To promote the new Vertuo Next coffee machine, a self-designed advertising format was used. In addition to digital screens, classic posters and megaposters, traditional illuminated billboards at several stops in Zurich and Bern were transformed into mini shop windows.

Responsible at Nespresso: Elba Ferreiro (Brand Communication Manager), Elodie Schackemy (Media & Content Manager). Responsible at Zenith Media: Stefan Lohrer (Account Director), Tiziana Arcadi (Account Manager), Jeanine Wetli (Print/OOH Manager). Responsible at Clear Channel (production and implementation): Stephan Schwab (Head of Sales), Roman Neumayer (Senior Key Account Manager), Roberto Credaro (Head of Operations), K Strebel (Graphics and Video). Responsible at Attilio MeyerMarc A. Meyer (CEO/Owner).

Fueled by the Corona crisis, digital communication and virtual events have become must-haves from now on. Conveniently, many different software tools are available as quick fixes. However, it is a fallacy to believe that an analog event automatically "translates" to an equivalent virtual experience once you have only chosen the right tool, explains Maximilian Souchay in the last part of his "Rethink" article series.

If you start with the origin of the word "tool", you quickly have a suitable comparison in mind: Imagine you want to build a built-in wardrobe for a friend. You get wood and screws, a saw and a cordless screwdriver. This means that you basically have the right tools and starting materials at hand. Nevertheless, most people would probably not just go ahead and build it. Even the most beautiful built-in cabinet is useless if it does not fit into the intended position. Only with the right dimensions and requirements in mind, a concept can be designed. Only in the next step does the carpenter make a plan and select his tools.

Conceptlessly missing the target

What seems logical to us with a real piece of furniture is often forgotten in the whirl of turbo-digitization: According to the guiding principle "Form follows Function" or "Form follows Content", a design works best when the form is derived from the purpose and the form from the content. When applied to virtual and hybrid event forms, I am of the opinion that software alone does not make an event, and event tools are no more than a means to an end.

If you start your event planning with the software selection, you force yourself into a creative corset - one possible reason why hybrid events are currently considered a medium of still remain far below their potential. In the worst case, the event remains without personal connection and is quickly forgotten, just as my colleague Jonathan last week described. The desired emotional activation fails to materialize, and the event has forfeited its greatest marketing advantage.

The story sets the tone

To maximize the impact, virtual experiences should also be tailored. Even on a digital level, an event first needs clear goals, strategies and a story - in short, a communication concept. And by all means a different one than its analog counterpart. If you put all the tools at the service of communication, it is easier to create fluid transitions between different event media. From the participant's point of view, the result is a continuous arc of tension with a consistently recognizable look and feel.

For emotional activation of the participants, we start with the personal encounter. This encounter is dramatized and staged, because storytelling and the customer journey are elementary parts of well thought-out concepts, regardless of whether they are analog, virtual or hybrid. The software becomes a communication channel, where the different requirements for software design and live communication are thought through together from start to finish. This allows us to create a seamless user experience in which all touchpoints are a harmonious part of the overall story.

And so the software follows the requirements from the communication concept, because in the end it is not the cordless screwdriver and the saw that build the cabinet - but the carpenter.

* Maximilian Souchay is Founder and Managing Partner at Live Lab. He studied marketing in Bern and cultural management and acting in Liverpool. Before founding Live Lab in 2015, he worked in various leadership positions in the event industry.

The current campaign for Rivella's newest flavor focuses on people's unquenchable thirst for everything new, in keeping with the creative central idea with the claim "Wo immer dein Durst daheim ist" ("Wherever your thirst is"), which Scholz & Friends developed for Rivella.

The motifs to publicize the new variety are now on air in various out-of-home formats in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. A digital campaign with banner motifs and engagement ads as well as PoS communication round off the campaign presence.

Responsible at Rivella: Thomas Warring (Chief Marketing Officer), Andri Freyenmuth (Head of Brand Management), Désirée Koller (Senior Brand Manager), Rahel Burri (Brand Manager), Annika Montalenti (Senior Media & Digital Communication Manager). Responsible at Scholz & Friends: Luca Stancheris, Maira Weidmann, Aster Loerli, Erika Unternährer, David Fischer, Christian Vosshagen (Creation), Victoria Kirsch, Mathias Rösch, Tobias Händler (Consulting & Strategy). Media: Havas Media.

For real estate developer and builder Senn Resources, the name change for the new innovation campus on the BaseLink site in Allschwil was obvious, according to the statement. "The Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area is a strong brand with a convincing concept. That's why we are henceforth dispensing with the previous name Grid and placing the campus under the flag of Switzerland Innovation," explains Managing Director Johannes Senn.

The Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area will not only be the name giver at its main location in Allschwil, it will also remain the strategic partner and anchor tenant of the new building. Of the approximately 50,000 square meters of usable space, it will rent and expand 6,000 square meters. With the other tenants Basilea Pharmaceutica, Hamilton Bonaduz, CSEM, the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the University of Basel and the Bio-Bistro of the Bürgerspital Basel, 60 percent of the first stage has already been leased. This will be completed in summer 2022, the second stage in spring 2023.

In the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area Main Campus, both startups and established companies will find their ideal space. This is intended to create an exchange that enlivens the ecosystem within the five-story building and also carries it to the outside world.

With the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, the neighboring new building of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and companies already located in Bachgraben such as Johnson & Johnson, Idorsia and Skan, the innovation ecosystem being created here will contribute to an even stronger cluster for life sciences, biotech, public health and medtech in the Basel Area, it adds.

On March 15, 2021, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen took over the artistic direction and Christina Hanke the commercial direction of the Swiss-wide initiative for a new national exhibition. Christina Hanke, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen have convinced the board of the association with their versatile track record, their network and their vision for Nexpo as a new, forward-looking, Switzerland-wide national exhibition.

The new artistic and commercial management is to drive forward the application to the federal government for its support of Nexpo as the next national exhibition. In addition, it will conclude new partnerships and launch pioneering projects, according to a statement. The goal of Nexpo is to be Switzerland's first decentralized national exhibition, it said. Instead of concentrating on one region, Nexpo is to take place in all parts of the country: in all language regions, in cities, conurbations and in the countryside. In contrast to previous exhibitions, hardly any temporary new buildings will be erected for this purpose, but existing ones will be used (temporarily) as far as possible.

Online panel on May 10, 2021

To kick off the new phase, a panel will be held on May 10, 2021, at which the new management will discuss its vision for Nexpo with guests. The event will be broadcast into virtual space from the vacant Le Plaza cinema in Geneva, a possible future venue for Nexpo projects. Media representatives and interested parties can register via Mail register for the online event.

What "hygge" is in Denmark, "patgific" is for the people of Graubünden: not just a word, but rather an attitude to life. "Patgific" is Rhaeto-Romanic and means "relaxed", "cozy", "leisurely". With the aim of making the typical Grisons term known beyond the canton's borders, the Monami branch in Chur worked together with Graubünden Ferien GRF to develop a year-round campaign on social media consisting of several phases.

As part of an activation phase, the Graubünden community was called upon to share their personal patgific experiences in Graubünden with pictures. Over 300 experience tips were received from users. The top 12 were then selected in a voting process. Around 13,000 votes - some for a Rhine Gorge hike, others for a trip to the mountain village of Soglio - were cast on the website. Graubuenden.ch a.

The twelve "patgific" experiences, three per season, will now be staged with a variety of content types. In addition, the campaign relies on graphics, GIFs, videos, and actions that are intended to draw users' attention to the term "patgific.

In this way, further campaign elements gradually follow, which together form a successful UGC story. The main goal of the campaign is to establish the term and the associated hashtag #patgific in everyday use - and thus also in social media. Among bundlers and non-bundlers.

Responsible at GRF: Yves Luetolf (Head of Marketing), Marc Held, Nadja Maurer, Mike Frei. Responsible at Monami: David Cappellini (overall responsibility), Stefan Erdin (concept and strategy), Tim Schaerer (concept and performance), Anine Shama (performance), Valentin Mattes (graphics and video), Luis Balzer (animation and video), Gregory Hedrich (animation), Nathalie Krebser (illustration and graphics).

Until now, producing solar power yourself has been a rather complex undertaking. Not only did you first need a suitable roof, but the solar power system itself and its operation also required a great deal of effort. With Ewz's participation model, this is now a thing of the past: Participation instead of ownership is the motto. That's why Ewz is democratizing local solar power production: all citizens of Zurich and customers in Ewz's Graubünden supply area can participate in Ewz's public solar plants by the square meter and thus produce environmentally friendly solar power. The solar power generated in this way - 80 kilowatt hours per year and square meter in Zurich, 180 in Graubünden - is then credited to the participants' electricity bills for 20 years.

A participation campaign in the service of the climate

At the center of the campaign are Zurich testimonials that are intended to convince people to participate in solar and break down the biggest perceived barriers to getting started. Also taking part is city councillor Michael Baumer and - as in last year's campaign - Dodo. The city of Zurich artist likes sun, reggae, nature and lives a conscious and sustainable lifestyle.

In addition to classic posters and DOOH, social and display ads as well as online videos are used. In the digital area, the aim is to communicate all the benefits and relevant information about the solar investment model quickly and easily - tailored specifically to the sales funnel.

The campaign has been running since Monday and will be on display through the summer.

Responsible at Ewz: Myriam Mojon, Philipp Schad (Campaign Management), Felix Seifried (Digital Experience), Thöme Jeiziner (Media Relations), Hadi Jean-Richard (Head of Storytelling), Julia Weber (Social Media), Barbara Kohler (Internal Communications), Pascal Schaub (Head of Marketing & Communications), André Rohrbach (Head of Private & SME). Responsible at Publicis: David Lübke (Creative Direction), Desiree Stocker (Junior Copywriter), Sandro Looser (Client Service Director), Adrianna de Feydeau (Account Director), Selina Bigler (Junior Account Director). Creative Direction Art: Studio Marvin Hugentobler. Responsible for Prodigious: Adrian Häni (Head of Factory), Martin Ottinger (Image Editing), Marco Christen (Motion), Andreas Ganz, Nik Hidber (Programming). Media: Publicis Media.

GianCarlo Bianchi and Katrin Frei jointly take over the new management of the newly named Pressrelations Schweiz AG. Both also strengthen the management board of the group of companies in Düsseldorf. The former Nr-Swiss Managing Director Nikolaus Zumbusch moves to the Board of Directors of Pressrelations Schweiz.

"The merger of the two companies is the logical consequence after more than four years of successful cooperation. We look forward to benefiting even more from the high Swiss quality standards in the future," Press Relations Managing Director Jens Schmitz was quoted as saying in a statement.

The declared goal of the merged media intelligence providers is to bundle their technology and consulting expertise. "This means that the specific customer requirements from Switzerland will now also be given significantly more weight in the further development of the proven monitoring and analysis portal NewsRadar," explains Managing Director Katrin Frei. Thus, the joint development of a virtual newsroom solution will be further advanced and additional tools and interfaces will be implemented in the in-house NewsRadar technology.

Pressrelations Switzerland now offers customers a much larger media set and has access to considerably more resources and international expertise. In addition, the Swiss team will be strengthened this year and both locations in Stans and Zurich will be further expanded. "Being part of a global network and a new member of AMEC, FIBEP and GMI Alliance will also provide us with numerous advantages and new opportunities to further improve our products and services," elaborates Managing Director GianCarlo Bianchi.

Pressrelations is also a partner of ComImpact, an association founded in February 2021 to promote comm-tech skills in the communications industry in Switzerland.

Bligg is a trained plumber and thus represented the perfect ambassador for the building services industry. In the first video clip, he talks about how he came to his career choice and why he still counts it as one of his best decisions today. The production focuses on Bligg and his story as well as his connection to the industry. Bligg's off-screen voice and his honest insight into his career are intended to create an authentic and credible connection from his apprenticeship to his current job. The authentic story is intended to motivate young professionals and their parents to take an interest in this promising industry. The professional pride of existing professionals should also be strengthened with Bligg and the following ambassadors and their success stories.

The main clip and various teaser clips are played out on social media and partner channels. In addition, the topic of professional pride and the meaningfulness of professions in connection with Bligg's experiences will be further addressed with expanded storytelling. Bligg's story continues as part of his own WebTV series. In the coming episodes, the musician will explain why the professions of building technicians are so important - today and in the future.

Responsible at SuissetecChristian Brogli (Head of Marketing and Communication), Helena Montag (Project Manager Communication). Responsible at Riverside Productions: Tanja Hollenstein (overall responsibility), Hans Peter Riegel (creative director, direction), Andi Fruet, Trenary Guerrero (camera and editing), Marie-Joëlle Eschmann and Lisa Preuss (social media).

The 46-year-old historian succeeds the former editor-in-chief of the New Zurich NewspaperMarkus Spillmann, who has chaired the foundation since 2017. The 53-year-old will not stand for a second term in office.

Fehr has been MAZ director since May 2020. She previously held various positions at Somedia (formerly Südostschweiz Medien), most recently as Head of Journalism for Newspapers, Radio, TV and Online for several years. Among other things, she is a board member of the Conference of Editors-in-Chief, president of the association "real21 - Understanding the World" and a member of the Prix Transparence jury.

Fehr is taking over the presidency of the foundation at a moment when the organization has set the course for the future after various structural reform steps, according to the statement. However, money remains a challenge, according to the statement. The financial situation remains tight, the foundation writes.

The newly elected president expressed confidence. "The Swiss Press Council has impressively demonstrated, not least in recent months, how important an independent professional and media-ethical complaints authority is in our media system," Fehr is quoted as saying in the statement. (SDA)

46-year-old Dieter Fassbender will take on the new role at Ads&Figures in mid-April. He has been a well-known figure in the digital industry and agency landscape for over ten years: He previously held various positions at Goldbach Interactive, Mediabrands and Metapeople.

Professionally, Fassbender is now drawn to Bern for the first time. "I am very much looking forward to this challenging and exciting task. The Digital Unit reporting to Fassbender comprises the technical experts in the areas of SEA, SEO, social media advertising, programmatic advertising, and data & digital analytics. He will further expand the teams in these disciplines, optimize processes, and identify synergy potential.

Every advertising campaign causes CO2 emissions, regardless of the medium in which it appears. OMG Switzerland therefore asked itself what it could contribute to climate protection as a media agency and how it could take more responsibility for its own corporate activities in the future. In a corporate social responsibility project group, the environmental initiative Media Flights for Good was launched. Together with the participating customers, an amount is donated for each campaign in favor of climate protection, as OMG explains in a press release. The customers and Omnicom Media Group are pooling their resources for this purpose. The proceeds from Media Flights for Good will be used to support local climate protection projects run by partner NGO Myblueplanet. The NGO has set itself the task of using innovative solutions at the local level to encourage people in Switzerland to adopt a climate-friendly lifestyle.

"It was important for us to choose a partner that operates on a local level and organizes projects that we can also contribute to as a team with our manpower" explains Jens Brecht, CEO of Omnicom Media Group Switzerland. "It's not just about a fundraiser for us, we want to create something sustainable with Media Flights for Good and raise awareness that we can all contribute something to climate protection."

A tree for each team member

In addition to the "Media Flights for Good" campaign, another OMG Switzerland project is in the starting blocks. In 2021, a tree is to be planted for each team member of OMG Switzerland together with Myblueplanet. This tree donation will also be continued for future employees.

Last year, OMG Switzerland already organized various internal CSR activities with the OMD and phd agencies, such as a plogging group and clean-up days. In addition, low-waste measures and recycling have been implemented and optimized in the agency for several years.