Tiktok allows users to add songs to their videos and enters into license agreements with the music industry to do so. However, Universal Music declared this week that negotiations to extend the previous agreement had failed. It therefore expired on Wednesday.

Universal Music argued in an open letter that Tiktok offered musicians and songwriters only "a fraction" of the usual remuneration on similar other online platforms. Tiktok also allows music created with the help of artificial intelligence onto the platform on a large scale - and wants contractual freedom to do so. In doing so, the service is effectively "replacing artists with AI".

Tiktok counters

Tiktok countered that Universal Music had "put its own greed above the interests of its artists and songwriters". The music company is thus staying away from a platform with "well over a billion users" on which music is promoted and discovered. Universal Music is therefore not acting in the interests of musicians and fans.

Tiktok's withdrawal from Universal Music could result in dissatisfied users. Many videos on the platform have musical accompaniment and the company has many of the world's most popular musicians under contract. Universal Music acknowledged that the move would have consequences for its own musicians. However, the company has a responsibility to fight for fair conditions for them.

Tiktok is the only successful online platform in the West that does not originate from the USA. The service belongs to the Bytedance Group, which is based in China. However, the company always emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company.

Bytedance is 60 percent owned by Western investors. The company is based in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Critics counter that the Chinese founders hold a 20 percent stake thanks to higher voting rights and that Bytedance has a large headquarters in Beijing. (SDA/swi)

In keeping with the theme of the January slump, M-Budget collaborated with 13 influencers from the family and lifestyle sectors for the campaign. The creators, who live in Switzerland, shared their advice and "hacks" via TikTok and Instagram. At the same time, two finance influencers each published two videos on their Instagram channels in which they present their best savings tips.

The influencer campaign is structured in two phases: At the beginning of January, it was all about "Get through the January slump with M-Budget", followed by "Save more with M-Budget". All of the influencers' content ideas were discussed in a brainstorming session with M-Budget Brand Manager Bettina Huwyler, which ensured a successful variety of posts. Numerous creators took the opportunity to challenge themselves by exploring different facets of the two topic waves during the January weeks and actively sharing their experiences with the community.

The Finfluencer @finanzfabio for example, seized the opportunity and asked passers-by in Lucerne for their most efficient savings tips to avoid the January slump. The best answers were shared with his community and participants received an M-Budget product as a thank you. He skillfully embedded the survey in his viral format "How much money do you have in your bank account?".

Angela Mygind, who on Instagram under the name @missfinance.ch shared her personal tips and tricks for all those struggling with the challenges of the January slump. She cleverly integrated her favorite M-Budget products.

The other contributions to the campaign focused primarily on clever shopping tactics, well thought-out weekly and recipe planning and sharing useful household hacks. In particular, attention was also drawn to M-Budget's large non-food range. In order to present this content in a social media-friendly way, @zmorgebox_mami created an ASMR-style video on TikTok.

In order to achieve maximum interaction with the community, some of the creators are using the new "Quiz Reels" function. This allows them to ask questions and offer various answer options. This promotes engagement on the profile and encourages followers to actively participate in the content. It is also an entertaining way to share knowledge. Lifestyle creator @missbroccoli used this function as an example in her first post. She asked her community how much they thought the four products for the cheap and healthy breakfast cost. Other influencers like @tiktok_jenni have with specific questions in the caption and encouraged dialog in the comments.

"The implementation of this versatile M-Budget campaign was incredibly fun. The enthusiasm for the brand was already evident in the campaign inquiries and brainstorming sessions between creators, M-Budget and us and continued right through to the posts. Several influencers even published their posts on other channels without financial compensation because they appreciated the collaboration so much and were super happy with the posts themselves," says Alisha Tobler, one of the project managers at WebStages.

"With this influencer campaign as an accompanying measure to our M-Budget campaign 'Januarloch - Zeit für günstig', we are increasing the interaction and credibility of the brand, which stands for value for money and offers a variety of products with a great price-performance ratio," says Bettina Huwyler, M-Budget Brand Manager at Migros Supermarkt AG.

The best 15 posts were also booked as ads to further increase reach. All ads were placed in good time in January on both Instagram and TikTok. According to Webstages, the influencer campaign "Low Price Strategy January 2024" achieved over 1.8 million video views as an integrated part of the national campaign with 15 influencers.

Responsible at Migros Supermarket: Bettina Huwyler (Brand Manager) & Christian Keller (Project Manager Media). Responsible at WebStages: Leila Schmid, Alisha Tobler (overall responsibility), Tanja Herrmann (strategy).

The program featured two experts, the former Basel public prosecutor Markus Mohler and Thomas Kistner, the German journalist for sports politics at the South German Newspapercriticized the decision of the Swiss judiciary.

As the ombudsman's office announced on Wednesday evening, Kistner had said, among other things, that the Swiss justice system was "extremely questionable". Again and again, a kind of "caring protection of functionaries is practiced". Infantino was the only third person to have his say.

The extraordinary federal prosecutors responsible for the recruitment had lodged a complaint against the article. In their view, it was unacceptable for a journalist from abroad to criticize the Swiss authorities, for this criticism to go unchallenged and for the complainants not to be confronted with it.

Tagesschau" defended its report and the selection of experts. They were a criminal law expert and a world-renowned journalist for sports politics. In addition, the statements were clearly recognizable as subjective and were not directed against the prosecutors, but against the Swiss justice system in general.

No opposing position

However, the ombudsman's office takes a different view and upheld the complaint. The article left the public with the impression of "nepotism", as the discontinuation of the proceedings was described as "strange" and there was talk of "lack of transparency" and "secrecy".

It was not enough to let the former defendant speak as a counter-position. Other experts should have been consulted in order to contradict the overall impression of "favoritism". The "Tagesschau" had therefore violated the principle of fairness with the report. (SDA)

CCFO claims to be the world's first family office for vehicle collectors and develops and combines the proven services of a traditional family office with a focus on the individual requirements of vehicle collectors. Based on its extensive expertise in the classic and luxury vehicle segment as well as its existing services, CCFO offers a complete package for the customized management of vehicle collections.

Charles Blunier, who is already responsible for the entire creative part of B.I. Collection, also designed the CCFO brand. "Our aim was to create a brand that exudes the credibility of a financial institution and at the same time evokes the emotions of a car collector," says the agency. Everything from the strategic brand positioning and naming to the 360-degree campaign was implemented in-house.

Responsible at B.I. Collection: Beat Imwinkelried (owner and CEO), Anke Fischer (Chief Marketing Officer). Responsible at Charles Blunier & Co: Charles Blunier (overall responsibility and creative director), Ricardo Ferrol (art director), Silvio Demuth (senior designer), Dan Roznov (storytelling, copywriting), Simon Tellenbach (managing director), Lena Staeheli (head of editorial & projects), Daniela Zivadinovic, Barbara Kallenberg (PR & Communication), Visual Park (Film Production) Luzian Schlatter (Director), Alex Kleinberger (Producer), Jan Holgerson (1ac), Sabina Nussbaumer (Wardrobe), Hastings (Wardrobe), Romain Roucoules (Photographer), Sébastien Michelini (Set Design), Iconoclast (production). Forward advertising: Sonam Wieland, Andrea Kloter.

This year's briefing event for the "ADC Young Creatives Award" took place online on Wednesday evening. ADC project manager Hanna Jackl welcomed around 130 interested parties with a preview of what awaits the youngsters if they win an award: There are four ADC Young Creatives Awards to be won in the categories Film, Outdoor, Direct and Cyber.

The winners of the Young Creatives Award can become members of the "Young ADC" and thus part of ADC Switzerland and thus receive a "ticket" to join the judging panel at the next ADC judging. Thanks to a cooperation with Weischer.Cinema Switzerland, the winning teams in the Film, Outdoor and Cyber categories will also represent Switzerland at the Young Lions Competition in Cannes in June.

Sven Guggenheim, Head of Marketing Communications at the Migros Cooperative Zurich, revealed this year's challenge: "The Murpfi has moved into the Migros Cooperative Zurich; join us in creating the next story of the cuddly, hearty Murpfi and bring it to life - for our young and older Migros children alike." Finally, Romana Schmidtpeter, ADC board member and marketing strategist, provided support with an exciting strategy wrap-up on this year's task.

If you missed the event, you can find the briefing and all entry regulations in German and French on the Website of ADC Switzerland. The deadline for the 17th ADC Young Creatives Award is February 28, 2024.

In addition to the Migros Cooperative Zurich as briefing partner, the organizer receives support from the long-standing sponsors APG|SGA Out of Home Media, Blick, Die Post, Swissfilm Association and Keystone SDA as well as from Weischer.Cinema Switzerland as the official Swiss Cannes Lions representative and ADC cooperation partner. The creative young talent competition receives media support from the specialist media m&k Werbewoche.ch and Persönlich. The organizer is ADC Switzerland, supported by the LSA Leading Swiss Agencies association.

The start-up "Heybee" was founded with the idea of creating a health and lifestyle product brand based on the natural power of bees. The aim is to become the market leader for propolis-based natural products in the areas of wellness, health and nutrition in Europe and worldwide. Propolis is a resinous substance that honey bees extract from buds, sap and other botanical sources. The organic components contribute to the antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties, making the ingredient a natural remedy.

To bring the natural power and natural product to life in a brand, MetaDesign created the Heybee brand in one month. In a highly collaborative and agile process, the strategy, brand name, visual identity and packaging design were developed from scratch.

The new name is the result of extensive creative exploration in parallel with intensive brand testing. "Heybee" is a tribute to the bees that make a valuable natural product like propolis possible in the first place. The word mark and the super symbol are intended to reflect the light and lively spirit of the bee dance. The color "Bee Yellow" characterizes the category code, complemented by the natural tones Nature Green, Berry Purple, Stone Grey and Earth Brown. The simple nature of the images should enable the startup to create effective visuals easily and independently with the help of AI. The typography features small elements reminiscent of bee antennae. Orchestrated like a beehive, Heybee reflects the surprising, inspiring and cheerful, yet efficient and reliable character of a brand at the intersection of health and lifestyle.

Michel Stecher, co-founder of Heybee, explains: "For us, MetaDesign was synonymous with global branding expertise right from the start - crucial for our global ambition. At the same time, we had our reservations as to whether MetaDesign could switch into a start-up mode, as we needed. We were pleasantly surprised from day one. We benefited from the very close, straightforward and honest sparring - crucial to give our brand the profile we expected; from the internal business strategy and brand positioning to the name and visual identity of Heybee."

MetaDesign CEO Lukas Eiselin adds: "With Heybee, we have shown how naturally we work in a highly agile and collaborative mode with start-ups. Together with Heybee, we succeeded in creating a new brand from scratch in just one month."

Marc Goetti from IG DOOH welcomed guests to the fully booked event, which was jointly organized by IAB Switzerland, the electronic media interest group IGEM and IG DOOH.

Oliver Schönfeld from TWmedia opened with an overview of the relevance of digital out-of-home advertising in Switzerland. It closed the past year 2023 with a substantial increase and gross sales of almost one billion Swiss francs (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Sven Ruppert from Splicky gave an insight into the practice of campaigns that play creatively with the technical possibilities. As an outlook for 2024, he expects more advertising media that dynamically adapt to the context and are used at a specific point of sale depending on current demand, for example. He also sees an increase in cross-media programmatic approaches in which mobile, DOOH and digital audio are booked together. He emphasizes the performance of DOOH when the dynamics of the medium are used.

Felix Mende from SPR+ presented the start of the world's first development of a Mobility GPT in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute IAIS in order to use AI to provide even more up-to-date and precise forecasts for the performance values of DOOH and OOH at currency level for the market in the future.

Beat Fischer from Intervista presented the Footprints Research method. This measurement system can be used to determine reach data for all OOH and DOOH forms of advertising. In combination with surveys, the advertising impact of campaigns can also be analyzed.

Florence Siebert (EssenceMediacom), Lara Jelinski (Dentsu Media Switzerland), Beat Holenstein (APG|SGA), Diego Quintarelli (Goldbach Neo OOH) and Sam Lutz (Drop8) took part in the panel discussion chaired by Oliver Schönfeld. The discussion focused on the future of digital out-of-home advertising with more precise forecast and effective values, the importance of DOOH as a growth driver for the entire out-of-home advertising sector and the needs of the advertising market to enable more digital out-of-home advertising.

"I am delighted that so many IAB members registered for this cross-association event," summarizes Urs Flückiger from IAB Switzerland. "This shows that DOOH also enjoys a high status among our members. We will respond to this demand by launching a DOOH working group in the first quarter."

Siri Fischer from IGEM adds: "The well-attended event shows the increasing relevance of digital out-of-home advertising. It is therefore unfortunate that DOOH, of all things, is coming under increasing pressure from political initiatives and that the possibilities - including in terms of creative implementation - are potentially being restricted. After all, hardly any other form of advertising is developing as dynamically as DOOH, while a large part of the added value remains in Switzerland."

"Skiing is like flying, it simply makes you happy," says Heinrich Giesker alias Snowflake. In the latest video episode of Engelberg-Titlis Tourism's winter campaign, the ski retiree and ski star Marco Odermatt, brand ambassador for Titlis Bergbahnen, tackle the local slopes in parallel turns. The focus is on the anticipation of the sugary spring snow.

Snowflake spends an average of more than 150 days per winter season on the slopes and freeride runs of Engelberg. And because the destination offers one of the longest descents in the world with an altitude difference of 2,000 meters from the glacier to the valley, Snowflake has become an "altitude meter millionaire" (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Various video episodes will be broadcast internationally on different online channels and shown on the landing page until the end of the season in May. "With our campaign, we are inviting guests to spend the longest winter ski season in the Swiss Alps together with Snowflake," says Andres Lietha, Director of Engelberg-Titlis Tourismus.

The coronavirus pandemic, digitalization, climate change and changes in guest behaviour have presented the Lenzerheide vacation region with new opportunities and challenges in recent years. As a result, the Lenzerheide vacation region wanted LMS to take on additional tasks in the area of destination development.

This circumstance, as well as the absence of Bruno Fläcklin in 2020 due to health reasons, led to a new management structure with a three-person management team consisting of Philipp Vassalli in the role of Managing Director and Marc Schlüssel as Head of Marketing (Werbewoche.ch reported). Bruno Fläcklin became the third member of the management team to take over the management of the newly created Destination Development division on a part-time basis.

The Board of Directors of LMS has now decided to run the company with a two-person management team and to discontinue the destination development department. In addition to the reduction in interfaces and simpler coordination, uncertainties regarding the financing of destination development tasks also played a role, according to the press release.

Philipp Vassalli and Marc Schlüssel now form the management duo as equal Co-Managing Directors of LMS. The most important tasks in the area of destination development will be divided up between the co-Managing Directors and continued in a focused manner. "With this step, we are laying the foundations for the successful further development of the marketing and management organization of the Lenzerheide vacation region," says Daniel Stiefel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LMS.

Bruno Fläcklin had shaped the development of tourism in the Lenzerheide vacation region for many years. He "made a significant contribution to making us such a diverse, lively and attractive tourist destination today", according to LMS.

On Thursday, the Executive Board of HotellerieSuisse elected Nicole Brändle as the new Director of HotellerieSuisse. The 44-year-old economist has been Head of Labor, Education, Politics at HotellerieSuisse since 2019 and is a member of the Executive Board in her role. She previously worked in business development for the city of Zurich, Credit Suisse and the Swiss National Bank. Brändle studied economics at the University of Zurich and studied in Singapur completed an Executive MBA at INSEAD Business School. "We are delighted to have gained a very well-connected and experienced manager in Nicole Brändle, who knows the association and the industry inside out. Thanks to her previous activities in the private and public sectors, she has in-depth knowledge of business, politics, education and finance," says HotellerieSuisse President Martin von Moos. Brändle will take over from Claude Meier on April 1, 2024.

The process to find Claude Meier's successor was launched in August 2023 and was professionally supported by an external consultancy. The public tender took place at the end of November. Nicole Brändle prevailed over a large number of competitors thanks to her skills and experience.

The current Director Claude Meier will be leaving HotellerieSuisse at his own request at the end of March. The 45-year-old from Bern announced back in June 2023 that he would be leaving his position as Director. Claude Meier joined HotellerieSuisse in 2016 and has been at the helm of the association for the past eight years. During this time, he has played a key role in modernizing the association, driving forward the educational landscape project and overcoming the pandemic. He will be taking a break of several months and wants to reorient himself professionally after a long trip.

Since 2024, the GDI has been offering innovation consulting and management development in addition to research. The think tank focuses its activities on the retail, food and healthcare sectors and examines these from the perspectives of society, technology and the environment. "Especially in times of increasing change dynamics like today, research into a possible future and the implementation of concrete innovations are all the more important for society and for companies," says CEO Lukas Jezler. "With our research, innovation consulting and management development, we provide our customers with the right services to meet and master their key challenges."

Susan Shaw is the new Head of Strategic Services

Susan Shaw has headed the innovation consultancy as Head of Strategic Services and member of the Executive Board since December 1, 2023. The social scientist has extensive experience in market research and was most recently Managing Director of GIM Suisse. Throughout her career, she has been intensively involved in the interaction of people with brands, products and services. She has conducted various studies on customer needs in a wide range of industries and worked with companies to develop future consumer behavior patterns.

"With Strategic Services, we address the question of what the findings from the think tank mean for the individual sectors and companies, as well as their target groups. We support companies from trend identification and evaluation, through the definition of fields of action, to the development of trend-based innovation concepts," says Shaw about the GDI's new offering.

Tanja Ineichen heads Leadership & Transformation

In addition to trend research at the societal level and strategic innovation consulting at the corporate level, the Leadership & Transformation offering under the direction of Tanja Ineichen completes the GDI's product range at the personal level.

"Future shapers in top management are the driving forces of innovation in the company. With their vision, they build the bridge between a possible future and one that is actually lived in the organization. With our services, we accompany managers in their personal development and support them in shaping their teams and organizations," explains Tanja Ineichen. She has extensive experience in the retail sector, where she built up and managed cross-group leadership development initiatives in the Migros Group for over 15 years.

As Head Corporate Communications & Strategic Branding, 52-year-old Sascha Heiniger will be responsible for the Valora Group's communications strategy, media office, strategic brand management and internal communications.

Together with the three-strong Valora communications team, he is responsible for further developing Valora's brand and communications strategy and strengthening the communications umbrella across the Group's various national companies and divisions.

Heiniger was most recently Country Manager responsible for the development of the new, all-electric car brand Polestar in Switzerland. Prior to that, he worked in corporate and brand communication at Volvo Cars at both national and international level.