Proximity to customers as a
prerequisite for a successful
marketing business
Switzerland
Comprehensive advertising agency with digital DNA and a new site
Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG provides all-inclusive modern brand management with digital DNA – from strategy to implementation across all channels. Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG has three business units – Campaigns, Social Media and Digital Presences – to make it an expert agency for specific sub-sectors or a strategic partner for customers that require the complete range of services.
Personnel
There were few personnel changes in the reporting year. In January 2014, Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG had 74 employees. In December this figure stood at 71. As part of the merger between Goldbach Interactive and Goldbach Mobile, the teams in the Digital Presences department were slightly reduced in size while the campaign team was expanded.
Market development
We are also having a rethink in terms of advertising media at Goldbach Interactive. Digital advertising is becoming increasingly significant in the advertising market as a whole. This will give customers the opportunity to increase their reach via online, video and display media, thereby making the measurability of digital channels increasingly important. We recorded an increase in investments in larger projects at Goldbach Interactive for 2014 in comparison to the previous year. Swiss advertising market 2009-2018 in million CHF:
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Internet 298 416 533 647 765 871 946 1 014 1 087 1 171 TV 726 818 869 909 921 948 973 1 008 1 040 1 079 Radio 138 139 141 150 146 148 152 157 161 165 Digital out of home 0 44 59 78 104 134 169 209 252 295 Physical out of home 349 322 336 341 360 365 366 364 359 350 Print 1 368 1 408 1 412 1 269 1 298 1 279 1 259 1 238 1 214 1 189 Source: PwC Global entertainment and media outlook
Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG in Switzerland
To meet customer requirements in an extremely dynamic market, Goldbach Interactive honed its strategy in the reporting year and made changes where necessary.
Following the merger with Goldbach Mobile AG, Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG received additional staff for its Consultation, Strategy and Creation departments at its site in Zurich-Wollishofen, thereby reinforcing the company's orientation as a comprehensive advertising agency with digital DNA. The campaigns team in Zurich is responsible for developing the strategies and concepts that bring brands and products to life, whether as a 360° advertising campaign, performance marketing plan or social media strategy.
The digital presences team at the site in Biel is responsible for creating platform solutions that outlive trends and facilitate long-term presence in the web, mobile and eCommerce sectors. The team provides a comprehensive range of services, including UX conception (user experience; interaction) and design, technical development, and management of existing platforms. In the year under review, organisational and process-related optimisation was carried out at the Biel site, and the planning and creation teams were reinforced with additional personnel.
Furthermore, the decision was made to expand the service portfolio to incorporate a live communication service. This was prepared at the end of the year at the new site in Bern.
In the ranking list published by the media association bsw, Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG is the 8th largest Swiss advertising and PR agency.
The following lists a selection of projects implemented or planned for implementation by Goldbach Interactive:
− Digital publication and activation for SRF's Die grössten Schweizer Talente (Switzerland's Got Talent) − Complete video and digital implementation of the new REGA campaign in collaboration with
Matter, Gretener Lesch Communications AG
− Acquisition of 360° mandate for anibis.ch, including follow-up mandate for 2015
− Comprehensive digital management of Feldschlösschen (online campaigns, community management and website) and other brands in the Carlsberg portfolio
− Relaunch of the Stromer corporate website − McDonald's birthday planning booking tool
Market trends and forecasts for Switzerland
The use of mobile devices is continuing to increase to due to the rising number of devices and the availability of 4G connectivity. As a result, video content consumption is also increasing, thereby placing a strong focus on moving image advertising. At the same time, the purchasing and management of advertising is leading to more and more new, programmatic options in terms of targeting and tracking. Mobile advertising is continuing to experience strong growth, albeit at a low level.
Internet and mobile advertising market share in Switzerland between 2009 and 2018 in %
Source: PwC Global entertainment and media outlook
Noteworthy events
Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland) AG and Goldbach Mobile merged in mid-2014. Furthermore, the legal headquarters was relocated from Biel to Zurich.
Germany
Multi-channel consulting service to reflect change in user behaviour
The core business areas of Goldbach Interactive (Germany) AG are performance advertising, (online) media, search engine marketing (SEA, SEO), conversion optimisation, and the conception and implementation of digital campaigns. It also operates as an online marketing agency.
Personnel
Goldbach Interactive has been under new management since October 2014. Although the overall employee structure has not been changed, internal restructuring has been undertaken to ensure that the individual teams are better oriented towards market requirements and the company's range of services.
Market development
In 2014, the estimated total net volume for digital display advertising (online and mobile) is EUR 1.41 billion (source: OVK; effective figures for 2014 will be published in the first quarter of 2015). This equates to growth of 6.8 percent (source: OVK). Net advertising investments in digital display advertising (online and mobile) and search term marketing comprise 25.5 percent of the net advertising pie. After television, online continues to be the second-largest medium (source: OVK).
Goldbach Interactive in Germany
Goldbach Interactive is a 100% agency business in Germany, providing SEA, SEO, Conversion Optimization and display advertising services to several major German customers such as mobile.de, World Vision, BASF and Roche. Goldbach Interactive has built up several long-term partnerships in this market.
Market trends and forecasts in Germany
Multi-device usage is continuing to see a sharp increase in Germany. The use and distribution of smartphones has risen enormously. This has led to a change in online usage behaviour, with strict requirements being placed on data security and data-supported ad delivery. Linking business IT infrastructure with campaign data improves the effectiveness of digital value chains.
Contact partners are casting a more critical eye over data protection, security, and so on when it comes to online advertising.
Political initiatives are intended to further expand bandwidth supply and high-speed internet throughout Germany. Open-ended, active political debate surrounding data security and protection will be conducted.
Current forecasts estimate that the budget for real-time advertising will grow by 10% in 2015. FOMA, an online digital commerce focus group, forecasts growth of 10 percent for the entire digital advertising sector over the coming year. However, not all marketing channels or disciplines will experience the same rate of increase in the future. Real-time advertising, for example, could significantly increase its share of the budget (source: BVDW).
Forecast for Goldbach Interactive (Germany) AG
In terms of its existing business operations, Goldbach Interactive will focus intensively on its agency business and expand the company's range of services. Additional agency services include analytics and programmatic buying. Another aim is to develop individual technologies and interfaces for customers in order to link their data more effectively to campaign metrics and therefore understand users and their behaviour more quickly and effectively.
We expect that further consolidation will take place in the agency market. Smaller agencies are forming efficient agency networks, while larger media agencies or agency networks are pursuing acquisitions with which to expand their range of services. Companies are enhancing their digital expertise by expanding their departments and implementing advertising campaigns in-house. Moreover, companies are placing greater focus on data sovereignty. Agencies are increasingly becoming consultancies for digital value chain processes; for customers, pure media buying is taking a back seat in terms of requirements.
In response to these trends, Goldbach Interactive is therefore focusing intensively on sales and new business in Germany, and is directing its efforts towards multi-channel consulting. The range of services will focus much more on user behaviour (user-centric and comprehensive cross-channel consulting instead of isolated, channel-oriented mindsets). Furthermore, existing technologies will continue to be developed in order to link customer data with campaign data even more efficiently, thereby providing more in-depth insights for customers.
Austria
The priorities have been determined: performance marketing and
social media marketing
Goldbach Austria GmbH, which has its headquarters in Vienna, is a subholding company of Goldbach Group AG, Switzerland, and together with Goldbach Interactive operates a company that implements digital marketing solutions. Goldbach Austria's scope of services comprises the management of the Goldbach Group in Austria, the provision of administrative services and the planning, coordination and implementation of marketing activities.
Personnel
There were no personnel changes at Goldbach Interactive Austria in the year under review. The workforce for the whole Group (Goldbach Media, Audience and Interactive) in Austria increased from 38 to 39 persons.
Market development
In 2014, the classic advertising market rose slightly by 3.0% (gross) in Austria in comparison to the previous year, with both the TV and online market experiencing overtly proportional gains at +10.7 % and +4.5 %, respectively. At +4.0 %, public service television experienced significantly lower growth than private TV stations (+14.1 %). Radio advertising also slightly outperformed the overall market this year at a rate of 3.8 %.
Despite a decline, print continues to be the main advertising medium in Austria with a 51.9 % share of the gross budget, followed by TV (28.2 %), online (6.8 %), out of home advertising (6.8 %) and radio (5.8 %) (source: Focus Media Research, 2014, online: adjusted rate of change).
In the online segment, the overwhelming majority of gross advertising spending is attributed to display advertising. However, response, mobile and moving image advertising in particular are experiencing strong growth.
The digital agency landscape in Austria consists of five to ten major and many small market players. The demand for special agencies (e.g. social media) will, however, decline in the medium to long term as advertising customers begin to look for more for full-service agencies with an all-inclusive approach in the future due to the increasing shift towards digital brand management.
Goldbach Interactive in Austria
Goldbach Interactive Austria GmbH is a joint venture between Goldbach Austria GmbH and P4 Management GmbH. Similar to Goldbach Interactive Switzerland, the company has offered a comprehensive range of services – online campaigns, performance marketing, social media, search engine marketing and websites – in Austria since 1 July 2011. Performance marketing and social media marketing are the main priorities here.
In 2014, Goldbach Interactive Austria succeeded in further expanding its customer base and refining its range of services, in particular in the Performance department.
Market trends and forecasts in Austria
The reduction of the print advertising budget in favour of digital channels is continuing apace. The range of services in the digital sector calls for simple and efficient solutions for the advertising market. Programmatic advertising is increasing in importance (not least because of these developments). Furthermore, the demand for high-quality target groups will increasingly be covered by national marketing companies/providers due to the increasing globalisation of the advertising market (e.g. Google). Together with its subsidiaries, Goldbach Austria is well positioned within this new market environment.
Despite the low GDP growth rates throughout the Eurozone and the high level of unemployment in Austria, advertising expenditure is forecast to increase slightly in 2015, with TV and online (in particular mobile and moving image) to experience higher (source: GroupM based on Media Focus Research, December 2014).
Overall, growth potential in electronic and digital media in Austria has by no means been fully exploited when compared to the international outlook (due to the high level of significance still attached to print media). Goldbach Austria is therefore well positioned for the future with TV, smart TV, online, video, mobile and multiscreen.
Forecast for Goldbach Interactive Austria
As the newest subsidiary in the Group, Goldbach Interactive Austria has been able to gain a foothold in the highly heterogeneous digital agency sector. The aim for 2015 is to further consolidate its position and to become one of the top 12 digital agencies in Austria. Key growth areas in this regard consist of performance marketing, social media marketing and process-oriented web software solutions. Further customer acquisitions are also planned for 2015. The development of options in the YouTube marketing field is currently being evaluated based on a pilot project.
The experts at work – representing all employees of Goldbach Group
Slovenia
Profitable financial year despite challenging price situation
Market development
The Slovenian market is still suffering the after-effects of the global economic recession despite showing signs of improvement: in 2014, GDP growth was at 2 %, while the rate for 2015 is forecast at 1.6 % (source: IMAD). The downward economic trend hit the economy hard, which in turn has had a knock-on effect for the entire advertising market.
TV advertising remains the leading advertising medium in Slovenia. Print media have declined, and the online advertising market has experienced a negligible increase (stagnation). Around 70 % of the population has access to the internet, which amounts to nearly 1.4 million users; Facebook is used by 40 % (800,000 active users), while mobile subscription penetration was at a level of 113 % (source: WeAreSocial, February 2014). Approximately 75 % of consumers believe that their purchasing habits have become more planned, thought-out and conscious. Online purchasing is on an upward trend. Approximately two-thirds of consumers made at least one online purchase last year, which represents an increase of 13 % over the previous year (source: Marketing Association of Slovenia).
Simon Jordi
Product & Partner Manager Video
Claudia Bühler
Project Manager Cash Management
Philipp Stamm Head of Legal
Renderspace (digital agency)
The business focus of Renderspace is the development and production of web, mobile and digital platforms primarily in the fields of performance marketing in eCommerce, tourism, retail and consumer goods, which is currently experiencing rapid growth. Renderspace is successfully defending its leading position in terms of revenue and profit among digital agencies in Slovenia. Despite the difficult general economic climate in Slovenia, it has stayed at a steady level.
Market trends and forecasts in Slovenia
Renderspace has developed a new range of products focusing primarily on its UX/UI solutions. A user interface laboratory was also commissioned, and the digital DoubleClick Marketing Platform (DCM) was successfully integrated into campaigns. Certification of DoubleClick is currently underway. The company is analysing the real-time bidding potential both with regard to a new product range and the efficiency of the agency. The transfer of expertise between Renderspace and Goldbach Audience is consolidating the agency's position, while enabling us to affect the speed of the market and its developments.
Poland
Consolidation of business activities in Poland
In consolidating its business activities, the Goldbach Group divested in Goldbach Interactive Poland in the reporting year and discontinued its business operations in the fourth quarter. Selected direct customers and smaller agencies previously supported by Goldbach Interactive will now be served by Goldbach Audience and provided with interactive products (see chapter Advertising Marketing for comparison).
Russia
Withdrawal from the Russian market
Due to the difficult market environment in Russia and the unsatisfactory development of Goldbach Interactive Russia's business operations, which totalled CHF 3 million in revenue in 2013, the Goldbach Group has decided to sell the company to a Russian internet enterprise. Withdrawal from the Russian market took place at the beginning of 2014.
