Wednesday was the day: Stöckli CEO Marc Gläser ceremoniously cut the ribbon on the newly renovated factory store at the company headquarters. "The expansion of our Manufakturladen is not only a clear commitment to our company's location in Malters, but also the result of a successful collaboration with regional construction companies," emphasizes the CEO. "From the very beginning, it was important to us to support the local economy in addition to investing in our headquarters and creating a unique shopping experience for our customers." It was precisely these regional construction partners and other invited guests who were invited to the official opening of the store and were able to toast the conversion together over an aperitif.

Conversion went according to plan

Following the planning phase, the existing factory store was transformed into a larger, modern store in the Stöckli style in the summer. The Stöckli ski wall as the centerpiece of each store stands prominently in the room and presents the large selection of various ski models. But there is also plenty to discover all around - a racing area adorned with trophies from Marco Odermatt, a well-stocked textile department and a high-quality boot fitting department with the latest boot fitting technologies and a large selection of ski boots.

Everything a skier's heart desires

The Manufakturladen Malters offers a product range that leaves nothing to be desired. From beginners to advanced skiers, from young to old - the Stöckli ski collection 24/25 has the right skis for all skiers. The appropriate ski clothing can be found in the Stöckli textile collection or in the wide range of partner brands. Individual advice and extensive expertise in ski servicing, boot fitting, etc. round off the range of services on offer at the Stöckli manufacture store.

The Best of Swiss Apps jury has nominated the best projects of the year. 10 apps have stood out from a total of 241 project submissions and are in the running for the crown:

Barryvox App

The Barryvox app prepares users for using the avalanche transceiver. They can train for emergencies from any location, flexibly and using various scenarios, with live feedback via Bluetooth. Devices are "nudged" with the probe and marked as "found". The app offers a comprehensive solution for improving response time in an emergency - a crucial factor when every second counts. Firmware updates can now be carried out conveniently via the app without having to visit a store. Functions such as device configuration, live feedback and training logs provide additional security.

Bitumen VR

The Bitumen VR app offers the world's first VR training for flat roof welding. Trainees can practice realistically in VR, which conserves resources and is both sustainable and cost-efficient. The jury praised the app for its innovative use of VR in the construction industry and its potential to transform the trade internationally. The app provides a good basic understanding and solid handling of the tools. The training can be carried out anywhere, is safer than live training and saves 25 tons of bitumen per year.

Carmarket

Carmarket expands the Swiss car trade as a B2B2C platform for vehicles inspected by specialist dealers. With free text search, personalization and omnichannel integration, it combines digital efficiency with personal service. The Progressive web app impresses as the "Digitec of car buying" with a precise search, match finder function, comparison function and watch list. It enables appointments to be made for test drives, direct inquiries to dealers and guides you smoothly through the purchase or leasing process.

FAIRTIQ

The app makes traveling on public transport easier in a unique way. With a simple swipe check-in and check-out, users can travel through Switzerland and other European countries without fare stress. The app also allows users to take other people, dogs or bicycles with them and supports common means of payment. Fairtiq also accommodates users with disabilities. It also works in landscape format, the contrasts are mostly good and even the registration process is completely barrier-free. The large slider also supports user navigation for people with motor disabilities.

FOOBY

Fooby impresses with a wide variety of recipes that can be filtered by occasion, preference or time. Whether for quick meals or special occasions - Fooby offers inspiration for every day. Particularly practical is the integration of the shopping list, which simplifies cooking. The app is simple, intuitive, visually appealing and offers high-quality multimedia content. Extensive functions such as Swipe & Cook and the menu configurator enrich the recipe search. The export of shopping lists ensures a seamless transition to shopping for ingredients. A beautiful app that motivates you to cook and delights young and old alike.

Helion ONE App

The Helion-One app offers an intuitive visualization of the energy flows of solar systems and enables efficient energy management. With a clear design and intuitive presentation, users can monitor and control electricity consumption and energy production in real time. The app makes sustainable energy tangible and motivates users without artificial incentives. The jury praised the innovative implementation and the successful appeal to both end users and professionals.

Level Sports

The Level Sports app is a hit! It encourages its users to meet up outside and play duels. Thanks to the practical map, you can also quickly find places where opponents are waiting. With all activities, the user collects badges and three different types of points, unlocks new profile pictures and may become the leader in his or her region. The hip avatars make street floorball a safe and cool sport for the target group.

myCSS

The MyCSS app is not only graphically impressive in certain areas, but also thanks to the underlying design concept. Beautiful patterns, meaningful animations and an overall modularity are the cornerstones of the successful app design. The MyCSS app has a refreshing layout and offers a number of personalization options. MyCSS guides the user convincingly through the app, supported by micro-animations and subtle use of colors and pictograms. This results in an appealing and clear overall product with many useful functions.

SWICA BENEVITA

The Swica Benevita app motivates customers with supplementary insurance to lead a healthier lifestyle. It offers a wide range of high-quality content that is tailored to individual needs through targeted personalization. The appealing and clearly structured design ensures a positive user experience and promotes long-term use. The app provides valuable knowledge and supports users in making healthier decisions.

Uepaa

The Uepaa Safety app impresses with an advanced solution for the protection of lone workers that ensures the highest safety standards even in the most demanding working environments. The jury praised the intuitive user interface and the successful transfer of expertise from mountaineering protection systems to occupational safety. The app offers life-saving functions such as a digital dead man's function, 24/7 emergency call, first responder search and precise localization.

Here for an overview of all this year's Master's candidates, including links to the projects and further details:

Register and vote

Every vote from the Best of Swiss Apps community counts. The final score is determined in equal parts by the votes of the jury, the readers of Netzticker and the audience at the Award Night at the Zurich Kongresshaus on November 19. Subscribers to Netzticker, the newsletter of Netzwoche, can vote for the "Master of Swiss Apps" from October 28 to November 4. Anyone who subscribes to the Netzticker by October 27 is eligible to vote. You can do this here. Tickets for the Award Night Tickets for the award ceremony on November 19 are available at here refer to

Every year, the "Best of Swiss Apps" awards recognize outstanding apps - mobile applications and web apps - that have been commissioned by or developed for Swiss companies. Best of Swiss Apps thus sets quality standards and shines the spotlight on the Swiss app, software and mobile industry. Around 50 jurors in eleven competition categories competently assess the submitted projects. Each jury evaluates the submitted projects according to various category-specific criteria developed together with experts. Gold, silver and bronze medals and the Master of Swiss Apps are up for grabs. Best of Swiss Web GmbH Best of Swiss Web GmbH is a subsidiary of Netzmedien AG, the leading specialist media company for ICT, web, telecommunications and consumer electronics in Switzerland and publisher of "Netzwoche".

The deceptively real-looking figures will initially only be used in the Zoom Clips function, in which you can record short video notes. With the new avatars, you would no longer have to record these videos yourself. Instead, it should be enough to write a text - and the software would then animate the digital copy including matching mouth movements and the imitated voice.

The function is to be introduced next year. The program initially creates a digital copy of a person based on a video that has to be recorded. Zoom assured that there will be security measures in place to prevent misuse of the function. One concern with such software is always that it can be used to create deceptively real-looking fake videos.

Digital twin

While the video avatars have so far been limited to clips, Zoom boss Eric Yuan also spoke in an interview with the website "The Verge" in the summer about the possibility of being able to send a digital twin to video conferences in the future, in which you would not have to take part yourself. Instead, you could then go to the beach. Zoom's business received a major boost during the coronavirus pandemic, when hundreds of millions of people suddenly had to work and learn via video conferencing. Zoom is now trying to tap into new sources of revenue with functions based on artificial intelligence, among other things.

Switzerland emerged from this year's awards with two BCM gold cubes and six silver places: "Two out of eight gold medals - that's a really good result," says Guido Von Deschwanden, Switzerland board member of the BCM organizer Content Marketing Forum e.V. (CMF). Co-CEO Peter Kruppa adds: "The quality and strength of Switzerland was once again particularly evident in this award year where the content went into depth - with excellent products in print and audio."

These are the Swiss gold winners: Bindella terra vite vita and Mattenberger Group with the magazine "La vita è bella" and Takeda Pharma and Linkgroup with their podcast "Buuchgfühl - Eine Stimme für eine stille chronische Krankheit".

"It was an exceptional BCM year," says Olaf Wolff, Chairman of the CMF: "For the first time, we awarded four gold awards in a single category. Not only because the number of submissions was exceptionally high, but also because the quality of the projects submitted was consistently excellent."

"Business to Consumer (B2C) - Society, Environment, Social and Non-Profit" is the name of the category that broke records this year. "This is no coincidence: in these times of social challenges, companies and non-profit organizations are increasingly using the power of content marketing to live up to their social responsibility and take a stand on the important issues of our time," says Peter Matz, BCM representative at the CMF.

Consequently, the topic of social responsibility was not only an important item in the daily program of the BCM event. It is also this area that produced the most successful submission of the year: "Climate Realism" by WWF Germany and the agencies MSL, Leo Burnett, Digitas and Starcom Germany. A project that impressively visualizes the consequences of climate change with the help of generative AI and thus impressed the BCM jury. The environmental protection organization and its agencies were awarded five Golds and one Grand Prix.

The second Grand Prix also goes to a non-profit organization that addresses a social issue: The "Laut gegen Nazis" initiative. With its project "Recht gegen Rechts - Markenrechte eintragen, damit Nazis ihre Codes nicht weitertragen" (Law against the right - register trademark rights so that Nazis do not spread their codes), implemented by Jung von Matt, Sehnsucht Berlin and Redgert Comms, it received top marks from three juries and therefore three gold medals and a Grand Prix.

You can find all the silver and gold winners of this year's BCM Awards here here

Growth for the BCM Award

As part of the awards show, the CMF also announced news of its own: from next year, the BCM Award will be expanded into an award family, with the BCM as the centerpiece and a series of additional, complementary awards. "Content marketing has now become an integral part of most marketing activities," says Regina Karnapp, Managing Director of the CMF: "For the BCM, this means that the range of submissions is so wide that some specialist disciplines do not receive the attention they actually deserve. This realization gave rise to the idea of expanding the BCM into an award family in order to address and strengthen important sub-areas in content marketing."

As the first new member of the award family, the "BCM-Best of Corporate Print" will start the submission phase in December and recognize those content marketing products that are produced in printed form. This will be followed by the classic BCM as usual from February 2025. The second new competition, the "BCM Best of Influencer & Content Creators", will be launched in April.

The Best of Content Marketing Award (BCM) is the award that highlights the best of the best from all relevant works of content-driven communication in German-speaking countries. It is the only award that consistently focuses on content in the judging process. The jury process and the evaluation criteria are transparent. Expert juries with a total of around 200 jurors decide on the awards in the 39 advertised categories. The entrants receive high-quality feedback on their work.

In this role, he will develop and drive forward innovative projects at the interface between gaming and sport.

Hakan Pazarcikli has made a name for himself as the founder of the largest console gaming community in Switzerland and brings extensive industry knowledge to MYI. In recent years, he has developed and implemented various projects in the gaming and sports sector. "Gaming and sport offer huge potential for innovative synergies. I am looking forward to breaking new ground with our team and combining these exciting worlds," says Hakan Pazarcikli.

Cédric Schlosser, Managing Partner & CEO at MYIadds: "I have known Hakan for almost a decade now. Similar to the founders of MYI, Hakan has spent years tackling projects in the field of esports & gaming out of pure passion. With him, we are not only gaining an experienced expert who understands the dynamics of gaming and sports, but also a colleague who shares our values and fits perfectly into the team." And with a view to the Esports Olympics or projects such as the Icon League, Schlosser continues: "Together with Hakan, we want to combine sports and gaming even more and expand our skills in the area of entertainment."

MYI Entertainment is one of the leading 360° agencies for gaming, nerd and pop culture in the DACH region. It manages gaming engagements for well-known brands such as Swisscom, Fisherman's Friend, Logitech, Interdiscount and Red Bull. On the basis of services, consulting, events and communication, MYI Entertainment supports clients in all aspects of gaming: from conception to implementation and production. MYI Entertainment is also active in the market with its own products such as HeroFest, SwitzerLAN and Switzerland's most successful e-sports team "mYinsanity".

With Day Off Studios, Ferris Bühler presents a revolutionary media company that is breaking new ground in publishing. "Day Off Studios is not just another player in the media landscape, but a manufactory for immersive stories," explains Bühler. The focus is on interactive formats in which the audience is actively involved in the creative process - storytelling that removes the boundaries between consumers and creators.

"The name 'Day Off' stands for the moment of breaking out of everyday life to immerse yourself in new creative worlds," Bühler continues. Whether film, TV, audio formats or interactive events - Day Off Studios develops content that takes storytelling to a new level. Co-creation is used to create formats that are not only told, but also developed further together with the audience.

With over 30 years of experience in the media industry, Bühler sees Day Off Studios as a platform that bridges the gap between traditional media and emerging storytelling technologies. "The future of storytelling lies in interaction," Bühler is convinced. Day Off Studios wants to create experiences that entertain and take the audience on an immersive journey.

The Locher brewery is expanding its craft beer series with a seasonal specialty: the "Pump King Ale". With this limited-edition creation, the brewery combines pumpkin, carrots and a hint of marjoram in an autumnal taste experience. The fourth "Single Batch" in the Locher Craft line surprises with its velvety texture and a subtle fruity note, which is given a spicy crowning touch by marjoram in the finish.

"Our aim is to constantly reinterpret craft beer and offer our fans something special," explains Aurèle Meyer, Managing Director of Locher Brewery. "The 'Pump King Ale' fits perfectly into the autumn season and offers beer lovers a surprising yet harmonious taste experience." With 5.6% alcohol by volume and a balanced bitterness of 14 IBU, this beer ideally complements autumnal dishes such as game, hot chestnuts or red cabbage.

Craft beers such as "Pump King Ale" stand for passion, craftsmanship and creativity. The combination of high-quality, natural ingredients and innovative brewing processes clearly sets it apart from conventional beers. Visually, the ale impresses with its bright, warm orange color and is reminiscent of an autumn sunrise gently breaking through the morning mist - a real eye-catcher.

The Effie Awards Switzerland are organized by Leading Swiss Agencies, the association of Switzerland's leading communications agencies, and recognize the most effective marketing campaigns of the past two years. For this year's edition, 59 jury members selected 34 outstanding campaigns as finalists in the first round of judging. m&k was there and gained various insights from the jury (Markt-kom.com reported).

From these 34 campaigns, 20 jurors have now awarded a total of 24 campaigns with metal in the second round of judging. The judging took place under the direction of jury president Peter Felser and the Effie management.

Which 24 campaigns have won will be m&k will be unveiled in various stages over the coming weeks. The 2024 winners will be celebrated at the award show on November 13. The latest bronze winners are Rod Kommunikation, Thjnk and TBWA\Zürich.

SOS Children's Village - Ex-Child (category Doing Good/Positive Change)

The "Ex-Kind" campaign was able to: increase brand awareness by 30 percent exceed the donation target by 40 percent and raise over CHF 1.7 million in donations gain 1,300 new donors generate 5,000 quality leads

SOS Children's Villages has a shrinking, ageing donor base. The volume of donations has been declining for years. The number of young donors is too low. However, we all have one thing in common: we were all children once and know that a safe childhood is the most important foundation for life as an adult.

A thought appeal to one's own childhood functions as an empathy trigger and creates the emotional basis for the donation request.

With the word creation "ex-child" and the use of prominent SOS ambassadors as "ex-children", (young) Swiss people are encouraged to get involved for children in need.

The new communication umbrella makes the topic of "childhood" very popular, increases spontaneous Children's Village brand awareness by 30 percent and generates over CHF 1.7 million in donations.

Client: SOS Children's Village

Lead agency: Rod communication

Edelweiss - Leave. Love. (Category Brand Image)

The campaign achieved a brand sympathy peak and was able to increase bookings by +34.8% compared to 2019. The media costs per booking were reduced from CHF 10.92 to CHF 5.51.

Edelweiss has created a new brand with its "Leave. Love." campaign showed how important it is to understand the needs of the target group. The airline recognized that after Corona, it was not just about where to go, but also about what you want to get away from. The campaign drew people with wanderlust images into the vastness, while at the same time a verbal bracket encouraged them to leave everyday frustrations behind. With success, Edelweiss recorded +34.8 percent more bookings than before coronavirus, while the overall market still only accounted for 74.7 percent of 2019. At the same time, the campaign reduced media costs per booking from CHF 10.92 before coronavirus to CHF 5.51.

Client: Edelweiss Air Switzerland

Lead agency: Thjnk Zurich

Other agencies / companies: Media cutter

SBB - Youth campaign for public transport. (Category New New)

SBB inspires young consumers to use public transport and exceeds its sales targets by up to 35 percent. Almost one in four buyers had never or hardly ever traveled by public transport before.

Destination Experience: To promote the new, attractive youth offers, SBB is immersing itself in the emotional world of young people with a campaign in the name of public transport. Instead of place names, the iconic blue station signs are now emblazoned with cool terms from the current youth language, reflecting the enthusiasm and freedom that can be experienced together on the move.

"Sheesh": The campaign speaks the language of the target group and shows that SBB understands what moves young people.

With success: the sales targets were exceeded by up to 35 percent and by the end of 2023, one in 10 young people already had a GA Night travelcard.

Client: SBB

Lead agency: TBWA\Zurich

Other agencies / companies: Havas (Switzerland), Visualeyes Jeff, eg+ Worldwide, Kingfluencers

SRK - Be A Henry! (Category Doing Good/Positive Change)

"Be a Henry!" could motivate over 900 young people, generate over 22,500 landing page views, reach over 4 million contacts on social media, generate almost 40,000 total engagements, record 46 percent more Google searches.

In a "multi-option society", the attractiveness of traditional volunteer work is steadily declining. The Swiss Red Cross is feeling the effects of this, particularly in terms of the lack of young volunteers. People who volunteer today do not want to make long-term commitments, but want to help out quickly and on a short-term, project-related basis. At the SRC, you can do a lot of good with little commitment - and we show that. This makes it easier to get involved in social projects.

The appeal "Be a Henry!" revives the founding spirit of original influencer Henry Dunant and brings his vision to life via social media ads and new influencer content. The SRC social campaign encourages over 900 young people to get involved with the SRC. "Be a Henry!" even activates so many people that it has to be paused.

Client: Swiss Red Cross

Lead agency: Rod communication

Gemini Live, Google's AI assistant, is now available in over 40 languages, including German and French for the first time. This extension makes it possible to hold conversations in your own language and make even more intensive use of Gemini's many functions. Users can also choose between ten different voices to customize the assistant.

What makes Gemini Live so special is the ability to have natural conversations - almost like talking to a friend. Whether discussing ideas, preparing presentations or coordinating everyday tasks - conversations with Gemini are effortless using voice control, without the need to type.

One particularly practical function is the integration of other Google apps. For example, Gemini Live can search for the lasagna recipe from Gmail, record the ingredients in the notes and enter suitable times for shopping directly in the calendar. Or it can ask for a concert flyer, check the date in the calendar and create a reminder to buy tickets. In the future, Google is also planning to make Gemini Live multilingual on devices - conversations can then be held in up to two languages simultaneously.

From 15 October 2024, YouTube will be opening up new opportunities for the creation and monetization of short videos. Creators will then be able to upload videos up to 3 minutes long in shorts format - in both square and vertical format, usable via the YouTube Studio app or desktop.

Important to note: Shorts that were uploaded before this date remain unchanged and monetize via Watch Page Ads, provided the creator is already part of the YouTube Partner Program. New videos in the 1 to 3-minute format will soon also be monetized via Shorts Ads and count towards the requirements for partner program qualification.

It will take a few weeks until these longer shorts are visible on all YouTube interfaces, according to a corresponding message from YouTube to the Creators Community. This means that there may be a delay before new videos are displayed as shorts in the channel and recorded in YouTube Analytics.

Particular attention should be paid to the use of music and visually protected content in longer shorts. If copyrighted material is included, the video will be blocked. However, this does not result in any penalties, and creators can remove the protected material to make the video accessible again.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles gave the starting signal for a new vanlife brand at the Caravan Salon Düsseldorf: "California". With an extended range of lifestyle accessories, tailor-made events and the California app, the brand is opening a new chapter in the world of campervans. At the center of this launch is Swiss musician and snowboarder Pat Burgener, who has been recruited as an international brand ambassador.

The New California, which Burgener unveiled at the presentation, comes to the market with state-of-the-art technology and a wide range of equipment. The model, which is based on the Multivan platform, not only offers more comfort and space, but also a plug-in hybrid drive with 4MOTION, which enables a range of up to one hundred kilometers in pure electric mode. Perfect for Burgener's nature-loving lifestyle, who in future will travel the beaches of Portugal as well as the Alps of his home country in the California.

Pat Burgener himself is delighted: "It's impressive how flexible the new California is. With the second sliding door, I can experience the surroundings even more intensively." He will also use the New California, which serves as his mobile home, for his first European tour as a solo artist.

The collaboration with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has a special significance for Burgener, as he is already an ambassador for the all-electric ID. Buzz. However, the European cooperation gives his commitment a completely new dimension. Marco Niggli, Head of Marketing at VW Commercial Vehicles Switzerland, is delighted: "Pat embodies the freedom and spirit of discovery that characterize the California. His energy and versatility are the perfect expression of the brand."