The launch of Apple Pay in July has already spurred Swiss financial institutions into action, which is why the Postfinance payment system Twint and UBS's Paymit will merge in January 2017. However, the business of receiving money or paying for goods via alternative channels is no longer the sole preserve of financial institutions or credit card companies. Paypal, Google Pay/Android Pay, WIR, Samsung Pay, Masterpass and Bitcoin are also available as alternatives, with Paypal undoubtedly having the highest level of awareness with 87% supported mentions, ahead of Bitcoin (41%), Twint (39%), Apple Pay and Google Pay/Android Pay (30% each), WIR (29%) and Paymit (20%). Samsung Pay (10 %) and Masterpass (8%) bring up the rear, with Paypal in particular already being used effectively as a payment channel by 58% of the population. With 7% effective use, Google Pay/Android Pay is still ahead of Twint (6%) and the newly launched Apple Pay (5%).When it comes to planned use within the next 12 months, it is worth keeping an eye on Paypal (63%), Twint (11%) and Apple Pay (7%). Google Pay/Android Pay, on the other hand, is already showing signs of weakening (6%).

This first representative "Alternative Technologies Monitor" was conducted by Marketagent.com Schweiz AG, an institute specializing in online market research. A total of 1,290 people from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland aged between 14 and 65 were surveyed from August 29 to September 7, 2016.

Together with a community of customers - more than 300,000 "preview customers" in total - SBB has supported the new development of SBB Mobile over the past 12 months. The focus of the new development of SBB Mobile is on simple and user-friendly operation. Customers can now buy a ticket up to CHF 40 in just two clicks and without entering a password. Customers can also personalize the app according to their needs: For example, they can add their own pictures of places or people to the timetable.A standardized ticket across all digital SBB channels for the first timeAll tickets purchased via sbb.ch are automatically transferred to the smartphone. Thanks to this function, international tickets can also be presented on the smartphone for checking for the first time. Supersaver tickets are now visible at a glance in the connection overview and can be purchased even more quickly. Customers who have stored their SwissPass in the app can now leave their Half-Fare travelcard in their pocket when they present a ticket purchased on SBB Mobile for inspection. Another new feature is that customers can now automatically see the best-selling regional tickets on the start page based on their location. Registration for new customers has been greatly simplified. For example, iPhone users can now register a credit card simply by scanning a photo. If you frequently travel with your family or other people, you can now save them as fellow travelers and conveniently buy tickets for them.Personal travel assistance with customer information in real timeAfter purchasing a ticket, the integrated digital travel companion keeps customers informed in real time about departure times, departure tracks, delays, track changes and any disruptions. The travel companion can also be activated without purchasing a ticket by simply swiping on a connection, so that GA customers also receive updates on their most frequent connections. The integrated alarm clock function even reminds customers to change trains in good time. The travel companion is being continuously expanded and will also display personalized travel suggestions and offers in the future. The SBB community will be involved in the further development.Mobile ticket purchasing continues on course for successSince its launch in 2008, SBB Mobile has been downloaded around 7.5 million times. The app now has over 3 million regular users, making it one of the most popular apps in Switzerland. Currently, well over 50,000 tickets are sold every day via SBB Mobile and the trend for this sales channel is clearly on the rise.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j43JPPPM0eUThe commercial for the new app.

The needs of TV audiences have changed in the digital age.The small Swiss media and advertising market has been the subject of heated debate, and not just since the publication of the Federal Council's public service report. On the one side are the private media companies and on the other the public media of the SRG. With the launch of the joint marketing unit Admeira by Ringier, Swisscom and SRG, this dispute has come to a head once again. This ultimately led to Ringier and Axel Springer leaving the Swiss Media Association (VSM).Lobbying from all sidesThe public service report is now the subject of heated debate in the federal parliament and in public, and there is strong lobbying from all sides. The VSM is very actively involved in efforts to rein in the SRG, including new advertising restrictions and a ban on targeted advertising on television. But the publishers' association also wants SRG to exercise restraint on the internet, both with regard to content financed by the license fee and even more so with regard to online advertising.do such demands fit into our digital age? Or shouldn't SRG be allowed to continue to develop in the media and advertising market in order to meet the changing needs of its audience and advertising customers?The interests of advertising clients must be protectedThe SWA does not wish to make a political statement on the structure of the future public service. However, when it comes to freedom of advertising in the media, the interests of advertising clients must be protected. After all, companies have been allowed to advertise on SRG TV channels for 50 years and this should continue to be the case in the future, as there is already a duopoly in the Swiss TV advertising market today and therefore not much competition. In addition to the SRG channels marketed by "Admeira", only "Goldbach Media" plays a significant role here. Goldbach markets almost all domestic and foreign private TV channels and was able to extend these contracts again just this year. The role of the regional TV stations marketed by some publishers is of secondary importance in the Swiss advertising market because they reach too small an audience.A massive step backwards for the Swiss TV advertising market?If SRG had to restrict advertising more severely in future for political reasons, the advertising clients would lose important and high-reach offerings in the TV market. The majority of SRG's TV advertising money would shift to the foreign advertising windows marketed by Goldbach and even more to the internet, to global players such as Google, YouTube and Facebook. This would be a massive step backwards for the Swiss TV advertising market and an encroachment on the advertising freedom of advertising clients."Targeting" on public and private TVInstead of new advertising restrictions, the TV business in Switzerland would be better led into the digital future by all parties involved. To achieve this, politicians would have to abolish outdated advertising restrictions and allow innovative forms of advertising such as targeting on TV, both for private and public broadcasters. The Federal Council's proposed revision of the Radio and Television Act (RTVA) into a new "Media Act" is therefore an important step in the right direction.Media that do not adapt will lose outBut it is urgent, because the audience decides every day how it accesses information, sport, culture and entertainment. All media that do not adapt quickly enough will lose their connection to the audience and thus their share of the advertising pie. Media financed by fees, such as SRG, should therefore be allowed to distribute their high-quality content in all vectors demanded by the public without restriction, and if the Federal Council continues to adhere to mixed financing with fees and advertising, advertisers should be allowed to advertise wherever the public is. Of course, with due consideration for other private media and the press in particular, as stipulated in Article 93 of the Federal Constitution. However, this consideration must not go so far that the SRG ends up bypassing its audience.Author: Roland Ehrler, Managing Director of the SWA

Even though new media are becoming increasingly important in communication, no one can do without telephone calls. Be it to acquire new customers, to offer existing customers something new or simply to exchange important information. Call centers with their methods, which are mostly annoying for the called party, but also telephone guides used in other companies have led to a real telephone frustration. Sabin Bergmann tackles this problem. She emphasizes: telephoning can be a pleasant experience at both ends of the line and even strengthen customer loyalty and increase sales. Her consistently easy-to-implement and plausible tips are based on many years of practical experience in telephone acquisition and telephone service as well as on common sense. Examples along the way, as well as tables and illustrations, illustrate the ideas. Since the book is also very clearly structured, it can also be picked up quickly in passing. A good guide, getAbstract finds, and recommends it to account managers, office staff, and salespeople.getAbstract rating: 7Implementability: 10Innovation level: 4Style: 8Publisher: BusinessVillage GmbHPublication year: 2016Pages: 201ISBN: 9783869803210

Ticketcorner Holding AG, which is owned by CTS Eventim and Ringier, and Tamedia have today signed a transaction agreement under which Ticketcorner and Starticket will operate and offer their services jointly in the market in future.The merger is still subject to approval by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2017.The merger of Ticketcorner and Starticket will create a high-reach ticketing group with innovative services, high-performance platforms, mobile apps and scanning solutions for event customers. With this step, Ticketcorner and Starticket are responding to the increasingly intense competition in the ticketing business from international providers, rapid technological developments and the growing importance of direct sales.International network and anchoring in SwitzerlandWith CTS Eventim as a major ticketing company in Europe as a partner, Ticketcorner and Starticket benefit from innovative ticketing solutions and an ongoing transfer of know-how, innovation and technology. As Swiss media companies, Ringier and Tamedia will ensure that the company is firmly anchored in Switzerland. The joint ticketing group will be managed by Andreas Angehrn, the current CEO of Ticketcorner.Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA: "With the merger of Ticketcorner and Starticket, event ticketing in Switzerland is taking on a new dimension, which will result in a wide range of synergies for the benefit of event organizers and ticket buyers. Together with our new partners at Tamedia and our long-standing co-shareholder Ringier, we can contribute an interesting combination of assets to the joint venture. "Marc Walder, CEO of Ringier: "The merger of Ticketcorner and Starticket reflects the fact that ticketing - like many other industries - is facing huge challenges. Digitalization, new technologies and distribution systems are also radically changing this market. "Christoph Tonini, CEO of Tamedia: "By merging Ticketcorner and Starticket, our event customers will benefit from greater reach and our ticket customers from a wider range of events. We look forward to working together with Ringier and CTS Eventim. "Ticketcorner AG is currently owned equally by the CTS Eventim Group and the Ringier media group via Ticketcorner Holding AG. Starticket is part of the Tamedia media group. Ticketcorner Holding AG, which is held equally by the CTS Eventim Group and Ringier, will hold 75 percent and Tamedia 25 percent of the new company Ticketcorner AG. The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the transaction.

Videos in the Tumblr dashboard attract more attention.Although click figures can provide exciting insights, they do not show which individual elements of a website users pay attention to. To investigate how Tumblr users perceive advertising on the platform, Yahoo's social blogging service teamed up with eye square to test the impact of a sponsored video post that was displayed in users' personal Tumblr dashboards. The eye-tracking analysis, in which test subjects' eye movements are recorded and analyzed, was carried out with participants in Berlin and London.Videos are eye-catchers"Moving images are highly relevant for all target groups," says Steffen Hopf, Vice President Yahoo Germany & France. "The test video achieved a high reach among both smartphone and desktop users." 92 percent of participants saw the video post in their dashboard. The average time spent on Tumblr was higher for users accessing Tumblr via a computer than for smartphone users. While desktop users spent an average of 33 seconds looking at the video, mobile users spent 19 seconds. "However, this dwell time is an enormous amount of time for mobile devices," explains Steffen Hopf. Regardless of whether Tumblr is visited via desktop PC or mobile device, users start scrolling after 10 seconds on average. During this time, their attention is focused entirely on the upper area of the dashboard.Score points with the right placementThere are also clear differences between smartphone and desktop users in terms of the time spent on the posts further down the dashboard. For the latter, the longer they have to scroll, the shorter the time spent on the individual posts. Those who swipe their finger across the smartphone screen, on the other hand, pay significantly more attention to the sixth, eighth and 13th posts because scrolling typically stops at these points when swiping vertically at high speed. In general, the swiping motion leads to a faster downward movement in the dashboard for mobile users - and therefore to greater attention for posts further down. "This shows that the position of sponsored posts should be chosen strategically. If you want to reach smartphone users in a targeted manner, you can also score points by placing them further down the dashboard," says Steffen Hopf.

Bye bye "Orange": the Swiss mobile network operator has been called "Salt" since April 2015. Image: Promotion-Tools AGA rebranding can be a great opportunity for a company, but also a risk. Time and again, companies change their brand in order to take a new direction or even to rid the company of a bad image from the past.MK has selected six Swiss rebrandings that were recently carried out and caused a stir:- "Orange" becomes "Salt"- UPC Cablecom becomes UPC- Hiltl rebranding- Ex Libris rebranding- Givaudan rebranding- Spaghetti Factory rebrandingHow do you rate the rebrandings? Take part in our survey now. The best comments will be published in the next issue of MK and online: https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/GCHJGZ5

The in-house chapel of the new Hotel Spenglers in Davos offers space for events.In the middle of it all, in the largest Alpine town, stands the former Alexanderhaus in Davos, founded as a clinic by the visionary physician Dr. Alexander Spengler, whose son was also the founder of the legendary Spengler Cup 89 years ago. Over the course of a year, International Hospitality Services AG completely gutted and rebuilt the historic building. In mid-December, the 4-star hotel will open its doors in an urban style and with unusual concepts. The hotel combines historic building fabric with innovative design, local roots with international flair and sustainability with high-tech. The building was hollowed out until only the two foundation walls remained, the rooms were redesigned and the chapel belonging to the house was restored in style.Service and gastronomy concept focuses on individualityThe restaurant "FAVORITES" combines three different areas of enjoyment: "Lounge Style" by the fireplace, "Classical Dining" for two or lively spread out at the "Community Table" - the easiest way to meet new people. Spenglers serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at extended hours throughout the house. The menu features guests' favorites, such as fancy street food or exclusive products from the region like a Davos Wagyu beef. A veritable one-of-a-kind is the in-house CHAPEL. As a unique event location, it creates the perfect setting for any celebration: celebrate weddings, attend exclusive readings, listen to unplugged concerts or bring a successful year to a festive close.

Hotel guests are allowed to use public transport for free with the new ticket. (Image: Lucerne Tourism)The ticket entitles the holder to free 2nd class bus and train travel within tariff zone 10 of the Passepartout tariff association. It is valid on the day of arrival, during the entire stay and on the day of departure.Not only vacation guests will be able to use bus and train free of charge in the future. The new offer will also benefit congress and meeting tourism and help Lucerne to position itself even better as a venue for meetings, congresses and incentives for Swiss and international organizers.

Iore and more companies are turning to webcasts.1. check technical requirements!Is the signal transmitted without interference? Streaming users have the same expectations as TV viewers. Jerks or dropouts ensure that viewers are distracted and cannot follow the content. Very important: test the transmission on a mobile device. More and more viewers are watching webcasts on a tablet or smartphone. Therefore, choose the right encoder for your webcast: Is an inexpensive software-based encoder enough, or do you need a high-end solution with an independent power supply to guarantee maximum reliability? This will ensure that you also offer a first-class technical result on the move.2. highest standards also for internal webcasts!Even if employees are often obliged to follow the cast for business reasons, you should make the same effort as for external customers. Appreciation for the employer increases and the willingness to absorb new messages is much greater. This starts with the little things. Draw employees' attention to the webcast with a friendly, meaningful invitation. Choose a graphically appealing presentation of the stream. Don't just call the stream "Q4 report" but find a meaningful title.3. make the webcast an experience!Providers like Kaltura offer a lot of cool tools that turn a webcast into an interactive experience. Find a platform that your viewers will enjoy using.4. plan realistically!Offer an on-demand function. Not every viewer makes it to the start in time. Not everyone can watch the stream the whole time. Make sure that viewers can watch the stream again. Preferably divided into topic blocks. Ensure intuitive navigation. This will ensure the sustainability of your content. Offer a feedback function. Criticism and suggestions from the target group help you to constantly improve the product.Kaltura offers webinarFor those who want to delve even deeper into the topic, Kaltura's free webinar is a great option. There you will find valuable tips and best practice examples. Questions can be put directly to the experts using the "comment" function. More about the webinar:  http://corp.kaltura.com/webinar/key-stress-free-webcast

In a lock-in effect, the customer is involuntarily tied to a product or service.In economics and especially in marketing, the lock-in effect is generally understood to mean close customer loyalty to products/services or a provider, which makes it difficult for the customer to change the product or provider due to switching costs and other barriers to switching.A lock-in effect was evident, for example, in the purchase of Whatsapp by Facebook. This was not welcomed by a considerable number of users. Many do not want Facebook to analyze their personal messages and use them for targeted advertising. But despite competing products (such as Threema), many users continue to use Whatsapp. As long as a critical mass of users is not reached and they switch to a new platform, the lock-in effects of Whatsapp are too great for a change to be worthwhile from the user's point of view.Sources: Wikipedia, Business Innovation: The St. Gallen Model (Christian Hoffmann,Silke Lennerts,Christian Schmitz,Wolfgang Stölzle,Falk Uebernickel).

The 2017 St. Moritz Gourmet Festival will showcase the best of American cuisine.The Gourmet Festival in St. Moritz goes into the next round. From January 30 to February 3, 2017, various American chefs, influenced and shaped by the most diverse cultures, will present their creations. Under the motto: USA - "Discover the Best from the West", a culinary mix from the land of unlimited possibilities.The Grand Julius Baer Opening at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains will kick things off, followed by the individual Gourmet Dîners and the Gourmet Safaris, the legendary Kitchen Party at the Badrutt's Palace Hotel as well as tastings, wine events and other special events at the partner hotels and event locations. The event will conclude at the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz.The cooksAt Badrutts Palace, Tal Ronnen will be at work. He comes from the restaurant Crossroads, Los Angeles (US), which was awarded Restaurant of the Year in 2013 and is one of the Top 10 - Best New Restaurants in LA.At the Carlton, James Kent will demonstrate his art. He hails from The NoMad restaurant, New York, which holds a Michelin star.Among other renowned chefs such as Enrique Olvera, Dean Fearing and Ron Silver, a woman will also present her cuisine. At Nira Alpina in Silvaplana-Surlej, Melissa Kelly from Maine will be showing her "farm-to-table" style.More information: www.stmoritz-gourmetfestival.ch