Ringier spokesman Edi Estermann tried to smooth the waters as best he could. In response to an inquiry from Werbewoche, he spoke of a "completely normal departure" and said that the communiqué was merely the "final announcement. In any case, Christian Unger's departure was on good terms. "No bad feelings," Estermann said literally. There were also no differences between the CEO and the publisher in terms of corporate strategy and the implementation of goals. For Michael Ringier, Unger's departure was in any case not all that surprising, the spokesman said, but he could not or would not say when the publisher had first been informed by Unger of his departure from Ringier.

It would be "wrong" if the media release, which was "deliberately brief and sec", gave the impression that Unger's separation from Ringier was accompanied by discord. "It was the publisher's wish that there should be no fuss about this departure," said Estermann.

"No big fuss" and deliberately before Easter

Unger is also leaving on his own initiative, Estermann emphasized. The former CEO had expanded Ringier's business in Eastern Europe and also provided some impetus in the Far East. With these few words, Estermann tried to make up for what had been omitted from the communiqué - a brief tribute to Unger. Estermann also added that there would definitely be a farewell to Unger within Ringier.

The fact that the change would be communicated 14 days before Ringier's annual media conference (and shortly before the Easter holidays) had been chosen by the Ringier/Unger/Walder trio. Unger would vacate his office in the week after Easter and successively also step down from all board mandates at Ringier, and Marc Walder would already present the annual report at the press conference as the new CEO of the entire Ringier company. At the same time, however, Walder will remain CEO of Ringier Switzerland and Germany, he said. "We are not looking for a successor for this area," Estermann said.

By the way: Michael Ringier himself was not available in his office on Thursday. Christian Unger, on the other hand, was at his workplace. "But he's not available," his secretary confirmed. He also did not respond to e-mails.

Underwhelmed with Ringier's Far East business?

There are indications that Unger received a new, more interesting job offer at short notice. Was he actively looking around because he was dissatisfied - or more precisely, underchallenged - in his current job? One thing is clear: He did not have many tasks in Ringier's core business in Switzerland and Germany; Marc Walder was already responsible for this. And he also had less and less to do with the Eastern European business since Florian Fels took over as CEO of the joint venture Ringier Axel Springer Media - a man Unger had brought in himself. So "only" the activities in China and Vietnam remained for Unger - possibly "peanuts" for the busy manager. The fact that the new CEO Marc Walder is now responsible for the Far East and the Group as a whole, while at the same time remaining in charge of Switzerland and Germany, points in this direction. In addition, the chemistry between the publisher and Walder is probably better than between Ringier and Unger. At least, that's what the meager communiqué suggests, which contains more words about Walder than about the previous CEO.

Markus Knöpfli

New boss at Ringier: Marc Walder

In a satirical, but no less realistic piece about the craft behind the camera, he shows how a television program is put together. Giesler comments on his film, saying that it somehow happens in exactly the same way every day on ARD, ZDF, RTL, Sat1 and all other channels. Martin Giesler works as an editor in the chief editorial office of ZDF. The production of this video was for educational purposes. However, it is not an official ZDF video, but a Volo graduation film, says Giesler.

But take a look for yourself:

Five winners were chosen from the nominations received on Facebook. Their stories are now used as lead pages in the 2011 Annual Report published a few days ago. At the same time as the print edition, the annual report is now also available as an iPad version. In addition to the usual information, making-off videos of the photo shoots, interviews with the bank's management and further information are available there. 

Responsible at Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank: Christoph Loeb (overall responsibility). Responsible at BSSM Werbeagentur, Basel: Claudia Paganini (consulting), Urs Schneider (CD), Hannes Müller (concept/text), Pascal Rehmann (AD), Luca Stancheris, Flavia Eichele (graphics/typography), Daniel Bard (iPad). Photography: Derek Li Wan Po. System: Multimedia Solutions.
 

Since February, an argument for the sustainable use of wood has been touring Switzerland: a real wood poster made of larch, the mass of which grows back in Swiss forests within half a second. The headline reads: "I grow back in Swiss forests in 0.5 seconds."

With the "Proud of Swiss Wood" campaign, which has been running since fall 2011, the Federal Office for the Environment's Wood Action Plan informs the public about the sustainable use of wood in Switzerland. Maxomedia designed the campaign. It aims to provide arguments as to why Swiss wood should be harvested and used first as a building or construction material and then as a source of energy. And it explains why a near-natural forest is compatible with more intensive wood use thanks to careful management.

The real wood posters in the relevant national language can be seen immediately in Bern and from mid-April to the beginning of July in Basel, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zurich in turn. The French version is now hanging in Lausanne and then in Montreux, Sion, Geneva and Neuchâtel. In Ticino, the tour begins in Lugano and then continues via Chiasso, Locarno and Ascona to Bellinzona.
 

Gress guides people through three competitions on Carlsberg's website and Facebook page. In Laola Unlimited, Ball Hunter, and Soccer Rocker, soccer fans can take on different challenges to win VIP tickets to Uefa Euro 2012 matches, including those for the final.

Those who don't have luck on their side can also try it in the Carlsberg pubs, where there are more tickets, attractive fan articles or the Carlsberg Uefa Euro 2012 App to be won, with which you can always stay on the ball during the matches.
 

Using real-time bidding connectivity, available advertising space in Stailadirect's network can now be purchased at freely traded prices. At the same time, publishers benefit from the most modern yield management technology on the market with Pub Matic, Stailamedia said in a statement on Thursday. Stailadirect specifically complements the umbrella brand's existing offering, it added.

The offering ranges from display and social advertising to mobile advertising. In the future, Stailadirect will be able to purchase display ads via a sell-side platform (SSP). Using real-time bidding, supply and demand will determine the price of each ad impression offered by Stailadirect.

The 44-year-old Unger wants to turn to new challenges. This was announced by the media company on Thursday. Marc Walder has been responsible for Ringier Switzerland & Germany since 2008. He graduated from the Ringier School of Journalism and was, among other things, head of sports at the Blick Group and editor-in-chief of Schweizer Illustrierte and Sonntagsblick before taking over operational responsibility for Ringier Switzerland & Germany in 2008 and becoming a member of the Group Executive Board. 
 

The Weko has found Südostschweiz Medien to be in a dominant position in the areas of readership, print advertising and radio advertising. This was announced independently on Thursday by Südostschweiz Medien and its opponent, Roger Schawinski's Radio Südost and his partner Stefan Bühler from Chur.
 
However, the Weko's opinion has no immediate impact on the tussle for the license between Radio Grischa of Südostschweiz Medien and Radio Südost. The decisive factor for awarding the license is not the mere fact of a dominant market position, but rather any abuse of this position. Whether this is the case must now be examined by the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom).
 
However, should Bakom find abuse by Südostschweiz Medien, Radio Grischa would lose its current provisional license and Radio Südost would be awarded the contract. Both parties expect a decision before the end of this year.
 
The dispute over the license dates back to 2008. At that time, the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) awarded the VHF local radio license for Graubünden and Glarus to Radio Grischa. The unsuccessful Radio Südost of Schawinski and Bühler then filed an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court. The judges in Bern upheld the appeal, annulled the licensing decision and referred the matter back to DETEC for a reassessment. The latter called in the Weko.

Mobility wants to further expand its position as Switzerland's largest car-sharing service and emotionalize the brand more strongly, the agency said in a statement. Initial work will be published this spring.
 

This will allow wearers to take photos and video chat. Online services such as navigation and weather forecasts and the search for friends in the vicinity are also to be offered. According to SDA, Google's aim with the presentation was to stimulate discussion and receive useful suggestions. It also shows what the new augmented reality technology could look like.

At the moment, it is still unclear when the glasses could hit the stores.  

On the web, in the Sihlcity stores, on the street - everywhere people sang for the birthday boy or girl. Even if you were sitting unsuspectingly in the cinema, you could sing something for yourself: A simple cinema spot promised free ice cream for everyone if the hall reached a certain volume. The promotion has become a huge success, SFLB said in a statement on Thursday.

Responsible at Sihlcity: Philipp Schoch (Center Manager), Mara Bonorand (Marketing and Communications). Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Pablo Schencke, Johannes Raggio, Moritz Stillhard, Peter Brönnimann (creation), Isabelle Meier, Nadine Stüssi (consulting), Suzana Kovacevic (art buying), Ultra Images and Hastings (production cinema spot), cinematographer (Roni Ulmann FiftyFiftyFilm). Responsible at Compresso: Fridolin Stauffacher (Promotions), Eveline Hofstetter (Events), Irene Ñanculaf (Public Relations).

The digital communication infrastructure of 142 countries was compared. Switzerland follows in 5th place, according to a ranking presented by the World Economic Forum WEF in New York on Wednesday, as SDA writes. According to the WEF, Switzerland's favorable political environment, innovative capacity, good infrastructure, excellent technical education at universities and the intensive use of information and communication technologies by consumers and companies all contribute to its positive results.
 
As in previous years, many European countries are at the top of this year's ranking. According to the WEF, Europe is one of the regions that rely most heavily on new information technologies. However, there are also regional differences. For example, the southern European countries Portugal (33), Spain (38), Italy (48) and Greece (59) are far behind. Of the so-called BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, China has the best ranking in 51st place. Countries south of the Sahara in Africa are only at the bottom of the list, with the Caribbean state of Haiti at the bottom.