The study by the Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law examined the maturity level of companies' lead management. 385 companies from Switzerland and Germany were surveyed in the areas of lead research, lead generation, lead engagement, lead scoring and lead automation.

Use of AI and automation can be greatly expanded

The average Lead Automation Maturity Index (LAMI), i.e. the maturity level of automation in lead management, is just 36 points on a scale of 0 to 100 for the companies surveyed. Individual sectors such as technology providers and service providers are slightly higher. Only five percent are already very far along in the scaling phase with AI and have implemented AI-based tools widely in their business processes. Almost half of the companies surveyed (44%) are still in the learning phase, want to understand AI use cases in their business and are exploring initial use cases. A further 44 percent are carrying out smaller pilot projects for specific AI applications and are in the testing phase. Only seven percent do not believe in AI and categorically reject it.

AI use cases in lead management 

Automated personalization of emails is increasingly being generated with AI. The majority of respondents see the recognition of leads' willingness to buy through AI as a major advantage. Almost half consider it valuable to increase the deliverability of emails and social media engagement thanks to AI. The companies surveyed also consider it advantageous to dynamically adapt the content of their website based on user behaviour (43%) or even customize it (27%).

"In the survey, we found that 56% of companies are still scoring their leads manually. There is considerable potential here for increasing efficiency through automation and the use of AI," says Darius Zumstein from the Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law, who is responsible for the study.

LinkedIn is the most important channel for contact data 

At 58%, LinkedIn is the most important source of contact data in lead research, followed by events and personal recommendations. "This underlines the importance of social networks and direct interactions in the B2B sector for data collection and sales," says Darius Zumstein. In lead engagement, 41% also prefer personal interaction with (potential) prospects. Despite advancing digitalization and the availability of AI-supported tools, personal interactions and networks still play a central role in lead management.

High potential for automation

Despite the importance of personal interactions, there is a clear need for further automation and increased efficiency in order to fully exploit the potential of modern technologies. The study authors emphasize the high, transformative potential of AI and automation for marketing strategies and customer communication. "Companies that use AI technologies can significantly increase efficiency in lead generation and qualification through more precise customer data analysis, improved predictions of customer behaviour and personalized marketing approaches," says Darius Zumstein. So far, limited resources and a lack of skills are the biggest obstacles to the introduction of AI in marketing for 72 percent of respondents.

At Marketing Automation & AI Report of the ZHAW The research partners Cotide (Marc Gasser and Virginie Cantin), Mayoris (Urs Thüring), Atedo (Daniel Kölle), Webalyse (Klaus Völk) and Advanis (Markus Vesely) took part in the project.

Under the brand name Aloo Bikes, Diavelo Switzerland develops, produces and distributes cargo e-bikes, which are developed in Zurich and assembled in Europe. Aloo's vision is to help shape mobility in urban areas through the development of innovative cargo e-bikes. In concrete terms, this means making everyday life easier through sustainable and safe transportation solutions. In this ambitious project, Aloo was supported by the Zurich-based consultancy Accelerom in market development from conception to concrete implementation.

The project began with a comprehensive market and brand analysis, followed by a systematic development process to work out the brand and its positioning and create the basis for purpose and content. In close collaboration with Accelerom, a stringent strategy was developed around the brand essence "easier and safer on the road". In several workshops, the "Aloo" brand was created in a very short time with clear implementation principles to ensure a consistent brand presence in communication and sales.

The historic former cinema "Razzia" with its impressive premises provided the perfect backdrop for the marketer's first event as Goldbach Neo. Musically, the motto "All That Jazz" was the program and the band "The Big Five" from Berlin provided the necessary swing and appropriate groove.

Artistic highlights were provided by the three tap dancers Aileen, Ursina and Nina and the ensemble Hellzapoppin' Disaster with Charleston and Lindy Hop.

Those who were lucky enough to get hold of one of the "secret cards" in the evening were able to sample the signature drink "Roaring Red" in the in-house speakeasy or be whisked away into the world of cigars.

To round off the evening, burlesque artist Kokeshi Momo surprised the audience with a performance, bringing the glamor of the 1920s back to life in the heart of the city on the Limmat.

This year, Twint leads the reputation ranking and, according to GfK Switzerland, is now one of the 50 most important companies in Switzerland due to its increased awareness among the Swiss population. "The company is seen as an absolute top company that offers better services than other companies in the sector and stands out positively from other companies. The under-30s in particular rate Twint extremely highly," says Dr. Anja Reimer from GfK Switzerland.

Second place in the ranking was taken by Zweifel, which improved by one place. Migros is in third place this year. According to Anja Reimer, although Swiss people continue to identify most strongly with the retailer, Migros scored less highly this year in terms of social and moral appreciation.

Ricola and SBB occupy the next places. The latter improved by five places and achieved the highest scores in terms of environmental sustainability.

Rivella, in sixth place, improved its ranking by three places, while Mobiliar (ranked seventh) moved up seven places. Coop, Lindt & Sprüngli and Geberit follow in 8th to 10th place.

Demographic differences in the ranking

Men rate Zweifel slightly better than Twint and also rate Ricola slightly better than Migros. Women, on the other hand, rate Twint best, followed by Migros.

German-speaking Swiss rate Rivella, Mobiliar, Zweifel, Geberit, Ricola and SBB better than French-speaking Swiss, whereas Coop and Lindt & Sprüngli score better in French-speaking Switzerland.

Migros is in second place in French-speaking Switzerland, ahead of Zweifel, while Coop is in fourth place. For the French-speaking Swiss, the cantonal banks, Logitech and ABB are also among the top 10 - whereas Mobiliar, Geberit and Rivella are not among the ten best companies here.

NPO ranking: Rega in first place for the seventh time

Swiss Air-Rescue Rega topped the ranking of non-profit organizations for the seventh time in a row. "Rega enjoys a high level of popularity among the Swiss population. The Swiss identify with Rega and attest that it is successful and stands out positively from other organizations," comments Anja Reimer.

The Swiss Paraplegic Foundation is in second place in the ranking, followed by the Swiss Red Cross, which improved by three places. Spitex Switzerland, in fourth place, also improved by one place. It is followed by Médecins Sans Frontières, Fairtrade Max Havelaar and, in seventh place, TCS, which moved up seven places. The Cancer League remains in eighth place, followed by Bio Suisse and WWF Switzerland.

The GfK Business Reflector measures the reputation of the 50 leading Swiss companies and 20 best-known NPOs on the basis of a population-representative survey, compares them and thus provides an annual cross-sector seismograph of the Swiss corporate and non-profit landscape. Together with the Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society (Fög) at the University of Zurich, a scientifically sound measurement tool was developed to provide Swiss marketers, CSR managers, companies and NPOs with a representative reputation index. The results are based on over 3,500 interviews conducted throughout Switzerland, which are collected from mid-January to mid-February. The aim of the study is to provide objective and precise reputation monitoring.

The aim is to build and establish four strong and attractive employer brands. These include the retail brands Dosenbach, Ochsner Shoes, Ochsner Sport and the administrative and logistics organization DOC itself.

In the first phase, the overarching employer promise with four value pillars was developed together with the client. Klar defined an efficient and target-oriented process for this. These core values were then adapted to the different positioning and DNAs of the retail brands.

In the second phase, the agency designed and created the new employer image. This included films, visuals, career websites and various communication tools for internal activation. All 4500 employees received personal mail. In addition to communicating the new values, they were also surprised with new benefits: for example, six weeks' vacation instead of the previous five. The creative concept was then adapted to the individual retail brands in terms of content and form.

True to the motto "you move us", the overarching values of progress, passion, team spirit and quality of life form the core of the content. A concept was developed for the films, which was further developed into a sophisticated storyline by film production partner Lauschsicht. It focuses on the employees and lets them speak freely in a relaxed atmosphere. So that the statements and reactions are genuine, surprising and also funny. The result should credibly convey what it feels like to work for the employer in question.

Responsible at Dosenbach Ochsner & Companies: Désirée Hasler, Jessica Riesen. Responsible Agency: Clearly employer branding. Film: Lauschsicht (direction and production).

Insurance companies and health insurers are regularly present in the media and on social media. Topics and the way they are reported and commented on influence how these companies are perceived. In a comprehensive study, 13 insurance companies and 13 health insurance companies have now been analyzed with regard to their reputation in Swiss media sources. The results show how the companies perform in the areas of product & service, innovation, profitability, sustainability, management and employer.

Helvetia, Baloise and Swiss Re occupy the top positions in the insurance sector

Those who manage to be present in reputation-relevant topics and at the same time do so in a positive context strengthen their good reputation. Among insurers, Helvetia is clearly the best at this, as the study shows. The company is convincing in all areas, with some minor compromises in terms of employer.

Second-placed Baloise, on the other hand, is significantly less present in the Swiss media, but is able to compensate for this with very good tonality values. Swiss Re achieved third place thanks to its outstanding visibility. In the other places are Die Mobiliar, Zurich, Axa, Swiss Life, Vaudoise, Pax and Suva. Allianz, Generali and Emmental Versicherung did not make it into the top 10.

Overall, the study gives the insurance industry a good report card in terms of its media reputation. Almost all of the top 10 insurers have a sufficient presence in all six reputation dimensions, with only a few companies scoring below average. With over 44,000 articles analyzed, the industry has very good visibility in the media, even if the figures for the individual companies vary greatly.

Swica, Sanitas and Visana make up the podium of health insurers

When it comes to visibility in the media, health insurers cannot keep up with the insurance companies. With just over 12,000 articles evaluated, health insurers are far less present.

Swica achieved the best reputation among the health insurance companies. It combines media visibility with good tonality and thus achieves very good scores in practically all six reputation dimensions, according to the study. Second-placed Sanitas is only just behind with an equally almost flawless profile. Visana in third place scored very well in terms of profitability, sustainability and management.

KPT, Aquilana, Groupe Mutuel and Helsana in fourth to seventh place are close to each other with an overall reputation at a similar level. Atupri, ÖKK and CSS complete the top 10. Assura, Concordia and Sympany remained outside the top ten.

Sustainability issues have so far fallen by the wayside

As part of the study, the subject areas in which the evaluated companies are present in the media were examined in more detail. Driven by the SMI companies Swiss Life, Swiss Re and Zurich, 41% of all articles from the insurers are assigned to the topic of "profitability". "Product & service" topics account for 28 percent and topics relating to management almost 20 percent. Sustainability, innovation and employer topics together account for just under 12 percent of all statements.

In the case of health insurance companies, topics relating to product & service (42.5%) lead ahead of profitability (22%) and management (21%). Here too, only 14% remain for the other three reputation dimensions.

The study concludes from this that both sectors are rather poorly represented, particularly in terms of sustainability communication (share for insurance companies 7.8%, for health insurance companies 8.4%).

For the Study by the Swissreputation.group and the IMWF all reputation-relevant statements of the selected companies in publicly accessible Swiss news, articles, posts, comments from journalistic news media, discussion pages, social media such as Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, blogs and forums were evaluated in the period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. More than 56,000 media contributions were analyzed.

An AI-supported text analysis was used for this purpose. After pre-filtering all media contributions from the selected companies, the specially trained algorithm evaluates the statements semantically and assigns them to the thematic reputation categories.dimensions. To calculate the reputation values, the visibility (number of statements) and tonality are taken into account for each dimension. Finally, these results are statistically weighted and the overall ranking is calculated.

How happy will the domestic population be in 2024? The market research company Marketagent.com investigated this in a survey. According to the survey, 17% of Swiss people would describe themselves as "very happy". This is particularly true of couple households without children (20%). But there are also regional differences: people in German-speaking Switzerland say they are very happy more often (19%) - in contrast to people in French-speaking Switzerland (11%).

Only less than 1 percent of Swiss people describe themselves as barely satisfied with their lives. 42% would not change anything at all, but would continue to live as before if they won a lottery jackpot. Even though most Swiss people describe themselves as (very) happy (68%), significantly fewer (45%) believe that people in their home country are generally happy. Only 6 percent think that the population as a whole is "very happy". 35% of respondents say they have only recently (today or yesterday) felt really happy and 27% within the last week.

Interestingly, the age at which people think they are happiest and the age at which they are actually happiest vary greatly: 38% of Swiss people believe that they are happiest between the ages of 20 and 39. Only 13% believe they are happiest after the age of 60. However, people aged 60+ actually rate their own happiness highest. 25 percent of 60- to 69-year-olds are currently very happy.

How happy does social media make you?

We also wanted to know from respondents whether the vacation photos posted on social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc.) tend to make them happy or unhappy. Just under a third of Swiss people (32%) say that vacation photos of other people make them "very/rather happy", with this positive feeling being mentioned significantly more often by 14-19-year-olds (52%) than by other age groups. However, there are also other feelings: 8 percent of Swiss people feel "rather/very unhappy" when looking at other people's vacation photos, especially younger people (13% of 14-19-year-olds, 14% of 20-29-year-olds).

"We haven't decided yet," said Swisscom CEO Christoph Aeschlimann in an interview with the news agency AWP on Friday. "We have enough time to look at the issue in detail and decide how to proceed afterwards."

Brand matters must be approached very carefully, said Aeschlimann: "It also takes a very long time to establish a brand. I assume that the decision on the brand will be slower rather than faster."

Swisscom does not necessarily have to establish a new brand. With the takeover of Vodafone Italy, the company also acquired the secondary brand Ho, which is already anchored in the market. This will continue to exist, said Aeschlimann: "We also have the Fastweb brand, which is very well known. In this sense, we don't necessarily need a new brand if we can no longer use Vodafone."

Competition remains tough

When asked whether he expects further margin erosion in the Italian telecoms market, Aeschlimann said: "We assume that the market will remain very competitive. There are very many market players in both mobile telephony and the fixed network. The situation will not change even after the merger. It is therefore very important that we own the networks ourselves and can achieve economies of scale in order to remain competitive."

When asked whether he still expected resistance to the takeover, Aeschlimann said that the deal was highly complementary in terms of the infrastructure and capabilities of the two companies. "In this sense, the deal is very value-adding. For this reason, we assume that we will be able to implement the deal as planned," said the Swisscom CEO in response to criticism from Swiss politicians.

Both companies complement each other

According to the information provided, Fastweb and Vodafone complement each other very well. While Fastweb generates 87% of its revenue from the broadband network and only 13% from mobile telephony, Vodafone Italy does the opposite. The latter generates a good two-thirds of its revenue from the mobile network and just under a third from the fixed network.

Together, Fastweb and Vodafone have a market share of 31% in the fixed network and 26% in mobile communications in Italy. There is still room for improvement in the latest mobile technology 5G, where Vodafone has achieved coverage of 68%. "We want to continue the expansion of 5G," said Aeschlimann.

In terms of turnover, the two companies together are the clear number two behind top dog TIM with 7.3 billion euros, which is expected to generate 9.2 billion in the Italian business following the planned spin-off of the network division. In terms of operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) after leasing, Vodafone and Fastweb would even be ahead of TIM (1.8 billion) with 2.4 billion. (SDA)

The media platform follows the principle of writing honest texts - driven and inspired by its community. "Let's be honest" wants to address all topics relating to parenthood openly and without taboos. Creating an "honest" brand world was therefore the logical consequence. The fact that the name says it all is also reflected in the unusual use of the logo: Complemented by a colon, it integrates directly into strong statements or sub-brands.

"The English 'me' in the short form of the logo is no coincidence. The key to a happy family life often lies in parents' self-care," says Selina Eugster, Creative Director at Solid Identities and responsible for the new brand identity on the agency side.

Comprehensive rebranding

The rebranding project included support in the naming process, the development of the entire brand identity including the logo, social media formats, the UX design of the new website with a concept store and the development of the digital guidelines. The brand values of self-confident, familiar, honest, empathetic and humorous were translated into an independent and high-quality brand identity that conveys and supports the luminosity of this company.

Distinctive appearance

With the colon as a symbol and the animated pictograms formally derived from it, a strong color scheme and a modern font, "Mal ehrlich" aims to communicate with an unmistakable and approachable language. With this appearance, the brand is equipped for future requirements and needs of the community. At the same time, it is a reflection of the company, its values and attitude.

"Our aim was to develop a brand toolbox that could honestly communicate its incredible range of formats and content. The new website needed to be lively and easy to use without sacrificing the consistency of the brand," continues Eugster.

Responsible at Mal ehrlich: Rebecca Krausse (Management / Project Management Rebranding), Anja Knabenhans (Head of Content), Andrea Jansen (Strategy and Development). Responsible at Solid Identities: Selina Eugster (Creative Direction), Levin Bissig (UX & Motion Design), Séverine Telley (Brand Design), Elmar Müller (Naming).

A word as old as mankind. So let's start with Adam and Eve. The literal translation of the term creator means maker or creator. Creatures that have created, brought forth or shaped something significant. Wasn't that God? Yes. At least that's what is believed in certain circles. These circles used to gather en masse in churches. These are the large houses with a tower, clock and bells that can be found in every village. Storytelling was practiced there on a grand scale. Stories like that of Adam and Eve, the first human couple and therefore, according to tradition, the progenitors of all humans. God, the Creator, first created Adam and then his counterpart, Eve, from his rib. So the tradition goes.

Most people who believe this Adam and Eve story can reconcile it with natural science and the theory of evolution. Despite certain uncertainties. Not so the so-called creationists: they interpret the Bible literally and therefore consider the theory of evolution to be blasphemy. Creationists therefore also doubt the age of dinosaur fossils, among other things. And still others believe that Charles Darwin compiled everything essential on the subject of evolution in 1859 that is relevant today. And then there are those who don't believe anything, because for them it's all "fake".

Not everything that is created is relevant

Back to the "creator", or also called "influencer". Fortunately, they are not creationists. Even if they sometimes behave like one. "My followers" or "my community" sounds quite religious. Creators are people who create content on social media that is then viewed by as many other people as possible. Most of them belong to GenZ. It's no wonder that being a creator is such a popular career choice among the under-30s. Everyone wants to be a creator. Preferably on the side. Alongside their job, studies, school and so on. Because: content is king. And if that's the case, then female content creators are therefore queens. In fact, many of the successful creators are female and easily manage three million likes on Insta and like to trumpet this to the world in their podcasts, on their YouTube channels or in the comments. Much to the annoyance of the old kings in the dusty editorial offices.

The fact that content is king was already echoing like a canon through the corridors and canteens of media companies in the noughties, and yet at the same time more and more jobs were being cut in a rhythmic quarterly cycle. First of all, the seasoned, noble feathers - mostly old and male - were replaced by child soldiers. Yes, that was the arrogant and disrespectful term used by print editors - rarely female editors - when talking about their younger, digital counterparts. In other words, those online journalists who tackled research and texts in such a way that they were cool, casual or cringeworthy and not well-founded, proofread and bulletproofed. They generated clicks and likes - and that was a stronger currency than readership figures. This activity was also known as clickbaiting. Today it's more like SEO optimization. Or content creation, done by content creators.

So it's no wonder that the last dinosaurs in the editorial offices are amazed at the success of these young, mostly female creators and comment caustically on their actions in their remaining columns. Perhaps editorial dinosaurs and creators would do well to take themselves a little less seriously and admit that they have both simply created, produced or designed something. Whether this is significant or not can then be judged later by the Gamma and Delta generations.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.

Nils Fiechter, member of the Oberwil SVP council, wanted to know from the government how the high costs, in his view, were compatible with the principles of efficiency and economy.

In its answer to the simple question, the government council informed Fiechter that the costs were divided into three blocks. One third was spent on the groundwork, i.e. the strategy and concept.

A second third of the costs were spent on the composition, production and implementation of the audio brand in different variations. The music library contains around 50 files. A final third was spent on licenses to ensure that the audio brand belongs exclusively to the Canton of Bern in the long term and that it is also legally protected.

Overall, the government has always made a conscious effort to ensure that the costs are within a reasonable and normal market range.

The canton's public image is governed by design guidelines. These specify, for example, what the logo looks like, which fonts the canton uses, which colors or which imagery.

These guidelines support the cantonal administration when it comes to the uniform design of brochures, presentations, flyers, posters or the lettering on buildings. The Canton of Bern should be clearly recognizable as the sender at first glance.

In the age of digital communication, audio-visual media products are increasingly being used. This is why the segment has been expanded. The canton's multimedia content should also have a uniform design and the sender should be recognizable. (SDA)

Consumers are currently paying even more attention to quality and seasonality than to the cost of products when shopping for food. Regionality and animal welfare are also more important to them than price this year - throughout the DACH region. Quality is the undisputed number one issue in Switzerland. Surprisingly, price plays a slightly lesser role: it is still important for three quarters of Swiss consumers, compared to 79% in the neighboring German-speaking countries.

This was the result of a user survey conducted by Bring! Labs AG, operator of the shopping list app Bring! and the brochure app Profital. In collaboration with the market research institute Statista, the Swiss company conducted a survey on shopping behavior in the DACH region. Almost 2,800 Swiss users of the Bring! and Profital apps were surveyed, as well as around 23,000 German and around 3,000 Austrian users of the Bring! app.

Quality most important

Just like in the other DACH countries, quality is the most important topic for food shopping in Switzerland in 2024 with 96%. Although price still concerns 75% of consumers, its importance has decreased compared to other topics, meaning that it is currently in sixth place. Seasonality, on the other hand, is the trend of the year: while it played a role for just 58% in the previous year, it is currently an important topic for nine out of ten Swiss (90 %) when buying food. Regionality (89 %), animal welfare (82 %) and sustainability (77 %) also ranked higher than purchase price. By contrast, the Nutri-Score received little attention: for just 33% of respondents, it plays an important role when shopping.

Saving in other areas

Even though fewer consumers are thinking about price first when buying food than in previous years, this does not mean that the Swiss do not want to save money. However, they are less likely to tighten their belts when it comes to food than in other areas - above all clothing and shoes (50 %) or furniture and furnishings (41 %). Only just under one in eight (13 %) plan to reduce their spending on food in 2024. When the Swiss save on food, it is primarily on meat and fish (38 %), unlike in neighboring German-speaking countries.

This is also in line with the food trends for 2024. When asked which diets will influence them in the current year, a third said organic (33 %), followed by sugar-free (31 %) and vegetarian (22 %). The Swiss therefore want to eat more consciously and healthily in 2024.

A small majority (52 %) of Swiss consumers are convinced that a high income is a prerequisite for a healthy diet. There is a corresponding need for retailers and manufacturers to provide information to show that a healthy diet does not necessarily have to be associated with high costs.

Further results:

• 52 percent of respondents are more likely to go to the supermarket than the discount store for their weekly shopping compared to the previous year
• 60 percent plan their purchases more carefully than last year
• For 54 percent, offers and promotions are important when buying food
• 62 percent buy goods in stock when they are on offer

The entire report is available here.