Podcasts are booming. Internationally as well as in Switzerland. Now there is also a platform where podcasters and creators can meet, educate themselves, exchange ideas and perform new shows. The podcast agency Audiokanzlei is initiating a podcast festival with workshops, panels and live shows. The main topics of the first festival: The Future of Podcasting, a look into the future of a new industry with the relevant stakeholders. The industry will meet for this purpose on November 3 at the Kraftwerk in Zurich.

"Podcasts are closer, faster and more personal than almost all other forms of digital information gathering and online entertainment," explains Dino Giglio. The lecturer in audio marketing at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich (HWZ) has been running the podcast agency Audiokanzlei since 201 9 and organized the Suisse Podcast Awards in March.

Experts discuss strategies

At the Suisse Podcast Festival Academy, which is aimed at podcasters as well as podcast enthusiasts, experts such as Kafi Freitag, Charlotte Theile, Franziska von Grünigen, Peter Walt, Marc Lehmann and Carla Keller will lecture on exciting podcast strategies, successful storytelling and successful examples from the world of cultural and commercial podcasting. In addition, know-how is also passed on about the platform universe, which is confusing for many, or about generating reach in distribution.

As part of the Podcast Festival, Nadja Zimmermann ("Tschüss&Ciao"), Shiva Arbabi and Jürg Zentner ("Too Old To Die Young") and shooting star Emma aka Wemmse ("Los Emmal") will also be presenting their podcasts as a live show. Nadja Zimmermann welcomes Bligg to the Ferien(erlebnisse)-Talk.

More information is available here.

The Swiss watch industry sets new records in the export sector and is undergoing a transformation. After an impressive result in 2022, in which watch exports reached a new record of almost CHF 25 billion, the strong growth trajectory continued in the first eight months of this year. Core regions such as the USA and China recorded healthy growth. Despite the rise in e-commerce, 62% of brands expect retail sales to dominate over the next five years and plan to expand their retail activities.

This is clear from the Deloitte study 2023 on the Swiss watch industry which includes insights from industry experts and consumer surveys in key markets. The study also shows that watch industry executives see India as a market with incredible potential in the coming years. In the first eight months of the current year, India saw above-average sales growth of 18 percent. Deloitte expects India to be among the top ten Swiss export markets within a decade.

The alliance of the three companies - Converto AG, Datalogue GmbH and Datalab. GmbH - focuses on data-driven solutions for marketing and sales. The partnership is not just a pooling of resources, but rather a synergy of different strengths and capabilities, according to a media release.

Partner companies remain independent

As strategic group coordination, The Relevance Group oversees and supports the partner companies. These remain independent and retain their respective management teams, which are responsible for their business results.

"The Relevance Group's vision - 'We believe that relevance is the driving force behind every business success' - reflects exactly what Converto stands for. We recognize that relevance is the ultimate link to business success. That's why we've partnered with The Relevance Group to strengthen and expand our mission. Our ambition? To make an even bigger impact on brands and businesses!", says Converto's CEO Kim Engels.

Converto's founder and Chairman of the Board, Matteo Schuerch, is also looking forward to the new chapter: "I believe that this step will allow Converto and its customers to grow in Switzerland and in Europe in a sustainable and constant way. Maintaining our autonomy and focus, while leveraging the synergies of an excellent European platform like The Relevance Group, is the ideal ecosystem for a company like ours."

The power of words and images is great - but just how great? The Bühler&Bühler agency asks this question in the latest episode of its podcast "In a Nudgeshell". And finds out: Even the experts Hannes Hug, Becca Knobel and Clemens Fachinger, who go shopping, take the elevator and more in this episode, were surprised at how serious the influence of words or even music is on our actions.

Here you can go to the podcast.

The trend sport of padel is conquering the Swiss sports world. In the process, the Lucerne-based company Padelta, founded in 2021, is also making its mark on the scene. With its location in Rothenburg and its pop-up facilities, Padelta has gained notoriety, and since September 2023, Swiss ice hockey player Nino Niederreiter has also been on board as co-owner. Padelta's vision is to spread and promote padel nationwide.

The Lucerne agency HI Switzerland developed the new brand in collaboration with the Padelta team. As part of this collaboration, the agency designed the entire image, programmed the website and developed and implemented all communication measures. The brand is meant to embody dynamism, sport and active leisure. The typography should pick up on the speed of the sport and, together with a versatile typeface, form the core of the identity. Clearly defined elements carry the brand to the public and allow the necessary flexibility in daily use.

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Responsible at HI Switzerland: Yves Herger (Owner), Daniel Klauser (Creative Director), Nina Ruppen (Art Direction), Ivo Wermelinger (Web Developer), Leana Santschi (Communication).

Vegetarian and vegan diets are in vogue. But what is the actual situation among Swiss consumers? Who is prepared to give up meat and who eats plant-based substitute products? The current issue of MACH Consumer takes up this trendy topic and provides even more detailed figures on alternative diets.

The figures show that 5 percent of the Swiss population say they eat a vegetarian or vegan diet. 70 percent of vegetarians or vegans are female, and these diets are particularly popular among 14- to 29-year-olds. Vegetarians often live in urban areas. The MACH Values psychographic study also shows that the following two value types are most likely to be vegetarian or vegan: the politically committed, unconventional "cosmopolitans" and the creative, environmentally friendly "creators.

Plant-based substitute products - a niche market?

The MACH Consumer study now also asks about the consumption of plant-based substitute products in the product categories meat, milk, yogurt/quark and cheese. The figures show that 21 percent of the Swiss population consume a product from one or more of these categories at least once a week. It is striking that the majority of this consumption group are not vegetarians or vegans (16 %), but people who eat meat regularly (42 %) or occasionally (42 %). This shows that the growing range of plant-based substitute products is also used to a large extent by people beyond the original niche.

Advances in remote health monitoring based on the Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming healthcare for individuals, caregivers and physicians. This transformation is enabled by new 5G mobile standards that enable improved functionality and usability of wearable technologies for checking vital signs, medications or responses to drug trials, and fall detection.

It is expected that the new standards will have a 10 - 100 times Enable increase in data rates, support 10 to 100 times more connected devices, and result in 5 to 10 times reduction in latency compared to our current standard. Communications service providers (CSPs) will be in tune with advances in the Healthcare through service offerings that support multiple parties: Caregivers, patients and physicians.

What are the benefits of IoT for nurses?

With the rise of the older generation, a "caregiver crisis" has emerged as members of the sandwich generation struggle to care for their parents and children at the same time. CSPs can help ease this struggle as they operate smart devices that allow caregivers to closely monitor various health metrics. Whether it's heart rate monitors, blood oxygen sensors, drug reaction detection devices, cancer treatment monitoring devices or fall detection devices, 5G-enabled enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) work together to collect large amounts of data in real time. The 5G-enabled IoT also provides the ability to see historical trends in the data and receive notifications when a health event of concern occurs.

So how exactly does this help caregivers? Since they can't be in all places at once, a caregiver can work with a healthcare practice to select a networked device that digitally monitors an aging parent's vital signs, and then work with their service provider to enable connectivity. CSPs are beginning to partner with companies that specialize in IoT-based health monitoring to provide the service needed to ensure these devices are minimally invasive, safe and easy to deploy.

What are the benefits of IoT for the patient?

Medical devices - be it an insulin pump or a heart rate monitor - can send information directly to healthcare providers via a private, provisioned and secure network, removing the patient's exposure to data analytics and ensuring speed and quality of service. Another benefit for the patient is the security and peace of mind that their health can be proactively managed and personalized through advances in AI and IoT. The technology takes into account real-time data about the patient's activity, environment and health statistics and then uses predictive models to notify them if they appear to be at risk for various conditions.

What are the benefits of the IoT for physicians?

Much like a caregiver, a physician can't be in two places at once. As medical IoT devices become more powerful and connected, dashboards, on-demand data, and frequently asked questions help physicians and other healthcare providers reduce the flood of questions from patients and caregivers. For CSPs working with healthcare organizations, there is an opportunity for stronger, digitized interactions between patients and their healthcare partners. By providing a tailored customer experience and eliminating some of the additional challenges of post-visit communication, healthcare professionals can provide high-quality, undivided service to the patients they treat.

In addition, specialists such as oncologists, cardiologists, and orthopedic surgeons receive the latest information about their patients' diagnosis and treatment, and can personalize treatment plans based on real-time data from patient devices through AI- and ML-driven improvements. This includes monitoring drug side effects and predicting outcomes.

The beginning of the 5G future

Oracle's recent acquisition of Cerner will enable us to create more accessible, safer, more efficient and more effective care for patients and caregivers. Through unified connectivity, we will collect near real-time data from hospitals and laboratory diagnostic devices connected to the IoT network and aggregate it into a single source of truth. AI and machine learning will provide actionable information and contextual insights that - when integrated back into the clinical workflows of the electronic health record - can increase accuracy, improve outcomes and reduce costs.

There are many ways that patients, doctors and caregivers can get even more out of wearables and IoT-enabled devices, especially with the reliability of a 5G connection. IoT connectivity technology evolves the network, applications and cloud infrastructure to maximize business impact by optimizing network capacity and delivering high-quality IoT throughput. 5G increases the reliability of IoT devices in healthcare environments, such as areas that experience power outages or natural disasters, or remote or rural areas that struggle with a slow network.

In addition to the benefits to caregivers, patients and physicians, another important relationship driving the progress of 5G is Oracle's partnership with CSPs. Oracle solutions enable CSPs to work with healthcare organizations to support these offerings, advise purchasers on the selection of services that are tailored and optimized to their needs, and manage the IT and communications network resources required to deliver the services.

Author:

Andrew Morawski is executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Communications. As head of Oracle's global business unit for the telecommunications industry, Morawski is responsible for sales, strategic planning, product development, service and support for Oracle's communications products.

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/wie-wird-das-5g-faehige-iot-die-zukunft-des-gesundheitswesens-unterstuetzen/

A new sound identity for St. Galler Kantonalbank: with this, the bank wants to offer increased emotionalization and more recognition in the communication of its brand - on all multimedia channels. It should sound relaxed and lively and thus follow the brand principles that stand for a friendly partnership: today and tomorrow, human and regional.

"Creating a sound world that matches our DNA, yet is forward-looking and complements other brand elements perfectly was our goal," says Simon Fuchs, head of marketing at SGKB. "We're taking a stance on the sound level that's refreshing - and still corresponds to us." Using "MeloMetric," the survey tool developed by Department of Noise, 250 internal and external stakeholders were interviewed, thus validating the intended effect on an empirical level. This also allowed a pulse to be taken regarding brand fit and like. This resulted in three sound assets that are intended to contribute to a coherent and recognizable overall brand image.

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Responsible at SGKB: Simon Fuchs (Head of Marketing), Nathalie Eggli (Head of Advertising and Promotion), Markus Schlumpf (Multimedia Producer). Responsible at Festland: Daniel Peterer. Responsible at Department of Noise: Florian Goetze and Ph!L!pp Schweidler (Strategy, Creative Direction & Production), Yves Gerber (Creative Producer).

The fact that banking and climate protection are not mutually exclusive is the core element of the launch campaign with which Freundliche Grüsse aims to establish the digital bank Radicant as a sustainable alternative (advertisingweek.ch reported). Now there is a pop-up at Bahnhofplatz 1 that makes this theme tangible: visitors are not invited by a magnificent house cladding, but by a plant arch. In addition to Radicant, the Zurich bag manufacturer Qwstion and the Swiss fashion label Muntagnard are also on site as guest brands.

For two weeks, interested people can discover the two sustainable fashion companies, get advice on digital banking and enjoy coffee. Talks and community events will also be held at the pop-up.

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Responsible at Radicant: Lenah Crass (CMO), Simon Racine (Head of Marketing), Marta Ra (Head of Business Development, Community & Public Relations), Clara Mallea (Graphic Designer), Leyla Salvadé (Event Manager). Responsible at Friendly regards: Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor, Fabian Biedermann. (overall responsibility), Käthy Känzig (consulting), Julian Riegel, Kevin Zysset (creation). Responsible for Lakrits: Gerd Mosser, Michaela Brunner, Maria Alcover, Galina Litman.

In the modern business world, every day looks different. Companies are continuously encountering new challenges and growing competition. With constant change comes increased competitive pressure. To remain competitive and relevant in this environment, brands must constantly adapt.

Often it requires a huge change where they have to reinvent themselves. This process is also called rebranding. In this process, a brand undergoes a comprehensive transformation and develops a fresh brand identity. But how do you decide when the time is right for rebranding? And what are the benefits? How do you plan carefully, and what are the potential risks and challenges?

What is rebranding?

Every brand needs a unique identity to stand out from others. This is defined by corporate identity, which includes design elements such as logos, slogans, web design, colors and fonts.

Companies are faced with the task of adapting to the constantly changing market. As new technologies and products are introduced, customers' requirements also change. This consequently requires changes in brand strategy.

Rebranding often starts with the adaptation of the corporate design. In this way, brands can improve their positioning and address new potential prospects in order to expand their target group. This often involves changes to colors, fonts and logos that create brand recognition.

Yet rebranding is an extremely complex process that can take a brand in a new direction and requires careful planning. It's not just about design changes - both the overall brand image and the message the brand wants to convey are redesigned.

Many brands use rebranding to overcome crises or to signal to their customers that they want to improve. Thus, the timing for rebranding depends on various factors and requires careful consideration of opportunities and risks.

Opportunities and risks of a new brand identity

In principle, a rebranding can help to significantly strengthen the trust of the clientele. A significant change in brand identity often signals a positive change.

Many companies start the rebranding process with the goal of differentiating themselves from the competition. An updated corporate identity can help the brand appear more modern, appealing and contemporary.

One of the many opportunities of rebranding is the fact that new target groups can be addressed. For example, a new image can attract younger consumers and thus reach a broader demographic. With respect to existing target groups, a new corporate identity can make the brand appear more credible and professional. In addition, a creative and eye-catching brand identity can lead consumers to perceive the brand as innovative and competitive and develop a stronger bond. Finally, rebranding can also increase market value and attract the interest of investors and other key stakeholders.

Despite the many benefits of rebranding, there are also some risks and dangers that must be considered. For example, the biggest risk is confusing and even losing loyal customers if the rebranding is not well thought out. Especially for established, well-known brands, rebranding can cause confusion and anger among customers. In the worst case, the brand's reputation can be damaged.

There are also some financial implications involved in rebranding. The entire rebranding process involves significant costs - including domain name changes and other expenses. Therefore, it is important to plan the rebranding process carefully and strategically.

Successful rebranding in just a few steps

Effective rebranding requires careful planning and execution to avoid potential mistakes. For example, the rebranding of X, formerly known as Twitter, did not bring the expected success: the new logo and name confused millions of users. Also, the old trademark "Larry the Bird" can be seen in some places on the platform, and the new X logo hasn't quite caught on yet.

The first step should be to set clear goals. Do you want to create a new image, address a new target group or improve the credibility of the brand? Accordingly, the goals should be clearly defined before starting the rebranding process.

In addition, the analysis of the current identity is extremely important. Here, the strengths, weaknesses and potential problem areas of the brand should be identified. By conducting comprehensive market research, it is possible to analyze how the brand is perceived from the outside and what the needs of the target group are.

In the third step, the new design is developed. Here, the corporate design is modernized to stand out from the competition. Every aspect - including colors, fonts, logos, images and more - is considered.

The new identity is then implemented. Here it is important to consistently implement the newly developed corporate identity. For example, the website, social media profiles and other marketing material should be updated accordingly. It is also important that the company's own target group perceives and understands the rebranding. For this, correct and transparent communication is essential for the company.

Ultimately, rebranding should be continuously monitored and adjusted, because a rebranding process is never truly complete. It is important to monitor the effects closely in order to make adjustments if necessary and ensure long-term success.

Conclusion: Great opportunities with rebranding

Rebranding involves a redesign of the brand. A successful rebranding process enables a brand to reposition itself in the market and stand out more clearly. The focus is always on the needs and desires of the target group. It is also a way to appeal to a broader audience. The right time for rebranding is when the existing brand identity no longer meets the intended goals and a new corporate identity offers more potential. It is important that the individual steps are implemented clearly and consistently and monitored continuously. This is the only way to achieve long-lasting success with rebranding.

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* Dominik Sedlmeier is CEO of the agency El Clasico Media and expert in the fields of communication, marketing and public relations.

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In guest articles on Werbewoche.ch, the authors themselves are responsible for their content and accuracy. The opinions expressed reflect their views.

 

Werbewoche.ch: We are in ShopVille at Zurich HB for the opening of the first MediaMarkt Experience Pop-Up. Why this touchpoint?

Stefan Fraude, CEO MediaMarkt Switzerland: Our pop-up stands for our path to "Experience Electronics". Because we offer more than just products, especially services and experiences around sustainability. We call it "Better Way". Here you will find repairs, trade-ins, refurbished items and many products that carry our "Better Way" sustainability label.

 

At the beginning, you presented market development figures: According to these figures, the overall market for consumer electronics has moved sideways in the last 2-3 years, with the exception of telecommunications.

Stefan Fraude: In fact, the overall value of consumer electronics, including digital aspects such as e-commerce, click & collect, and ship from store, has increased. More than 50 percent of the market is now digital.

 

 

And where does MediaMarkt stand?

Unfortunately, I cannot provide any information on this. But what I can say is this: Our Group target is a digital share of 30 percent, but of course we adapt to the respective market conditions. What is still growing very well at the moment is in the telecom area with mobile telephony.

 

 

Now you have developed a strategy with cornerstones to accommodate digital growth.

The cornerstones of this strategy, with the vision "Experience Electronics Champion of Switzerland!" as our goal, are Employee Experience, Shopping Experience, Usage Experience, and Impact Experience. We want to move from pure product sales to a service and experience platform. Employee experience is about transformation among employees. We want to empower them to inspire customers in every interaction. In the Shopping Experience, we're focusing omnichannel shopping on "digital first" to create an experience with real added value at every touchpoint. And in the Usage Experience, we want to deliver a range of services and solutions that simplify or enhance the use of consumer electronics. And then there is the impact experience, which offers customers opportunities to consciously shape their consumption of consumer electronics.

 

 

 

And this pop-up is part of that strategy, right?

Exactly, it's a marketing vehicle that represents our future approaches to "impact experience" and brings the elements that drive us closer to the customer:inside.

 

Click here for the report on the opening of the Experience Pop-Up.

 

What marketing measures are planned to successfully implement this strategy?

Josipa Babic: Our aim is to drive qualitative traffic to our online and offline point-of-sale by repositioning the MediaMarkt brand. This repositioning means moving from a product-centric and slightly dusty image to a customer-centric and modern image. As a MediaMarkt brand, we want to move closer to Swiss customers. This has some strategic implications. We are currently working intensively on a Swiss slogan.

 

 

How autonomous are you in your decisions for Switzerland?

We have numerous projects that are being developed exclusively for the Swiss market, independently of our parent company. In addition, we will consider other strategic implications, such as the use of language. In our verbal communications, we would like to move more in the direction of Swiss German, while we will of course stick to High German in our written communications. We know from studies that High German stands for competence. Nevertheless, it is important to use the local language, i.e. Swiss German, in order to establish a closeness to Swiss customers.

 

Can we expect a "revival" of the commercials with the legendary closing sentence "I'll just have to tell Urs that"?

That is an interesting question. Unfortunately, however, I have to disappoint you. It is unlikely that we will go down this path. We are currently intensively evaluating how we can successfully position "Experience Electronics Champions" in Switzerland. We often hear from our customers that they miss our humor. We are now bringing the humor back, especially via our social media channels.

 

What can we look forward to?

The social media strategy for this is in the final development phase. Before we define and implement a precise strategy, we are currently focusing more on humor. If you visit our channels, be it TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, you will notice that our social media channels are in the process of shaping the strategy towards humor. In the meantime, you will see many humorous posts from our employee:s.

 

Do you work with agencies?

Josipa Babic: Yes, we work with various agencies, especially on asset creation. We also hired a new Head of Digital and Media, an expert from the industry who ensures that media funds are used efficiently.

 

And what about advertising investments?

We've invested a lot in recent years and are now working on using our media funds more efficiently, as I said before. The exact amount has not yet been determined, but it will be in the double-digit millions.