The previous TrueStory managing directors Elie Kerbage, Michel Bognar and Norbert Rieger are delighted with the new additions. "The fact that Alessandro and Lukas, two of our first employees almost ten years ago, are now joining the management team and taking a stake in the agency is a very nice story," says Elie Kerbage. "Both of them are also underlining their commitment to TrueStory in the long term, which makes us very proud," adds Michel Bognar.

"Both Alessandro Garcia and Lukas Horst have been instrumental in the positive development of our agency in recent years," says Norbert Rieger. 37-year-old Alessandro Garcia from Zurich is Senior Art Director and an irreplaceable team all-rounder. And 43-year-old Lukas Horst from Basel, a graduate economist and music producer who, in addition to his management qualifications as Senior Project Manager, also brings his own recording studio to the team.

"We can hardly wait to start the next chapter at TrueStory in the management and to help shape the agency with our input and expertise. However, our top priority will always be to ensure the satisfaction of our customers," say Lukas Horst and Alessandro Garcia.

Founded in 2015, the TrueStory currently employs 17 people and offers a four-pillar service model in the field of digital communication. This includes the fields of creation, content, social media and content management. The agency manages projects for Migros, ZHAW, SUTTERO, Schindler and ZVV, among others.

Restricted freedom

Aspects of libertarian authoritarianism.

• Authors:inside: Oliver Nachtwey and Carolin Amlinger
• Publisher: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2022
• Pages: 480
• ISBN: 9783518430712

Rainbow flags waving next to Reichstag flags; anti-authoritarian-minded educated citizens demonstrating with a Jewish star on their chest against a supposed dictatorship of opinion or defaming the wearing of a mask as the "new Hitler salute": You can dismiss this as absurd theater. Or you can analyze why people from the progressive center drift into authoritarian, conspiracy-theoretical thought patterns. Carolin Amlinger and Oliver Nachtwey expose the concept of freedom in current protest movements without presenting their protagonists as freaks. Definitely worth reading.

Does it also come in green?

See through industry tricks, buy sustainably.

• Authors: Kerstin Scheidecker and Katja Tölle
• Publisher: Campus Verlag, 2024
• Pages: 256
• ISBN: 9783593518374

"Climate-neutral", "regional", "natural cosmetics" - what is supposed to make us feel good when shopping is often not much more than hot air. The authors know this better than most. At Öko-Test, they have been scrutinizing the industry for years and have compiled their concentrated knowledge in this book. With meticulous research, they explain clearly and thoroughly what the problem is with the tomatoes on our ready-made pizza and the pictures of happy cows on the milk carton. Terrifying, but extremely worth reading.

Let the fear go

Break the cycle of worry and live free of fear.

• Author: Pia Callesen
• Publisher: Beltz Publishing Group, 2021
• Pages: 286
• ISBN: 9783407866202

Anxiety disorders are usually treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. This involves those affected analyzing their worries and fears with psychotherapeutic support and thinking about their causes. This is the wrong approach, says Pia Callesen. In her opinion, excessive thinking and analysis creates or reinforces the anxiety disorder. She recommends passively observing your own fears and simply letting them pass by. In her book, which is rich in exercises and examples from her own practice, she offers an alternative view of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Speak Up and Shine

Vocal empowerment for more presence and assertiveness.

• Author: Monika Hein
• Publisher: Campus Verlag, 2024
• Pages: 256
• ISBN: 9783593518497

At work, women tend to play down, speak quietly or keep their mouths shut more than men. This is partly due to traditional role models, says Monika Hein. Speech training is therefore not enough: if you want to speak louder, you first have to learn to set boundaries, endure conflicts and stand up for yourself. In addition to psychological advice, the coach also has more specific tips for intonation, expression and pronunciation. Anyone who wants to improve their own presentations or speeches in meetings will be well served by this guide.

"The former banking nation of Switzerland once again performs worse in the comparison and, at 13th place, is clearly in the middle of the countries surveyed," writes Finnoconsult in a press release on Tuesday. For the study 240 banks from 24 countries were examined on the basis of 390 criteria relating to digital competence.

Switzerland also performs poorly in comparison with Germany and Austria. PostFinance in eighth place is the only Swiss bank in the top 10 in German-speaking countries.

However, the results vary from category to category. In the "Business Social Media Presence" category, the local financial institutions even took first place. In omnichannel communication, on the other hand, they are only in the middle of the field. Finnoconsult sees a particular need to catch up in online onboarding, i.e. opening an account online without visiting a branch.

As in the previous year, PKO Bank Polski took first place overall in the study. The Polish bank performed well in almost all categories, according to the report. It was followed by Erste Bank from Austria, the Romanian bank BCR and the Polish bank Millenium. Hamburger Sparkasse, a German bank, is also new to the international top 5. (SDA/swi)

The revenue of the entire Group amounted to 165.9 million euros last year, as DPA announced at its shareholders' meeting in Hamburg on Tuesday. In 2022, the figure was 165.5 million euros. DPA has been in existence for 75 years.

The core company Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH reportedly generated revenue of 104.3 million euros after 103.2 million euros in the previous year. The Group's net profit for the year amounted to 1.4 million euros - in 2022 it was 1.2 million euros.

Among other things, the year at DPA was characterized by the opening of a multimedia producing newsroom in Berlin, the expansion of the video business and the development of an infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).

Several subsidiaries

DPA's subsidiaries made a decisive contribution to business performance. The largest contribution came from the News Aktuell business, for example with the "ots" distribution service. The photo subsidiary DPA Picture Alliance posted a slightly higher result. DPA-infocom generated a net profit for the year thanks to innovations in the area of data products and fact checks.

The Chairman of the DPA Management Board, Peter Kropsch, said according to the press release: "The diversification of the DPA Group and its services is and remains the key to our success as an independent news agency and as a joint venture of the German media." This is currently particularly evident in the development of the video business. Moving images have immense future potential for DPA. "We see the same in the area of AI: we want to use the editorial and entrepreneurial opportunities that this technology offers us in the interests of our customers," added Kropsch.

DPA Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann said: "Our multimedia newsroom in the heart of Berlin has turned out to be a success story after just a few months." It is an excellent response to the requirements of decentralized and mobile working. Gösmann also mentioned the new production system for the editorial team, Rubix. DPA's editorial teams work faster and are more closely networked as a result.

Downsized management

There were also changes to the management team. Matthias Mahn, Managing Director Human Resources & Legal, did not extend his contract, which was due to expire. The 63-year-old has worked for DPA since 2002 and has been Managing Director since 2010. His departure will reduce the size of the management team. DPA CEO Kropsch will now manage the company with longstanding Managing Director Andreas Schmidt.

The German Press Agency (AWP/DPA) was founded in 1949. It is one of the world's leading independent news agencies and supplies media, companies and organizations with editorial content. These include texts, photos, videos, graphics, radio reports and other formats.

Around 170 German media companies are shareholders of the DPA. Around 1000 journalists work at around 140 locations in Germany and abroad. The editorial team works independently of ideologies, commercial enterprises and governments. The central editorial office is located in Berlin, while the management is based at the company headquarters in Hamburg. (SDA/swi)

Swisscom is characterized by its high service standards and innovative, customer-oriented solutions. The telco company is now launching "Swisscom sure" in collaboration with insurance partners. The completely digital insurance aims to meet the desire for simplicity, transparency and flexibility and is integrated into the Swisscom app.

The entire communication structure is also built on these three pillars, which are intended to give the digital insurance company an independent appearance - without forgetting the Swisscom roots. The "Swisscom-sure-Toggle" was created as a visually and content-wise binding element of the campaign, which symbolizes the digital DNA of the insurance company and is supplemented with the descriptor "The Switch-On Insurance".

The campaign also includes four films in mixed media style, which focus on household contents and liability insurance. The main roles are played by a raccoon that steals a washing machine, a baby that destroys a valuable vase with its pacifier, a pensioner who floods an apartment while fishing and a gorilla that accidentally kicks a sofa. At the end of the film, there is always the Swisscom-sure toggle, with which the damage is undone with a switch. The message behind it: "With Swisscom sure, you're prepared for all eventualities."

The communication tools are used on social media, the website and as display ads, among other things. Further subjects are already being planned.

Responsible in the House of Communication: Nadja Tandler, Carina Kienzle (Art Direction), Kelsang Gope, Günther Zumbach (Text), Micha Seger, Marcin Baba (ECD), Raul Serrat (CCO), Edi Walker, Nicole Grogg (Consulting), Nathalie Diethelm (CEO). Illustrations: Leo Matkovic. Animations: Neil Stubbings. Sound design: DubDub.

165 years ago, courageous women joined forces to professionalize care and improve the healthcare system. Today, the healthcare organization comprises over 1,600 employees in eight companies - including Zollikerberg Hospital.

Together with Wirz, the foundation launched a comprehensive project for the future. The aim was to make its identity more tangible both internally and externally and to position itself even more clearly. "Our human values combined with high-quality healthcare services set us apart in the market. We want to focus on these strengths and make them more visible to people," explains Regine Strittmatter, Director of the Foundation.

Value-oriented transformation

The agency developed the new image step by step together with the foundation and the companies. In the first phase, a group-wide communication strategy was developed based on the foundation's objectives. This was followed by the translation into a brand identity that focuses on values and attitude and enables a differentiating market positioning for all companies. This was followed by implementation and translation into specific tools and measures. The focus here was on the conception and development of the Group-wide website.

"The shared values are firmly anchored and drive this organization forward. We have used this strength to sharpen the profile and make it tangible. The new appearance inspires, creates closeness and opens up new perspectives for the future," says Pascal Künzli, Director Brand Consulting at Wirz.

Setting off into the future of healthcare

In order to communicate the wide range of services more clearly to people, the "Zollikerberg World of Health" was created in addition to the new website. It summarizes under one name what the foundation and its eight facilities do on a daily basis. The umbrella brand gets to the heart of the holistic approach to health and creates clarity and a sense of belonging. The umbrella brand also positions the world of health among potential employees and highlights the wide range of career opportunities.

With the Launch of the new website A decisive milestone was reached at the end of March 2024. Wirz supported the foundation in all project phases and provided strategic advice, creation and implementation in branding and communication. The result is a fundamentally enhanced image that creates more visibility and relevance and focuses on what is important at Gesundheitswelt Zollikerberg: being there for people - in every situation.

Responsible at Gesundheitswelt Zollikerberg: Lic. oec. HSG Katharina Kull-Benz (President of the Foundation Board), Dr. Regine Strittmatter (Foundation Director), Annika Perrozzi (Head of Communications & Marketing, Diakoniewerk Neumünster Foundation), Daniela Thier (Head of Marketing & Communications, Zollikerberg Hospital). Responsible at Wirz Group: Pascal Künzli, Timo Lorch, Ann-Iris Weinblum, Bastian Heer, Louise Chanton.

On average for all factors, in which points such as network quality, roaming and notice periods were assessed in addition to Internet and value for money, Wingo came out on top. With 8.3 out of 10 possible points, the Swisscom brand took first place in the survey.

Coop Mobile (8.1 points) and Gomo and M-Budget Mobile (8.0 points each) are also well ahead. This puts the low-cost mobile subscriptions offered by the providers in cooperation with the major distributors under other brands ahead of the actual main brands.

Swisscom in the midfield

Swisscom, for example, is only in the midfield with 7.5 points, as Tuesday's survey shows. Sunrise is at the bottom with just 7.1 points, followed closely by Salt and Yallo with 7.4 points each.

While customers are quite satisfied with the mobile Internet (8.0) and network quality (7.9) of all providers, the price-performance ratio (7.5) and customer service (7.4) fall somewhat short.

Providers generally perform less well when it comes to roaming (7.1). The topic is a perennial issue, says Ralf Beyeler, telecoms expert at Moneyland. "Roaming has also been rated below average in previous years." (SDA/swi)

With a social media campaign, Localsearch wants to highlight the free SME solutions Mycockpit, Mycommerce and Mylocalina to support SMEs in their business. "Every Swiss SME needs the right tools to achieve sustainable success - especially in the digital world," explains campaign manager Jelena Kirst. "With our campaign, we are offering precisely these digital tools to become bookable and reservable free of charge or to sell products online."

The campaign is being used on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Mediamatics students Akilash Thamilmaran and Alessia Truempy independently produced the corresponding social media videos for the campaign.

Anyone who now thinks that TikTok only reaches a young target audience is mistaken: "The platform has long been reaching not only Gen Z, but also younger company owners. Almost 66 percent of users are between the ages of 20 and 40. It's time to reach a new generation of decision-makers and, not least, to promote them," argues Kirst. And with learners, a new generation has also been given the opportunity to contribute creatively and demonstrate their strengths. As digital natives, they are fluent in the language of social media, which is also reflected in the many positive reactions to the videos.

Following the logic of the platforms, they produced native videos that establish a purposeful relationship between user and advertiser in a natural, informal way. The implementation with the smartphone also maximizes the proximity to the user due to the visual adaptation to the editorial environment. The voices in the videos were also generated using AI and in all three languages.

Responsible at LocalsearchJelena Kirst (Senior Project Lead & Senior Marketing Manager), Cristina Allio (Campaign & Channel Manager); Nicole Jeanneret (Creative Director), Akilash Thamilmaran (4th year Mediamatician); Alessia Truempy (4th year Mediamatician), Alisha Zobrist (Intern Communication).

The starting point of the campaign was the narrative "Baloise insures against almost everything - and thanks to generative AI, it is possible to visually create all those situations that you could previously only imagine in your mind". This pushing of boundaries and making the previously impossible possible was the reason why Baloise chose this path - and thus brought dragons, aliens and dinosaurs to the heart of Switzerland.

According to Dreifive, the performance campaign showed "extremely good values" and above-average achievement of the performance KPIs compared to previous campaigns. This was also achieved thanks to the attention-grabbing advertising material and appropriate targeting.

The campaign showed that creative and new innovative assets are important for all digital campaigns today - but especially for social media - in order to stand out from the crowd and generate good performance values.

"The standardization of artificial intelligence opens up new possibilities for us and motivates us to rethink traditional digital marketing tools. Together with Dreifive, we were able to successfully implement a creative campaign with innovative visuals using AI," says Loïc Keiflin from Baloise.

Responsible at Baloise: Corina Schuler (Senior Online Marketing Manager, Digital), Loïc Keiflin (Chapter Digital Sales & Marketing), representing the entire Baloise digital marketing team. Responsible at Dreifive: Ramona Huber (Teamlead Social Media), Sandro Kohler (Senior Digital Arts Designer), Bibiana Schwarz (Digital Arts Designer), Manuela Vesey (Digital Arts & Lead Designer), Isabel Steiner (Director Creation & Production), Marleen Albert (Head of Social Media).

Saicon has been selling and marketing real estate in Zurich since 2011, specializing professionally in apartment buildings. The team, led by Moreno Pinelli, has so far taken care of marketing independently. Now Saicon has decided to take the next step and reach a new level of awareness with the advertising expertise of Rosarot.

The Zurich agency was commissioned with the comprehensive redesign of the Saicon brand, starting with an in-depth target group analysis and strategic development through to branding and final implementation. The result of the new look is a tidy appearance that reflects Saicon's structure and care. The choice of a solid, timeless font with a strong character underlines Saicon's professionalism, while large headlines and the cheerful, fresh yellow emphasize the company's openness and accessibility.

Arouse curiosity with name associations

The campaign developed at the same time plays self-deprecatingly with the unfamiliarity of the name Saicon among the general public. The name Saicon is to be anchored in the minds of the target group through associations from outside the industry and their correct resolution, inviting potential customers to turn to Saicon for real estate matters.

Saicon's new brand identity is being implemented using various channels such as print posters, video ads, direct mailings, the revised website and increased online marketing measures such as SEO and SEA.

Responsible at Saicon: Moreno Pinelli (owner), Aline Pinelli (owner), Mara Schiavone (back office project manager). Responsible at Rosarot: René Karrer, Michael Schmidt (Creative Direction), Corinna Kost, Laura Weinhofer (Art Direction), Carmen Stähelin (Text, Concept), Noel Mühlberg, Claire Hulla (DTP), Bettina Walder (Consulting), Moreno Carroccia, Mauro Zoffoli (Performance, SEA, SEO).

Gold. Gold. Gold. The Swiss track and field athletes sprinted from one gold medal to the next at the European Championships in Rome. It used to be different. There were hardly any medals won in athletics - and if there were, then certainly not in sprinting. And back then, the word was not used as much as it is today. Anyone who can estimate how much strength, energy and time someone like Mujinga Kambundji or Timothé Mumenthaler invests in order to achieve a best performance for 20 seconds should be a little more economical with the use of this word. After all, it has evolved from its origins in fast running and jumping into a versatile metaphor for intensive, focused efforts in various areas. And that's annoying.

Scrum is to blame for the fact that we now have to call everything a sprint. When our industry had to say goodbye to the idyllic waterfall models at the end of the 1990s and Scrum was introduced, the pace increased and by the mid-noughties, strolling or strolling was a thing of the past.

The ideal world of the project managers suddenly became rough, fast and forward-moving. Like a bunch of dirty rugby players, they have been winning meter by meter ever since and call it sprinting. Or an agile approach. Today, people are sprinting all the time, interacting in dailies and weeklies and placing user- or client-defined alignments and adjustments in any order, so that the projects end up looking like trampled rugby pitches and are not completed on time despite all the running around.

Not all that glitters is gold

In the context of agile project management and Scrum, sprints are used to describe a short, focused period of work aimed at making progress quickly and delivering frequently. That's the theory. In practice, however, it's more like the coaches of Mujinga Kambundji or Timothé Mumenthaler would have them run up and down the 200 meters the whole time in training and then think that they still have the necessary strength to win gold at the European Championship final.

Sprint is therefore not the golden egg of project management and developers. But it is many other things. Sprint, for example, is also the name of a low-cost airline in the USA that some people are afraid to book with because it is always late or flights are even canceled without good reason. But it is cheap, just like the DIY websites that are never finished. Sprint was also the name of the telecommunications company in the same country, which was founded in 1987 and sold to T-Mobile, this extremely successful subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, in 2020. The local company Swisscom also dreams of such success. Its efforts to assert itself on the domestic market are already being hamstrung by confusing and annoying its customers with cryptic subscription renewals. But this year, like the track and field athletes, it has also scored a coup in Italy. A binding agreement was reached with Vodafone Group Plc to take over 100% from Vodafone Italia for a purchase price of 8 billion euros. Whether this is also a gold medal remains to be seen.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.

Livesystems has taken a significant step in the field of digital out-of-home advertising. With over 13,000 programmatically bookable screens, the company now offers the largest programmatic DOOH network in Switzerland.

The programmatic buying and selling of advertising space is quick, easy and time-saving. The bids are sent to the website operator in real time. If the advertising space is available, an auction takes place within seconds. Has the auction been won? Then nothing stands in the way of the campaign.

Andreas Weiss, Chief Strategy Officer at Mediaschneider, shares his views and visions for the future of this technology.

The role of programmatic DOOH in the Swiss advertising landscape

According to Andreas Weiss, Switzerland has made great efforts to integrate DOOH sites programmatically in recent years. Nevertheless, the current inventory still remains predominantly analog, which limits the full use of programmatic. "For us as an agency, it is crucial to be able to play out programmatic DOOH campaigns in real time, without manual effort and with relevant data sources," explains Weiss.

Entire DOOH inventory connected via Broadsign

Weiss sees Livesystems' decision to make its entire DOOH inventory programmatically bookable as significant progress. "We very much welcome the fact that Livesystems is now involved with its entire inventory. This significantly improves the current situation," he continues. Programmatic DOOH offers a media channel with significant performance for dynamic advertising campaigns and is also immune to ad blockers, which underlines its strategic relevance.

Technological advancements as the key to success

Weiss emphasizes that the full potential of programmatic DOOH can only be achieved when dynamic data sources can be easily integrated. He sees exciting possibilities here, such as time and weather targeting or the integration of current sports results. "If Switzerland is behind in a match at the Euros, you could advertise chewing gum to relieve stress, and a cold drink to celebrate if they win," explains Andreas Weiss. But in addition to technology, creative ideas also need to be implemented.

Future visions for programmatic DOOH

For the future, Weiss would like to see more research into the impact of programmatically controlled DOOH campaigns compared to traditionally booked campaigns. Important questions for him include the added value of dynamic campaigns and which data sources are particularly effective. "We still need to gather some empirical values," concludes Weiss.