Kuble launched the Metaverse Academy in spring 2022 with the aim of providing expertise on the new technology (Werbewoche.ch reported). The metaverse fundamentally changes the way we communicate. Things that were previously very difficult to imagine can now be visualized and experienced virtually: Offices, soccer stadiums, landscapes, or even entire cities.

The metaverse cannot be learned - it must be experienced. Therefore, the Metaverse in the courses is an unknown learning object and versatile learning tool at the same time. The courses are concluded with an NFT certification.

Open house on August 18

In order to deepen the exchange with interested parties as well as to clarify open questions before booking the courses and training courses, Kuble invites to an open day at Räffelstrasse 25 on August 18 from 4 pm.

Visitors will be able to try out different VR headsets, discuss with other participants and get a first taste of Metaverse. Apéro, drinks and snacks will be served.

New website and new offers

The Zurich agency has used the summer break to develop new Courses prepare and the website Metaverse-academy.ch to undergo a redesign. The information should now be even faster to find. In the blog, via newsletter, on Linkedin or via Discord there is also continuous information about new findings and progress.

Disney has caught up with long-time market leader Netflix with its streaming services. The Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ services together had around 221 million subscribers in the past quarter. Netflix recently had about the same number after losing around one million subscribers.

At the same time, with the launch of a version with advertising, Disney+ customers will have to prepare for a surcharge if they want to continue watching the program without interruptions. The U.S. entertainment giant has so far accepted high losses in the streaming business.

Disney+, where films and series from the world of Marvel comics and "Star Wars" can be found, was once again the clear growth driver in the past quarter. The service, which was only launched in November 2019 as a Netflix hunter, gained 14.4 million customers within three months and now has a good 152 million subscriptions.

Disney+ recently scored two hits with the Star Wars series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" and Marvel's "Ms. Marvel. Industry observers see the many streaming services competing to establish themselves as indispensable to consumers in the face of inflation and economic concerns.

Indian market underestimated

The growth at Disney+ was well above analysts' expectations. The Indian market also played a key role, adding around eight million subscribers and bringing the Disney+ Hotstar service to a good 58 million customers. However, Disney withdrew from the bidding war for cricket matches there, which are currently a crowd puller for the service.

In the U.S., meanwhile, the number of Disney+ subscribers stagnated at 44.5 million, as the group announced after the U.S. stock exchange closed on Wednesday. In the entire international business outside India, Disney+ now comes to 49.2 million customers - an increase of six million within three months.

Important difference: In India, the Group takes in an average of just $1.20 per customer per month, compared with around $6.30 in the U.S. and other countries.

The sports service ESPN+ now has just under 23 million subscribers, and Disney's third streaming service Hulu has 46 million users. In foreign markets - such as Germany - content from Hulu and Disney's TV channel ABC is included in the Disney+ app.

Loss due to high production costs

The operating loss of Disney's streaming business shot up to a good one billion dollars. In the same quarter last year, the loss was significantly smaller at 293 million. Among other things, the Group points to the high production costs.

Disney is using the popularity of the services to test the potential for price increases. In the U.S., for example, the previous price of $7.99, effective Dec. 8, applies to the version of Disney+ with advertising. Those who want to continue watching ad-free will have to pay $10.99. On Hulu, the price goes up by $1 to $2 per month, depending on the subscription model.

ESPN+ also recently announced a price increase in the US. Netflix is also currently rolling out a version with advertising and hopes to launch it at the turn of the year. In a conference call with analysts, Group CEO Bob Chapek expressed his conviction that the price increase would not lead to an exodus of customers in the long term.

Meanwhile, the entertainment empire's money was made by the classic business with the TV cable division as well as film studios, theme parks, resorts and cruise ships. Revenues from the theme park division, for example, jumped 70 percent to $7.4 billion compared to the year-ago quarter, which was dominated by Corona measures, and operating profit multiplied to $2.2 billion.

"We had an excellent quarter," Chapek announced. Group sales grew 26 percent to $21.5 billion. Profit rose 53 percent to 1.4 billion dollars (1.36 billion euros). (SDA)

45-year-old Eveline Kobler studied political science at the University of St. Gallen and graduated with a licentiate in 2003. Today, she is head of the business editorial department at Radio SRF and part of the moderation team of the Saturday round-up. Before that, she worked at AWP Finanznachrichten.

"I am extremely pleased that Eveline Kobler will be joining our management team and that we have gained a personality for this key position who is very familiar with the Swiss financial industry and has a great deal of creative power," Swiss Life CEO Patrick Frost was quoted as saying. (SDA)

DG Agency helps Digitec-Galaxus partners implement marketing campaigns via various channels. The agency's services include consulting and implementation of online marketing campaigns, landing pages on its own portals, or flyers in packages with specific targeting. In 2021, according to the agency's own data, it generated almost three million francs in sales. And this in the third year.

When Nina Hoss started her first day of work in May 2019, there was a blank sheet of paper in front of her. "Why don't you sell a few marketing services to advertising clients?" it said. This was because Digitec Galaxus regularly received requests for package inserts, advertisements or sponsoring activities. There were no bundled offers from Digitec Galaxus at the time.

From the price tag to the first million

The first thing Hoss did was develop her offer and put a price tag on it. She didn't limit herself to online marketing measures: She expanded the range with store displays, package flyers and print ads in her own publications.

In the beginning, the agency was a one-woman show. "My job included the whole gamut: developing services, writing offers, and finally creating and presenting reporting," explains Nina Hoss. "In the process, we had to maintain the independence and credibility of our online stores."

Digitec and Galaxus should therefore remain free of manufacturer-funded advertising. On its own portals, the focus is on independent editorial content, product news, and promotions that are intended to offer customers added value. Hoss must therefore place its advertising on other portals such as social media or Google or declare content as "sponsored content.

In her work, Nina Hoss can draw on a wealth of resources because Digitec Galaxus does almost all the marketing itself. Only the TV commercials are produced in close collaboration with a production company. Concept, graphics, media planning and buying are all handled in-house.

The first offer went to Microsoft - with success. "It was a hole in one," says Hoss. Orders from Apple, Sony, Samsung, HP, Lego or McDonalds followed. DG Agency scored a real coup, he says, with the campaign for Italian designer furniture from Italian Trade Agency. The success continued: 15 months after the launch of the agency, it cracked its first million in sales.

No longer a quasi-agency

Gradually, the agency came to the attention of the trade press, Werbewoche.ch titled the DG Agency as a quasi-agency. Hoss no longer finds the term appropriate: "Quasi? What an attribute! We act as a complete agency with experts from all marketing disciplines." In addition to marketing services, including the production of advertising materials, the agency implements measures such as media planning and management, as well as "sponsored content" creation. In doing so, Hoss can draw on both graphics, category management and digital marketing and now has a team of three at her side.

The north calls

Nina Hoss looks to the future with confidence: "We want to continue creating lots of cool, authentic marketing campaigns with our partners." And not only in the Swiss market. "The north is calling! In August, I'm traveling across the Rhine to the German headquarters in Hamburg," she reveals. There, she wants to make plans with her local colleagues to conquer the German market with DG Agency.

On August 19 and 20, Apple Premium Partner DQ Solutions will celebrate its reopening at Bahnhofplatz 1 in Zurich. To promote this, the film production Silverspot has realized a spot for the retailer.

"Finding the Einstein lookalike was a task we approached internationally," explains Remo Civatti, Managing Director of Silverspot. The idea came from Luis Alvarez, Director Marketing and Purchase and Member of the Executive Board at DQ Solutions. "The entire collaboration up to the completion of the spot went hand in hand with the client. The result is a surprising spot with a twinkle in its eye," continues Civatti.

The spot will run from Wednesday on ProSieben, Kabel eins, RTL, VOX, Sat.1, 3+, TV25, TeleZüri, DMAX and on social media.

According to Livesystems, the tool is intended to simplify DOOH media planning, increase the transparency of the overall inventory and, in particular, give customers more independence. This should eliminate time-consuming manual processes and long e-mail runs. 

Further additional functions will be available from the third quarter. As a result, users will be able to filter advertising spaces by region and product, display advertising inventory on the interactive map, display different products separately, save their selections and have an offer generated directly from the planning.  

The tool is being continuously expanded - according to Livesystems, two further releases are planned for this year. For example, it will soon be possible to select and offer predefined networks based on industries and customer groups in the "Inventory Finder". In addition, an intelligent radius search will be available, and the performance values of individual placements as well as the selected selection will be available in just a few clicks.  

"We are especially excited about the last feature - reporting performance values by target group," said Dominic Kropf, Chief Marketing Officer at Livesystems. "Preparing the data is very time and resource intensive. However, we will set a new standard across the industry with the tool. Together with the market research institute Intervista, we are currently working on the exact measurement of advertising performance across the entire inventory."

The performance values are expected to be integrated into the Inventory Finder from the end of the year. The planning tool will be available to all advertising clients and in German, French, Italian and English. 

According to SRF, the app has a completely revised technical basis that is adapted to the current technical requirements of the iOS and Android operating systems. Improved user guidance is also intended to make the app easier to use.

In terms of content, the further developed SRF News app focuses on the three equally important areas of online reports, audio playlist and video area. The online contributions in the app, which continue to be based primarily on the linear news offering, are now supplemented by existing content from other subject areas that are specifically aimed at a younger audience. The audio playlist is based on existing audio content from SRF and is curated by SRF 4 News specifically for the app. In the new video area, news and background videos from the existing social media channels in particular are integrated.

"A technical renewal of apps is imperative at certain intervals in order to take into account the technical requirements of current operating systems," explains Maurice Velati, Project Manager SRF News App. "In addition, the further development of the SRF News App is also strategically important. If SRF wants to reach a younger audience under 45 in the future in line with the transformation project 'SRF 2024', it is imperative that its own products and content meet the needs of the users. For this reason, the enhanced SRF News app will offer more social debates and content from other subject areas in addition to the usual news reporting."

In order to use the enhanced SRF News app, it is necessary to update the app in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

The Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association's Xaver awards show is the lighthouse event of the events industry and has special significance this year, and not just because of its anniversary. The industry, which has been hit hard by the Corona pandemic, wants to cement its return with the award show in Hall 550 in Oerlikon.

A total of 52 projects were submitted, more than ever before. Awards were presented for the most outstanding live communication measures in the categories "Best Expo Project," "Best Brandworlds & Temporary Exhibitions," "Best Corporate Event," "Best Consumer / POS Event," "Best Public Event," "Best Supplier Services" and "Best Efficiency Project.

Special category "Best Corona Special

On the presentation days on March 30 and April 1, 2022, all project submissions were viewed and evaluated by an international jury with representatives from the fields of design and scenography, event technology and trade show construction, among others. The six-member panel had the categories bronze, silver and gold at its disposal.

Jury president Dany Waldner already reveals: "After sometimes very controversial discussions, we have come to a result of which we can say: This is an award year we are proud of. The Xaver shows the diversity of the industry. We know that with this industry, these people and these entries, we can definitely put the pandemic behind us."

In addition, the jury decided to launch the special category "Best Corona Special" this year. "Some of the projects that emerged during the pandemic are a real stunner and show how creatively and forward-looking the industry has dealt with the pandemic," continues Waldner. "Solutions were sought, new ideas emerged - and new formats even emerged from them. To honor this strong effort, we created a separate Corona category for this year."

Premiere in Hall 550

Once again this year, the "Public Xaver" will be awarded by the public. Until August 17, you can still vote on Xaver-award.ch be voted for the winning project.

As part of the anniversary Xaver, the award ceremony will take place for the first time in Hall 550 in Zurich. Presenter Alexandra Maurer will lead through the award ceremony. The industry event is open to all interested parties - tickets for the award show including after-show party can be purchased at the Website be acquired.

Surveys were used to evaluate the motivators of existing employees and, based on this, a checklist was created to test them. With this checklist, Anna Affolter went to Bern's local mountain as a neutral tester and searched for authentic answers.

According to the agency, the online campaign was pared down to the essentials in order to achieve a lot with a manageable amount of effort. For example, short and dynamic hook videos were produced based on the longer campaign video. These are played out to the target group on social media and other platforms through paid ads.

After the awareness phase, interested parties are further directed to the Landing page is directed to the website. Among other things, this is equipped with the campaign video and further information such as benefits, testimonials and open job positions.

The goal of the campaign, which is currently still running, is to better position Gurten - Park im Grünen as an employer and to generate more attention. Therefore, the campaign is not focused on specific jobs.

Responsible at Creasquare: Marc Deriaz (conception), Nicolas Jossi (conception and PL), Kim Zaugg (DOP and editor), Joshua Schenk (DOP and editor). Responsible at Gurten - Park im Grünen: Martin Geiger (former Marketing Manager), Tatjana Schär (Marketing Manager).

The British record label Defected Records plays all relevant music platforms and social networks with music and news and maintains a fan base of now over two million followers on the most diverse platforms.

According to Admire, the product vision emerged after a joint workshop in London. After several sketches, mockups, initial design drafts and a wish list of the most important functions, the agency developed the first prototype. This resulted in an extensive list that included extensions to the core function and nice-to-have features.

The focus was on the needs of the users, which were ascertained by means of market research, surveys and tests. On this basis, the functional requirements and technical solutions were sought and developed. Throughout the process, the core team kept coming back to improve the usability if necessary.

The "Defected Records" app is now available in all the usual stores.

Swisscom had already switched off its 2G network in spring 2021. "We have deliberately made the switch to a modern mobile communications generation more flexible for the benefit of our customers," explained Sunrise CEO André Krause in a communiqué on Wednesday. However, 2G connections are practically no longer needed today - customers are only affected by the switch-off in individual cases.

Replacing old mobile standards with new and more efficient technologies is part of the usual developments, Sunrise further explained. There are hardly any cell phones left in use that only run on 2G. For the 3G standard, which is also becoming increasingly obsolete, Sunrise plans to shut it down in the next 3 to 4 years, it said. Swisscom plans to operate 3G until the end of 2025. (SDA)

"For the first time in two years, the jury of the PR Image Award met in Präsenz. The time spent together was used for an intensive exchange about this year's submissions, which once again impressively demonstrate the diversity of visual communication and the energy that can emanate from PR images," Eljub Ramic, managing director of News Aktuell Switzerland, is quoted as saying in a statement. "The starting signal for the public vote has now been given and I am curious to see which outstanding motifs will prevail in the end."

Once again this year, the jury for the PR Image Award is made up of experts from the world of PR, communications and media. The result is a shortlist of 60 images in six categories.

The public has until Sept. 4 to register at Pr-picture-award.ch vote. In October, News Aktuell will announce the winning images from the individual categories as well as the PR Image of the Year for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at an awards ceremony.

The shortlist 2022

Lifestyle category

• Aid by Trade Foundation / D
• All kinds of things for CALA Boards / D
• ETH Zurich / CH
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena / D
• infokontor GmbH for ElectricBrands / D
• mococo medienmanufaktur for EDEKA Kulinarikwelten Stengel in Fürth / D
• Philippines Department of Tourism / D (2 nominations)
• REGIO Appenzell AR-St.Gallen-Lake Constance / CH
• Videmi GmbH & Co. KG / D

Category NGO

• Action against hunger / D
• CARE Germany / D (2 nominations)
• CBM Christoffel-Blindenmission Christian Blind Mission e.V. / D
• Your Star Child Foundation / D
• DRK Landesverband Sachsen e.V. / D
• German Doctors e.V. / D
• Give CHILDREN a Hand / CH
• Animal in Focus (TIF) / CH
• University Children's Hospital Zurich / CH

Portrait category

• anja jahn photography for Verlag Hoffmann und Campe / D
• Fire department Cologne / D
• HfK+G, Stuttgart University of Communication and Design / D
• infokontor GmbH for the BMI (Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs) / D
• Dortmund Hospital / D
• semmel concerts / D
• University Children's Hospital Zurich / CH (3 nominations)
• Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik GmbH / D

Travel category

• AHM Communication for Füssen Tourism and Marketing / D
• CabriO Stanserhorn Railway / CH
• Lieb Management & Beteiligungs GmbH for PADI (Professional Association of Driving Instructors) / D
• Lieb Management & Beteiligungs GmbH for Royal Commission for AlUla / D
• Lüneburger Heide GmbH / D
• piroth.kommunikation GmbH for Pfronten Tourism / D
• Switzerland Tourism / CH (2 nominations)
• KPRN network for Voice4Africa / D (2 nominations)

Category social media photo

• Animal Rights Watch e.V. (ARIWA) / D
• Brown Swiss / CH
• DKMS gGmbH / D
• Festspielhaus Management GmbH / D
• Fire department Cologne / D
• Stuttgart Airport GmbH / D
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena / D
• Jucker Farm AG / CH
• World Heritage Foundation in the Harz Mountains - Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum / D
• University Children's Hospital Zurich / CH

Category Stories & Campaigns

• Agency BBK for St. Galler Kantonalschwingfest / CH
• Audio Service GmbH / D
• German Foundation for Monument Protection / D
• Fink & Fuchs AG for Amazon Fire TV / D
• Youth at Work / AT
• Robeco Switzerland Ltd / CH
• Robert Josipovic Photography for Landestheater Linz / AT
• University Children's Hospital Zurich / CH
• WERTGARANTIE Group / D
• WPR COMMUNICATION GmbH & Co. KG for UFOP e. V. / D