The Blick Group will expand its online offering to French-speaking Switzerland. To this end, Blick will launch a French-language version of Blick.ch in 2021. This new news platform will serve readers with the entire range of topics: from politics to sports, from business to society and people. The aim is for Blick to become a strong voice in Suisse romande, especially among young target groups. The French-speaking Swiss edition thus also serves as an innovation hub for the Blick Group.

Ladina Heimgartner, CEO of the Blick Group, said in a statement: "We are launching an independent digital media offering focused on Suisse romande. We see great opportunities for this, both with readers and in the advertising market."

Michel Jeanneret builds up editorial team in French-speaking Switzerland

The French-language version of Blick.ch is managed by Michel Jeanneret, currently editor-in-chief of L'illustré, will be in charge. He will move to the Blick Group on November 16, 2020, and will establish an independent editorial team with a small team of journalists and digital experts at the Lausanne site. Michel Jeanneret will head the French-language newsroom as editor-in-chief of Blick.ch's French-speaking counterpart, as well as being responsible for prestige interviews. "Launching a brand as strong as Blick in French-speaking Switzerland is an exceptional challenge that I am taking on with all my energy and enthusiasm. I am firmly convinced that this new medium will become a must in French-speaking Switzerland," says Jeanneret.

To promote Blick in French-speaking Switzerland, Michel Jeanneret is setting up an investigative journalists' network. Its focus is on researching topics that meet the needs of users in French-speaking Switzerland. The editorial team draws on existing technical synergies at the Blick Group and on the digital system landscape of the Ringier Group.

Marketing in French-speaking Switzerland is handled by Ringier Advertising.

Over the past two years, the Loeb department store group has invested heavily in the modernization of its consumer temples in Bern and Biel in order to turn shopping into an experience: New experience and gastronomy zones have been created, new brands have been added to the product range, digital elements have been integrated into the POS and staff training and development has been driven forward - all in order to offer its customers "the most personal department store in Switzerland". Just in time for the launch of the Christmas season, Loeb is now going on the communications offensive to communicate this vision to the outside world.

Komet's campaign aims to increase frequency and sales on the one hand, and to appeal to a younger audience on the other. It makes playful use of the similarity between the name "Loeb" and the English word "love" to create a declaration of love, which not coincidentally recalls that of the recently deceased designer Milton Glaser to his home town: We loeb you.

Broken down to the new offers at Loeb, the campaign will be launched in October on social media and (D)OOH, with all advertising material consistently linked to the corresponding landing page. Weloebyou.ch lead.

From the formation of a prominent committee to the coordination and implementation of the campaign to the visual design, Furrerhugi realized the campaign "Switzerland is skiing!" on behalf of Seilbahnen Schweiz. This included, among other things, the design of the key visuals, the design and implementation of the website Dieschweizfaehrt.ski, the implementation of social media activities, and media relations. In addition to information on the campaign, the website contains an "open letter" to the Swiss population, the members of the co-presidency, the ambassadors and the participating destinations.

Broad committee from politics and sports supports action 

The campaign by Ropeways Switzerland, its partners Swiss Snowsports and the airline Swiss as well as over 50 mountain railroads and winter sports resorts was launched on Sunday. It is under the patronage of Economy and Tourism Minister Guy Parmelin. The main message of the campaign is that the 2020/2021 ski season will start as planned in the Swiss mountains, in compliance with all protective measures. To reinforce the good news, the campaign relied on a broad committee from politics and sports. Fans of snow sports can commit to the action by means of a Facebook frame.

"Branding & Performance" enables ad placements in various formats on the digital platforms Blick.ch, Bluewin.ch and Autoscout24.ch. For each branding format, customers can choose between three different packages, each with a different advertising print. The broad selection of branding formats is designed to ensure optimum visibility on each platform: it ranges from fixed placements on the homepage or on the search board (Autoscout24.ch) to half-page ads and wideboards through to site bars. With a few exceptions, all branding formats can be booked for both desktop and mobile.

High performance, precise targeting 

With "Branding & Performance", the delivery of the various branding formats is also optionally possible with scout targeting data. Ringier Advertising offers its customers a variety of different targeting options to precisely address the relevant target groups - from Lifestage to Interest and Sociodemographics to Contextual.
The Admeira Digital Network ensures high performance with an image-text ad multidevice, which can also be booked as an option.

Ringier Advertising 

Admeira markets the nationally relevant print media and digital platforms in the Ringier portfolio under the new "Ringier Advertising" brand (Werbewoche.ch reported). With the planned transfer of the corresponding part of Admeira's operations to Ringier on January 1, 2021, this marketing business will continue to be managed by Ringier under the "Ringier Advertising" brand from that date.

After the declaration of intent of the umbrella association ICTswitzerland and the location initiative Digitalswitzerland to merge was signed in July, the members of both organizations have now also confirmed the merger project at their respective association meetings.

With the merger, Digitalswitzerland will work even harder to promote Switzerland as a leading digital research and innovation location, according to a statement on Friday. In particular, the new umbrella organization will expand public dialogue with the Swiss Digitaltage and other channels, become more involved in digital issues at the political level, for example for the rapid introduction of the E-ID, strengthen STEM vocational training (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology) and promote the startup ecosystem in Switzerland. This should credibly position and strengthen Switzerland as a leading digital research and innovation location.

Merger completed by the end of 2020

The merger was decided on October 1 and should be completed by the end of 2020. In the future, the umbrella organization will have three offices in Lausanne, Bern and Zurich. Ivo Furrer will remain President of Digitalswitzerland, while the current ICTswitzerland President, National Councillor Marcel Dobler, will become Vice President. Nicolas Bürer will assume overall responsibility for Digitalswitzerland. Andreas W. Kaelin is deputy managing director and head of the Bern site. He is responsible for political advocacy as well as for the cybersecurity and ICT vocational training dossiers. Sébastien Kulling will continue to head the Lausanne site as deputy managing director. He is responsible for all activities and members in Suisse Romande.

Due to the revision of the Gender Equality Act as of July 1, 2020, all companies in Switzerland with more than 100 employees are required to conduct an equal pay analysis by June 2021. Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland and Ringier decided in early summer of this year to have an external company review compliance with equal pay.

The two independently conducted reviews of the wage structure were carried out and confirmed by the personnel consulting firm Comp-On AG.ch in accordance with the Fair-ON-Pay certification standard. Fair-ON-Pay verifies compliance with the current legal requirements of the Swiss Confederation regarding equal pay between women and men in the company. Subsequently, the survey results were cross-checked for credibility by the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) and awarded the Fair-On-Pay+ certificate.

"Based on the so-called Logib analysis, the gender pay gap at Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland as well as at Ringier is within the tolerance threshold of five percent," says Patricia Franzoni, Head of HR at Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland.

Equal pay for fair cooperation and diversity

For Ringier CEO Marc Walder, the analysis is an important contribution to creating transparency in pay structures: "It is our obligation to pay fairly regardless of gender and - where proven - to eliminate gender-based discrimination."

1. people are increasingly shopping online

While retail sales are likely to fall by nine to ten percent this year, e-commerce sales are expected to increase by 17 percent. 91 percent of Germans with Internet access research online and 83 percent will also make a purchase. Activity on e-commerce domains increased by eight to nine percent in Q2 compared to the previous year.

2. use of emerging platforms 

Connected TV (CTV) and games consoles have clearly gained in importance since Covid. As Germans spent more time at home, they increased their use of digital devices in March and April. While online activity on desktop PCs/laptops and mobile devices increased during these weeks, there was also a strong investment in CTVs and games consoles. While many online activities are returning to pre-Covid levels, CTVs and games consoles are still being used more (23% and 16% respectively compared to pre-Covid levels).

3. mobile will be an even bigger factor this Christmas season 

Mobile has also grown by more than 19% this year and now accounts for 5% of retail spending in Germany. Almost 35 million Germans made at least one purchase via a mobile device in 2020. Contrary to popular belief, 45-year-olds make up a significant proportion (43%) of these mobile shoppers - although younger adults are still 1.3 times more likely to shop via mobile devices.

4. fewer and fewer offline visits to be expected 

Germany was one of the first countries in Western Europe to introduce a lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. This lockdown lasted almost two months and had an interesting impact on consumers' shopping behavior: initially, they turned to online shopping platforms for even the essentials. However, over the summer, safety and convenience led many consumers to make online shopping an integral part of their daily routine. In the early stages of the pandemic and lockdown, only 21% of Germans preferred online shopping to in-store shopping. By the end of April, this figure had risen to 46% and remained at this level in the following months.

5. holiday shopping times have shifted

The length of the Christmas shopping season has increased in Germany over the last two years. Consumers are starting to do their research earlier and are spreading their purchases over a longer period of time. This trend is only set to continue at an even faster pace. The pandemic has put financial pressure on many people, so they are looking even more carefully for the right products at the right price. While extensive research can begin as early as mid-October, the spending window for many consumers is likely to be even more limited then. Overall, we are likely to see a seven percent drop in buying interest in November and December compared to the previous year.

In recent months, specialists from the ZHdK's Cast / Audiovisual Media department, in collaboration with the media company CH Media, have realized a product that shows the entire diversity of companies, brands, locations and competencies of CH Media. Thanks to its modular structure, the film can be shown online across platforms and, for example, at events in many combinations and lengths. The idea for this came about in a one-day workshop.

Employees tell

Dramaturgically, the focus is on portraits of individual employees from different areas of the company, stylistically on a combination of video, animation and infographics to present facts and figures in a way that is easy to consume. The film music was composed and produced especially for the videos.

Versatile applicable

The films last between 80 seconds and 16 minutes, depending on preference and combination. Short versions for social media, longer ones for company visits or customer events - suitably compiled for the respective region from Lucerne to St. Gallen.

Once upon a time in a dark forest there was a witch's house. Trapped inside by the wicked witch: Hansel and Gretel. So far, so good. So far, so familiar. But while the witch in the classic fairy tale makes sure that the children get fat and thus appetizing for them, she misses her target in Denner's 90-second commercial. Because the balanced, fresh dishes she prepares with Denner products don't make Hansel and Gretel fat, but big and strong.

Scary teaser for the launch

The campaign started with a teaser at the end of September. In keeping with the Halloween month of October, a short "Coming Soon" spot in typical cinema style pointed out the gruesome story that soon awaited viewers.

Fairy tale reinterpreted

The 90-second spot stages what Denner stands for in an exciting and at the same time humorous way: Surprising and irresistible freshness. From the beginning of October, the moving image campaign will run nationwide in three languages online, in cinemas and on TV. Online, users will also be presented with short film snippets in a multi-stage retargeting process, which will focus on the many advantages of Denner.

On Thursday, probably the most extraordinary Xaver award ceremony to date took place in Zurich's Maag Hall. Due to the Corona crisis, the number of attendees was limited to 300 people and the highest security standards were implemented. In addition, increased emphasis was placed on digitalization; those who could not be present live on site had the opportunity to follow the award ceremony via livestream.

Awards for Nüssli and Expomobilia 

A total of 37 LiveCom projects competed for the bronze, silver and gold awards. The golden Xaver was awarded twice, both times in the category "Best Supplier Services". The temporary arena at the Fête des Vignerons and the Bregenz Festival both came out on top in the "Best Supplier" category. The projects were judged by an international jury of experts. The Public Xaver, in turn, was chosen by the public; the winner was Doppelleu Boxer by Andreas Messerli AG.

Lifetime Achievement Xaver Award goes to Schoscho Rufener 

The Lifetime Achievement Xaver Award, which recognizes outstanding industry personalities, will be presented in 2020 to Schoscho Rufener, founder of Rufener Events, among others. To date, the 56-year-old has staged events in 71 countries. Among other things, he orchestrated the World Congress for Fifa for 21 years.

Change in the presidency of Expo Event

In the run-up to Xaver, the General Assembly of Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association took place, chaired for the last time by Eugen Brunner, Managing Partner of Aroma. The association president duly relinquishes his office after three years and 11 years on the board - he is succeeded by Christoph Kamber, Managing Partner of RedSpark.

The average percentage of questions that cannot be answered by voice assistants is just 6.3 percent. Just over a year ago, a Forrester study put this figure at 35 percent. An important detailed result is that while Google Assistant and Apple's Siri were only unable to answer up to five percent of the questions asked, this figure is 23 percent for Amazon's Alexa. The popular home assistant is primarily a device for the home that understands voice commands and questions on general topics, but is not intended for carrying out local search queries.

The study includes Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa on a total of six different devices - from Android Phone to Amazon Echo to iPad Mini - and thus covers almost 100 percent of the voice assistant market. For example, according to the Microsoft 2019 Voice Report, Siri and Google Assistant each account for 36 percent, while Alexa comes in at 25 percent. Overall, Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa thus occupy comparable market shares. Companies should try to take all three assistants into account - not least because their algorithms differ significantly. Among other things, they draw on different sources of information.

What can companies learn from search queries?

The SEMrush study asked Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa a total of 5,000 typical search queries in English. These consisted of various basic forms and combinations thereof, for example "where to buy pizza?", "pizza near me" or "best pizza"). The evaluation of the different results provides important insights for small and medium-sized companies, which can use them to significantly improve their SEO and marketing strategies. Thus, there are different ranking factors from voice assistant to voice assistant.

For Google Assistant, for example, the usual local SEO tactics in combination with natural spoken language are particularly relevant. For Siri, on the other hand, which refers to the Apple Maps service, the main thing to aim for is many positive Yelp and Tripadvisor reviews. A Yelp rating of at least 4.5 out of 5 stars combined with the largest number of testimonials makes a business the best local address in Siri's eyes. Finally, Alexa uses information from the Bing search engine as well as Yelp and Yext files to find a suitable answer.

"Already today, voice search is an interesting marketing factor for regional companies as well. It is a trend, which is not as rapid as it was thought. However, if you've thought about Local SEO as a business, why wouldn't you think about Voice Search? Companies would therefore do well to work on their voice search readiness," explains Evgeni Sereda, Senior Marketing Manager DACH at SEMrush.

In August, retail sales increased by 1.6% in nominal terms compared to the previous year, adjusted for calendar effects. Taking inflation into account, there was even an increase of 2.5% in real terms, according to provisional figures released by the FSO on Thursday.

The increase was particularly strong in food stores, including beverages and tobacco products. Here, sales climbed by 8.4% in nominal terms and 8.1% in real terms on a calendar-adjusted basis. In contrast, sales in the non-food sector fell by 1.7% (real: -0.4%).

Working from home makes itself felt

The trend towards working from home is clearly reflected in the figures. Broken down by sector, the retail trade in information and communication technology equipment showed by far the greatest growth with a nominal increase of 23.5% (real: +33.1%). However, the sectors "other household appliances, textiles, DIY and furnishings" (+11.3%; real: +11.8%) and "market stalls, mail order and e-commerce" (+20.1%; real: +20.8%) also grew significantly.

The fact that fewer cars were driven and fuel also became cheaper is reflected in a nominal drop in retail trade with filling stations of 12.4 percent (real: +2.5%). For fuel alone, there was a drop of 17.4 percent (real: -3.2%).

Decline compared to July

In contrast, retail sales fell compared to the previous month of July. Adjusted for seasonal influences, they fell by 2.1% in nominal terms and 1.9% in real terms. Excluding petrol stations, the retail trade recorded a drop of 2.2%.

Grocery stores alone recorded a more moderate decline in sales of 0.8% in nominal terms. In the non-food sector, the decline was 2.9 percent. (SDA)