Valentine's Day is traditionally the day of the flower trade. However, the Meier Garden Center also offers a large selection of native plants as well as special advice on biodiversity and wants to use the day of love to inspire customers to love sustainable gardening. Ingo Zürich has created a regional campaign celebrating biodiversity. Inspired by a social trend:

The pet name "mouse" is currently experiencing a huge hype on social media and beyond. It is used by many people regardless of gender.

Instead of the ubiquitous pet name "mouse", the campaign brings alternatives from Swiss flora and fauna into play - from the "Schönbär" to the "Scharfen Honigtäubling" to the "Frühlings Adonis", there really is something for everyone. The Meier Garden Center is thus promoting greater biodiversity. In the pet names and in the garden.

A social media campaign brings the most beautiful pet names with cheeky chat histories into everyday communication.

Tailor-made advertising films in regional cinemas attract additional attention.

And spots on local radio show how beautiful the nicknames from the Swiss biodiversity sound.

With the Nickname filter on TikTok you can find your personal pet name in no time at all.

Charming personal ads in local newspapers flank the campaign.

All measures link to the Website of the Garden Center. There, everyone can discover their favorite pet names and send them with personal greetings for Valentine's Day via WhatsApp, for example. The creatures behind these strange names are also revealed. And at the "Week for Sustainable Gardening", interested parties can learn how to promote local biodiversity in the garden with the right seeds, plants or perennials.

The campaign will also be extended at the POS, on screens in garden centers and in the form of seed packets that promote biodiversity in the garden. And, of course, during the "Week for Sustainable Gardening"

Responsible at Garten-Center Meier: Christian Rauser (Head of Marketing), Chantal Dind (Multimedia Content Producer), Sybille Bosshard (Online Manager). Vresponsible at Ingo Zürich: Benjamin Franken, Julia Staub, Michael Gallmann, Johannes Jordan, Felicia Aepli, Jan Saurer (Creation), Susi Martin (Project Management), Jan Wozniak (Project Management Digital), Cédric Fischer, Minh Tam Huynh, David Suppiger (Programming), Swen Morath (CEO/CCO). Partner PR: Leonie Kelly, Marion Hug (Burson).

Switzerland's highest literary award goes to Fleur Jaeggy in 2025. The Zurich-born author, who has lived in Milan for decades, is known for her precise and linguistically reduced prose. Her works, which have been translated into numerous languages, revolve around themes such as loneliness, isolation and human abysses.

The special prize for mediation goes to the Sofalesungen association, which has been transforming living rooms into literary salons and bringing readings to neighborhoods for ten years. The multilingual program enables low-threshold encounters between authors and audiences and promotes intercultural exchange.

In addition, the Federal Jury for Literature awards seven Swiss literary prizes for outstanding works of the past year. The award ceremony will take place on May 30, 2025 as part of the Solothurn Literature Days.

In collaboration with Basel Tourism, Graubünden Tourism, Lucerne Tourism and Zurich Tourism, the Swiss technology company Holoai is developing a digital travel guide that provides guests with locally curated recommendations in real time. The solution will be available as an interactive guide via smartphones or the destinations' existing digital platforms. The project is being funded by InnoTour.

According to those responsible, the AI-supported platform enables a customized travel experience: the local guides appear as fictional or historical characters, offer background knowledge on places of interest and provide location-based recommendations - regardless of time, place or language.

"With the platform, we are creating a basis for making local expertise with generative AI accessible to guests," explains Pascal Schwager, Head of Digital Products & Services at Zürich Tourism. The technology also offers new opportunities for the destinations themselves to accompany travelers digitally without having to make large investments.

The first prototypes are to be presented in summer 2025 and the project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2025. The platform will then initially be integrated into the Zurich City Guide app and later made available to other destinations.

Urs Thalmann is leaving Impressum at the end of March 2025 to take over the management of Transparency International Switzerland. Thalmann has worked for the professional association for a total of 20 years, 15 of which as Managing Director. His succession will be arranged internally: The current Central Secretaries Michael Burkard and Etienne Coquoz will lead the Executive Board together in future. The Board of Directors has already confirmed their appointment, and the official election by the Assembly of Delegates is to take place on March 21, 2025.

According to the co-presidents of Impressum, Caroline Gebhard and Fabienne Sennhauser, the internal succession solution offers stability in a challenging phase for the industry. The new dual leadership should also meet the growing demands. As a further measure, the association is planning to slightly increase the administrative size of the team. An additional 60% position has already been advertised.

The change at the top of the association has prompted the central board to review Impressum's strategic direction and use of resources. Representation on various committees in which Impressum represents the interests of journalists will also be reorganized in the coming months.

Balance is planning a comprehensive digital relaunch: from mid-2025, the business magazine will have its own online platform in addition to the print edition. Exclusive business stories, rankings and background reports will appear on Bilanz.ch in future. In terms of content, the website will focus on well-known focal points such as the great personalities of the Swiss economy, luxury topics and the "300 Richest" list.

The Handelszeitung is adjusting its publication frequency and will now be published every two weeks from March 20, 2025. The print and e-paper edition will have an expanded scope and focus even more on the background of the national financial industry. According to Editor-in-Chief Markus Diem Meier, the new frequency will allow economic developments to be analyzed in greater depth. The change will be accompanied by a revised layout and savings in production, printing and distribution.

There are also changes at HZ Insurance, the digital platform for the insurance industry: Andrea Hohendahl is taking over as editor-in-chief from Karin Bosshard, who is leaving the company. Hohendahl was previously at NZZ, the View and the Weltwoche active. At the same time, Vertical HZ Banking will be discontinued. As part of the realignment, three jobs will be cut at Ringier Media Switzerland.

According to Chief Content Officer Steffi Buchli, Ringier Media Switzerland wants to focus strategically with these measures: "With Balance, Handelszeitung, Cash and View With RMS, we are the strong force in Swiss business journalism."

Mobiliar has the best media reputation among the major Swiss insurance companies. Swiss Re, Zurich, AXA and Swiss Life follow in the next places. Among health insurers, KPT achieved the highest score, ahead of CSS, Visana, Sanitas and Atupri. The study is based on the evaluation of over 40,000 relevant statements in online and print media in German, French and Italian.

The analysis shows that the five top-ranked insurance companies have balanced reputation profiles overall. Mobiliar achieved the best score in "ESG & Sustainability", Swiss Re in "Management & Leadership", Zurich, Swiss Re and Swiss Life in "Economic Performance". Although Suva and Baloise achieved top scores in "Products & Services" and "Innovation", they did not make it into the top 5.

In the case of health insurance companies, the overall media picture is more negative, characterized by issues such as rising premiums or individual cases of benefits not being covered. KPT leads the ranking, while CSS scores well in "Innovation" and "ESG & Sustainability", but falls behind in "Products & Services" and "Economic Performance". Visana has a balanced profile, Sanitas shows weaknesses in "Workplace" and Atupri lags behind in "Economic Performance".

The study uses AI-supported analyses to evaluate the topics, tonality and visibility of companies. According to Swissreputation.group Managing Director Lukas Zihlmann, a strong media reputation is not a sure-fire success: "You have to earn it every year."

Why do you go to the bakery? Because it's nearby, the sales staff are particularly friendly or it's the only place you can buy your favorite bread? Compresso believes that a bakery is like a love affair - it has to be right.

This guiding principle is the common thread running through the Hotz poster campaigns that have already been implemented - and those that will follow in the coming months - in a cheeky, surprising and tongue-in-cheek way. While the 2024 Christmas campaign focused on Hotz's confectionery specialties, the second campaign in January and February 2025 focused on the company's bread expertise. Whether tipsy truffles "full to the top", the "hot Heinz", which is only "still available" at Hotz, or "Ueli, the original", which is "one like no other" and presents itself as strong and crispy baked rye bread: There is plenty to smile about. The next few weeks will show how the love affair continues.

Experience communication online and offline

Social media as a communication channel not only requires exciting content and meaningful images, but also ongoing channel management. Compresso has been responsible for Hotz's Instagram and Facebook channels since the 2024 Advent season and realized a Christmas content shoot as a first step.

The team from the Zurich-based agency is currently shaping the social media presence with appropriate posts and regularly updates the channels. Compresso is also responsible for community management. The measures also include an atmospheric press event on the theme of "Easter", which is intended to bring Hotz to life - sweet, chocolatey and with a pinch of tradition.

Responsible at Compresso: Suzanne Nievergelt (overall responsibility, consulting & PR), Daniela Rizzuto (project management & social media), Sean Dünki (creation).

Supertext is expanding its offering with a hybrid translation service that combines AI and language experts in one tool (Markt-kom.com reported). At the same time, the company is modernizing its brand identity. The new look was developed by Made Identity, which Supertext had already supported during the conception of the business model. The agency acted as a sparring partner for product development from the outset, developed the UX/UI for the product experience, developed the positioning, key messages and finally the brand world.

The new look reflects the interplay between technology and language. This is particularly evident in the logo: the "S" symbolizes the reciprocal movement between language worlds. Samuel Läubli, CEO of Supertext, explains: "With the symbiosis of artificial intelligence and human expertise, Supertext is creating a completely new offering. Made has helped us to formulate, position and make ourselves visible."

Supertext is thus deliberately positioning itself beyond "classic" translation agencies and placing a stronger focus on the technological component. The new brand identity is intended to appeal to both private users and large companies such as Swiss Life, Novartis and FedEx. With this realignment, the agency is focusing on an identity that will evolve in line with its own growth ambitions.

The new advertising format for digital video ads is a further development of the classic outstream ad and offers additional branding options, according to a Goldbach press release. These include a customizable end card, a personalized banner at the bottom of the video and automatically generated subtitles. The aim is to strengthen brand presence and improve advertising impact.

According to Goldbach, initial campaigns with Outstream Plus are showing promising results: The click-through rate and viewability rate were higher than those of conventional outstream ads. Justas Juozapaitis, Senior Programmatic Manager at Mediatonic: "The analyses showed optimized branding and performance metrics, including higher user engagement and better viewability."

Barbara Romanska-Pricone, Senior Video PM at Goldbach, sees the new functions as an important step: "As we have seen in practice, the customization options offer the opportunity to adapt outstream advertising more closely to the brand strategy and promote interactivity."

Outstream Plus is now available on the Goldbach Video Network. The format can be played programmatically or via traditional booking channels on desktop and mobile. There are no additional costs for advertisers for the creation of the advertising material.

The Gottardo Walser Trail stretches over 17 stages from Binn to Vals and leads through the cantons of Valais, Uri, Ticino and Graubünden. The route is part of the Great Walser Trail, which connects Walser villages from France to Austria. While the first 14 stages are already known as Route 62 of SwitzerlandMobility, three further sections have now been added.

After a lengthy planning phase, the Gottardo Walser Trail was officially opened on May 24, 2024. The initiative was launched by the International Association for Walser Heritage (IVfW), which realized the project together with the participating cantons. A new hiking guide was published at the same time, which not only describes the route but also places it in its historical context.

With the new website the Walser Trail has been given its own digital presence for the first time. In addition to practical information about the route, it provides background information about Walser culture and makes planning easier for hikers. The IVfW not only wants to increase awareness of the Walser Trail, but also raise awareness of the need to preserve the cultural heritage of the Walser people.

Ruag, the technology partner of the Swiss Armed Forces, has revised its strategic direction and is focusing on clear and inspiring internal communication. The agency Amstutz Partners accompanied this process and developed "Route de Ruag", a story that conveys the strategy in an understandable and emotional way.

Creative central idea as a source of inspiration

The marketing agency Amstutz Partners from Lucerne developed the communicative foundations in close consultation with Ruag's strategy team. "With the 'Route de Ruag' guiding idea, we created a strategy story to convey the content to employees in an understandable and emotional way," explains René Amstutz, CEO of Amstutz Partners. Clear messages and action goals were also defined in order to promote the active implementation of the strategy in everyday working life.

Successful start to communication

Amstutz Partners created a coherent story around the "Route de Ruag". Communication focuses not only on understanding, but also on involvement: Workshops are used as a lead instrument. A workbook designed as a hiking guide serves as a handy and interactive tool for employees. This is supplemented with an illustrated strategy map and a starter kit with matching gadgets.

"The first strategy workshops were held successfully and were very well received by the employees. 'Route de Ruag' is a sustainable solution that enables us to develop in a targeted manner," explains Lara Sedrina Sommer, Senior Manager Project Communications at Ruag.

Responsible at Ruag: Silvan Gruber (Head of Corporate Communications), Lara Sedrina Sommer (Senior Manager Project Communications). Responsible at Amstutz Partners: René Amstutz (consulting, conception), Matthias Jaun (consulting, conception), Björn Ponath (graphic design).

A fall, a cycling accident or simply slipping: a spinal cord injury can turn your life upside down from one moment to the next. The SPG guides those affected back to as self-determined a life as possible and accompanies them - for the rest of their lives. The key to this is a globally unique service network that offers highly specialized medical care, facilitates integration into work, family and society, promotes specific research and ensures lifelong support.

This value proposition should be communicated to patients, professionals, members, donors and the public. At the same time, the sense of community is strengthened internally. The aim is to make the SPG a companion that puts people at the center and treats them as equals.

Kreuz-P remains - colors and design elements become more dynamic

A logo, consisting of a unifying figurative mark and the name of the respective organization, is intended to create the expected clarity in communication. An open, movable super-sign in the shape of a cross-P acts as a central, pulsating design element and creates a dynamic common visual language - hand in hand with the color blue, complemented by other subtle hues for accents. A flexible layout principle allows organizations to make their communications easily accessible, while an overarching brand language with specific messages for the organizations completes the overall experience.

The new brand experience unfolds its full effect for the first time in the new Freundliche Grüsse campaign for SPG (Markt-kom.com reported).

"As an organization, we are committed to the well-being of people and are supported to a large extent by donations. Accordingly, we also have a responsibility to communicate our services as effectively as possible on the market, to convince members, to continuously recruit employees with strong human and professional skills and at the same time to continuously strengthen the overall structure of our organization. We are proud that we have succeeded in this balancing act together with MetaDesign," says Stefanie Kaufmann, the responsible campaign manager at the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation.

Christoph Knecht, COO of MetaDesign: "SPG is a global leader in the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury - that's impressive. The defined communication behavior and the overall experience show the power and responsibility that brands can and, in our view, must assume in order to make such an important topic heard."