Retail media was an experimental playground for years, but has since developed into one of the strongest advertising channels for most brands. According to a survey by Handelsverband.swiss in collaboration with Swiss Post and GfK, sales of Swiss online stores grew to over 14.4 billion Swiss francs in 2021. According to ZHAW and MCI, the market volume in online retail will continue to grow to an estimated 15.1 billion Swiss francs in 2022.

These prospects offer excellent opportunities to increase advertiser awareness and sales, and give retailers new leverage to monetize their most important data, transactional data. However, while this is also a constant source of innovation - both in formats and methods - there can still be confusion.

First step: properly understand the main potential of retail marketing

We are in the midst of a pragmatic shift in advertising - and retail marketing is no exception. Because it is a targeted advertising technique placed directly on the consumer's customer journey, retail marketing campaigns really have two goals:

1. Goals for the brand: A strong strategy to increase awareness and image throughout the customer journey and increase sales. This will be achieved by leveraging the available and very accurate transaction data.
2. Goals for the retailer: Monetization of target groups should generate an important additional source of revenue.

When it comes to traffic and sales in physical stores, this is nothing new and has always been achieved with the help of point-of-sale advertising or promotions. However, the playing field is broadened by the concept of online retail media. This concept allows the company to place its presence throughout the acquisition process - using programmatically bought ads from the very first search by the Internet user.

This multitude of possibilities along the entire customer journey, both in terms of timing and the strategies to be activated, increases the relevance of retail media, but undoubtedly makes its implementation more complex.

Second step: Understand all other benefits

The main purpose of a retail media strategy is to maximize the performance of a brand's digital campaigns by effectively linking them to the retailer's assets.

Owned Media - communication tools that belong to the retailer - are essential and very lucrative for retailers. It is highly recommended to improve the effectiveness of this strategy by adding Paid Media - Retargeting, Display & Video, SEA, Social Media, etc. - and leveraging the monetization of consumer data via a so-called "Audience Extension". In this way, the brand will go beyond many constraints and will be able to intervene in all the desired stages of the conversion funnel.

Finally, this valuable consumer data can also benefit brands that want to gain a better understanding of their customer behavior or measure the impact of a campaign. Today, these surveys and insights are essential for advertisers, and retailers are also keen to know how to analyze and monetize their customer data. No retail media offering will be able to do without these building blocks in the near future.

Step three: Select method

Retailers have two options:

1. Acquire the skills and technology needed to implement a retail media strategy internally or
2. Establish an external partnership

The first option seems to be the most frequently chosen solution. In reality, however, it only makes sense for sales giants that have both the necessary financial resources and a sufficient volume of potential advertisers to justify this approach and make it profitable in the short term. This internalization, which ultimately amounts to the creation of an advertising marketer - or rather a directorate - may even go so far as to establish a genuine self-service platform for brands and agencies.

However, in 2022, outsourcing still seems to be the most popular solution. It is advisable for retailers to choose their partners based on their expertise - ability to segment and activate data, good connectivity to all web environments, etc. - and their ability to innovate. Retail media, while a dynamic and evolving industry, is still in its early stages in this part of the world.

What does the future hold?

In light of what is already happening in the US and Europe, Swiss retailers will also gradually realize the value they can derive from their exclusive customer data - and they will soon start to monetize it more. They will work with DMP providers, DSPs and trading desks to set up captive platforms that scale more easily. They could also push live shopping technologies, which are already proven to be effective, and add the social segment that may still be missing in retail media.

* Fabrizio Tudisco is Commercial Director of Gamned Suisse.

Over the next few years, SZU will be taking comprehensive modernization steps. This should also be visible in the new appearance. As a basis for the new design, Pikka has sharpened the brand identity and simplified the brand architecture in cooperation with SZU.

At the center is the logo's pictorial symbol, which is also the form-giver for the layout and opens up insights into positive moments in life. This quality of life is to be reflected in the newly shot images and videos: They show snapshots of people along the SZU transport chain. To complement this, Pikka has developed a modern illustration style typical of the brand. The entire appearance is intended to underline the values clearly, personally and locally.

Fresh web design for the mobility provider

Furthermore, Pikka has developed a clear, fresh screen design for SZU. The new online presence is intended to underline the characteristic brand experience and show: Whoever joins SZU gets more out of life.

With the redesign of the website, SZU wants to address its customers more personally, communicate its offering more clearly and be perceived as an attractive employer. To achieve these goals, personas, flows and wireframes were developed based on the SZU redesign. The programming of the front- and backend was realized by the agency Flixx.

Personal and friendly illustrations

The illustrations and icons represent a defining component of the new corporate design. They are intended to strengthen the visual character of SZU and to lighten up the appearance.

On electronic media the illustrations are used in an animated way. The illustration style is minimalist and graphic, the positions and gestures are kept natural.

Digital brand guidelines

Pikka created digital brand guidelines for SZU to ensure a characteristic and consistent brand presence for all media. In addition to classic guidelines, the site also contains a media database with the videos, images, illustrations and icons created. The central data repository is intended to enable all users to easily retrieve and update the data.

Launch communication for SZU_4.0

To meet the challenges of tomorrow, SZU has launched the internal program SZU_4.0 with the "Future Formula" and its three elements "more punctual", "more comfortable" and "faster". The future formula accompanies SZU and ensures with concrete projects that SZU passengers reach their destination more punctually, more comfortably and faster in the future. The main illustration with three icons was developed by Pikka. Pikka also designed the event for the internal launch of the SZU_4.0 program on Tuesday as well as various give-aways and a brand leporello. In addition, a locomotive is branded with the future formula.

Responsible at SZU: Mischa Nugent (Director); Marco Graf (Head of Marketing/ Communications); Carole Bürgisser, Sabrina Spitzer, Manuela Haltiner (Marketing and Communications Team). Responsible at Pikka: André Sandmann (owner); Maike Sandmann (design management); Marina Huber, Carla Sachse (design); Marina Huber, Julia Siegenthaler, Annie Cabrejos (illustration).

We were all children once. And therefore know how decisive the first years are for a self-determined life later on. This universal common denominator is what Rod Kommunikation's campaign gets to the heart of with a word creation.

In the campaign, SOS ambassadors Maria Walliser, Michèle and Manu Burkart and Marco Wölfli present themselves as ex-children. And as such, they call on all of us to get involved in helping children in need. SOS Children's Villages has been doing this for over 70 years in 136 countries. With the family strengthening programs, which accompany children and families holistically and in the long term, four million children have already been given a home and a future.

The "Ex-Children" awareness campaign is intended to raise the profile of SOS Children's Villages throughout Switzerland and strengthen awareness and familiarity. It is accentuated in the media in regions with a high potential for donors. The first campaign package is rounded off by a competition in which the ambassadors give away joint experiences and a multi-part newsletter journey. This is followed by a smooth transition to the end-of-year campaign, which focuses entirely on fundraising with a digital performance framework, three different direct mailings and various social media measures.

Responsible at SOS Children's Villages Switzerland: Silvia Beyeler (Head of Marketing), Cornelia Krämer (Head of Communications), Livia Chiesa (Digital Marketing Manager), David Becker (Content Manager). Conception, creation and realization: Rod Communication. Photography: Rémy Steiner, Hans Schürmann, Remo Neuhaus. Media: TW Media, Digital Nalu.

When one thinks of the Louvre, the glass pyramid probably appears in the inner eye of most people. It was designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, one of the most important contemporary architects. The I.M. Pei Foundation bears the name of the Louvre architect and maintains his intellectual legacy. The Foundation enables an experience of his legacy in an exemplary way. Through it, the New York residence of the architect, who died in 2019, will soon be available for visitors to experience as a replica in Shanghai. More news to follow. Transformer was commissioned by the NPO to design a new website.

The simply designed website informs users about the life and work of the Chinese-American architect through elegant images and meaningful texts in several languages.

An interactive globe invites visitors on an online voyage of discovery into the extensive oeuvre of the Pritzker Prize winner. Furthermore, the website serves not only as a portfolio for I.M. Pei's works, but also as a platform for projects on topics related to art, culture, architecture, and technology.

Responsible at the I.M. Pei Foundation: Rosmarie Muster (Management). Responsible at Transformer: Sandro Kümin (creation), Gaby Neyer (consulting), Jérôme Meier, schwarzpunkt.ch (programming).

The SKKG wants to redevelop its Brestenberg Castle on Lake Hallwil in a participatory process. A fresh appearance should support the project communicatively and form the formal framework for the future orientation. The company is looking for an image that conveys transparency and openness and encourages the surrounding population to participate in shaping the project. Furthermore, the appearance should signalize the change and revive the Brestenberg.

Formally deconstructed and rebuilt

The starting point for the newly developed identity is the silhouette of the castle: it is taken apart and in return provides exciting shapes as building blocks for the updated appearance. The castle is thus symbolically rebuilt around its future orientation. The playful use of shapes as a design element characterizes the entire communication. The logo is also derived from this and reinterprets the castle as an abstract, modern coat of arms.

Brestenberg needs new content

To develop the utilization concept, the foundation involves the surrounding population at Lake Hallwil. For this purpose, a participatory process was launched to find innovative ideas for a majority-supporting and economical mix of uses. After 30 years of slumber, the Brestenberg is getting moving again.

The poster campaign by TBS was intended to motivate the population to actively shape the future of the Brestenberg Castle site. Over 400 participants answered the call and took part in the online survey. In addition, 30 concept ideas were placed on site. In addition, more than 80 people registered for the "Schlossforum", an open discussion round on the future of the castle area.

Experience change directly online

On the website Future-brestenberg.ch is transparently informed about the project and the current status is directly visible. Interested parties are invited to upload their personal memories and ideas for the future. There is deliberately no requirement for content, in order to give free rein to the creativity of the contributors.

The site is regularly updated and constantly evolves in line with the project's progress with the help of the ideas received.

Four weeks to go

There was little time from briefing to go-live version - the appearance, campaign and website were defined and realized in short intervals. To keep to the schedule, TBS worked closely with the client SKKG, its subsidiary Terresta Immobilien- und Verwaltungs AG and the development office Kontextplan.

The participatory process started on July 11, 2022 and will continue in stages until the end of the year.

The Press Council has rejected the complaints, according to a statement on Tuesday. The offending tweet includes a drawing of an execution scene from the time of the French Revolution. In it, a head severed by a guillotine is presented. The photo of Tamedia journalist Michéle Binswanger is mounted above the originally drawn head.

The two complaints from the Netzcourage association criticized in particular that the execution scene was taken out of context in the reporting and robbed of its satirical character. The readership could not conclude the context.

Central element

The Press Council has now rejected both complaints. The beheading scene described was a central element of the tweet. 20 minutes have briefly and simply presented the background of the controversy between the Reitschule Bern and the journalist.

In the article of the Tages-Anzeiger, which is a commentary, the background and reason for the commentary would be given in spirit.

Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin, who heads the Netzcourage association, had given the Reitschule tweet a Like. Binswanger is working on a book that Spiess-Hegglin wants to prevent in court. (SDA)

The video communication app Zoom has been on the market for more than a decade. But it wasn't until 2020 that it really took off. We all know why - and many of us are among its 300 million or so daily active users (for comparison, as of December 2019, the app had about 10 million daily users). This is what pandemic winners look like.

And that's exactly what this brand check is about: its appearance. Since its launch in 2011, the app has not adjusted its appearance. Now it was time to turn the video chat service into a real brand. With new services that go beyond the original offering - team chat, meetings, whiteboards, live events, et cetera.

"Zoom is becoming a communications platform, and will continue to evolve and expand," says Chief Marketing Officer Janine Pelosi. Zoom knows that hybrid working is here to stay and that the new-work zeitgeist has long since dawned. Now the company is leveraging its brand recognition to expand and communicate its portfolio. And they do it phenomenally well: they simply use their logo, its onomatopoeic sound, and the figurative meaning of the word "zoom."

Each animated "o" now stands for a service - number open in the future - currently there are six: Zoooooom! In a simple animation the whole story is told and remains immediately in the head.

Of course, the typography was also adjusted, the icons as well as the blue tone - but that's not the reason why I find this work so successful. When you think about brand line extensions and their communication, your head is quickly full of arguments, campaigns and a bunch of complexity. Here, someone "just thought" in the best sense. All the potential was there in the name and the brand itself - just like the perceptual-psychological trigger: the meaning of the word already creates the head cinema.

Even if some voices compare this design with the old Google Search display (with also many "o"-s) and suspect a copy there, this does not affect the designers of the new appearance in my opinion: Because what was just a nice effect at Google back then is really good branding here.

So here's my message: Before you start thinking in terms of big, new campaigns, visuals and concepts for communicating an expanded portfolio, take a closer look at your existing brand. Maybe the treasure is already buried there. You just need to lift it - or have it lifted.

By the way, this branding step will not be the end of the story; Zoom has already announced further design innovations. These will be presented at the in-house "Zoomtopia" conference on November 8 and 9, 2022. We can look forward with anticipation.

* Heinrich Paravicini is founder and creative director of Mutabor.

ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading universities in the areas of Bachelor's and Master's degrees and also offers university continuing education. In order to make the offer accessible to the specific audience with targeted measures, the university searched for an online marketing partner via public tender. The Zurich-based agency Xeit came out on top in the subsequent pitch process.

The continuing education courses are offered under the umbrella brand "ETH Zurich - School for Continuing Education". The four clusters in the fields of architecture, technology, natural and engineering sciences, and humanities, social and political sciences are now to be promoted even more actively and in a more targeted manner with a new digital marketing strategy. Xeit supports ETH with ads on various platforms and acts as a consulting partner for all online marketing concerns.

The newly designed image campaign will start on January 1, 2023, and is intended to strengthen the umbrella brand of the ETH School for Continuing Education as a whole, in addition to the specific continuing education offerings.

Most recently, Daniel Faulhaber spent three years at the Basel-based online medium Bajour.ch worked as an editor. In 2020, he was awarded the Zurich Journalism Award in the "Newcomer" category for a text about two sex fairs and in the ranking "30 under 30" of the industry magazine Swiss journalist:in admitted. Faulhaber graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts in German Philology and History from the University of Basel. He has a wealth of experience in the Swiss media landscape.

"Daniel Faulhaber is a brilliant writer with a surprising view of the world, who finds approaches that no one else sees. Just an author," is ObserverDominique Strebel, editor-in-chief, was quoted as saying in a communiqué.

"We at the trade association do an extreme amount for family attractions and create experiences and meeting points," explains the chairman of the Waldshut trade association, Thomas Wartner. The association has on its website extra set up a separate page for Swiss, which lists, for example, info on customs borders and VAT refunds.

In addition, events such as the Christmas market or guided shopping tours are advertised on the websites of Waldshut and Tiengen. Targeted marketing is also intended to attract border tourists. Since 2020, Waldshut-Tiengen has had a Welcome campaign with advertising. "And now I have personally added to this by launching a High Rhine campaign with other eight municipalities on the High Rhine and Southern Black Forest," says Wartner.

The Rhein Center shopping center is also relying on an advertising campaign that, according to center manager Alev Kahraman, "uses a down-to-earth, appealing visual language" to show the "multi-cultural microcosm of '3Land. The center is relying on streetcar advertising and video spots in Swiss post offices and gas stations, for example.

Because of the restrictions placed on stationary retail trade by the Corona regulations, online trade has increased. "Of course, this trend has not stopped at the borders," writes the Handelsverband Südbaden. Therefore, it is particularly important that retail stores give their customers a reason to shop stationary, it said. "For this, the ambience, selection, price level, staff and service must be right," the association says. (SDA/swi)

The QoQa platform in French-speaking Switzerland maintains a lively community and, true to its motto "Shopping pearls for those who see through", offers new, limited offers every day.

Bold launched the communications presence for QoQa last year in order to take off beyond the French-speaking part of Switzerland. (Werbewoche.ch reported). Now the campaign is going into the next round. Back on board are the catchy rose-colored glasses as a visual bracket.

For the next wave, the agency has adjusted the visuals. The focus is now also on the broad range of products offered by the curated app: from wellness to wine, from watches to vacations. In the subjects, QoQa employees again appeared in front of the camera as models.

The refreshed advertising media pick up the target group in a strategic choreography across various channels and instruments. The new subjects can be seen as part of the ongoing online campaign and on DOOH measures in public spaces.

Responsible at QoQa Services: Nina Bühlmann, Line Labie, Mathieu Pereira, Christoph Karcher. Responsible agency/video production: Bold. Photography: Fabian Hugo.

Many young athletes have big goals and give everything to achieve them. But in training, limits are sometimes exceeded. For example, through excessively hard training methods or psychological pressure. It is no different in the locker room or in competition: Young people become victims of bullying, sexual harassment or discriminatory and unfair treatment. Those affected tend to make such incidents taboo instead of addressing them. Certainly also due to the uncertainty of not knowing whom to turn to.

The Zurich agency Friendly Greetings has taken on this difficult topic for the second time and now carries out the campaign launched in the fall of 2021 which uses emotional images and statements to look into the inner life of those who suffer.

The sharp headlines are deliberately structured in two parts. While everything seems fine in the first part, the second part gets to the heart of the problems. A text structure that is emblematic of the common perception of the outside world and the personal tragedies that take place behind it.

The campaign is not only intended to raise awareness, but also to provide initial assistance. On the one hand, with the reference to the Content Hub, where anyone can find comprehensive information about where to get support and assistance. In addition, the website shows examples and situations in which it is important to talk to someone about it. On the other hand, reference is made to the Swiss Sport Integrity reporting office, where those affected can report grievances directly and, if desired, anonymously.

The campaign can be seen throughout Switzerland on posters, social media and on the Swiss Olympic website from Monday.

Responsible at Swiss Olympic: Selina Wyss (Project Management), Marc Schumacher (Head of Marketing & Communication), Franziska Wehrle (Head of Communication), Samuel Wyttenbach (Head of Values), Andres Trautmann (Employee Values). Responsible at Friendly regards: Marion Schwager, Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor (overall responsibility), Sarah Winker (consulting), Christian Stüdi (text), Mara Schwegler (art direction); Dominik Locher (graphics). Production: Mygosh. Photography: Dylan Moore.