The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung elected Marcel Kohler as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wemf on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The Managing Director of the 20 Minuten Group (until the end of July 2022) and Board member of the Schaffhausen News has been a delegate of the Swiss Media Association on the Wemf Board of Directors for five years. He succeeds Jürg Weber, who is stepping down at his own request after fourteen years in this position.
The outgoing President looks back with a positive feeling: "The media and advertising market is subject to constant change. Even in the last few very eventful years, Wemf has managed to keep up with the changing times and adapt to new conditions and market needs, for example by sharpening its all-media focus and steadily expanding its own tool landscape."
Jürg Weber has nothing but praise for his successor: "In Marcel Kohler, an experienced manager and proven industry expert has been elected to head Wemf. I am convinced that he will successfully continue the company's fortunes." He has his work cut out for him: "Wemf is characterized by a high level of innovative strength. Together with my colleagues on the Board of Directors and the motivated Wemf crew, I will work to ensure that our stakeholders in the media and advertising market continue to receive the data and tools that are relevant to them in the future."
Michi Frank elected as new member of the Board of Directors
With the retirement of Jürg Weber, a seat became vacant. The Annual General Meeting of Wemf shareholders awarded the mandate to Michi Frank. The CEO of Goldbach Group AG completes the board as a delegate of the Swiss Media Association. Marcel Kohler is pleased with the election: "Michi Frank, with his broad advertising marketing expertise and his competencies from the electronic sector, will ideally complement WEMF's multidisciplinary Board of Directors."
Previous members of the Board of Directors confirmed
All previous members of the Board of Directors were confirmed in their functions. After the new election, the Board of Directors of WEMF is composed as follows: Marcel Kohler, President, Delegate of the Swiss Media Association (VSM) (new); Thierry Kunstmann, Delegate of the Médias Suisses Association (previous); Gianluca Bonetti, Delegate of the Stampa Svizzera Association (previous); Roberto Rhiner, Alexander Theobald, Stefan Wabel (all current) and Michi Frank (new) as delegates of the Swiss Media Association (VSM); Roger Harlacher, delegate of the Swiss Association of Advertisers (SWA) (current); and Beat Krebs, delegate of Leading Swiss Agencies (current).
]]>Consumers are increasingly digital and do more and more research on the Internet before making a planned purchase. Omnichannel retailing thus opens up huge potential for customer acquisition and retention. The new study "Omnichannel Readiness Index Switzerland" examines how well domestic retailers are prepared for this reality.
In cooperation, SAAM, Google Switzerland and the market research institute MindTake are today publishing a comprehensive study that for the first time compares the most important retailers in Switzerland across all sectors according to their omnichannel maturity. Around 100 individual criteria were used to examine how well the channels of the big players in Swiss retailing are interlinked. "We see omnichannel as an opportunity to win and retain consumers, online and stationary. With this study - the ORI Index - we want to give Swiss retailers a tool to seize this opportunity," says Saskia Tönnesmann, Industry Manager at Google Switzerland. Petra Kacnik-Süss, CEO MindTake, adds: "We have developed a benchmark, a guide and roadmap with concrete recommendations for future developments and investments - for the entire Swiss retail landscape."
An unusual feature of the study design was the 360-degree perspective achieved by combining different survey techniques. In addition to desk research and a retailer survey, 1,000 consumers were asked how important the respective factors are to them. The assessments were incorporated into the index - so it was not just the presence of omnichannel features that was rewarded, but also the provision of services that are valuable to consumers.
VSV President Patrick Kessler gives the Swiss retail trade a generally positive omnichannel assessment: "A somewhat surprising finding of the study - the DIY sector with the representatives Coop Bau+Hobby, Hornbach, Migros Do it + Garden and Jumbo achieves the best sector average value with an average of 73.4 percent. The jewelry & watches sector (73 percent) and department stores (72.6 percent) follow.
Around three quarters of Swiss consumers would like to see the availability of a product displayed in the online store. This is already offered by almost 60 percent of retailers. Customers also want a filter function according to product availability in the store, but only one retailer offers this.
There is also a surprising finding with regard to contact options for customers: A callback option by telephone is desirable for almost half of the customers; only two retailers currently offer this. Only about half of the retailers offer their potential customers an e-mail address for communication - although around four fifths of consumers would like to have such a contact option by e-mail.
The study shows that the options "Click & Collect" (online purchase with in-store pickup) and "Reserve & Collect" (online reservation with in-store pickup) are in almost equal demand from customers. While "Click & Collect" is already offered by over 80 percent of retailers, "Reserve & Collect" still shows some potential, as this option is only offered by a good third of retailers.
The study shows that retailers can score particularly well with consumers if they can meet the now very high expectations regarding free delivery and additionally a precise delivery window. Every second Swiss customer already expects a precise time as a delivery date, but only three retailers offer this promise.
However, one of the greatest potentials lies in organizational implementation. More than half of companies (54 percent) still separate e-commerce and brick-and-mortar sales through separate sales organizations. "In order to efficiently align employees and corporate culture with omnichannel, discard silo thinking and make the most of synergies, existing structures must be broken up and areas of responsibility redistributed," says Saskia Tönnesmann, Industry Manager at Google Switzerland.
The law is currently being revised. Article 45a is the subject of discussion. A new provision is to oblige telecommunications providers to protect customers from unsolicited advertising calls. This is stipulated by the NZZ on Sunday in its current issue.
Only Swisscom now maintains a blacklist for dubious call centers. What is pleasing from the customer's point of view, however, is a potential nuisance for reputable market and opinion research institutes (Werbewoche.ch reported). They complain about ending up on the blacklist, even though they adhered to the industry code.
The draft of the new Telecommunications Act therefore obliges telephone companies not to obstruct serious market and social researchers. The solution is a whitelist on which the numbers of correctly operating companies are recorded. Swisscom already maintains such a list - but only the Federal Statistical Office is on it.
Opinions on the size of the problem of erroneously prevented calls differ widely between Swisscom and Market Research. Swisscom asserts that it does not block VSMS (Association of Swiss Market and Social Research) members who comply with its industry guideline. The problem still exists, on the other hand, criticizes Stefan Klug of the market research company Demoscope in the NZZ am Sonntag.
A pilot test, which the two sides have agreed on, should now bring clarity. This is to investigate whether serious researchers are also being obstructed by Swisscom.
Peter Meyer from GFK and Dorothea Schaffner from the Institute for Communication and Marketing at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts were newly elected to the Board. At the same time, Marcel Zbinden from Emmi was bidden farewell from the Board.
]]>
There were 53 members present at the General Meeting. President Roland Rosset gave an overview of the current business year, for which he drew a positive balance: According to Rosset, the highlights for 2012 were the successful market research day, the implementation of the image campaign, the professionalism in the board work and the improved association climate. This is what the association writes on Presseportal.ch. The focus in the current financial year is now on the training and further education program and on closing the vacuum created by the abolition of the service catalogs.
All members of the Board of Directors standing for election were confirmed in office at the renewal elections (term of office 2 years). The position of Vice President and of a representative of the collective brand respectively remains vacant. At the same time, Wolfgang Beule (Vice President) and Stefan Hitz were dismissed from the Board.
The campaign was developed in cooperation with the agency Humans Berlin. It aims to educate the industry about the purpose of market and social research. In this way, the association not only wants to actively inform people about its work, but also motivate the Swiss population to participate in surveys. Using polarizing topics, the campaign shows that those who take part in surveys can make their opinions heard and thus have a say in important issues.
With the campaign, the association also wants to distinguish serious market and social research from activities often perceived as disturbing, such as sales and telemarketing. To this end, the aim is to publicize the new seal of quality "Swiss market research. No sale - Wisschenschaftlich-Anonymous" as an important distinctive mark of serious market and social research, as the association writes in a press release. These quality standards are ensured by the collective brand VSMS Swiss Interview Institute, which is managed by the association and registered in the trademark register. 34 market, opinion and social research institutes are united in this collective brand.
This is because calls are often made to pretend to be a survey. "The result is then, unfortunately, that calls from reputable market and social research companies are equated with or confused with telephone calls made for the purpose of direct marketing and sales," says Roland Rosset, President of the VSMS. It is therefore no wonder that fewer and fewer people are willing to take part in surveys conducted by market and social research institutes. On the one hand, respondents must be made aware of the benefits of market and social research, and on the other hand, they must be made aware of the difference between this and telemarketing and sales.
At the heart of the campaign are three ad motifs that will be placed in all major daily newspapers throughout Switzerland (planned reach 83 percent), as well as banners, an information brochure and the campaign website Switzerlandmarketresearch.ch.
Responsible at VSMS: Mitja Ruggle, Roland Rosset, Barbara Felix, Nicole Rosset. Responsible at Humans Berlin: Res Matthys,Sebastian Jerez.
]]>Roland Rosset, Business Expert at GFK Switzerland in Hergiswil, was elected President and Wolfgang bump, head of data mining/statistics at Helsana Insurance in Zurich, as vice chairman. Both are long-standing board members and proven experts in the industry, according to a statement on Wednesday. Together with Thomas fox, member of the management at Am Puls Marktforschung in Lucerne, they form the presidium of the association.
Thomas Fuchs has been in charge of the VSMS Swiss Interview Institute collective brand since 2009. The other five board members were all newly elected. They are: Marco Buscher, Head of the Household and Personal Surveys Section at the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in Neuchâtel, Mitja Ruggle, Head of Market Research at Tamedia in Zurich and Marcel Zbinden, Head of Market Research at Emmi Switzerland in Lucerne, representing the client side. As representatives of the institutes were Stefan Hitz, Managing Director of Jeko Market Research Institute in Bern and Stefan Oglesby, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Link Institute for Market and Social Research in Zurich and Lucerne.
The Swiss Association of Market and Social Research is the sole representative body for market and social research in Switzerland. As an industry and professional association, the VSMS stands up for the interests of the institutes as well as the professional market researchers. Over 300 individual members and 35 renowned institutes are organized in the association, with the institutes jointly operating the VSMS Swiss Interview Institute quality label.