At the VSM General Assembly on Thursday, the members elected Dr. Roman Bretschger as a member of the Executive Committee. He succeeds Dr. Hanspeter Kellermüller, who stepped down from the Executive Committee in 2023. Bretschger has been General Secretary and a member of the Executive Board at NZZ since August 2023. He heads the General Secretariat, the Legal Department and the Public Affairs and Investor Relations departments. Before joining NZZ, Bretschger headed the legal department of the sporting goods manufacturer On and served as Corporate Secretary of the Board of Directors and its committees at Group level. He holds a doctorate in law, an LL.M. from New York University and is an attorney-at-law.

Publisher President and other members of the Executive Committee confirmed

The general meeting also unanimously confirmed Andrea Masüger (Somedia Press AG) as publisher president and the other members of the executive committee Peter Wanner from CH Media, Ladina Heimgartner from Ringier, Christof Nietlispach from Freiämter Regionalzeitungen, Dr. Ursula Nötzli from the TX Group and Christoph Nussbaumer from Freiburger Nachrichten for a further term of office.

Dr. Beat Lauber, currently a member of the Board of Directors of Meier + Cie and Chairman of the Shareholders' Meeting of the Swiss farmers. For 17 years, Lauber served three times in different periods as Chairman of the Publishers Association. His successor will be appointed at a later date, writes the VSM.

Following the introduction of flat rates with unlimited data volumes, the mobile provider Digital Republic is launching the Flat Mobile" subscription which is based on absolute freedom of contract and complete transparency. The accompanying communication measures are intended to embody the "revolutionary spirit of Digital Republic and the contemporary development in the mobile communications industry", as Family CEO Claudio Catrambone explains. CD Flo Weitzel adds: "We wanted to capture the feeling of being part of a freedom movement with the claim 'Viva la Mobilfunk' in order to use the resulting momentum for the campaign."

The campaign aims to further strengthen Digital Republic's brand presence and provide tangible support for the sales launch of "Flat Mobile". With product-oriented headlines and a strong, symbolic campaign motif - the Digital Republic fist - the founding credo of Digital Republic is impressively presented and the company's attitude clearly emphasized.

Responsible at Digital Republic: Dimitri Salzgeber, Aileen Marbacher, Muriel Strasser, Patrick Schenk, Gregor Vogt, Maud Hoffmann. Responsible at Family: Claudio Catrambone, Flo Weitzel, Hanja Heuss, Jan Walser, Severin Binkert, Linus Konetschnig, Marc Ambühl, Vitalli Peters, Anina Trachsler // Illustration: Tim Weiske, Voice & Mixing: Nice Noise.

A study presented by the Department of Economic Affairs on Thursday shows that the external perception of the sector does not match the reality.

In the study, Philipp Zutt from the neuromarketing company Zutt & Partner investigated how men and women emotionally assess their professions in the ICT sector. He compared this with the information that potential female career starters and possible career changers gave about the tech sector.

More than technology and programming

His conclusion: "Women have a different emotional perception of their ICT job than men". From the outside, however, almost only the male image is perceived, which tends to focus on the intellectual and scholarly, on technology and programming.

The study concludes that the external image is thus distorted and that the view of women working in ICT is missing. As a result, the fact that ICT jobs also offer what many women want in the world of work - the professions are versatile, creative, flexible and require a high level of social skills - is lost.

The distorted image has become a fixed pattern in many people's minds and influences their choice of career, said Zutt. It leads many women to say: "Computers are not for me."

"We are not getting anywhere"

This needs to change, said Economic Director Carmen Walker Späh (FDP) to the media. "Across the country, the proportion of women in ICT professions is just 17%, which is too low."

This is a key sector for Zurich's innovative capacity as a business location. However, it is struggling to find enough skilled workers. It must therefore also become attractive for women; "everyone must be able to participate in the professions of tomorrow."

Walker Späh was aware that the low proportion of women in the tech sector is nothing new and that various measures have already been taken. But: "We are not getting anywhere."

An emotional toolbox

The government councillor is now relying on the "Women in Tech" initiative from the canton, ICT Vocational Training Switzerland, Digitalswitzerland and Taskforce4women. This initiative attempts to break down stereotypical role models with emotions.

On a theoretical level, the solution is simple, noted Zutt. It is simply a matter of presenting the ICT profession differently. In practice, however, simply putting up posters is not enough. Rather, a variety of measures are needed; changes in career choice can only be achieved through a variety of impulses and encounters with the topic of ICT spread over the course of a lifetime.

The "Women in Tech" initiative has therefore developed its first "Emotions Toolbox". This toolbox is intended to help companies, businesses, schools and other interested parties to "re-position and promote ICT and technology professions with the right emotional codes". The jobs should appeal more strongly to girls and women.

Among other things, the toolbox advises the use of certain words, images, symbols and colors. "The form of a message is decisive for our decisions," explains Zutt. It also contains examples of how job advertisements can be made more attractive. The use of influencers or targeted taster offers are also suggested. (SDA/swi)

The Emarket implemented campaign aims to position Tertianum as an attractive employer and attract new employees.

To this end, focus groups - consisting of employees from all areas and functional levels at Tertianum - were used to create the new employer promise. At the heart of the promise is Tertianum's desire to create an environment that promotes joie de vivre. Tertianum is committed to creating a space in which everyone feels comfortable and can develop individually in meaningful work. This is achieved with a strong team spirit, individual support and consideration for personal needs. The employer promise forms the basis for the employer branding measures.

For the two employer branding films, Emarket relies on a change of perspective: guests report from their point of view on how Tertianum employees give them joy in life every day. These authentic stories are intended to emphasize the meaningful work of each individual team member and highlight the positive impact that employees have on the lives of guests.

More awareness and applications

The campaign consists of an awareness campaign to publicize the employer brand and a performance campaign to generate applications for the almost 100 Tertianum locations. In the coming months, twelve additional short films will be distributed via Tertianum's social media channels, matching the respective job profiles at Tertianum.

Talented individuals can then apply for the desired position in just a few clicks via a quick application. This is intended to remove unnecessary hurdles and make it as easy as possible for interested parties to apply for the position.

Responsible at Tertianum: Luise Schatt (Head of Employer Branding), Diana Gaudart (Talent Acquisition Specialist), Nadine Sommer (Employer Branding Specialist). Responsible at Emarket: Roy Müller (Managing Director Switzerland), Tania Schober (Employer Branding Consultant), Sandra Garcia (Graphic Design), Nadine Oechslin (Marketing Project Manager), Emanuel Demenga (Video Director).

This will allow users to view information from the respective media and use the content to improve the software, OpenAI announced on Wednesday. The deal also includes access to current and archive material from other News Corp. titles such as New York Post and The Sun.

In recent months, the German Axel Springer Group, the French newspaper Le Monde and the Financial Times agreements concluded with OpenAI. The New York Times on the other hand, went to court in December with the accusation that ChatGPT had been trained with articles from the newspaper without permission. Recently, several American regional newspapers owned by the investor Alden Global Capital - including the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News.

ChatGPT triggered the hype surrounding artificial intelligence over a year ago. Such AI chatbots are trained with huge amounts of information and can formulate texts at the linguistic level of a human, write software code and summarize information. The principle behind this is that they estimate word for word how a sentence should continue. (SDA)

Asco Kohlensäure laid the foundations for the ZeCarb brand together with Crafft during a two-day brand sprint workshop in Romanshorn. "It quickly became clear that we shouldn't focus on rebranding Asco, but rather develop something new together in order to achieve the ambitious goals," explains strategist Michael Rütti. "We needed a new brand that would get straight to the heart of the team's mission visually and communicatively." This resulted in a brand strategy with a new name and claim in record time, a website and other marketing initiatives.

ZeCarb stands for Zero Carbon. A simple message, a clear promise. "The brand needs to make it clear that the team is 'on a mission'," explains Creative Director Scott Lloyd. "Through concise content and a focus on clear messages, slogans and infographics, we have developed a communication approach for ZeCarb that expresses accessibility, clarity and competence."

For the Messer Group, ZeCarb is a valuable addition to its product portfolio. Those responsible consider the potential in the CCUS market to be high. It was therefore important to develop the ZeCarb brand in line with the Group's image from the outset in order to make the best possible use of future synergies. The result was a sub-brand that fulfills two tasks: to stand out clearly from the competition in the CCUS market segment and at the same time to integrate seamlessly into the Messer Group's corporate identity.

Responsible at ZeCarb: Fabian Weber (Manager Marketing & Communications CCUS), Ralph Spring (Senior Manager Commercials CCUS). Responsible at Crafft: Michael Rütti (Strategic Direction), Silvan Wyser (Consulting), Scott Lloyd (Creative Direction), Serge Meierhofer, Slavik Kuvshynov (Design), Severin Glaser, Erkan Demiralay (Development).

Fair enough. The use of the little adjective is not new. And there is no urgency to write about it either. After all, it was already there the year before last, when it almost became the youth word of the year, had smash, bodenlos and Macher not ousted it from the medal ranks. But as we all know, Youth Word of the Year also means that the increasing use of a word has not escaped the attention of youth, language and other researchers. Because once chosen, it is considered a no-go, especially by young people. And in the worst case, it triggers a cramped attempt to launch a boomer word of the year, as can currently be seen on social media. But that's another story.

The fact is, fair persists in the language. It is therefore worth getting to the bottom of the reason for its survival or continued existence. The word "fair" comes from the English language and made it into the dictionary as early as 1915. So not only is it not new, it is very, very old and has been part of our vocabulary for a long time. Its meaning changes depending on the context in which it is used. In general, however, it refers to something that is just, fair or honest. Unfortunately, a rare commodity in uncertain times.

Fairtrade, fair play or simply fair enough?

The little adjective has many brothers and sisters. They all have their meaning in different interpretations. Fair stands for justice, for example: something is "fair" if it is just and balanced, without prejudice or disadvantage. Or appropriateness: Something is fair if it is appropriate or meets expectations, especially in terms of price, quality or behavior. Or honesty: Fair can also mean being honest and sincere, both in actions and words. Or equality: everyone involved has the same opportunities or conditions, without disadvantage or favoritism. And last but not least, accuracy: Sometimes fair also refers to something being correct or accurate, without distortions or inaccuracies.

All in all, simply following the rules of coexistence and behaving fairly towards others. This is important in trade, for example, where in 1973 a group of women in Frauenfeld asked themselves: "Why does a kilo of bananas cost less than a kilo of Swiss apples?" and began to denounce the exploitation of female workers on the plantations of Latin America. The women's group soon became a nationwide movement and, with Gebana, a trading company committed to fair trade, long before the Max Havelaar Foundation was founded in 1992 and major distributors started boasting about it.

This has also been popular in sport for some time, with Fifa (!) introducing fair play trophies back in 1987. Today, such trophies are awarded for all kinds of behavior in all kinds of sports. So much so that winning is suddenly no longer fair and every child taking part in ski races at ski schools now receives a medal.

However, this is currently less common in everyday professional and business life. Unfortunately, employees, suppliers or business partners are hardly treated according to the rules of fairness any more, but instead only pursue their own interests. Deadlines are not met, queries are not answered or employment and agency contracts are declared null and void for no reason.

It is therefore all the more astonishing that its use in everyday language is constantly increasing. You often hear "fair" as an answer or comment - and afterwards you are no wiser than before. Has the other person now understood what was meant by the statement, agrees with it or even likes it? We often don't know. Except that the second word has probably been lost over the years. Enough. Fair enough.

* 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.

The findings of the association study should further strengthen Stämpfli's consulting expertise in order to make the communication of association clients even more successful, the agency writes in a press release.

To this end, a survey of the communication behavior of associations in Switzerland is being carried out. It is intended to provide clues as to how associations communicate with their members and dialog groups today and which media and resources they use for this purpose.

The VMI and Stämpfli had already conducted a corresponding study in 2017. This already revealed the challenges facing associations: Only two out of five associations had a communication concept at the time. 38 percent wanted to use new digital channels, especially social media. Almost 70 percent of associations communicated in two or more languages. Associations also saw the increasing importance of their website and digital newsletter. The publication of the current study is scheduled for October 2024.

New Co-Head of Association Communications

Andi Huggel and Monica Masciadri are now heading up Stämpfli's Association Communications department as a duo. "I have been working with associations for years. I am looking forward to my new role as Co-Head of Association Communications because I am convinced that Andi Huggel and I complement each other well and that we can offer our clients significant added value by strengthening the management team," says Masciadri.

Responsible at the Institute for Association, Foundation and Cooperative Management (VMI): Nathalie Maring (external doctoral student). Responsible at Stämpfli Kommunikation: Andi Huggel (Co-Head of Association Communications), Monica Masciadri (Co-Head of Association Communications), Caspar Lösche (Head of Communications), Moana Christoph (Communications Agency Consultant).

Bucher Industries' business areas include agricultural machinery, municipal vehicles, hydraulic components, production systems for the glass container industry, systems for the manufacture of beverages and automation solutions.

Bucher's new image film is aimed at a wide range of target groups: Customers of the individual divisions, current and potential employees, investors and suppliers. The film provides an overview of areas of activity, geographical presence, innovation efforts and the ambitions that Bucher is pursuing. Fast, entertaining and with a twinkle in the eye - from zero to 100 percent.

The film production company Seed developed and realized the film in close collaboration with Bucher. The film was directed by Adrian Wisard. The film will be used at events and presentations as well as on the website and in social media.

Responsible at Bucher Industries: Saskia Rusch, Prisca Wolfensberger, Jacques Sanche. Vhe responsible at Seed Audio-Visual Communication: Adrian Wisard (director, screenplay, editor), Andreas Szentkuti (concept), Sebastian Klinger (camera), Simon Hardegger (color grading), Bardo Eicher (sound design, mixing), Madlaina Courvoisier (production assistant), Bastian Hertel (production/recording manager), Felix Courvoisier (producer).

Radio and Tele Top have been affected by a cyber attack caused by an encryption Trojan. As a result, there have been irregularities and disruptions in the online, radio and television services of Top Media since Tuesday afternoon. At present, not all programs can be broadcast as announced, the media company writes on Toponline.ch. The mail servers are therefore also affected by the Trojan.

The company's technical department is working with external experts to localize the problems in order to assess the extent of the attack. Restoring the affected data and programs is expected to take several days. Compared to Zueriunterland24.ch says Gjusi Brändli, program director of Radio Top, that the attack is massive and that the top media are being blackmailed. (Sara Meier/jor/swi)

This article first appeared in Netzwoche.

After an intensive, multi-stage process, Jakob Bächtold from Winterthur was unanimously elected by the association's board as the new managing director from September. "We were impressed by his many years of management experience in the private sector as deputy Editor-in-chief of the Country Messengerhis activities in complex organizations such as ZHAW and SBB as well as his excellent network in Winterthur," says association president Beat Schwab, explaining the decision. With Bächtold, a dynamic, proactive and communicatively convincing personality is joining the House of Winterthur location marketing association.

Many years of management and communication experience

Jakob Bächtold, 48, has a wide range of experience in both the private and public sectors. He works as a communications consultant for SBB and has been running his own communications company "B-Kommunikation" on a part-time basis since 2020. He previously worked for many years as a journalist, team leader and deputy editor-in-chief at the Country Messengerwhich means he knows the city and region of Winterthur inside out. He then led a team in the communications department at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW for two years, where he also worked as a lecturer for several years. "I'm looking forward to getting involved in the city and region of Winterthur and helping to ensure that the location, with its diversity, charm and opportunities, continues to develop in a positive direction," says Bächtold.

Samuel Roth and Sven Corus leave

The previous Managing Director Samuel Roth will officially take his leave at the association's General Assembly in mid-June. Until Jakob Bächtold takes over, Deputy Managing Director and Head of Tourism Markus Gilgen will assume responsibility for operations on an interim basis.

Sven Corus, Head of Business, will also be leaving the association. He is still working for the House of Winterthur until the end of September.

With Hyundai, the Iundf creative forge Inhalt und Form has brought one of the world's largest car manufacturers on board. In addition, the current image campaign for Hunn Gartenmöbel has been on show in Switzerland since March.

Also since March, Inhalt und Form, together with the media unit Iundf Media, has been giving the start-up for rental suits Adretto a fresh look with a new image campaign. Also for the construction site camera manufacturer Avisec a new branding will be developed over the course of this year. The first works should be on display in Switzerland soon.

The Iundf Group also welcomed further new clients in the sports, insurance and e-commerce sectors in spring. In view of the current difficult market environment, it was "a great first quarter", according to the agency.