The board has decided that the time is not yet ripe for a face-to-face event of this magnitude, according to an SMF statement. Uncertainty in the society remains high. No one knows how the situation will change. And no significant improvement is to be expected in the short term.

There are enough alternative formats in the online sector. However, the Swiss Marketing Forum stands for face-to-face. And since the organizers do not want to hold a major event "in compliance with the current protection concepts with mask, distance, disinfectant and another 20 pages of restrictions", they will wait and see for now. The Swiss Marketing Forum will inform in due course about place and date of the new realization.

Currently running the Entry deadline for the Sales Excellence Award 20/21.

Around 10 percent of all overnight stays in 2019 came from German guests, which corresponds to around 3.9 million hotel room nights, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Germans were by far the most important foreign guest group. In the special pandemic year, however, their number is likely to be significantly lower. Industry representatives estimate a decline of up to 80 percent. ST has therefore decided to intensify its marketing efforts in Germany this fall and launched the "SwissSwap" campaign.

Swiss take over the vacation representation

As part of a large casting, ST is looking for German guests who say of themselves: "I need Switzerland." They can apply with a video and describe their special vacation need. If their video is selected by the jury, then the applicants will receive an invitation to a week's vacation in Switzerland in October for two people. And the kicker: ST will organize vacation substitutes for the guests at their place of work. This "SwissSwap" is primarily advertised with a humorous video clip that is intended to awaken the desire for a vacation in Switzerland in all viewers.

Swiss Nutrition Solutions, a member of the Nahrin Group, develops and produces nutritional supplements for B2B customers.

Dachcom developed a comprehensive new web platform for the company with an appealing screen design, user-friendly interface and depth of content. On Swissnutritionsolutions.ch interested corporate customers can find out all about the company's products, expertise and services.

A detailed trend, visibility and keyword analysis served as the basis for the web development. The aim of the new competence platform is to increase the company's digital visibility and also raise brand awareness within the industry. A special focus was placed on SEO/SEA-optimized content. Dachcom supported the launch phase with targeted online marketing measures.

Jon Rhodes and Steve Earl each bring more than 25 years of experience in corporate communications and politics. Rhodes was Corporate Affairs Director at KPMG UK and previously Director of Corporate Affairs for the Business Growth Fund (BGF) for seven years. Prior to that, he was a partner at Brunswick, having started his career as a consultant to the UK government. Earl was most recently UK Managing Director of Apco, having founded and spent seven years growing the European presence of Edelman sister company Zeno Group. Prior to that, he co-founded his own UK agency business.

Boldt's new London office is located in the Covent Garden neighborhood, where the company is building and expanding its team. The London office expands Boldt's presence to now eight locations: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Oslo and Zurich. Simultaneously with the opening of the London office, Boldt is establishing its German presence in Düsseldorf. The market entry in Germany took place at the beginning of 2020 under the management of Michael Kambeck.

The new presenters of "SRF bi de Lüt" have been decided: Salar Bahrampoori, Fabienne Bamert, Nicole Berchtold and Manu Burkart will take over the presentation of various formats of the umbrella brand "SRF bi de Lüt" (V.L.N.R.).

"SRF bi de Lüt - Live," the seasonal show direct from the village square, will now be hosted by Fabienne Bamert, assisted by Salar Bahrampoori. The shows "Landfrauenküche Finale," "Hüttengeschichten Spezial" and "Familiensache Spezial" are now hosted by Nicole Berchtold or Manu Burkart. Berchtold and Bahrampoori will continue as presenters of "G&G".

"SRF bi de Lüt" specials with Berchtold and Burkart

While Nicole Berchtold will be in action for the first time for the format "SRF bi de Lüt - Landfrauenküche Finale" on November 13, 2020, Manu Burkart will lead through the show "SRF bi de Lüt - Hüttengeschichten Spezial" on December 5, 2020. Nicole Berchtold will also take over as host of the show "SRF bi de Lüt - Familiensache Spezial," scheduled for February 2021.

"SRF bi de Lüt - Live": New team

According to a statement from SRf, the broadcast concept of "SRF bi de Lüt - Live" will be slightly adjusted in some points and communicated at a later date. The first show with the new presenter team will be shown on January 30, 2021 from Andermatt UR. With the new presenters, the team composition will also change: Annina Campell and Grill-Ueli will no longer be part of the team.

SRF will announce the detailed broadcast schedule for 2021 at a later date.

New at Farner Consulting: Hanja Heuss, Martin Reichlin and Thore Lingel (from left to right)

Hanja Heuss will join Farner Advertising as Creative Director in November 2020. Heuss comes from Jung von Matt/Limmat, where she was most recently Creative Director Digital for brands such as Helsana, Die Post, Migros, Emmi, Findus, Graubünden and Raiffeisen. She will work closely with Creative Directors Bruce Roberts, Martin Fuchs, Fabian Bertschinger and Jan Walser.

Also effective November 2020, Thore Lingel will join the change team as Senior Change Consultant. Lingel was most recently Consulting Director and Member of the Executive Board at Wirz Brand Relations. He started his agency career in Germany, among others at Weber Shandwick and Deekeling Arndt Advisors, before relocating to Switzerland in 2008 and becoming a member of the Executive Board one year after joining Wirz Brand Relations. As a long-standing member of the Perikom professional association, he has always actively promoted the exchange of HR and communications professionals at the association level as well.

As early as September 1, 2020, Martin Reichlin will join Farner and take over the agency's own communications. Reichlin gained media experience for more than twelve years as a journalist for various Swiss daily newspapers, including Blick, Aargauer Zeitung and Limmattaler Zeitung. Before Reichlin joined the management of the Concept Communication agency, he communicated for eight years, first for SRF and later for the State Secretariat for Migration.

Gülsha Adilji hosted the SDV Award at Zurich's Maag Halle on Tuesday evening. (Pictures: Raphael Huenerfauth)

Due to the Corona pandemic, this year's SDV Awards Night was moved from June to September. On Tuesday, the time had finally come to celebrate the most creative and efficient campaigns of the year. The event, hosted by Gülsha Adilji, saw a total of 37 awards. The award night can be viewed at Sdv-award.ch/award-ceremony be looked up.

The winners and the almost-winners

As usual, prizes were awarded in media, industry and special categories at the 21st SDV Awards ceremony. In the industry categories, six agencies each received an overall prize. In the other categories, the trophy round included a total of 30 gold, silver and bronze awards. Chairman Thomas Engeli and his 15-member jury had selected the winning campaigns in advance.

A total of 172 campaigns were submitted for this year's SDV Award - over 40 more than last year. All campaigns are available at Exhibition.sdv-award.ch can be viewed online. Twenty-nine campaigns fell just short of a trophy, receiving a Letter of Distinction (LoD) certificate.

In the agency rankings, Notch Interactive and Wunderman Thompson Switzerland were the two first-place winners. While Notch Interactive secured two industry awards and two gold trophies, Wunderman Thompson Switzerland was busy racking up points with a total of 13 award-winning campaigns. A total of 21 agencies placed in the ranking.

The agency ranking results from the following point system: Industry award: 5 pts. gold: 4 pts. silver 3 pts. bronze 2 pts. certificate 1 pt.

This year, the DM Life Time Award sponsored by Swiss Post was presented to Spinal Civil Voices. The Zurich-based agency specializes in advertising for civil society issues and causes. The award was presented by Oliver Egger, Head of Marketing PostMail at Swiss Post.

An unusual picture in current times: The well-attended SDV Award with flying dinner and lively discussions.

The OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland) will be established on September 1, 2020 from the merger of the FHS St.Gallen, University of Applied Sciences, the HSR University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil and the NTB Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs. The sponsors of OST are the cantons of St.Gallen, Schwyz, Glarus, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Thurgau as well as the Principality of Liechtenstein.

From 2018 to 2019, Keim Identity worked with the CI/CD working group of the designated sponsoring conference - representatives of the cantons involved - to develop the name, the brand positioning, the brand logo and the framework concept for the brand identity. Keim Identity developed these basic principles in a multi-stage process with various workshops and with the involvement of sounding boards with representatives of the cantons and the three current universities.

Simple, concise name

The new university is simply called OST. In line with the strategy "One university - one brand", all three locations will appear uniformly with the name OST. The name will be supplemented with the addition of Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. With the name OST, the new University of Applied Sciences chose a concise, memorable name that expresses its roots in the region. It appears fresh and contemporary.

The trademark consists of a figurative sign and a lettering. The figurative sign is derived from an O and symbolizes the pulsating life in eastern Switzerland.

Keim Identity prepared the realization of the new brand identity with the three communication managers of the current universities of applied sciences. The measures include the new joint website, the building identification, detailed concepts for print media, business papers, advertisements, posters, online presences and many other applications up to give-aways. The new website went live shortly before the official launch on Monday.

After one year as Chief Commercial Officer Jonas Eliassen has taken over the position of CEO Media. In this role, he heads the media business of the Dentsu Aegis Network in Switzerland, which offers marketing technology and digital creation services in addition to media services.

Eliassen has been at home in the Swiss communications and media industry for more than 20 years and has worked for both agencies and publishers. "The media business has been experiencing profound changes for several years, both from the perspective of user behavior and the possibilities of campaign management. Our ambition is to actively accompany and help shape these changes in order to offer our customers user-centric and digitally integrated media solutions for existing and new marketplaces today and in the future," Eliassen says of his new role.

The campaign, which was launched by the Aarau agency Blueheart under the auspices of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport (BKS), was launched on August 27 as part of an event. The hashtag #kulturkanton (# Canton of Culture) is the campaign's umbrella term, which draws attention to the broad spectrum of the eleven cultural institutions spread throughout the canton. The core message: Aargau's diverse cultural offerings are able to excite, captivate and inspire - and surprise again and again. The motto of the campaign is therefore "surprising ...": surprisingly diverse, different, moving, captivating, playful and much more.

Eleven posters in the formats F12 and F200, a landing page with social wall, where all contributions to the hashtag #kulturkanton flow together, as well as a realization of the hashtag as a 3D sculpture, which travels on a roadshow from cultural institution to cultural institution through the Aargau, were realized.

The eleven cultural flagships in the canton of Aargau:

• Museum Aargau
• Aargau House of Art
• ArgoviaPhilharmonic
• Fantoche, Baden
• KIFF, Aarau
• Swiss Children's Museum, Baden
• Boswil House of Artists
• Muriculture
• Museum Langmatt, Baden
• Stapferhaus, Lenzburg
• Dance & Art Königsfelden

Image material: Publicis

With the furniture store's new augmented reality app, Micasa customers can easily test which piece of furniture fits best in their own four walls. With the intuitive 3D room planning app, over 400 products in different sizes, colors and variants can be placed in the room as desired, combined and changed in real time using augmented reality. For easy decision-making, favorite products can be placed on the watch list or ordered via the integrated online store.

Use at home or in the branch

The app not only aims to enable convenient setup from home, but also to provide support when customers are in a store. A QR scanner allows products to be scanned in the store or from the Micasa catalog. Favorites can be added to the watch list, retrieved again later and virtually tested with the 3D app

Benchmark in the use of augmented reality 

A particular ambition in the project was to implement an easy-to-follow, high-quality and interactive augmented reality mode that could establish itself as a benchmark in the Swiss B2C market. "We are convinced that Micasa 3D fulfills this ambition," said Patrick Minder, CEO of JLS Digital. Crucial to the project's success, he says, was an iterative approach, constant validation of results with the target group, and close interaction between category management and the design and development experts.

The key facts at a glance:

• Digitization push for electronic devices: Smartphone users increase by 600,000. Laptop use is growing by half a million Swiss.
• All social media platforms are on the rise. Even Facebook is recovering. TikTok is currently growing the fastest, but especially among young women in Switzerland.
• Netflix cracks the 2 million mark with 400,000 new users. 3.2 million people went to the cinema in the last six months. At 6.0 million, conventional television has just under three times as many viewers as Netflix.
• Spotify records 300,000 new users. Of the 2 million users, the majority have a paid Spotify subscription. At 5.7 million, radio has almost three times as many listeners as Spotify.
• Jump in Corona year for cashless mobile payments. 1.8 million people pay for their purchases without cash using their smartphone. That is 650,000 more people than in the previous year.
• Swiss payment app Twint is market leader before Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Digitization surge and home office effect: Many more Swiss use smartphones and laptops

Smartphone users in Switzerland have increased significantly within a year. 600,000 people are now using a smartphone. In 2020, 5.6 million people now have Internet access anytime and anywhere with a smartphone (from 80 percent to 88 percent of the total population). In particular, the older population group of over-55s (from 54 percent to 71 percent) is increasingly using a smartphone, as are men (from 79 percent to 90 percent ).

There has also been a significant increase in the number of laptops. Half a million Swiss will now use a laptop at least occasionally (from 4.3 to 4.8 million). In 2020, for the first time, more people are using a laptop (76 percent) than a desktop PC (69 percent). (Chart 2) Men (from 70 percent to 82 percent ) and the over-55s (from 45 percent to 57 percent) also made the most gains in laptop use.

TV set most widespread

The TV set is and remains the most-used electronic device in Switzerland. 92 percent of the total population sit in front of the "box" at least occasionally (5.9 million people). Radio sets are used by 82 percent of the population (5.2 million). Just under half of the population (47 percent) also listen to the radio on other devices: on a smartphone (24 percent), on a TV set (24 percent), on a PC/laptop (20 percent) or on a tablet (4 percent).

One in eight men and one in twelve women wear a smartwatch on their wrist

Wearing a smartwatch is growing by 200,000 users. Now just under 700,000 people (11%) wear a smartwatch on their wrist. Only voice-controlled speakers have not benefited from the boom in electronic devices. As in the previous year, less than 3 percent of the population at least occasionally speak to a smart speaker such as Amazon Echo, Google Home or Apple HomePod. That equates to just 160,000 people in Switzerland. (Chart 2)

More time for social media? TikTok with strong growth especially among younger people 

In 2020, the Swiss seem to have more time for social media. All social media platforms are gaining new users. Facebook and Instagram each achieve 350,000 new users. Facebook is thus recovering from last year's slump. At 3.0 million, not quite half of the total population (46 percent) now uses Facebook at least occasionally. (Graphic 1)

2.1 million or one-third (33 percent) of the population is occasionally on Instagram. Instagram is particularly popular among young people under 25: 82 percent of younger people use Instagram, while only 34 percent use Facebook. (Chart 4) This is because, in contrast to the population as a whole, Facebook is losing ground among young people under 25. This age group is turning to the Chinese video portal TikTok. TikTok is currently growing fastest in Switzerland. The number of "TikTokers" has increased almost fivefold compared to the previous year. Of the total 370,000 TikTok users in Switzerland, most are under 25, female and in education. One in three women under 25 "tiktokt" (34 percent). However, TikTok has not yet caught on with the population as a whole: only 6 percent use TikTok from time to time. (Graphic 1)

Younger people afford a paid Spotify subscription

Within a year, the music streaming service Spotify has gained 300,000 new users. Older population groups in particular are discovering Spotify: half of the new users are over 55 years old. 2.0 million people now listen to music at least occasionally via Spotify, which corresponds to just under a third of the total population (31 percent). (Chart 1) Among younger people aged 15 to 24, the proportion of Spotify users is more than twice as large: 64 percent of young Swiss people listen to Spotify from time to time. Of the 2.0 million Spotify listeners, 800,000 use the free version and 1.2 million pay for Spotify. In particular, 20- to 30-year-old users afford the paid version of Spotify. Despite music streaming, radio remains popular in Switzerland. With 5.7 million people, radio has almost three times as many listeners as Spotify. Younger people also listen to the radio widely. More than 80 percent of people under 25 listen to the radio, and not quite half even do so daily.

Netflix cracks the 2 million mark with 400,000 new users 

Netflix gains 400,000 viewers in Corona year. Netflix now has 2.2 million users in Switzerland. Corona has hardly spurred Netflix's growth, however: The growth is in line with the trend of previous years. In 2015, only 5 percent of the population aged 15 and older watched Netflix from time to time. By 2020, more than one in three (35 percent) do so. (Figure 1) Netflix is also more widespread than average among younger people aged 15 to 24: Three quarters (75 percent) of young Swiss people watch Netflix from time to time. (Graphic 4)

But other video providers are entering the Swiss market and competing for viewers and subscribers. However, the newer services such as Disney+ (5 percent), Twitch (5 percent), Apple TV Plus (4 percent) or Amazon Prime (2 percent) are still far behind the use of YouTube (74 percent) or Netflix (35 percent).

Despite all these new offerings, classic television remains popular in Switzerland. At 95 percent of the total population, the broad masses watch TV. And they do so very frequently: 7 out of 10 people in Switzerland switch on the TV every day (69 percent). (Figure 1) And it's not just the older generation who watch TV: almost half of the 15 to 24-year-olds also watch TV every day. At 6.0 million, traditional TV has just under three times as many viewers as Netflix. Traditional TV also has 1.3 million more viewers than YouTube.

Cinemas also continue to be visited despite Netflix and Corona. More than half of the population has been to the cinema at least once in the last six months. (Figure 1) Cinema is even more popular among younger people: 70 percent of people under 25 go to the cinema at least once every six months, and a large proportion of them several times.

Jump in Corona year for cashless payments with cell phones

There has been a significant increase in the use of smartphones to make contactless payments for purchases. Cashless payment by cell phone is growing in all population groups. However, usage is strongly dependent on age, gender and income: the younger, the more male and the higher the income, the more likely purchases are to be paid for by cell phone. Around 650,000 people discovered cashless payment by cell phone for the first time in the Corona year. 1.8 million people (28 percent) in Switzerland now use mobile payment options (not quite 1.2 million in 2019). (Graphic 5)

Swiss payment app Twint is market leader ahead of Apple Pay or Google Pay 

One third of the population (2.1 million people) uses mobile payment services such as Twint, Apple, Google or Samsung Pay at least occasionally. The vast majority of these use the Swiss app Twint. Twint has a clear lead over its foreign competitors in all population groups. Just over a quarter of the total population aged 15 and over uses Twint (27 percent). (Chart 1) Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay each have less than 4 percent of users in the Swiss population.