The 100-page whitepaper describes the business models and value chains created by AI and addresses the often-discussed promise of efficiency. The authors make it clear that AI will neither lead to the abolition of service providers nor to creative uniformity. Topics such as the "twin transformation" - the parallel digital and sustainable transformation of companies - as well as legal and ethical issues are also covered.

"Our main target groups are managers and decision-makers in agencies and marketing departments who are facing the challenge of strategically integrating AI into their processes," says Nina Haller, GWA Executive Board member and co-author of the white paper. "Our aim is to provide all players in the communications industry with a compass for navigating through this transformative phase."

Discrepancy between claim and reality

The GWA member survey shows a clear discrepancy in the self-image of agencies: 79% consider themselves to be advanced in dealing with AI, but only 17% actually use complex applications. Haller sees this as a "dangerous overconfidence" and calls for more courage to change.

The transformation is being driven by four key forces: revolutionary efficiency gains, radically changing market needs, disruptive reorganization of value chains and democratizing decentralization, Haller continued. Those who actively shape the AI transformation now and position themselves as orchestrators of complex communication solutions can "develop a completely new value proposition".

The GWA AI White Paper 2025 has been available since Thursday free for download ready

Zero-party data differs from first- or third-party data because it comes directly from customers. They actively provide information about their interests and purchasing intentions via surveys, quizzes or preference queries. The advantage: the data is voluntary, accurate and legally compliant. "Zero-party data enables companies to communicate directly, transparently and confidentially with their customers - without complex tracking or legal uncertainties," explains Sophie Schönenberger, Managing Consultant at Elaboratum and co-author of the white paper.

Advantages for both sides

Through the targeted use of zero-party data, companies can better tailor their offers to individual needs. This not only improves the customer experience, but also strengthens customer loyalty. "Zero-party data is the key to true personalization - provided directly by customers, used in compliance with data protection regulations and indispensable for a tailored customer experience," says co-author André Schulz, Senior Managing Consultant at Elaboratum.

In a white paper, Elaboratum demonstrates in a practical way how companies can systematically integrate zero-party data into their marketing strategy in order to:

- create personalized customer experiences through direct preference statements,
- Strengthen trust and loyalty through transparent data usage,
- act in compliance with data protection regulations - without cookies or third-party tracking, and
- marketing more efficiently by reducing wastage.

Practical strategies for data collection

In order to use zero-party data profitably, companies must provide targeted incentives for data sharing. The white paper provides insights into various methods such as interactive content, personalized product recommendations and incentivized surveys that motivate users to voluntarily share information.

Further information and a free download of the white paper can be found on the Website of Elaboratum.

The Best of Swiss Web jury met on Monday and scrutinized a total of 328 category submissions. The 103-member jury nominated 85 web projects for the shortlist of the 25th edition (List at the end of the article). These projects are among the best digital web projects of the year and can hope to receive further awards at the Award Night.

Master of Swiss Web 2025

The projects in the running for the title of "Master of Swiss Web 2025" will be announced next Monday. The reader vote for the Master of Swiss Web will start on March 18. Anyone who registers by March 17 is eligible to take part. registered for the net ticker have. The final winner of the trophy will be revealed at the Award Night on April 3 at The Hall in Dübendorf.

On Thursday, all participants will receive the login details for their ticket account for the award ceremony by e-mail. The organizers will award two free tickets per submitted project. Additional tickets for employees and guests can be purchased at a price of CHF 290 plus VAT. It is also possible to book entire tables for ten people each. Tickets are available at Bestofswissweb.swiss. (Tanja Mettauer)

The nominees at a glance

After working in branding and design studios in Barcelona, Zurich and Amsterdam, Shirin Pfisterer joined Scholtysik in 2019. She is responsible for brand experiences for clients in the life sciences, technology, finance, healthcare, education, research and industry sectors. Her focus is on brand management in the digital space and in particular the evidence-based, user-centered development of digital touchpoints that are both user-friendly and brand-typical.

Pfisterer's involvement is intended to strengthen the integration of the younger generation into the agency management and underline the agency's focus on strategic branding and brand management in a contemporary context, writes Scholtysik in a press release.

A clear trend in BAV 2025 is the clearly positive development of digital brands. Last year, "comfort brands" made gains - brands that convey a sense of security and safety to consumers. A clear reaction to the emotional stress that the coronavirus crisis is causing us. This year, on the other hand, digital brands such as Twint, Apple and Samsung are among the winners - as they were before the crisis. This suggests that Swiss consumers have become accustomed to the coronavirus crisis and are returning to old patterns.

In addition to digital brands, the main winners are those that embody a young, progressive brand image. Switzerland may be looking to the future with a little more optimism again. At the same time, the snack brand Zweifel is celebrating great success, climbing five places to second place. The focus on the "healthier" product varieties Vaya and Joy Snacks is clearly going down well with consumers and shows that health is also playing an increasingly important role in the snack sector.

Euro 2024 as a success factor for Coca-Cola and SBB

Coca-Cola and SBB are also rising in consumers' favor and have made significant gains in the rankings. Coca-Cola's sponsorship commitment to Uefa Euro 2024 and the high reliability of SBB, particularly in comparison to Deutsche Bahn during the tournament, are likely to have contributed to this success. Both brands were evidently able to capitalize on the positive mood surrounding the major football event. "As WEuro2025 is taking place here in Switzerland this year, there are once again great opportunities for local brands to stand out positively," says Ingo CEO Swen Morath.

Swissness and "Love Brands"

Swiss brands continue to dominate the list of "Love Brands", which underlines the strong emotional attachment of Swiss consumers to local products. In addition to the global brands WhatsApp and Google, the list includes local icons such as Twint, Rega and Migros. 31 of the top 50 "Love Brands" are domestic brands, with even more over-50-year-old consumers. This strong presence of Swissness shows that tradition and trust are important purchasing criteria even in times of crisis.

What's more, it seems that in Switzerland, the way to the heart is through the stomach: a total of 22 of the top 50 come from the "Food" category. Zweifel, Le Gruyère and Lindt landed on the podium in this category.

Gen Z loves Twint, Nike - and the post office

Among the under-30s, on the other hand, Twint and Nike lead the "Love Brands" ranking. What is surprising here is the success of Swiss Post, which has improved significantly among Gen Z and is in 10th place. Swiss Post's success in this segment probably has to do with the change in shopping habits in this segment. Another study by Ingo, the Media Use Index, shows that Gen Z as a whole orders online much more frequently than a few years ago, but with smaller shopping baskets - due to providers such as Temu and Shein. Presumably, the small feeling of happiness when receiving the goods is also transferred to the deliverer, which is usually Die Post.

Brands with "creative impact" determine the cultural discourse

"Creative impact" is another dimension that is surveyed in the BAV. "Creative impact" refers to a brand's ability to have a lasting influence on cultural discourse - through innovation, inspiration or simply through its advertising. The creative impact of a brand is an important indicator of its future success and the BAV shows which factors have the greatest influence on this.

The current evaluation shows that "enabler" brands such as Lego, Apple, Samsung and Ikea in particular have a high "creative impact". These brands are not only particularly inspiring in terms of communication, but also enable consumers to become creative themselves. This is why universities that promote the creative potential of their students, such as ETH and ZHAW, are also at the top of the rankings.

Responsible at Ogilvy: Matthias Müller (CSO), Martin Keller (CEO). Responsible at Ingo Zürich: Peter Petermann (Executive Strategy Director), Swen Morath (CEO). Responsible at Scholz & Friends Switzerland: Elena Mokulys (Strategy Director), Mathias Rösch (CEO).

The new award is intended to make best practices visible and promote the exchange of successful strategies in the areas of SEA, SEO and comprehensive search engine marketing. "With the Search Award, we are creating a platform that makes the innovative power and dynamism of search engine marketing visible," says Jens Fauldrath, Chairman of the BVDW Search Focus Group.

The prize is awarded in three main categories: SEA, SEO and Comprehensive Search. These are further divided into eight sub-categories. Both specialized campaigns and comprehensive strategies are awarded. The jury consists of 24 experts, including Jens Fauldrath from Get:traction for "Comprehensive Search", Katharina Knolle from Webnetz for "SEA" and Christoph Baur from Bits & Passion for "SEO".

Projects can be submitted from Monday. The deadline is May 5, 2025 and the winners will be announced at DMEXCO in September in front of around 250 selected participants.

For eleven years now, the YES Media Award has offered selected mini-companies the opportunity to present their business ideas to a jury of experts from the media industry. This year, the ten most promising start-ups from the YES Company Program had the opportunity to present themselves in the Toni cinema at Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK. The participants not only had to demonstrate their creativity, but also develop and market their products or services independently and present them to an audience.

Stefan Bircher, Producer and Founding Partner at Shining Film, was impressed: "I thought it was impressive how the young people presented themselves. I couldn't have been so convincing when I was 18 or 19." After three hours of judging, the choice fell on Planet Pasta, whose concept aims to help reduce food waste. The team from Biel was surprised by the award: "We are very happy about the win and the experience we were able to gain today."

Now the next phase begins for the young entrepreneurs: together with Stefan Bircher and Maël Bürki, a student on the Cast / Audiovisual Media course at ZHdK, the cinema spot is being realized. It will premiere on May 24, 2025 at the national finale of the Company Program at Zurich Main Station. It will then be broadcast in Swiss cinemas by Weischer.Cinema. "The teams' impressive performances did not make the decision easy for us. That's why we're all the more excited about the finished spot," says Eveline Kneubühl, Director of Operations at Weischer.Cinema Switzerland.

The YES Media Award recognizes the mini-company that shows the greatest potential for successful marketing in cinemas. In addition to the professional spot production, the winners receive nationwide placement in cinemas - a valuable platform for young entrepreneurs who want to present their ideas to a broad public.

Martens will head up client consulting at Dept and be responsible for the account management team. In collaboration with the agency's creative and media teams, she will look after clients such as Lieferando, Salamander and eBay. The appointment follows the appointment of Wolfgang Lünenbürger-Reidenbach as SVP and Head of DACH and underlines Dept's expansion course in the region.

Prior to her move, Martens was responsible for brand strategy and business growth at Grey Germany. Prior to that, she held senior positions at Jung von Matt. Her strength lies in the combination of creativity, data and technology - an approach that fits well with Dept's strategic direction, according to a press release.

"Creativity alone is no longer enough - brands need ideas that work at the intersection of creativity, data and technology," says Martens. "Dept is made for this new era where innovation and execution go hand in hand."

Stronger networking with Jung von Matt's international locations should make the Swiss agency even more competitive. "International expertise is becoming increasingly relevant for brands," says CEO Roman Hirsbrunner. "Our aim is to provide clients with boundless creativity and global expertise virtually 'on the doorstep'."

Global creative expertise

Closer collaboration with the international group gives customers access to experts from a wide range of creative fields, such as AI or marketing automation, from locations in Europe as well as Los Angeles, London, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Beijing and Shanghai. "For us, creativity without borders means that we work with global creative teams for national and international brands, but also that companies from Switzerland can make use of the specific expertise of our international colleagues," explains CCO Christian Kies. This includes, for example, access to international sports platforms through Jung von Matt Sports, expertise in fandom marketing through Jung von Matt Nerd or innovation opportunities through new technologies through the Jung von Matt agency Alfr3d. The pitch win as Global Lead Agency for Mini with teams from London and Zurich demonstrates the potential of this collaboration, explains Jung von Matt CEO Peter Figge.

As a sign of its closer ties to the Group, Jung von Matt acquires further shares in the Swiss agency group and Hirsbrunner becomes a partner on the global partner board.

New chapter for Dominique von Matt

At the same time, agency founder Dominique von Matt is starting a new chapter. He hands over the chairmanship of the Board of Directors to Hirsbrunner and founds "von Matt/Second Opinion"a consultancy firm for strategic marketing decisions. "A second opinion is worthwhile for important decisions with long-term implications," explains von Matt in a letter. "In such situations, I can contribute my experience in strategy, marketing, branding and communication, which I have gained as an entrepreneur, consultant and board member."

With the handover of the chairmanship to Roman Hirsbrunner, von Matt believes the future of the agency is in the best of hands: "Roman Hirsbrunner has successfully led the agency for over 10 years, the shareholder structure is sustainable with him, the executives and Jung von Matt Hamburg, and CCO Christian Kies ensures creative excellence. I will continue to be available to Jung von Matt clients as a strategic consultant."

"Dominique was and is an inspiration to me in the most diverse constellations - always 'on point', always 'on fire'," says Hirsbrunner about his long-time companion.

Research shows that AI language models such as ChatGPT also react to emotional content. Especially when this content is negative, such as stories of traumatized people or statements about depression. If people are afraid, this influences their cognitive and social prejudices: they tend to be more resentful and social stereotypes are reinforced. ChatGPT reacts similarly to negative emotions: Existing biases such as human prejudice are exacerbated by negative content, causing ChatGPT to behave in a more racist or sexist way.

This in turn poses a problem for the use of large language models. This is exemplified in the field of psychotherapy, where chatbots are inevitably exposed to negative, stressful content as a "support or counseling tool". However, the usual approaches such as costly retraining or retraining to improve AI systems in such situations are resource-intensive and often impractical.

Traumatic content increases "fear" in the chatbot

Researchers from the University of Zurich and the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich PUK have now systematically investigated for the first time how the GPT-4 version of ChatGPT reacts to emotionally stressful stories - car accidents, natural disasters, interpersonal violence, military experiences and combat situations. They found that the system showed more anxiety reactions afterwards. An instruction manual for vacuum cleaners served as a control for comparison with the traumatic texts.

"The results were clear: traumatic stories more than doubled the measurable anxiety levels of the AI, while the neutral control text did not lead to any increase in anxiety levels," says Tobias Spiller, senior physician ad interim and research group leader at the Center for Psychiatric Research at UZH, who was responsible for the study. Of the content tested, descriptions of military experiences and combat situations triggered the strongest reactions.

Therapeutic texts "calm" the AI

In a second step, the researchers used therapeutic texts to "calm" GPT-4. The technique known as "prompt injection" is used to insert additional instructions or texts into communication with AI systems in order to influence their behavior. This is often misused for malicious purposes, for example to circumvent security mechanisms.

In the third step, the team used the technology therapeutically for the first time - as a "benevolent prompting injection". "We injected calming, therapeutic texts into the chat with GPT-4, similar to the way a therapist performs relaxation exercises with their patients," says Spiller. The intervention proved successful: "Through the mindfulness exercises, we were able to significantly reduce the increased anxiety levels, although not completely return them to their initial level," says Spiller. Breathing techniques, exercises that focus on bodily sensations and an exercise developed by ChatGPT itself were examined.

Improving the emotional stability of AI systems

According to the researchers, the findings are particularly relevant for the use of AI chatbots in the healthcare sector, where they are often confronted with emotionally stressful content. "This cost-effective approach could improve the stability and reliability of AI in sensitive contexts such as supporting mentally ill patients without the need for extensive retraining of the models," summarizes Tobias Spiller.

It remains to be seen how these findings can be transferred to other AI models and other languages, how the dynamics develop in longer conversations and complex argumentation, and how the emotional stability of the systems affects their performance in different areas of application. According to Spiller, the development of automated "therapeutic interventions" for AI systems is likely to become a promising area of research.

The underlying technical literature can be can be viewed here.

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.