More and more people feel annoyed by banner advertising. As a result, adblockers are being used more and more frequently.What happened to the communication at eye level that was propagated up and down the country? The monologue of the brands still dominates. There are classic commercials on TV - just like on YouTube. And now banner advertising is also making a comeback. Wherever you surf, you are followed by products that you were previously interested in on Amazon and the like. After 15 years of digital transformation, all we have managed to do is get the pushy rose sellers and greengrocers off the street and onto the internet. According to Frank Bachér from Rubicon Project (MK 5/16 page 39), standard graphic formats are growing by 16 percent annually. The fact that the number of installed adblockers is skyrocketing at the same time should give us pause for thought. In the Swiss media announced on Junethat the number of adblockers installed on desktop and mobile devices in Europe has risen by 35 percent in one year. Loud barkers here, annoyed customers there: Nobody wins in the long term.Technology with an archaic view of marketingThe gap between sender and recipient is not even the main concern when dealing with programmatic buying. According to a study by the TBS Group, around 53% of all marketers in German-speaking Switzerland are concerned about inventory quality. In contrast, only around 15 percent are worried that campaigns will not achieve the planned objectives. The study shows: Marketers are worrying in the wrong place - and that should be worrying.Nothing against the automated sale of advertising space. But we have to ask ourselves at what point in the customer journey this type of aggressive penetration advertising works. Programmatic buying tempts us to delve even deeper into the maze of monologue instead of engaging with real digital brand experiences. The new sales technology does not work with a view of marketing that dates back to the last century.Timing of Christian Meyer's digital criticism not coincidentalThe Digital review by Christian MeyerTheo Müller Group's Head of Digital ("Müller Milch") is making waves that reach as far as Switzerland. In an all-round attack, he settles accounts with the digital hype and demands that agency fees become dependent on the success of their online campaigns.the timing of his criticism is no coincidence. In today's digital advertising world, everything is measurable. And that's a good thing, because advertising should never be an end in itself. Despite all the love for clicks, impressions and likes, the question of quality must not be ignored. Unfortunately, this is increasingly the case. Google has also recognized that the user experience of online advertising has recently suffered. The parent company of AdWords marketing wants to take action against this and has announced the Foundation of a "Coalition for better ads"Successful digital transformations begin and end with a brand experience - and this is where new technologies come into play. The first iPhone amazed people because it made it possible to experience content in a completely new way - haptically, visually and acoustically. What will remain if we simply produce videos for YouTube instead of television? Nothing.Where is the journey heading?Marketing experts are just as excited about virtual reality as advertising experts and gamers. The technology will enable a whole new level of immersion and interaction. There is still a lack of in-depth concepts that demonstrate how virtual reality can be used for marketing purposes, and initial best-practice examples show that products can be experienced in a new way or designed virtually in a virtual showroom. Further impetus will come from agencies specializing in virtual reality, which are currently using technologies to create digital brand experiences that have already penetrated the market. A best-practice example from the Maxomedia kitchen shows that a lot can be achieved with very little.The rose seller becomes a rose cavalierA special advertisement was used to visualize how easy it is to switch to Swissquote's new eTrading platform. The ad included a card with a removable red foil. If you stuck the foil over the camera lens of your cell phone and then scanned the dollar bill in the ad, the world of finance literally appeared in a new light. Instead of Benjamin Franklin, Mark Zuckerberg suddenly adorned the greenback. This approach involved the recipients and conveyed the message subtly. No trace of aggressive penetration advertising. This is how the rose seller becomes the rose cavalier.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjTrHnQJVe8From analog to digital: Swissquote's special ad turns the classic print ad into a digital brand experience.

Robert Schumacher (1969) is one of Switzerland's leading pioneers in the fields of data-driven marketing and CRM.In the wake of the hype surrounding big data, it is slowly becoming clear among innovative marketing managers that it doesn't matter whether we talk about big, small, large, thin or smart data. The key point is that marketing effectiveness can be increased with the help of data and completely new business models and value chains can be defined on the basis of data, which is where the new hype concept of digital transformation comes into play, which often goes hand in hand with disruptive developments. Such far-reaching innovations are mainly achieved by new market players that use data to challenge established companies' customer relationships. Airbnb, Uber and Instacart are well-known examples of this, but what is digital transformation anyway? It's not about simply copying analog functions into the digital world. For example, simply sending emails instead of letters. This is not a digital transformation, but a simple optimization of functions. Only when new processes and new behavioral patterns are mapped and completely new business models are generated through the intelligent use of data do we speak of digital transformation.The term digital marketing - i.e. email marketing, Facebook, Twitter or social marketing - therefore falls far too short as a term to describe what is currently happening in marketing: The new digital technologies, especially smartphones, are opening up new opportunities in marketing, primarily thanks to the intelligent use of data. In the new world of digitalization, it is therefore not simply a matter of transferring the traditional from analogue to digital. So what are the five most important requirements for marketing in this new world of informed, hybrid customers, the omnichannel campaign world and mobile, "always-on consumers"?1. have a customer relationshipThis is probably one of the most important prerequisites: Because if your company does not have a relationship with the customer, it cannot do business. The prerequisite for a customer relationship is that you know the customer. This is the only way to be relevant and retain the customer. And age and gender are definitely no longer sufficient customer attributes for effective customer management. Instead, granular, behavior-based detailed knowledge of the customer is required in order to generate added value. This is where the adequate use of appropriate tools that analyse and visualize customer data using statistical methods becomes eminently important.2. centralize decision-making authorityCustomers today are "omnichannel" - without knowing it: they do not make an explicit decision about which channel they want to use to communicate with the company today, but do so based on the respective context. The company must therefore realize that it is always the same person - regardless of which channel the customer uses to make contact. The company must therefore move away from the silo view and also manage all customer contacts internally with a central decision-making authority using a set of rules. In addition to all planned marketing measures, these also include all available data, all customer contact rules (e.g. no sales letters for two weeks after a personal contact), channel restrictions (e.g. maximum number of outbound calls by the call center per day) and strategic guidelines (e.g. at least 200,000 web views of a specific product). Based on all this information, the best possible next action is played out in real time if necessary. And this is done with optimal budget allocation. And that brings us to the next point.3. optimally distribute the budgetToday's marketing budget remains the same at best, but is coming under increasing pressure. However, the number of possible customer contact points seems to increase every month: After Facebook and Twitter have been integrated, then comes Whatsapp, then Instagram, then Snapchat, then ... This means that the challenge for the marketer is to optimally distribute the available budget across the available channels, depending on the customer journey, the respective goal of the contact channel and the respective channel costs. This requires knowledge of the contribution of each channel to the optimal customer journey.4. consistently automateThe demand for relevance when addressing customers creates the need for individualization. Addressing a large number of customers individually, i.e. addressing them differently via various channels, at specific times and with relevant content, requires systematic automation. Only in this way can the step from "one size fits all" marketing (i.e. the same letter for all customers) towards "one to one" marketing succeed.5. measure transparentlyThe change process, digital transformation and operational campaign management all require systematic measurement in order to achieve improvements. KPIs, measures, reactions and results can only have an impact within the company if they can be visualized, as this provides a common basis for discussion. This is usually done with an intuitive and interactive marketing dashboard, which in turn enables measures to be optimized based on the insights gained. This is the only way to initiate an ongoing learning process that keeps the company competitive on the market in these fast-moving times.Author: Robert Schumacher, Director at gateB, is one of Switzerland's leading pioneers in the fields of data-driven marketing and CRM. He has worked in various roles in the field of direct marketing for over 20 years.website: https://www.gateb.com/de/

Scott Brinker, the initiator of Martech, during his keynote speech at the 2nd European Conference in London.Scott Brinker, the initiator and conference chairman from the USA, essentially made two things clear in his opening keynote: on the one hand, the advancing proliferation of software solutions in digital marketing (currently around 4,000!) and, on the other, the massively increased demands on companies in terms of adaptability - in short, "from Beautifying Marketing to Performance Marketing". Not surprisingly, the same Scott Brinker published the book entitled "Hacking Marketing" in March 2016, and the case studies presented almost universally drew attention to the gap between digital possibilities on the one hand and the maturity of the organization (people) on the other. In other words, technology is definitely not the limiting factor for marketing success. Another prominent topic was personalization through clever use of available data. Personalization was defined more broadly than just focusing on increasing sales. Examples were shown where personalization relates to the relevant context of the customer and thus creates high recipient acceptance and loyalty.the five core statements of Martech-London 2016:

• The "New School of Marketing" is the guide to the digital age
• Unilever sees "tectonic" changes in customer behavior
• From next best product to last best experience
• Digital transformation is a black box for most companies
• It is not about reducing complexity, but about handling complexity in a targeted manner

The SDV Award 2017 is looking for campaigns that impress with dynamic communication and brainpower. One "Big mouth and nothing behind it" does not lead to gold, silver, bronze or a certificate - these are the awards presented in the media and special categories. In the industry categories, however, it is called: "The Winner Takes It All": One main prize is awarded for each discipline. This is also endowed with the highest rating, which in turn is reflected in the agency ranking.Industry categories - "The price is hot."Compared to the previous year, the industry category was increased from six to eight disciplines. New additions are "Campaigns for CONSUMER GOODS / FMCG" and "Campaigns for AGENCY self-promotion". The category "Campaigns in the TELECOM sector" is now called "Campaigns in communications and information technology".Media categories - "Never Change A Winning Team." There are no changes in the media categories. The nine tried-and-tested disciplines are once again at the start this time. The spectrum ranges from analog to digital, from "Mailing B2C (2D) over 100,000 copies" to "Digital: Mobile Marketing incl. App".Special categories - "One like no other."The special categories now comprise six categories. The SDV Junior Award is also included here. The disciplines "Craft: Production" and "Craft: Text" have been merged into one discipline this year, with the "INTERNATIONAL" category recognizing work by foreign agencies.SDV Junior Award - "Early practice makes perfect."The SDV attaches great importance to promoting young talent. The Junior Award has therefore been presented since 2009. Realize a "real life" campaign for the Longines CSIO St. Gallen, Switzerland and submit it free of charge by 31.1.2017. As in previous years, the SDV Junior Award is sponsored by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW.Submission - "What you can get today ..."As we all know, time flies. Advertising agencies, service companies and advertising clients are therefore best advised to go straight to www.sdv-award.chread the conditions of participation and submit their campaigns by January 31, 2017. Those who do so by the end of November will even receive a 10 % discount on the entry fee - because: "Time is money!" Members of the SDV (ASW, LSA, KS Kommunikation Schweiz, SMC, swissfundraising, SWA and VSV) also benefit from discounted participation.Submit now at www.sdv-award.ch

Customer ratings are still not taken seriously enough by companies.It doesn't matter if we are looking for a good restaurant with a great Sunday brunch in our neighborhood or if we are urgently looking for an insurance broker or lawyer who can give us competent advice. 72 percent (Bitkom Research) of all consumers are guided in their consumer decisions by reviews on the Internet. Nevertheless, many companies have not yet taken advantage of their customers' feedback. One reason for this is the prejudices that many people have about opinions on the Internet. Provenexpert.com lists the biggest myths of online customer reviews.Myth 1: Customer reviews come naturallyMany business owners are of the opinion that customer reviews on the Internet accumulate all by themselves over time. However, this does not quite correspond to reality. In fact, every service provider must invest some effort and actively solicit customer feedback. Because every consumer knows it from everyday life: we often simply lack the time and energy to evaluate a service on the Internet, even if we were particularly satisfied with it. But if companies and service providers actively ask their customers for feedback, they can not only increase the number of reviews they collect, but by actively collecting reviews, they are also 20-30 percent more likely to be positive on average. It is therefore worthwhile approaching customers and asking them for their opinions. It should be made as easy as possible for them to provide feedback that is as relevant as possible. Companies should, for example, use rating platforms where customers do not have to go through the hassle of registering and where they can work with individual questionnaires.Myth 2: Ratings on the web mean loss of control Another reason why many companies shy away from registering on a rating platform or even actively collecting customer opinions is the great fear that information can quickly take on a life of its own on the web. If, for example, a customer is dissatisfied with a service or has even received a faulty product, then this customer can of course vent about this on the Internet in the context of a rating that is visible to everyone. In this case, companies are well advised to respond quickly to criticism, to be reasonable, and to make it clear to the dissatisfied customer that they are making every effort to resolve the problem. This also signals to potential new customers that the feedback from their buyers is taken seriously. If you react appropriately to negative feedback, then you as a provider also retain control over the image that customers convey about you on the web.Myth 3: The danger of bad reviews In connection with the previous point is the great fear of bad reviews. But this too is unfounded if the service is good. In an analysis of 1,080,000 reviews submitted on ProvenExpert.com, the average rating was 4.68 out of five stars. The majority of consumers therefore give positive ratings. A full 96.4 percent have recommended services or products to others and 68.5 percent even took the time to complete their own star rating with a personal experience report. It is also worth noting that even occasional negative ratings generally have a positive effect: Because if a rating profile has exclusively positive ratings, this can quickly appear untrustworthy. Finally, there are now business models that specialize in prettifying or buying ratings for companies. 95 percent of consumers suspect manipulation if a provider is rated exclusively with the top score. Fittingly provenThe study shows that products with an average rating of 4.5 stars sell three times better than products with an average rating of five stars.Myth 4: Evaluation marketing is expensive and time-consumingTime and costs are important decision criteria for every company. Even if many recognize the potential of ratings on the web, they shy away from becoming active in this field. But successful rating marketing no longer requires a large investment of time. Some rating platforms, for example, offer the option of bundling ratings from various other portals, which you as a provider may already have accumulated, into a profile and rating seal. This saves a lot of time because you can see at a glance if a rating has been submitted somewhere on the web and can react quickly to it if necessary. At the same time, this bundling also makes it much easier for consumers to get a picture of companies or service providers. In terms of cost, many rating platforms also offer free profiles. But if, for example, you want to collect feedback from customers with an individual questionnaire, then it is definitely worth spending a little money.With the help of online ratings, companies can enter into dialog with their customers and improve themselves further. The responsible consumer has the right to give feedback at any time and thus actively help shape offers. In addition, this not only strengthens the bond with existing customers, but reviews also increase visibility on the web. They have a positive influence on the Google ranking and are possibly the most credible acquisition tool. Compared to traditional advertising, which is increasingly ignored by consumers and thus less and less effective, online customer opinions are more authentic and long-lasting, and thus play an increasingly important role in the customer journey.

When brands appeal to the emotions, they are remembered.From Marcel Hüttermann, Research Associate, Institute for Marketing Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law.The challenge of brand management is to differentiate one's own brand from others, make it visible on the market and bring it to life in everyday life. At best, this emotional added value generates long-term customer loyalty and increases the company's profits. Professors Thorsten Möll and Franz-Rudolf Esch have been able to prove several times in their readings that:

1. Highly emotional brands are better known than low-emotional brands.
2. Highly emotional brands are more likely to be remembered, act more often as a top-of-mind brand and are more frequently recognized than low-emotional brands.
3. Highly emotional brands have a broader brand image and a greater proportion of positive emotional associations than low emotional brands.
4. The inner brand image of highly emotional brands is clearer, more distinct, more lively and more appealing than the inner image of low-emotional brands.
5. With highly emotional brands, brand attitudes are more positive, brand loyalty is stronger and brand trust is greater than with low-emotional brands.

Various instruments are used by companies to emotionalize brandsBrands in the banking and insurance sectors in particular have identified sport, culture and events in general as a suitable platform to emotionally charge their brands. A quick search is enough: the PostFinance top scorer in the top Swiss field hockey league, Credit Suisse as the main sponsor of the Swiss Football Association as well as sponsor of the Swiss Music Awards or the Zurich Film Festival. The Allianz Namingright at the Arena in Munich is another well-known example, but sponsorship is not the only example. Zweifel Chips, for example, relies on event marketing at open air events to reach the end customer. Barbecue areas are used to create spaces that also create an emotional bond with the customer. Red Bull truly gives its energy drink wings with its air shows and in the field of communication, corporate blogs can either deal with unattractive topics or offer crisp and innovative tips for SMEs.Emotions strengthen the bond with the brandWhat is the purpose of these companies' involvement? The services provided by these companies cannot be experienced by customers, which is why it is more difficult for them to establish a relationship with the products or services. The connection to these companies arises from a contractual relationship between providers and customers, but not from an emotional connection as is the case with sporting goods manufacturers (through skiing, football, clothing) or smartphones (through communication with friends, listening to music, taking photos, etc.). Your customers use the product to break records, climb mountains, score goals or capture spectacular experiences in pictures.not only companies from the banking or insurance sector but many others are faced with the problem of offering "boring" products from the customer's point of view. Construction and building suppliers, software providers, machine manufacturers, energy companies and companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors all face the problem of offering emotionless products. The Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW, which offers the CAS Brand Emotionalization continuing education course, shows which tools and methods a company can use to bring its brand to life and emotionally charge it. You can find out more about the four-month course, which starts in March 2017 here.

Andreas Aebischer, Angela Kölliker and Aline Kuhn.Thanks to perfect organization, the diploma exams at Digicomp (written) and at Technopark (oral) went smoothly again this year. The most striking thing about the written exam was that, contrary to the practice of recent years, the majority of diploma candidates took the exam on a PC. In the oral exam, they proved with an extremely demanding diploma thesis in integrated communication that they meet high professional standards and are ideally equipped for leading positions on the agency or client side. For the first time, Marlene Gonçalves, who has been in charge of the Kommunikation Schweizer examination secretariat since the spring, was responsible for organizing the examination with great dedication, care and understanding for the candidates' concerns.The best in classAndreas Aebischer from Winterthur (grade 4.9), who works as a consultant at the advertising agency RUF ASW AG in Bülach, came top of his class in 2016. In second place is Angela Kölliker from Langenthal (4.7), who is Head of Marketing & Communication for the SC Langenthal ice skating club. She is closely followed by Aline Kuhn from Hinwil with a grade of 4.6; she works as a media consultant at mediaschneider, the agency of the president of the examination board Urs Schneider. The other successful graduates are Claudia Järmann from Möhlin, Dzeneta Murtovi from Rapperswil-Jona and Sabine Reinacher from Niederbipp.

Hackers are increasingly resorting to cloaking to remain undetected.Cloaking is a technique that recognizes whether a human or a search engine spider is visiting a website. If a human visitor is recognized, they are shown different content than a spider. The aim is to present a site that is optimized for both search engines and visitors.Examples of cloaking:A page with HTML text is provided for search engines, while users are shown a page with images or Flash elements, and text or keywords are only inserted into a page if the user agent requesting the page is a search engine and not a visitor.

The beloved ibexes Gian and Giachen are now available as a children's book.Gian and Giachen trudge through the white mountains of Graubünden. But there's another one: Vincenz the snow hare. The two ibexes are terrified of him. And of course they can't let that sit on their heads. This is how the story of the children's book "Gian and Giachen and the fearless snow hare Vincenz" begins. As witty and humorous as ever, it tells a new adventure of the two cult ibexes in a new format. The book, lovingly illustrated by Amélie Jackowski, is now available in German, Romansh and English.Family vacations like a picture bookGRF is breaking new ground with the children's book. "The illustrated adventure of Gian and Giachen is intended to whet the appetite of children and their parents for winter in the mountains in a charming way," explains CEO Martin Vincenz. "But it's not just an exciting story, it's also designed to get children thinking. After all, the book is also about conquering fears." In addition to the pleasure of reading, anyone who owns the book can also enjoy attractive family offers and go on vacation to the locations featured in the book.Readings with Gian and GiachenThe two Grisons natives who have lent their voices to the ibexes in the TV commercials for years - comedian Claudio Zuccolini and singer Sergio Greco - are appearing in public for the first time as Gian and Giachen for readings of the story. Thanks to large hand-sewn "Gian and Giachen" dolls, the ibexes themselves tell the story of their adventure. The book is available in shops and in the graubünden fan store at www.graubuenden.ch/fanshop

New offer from Swiss Post: Eye tracking ensures that companies achieve more success with their direct mailings.When looking at something new for the first time, the eye automatically searches for the seemingly most important points. This human idiosyncrasy is exploited by eye-tracking analysis. An eye camera records the eye movements of test subjects. The subsequent evaluation shows what information the subjects perceived.Analyze direct mailingsEye tracking is ideally suited for analyzing advertising measures such as direct mailings. This is why Swiss Post offers this procedure to its business customers. Eye tracking determines which points of a direct mailing the test persons look at, in which order and for how long. This enables companies to find out what works well in their direct mailings and how they can specifically increase their advertising success in the next direct mailings.Invisible eye cameraIn most cases, the test subjects wear a type of eyeglasses. The built-in eye camera records where they let their gaze wander. With eye tracking, on the other hand, the test subjects look at the direct mailings on a monitor. Because they do not perceive the eye camera, they are influenced as little as possible.Optimization thanks to eye trackingSwiss Post's direct marketing experts analyze and visualize the data collected with the eye camera. Based on the results, they highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the direct mailings examined using eye tracking and provide concrete tips on how to positively influence the eye-tracking process. It takes about six to eight weeks from the time the order is placed to the presentation of the detailed report. Swiss Post conducts several survey waves per year.Results at a glanceFor each eye-tracking analysis, Swiss Post produces a detailed report with various visualizations. They show at a glance the extent to which the intended information hierarchy in a direct mailing matches the effective viewing by the target group:

• Heat Map: Color map showing how much the elements have been observed.
• Focus Map: Visualization of only those elements that have been observed
• Scan Path: representation of the order in which the elements were observed

www.post.ch/dms

The new Audi commercial lets moviegoers experience the new Audi RS models in all their facets and puts them right in the middle of the race track. The cinema seat vibrates and tilts as if the audience were actually sitting in the car, and the spot was created in collaboration with WerbeWeischer, the market-leading cinema advertising marketer in the D-A-CH region, which accompanied the 4DX animation of the Audi cinema spot. "The Audi brand stands for progress and technology - and moviegoers can experience this with all their senses thanks to the 4DX spot," says Adriano Fernandes, Director National Sales and member of the WerbeWeischer Switzerland management team. In Switzerland, the innovative 4DX technology is only available in ARENA Cinemas (in Zurich and Geneva).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGOW6-Koo9YAudi brought its commercial to the 4DX cinemas.