In the work environment, people and relationship components are increasingly taking center stage. Creating a culture that retains talent, promotes commitment and strengthens teamwork so that individual potential is activated is more important today than ever before. With their new brand "Kraftplus", Sonia Soutter and Patricia Ehrbar want to address and support companies that want just that.

HR and communication comes together

The new brand combines the areas of personnel management and coaching with communication. "Communication runs through all processes of team building and culture development," Patricia Ehrbar is communicated in a release. The goal is, to support companies in their transformation. The two founders always put the individual person in the foreground and accompany companies in the long term in team building and cultural transformation to strengthen cooperation.

Many years of expertise

Sonia Soutter worked as a human resources manager in the retail, IT and industrial sectors. In 2000, she founded Werbekraft GmbH, the personnel agency in the communications sector and managed a team of up to six employees. At the same time, she continued her education in the field of human resources development, coaching, psychology and mediation. For more than five years, she has been advising agencies and SMEs at Werbekraft on personnel development and change and also works as a freelance mediator.

Patricia Ehrbar is a communications expert specializing in change, CEO and internal communications. She has several years of experience in leading and building teams. Among other things, she headed internal communications at the Federal Office for the Environment and served as a member of the executive board of a cooperative in Zurich. In addition to her licentiate in media and communication sciences, she has furthered her education in leadership, culture and personal development and today accompanies companies in transformation and change processes.

The digital news portal Watson has together with Bosch the cooking series vegetable roulette on its feet. In creative collaboration with Bosch, the Watson-video team came up with the idea and then implemented it in the Bosch showroom in Geroldswil.

Together with Glarus sous chef and food influencer Noah Bachofen conjures up Watson-Nico Franzoni creates great dishes from simple ingredients. The wheel of fortune determines which vegetables are to be prepared. In this way, a new, purely vegetable-based dish is created week after week in the Bosch showroom. The cooking series is intended to Watson-The recipes show the community how easy it is to cook healthy, fresh and delicious meals. With the help of the recipes, the dishes can be recreated at home.

"The creative collaboration with Bosch shows how content can be developed together with customers in the form of co-creations that offer users real added value," explains Thomas Müller, Chief Commercial Officer at Watson. "In this way, together with our partners, we manage to stage products with a wide reach in a credible environment."

"As a brand, you can only reach customers today with relevant, emotional content. This requires the courage to break new ground and invest in authentic concepts instead of advertising alone," says Regine Schoeller, Brand Communication Manager Central Europe Bosch.

The two presenters will take turns hosting, SRG announced Tuesday.

Born in 1981, Laura de Weck has been part of the "Literature Club" critics' panel since 2019. Her plays are performed worldwide. In addition, Laura de Weck has written columns for newspapers. The film and playwright has also written radio plays for SRF and the script for the series "Emma lügt". She also appeared as an actress in Zurich's "Tatort".

Jennifer Khakshouri, born in 1974, is a professional literary mediator. She already worked for SRF from 2005 to 2017, as an editor and presenter for Radio SRF 2 Kultur. (SDA)

Macroeconomic influences and inflation are actively affecting the purchasing behavior and brand awareness of private households. The latest ServiceNow study, conducted jointly with Opinium Research in March 2023, shows that two-thirds of Swiss consumers are less brand-loyal than they were two years ago, for example because they are switching to cheaper offers due to rising costs.

Since 60 percent of consumers state that they also have fundamentally higher expenses as a result of price increases, their attitude toward price developments has changed. Customers expect companies to recognize and meet their needs. To ensure long-term loyalty, it is important to personalize the customer experience, for example by offering individual discounts, product samples and proactive service. And that pays off: Around four-fifths (84 %) of consumers in Switzerland would be more loyal to companies where they feel they are understood as customers.

"Companies face the acute threat that consumers' previous brand loyalty will fall victim to rising inflation and a subdued economic outlook," said Armgard Eichhoff (pictured), solution consulting director at ServiceNow. "Although customers across industries are becoming more price-sensitive, now is not the time to cut corners on customer experience. Rather, it is currently more important than ever for companies to show their value and invest in a better as well as sustainable customer and employee experience to avoid the risk of price dumping."

Two-fifths of Swiss consumers (41 %) say they are spending more this year than they did twelve months ago, and this is particularly evident among the younger generation of 18- to 34-year-olds (58 %). In comparison, only 25 percent are spending less now and 33 % have seen no change in their spending.

Consumers become aware of the importance of their data

In a time characterized by innovative technologies, consumers are more security- and data-conscious than ever. Companies that do not take security measures run the risk of falling behind in the race for consumer loyalty - across all industries.

The survey found that the security of personal data is now considered one of the most important factors (92 %) when dealing with companies. In fact, data security is on a par with the key factors of problem-solving customer service staff (93 %), customer service response times (92 %) and seamless service (91 %). A look at the age structure of the consumers surveyed reveals that the protection of personal data is extremely important for all age groups. Both the group aged between 35 and 54 with 92% and the over-55s with 93 % are equally security-conscious. With 92 %, this also applies to the group of 18-34 year old consumers.

"Companies must continue to invest in technology to sustainably improve customer satisfaction. Data transparency is crucial here so that consumers can be sure that their personal data is treated with the highest priority and sensitivity. Because without trust in security, the customer experience suffers significantly and thus jeopardizes the important brand loyalty," warns Eichhoff.

Offer omni-channel service for consumers

The survey also shows how important it is for companies to offer an omni-channel service in order to cover the preferences of all customers and thus ensure an optimal customer experience. While traditional e-mail is still the preferred communication channel, chatbots, for example, which are currently rated as "very important" by only 18 percent, offer a good opportunity to use new technologies in a holistic approach. And the trend is rising, because almost two-thirds of consumers (63 %) say they would be more loyal to companies that invest in technologies that offer better customer service.

If we now look directly at individual sectors, we can see slight differences in characteristics despite the uniform choice of communication tools - e-mail, call centers and apps. When it comes to the general customer experience, a good third (39 %) of respondents believe that retail offers the best experience compared to all other industries. Rounding out the top three are healthcare (39%) and consumer technology (26%). For government communications, 16% prefers e-mail. E-mail communication is followed by call center services except for fintech and traditional banking for which apps are in second place.

Focusing specifically on chatbots, solving the problem is considered most important (42 %), followed by understanding questions (36 %), being able to talk to a real person, and fast response times (both 33 %). Ease of use (26 %), security (26 %), and being clearly labeled as a chatbot service (20 %) are also considered important.

"Companies need to understand that a good customer experience should be equally available on all channels. To ensure this, they should rely on networked platforms. This goes hand in hand with a good understanding of the customer and investment in technology. Automated processes in customer service, such as chatbot services, can become a game changer in the future. Although they are not yet being used sufficiently by consumers, the potential is undisputed. Companies are currently investing heavily in this area - and advances in AI mean that their capabilities will continue to grow. There is a big opportunity to promote chatbots within an omni-channel service approach," says Armgard Eichhoff.

Employee experience can influence consumer brand loyalty

An important point that is often neglected in the consideration of the customer experience: the employee experience (EX) also has an impact on the customer experience (CX) and thus on brand loyalty. 90 % of consumers state that when choosing the right company, it is important for them that the employees are treated well. And about two-thirds (70 %) agree that they would be more likely not to work with a company if they knew employees were unhappy.

But how do companies achieve high employee satisfaction? Salary (52 %) is still the top priority. Other important aspects include flexible, hybrid working, training and development, employee benefits and good HR support, as well as optimal technical devices and technical support. In general, brands that deliver on their value proposition maintain their position even in times of uncertainty.

"The results of our study show that consumers and employees alike have high expectations of companies. In order to remain competitive, build strong customer and employee loyalty and ultimately increase brand loyalty, it is crucial to address the needs of employees (EX) as representatives of the company and offer a pleasant working environment. A strategically set up Total Experience is mandatory," concludes Armgard Eichhoff.

The Study was commissioned by ServiceNow and conducted by Opinium Research in March 2023. The survey asked 13,000 adults aged 18 and over in nine EMEA countries - Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates - including 1,000 respondents in Switzerland, about their attitudes towards customer and employee experience.

The Central European Chapter of the ICCA is a network of organizations and companies active in the congress industry in Central Europe. The network aims to promote cooperation, exchange of experience and development of the industry. The chairmanship of the Central European Chapter offers Zürich Tourism the opportunity to further raise the city's profile as a business destination, the destination organization wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Vanessa Reis takes over from Karina Grützner, head of Stuttgart Convention Bureau. The post underscores Zurich's position as a leading business destination in the international congress and events sector, it adds. The Convention Bureau is constantly working to attract international conventions and business events to the destination. With Vanessa Reis as ICCA chairwoman, this strategic thrust is to be advanced.

Tamedia expands its business field to include the journalistic B2B sector. With the launch of the "VerkehrsMonitor" under the new umbrella brand "Tamedia Monitor," the company is creating a journalistic information portal for the traffic and mobility industry in Switzerland.

The move into B2B is a logical development, according to a statement. The decision to enter B2B journalism with a scalable model is also based on successful examples from other countries, where B2B verticals are a useful addition to traditional media offerings.

The "VerkehrsMonitor" wants to provide companies and employees of the transport and mobility industry with new journalistic contributions on a daily basis. This will be done via a comprehensive newsletter and a website. An editorial team made up of mobility experts will research and write the articles for the VerkehrsMonitor. The articles will be published exclusively on VerkehrsMonitor.

The startup is headed by Philippe Müller, project manager for digital transformation at Tamedia. The new editorial team consists of six members and is headed by Gregor Poletti, previously page maker and editor in Tamedia's Switzerland department. Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Head of Journalism at Tamedia, has journalistic responsibility for the project.

The editorial team of the VerkehrsMonitor also includes René Sutter in Sales as well as Benjamin Bitoun, Franziska Frey, Angelika Gurtner, Peter Ilg and Michael Schenk. Benjamin Bitoun comes from the Bernese Newspaper, Franziska Frey from the media office of Regional Transport Bern-Solothurn (RBS) and Angelika Gurtner from the business department of the Tages-Anzeiger. Michael Schenk was formerly editor-in-chief at the Automotive Review and Peter Ilg is a freelance mobility journalist.

"We expect a lot from our new B2B portals, which we intend to build up successively in the coming years," says Mathias Müller von Blumencron. "Many industry players rely on precise and specialist information. We want to serve them with our excellent team of experts. The core of our product is in-depth expertise, topicality and a high level of understanding of the needs of the target audience."

The business model of the B2B project envisages that companies can purchase multiple licenses of the TrafficMonitor to enable their employees to access the platform.

The official launch of the Tamedia Traffic Monitor is planned after the summer vacations. The new team will start work as early as the beginning of July 2023.

"The digitization of our everyday lives is advancing relentlessly. Nowhere is this more evident than in media usage. Virtually all channels are now, at least in part, digital," says Peter Petermann, Head of Strategy at Wunderman Thompson. "We have been studying and documenting these changes with the Wunderman Thompson Media Use Index for 14 years now. We want to use it to help advertisers communicate better with their target audiences."

In this year's study, Wunderman Thompson adjusted the focus of the analysis: Less "classic" media and hardware, more digital channels and content. By means of a representative online survey, in cooperation with sister agency EssenceMediacom, around 2,500 people between the ages of 16 and 69 were questioned.

The study provides insights into the media usage and information behavior of the Swiss population, particularly on the topics of streaming, gaming, social media, influencers and e-commerce. A separate deep dive on the trend topic of "social commerce" also shows how social media is increasingly establishing itself as an additional sales channel.

Media use in transition: from URL to IRL

While the last few years were characterized by increased media use - not least due to the influence of the Covid 19 pandemic - a change can be seen again for the first time: Compared to the previous year, almost all media surveyed are losing ground in daily use. The Swiss:in the meantime seem to prefer to spend their everyday life again IRL - "in real life" - rather than online. Particularly affected here are "classic" channels such as radio, daily newspapers and general-interest magazines. But TV and short videos are also watched less frequently.

But there are also clear winners in terms of usage intensity: gaming, podcasts and music streaming are rising in monthly usage. Social media can also still make slight gains and is just in second place in daily usage. The data used covers the entire year 2022.

Gaming becomes the new mainstream

What is particularly exciting is that gaming is establishing itself as a new mainstream: More than half of the Swiss population has already had contact with the topic, and the trend is increasing every year. The study shows that gaming is not only being actively pursued, but is increasingly becoming a spectator event, just like other sports and entertainment formats.

Role of social media is changing

For a long time, the definition of social media was characterized by exchange among users. The study now shows a change in usage: 42 percent of respondents active on social media use the platforms for entertainment. Only in second place, with 40 percent, is social media primarily used for contact with friends and families. Communicating and sharing one's own opinions is becoming less relevant. Social media is therefore developing away from a channel for social contacts and toward a news and entertainment channel.

Influence of Influencer:inside

"Influencers are now a serious channel for brands, not just as content creators, but along the entire funnel," explains Peter Petermann. "They accompany the customer journey all the way to the sale, because this is increasingly taking place online."

A total of 42 percent of Swiss people regularly follow various influencers, and in Gen Z the figure is as high as 75 percent. Influencers are perceived as more inspiring, entertaining and informative than the offerings of traditional media and advertising. For this reason, they are becoming advisors in the purchasing process for more and more Swiss people: for up to 30 percent of the total population, an influencer recommendation has a significant influence on the purchase decision. Among the youngest, up to 25 years of age, the figure is even higher.

The ongoing boom in e-commerce

98 percent of the Swiss population between the ages of 16 and 69 have already purchased products or services online, and there are virtually no age differences in e-commerce anymore. According to the study, the main driver of booming e-commerce is convenience: "Convenience" and "independence from opening hours" are named most frequently. Price only comes in fourth place in Switzerland.

Social commerce is becoming more and more popular

In a separate deep dive conducted in March 2023, this year's Media Use Index highlights the trending topic of "social commerce," digital shopping in the context of social media. The study shows that social media is increasingly establishing itself as an additional sales channel and that social commerce is therefore a perfectly acceptable form of shopping for around one third of respondents. According to Petermann, it will no longer be necessary to distinguish between "normal" shopping and e-commerce and social commerce.

"A large part of life is increasingly taking place on social media" says Giselle Vaugne, Co-CEO Wunderman Thompson. "This insight from this MUI study is essential for us. Brands that want to be relevant across all age groups in the future will have to face the challenge of advertising in a more fragmented and channel-specific way depending on the target audience."

During SEF, Unicef will showcase future designs by twelve creative artists on Thursday and Friday. Under the motto "Make. Future. Happen." they were commissioned to create visual worlds for Unicef Switzerland and Liechtenstein with the help of artificial intelligence AI. The results should capture the views of the creatives and visually open up new perspectives. The ideas should arouse curiosity about a tomorrow in which children grow up healthy, protected and educated. Because Unicef is convinced that strong children are needed for a better future.

For more than 75 years, Unicef has been using new technologies to improve the lives of children. The "Giga" project, for example, aims to connect every school to the Internet. The current topic of AI also has many implications for children and young people. It offers new opportunities, but also poses risks. In order to protect, promote and take children and young people seriously in the development, implementation and use of AI systems, the Unicef developed nine recommendations.

"AI will have an impact on the future of every child. With the visions of the AI creatives, Unicef presents itself at the SEF to the decision-makers from the business world as a pioneer and partner. The goal, together with them we want to make the future better for children. In short: Make Future Happen," explains Marc Uricher, Head of Digital & Media at Unicef.

Since the end of May, 22 different views have been shown on posters in Interlaken. They are each explicitly marked as AI-generated motifs.

Responsible at Unicef Switzerland & Liechtenstein: Marc Uricher, Felix Freese, Grit Wolany (Freelance), Patricija Slekyte, Alexandra Pellanda, Kate Foster, Florian Hadatsch, Anja Geissbergerova.

The "Metaverse Barometer Switzerland 2023" is intended to generate insights into the perception and use of the Metaverse and the attitude of the Swiss population toward new technologies. The study aims to gain early insights into these developments and to identify opportunities. After all, the advent of the metaverse and associated technologies will not only open up new creative opportunities, but will also evolve and change the behavior of individuals and consumers. 426 people living in Switzerland took part in an online survey.

Half are interested in the metaverse

According to the study, only a few people in Switzerland are familiar with the concept of the Metaverse. Those who are already familiar with it show a greater affinity for the technology, have already used the Metaverse more often and are mostly male. In terms of the European average, Switzerland is in the middle of the field, but lags significantly behind the leading countries worldwide.

"However, the situation is quite different for the group of people who are enthusiastic about new technologies and pick them up at an above-average rate," says Tobias Schlager, study leader and professor of marketing at the University of Lausanne and head of the Consumer Technology Research Lab. "Early adopters are 85 percent convinced that the Metaverse is the future. 80 percent think it will replace most physical interactions. They're optimistic and excited about it."

Metaverse for further education, leisure and entertainment

74 percent of Swiss citizens have already heard of the Metaverse, but only 11 percent are familiar with it. At 48 percent, however, just under one in two is curious about the new virtual world. Lukas Diem, Strategy Director and Member of the Executive Board of TBWA\Zurich, cites the following as the most important reasons for future use: "76 percent of the Swiss want to use the Metaverse in the future for further education, 69 percent for leisure and entertainment, 67 percent for virtual travel and cultural experiences. For companies concerned, this means that their presence on the Metaverse will make sense in the future."

Further, the survey shows that 48 percent are curious about using the Metaverse and 35 percent are apprehensive at the thought of it. The biggest current concerns include: Privacy risks, a disconnect from real life, cyber bullying, potential costs and environmental impact.

Hesitant optimism toward new technologies

Although new technologies are always accompanied by concerns, the Swiss population is basically positive about them. Swiss people are willing to try out virtual reality VR and are clearly positive about augmented reality AR, even if they still do not recognize the technology enough in everyday life. With regard to artificial intelligence AI, there is also a mixed combination of concern and positive expectations that AI will handle most simple tasks in the future.

Despite the mixed feelings, the potential seems to be recognized in many cases. "With the metaverse and associated technologies, we will not only be confronted with new and exciting creative tools, but our behavior as consumers:inside will also evolve and change," says Lukas Diem, of TBWA in Zurich. This development in the Swiss population offers opportunities and should encourage companies and brands to increasingly engage with new technologies.

The study results at a glance

Metaverse

Few Swiss are well acquainted with the concept of Metaverse. Those who are already more familiar with it are more tech-savvy, have already used the Metaverse (more often) and are predominantly male. 42 percent of respondents say they are at least somewhat familiar with the Metaverse. The remaining 58 percent still seem to be unfamiliar with it. A quarter (26 percent) even say they have never heard of the Metaverse. This puts Switzerland in line with the European average, but well behind the international leaders. 

Artificial intelligence

The majority believe that AI will do most simple tasks, but the feelings associated with it are mixed: Swiss:ins are curious but also concerned, are optimistic and fearful at the same time. The rapid developments in the application of AI raise questions about boundaries and control, which also raises data protection, privacy and security concerns. Nevertheless, Swiss:ins intend to use the technology more frequently in the future.

Cryptocurrencies

Although awareness of cryptocurrencies is relatively high and the technology has the largest share (7 percent) of daily users, more than half of Swiss people have never used the payment method. As far as future use is concerned, only a weak increase is to be expected in Switzerland. Most Swiss have heard of cryptocurrencies, but they have ambivalent feelings about them. The most common feeling (32 percent) about crypto is apprehension. In general, expectations of the technology seem to be restrained.

Virtual Reality

The study results show that the Swiss population is open to virtual reality and that neither attitudinal nor emotional barriers stand in the way of mass acceptance. This is good news for companies that want to use the technology, because Swiss consumers do not have any negative preconceived ideas about it that they might associate with a brand.

Augmented reality

Surprisingly, Swiss respondents say they do not know or fully understand AR, even though the technology has been a part of daily life for several years. However, the attitude toward AR is clearly positive.

Interested parties can here download a management summary or order the entire study.

The Ringier media group has bought a Portuguese sports newspaper rich in tradition. The Ringier subsidiary Sports Media Group RSMG and the Portuguese owner Vicontrol SGPS S.A. would have signed a corresponding agreement for the purchase of A Bola (newspaper, digital and TV) and the magazine AutoFoco Ringier announced on Tuesday.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the next few weeks. The parties have agreed not to disclose the sales price or the valuation of the acquired parts of the company. (SDA)

During the last three match days, 92 portrait screens in shopping and fitness centers, along streets and in the airport in the canton of Geneva provided continuous and live information on the matches and results of the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the tennis tournament.

According to Neo Advertising, the campaign generated more than 350,000 broadcasts, more than ten million impressions, and thus a great deal of advertising pressure. Each broadcast referenced upcoming, current and past games in real time. The advertising media included information on the day, time and type of matches, information about the matches, live scores during the matches, past final scores, announcements and calls to buy tickets.

The dynamic elements had led to visitors:inside actively following the results for several minutes. "The combination of programmatic flexibility with content dynamics opens up new worlds within the medium," Florian Walz, CDO at Neo Advertising, is quoted as saying in the release.

"When the team at Neo proposed a programmatic campaign to us, we immediately agreed," adds Marion Duvillard, Operations Manager at Gonet Geneva Open. They were delighted to reach out to the tennis community in this "impactful and unique way".

Neo Advertising executed the campaign in close collaboration with Broadsign, Splicky and Cynapsis.

The agency gave the puzzle game an adventurous touch with the narration around the "haunting of Migros". The key visual is also intended to be reminiscent of Hollywood and picks up the story around the abandoned branch. For the promotional campaign, the agency put pen to paper in the conception phase and followed through to the execution of the advertising materials. The campaigning included the message and design concept as well as the media planning and social strategy.

The community deciphers

The haunted Migros store is designed to appeal to the core target group, which is digital and has an affinity for puzzle games. The communication concept focuses on simplicity: easy-to-understand messages - and the entry thresholds are also removed in communicative terms.

Getting on the nerves of Migros customers

The advertising materials for Migros' own channels and third-party media are supplemented by content on social media. The strategy relies on entertainment. For example, Ese has ghosts cleaning the store and products going crazy in a prank format.

To create organic reach, influencers like Flavio Leu also experience the haunting firsthand and play out content about the spooky adventure on their own channels.

"M-Escape: Haunted Migros" is playable from Tuesday. In the coming weeks, every purchase can fill the stamp card and unlock new content. For clever minds with strong nerves.

Responsible at Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund: Samuel Huber, Raphael Jung, Melani Zadro. Responsible at Ese Agency: Elia Binelli (contact person), Severin Gamper (art director), Emanuel Ernst, Damian Steffen (concept), Ian Weber, Šejla Husić, Aline Braun, Lara Groll (production).