The Echo Group's offering is aimed at companies that want to position their brand sustainably and bring it to life with innovative events. As an established event location, The Hall provides the infrastructure for physical, hybrid and digital events, while the Fe agency with locations in Baden, Zurich Stettbach and Düsseldorf consists of the three business units Branding, Campaigns and Corporate Events. Both organizations will remain independent.

"With the Echo Group, we are creating a unique offering that seamlessly combines marketing and event measures," says Dominic Fontijn, Co-CEO of the new group and co-founder of Fe Agentur. Christian Mathys, CEO of The Hall, adds: "Our partnership combines concept development and event location - setting new standards." In summary, clients will benefit from a 360-degree offering that includes a holistic strategy and expertise, stringent brand communication and innovative experiences.

From March 2025, the Echo Group will be launching its own event formats in The Hall. The "Echo Originals" series will demonstrate the Group's expertise. The program includes the keynote series "Denkwiese25" on 7 March, a live concert by "Sing meinen Song" on 11 April as well as comedy and gospel events throughout the year.

Marco Meroni has experience in media relations, corporate communications and PR. Most recently, he was Creative Director PR at Jung von Matt Limmat, before which he headed up the Amplification team at Rod Kommunikation. "June has established itself as a dynamic agency that combines strategy, creativity and technology - an approach that excites me," says Meroni.

Sara Gutierrez-Osmani joins the team with her expertise in sustainability communication. She previously worked at Migros, where she was responsible for internal and external communication projects in the area of sustainability and social commitment. "Sustainability is not just a trend, but a necessity and an integral part of most communication projects," she emphasizes. She previously worked at Too Good To Go and various agencies.

With the new team members, June aims to provide its customers with even more targeted support in transformation processes. Co-founder Nathalie Eggen says: "With Sara and Marco, we are gaining two outstanding personalities who ideally complement our range of services." The previous co-lead Cédric Baumgartner is leaving the agency.

Olivier Rihs has over 20 years of experience in the strategic development and scaling of online marketplaces. In addition to management roles at Scout24, TX Markets, the Swiss Marketplace Group and Doodle, he has served on various boards of directors. At Swiss Activities, he will support the expansion of the platform. "Olivier is a strategic visionary and established deal-maker whose experience will enrich us enormously," says Mathias Graf, CEO and founder of Swiss Activities.

Swiss Activities was founded at the end of 2021 and currently offers over 1,900 online bookable leisure activities in Switzerland. Rihs sees great potential for further growth: "I look forward to playing my part in further accelerating growth and working with the team to develop a digital platform that allows the largest selection of Swiss leisure activities to be booked online."

German communications consultant Thomas Mickeleit, formerly Director of Communication at Microsoft, presented the "CommTech Index Report 2025" in Zurich last week. This study is based on a survey of corporate communications practitioners from companies and agencies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In a podcast discussion with Christoph Soltmannowski from Text Akademie, Mickeleit explains why the euphoria surrounding digitalization and AI does not automatically lead to real innovation: Investment skews, skills gaps and regulatory risks - keyword EU AI Act - are slowing down progress.

Data competence is becoming a critical factor for budget defense and creative stakeholder journeys. Failed newsroom concepts call for holistic change processes instead of pure technology implementation.

What counts now? Retraining offensives, balanced budgets and experimentation spaces for data-driven dialog communication. Communication professionals must master the marathon of digital transformation in order to be able to use artificial intelligence for stakeholder-centered communication.

The CommTech Index Report 2024/2025 is available here download.

In his role, André Caradonna is responsible for the strategic and operational development of Maz's marketing activities. His aim is to further strengthen the institution's position as a leading training center for journalism and communication.

"We are delighted to welcome André Caradonna with his extensive technical expertise and marketing experience. We are focusing on modern and targeted marketing to further increase our reach and impact in the education sector", Maz CEO Martina Fehr is quoted as saying in a press release.

Caradonna studied media and communication science, journalism and sociology at the University of Fribourg. He then worked for several years in various agencies before switching to the corporate side. As Head of PR/Sponsoring at Swisscom, he promoted the business customer sector, while at Bernexpo Groupe he was responsible for corporate and product communication. He also worked for the Insel Group and Ender Diagnostics, in each case as Head of Communications and Marketing.

André Caradonna will take on his new role at Maz with an 80% workload. He will also remain active as "KreativAgent Caradonna" and support companies with marketing concepts and projects.

The agency Jung von Matt prevailed in an extensive pitch. According to a press release, the decisive factors in choosing the new agency were its international focus and the team's extensive expertise in the required areas. The corresponding invitation to tender was issued in line with the expiry of the existing contracts.

Mini and Jung von Matt have already worked together successfully in 2000 and from 2015 to 2021.

The new CCO Marco Böni has experience in the digital and communications industry. Most recently, he was Chief Digital Officer and Head of E-Commerce at Zubi, before which he worked at Farner Consulting for several years. In his new role at CRK, he will further develop the agency's digital expertise and optimize internal processes.

In the creative field, CRK is relying on an interdisciplinary duo in Sascha Fanetti and Silvan Gisler. Gisler was previously Creative Director at Schauspielhaus Zurich, co-founder and Head of Communications at Operation Libero and a journalist. His experience in political campaigning and copywriting complements that of Fanetti, who has worked in senior positions at agencies such as Publicis Communications Switzerland and Notch Interactive over the past 15 years.

"With Sascha, Silvan and Marco, we are making targeted investments in our creation and consulting processes. At the same time, we are strengthening our campaigning and digital capabilities," says CRK CEO Patrick Marty. The three new additions should bring new impetus to the agency and its clients.

The viewability rate for display advertising was 71.6%, 0.4 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter. Desktop formats remained at a high level of 80.0%, with individual formats such as 994×250 even increasing slightly. Mobile advertising formats achieved a visibility of 68.0%, although the widely used 300×250 format recorded a decrease of 2.9 percentage points.

The ad fraud rate remained at a consistently low level of 0.48%. On desktop, it was 0.96%, while mobile formats hardly changed at 0.34%. The 300×250 format showed a slight increase, but remained in the non-critical range at 0.45%.

The brand safety rate remained at 0.02% and thus remained at the previous record low. The risk for brands therefore remained extremely low, even in the Christmas quarter with its high level of bookings.

"The stable ad fraud and brand safety values show that the transparency and quality of digital advertising remain at a high level," says Roland Ehrler, President of Digital Ad Trust Switzerland. "Despite the slight decline in visibility, trust in digital advertising formats remains high." A positive signal for advertisers and publishers, concludes Ehrler.

Jérôme Rueff was most recently Brand Portfolio Director at Feldschlösschen Getränke / Carlsberg Breweries. In this role, he was responsible for the strategic development and market leadership of the Feldschlösschen and Cardinal brands and led a team of marketing experts. Rueff also has expertise in the Swiss retail trade and a deep understanding of the specific market mechanisms and distribution channels.

Rueff began his career after studying economics at the University of Basel and completing a Master's degree in International Marketing & Strategic Management at Uppsala University in Sweden. He has over 20 years of extensive experience in the FMCG and beverage industry, including various national and international roles at Carlsberg Group.

As Chief Client Officer, Jérôme Rueff will strengthen the Valencia management team around Michael Gerber (CEO), Tommy Schilling (Chief Creative Officer) and Christian Frey (Chief Operating Officer). Together, they will continue to drive forward the agency's strategic and operational development, relying in particular on Rueff's "extensive experience in brand strategy, innovation and commercial development", according to a statement. His focus will be on further strengthening Valencia's positioning as the most customer-centric agency in Switzerland and ensuring that the needs of clients are always at the center of attention.

The Research Company Evaluating the Media Agency Industry Recma was founded in 1991 and specializes in the evaluation and analysis of media agencies in around 60 countries.

In addition to the turnover and size of the media agencies, the international ranking takes into account factors such as long-standing client relationships, the proportion of specialists in data-driven media strategies and positioning in the market.

Chris Fluckiger, CEO and founder of Mediatonic, sees the renewed top ranking as confirmation of the agency's strategy: "Our top position in the Recma ranking shows that sustainable success is not only dependent on technological capabilities. It is the combination of digital competence, human expertise and long-term partnerships that makes the difference."

The Swiss media landscape is undergoing radical change and digital strategies are becoming increasingly important. Mediatonic relies on a combination of data-driven analysis and individual consulting. With this approach, the agency aims to continue to combine stability and innovation in order to optimally navigate clients through the changing media world.

Starting conversations, arousing interest, avoiding blunders: Small talk is a challenge for many people. The first edition of the new event series "Bisschen theoretisch" at the Museum of Communication aims to tackle precisely this challenge. In one-hour sessions, theoretical concepts will be presented in an understandable and everyday way - each on a topic from the world of communication. The kick-off on February 28 is all about small talk.

The idea: theory as a tool for practice. "OK, theories are not sexy gossip. But they do contain a condensed explanation of reality," says the announcement. So anyone wondering how to start a conversation in a relaxed manner or keep it going without awkward pauses will find answers here.

The event always takes place on the last Friday of the month and starts at 12:15 pm. You can choose how much you want to pay to attend, but a suggested price of CHF 20 - including lunch - is recommended. In addition, there is always a podcast episode with communication experts who delve deeper into the topic.

With the addition of SBB, ComImpact has grown to eleven corporate members. The association is committed to facilitating access to CommTech expertise for marketing and corporate communications professionals. In addition to regular exchange formats, it organizes events that focus on best practices and new technologies.

"In view of the spread of new technologies, we are convinced that the topics covered by ComImpact and the association's network offer sustainable added value for our communications work," says Martina Rettenmund, Head of Communications Planning and Channels at SBB.