In a letter to the association's members, Schweizer Medien lists four points that lead to the rejection of the announced price increase. Firstly, the one-third model agreed by the federal government, Swiss Post and publishers has led to massive additional costs for the publishers alone, while Swiss Post is doing nothing to reduce the deficit. Secondly, the association is annoyed by the fact that publishers have to bear more and more costs in order to simplify processes (sorting, addressing, delivery, etc.) for Swiss Post. It has the feeling that the increase in letter post rates, which was blocked by the price supervisor, is now being collected at the expense of the publishers. Thirdly, the association finds it dubious that the increase is taking place at the present time. This is because the postal bill for newspaper distribution will change from 2013, when the systems of subsidized and non-subsidized newspaper delivery will switch to a uniform system. In the fourth point criticized the new Article 16 of the Postal Act. In it, various unclear formulations would compete with the favorable prices required by the legislator.

In August, SSF announced plans to gradually expand the program in cooperation with the newly founded company SSF Media (Werbewoche.ch reported). The Swiss sports broadcaster has now announced that until the end of 2012 it will focus on its planned live programming: Handball Champions League with Kadetten Schaffhausen, the match of the national handball team against Spain as well as the Swiss Handball Cup, the Volleyball Champions League with Volero Zürich, the Ice Hockey European Trophy with SC Bern and HC Fribourg and other one-offs, the broadcaster announces in a statement.

In a second step, three new in-house productions are to follow in January 2013: In addition to a weekly talk show with journalists and celebrities, in which the sports headlines of the week are discussed, a new soccer show is also planned, which is intended to shed light on Swiss soccer events in an alternative way. In addition, a format is in the pilot phase with the show "Seitenwechsel," in which top athletes try out foreign sports. "Footballers in Speedos with the high-divers, high-divers in the boxing ring and boxers on figure skates: Seitenwechsel will be a colorful sporting relay race from sport to sport," explains Gabriel Oldham, host of the show.

With the launch of the new in-house productions, the name SSF will also stand for "Sport Szene Fernsehen" and the entire station design will have a new look. In addition, the online presence will be revamped: "In the future, we want to present our content better on the web and offer viewers real added value with new interactive functions," explains Philip Michel, head of programming at SSF.
 

Although more than 50 percent of the Swiss already access the Internet with their cell phones, only a few companies optimize their websites for mobile devices. Research conducted by the agency among the most important Swiss online agencies shows that web service providers also have some catching up to do, according to a press release. In this respect, it is not surprising that only a handful of large Swiss companies have opted for flexible layout design.

Ready for all devices

The benefits of Responsive Websites are undoubtedly great, but the challenge of "Responsive Web Design" should not be underestimated either, according to the experience of Roger Bischof, Online Design Chef at Nemuk. "Depending on the size of the screen, the design has to be adjusted automatically, and the placement of navigation and content elements changes. In the process, design elements can be designed differently, repositioned, or even shown or hidden. Responsive design requires a fundamentally new conception of websites, because the smaller the screen, the fewer elements should be displayed on it. And it's essential to allow enough time for the testing phase."

Nemuk relies on WordPress

The Responsive Design of the Nemuk website has been built on the WordPress open source content management system. Thus, the website offers not only a flawless display on all devices, but also all the conveniences of WordPress for the capture and modification of content. This applies to both the website and the newly launched Blog, which deals on an ongoing basis with topics related to the agency's core competencies: Web design, email marketing, online video and social media.

If you add up the annual mileage of the VBZ fleet, you get a whopping 35'207'000 kilometers, according to a statement from the agency. In 2011, the streetcars covered 16.456 million kilometers, the trolleybuses 5.534 million, the buses in the city network 6.199 million, the neighborhood buses 1.046 million, the buses in the agglomeration 1.862 million, the transport agents for the regional lines 4.063 million. And the Rigiblick cable car also contributed 0.047 million kilometers.

Compared to this, the way to the moon with its average distance of 384'403 kilometers is almost a short distance. This is strikingly illustrated by the latest motif in the VBZ campaign by Ruf Lanz. The motif can be seen on double-page advertisements as well as on posters and driver back panels.

Responsible at VBZ: Heinz Vögeli (Head of Corporate Communications). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf, Danielle Lanz (Creative Direction), Marcel Schläfle (Art Direction), Markus Ruf, Andreas Hornung (Text), Florian Fleischmann (Graphics), Doelkar Monkhar (Consulting). Photography: Archive. Image processing: Patrik Rohner.

From January 1, 2013, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung will become part of Cityplus making the modular ad combination the number one in Switzerland, according to a statement. The daily newspapers Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Die Nordwestschweiz and St. Galler Tagblatt/Schaffhauser Nachrichten, which are combined in Cityplus, will in future reach 1,219,000 readers in 20 cantons of German-speaking Switzerland. This corresponds to a reach of 19.6 percent.

This combination of ads will continue to offer a 10 percent discount over the cumulative prices of a single booking. The advertiser still has the option of choosing between two and five titles on a modular basis.
 

Eichhof is the beer from Central Switzerland for Central Switzerland, the agency writes in a statement. With its support for FC Lucerne for over a hundred years, its support for EV Zug, and numerous other regional commitments in wrestling, hornussen, gymnastics, shooting, cattle shows, and culture, the Lucerne beer brand is living its bond with its homeland. And it is precisely this bond that forms the core of the new Eichhof campaign "One for us".

The new campaign celebrates the people of Central Switzerland and their idiosyncrasies in its visuals and other measures. After all, the agency goes on to say, we are dealing with nothing but descendants of William Tell. The motifs show, for example, the "Melchsee-Frutt-Schwinget", a cattle show in Central Switzerland or the well-known panorama of the city of Lucerne. Pithy sayings on beer mats get to the heart of what makes a real Central Swiss, and on the Eichhof Facebook app consumers are invited to tap out their own sayings.

Responsible at Eichhof: Patrik Widman (Group Brand Manager), Claudio Polinelli (Brand Manager), Martin Kürzi (Junior Brand Manager). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Fernando Perez, Livio Dainese (Creative Direction), Andy Lusti, Avsar Yildiz (Text), Maurus Zehnder (Art Direction), Aude Kohler (Graphics), Deborah Herzig (Art Buying), Fabian Röthlisberger, Simone Jehle, Dominic Daeppen, Pascal Schwager (Consulting), Nathalie Eggen (Public Relations), Fergus Padel (Photography).

Until the 230th derby on December 2, fans can like their Zurich Super League club in an interactive advertising medium. The online banner developed by Coundco will be displayed in the Sport channel on Tages-Anzeiger-Online. The fans are actively participating, with over 500 Tagi readers voting for their club just a few hours after the launch, as the agency writes in a press release. After the Grasshoppers initially took the lead, the FCZ fans have now caught up and are just ahead of city rivals GC. You can vote on Facebook at Facebook.com/Daily Gazette to view the current status and mobilize friends to take part in the banner derby. The banner is currently running on Tagesanzeiger.ch/sport.

Responsible at Tages-Anzeiger: Patrick Blajh (Marketing and Communication). Responsible at Coundco: Jaromir Fuoli (Art Direction), Fabian Hernandez, Philipp Moser, Pascal Howald (Programming).

The reason for this is that the Basler Zeitung publishing house wants to concentrate on its core business, the Basler Zeitung, in the future, says communications manager Roger Berger in response to an inquiry from the SDA news agency. In the course of this reorganization, the brokerage business will be discontinued completely. Exactly where in the publishing house the 25 jobs will be cut is not yet clear. He added that layoffs could not be avoided in individual areas. However, the editorial staff of the Basler Zeitung will not be affected.The question of a social plan does not arise at the moment, Berger explained. BZM did not want to answer further questions to SDA. In the media release, BZM regretted the measures.

"Concentration on core business" is only half the truth

What is not clear from the media release is that the discontinuation of the brokerage business has less to do with the focus on the core business and more directly to do with the departures of former CEO Roland Steffen and advertising market manager Harry Zaugg announced in September. This is because the two BZM executives are continuing to run the brokerage business - via the Oftringen-based company Zaugg & Partner, which was jointly founded in October, as the Basel-based news portal Onlinereports already noted a few weeks ago.

But how did Steffen and Zaugg come to "steal" the brokerage business from BZM? It's simple: The two of them brought it to BZM at the time - and are now naturally taking it away again.

Keymedia brought profit to BZM from

To understand this, you have to look back a bit: When Steffen and Zaugg moved from the Publicitas branch in Aarau to BZM in 2005 - Steffen became BaZ publishing director at the time - not only their crew followed them, but also a large customer base, including Otto's. The reason: customers wanted to continue to be served by Steffen and Zaugg. This led to BZM founding a subsidiary at the time, Keymedia, which continued to broker advertisements from customers to third parties. It is worth noting that PubliGroupe still held a 37 percent stake in BZM at the time and was not at all pleased that some of its Aarau customers were turning their backs on it. But the Baz publisher at the time, Matthias Hagemann, took a pragmatic view. "With Key Media, we created a legal vessel for Mr. Steffen's clientele, which incidentally came in handy in that it allowed us to motivate Publicitas Basel to do more," he told Werbewoche at the time. Later on, Allmedia joined in - for the purpose of a division of labor: from then on, Keymedia brokered advertising for newspapers and magazines and Allmedia in the electronic sector.

But Steffens and Zaugg's customers also came in handy for BZM because they generated sales and, right from the start, profits. In its 2005/06 annual report, BZM reported Key Media's sales for the first and last time: 13.5 million Swiss francs. That was 5 percent of the then group sales of 272 million Swiss francs. In the meantime, this share is likely to be significantly higher - Onlinereports, citing an unnamed "reliable source," yesterday gave the figure of 37 million - 2 million of which was profit. In other words, the fact that BZM is losing Keymedia and Allmedia is likely to increase its problems rather than reduce them.

Otto's and Landi remain loyal to Zaugg

It is still unclear how much of the current Key and Allmedia customers Steffen and Zaugg will be able to take with them. When asked, Zaugg said that while he has several commitments so far, he has only been able to make concrete bookings for Otto's and Landi. "We're starting small again," he said.

By the way: Steffen himself is involved in Zaugg & Partner, but he will not be operationally active there. A few weeks ago, he joined the management of Otto's in Sursee, as reported by Onlinereports.

Markus Knöpfli

With APG|SGA's new smartphone app Posterplus, customers can find their desired poster site in just a few steps, according to the statement. The sites can be queried by entering a search term (city, street) or - if the GPS location service is activated - for the current geographical position. The app provides access to over 60,000 billboard sites throughout Switzerland. The user is provided with detailed information on the poster site found, such as site number, format, municipality, address, SPR and contact category, price, and a photo of the site. The billboard can be saved as a favorite, added to the shopping cart for a quote request, and recommended via e-mail or Facebook. In addition, the app also offers news about Out of Home and is available as an iPhone and Android version.

The free app is available for iPhone and for Android devices.

According to a statement from the agency, Frey also tells the story of the life of family doctor Dr. Daniel Bolliger, the ingenious diagnostician from Goldbrunnenplatz, with wit and charm in the second part. At its core, the story revolves around a 42-year-old folk music singer who visits Dr. Bolliger's GP practice because of an eczema attack and draws him into a maelstrom of despair and secret passion.

In addition to suspense and drama, the reader is given an understanding of the advantages of being a family doctor with a wink and a pinch of self-irony. The book is now available in the practice of your family doctor in the city of Zurich or on Family doctor.ch. And as a special highlight, there will be a reading with Patrick Frey on October 25 at 8pm at the Sphères bar and bookshop in Zurich, where he will perform a few scenes from the Hausarzt novel.

Responsible at VHZ: Dr. med. Andres Schneider, Dr. med. Bernhard R. Beck, Dr. med. Kaspar von Blarer, Dr. med. Pietro Somaini and Dr. med. Thomas Walser. Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Marco Donada, Patrick Suter, Roland Buob, Christian Stüdi (creation); Peter Brönnimann (ECD); Suzana Kovacevic (art buying); Pam Hügli, Annika Seidel, Fabienne Schoberth, Fabian Schiltknecht (consulting). Author: Patrick Frey.

They are looking for a kiosk employee (m/f) at Dufourstrasse with immediate effect. The advertisement, which takes up almost three quarters of a page in the Blick am Abend, reveals that only 20 percent of the job is being offered; however, the job can be expanded to 60 percent due to vacation or illness. It is no secret that such flexible part-time positions are very popular these days. Unfortunately, it is also no secret that kiosk operator Valora has not exactly enchanted employees with exuberant salary payments in the past. Dedicated work, manageable earnings - welcome to the media industry. (hae)
 

With the acquisition of Improve Digital, Publigroupe is taking an important step towards becoming a leading provider in the fast-growing real-time advertising (RTA) market in Europe, as the company writes in a press release. The investment will further accelerate Improve Digital's growth in Europe's key markets. The acquisition is subject to approval by the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO).

With the help of Improve Digital's technology, media houses and online publishers can build their own marketplace for automated ad trading and thus automate their digital ad sales. More than 70 European media houses are already working with Improve Digital's technology. Since the company was founded in 2008, it has received numerous awards. Improve Digital's billings are expected to reach CHF 20 million in 2012, a growth of 100 percent compared to 2011. The company employs 50 people. The two founders Joëlle Frijters, CEO, and Janneke Niessen, CIO, will remain with the company and will continue to be responsible for the expansion of the company and its internationalization. Improve Digital will operate as an independent company within the group.

Thanks to Improve Digital's technology, media houses benefit directly from thousands of customer contacts and are able to interact directly with all connected demand partners, including all major demand side platforms (DSPs) and agency trading desks. This connectivity is expected to lead to better results, increased efficiency and maximized advertising revenue, as well as greater data security and control. Improve Digital's technology also guarantees connectivity to any third-party technology, including all major ad server platforms, to meet the needs of the demand side and advertisers.

According to the market research company Forrester, the entire Western European display market will reach seven billion euros by 2015. The mobile segment will contribute another two billion euros. By 2015, a significant proportion of display advertising revenue in the USA and Europe will be generated via RTA platforms.

The supply-side solution is based on the concept of programmatic media buying. An important component of this is the principle of RTAs: the technology makes it possible to place dynamic bids for advertising impressions in digital media in real time instead of making volume purchases on websites or advertising networks at pre-negotiated prices. The benefits of this real-time trading are greater transparency, better targeting methods leading to higher CPMs (cost per mille), more efficient workflows and, in general, more effective advertising thanks to constant optimization on a real-time basis.

Publicitas, a subsidiary of Publigroupe, will use Improve Digital's technology for its premium RTA marketplace offering, as announced in June 2012. This new offering will enable media providers to manage their digital inventory more efficiently while increasing their advertising revenue. Publicitas will benefit from its position as an established global partner to premium media providers to bring premium inventory into the RTA ecosystem.

Arndt Groth, CEO Publigroupe: "Improve Digital is a fast-growing company with a unique value proposition. The dynamic and leading European sell-side platform offers Publigroupe an excellent opportunity for international growth in the RTA sector, which will further strengthen our existing, established relationships with leading media houses, agencies and advertisers in the interest of all market partners".

Renato Martignoni, Chief Operating Officer of Digital & Marketing Services at Publigroupe: "With this partnership, Publigroupe will provide the necessary resources for the continued growth of Improve Digital's leading solution in key European markets and Switzerland in the coming years. Advertisers and agencies have recognized the benefits of programmatic media buying and are now demanding more inventory for their growing budgets in this area. We are excited to tackle this European project with a world-class digital team."

Joëlle Frijters, CEO and founder of Improve Digital: "A completely new ecosystem is emerging here with new budgets looking for more efficient advertising opportunities. As part of Publigroupe, we will be able to make our products and services available to the market faster and more broadly. We will benefit from an experienced, well-established global network.

Janneke Niessen, CIO and co-founder of Improve Digital: "The transaction will allow us to continue investing in our technology while keeping our development focus on real-time bidding (RTB), premium and data. With the help of PubliGroupe as a new strategic partner, we will be able to continue to offer our customers customized solutions that are perfectly tailored to their needs".