Once again this year, it is not only the jury of experts that will decide on the winners of the Goldbach Crossmedia Award. In the run-up to the Award Night on September 6, 2021, customers, agencies and all other interested parties can vote for their favorite cross-media campaign.

A total of eighteen campaigns were submitted for the Goldbach Crossmedia Award, nine of which made it to the top. the shortlist of the jury (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The public now has the chance to choose their favorite from all the campaigns submitted, regardless of the shortlist. The Online voting is open with immediate effect until June 30, 2021.

The following projects can be voted on (in alphabetical order by client).

After stores, stores and boutiques were allowed to reopen on March 1, restaurants and cafés have been able to serve guests on their terraces again since Monday. VBZ and Ruf Lanz are responding to the gradual easing of restrictions with a beautiful advertising line.

While the "Spring dress" motif appeared at the beginning of March to mark the opening of the stores, VBZ is now launching two further motifs to mark the opening of the terraces. All motifs are graphically consistent illustrations from the streetcar and bus lines.

In this way, VBZ is not only communicating its transport services in an unmistakable way, but is also supporting the hospitality and commercial sectors in Zurich in these difficult times. The course has already been set for further subjects for possible scenarios.

At the same time, VBZ points out in the text that the protective measures must continue to be observed so that everyone can continue on this path of gradual opening.

Responsible at VBZ: Silvia Behofsits (Head of Corporate Communications), Sherin Madassery (Junior Project Manager Corporate Communications). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf (Creative Direction), Catherine Martin (Art Direction), Markus Ruf (Text), Armin Arnold (DTP), Miro Poffa (Consulting). Illustrations: Catherine Martin.

The Sports and event arena in Altstetten is getting a charismatic salesman, janitor and yoga teacher in the shape of "Leon". His trademark? He always appears in full field hockey gear. The character, developed by Matchcom, markets the arena in short film sequences in his direct manner.

"The campaign works with humor, which has never been seen before in advertising for office and commercial space," says Roland Sennhauser, Managing Partner at Matchcom, confidently. The creative film sequences are distributed digitally as the main element of the multi-channel campaign and lead interested parties to the landing page for space marketing. The target group is consistently picked up - from the approach to the various film subjects to the virtually set up service areas.

Responsible on the customer side: Philippe Frei, Luca Ochsner (Livit), Roger Gemperle (ZSC Lions Ice Hockey). Responsible at Matchcom: Roland Sennhauser, Gina Kopp. Responsible at Happy Content: Patrick Müller, Michèle Fischhaber (Happy Content). Text: Tom Zürcher.

In 2011, in the course of the convergence of radio and television, Esther Schneider took over as head of the then newly created trimedial literature editorial team. In terms of journalism, she has intensified the focus on Swiss literary creation. Under her leadership, new digital formats have also emerged, such as the author platform "Ansichten.ch" and the literature blog "Buchkönig.

Esther Schneider began her radio career in 1991 in the information department of the then Radio DRS. Her first station was Regionaljournal AG/SO. She then moved to Bern and, among other things, hosted the information program "Rendez-vous". After that, she hosted the talk show "Persönlich" and was responsible for the daytime programming on Radio DRS 1. Esther Schneider will leave SRF at the end of August 2021. In the future, she will devote herself to her own projects in the areas of culture and literature.

Who will take over as head of the specialist literature editorial team after Esther Schneider's departure is still open and will be communicated by SRF at a later date. The change in editorial management is not expected to have any influence on the development mandate for a new digital literature format. The first results will follow in late summer 2021.

Erne AG Holzbau is a timber construction company that has already realized many innovative projects - both nationally and internationally. On the occasion of its 75th anniversary, the company's achievements were to be impressively commemorated.

Together with Heimat Zürich, the idea for a special project was born: a table on which the most important milestones of the last 75 years are immortalized as illustrations. From the beginnings in a small carpenter's workshop to modern times, where Erne has built, among other things, the first and highest wooden skyscraper in Switzerland.

The production of the Erne table combined traditional craftsmanship with modern technologies. While the parametric design was created on the computer, a robot took over the cutting of the individual wooden elements. The complex table legs, in turn, were assembled by hand. In partnership with a Dutch artist, the individual illustrations were created, milled into the table by Erne employees, and finally cast in pewter.

The interaction of the individual disciplines and the cooperation with the right partners have often been the basis of the company's success in the past. The anniversary table thus not only tells of Erne's competence, but is also proof of it, as it were.

The design object was also the basis of an unusual corporate film and forms the basis of the Anniversary website the visual guide for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Erne Holzbau.

Responsible at Erne AG Holzbau:  Priscilla Troxler (Head of Marketing & Communications). Responsible agency: Home Zurich. Film production: Dynamic Frame, Luca Zurfluh (director), Tobias Kubli (DOP). Illustrations: Sjoerd Verbeek (Art Box). Photos: Oliver Nanzig. Image processing: Patrik Rohner.

The Swiss advertising market saw a 14 percent decline in gross figures last year, and the first months of the new year were also down. The SWA stood by its members during these times and quickly converted its services from analog to digital. In the process, it became possible to reach a much larger audience more often with new webinar offerings than was previously possible with workshops, the association said in a statement. The practical webinars were in great demand among members and sometimes attracted well over 100 participants.

Association anniversary to be made up for in 2021

The digital meetings of the six SWA specialist groups on marketing, media, digital, sponsoring, regulation and the Groupe Romand were also well attended. Only the traditional SWA annual meeting and other physical events had to be dispensed with last year. Now the association hopes to be able to make up for the meeting on the topic of "Man or machine: artificial intelligence in marketing and communication" - which also marks the 70th anniversary of the association - on September 9, 2021.

Several new members

Last year, eight advertising companies again joined the SWA: BLS, DeinDeal, Haar-Shop.ch, Hager Elektronik, Melitta, Publicare, Scout 24 and WIR Bank. This growth in members continues in the new year. With Switzerland Tourism, Schulthess Maschinen, Samsung Electronics Switzerland and Digitec Galaxus, four more members have already joined the SWA. This means that more than 200 advertising companies are now organized in the SWA, according to the statement. These companies and brands account for about 75 percent of all Swiss advertising spending. The voice of advertising clients has thus been given even more weight in the advertising market, and the SWA is well equipped to meet the challenges of the future.

More transparency and advertising freedom, less regulation

In addition to representing the interests and providing services for its members, the association is pursuing two priorities in the current year 2021: More transparency along the digital value chain and more advertising freedom and less state regulation. In the case of the digital value chain, the main aim is to continue the transparency initiative that has been launched. To this end, the new association "Digital Ad Trust Switzerland" was founded in February with the two partner associations IAB Switzerland and Leading Swiss Agencies LSA. (Werbewoche.ch reported). The SWA expects to make a lot of progress here this year and is planning further initiatives.

With regard to regulations in the advertising market, the SWA notes that many laws and regulations still affect commercial communication. Here, it is important to increase pressure and lobbying with a strong voice. Advertising bans, as in the tobacco industry, must be fought - there is a danger that these will be extended to products containing sugar, fat and salt. In these times in particular, politicians should be more accommodating to the economy and make the numerous rules and regulations for advertisers a little more "business-friendly," concludes the SWA's statement.

Michael Fingerhuth joined the predecessor organization NZZ Print in 2011 as Head of Marketing and Sales and headed NZZ Media Services from 2018. Following the establishment of the CH Media joint venture, which incorporated the printing plants of the partners AZ Medien and NZZ Regionalmedien, he took over management of the newspaper printing plants in Aarau and St. Gallen Winkeln at the beginning of 2019. In the past two and a half years or so, he merged the organizational structures of the two sites and intensified cross-site cooperation.

After this successful and intensive integration phase, the right time has now come for Michael Fingerhuth to reorient himself and take on a new challenge in the future, according to a statement from CH Media. The operational management of the two production sites of CH Media Print will be taken over ad interim by Michael Fingerhuth's current deputy Heinz Meyer from May 1, 2021, until the succession is finally settled.

By over 55 percent, the Swiss Pledge-companies have reduced TV advertising in the children's environment since 2012. This was the result of a corresponding study on advertising presence by Media Focus. The advertising promise, which was originally geared toward traditional media - TV, print, websites - has been continuously expanded with the growing importance of social media and, since 2019, also includes Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

Good results in 2020

Media Focus has been monitoring compliance with the voluntary commitment since it began in 2010. TV commercials, advertising in children's magazines and on company brand websites are examined, as is advertising on social media channels since 2019.

According to the market research company, the Swiss Pledge companies also achieved their target agreements in 2020 with good results. The participating companies bundled 20 percent of the total gross tower pressure of the food and beverage industry in Switzerland in 2020.

TV spots: 99.2% correct

During one quarter, Media Focus analyzed all TV spots placed by Swiss Pledge companies in 2020. During the period under review, 13,986 spots were checked, 99.2 percent of which complied with Swiss Pledge specifications. 116 spots were not placed correctly. The universe included all public stations, advertising windows and private stations.

TV advertising accounted for 62 percent of the Swiss Pledge companies' media mix in 2020. Measured against the total gross TV advertising spend of the food and beverage industry in Switzerland, this corresponds to 22 percent.

Children's magazines: 100% correct

All children's magazines met the Swiss Pledge requirements. The study examined 32 children's magazines marketed in Switzerland such as: Junior, Kläx, Maky, Rataplan, Spick and Hey Volg Magazine.

Brand websites: 96.3% correct

A total of 27 domains were checked. 96.3 percent met the Swiss Pledge criteria.

Social media: 93.1% correct

58 social media channels were examined, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. This is despite the fact that the age limit of 13 (Twitter excluded) is outside Swiss Pledge's age limit of children under 12. With 93.1% compliant social media appearances, a good value was achieved. However, the value in the previous year 2019 was higher at 98 % percent (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Swiss Pledge is a voluntary commitment by various food and beverage producers and catering companies and is based on the European voluntary commitment EU Pledge. The initiative is open to other market participants who commit to complying with the minimum criteria. These include:

• Restricted product advertising to children under 12. Only products that meet defined nutritional criteria3 may be advertised.
• No product-specific communications to elementary school (children under 12). Unless specifically requested or approved by school administration for educational purposes.

"Advertising to children under 12" means advertising to a target audience with a minimum of 35 percent of children under 12. The following companies are currently partners of Swiss Pledge: Coca-Cola, Danone, Intersnack, Kellogg, Mars, McDonaldʼs, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Rivella, Unilever and Zweifel Pomy-Chips. They have all specifically adapted their advertising behavior towards children under the age of 12 or, in some cases, have completely dispensed with product advertising in a children's environment.

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG closed the 2020 financial year with a loss of CHF 12.9 million. Declining advertising revenues and restructuring costs were responsible for this. The Corona pandemic led to additional costs, but also to savings.

With operating expenses of CHF 1.46 billion, the company recorded around CHF 31 million less advertising revenue last year, a good CHF 2 million less income from sponsorship and around CHF 19 million less programming revenue, SRG announced on Tuesday. In the programming division, around 7 million was attributable to cancelled sports productions.

According to SRG, around half of the drop in advertising revenues was due to the Corona pandemic. Advertising orders had plummeted from March 2020 due to the pandemic measures imposed by the authorities. However, the situation had improved in the second half of the year due to high ratings for TV programs.

SRG attributes the other half of the losses to the trend toward digital use. This resulted in a shift of advertising budgets to digital, mostly global offerings.

The pandemic had both a positive and a negative impact on SRG's business performance. On the one hand, the procurement of hygiene masks and disinfectants as well as further Corona measures for in-house productions led to additional costs. On the other hand, SRG saved costs due to cancelled cultural and sporting events.

Record reach for Corona broadcasts

SRG adjusted its programming because of the Corona pandemic. More programs were shown for children and young people as well as for senior citizens. In addition, the daily special broadcasts on the development of the Corona situation led to record ratings.

SRG describes the launch of the "Play Suisse" streaming platform as one of the highlights of the financial year (Werbewoche.ch reported). On it, in-house and co-produced films, series and documentaries can be watched free of charge. According to SRG, 250,000 people have registered on Play Suisse so far.

113 jobs cut

In 2020, SRG continued to press ahead with its restructuring. The goal is to consistently cut costs to compensate for the continued decline in advertising and sponsorship revenues, SRG said. Last year, 113 jobs were cut. Where possible, vacant positions were not refilled, SRG said. The company thus currently employs 5537 full-time positions.

Following the CHF 100 million savings program launched in 2018 and completed in 2020, SRG decided on a further CHF 50 million savings program in October 2020. This is to be implemented by 2024. (SDA)

As founder of the Bern-based agency Achtung! in 2002, Urs Heer actively helped shape the digital revolution and provided both strategic and creative advice to well-known companies. Among other things, he was responsible for the overall global presence of the FIVB Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, for which Achtung! prevailed in a pitch against major international agencies such as Ogilvy. When he felt the urge for a change of scenery after sixteen years, Urs Heer first considered retraining as a paramedic. But then agency life didn't let him go.

"What excites me most about Ginetta is the prospect of working with an international team to implement cool, holistic projects - from strategy to the finished product," explains Heer. He is also looking forward to further expanding the site in his hometown. "We believe that Bern has a lot of potential as a business location. With our team, we can offer our customers a personal, high-quality service on site. As an experienced and extremely successful creative strategist, Urs is the perfect fit," emphasizes Simon Raess, founder of Ginetta.

Optipress is a complete package for sanitary installations. It offers everything from a single source: from the digital planning tool through pipes and fittings to the pressing tool, which can be operated via app. All Optipress components are perfectly coordinated with each other: Everything fits. This is also the motto of the new 360-degree campaign for Optipress from Nussbaum. It was developed and realized by Serviceplan Suisse.

On visuals, the various products and offers of Optipress are arranged in such a way that they form an object together. Symbolic of the fact that at Optipress everything fits together, from the small to the large.

The elaborate visuals and videos of the campaign were realized in collaboration with photographer Jonathan Heyer in a warehouse. Over the course of two days, the individual parts were laid out - and then photographed from a five-meter-high crane. Various advertising materials were developed for the campaign, including ads for trade magazines, flyers, display banners, mailings, social media ads, POS advertising materials.

Responsible at R. Nussbaum: Daniel Bader (Head of Marketing Communications and PR), Ivana Covella (Team Leader Marketing Communications and PR), Melanie Aebi, Melanie Hübner (Project Management Marketing Communications and PR), Miriam Eggmann (Digital Marketing & ECommerce Manager), Raphael Suter (Product Manager Optipress). Responsible at Serviceplan Suisse: Selma Caglayan, Valmire Muji (consulting), Nadja Tandler (art direction), Peter Liptak (text), Dominic Shota Schweingruber (motion), Michael Kathe (creative direction), Marcin Baba (executive creative direction), Carmen Anderegg, Barbara Häne (production), Pam Hügli, Raul Serrat (overall responsibility); Plan.Net (Online), Jonathan Heyer (Photography), All in Productions (Production), Werner Baumgartner (Styling), AschmannKlauser Postproduction (Image Editing), Südlich-t (Grading Stop Motion).

The agency convinced the jury with its digital approach and creative thinking. In order to do justice to the ever-widening gap between an emotional customer experience and digital convenience, customers need added values that are easy to understand and presented in a pointed way. Equally important is the handling of data and the insights gained from data analysis that can be meaningfully integrated into apps. This overall package convinced the customers and formed the cornerstone of the longer-term collaboration.

Since its founding in 2011, the team around CEO Boris Aebi has already served over 90 customers within the scope of more than 700 projects. Admire's customer base includes major clients such as the Swatch Group, Swiss Tennis, Swiss Prime Site, Tamedia, Halter, but also regionally rooted companies such as Auto Marti or the Mini Center Bern.