The bone of contention: Onlinescheidung.ch publicly promotes low-cost divorces (Photo: Twitter.com/LionelMm97).

Like Nau.ch wrote on Monday, the poster is currently hanging in various Swiss cities at Neo Advertising locations. It advertises a low-cost divorce and separation option, accompanied by the slogan "Time for a new turnaround". The website behind the offer is Onlinescheidung.ch, which is operated by CDR Divorce.ch.

It is hardly surprising that this communication is also met with criticism. They find the poster "very disturbing", says Heinz Hagmann, head of Familylife's course movement for separated and divorced people, to the news portal. "It almost encourages divorce. The image and text convey the message: take it sporty, make a new turn." Familylife is a member of the Marriage and Family Forum of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance and helps separated or divorced people to cope with their new life situation.

Hagmann criticizes the advertising for suggesting that a separation or divorce is simple and inexpensive. However, this is not the case - neither financially nor emotionally.

Opposite Nau.ch DCR Divorce.ch rejects the accusations. They are by no means of the opinion that divorce is easy, says lawyer Douglas Hornung, who initiated the portal. However, the service could make things easier from a financial point of view - and meets a need in society. After all, according to the Geneva judge, the divorce rate in Switzerland is 40 percent. 

However, most people seem to be rather unimpressed by the poster. "We have received rather positive reactions, including to our communication in general," says Hornung. (hae)
 

Owners of SMEs often have no time to devote to their high energy consumption. The "Professional Energy Advice for Your SME (PEIK)" from SwissEnergy promises to help. With support from analysis to implementation, PEIK helps SMEs to reduce their energy consumption. In 2019, the aim was to make the target groups even more aware of their savings potential and to strengthen PEIK's USP. A survey showed that simple, quick-to-implement savings are among PEIK's key differentiators. The biggest challenge was that many of the target group, however, believe that energy costs can hardly be changed and that savings are difficult.

The campaign focuses on raising awareness via the lead medium of online video. A catchy message arouses interest and conveys that saving energy is easier than doing without. The measures are supplemented by display ads that draw attention to the savings potential and by a content campaign on social media. On LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as on a blog, SwissEnergy helps SMEs to save energy with practical tips and instructions.

The online videos are played as in-stream and out-stream ads, for example between two articles or before the main film on YouTube. The campaign was implemented in German, French and Italian.

Samuel Hügli is a member of the Management Board and Head of Technology & Investments at Tamedia. The Board of Directors will also be strengthened by Franz Bürgi. As Group CIO at Tamedia, he has been in charge of the Enterprise Infrastructure, Collaboration & Workplace, Publishing and Paid Media & Distribution technology divisions since 2017. Franz Bürgi studied electrical engineering at ETH Zurich and holds an Executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen. Marcus Englert, former member of the Executive Board and Chief New Media Officer of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, will also join the Board of Directors. Marcus Englert holds a doctorate in physics and an MBA from INSEAD Business School.
 
Bea Knecht, Johannes Braun and Markus Dennler continue to sit on the Board of Directors. Adrian Bult has left the Board of Directors of Zattoo.

In summer, the "Rivella Water Splash" water course can be visited at the Zurich Mythenquai, Lucerne Lido and Murten Strandbad swimming pools for three weeks at a time. The approximately 1,200-square-meter facility has various levels of difficulty and is open to everyone from the age of eight. In addition, anyone who wants to compete can sign up for the Rivella Splash Master, with a winner determined at the end for each of the four locations.

The brand message of Rivella as a refreshing beverage is to be made tangible with this event. In addition, the summer campaign is to be a supplement for the existing leisure offer of the respective region.

The agency also emphasizes a safe and sustainable experience. A safety concept presupposes the wearing of life jackets and also includes an appropriately trained team of lifeguards. Furthermore, care was taken to ensure that the implementation respects the natural and lake landscape and also addresses other requirements and restrictions at and on the Swiss lakes.

The strategy and digital competence as well as a cross-media creative concept were decisive for the win. The agency has already had 15 years of experience in the field of recycling and littering and is already responsible for sustainable and strategically relevant communication platforms with Igora (cooperative for aluminum recycling) as well as Igsu (interest group clean environment).

Starting in the fall, the national Swiss Recycling campaign will be seen on- and offline.

At the beginning of May, Volkswagen opened pre-booking in Europe for the first model in its new all-electric "ID." family. ID.3 First", a special edition limited to 30000 vehicles in Europe, can also be pre-booked. Pre-booking runs until September, after which the pre-sale begins. The model itself will be launched on the Swiss market in summer 2020.

The agency KSP Krieg Schlupp Partner, in collaboration with Mediacom and Swiss Online Publishing, is implementing this e-mobility and content offensive for AMAG Import Volkswagen, which will last around a year. The main focus is on online marketing and social media, as well as on the Content Hubon which, in addition to international contributions, exclusive Swiss content will also be shown.

Rapper Stress is the Swiss ambassador of the new "ID.3" and was the first in Switzerland to pre-order the car. For the pre-booking kick-off, personal video stories and statements by the rapper can be seen on the Hub as well as in native ads on 20min.ch. Stress has been committed to sustainability for years and has also been working with KSP and Volkswagen for a long time, having been an ambassador for the "Road To Blue" sustainability campaign (Advertising week reported).

"Is our open rate above or below average?", "Are our click rates in the green zone?" - these and similar questions are regularly discussed in marketing teams. Episerver's "Email Marketing Benchmark 2019" study provides a big industry comparison of the most important campaign metrics in email marketing. Episerver is a provider of CMS, e-commerce and omnichannel marketing solutions.

Subject lines: Personalization works, emojis fall flat

In order to stand out and create the highest possible relevance for recipients, it is advisable to personalize subject lines. In the test, however, this was the case in only 22 percent of the mailings examined. At the same time, the average open rate of personalized subject lines is 22 percent higher than that of non-personalized mailings. In the travel segment, personalized subject lines even performed 47 percent better. On the other hand, subject lines with symbols did not show a better open rate in any industry. However, the effective click rate of mailings with symbols in the subject line was higher than in those without symbols. The combination of personalization and icons developed real appeal in the retail sector: here, the open rates of the mailings studied were not only higher than those without one of the features, but also higher than those with only one of the two attention grabbers.

Opening rates: Finance top, Fashion flop   

An important key figure for the success of email marketing is the open rates. In 2018, this averaged 28.08 percent. Providers in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors achieved above-average values (38.02 percent). The retail & e-commerce sector also had above-average open rates of 31.15 percent. Only the fashion sector is well below average here, with 20.36 percent. One possible explanation for this is the high level of competition in the fashion segment. Due to the abundance of stores that send newsletters, recipients are apparently more selective in opening them. In addition, especially when it comes to fashion, there is also a lot of advertising via other channels, which leads to a faster saturation of information, according to the experts at Episerver.

Fashion mailings have the worst click-through rates

The click rate shows whether a recipient is really interested in the information or offers listed in the mailing. According to the survey by Episerver, it averaged 5.17 percent in 2018. As with open rates, click rates in the finance, insurance and real estate sector are also well above average, averaging 8.24 percent. The fashion industry again brings up the rear with 3.56 percent. The reasons for this could be that the fashion presented is very much a matter of taste, and that fashion newsletters sometimes have different intentions and function more as a source of inspiration without a clear purchase intention than mailings from other sectors.

Business customer area (B2B) shines in terms of opening factor

The open factor indicates how often a mailing was opened by recipients on average. A high value can also be an indicator that the e-mails were frequently forwarded to friends, family members or work colleagues. The rule of thumb here is: the higher the opening factor, the higher the perceived benefit of the e-mail. In the benchmark study, B2B mailings scored among the best in terms of opening factor, with an opening factor of 2.1 percent. This is in line with the assumption that decisions in companies are usually shared between several people and that e-mail information is exchanged within the team accordingly. Across all industries, the average value is 1.88.

Deregistration rate: 0.1 percent is the norm   

The unsubscribe rate establishes a ratio between unsubscribes and delivered emails. The lower the value, the better. In the case of an organically grown e-mail distribution list, the unsubscribe rate should be below one percent. Those who achieve higher values, according to the advice of the Episerver experts, should check their measures for address acquisition and the consent procedure. The highest unsubscribe rates are found in the finance, insurance and real estate sector with 0.36 percent. Travel providers come in at 0.19 percent. Apparently, interest in these topics is limited in time. Anyone who has found a new apartment or booked a trip, for example, unsubscribes from the newsletter.

Business customer area (B2B) shines in terms of opening factor

The open factor indicates how often a mailing was opened by recipients on average. A high value can also be an indicator that the e-mails were frequently forwarded to friends, family members or work colleagues. The rule of thumb here is: the higher the opening factor, the higher the perceived benefit of the e-mail. In the benchmark study, B2B mailings scored among the best in terms of opening factor, with an opening factor of 2.1 percent. This is in line with the assumption that decisions in companies are usually shared between several people and that e-mail information is exchanged within the team accordingly. Across all industries, the average value is 1.88.

Deregistration rate: 0.1 percent is the norm   

The unsubscribe rate establishes a ratio between unsubscribes and delivered emails. The lower the value, the better. In the case of an organically grown e-mail distribution list, the unsubscribe rate should be below one percent. Those who achieve higher values, according to the advice of the Episerver experts, should check their measures for address acquisition and the consent procedure. The highest unsubscribe rates are found in the finance, insurance and real estate sector with 0.36 percent. Travel providers come in at 0.19 percent. Apparently, interest in these topics is limited in time. Anyone who has found a new apartment or booked a trip, for example, unsubscribes from the newsletter.

In keeping with the claim "Wernli teilt me gernli", Wernli wants to share its Guetzli with the Swiss population and has therefore carried out samplings at various train stations. These were supported with Wernli-typical illustrations as well as eye-catching giant packages.

The claim was also the focus of the new campaign realized by Erdmannpeisker. In short online spots it is shown that - although one would like to have everything for oneself - the Guetzli can also be shared with others. Since the spots were explicitly designed for use as video ads and on social media, they also work without sound. A nationwide poster campaign as well as digital advertising spaces that selectively support the station samplings accompany the spots. The images also show situations in which the Guetzli are shared.
 

According to the study, 51 percent of Germans don't like seeing the same ads multiple times. This negative experience even goes so far that just under half (49 percent) think the industry needs to change. Consumers in the U.S. and the U.K. find "ad stalking" annoying to a similar extent. At 47 percent and 48 percent respectively, they also want the industry to do something about it. 

The picture is different in France. Here, only 38 percent of respondents have problems with this type of advertising and only 40 percent believe that the advertising industry needs to change.

The results from Switzerland:

For example, the figures show that bad advertising has a major impact on a brand's reputation, especially in Germany. More than a third (36 percent) of German consumers rate a company negatively because of bad ads. While consumers are generally open to advertising, just under half (48 percent) would prefer to see fewer ads that are more relevant and useful to them personally. Consumers in the U.S. (45 percent) and the U.K. (44 percent) would also welcome this. In France, however, only 15 percent of consumers are put off by bad advertising from a brand.

"Personalization is the only way to generate relevant ads for the individual user. Truly personalized advertising has been around for some time, but unfortunately many marketers still confuse it with retargeting. Looking at the results at hand, this is a risky mistake. Retargeting often repeatedly shows consumers a product they definitely don't want to buy. Proper personalization does exactly the opposite. But it only takes effect when customers are correctly identified on different devices, on- and offline activities are tracked, and ads are then played out appropriately in real time," Potthast continues.

However, there is also good news. Compared to numbers from the 2017 Holiday Retail Outlook Report, the industry has already learned when it comes to personalization. Two years ago, 65 percent of consumers said companies, retailers and brands sent them too many irrelevant messages.

"While we're already seeing progress, there's still a long way to go for marketers to build those real, close customer relationships. Consumers want companies to connect with them on an individual level, and that means marketers need to really understand their customers' buying behaviors and habits. That means they need to combine online and offline activities and analyze data across all devices and channels and make it work for them," says Potthast.

• 31.7 percent of the Swiss surveyed dislike being followed by ads the most when it comes to online advertising. 45.45 percent say that irrelevant ads bother them the most.
• Fifty percent of respondents said the industry needs to change.
• 45.45 percent of the Swiss rate companies negatively due to poor advertisements.

The following statements apply to the DACH region (180 participants):

• 43.89 percent of respondents in the DACH region dislike being tracked by ads the most when it comes to online advertising.
• 32.78 percent say irrelevant ads bother them the most.
• 48.89 percent would like to see the industry change.
• 40.56 percent of the respondents said that they evaluate companies negatively because of bad advertisements.

"We've all experienced it: the same ad just reappears everywhere. This problem is due to cookie-based retargeting. Instead of incentivizing a purchase, this strategy tends to make consumers increasingly annoyed with the company's advertising, which can have a negative impact on their reputation in the long run," comments Peter Potthast, Country Manager DACH at Conversant. "Our study of the current state of the industry found that marketers are putting off customers by repeatedly playing irrelevant ads, and wasting their marketing budget in the process."

The Corpmedia agency is now supporting SBB with reports and documentaries. The film production agency has already been working for the company for eight years, and is now also the main partner for "theme and project films", as SBB wanted to reduce the number of agencies for reasons of brand consistency and process optimization, among other things, and was looking for main partners in the respective areas.

"We are delighted to be able to use our core competencies in storytelling and video journalism as one of SBB's main partners," says Timo Wäschle, founder and managing director of Corpmedia. "Especially in the age of content marketing, themed and project films are gaining in importance, as they provide an exciting and authentic insight into companies, projects and behind the scenes."
 

Ebi-Pharm sells preparations as intestinal support bases, which, for example, support the digestive organ after antibiotic therapy, in the case of chronic medication intake or for health prevention. In order to draw the attention of a broad target group, the Yellow agency has newly implemented the central idea "For a good gut feeling".

Whether it's a fit of laughter, falling in love, or simply good food: There are many causes for a good tummy feeling. However, not every tingling sensation has to mean something positive, because a disturbed digestive function can cause similar symptoms. Based on this, various headlines have been developed that put exactly such positive feelings into a negative context and pointedly draw attention to intestinal problems.

Since mid-May, the subjects can be seen throughout Switzerland on various online channels. The landing page Intestinal.ch was also revised and a mailing for sales staff of drugstores and pharmacies was created.

The Echt agency created three key visuals for the current communication campaign to showcase the product features and application possibilities of Fol Epi.

Each key visual features the cheese wheel and the slice packaging, and each subject also has a different recipe. The key visuals are placed in the form of F12 posters in the vicinity of shopping centers, and associated recipe videos are used on social media. The campaign can be seen online, mobile and on posters since Monday.