With its range of services, the Echo Group aims to appeal to companies that want to position their brand sustainably and bring it to life with innovative events. As an established event location, The Hall provides the infrastructure for physical, hybrid and digital events, while the Fe agency with locations in Baden, Zurich Stettbach and Düsseldorf consists of the three business units Branding, Campaigns and Corporate Events.

"With the Echo Group, we are creating a unique offering that seamlessly combines marketing and event measures," says Dominic Fontijn, Co-CEO of the new group and co-founder of Fe Agentur. Christian Mathys, CEO of The Hall, adds: "Our partnership combines concept development and event location - setting new standards." In summary, clients will benefit from a 360-degree offering that includes a holistic strategy and expertise, stringent brand communication and innovative experiences.

From March 2025, the Echo Group will be launching its own event formats in The Hall. The "Echo Originals" series will demonstrate the Group's expertise. The program includes the keynote series "Denkwiese25" on 7 March, a live concert by "Sing meinen Song" on 11 April as well as comedy and gospel events throughout the year.

The mini-series comprises a total of over twelve videos, which will be played out over several months on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. The protagonists appear several times and occasionally meet in the videos. Combined as a playlist, this results in an entertaining "soap" that highlights the different guest needs in a pointed way.

The first three published videos with the Fretz family, a Bachelorette party in a prosecco frenzy and Diana & Marco were recorded in the Revier Mountain Lodge Lenzerheide.

Concept: Revier Hospitality Group, Daniel Renggli (CEO, concept), Fabian Weidmann (CMO, concept and direction). Production: UpHill Arosa, Mirko Schadegg (video and editing), Mirielle Salm (light and photos).

Ivo Mijnssen is currently the NZZ correspondent for Ukraine, based in Vienna. In his new role, the 43-year-old will head the newsroom and be responsible for digital reporting. "Ivo Mijnssen understands international reporting in depth and knows the dynamics of crisis situations from his own experience," says NZZ Editor-in-Chief Eric Gujer. Mijnssen has been working for the NZZ in Vienna since 2019, initially focusing on Austria and Eastern Central Europe, and later on Ukraine and Poland.

Nicole Anliker has headed the newsroom since 2021. The 41-year-old will report from Istanbul as correspondent for south-eastern Europe and Turkey from August 2025. Gujer praises her work: "With her journalistic flair, she has continuously developed the quality of digital reporting."

The 48-year-old Rico Bandle, an experienced cultural journalist, will take over as head of the features section. He succeeds Benedict Neff, who will head up the foreign section from March 2025. Bandle currently works as an editor and copy editor at the SonntagsZeitung and was previously with the Weltwoche as well as at Tamedia. "With his clear, pointed writing and broad specialist expertise, he is the ideal person to further develop the journalistic line of the Feuilleton," says Gujer.

The new COO Marco Böni brings with him experience from the digital and communications industry. Most recently, he was Chief Digital Officer and Head of E-Commerce at Zubi, before which he worked at Farner Consulting for several years. In his new role at CRK, he will further develop the agency's digital expertise and optimize internal processes.

In the creative field, CRK is relying on an interdisciplinary duo in Sascha Fanetti and Silvan Gisler. Gisler was previously Creative Director at Schauspielhaus Zurich, co-founder and Head of Communications at Operation Libero and a journalist. His experience in political campaigning and copywriting complements that of Fanetti, who has worked in senior positions at agencies such as Publicis Communications Switzerland and Notch Interactive over the past 15 years.

"With Sascha, Silvan and Marco, we are making targeted investments in our creation and consulting processes. At the same time, we are strengthening our campaigning and digital capabilities," says CRK CEO Patrick Marty. The three new additions should bring new impetus to the agency and its clients.

With the "Event Line", VBZ is launching a completely new type of event location on rails: a completely redesigned streetcar that can be booked for corporate events, culinary experiences and special occasions. The design, brand communication and storytelling were created by PinkSquirrel.

The agency was responsible for the entire brand design - from the strategic concept to the visual implementation. "Our aim was to create a brand world that is emotionally touching, eye-catching and memorable," explains Art Director Cedric Schweizer.

The visual identity combines the traditional blue tones of VBZ with a modern neon aesthetic. This mix is intended to convey dynamism, innovation and urban vibrancy. The entire exterior design of the streetcar tells a visual story - with stylized silhouettes of the city of Zurich, iconic illustrations for various event categories and the striking lighting design. The branding developed runs stringently through the entire brand communication - from the outdoor advertising to the digital online platform, which makes the experience intuitively accessible for guests.

"We don't just create designs - we shape worlds of experience that connect brands and people," emphasizes Schweizer. The new event line is a perfect example of a creative transformation of public space.

The viewability rate for display advertising was 71.6%, 0.4 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter. Desktop formats remained at a high level of 80.0%, with individual formats such as 994×250 even increasing slightly. Mobile advertising formats achieved a visibility of 68.0%, although the widely used 300×250 format recorded a decrease of 2.9 percentage points.

The ad fraud rate remained at a consistently low level of 0.48%. On desktop, it was 0.96%, while mobile formats hardly changed at 0.34%. The 300×250 format showed a slight increase, but remained in the non-critical range at 0.45%.

The brand safety rate remained at 0.02% and thus remained at the previous record low. The risk for brands therefore remained extremely low, even in the Christmas quarter with its high level of bookings.

"The stable ad fraud and brand safety values show that the transparency and quality of digital advertising remain at a high level," says Roland Ehrler, President of Digital Ad Trust Switzerland. "Despite the slight decline in visibility, trust in digital advertising formats remains high." A positive signal for advertisers and publishers, concludes Ehrler.

The Museumsquartier Bern is located between Helvetiaplatz and Kirchenfeldstrasse. The eleven cultural and educational institutions have a common goal - to make their diverse cultural offerings more visible with a new image.

To this end, Noord worked out the positioning and developed a concept. The aim was to create a strong umbrella brand that would unite all the hotels and develop appeal with a clear message. "Bundling communication, defining a common direction and preserving diversity - a task that particularly appealed to us," says CD and Co-Managing Director Roger Mazzucchelli.

The central positioning facets were developed in close cooperation with the eleven institutions in a brand workshop. The brand character is changeable and open - and it is precisely these characteristics that give the new umbrella brand its strong identity. This concept positions the Museumsquartier Bern as a uniform address that appeals to both visitors and the local population.

Like the design language of the figurative mark and logo, the colors also come from the neighborhood. The photographic documentation created on site formed the basis for a color scheme that reflects the diversity of the institutions and matches the positioning.

The umbrella brand can currently be seen all over the city on posters and even with an installation in the district. The newly designed website provides clear digital access to the wide range of offers.

Web development: Arillo.com. Video sequences: Digital custom work.

As Director of Project Management and Creation, Barbara Huber takes over the management of creative projects. She brings with her many years of experience from agencies and brand experience on the corporate side. Simon Rosenast, new to the management team as Director of Engineering, has over 25 years of experience in live communication and will use his technical expertise to drive innovative solutions forward. Andy Ryter, Director of Sales, brings over 13 years of experience in customer consulting and sales and will further strengthen Habegger's market development.

"The expansion of our management team marks an important milestone in the development of our company," says Habegger CEO Jürg Schwarz. "With the combined expertise and commitment of our team, we are ideally positioned to offer our customers unique solutions and actively shape the future of live communication."

Keystone-SDA's Content Development department is responsible for the development of multimedia content such as live blogs, visualizations - such as the recent elections in Germany - or picture galleries in ready-to-publish format. The agency relies on close cooperation with its clients to develop products that meet current information consumption habits.

"I am delighted that Cornelia Jost is taking on this responsible position. Her extensive expertise in the news agency, her innovative approach and her great dynamism embody precisely the qualities that are of great value to us in the current changing media landscape," says Editor-in-Chief Federico Bragagnini. "Content development plays a key role in the further development of our editorial agency offering."

Jost initially joined the agency's sales department in 2010. In 2016, she moved to the editorial department, where she completed a two-year stage and was then given a permanent position in the domestic editorial department. In recent years, she has also regularly supported the editorial team at the Federal Parliament and was instrumental in setting up the Content Development department from 2022.

The 37-year-old has a master's degree in digital journalism from the Hamburg Media School and brings in-depth specialist knowledge and multimedia expertise to her new management role. She has been involved in several innovation projects in recent years, including the establishment of new formats such as the liveblog.

With the appointment of Cornelia Jost, the extended editorial team of Keystone-SDA is now complete. It now includes Nicolà Wenger (Italian-language editorial team), Christian Rovere (French-language editorial team), Sandro Mühlebach (German-language editorial team, Deputy Editor-in-Chief), Laurent Gilliéron (Visuals, Deputy Editor-in-Chief) and Valentin Oetterli (Sport).

While conventional global ETFs usually only invest in equities, the new ETP also includes bonds, commodities, precious metals and cryptocurrencies. Olga Miler, Index Advisor of the ETP, explains: "The world is changing rapidly - but traditional world ETFs remain static and often only invest in equities. With the Smart All World ETP, we are giving private investors the opportunity to invest in the markets of tomorrow, simply, transparently and across different asset classes."

The Smart All World ETP invests specifically in sectors with growth potential, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics and renewable energies. It also focuses on commodities such as lithium, real estate for stabilization and sustainable bonds to reduce fluctuations. Cryptocurrencies are also part of the portfolio.

Roman Przibylla, Head Investments at Maverix Securities, emphasizes the approach: "Time and again, we see that it is difficult for private investors to create broad diversification across all asset classes in their portfolio. Our vision is to enable them to do this with a simple solution."

With a management fee of 0.50 % per year and a minimum investment of CHF 100, the ETP is intended to offer long-term investors a cost-effective way to diversify their portfolio. Further information is available on the Website of Maverix.

With the campaign developed by Hofmarschall, the Ace Cafe shows that it offers an alternative to urban trends such as Buddha bowls and avocado toasts. The restaurant focuses on soul food with plenty of flavor and calories. This is illustrated by images of people biting into juicy ribs or breakfast burgers, accompanied by headlines such as: "The tastiest ribs in Switzerland" or "Where eggs are wedged between buns".

The Ace is often reduced to petrolheads and people with gasoline in their blood. The campaign aims to break this cliché and position the Ace as a place for everyone - from city to country. Puns such as "For daredevils and Spiessburger." or "Serves brunch and Brönsch." are intended to make this clear.

Only people from the Ace environment were photographed for the campaign - from employees to guests. Cafe owner Dany Kunz explains: "It was clear to me that the campaign should show people who make up the Ace. The result speaks for itself: this is us. Authentic and genuine."

Around 200 poster sites in the city of Lucerne were used for two weeks.

Responsible at Ace Cafe Lucerne: Dany Kunz (Owner). Responsible at Hofmarschall: Viktor Käser (Strategy Lead), Najla Becirovic (Creative Lead), Alain Stocker (Creative Strategist), Claudio Catenazzi (Art Director), Rabea Hüppi (Photography). Media agency: Ace2Ace.

Lukas Schneller, Head of Promotions and Events at SBB, explains the choice: "Thryve impressed us with its innovative and thematically networked approach - modern, younger and very family-friendly."

The realignment will be called "Polarzauber" and will include interactive elements such as AR and VR stations, a digital scavenger hunt and a selfie studio in addition to traditional market stalls. In addition, special attention will be paid to sustainability and a balanced mix of local, regional and national providers.

The Thryve Group, which includes the agencies Rawcut, Swissper, Wetalkwithyou and Promotion-Tools, is responsible for all aspects of the event - from branding and marketing to the catering concept and exhibitor support. Marco Eberhard, Managing Partner of the Thryve Group, emphasizes: "The project is already a project close to our Group's heart - a concept that we will bring to life with our entire portfolio, our expertise and our passion."

Further details on the new concept will be published on the website in the coming weeks. Polarzauber.ch published.