The owner-managed company Zubi has always focused on close relationships with customers and partners. Now this is also to be manifested in communication. The claim "Together more" becomes both the relationship box and the eye-catching campaign core.

The campaign for the relaunch can now be seen on digital channels, in a customer magazine and a broad OOH campaign throughout eastern Switzerland.

Responsible at Zubi: Michael Jurt (GL | Head of Marketing & Sales), Sandra Näf (Graphic Design), Jasmin Gallati (Social Media & Events), Samuel Gafafer (Graphic Design). Responsible at Trimarca: Martin Hilzinger (concept and strategy), Nina Engeler (concept and design), Stephanie Bär (graphic design), Bianca Straub (text and content), Saara Iten (text).

In a ruling published on Wednesday, the Federal Supreme Court follows the decision of the Zurich Commercial Court. The latter had concluded that Press Media AG, the operator of Klein Report, had not proven its entitlement to file a lawsuit.

In its considerations, the Federal Court states that the rights to a work, i.e. to an article, basically belong to the author. The authorship can be transferred to the employer in an employment relationship. However, Press Media had not shown in its complaint that this had actually happened.

Lost advertising revenue

Press Media filed a lawsuit against SMD and Swissdox with the Commercial Court in 2019. SMD is owned by Ringier, Tamedia and the Swiss Radio and Television Company (SRG). Swissdox is a subsidiary of SMD and offers the articles archived with it to the public for a fee.

Press Media demanded damages for lost advertising revenue for around 10,000 articles that had been stored by the defendants without its consent and the surrender of the profit that the databases had generated with the articles. (SDA)

At a media briefing on the annual accounts on Tuesday, those responsible for the MCH Group were emphatically positive about the 2021 result and optimistic about the future prospects. The positive result in the second half of the year (plus 12.1 million Swiss francs), which was primarily influenced by the resurgent Art Basel exhibition, gives rise to "good prospects for 2022".

With operating income of 243.3 million Swiss francs, the previous year's result (188 million Swiss francs) was significantly exceeded despite the ongoing pandemic.

Operating profit before interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was even positive at CHF 8.5 million (2020: -45.1 million). These factors were influenced, among others, by special financial effects in connection with the pandemic and the sale of a property.

After-effects of the pandemic remain

The pandemic will continue to affect the course of business in the current year. CFO Michael Hüsler mentioned the cancellation of this year's Giardina trade fair and the postponement of Swissbau in a reduced form to the unfavorable month of May for the construction industry. Art Basel in Hong Kong will also take place again in a reduced form.

The fate of the Baselworld watch and jewelry show was not a topic at the media conference. CEO Beat Zwahlen said in response to a question from journalists that they were currently investigating whether and in what form the MCH Group could continue to position itself in the luxury goods segment. The work on this needed more time than originally expected.

According to Zwahlen, the MCH Group is currently focusing on numerous new initiatives with the aim of responding to the major changes in the exhibition market. In doing so, he said, it is focusing on the three business fields of "Community Platforms", i.e. physical and digital formats, "Experience Marketing", for example, for the development and implementation of marketing solutions, and "Venues" in the halls in Basel and Zurich.

At the moment, the actual trade fair operations are clearly focused on the Art Basel segment with the previous editions in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong and the new event "Paris+ par Art Basel", which will have its premiere in October. In this context, Chairman of the Board Andrea Zappia once again emphasized that the ultimate aim of going to Paris was to strengthen Basel as a location.

Capital increase

In 2023, the MCH Group will have to repay a bond amounting to CHF 100 million. This will not be possible to make from its existing own funds, Zwahlen said. "We assume that we will raise at least 50 million francs in fresh capital." Investor James Murdoch's anchor shareholders City of Basel and Lupa Systems support those plans, according to Zwahlen. (SDA)

According to Google, the new feature, which the company is currently testing, will allow viewers and content producers to see how other users react to certain parts of uploaded videos. The company's goal is to "strengthen the sense of community.

Selected users can click on a reaction field in the comment sections of the videos and select the corresponding emojis there, according to reports. Live, it will be displayed, anonymously for the time being, how other viewers have reacted. Individual emojis will be tested and added or deleted as needed.

Emulate competition

YouTube's experiment is a response to developments by competitors such as Facebook Live (Meta), Twitch and Instagram. What has so far only been possible for live videos on YouTube - to see comments made by the community in a non-anonymized form - will then also be implemented for uploaded videos. Likes or comments are possible, and the dislike counter was changed to invisible in 2021. (pte)

The NeoVac company has more than 50 years of experience in the use and storage of energy and water, and the yellow NeoVac cars are on the road as traveling brand ambassadors throughout the country. Dachcom's brand refresh takes into account the high brand recognition, but is still intended to point confidently and convincingly into the future.

NeoVac's claim is to make energy smarter with diverse services, innovative products and clever solutions. This core argument should play a prominent role in communication. The overarching brand claim "Making energy smarter" gets to the heart of this in a catchy way. The doer mentality and focus on real results should be reflected in key messages such as "Making energy smarter," "Making buildings more sustainable," or "Making mobility fit for the future." The messages run through the entire appearance and are intended to do justice to the company in its many different manifestations.

Visually, the new appearance should impress with its generosity. The logo has been given more space. In addition, a new visual world was created. A special focus was placed on connecting NeoVac's services with people.

To make the brand presence more lively, short videos were also created that showcase the wide range of services in a simple way, can be used in a variety of ways and, last but not least, support storytelling. The new overall appearance was summarized in a brand movie, which was presented within the company and heralds a new chapter at NeoVac.

Information dissemination website

The central element of the appearance is the completely newly developed website Neovac.ch. It represents an important tool for information dissemination, since at NeoVac the information is numerous.

In order to make the subject matter easy to grasp, a modular Pimcore solution provides the desired user experience. Information from the entire NeoVac world is united on the platform and is presented to the user in a target group-oriented, simple and modern way.

An example of this is the newsroom, where a lot of company information is available quickly and easily via sticky navigation. Moving image elements also bring the website to life, making the complex range of services even more tangible.

Further measures such as brochures, mailings, trade fair appearances and online measures are continuously implemented by the agency and NeoVac in order to make the new appearance a consistent experience.

Responsible at NeoVac: Michael Eugster (Head of Marketing), Lena Pfister (Marketing Manager), Sven Büchel (Digital Marketing Manager), Miriam Fritsche (Marketing Assistant), Ann-Christin Mudra (Content Manager). Responsible Agency: Dachcom.

In 2014, interior designer Claudia Silberschmidt founded the lifestyle brand Frohsinn. The products, designed in Zurich, can be discovered in the online store or in the flagship store in Zurich Seefeld.

The aim of the collaboration between PRfact and Frohsinn is to increase awareness of the Frohsinn brand and its collections. The agency's mandate includes, on the one hand, activities in corporate and product communication with a focus on media relations and, on the other hand, support in the digital area with regard to social media and the website.

"Livesystems' technology is designed to connect external data, for example from the POS system, in real time and play it out to the customer. If a product does not reach the sales targets, this can be supported in real time through communication. In this way, we will offer our location partners an essential sales promotion option in the future and bring supply and demand together," explains Christian Imhof, COO of the Livesystems Group.

According to Livesystems, Switzerland has the densest network of stores and service stations in all of Europe. This has positive effects both on the accessibility of the target group and on frequency. As a nice side effect, the communication around convenience locations is generally very crisis-resistant, among other things because of the long opening hours.

"Our primary goal is to perfect the shopping experience of our visitors. This includes a contemporary, digital approach," explains Tim Zwiesigk, Head of Product Management Near-/Non-Food / Services at Migrolino. "We rely on relevant information, high-quality services, an attractive range of goods and modern stores. With Livesystems, we have found the right partner for a long-term collaboration to successfully implement our strategy."

According to Livesystem, the set-up of the screens at the convenience locations would reach the target groups during waiting times. "This is just the starting shot of in-store communication directly at the point of sale," said Imhof. "We have been able to create an additional, promising touchpoint and will be able to generate significant added value for our customers. Talks are already taking place with other interested parties."

The involvement of Sibylle Frutiger and Holger Huber is intended to underscore Scholtysik's long-term focus on strategy and design in brand management, the agency writes in a statement.

Sibylle Frutiger joined Scholtysik in 2017. Previously, she worked at various international and Swiss branding and design agencies. At Scholtysik, she shapes the visual and communicative identity of important clients from the energy supply, finance, industry and social enterprise sectors.
Holger Huber has been designing brand presences for more than ten years, initially at renowned agencies in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin, and later as an independent designer. In 2015, he joined Scholtysik and is in charge of various mandates from science, finance, industry, media, consulting and culture. His work focuses on the development of brand design systems and their consistent implementation.

Migros has always been a pioneer in this field. The retailer has always been an early adopter of social developments, including in its reporting, and twelve years ago was the first major Swiss company to publish a purely online report. With the 2021 annual report, Switzerland's largest private employer is now opening up its report to the active participation of the next generation and giving apprentices and trainees from Migros some of the responsibility for annual reporting.

More emotional, accessible and understandable for all

Together with the agency Hej, Migros has launched the Reporting Academy. Young talents from Migros will develop the Migros annual report of the future in the coming years, accompanied by the reporting experts from Hej.

The guiding questions for this future lab are: how does Migros have to report so that the next generation is also reached and so that the annual report is relevant and attractive for the approximately 100,000 employees of the Migros Group? Which topics are of particular interest to Generation Z? Inspired by the 15 theses of Migros' founding couple Gottlieb and Adele Duttweiler, the Reporting Academy has drawn up twelve theseshow Migros should report on its business activities in the future.

Future viability, sustainability and appreciation

As its first new format, the Reporting Academy produced a video interview with Ursula Nold and Fabrice Zumbrunnen. Nine apprentices and trainees asked the President of the MGB Administration and the President of the MGB General Management how the 2021 financial year went and what they always wanted to know.

The result is a review of the year that is intended to convey closeness and authenticity. The making-of film is also an integral part of this year's Migros Annual Report. The Reporting Academy will be expanded in the coming years, with further new formats and content to be developed.

Condensed content and visuals, state of the art technology

In the course of the redesign of the Migros Annual Report, the content structure, texts and design were also condensed with the aim of optimizing the conveyance of information. The reduced color and type set is designed for reading habits on the screen, orange accents establish the reference to Migros. With the switch to the "Ns.wow" publishing tool developed for online reports, the Migros annual report is now also technically equipped for the future.

Responsible at Migros: Annina Arpagaus (Secretary General of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives), Nicole Hess (Deputy Secretary General of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives); Responsible for Hej (concept and design): Janine Widler (overall responsibility, consulting), Helm Pfohl (design direction), Nina Marti (consulting, deputy project management), Selina Theiler (art direction), Cédrine Speck (UX design), Sara Wirz (content office). Publishing: NeidhartSchön: Elvira Hürlimann (project management). Film production: Filmgerberei: Flavio Gerber (director), Marike Löhr (producer), Silvio Gerber (camera); Lea Filadoro (editor). Portrait and reportage photography: Claudia Link. Translations: Supertext: Jenny Herzog (Head of Project Managers).

When did the industry stop thinking and start just thinking? And why? The irregular verb is regularly used in meetings, workshops and brainstorming sessions and has replaced the legendary "I think ...". Okay, that was also annoying when certain people started every sentence with "I think ...". Because they probably needed that, so that they at least heard from themselves that they were thinking, when no one else noticed. But that's another story.

Thinking about projects is always enough

So now there is only thinking everywhere. But anyone who only begins to think about something instead of giving it serious and sustained thought here and now is either ill-prepared or shirking his responsibility. The first is still forgivable. As fast as everything has to go today, there is no time to do sound research on a topic and to document oneself. The days of appearing well-prepared at meetings or thinking tasks through to completion are over. The ad hoc mentality is rampant everywhere and spreads unnecessary hectic and extra work. Meanwhile, the few who still come well-prepared with solid suggestions are no longer heard in the "let's think about it first" chorus of their team members and superiors.

But the second - evading responsibility - is much worse. Whoever only thinks instead of thinks can supposedly do nothing wrong. After all, it is only thought of and has no claim to durability. The source of this thought-inflation is the project, Latin "proiectum", literally translated "the one thrown forward or the one thrown in". And yes, everywhere is teeming with projects right now. Hardly anything is thought, planned or developed in the long term in marketing departments and agencies anymore. No wonder in an industry where live streams, stories, now-players and instant messages are booming. Where the life cycle of agencies is usually less than five years, and the years of service of clients in marketing departments less than half that. It's not worth thinking about, just thinking about it. The result is often fast-food trash or special waste instead of a souvenir for the future.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.

m&k - The magazine for marketing and communication is awarded one of the best-known industry prizes on the European continent: Galledia's product wins the European Publishing Award 2022 in the category "Magazine: B2B Media". According to the jury, the award recognizes "outstanding trade magazines that are dedicated to a specific industry or profession.

The road to victory was by no means easy: More than 300 innovative publications from 16 national markets threw their hats into the ring at the Publishing Awards; competing for prizes in a few exclusive categories. For example, the Observer from Ringier as the interdisciplinary "Magazine Of The Year"; the Business Week won in the "Economy" category, or the German lifestyle paper Madame in the "Business" area.

For m&k the title of "Best B2B Medium in Europe" is already the second important award in relatively short succession: as recently as 2020, the magazine was recognized by the Swiss Media Association as "Best Trade Magazine in Switzerland".

A gift for 50th birthday

The publishing house and the editorial team are correspondingly delighted; after all, they are celebrating m&k - The magazine for marketing and communication also celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year. This makes the European Publishing Award 2022 a special gift - and a symbol that bold strategies and investments in print media can still pay off today.

"We are enormously grateful to the jury for their appreciation of our magazine. Every drop of heart and soul that we have poured into the paper since the relaunch in 2020 has been worth it," say Anna Kohler and Johannes Hapig, who form the core of the m&k-editorial team. They plan to accept the award in person in Vienna in June. "This is an absolute team effort and therefore also a team win," they continue. "None of this would have been possible without the relaunch art director Adrian Hablützel; without our online chief Sarah Willi, our editor Christoph Soltmannowski and the management of Galledia." She also extends her deep and sincere gratitude to each and every advertising partner, to all those who provided ideas, and to "the people who always mean well by us."

"Living a shadowy existence for too long"

On the part of Galledia, too, one is proud of what has been achieved: "m&k has long led a shadowy existence. In recent years, the paper became a PR-heavy medium that was hardly respected on the market and was de facto on the verge of collapse. Since the relaunch in 2020, however, we have been able to double circulation, forge new partnerships and internationalize the magazine - and we will maintain this course," says Head of Trade Media Stefan Zimmermann.

The EU had already banned the distribution of Russian state media at all levels - including cable, satellite, websites and apps - at the beginning of March. Offshoots of "RT" - formerly "Russia Today" - are also affected, for example in German or French. The ban will be implemented by the media regulators of the EU member states. A media ban is generally a serious infringement of freedom of expression and information.

The Federal Council has now decided not to implement the measure, as it announced. "Even if these channels are tools of targeted propaganda and disinformation by the Russian Federation, the Federal Council is of the opinion that it is more effective to counter untrue and harmful statements with facts instead of banning them."

Due to the extraordinary situation, Swisscom and Sunrise UPC had already decided at the beginning of March to stop broadcasting the Russian state broadcaster "RT" with immediate effect and until further notice. "Sputnik" will not be broadcast by either provider.

"Very sensitive political issue"

In an interview with Tamedia newspapers on Friday, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin described a Switzerland-wide ban on the broadcasting of Russian state broadcasters in Switzerland as a "very sensitive political issue". A ban could only be justified if Switzerland's higher-ranking interests were really at stake.

The two channels "RT" and "Sputnik" are "instruments of Russian propaganda and warfare", Parmelin continued. "They spread lies and disinformation with the aim of stirring up insecurity and using the freedom of our democracies against Switzerland."

According to Parmelin, however, a ban could be interpreted as censorship. He also wondered whether a ban would not make these channels more attractive. In any case, the population is in a position to judge what is "absurd propaganda" and what is not, said Parmelin.

Fourth sanctions package implemented

In principle, the Federal Council has decided that Switzerland will adopt all EU sanctions against Russia. However, the national government wants to take a close look at each adoption.

In view of the ongoing military invasion in Ukraine, the Federal Council adopted further sanctions against Russia on Friday. They come into force at 11 p.m. on Friday evening. "All measures relating to the EU's fourth sanctions package have thus been implemented," the government wrote.

Last week, Switzerland had already implemented the extensions to the list of persons affected by financial sanctions decided by the EU up to that point. The export of goods for the energy sector and related services are now prohibited. Investments and the provision of loans or other financial resources to companies operating in the energy sector are also prohibited.

No more luxury watches for Russia

Imports of iron and steel products from or originating in Russia have also been stopped. In addition, exports to Russia of luxury goods and goods for maritime navigation are no longer possible. In the financial sector, transactions with certain state-owned companies and the provision of rating services are prohibited.

Finally, the Federal Council decided on certain exemptions from financial sanctions for humanitarian purposes. This facilitates business relationships that are necessary for the work of humanitarian organizations. (SDA)