Many people know Brändi from the cult game "Brändi Dog". But few people know this: Brändi is the largest Swiss institution for the inclusion of people with disabilities. Today, more than 2000 people live and work at the foundation. To ensure the success of the institution in the future, the management initiated a comprehensive strategy development process.

An important part of this process is the new visual identity: it is intended to make the realignment visible and tangible for everyone. It was developed by A4 Agentur, a full-service provider from Rotkreuz. The new logo subtly symbolizes the theme of inclusion with the ligature in the lettering. The circular arc derived from this is a central design element. The new claim "Making more possible" is intended to get to the heart of the reorientation message: Brändi recognizes and realizes people's potential and overcomes supposed boundaries.

Strategy film for the kick-off

The A4 agency designed and produced a strategy film and flyer for the internal kick-off event. The agency is currently working on various implementations - from the redesign of the food and toy packaging to advertisements, posters, brochures and the expansion of the web screen design.

Responsible at Brändi: Marcel Hossli (Chief Executive Officer), Matthias Moser (Head of Marketing and Communication), Karin Strik (Head of Marketing & Sales Brändi Products). Responsible at A4 Agency: Patrik Frei (management), Nicole von Wartburg (concept, text), Simone Amrein (concept, design), Larissa Schelbert (consulting, project management), Brigitte Frei (text).

The return on innovation in research and development (R&D) of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies rose to 4.1 percent in 2023. Following the record low of 1.2 percent in 2022, this is a pleasing development, according to the latest pharmaceutical study by auditing and consulting firm Deloitte. It also points to a recovery in yields, which have been largely declining for more than ten years. The only major increase in productivity (6.8%) was recorded in 2021 as a result of the rapid approval and emergency authorization of drugs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The current positive development is driven by new research areas such as sustainable weight management, Alzheimer's disease and mRNA vaccines to protect against other infectious diseases," explains Alexander Mirow, Head of Life Sciences Consulting at Deloitte Switzerland.

Pharmaceutical industry invests more in R&D again

Absolute financial investment in research and development has also risen. In the 2023 financial year, the 20 leading global pharmaceutical companies with the highest research expenditure - including the two Swiss pharmaceutical groups Novartis and Roche - invested USD 145 billion in their research and development, which corresponds to an increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year. The average R&D costs for the development of a drug - from drug identification to market launch - remained constant at USD 2.3 billion. The forecast peak sales of a drug fell from USD 389 million in 2022 to USD 362 million in 2023.

According to the latest pharmaceutical study by Deloitte, the overall increase in R&D costs is due to several factors, including more complex study requirements, regulatory changes such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US and the effects of inflation. According to the study, it is not and will not be easy to improve productivity in pharmaceutical research and development: efficiency (costs) and value creation (sales) must be balanced, but each depends on numerous factors.

Productivity remains under pressure

Despite increased returns, the pharmaceutical industry's current business model remains under considerable pressure, Deloitte continues. "Various ongoing regulatory changes, the impending and unprecedented loss of exclusivity for high-quality drugs and increased supply costs are keeping the pressure on pharmaceutical companies high. Other challenges include rapid scientific progress, the increasing complexity of clinical trials and the rising cost of diagnoses," says Alexander Mirow. The last ten years have shown that technology-driven change in pharmaceutical research and therapy development is necessary if leading pharmaceutical companies want to reverse the decades-long trend of declining returns and at the same time be able to continue to deliver innovations for patients.

Regulation inhibits innovation

According to the Swiss association for research-based pharmaceutical companies Interpharma, to which Roche and Novartis also belong, the industry invests around 15 percent of its turnover directly back into the research and development of new products. On average, it takes up to twelve years before all the data required for approval is available to the authorities and they can then make a decision.

Despite rising R&D costs, it is the ever more rapidly changing regulations and new regulatory requirements that are of even greater concern to the executives surveyed in this study. As the pharmaceutical study by Deloitte shows, half of the clinical development programs in 2023 involved complex therapies such as cell and gene therapies. These novel therapies pose new challenges for regulators and pharmaceutical companies as they increase the complexity of clinical trials, drug manufacturing and supply chains.

Companies lack a long-term AI strategy

The pharmaceutical executives surveyed are convinced that artificial intelligence could accelerate the development of these therapies. The widespread introduction of generative AI for processing large volumes of structured and unstructured data is seen by many as a potential turning point in the area of research and development. This is because patient recruitment and data management are among the biggest cost drivers in clinical trials and are currently the areas in which the use of AI appears to be the most promising.

Respondents from the pharmaceutical industry also see great potential for the use of AI in the recruitment and retention of test subjects for clinical trials. According to the study, technology can improve the patient experience, speed up the market launch of drugs and reduce production costs. However, these efforts to improve efficiency are still in their infancy: "Despite heavy investment in artificial intelligence, many pharmaceutical companies have not yet fully thought through and scaled the potential of this technology. The reason for this is that most companies do not yet have a coherent and clear strategy for their investments in AI and digitalization and often focus on initial pilot tests for short-term operational goals. The environment and the possibilities of AI are also changing rapidly and it is difficult to stay ahead," summarizes Alexander Mirow.

Source: Deloitte

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/pharmaindustrie-steigende-renditen-im-bereich-forschung-und-entwicklung/

At Interview with Advertisingweek.ch Refluenced has been described as Tinder for companies and influencers. But the Zurich-based start-up wants to do much more than just bring companies and influencers together: "Refluenced has made it its mission to simplify the influencer marketing process for everyone involved and promote better results in the process," says Quirin Hasler, Co-Founder and CEO.

According to Refluenced, there is already interest in the influencer platform in Germany: The Master Class at OMR 2024 with Foundry was fully booked in no time, despite Kim Kardashian's appearance at the same time. Brands, influencers and agencies were offered insights, challenges and solutions relating to micro-influencing.

The main focus here is on the rapidly advancing trend of nano- and micro-influencing. "The focus on creators with around 1,000 to 30,000 followers promotes creative and more authentic content, because influencers with a comparatively small following are often more committed, more credible and have more local impact," explains Jonas Holzer, co-founder of Refluenced. "At the same time, a budget that would traditionally have been enough for just one collaboration can have more impact in the long term if it is spread across several creators."

Founded in 2022, the data-driven platform for nano- and micro-influencers enables brands and agencies to manage the process through to successful content playout, including reporting, using a simple tool. Influencers apply to brands on Refluenced - and not the other way around: "By influencers applying to collaborations that feel authentic and motivating, more convincing content is created. A win-win for both sides," says Quirin Hasler.

Refluenced launched its own campaign back in the fall of 2023 to kick off its expansion into Germany. The Foundry agency, which is also an investor behind the start-up, provided support.

Refluenced has just secured its second round of financing to enter the German market. "We successfully closed the 2023 financial year and experienced a significant growth spurt in the first quarter of 2024. The financing we have received will enable us to push ahead with our expansion into Germany faster than originally planned," explains Hasler.

The financing of around one million Swiss francs is led by both existing and new investors, including Anja Graf, known from "Höhle des Löwen", and Thomas Brändle, President of Swiss FinTech.

This abbreviation was already cute during the Cold War. Although the commies were the bad guys back then. And they still are today. Back then, commies still stood for communists. Today there are hardly any left. And the ones that are still around live and work in distant and exotic countries. Nevertheless, the word is very popular again. But with a different meaning and origin.

Today, commies are not believers in a political-economic ideology based on the abolition of private property and the creation of a classless society in which goods are held in common and distributed according to need. Today, commies are mainly fields that encourage readers to express their opinions publicly in the digital media with a hearty speech bubble at the end of the article. And they are the capital of participants in social media. The more of them I have under my post, the better. In contrast to the old commis, there are good guys and bad guys. The good ones are the ones that make you feel totally unsuccessful, especially on LinkedIn, with so much success posted. Prefabricated like commis: Well done! Congrats! Keep up the good work! Fantastic! But also self-made, somewhat more detailed comments that lead to the release of endorphins and the associated feeling of euphoria or well-being. The bad ones are the ones that are posted with unbridled aggression and often encourage followers to lose their sense of decency.

Better no commis than bad commis

So the next time you're annoyed that your post on social media hasn't been commented on, take comfort in the fact that it could be even worse. Although ignorance is actually the ultimate punishment in real life, it is salutary on social media. What goes uncommented on generates less attention. That's why we should refrain from adding the request "write it in the comments" to posts. And certainly not believe that we can change anything with our comments. We leave this claim to the communists, who often strive for a revolutionary transformation of society in order to achieve the creation of a classless society. Because if everyone is allowed to make everything public, then no one will listen to anyone. Opinions are different from capital. In other words, the bad guys are supposedly the good guys, but they still remain the bad guys.

Mother's Day in Switzerland is on May 12 and Father's Day on June 2 - so it's good to know which brands really score points with the recipients. To find out exactly that, YouGov took a closer look at the retail and consumer goods industry and determined which brands perform best in the eyes of mothers and fathers in Switzerland.

Migros more popular with Swiss parents than Coop

For mothers, the top 3 is occupied by the brands Migros (score of 57.4), Gruyère AOP (52.6) and Zweifel (49.9), while for men Gruyère AOP takes first place (53.3), followed by Galaxus (52.6) and Zweifel again (51.9).

While many consumer goods brands rank in the top 10 for both genders, the two brands Galaxus and Digitec.ch occupy significantly higher positions for fathers. Looking at the stationary retailers, it is noticeable that Migros occupies high places on both sides (1st place for mothers and 4th place for fathers), while its direct competitor Coop is in 7th place for mothers and just misses the top 10 for fathers at 11th place.

Gender-specific preferences

There are particularly strong gender differences at Digitec.ch, for example. The online retailer achieved a score of 48.8 (5th place) for fathers, but only 32.8 (30th place) for mothers. The situation is reversed for the cookie brand Blévita, which achieved a score of 40.5 for mothers (11th place) and only 26.8 for fathers (39th place).

The results Parent rankings 2024: Retail for Switzerland are based on more than 13,000 online interviews conducted by YouGov in the period from 01.04.2023 until 31.03.2024 per brand for the YouGov Swiss Brand Observer representative of the Swiss population aged 15 and over. For the ranking, the statements of women and men in Switzerland aged between 30 and 59 with children under 20 in their own household were evaluated. The index value or score of a brand represents its average performance in six different evaluation dimensions: Positive overall perception, quality, value for money, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend and brand trust. Only brands from the retail and consumer goods industry tracked in the YouGov Swiss Brand Observer were analyzed for the ranking.

LST is implementing a new strategy that includes the expansion of seasonality to 300 days a year. In order to achieve this, sales efforts are being expanded and a package of measures is being planned, writes the tourism organization. "In order to successfully implement this ambitious strategy, we need someone who combines passion with professionalism," says Lukas Eichenberger, the designated Chairman of the Board of Directors. "Helena Galanakis embodies these qualities perfectly."

"For me, Lenk-Simmental Tourism is the epitome of living Swiss Alpine culture, paired with traditional customs and an attractive tourism offering. The new destination strategy is an opportunity to shape the destination for the future together with the LST team and the local service partners," says the new Managing Director.

Helena Galanakis has extensive experience in destination management. For many years, she worked in city marketing in the northern German UNESCO World Heritage city of Goslar and then as Head of City Marketing in Constance on Lake Constance. In Switzerland, she worked for a PR agency specializing in tourism. Most recently, she was responsible for marketing and communications in the management of the Casino Theater Winterthur. Helena Galanakis will take up her position at the beginning of July 2024 after being trained by Albert Kruker.

As part of the extensive brand refresh for Fritschi Swiss Bindings, Evoq developed a powerful design system to bring brand and product closer together and create a unique brand experience.

A positioning developed together with Fritschi formed the basis. In a market dominated by international mega-players, the company places the highest value on safety and quality in order to offer ski tourers worldwide a carefree touring experience. Fritschi wants "nothing less" than to create the perfect connection between man and ski. The claim "Expect nothing less" sums up this commitment.

Flexible design system

The brand image sets strong accents for communication. The newly created "Fritschi X-Label" communicates Swiss quality and safe release in the event of a fall. The label thus stands for optimum safety and performance in alpine terrain. It is supplemented by other modular design elements. The result is an image that effectively showcases the messages and enables Fritschi to communicate efficiently and flexibly across all touchpoints.

Responsible for Fritschi Swiss Bindings: Simon Weiler (Head of Marketing). Responsible at the Evoq agency: Adrian Schaffner (mandate management); Susanne Pfäffli (creative direction and text); Markus Wohlhüter (art direction); Martin Bettler (graphics).

Tourism is to be promoted more broadly in the canton of Lucerne. The cantonal government is proposing an increase in the accommodation tax from 50 centimes per overnight stay to 1.10 francs. This would mean that CHF 2.5 million would now be available annually for promotional measures instead of CHF 1.2 million.

These and other amendments to the Tourism Act were submitted for consultation by the cantonal government on Friday. This was prompted by the new cantonal tourism model and the demands of the Cantonal Council.

Today, the accommodation tax is used to finance tourism marketing. According to the government council's consultation report, the development of the new tourism mission statement has shown that an expanded promotion of tourism is desirable.

Traditional marketing, which addresses guests directly, is to be replaced by holistic promotion. Examples cited include the development of a climate-friendly offer or taking into account the needs of locals, as well as networking and digital transformation.

Expensive digitization

It is pointed out that digitalization, for example, is expensive and time-consuming. At the same time, the tourism industry is made up of many small companies. However, it is important that everyone, and not just the large companies, can drive digitalization forward.

In principle, the tourism organizations should remain responsible for promoting tourism. However, the canton should now also be able to use the money collected through the accommodation tax directly.

The Government Council also wants to make the collection of the accommodation tax more efficient. As this is based on the guest registration system, it is to be digitalized. In the canton of Lucerne, hotels and other accommodation establishments are obliged to keep a truthful record of their domestic and foreign guests.

Taxable couchsurfing

Anyone who hosts guests in return for money or a service of monetary value must pay the accommodation tax. The law should be clarified so that it is clear that new forms of accommodation, such as those initiated by Airbnb - such as couchsurfing, renting out one's own home to tourists during vacations or home exchanges - are also subject to the tax.

It is also planned that the municipalities will be given more leeway when levying the tourist tax. This mainly concerns the flat-rate visitor's tax. The tourist tax is used to finance tourist facilities. (SDA)

Nickless, whose real name is Nicola Kneringer, shook up the Swiss music scene as a 19-year-old in 2015. His song "Waiting", produced with Thomas Fessler, became the most-played single by a Swiss musician on the radio and won "Best Hit National" at the Swiss Music Awards.

The 29-year-old caused a stir when he smuggled a cheese fondue onto the stage at the Energy Star Night 2023 in Basel's St. Jakobshalle and ate it behind the drum kit from the Swiss national dish. The corresponding video featuring the "Swiss Cheese Guy" became a hit on social media with over two million clicks. A charming young musician with a large following and an affinity for Swiss cheese? Emmentaler Switzerland liked that too - and has now hired Nickless as a brand ambassador for Emmentaler AOP.

More cheese for Gen Z

"With Nickless, we have gained a likeable and authentic ambassador who represents our product to the millennial generation," says Urs Schluechter, Director of Emmentaler Switzerland. Nickless is the third brand ambassador for Emmentaler AOP alongside presenter and recipe book author Zoe Torinesi and wrestling king, farmer and Emmentaler AOP milk producer Matthias Sempach. He will be particularly active on social media, including on his established channel "A week in the life of Nickless".

In 1995, the time-honoured "Schweizerische Verkehrszentrale SVZ" became today's national tourism marketing organization Switzerland Tourism (ST). Under the umbrella of a new logo, the "golden flower", the common image of Switzerland as a tourist destination was created at the same time. For a generation afterwards, this golden flower was the well-known and popular symbol for Swiss tourism advertising. For many years, not only the then new marketing organization ST, but also a number of industry organizations, destinations and service providers advertised Switzerland's tourism offerings with the same logo. The golden flower has thus accompanied an entire generation and is now associated with Switzerland as a tourist destination by the Swiss population and many guests.

30 years later, the requirements for a brand have changed. ST has therefore decided to create a new, unique and recognizable digital Swiss brand world: A pure signet is now becoming a complete brand world for the first time in the history of Swiss tourism advertising. "The golden flower shaped an era for a generation of tourism professionals. The Switzerland brand conveys trust, presents itself in a modern design and is future-oriented for another generation," explains ST Director Martin Nydegger.

The brand is being reduced from several logo variants in all languages to a consistent "one brand" strategy. A versatile brand ecosystem is being built around this, which will allow the brand to be presented in the best possible way spatially, physically and digitally. This opens up new opportunities for Switzerland Tourism to present the brand on the international stage.

The new appearance was developed and implemented by the Zurich branding agency Made Identity. The requirements and potentials were recorded in a comprehensive brand audit and finally developed with "Switzerland". The logo combines Switzerland's two most prominent ambassadors: the name "Switzerland" and the flag. The lettering incorporates the Swiss cross in its center - and makes the otherwise silent "t" very loud for once.

The "Horizon" color scheme is inspired by the alpenglow, fanning out the Swiss red into five shades and thus becoming a versatile design element that is intended to make the sender recognizable even without a logo presence.

"Switzerland" should represent the diversity of the travel destination, offer the partners a visible stage and place guests at the center without compromise. The brand experience accompanies guests throughout their entire journey: from the first browse, through the planning and stay to the souvenir. The brand becomes the host.

From Wednesday, "Switzerland" will be launched in all markets and will be continuously translated into all measures until the end of the year.

Responsible at Switzerland Tourism: André Hefti (CMO), Oliver Nyffeler (Head Productions), Martin Pally, (Head Campaigning), Anouk Blum, Claudia Brugger, Sarah Krauer, Samira Steriti (Project Management), Andrea Jenzer, Nadine Ackermann, Susanne Berther, Jan Karlen (Graphic & Media Design), Pascal Bloch (Specialist Multimedia Production), Kim Corpataux, Sariana Berchtold, Nicola Fürer, Matyas Fabian (Multimedia Producers), André Meier (Photography). Responsible at Made Identity: Georg Gadient (Strategy), Adrian Glatthorn (Creative Direction Branding), Alexander Weis (Creative Direction Digital), Zoe Heeb (Art Direction Branding), Jan Keller (Lead Consultant), Bettina Gugler, Mauro Simeon, Karin Hauser (Brand Design) Alessio Rattazzi (Motion Design).

What a nonsense word. But unfortunately it's being used very often at the moment. The masculine noun context has long since found its way into everyday language. It was already complicated enough. But now this verb - or, to put it in the old-fashioned way, this activity word - is making life difficult because, by definition, it calls for an activity.

Suddenly there is a need or obligation to always interpret a text in context. In other words, looking at information, events or ideas in isolation is no longer enough. No, we have to assess everything in relation to the circumstances in which they occur or to which they refer and the people who convey them. Thank you very much. So the temporal, political, economic, socio-cultural and personal circumstances play an essential role in how we should interpret something. It reads pretty complicated. As if life wasn't already complicated enough, now we have to contextualize everything.

By contextualizing something, we try to understand how it fits into its larger environment and how it is influenced by this environment or exerts influence on it itself. Can we no longer simply take things as they are? Can we no longer simply read and enjoy texts and, in the best case, even understand them? Does everything really have to be contextualized? YES. To use this unspeakable portmanteau word for once.

If you want to take everything into account, you end up with nothing

YES, because otherwise there is a great risk of being misled. If we don't place statements in a larger context, we could be manipulated. Contextualizing helps us to classify something in order to understand it better. For example, it helps if we take into account that not everything we scroll through on social media is true and real. Or if we take into account that the pitch was not lost because of the performance of the many agencies invited, but because the clients already knew who they were going to choose before the presentation, then that doesn't ease the pain, but it contextualizes the disdainful rejection. But if everything is constantly contextualized in meetings with existing clients, if something has to be viewed contextually or if there is even talk of context-sensitive elements, then it all becomes a bit exhausting.

Therefore: NO, because if we are constantly contextualizing, we won't get anywhere. If every idea, every concept, every solution first has to be considered in a larger context, there is a risk that it will be completely talked out of existence and die before it has even grown up. There are always enough ifs and buts around it that can become a game stopper. Instead of constantly contextualizing, perhaps we should reflect a little more. Reflecting refers to the thought process in which we think about our own thoughts, feelings, experiences or actions. That is usually enough. But beware, reflection requires self-awareness and self-criticism. It is about consciously thinking about the past or the present in order to gain insights or develop further. It's hard, but valuable.

Contextualizing, on the other hand, only refers to putting something in its context in order to understand it better. And that then provides this space for excuses for not having to decide something and play it back to the sender.

The SAQ - Swiss Association for Quality hosted the Swiss Quality Day for the 17th time - a now established event with cross-industry appeal, which, in addition to plenty of networking opportunities, always offers a varied program of presentations. As in the previous year, the event was organized in collaboration with Shift Switzerland organized.

An excursion into robotics

The fact that Switzerland is the world champion in innovation is something that is often pointed out - and was also emphasized on Swiss Quality Day. Switzerland's innovative strength in robotics is at the forefront. The first speaker to talk about this was Prof. Dr. Roland Siegwart, Director Autonomous Systems Lab ETH Zurich and Founding Co-Director of Wyss Zurich. In his presentation, Prof. Siegwart presented a number of applications where robots capable of walking or flying can provide massive support to humans, for example in material testing in hazardous environments such as wind turbines or high-rise chimneys. The solutions shown were developed by ETH spin-offs. They are examples of how the combination of research and science with innovative companies and high-quality manufacturing works.

Innovation "bottom-up" instead of industry promotion by the state

But what about the innovative capacity of companies? And where or how do you get funding pots such as those from Innosuisse? Presenter Andrea Vetsch discussed this with Andreas Preller (Alternative Bank Switzerland), Tom Russi (Innosuisse), Nina Schaller (Luya Foods AG), Cuno Singer (Fill Me) and Roger Siegenthaler (mb-microtec AG). Nina Schaller and Cuno Singer represented the perspective of the start-ups. Driven by a vision - and having one is the basis for innovation - they have each developed their own innovative products. Nina Schaller's company Luya Foods develops plant-based meat alternatives. In contrast to other high-tech meat imitations, these are traditionally fermented. Cuno Singer wants to make drinking tap water more popular with a reusable bottle system and avoid the expensive transportation of mineral water in pet bottles. Innovation in established companies is driven less by visions and more by market pressure, as Roger Siegenthaler knows: "People tend to become sluggish," especially in the position of market leader. Innovation then often arises out of necessity, says Siegenthaler. One antidote to this is an open corporate culture that also allows outside perspectives without "stable smell".

It is well known that innovation requires money - sometimes a lot of it. Innosuisse does not act as an investor, but as an organization that promotes innovative projects. Many start-ups, but also established companies, find it a "jungle" to obtain such funding. "Support start-ups, but don't forget SMEs," was Tom Russi's motto. In contrast to countries such as Germany or France, which operate a state-controlled industrial promotion system, innovation in Switzerland is very much "bottom-up", said Russi. Although this approach is tougher, it is ultimately more promising because companies learn how to deal with economic challenges at an early stage.

An innovator with heart and soul

Thomas Binggeli, or Thömu for short, CEO and owner of Thömus AG, a manufacturer of high-quality bicycles, is someone who has gone from being a young bike enthusiast to a pioneer of new mobility. Bicycles have always been Thomas Binggeli's passion: with the Swiss Bike Park, he has realized a social project to make cycling more popular. The 2000 m2 park serves as a test center for professionals, a training facility and a practice facility for anyone who wants to improve their riding and road safety. Thömus is also involved in the CircuBat project for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries, which are also used in e-bikes. And even if the (bicycle) wheel has long been invented, there is still room for innovation, as Binggeli explained. He showed off his latest developments in e-mountain bikes, which can keep up with classic mountain bikes in terms of weight thanks to smaller electric motors. However, his biggest innovation project at the moment is the "Twinner": a high-end bike with a carbon frame, sophisticated sensor technology and safety features, including its own software for so-called "Smart Power Management". You still have to ride the bike yourself, but it has all the amenities that can be compared with a luxury class car.

"Everyone can be creative"

Innovation requires ideas - and ideal conditions are needed to come up with them. Because: "Everyone can be creative," explained Barbara Studer, a neuroscientist specializing in mental fitness and health, in her presentation. Creativity is present throughout the brain and can also be trained thanks to the so-called neuroplasticity of the brain. Barbara Studer demonstrated some practical exercises that are suitable for keeping our brains fit for creativity. She also explained how strongly emotions play a role in generating ideas: Those who have a higher so-called emodiversity, i.e. experience more emotions, are demonstrably more successful and also healthier. In short: creativity is driven by emotions - something that is completely unknown to artificial intelligence. Barbara Studer gave the audience some practical tips on how to stimulate creativity: fresh air and daylight - combined with exercise - promotes creativity, but also the cultivation of curiosity. She also recommended seeing the world through a child's eyes again and allowing the brain the time it needs to "incubate" ideas. This means not making decisions immediately after a brainstorming session, but only after an incubation period to allow ideas to mature.  

Putting innovation into practice

Another part of the Swiss Quality Day was taken up by four parallel open sessions with a workshop character. These dealt with "Radical Innovation", for example: innovative business models and product strategies from "young savages" were juxtaposed with those from "old hands". The focus was on what we can learn from each other in order to innovate even faster. Another workshop delved further into the topic of creativity - also with practical exercises. A third workshop showed how generic artificial intelligence can also support management systems and where it can already be used to good effect. The fourth open session focused on EFQM: How can this model act as a booster for innovation? And what is the practical experience with it? A panel led by Russell Longmuir, CEO of the EFQM European Foundation for Quality, discussed these questions. 

Sustainability as a new driver of innovation

"Creating haptic fascination from ideas" - this is the claim of industrial designer Björn Ischi, owner of Designform. With "Upcycling by Design", he focuses on the use of existing resources and takes their recyclability into account right from the design stage. This results in unconventional yet economical product designs. Björn Ischi's presentation was entitled "Quality through design". He made the connection to the topic of sustainability, which will be inextricably linked to the world of quality in the future.

The conclusion of the event: innovation is not a new topic, but it remains highly topical. And innovation will continue to drive the Swiss economy - as long as the quality of the innovations is right. The next Swiss Quality Day will take place on May 13, 2025.

More information and impressions: https://saq.ch/de/veranstaltungen/tag_der_schweizer_qualitaet/tsq-2024/

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/ganz-im-zeichen-von-innovation-tag-der-schweizer-qualitaet-2024/