The result from operating activities increased by 25 percent to 36.6 million Swiss francs. At 238.8 million Swiss francs, Group sales were 4.4 million francs higher than in the previous year. AZ Medien thus generated the best result in its company history.

According to the press release, the pleasing business performance in 2011 resulted primarily from revenue growth in the regional advertising markets, numerous optimization measures for processes in the Systems&Services division, and media production. The decline in national advertising revenues since mid-2011, particularly in daily newspapers, and the declining job advertising segment prevented significant revenue growth at Group level.

The operating income of newspaper publishers improved by 0.4 million Swiss francs (+ 0.3 percent) compared to the previous year. Magazines and books, grouped together under trade publishers, posted a decrease of 1.0 million Swiss francs (- 2.8 percent compared to the previous year). Printing and distribution generated 5.3 million Swiss francs more than in the previous year (+ 12.4 percent), as did radio and television with an increase of 1.3 million (+ 10.1 percent over the previous year).

"Difficult to assess"

With a self-financing ratio of 39.7 percent, AZ Medien has a solid financial basis, according to the statement. The headcount at the end of the year was 747.8 full-time positions (previous year 761.4). AZ Medien's annual report will be published at the beginning of May. The Annual General Meeting will be held on June 1, 2012.

Christoph Bauer, CEO of AZ Medien, considers the market trend in 2012 to be difficult to assess: "A decline is likely in the volatile advertising market and in job ads, which will have to be compensated for by other areas. The current economic forecasts, on the other hand, are positive."

Kraft Foods is reorganizing its corporate communications. As Head of Corporate Communications DACH, Barbara Blohberger will be responsible for all internal and external communications of the food manufacturer and will report directly to Jürgen Leiße, Member of the Management Board of Kraft Foods in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The 40-year-old Austrian succeeds Silke Trösch, who will shortly be taking on new overall responsibility outside the company in the area of corporate communications. Since 2007, Trösch had strategically repositioned Kraft Foods' corporate communications in the three countries, modernized it and made it more proactive and dialogue-oriented.
 

HTC calls its cell phones Desire, Wildfire or Sensation, and condom manufacturers use the same names to advertise their products. Samsung has also clearly based the names of its devices on contraceptives: Intensity, Fascinate and Vitality are their names. The South Korean manufacturer LG even has a product called Choccolate Touch in its range.

The marketing blog "Intercom" has dealt extensively with this phenomenon and has published an interesting Table created. It shows the fascinating overlap between the condom and smartphone industries. It also gives cell phone manufacturers some good advice: "If your product isn't a condom, don't call it one." We agree - after all, condoms and smartphones really have nothing to do with each other: Whereas with condoms, the bigger the better, the opposite is true for cell phones. And anyway: a Choccolate Touch on the ear is not really necessary ...

(Sources: 20min.ch, blog.intercom.io, picture: Keystone)

The new Group CEO Thomas Rabe announced in Berlin on Wednesday that in the future the company would invest primarily in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.So far, the Group still generates 80 percent of its revenues in the low-growth markets of Europe. Bertelsmann also wants to gain a foothold in the global education market. To gain additional financial leeway for the Group's restructuring, which is scheduled to take five to ten years, Bertelsmann is even considering breaking a taboo. An IPO of the Gütersloh-based family company no longer seems out of the question. Rabe announced that the Group would be transformed from a stock corporation into a partnership limited by shares (KGaA) by the end of June.

Stronger growth, more digital and more international

The new legal form allows the inclusion of new shareholders or even an IPO without diluting the influence of the Mohn family or the Bertelsmann Foundation on the Group's management, said Rabe. This would give the company the opportunity to make larger acquisitions in this way if necessary, he added. "The primary goal is to make the company stronger in terms of growth, more digital and more international," the 46-year-old manager said. To this end, he wants to direct a large part of the investment funds in the future into new businesses that have long-term growth potential, are global in nature and benefit from the trend toward digitization.

The Group's music rights business, which Rabe built up when he was Bertelsmann's CFO, is seen as a model for the planned future initiatives. The Group subsidiary, which was established together with financial investor KKR in 2008, is now number four in the global music rights market and has a music rights catalog of more than one million titles. According to the Group, it generates a "comfortable result.

Profit slump in fiscal 2011

Bertelsmann suffered a significant drop in profits last year. Group earnings fell by 6.7 percent to 612 million euros. According to the manager, this was mainly due to restructuring costs and value adjustments in the printing sector, in the production of CDs and DVDs, and in direct marketing, which led to charges in the hundreds of millions. By contrast, Group sales from continuing operations rose 1.2 percent to 15.3 billion euros.

For the current year, the Group expects a moderate increase in sales and higher net income than in 2011. (SDA/DAPD/RTD/DPA)
 

In Switzerland, more than 4,500,000 people regularly take part in sport, the agency writes in a press release. Despite different types of sport and objectives, they all have one thing in common: the first step towards achieving a sporting goal begins with choosing the right equipment. The idea of Inhalt&Form packs a lot of emotion and a lot of expertise into a story that is completely different from the usual. Back to the start, so to speak.

Responsible at SportXX: Felix Kubat (Specialty Store Manager), Christoph Vogler (Head of Market Development Specialty Stores), Nadia Falce (Project Manager Communications). Responsible for content&form: Serge Riedener (CD), Karin Estermann (AD), Fabian Zahner (Text), Simon Wick (AD Multimedia), Jan Löchler (Graphics), Cem van der Schaar (Agency Producer), Matthias Städeli and Andrea Melileo (Consulting). Film production: Rosas&Co, Gil Bauwens (director), Patrick Otten (cinematographer), Nadia Rosasco (producer). Product animation: Guave Studios. Music: Score Concept / Tim Nowack. Sound design and sound: Jingle Jungle.

Postcards from all over the world show the many facets of different destinations that are worth experiencing and are designed to whet the appetite. The postcards, written by Kuoni employees, reveal insider tips about the dream destinations and emphasize the special nature of Kuoni travel offers. The prize is a trip worth CHF 5,000. This "postcard game" can be experienced on a website created by Ogilvy Interactive. Facebook application.

Responsible at Helvetic Tours: Eva-Maria Hufnagel (eMarketing Manager), Gerd Berki (Senior eMarketing Manager), Pascal Fussen (Marketing Manager). Responsible at Ogilvy Interactive: Daniel Suter (consulting), Dominik Sigrist (graphics), Simone Paulzen (text), Oliver Schibli (technology).
 

In Lisa Klocke, Etextera has an experienced and internationally award-winning copywriter on board, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The mother of two has received several creative awards - for example from the Art Directors Club in Germany and at the Cannes Advertising Film Festival (shortlist), as an Epica finalist, at the Wolda Award 2009 and at the Annual Design Award 2010.