The 21-member jury, made up of members of the German "CMO of the Year" Council and selected marketing and media experts from publishing houses, TV, universities and agencies, voted Daniel Grieder "CMO of the Year" 2024 in Germany. Grieder has been CEO at Hugo Boss since 2021 and is responsible for the Metzingen-based fashion company bucking the market trend and getting back on the road to success.

"I am delighted to receive this award, which is a great recognition of what we have achieved as a team at Hugo Boss over the last three years," says Grieder. "With our comprehensive brand renewal and our digital-first marketing approach, we have made 'Boss' and 'Hugo' relevant again, won over new target groups and positioned the brands well for the future."

As CEO at Hugo Boss, Daniel Grieder is not only responsible for corporate strategy and product development, but also for global marketing. Under his leadership, the core brand Boss and the younger brand Hugo 2022 were given a new brand identity, implemented by Brandpulse (Markt-kom.com reported). This has been very well received in designer circles and is primarily aimed at a younger target group. Intensified digital activities and testimonials such as sports and fashion icon David Beckham and social media stars like Bella Poarch have turned Boss and Hugo into 24/7 lifestyle brands - so successful that the company doubled its turnover between 2020 and 2023, two years earlier than originally planned.

Prof. Dr. Sven Reinecke, Executive Director of the Institute for Marketing & Customer Insight at the University of St. Gallen and spokesperson for the jury, explains the choice of CMO of the Year: "The Swiss Daniel Grieder has succeeded in repositioning Hugo Boss as a desirable brand - from a traditional premium brand to a growing lifestyle brand with its finger on the pulse of the times."

From ten nominated top CMOs the jury selected the winner. The jury used dossiers compiled by the Institute for Marketing & Customer Insight University of St. Gallen on the top 10 CMOs as the basis for its assessment. The laudatory speech for the new "CMO of the Year" was given by Sabine Zantis, CMO of Deichmann. Presenter Bella Lesnik hosted the festive CMO Award Night, which opened with the keynote speech "Beauty of Nature - Beauty of Brands" by Daan Roosegaarde.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Hoechter

The "CMO Lifetime Achievement Award" was also presented for the second time. This year, the award for special marketing achievements for a brand over a longer period of time went to Stefan Hoechter, Managing Director of Adelholzener Alpenquellen until the end of 2024. "Under Stefan Hoechter's leadership, the company has undergone an impressive development: from a local mineral spring brand to the national best brand in the non-alcoholic beverage market," says Florian Haller, CEO of the Serviceplan Group, explaining the jury's decision, "With iconic campaigns over the years and pioneering innovations such as Active O2, he has had a lasting influence on the industry and at the same time shown that it pays to anchor brand work at the highest management level."

The market research institute Media Focus is launching the new "Advertising Compass" platform. This is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the Swiss advertising market, according to the institute. The free and interactive advertising compass helps advertisers, agencies, media providers and those interested in advertising to better navigate the dynamic advertising environment.

The Advertising Compass was inspired by the "Advertising Primer", which was once considered the standard work in the advertising industry. As a platform that flexibly adapts to new developments and thus always remains up-to-date, the Advertising Compass marks a future-oriented further development.

"Not only can users access relevant content quickly, they can also get in touch with our media and association partners directly," says Media Focus CEO Ueli Weber. "The platform provides an overview of the most important forms of advertising, which account for 80 percent of the advertising volume in Switzerland. In addition, there is information on current advertising prices, technical terms and showcases, which are constantly updated by the partners and associations." (Dylan Windhaber/cka)

The Dentsu Ad Spend Report published in June revealed a presumed improvement in the Swiss advertising market. Read more can be read here.

This article first appeared in Netzwoche.

The city of Zurich was the first Swiss city to sign the "Circular Cities Declaration", adopt a circular economy strategy and approve a corresponding package of measures. With the aim of promoting the circular economy, ERZ is planning a temporary circular economy facility to prevent and reduce waste on the Josefareal site, near the former waste-to-energy plant between Hardbrücke and Viadukt. The facility is scheduled to be in operation from 2025 until the end of 2028.

In order to give the area and the new offer the necessary communicative power, create awareness and generate identification and involvement, ERZ looked for a creative agency for future collaboration as part of a pitch. Stuiq won the selection process and is currently in the middle of development and implementation.

In addition to the naming, purpose and visual appearance, the tasks primarily include communication relating to the circular economy offering. In future, the entire site will also become a place for people to meet and exchange ideas - with gastronomic and recreational offerings. To this end, ERZ is planning an opening in 2025 together with Stuiq, as well as awareness-raising measures with information dissemination.

The idea is to pass on items in good condition and lend out rarely used items at the car-free Josefareal. There are also repair offers for defective goods. The focus is on avoiding waste so that indirect greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced.

The temporary service acts as a testing ground to test and further develop new services in the circular economy. A modular offering is planned, which can change continuously during the four-year operation. ERZ will collaborate with third parties for the various services. Interested parties who would like to place their circular economy services on the site and rent space temporarily can contact Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich.

Kleinwalsertal is located in the Allgäu Alps and combines a special blend of Austrian hospitality and Bavarian flair. With its wide range of leisure activities, the valley is interesting for both sports enthusiasts and those seeking peace and quiet.

As part of the cooperation, Dreifive developed new, channel-specific social media assets that are continuously optimized using A/B testing in order to achieve maximum performance. The campaign is played out on the social media channels Meta, TikTok and Pinterest.

From the beginning of 2025, the service portfolio will be expanded to include SEA, media strategy and comprehensive support. The aim of the measures is to increase awareness of Kleinwalsertal - particularly among a younger target group - and to further strengthen the positioning of the destination with a strong focus on performance.

The focus of the campaign is based on Kleinwalsertal's long-term tourism strategy 2034, which aims to provide new impetus for the region and lay the foundations for future development.

Responsible persons at Kleinwalsertal Tourismus eGen: Justina Rokita (Management Board), Sascha Guggenheimer (Social Media Manager / Online Marketing), Clemens Paul (Fux & Hase agency). Responsible at Dreifive: Jana Kempe (Teamlead Social Media), Christian Milutinovic (Junior Social Media Consultant), Irene Klammer (Digital Arts Designer), Isabel Steiner (Director Creation & Production | Partner), Moritz Egger (Digital Advertising Consultant), Rolf Ort (Managing Director Munich), Jolanda Kessler (Head of Digital Advertising | Partner).

At last Saturday's friendly match against FC Schalke 04, the FC Aarau players took to the pitch in their new anniversary jerseys. The fans seemed to like it: FC Aarau reportedly sold around 450 of them in just five days. The team will continue to use it as a third jersey alongside the home and away jerseys.

The Aarau agency Blueheart is responsible for the design of the jersey. As the official communication partner of FC Aarau, it is supporting the football club with its anniversary communication. In addition to the "100 years Brügglifeld" anniversary logo, the Blueheart team also designed the jersey. With its white collar and buttons, the new piece has a deliberately retro feel. The colors black and anthracite, together with a little gold, give the shirt the necessary elegance for such an anniversary.

The Brügglifeld is commemorated with the main stand - according to Blueheart, the motif required extremely precise final artwork. The anniversary logo is emblazoned on the left chest, just above the club logo.

Responsible at FC Aarau: Pascal Bünter (Head of Marketing); Miguel Peralta, (Marketing/Sponsoring). Responsible at Blueheart: Olivier Kilchherr (concept); Marina Botic (graphics); Izabela Carona (realization); Vanessa Mentha (consulting); Sarah Rölli (photos).

The Rocket Agency was founded 20 years ago in the heart of Lucerne. The 16-strong team's customers include SBB, Concordia, Emmi, Livit and Mobility.

Rocket's service offering includes everything from branding, campaigning, social media, strategy consulting, web development and UX design. Its network of partners and versatile in-house capabilities make it a competent partner for digital transformation projects. The agency is now joining LSA, the association of leading communications agencies in Switzerland.

At GITEX 2024, various Swiss companies will be presenting topics ranging from AI, metaverse, blockchain, cyber security and telecommunications to climate tech and future mobility at the Swiss Pavilion. Exeon Analytics, a young cybersecurity company dedicated to protecting corporate IT/OT landscapes through AI-driven security analytics, will also be presenting its Network Detection & Response (NDR) platform to a global audience for the first time at the technology fair in Dubai. The Zurich-based cybersecurity specialist's platform is characterized not only by the fact that it does not require additional agents and sensors, but also by its high level of deployment flexibility (either in the cloud or in the company's own data center). The on-premise version in particular significantly increases the security of sensitive data in critical sectors such as finance, healthcare and public administration, as data sovereignty remains entirely within the company, Exeon continues. Gregor Erismann, Co-CEO Exeon Analytics: "GITEX offers us the ideal setting to take a further step in our internationalization strategy with our AI-driven cyber security innovations and to get in touch with many potential customers and partners."

Exeon Analytics' NDR platform provides comprehensive protection against cyber threats by monitoring network communications. ExeonTrace uses lightweight traffic metadata for analysis, does not require complex traffic mirroring or packet decryption and leverages existing IT, cloud and OT infrastructure to collect analytics data. The self-learning algorithms (AI) were developed at ETH Zurich. The AI detects anomalies in real time and uncovers as yet unknown attacks, which primarily strengthens the cyber resilience of companies that are part of the critical infrastructure - energy, finance, health and utilities. Swiss customers include companies such as Swiss International Air Lines, PostFinance and the Swiss Federal Administration. Nils Planzer, CEO of Planzer Transport AG, is also quoted: "With ExeonTrace, we at Planzer have found a Swiss solution to monitor our network and detect cyber threats at an early stage."

Source: Exeon 

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/schweizer-cybersecurity-startup-an-weltgroesster-technologie-show-in-dubai/

The LIA has been honoring outstanding creative achievements in advertising, design, digital and technology since 1986. It is one of the most important awards in the creative industry and attracts entries from over 75 countries every year. This year's winning entries were announced last week, followed by the announcement of the Special Awards on November 4.

With the campaign for Islam Alijaj, Farner won gold in the "Transformative Business Impact" category, silver in the "Creativity in PR" and "Evolution" categories and bronze in "Evolution" and "Integration". "Giving A Voice To The Unheard" supported the disability rights activist's entry into the National Council in 2023. The political campaign relied on authentic storytelling and the meaningful use of artificial intelligence. It has already won several awards, including a Lion at the World Advertising Championships in Cannes (Markt-kom.com reported).

In addition to the five trophies for Farner, there was also a Finalist Certificate for the #putinyourvote" campaign by Jung von Matt for Myclimate in the "Poster" category.

After a long time, a representative of the German automotive industry is once again at the top of the rankings. The 47-year-old has already been in the top ranks of the survey in previous years.

When asked about the difficult situation in the German automotive industry, Rudolph responds pragmatically: "Fair weather or rainy days - the work remains the same." The automotive industry is in a phase of transformation, but he thinks in terms of opportunities. And repeatedly emphasizes the role of his "fantastic team", which makes awards like this possible in the first place.

And how does Rudolph manage the dual role as Head of Communications for two DAX companies? Organizing, delegating and prioritizing are the cornerstones. And: "Part of the truth is that you have to be able to switch off," Rudolph continues. Family and sport are his areas of strength.

As part of the survey, 112 journalists assessed 140 spokespeople from companies and associations. Thomas Voigt from the Otto Group was voted in second place, with Monika Schaller from SAP, Silke Walter from EnBW and last year's winner Philipp Schindera from Deutsche Telekom tied for third place.

The top 10 this year

1. Sebastian Rudolph, VW, Porsche
2. Thomas Voigt, Otto Group
3. Monika Schaller, SAP
4. Silke Walter, EnBW
5. Philipp Schindera, Deutsche Telekom
6. Herbert Arthen, DM
7. Jörg Howe, Daimler Truck
8. Ingrid M. Haas, Deutsche Börse
9. Jan Runau, Adidas
10. Margarita Thiel, Aareal Bank

Places 11 to 140 are available in the current issue of Wirtschaftsjournalist:in.

Gunther Brodhecker, long-time creative director of Schmittgall Health and head of Schaller Health, has developed numerous award-winning campaigns for leading companies in the Rx, OTC, dental, medical technology and e-health sectors.

Sabine Raab, another award-winning healthcare creative, has created successful campaigns for well-known Swiss pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Gilead and Novartis. She brings her deep understanding of the requirements of Swiss healthcare and pharmaceutical communication to the partnership.

Gunther Brodhecker outlines the idea behind the cooperation: "We combine international creativity with local market knowledge. This makes us a real option for all Swiss pharmaceutical and healthcare brands that want to survive and grow in an increasingly competitive market."

Schaller Health is part of the Mannheim-based Schaller & Partner Group, which is one of the top 25 owner-managed agencies in Germany with 116 employees. SchallerHealth pursues the challenger brand approach, which is new to the healthcare sector.

In fact, 87% of employees in Switzerland who use their own devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops for work do so. This is shown by a new Cisco study. According to the study, over half of these children even have full access to their parents' work devices. They know the passwords and are allowed to use the device unsupervised.

87 % of Swiss parents who use their own devices for work also allow their children to use them. 63 % of these children even know the passwords and have unsupervised access. This poses a clear security risk, especially in times when hybrid working models and working from home are widespread. Despite this, few parents use proven security measures such as multi-factor authentication (33 %) or VPNs (25 %). This is shown by a Cisco study, for which around 500 working parents in Switzerland were surveyed.

According to the survey, work devices are used to give children access to the internet or digital learning content, particularly during school vacations (27 %), for schoolwork (25 %) or when children are ill (24 %).

"Any access to confidential data by an unauthorized person is a potential data breach. With access by children, there is also the risk of data being unintentionally deleted or shared - for example via an open browser tab or email," says Roman Stefanov, Head of Cyber Security Sales at Cisco Switzerland. "It may come as a surprise how widespread device sharing is. But it's not going to stop. IT teams should therefore adapt their security measures to the real challenges of working parents. This includes the introduction of zero trust processes and time limits on inactive sessions."

With family members increasingly sharing networked devices (75 % vs. 65 % two years ago), improved security practices are becoming more urgent - across activity on all devices, whether corporate-managed or not, fixed or mobile.

This enables companies to increase security:

1) Implementation of multi-factor authentication (MFA). Only 33 percent of BYOD parents use MFA when working remotely. Companies should therefore verify every access to a new application or system using MFA or biometric recognition.

2) Protection of sensitive data by VPN. Of the parents in Switzerland who need their own devices for work, only 26% use VPN when working outside the company. Access to sensitive data should therefore only be possible via a VPN, where a separate user name and password must be entered and verification via MFA is mandatory.

3) Regulate the handling of passwords. 36% use strong passwords for BYOD and over 26% change their passwords regularly. Companies should require strong passwords and change them regularly when accessing their systems or use passwordless authentication.

4) Allow guest accounts. Employees should be able to set up guest accounts on their company devices to allow family members limited secure use without access to business systems.

5) Carry out regular backups. Spilled lemonade or paint on the keyboard, the device falls onto the tiled floor: Even if there are children in the household, important data must not be lost and replacement devices must be easy to restore using the backed-up data. This requires constant backups.

6) Cybersecurity training. Employees should be informed about the importance of cyber security, the consequences of misconduct and common threats and attacks. Simple guidelines help to understand what is acceptable and what is not.

About the study

The Cisco survey was conducted via Censuswide with 6,116 working parents aged 18 and over in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia between July 30, 2024 and August 8, 2024. In Switzerland, 501 people took part in the survey. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles, and a member of the British Polling Council.

The award underscores Pepsi Co's relentless pursuit to create emotional experiences that perfectly embody the company's mission: "Create more joy with every sip and every bite!"

Pepsi Co Design and Innovation is the in-house creative department of Pepsi Co. It contributes significantly to the branding of these brands with its claim to always create innovative, human-centered design. In addition to numerous Red Dot Design Awards over the years, the company was the first US company in the food industry to receive the title "Red Dot: Client of the Year" in 2014.

A decade of innovation and human-centered design

Since Mauro Porcini, Pepsi Co's first Chief Design Officer, joined the company in 2012, he has played a key role in shaping its design strategy. He focuses primarily on empathy and creativity: "By integrating design thinking and a human-centered perspective into the innovation process of all global functions, we create real added value."

Central to Pepsi Co's design philosophy is understanding human needs and developing solutions that are both functional and emotionally appealing. For Pepsi Co Design and Innovation, focusing on people is more than a trend - it is central to their overall innovation strategy. "Pepsi Co Design and Innovation offers the opportunity to unleash the infinite potential of design and humanity not only at Pepsi Co, but worldwide," explains Porcini. As such, the company's design initiatives go beyond mere aesthetics: they are closely aligned with its overarching vision of sustainability and social responsibility.

Congratulations from Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of Red Dot

"With the title 'Red Dot: Agency of the Year 2024', we recognize the consistently outstanding design quality of Pepsi Co Design and Innovation. The team's strategic design approach combines empathy, sustainability and innovation in a remarkable way and is based on an in-depth understanding of consumer needs. In particular, the title recognizes Pepsi Co's coherent brand communication, which impressively strengthens the awareness of all Group brands as well as customer loyalty. We congratulate the entire team on this exceptional achievement."

Look into the future

PepsiCo Design and Innovation remains committed to pushing boundaries and fostering a culture of creativity and empathy. As Red Dot: Agency of the Year 2024, PepsiCo Design and Innovation sets the standard for the role of design in shaping the future of brands, products and experiences. In doing so, the team reaffirms PepsiCo's ongoing commitment to making a positive impact on people and the planet.

The Red Dot Design Award is one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world. Participants can enter products, brands and communication projects as well as prototypes and design concepts in three disciplines. For each award, a jury meets annually to assess the submissions individually and then decide on the awards.