In addition to postponed vacations and canceled birthday parties, Christmas will now be a different one this year. The Federal Council wants to ban family celebrations with more than ten people - and suggests that we celebrate in the forest instead of in the living room.

This dampened joy is now also having an impact on gift-giving, as Digitec Galaxus writes in a press release: According to the GfK survey, every fourth inhabitant of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland wants to buy fewer gifts this Christmas than last year because of the pandemic. On the other hand, just three percent want to buy more presents this year. After all, two-thirds are not influenced by the virus when buying presents.

In general, however, the pandemic is boosting consumption: According to figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Swiss retailers have recorded around five percent more sales since June compared to the previous year. The money that would otherwise be invested in vacations, concerts or restaurant visits is flowing into things that make private life more pleasant: a cozy sofa, for example, a new game console or a coffee machine for the home office.

According to Digitec Galaxus, the obvious conclusion is that there will be no presents for the children of cousins, for example, as celebrations in a larger circle will not be possible anyway. For people severely affected by the pandemic, the focus is on saving money anyway - and not on what goes under the Christmas tree. What is quite possible, however, is that the Swiss will find more time for handicrafts, baking or other do-it-yourself activities, and will therefore buy fewer gifts. That's what the sales figures at Galaxus suggest: More than five times as many craft items have already been posted there this year than in the whole of 2019.

Online boom continues

According to the survey, one in seven doesn't want to buy any Christmas presents this year, but only give homemade gifts. But if they do buy presents, they prefer to do so online: 32 percent said they would buy Lego sets, games or perfumes for their loved ones primarily on the Internet. In contrast, 30 percent plan to do their Christmas shopping primarily in stores. 24 percent are undecided.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Digitec Galaxus expects at least 50 percent more orders than at the same time last year. For the record time, the online retailer has doubled the staff in the warehouses compared to the end of 2019.

The survey also shows when the hot time for Christmas presents starts: 44 percent said they take care of it in December, 7 percent of them even shortly before Christmas. In contrast, 22 percent already bought their first gifts in November, and 24 percent earlier.

One in three buys gifts on bargain days

This year, the discount days Black Friday and Cyber Monday have beaten all records, which is also reflected in the parcel volumes of the Post Office (Werbewoche.ch reported). One reason for this is probably that many Swiss also used the opportunity to buy gifts: A good third of those surveyed said they were going on a gift hunt before Black Friday. Half of those surveyed, on the other hand, had no plans to do so.

Three weeks ago, Sunrise CEO André Krause had already been appointed CEO of the joint company (Werbewoche.ch reported). After 10 months at the helm of the Swiss cable network operator, UPC CEO Baptiest Coopmans thus returned to parent company Liberty Global, where he will assume a leading operational role. In return, his predecessor Severina Pascu was appointed Krause's deputy and operational officer.

Sunrise-UPC has now announced the remaining members of the management board: Sunrise's head of technology Elmar Grasser will retain his post in the merged group. Stefan Fuchs will be head of marketing, and Giuseppe Bonina will be head of sales.

In total, the new management team comprises 14 members, including Christoph Richartz as the new head of YOL. Krause had paid "particular attention to a stable organization" and the "best composition of executives from both companies" in the selection process, the statement said. Now the integration program for the merger of the two telecom providers is to be worked out in detail.

The Sunrise UPC management at a glance

• André Krause, CEO
• Severina Pascu, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer
• Jany Fruytier, Chief Financial Officer
• Elmar Grasser, Chief Technical Officer
• Duncan Macdonald, Chief Information Officer
• Tobias Foster, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Stefan Fuchs, Chief Marketing Officer
• Giuseppe Bonina, Chief Sales Officer
• Robert Wigger, Chief Business Officer
• Françoise Clemes, Chief Customer Officer
• Christoph Richartz, Chief YOL Officer
• Mick Fernhout, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer
• Nadine Zollinger, General Counsel
• Marcel Huber, Chief Regulatory & Access Officer

(SDA/swi)

The sale to Bayard was not made for economic reasons, but for family reasons, as publisher Marc Gassmann emphasized to the media in Biel on Friday. A succession solution within the family had not been possible. As he is now over 70 years old, he considered it his duty to secure the future of his company.

There had been various interested parties, Gassmann explained. The Valais entrepreneur Fredy Bayard best met the requirements. Gassmann, who has been managing the Seeland-based company in the seventh generation since 1992, described the sale as a "stroke of luck," according to the press release.

Continue and further develop

Bayard emphasized that with Groupe Gassmann he was taking over a healthy company that was firmly anchored in the region and that he wanted to continue and further develop together with the Gassmann team.

Bieler Tagblatt, Journal du Jura and the other print, online and electronic media of the Gassmann Group will continue unchanged for the time being. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The change of ownership will take effect on January 1, 2021.

Anchored in the Seeland for 170 years

The publishing house Gassmann with the Bieler Tagblatt has been anchored in the Biel and Seeland region since 1850. Today, the company employs around 240 people in print, print, online and electronic media, as well as in administration, marketing and sales.

Besides Bieler Tagblatt, the Journal du Jura and the magazine Terre & Nature Gassmann also owns the local radio station Canal 3, and shares half of the local TV station Telebielingue with Biel media entrepreneur Mario Cortesi.

Fredy Bayard and his wife built up the Bayard fashion group in Valais. This has expanded strongly in recent years and now operates branches in numerous Swiss cities, including Biel.

At the beginning of 2018, Bayard became the majority shareholder in the Mengis Group in Upper Valais. This includes, in addition to the Valais Messenger including the local radio station Rottu. (SDA)

When winter comes, wellness is in high demand. And when Christmas comes, gift ideas are particularly welcome. So it's only logical that thermal baths and spas launch a corresponding communication offensive.

Aqua-Spa-Resorts include spas all over Switzerland, including the "Thermalbad & Spa Zürich" in the Hürlimann-Areal or the bathing world at Rigi Kaltbad designed by Mario Botta. The six baths in total are advertised individually by Unikat, but with an overarching key visual idea: a bathrobe loop representing a gift pack string. The key visual idea is visually stretched over the various bathing world images, so that the wellness gift is immediately pointed out. Depending on the location, POS measures, posters, online banners, public transport hanging boxes, social media ads, advertisements or advertorials are used.

As part of the colorful "More Zurich - less CO2" campaign, which adorned the city with ingenious wordplay in the summer, Zurich residents were able to use the campaign page Zuerich-co2.ch send in a personal climate tip for reducing CO2 emissions. The result of more than 400 submissions clearly shows that climate protection is close to the hearts of the people of Zurich. The city of Zurich is pursuing ambitious climate targets and is also counting on the support of the population. This is why it was so important to take these climate tips into account when developing the planned Advent campaign.

Together with the agency Kind regards, who was already responsible for the summer campaignThe city designed an outdoor Advent calendar to bring the tips back to the population. 24 selected favorites were printed on boards in the blue and white "Züri design" and then placed in various locations throughout the city. In addition to the tip, the first name and district of the person who gave the tip is also immortalized on the boards. In this way, the city brings the tips back to the places where they originated: Zurich's neighborhoods. A climate protection walk through the city is gradually being created.

A competition is also running at the same time: a picture of the board of the current day is published on the landing page, with the background showing roughly where it is located. With a bit of luck and the necessary knowledge of the city, you can win a copy of the "More Zurich - less CO2" cloth bags every day. The entire campaign has been very well received by the public and 600 entries were registered on the very first day. Until December 24, you can still enter at Zuerich-co2.ch/#klimadvent take part in the competition every day and discover valuable climate tips from Zurich residents at the same time.

Janine Lutz studied Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich. In 2018, she completed the MBA Corporate Management at the Hamburg School of Business Administration. Before joining IRF, she worked as a marketing and communications manager in international corporations and start-ups. Most recently, she worked in corporate communications at Valora Group, where she was responsible for internal and digital communications.

For the food startup Octave World, Zelebrand International is responsible for the entire brand development. The "Creative Legal Intelligence" methodology developed by the agency, which merges all trademark aspects with the creative process, will also be used. The process includes positioning strategy, development of naming and domain strategy, brand story, brand engineering and sponsorship measures. In the first implementation phase, the focus is on the website including the e-commerce platform. In parallel, the packaging design for the entire product range will be developed and produced. In addition to Switzerland and selected EU countries, the brand will also be launched in Asia in 2021. Octave produces and curates various products, especially from the Ionian Mediterranean.

Collaboration with technology provider

Furthermore, the agency has been awarded the contract for the cooperation with a technology solution provider. In a first step, the focus is on a complete rebranding with numerous 360-degree measures as well as the multichannel market launch of a new product innovation developed over several years. The full rollout is scheduled for 2021. Spiros Margaris, Advisory Board Member Zelebrand International, is also supporting the expansion strategy in this mandate.

The "Industry 2025" initiative aims to accelerate and successfully implement Industry 4.0 in Swiss manufacturing companies and to sustainably strengthen Switzerland as a workplace.

The redesign of the brand identity developed by Dachcom is intended to lend new relevance to the "Industry 2025" initiative and sharpen its profile as a Swiss knowledge and networking platform for industrial transformation. The brand, claim, and sub-brands were redefined, and the concise new trademark with an abstracted reference to the Swiss cross shapes all communicative activities, with a clear digital approach.

The creation of the new brand identity went hand in hand with a focus on a central guiding idea that will shape communications in the coming years. It focuses on the positioning of "Industry 2025" as the Swiss knowledge and network platform for Industry 4.0. Striking headlines bring the topic of digital transformation closer in a simple way. The transformative is also tangible in the visual language. Authentic photos are cut vertically and put together in an abstract way. The result is a strongly differentiating visual style that emphasizes the various facets of Industrie 4.0.

At the heart of the initiative is the website developed and implemented by Dachcom Industry2025.ch based on Typo3. It is the central platform that connects producing manufacturers with experts, solution partners and universities of applied sciences. It informs, sensitizes and inspires as a networking, knowledge and event platform for Industrie 4.0. In addition to web development, the focus was also on SEO technical integration. Anyone looking for knowledge and solutions for Industrie 4.0 in Switzerland should reliably come across the "Industrie 2025" initiative.

Online and social media measures, documentation and communication guidelines were also implemented. All measures are designed to promote professional dialog and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Personal branding

What turns people into strong brands. 

• Author: Christopher Spall and Holger J. Schmidt
• Publisher: Springer Gabler, 2019
• Pages: 292
• ISBN: 9783658237400

The authors also know that people are not chocolate bars. They are concerned with something else: with a strong personality brand, you show others who you are and what you stand for. The book contains numerous illustrative examples, practical tips and is generally well structured. However, the authors occasionally get lost in digressions without too much added value. If you can look past this, however, you will gain valuable insights into the topic of personal brand management.

Inspired

How to develop tech products that your customers will love. 

• Author: Marty Cagan
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH, 2020
• Pages: 282
• ISBN: 9783527510016

No matter how good the team is, if it is working on something that is not worthwhile, all the effort is in vain. Marty Cagan learned this lesson early on when he worked at Hewlett Packard. Cagan was always there when things were really happening: at HP when the PC was at its peak, at Netscape when the Internet was booming and at eBay when e-commerce was going through the roof. He has recorded his experiences of how the best companies develop their products in this book. It is a systematically structured guide with heaps of best practices.

Become better known with Instagram

Social media marketing for the self-employed and entrepreneurs. 

• Author: Dennis Tröger
• Publisher: C. H. Beck, 2019
• Pages: 128
• ISBN: 9783406732430

Instagram is only for fashion companies and beauty bloggers? A fallacy! Instagram even offers opportunities for tax consultants and lawyers - if they know how to use the medium correctly. Dennis Tröger is convinced of this. Some of his tips - for example, writing 80 to 90 comments a day - will be almost impossible to implement for many social media managers, let alone managing directors. Nevertheless, it is worth reading for anyone who wants to use Instagram to build their brand.

The Curious Advantage

The biggest value driver in the digital age. 

• Author: Paul Ashcroft, Simon Brown and Garrick Jones
• Publisher: Laiki Publishing, 2020
• Pages: 251
• ISBN: 9781648713514

Many people consider curiosity to be an innate trait rather than a skill that can be learned - but it is. But adults often find it difficult to develop it. Nevertheless, curiosity is important, say the authors. Today's managers in particular need the ability to stimulate it in themselves and others. In their book, the authors present practicable strategies based on illustrative practical examples. Their advice is not aimed at quick results, but at long-term and sustainable development.

It covers the period from November 23 to December 1. On average, postmen and women delivered more than 900,000 parcels per day, and in the days immediately after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the figure was even over one million.

The sorting machines in the parcel centers were running 22 hours a day, according to the press release. The staff worked extra shifts and even on Saturdays so that everything could be sorted on time. And this will continue for the next few weeks.

The regional parcel centers in Vétroz and Untervaz, which opened in September and November, have successfully passed their first endurance test. They were able to relieve the large parcel centers in Daillens, Härkingen, Frauenfeld and Urdorf as hoped - together with the regional parcel centers in Cadanezzo and Ostermundigen, which were opened in 2019 and March 2020 respectively. In total, the regional centers would process around 190,000 parcels a day.

Annual record expected on December 15

"After Black Friday is before Christmas," writes Swiss Post. Parcel volumes will remain high and continue to increase on a daily basis. On Tuesday, December 15, Swiss Post is expecting the largest volume of the year.

The further forecasts: a slight decline in volumes in the week at the end of the year and a renewed increase in January, then the curve will flatten out again slightly until it rises sharply again at Easter. One thing already seems clear: "Parcel volumes will not return to pre-coronavirus levels," says parcel boss Stefan Luginbühl.

Online retail will continue to grow steadily - and with it the volume of parcels. At the same time, customers want to receive their goods faster and faster. In order for Swiss Post to be able to reliably process the mountains of parcels in the future, it will have to increase its capacity once again.

Swiss Post plans to put further regional parcel centers into operation by 2030, probably in the vicinity of large conurbations such as Basel, Bern and Zurich. The company will communicate about this "in due course". (SDA)

The Munich Regional Court dismissed the Iglo lawsuit on Thursday. Iglo had accused Appel Feinkost of misleading consumers by confusing the two figures. The judges did not agree. The judgment is not yet final.

According to the ruling, Appel Feinkost did not copy Käpt'n Iglo, even though both advertising figures are older men with beards wearing caps. The judges pointed out the differences: The caps are different - in one case a captain's cap, in the other an Elbe pilot's cap.

The Appel character is therefore not wearing a blue suit like Captain Iglo in most of the pictures, but a gray suit, as the court announced after the verdict was handed down. And unlike Captain Iglo, the Appel figure is also not wearing a white turtleneck sweater and a white T-shirt, "but a checked vest with a tie and a silk scarf", according to the court.

The Appel figure is therefore not a sailor, but a "well-off gentleman in an elegant three-piece suit". Accordingly, the judges see no risk of confusion and therefore no misleading of buyers of frozen fish products. (SDA)

As of 2020, the University Hospital Basel (USB) has developed a new strategy. In order to also make the visual appearance fit for the future, Jung von Matt Brand Identity was commissioned to redevelop the corporate design. Until now, the USB presented itself in a rather static corporate design that no longer met the requirements of digital communication. The result is a lively new appearance for the USB brand that is both clear and flexible in its application.

Striking design

The new design is based on a striking design system that can be used to playfully manage the entire communication. While retaining the logo, the figurative sign was further developed into an important and formative design element and identifier, which runs statically and movingly through the entire appearance.

From the pictogram, Jung von Matt Brand Identity developed a distinctive pictogram and illustration style that connects to the logo and communicates information actively and clearly.

More radiance

The existing primary color red has recently been supplemented by a colorful color set with many possible combinations. The different color schemes are used in the diverse communicative challenges of the university hospital and serve as differentiating elements.

"With the new corporate design, we are leaving conventional visual hospital communications in favor of a fresh look that showcases the entire diversity of the university hospital attractively and with more impact. The design is practical to use and works across all our departments and communication channels," explains Viviane Gutzwiller, Head of Marketing and Brand at USB.