In this dynamic competitive environment, the challenge for Grether's to differentiate itself in the market and remain relevant for consumers is growing.

Branders works with Grether's to sharpen the brand's positioning around the theme of a clear and strong voice - as the brand's primary promise to all consumers. This focus with broad appeal creates a strong foundation for rejuvenating and emotionalizing the brand's image and communication.

New communication measures

As part of this brand refresh, the existing visual attributes will be reviewed and revised with a view to creating a concise appearance. The brand name is also being shortened to "Grether's" in the interests of greater focus. The gentle re-design of various packaging - first and foremost the iconographic can - is done entirely in line with this focus and the harmonious use of the revised design elements.

With a view to communicating the positioning as a familiar, consumer-oriented brand, as well as the increased appeal to younger target groups, individual communication measures are being specifically redesigned - the headline "Balsam for throat and voice" inspired, among other things, a TV commercial created with Lukas Mäder and Shining Film. In it, the successful Swiss singer Anna Känzig lends her voice to the Grether's brand as a credible brand ambassador.

Responsible at Grethers: Uriel Frank (Head of Marketing), Aglaé Voetmann (Senior Brand Manager). Responsible at Branders: René Allemann (CEO & Creative Director), Marisa Güntlisberger (Director Omnichannel Experience), Philippe Knupp (Strategy Director), Thea Ferretti (Communications Director), Walter Tagliaferri (Advertising Director), Andrea Bissig (Senior Brand Designer), Palma Manco (Senior Brand Designer). Responsible at Shining Film: Leonardo Sanfilippo (Executive Producer & Partner), Yanik Müller (Senior Producer), Antonia Grosse (Line Producer), Sandra Vacić (Postproduction Coordinator), Lukas Mäder (Director and Photographer), Jonas Steinbacher (DoP), Simon Hardegger (Colourist), Nicolas Bechtel (Editor).

Marketing and sales automation is clearly gaining relevance in practice. Three quarters of the companies surveyed, most of them in the business-to-business sector, consider marketing automation to be relevant. This puts it in fourth place among the most important marketing technologies, just behind customer relationship management (CRM), e-mail or newsletter marketing and search engine marketing. These are the results of the Marketing Automation Study, which was conducted for the third time by the E-Commerce Lab of the ZHAW Institute for Marketing Management on behalf of Pedalix. A total of 226 companies were surveyed.

More and better leads thanks to automation

Automation brings companies great benefits, especially in terms of time saved on repetitive tasks and the efficiency of marketing and sales processes. "Thanks to marketing automation, more leads of a higher quality can be generated," says Dr. Darius Zumstein, study leader and Head of the E-Commerce Lab. "Marketing automation also leads to more conversions, meaning more registrations, subscriptions and transactions." Thanks to personalized communication along the customer journey, the relevance of information for current or potential customers can also be increased and a positive identity created.

However, the introduction of automated processes in marketing also presents companies with challenges. Among the most important are a lack of resources, especially for content marketing and lead generation. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular lack the budget for automation. A lack of information about which contacts are ready to buy and undefined processes for the systematic nurturing of leads and existing customers also pose a challenge for the majority.

Application to social media and email marketing

When asked about specific use cases for marketing automation, automated content distribution on social media is the most frequently cited, followed by welcome email sequences for new customers. Using marketing automation tools for lead generation and lead nurturing, such as email campaigns with recommendations on "non-salesy" content, benefits the majority. For opt-ins, registrations, and customer profiling, communication processes are automated just as frequently as for administrative processes, such as appointment scheduling, support requests, or satisfaction surveys.

Overall, companies rate their maturity level in marketing automation better than in last year's survey. Companies with a lower maturity level complain about a lack of resources, know-how or understanding on the part of key people in the company, while those with a high maturity level benefit from a clear strategic focus and sufficient time resources.

New maturity model

To validate this self-assessment, the study developed a maturity model for automation, the Marketing Automation Maturity Index (MAMI). This makes cross-company and cross-industry comparisons possible for the first time. The index shows that large companies are more advanced than SMEs and that the sectors of finance, services or communications, IT, software and SaaS (software as a service) have the highest marketing automation maturity level. Classic industries such as manufacturing and construction have a lower level of automation.

The research partners Pedalix (Marc Gasser), Mayoris (Urs Thüring), webalyse (Klaus Völkl), atedo (Alexander Wiki) and Survalyzer (Christian Hyka) participated in the Marketing Automation Report.

The traditional family business Etter & Berno returns to its roots and is now called Berno again. For 50 years, Berno has been supplying customers from the Mittelland with fresh fruit and vegetables from local production. In recent years, the seasonal assortment has been constantly expanded. Together with an innovative team and imaginative partners, frozen, ready-to-eat, sweet and vegan specialties are also distributed.

Berno commissions Studio Thom Pfister with the development and implementation of the branding. All basic elements such as the logo, the definition of colors and fonts, the imagery, but also the letterheads, truck lettering and the screen design and programming of the website are part of the assignment. The new claim "Naturally Fresh", a communication concept and social media guidelines round off the overall project.

Responsible at Berno: Gabriella Berno (Managing Director), Romeo Ceroni (Managing Director) and Sara Niklaus-Ceroni (Executive Director). Responsible agency, Studio Thom Pfister: Thom Pfister (Creative Director, Idea/Concept), Ursula Rytz and Laura Capponi (Consulting), Roland Zenger (Art Director), Daniel Hackiewicz (Graphic Design & Web Development), Noemi Bünzli (Graphic Design). Photographer Images Collaborators: Yasmine Pauchard.

Finally, a German word can be described here that is not yet in the Duden, but is nevertheless already used very frequently. This is usually reserved for Anglicisms. Hopefully, however, this word will never make it into the Duden, because that would be somehow too shameful for our industry.

The interpretation of the word "third party understandable" is simple. Understandable for third parties. The reason for its use, however, seems meaningless at first glance, but very revealing at second. In the past, messages simply had to be understandable, not understandable to third parties. Best of all for those whom it concerned: in church the faithful, on television the viewers or on a billboard the customers.

Who are the third parties, please?

When concepts or campaigns are returned from management with the comment that they are not comprehensible to third parties, marketing managers and their agencies are usually at a loss. After all, they learn the classic sender-receiver model in their training courses. Who are these third parties who do not understand?

If the cooperation between the agency and the marketing department is working well, the unknowing management is usually identified as this third party and complained about. In the case of less well-functioning cooperation, the comment is simply forwarded to the agency with a request for optimization.

What rarely happens, but would be important: That as a third party the customer is meant, to whom the product or service should be sold in the end. Therefore often also called "end customer". Which is a doubly wrong formulation. It is always proclaimed everywhere: Customer first or more old-fashioned, the customer is king. But it doesn't seem to be about the customer at all. In first place comes the ME, regardless of whether this belongs to the agency, the marketing and communications managers or the management. In second place are always the others from this triumvirate and only in third place the "end customer". That is, the person for whom the whole thing is intended. This also clarifies the question of who the "third parties" are for whom what we are doing here is not comprehensible.

* 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.

Mobilog was founded in 2021 as part of the AMAG Group to respond to the growing demands for high-performance logistics in the automotive sector. The high model and product range diversity and increasing service demands of customers are constantly presenting vehicle dealers and workshops with challenges. Mobilog positions itself as a competence center for all logistics activities in the vehicle and parts business.

Heads was entrusted with finding the name when the company was founded. Mobilog stands for the combination of mobility and logistics. Now Heads was tasked with designing a corporate identity for Mobilog that would make the company more independent and make it clear that the logistics service provider is available to the entire industry as a competent partner.

The fact that Mobilog moves Switzerland is symbolically expressed in the new logo by the displacement of the "i-dot" - the sphere. This sphere runs through the brand's new appearance as a strong recognition feature. In addition, the main color, the deep sky blue in contrast to the white, creates a concise design language.

How integration-capable are the MES solutions currently offered on the market? The "Aachener Marktspiegel Business Software - MES/Production Control 2023/2024" will be published just in time for the Hannover Messe (April 17-21, 2023). It is published by the Trovarit Competence Center MES in cooperation with the long-standing partner Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA and the VDI and examines the range of MES currently available on the German market. It therefore provides an ideal market overview for MES prospects and users. In addition, the MESs examined are evaluated with regard to their support in production management and concrete assistance is given for the implementation of an MES selection project. From mid-April it will be available at https://www.trovarit.com/studien/marktspiegel/mes-fertigungssteuerung/ available.

What do MES systems do?

Fast production with good quality is the goal of every company. To achieve this, however, it is necessary for the company to make optimum use of the resources it requires for the production process. For example, the availability of personnel and operating resources at a given time to handle an incoming order can be of decisive, pro-competitive importance. After all, fixed deadlines can only be met to the customer's satisfaction if production progress, quality and resource availability are known at all times. An MES system is able to map the current factory situation. This means that with the help of such a system it is also possible, for example, to react more quickly to changing conditions such as personnel or machine failures. In this way, a malfunction can possibly be bridged in time and the resulting deadline pressure can be minimized. In this way, an MES system provides information that enables the optimization of production processes - from the creation of the order to the finished product.

But not every MES system is equipped with the same functions. Some providers also like to deliver holistic and comprehensive products, while others focus on individual areas, such as data acquisition or specific industries. Furthermore, the interaction with existing ERP systems also plays a decisive role here. If the two systems do not work hand in hand, conflicts can result that ultimately reduce competitiveness instead of increasing it.

Market overview takes a close look at over 140 MES solutions from more than 120 vendors

In order to enable the comparison of different MES solutions and to increase market transparency, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Stuttgart, together with the VDI and Trovarit AG, offers an up-to-date overview of MES solutions available on the market with the "Aachener Marktspiegel Business Software MES 2023/2024". The software solutions are examined comprehensively with regard to their range of functions. Evaluations regarding technical features (e.g. supported server databases, clients, standardized interfaces, etc.) of the systems as well as general information on the MES providers (locations, staffing levels, services offered, etc.) complete the picture. A chapter also deals with the significance of MES for "Industry 4.0".

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/mes-marktuebersicht-vergleicht-ueber-140-fertigungs-loesungen/

ChatGPT has triggered a new hype around Artificial Intelligence, the possibilities of AI are impressive. At the same time, quality assurance and control of AI systems is becoming increasingly important - especially when they take on responsible tasks. This is because chatbot results are based on huge amounts of data on texts from the Internet. However, systems such as ChatGPT only calculate the most probable answer to a question and output this as a fact. But what testing tools exist to measure the quality of the texts generated by ChatGPT, for example?

KI test catalog

Testing tools in use

From April 17 to 21, researchers from Fraunhofer IAIS will also be presenting various testing tools and procedures at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 16, Booth A12 at Hannover Messe 2023 that can be used to systematically examine AI systems for vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle and safeguard against AI risks. The tools support developers and testing institutes in systematically evaluating the quality of AI systems and thus ensuring their trustworthiness. One example is the "ScrutinAI" tool. It enables auditors to systematically search for weaknesses in neural networks and thus test the quality of AI applications. One concrete example is an AI application that recognizes anomalies and diseases on CT images. The question here is whether all types of anomalies are recognized equally well or whether some are better and others worse. This analysis helps inspectors to assess whether an AI application is suitable for its intended context of use. At the same time, developers can also benefit by recognizing shortcomings in their AI systems at an early stage and taking appropriate improvement measures, such as enriching the training data with specific examples.

Source and further information: Fraunhofer IAIS

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/prueftools-fuer-ki-systeme/

Recently, it became public that the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse is being taken over by UBS. This raises questions: To what extent has this caused uncertainty among the population? Which banks are benefiting from this takeover? Based on study data on the period before and after the takeover, the market research institute Link provides answers. Population-representative data from two survey waves are used for this purpose: Wave 1 took place shortly before the takeover was communicated, Wave 2 in the week after.

Banks lose ground

Uncertainty about the future of Credit Suisse is reflected in the consideration of the Swiss population. There was a significant drop in the proportion of people in the population who could imagine becoming a Credit Suisse client. In the days before the takeover, the corresponding figure was 10 percent; after the takeover, it was only 5 percent. UBS also lost ground, albeit to a lesser extent, with consideration falling from 33 percent to 27 percent.

A similar picture of consideration can also be seen in the segment of people with disposable assets of over CHF 100,000, which is of particular interest to the banks. Here too, both Credit Suisse (decrease from 13 % to 8 %) and UBS (decrease from 40 % to 31 %) recorded losses. Conversely, the competitors with the largest market shares - the cantonal banks, Raiffeisen and PostFinance - have each recorded a slight increase in consideration. They could therefore benefit from the takeover.

The events surrounding the takeover are viewed critically by the majority. A majority of respondents state that they believe the reputation of "Switzerland as a banking center" has been damaged by these events (61 % "agree" / "strongly agree"). Likewise, many respondents agree with the statement that these events demonstrate the need for increased regulation in the financial market. However, the events hardly trigger any fears about their own finances - only 14 percent are worried about this.

Struck brand confidence in Credit Suisse continues to fall

A decline in trust values can also be seen in Link's weekly brand tracking, the Swiss Brand Observer. Due to its continuous measurement (since September 2021), the instrument is suitable, among other things, for recording unforeseen events in connection with the perception of various metrics, such as brand trust or client satisfaction. In the week following the UBS takeover, only around 2 percent of the population perceived Credit Suisse as particularly trustworthy. This value remained at this level one week later. In the week before the takeover, this figure was around 7 percent, and in December 2021 it was still around 16 percent. UBS, on the other hand, lost less trust; overall, however, the trust scores for UBS and other banks over the last two weeks also show a slight downward trend, at best stagnating.

In terms of the so-called "buzz" (which financial service providers have respondents heard something positive or negative about in the news, in conversations with friends & relatives, etc. in the last 7 days), Credit Suisse shows a very strong negative increase, as expected, although the curve has flattened out slightly again in the past week. An increase is also present at UBS, but comparatively at a lower level. The net buzz score (ratio of positive to negative) is significantly better at UBS than at Credit Suisse.

The travel market is picking up speed. The Boomer generation in particular is responsible for this. 85 percent of those born between the 1950s and the end of the 1960s are planning at least one vacation trip this year. And the following generations are also obviously feeling a great urge to travel. This is most evident among Generation Z. 83 percent of this target group are ready for a vacation and want to travel this year, followed by Millennials (81 %) and Generation X (78 %). Tourism companies should take advantage of this growth dynamic and take it into account accordingly in their marketing and advertising strategy by addressing the target groups in a targeted manner.

Majority wants to book trip in the first half of the year

More than half (58 %) of all respondents are considering booking a trip within the first half of the year. Millennials in particular stand out here. 46 percent of this generation group intend to book in the first half of the year. They are followed by Boomers and Generation X with 29 percent each.

Online tourist media crucial for travel research

On average, 36 percent of consumers from Switzerland turn to online sources with a tourism focus when researching vacations, travel and vacations. In doing so, readers implicitly establish a link between editorial articles and the advertising placed. Ads and commercials that rely on contextual or semantic targeting against this background therefore not only achieve a significantly higher relevance in addressing the target group. With this strategy, advertisers also achieve significantly higher attention values because they play advertising exclusively in a thematically appropriate environment.

Relevant trend: vacation and environment

62 percent of the consumers surveyed from Switzerland cited the cost of a trip as a key factor influencing their decision-making, followed by preferred destinations (54 %). And: environment and vacation, this area of tension is also gaining in importance for many Swiss. On average, 49 percent of those interested in traveling prefer ecologically sustainable vacations. To achieve this goal, a total of 29 percent of travelers decide to fly less, book environmentally friendly accommodation (23 %) or generally travel to a destination that excels in sustainability (19 %).

Teads surveyed a total of 16405 people in 24 markets, including 870 consumers from Switzerland, between December 13, 2022 and January 23, 2023. The survey focused on the travel intentions and interests of these individuals.

While the online pharmacy Zur Rose enjoys a high level of awareness in German-speaking Switzerland, it is still less established in French-speaking Switzerland. To change this, the company launched a cross-media campaign in the fall of 2022 in collaboration with the interdisciplinary iundf agency group. The centerpiece was Swiss Post's multichannel media offering with two addressed advertising letters - an initial and a reminder mailing - as well as an unaddressed mailing. To amplify the impact, Zur Rose also relied on the following online and offline channels: Digital Out of Home in post offices and on regional public transport, Facebook Ads, Display Ads, and flyers placed at relevant medical touchpoints such as medical supply stores.

To measure the advertising impact of the cross-media campaign, the market research company DemoSCOPE subsequently conducted an impact study. René Brawand, Project Manager Social Research at DemoSCOPE, sums up the most important result of the study: "The channels chosen for this campaign were successful - especially the flyer in the mailbox and the addressed advertising letter."

Significantly higher awareness

The campaign significantly increased both aided and unaided awareness of the Zur Rose brand: Supported awareness is 101 percent higher among people in the scatter area than among the control group. Unaided awareness of the company in the scatter area is even 156 percent higher compared to the control group. The top-of-mind mentions, in which Zur Rose is named unaided as the first mail-order/online pharmacy, are also significantly higher in the scatter area - by a remarkable 144 percent.

High attention to physical advertising

The study also examined advertising perception. 43 percent of the people in the area surveyed said they had seen advertising from Zur Rose. This shows how strongly printed mailings work. More than half of these people have seen the flyer in their mailbox and almost a third have seen the personally addressed advertising letter.

Better image values

In order to determine the impact of the cross-media campaign on the corporate image, the respondents rated statements about the Zur Rose brand on a scale of 1 (not at all true) to 10 (completely true). This showed that the proportion of people who gave a value between 8 and 10 for the attributes questioned was significantly higher in the scatter area for all brand values. The values "Innovative/always brings something new" (plus 159 percent), "Good value for money" (plus 115 percent) and "Friendly employees" (plus 82 percent) improved particularly strongly. People in the dispersion area thus perceive Zur Rose significantly more positively than the control group.

The study, commissioned by Post Advertising, aimed to analyze the advertising impact of Zur Rose's launch campaign in French-speaking Switzerland on awareness, perception and attitudes. To this end, DemoSCOPE conducted a total of 668 interviews (603 telephone interviews and 65 online interviews) at the end of 2022 among French-speaking private individuals aged 55 and over who reside in French-speaking Switzerland. The test group included individuals from the dispersion area who had received an initial addressed promotional letter six weeks earlier. For the control group, DemoSCOPE recruited people outside the scatter area.

With more than 12 million companies reached and around 20,000 applications, the HIPE AWARD is one of the most important and coveted awards in the German-speaking world. The main criteria examined for the award are service quality, above-average performance, outstanding service, as well as effectiveness and steady growth. The service provider bbi Software AG achieved top marks with full points in the areas of customer support, competence and customer expectations. Since 1994, the company has specialized in developing innovative license management solutions to help companies effectively manage their software licenses, save costs and minimize compliance risks.

Efficient, experienced, practical: this is how the software solutions of bbi Software AG present themselves. They support numerous companies in the optimal use of internal resources and create clarity in daily license management, as the company writes. Individuality and competence are written in capital letters, the company continues. Managing Director Marco Kurmann and his team offer customized solutions that will inspire customers in the long term - and at fair prices. In addition, the company attaches great importance to the continuous training of all employees, thus guaranteeing a pool of experience and knowledge in a class of its own, according to the company's further statements.

As an official winner of the HIPE AWARD 2022, bbi Software AG can now count itself among the TOP 400 award-winning service providers in the German-speaking world.

Source and further information

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/internationaler-preis-fuer-bbi-software-ag/

The list of risks that seriously threaten the existence of a company in extreme cases is long. To prepare a company for the worst case scenario, the establishment and operation of a business continuity management is the first choice. A BCM ensures that critical business processes and key functions remain available in emergency situations or are available again in time, i.e. before the damage becomes unacceptable.

Identified sensitive business processes and known dependencies

The survey, in which 118 companies from a wide range of industries participated, delivers encouraging results. In particular, when it comes to identifying the most sensitive business processes (87% of the companies have identified them) or ensuring that companies are aware of the most significant dependencies on third parties, e.g. suppliers (91% of the companies are aware of them), the companies are very risk-aware. 77% of the companies have also specifically drawn up plans to be able to respond to the occurrence of risks in a prepared manner. This is seen as a strong sign by the BCM specialists at Swiss Infosec AG and shows that the benefits of the BCM management discipline and its necessity have been recognized.

Risk management and business continuity management move closer together

The actual risk management performs valuable (preliminary) work for the establishment and operation of a BCM. It identifies and names risks and estimates the probability of occurrence and the extent of damage. Based on these findings, emergency plans can be drawn up more efficiently and adapted more easily in the event of changed or new risks. Almost 70% of the companies consciously exploit the proximity between risk management and BCM and have risk management and BCM work closely together to control identified risks.

And what about employee awareness of BCM?

Developing emergency plans is one thing. However, it is important that employees actually know the emergency procedures in order to act correctly in emergency situations. In the survey, at least 2/3 of the companies state that their employees are aware of the emergency procedures, 20% deny this and 14% are not sure. This is where BCM specialist Reinhard Obermüller from Swiss Infosec AG sees potential for optimization: "Behavior in emergency situations must be practiced and addressed again and again. Especially when new employees join the team. Emergency plans are of little use in a drawer."

Use of BCM tools still expandable

Business continuity management tools provide organizations with a comprehensive platform to develop, implement and manage their BCM strategies. However, only just 23% of organizations are taking advantage of BCM software solutions. Besfort Kuqi, CEO of Swiss GRC AG, is not surprised, given his experience in the GRC environment: "It is unfortunate that many organizations are not taking advantage of GRC tools to improve their risk management and BCM. Particularly in times of heightened uncertainty, it is critical for organizations to maintain a comprehensive, consistent, and up-to-date view of their risks and opportunities and use this as a basis to strengthen their resilience capabilities. Those who have worked consistently with GRC tools know the added value and the many benefits."

Source: Swiss Infosec

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/unternehmen-setzen-auf-bcm-aber-noch-zu-wenig-auf-unterstuetzende-tools/