For several hours, the website Laredoute.fr posted an advertising photo showing children happily playing on the beach dressed in swimwear. In the background, a "man in splintered fiber" was "stomping out of the water with his privates hanging out". So no! Naturally, the Blick wonders how it is possible that this gruesome photo managed to make it through all the instances to publication. We ask ourselves the same question. Incidentally, since the photo was published, Twitter and blogs have been full of "ridicule and malice". The general opinion on the Grüsel photo is along the lines of "embarrassing faux pas". Only a few suspect a "hidden message from a paedophile marketing professional" behind the action. The word "hidden" is open to debate, as is the word "professional".

The story isn't quite so tragic: at least the privates were "hanging" and not something else. Be that as it may, the photo was fortunately removed from the web after a few hours. Of course, it is still doing the rounds in the virtual world - thanks to the screenshot. The work can be viewed, for example, on Blick.ch.
 

The publishers are very well represented with twelve people: they include Filippo National Councillor Leutenegger (FDP, ZH), who not only runs his own publishing house (in-house magazine), but has also recently tried his hand at restructuring Basler Zeitung Medien. CVP Councillor of States Filippo Lombardi represents the interests of two of the three Ticino daily newspapers as a board delegate of the Timedia holding company. Urs Schwaller, his Fribourg party colleague in the Stöckli, even represents three newspapers - he is a board member of both the Quotidien Jurassien and the Imprimerie St-Paul, which prints La Liberté and the Freiburger Nachrichten. Conversely, the small, right-wing Schweizerzeit Verlags AG is even represented twice in the National Council - with board members Hans Fehr (SVP, ZH) and Lukas Reimann (SVP, SG). National Council President and almost Federal Councillor Hansjörg Walter (SVP, TG) also knows his way around the publishing business, because as a member of the Board of Directors of Druckerei Flawil AG, he is co-publisher of the Wiler Zeitung, various weekly newspapers and the magazine Moto Sport Schweiz. Similarly, fellow councillor Corina Eichenberger-Walther (FDP, AG) chairs the Board of Directors of the Zofinger Tagblatt. Three SP National Councillors are also active in publishing houses: Hans-Jürg Fehr (SH) is the publisher of the Schaffhauser AZ, Andreas Gross (ZH) is a member of the management board of a small book publisher in St. Ursanne, and Beat Jans (BS) is a board member of the Surpise street magazine association. CVP member of the Council of States Brigitte Häberli-Lolle (TG) is also on the board of a cooperative that publishes the Frauenfeld parish magazine Forum Kirche. And not to forget: The Zurich SVP National Councillor Christoph Blocher also has (had) publishing interests time and again - be it with the Bündner Tagblatt or the Basler Zeitung.

Private broadcasters have a broader base than SRG

Local radio and TV stations also have a strong lobby: Lombardi also represents Radio 3iii and TeleTicino in the federal parliament. As President of the local television association Telesuisse, he also lobbies on behalf of the entire private TV industry and, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mediapulse Foundation, for its usage research. The National Council also includes Yannick Buttet (CVP, VS), a member of the Board of Directors of Radio Chablais, and Maximilian Reimann (SVP, AG), a co-founder of Radio Argovia and Tele M1. National Councillor Barbara Schmid-Federer (CVP, ZH) is a board member of Radio Zürisee, Christine Bulliard-Marbach (CVP, FR) is a board member of Radio Fribourg, and her fellow councillor Viola Amherd (CVP, VS) sits on the board of the supporting association of the Valais TV station Canal 9. The small Tele D (Diessenhofen) has two National Councillors - the foundation councillors Peter Spuhler (SVP, TG) and Hans-Jürg Fehr (SP, SH). Radio 105 also has a voice in the National Council - via Cédric Wermuth (SP, AG), who is on the program advisory board of the youth station. Also worth mentioning is Ruedi Noser (FDP, ZH), who holds a 20 percent stake in ZH-Medien GmbH, owned by former ZüriPlus operator Peter Steinmann.

The SRG is less comfortably represented: although Maximilian Reimann (SVP, AG) and Walter Wobmann (SVP, SO) are two members of the regional SRG companies in the National Council, at least Reimann is known as a critic of the SRG. Former SF editor Filippo Leutenegger (FDP, ZH), who together with Natalie Rickli (SVP, ZH) chairs the SRG-critical Campaign for Media Freedom, is also on the same side. Rickli also works for SRG's competitor Goldbach Group, which markets most foreign TV advertising windows in Switzerland. The SRG is likely to enjoy more support from former SF journalist Matthias Aebischer (SP, BE).

Journalists, PR people and the advertising lobby

Incidentally, four members of the National Council and one member of the Council of States state that they work as journalists: Weltwoche editor Peter Keller (SVP, NW), Lorenzo Quadri (Lega, TI), who works for the Lega paper Mattino della Domenica, former Tagblatt editor Christian Lohr (CVP, SG), who is now a freelance journalist, then Vaud Liberal Fahti Derder, who also works as a communications consultant, and SP member of the Council of States Géraldine Savary from the same canton.

Four other politicians come from the PR and communications sector: National Councillor Doris Fiala (FDP, ZH) is the owner of relations & more, a public relations agency, her fellow Councillor Balthasar Glättli (Greens, ZH) works as Head of Campaigns and Advertising at VPOD Switzerland, PR consultant Lorenz Hess (BDP, BE) is on the board of the Bern-based communications agency Stoll, Hess und Partner, and Councillor of States Werner Luginbühl (BDP BE) works as Head of Public Affairs at Mobiliar.

Advertising also has numerous lobbyists in the Federal Parliament: in the Council of States, it is once again Filippo Lombardi who, as President of the Swiss Advertising Association, lobbies for the entire industry. He is supported by eight members of the National Council who are campaigning against advertising bans as part of the IG Freiheit. Specifically, these are IG President Peter Spuhler (SVP, TG), the two Vice Presidents Otto Ineichen (FDP, LU) and Gerhard Pfister (CVP, ZG) as well as IG members Toni Brunner (SVP, SG), Christian Lüscher (FDP, GE), Jean-François Rime (SVP, FR), Thomas Müller (SVP, SG) and Walter Müller (FDP, SG).

From the fiber optic network to the Pruntrut cinema

It is astonishing that the "interest platform" Fiber Optic Network Switzerland, founded last September, in which Swisscom is prominently represented by CEO Carsten Schloter, can delegate three board members to the federal government, namely National Councillors Martin Landolt (BDP, GL) and Ruedi Noser (FDP, ZH) as well as CVP Councillor of States Peter Bieri (ZG).

Five SP parliamentarians have other affinities with the media: National Councillor Evi Allemann (BE) is on the board of the "Association against Media Violence", fellow Councillor Ursula Wyss (BE) is on the advisory board of the Institute for Media Studies at the University of Bern, and Councillor of States Pascale Bruderer Wyss (AG) is on the advisory board of the Swiss Media Forum, which was initiated last year by "Der Sonntag" editor-in-chief Patrik Müller. Bruderer is also a lawyer for out-of-home advertiser Clear Channel Switzerland. National Councillor Pierre-Alain Fridez (JU), who is committed to the cinema in Pruntrut, and Councillor of States Hans Stöckli (BE), who sits on the Board of Trustees of Comdays (Biel Communication Days), should also be mentioned.

The self-declared vested interests (www.parlament.ch) reveal at least some of the federal parliamentarians' commitments. However, the lists there are incorrect, sometimes outdated and incomplete. Incidentally, the federal parliament is also incomplete: after the election of Council of States member Alain Berset to the Federal Council, the canton of Fribourg still has to appoint a new representative on March 11.

Markus Knöpfli

(Teaser image: Parlament.ch)
 

The idea: lane keeping while driving is not so different from bowling. The Y&R Group reprogrammed the computers of a bowling center: Whenever a ball drifted out of the bowling lane, Audi active lane assist was advertised on the score screen. At the same time, the "bumpers" were raised on the lane - assist bands that are actually intended for children and beginners.

Responsible at Amag: Erich Hunold (Head of Marketing Audi) and Barbara Wernli (Head of Advertising Audi). VResponsible at the Y&R Group: Markus Gut (CCO), Daniel Bieri (CD), Dieter Boller (text/concept), Vincent Schaublin (AD) and Rémy Müller (consulting).
 

Nicole Thalmann is new since January 1, in addition to the management of internal sales, the support of the publishing director Patrick Wehrli in a deputy role. She has been working for Migros Media since 2007 and will complete her training as a media manager in February.
Thomas Brügger takes over the management of the sales force. He has already been working in advertising sales at Migros Media for three years.
Patrick Wehrli, Publishing Director Migros-Medien, is positive about the change: "I am delighted to have been able to recruit Nicole Thalmann and Thomas Brügger for these functions. I am convinced that both will make a valuable contribution to the successful further development of the publishing house."
 

For its 10th anniversary, the Riders Palace had an anniversary claim created by Eyeloveyou from Basel. The claim with the name "Royal Riding - since 2001" features a crown - consisting of ski poles and snowboards. The Riders Palace is also appearing with a new visual world in its anniversary year. The clever staging of miniature figures in the surroundings of the three areas - hotel, club and piste - allows the Royal Riding concept to be implemented consistently and humorously. The anniversary measures also include the completely revised Websitethe check-in cards at the hotel, the bar card, all event posters and a special poker set.

Responsible at Weisse Arena Group: Christoph Schmidt (Head of Resort and Services), Tobias Treichler (Direct Marketing and Advertising), Josef Sporer (Web Management and ECommerce) and Silke Palmieri (Operations Manager Riders Palace, Music and Entertainment). Responsible at Eyeloveyou: Rafael Dietschy (design, concept), Stevie Fiedler (design), Oliver Kirschbaum (consulting), Anne Krier (graphics) and Tobias R. Dürring (photography).
 

Ammarkt strengthens its management team. With Ralf Kostgeld, the agency brings a Creative Director with a national and international track record to the 32-member company. Born in St.Gallen, Kostgeld has worked in the past for various renowned creative and design agencies in Switzerland and abroad. Most recently as a long-standing CD at Publicis.
 

Since December, Theater Rigiblick has been presenting "Loriot - The Theater Evening" with Loriot's most famous sketches. Draftfcb/Lowe Group created six different subjects for the show, focusing on the cult play "Die Nudel". The subjects are used as posters, in the program booklet and on the theater's website and were created in collaboration with photographer Felix Streuli.
The campaign is accompanied by a guerrilla campaign. Guerrilla spaghetti with a QR code will be used to draw attention to "Loriot - Der Theaterabend" on third-party posters and in the Spaghetti Factory. The campaign can be seen until the end of January.

Responsible at Theater Rigiblick: Daniel Rohr (theater director) and Brigitta Stahel (deputy theater director). Responsible at Draftfcb/Lowe GroupDennis Lück (ECD), Frédéric Nogier (AD), Tizian Walti (text) and Felix Streuli (photographer).
 

In the second half of 2011, the public broadcaster SF 1 continues to lead the field for Swiss-German TV viewers with a market share of 20.6 percent. In the evaluation of all persons over the age of three in German-speaking Switzerland, SF 1 is clearly the leading station, followed by RTL (7.3), SF 2 (6.5) and the two legal-public stations from Germany ARD (5.0) and ZDF (4.9).

In the advertising-relevant target group of 15-49 year-olds, SF 1 is again in the lead with 11.1 percent. However, this extrapolation of market shares shows that RTL is almost equally popular, with 10.2 percent. SF 2, on the other hand, is also in third place in this target group, with 7.4 percent. The two German public stations ZDF and ARD have been replaced by the two German private stations ProSieben (6.9) and Vox (5.5). In the entire sample, 2077 people took part, 1044 of whom were in the 15-49 target group.

The complete data is located at: www.publicadata.ch

On Thursday, the projected Market shares of Goldbach Media published. A comparison shows that at Goldbach Media, which markets the advertising windows of German private stations, RTL has a higher market share than SF 1. The differences result from the calculation of guests. While Mediapulse included the guests, Goldbach Media calculated the market shares without guests.

PIN data hardly before 2014
 

The Aargau government councillor and her four colleagues will be columnists on Radio Argovia in the new year. Every Thursday evening - for the first time on January 12 - the government councillor and the government councillors will take it in turns to comment on a topic of their choice on Argovia Abendinfo. This column will allow listeners to get to know the other side of the government councillors as well as the political side. Radio Argovia announces that it is delighted to have won over the entire government for this project, which is unique in the Swiss radio scene.

The School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, with campuses in Olten, Basel and Brugg, is launching a campaign on January 9 to advertise its training opportunities for teenagers and young adults. The two subjects show: Success is attractive. Street posters, rail posters in commuter trains and regional trains as well as streetcar, train and bus hangers and flyers will be used for the campaign. Animated bus screens will also be placed on buses in the campaign area. In addition to the core area of the FHNW, the campaign also focuses on the neighboring regions.
Online and social media channels are a key focus of the campaign: Advertising includes animated banners and advertisements next to various sites relevant to the target group.

Responsible at the FHNW School of Business: Richard Pöllinger (Head of Communications). Responsible at S&W Werbeagentur AG: Jörg Krummenacher and Urs Wiezel (creation), Martin Perini (conception and consulting), Thomas Beck (media and production) Dominik Golob (photography).
 

Visually, the Official Gazette of the Canton of Aargau as before. It is available as a PDF edition on the Internet every Friday. Publication fees will be reduced by around 20 percent, as announced by the State Chancellery on Friday. The certified circulation of the official gazette in A4 format recently amounted to just under 3,500 copies. Among other things, the municipalities were obliged to subscribe to the gazette at an annual price of CHF 95.

The cantons of Zurich, Basel-Land and Solothurn are planning to issue legally binding official publications in electronic form only. The Principality of Liechtenstein also intends to introduce the electronic Official Gazette. The Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SOGC) is published in printed and electronic form. Since 2006, however, the electronic version has been definitive. (SDA)
 

Among 20 to 49-year-olds, RTL's lead was even clearer, as Goldbach Media writes in a press release: At 14.2 percent, RTL was able to claim far more shares than SF1 (10.2 percent). RTL's success means that for the first time in Swiss TV history, a private broadcaster has been ahead of public broadcaster SF1 for an entire year. 2011 was also a successful year for Pro Sieben: the channel achieved an 8.4% viewer market share and is the third most popular channel in Switzerland. Pro Sieben thus displaced SF zwei (8.0%) from the podium.

The two private channels were able to gain significant market share compared to the previous year. RTL increased its share by 18% (2010 market share was 10.7%). For Pro Sieben, the increase was 8% (in 2010, Pro Sieben achieved 7.8%). According to Goldbach Media, this is clear proof of how popular the programs of private broadcasters are in Switzerland.

RTL's well-known ratings guarantors include "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" with an average of 67,700 Swiss viewers (14% viewer market share) and "Familien im Brennpunkt" (19%). However, magazines and news programs such as "Exclusiv - Das Star-Magazin" (13%) and "Punkt Zwölf" (20%) are also very popular.

Pro Sieben scores particularly well with series such as "The Simpsons" (10 percent) and "Two and a Half Men" (10 percent). Popular magazines include "Galileo" (9 percent) and "Taff" (10 percent). Swiss program windows such as "Funky Kitchen Club" or "Faces TV" are also very popular. Towards the end of the year, Sat.1 and Pro Sieben achieved a Swiss audience success with "The Voice", averaging just under 150,000 viewers and a market share of 16%.

RTL and Vox most popular private channels among Swiss householders

Two private broadcasters are also on the podium among 20 to 49-year-old household heads: Gold again goes to RTL. With a viewer market share of 14.2 percent, the channel is well ahead of SF1 (10.2 percent). Vox took third place with 7.8 percent. According to the press release, this is the most successful year ever for Vox in its 20-year history.

Source: Mediapulse TV panel, German-speaking Switzerland, January to December 2010 vs. January to December 2011, 24h.
Target groups: Persons aged 15-49 excluding guests (otherwise no comparison with 2010 possible), heads of household aged 20-49, viewer market shares in percent.
Notice: Channel market share in each case from the overall signal (RTL, Pro Sieben, Vox). Formats from RTL and Pro Sieben in 2011 only evaluated on Swiss signal (viewer market share among 15 to49 year olds without guests, number of viewers among people aged 3 and over with guests).