Meili is a partner at the Zurich law firm Meili Pfortmüller, which specializes in media and communications law, and has been Head of Electronic Media at the Tamedia media group for many years. The current members of the Board of Directors are Christian Fehrlin (Chairman and CEO), Martin Saidler (owner of the online investment company Centralway Holding, Zug) and Lars Kooymans (owner of the multimedia agency Mediawinner, Rapperswil).
 

Being pregnant would be easier if it weren't for the stares of my fellow human beings. They furtively roam over my rounding belly, fixate directly on the ball or, as my "condition" increases, circle the object of their gaze with rolling eyes. The looks say everything from "oh how beautiful" to "another one like that" to "how can you!" - This is the preferred look of the grizzled old people whose pensions our little one will later have to pay. The expectant mommy is well advised not to look when someone is looking. And who thinks about the little bliss that is growing in her belly and lively fights against all those stupid gawkers. But at some point, even the coolest, happiest mother-to-be has had enough. I was recently "knocked off my peg" by the adjacent advertisement. I am happy about my growing curves, as they show that my little lodger is thriving the way I want it to. How frustrating to realize that everyone else only sees me as a plump melon with two fat nectarines on top. Hey, I'm pregnant - not a fruit basket!

Advertising misfire

Put yourself, just for a moment, in the body of a brutally fit pregnant woman: She feels as immobile as an elephant, waddles like a duck, at best has a back that only 23 hours out of 24 feels like it's going to break through, and her legs and other protruding things on her body are threatening to burst. Mind you, "brutally fit". There are a lot of pregnant women who are miserable as hell. For all of them, this health promotion campaign is totally wrong and discriminatory. And I bet my last pregnancy shirt that those pregnant women will definitely not touch any more melons or nectarines after seeing this image. Advertising objective achieved?

Even I, as a hardened self-ironist, find this advertising masterpiece so stupid that it's almost good again. Ha ha ha! Once again, a particularly highly creative male hasn't understood who his target group is. And the gentlemen at the health promotion agency who waved this fruit salad through must have had a lot of fun. Great, guys. A little tip: "Pay attention to your target group during your advertising." But I get the message: I'm off then! You can send me some fruit to the hospital - but no melons, please. Because this season is now over.

As of today, the fair appears in various media in its new image, such as posters, mega posters, advertisements, TV spots, advertising banners, social networks, brochures. The strategy of the campaign is to position the Autumn Fair of the Canton of Fribourg as the lively center of the period from October 7 to 16 - as the place where people meet, exchange ideas and discover new things, in short, as "THE meeting place for all Fribourg residents," the agency said in a statement.

The most important feature that sets the Fribourg Fair apart from similar exhibitions and events in the canton is its liveliness. Thus, the heart was chosen as the subject. It stands as a life motor and symbolic seat of the emotions for this value. It appears in the campaign in three different subjects, which complement each other and represent the different interests of the visitors: Entertainment, Culture and Networks. The network subject was created interactively as part of a Facebook campaign in search of "Friburgergrine" who wanted to appear on the billboards of their city. All participants won trade fair admissions for themselves and their friends.

The concept with the heart motif will be used in various forms over several years. It is intended to convey the lively image of the trade fair to the outside world. Further interactive actions will follow in the second year, so that a real dialogue with the visitors and especially with a young target group should be created.
 

What's it all about: 15 months ago, Penélope and Monica Cruz were hired into celebrity marketing as boosters for the boutique fashion brand Charles Vögele, certainly not for any pocket money. Neither the sisters nor Till Schweiger probably had any idea about this fashion chain beforehand. My thesis: The Vögele example shows once again how delicate and with how much sensitivity such a brand upgrade with image transfer is.

When Catherine Deneuve advertised a Coco Chanel No 5, everything matched perfectly. But when Roger Federer holds up his likeness for a coffee machine, it's hair-grey out of place. On the other hand, it is perfect or almost brilliant when George Clooney plays the unimportant supporting role next to the main character Nespresso. Another wrong comparison is when Melanie Winiger advertises a toilet bowl, Schuhmacher stands for Naviboot (or did they think of the connection between his name and shoemaking) or when - as has been the case for some time now - our golden ball pusher Günthör poses on a vacuum cleaner.

H&M gets to the heart of the matter. They put a celebrity in front of their advertising machine every year. Karl Lagerfeld or Madonna have not only transferred their lifestyle, but also created a special fashion edition. So the marketing concert at H&M has harmonized. Image, product, price and advertising. At Charles Vögele, they hoped for too much too quickly. A huge mistake on all levels. Turning such a dusty brand into a "must have" label needs more advertising power, not just print media and events. The successful testimonial campaigns have almost all become known through television. Now we could read: Exercise canceled. New CEO. New communication. This will not create a better image among consumers. But perhaps customers didn't even notice the Cruz episode? I wouldn't be surprised. Finally, the Gilet commercial with Henry, Tiger Woods and Federer comes to mind. This example reveals another problem with such testimonials. Tiger has now shaved off his hair. And Harald Junke didn't survive the Mediamarkt either.

I don't believe that there is a recipe for testimonial advertising. Every task is individual and certainly cannot be dealt with using a marketing manual. Your gut feeling plays the most important role.

Dear advertisers, don't go on making such nonsense, otherwise "Motz von Butz" will never end.

My standout this week was a walk on the High Line in Manhattan's West End, with the best view of Frank Gerrys, Jean Nouvels and other new skyscrapers. It's worth a detour.

Theophil Butz, once a star advertiser (quote from Ringier), now an inspirer and, from now on, a mocker. "Not an easy role, but a necessary one, which I perform here every 14 days." Please send any relevant information to [email protected]

Although he had allowed himself to be interviewed for more than 50 hours and had contractual obligations, Assange wanted to prevent the publication. This was announced by the publisher Canongate Books on Thursday. However, he had already used the advance payment to pay bills from his court case. It was therefore decided to publish the book without authorization.

According to a BBC report, Assange accuses the publisher of breaking the contract. Canongate is profiting from an incorrect, unrevised draft. The publisher rejects this. Julian Assange was reportedly worried about publication after telling his story to a ghostwriter. He is said to have said: "All memoirs are prostitution."

In the document entitled "Julian Assange: The Unauthorized Autobiography", Assange reports, among other things, on warnings from intelligence circles that the US was planning a plot against him using "illegal" means. According to SDA, this emerges from excerpts published in the British newspaper The Independent on Thursday. The book is to be published there as a series in the coming days.

In the unauthorized autobiography, Assange emphasizes that the sex with two women was consensual. He may be a chauvinist pig in his own way, but he is not a rapist, according to the reprint. It was either a "terrible misunderstanding" or a trap. One of his secret service contacts had warned him that there were discussions in the USA as to whether he should be accused of "immoral charges", for example in connection with drugs or child pornography. Julian Assange has been under house arrest in the UK since December 2010 and is awaiting a decision in extradition proceedings to Sweden. There he is accused of rape and sexual abuse of two women.
 

In a longitudinal study published in 2007, the US authors Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler demonstrated over a period of 32 years that obesity is transmitted from person to person within social networks. This writes Idw-online.de in on Tuesday. However, previous studies have only looked at the epidemic spread of obesity within traditional social networks - offline.

Researchers from the Chair of Information Systems II at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg FAU, led by Freimut Bodendorf, are now turning their attention to social networks such as Facebook. In cooperation with the women's fitness studio "Das Studio - Frauenfitness" in Nuremberg, where some of the test subjects come from, they are investigating which social factors - in particular the support of friends - play a role in weight gain and loss.

Based on these findings, a Facebook application is being developed. This uses the identified motivational factors to promote health-conscious behavior among personal Facebook friends. If this works, social networks will be given a new function. And Weight Watchers can pack up.

The images of Mezger Watches and Jewelry's jewelry campaign focus on the aesthetics of transience and bear the signature of Basel-based photographer Christoph Läser. The key visuals are used in a large-format brochure and in advertisements in local daily newspapers.

Responsible at Mezger Watches and Jewels, Basel: Urs Mezger (overall responsibility). Responsible at BSSM Werbeagentur, Basel: Urs Schneider (CD), Pascal Rehmann (AD), Hannes Müller (text), Claudia Paganini, Roger Berthoud (consulting). Photography: Christoph Läser.
 

Two journalists in the Spanish-language editorial department had already been laid off two weeks ago. The number of full-time positions will have to be reduced by 40 to reach 86 by the end of 2012, editor-in-chief Christophe Giovannini told news agency SDA on Thursday. He said the job cuts would mainly come from natural departures, early retirements and transfers to other SRG units.

The five journalists made redundant worked in the German-, French- and Italian-language editorial offices, which will merge in January 2012. After their merger, the three national editorial offices will have only 15 journalists with 80 percent employment, almost half less than before. The annual budget of the Internet platform for Swiss abroad and foreigners interested in Switzerland, the former Swiss Radio International, will drop from CHF 26 million to CHF 17 million.

The next stage at Swissinfo.ch will be to restructure the administration and technology departments. It is to take place by summer 2012. Layoffs cannot be ruled out in these areas either, but there will probably be transfers to other SRG units, says the editor-in-chief.

The reduction in journalistic capacities, especially in the national language editorial offices, is not well received by the Swiss Syndicate of Media Professionals SSM. According to SDA, the SSM described the cutbacks as a strategic mistake. In-depth reporting in the national languages is not only of central importance for the Swiss abroad. It is also important for foreign opinion leaders such as diplomats and business circles. For this target group, Swissinfo is the central source if they want an objective, reliable and balanced picture of Switzerland.

Imprint regrets the job cuts at Swissinfo

Imprint, is dismayed by Swissinfo's decision to solve the budget cuts solely through a massive reduction in jobs, which will be seen as severely limiting Swissinfo's offering. This writes the Swiss Association of Journalists on Thursday in a communiqué. The association stressed that the information offered by Swissinfo is unique and represents an extremely important source of information both for foreign interested parties and for the Swiss abroad, which cannot be replaced by other online information services.

The association was involved in preventing the cancellation of the federal contribution to Swissinfo. It is disappointing that such a large number of jobs are being cut anyway, Impressum continues. Because also the information offer in the three national languages, which is particularly affected by this dismantling, cannot be replaced by that of other portals.

The female journalists affected by layoffs are being released into a job market that is still extraordinarily difficult. Imprint therefore calls on SRG to protect these employees from unemployment through special, targeted measures.

For the anniversary, the Cerebral Foundation finances the conversion to handicapped accessible ships. In Flagranti uses this for a birthday party on four lakes. Over 120 children with cerebral movement disabilities had a "blast" at the nautical birthday parties.
 

For Postfinance's order, Goldbach Interactive staged the bull, which stands for a bull market in the stock market world. The campaign uses the symbolic character of the animal, writes the agency in a statement: Thanks to Postfinance, the bull becomes a tame companion in the figurative sense, because with Postfinance, everyone has their e-trading firmly under control.

Goldbach Interactive is responsible for the concept, visuals and text of the campaign as well as for the implementation of the online part. The print campaign, i.e. flyers with response forms and advertisements, is being implemented by Inflagranti Werbeagentur BSW from Lyss.

The new logo puts Janka's coolness into the picture with a combination of the initials "CJ," the agency writes in a statement. Whether as a small design element or as a large-scale implementation, the application possibilities are almost unlimited. Adapted to the product and target group, the logo can also be used in any color and any size.

The positioning of the brand identity and possible applications are documented in the "Carlo Janka Zeitung". The central interface in communication with the fan world is the new website. Festland revised both the design and navigation concept and technically implemented the website with the content management system Typo3. With the game "Janka or Neinka", fans can prove their "Jänks knowledge" on the website.

With Google Plus, the company is trying to enter the competition with Facebook, the world's most popular online network with more than 750 million users. In addition, the "Hangouts" service, which allows users to communicate with several people at once via video chat, is now available for smartphones, Google announced Tuesday. (SDA)