Already for the 13th time the platform for knowledge exchange around the topics marketing, communication and sales took place in Schaffhausen on Tuesday. The event is organized by the Swiss Marketing Club Schaffhausen.

This year, however, the Marketing Arena came up with a completely new concept. In addition, the event was held for the first time at the Kinepolis cinema. The focus of the event was on accomplished "marketing stars" who gave their presentations on various marketing and sales topics.

Yves Heer, beverage inventor and CEO, for example, demonstrated how to successfully place a new brand in a brand diversity. And soccer player Ana Maria Markovic told how she became a Swiss influencer with more than 2.9 million followers.

On the subject of change management, Raphael Pedroncelli, Managing Director Operations at Zurich's Hotel Storchen, showed why, for him, standing still is always a step backwards. And top athlete Heinz Frei motivated the audience and spoke about resilience.

Afterwards, Yves Dähler, Managing Director of Rigert Liftsysteme and former Head of Global Sales at Victorinox, provided insights into his successful objectives as well as sales and sponsoring strategies. The event was moderated by Andrea Imthurn and Ralph Aichem, two board members of Swiss Marketing Schaffhausen.

The 200 or so participants were also able to vote live at the Marketing Arena using digital voting to determine who would take home the "Marketing Star Schaffhausen 2023" trophy, which comes with a prize of 1,000 Swiss francs. For this purpose, the Marketing Arena OC nominated three surprise candidates from Schaffhausen for special achievements in the field of marketing. The three nominees included Fabienne Spiller with the "Living Museum" concept, Bruno Bosshard with the regional delivery service "Regio-Puur" and Francis Batali with his own fashion label "William".

Bruno Bosshard was voted "Marketing Star Schaffhausen 2023" by the public with the Regio-Puur concept, the regional delivery service of local, seasonal food. The products are delivered to the home and office, individually or by subscription.

The Marketing Arena Schaffhausen is a platform for knowledge exchange around the topics of marketing and communication. The event is organized by Swiss Marketing Schaffhausen, one of the 20 regional clubs of the Swiss professional and trade association Swiss Marketing. The event, which attracts around 180 participants, has become one of the leading business events in the region and beyond since it was first held in 2009.

The timing of a major marketing campaign after the forced takeover of CS is probably no coincidence. All the more, UBS wants to make clear in a broad-based campaign on television, in the cinema, in newspapers, online, and with posters in particular: UBS "acts responsibly" and "is rational, conservative and thoughtful." In other words: UBS is not CS.

Since the emergency takeover was announced in March, UBS had already made a conspicuous effort in its communications to distance itself from CS - for example, with regard to the abuses in risk management that prevailed there. UBS President Colm Kelleher, for example, spoke about a "cultural filter" through which CS employees from investment banking had to pass in order to work at UBS.

Great commitment

The UBS management under the new CEO Sergio Ermotti disappointed many a Swiss at the end of August with its decision to fully integrate CS Switzerland. Many had hoped until the end that the traditional Credit Suisse brand would survive in some form, at least here in Switzerland.

According to the information available, the motto of the campaign is also appropriate: "A bank like Switzerland. Meaning: UBS is a Swiss bank with its roots in Switzerland. It is regionally anchored in Swiss society in the communities and also wants to promote young talent.

After the decision to integrate CS Switzerland, UBS immediately announced that it would continue to sponsor Credit Suisse at least until the end of 2025. This involves the promotion of sports, culture and society.

"A bank like Switzerland"

The campaign will initially be launched digitally next week: on YouTube, social media and in UBS's own channels such as the website and branches. It will then go live on TV and in cinemas in the week beginning October 9. The campaign will be visible until December. When asked, UBS itself only confirmed that a campaign for Switzerland was planned.

According to information from the film production environment, there will be commercials in various lengths, in all four national languages and in English. The production company Solid & Haller Film from Zurich is apparently involved; the film was directed by Eduardo Vieitez.

How does UBS want to get its message across? The video clips are intended to create an analogy between UBS and the country and Swiss society. According to reports, there are several scenes with a wide variety of people: for example, at a cocktail party, in a restaurant.

No prominent advocates

The people in Switzerland should recognize themselves. So no celebrities are shown and no one from bank management. But Ermotti would be a suitable advertising figure. The 63-year-old from Ticino has an excellent reputation in the banking world. He did many things right during his first CEO tenure at UBS from 2011 to 2020.

UBS has also run major image campaigns in the past, such as the one now underway. In 2015, a global campaign ran with a very emotional commercial: to the well-known song "Hero" by Family of the Year, questions were displayed one after the other that accompany a life from birth to death. The core message of the ad was that, together with UBS, one could find an answer to these life questions.

Advertising alone will not be enough

Unlike the commercial that now appears, it was a clip based purely on text at the time. Then there was the international UBS commercial from 2010 - after the financial crisis and the near-death of Switzerland's largest bank in 2008, as well as the rescue by the state. Under the slogan "We will not rest," the tattered image was to be improved by associating the brand with historical celebrities: Astronaut Neil Armstrong, boxer Muhammad Ali, cellist Yo Yo Ma, opera singer Maria Callas.

But advertising alone - without subsequent action - is not enough. And in the case of the integration of CS, with the restructuring of the problematic areas and the necessary reduction of costs, UBS still has a long rocky road ahead of it, which will drag on for several years. So a reassurance pill for the Swiss with regard to what is now the only major bank in Switzerland - i.e. an even bigger cluster risk in the financial center than before - is not a bad thing at all. (AWP/Young-Sim Song)

Many manufacturing companies are turning to the Internet of Things (IoT) as part of their digitalization and Industry 4.0 strategies. However, the increasing interconnection of OT and IoT devices with IT networks increases the risk of cyberattacks and security breaches in their OT environments. Also due to the increasing number of hacker attacks on critical infrastructure, a robust OT security strategy is no longer optional but mandatory and must be a top priority for enterprises. 

OT firewall as a ring of defense in production

This serious threat situation especially increases the need for a firewall that not only protects the IT environment, but also puts a ring of defense around the Operational Technology in manufacturing plants. Open Systems' OT Firewall is now designed to provide companies with complete visibility and control over network communications within their critical infrastructure. To ensure this, it includes features for segmenting the network and setting up dynamic IP groups, among other things. According to the manufacturer, the OT firewall is particularly suitable for companies with multiple sites, due to its architecture, which provides for different security and trust zones. In this way, manufacturing companies are not only able to control and regulate communications between their software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and the Internet. They can also protect certain zones from internal threats, such as hackers gaining access to a security zone.

Round-the-clock support

The Open Systems OT Firewall also includes round-the-clock technical support from the managed SASE solutions provider's team of experts. It helps users successfully implement meaningful network segmentation across the OT Firewall, which they can then easily manage through policies. "Few organizations have complete visibility into their OT environments. While many can identify threats as soon as data leaves a factory for the Internet, by then it may be too late," warns Stefan Keller, chief product officer at Open Systems. "Companies therefore need to bring transparency to their operational technology environments. With the Open Systems OT Firewall, we offer them central functions of a network security monitoring system: from traffic monitoring and threat detection to their mitigation via network isolation." "The demand for information from production, for example through sensor data, is increasing visibly, which is why a secure OT environment is crucial," adds Dirk Theissen, Enterprise IT Security Architect at GEAa first-time user of the OT Firewall. "By implementing the Open Systems OT Firewall, we have the security we need as a 24×7 service. We value the trusted partnership with Open Systems in securing critical infrastructure."

Source and further information: https://www.open-systems.com/sase/ot-firewall

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/kritische-infrastrukturen-mit-neuer-ot-firewall-sichern/

The BTC is a nearly 40-year-old dance school with modern, minimalist décor - concrete walls, black ceilings and furniture. The rooms were designed specifically for dance. In terms of advertising, the BTC has long relied on humorous texts with a characteristic red background, as well as a classic, simple look. Over time, this became part of the institution's design THEN.

Stand out in black and white

To stand out from other dance schools and reflect the modern facilities, BTC worked with Kunde & Co to opt for a black and white imagery - which contrasts with the otherwise colorful images. This is to ensure a distinctive and consistent brand image.

The design DNA of the dance school formed the basis for the new look and update of the logo, keeping the red and white color scheme, but with a more modern touch. The red circle represents the center itself, and the line represents the dance floor. By placing the three words of the name vertically, more space could be used to emphasize the dance.

Dance in focus

In addition to a photo shoot featuring all BTC teachers, photos were also taken of various dance classes. All these visualizations now form the image base of the school and have been used in outdoor advertising, social media, the website and flyers.

In addition, the campaign includes 17 short dance films that were implemented for social media and the Internet. Filming took place in a Green Studio at NEP Switzerland. The footage was subsequently applied in the form of animations on background images showing BTC's facilities.

According to the agency, the new logo and design have been very well received by customers. In addition, the campaign has already attracted new - and younger - customers.

Product & service, innovation, profitability, sustainability, management and employer: these factors shape the good reputation of companies. And this good reputation ensures new and loyal customers, attracts the best talents, increases social acceptance and brings support from all stakeholders.

Media-mediated information and communication play a key role in shaping opinions. For the benchmark study "Reputation of Management Consultancies and Auditing Firms in Switzerland 2023", all reputation-relevant mentions of the selected companies from Swiss media, social media and other online sources were evaluated with the aid of AI over a period of 12 months.

BCG at the top of management consultancies

The top 5 ranking of management consultancies shows The Boston Consulting Group at the top. The company is particularly convincing in the areas of product & service, profitability, management and as an employer, and also scores well in terms of sustainability.

Second-placed Accenture is the only company in the top group to be present in all reputation dimensions, albeit with cutbacks in the areas of management and employer. AlixPartners, Bain & Company and Egon Zehnder follow in the other ranks. These three consulting firms already have several gaps in their reputation profiles and are not present in all topics that are important for reputation.

The detailed results show that the reputation scores of the top 5 companies are relatively close overall, but their strengths and weaknesses are quite different.

Other management consultancies evaluated in the study include Helbling, McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Simon-Kucher and Zühlke.

PwC with clear top position in auditor rankings

The ranking of auditing firms shows PwC in first place. The company shows a balanced reputation profile with only one weakness in the area of management.

PwC is followed by Deloitte - which also has a strong profile - and then by Mazars, which is not quite as prominent, and the two industry giants KPMG and EY. The "Big Four" are thus fully represented in the top 5. The gaps in reputation performance within the top five companies are significantly larger than among the management consultants.

Other auditors evaluated in the study include Balmer-Etienne, BDO, Grant Thornton and OBT.

Big Four dominate media presence

Visibility is an essential prerequisite for a strong media-based reputation. The Big Four - Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC - have by a huge margin the greatest presence in the media and together account for over 90% of all contributions from the auditing firms surveyed. Among the management consultants, Accenture and McKinsey stand out in this respect, being responsible for more than half of the media contributions of the consulting firms. BCG, Bain and the other consultants are clearly behind them in terms of visibility.

Studies as the main pillar of media relations - and reputation

According to the Swissreputation.group, studies and research results are the most important part of media relations, especially for the large consulting and auditing firms. The content reflects the major topics of the economy and society and ranges from market topics such as e-mobility, banks, food, retail, luxury goods or real estate to factual topics such as digitalization, sustainability, climate change, artificial intelligence, shortage of skilled workers, energy costs or cybercrime to economic topics on the economy, inflation, taxes or healthcare.

Expressed in figures, the analyses showed that more than 55 percent of all media reports on the consulting companies had study results as their content, or that a study was quoted. For the auditors, this figure was over 65 percent, with individual companies even achieving a share approaching 75 percent.

Reputation important in employer branding

Highly qualified employees are the most important resource, both for consulting firms and for auditors. A positive media perception is therefore an important factor in the competition for the best talent. Most of the companies analyzed do a good job of this and succeed in placing the employer brand successfully in the media.

The reputation factor "management", in which some of the top 5 perform below average, gets in their way. In many cases, this relates to incidents at foreign subsidiaries, which also resonated in the Swiss media.

For example, the Wirecard scandal (EY Germany), suspicion of involvement in Cum-Ex transactions and house searches (KPMG Germany), disclosure of confidential documents (PwC Australia), search of offices in Shanghai by Chinese authorities (Bain China) or a rabble-rousing, drunken Deloitte manager (UK).

These cases shake confidence in corporate leadership and pose significant reputational risks.

Reputation measurement using AI

For the current benchmark study, an AI-supported text analysis was used. This specially trained algorithm evaluates - after pre-filtering all media contributions of the selected companies - the statements semantically and assigns them to the thematic reputation dimensions. Furthermore, the tonality of the statements (positive/neutral/negative) is evaluated. To calculate the reputation values, the visibility (number of statements) and the tonality are taken into account for each dimension. Finally, these results are statistically weighted and the overall rank is calculated.

The full results of the study are available in fee-based study reports, in each case for the category "Management consultancies" and for the category "Auditing firms" respectively. The reputation scores are presented in detail, as are the visibility, tonality and media sources of the individual companies. The study results are commented throughout. An individual summary and coordinated recommendations for action are provided for each client. Complete information on the study reports is available from Swissreputation.group.

The digital business model of Smile Versicherungen is gradually being scaled in other European markets. In line with the business model, Smile successfully positioned itself as a digital lifestyle brand. This was achieved, among other things, through the consistent and cross-channel implementation of influencer marketing. To this end, the first activities were implemented in the metaverse at the beginning of the year.

"Staying relevant in the digital space is an ongoing process," says Joséphine Chamoulaud, Head Marketing, Brand & Digital Experience at Smile. "Our new sound identity will help us in this task in the long term by solidifying our brand feeling across channels."

Fabienne Braunschweiler, Brand & Communication Manager Europe at Smile, adds: "The ambition in developing our brand sound was to highlight our expertise as an experienced online insurance company through consistent reduction, while at the same time further strengthening our positioning as a digital lifestyle brand. By snappily integrating the brand name into the audio logo, we additionally found a convincing answer to the second-screen phenomenon."

The new brand sound, as well as Smile's audio logo, can be heard in the ongoing fall campaign, across all multimedia channels.

Responsible at Smile: Fabienne Braunschweiler (Brand & Communication Manager Europe), Joséphine Chamoulaud (Head Marketing, Brand & Digital Experience), Ivana Gonzalez (Lead New Business), Jonathan Barreiro (Lead Business Development), Stefano de Filippis (Head Front Office After Sales). Responsible at Department of Noise: Florian Goetze, Ph!L!pp Schweidler (Strategy, Creative Direction & Production), Yves Gerber (Creative Producer).

Getting the best value for money on mobile and Internet subscriptions is essential these days. Finding the best deal can sometimes be tedious, time-consuming and frustrating. Alao's basic idea has always been simplicity. But as the company's success grows, so does the complexity of its branding. Being inexpensive without looking cheap. Conveying competence and still remaining simple, these were the requirements for Evoq. Together with Alao, the agency developed a new brand positioning, sharpened the associated advertising messages and updated the brand design system for consistent branding.

New positioning sets the tone

Alao's vision is to leave behind the dubious image of the telecommunications industry by offering surprising and exceptional services, thus becoming a trusted player in the market. The positioning is to build a strong emotional bond with each stakeholder, and to stand the offer as a "Love Place" for telecommunications.

The renewed positioning is also the brief for the design refresh. The new look is designed to bridge the gap between loud, cheap online retailers and the trustworthiness of established telecom brands, conveying ease of use across predominantly digital touchpoints. The "smile element" in the logo taps into the emotional customer experience. The redefined use of existing design elements and brand colors is intended to guarantee recognition for the B2C customer base and convey a sense of reliability and competence to the increasingly important B2B customer base.

Activate the brand

How the brand feels, looks and sounds to the different target groups is conveyed by the brand design guidelines and a customized "messaging toolbox". For B2C customers, the message board is formulated with service and sales in mind. B2B customers receive their own messages tailored to them. However, both target groups are addressed in line with the positioning. The toolbox is thus intended to provide inspiration for current and future communication and marketing activities and thus help to communicate more qualitatively and, above all, more effectively in a rapidly changing market.

Customer: Alao. Mandate management and concept: Adrian Schaffner. Project management and text: Siljan Laerdal. Creative Direction: Markus Wohlhüter. Design: Marc Hahn.

In the field of environment and climate protection, the carbon footprint has established itself as a relevant metric. Companies are confronted with the extent of the emissions they cause - depending on the area of activity, for example in the manufacture of their products. But the focus is also on the selection of business partners, such as suppliers, and their behavior. Wilhelm Heckmann, Managing Director of CNT Management Consulting in Switzerland, a consulting firm specializing in digitalization, explains how decision-makers can use SAP to compare relevant factors and thus obtain a transparent picture of how far they have come in achieving their goals.

Pressure on companies increases

Sustainability and climate change have become relevant topics for decision-makers in the Swiss economy. This is also shown by the results of the Deloitte 2023 CxO Sustainability Report. Four out of ten Swiss CxOs surveyed rank climate change among the top three priorities for their business, and in three out of four organizations, sustainability investments have increased in the past year. Strikingly, decision-makers at Swiss companies feel strongly affected by the impacts of climate change compared to their international counterparts. For example, 48 percent of respondents in Switzerland say they feel pressure from shareholders, compared with a global average of just 41 percent. 47 percent also perceive pressure from civil society, compared with only 38 percent internationally.

Focus: CO2 targets 

Large Swiss companies will be required by law to report on their CO2 targets from 2023, affecting around 250 companies. Many Swiss companies, not only those required by law, are increasingly addressing sustainability targets and digitizing their progress. This often affects the entire value chain, including suppliers and subsidiaries. Sustainability should be considered comprehensively to avoid risks from uncooperative business partners.

Carbon footprint and digital managing  

Various software solutions from SAP offer a smart way to conduct professional sustainability monitoring. SAP Sustainability Footprint Management enables companies to measure and analyze the carbon footprint of their products and optimize it throughout the entire lifecycle. By providing conclusive data on energy and water consumption and other sustainability factors, decision makers can act on this data and identify opportunities for improvement. "SAP Ariba Supplier Risk, in turn, is designed to track not only the financial stability of suppliers, but also their sustainability performance with real-time data and alerts," Heckmann explains. The "SAP Responsible Design and Production" solution enables data-driven, environmentally friendly product development and manufacturing, reducing the amount of plastic, for example. Finally, the SAP Sustainability Control Tower brings together data from different levels and gives managers an overview of various sub-areas. 

Source: CNT Management Consulting AG

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/den-co2-fussabdruck-sauber-tracken/

The aim of the project was to further develop the visuals and unify the appearance of the umbrella brand. The application was also to be modular and thus work for all formats, and come across as dynamic and fresh, while retaining the defined brand elements. Products and headlines continue to be the focus, while Expert:innen, logo and claim serve recognition purposes.

From these defined goals, Studio Thom Pfister has developed the guiding idea "More Z for the future". The "Z" as a design system serves as a "new stage" for all product levels and means of communication. It is intended to provide stringent, timeless visibility. The Zweifel logo with claim becomes another striking element on an orange surface and can be used with or without Snacks-Expert:innen. In order to underline the diversity of Zweifel products, new background images, colors, the use of fonts and also disruptive elements were defined. The "Design System Z" as a result is modular, "responsive" and easy to use.

Responsible in case of doubt: Gina Chiellino (Campaign Manager), Pia Gaube (Media & Project Manager), Philip Honegger (Head of Marketing & Communication), Serge Doutaz (Head of Marketing & Sales). Responsible at Studio Thom Pfister: Thom Pfister (Creative Director, Idea/Concept), Roland Zenger (Art Director), Daniel Hackiewicz (Graphic Design & Web Development), Ursula Rytz (Consulting).

Best Ager Marketing

How to understand and reach the target group 50plus.

• Author: Hartwin Maas
• Publisher: Haufe Verlag, 2023
• Pages: 254
• ISBN: 9783648169667

People over 50 are the consumer group with the highest purchasing power. But a large proportion of them do not feel addressed by advertising. Hartwin Maas explains in detail how companies can tailor their marketing measures to Best Agers. In doing so, he not only provides interesting information from generational research, but also gives a lot of basic information on marketing concepts and strategies. Those who follow his suggestions will put their best-ager marketing on a solid footing.

Successful career strategy

The path to the dream job.

• Author: Sven Sommerlatte
• Publisher: Springer, 2022
• Pages: 186
• ISBN: 9783662648421

Everyone is responsible for their own career. If you're smart, you set a distant career goal and work consistently toward it instead of letting career advancement come to you. Indeed, those who have their dream job in mind can develop a strategy to achieve it. The author, an old hand in personnel development, provides numerous tips for successful career management. The book is therefore ideal for career starters before or at the beginning of their career.

Create top-class webinars in 6 steps

That's how you wow your audience.

• Author: Raffaele Sciortino
• Publisher: GABAL, 2023
• Pages: 176
• ISBN: 9783967391381

Webinars differ significantly from conventional seminars because the leader and the participants are not in direct contact with each other. It is a virtual communication with several special features. The author explains what these are. He also shows how speakers and instructors can proceed to overcome the technical and didactic challenges in designing their own webinars. An understandable guide for anyone who wants to get the best out of their webinars.

Quiet people - strong words

The communication training for introverted personalities.

• Author: Sylvia Löhken
• Publisher: GABAL, 2022
• Pages: 180
• ISBN: 9783967391008

Introverts are often determined, focused and empathetic. However, they quickly feel overwhelmed in group situations. In order to succeed at work, they must learn to use their strengths. At the same time, they need to overcome their own passivity and conflict aversion when dealing with colleagues and superiors. In her book, communication trainer Sylvia Löhken provides many useful tips with easy-to-implement exercises. Her great empathy and understanding for quiet personalities make the guidebook a valuable read - even for extroverts.

Orange Cyberdefense is accelerating the expansion of its cybersecurity activities in Switzerland following the acquisition of SCRT and Telsys last November. Both sister companies, based in Morges (VD), have around 100 experts in cybersecurity and related services in Morges, Geneva, Bern and Zurich, and will operate under the name Orange Cyberdefense Switzerland with immediate effect.

Within four years, the company has acquired and integrated four new companies. This underlines its ambitions to become number one in Europe by 2027. Last year, the European market grew by 9 percent, while Orange Cyberdefense saw growth of 14 percent in its global operations, generating revenues of €977 million.

Switzerland: Europe's seventh-largest cyber market

The integration of SCRT and Telsys under the Orange Cyberdefense brand allows to fully exploit the increasingly significant synergies between expertise in the cloud and cybersecurity. In Switzerland, the company will therefore expand its portfolio of secure cloud offerings by providing comprehensive support to enterprises and government agencies while expanding its competencies in back-up and recovery. In return, customers will benefit from what the company says is a world-class level of security that meets the highest market standards. Thanks to synergies with Orange Business, Orange Cyberdefense Switzerland is able to support multinational companies and international organizations globally.

In the first half of 2023, the new developments have already led to growth of almost 20 percent in cybersecurity and sales of over 25 million Swiss francs (CHF) in the Swiss market. The company's recruitment policy aims to build the largest cyber community in Europe. It is also being progressively implemented in Switzerland to strengthen the teams' capabilities and meet the diverse and growing needs of customers.

Nicolas Lutz, Managing Director of Orange Cyberdefense Switzerland since January 2023, emphasizes: "The integration of SCRT and Telsys into our company, a European leader in cyber security, represents a new milestone in the history of our company, which I am proud of."

Source and further information

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/scrt-und-telsys-firmieren-neu-unter-dem-namen-orange-cyberdefense-schweiz/

Just at the start of the season of the Swiss ice hockey championship, an acronym is to be dealt with here, but it has nothing to do with it. Although the first impression of winter sports enthusiasts might suggest that. No, HCD does not mean the Prättigau Ice Hockey Club, despite its history and charisma throughout the world. HCD is the abbreviation of "Human-centered design".

In German it is called "menschenzentriertes Design", but it is never mentioned in this language, only in English. According to the professional definition, it is a problem-solving technique that places people at the center of the development process. If you now ask yourself "Who else?", you are right to do so. Who else, if not humans? Dogs, machines, artificial intelligence, aliens perhaps?

Let's get to the bottom of this. HCD is mostly used and praised in our industry for developments in the digital domain. It is supposed to enable designers to develop products and services that are tailored to the needs of your target audience.

The goal would be to take users' wishes, problems and preferences into account at every stage of the process. As a result, they would ideally get more intuitive, more accessible products. So much for the intention. But the reality is different.

Not being able to see the puck for all the buzzwords

Some time has passed since the term began its triumphal march from the American West Coast out into the world in the 1950s. Products were no longer developed by engineers simply to exist, but to be user-friendly.

Steven Jobs is considered a kind of MVP of the HCD. In countless articles, books and case studies for students, the successes with his Apple products are celebrated like victories of a sports team in a permanent playoff. He is also considered one of the founders of Design Thinking (another buzzword). Or of Service Design, the process for designing services.

No matter what design is hip in meetings right now: In most cases it is still understood as "designing" in the sense of "painting". Of course, something else is diligently explained and celebrated in the training centers. Human-centered design is understood as an approach to problem solving that includes the human perspective in all steps of the problem solving process. And taught. Service Design as the methodology of developing customer and market-oriented services in close cooperation with the client. Interaction Design as a multidisciplinary field that focuses on designing the interaction between users and digital products, systems or services. Etc. User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI) Design, Motion Design... There are so many design buzzwords that you can't find the solution because of the design. Or one is developed for which there is actually no problem at all.

Everyone who has ever participated in a Design XY course or process knows that at the beginning there is the problem statement. This is the formulation that is supposed to show exactly what a solution is supposed to be designed for.

Here in this column, such a problem statement is at the end: How do we solve the problem of learned behavior not remaining the rule (= boring = always the same) and behavior not yet learned being perceived as user-friendly (= innovative = I can't figure it out)?

A seemingly almost insoluble problem. To solve this, managers like to start briefings with the quote "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses," by Henri Ford. But then, when the innovative ideas are presented, they simply don't remember it. But designers also have to take a hard look at themselves when they once again only "paint" instead of "design" or only do something differently, but not better.

* 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.