Also this year, ZKB wants to underline its commitment under the motto "We live diversity" in an entertaining way and has realized the trailer film "Romeo, Juliet and Paola" together with TBWA\Zurich and Stories. The world-famous tragedy was restaged by the Giger brothers and gets a new and surprising twist for Pink Apple. In keeping with the film's message of "retelling stories."

Responsible at ZKB: Markus Sulzer (Project Manager Corporate Citizenship). Responsible at TBWA\Zurich: Manuel Wenzel, Angelo Sciullo, Katharina Binder, Sarah Rüegger (creation), Jasmine Segginger (consulting). Responsible at Stories: Flurin and Silvan Giger (Directing), Silvan Giger (DoP), Julia Morf (Styling/Props), Erica Büsser, Patrick Kästli (Make-Up), Yves Bollag & Michèle Seligmann (Exe. Producer), Heike Schreyer (Production Coordinator), Flurin & Silvan Giger (Editing), Chenyi Guo, Leance Volschenk (Postproduction Coordinator), Jürgen Kupka (Color Grading), Tonstudio Z (Sound Design, Mixing). Special thanks to: Theater Neumarkt, Villa Bleuler, Eberle Filmequipment, Blowup-Studio Licht.

The funding project, which is supported by the German-French-Swiss Upper Rhine Conference ORK and the Tri-National Metropolitan Region Upper Rhine TMO, offers apprentices with a vocational school background in the border region of Switzerland, Germany and France the chance to gain professional experience in a neighboring country during their apprenticeship, usually by completing a four-week internship.

The Euregio certificate thus acts as a door opener for companies in the border region. In addition, it is a benefit for companies as well as for trainees and vocational students and thus increases the attractiveness of training in the Upper Rhine region.

The new mandate of CR Basel includes the revision and renewal of the basic communication measures for the Euregio certificate, from the conception of the corporate design to posters, social media measures and flyers.

The group lives "the claim to shape the future of communication and to serve customers even better," according to a statement. In addition to the best talent, this also requires effectively combining the multitude of disciplines and competencies. To this end, the Publicis Group has created two new key positions in the management team. The goal: to position the Group even better in the competition for the best talent and to maximize the value for its customers.

Jarina Jauch takes on the newly created position of Chief People & Culture Officer. Formerly at Deloitte, she is responsible for further strengthening the collaborative spirit and culture of diversity that Agency Group has built and developed in recent years. "In the consulting world, there is great self-confidence in presenting itself to talent as an outstanding employer and career station. Here, the agency world has every reason to step up," Jauch is quoted as saying in the release. "Because the creative freedom, the career opportunities that young employees in particular have in an internationally networked agency like Publicis Groupe can hardly be offered by anyone else." The spirit and energy that the agency conveys must now be carried into the job market, he said. "So that we can reach the people who can do what tomorrow's clients need, along with the incredible diversity of people, cultures and skills at Publicis Groupe."

With Pascal Winkler, the Group gains a brand strategist and Swiss returnee for the position of Chief Strategy Officer. He brings 18 years of experience in Australia, Asia and Germany. At Publicis Groupe, he will use his interdisciplinary background to combine the diversity of disciplines and offer clients solutions from a single source.

"I am delighted to be able to rediscover my home country again, both professionally and privately - also to be able to bundle newspapers once again after 18 years - only we in Switzerland do that," says Winkler. "I would also like to use this fresh view for my task as a strategist: to understand human behavior in a cultural and social context, and from this to define a beneficial role for brands. At the same time, it excites me to adapt my international experience for Switzerland."

Jarina Jauch and Pascal Winkler join the management team of Publicis Groupe in Zurich with Edgar Magyar, Bianca Gay, Dirk Lux under the leadership of CEO Alexander Haldemann.

The Digital Commerce Award honors the best Swiss online stores. The main categories reflect the different customer orientation and various product range categories of the online retailers. Basic criteria such as usability, data quality and customer support are weighted equally in all categories. For the enthusiasm factors, however, the focus is different in each category. The special categories are for all online retailers who have outstanding solutions for their customers in the selected areas. In addition, the "Digital Commerce Champion" is chosen annually.

For this year's edition, five nominees were selected in each of the 16 categories, who excelled in different criteria depending on the category and thus stood out from the competition. The nominated stores have proven that they have unique skills and competencies to meet the needs of their customers in an innovative and effective way.

The nominees at a glance

Category B2B Usability & Content

• Alltron: alltron.ch
• Bechtle: bechtle.com/ch
• Hebetech: hbt-ag.ch
• Jordi: printzessin.ch
• Motorex-Bucher Group:motorex-com

Category B2B Services and Process Integration

• Alltron: alltron.ch/en
• Bechtle: bechgtle.com/ch
• Bühler:buhlertest.ch
• Hebetech: hbt-ag.ch/en
• Thommen Medical:thommenmedical.com

Category B2B Mobile Solution

• Bühler: buhlertest.ch
• Electrical material: apple.com/ch/app/electric-material-em-app/id1177937326
  play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droids.em.elektromaterial&hl=en_CH&gl=US&pli=1
• Jordi:printzessin.ch
• Pestalozzi: apple.com/ch/app/pestalozzi-haustech-mobile/id1586975667
• Thommen Medical: thommenmedical.com

Category Fashion & Accessories

• adretto: adretto.ch
• CH: jeans.ch
• namuk: namuk.com
• NIKIN:nikin.ch
• Risch Shoes:risch-shoes.com

Category Lifestyle & Hobby

• CH: brack.ch
• feey: feey.ch
• Migros Specialty Market:sportxx.ch/en
• MyCamper: mycamper.ch
• Vergani + Co: vergani.ch

Category Home & Living

• feey: feey.ch
• HORNBACH DIY store (Switzerland): hornbach.ch
• isenzio: curtainbox.ch
• livom furniture:livom.ch
• ofinto: ofinto.ch

Category Beauty & Care

• CH: brack.ch
• Indyvit: indyvit.com
• Juna Period: junaperiod.com
• No Bullsh!t:nobullshit.care
• Zero waste:kiyo-natural.com

Category Food & Gastronomy

• Confiserie Sprüngli: spruengli.ch
• Coop Cooperative: coop.ch
• HIESTAND Switzerland: hiestand.ch
• Madame Sum: madamesum.com
• Vergani + Co: vergani.ch

Category Small Business

• Appenzell belt: appenzeller-belt.com
• Indyvit: indyvit.com
• namuk: namuk.com
• No Bullsh!t: nobullshit.care
• ofinto:ofinto.ch

Category Marketplaces & Platforms

• Bühler: mybuhler.com
• Farmy: farmy.ch
• Health Service 365; commissioned by CSS: enjoy365.ch
• OWIBA: iba.ch
• Zaster: zaster.ch

Category Subscription & Rental Models

• adretto:adretto.ch
• MyCamper: mycamper.ch
• TEES: rent-a-friend.ch
• yamo: yamo.bio
• Yuno: yuno.ch

Omni-Channel & Innovation Category

• Bühler: mybuhler.com
• Confiserie Sprüngli: spruengli.ch
• Coop Cooperative: coop.ch
• Lifting tech: hbt-ag.ch
• isenzio: curtainbox.ch

Category Brands & Manufacturer

• Dagsmejan Ventures: dagsmejan.ch
• feey:  feey.ch
• Indyvit: indyvit.com
• Jordi: printzessin.ch
• namuk:namuk.com

Sustainability category

• CIRCLEHub: circleshop.ch
• FRIDAY lab..: f-cut.ch
• namuk: namuk.com
• NIKIN: nikin.ch
• Secend: secend.ch

Startup category

• BINS AND BOXES: binsandboxes.ch
• kleandrop: kleandrop.ch
• livom furniture: livom.ch
• Secend: secend.ch
• The Other Walk: theotherwalk.ch

Generation Z category

• CH: brack.ch
• feey: feey.ch
• Jordi: printzessin.ch
• Madame Sum: madamesum.com
• Yuno: ch

The fourth survey wave of the study "Artificial Intelligence - the Future of Marketing" shows that AI is finally being used in marketing. In the past five years, the number of skeptics has fallen by over 67 percent, according to the study. At the same time, the use of artificial intelligence has increased significantly by 53.2 percent over the same period.

Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement - not in AI, but in the human factor. The study shows that for more than 60 percent of marketing managers, AI training will be a challenge.

For the study, the team led by Prof. Dr. Claudia Bünte again surveyed marketing managers in the DACH region in 2023. Bünte, a marketing expert at SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, has been investigating how the use of AI in marketing is developing since 2018.

170 experts took part in the fourth wave of the survey, 77 percent of them managers. The study shows that after initial hesitation, the use of AI in marketing is finally increasing significantly: Marketing managers now use AI in all five core areas of marketing - consumer insights, strategy, product/price, advertising/sales and performance management.

AI supports both external tasks around customer interaction and internal tasks such as simplifying work and working more effectively and efficiently.

Around 86 percent of respondents also believe that the importance of AI in marketing will increase even further in the future. They plan to make even greater use of AI and see the technology as a decisive factor for the success of the company. "The fact that it would take so long for AI to be used across the board in marketing surprised us," Claudia Bünte comments on the results of the study.

The reasons for the increasing use are the increased experience of marketing managers and their better knowledge of AI. 81.1 percent, for example, use software-as-a-service (SaaS), many of them significantly more than in the past three years, and have thus been able to gain more experience with AI-based tools. "Apparently, the performance of off-the-shelf software that can be bought in is now so good that it can be used," Bünte continues.

For the human factor, new challenges are derived from the current development: Over 60 percent of respondents state that AI training of employees will be a challenge. Companies should therefore invest in the AI training of their employees in order to fully exploit the potential of AI.

The intensive use of AI is currently comparatively low among the respondents at 18.8 percent. The AI software solutions used are not yet part of fixed processes, and the possibilities of SaaS tools are not yet fully exploited. Around a third of managers rate their knowledge of AI as below average. This also applies to managers. "Systematic training is particularly important for AI tools, as new applications are constantly coming onto the market, such as ChatGPT," explains Bünte.

Education and training of human team members will therefore become all the more important within the next few years in order to familiarize them with the efficient, professional handling of artificially intelligent technologies. It is likely that new professions will emerge from this - such as the prompt designer:in.

But the right use of AI pays off: Those who use AI in their company are significantly more likely to say they are more successful than the competition. And 77 percent of respondents who work with AI in marketing say AI is at least one factor in their success. The managers also expect AI to be a decisive factor for success in the future.

Accordingly, the study concludes that AI in marketing - after initial hesitation - is now finally being deployed, but not yet fully utilized. Moreover, it is becoming critical to success. However, to leverage the full potential of AI, people are important: more knowledge, more training, and more experience can help leverage AI for business success. Companies should therefore invest specifically in internal AI training and be open to new structures and experts in order to fully exploit the opportunities AI already offers and will offer in the future for corporate success.

The consistent expansion of renewable energies is necessary to replace fossil energies and achieve the net zero targets. This includes not only sun, wind and water for the production of natural electricity. Green heating and cooling and green electromobility also make an important contribution.

The realization of future-proof energy systems is costly and takes a long time; they are generational projects. "The goal of Ewz's new energy campaign is to show that today's generation must proactively assume responsibility in order to make the environment livable for future generations," explains Katrin Rüesch, campaign manager at Ewz.

The striking implementation is intended to dramatize with proud adults and children that energy is an issue for today and tomorrow. The implementation of the new generation campaign is based on a concept by Ruf Lanz, which has been further developed by Ewz.

Posters raise awareness of this on the streets of Zurich. On the streetcar, interested parties can use the "Züri Energy Quiz test their knowledge and delve deeper with fun facts. A hub with further information is available on the landing page Ewz.ch/energyfuture.

Responsible at Ewz: Katrin Rüesch (Campaign Management), Roland Trabadelo (Conception), Philipp Schad (Campaigning), Janett Schröder (Gamification), Hadrien Jean-Richard (Social Media), Pascal Schaub (Head of Marketing and Communication). Basic concept: Call Lanz. Photography: Mirjam Kluka. Creative Services: Katrin Lohmann (Visualeyes International).

The public prosecutor's office of the Grisons has brought charges against two people for allegedly granting advantages. The reason for this was that Arosa Bergbahnen had given ski passes free of charge to local politicians and members of the authorities. Such gifts could be an illegal attempt to exert influence.

In recent years, SGV had provided media outlets with free tickets for their employees. This "long-standing tradition" was carried out "independently of persons" to the editorial offices, says the letter, which the company sent to the recipients of the cards. The letter is available to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

SGV collects annual passes

The indictment by the Grisons public prosecutor's office calls this practice into question, the SGV explained. Even if media representatives were not public officials and authorities, it could not be ruled out that the handing out of free tickets was an unlawful act under the Criminal Code.

The SGV management and board of directors therefore pulled the emergency brake. They would no longer issue annual passes to members of the media and would reclaim the passes that had already been issued and were still valid. "In this way, we ensure that both sides do not run the risk of getting caught up in an unwanted criminal investigation." (SDA)

This opens a new chapter in the extended legal dispute between the Chamber of Commerce and the Basel Newspaper. In 2018, the Chamber of Commerce had filed a lawsuit against the newspaper and in particular against a former local editor for unfair competition.

The complaint was directed in particular against a series of articles about the role of the Chamber of Commerce in labor market controls, which was described as opaque, and the questioned validity of collective labor agreements in the painting and plastering trade.

In October 2021, the cantonal court largely upheld the Chamber of Commerce. It condemned the Basel Newspaper to delete nine reports on the described machinations of the Chamber of Commerce in full and three others in part (Werbewoche.ch reported).

In addition, the newspaper was ordered to pay the SME association damages of around 115,000 Swiss francs.

Tamedia and the editor concerned appealed against this ruling to the Federal Supreme Court. In accordance with the ruling, the Federal Supreme Court set aside 17 paragraphs of the decision of the Cantonal Court of Baselland and referred "the matter back to the Cantonal Court for a new decision" in the sense of the considerations not elaborated upon for the time being.

Long-running legal dispute

This means that a new chapter is about to begin in the long-running legal dispute. In addition to the civil lawsuit, the chamber of commerce in the canton of Baselland also took criminal action against the journalist. However, the criminal proceedings, which included charges of violating official secrecy and defamation, were recently dismissed by the cantonal court.

Still pending is the ruling of the civil court in Basel-Stadt, where the Chamber of Commerce has also filed a lawsuit.

The Chamber of Commerce has already taken a similar case to the Federal Supreme Court. In April 2022, Switzerland's highest court had drawn a line in the legal dispute with Radio SRF's Regionaljournal that was detrimental to the Chamber of Commerce. In terms of content, it had been about the same issues that now the Basel-Land Cantonal Court is considering in the case of the Basel Newspaper has to reassess. (SDA)

The former gymnast Ariella Kaeslin and the former wrestling king Matthias Sempach are ambassador and ambassador of Hüsler Nest. In the film, they and other people go about their daily work with joy and verve. If the night was restful and the sleep deep, everything succeeds - as the claim "Good night. Good day" is supposed to show.

The pivotal point of the story is the moment when all the characters fall into bed in the evening, fulfilled, their haven of rest. "I wanted to capture the Hüsler Nest brand, which stands for nature, healthy sleep and the highest quality with perfected craftsmanship, in a strong and timeless visual world," says director Fabian Weber. He received a Carte Blanche for this. For the repositioning concept, he wrote the story, which works across generations and shows how closely intertwined man and nature are at Hüsler Nest.

Lilian Lüthi and Marc Haas from Frame Eleven are satisfied with the result: "Fabian Weber's directing work struck us several times with its high-quality and subtle implementation. His style perfectly matched our idea of how we wanted to implement the Hüsler Nest world," says Lüthi. "Frame Eleven and Fabian Weber felt and understood the Hüsler Nest brand from the very beginning," adds Susanne Erlacher-Härtel, Head of Marketing Communications at Hüsler Nest. In parallel, Hüsler Nest has developed a new brand and communication concept.

The film now adorns the homepage of the new website and is used selectively through clips on social media channels. Erlacher-Härtel says: "We have long wanted an image film that transfers the 'nest feeling', our philosophy and our brand values in a modern and emotional way."

Responsible at Hüsler Nest: Adrian Hüsler, Patrick Egloff, Susanne Erlacher-Härtel. Responsible at Frame Eleven + Partners (production): Lilian Lüthi, Fabien Pannatier, Marc Haas, Oliver Aemisegger. Concept/Script: Fabian Weber (Director). Production: Fabian Weber, Susen Gehle, Andy Lusti (Text), Fabian Weber (DoP), Nils Gabelgaard (1. AC), Fabien Pannatier (2. AC), Joel Tweitmann, Kenny Looser (Set decorators), Tatjana Kotoric (Styling), Noémie Bellwald (Hair/Make-up), Christoph Eser, Roman Brändli, Simon Wyss, Raphael Toel, Daniel Bleuer (Lighting), Niklaus Delley, Till Schlatter (Grip), Oliver Don (Editing), Jürgen Kulka (Grading), Dmitry Evgrafov (Music), Denis Elmaci (Sounddesign/Mix), Matthias Sempach, Ariella Käslin, Anouk Dörig, Merlin Quintanas Nobel, Martina, Gert (Cast), Heidi Sempach, Henry Sempach, Paula Sempach (Extras).

A shortage of skilled workers is also an issue in the travel industry. For this reason, the travel provider Globetrotter Travel Service has adapted its HR marketing strategy. In the future, each advertised position will be underpinned by an individual video. Fabio Zahnd, social media content creator, takes viewers along to the Globetrotter branches and introduces the company's unique people.

Interested parties should thus get to know the team and the work location in an authentic way. Furthermore, applicants can view the travel profiles of their future team in the job advertisements on the Globetrotter website - expertise, profile and travel pictures, video podcasts - as well as view the branch.

"Our goal is to give applicants:inside the best possible insight into what awaits them: an interesting job in a unique corporate culture and modern, bright working environment," explains Sven Ziörjen, Head of Marketing and member of the Globetrotter Executive Board. "By using videos, we can convey the culture and working environment of our company in an authentic and appealing way."

Concept: Sven Ziörjen (Head of Marketing and member of the Globetrotter Executive Board), Fabio Zahnd (Social Media Content Creator), Franziska Domann (Globetrotter Communications employee).

Bio Suisse sets new standards with a "Latte Art Quiz" on knowledge transfer through gamification, by guiding users through an interactive quiz. The quiz starts via a button that all engaged users have clicked.

According to Capture Media, engagement on the website occurs when the landing page is actively used for at least eight seconds. Active means at least one mouse or finger movement or scrolling.

Capture Media offers billing on a cost per engagement CPE basis. In this case, 66.71 percent (engagement rate) of the traffic generated by Capture was therefore charged. This engagement rate represents a slightly above-average value with comparable campaigns. However, if the high activation rate (CTR) of 0.216 percent is included in the analysis, the engagement rate can be rated as very good.

In the quiz, questions were asked that could be answered more easily by watching a stored video. Bio Suisse therefore links the message conveyed by video with a gamification mechanism. This worked, as 82.36 percent of all users engaged via capture media completed the five questions and the subsequent address submission (lead). This ratio represents an exceptionally high conversion rate, which is remarkable even for sweepstakes mechanics.

Of the 5,645 engaged users, 4,649 unique users thus played through the quiz and submitted their lead. The average active usage of the landing page among engaged users is one minute and 42 seconds, which underpins the high quality of the engagement traffic. For comparison, the average value of total traffic is one minute and 9 seconds. All values were tracked with the DSGVO-compliant cookieless tracking technology "Fusedeck" from Capture Media.

The high level of user involvement with this case and the imaginative implementation of the quiz persuaded the Capture internal jury to give this campaign the award.

Responsible at Bio Suisse: Patricia Maurer (Project Management Marketing Communications). Responsible at Capture Media: Laila Kuhn (Digital & Analytics Lead), Michel Mariani (Chief Business Officer). Responsible at Konnex: Judith Bischoff (Media Planning), Marco Berto (Owner and Management). Conception and implementation: Thjnk Zurich. Responsible at Sukoa: Thomas Martin (owner and management), Camille Jonat (development).

The extraordinary character of a building is always shaped by the personality of the people behind it. Whether it is the client, the architect, the planner, the designer, the stonemason, the authorities and many others.

This thought led to the idea of developing an information platform for eight construction projects around the most important buildings in the city of Zurich. A platform that not only informs about figures, visions and current construction phases. But concretely about the people who bring these extraordinary icons, which shape the cityscape, back to life. With expertise, commitment and sometimes with skills of ancient craftsmanship.

Zhtreat.ch provides Zurich's residents with background information on all aspects of structural change in the city of Zurich that otherwise remain hidden behind construction barriers. For the renowned architectural firm SPPA Architekten, historical events are researched, building visions visualized and current construction stages documented. Above all, however, the people who implement and drive these building projects are portrayed in their work.

For this purpose, video portraits are created that provide insights into the respective projects, visions and activities. This is intended to give the often listed building projects a completely new and very personal face.

Overall responsibility: Beat Graf (SPPA Architects). Video Portraits: Beat Hürlimann (Huerlimann Creative Communications). Concept and idea: Ralph Halder (Halder Record).