Marie-Louise Baumann joined Burson-Marsteller in 2000 from the General Secretariat of the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP) and took over the management of the Public Affairs team. She has extensive experience in the areas of communications and public affairs, as Burson-Marsteller announced on Friday. She has also managed numerous mandates of great public interest for various industries and organizations. Before joining the FDP Switzerland, she was Section Head of the Legal Service of the Federal Chancellery.

Natalie Jäggi brings 15 years of experience on both the agency and corporate side in advertising, branding and public relations. Previously, she worked at Pfizer as Manager Corporate Communications, at the branding agency Scholtysik Niederberger Kraft as Member of the Executive Board and at Advico, Young & Rubicam as Group Account Director.

The guesthouse is modeled on a chalet built in the Bernese Oberland, the living space is alive with bright high rooms, elegantly finished parquet flooring, carvings and many other impressive features of the most artistic craftsmanship from the period of historicism. The agency communicated this with the help of a contemporary image/word mark, imagery, image brochure and website, as well as an advertising campaign.

Responsible at Pixeldisko: Marc Schadegg (Creative Direction), Othmar Küng (Art Direction, Consulting), Pia Fleischmann, Corinne Wyssen, Katja Zimmermann (Graphics & Desktop Publishing). Responsible for the reed: Thomas Wach, Nina Wach (Client).

After registering online with their personal customer number, the number of their last bill and a valid e-mail address, the new customer portal is available to all Erdgas Zürich customers. They can use it not only to call up their latest bills and consumption data, but also to report meter readings and address changes. Anyone wishing to make an additional commitment to the environment can also select the amount of biogas they wish to use. The forms and data retrievals interact directly with Erdgas Zürich's SAP system via encrypted web services.

The new customer portal was realized by the Zurich-based internet and media agency Update. The free PHP framework "Yii" is used as the technical foundation, providing functions and processes for programming fast, dynamic and secure web applications.

The four Geneva-based journalists Kuniko Satonobu, Simon Bradley, Mohamed Cherif and Frédéric Burnand regularly report on international organizations, negotiations and treaties in Japanese, English, Arabic and French. The award is also recognition of Swissinfo.ch's new editorial concept, which focuses on analysis, background reports, interviews and multimedia features, according to a Swissinfo release. The nine Swissinfo languages will be complemented in the coming year by a Russian-language offering, which aims to bring Switzerland and its international relations closer to a Russian-speaking audience.

The Prix Bouvier was awarded for the third time this year by the Swiss Press Club in Geneva. In memory of the travel writer and photographer Nicolas Bouvier, who died in 1998, the Prix Bouvier is awarded to journalists and media organizations whose high-quality contributions cover the United Nations, human rights, humanitarian aid, refugees, migration, health, labor and international trade.

Swissinfo.ch is now primarily aimed at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as the Swiss abroad. SRG's international service offers free opinion-forming with regard to the exercise of their political rights in Switzerland (voting and election dossiers), says the Swissinfo release. It is intended to provide a specifically Swiss overall view as well as Swiss viewpoints on international events and developments, and to reflect the view of foreign countries about Switzerland and its positions.

The new prize is intended not only to enhance the award, but also the exhibition in May. This is because it now shows the best 70 works in total, instead of 18 as in previous years, according to a statement.

The Swiss Photo Award - EWZ.Selection is endowed with a total prize money of 37,000 Swiss francs. It is looking for the best Swiss photographic works of 2012 in architecture, fashion, fine art, free, editorial photography, reportage and advertising until January 14, 2013.

To the conditions of participation, regulations and information about the jury
 

The new aim is to grow independently in the market and to assert itself as a creative and agile small agency, the agency said in a statement on Thursday. David Fischer's career began in 2003 in Berlin, where he worked at Scholz & Friends for over 8 years. In 2011, he took over the creative direction at Scholz & Friends Switzerland as Executive Creative Director and member of the management board. With David Fischer, the Red Lion pack has been able to strengthen itself with its preferred candidate, the agency added in the press release.

In addition to his sixth place in the international comparative ranking of art directors at the Big Won 2008, he has made a name for himself as a top creative with over 200 awards at international creative competitions, including the Grand Prix six times. David Fischer is a member of ADC Germany.

Instead of "celebrating the richest in high style," the Woz is asking Switzerland's 300 richest by letter to each pay in one million francs for a so-called "Together" initiative for a just Switzerland. The responses were sparse. Sometimes there were doubts about the sender's sanity.

The editorial team therefore sought out some of the billionaires in person at the gates of their villas or tried to reach them by telephone - again without much success, as a report documents. At least one banker called back and was quoted anonymously as saying that "in order to maintain democratic structures in the long term, there is no way around higher taxes on the rich.

The 64-page special issue also features an interview with Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who believes it is wrong to interfere and provocatively argues that the rich should just be rich. (SDA)
 

This could be due to the new advertising campaign for the dog food brand Beneful from Nestlé Purina Pet Care. Or the acoustic signals specially developed for dogs' ears that accompany the commercial. Beneful has developed a TV commercial with three different acoustic signals for dogs' ears in order to attract the attention of four-legged friends and their owners. Nestlé's Swiss Brand Department explains the concept as follows: "The aim of the TV commercial is to address the four-legged target group and dog owners with a smile.

The commercial will be broadcast on Swiss TV channels and private stations from now until mid-December. Dog lovers who want to test the effect on their four-legged friends can watch the commercial at any time. online View

And here is the explanation for all non-dogs who did not hear the acoustic signal in the commercial: The commercial contains three different acoustic signals including a high sound frequency. This allows the video to become a joint TV commercial for dog and owner, explains Georg Sanders, nutrition expert and consumer advisor at Nestlé Purina Pet Care. "While the four-legged friend looks at the screen with interest, the dog food buyer can follow the information about Beneful food."

A cozy get-together in front of the television, in which the dog's interest in the signals should encourage the owner to buy the product.

However, the three acoustic signals are not all inaudible to humans. The first sound, a so-called squeak, corresponds to the classic squeaking sound of dog toys. It is audible to both dogs and humans. The second sound is a high tone frequency similar to a dog whistle, which humans can barely hear. The third sound is a soft, high-pitched "pling", also intended for humans and animals. The reaction of the dogs to the sounds of the TV commercial therefore depends, among other things, on the playing behavior of the dog and owner.

Would you choose the food for your beloved pet based on which TV commercial the dog shows the most interest in? Asked with a smile, of course. (uma)
 

Tanja Schlager has more than 15 years of professional experience in brand-focused communications, gained on the agency and corporate side in the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. After working for international branding agencies, most recently in leading marketing positions at Swarovski and Schlager has been living in Zurich for 4 years now. "I would like to further expand the Zurich location and strengthen our offering around strategic brand development and management, says Tanja Schlager about her new task.

The "Hint or Benefit" Advent calendar is intended to demonstrate how to "do it right". Registered participants receive a daily e-mail with two "doors" (links). By clicking on one of the links, the reader decides between an e-mail marketing tip ("Hint") or a surprise without a thematic marketing reference ("Benefit"). The reader therefore chooses anew each day whether they want to learn something or receive a small surprise. However, once the reader has chosen one of the "little doors", clicking on the second link for that day has no effect.

Participation in the Mayoris Advent calendar is only possible after explicit registration. This is an important criterion for successful email marketing, according to the provider of email marketing solutions and services in a press release on Thursday. Readers should only receive what they really want to read. The better the recipients know in advance about the frequency of the campaign, the higher their acceptance and the fewer unsubscriptions can be expected.

The e-mail Advent calendar "Hint or Benefit" is intended to show how the medium of e-mail can be used in a sustainable and original way to retain and activate customers, the press release explains further. Participation in the e-mail marketing advent calendar is free of charge and takes place with Registration.

The box will be available from February. The device was developed by the Fédération romande des consommateurs FRC and a Vaud-based data processing company, as the FRC announced on Thursday. The 10-centimeter case is connected to the landline telephone and blocks incoming calls from registered numbers after two rings.

The numbers have been collected over the past few months by the three Swiss consumer organizations, among others. The Unfair Competition Act (UCA) has been in force since April. The amended UCA prohibits bait-and-switch offers and makes address book fraud more difficult. To ensure that the law does not just remain a dead letter, the Alliance of Consumer Protection Organizations has since been offering an online complaint option. It has collected over 4000 telephone numbers. In addition, it has filed criminal charges in around 20 cases of unfair business practices.

The box complements the legal steps and offers a simple solution to telephone harassment, FRC lawyer Valérie Muster told the SDA news agency. It is to be launched on the market from February 2013 and costs 119 francs. The FRC is planning a collective order in order to be able to sell the device more cheaply. According to the FRC, the blocking numbers will be updated regularly. Users of the box will also be able to add other numbers or block suppressed numbers. Numbers from survey institutes can also be blocked.

The Foundation for Consumer Protection SKS is not involved in the box and its distribution, but is planning a leaflet on the subject. A spokesperson said on request that this would also include alternatives.

Legal prosecution difficult

The UWG requires that offers for an entry in an address book - such as a company register - must always state the cost obligation in capital letters. In addition, measures have been taken to combat promises of prizes that are linked to promotional trips or an obligation to buy. The UWG also restricts telephone marketing. For example, companies are acting unfairly if they call a person for advertising purposes who indicates in the telephone directory with an asterisk that they do not wish to receive advertising. The UWG also contains a new ban on pyramid schemes.

However, it is difficult to legally punish the offenses. Only recently, a criminal complaint was not upheld because the investigating authorities were unable to identify the telephone exchange from which the abusive calls were made. The telemarketers used the number of a company that had been dissolved months ago. A first verdict is expected in Vaud in mid-December. According to Muster, the criminal charges have a deterrent effect. However, as the telemarketers often provided false information, it is difficult to hold them accountable.

Before the consumer organizations demand a further tightening of the law, they want to wait for the relevant rulings. According to the FRC, it would be ideal if telephone advertising were made clearly recognizable so that consumers could demand that their data be deleted if they were called back. (SDA)

Teaser image: Keystone