The "Excellent Brands" discipline honors the best product and corporate brands within an industry, and "Excellence in Brand Strategy and Creation" recognizes the best in their respective disciplines.

This year, there were a total of 33 awards for Switzerland. Agencies such as Branders, Rosarot, Foundry and Mjm.cc received multiple awards. MetaDesign even received a "Best of Best" award for the Körber rebranding.

German Brand Award 2023: Swiss winning projects at a glance

"Audio is an important field of innovation for NZZ, and we want to continue investing in it. Podcasts in particular are experiencing continuous growth in usage and are also strategically relevant for us. They open up new access to the NZZ portfolio and, in addition to our loyal readership, also appeal to a target group that is interesting and also economically important for the NZZ: a new and tending younger and female audience," will Eric Gujer, Editor-in-Chief of the New Zurich Newspaper, quoted in a statement." "Sven Preger has been involved in numerous major German podcast productions and knows the German-speaking podcast market well. He will further develop our podcast portfolio and expand it in the DACH region."

Sven Preger is reported to be one of the most respected audio experts in Europe. Among other things, he was co-host of the podcast "Deep Talk" on Deutschlandfunk Nova and chief reporter of the narrative science podcast "Quark's Stories". As a systemic coach and trainer, he has accompanied numerous format developments as well as strategy and change processes. In addition to public broadcasting, he has also worked with media houses such as the South German Newspaper and the news magazine The mirror advise

Preger studied journalism and political science at the Technical University of Dortmund and the University of Stockholm, did a traineeship at WDR and finally completed training as a systemic business coach. His radio and podcast work has won several awards, including the CNN Award, the German Social Award and the Environmental Media Award. He is the author of the textbook "Telling Stories: Storytelling for Radio and Podcast."

Until Sven Preger starts work on November 1, podcast and audio expert Susanne Witzig will lead the podcast team, which she has already been supporting as project manager since April. In collaboration with Preger, the long-time SRF head of department will already be working on the further development of the existing podcasts during this transitional period.

Digital Out of Home (DOOH) is one of the rising stars in the advertising market. Digital advertising screens are now indispensable, especially for nationwide, cross-media campaigns. However, media planning based on reliable reach data has been limited until now. That is why the Post-Advertising subsidiary Livesystems begun to identify new and comprehensive performance measures for the networks and offerings.

"Since the methodology of SPR+ was originally designed for analog street posters, a large part of our DOOH screens cannot be mapped. We therefore had to evaluate a different methodology for DOOH," explains Oliver Egger, Managing Director Media and Advertising Market at Swiss Post. "With the single-source approach of the independent market research institute Intervista, we found an ideal solution for surveying the performance values of Livesystems." According to Egger, it is the most modern contact measurement in Switzerland, collected according to scientific standards. For media agencies and advertisers, he says, it is now possible to integrate the full reality of DOOH into their targeted media planning.

Measurement of effective contacts

Livesystems' DOOH inventory was measured using Intervista's representative Footprints panel. The panel comprises around 3,000 people and is based on smartphone tracking. The app uses beacons and mobility data to measure contact with Livesystems' DOOH screens. This method makes a crucial difference for advertisers: they know not only the number of potential contacts, but also those of the effective net contacts.

Linking the measurement data with the anonymous profile characteristics of the panel participants also enables advertisers to conduct an in-depth analysis and gain a better understanding of their target groups. In addition to the number of people who have been in contact with a particular screen, they receive valuable information such as gender breakdown, indications of age, region of residence and household income.

DOOH achieves high reach

The performance figures determined show that the Livesystems ecosystem achieves a net reach of 88 percent within a six-week campaign period. Six million people with Swiss residence between the ages of 15 and 79 are reached with the respective DOOH campaign.

For advertisers, this means that anyone who occupies Livesystems' DOOH advertising space on public transport for two weeks generates more than 30 million gross contacts with a net reach of 2.85 million people, according to Livesystems.

Targeting campaigns precisely

The new performance values are published in Livesystems' "Inventory Finder" planning tool and updated at least every six months. Post Advertising uses the data to target its advertising customers' cross-media campaigns even more precisely. This means that customers can now also be provided with valid and precise performance values for digital outdoor advertising, "including gross and net reach, reach as a percentage, reach development and insights into their respective target groups," says Egger. "This data enables companies to advertise where it has the greatest impact."

A spirit of optimism in a time of massive upheaval in the media industry: with an opening speech by Ladina Heimgartner, Head of Global Media at Ringier and CEO of the View-Group in Switzerland, kicked off this year's European Publishing Congress in Vienna. In front of a packed auditorium at Palais Niederösterreich, she encouraged media professionals and publishing managers from across Europe to confidently embrace the latest technological developments in the field of generative artificial intelligence.

The central theme of the congress, with many industry experts and speakers, is the challenges that AI technologies pose for journalism and the business model of media companies. "We are dealing with a tectonic shift," Heimgartner said in her keynote. "Business models need to be completely rethought."

After the disruptive upheavals, first caused by the triumph of the global Internet and later by the advent of smartphones, applications like ChatGTP have the potential to completely change the media landscape once again. The first two stages of development initially had the industry very unsettled. "I'm convinced we can do it this time," said Heimgartner. A lot has been learned from the last two bouts of change - also with a view to now developing profitable AI strategies.

However, many media companies are also facing new competitors. "We have to expect the barrier to market entry to fall," says the CEO of the View-Group. Moreover, existing offerings can't protect themselves from being captured by AI mechanisms. "Nothing will be too regional, too local or too niche anymore not to be discovered by crawlers." They won't stop at paywalls, either.

Nevertheless, Ladina Heimgartner appeals to colleagues in the industry to face the discussion about AI in the media with composure and openness and to be sure of their own strengths. "People are looking for people," she says. "We tell stories - and no one can do that as well as we can." (pp)

The European Publishing Congress will be held in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday and is aimed at executives from the fields of editorial, digital, design and management. It is supported by Readly, the Association of Austrian Newspapers (VÖZ), the province of Lower Austria and Brauunion Österreich.

According to Marc Zurbrügg, brand manager at Migros, M-Budget cookies are extremely popular with Gen Z and were among the best-selling cookies in the entire range.

The mini-cookies are not the first product to make its way onto Migros shelves via consumer voting. In the past, there have already been democratic votes on foods such as Blévita Gruyère, "Non" beer, and M-Budget "Tastea," among others. "Our customers and their needs are always at the center of Migros. That's why we like to leave it up to our young customers to decide which product should end up on the shelf. That's part of the Migros DNA, so to speak," says Zurbrügg.

Campaign is played out in three languages

Last year, Zeam had already successfully implemented the first joint content creations around the M-Budget brand. Recipes from the M-Budget range were recreated on TikTok and Instagram and posted via Street survey offered to the young target group for tasting.

For the next round, Zeam is bringing on board Swiss content creators such as Nathistyle, Wemmse, and Noah Bachofen. In addition, Swiss musician Nemo is on board to pick up Gen Z with the campaign's in-house "cookie beat." "You can look forward to some surprises," announces Michèl Kessler, Head of Creative at Zeam.

The screens of young people in Switzerland are to be reached primarily in 9:16 format. The Zurich agency Webrepublic is taking care of the distribution of the media content. The online-only campaign will run from June to the end of September and reach young people in Switzerland in Swiss German, Italian and French.

"We are thrilled to be working with the iconic brand and team at M-Budget again. We know how influential and demanding Generation Z is as a target group and look forward to providing them with content that meets their interests and needs," says Yaël Meier, Co-Founder of Zeam.

As in 1300, William Tell will stand up for freedom and justice for all people in 2023. As the protagonist of this year's LGBTIQA+ campaign by BCG and Jung von Matt Limmat, he is raising awareness in Switzerland together with over 30 well-known companies, including Swisscom, Roche, Novartis and UBS, for more diversity and a tolerant working environment. The campaign for LGBTIQ+ rights in the workplace was launched in 2019.

To emphasize that William Tell would be at the forefront of Zurich Pride in 2023, he was brought back to life using artificial intelligence. Thus, thanks to ChatGPT, Switzerland learns which speech he would give this year at the Pride demonstration parade.

The goal of this year's campaign is to convince especially those people of the openness towards a diverse community who are not yet. William Tell, the role model of this very conservative population, is intended to have an impact on this population group and make them think.

"I know exactly how important it is to fight against oppression."

In his speech, William Tell speaks about the relevance of a diverse Switzerland and says: "I believe that every human being has the right to live his love". As a Swiss pioneer in the fight for freedom and justice, Willhelm Tell is thus also a relevant voice against oppression and discrimination in 2023.

The speech of the Swiss national hero was published in full on Saturday as an advertisement in the Zurich Pride newspaper. New Zurich Newspaper to read. Likewise, it will be presented - on behalf of all participating companies - by Rubén Alejandro Ramirez, Group Head Diversity and Inclusion at Syngenta, in the evening at the official Zurich Pride rally on the Kasernenarel and recited by an AI-generated Wilhellm Tell voice.

Quotes from the speech will be published at DOOH locations in all major cities throughout Switzerland - in keeping with Tell's three central motifs: freedom, courage and standing up for the weak. Around ten communities, which two years ago were the most vehemently opposed to "marriage for all" by 70 percent or more, will also experience the campaign up close. Thus, Wilhelm Tell's words appear on the barn at the entrance to the village, on a billboard opposite their village pub, or travel along their streets on buses.

Responsible at BCG: Felix Gonzalez (PA Marketing Strategy Manager), Joachim Stephan (Managing Partner BCG Switzerland), Julian Glaeser (Consultant), Elisa Julia Zoccolillo (Communications intern). Responsible at Jung von Matt Limmat: Michel Nellen (Creative Amplification Direction), Natalie Friedrich (Art Direction), Wolfgang Bark (Managing Creative Director), Luitgard Hagl (Managing Creative Director, Agency Lead). External partners:inside: Blish, Scanwork, Setaprint.

You don't have to be perfect to protect the climate. With this simple and at the same time encouraging message, WWF wants to remind people in Switzerland that even small actions make a valuable contribution to protecting the climate.

The campaign designed by Wirz is already entering its third round with four new subjects. The message remains short and clear: No one has to completely give up anything to help the climate. Fewer flights, eating less meat, or less consumption in general already helps a lot.

However, less is more does not always apply. What would also help the climate would be more political participation. One current example is the vote on the climate protection law on Sunday. This is precisely what the campaign is promoting.

The other subjects can be seen as posters, DOOH, print ads and social media posts with different seasonal focuses throughout the year.

Responsible at WWF Switzerland: Jasmin Schmid (Head Marketing Communications), Lisa Bounoure (Project Manager Campaigns). Responsible at Wirz Group: Caspar Heuss, Matthias Fürst, Elena Gabriel, Morris Lötscher, Marleen Diener, Julia Keller, Nico Keramaris, Ruben Wegmann, Janna Löhr, Stephanie Ackermann, Erasmo Palomba, Oliver Fäs, Günter Prächt, Rahel Signer. Responsible at VisualEyes Artists: VisualEyes Artists (Photo and Film Production): Niv Shank (Photographer and Director), Nathalie Furrer (Producer), Marlise Isler (Styling), Natalija Fallocca (Photo Agent).

Anina Lesmann and Adrian Bossart were unanimously elected to the Suissedigital board at Wednesday's general meeting.

Anina Lesmann has been Managing Director of the multimedia network operator R. Geissmann in Oberdorf BL since September 2013. Through her work in various functions at this regional family business, the lawyer has been closely associated with the communications network industry for 20 years.

Adrian Bossart has been CEO of the Buchs Electricity and Water Works EWB since 2022, which also operates its own communications networks and, with "Rii Seez Net", one of the largest regional providers. Before joining EWB, he held various management positions at Swisscom and UPC, among others.

The two new board members replace Christa Köppel and Beat Ambühl, who served on the Suissedigital board for twelve and 14 years respectively.

Karin Blumer assumes her role as Head Corporate Affairs for Switzerland and Austria with immediate effect. Prior to joining BMS, Blumer, who holds a PhD in veterinary medicine and philosophy, spent more than two decades in various global and regional roles for Novartis in Basel. Among other things, she led European communications and global patient interaction for Novartis' cell and gene therapy business.

"Think globally - act locally' is a well-known motto that has accompanied me throughout my life. For many years, I had the privilege of dealing with pharmaceutical issues globally. But as exciting as that is, real implementation and real patient benefit always happen locally. I am very much looking forward to serving and supporting Switzerland and Austria, two very dynamic and exciting countries for BMS," says Blumer about her new position.

Originally from Munich, Germany, the pharmaceutical and communications expert succeeds Lisa Cichocki, who has been appointed Associate Director WW R&D Communications in Boudry as of April 2023 and will remain with BMS in this role on a global level.

The ADC of Europe ADCE will become part of The One Club for Creativity TOCC. As the European branch of TOCC, ADCE will drive programs such as the Executive Creative Summit, the free One School Portfolio Program, and an expansion of Portfolio Night in Europe. It will also give ADCE the opportunity to expand its own programs, such as Creative Express and Agency Exchange, into the U.S., Asia and other regions.

"The merger of ADC of Europe and The One Club of Creativity creates a global platform for creativity," says ADC Switzerland. "Synergies of both non-profit organizations are used to create more visibility and relevance for the creative industries, to promote creative excellence on an international level, and to make national and European ideas and values visible worldwide.

Integration in TOCC ranking

In the future, ADCE award winners will be integrated into the TOCC ranking. The ranking thus becomes the leading global industry ranking for agencies, brands, works and creatives. It now combines points from the One Show, the global ADC Annual Awards, the ADCE Awards, One Asia Creative Awards, The One Club US Chapter Awards and the Type Directors Club TDC competitions.

The memberships and programs of the two organizations will remain in place. New benefits are to be created through the joint development of new programs.

The cultural and culinary offerings of Zurich's Witikon district above Balgrist are extremely limited. So far, there have been few reasons for a detour to the highest part of the city of Zurich.

But now the tide is turning: The Reformed pastor Christoph Ammann and drummer Christian Niederer have signed up for the series "My Favorite Things - Jazz in Witikon" and would now like to attract people to the hall of the parish hall. About once a month, jazz fans of all ages - families are expressly welcome - come together here to enjoy live music and culinary delights.

The advertisers Adrian Schräder and Nino Zuberbühler, also based in Witikon, provide communicative support for the non-profit concert series. The colorful visual image - which can be seen on regular poster displays and in social media - was created by neo-Witiker Micha Kumpf, who specializes in identity design and brand development.

In addition, Schroten is currently developing communication measures for new clients Airline Assistance Switzerland, the eye clinic group Gutblick, Pro Infirmis, and the Zwhatt real estate project in Regensdorf.

Responsible at the association Jazz in Witikon: Christian Niederer, Christoph Ammann. Responsible for grist: Adrian Schräder (Text & Concept), Nino Zuberbühler (Consulting & Media), Micha Kumpf (Art Direction).

At Wednesday's Swiss Brand Congress, the challenges facing brands in today's fast-paced world were discussed under the motto "Brands in Challenge". Pascal Kreder from Strategy One coined the comparison to the ever faster turning hamster wheel.

Customer needs and consumer habits have changed, technological innovations are shaping the market, and communication takes place via diverse touch points. To remain successful, brands must be flexible, adaptable and authentic.

"The Swiss Brand Congress proved to be an indispensable guide in a dynamic brand landscape," said Patrick Seitter Program Manager of ESB Marketing Network. New strategies, business models and alternative courses of action were presented and intensively discussed. The dominant topics of the day were artificial intelligence (AI), purpose, channel diversity, data-driven marketing and the metaverse. In addition, there were trend checks in the area of influencer marketing and specific case studies, such as the "Lübeck Effect" and "Generation Next" presented by the Puma brand.

Constant change

Torsten Tomczak, brand specialist from the University of St.Gallen, presented a comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing brand management. His core message: "We are living in the coolest marketing age ever." However, he said, this only applies to those who are willing to change and are open to innovation. "Why should you fear AI and other tools? Among my students, the biggest dork now writes good papers thanks to ChatGPT," Tomczak jokes. You have to stay on the ball of development.

Godo Röben, the former CEO of Rügenwalder Mühle, makes this clear: "If the former giants of the record industry hadn't slept through the development, then today's largest streaming service wouldn't be called Spotify." Röben led meat processor Rügenwalder Mühle into a transformation early on (Werbewoche.ch reported). Against the advice of consultants and market researchers, the "meat brand" became the largest supplier in the field of one hundred percent meat copies. Röben appealed to the audience to courageously go new ways and actively adapt to the changes.

Does the future belong to AI?

"The future of marketing lies in artificial intelligence," says Marco Krättli of Google Switzerland. People are currently not even aware of the influence AI will have on their lives. Already today, many things can be completely automated. This saves time and offers the opportunity to deal with the important, strategic questions. "Advertisers control AI and AI empowers advertisers". AI is a great development. But it is only through collaboration with humans that AI unfolds its full potential. Eli Semic is also convinced of this, because "AI doesn't replace people and doesn't get the emotions across like a human can," says the influencer.

Campaign is all year

Digitalization has fundamentally changed the way customers interact with brands. Social media, influencer marketing and mobile applications are just a few examples of new communication channels that companies must use to reach their target groups. One mistake, he said, is to think only in terms of individual campaigns. "Campaign is always. Market cultivation is always," is how Dennis Lück of the BrinkertLück Creatives agency sums it up. Advertising goes far beyond that. Adriana M. Nueva from the CWS Group makes this clear: "B2B customers only have their first contact with a sales representative of the company after 57% of the purchasing process," she says. That's why the market has to be worked on continuously and not just in individual campaigns, she adds.

People are at the center of the campaign

"If the goal of marketing is to optimize consumer decisions, then campaigns are nothing more than behavioral economic experiments that focus on people, their needs and decisions," says Patricio Hetfleisch, CMO of Tirol Werbung. With marketmind, Tirol Werbung developed a tourism-specific market segmentation that resulted in seven segments grouped according to motives for the vacation decision. One insight from this: "Why is the new where to when it comes to destination and vacation decisions," says Hetfleisch.

Strong brands on the podium

Brands such as Uber Eats, Audi, Coca Cola, Die Post, IWC, Bayer, Siemens, Samsung and many more presented their own experiences and perspectives for discussion. They shared their own challenges and success stories and provided insights into their strategies for overcoming current challenges.

m&k advertisingweek.ch was present at this year's Brand Congress and spoke with Dennis Lück, Roger Oberholzer, Adrian Steiger and the newly elected "Marketing Thought Leader" of the Year 2023 Thomas Schwetje. Click here for the interviews.