How do we plan and shape our lives today? At which forks in the road do important decisions await us? Whereas a few generations ago biographies were still mostly linear, people today are shaping their lives more actively and individually. The needs and expectations of financial services are changing accordingly.

PostFinance and Yuh are positioning themselves as reliable companions for their customers and as innovative financial service providers with a finger on the pulse of the times and a high level of expertise.

Today's existential concepts as a walk-in art installation

Together with Nemo, PostFinance and Yuh have now made it possible to experience how exciting, but also how complex and challenging life planning can be today in a walk-in art experience on Thursday evening. Nemo embodied the wealth of opportunities that people can draw on today.

In six immersive, artistically designed islands, the theater hall of the Schiffbau in Zurich became the actual testing ground for possible development opportunities. The aim of the Life" production was to generate enthusiasm and enable inspiring discussions about one's own ideas about life. The highlight of the extraordinary event was Nemo's concert in front of around one hundred guests. They had followed mysterious clues on Nemo's social channels in the run-up to the event. Interested parties were able to secure a code that also led to a ticket for the "Life" event. The event also received media attention.

"A team worked intensively on 'Life' for months. In the process, it became clear time and again how complex the question of how we want to shape our lives is and what impact such decisions have," says Wolfgang Bark, Managing Creative Director at Jung von Matt. "The fact that this extraordinary journey with Nemo, PostFinance and Yuh was possible at all is simply a stroke of luck for creatives."

Customers: PostFinance, Yuh. Responsible Agencies: Jung von Matt Limat, Jung von Matt Tech. External partners: Blish, Leap of Faith Inc: Roger Staub (show design and co-creation staging), Okula (event technology and construction labyrinth and installations), John Allen (film production), Pascal Mora (photography), Nemo & Capitano Music.

Every year, the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards honor the world’s best corporate films, online media, documentaries, and feature stories. The international jury of nearly 100 members praised the «exceptional quality» of this year’s entries. Out of a total of nearly 800 submissions from 46 countries, 212 productions made it onto the shortlist for the 15th Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards.. 154 received one of the coveted dolphin trophies, ten of which are going to Switzerland.

Two Gold Dolphins go to Switzerland Tourism. The marketing organization is being honored for «The Perfect Shot» and «Autumn for our senses.» The other two Gold Dolphins went to Stuiq for «iWay – No Decoy Needed» and UEFA for «Get Trained, Save Lives – Interactive CPR Training Video.».

Company Production and the film production company Seed each won two silver awards. The other two Silver Dolphins for Switzerland went to Optrel and Stuiq.

Across the entire German-speaking region, a total of 62 Delphin trophies were awarded this year, including one blue Delphin trophy each for Vodafone Germany and Cyrano Kommunikation. This once again establishes the DACH region as one of the strongest regions at this year’s festival.

As part of the campaign, interested parties are invited to see the benefits of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee for themselves. With a bit of luck, they will get to test drive the car for a whole seven days and explore Switzerland. Registration is via the website.

The Grand Tour of Switzerland serves as inspiration for the test drive with the Jeep. Together with the new Jeep, this automatically becomes the "Grand Cherokee Grand Tour". "With our campaign, we want to show that the new Jeep Grand Cherokee is an exceptionally comfortable car. And comfort is particularly noticeable when you are on the road for a longer period of time. That's how we came up with the idea of the Grand Cherokee Grand Tour," says Sören Schröder, Managing Director Creation at Saatchi & Saatchi Zurich, explaining the creative approach.

The broad-based campaign is structured in two phases and primarily relies on a digital channel mix with YouTube videos, display and social ads as well as e-mailings. Additional measures are also planned, such as a physical mailing for existing customers and ambient installations. All advertising media invite interaction and lead to different user-optimized landing pages.

The campaign has been live since mid-September and will run until mid-November.

Responsible at Jeep: Rico Helmrich (Senior Marketing Communications Manager). Responsible at Saatchi & Saatchi Zurich: Sören Schröder (Managing Director Creation), Holger Schicke (Managing Director Consulting), Rémy Steinmann (Art Direction), Berni Brungs (Text), Noëmi Camenisch, Sascha Djabbari, (Account Management). Other partners: Kevin Hy (Photo & Video Producer | Bagels of Berkeley), Ramon Osti (Social Consultant & Producer | Bagels of Berkeley), Rahel Dürsteler (Senior Social Consultant & Strategist | Bagels of Berkeley), Luciano Hagge Dias (Digital Business Director | Bagels of Berkeley). Fahreta Murtovi (Account Manager | Publicis Media Switzerland), Yanick Schönenberger (Account Director | Publicis Media Switzerland), Cai San Duong (Digital Account Manager | Publicis Media Switzerland), Peter Schachtler (Digital Account Director | Publicis Media Switzerland).

In Switzerland, cultural workers in all sectors often have insufficient social security: gaps in pension provision and a lack of compensation for loss of earnings are commonplace. The newly launched digital guide "Artists Take Action" shows cultural professionals how they can ensure adequate social security even in multifaceted employment relationships.

On behalf of the "Suisseculture Sociale" association, Feinheit has developed a comprehensive campaign in three national languages to publicize the guide. In addition to the overall concept of the campaign, this included branding, claims, flyers, small posters, stickers and social media content. Feinheit also created the concept for videos featuring twelve cultural professionals from different fields.

The campaign is targeted at locations that are heavily frequented by cultural professionals. For example, posters and stickers are offered to the relevant cultural venues in Switzerland. This means that the content is also visible in checkrooms and backstage areas. The campaign material is also sent directly to the target groups thanks to the cooperation with the professional associations of cultural workers, which play a key role in supporting the project.

Needs evaluated

In order to tailor "Artists Take Action" as closely as possible to the target groups, their needs were assessed as part of a pre-campaign. Carmen Schoder, partner at Feinheit and responsible co-project manager: "With the pre-campaign, we were able to get numerous artists to submit their most pressing questions on the topic of social security. This valuable input was incorporated into the creation of the digital guide and the planning of the main campaign."

Responsible at Suisseculture Sociale: Benedikt Wieland (project management). Responsible for fineness: Simon Hugi, Carmen Schoder (project management, concept, consulting, campaign), Alexandra Theiler (art direction), Catherine Pearson (layout), Lara Hubacher (multimedia).

After ten years in business, the company is shaping its future with a new structure and a strengthened team. This is in order to "meet the requirements of customers even better", as stated in a press release.

Stammkraft also has a new website. The user-friendly platform provides even more direct access to services.

Stammkraft is deeply rooted in craftsmanship and stands for the artful combination of natural materials and state-of-the-art technology in the field of event and contract construction. Their services include detailed structural design, project planning, prototype development and production as well as implementation through to the achievement of objectives.

"We are grateful that Ruth and Philippe are carrying our values internally and externally and shaping the future of Stammkraft together with us. With the new website and the expanded management team, we are ideally positioned to continue creating inspiring brand experiences. I wish them both every success and thank them for their trust," says Marco Thöni, Managing Director of Stammkraft.

Just in time for its anniversary, Webrepublic is presenting its new management structure: Tobias Zehnder is taking over day-to-day operations as Managing Director, while CEO Tom Hanan will focus more on the strategic direction in the future. "I'm looking forward to focusing all my energy on our customers and teams," explains Zehnder. For Tom Hanan, it is the perfect opportunity to use his experience in an even more targeted way. This clear division should strengthen Webrepublic for the next challenges.

From startup to integrated marketing agency

Webrepublic was founded in 2009. The small start-up for search engine marketing developed into one of the leading integrated marketing agencies in Switzerland with over 200 employees. Important milestones were the Partnership with Wirz and the expansion into traditional media planning in 2020. "Today, strategic consulting and an integrated offering are more in demand than ever," explains Zehnder.

Hilarity from the early days

In his entertaining speech, Tom Hanan also recalled some anecdotes from the early days of the agency. The pitch for UPC Cablecom is particularly memorable. Back then, the young team wanted to impress with innovative ideas, but technical problems threatened to ruin the entire presentation. "Everything went wrong - from the technology to the timing," laughed Hanan. But the team improvised skillfully and was ultimately able to convince the customers. It was one of those moments that showed that even setbacks can lead to success if you don't give up.

Anniversary party in the Enge: team spirit and a good mood

The anniversary was celebrated with a big party at the Webrepublic headquarters in Zurich's Enge district. On two floors, guests enjoyed Wiediker sausages, gelati, disco beats and drinks at the highly frequented bar. The terrace was also a great place to party, even though the temperatures dropped a little in the evening. The exuberant atmosphere stood out in particular, underlining Webrepublic's cohesion and vibrant corporate culture.

m&k-reporter Beat Hürlimann was also on site, filmed the party atmosphere and asked Tom Hanan and Tobias Zehnder for short statements in front of the camera. The party impressively demonstrated how important team spirit is for the agency's success.

Look into the future

Despite the challenges facing the industry in 2024, Webrepublic is optimistic about the future. The strong corporate culture and the good cohesion that was palpable that evening give the agency the necessary drive. "We are ready for the next 15 years," says Hanan, summarizing the plans for the future.

"Give every child equal access to music education and watch the world become a better place." This guiding principle has accompanied Hannes Schmid since the founding of Smiling Gecko For the star photographer, "The Power of Sound and Music" is an important element of sustainable development aid.

Since 2017, the Zurich-based sound agency Department of Noise has been supporting the NGO Smiling Gecko as a partner for all its sound needs. "Hannes is a natural storyteller," says Ph!L!pp Schweidler, partner at DoN: "It took us less than 5 minutes to get excited about his endeavor."

In the meantime, countless projects have been implemented: from fundraising songs to sound identity with various sound elements that are used in Smiling Gecko's communication. A visionary project was then launched in 2023 with the cultural and music center "The Gong": the aim is to lay an important building block for the recovery of a cultural identity for Cambodia, which is still shaped by the rule of the Red Ghmer. At the same time, a platform will be created on which fresh local and international creativity in a wide range of disciplines can unfold far beyond the country's borders.

DoN has packed the needs of the stakeholders into an interwoven creative hub consisting of an auditorium, video and sound studios and an event zone. Since the official opening celebrations at the end of June 2024, the building has been filled with life and the empowerment of local creatives to operate the facility independently is in full swing.

Department of Noise has now been honored by the global jury of the International Sound Awards in Hamburg with a main prize for the creative and strategically considered conception and implementation of Smiling Gecko. "Of course we are delighted with every award. Being able to receive one for this heartfelt commitment is of course doubly valuable. Because it helps to carry the project out into the world, to inspire people for the cause itself and to encourage them to get involved," says Schweidler about winning the award.

Responsible at Smiling Gecko: Hannes Schmid (Founder and creative head), Sokleap Ngon (Executive Director SGC), Jörg Bewersdorff (CCO), Thomas Hemschemeier (CMO), Jürg Wey (Art Direction). Responsible at Department of Noise: Florian Goetze and Ph!L!pp Schweidler (Strategy and Creative Direction), Yves Gerber (Creative Producer).

"This step is not easy for us, but we have to face economic reality," wrote the Board of Directors of Rontaler Media in Thursday's edition of the newspaper. The distribution costs are increasing every year and the newspaper is excluded from federal subsidies due to its size.

The company is giving up the physical and digital production of the newspaper and wants to focus on its other business areas in future, as it wrote: video production, social media content and marketing campaigns. It has been able to achieve success in these areas in the past.

The Rontaler covers the municipalities of Adligenswil, Buchrain, Gisikon, Honau, Inwil, Dierikon, Perlen, Root, Udligenswil, Dietwil and Ebikon. According to its website, it is published every second Thursday and has over 32,000 readers. (SDA/swi)

The challenges of the modern world of communication and growing competition make it necessary to further develop and strengthen the image of the VSSM. The member companies of the VSSM act as innovative movers and shakers, which should increase the attractiveness of the profession in the long term.

Stämpfli Kommunikation will be responsible for the VSSM's new umbrella campaign. With a clear focus on innovation, authenticity and craftsmanship, the agency has developed a strategy to strengthen the association's image and at the same time inspire young talent and career changers. The central aim is to sustainably increase the visibility of the carpentry profession in the public eye and to specifically combat the shortage of skilled workers and apprentices. The focus is not only on the carpentry profession, but also on the wide range of services and products that the 2,000 member companies provide for the public.

Visual highlights and emotional messages are used to highlight the diversity of the carpentry profession - from precise craftsmanship and passionate commitment to the innovative power of modern technologies. Stämpfli Kommunikation's creative approach presents the carpentry industry as a future-proof and exciting profession that combines tradition with modern technology.
The campaign will be based on various communication channels, including out-of-home, print, social media and digital platforms. Particular attention will be paid to targeting young people who are interested in training or a career change into the carpentry industry. The carpentry profession is positioned as a creative and future-proof option.

Responsible at the Association of Swiss Master Carpenters and Furniture Manufacturers VSSM: Daniel Furrer (Director), Michael Poysden (Head of Marketing & Communication), Claudio Valenti (Head of Marketing) and Rolf Kümin (Head of Education). Responsible at Stämpfli Kommunikation: Benjamin Scheurer (Creative Director, Team Leader Creation), Monica Masciadri (Senior Consultant Communications Agency, Andi Huggel (Head of Association Communications) and Adriana Siragusano (Junior Consultant / Project Manager).

The Swiss Annual Report Rating includes the annual reports of all listed companies represented in the SPI. The list is supplemented with the companies from the 50 companies with the highest turnover, the 15 insurance companies with the highest premium volume and the 25 banks with the highest balance sheet total. 235 companies were evaluated in 2024.

On Thursday evening, the winners received their certificates from jury president Hans-Peter Nehmer at the SIX Convention Point in Zurich. The Swiss Annual Report Rating is organized annually by the HarbourClub - Chief Communications Officers. Around 160 participants attended the event.

With this year's annual report rating, the process will undergo an adjustment: the previous three juries will become two. The final jury, which previously assessed the twelve best reports, has been removed. This will give the Value Reporting and Design juries more weight in the nomination and award process. The Value Reporting jury of the Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich is headed by Prof. Dr. Alexander F. Wagner, while the Design jury is under the patronage of the ZHDK and headed by Jiri Chmelik Noir Associates. The overall winners are determined by adding the ratings of these two juries.

Another change concerns the "Rising Star of the Year" award. It will be replaced by the "Special Mention" award in the Design and Value Reporting categories. The new award recognizes innovative reports that set outstanding and creative accents. "We share an ambition with the evaluated companies in the annual report rating to not only remain good, but to keep getting better," says jury president Hans-Peter Nehmer.

Overall winner business reports of the final jury

• Place 1: Sika
• 2nd place: Geberit
• 3rd place: VPB Vaduz

Design category (online and print)

• Place 1: Hiag
• 2nd place: Avolta
• 3rd place: ZKB

Category Value Reporting (Online and Print)

• 1st place: Novartis
• 2nd place: SGS
• 3rd place: Clariant

Awards Special Mention

• Design: So
• Value Reporting: BeKB

Category text

• Raiffeisen Switzerland

All detailed results, the PDFs of the evaluated reports including previous years and a special publication on the 2023 edition of the annual reports are available on the platform Gbrating.ch to find.

To this end, the Grand Chamber passed a bill from its Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-N) on a revision of the Postal Services Act by 126 votes to 61 with two abstentions. The bill was initiated by Christine Bulliard-Marbach (center/FR) with a parliamentary initiative. There should also be a federally subsidized reduction for the early delivery of daily newspapers during the week until 06:30.

Following the job cuts at Tamedia announced at the end of August, the Swiss Media Publishers Association recently also called for an expansion of indirect press subsidies. This is the only way to maintain the journalistic offerings of private media in Switzerland. The development also affects smaller local and regional newspapers. Without additional funding, newspapers will go out of business.

Criticism of the federal government's savings plans?

With these decisions, the National Council also opposed the federal government's savings proposals: A reduction in the federal contribution for indirect press funding was part of the recently published expert report on potential savings for the federal government.

The Federal Council requested in advance that the bill be rejected. One of the reasons for its rejection was the tight financial situation. A proposal by the national government to allocate a total of CHF 37.5 million per year for indirect press funding instead of CHF 45 million failed.

"We support indirect press funding, but do not want an increase," said Media Minister Albert Rösti in the Council. Only the SVP campaigned for a lower increase in the Council. The national government had also rejected a reduction for early delivery in advance.

Increase subject to reservation

The bill was discussed on Thursday, sometimes emotionally. The SVP was the only parliamentary group in the Council to request that the bill be rejected: "Media are first and foremost private companies," said Gregor Rutz (SVP/ZH). These should be oriented towards the market. Media concentration, which was deplored in many places, was not a bad thing per se. The concentration processes would also create new things, said Rutz. Subsidies achieve the opposite of innovation. The media sector is not an area in which the state can act.

Jaqueline Badran (SP/ZH) replied that the product of information, the press, could not be refinanced through advertising or subscriptions. There is no "damn" market for it. "If we no longer have journalism in this region, in this place or in this valley, there will be no more information," said Jon Pult (SP/GR). The theory of structural change therefore does not apply here. Rather, there is a fundamental media financing crisis.

There was a similar response from the Center Group. Marie-France Roth Pasquier (FR) said that the diversity of the press in Switzerland was under threat regionally and locally. They wanted to provide a financial buffer so that the smaller media titles could push ahead with digitization.

In the end, the increase in indirect press funding was approved - also with the help of votes from the Greens, GLP, Center and FDP. According to spokesperson Andri Silberschmidt (ZH), the latter sees great value in the work of regional journalism. However, the regional press does not have the resources to manage the digital transformation on its own. However, this is "probably not the salvation of local journalism". This is why the increase in contributions must be partially compensated for, according to Silberschmidt.

Contributions for foundation press canceled

This was also the view of the GLP parliamentary group: Outdated structures should not be cemented, future media funding should look different, said Katja Christ (BS) in the Council. The support should therefore have an expiration date. The Council then limited it to seven years.

Meanwhile, the Federal Council also requested the removal of contributions for the membership and foundation press. This had also been the subject of lively discussion in the Council on Tuesday. Previously, the contributions amounted to CHF 20 million per year. A left-wing minority wanted to increase them to CHF 30 million, but failed in the Council. In the end, the contribution for the membership and foundation press was narrowly abolished by 94 votes to 91 with four abstentions - also thanks to votes from the GLP and at the request of an FDP minority.

Promoting electronic media

In contrast, the National Council wants the Federal Council to examine the introduction of a channel and business model-independent promotion of electronic media. The KVF-N motion was adopted by 116 votes to 72 with one abstention and against the will of a minority of SVP and centrist members of the National Council. The Council of States must also deal with the motion next.

The funding is to be financed from the federal budget and compensated for by a reduction or abolition of indirect press subsidies in accordance with the Postal Services Act. In view of the premature timing in its view due to the upcoming referendum on the "200 franc initiative" and the current financial situation, the national government also unsuccessfully argued against approval in this case.

Meanwhile, another KVF-N motion to abolish the distortion of competition in the promotion of the membership and foundation press was adopted without a vote - and sent to the Council of States. (SDA/swi)

In the information and communication sector, where the study suggests AI is likely to provide the greatest time savings, only 7% of SMEs expect job savings. "Even though AI applications are primarily used in communication today, AI tasks such as translations or correspondence management appear to be used more as a support than a replacement," Kathrin Braunwarth, Head of Data, Technology & Innovation at Axa Switzerland, was quoted as saying in the press release published on Thursday.

Employees would hand over "tedious and sometimes tedious tasks" to AI applications. This simplifies work and saves time, but not jobs.

In other sectors, the fear of job cuts is greater. For example, 22% of companies in manufacturing, 18% in trade and 14% in industry expect job cuts. "In these sectors, there is a relatively large amount of standardizable work, such as production, sorting or logistics tasks, which explains the high potential for job cuts," Axa explains.

Larger companies tend to be more positive

However, the differences in the assessment of AI applications in terms of company development depend not only on the sector, but also in particular on the size of the SME. According to the press release, over half of the companies surveyed with more than 50 employees see artificial intelligence as a positive development.

Among medium-sized companies with up to 49 employees, this figure drops to 41%. Among SMEs with five to nine employees, only 27% of respondents still think that AI is useful to them. A quarter of respondents from small companies even consider AI to be a threat. This fear is far less prevalent among medium-sized (15%) and large companies (6%).

"A sensible implementation of AI often requires resources, such as technology and employees who know how to use it. Larger SMEs are more likely to have these resources at their disposal than smaller SMEs," says Braunwarth, categorizing the results. (SDA/swi)