integration into real-time processes promises success. So whoever is prepared to substitute their value chain wins. To enable truly disruptive and profitable digital transformation for our customers, many disciplines are needed that are not within our area of expertise of IT and require perfect interaction. By joining Farner, we can now offer our customers this significant added value," says Marc van Nuffel.

Customized development and consulting in the digital sector

Du Da was founded in 2003 by Marc van Nuffel. Over the past two decades, the company has made a name for itself as a specialized digital agency for tailor-made development and consulting. From app-based publishing systems for EY Tax Magazin / Swisscom and SwissRe to various white label systems for Architonic, MCH/Art Basel, innovative news and smart content platforms such as Watson, Marché-Mövenpick, We.publish, integrated retail platforms for companies, data-based eHealth advisors such as BurnoutProtector and newly developed database engines such as Karma.run.

Peter was kind to Goldbach and the crowd of guests who accepted the annual invitation to the summer party and made the pilgrimage to the Adlisberg. After a gray, often wet week, the advertising marketing company celebrated into the night in beautiful sunshine and summer temperatures.

Sigma Online built up a Pinterest profile for the EGK health insurance company from Laufen within a few weeks and was able to achieve significant reach with ads. With a special, highly developed pin format consisting of images and text, the right keywords and the right frequency, high reach can be built up in a short time. Thanks to significantly lower cost-per-clicks (CPC) compared to other social media platforms, competitive advantages can be quickly realized with Pinterest as part of the digital marketing strategy.

"We are not a social network," is the credo of Pinterest's founder. Pinterest is a place where users find inspiration, a visual bookmarking service, a visual search engine, a catalog of ideas. One of the fastest growing platforms on the Internet, Pinterest connects users to brands and interests, not friends. More than 290 million users worldwide and over 1.1 million Swiss use the virtual pinboard to search for images and illustrations. User interactions consist of clicks, so-called "bookmark actions" ("repins") and closeups, when more is to be learned about the product in the image. Pins are long-lasting and therefore relevant even after years, as they can be further discovered in search queries.

Over 90 percent of users use Pinterest in connection with a precise purchase intention (source: Pinterest). For advertisers, Pinterest is an interesting virtual shop window. They can draw attention to their products and services with inspiring and informative content presented in context and generate interactions. 

As an image search engine for specific interests and topics, Pinterest grew up with do-it-yourself, interior design, fashion and beauty. Now the interests of the target groups are becoming more and more differentiated: Health, fitness, sports, automotive and finance are becoming increasingly popular. Since March, Pinterest has officially introduced the ad format in Germany; in Switzerland, the beta version is running.

Is Pinterest right for your business? The interests of users (graphic: Sigma Online).

The EGK health insurance fund, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019, is now taking advantage of this momentum. With its first Pinterest campaign, the health insurance company not only wants to reach its core target group of "health-conscious insureds" even better. It is primarily the affluent target group of women between 25 and 44, more than two-thirds of whom use Pinterest, that promises new business. In the first few weeks on Pinterest, the EGK health insurance fund was able to realize a CPC that was around 80 percent lower than on Facebook.  

"We are expanding our long-standing collaboration with Sigma Online and are pleased to be able to conquer a new market with a very affine target group together," emphasizes Ursula Vogt, Head of Communications at EGK Gesundheitskasse. "As one of the first users of Pinterest ads in the Swiss market, we can realize a competitive advantage for ourselves," says Vogt. 

"Pinterest is not really on marketers' radar yet as a highly attractive channel for precise purchase intent. We want to change this with our many years of experience in digital marketing and realize this enormous potential for our customers," affirms Noemi Alvarez, founder and CEO of Sigma Online.

Philip Nolze and Noemi Alvarez of Sigma Online.

Exactly ten years ago, Peter Hiltebrand, Sarah Hiltebrand and Reto Dürrenberger came up with an idea that nobody had thought of before. A pensioner who works? Rent a pensioner? It's possible! The Swiss original "Rent a Pensioner" has used innovative approaches to show how people can remain active and socially involved in old age. With inventions such as the "RentnerFinder" app, they were and are global pioneers in this segment and have already helped many pensioners to get back into the middle of life. 

The SilverEco & Ageing Well Award in Tokyo today honored achievements in the Silver or Golden Ager sector. The best 45 organizations worldwide were nominated for the award with their services and platforms. For Rent a Rentner - the only company nominated from Switzerland - the win is an accolade and makes the business idea with the platforms a "world champion".  

"Little Switzerland continues to surprise the world with innovations and awards. It is a great honor for us to be recognized here in Tokyo in front of this audience from all over the world," said Reto Dürrenberger, co-founder of Rent a Rentner, in a statement. "This award confirms us in our work of never stepping on the brakes and constantly looking for innovations and new ideas." Sarah Hiltebrand and Reto Dürrenberger founded the agency Werbeanstalt Schweiz in 2005, which was renamed Die Antwort in 2018.

Interestingly, in times when the "I" seems to be above all else, its opposite term is also booming: shareability. Sharing is generally regarded as a social rather than a selfish activity. The selfie generation's focus is on its own 'self', which drives it to photograph, film, comment on or rate itself and everything it is and eats, and it needs a community in order to locate itself in it. To this end, the shareability of a post, tweet or story serves as a kind of currency that is weighted even more heavily in the professional world of social media than its little sister currency, likeability.

At the beginning of the social media euphoria, the distribution of hearts (likes) or likeability was still the measure of all things. As soon as even the skeptics in the industry had learned to understand this as a value, likes - thanks to click farms - lost a lot of their magic. Perhaps the only exception at the moment is TikTok, where this currency is still in vogue because the Chinese app, which is currently flooding the playgrounds, is not (yet) as commercialized in the Western world as social media channels from the USA. For media houses, agencies and companies in this country, however, a message that is shared is far more valuable than one with lots of likes, as it can be assigned a certain relevance. Selfish "I's" suddenly become social "we's" with an inner kinship that enables entire ecosystems of sharing. But unfortunately only virtually, because in the real world, sharing is too social for many.

Dominik Meier has been working for Radio SRF since 2008, initially as a regional editor, later in the domestic editorial department and most recently as a Federal Parliament correspondent as well as presenter and team leader of the "Samstagsrundschau". The 40-year-old from Solothurn studied contemporary history, journalism and political science at the University of Fribourg. He earned his journalistic spurs as an editor for various newspapers and electronic media while still a student.

Now the experienced political journalist is switching to "Rundschau" as a presenter. He will make his first appearance in front of the camera on Wednesday, August 21, 2019. Dominik Meier succeeds Sandro Brotz, who has been presenting "Arena" since May. Nicole Frank will continue to present "Rundschau" until the summer program, after which she will take over as presenter deputy as before.

While the previous campaign for Swiss wood under the motto Woodvetia focused on life-size wooden figures of well-known Swiss personalities, the new overall communication focuses on the real and versatile advantages that this unique raw material offers. This is done using impressive building objects from all over Switzerland, because the possibilities with Swiss wood are as diverse as the country of Switzerland itself.

The central theme "The land of wood diversity" plays with the essence of Switzerland and therefore also Woodvetia: the different regions, cultures and personalities. This is expressed in witty headlines such as "How a Zurich woman showed an Ausserrhoden woman her rough edges" or "How an Obwalden man only got a genuine Obwalden woman in his house".

The centerpiece of the campaign is a national TV sponsorship and the new website Wood-bois-legno.chwhich created a central hub for all target groups (B2C, B2B, users) for the first time. In addition, the Schweizer Holz label was given a gentle redesign. 

The aim of the communication is to increase the demand for domestic wood among all target groups and to anchor the individual, environmental and economic benefits of Swiss wood in the minds of the population as a whole. 

In addition to the presence on TV and the new website, various measures for end customers and B2B are being used: a nationwide poster campaign, mailings, starter kits, documentation, signage as well as online and social media marketing measures.

A new member of the Board of Directors was elected at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung on Thursday, June 13, 2019. Gianluca Bonetti, Board Member presso Corriere del Ticino, succeeds Marcello Foa, who was appointed President of Italy's public radio and television group RAI, as a member of Stampa Svizzera.

Following the new elections, the Board of Directors of Wemf is composed as follows:

• Jürg Weber, President, Delegate of the Swiss Media Association (VSM) (previously);
• Eric Meizoz, Delegate of the Association Médias Suisses (until now);
• Gianluca Bonetti, Delegate of Stampa Svizzera (new);
• Andreas Häuptli, Marcel Kohler, Roberto Rhiner, Alexander Theobald, all delegates of the Swiss Media Association (VSM) (all previously), and
• Roger Harlacher as representative of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA) (previously).

Since its founding in 2016, Heimat Zurich has made a name for itself in the market with independent, surprising and successful campaigns. Heimat has attracted particular attention with the development of umbrella campaigns and the overall appearance for brands as part of new launches and rebrandings. 

Based in Zurich's Helvetiaplatz, the agency stands for communication that takes a stand and polarizes. What Heimat's work has in common is a clearly recognizable strategic brand idea that is creatively activated over the longer term. Heimat Zurich has repeatedly won awards at national and international creative, efficiency and strategy awards.

Heimat Zürich currently has 17 employees. Nico Ammann (Creation) and Simon Rehsche (Strategy) are managing partners, Leander Schmalfuss (Creative Director) and Lukas von Wartburg (Business Director) complete the management team. Heimat is part of the Heimat Group and thus also of the global TBWA collective.

The interdisciplinary agency develops holistic communication solutions for the digital age, in particular brand and communication strategy, campaign conception and implementation, and campaigning including data & analytics.

The Zurich agency counts Bank Cler, the Swiss Gas Industry Association (VSG), Wingo and the FDP among its most important clients.
 

Ernst Tanner, Executive Chairman of the Board of Lindt & Sprüngli

Havas Switzerland, in collaboration with Mangagement Tools Research, surveyed the most dynamic and trusted brands in Switzerland. The population-representative study was conducted in 2019 among 2,942 people in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. The study covers a total of 355 brands. Consumers voted Lindt the most trusted brand among Promarca members. Lindt & Sprüngli already won the award in 2016. The chocolate pioneer managed to highly fulfill its promises and the expectations of its consumers last year. This year, the award was ceremoniously accepted by Ernst Tanner, Executive Chairman of the Board of Lindt & Sprüngli.

Nathalie Diethelm, CEO Havas Worldwide Switzerland, on why Lindt won the award for the second time: "Lindt has been performing strongly in the Havas Brand Predictor for years and is a prime example of traditional Swiss brands that can maintain their top positions over the years. The strong trust in the Lindt brand is based on the optimal mix of continuity and surprise. Lindt convinces through continuity in quality, visibility, and in the brand promise for which the Lindt Maître Chocolatier stands. At the same time, Lindt surprises us again and again with product innovations and new communicative measures. In Lindt's case, the vital subbrands are also particularly important, as they have a strengthening effect on the umbrella brand. Lindt Lindor, Lindt Excellence or the Lindt Gold Bunny are also perceived in the Havas Brand Predictor as very dynamic and trustworthy." 

At the Brand Day ceremony in Bern, Ernst Tanner, Executive Chairman of the Lindt & Sprüngli Board of Directors, accepted the award for the most successful brand. "It is a special pleasure and honor for us to receive the "Brand of the Year" award for the second time. We are proud that consumers have such great trust in us and will do everything in our power to continue to impress with quality and surprise with innovation," says Ernst Tanner. 

In his speech, Ernst Tanner gave an insight into the last two decades of Lindt & Sprüngli and how the company has developed from a regional company to the world's No. 1 in the premium chocolate segment. 

Under the motto "Great cinema from Switzerland", the titles of well-known Hollywood films were spiced up with a pinch of Switzerland to draw the attention of all film fans to the new offer. The message behind it: Switzerland also produces top-class films that have to be seen. The headline campaign with a variety of "naturalized film titles" will be seen in three languages in all parts of the country on outdoor posters, print ads and via online channels. The Zurich agency CRK is responsible for the name Filmo and the corporate design. 

The launch campaign will be accompanied by a trailer that will also run in cinemas, giving a brief glimpse of the wide variety of offerings that film enthusiasts can look forward to. In addition, Jeff has developed further online and offline measures for the first year.

Among other things, a series of events is in the starting blocks at which the films of the edition will be shown in unusual locations in a special atmosphere. In this way, Filmo wants to make national film history accessible in a new way and also for younger generations, which should contribute to a sustainable visibility of Swiss film history. The films are selected by independent experts, who also provide the reasons why they consider them to be part of the Swiss film treasure trove. The offer is supplemented with background information and bonus material on the films on Filmo.ch. Under the filmo brand, the first season of ten films is now available to watch in top quality via the VoD providers Teleclub on Demand, UPC, iTunes, Cinefile, Sky and LeKino. 

The next films will follow in August and October 2019. After that, four seasons a year will expand the filmo catalog.

Jonathan Knecht gained his first experience in the advertising industry at CP9 Advanced Marketing Solutions since the beginning of 2018, where he worked in customer consulting and event management. On the home stretch for his bachelor's degree in sports economics, he is now ready to apply his expertise in his new position at Converto, according to a statement.

"To keep up with the growth of the industry, we need qualified and motivated employees. That's why it's important to Converto to also offer young people an entry-level opportunity in the digital advertising industry. For this reason, we have brought Jonathan Knecht on board as Sales Manager. Jonathan will help us grow even further in the area of new business with SMEs, as well as on a regional level, and offer advertisers the right campaign solution from Converto," says Danilo M. Ciaravolo, Sales Director Switzerland.