Cab Services will continue to operate in the market under its own brand. The acquisition is an important step in the expansion of digital expertise, says Michael Gerber, CEO of Valencia Communication. "As a company, we are making ourselves fit for the digital future.

Finally, last year's LSA study said that more than 50 percent of principals plan to invest more money in digital media, social media, search engine, etc."
The new CEO of Cab Services will be founding partner Marco Rosenberg, Chairman of the Board and former Head of Consulting at Valencia Kommunikation. The two previous owners of Cab Services, Chris Beck and Jonas Felix, will support the company in the takeover phase and make their know-how available until this process is completed. At Valencia, Michael Gerber will head the consulting department together with Frédérique Mathys. The Creation department will be managed by Executive Board members Tommy Schilling and Simone Fluri. The Board of Directors of Cab Services will be chaired by Simone Fluri.

The Basel-based company specializes in the development and support of Internet and Intranet solutions using the TYPO3 content management system. Today, the web agency employs more than 20 web specialists for the development and support of internet and intranet projects for medium-sized and larger Swiss companies, financial service providers, associations, non-profit organizations as well as public authorities and the federal government. With its 21 employees, the agency manages more than 200 mandates. Together, the two companies in Basel offer more than 70 full-time positions and generate a gross operating income of more than 11 million Swiss francs annually.

From left to right: Jonas Felix (former co-owner Cab), Marco Rosenberg (CEO Cab, President of the Board of Directors Valencia), Tommy Schilling (Creative Director Valencia), Simone Fluri (Creative Director Valencia, President of the Board of Directors Cab) , Chris Beck (former co-owner Cab), Michael Gerber (CEO Valencia)
 

 

The Paris-based company Salt France, which has offices in a suburb of the city of Lyon, was already founded last year. In the meantime, Salt France is looking for technicians and engineers there for the expansion and operation of the Swiss network, as can be seen from job advertisements posted on French platforms.

Salt France is not a subsidiary of the Swiss Salt Mobile AG. Commercial register excerpts show that it is controlled by a company in Luxembourg. Salt Mobile is also held by companies in the tax haven. These are partly a legacy of the private equity fund Apax, which sold Salt to French telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel just over a year ago.

Upon request, Salt informs that no jobs will be transferred directly from Switzerland to Lyon. However, people will be employed in Lyon if it is not possible to fill the positions in the canton of Vaud. The Salt spokeswoman would not say how many people are already working in France. A French online portal reported with reference to Salt that a "center for development and synergies" is being created in Lyon, also for other Xavier Niel holdings such as Monaco Telecom and in partnership with the computer science school Ecole 42.

After the takeover by Niel, Salt had announced that it would bring functions back to the parent company that had previously been outsourced to service providers. At the same time, rigorous job cuts are taking place at Switzerland's third-largest mobile company. As part of a voluntary program, 67 employees have left in the past six months, Salt confirmed. At the same time, employees are reporting numerous layoffs. The Salt spokeswoman did not want to say how many employees Salt currently still has.
 

SVP General Secretary Martin Baltisser and his deputy Silvia Bär will not stand for the accusation of racial discrimination. The Bern-Mittelland regional court sentenced them to conditional fines. Baltisser's lawyer and the representative of the two Kosovan private plaintiffs presented their side of the story for almost five hours on Tuesday. At the end, Baltisser and Bär reiterated that they had "never had any racist feelings in their lives".

The High Court was obviously surprised by the length of the parties' submissions. Contrary to the original plans, the verdict will not be announced until next Tuesday (March 15).

The legal dispute revolves around a newspaper advertisement from 2011 with the title "Kosovars slash Swiss". An average reader could take this to mean that Kosovars are all criminals, the court of first instance ruled. Such an assertion violates human dignity.

"Ambiguous"

Viewed in isolation, it is an ambiguous formulation, admitted Baltisser's lawyer Thomas Wirz before the High Court. However, the title and text of the advertisement must be perceived as a unit.

It was clear from the text that it was about a specific case - the attack on a Swiss man in Interlaken. This is also shown by the undisputed French-language version of the advertisement. There the title was "Des Kosovars poignardent un Suisse".

"Nationwide outrage"

The public prosecutor's office is not taking part in the proceedings before the High Court. David Gibor, the representative of the two private plaintiffs, is calling for the judgment of the court of first instance to be confirmed. It was no coincidence that the advertisement caused "nationwide outrage" in 2011.

Gibor claimed that this was an attack on human dignity. A constitutionally protected fundamental right was affected. The defendants could therefore not invoke freedom of expression. The SVP had engaged in propaganda at the expense of an ethnic minority, said Gibor. Baltisser and Bär had deliberately chosen the wording: "They are communication professionals and knew exactly what they were doing."

In the violent incident in Interlaken, a Swiss wrestler was injured with a knife by a man from Kosovo. The police subsequently arrested two Kosovars. One was released after a short time, the other was later convicted of attempted intentional homicide. (SDA)

Teaser image: Tagesanzeiger.ch
 

Every year, the Expo-Event.Live Communication Association Switzerland honors the best projects from the Swiss live communication industry with the Xaver Award www.xaver-award.ch. In addition to awarding the most important projects, a central component of the Xaver Award is the presentation of the Xaver of the Year - the prize for the most outstanding personalities from the industry. For this year's edition on April 26, 2016, the Xaver of the Year goes to Freddy Burger for his incomparable commitment to Swiss entertainment and show business.

A Swiss success story

Already as a young entrepreneur, Freddy Burger brought national fame as co-owner of the concert agency Good News, several dance halls and with the artist agency Rent-a-Show. With the takeover of the management of numerous artists such as Udo Jürgens or Pepe Lienhard also followed the entry into international show business.

Today, his group of companies Freddy Burger Management (FBM Group) comprises 30 companies and 250 employees and covers up to 300 events a year in the fields of dance, music, opera, theater and comedy. Furthermore, the FBM Group owns various restaurants and clubs such as the FIFA Restaurant Sonnenberg and the Adagio Nightlife venues as well as the Musical Theater Basel and the Theater 11 in Zurich.

Through the business units Artist, Gastro and Event Management as well as the new pillar FBM Communications, which was merged in fall 2010, the FBM Group has an extraordinary synergy potential and offers a wide range of services as a service provider. In addition, TV and digital media production, project planning and management as well as accounting, trusteeship and legal advice are offered by independent associated companies and internal specialists.

Freddy Burger will receive the Xaver of the Year at the Xaver Award ceremony on April 26, 2016 at Messe Zürich.
 

The categories are: Accident and crime scene images from the city police, industrial photographs from Escher Wyss AG and historical images from Sihlwald. Since Wednesday, you can click through "Zurich's history in pictures" on the Internet, as the city writes in a press release. For example, the accident photos taken by the Zurich city police's identification service between 1920 and 1960 also document Zurich's urban development and economic and social changes. A selection from the company archive of Escher Wyss AG provides an insight into the activities of one of the city's most important industrial companies. And the photographs of the Sihlwald forest, which show its maintenance and use at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, reveal its economic importance.

These three themed picture galleries are linked to an online form which can be used to order and use the photographs from the city archive.
Some historical images, such as the city police's accident pictures, were already available online. According to city archivist Anna Pia Maissen, however, they could only be found via a complicated expert search. "Now anyone interested can find these photographic treasures more easily and quickly."

As Maissen told the news agency SDA, the images are used for commercial purposes, such as book publications, online image series, statistical reports, advertising or illustrating articles. On the other hand, the images are also widely used by private individuals. Images documenting the industrial age in particular are used as posters to decorate many apartment walls.

The city archive wants to make further themed picture galleries available on the Internet. For example, a collection of historical photographs of Schauspielhaus performances is planned. (SDA)
 

After the management team was expanded in recent months with Patrick Viert and Florian Jacquier and the Sales and Business Development Department was strengthened, the editorial team is now also receiving new leadership. Florian Sonderegger was most recently responsible for the content and operational management of the joiz editorial team in Berlin. As Head of Content, Sonderegger is responsible for all editorial content at Vice Switzerland and for the strategic positioning, development and further expansion of all Vice verticals such as Broadly, Munchies and ViceE Sports.

Elektra Kotsoni, Editorial Director, Europe: "In recent years, our European offices have played a key role in expanding Vice's global editorial offering. At the moment, Europe as a continent is facing its biggest challenges in decades. I am therefore very much looking forward to working with Florian Sonderegger to bring to the attention of our young Swiss audience a wide range of important stories that have so far only been told in a patchy way. From migration and politics to crime and drugs. Vice Switzerland will create content that offers eye-opening perspectives on the world."

"I look forward to working with the team to solidify Vice's voice and relevance in Switzerland and help shape public discourse from a different perspective. In addition to the best stories from our international newsrooms, we will increasingly offer a look at Switzerland as we see it. Our target audience is highly critical and very good at distinguishing real stories from copy-paste journalism. We therefore focus on people, oddities and qualities of Switzerland and tell the stories first-hand," says Sonderegger.

Photo: Florian Kalotay
 

The code of conduct that the Swiss Public Affairs Association (SPAG) created two years ago to improve its image should make the exertion of influence on the political system more transparent: Lobbyists must disclose their clients on the SPAG website if they want to be a SPAG member. This should promote the "integrity and professionalism" of members as well as the "acceptance and recognition of the profession", as stated in the code of conduct. Employees of associations, companies or public administrations must list their employer and their function. Employees of agencies and law firms must disclose their client. Following the Kazakhstan affair involving National Councillor Christa Markwalder (FDP/BE), the SPAG Board recommended in December 2015 that "all contracts should be listed" in order to avoid damage to the image of members and the association.

An exemption for agency lobbyists was to be voted on at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday. This applies to mandates that have nothing to do with lobbying, explained SPAG Managing Director Robert P. Hilty on request.

Dilution vs. clarification

Opponents of the revision therefore spoke in advance of a watering down of the rules if "all mandates" no longer had to be declared, but only lobby mandates in the narrower sense. The members were presented with two proposals. In the end, the decision was postponed. However, the current, strict regulation, according to which "all mandates" must be declared in the lobbying association's register, can and is interpreted in different ways. Andreas Hugi from the agency furrerhugi assumes that only lobbying mandates are meant, i.e. external influence on the parliamentary legislative process.

And it was precisely this "fine-tuning" that the proposed and now postponed revision of the code of conduct was about, he said on request. Such a technical adjustment was justified two years after the creation of such regulations and based on experience. If communication mandates that did not serve to influence the political process also had to be declared, the lobbying mandates would be lost in the mass of various clients. "This would destroy the transparency value," said Hugi. Secondly, mandates could possibly no longer be accepted if the client does not wish to publicize them. "That's a high price to pay for membership of a lobbying association," said Hugi, who says he lists all clients of lobbying mandates on his website in the interests of transparency. According to SPAG board member Felix Schneuwly, the motions were about "a more or less narrow definition of lobbying", as he tweeted before the AGM. Walter Stüdeli, lobbyist at Köhler, Stüdeli & Partner and former SPAG Board member, replied: "If the AGM makes a decision that is contrary to practice, the agencies are out."

Hanspeter Thür takes the reins

The agency lobbyists are obviously not there yet. But they are examining how to proceed. "It is now up to SPAG to create the necessary clarity," says Matthias Graf, head of the communications agency Burson-Marsteller. The new President of the SPAG Standing Committee, former data protection officer Hanspeter Thür, also has a role to play. He is also responsible for part of the current debate. According to the Tages-anzeiger, one of the reasons given for the request to postpone the revision of the code of conduct was that Thür wanted to be involved in the amendment of the code of conduct. He himself said that he had first wanted to find out about the changes and form his own opinion before accepting the vote.

Expectations are high. Walter Stüdeli currently prefers to work on better rules rather than resign, as he said on request. At the same time, however, he is also calling on the Board to consistently expel members who do not comply with the rules. According to Hilty, nine members currently have to update their profiles before they appear on the SPAG website again. There have been no resignations as a result of the General Assembly's decision. SPAG currently has 237 members. (SDA)

 

The new furniture and accessories are staged in a lively and generous way in the midst of a family celebration under the title "Am liebsten draussen" ("Preferably outdoors"). The brochure is distributed nationally as an insert in the Sunday press and is available in all Do it + Garden and Micasa stores.

Responsible at Do it + Garden: Anke Schramm (Head of Communications Do it + Garden), Fabienne Frauenfelder (Junior Project Manager, Communications Do it + Garden), Barbara Gerber (CFM Garden Furniture), Lukas Vasvary (Head of Communications Micasa). Responsible at Leo Burnett Switzerland: Lukas Tauss, Cla Campell (creation), David Fischer (CD), Martin Stulz (ECD), Christoph Schwarz, Charlotte Gut, Nora Brumm, Annika Seidel (consulting), Erasmo Palomba (art buying), Maik Floeder (photographer), Andreas Dorian (image editing), Hedi Senteler (production).

 

After working for Springer & Jacoby, GREY and Publicis, the 38-year-old most recently held a similar position within the SYZYGY Group at the digital agency Hi-ReS! London for the client Jägermeister.

"With TBWA, I have joined an agency that has made thinking differently a principle with disruption and has been breaking new ground for many years. You can't win a flower pot these days with mediocrity, let alone clients. That's why it will be my job to enable clients to make informed and courageous decisions."
 

Good ideas are quickly explained: "Check before it's removed" on the one hand urges breast cancer prevention and on the other heats up viral spread thanks to a captivatingly accurate double entendre. As we all know, Facebook and Instagram allow almost anything - except naked breasts. Even if the depiction has nothing remotely to do with pornography, eroticism or sexiness. But with simple naturalness - which basically should be anything but reprehensible. So, on International Women's Day, Pink Ribbon called on people to share the images bearing the slogan. And to wait until the social media morality police have done their job. Given the amount of images shared, that should take a while - if at all. In that time, the images have certainly found numerous new sharers - that's it. Presumably, the social networks themselves find the action too good to intervene in a censoring way. By the way, "Check before it's removed" is still running - more at the Campaign website. (hae)

Mobiliar is committed to culture. Since 2014, it has been touring throughout Switzerland as a national partner with the organizer "Das Zelt". In a campaign, it draws attention to its commitment - and at the same time to the ticket raffle and the 20 percent discount for Mobiliar customers.

The Bernese advertising agency Gestalt Kommunikation was responsible for the creation and implementation of the campaign. It staged various Swiss celebrities appearing in DAS ZELT for an online spot by Mobiliar: Christa Rigozzi, Fabian Unteregger, Claudio Zuccolini and Christian Glanzmann from Eluveitie. They are symbolically setting up the tent for Mobiliar. The show stars can currently also be seen in Facebook ads and advertisements.

The Bern agency Gestalt Kommunikation is responsible for consulting and concept. Twin Design and Salzmann Media produced the spots and photos. Mediaschneider is responsible for the media.

 

It is aimed at a broad audience: visitors to the new restaurant, clients from the business community, professionals in the field of inclusion and clients. The new website now receives 48 percent more traffic than before, with users visiting 60 percent more pages and spending about a minute longer on Battenberg. Newly created interaction offers such as web forms have quickly established themselves and after only a few weeks the 2000th download was registered. The new website is thus proving its worth as an information and marketing platform for a wide range of reference groups.

Responsible at Battenberg Foundation, Biel: Markus Gerber (Director). Responsible at Basel West Corporate Communications: Markus Siegenthaler (consulting, editing), Thomas Aerni, Manuel Bürli (design). Photography: Frédéric Giger. SEM/SEO, programming: Dimando Marketing & Medien.