In the advertising world, countless campaigns vie for consumers' dwindling attention at the end of the year. Between glittering shop windows and flashing banners, CS2 AG from Sissach has chosen a path that combines technology with the most classic of all Christmas sentiments: the personal gesture.
Under the title "Lichtmomente", the agency has developed a web application that democratizes the creation of individual Christmas songs. The process is as simple as it is effective: based on just a few details, the tool generates individualized Christmas songs. cs2.ch/lightmoments within 30 seconds a complete song that can be shared directly via a link.
Small gesture, big impact
Behind the playful façade lies a deeper understanding of modern marketing. "Sometimes it only takes a small moment to brighten someone's day. That's exactly the kind of moment we wanted to make possible with this campaign," explains Dani Kalt, CEO of CS2. It's not about the big staging, but about appreciation on a small scale - be it for customers, employees or family.
The campaign reflects Sissach's core competencies: the fusion of digital expertise with creative storytelling. At a time when AI is often perceived as impersonal, CS2 uses the technology here as a tool for maximum emotionality.
A gift for the industry (and everyone else)
What is particularly appealing is that the tool is not an exclusive customer gadget, but is available to the public free of charge. CS2 thus invites the entire industry - and beyond - to become composers of Christmas cheer themselves.
If you would like to create a "light moment" yourself, you can do so at cs2.ch/lightmoments try it out. It's an invitation to pause for a moment and use the digital transformation for what really matters at Christmas: putting a smile on someone's face.
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The common saying "it takes two" perfectly expresses how important the interplay of a partnership between an agency and its clients or partners is for the success of a project.
Iconic images that are part of the collective consciousness were selected for illustration: From the fall of man in the Bible to the most successful film franchise of the present day. "Sometimes you have to use a grand gesture to illustrate something very simple," explained Dani Kalt. You and me - reduced to the essentials: Icons.
Customers, partners and employees enjoyed an appealing program in the lecture hall of the Kunsthaus Zurich: CEO Dani Kalt gave a short presentation explaining the development of the idea, peppered with anecdotes from 20 years of CS2.
Duo Blush provided the musical backdrop. The guests were challenged during the aperitif: They were allowed to imitate the great couples of history while posing and add their own suggestions to the collection of icons.
The main objective was to structure the content to meet the needs of all stakeholder groups. Extensive analysis and workshops defined the individual parameters of the solution. Here is a selection of the priorities:
- Increase the attractiveness of the brand through a contemporary appearance
- Information for customers about promotions and stores
- Helpful additional functions such as action alarm or shopping list
- Easy management of the website (resource-saving)
- Media corner with all relevant content
- Mobile use has great relevance (smartphone and tablet)
- More Swissness and a strong content strategy.
The Page has been given a new, contemporary layout and radiates a lot of Swissness. The design was completely mobile-optimized - so that the next purchase can be planned conveniently by cell phone while on the move. Clarity has been a top priority: With filters, all promotions can now also be searched for by product group.
Highlight shopping list
The Denner shopping list offers even more usability: Plan your purchases and share the list with your partner or family for joint processing.
Highlight Action Alert
How annoying it is when you realize that you missed an action of your favorite drink or meat, for example. Thanks to the easy-to-set-up promotion alert, this is no longer an issue. You will be informed about promotions of individual products or entire product groups via e-mail.
Highlight store finder
Need to quickly find a souvenir in a foreign place? No problem: Now you can find your nearest Denner store even faster, with all the important information on offers and special opening times.
Responsible at Denner: Petra Gayko (Head of Marketing Communications); Martina Aichhorn (Project Manager E-Commerce); Heidi Bürke (PM Internet); Thomas Birrer (Solution Engineer ).
Responsible at CS2: Dani Kalt (CEO); Dominic Guye (Project Manager). Responsible at Detail: Ivan Wolf (Lead Web Developer, Lead Detail Net); Tina Kazimir, Managing Director.
1. you could swap your smartphone with someone else's for a day. Would you? And if so, with whom?
Yes, on one of the days when I'm usually offline (singing with my choir or making cheese). With Alexander Graham Bell. To learn what the inventor of the telephone is doing with today's smartphone.
2. what would you work for free?
I already do. Every year in Sri Lanka, for my foundation Help-helps.ch.
3. where and how have you ever bluffed in your life?
A little fibbing is part and parcel of challenging pitches, as long as you can keep your word afterwards.
4. what does not come to the office under any circumstances?
Hot Air Guys. I am so allergic to them that as a preventive measure we even use the platform Hr-pick.com have developed. As a former farmer, I am used to tackling and implementing.
5. was there a moment in your life when you thought: Wow. This is awesome. And it's from me!
Yes, at the birth of our two children.
6. a buzz word that gets on your nerves?
It's not really a buzz word, but B2B or B2C. Because it's all about H2H, human to human.
7. what is impossible for you to do without?
To the smartphone. I'm speculating that Bell won't be able to do anything with mine and will give it back to me.
8. what do you never want to have to hear about yourself?
That I did not "keep my word". I find honesty an important and unfortunately endangered "code of honor" in life.
9. what are you determined to achieve?
That people say, "Wow, that's great. And it's from CS2."
10. which professional colleague would you take with you to a desert island?
The one who manages to make a smartphone out of a few shells and a wire and go online.
11. when you have an idea, how do you know it is good?
When I tell them to someone for the first time and can answer all the critical questions. Many ideas crumble at the first counter-questions.
12. what was the most fun lunch partner?
Boris Becker in Sissach in 1999, when he visited us on the occasion of our newly developed interactive television technology and wanted to invest a few million.
13. what inspired you to enter the communications industry?
Already as a little boy I saved up for my first Atari computer and later for my first cell phone (Natel C). I like to be communicative.
Dani cold completed an agricultural apprenticeship, managed his parents' farm for several years and trained to become a federally certified farmer. From 1993 to 1997 he also worked part-time in a software company in sales and software development. In 1997 he co-founded the then Creative Solutions GmbH and managed the sales department. In his current role as CEO, he is responsible for implementing CS2's corporate strategy, managing key accounts and directing the company's financial fortunes. Kalt lives in Sissach and is the father of two children. CS2 is a full-service open source web agency with around 37 employees. Core competencies include corporate websites, e-commerce and web applications.
The "13 Questions" appear both online and in the print edition of Werbewoche.
Implementation 13 Questions: Thomas Häusermann
The law graduate has got to know the communications industry from many different angles: as a presenter and Head of Music at a radio station in north-west Switzerland, he learned early on to combine words with emotions. As Marketing Manager at Joe's Multimedia, he was initially responsible for around 40 branches of the video store chain. He then switched sides and marketed the home entertainment products of studios such as Paramount Pictures and Universum Film in German-speaking Switzerland.
At CS2, Graf wants to expand marketing activities, support the sales team and realize CEO Dani Kalt's innovative projects in business development.
Picture: Cs2.ch
]]>Aim of the new website According to a press release, the aim was to do justice to the image of the EMS Group in terms of content and appearance. Great importance was attached to news and up-to-date information. These were to be made available to specific target groups in the relevant areas as well as in the respective countries. The content must be easy to find and clearly presented. Another important criterion for the new website was the ability to make contact quickly.
Implementation
The focus of the entire project team was on simple and centralized editing of the extensive platform. For this reason, the entire site was implemented in a single Typo3 installation. Several functions and content access centralized data in order to eliminate redundant maintenance. Functions such as the jobs module allow the editorial team to enter vacancies for the respective country and location. The various templates and styles were also all created centrally, allowing enormous flexibility in page creation on the one hand and automatic compliance with CI/CD specifications on the other.
A download extension, which allows documents to be downloaded directly or ordered by post or e-mail, is intended to offer added value for customers. Whether as a customer, supplier or job seeker - thanks to numerous "call-to-action" elements, website visitors are able to get in touch with the right people at the Ems Group at any time. The advantage of this solution is the expandability of the international website. Any number of languages as well as company and product pages can be created.
Technology
The international platform was realized with Typo3, the leading open source enterprise content management system. Special modules and an editorial system ensure efficient content management. SOLR, an open source search platform based on Apache Lucene, was used as a high-performance search engine. In this project, CS2 was responsible for conception, design development, engineering, implementation, training/launch, hosting and operation.