Autumn time is cider time - so also at Ramseier Aachtal and the fruit suppliers. After the already 25th annual harvest of cider apples and cider pears, the cidery would like to offer its partners cozy and convivial hours with a gift. A gift was desired that reflects the values of Ramseier: Naturalness, tradition, down-to-earthness and genuine Swissness. The result - 1,500 handmade Jass sets in a case.

During the entire process, much emphasis was placed on cooperation with foundations for people with special needs. The cases were handmade by the Argo Foundation in Chur. It operates workshops and residential homes for adults with disabilities. The Jass sets were packaged by hand as a complete gift and prepared for delivery by the Brändi Foundation. The Brändi Foundation, based in the canton of Lucerne, offers work and living places for people with mental disabilities or psychological impairments.

For the past three years, 28-year-old Thomas Deléchat has been responsible for audience strategy and the social media, branded content and innovation teams at the daily newspaper Le Temps responsible. Now he is moving to the Blick Group and will be part of the management team of the French-language version of Blick.ch, which will be launched in French-speaking Switzerland in mid-2021 and headed by Michel Jeanneret as Editor-in-Chief.

Michel Jeanneret in a statement: "Thomas Deléchat is one of the best digital specialists in Switzerland and I am delighted to form an innovative and creative duo with him. Together, we are creating a news platform that uses the appropriate narrative forms and channels to ensure that Blick also meets readers' expectations in French-speaking Switzerland."

Deléchat received the international FIPP "Rising Star in Media" award in 2018. As Product Manager, he will be responsible for setting up and managing a "Creative Lab" fully integrated into the newsroom. This unit will bring together digital experts as well as social media and video specialists to produce interactive content for the new news platform.

"The media are continually questioning the way they prepare and distribute content - partly because user habits are constantly changing. With the 'Creative Lab', we want to find out in particular what potential platforms such as Spotify, TikTok and Youtube offer, which are geared more towards a younger audience. I'm looking forward to building an innovative team and supporting the editorial team in the distribution of their content," says Thomas Deléchat.

Good decisions

A guide to integrative thinking for managers. 

• Author: Jennifer Riel and Roger L. Martin
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH, 2019
• Pages: 202
• ISBN: 9783527509799

When making decisions, there are often more than two options. It is usually possible to find a third, better way - this is the credo of the two authors. Anyone can learn their method of integrative thinking and apply it using a four-step model. The book makes the reader aware of blind spots and wrong ways of thinking. Numerous practical examples also show how managers and companies from a wide range of industries successfully use integrative thinking. A helpful handbook for anyone who wants to make better decisions.

Radical Simplicity

How Ken Allen turned the ailing company DHL into a global success story.

• Author: Ken Allen
• Publisher: Ebury Press, 2019
• Pages: 192
• ISBN: 9781529104721

Before Ken Allen became global CEO, logistics giant DHL was losing hundreds of millions every year. Allen put the company back on the road to success and made it a place where people enjoy working. In this book, he explains how he achieved this. If you were to ask a DHL courier what turned the company's fortunes around, he would cite hard training, a standardized language, standardized processes and Allen's work as CEO.

Corporate Diplomacy

How professional external relations can make a company more successful. 

• Author: Wilfried Hoop
• Publisher: Schäffer-Poeschel, 2019
• Pages: 249
• ISBN: 9783791044095

Profit and growth cannot be the only targets for top managers. Only if they succeed in working together with various stakeholders can they ensure the survival of their company. The manager and diplomat Wilfried Hoop passionately calls for a systematic foreign policy for companies: Corporate Diplomacy. Even if his arguments are sometimes polemical, he draws attention to blind spots in the thinking of many managers. Management theorists and practitioners can no longer ignore the topic of corporate diplomacy.

Leading in the age of the algorithm

How to stay smart when the machines are smarter than you. 

• Author: Mike Walsh
• Publisher: Vahlen Verlag, 2020
• Pages: 223
• ISBN: 9783800661664

Mike Walsh seems to know all the Silicon Valley CEOs personally. This makes his book entertaining and easy to understand: he backs up every thesis with a real-life story. He demands a lot from traditional, "analog" managers: they should radically change - and their company at the same time. It is about nothing less than survival in the digital world. Walsh paints a promising picture, but not a rosy one, with all its dangers and weaknesses. A book worth reading for anyone who wants to keep pace on the journey into the algorithmic future.

When the snowflakes dance outside the window, it gets really cozy in the living room. In keeping with this, the current "Let it snow!" collector's promotion features corresponding collector's items such as cuddly blankets and teacups in a snowflake design. But the secret star of the promotion is Nevi, the snow monster from the current Coop festive communication. Nevi not only guides us through the promotion, but is also part of it as a plush figure.

Valencia is responsible for the communication of the promotion - from the naming to the collector's stamp. This was the first time that the design of the collectible promotion was integrated into the current Coop festive communication. Not only Nevi connects the two campaigns, but also the graphic appearance, such as the similarly designed snowflake background, ensures recognition and a harmonious overall picture at the POS.

This time, the moving image was created in collaboration with the agency TBWA\Zurich, which is responsible for the Coop festive image campaigna 10-second spot was created. This also works as a tag-on for promotional advertising and allows Nevi to appear as the presenter of the collector's items. Parts of the spot can also be found in other moving image measures such as DOOH, display banners or the animated swipe cube, which were also created by Valencia.

The "Let it snow!" promotion runs from Friday until Christmas 2020 at Coop and various partner formats.

IMS Sport's strengths to date have been primarily in the marketing of sports organizations and the production of various media titles. These include, for example, SCB, Bärnerbär and Bümplizwoche. With the cooperation with Panache and the acquisition of 50 percent of the shares, IMS wants to expand its communications offering: "Now we can also create and implement advertising and comprehensive PR services ourselves. In addition, our digital know-how will be massively strengthened," IMS CEO Mike Dähler is quoted as saying in a press release, adding that the focus will be primarily on regional clients. "We take care of the small companies and their concerns; the big fish are too big for us."

Roy Schläfli, owner of the now 20-year-old Panache agency, also emphasizes the focus on SMEs: "Now more than ever, we are a Bernese SME agency. We can also give our clients direct access to IMS Sport media and the SCB network. This is a big step for us."

In his function as CEO of the Energy Group, Dani Büchi was responsible for the management of the Moon&Stars and the successful relaunch in the last years and is now the sole shareholder in the operating company MSF Moon and Stars Festivals SA.

However, Ringier will remain closely associated with Moon&Stars through a long-term partnership with Schweizer Illustrierte, Blick Group, Energy Group and Ticketcorner, the media company said in a statement Friday. Ringier CEO Marc Walder will continue to chair the board of MSF Moon and Stars Festivals.

In 2021, Moon&Stars is expected to take place from July 15 to July 25 at the Piazza Grande in Locarno. (pd)

Autumn has become much more important for tourism in recent years, especially for spontaneous discovery trips. Since 2018, Switzerland Tourism (ST) has therefore been conducting international autumn campaigns, such as the foliage tracker, and analyzing developments in the colorful off-season. According to the results of an industry survey conducted by ST at the end of October, the 2020 fall season, which includes September and October, will have an overall negative overnight stay balance at the national level. For the two fall months, mountain destinations and Ticino reported a large influx of Swiss guests. This had a positive impact, with an increase in overnight stays of 15 to 20 percent. However, all these regions note that guest numbers from neighboring European countries fell sharply in the fall.

In the summer, these figures were much more satisfactory. In particular, the travel restrictions to Switzerland introduced by Belgium and Germany had a major impact. Thus, the decline in overnight stays by foreign tourists expected for this fall will be greater than in the summer months (-55 percent, compared to the previous year). Day-trippers (admissions to attractions and excursions) showed a similar trend, with a 10 percent increase for domestic visitors and a nearly 50 percent decrease for foreign visitors. Beginning in mid-October, many suppliers experienced a sharp decline in bookings and attendance. This is due to the drastic increase in travel restrictions, the start of the "second wave" of the pandemic, combined with bad weather and snowfall.

Overall decline in hotel overnight stays in September

The trends on the course of the autumn season shown in the ST survey are confirmed by the official hotel overnight stays figures for the month of September from the Federal Statistical Office: The figures show that the nationwide increase in hotel overnight stays by Swiss guests (+20.6%) cannot compensate for the massive decline in foreign guests (-68.5%), resulting in a total decrease of 28.1 percent. The only three regions to achieve a total increase in hotel room nights are Ticino (+15.1%), Grisons (+14.6%) and Eastern Switzerland (+3.7%). Optimistically, however, an increase in length of stay of 10.5 percent was recorded in September 2020 compared to September 2019.

The decreases in the large urban regions, influenced by the almost complete absence of tourists from distant countries and the slowdown in business tourism, can be described as dramatic. In Geneva it is - 73.9 percent, in Zurich - 63.3 percent and in Basel - 50.2 percent. The situation of tourism providers in cities has further worsened with the introduction of stricter protective measures by the federal government and cantons, with no prospect of an early resumption of event, business and congress tourism.

Hiking and cycling more and more popular

The tourism service providers in the mountain regions surveyed by ST confirm the significant trends for Swiss guests that emerged in the summer: This group of guests is increasingly frequenting other language regions of the country. Graubünden and eastern Switzerland in particular continue to record a steady increase in the number of guests from French-speaking Switzerland. Due to the uncertainties associated with the travel restrictions, bookings continue to be made at shorter notice. As a result of the pandemic, various service providers have noticed the absence of groups, such as associations, clubs and schools, which has also had a negative impact on bus company revenues.

Outdoor sports such as hiking, mountain biking and cycling have been very popular with the Swiss this fall, as Anke Lock, manager of The Cambrian hotel in Adelboden, points out: "Guests have taken up the hiking packages and cycling offers more than ever before. The sports stores at our destination have experienced a record summer and fall." In Ticino, too, where autumn is playing an increasingly important role in tourism, guests prefer excursions on foot or by bike.

Good season for apartments and cottages

Providers specializing in vacation home rentals, such as Interhome, report a good fall season: "In the last five months, we have seen a doubling of bookings from Swiss customers compared to the same period in 2019," says Interhome spokeswoman Bianca Gähweiler. This strong increase in bookings is also reflected on the vacation home booking platform E-domizil, which saw a 158 percent increase in bookings in Switzerland between September and November 2020 compared to 2019.

IAB Switzerland, Leading Swiss Agencies LSA and the Swiss Advertisers Association SWA publish the latest quarterly figures on the viewability rates of the major marketers and publishers in Switzerland. Encouragingly, the mobile sector has a visibility rate of 61.4 percent (Q2: 56.5%) and has thus achieved the highest value this year, according to the release. In desktop, the visibility rate in Q3 is 57.1 percent (up from 66.2% in Q2). The overall visibility rate thus fell slightly from 60.8 percent to 59.2 percent in the third quarter.

The measurement is based on 4.22 billion ad impressions and was performed on publishers using the following tools:

• Admeira: Xandr and Google Ad Manager
• Goldbach / TX Markets: Integral Ad Science (IAS) and Google Ad Manager
• Audienzz: Xandr
• Romandie Network: Smart Adserver
• Watson: Google Ad Manager

According to the IAB standard, the minimum visibility must be 50 percent of the pixels during 1 second for an ad impression to be billed.

At the same time, the major Swiss media companies and marketers published their latest ad fraud figures. Here, a slight increase can be seen compared to the previous quarter. Overall, however, all Swiss media houses are below 2 percent. (pd)

The choice this year was difficult above all because this person should not only have an eye on the numbers, but should also have rendered outstanding services to journalism, according to a statement. "Of course, the SRF director also has to save money and cut jobs, but she is not doing it with a lawnmower, but is integrating the deteriorating economic conditions into the strategy "SRF 2024." This strategy aims to clarify nothing less than the role of the public service in the digital age. While on the one hand it cuts off old braids and takes unpopular decisions, such as with the abolition of "Eco," "Netz Natur" and "52 Best Books," on the other hand it invests in journalism (research desk, investigative journalism, specialist editorial departments). In addition, it has formats developed for social media and is trying to create a spirit of optimism internally. She still has to work on the latter," she says. Wappler is not afraid to make a splash when she is convinced that she is doing the right thing. That takes a lot of courage in her position as head of a public institution in the area of tension between public expectations and politics.

The "Media Manager of the Year" award is presented annually to an executive in Swiss media management who, through his or her work, promotes the basis for journalism and thus also makes an important contribution to society. "Good journalism necessarily needs good management. We want to make this clear with this award, especially in the Corona Year, and at the same time appreciate the work of exceptional media managers," Johann Oberauer, publisher of the Swiss journalist, cited in the release.

The children's birthday, the vacation trip, the wedding: the most beautiful moments in life are usually over far too quickly. "With the campaign 'What's left...?' designed by Wirz Brand Relations, we inspire our customers to do much more with their pictures than just fill their cell phone memory and data cloud," explains Ellen Brasse, CMO of Ifolor.

Brand promise creatively translated

"The campaign is to be seen as a consistent communicative continuation of the newly developed brand identity. In doing so, we focused on the brand's core promise and the life situations of Ifolor customers," explains Thomas Städeli, CEO of Wirz Brand Relations. People are taking photos today more than ever before. Ifolor's photo products are designed to turn the moments captured digitally into something special, personal and lasting.

In collaboration with Esteban (Director), Bwgtbld Service Production (Production) and Avionfilms, six emotional stories have been created about moments in life that you want to capture forever. Three of the produced commercials can already be seen, reminding you that now is a great time to make more of your "Best of Life" moments.

This year's Christmas spot will also be dominated by "What remains...? The first broadcast will take place on Monday.

With Play Suisse, it will also be possible to switch seamlessly from one device to another, SRG announced on Friday. Around 1,000 contributions to Swiss filmmaking will be available in the original language in the first weeks of the launch of the streaming platform. Subtitles are available in German, French and Italian, with some content also available in Romansh.

Thanks to the streaming platform, Switzerland's language regions are moving closer together, SRG Director General Gilles Marchand is quoted as saying in the press release. At the same time, the cultural diversity of the country is underlined. This makes Play Suisse the new "idée suisse.

Play Suisse recommends different content across all language regions depending on the user. Navigation through the thematic categories is simple.

The streaming platform can be accessed via the TV screen, via the smartphone and on the web, according to the statement. In addition, the content is available at any time. Access is free of charge, as the media fee is already included.

Play Suisse is involved in several partnerships with festivals and cultural events at the start. Talks with other telecom and Internet providers as well as cultural platform partners are underway.

Annual 5 million francs

Annually, the cost of Play Suisse is 5 million francs, said Bakel Walden, director of development and offer and head of SRG's digital board, in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. This amount includes, among other things, the development of the platform and subtitling, the latter of which gives a lot of work. In part, the subtitles are created automatically, but translators are also involved.

Thanks to Play Suisse, people can look beyond their own language borders with personalized content and discover, for example, documentaries from Ticino television or series from French-speaking Switzerland. In this way, a modern home for Swiss stories is offered in the sense of public service, Walden continues. (SDA)

Tamedia's daily newspapers are launching a new podcast about coronavirus. With "And now? Der Corona-Podcast", Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung, Basler Zeitung and Tamedia's other daily newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland will be offering a weekly, 20-minute podcast from Saturday onwards, which will put the events of the past seven days into context and provide background information on the current situation.

Marc Brupbacher, Head of Storytelling and initiator of the Corona Dashboard, kicks things off with an update on the most interesting figures of the week. Afterwards, Simone Rau, Research Desk Reporter, and Mirja Gabathuler, Podcast Producer, talk to a journalist, a journalist from the Tamedia editorial team or a specialist about an aspect of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on our society.

The Corona podcast is broadcast every Saturday morning at Tagesanzeiger.ch/podcastand all other Tamedia daily newspaper sites in German-speaking Switzerland as well as in all popular podcast apps.