It's fall. It's not just in the forest that leaves are piling up in impressive, rustling heaps. Leaves with more or less sympathetic faces are also piling up in letterboxes, regardless of the "Stop advertising" sticker. And as if the letterbox terror wasn't enough, posters with the above-mentioned heads are springing up like mushrooms on private properties. Not to mention the advertising spaces on public property. Yes, it's fall, election fall 2011.

Except for important votes, the Swiss parties are never as present as when it comes to winning as many seats as possible in the National Council and the Council of States. This presence reflects not least the media mix used by the political strategists: The motto is broad impact - at least in the election campaign. "We place our advertising on almost every channel that is permitted," says Noé Blancpain, Head of Communications for the FDP, for example. The situation is similar for the CVP, the Green Party and the SP: Posters, advertisements, mailings, flyers, member brochures and the Internet are all part of the current media mix. The SVP is the party with the widest coverage of the parliamentary seats. Not only is the sun smiling in your face with a Swiss flag at every turn. In the election year, the party even afforded itself its own cinema spot.

One person who is intensively involved in the success of election campaigns is political consultant Mark Balsiger. The author of the books "Wahlkampf in der Schweiz" and "Wahlkampf - aber richtig" is convinced: "Those who can take the debate into the editorial section of the mass media and retain the upper hand there have a good chance of winning." This is no coincidence: over four-fifths of voters use newspaper articles to form their opinion in the run-up to votes. This is the conclusion of the "VOX trend reporting" study conducted by the research institute gfs.bern on behalf of the Federal Chancellery for the 2003-2007 legislative period. Even if the surveys on which the study is based relate to votes, a similar picture emerges for elections. In this context, Balsiger mentions the "phenomenon" of the SVP: "No other party receives anywhere near as much media attention. The fact that the majority of comments are negative obviously doesn't matter."

The poster as a "coming medium"

The communication managers of the other parties also know that attention is the most valuable asset in politics. However, limited budgets are often the sticking point when it comes to implementation. Accordingly, when it comes to voting, they analyze very carefully which medium conveys the party message most effectively. "When funds are tight, we tend to rely more on advertisements, as we believe we can reach the target group of politically interested people better," says Min Li Marti, Head of Campaigns & Communication at the SP Switzerland. Nevertheless, posters are still very important in Swiss political advertising. The parties not only mention purchased advertising space, but also wild posters as an important medium for placing their messages. And apparently the addressees also react positively to the classic approach. This was mentioned in the VOX study. The authors found that posters are used by a large minority - consisting mainly of younger people - to form opinions in the run-up to votes. At the same time, however, they attested to its status as an "upcoming medium". Lukas Golder, Senior Project Manager at gfs.bern, notes that voting campaigns are being conducted less and less in person, for example with stand-up campaigns. This ultimately leads to higher budgets and professionalization. "Campaigners don't just want to use content to drive issues. They are looking for this in the symbolism associated with the issue," Golder continues. In doing so, they focus on elements of brand management and media that can convey such symbols simply and strikingly. Today, posters are used more systematically and, according to the VOX trend report, have been attracting more attention for a few years when used on a massive scale - not least thanks to the sometimes provocative subjects.

Exaggerated emotions

While the media mix of the five parties - within the limits of their respective financial resources - does not differ too much, the chosen emotionalization strategies diverge. Linguist Sascha Demarmels (see below) dealt with this topic in her dissertation on Swiss voting posters in the 20th century. The fact that political posters often work with very strong emotions seems entirely appropriate: "While a direct gratification occurs when buying a product, the reward for political actions is further away or, in the case of democratic decisions, may not occur at all." The communication scientist notes that voting posters often use negative emotionalization. "The election poster, on the other hand," says Demarmels, "should be positive: a new person is coming who wants to make a difference." The SVP takes a different view, as Deputy Secretary General Silvia Bär explains: "We are a party that is close to the people and addresses the fears and concerns of the population." A strategy that is also being pursued in the current election campaign. When it comes to implementation, the party chooses a language that everyone understands. The other parties surveyed are somewhat more demanding of their voters. Not only do their campaign slogans require more or less intensive thought. The visual implementation of the campaign themes is also not always obvious at first glance (more on this below). Emotionally, the Greens are also focusing on fear for the most part: "We want to pick up voters' concerns about environmental pollution, climate change and dangerous nuclear energy. Another issue is solidarity," says Secretary General Miriam Behrens. The CVP is more optimistic. The party is not managing grievances, but success, emphasizes Head of Communications Marianne Binder.

When asked whether the quality of a campaign, and in particular its presence, determines the success of a party, Lukas Golder says: "Today, a good campaign is part of a party's election victory. But with a lot of personal and unpaid effort and creativity, some things can be corrected." In addition to the image aspect, people, issue profiles and political positioning are also part of a good campaign - and not least the timing. According to Golder, this also distinguishes election and referendum campaigns from commercial campaigning. "Everything has to be planned for a specific moment of decision. With an exciting and surprising campaign shortly before election day, a lot is still possible." So it remains exciting right to the end.

Simone Fankhauser

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Part-time work is expensive - or so you might think. This is because many personnel costs are incurred regardless of how many percentages an employee works. But this is only true at first glance. Part-time employees also offer advantages that more than compensate for the additional costs. Experience has shown that part-time workers are very productive and take fewer breaks, as they are away from their work anyway. The days off work increase motivation and creativity and reduce absenteeism. Studies have shown that part-time employees often work more than their workload allows. And with modern means of communication, the availability of part-time employees can also be organized satisfactorily.

Please note the following if you employ part-time staff:

- You are free to choose whether you want to employ your part-time staff on an hourly or monthly wage. The difference: with hourly wages, the salary paid naturally varies each month. Short absences (such as visits to the authorities, funerals) and public holidays do not have to be paid (with the exception of August 1, provided it falls on a working day). Vacation and sick leave, however, do. In this case, the exact amount of time that would have been worked must be paid.

- Working hours can be freely agreed. However, if a fixed workload has been agreed or has been established over a longer period of time, this is binding. Even hourly workers cannot simply be sent home unpaid if there is nothing to do. If the part-time employee works more than the agreed number of hours, they work overtime and must be paid accordingly (Art. 321c CO).

- In the case of irregular part-time work, vacation pay may be paid as a supplement to the hourly wage. Four weeks of vacation correspond to a wage supplement of 8.33 percent, five weeks to 10.64 percent and six weeks to 13.04 percent. The vacation pay must be shown separately both in the written contract and in each payslip. A flat-rate wage "including vacation" does not meet this requirement.

- You must register part-time employees with social insurance in the same way as other employees. Only annual salaries under CHF 2,300 can be exempted from the AHV contribution obligation. If you work less than eight hours a week, you are only insured against occupational accidents. And only employees who earn at least CHF 20,880 per year are subject to compulsory pension fund contributions.

- Part-time employees are often referred to as temporary staff. What is meant by this is not regulated by law. In the specialist literature, temporary or casual work refers to employment that only lasts for a short period of time, usually no longer than three months. In the case of such short employment relationships, there is no compulsory pension scheme and no continued payment of wages in the event of illness is owed. However, so-called temporary workers also have the same rights and obligations as other part-time employees.

Do you need legal advice?
The Beobachter Advisory Center offers you and your employees expert advice by telephone on legal issues relating to your company - 6 months for only CHF 99. Order the consulting package for SMEs at www.beobachter.ch/kmu or 0800 83 0800.tel.search.chAll telephone numbers, private and business addresses with relevant detailed information such as directions, product descriptions and services, web links,
 

The 65-year-old colonel in the General Staff and former career officer is taking over from Colonel Roland Beck, who is retiring. (SDA)

According to a press release, his experience gained at Zollikofer and Swissprinters gives him the necessary tools to provide his future customers with a neutral, expert and reliable service.

He named his agency Mediaconsale. This name is both a concept and a message: his services include the conception and sale of printed and electronic media, consulting for media companies and the coordination of media realization. He can also be hired as a (partial) project manager or temporary manager.
 

The 44-year-old has been working as a motoring journalist since 1992, according to a press release. He has worked internationally for many titles and has written numerous automotive books. In 2006, he joined Automobil Revue in Switzerland as an editor and was responsible for the Drivestyle magazine there between May 2009 and May 2011. Pfannmüller takes up his new position with immediate effect.

Vectura is published quarterly and will also be available in retail stores from 2012.

KSB Krieg Schlupp Bürge has developed an announcement campaign with three subjects that surprisingly transforms beef fillet, salad and broccoli into street maps. On which you can find your way from restaurant A to restaurant B thanks to the "travel guide for gourmets".

Responsible at Ringier: Urs Heller (Managing Director Magazines Ringier Switzerland), Nicole Wesche (Product Manager). Responsible at KSB:Uwe Schlupp (CD), Susanne Weeber, Mareike Jansen (AD), Christoph Bürge (consulting management), Simone Eder (consulting), Roman Limacher (DTP). Photographer: Hans-Jörg F. Walter. Image processing: Lukas Gloor. Lithographer: Detail.

The release of the iPad app was a playful take on Swiss history, according to a statement - highlighting Swissinfo.ch's attitude toward clichés. With the release of the Android and iPhone apps on September 28, a new animation is now making the rounds in the blogosphere, this time entirely in the spirit of Swiss neutrality. The recipe is the same, Swissinfo.ch adds: an original animation, partly developed in-house, presents a romance between the worst enemies on the mobile market. The theme of neutrality - with many details - plays a central role.

The spot was viewed more than 200,000 times on Swissinfo.ch's YouTube channel within 5 days. In China, thanks to a push on the Chinese equivalents of Twitter and Youtube (Weibo and Youku), more than 500,000 clicks were achieved, according to the company's own statements.

According to a press release, 16 experts shared their knowledge of social media across twelve modules and on social media itself. Thanks to their specialist knowledge and skills, the graduates are now able to turn social media into a success factor for advertising, marketing and PR.

The next courses start on October 25 and will be expanded to include the three modules "Google+", "Community Management" and "Analytics/Monitoring". The experts for these modules are Reto Stuber, Barbara Schwede and Mike Schwede.

In order to position the brand even more strongly in the Swiss domestic market, the brand design was comprehensively revised, refreshed and used consistently across all products and platforms. At the heart of the new look are the online applications, namely the Website and the Local.ch app. The launch of the key media took place on September 30, 2011; further implementations will follow on an ongoing basis.

Local.ch is the joint brand of the three companies Swisscom Directories, LTV Yellow Pages and Local.ch. The regional telephone directories, the Yellow Pages, the Internet search engine and the cell phone search appear under Local.ch.

Anyone who knows that the slogan "Come in and find out" is misunderstood by most Germans as "Come in and find out again" can imagine that a native-language approach would help many people, Populis said in a press release. The study proved that out of a total of two billion Internet users, only 300 million grew up with English as their mother tongue. However, the vast majority of non-English-speaking users were responsible for 61 percent of global online purchases, spending 262 billion euros in 2010. On average, this group had a purchasing power of 154 euros per capita last year. The purchasing power of English-speaking consumers is still significantly higher at 533 euros per person. However, those who have not grown up with English as their mother tongue are catching up.

It has so far been difficult for agencies to adapt to this trend, the report continues. Advertisers on the internet still tend to focus on the English-speaking population. "Advertisers who needed to target many non-English speaking markets have so far encountered a fragmented media landscape. As a result, reaching these consumers has been complicated and costly," says Luca Ascani, co-founder and CEO of content producer Populis. "Publisher networks, of which we are one, bring together high quality content offerings in multiple languages under one roof. This gives advertisers access to high reach across language barriers in one step."
 

They will also show what opportunities this offers advertisers. At the practice-oriented lunch panel, experts will also discuss the question of whether advertising on Internet television is just hype or the future. The TV 2.0 Summit is aimed at cross-industry decision-makers and experts from the media, advertising and marketing sectors.

In addition to Stailamedia (sponsor), Mediatec (partner) and Samsung (exhibitor), Goldbach Media (sponsor) and the Swiss web TV provider Teleboy (exhibitor) are now on board as partners. Tickets are still available for the TV 2.0 Summit on November 17, 2011 in Zurich. Register online at Tv2summit.ch.
 

Dominik Brand completed two internships at Radio Zürisee in 2010 and 2011 in the areas of moderation and editing, according to a statement on Wednesday. The enthusiastic FCZ fan proved to be a very committed, talented and versatile person.

Dominik Brand initially comes into play as a reporter. Soon his voice will also be heard on the news of Radio Zürisee.