Yes is responsible for the complete marketing communication of Schlegel Weingut zur alten Post. The mandate includes a wide range of projects from analysis and conversion rate optimization to the design and implementation of the website and social media channels, online and offline strategies and implementation in print and web advertising.

Visual storytelling meets vinophile excellence

For the third time in a row, Yes was entrusted with the task of transforming a turbulent wine year into a captivating story. The agency's approach was to make the winery's hurdles and successes tangible through creative design and well thought-out narration. The Schlegel-Zeitung celebrates the art of winemaking while also serving as a testament to Yes' expertise in creating unique marketing materials.

Responsible at Yes: Dominik Kurmann (Art Direction, Design), Mena Dressler (Text).

The campaign has been on display throughout Switzerland since Tuesday in an eye-catching yellow color. The striking measures focus on the benefits of the product - fully vegan, dairy-free and -40% sugar-free - which are to be communicated in a refreshingly direct and simple way.

This is done using a wide range of advertising media. These include TV and online commercials, various digital assets, megaposters, (D)OOH and print implementations. In addition to two fully branded streetcars - one in Zurich and one in Bern - the collaboration with 20 Minuten is another communication highlight. On launch day, the blue CICD elements will be colored yellow in the print edition, and a yellow takeover will be used in the web and app version.

Responsible at Rivella: Nikolas Petschen (Brand Manager, overall responsibility), Désirée Koller (Head of Brand Management Product & Trade), Francesco Camenzind (Brand Manager), Elena Neuhold (Brand Manager), Nadine Hug (Trade Marketing Manager), Nicole Zumsteg (Live Marketing Manager), Kevin Bieri (Digital Manager), Alper Kaya (Digital Manager), Angelika Leemann (Co-Head of Marketing), Sara Jermann (Co-Head of Marketing), Silvan Brauen (Co-CEO). Responsible at Family: Claudio Catrambone, Jan Walser, Svenja Hässig, Alexandra Niggeler, Marc Ambühl, Severin Binkert. Film production: Navada, director: Oliver Schmocker, sound: DubDub, photography: Alina Birjuk, post: Lorenz Wahl. Responsible at Havas Switzerland Media: Lena Rüdisüli, Naomi Romero, Alex Koch, Samia Montaque. Responsible at Burki Scherer: Patricia Häuselmann, Jessica Zurfluh, Stefanie Haas, Jessica Studer, Dominic Scheidegger, Selina Mellert.

Switzerland is world-famous: both for its chocolate and for its supposedly exemplary animal welfare laws. Unfortunately, however, the image of strict animal welfare regulations fades when you take a closer look at the individual provisions and how they are implemented in practice. For example, Swiss animal welfare legislation still allows socially living animals to be kept individually, the needs of animals to be disregarded, animal welfare violations to be tolerated and animal cruelty to be punished far too severely.

"Unfortunately, Swiss animal welfare law is not as good as Swiss chocolate" is therefore the message of Ruf Lanz's striking new campaign. Chocolate animals in a miserable state illustrate the painful reality behind the beautiful packaging.

An emaciated horse, a rabbit alone in a cramped cage, a chained dog and a torn chicken on a slatted frame are representative of the abuses that are still permitted by Swiss animal welfare legislation or tacitly tolerated due to the serious lack of enforcement. In short: Switzerland does not show its best side towards animals.

With the new subjects, Ruf Lanz has already designed the ninth campaign for the Tier im Recht foundation. According to TIR Managing Director Gieri Bolliger, the previous appearances have "attracted a great deal of attention and triggered debates about animal welfare far beyond the usual animal protection circles". Various awards - including the poster campaign of the year twice - have also attracted media attention.

The new campaign can be seen on F12, F200 and F24 posters, in advertisements in high-reach newspapers and magazines, in online media and social media channels as well as on the TIR website.

Responsible at Tier im Recht (TIR): Gieri Bolliger (Managing Director), Christine Künzli (Deputy Managing Director), Joëlle New (Communications). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf, Danielle Knecht-Lanz (Creative Direction), Mario Moosbrugger (Art Direction & Concept), Isabelle Hauser (Art Direction & Execution), Markus Ruf (Text), Armin Arnold (DTP), Gian Marco Juon (Consulting Management), Marc Engeli (Consulting Assistance). External partners: Pixelprinz, Linus Schneider (CGI), RTK Medientechnik (lithography).

Andrea Bison, as Newly crowned "Advertiser:in of the Year" 2024 A little self-praise is allowed: Do you have an absolute favorite project that you think of when you hold the "Egon" in your hands?

Andrea Bison: As a brand enthusiast, it is the transformation of the Ochsner Sport brand as an overall case that shows what results a good strategy and consistent holistic communication can achieve and what value it can have.

In his laudatory speech, your predecessor André Hefti said: "The question is not whether you will be 'Advertiser of the Year', but when". Why do you think you were awarded the title this year?

In addition to the continuity of recent years, this year the Swiss pitch win probably played a decisive role. In the overall package with the visible creative successes such as Two gold medals at the Edi for the Denner film "The Good Life" and the Migros Bio Animonials as well as the campaign of the year at the Woohw! award for Denner "greatly reduced". And perhaps the Sunrise crowd favorite "The Elevator" with Federer and Odermatt collected a few more votes so that it was enough to win the award this year.

In recent years, the question has occasionally arisen as to whether the title "Advertiser of the Year" is still appropriate, whether "Communicator" might not be more suitable. How does the title "advertiser" fit in with your self-image?

If we could find a name that does more justice to the holistic nature of our industry and the importance of communication today and that is understood equally in all parts of the country, then I would clearly prefer that. However, as I am not a copywriter, I can only make a suggestion in terms of content along the lines of "Agency Person of the Year", because the award should clearly be for agencies and it encompasses all agencies. And in my opinion, two or three great "Agency People" could also be honored together in order to integrate the team concept.

In your opinion, how has the Swiss advertising and communications industry changed since the launch of Thjnk Zurich in 2016?

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the entire world of work. After an initial movement towards remote work as the future, interestingly, there are also increasingly recognizable disadvantages in the work results. I believe in the quality and density of collaborative work on site - in addition to the social aspect, which is also an added value for many. In my overall perception, the awarding of contracts has become even more volatile, which is challenging for the stable management of an agency. In addition, the pitch rules from the client side are becoming ever stricter, meaning that reasonable timings and appropriate remuneration are not always guaranteed.

The industry is constantly faced with the challenge of having to "prove" itself as part of the economic value chain. What are the weak points, where should we start?

The weak points lie in the definition and selection of the KPIs used to measure the success of our work. We believe in the effectiveness of good strategies and the creative communication derived from them. That's why we like to set ourselves clear common goals and monitor their achievement. However, if the focus is primarily on performance marketing and the overall success of brands is not attributed to brand strategy and communication, then we lose sight of the true value that our work can have. Fortunately, there are still clients who recognize this.

What do you want to campaign for in your "legislative term" and where will your focus be?

For appreciation, young talent and transformation. I would like to emphasize the appreciation of what communication can achieve - as well as the appreciation of our performance. It is also important to me to inspire young talent and get them excited about our industry. I also want to actively drive the transformation through generative AI in order to use the new creative possibilities and steer them in the interests of agencies so that the quality of communication remains our value.

Which topics related to advertising and communication are rarely discussed?

Advertising shapes our perception in everyday life because we are constantly in contact with it. That is why we have the power to be more than just sales - and at the same time the responsibility to be aware of the influence on behavior and perception with regard to social issues and values and to deal with them responsibly. A good example of how a briefing for service competence can become more is Ochsner Sport Limmatbike. The money from the auction of the recycled bikes will be donated to the WWF for water protection.

You are a consultant. What are the strengths you need to cover this important part of the agency universe?

Consulting is the pivotal point between client, strategy and creation. In addition to a deep and holistic understanding of all areas and a talent for diplomacy, curiosity and courage are important qualities. Together with a great passion for our product and the will to work for it in all directions, consulting can become a key element of good communication. Because this sounds a little easier than it often is, it also requires real perseverance.

Was there ever any other profession you could have imagined?

Yes, many. But my job feels like many, so I've always had enough reasons to stay.

Do you have a vision of where the Thjnk agency will be in five years' time?

More of the same. In five years' time, I hope to still have a place where people enjoy working together, where they can develop and grow and where creativity is the common driver.

The acronym seems to be something of a statement against the ubiquitous publicity of messages. After just over 20 years of social media, have we really all had enough of knowing everything about everyone?

The two letters now stand for Direct Message. Instead of 1-to-all, it is now suddenly 1-to-1 again. DMs are therefore a kind of 1-to-1 dialog. Although it is often more of a monologue than a dialog, but more on that later. DMs allow people on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or X to write to each other directly. This has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage: DM is a good solution for not having to tell everyone everything (but also not having to read everything). How often have we been annoyed at having to listen - or rather "read" - to two people when they were having a debate on social media for all to see, exchanging feelings or simply looking for a date together? Exactly. That's why DMs are now booming.

But beware: this also has its pitfalls. Or disadvantages. For example, the possibility of posting unsolicited opinions in camera. This can be quite a burden for the recipients of such messages. Especially when it comes to harassment, haters, chat-up lines or other undesirable things. There is even a verb for this: sliden. Which translates to slide or glide. "Sliding into the DMs" means writing a private message, usually a chat-up line, to someone on a social network. And these are often inappropriate and a real nuisance, especially for female social media users. But hateful comments towards politicians and other people in public office, such as teachers and tax officials, as well as journalists, dissidents and people from other backgrounds, are unfortunately also part of everyday DM life on social media.

All decency seems to be lost in DMs

The ability to send DMs seems to have completely removed the inhibition threshold. Disrespectful, foul-mouthed and insulting comments slip so easily from the smartphone keyboard into private chats that you could be forgiven for thinking that there is only one type of person on social media: the antisocial. And if this continues, we should think about renaming it: antisocial media.

It's true! Just because it's possible to send someone a direct message with one click doesn't make it an invitation or even an obligation to do so. But this is probably a phenomenon of the times. Or as Erich Kästner once put it: Bad times. Bad manners.

In the past, people didn't call complete strangers just because their name was first available in the phone book and then later on Telsearch. Here's a call to all those who do this: Stop sending direct messages! Instead, face the public. Or don't do it at all. Nobody cares what you think.

But we've been at this point before in the industry. When DMs were still called direct mails and the term "mail" still meant physical mail and not emails. That was the time when advertising agencies specialized in sending direct mail addressed directly to people. In the 1960s, the addresses of us mere mortals were compiled by hand from telephone directories in specialized companies and then sold directly to companies or direct mailing agencies at a high price. Then came lettershops and later direct marketing providers who earned a fortune, until finally the first "no advertising" stickers on letterboxes tried to prevent such DMs from ending up in them.

Perhaps we should also remember this on social media and put "No DMs" stickers on our profiles to keep uninvited guests away from the direct message box. Or to put it another way: be nice to each other again. Knock on the door and ask if you can come in at all before entering the social media room of strangers.

* 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 agency FS Parker and the production company Halioua Film/Midpoint normally work together on projects for brands such as Raiffeisen and Siemens. This time, however, the roles were swapped: FS Parker conceived and designed the new branding so that there are coordinated elements in which the work of the film production is the absolute focus.

In movie jargon, "midpoint" means the key moment that brings about major changes, new protagonists and a breath of fresh air in the plot, thus opening up the next act. The branding should also convey this.

"Our goal was to create branding that, despite its simplicity, would leave a lasting impression," explains Benjamin Franz, Creative Director at FS Parker. "Our focus was always on keeping Midpoint's great work in focus, with our branding acting as a supporting framework that highlights the content rather than competing with it."

Inspired by the name Midpoint, the meaning of which is the climax or central twist of a story, a circle was chosen as the centerpiece of the design. The rectangle surrounding the circle, on the other hand, symbolizes the film as a medium in which the stories unfold.

Responsible at Midpoint Film: Janic Halioua (Leading Director + Executive Producer), Noah Debbabi (Post Production Specialist). Responsible at FS Parker: Christoph Schmidt (CEO & Managing Director), Benjamin Franz (Creative Director & Partner), Michaela Aerne (Key Account Director, Consultant, & Media Expert), Toni Pihlaja (Art Director & Senior Motion Designer), Meret Borer (Graphic Designer & Multimedia Producer), Noah Dopslaff (Graphic, UI/UX & Motion Designer), Kitti Nemeth (Graphic- & UI/UX Designer). Realizations: Bloq labs (website programming), Druckdurst (labeling).

The Teads studio designed a complex setup of display and video creative for seven language regions in Switzerland and for different dialects. The aim was to increase viewability as the most important KPI for Heineken's anniversary campaign and to strengthen brand recall in selected target groups and environments.

The subsequent Teads benchmark tests make it possible to create campaign forecasts and identify the most efficient forms of advertising in terms of attention and dwell time. Additional audience and context targeting measures were used to determine the most relevant target groups and the most attention-grabbing environments.

In order to establish a link between attention and brand metrics and to further increase and optimize the KPIs for the selected campaign assets, a brand lift study was conducted by Teads.

Strong dwell time through attention-optimized assets

The campaign with Heineken, optimized by Teads for attention, impresses with a view rate of 71%, which exceeds the usual industry benchmarks of Lumen LAMP and Teads. The eyes-on-dwell time, i.e. the average time spent on the screen, is also well ahead of LAMP and Teads at 2.57 seconds. With a value of 1.824 APM, the Attentive Seconds also clearly outperforms the benchmarks set. The metric indicates how many seconds of attention can be expected when playing out 1,000 impressions for the campaign.

A look at the detailed KPIs for video and display shows an uplift for both forms of advertising. In the benchmark comparison, the display in-view time of 9.30 seconds and the display viewability rate of 81.80% score particularly well. The video CTR is 0.27%. Overall, display advertising on news portals with a focus on sport and entertainment achieved the highest performance.

Bastian Sarott, Strategic Account Director Teads Switzerland, comments: "Attention is one of the most important metrics for marketers today. If you manage to attract the attention of users, you can take the first step towards better communication. Our campaign optimization for Heineken together with Dentsu has impressively proven exactly that. Our attention benchmark analysis was able to play to its strengths in a complex set-up: The results exceeded expectations."

Mareike Hofer, Media & Digital Manager at Heineken Switzerland, adds: "Heineken's 150th birthday is a big event for us globally - but for most consumers, company anniversaries are not really exciting. At Heineken, we don't take ourselves too seriously and have therefore put our consumers at the center - no matter what they call us. Thanks to Teads and Dentsu, we were able to overcome this challenge. We were able to increase awareness among the target group and strengthen brand perception. The open and good exchange between all stakeholders boosted the campaign's success."

You can find an impression of the campaign here Link / QR code.

For this year's spring and summer 2024 campaign, the creatives at Zimmermann Communications are now going a step further and strengthening the storytelling and emotionality of the campaign.

In the poster implementation, which is based on posters in two consecutive weeks, the storytelling was deliberately reduced to the effect of the Pantone colors. Four eye-catching posters use a color gradient to show how close the individual destinations and experiences in Ticino are to each other.

These color posters will be followed the following week, on the same poster sites as the previous week, by a further four subjects showing the respective destinations of the previous week in pictures, thus creating an additional desire for vacations in Ticino.

In the cinematic realization, Ticino is experienced anew through the guests' point of view. The picture-in-picture mechanism, which is reminiscent of a social media app, is intended to lend the films emotionality, as they show the guests' reactions during their stay at the same time as their experiences.

The campaign with the three films and four posters is currently running in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. The landing page Ticino.ch/colori has been refreshed with a new homepage and leads more quickly to the individual colors. A broad mix of measures consisting of special newsletters, presence on selected, target group-specific platforms, PR activities and activating measures on all social channels complete the campaign.

Further films and posters are planned for the coming weeks, as well as various measures tailored to promoting the summer season.

Responsible at Ticino Turismo: Manuela Nicoletti (Director of Marketing). Responsible at Zimmermann Communications: Christoff Strukamp (creative direction), Sonja Zimmerli (digital art direction), Christoff Strukamp, Sonja Zimmerli (text), Rolf Zimmermann (project management, overall responsibility, strategy and media). Film production: Truecolorfilms, Giacomo Crapanzano, Andrea Todaro (director).

Every year, the "Drawn" exhibition at the Museum of Communication brings together the most successful press drawings. Last year, the federal elections and the ailing healthcare system were just two of the topics the illustrators focused on.

The sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church were also particularly moving, the exhibition organizers wrote in a press release on Thursday. Caroline Rutz, alias Caro, received the most votes from the public with her drawing "The tip of the iceberg".

"Marco Ratschiller, himself an illustrator and co-organizer of the exhibition, stated: "A well-deserved winner. The work illustrates the strengths of press drawings very well. Viewers are introduced to the subject with humor, but on closer inspection the smile gets stuck in their throat.

Draughtsman Ruedi Widmer came in second place with the public. He focused on the federal elections. In third place was Tom Künzli, who focused on the rising costs of healthcare.

The "Drawn" exhibition was launched in 2008 and is held at the Museum of Communication in Bern between December and February. (SDA)

Last Thursday, around 350 visitors attended the four-hour "Blitz exhibition" in the former generator hall of the Matte power plant in Bern. All of the works were available to purchase as part of the exhibition and are also reproduced in a unique, limited-edition magazine. The large-format magazine and a printed cotton bag, limited to 400 copies, could be taken home free of charge.

Responsible at Studio Thom Pfister: Thom Pfister (Curation, Design, Creative Direction), Marianne Schoch (Project Management, Brand Consultant), Roland Zenger (Art Direction), Ursula Rytz (Senior Consultant), Daniel Hackiewicz and Sharon Moor (Graphic Design). Artists: Adrien Sgandurra, Aglaja Brix & Florian Maas, Alina Günter, Anoush Abrar, Andreas Samuelsson, Andrea Devia-Nuño, Anni Katrin Elmer, Ania Augustynka, Basil Stücheli, Carmen Mitrotta, David Willen, Dean Elliott, Diana Scheunemann, Elena Kuznetsova, Emily Eldridge, Filipa Peixeiro, Frederike Wetzels, Gian Paul Lozza, Ilka & Franz, Jill Senft, Julien Chavaillaz, Ladina Bischof, Lucia Strub, Marie Wolf, Markus Burke & Gundi Schillinger, Mathilde Karrèr, Maurice Haas, Maurizio di Iorio, Michael Brunn, NastPlas, Phillip Kaminiak, Sebastian Ariel Curi, Thomas Stöckli, Véronique Hoegger, Vincent Gapaillard. Print: Vögeli Druck, Papyrus Schweiz (magazine), Atelier Margrit (screen printing cotton bags) Uldry (fine art prints), Lettra Design Werbetechnik (printing & finishing of posters). Background music: Benedikt Sartorius. Catering: Trallala Wines & Sicula.

The web design and digital solutions provider with roots in Thun, Comvation, took over the digital agency Cubetech in Bern in 2023. The decision has now been made to continue operating both companies under the name Comvation. Through the takeover and the resulting rebranding of Cubetech to Comvation, the company expanded its service portfolio and extended its branches further into Bern while remaining true to its deep roots in Thun.

As Comvation was previously mainly present in the Bernese Oberland, the integration of Cubetech will enable a stronger presence in the city of Bern and its neighboring areas. This step will benefit the customers of both companies, as the expertise of two teams will now be combined, Comvation writes in a press release. The employees are free to decide whether they prefer to work from Thun or Bern - or from anywhere else in the world, the statement continues.

With this strategic decision to change its name, Comvation is reaffirming its commitment to innovation and regional ties.

Per specializes in data-driven and evidence-based communication and aims to be a significant part of its clients' value creation. To this end, the agency has been using AI systems to analyze the reputation of companies in comparison to the competition for years. Based on this, recommendations for action are developed to enhance reputation through targeted communication. An approach that also offers decisive advantages for successful dialog marketing in the future.

"With the acquisition of Four, we are heading for new shores together. The merger will give us a broader base and drive our growth forward," explains Roland Heintze, Managing Director of the Per-Agency Group.

In Zurich, Per is led by Christian Hansen, who is active as Managing Partner. Phillip Sträuli, CD Art, is also a partner and heads the creative department together with Björn Brinkmann, CD Text. This ensures continuity in the management of existing mandates, writes the agency.

"After 15 years as a successful full-service agency for customer acquisition
and customer loyalty, we can now draw on the Per Group's strength and 20 years of experience in reputation management for our consulting services," explains Hansen. "The analyses and findings from our AI-based reputation, topic, source and media analyses are of particular importance here. Using the Group's own analysis tools and our data analysis unit, we offer up-to-date Power BI media analysis dashboards, which enable us to make significantly improved fact-based recommendations for action for all dialog communication."