On April 18, the KKL Luzern will once again open its doors for one of Switzerland's most important marketing events. One thing is already certain: There will be a lot to discuss. For example, how media professionals are dealing with the biggest upheaval since the invention of printing.

This year's motto for the event: Focus. Because when more and more is possible, less and less becomes feasible. This requires a sharp focus - away from the possible and towards the necessary.

Industry in upheaval

Digitization, social media and a rapidly decreasing attention span mean a huge upheaval, especially for the media industry. Under the direction of moderator Urs Gredig, seasoned media professionals, including Susanne Wille (SRF Kultur), Matthias Ackeret (Persönlich) and Michael Wanner (CH Media), discuss how they are dealing with the biggest challenge since Johannes Gutenberg.

The highlight of the Marketing Day this year is once again the presentation of the Marketing Excellence Awards. 15 creative and successful projects are competing for the "Oscar" of the marketing industry. Last but not least, Marketing Day is a "Day off from the Office". The perfect opportunity for participants to make contacts and exchange ideas. In addition, numerous exhibitors present the latest innovations in the industry in the Networking Zone.

You can find the detailed program of the Marketing Day here.

Switzerland is a militia country, and has been for centuries. The militia system is one of the foundations of our democracy, our economy and our social life. Authorities and public bodies, the army, organizations, associations, the media, etc.: The militia system strengthens trust in our decision-makers in all these areas, provided they remain realistic and do not join the ranks of the "unrealistic technocrats".

Occupational safety and health protection lose touch with the grass roots

Mutual understanding and the exchange of experience and scientific knowledge are of crucial importance everywhere, including in the area of health protection, occupational safety and prevention. It is true that highly competent bodies (labor inspectorates, Suva, Health Promotion Switzerland, etc.) do excellent work. But without the natural mediation of the militiamen in the companies, their effectiveness would be significantly lower. With the individualization of society and the increasing demands in the world of work, the commitment of the militiamen is becoming less and less "natural" and the system is becoming weaker.

Public statement

For this reason, the Swiss Society for Occupational Safety (SGAS) and Suissepro (umbrella organization for health protection and occupational safety) - both of which are entrusted with public tasks - have drawn up a "Public Declaration" to preserve the militia system in Switzerland and promote its profit. Together with the social partners, companies are encouraged to offer framework conditions and working models that enable their specialists to become involved in health and safety at work in non-profit circles.

Win-win for entrepreneurs and their employees

To achieve this, large companies have a more favorable critical mass than small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, it is more difficult to convince the managing directors of SMEs. Nevertheless, dedicated, specialized militia members are an asset for companies of all sizes. SMEs can only gain by supporting this militia system. For the employer, the indirect benefits are numerous: image, social responsibility, visibility, network, knowledge, sector-specific solutions, customer loyalty and even integration. For the employee: "job enrichment", up-to-date knowledge, network, exchange of concrete experiences, mutual understanding, responsibility. A win-win situation that can be quantified for the company in the form of fewer absences, greater staff loyalty and higher employee motivation. A win-win situation, a mission that - if it were to disappear one day - would compromise occupational health and safety, which would severely weaken Switzerland as a business location and reduce industrial peace.

Sources and further information: www.sgas.ch/de/miliz; www.sgas.ch and www.suissepro.org

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/gesundheitsschutz-und-arbeitssicherheit-gefahr-im-verzug/

The year 2023 marks the next chapter in the Swatch Art Journey: from mid-March to May, five capsule collections featuring motifs from art history will be released. Swatch will let ten masterpieces shine on the wrist with the collections, some of which the watch brand is not yet revealing.

The starting signal was given in Lisbon, where Alain Villard, CEO of Swatch, and Carlo Giordanetti, CEO of Swatch Art Peace Hotel presented four of the five new collections in the presence of representatives of the museums MoMA, Magritte Foundation, Uffizi Galleries and Louvre Abu Dhabi: 

- Swatch x Moma is dedicated to Pop Art and also celebrates the 100th anniversary of Roy Lichtenstein's birth.
- Swatch x Magritte is a tribute to the surrealist on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his birth.
- Swatch x Le Galerie degli Uffizi celebrates nature and femininity through the perspective and art of the great Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli.
- Swatch x Louvre Abu Dhabi combines the energy of Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa and a majestic astrolabe.

Swatch hinted that the next stage of the Swatch Art Journey should appeal to street art fans. Swatch and art - the partnership is nothing new. There have been Art Special watches since 1985. Swatch wants to democratize the art world, according to a press release. To this end, the brand has teamed up with world-famous museums to recreate some of their most legendary works of art as part of the Museum Journey series.

The models will be launched from March 16.

With sustainable care ingredients and the slogans "I care", "Take care" and "I don't care", the care brand Tal now wants to score points with Gen Z. To this end, the company has worked closely with the agencies Tings and Ese to develop a limited-edition hand cream range for young people aged between 13 and 28. The product is "instagrammable", says Tings project manager Chiara Temmel. It comes with provocative slogans and a fresh product design. Swiss Comedy Award winner Reena Krishnaraja was also involved: "Young people want to be entertained. Humorous campaigns and products are therefore very popular."
To launch the new line, Tings is implementing a Tiktok campaign and is also involving suitable influencers.

Tal is a family-run cosmetics brand from Graubünden that has stood for high-quality skin care products with scientifically proven efficacy for 48 years. "We want to keep our finger on the pulse, because our range should also appeal to younger generations," says Oliver Lüscher, a member of the Parsenn Group's management. The hand cream is available in the online store.

Responsible at Parsenn Products: Oliver Lüscher (Managing Director), Madleina Granzotto (CEO Assistant), Daniel Jäggin (Graphics / Web Design). Responsible at Ese Agency: Albena Horozova (Project Manager), Emanuel Ernst (Creative Director, Founder). Responsible at Tings: Chiara Temmel (Project Manager), Reena Krishnaraja (Author), Jenny Kitzka (Campaign Manager TikTok), Hera Zimmermann (Managing Director, Founder).

The Crisis Communication Association (VKK) promotes professional crisis communication and reputation management in Switzerland. It supports the exchange of experience among corporate practitioners and with academia. The association can look back on an active year 2022. The demand for support in crisis situations and for prevention training remains high, according to the association. 

Reinforcement for the Crisis Communication Association

At the General Assembly, three new members were elected to the VKK Board. "I congratulate the new board members warmly on their election and thank them in advance for their dedication and commitment," explains association president Markus Baumgartner. With Claudia Jenni, an experienced communications expert strengthens the board, with Eckhard Baschek, a journalist is represented for the first time and with Roger Huber, the founding president makes a comeback. For the coming months, the board has resolved to strengthen the exchange among members and to debate current incidents, to increase the footprint in social media and to enter into further partnerships such as with the Leadership Campus of the Swiss Army last year. Baumgartner: "As a competence center for crisis communication and reputation management, we promote exchange, networking and further training. The new board members will make an important contribution to this." 

The three new board members

Claudia Jenni worked at Credit Suisse from 1994 to 2011 as PR/Media Officer and Project Manager in sports sponsoring, then was Public Relations Officer for Urban Development at the City of Winterthur for about four years and Media Spokesperson for Sanitas Health Insurance for three years. Since 2017, she has been running Kommunikationsatelier GmbH in Zurich with her business partner Christina Lamprecht, an agency for corporate communications, organizational consulting and working with managers and teams. In this context, crisis communication is a large part of her strategic and operational work. Claudia Jenni holds a Master's degree in Communication Management & Leadership from ZHAW, is a Certified PR & Communication Expert SAQ and a certified board member. 

Eckhard Baschek started his career in 1984 in the business editorial department of "Ostschweiz". From 1986 to 1994, he was media spokesman for the Swiss Red Cross in St. Gallen. He then worked as a freelance journalist for Finanz und Wirtschaft, St. Galler Tagblatt and Weltwoche before becoming an editor for Schweizer Versicherung and Schweizer Bank. From 1994 to 2008, he became an editor at Handelszeitung, to which he returned in 2016 as co-head of the supplements department. In between, he worked for CSC Switzerland, Infel, K-Money and autentio. Eckhard Baschek studied international relations at HSG St. Gallen and completed his diploma professional training as a journalist at the St. Gallen School of Journalism. He was a founding member of VKK in 2009. 

Roger Huber After completing his commercial training, he worked for the St. Galler Tagblatt and as business editor for the daily newspaper "Die Ostschweiz". He then worked for Switzerland's first private television station "European Business Channel" as a producer and after its bankruptcy he moved to "Finanz und Wirtschaft". From 1992 to 1997 he was a journalist at Cash/ Cash-TV and Development Manager for Ringier in Eastern Europe. Afterwards he founded the "Huber Media Consulting GmbH". He held mandates at UBS, Credit Suisse, Wincor Nixdorf, Bank Bär, Fujitsu Siemens or Ex Libris (book price fixing), among others. He was founding president of VKK in 2009. In 2021, together with two other people, he also founded the journalism platform "inside-justiz.ch", of which he is editor-in-chief. 

Source and further information

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/verband-krisenkommunikation-begruesst-drei-neue-vorstandsmitglieder/

With 3.4 million spectators on site and millions more around the globe, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. The final match between Argentina and France in December 2022 alone was watched by around 1.5 billion people. The tournament thus offers sponsors a unique opportunity to present themselves.

For the second time, Webrepublic has orchestrated Fifa's communication initiatives in collaboration with the ten largest sponsors around the international tournament in Qatar. Two dozen marketing specialists and sports enthusiasts from Webrepublic launched and managed 60 global campaigns during the hot five weeks. Around 2.5 billion impressions and 700 million commercial video views were generated. By comparison, during Super Bowl week 2022, the NFL generated 1.8 billion impressions and just over 600 million video views on its social media channels.

"Our team developed the campaigns and played them out and optimized them globally in 'real time' - these are key success factors for brands," says Tom Hanan, founder and CEO of Webrepublic. "This was only possible because we employ specialists in-house for all digital marketing disciplines who have in-depth technical know-how and speak ten languages."

New era in sponsorship with performance marketing approach

The Webrepublic team "Rawr", specialized in sponsorship and sports marketing is convinced that a new era has begun in sponsorship. Brands have become more demanding, they want to get closer to the fans - traditional logo exposure and awareness during the event alone are neither sufficient nor up to date.

That's why Webrepublic has chosen a new approach that combines sponsorship and performance marketing. What is needed are holistic communication strategies that are independent of time and place, and that work across all channels. "It's no longer about generating as many impressions as possible. Our task is to optimize all campaigns for more complex goals such as engagements, website visits or conversions and to combine them with exciting storytelling," says Alexander Riggers, Head of Growth & Innovation at Rawr.

Campaign highlights around the Fifa World Cup 2022

Three campaigns will be used to illustrate what the integrated approach of sponsorship and performance marketing looks like in practice. Hyundai used the attention of the World Cup to make a contribution to sustainability. For this, Webrepublic developed a gamified application to educate fans about their environmental impact, encourage direct action and interact with the brand. The campaign achieved seven times higher exposure than expected. It also generated great engagement from fans, who shared videos and photos of their sustainable pledges in action on social media, demonstrating their support for the message.

For Crypto.com, Webrepublic activated football fans via sponsored content: In the first step, footage from the Fifa archive generated brand awareness. Subsequently, fans could cash out their earned winnings in Bitcoin in the Crypto Playzone. The performance campaign for a sweepstake simultaneously increased the download of the Crypto app.

In addition to gamification, another trend around events like the World Cup is festivalization: To promote the Fifa Fan Festivals in the host cities and drive traffic to the registration and ticket pages, Webrepublic activated over 90 creative elements in the Fifa+ inventory, on social media and in Google search ads. The result: festivals in eight cities worldwide, with over 1.8 million visitors in Doha alone.

Anyone who thinks anything of themselves in the creative industry currently comments on the unusual and daring with an admiringly breathy "edgy. The pronunciation alone exudes wicked glam. And that's exactly what we all want, according to a celebrity fighting for ratings. But let's start at the beginning.

The official translation into German is "sharp-edged," "nervous," or "irritable. What is meant, however, is a dimension of meaning that is more common in English: "daring," "provocative," or "trendy. To pronounce the latter, however, immediately disqualifies one as a boomer. Because "trends" were yesterday, "trendy" even the day before yesterday. "Trend researchers study how the new comes into the world," said Karin Frick, head of research at GDI, in a recent interview. And that may be exactly the point: trends are about passive anticipation. "Edgy," on the other hand, suggests that something new is just emerging here. That's perhaps why "edges" are in demand today, corners and edges that move away from the mainstream, because that's where nobody wants to be spotted, especially in the creative industry. It's no wonder, then, that even gray-haired marketing executives are now mouthing the word so as not to appear eternally stale. But where does this word come from?

Social media instead of linear television

It was launched by the casting show "Germany's Next Topmodel," i.e. in mainstream high culture. While the market share of Heidi Klum's casting box has drifted from mainstream to irrelevant, despite her claims to the contrary, the term has taken on a life of its own. But not thanks to linear television, but thanks to social media, which gives Heidi's disciples of yesteryear, who have long since grown up, far greater leverage than published ratings would suggest.

Social media is the new mainstream and "edgy" content still stands out there at the moment with doomscrolling. But for how long? Edges and corners are considered edgy until they become mainstream. Or to put it another way: what was once really edgy is only "edgy" afterwards.

* 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.

The Control is one of the important, large and international trade fairs on the subject of quality assurance (QA) and will take place for the 35th time this year. "We're pleased that more registrations have already been received now than at the same time in 2022," reported project manager Fabian Krüger from trade fair promoter P. E. Schall at the beginning of February. "At almost 37 percent, the foreign share of exhibitors is also now already higher than the foreign share in 2022," informed the project manager. "One can be excited and curious about the innovations in quality inspection and quality assurance presented in the four halls 3, 5, 7 and 9," promises Krüger. The reason: The technologies for measuring and testing are developing rapidly. On the one hand, because new fields of application are opening up, and on the other, because growing automation continues to be a strong driver. Control 2023 should once again live up to the show's reputation as the leading meeting place in quality assurance. "It is so unique in the world market because it represents different types of measurement technology and is therefore relevant across all industries," explains Krüger.

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/control-2023-das-branchenhighlight-fuer-die-qualitaetssicherung/

With 125 independent pharmacies, Toppharm Apotheken und Drogerien Genossenschaft is the largest independent pharmacy grouping in German-speaking Switzerland. Historically founded as a purchasing association, Toppharm has today grown into a comprehensive service provider in the healthcare sector. "To ensure that this development is also visible to the outside world, the brand identity was to be revised to reflect the broad service portfolio and modern corporate attitude," says Kevin Eggli, Head of Marketing and Campaigns at Toppharm.

Fastr was commissioned by Toppharm to revise its brand identity. The agency in Zurich's Kreis 5 has been serving Toppharm for several years in many communication matters and knows the requirements and challenges for a service brand in the healthcare sector.

To ensure continued recognizability, the previous logo and the main color red were retained - but their applications were completely redefined. Thus, the development of the company from the past years was anchored in the new corporate design. With the new elements, colors and applications, the expanded range of services should be able to be communicated in a versatile and at the same time consistent manner.

Fastr was responsible for the definition of the new corporate design as well as the implementation of the guidelines on all communication materials such as letters, brochures, advertising campaigns, training materials and POS materials. Fastr also redesigned the front end of the Toppharm website.

Client: Toppharm Pharmacies and Drugstores Cooperative. Responsible agency: Fastr.

Not a day goes by without being confronted with the topic of cybercrime. Whether attacks on SMEs, administrations, operators of critical infrastructures, research institutions or private individuals: The frequency of cyberattacks has exploded in recent years; the extent of damage is reaching worrying dimensions. In 2020, the increase in ransomware attacks alone was 435% compared to the previous year. In 2022, global cybercrime caused about 30 times more damage than all natural disasters combined in the same year. Data-based assumptions put the extent of damage in 2027 at around CHF 24 trillion. That is more than the gross domestic product of the USA.

As the world's most innovative country, Switzerland is significantly affected by cybercrime and cyberespionage. This is not only a major threat to our competitiveness, attacks by state and highly professionalized non-state hacker groups also threaten national security and the basic tenets of our democracy. For example, by orchestrating and manipulating the shaping of public opinion in the context of democratic elections. The sharp increase in the area of cybercrime is due to the unmanageable digital hyperconnectivity of our globalized world. There is a lack of understanding of the effects that the interdependencies, interactions, spheres of influence and functioning of technical systems have on our lives.

The national platform for cyber competence comes to Bern

The Swiss Cyber Security Days SCSD, which claims to be the leading dialog and know-how platform of the
Switzerland in the field of cyber security, are already taking place for the fifth time. The combination of high-ranking national and international speakers, current geopolitical developments, socially relevant focus dialogs, the presentation of current findings from research and a trade fair are ideal for Swiss Cyber Security Days to bridge the knowledge gaps between people, society, business and technology.

Together with the organizer BERNEXPO, Nicolas Mayencourt, Program Director of the Swiss Cyber Security Days SCSD brings the national reference platform for cybersecurity to Bern for the first time. "As a native of Bern, it makes me proud to make the federal capital the cyber capital of Switzerland," says Nicolas Mayencourt. "Bern is the perfect location thanks to its proximity to politics and administration. The topic of cyber is of central importance for Switzerland. I am therefore very much looking forward to discussing new opportunities and solutions in Bern in order to build a digitally empowered society." Tom Winter, CEO of BERNEXPO, is also pleased about the event with international appeal: "The topic of cyber security is of great social relevance. The SCSD are therefore a very good fit for us and complement the BERNEXPO event portfolio wonderfully." The two-day event will take place on September 20 and 21, 2023, during the fall session at the BERNEXPO site.

SCSD makes Bern the "cyber capital" of trade fairs

The international and national appeal of the SCSD will help the canton to further expand its position as a nationally important trade fair and event location. "This is good news" said city president Alec von Graffenried. "I think it is right and important,
that these problems are negotiated in Bern, in close proximity to the politicians and administrators who are directly affected. This allows our locational advantages to take full effect." The new event also holds opportunities from the canton's point of view. "Bern is easily accessible from all parts of Switzerland and internationally connected. In addition, the topic is of the greatest social and economic importance," says cantonal economic director and government councilor Christoph Ammann (SP).

Source: Swiss Cyber Security Days

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/bern-ist-die-neue-cyber-hauptstadt-der-schweiz/

The repositioning, including the name change to "Therme Zurzach," is intended to meet modern customer needs after almost 70 years. This is also to be manifested in the digital presence.

Rosarot created a new, modern branding and design concept for it. After a logo study, a new trademark was designed. Likewise, an own image and color world was determined. According to the newly conceived wireframe, the design of the responsive Website. A wave was taken from the logo as the central design element. This is visible as a line throughout the corporate design. The newly defined design in the brand style guide was also adapted for CRM mailings and newsletters as well as for the signaling. Rosarot also prepared all templates for offline media such as flyers and postcards.

"The repositioning of the Therme is based on a new strategy that includes an integrated brand personality as well as a leading digital customer journey," explains Tim Zahlten, digital marketing manager on behalf of Therme Zurzach. "The Rosarot team's work has combined both brilliantly, setting a whole new benchmark for the industry."

Responsible at Thermalbad Zurzach Betriebs AG: Tim Zahlten (Digital Marketing Manager), Tanja Monllor (Marketing + Communication Specialist). Responsible at Rosarot: René Karrer (Creative Direction), Labinot Gashi (Director Digital), Isabelle Niemann (Project Management Digital Marketing), Sarah Därendinger (Art Direction), Stefanie Steimer (Graphic Design), Flavia Hänni (DTP).

Consent marketing is a multi-layered topic that combines the revision of the Swiss Data Protection Ordinance, the end of third-party cookies, and the increased interest of consumers in data protection. These are all relevant topics that companies currently have to face. On the one hand, customers may, should or must give their consent to data processing and may feel disturbed by the Consent Banner; on the other hand, companies are afraid of data loss and thus the possibility of being able to optimize their marketing activities.

About a year ago, Zürcher Kantonalbank introduced an opt-in banner where cookie preferences have to be set in order to use the website. ZKB sees itself as a responsible partner that transparently shows its customers what happens with their data. Through marketing mix modeling, it was still possible to correctly classify the marketing success despite less measurable data. Through this statistical modeling, it is still possible to conduct data-based marketing and to identify new KPIs.

As part of the LSA Live Talk, Christof Zogg spoke with Tobias Zehnder and Boris Meier from Webrepublic and Alexandra Rahm from Zürcher Kantonalbank about the cantonal bank's privacy-first approach and how decisions can continue to be made on the existing data basis.