The 29-year-old Erb (pictured left) took over her role at the beginning of April from Attilio Rossi, who has taken his well-deserved retirement after 25 years at Annabelle. Erb has been with Annabelle-Verlag since April 2009 and was previously responsible for advertising marketing, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. Prior to that, she worked at various media agencies for over ten years.
The successor to Sonja Erb in advertising marketing has been successfully appointed in the person of Maryama Lewis. The 30-year-old joined Annabelle-Verlag from the Zurich-based Y&R Group.

Maryama Lewis.

In Venezuela, Candanga is the name given to someone who is wild or cheeky. According to SDA, Cabello announced the government's offensive in Caracas on Monday. She will now also spread her ideology via social networks on the internet.
The opposition in the country currently believes that networks such as Twitter and Facebook belong to them, said Cabello. "But we are taking up the fight against them, and we are seven million activists who are going to conquer Twitter." Critics accuse the Chavez government of leveling the media in Venezuela by shutting down opposition radio stations and newspapers. However, the Internet is still largely uncharted territory for the leadership in Caracas. Of Venezuela's 27 million inhabitants, only around 30 percent have access to the internet.

An interesting challenge in many respects, writes the agency in a press release: It is the first completely independent online presence of the company, which belongs to Kimberly-Clark. This meant that, in addition to the strategy, the entire structure and visual concept had to be developed from scratch. The result is a light and airy website with a flash-animated "Lay the table" functionthanks to which every user can set a table entirely to their taste. They can find out which color combinations are best for their table right on the website.
Futurecom is responsible for the entire project management from conception to design and programming in HTML and Flash.
Responsible at Tela: Rico Germann (project management). Responsible at Futurecom: Simon Kaufmann (project management), David Schellenberg, Gabriel Tenger (design), Sandro Heuberger (programming), Christos Margaris (Flash).

The new website focuses on a kiosk that also serves as navigation. A partly 3D-animated visual language underlines the fresh tonality. The website is complemented by seasonal and themed games.
Dachcom was able to prevail in a multi-stage selection process for Maestrani Schokoladen AG. The agency is responsible for screen design, 3D animations, game development and programming as well as content creation.

This is reported by the TV magazines Tele and TV-Star in their latest editions. External visitors are now only allowed in from 12.45 pm. There was an acute shortage of space because there were too many curious people on site. So many that, according to eyewitnesses, Mike Müller had to queue one lunchtime until his spaghetti was cold - which he commented on angrily.

The agency was able to prevail in a pitch with a concept that stages the two aspects of "finding craftsmen" and "online solution": Various craftsmen and craftswomen are shown, equipped with tools and ready for action, jumping directly out of the laptop and thus landing quasi directly with the customer.
The aim of the campaign is to massively increase awareness of Renovero.ch among the target groups of homeowners, property managers, and also tradesmen who can publish offers on the platform. Advertisements, web banners and a radio spot will be used in several waves.
Responsible at Olmero, Glattbrugg: Oliver Behnen, Markus Schulte (Management). Responsible at Renzen Communications: Hanno Lietz (CD), Achim Kaufmann (AD), Frédéric Renzen (consulting).

The Annual General Meeting on April 27, 2010 elected Kjell Aamot and Andreas Schönenberger to the Board of Directors for a three-year term of office. 60-year-old Kjell Aamot was President and CEO of the international media group Schibsted ASA, based in Oslo, from 1989 to May 2009. The 45-year-old Andreas Schönenberger has been responsible for the Swiss market at Google for the last four years. The Annual General Meeting also confirmed Eliane Borter and Pascal Böni as members of the Board of Directors for a further three-year term of office.
The Board of Directors was constituted immediately after the Annual General Meeting. Hans-Peter Rohner was confirmed in his role as Chairman and Jean-Pierre Jeannet as Vice Chairman. Pascal Böni was confirmed as Lead Director and in this role is responsible for ensuring compliance with the principles of good corporate governance during Hans-Peter Rohner's dual mandate. The following committees were formed:
- Audit Committee: Christian Budry, Chairman, and Jean-Pierre Jeannet, member.
- Nomination and Compensation Committee: Peter Brunner, Chairman, Eliane Borter and Jean-Pierre Jeannet, members.
- Strategy Control Committee: Pascal Böni, Chairman, Kjell Aamot and Andreas Schönenberger, members.

The agency has designed various subjects for the umbrella appearance and the company's sub-areas, which are shown in advertisements, on the web, in brochures, in the annual report and in corporate communications. Asga's logo, a stylized roof, is depicted with gestures and attitudes in a clear and transparent visual language, according to a statement from the agency. With the advertisements appearing in various newspapers and magazines, Asga is strengthening the brand and giving it an unmistakable face.
Responsible at Asga: Sandra Vogler (Marketing). Responsible at Freicom: Christian Ruppanner (overall responsibility), Karina Swierzy (art direction), Antonio Lopez (text), Angelo Ressegatti (graphics), Nadine Büchi (consulting). Photography: Nick Hunger.

The economies of scale of this merger were obvious, Scherrer said on Tuesday at the Annual General Meeting in Zurich, according to SDA. Investments and fixed costs could have been spread over twice the number of customers. However, with its ban, the authority has now "prevented the consolidation that is logical from a business perspective, as is currently taking place in many European countries", said Scherrer. With this decision, the competition authority has surprised wide circles. It remains to be seen whether the companies involved will appeal against the Competition Commission's decision.
However, one thing is certain: even if the merger does not take place: Swisscom is in competition in Switzerland with companies that are part of international groups. France Télécom, for example, the parent company of Orange, is several times larger than Swisscom. This shows: "Swisscom faces strong competitors, competition in the Swiss telecoms market is playing out and there is therefore no immediate need for additional regulation," emphasized Scherrer. A revision of the Telecommunications Act is not necessary. This would mean legal uncertainty for all providers and jeopardize investments, particularly in the fibre optic network.
Comcom's decision will be appealed
On the fringes of the Annual General Meeting, it was announced that Swisscom is going ahead with the decision of the Communications Commission (Comcom) to reduce the fees for leased lines. As Group CEO Carsten Schloter told the financial news agency AWP, there are major differences between urban and rural areas. The question of regional differentiation of market dominance must be clarified here. This question is also important for the expansion of fiber optic networks. According to the Comcom ruling from mid-March, Swisscom should offer its applicants leased lines at cost-oriented prices. Comcom lowered the monthly resale prices for the years 2007 to 2009 by 15 to 30 percent.
Specifically, it is about the connections that Swisscom makes exclusively available to customers. For example, a company that wants to transmit data from one location to another. The leased lines are also used by Swisscom's competitors who want to supplement their own network.

Internet service provider Google is the world's most valuable brand for the fourth year in a row, according to Millward Brown, with a value of US$114.3 billion. This result emerges from the fifth edition of the international marketing and market research company's annual BrandZ Top 100 brand ranking, published today. The ranking evaluates the 100 most valuable brands in the world on the basis of public financial figures and consumer surveys.
Google was able to expand its top position this year, increasing its brand value by 14 percent. The gap to second place has widened further and now stands at around USD 28 billion. Google's success is based on brand awareness and popular services such as the free e-mail service Gmail. Innovations such as Android, Google's recently released operating system for mobile devices, have also made a significant contribution to increasing the value of the brand.
Google's immediate followers are IBM, Apple and Microsoft, three other companies from the technology sector. In contrast to Google, IBM and Apple, Microsoft's brand value has stagnated compared with 2009, with the software company dropping from second to fourth place in the ranking.
There is still no social media platform in this year's ranking - Facebook was also denied a place among the 100 most valuable brands in the world. In the ranking of technology brands, the social network ranks 20th as a newcomer with a brand value of USD 5.5 billion.
The ten most valuable brands in 2010 (value in billions):
1. google 114,260
2. IBM 86.383
3. apple 83,153
4. microsoft 76.344
5. coca-cola 67.983
6. mcdonald's 66.005
7. marlboro 57,047
8. china mobile 52,616
9. GE (General Electric) 45.054
10. vodafone 44,404
> On the 100 most valuable brands (pdf)
The total value of the world's 100 most valuable brands rose by four percent compared with 2009 to 2.04 trillion US dollars. The increase in value is also explained by the fact that petroleum companies were included in this year's ranking for the first time.
The methodology for the BrandZ Top 100 Brand Equity Study was developed by Millward Brown Optimor, the brand strategy and monetary brand valuation consultancy that is part of the international market research group Millward Brown.

Video games, which are supposed to train the brain, therefore do not improve general performance. Although users make progress in brain games, they are unable to transfer this to other areas. The situation is quite different with violent games: According to findings by scientists at Leiden University, playing first-person shooters is said to promote cognitive flexibility. The games demand quick reactions and a flexible way of thinking from their players, according to the researchers. The scientists also point out that first-person shooters do not necessarily make people violent or lead to anti-social behavior. On the other hand, the games would help children to sharpen their reflexes and master several tasks at the same time, from which they could also benefit in the later professional world. In addition, video games can promote activity in older people. So dear children, dear grandmas and grandpas: forget everything you've heard and read about first-person shooters - it's all completely different: cheers to the machine gun!

When the World Cup kicks off in South Africa in June, millions of people will be watching. What is easy to overlook: The football spectacle takes place against a backdrop of poverty and exploitation. Fifa expects to make a profit of two billion Swiss francs, but the stadiums were built by South African workers on starvation wages, according to a press release. The Swiss Workers' Relief Organization (SAH) is drawing attention to this deplorable state of affairs with this year's Zewo campaign. The campaign focuses on a petition calling on Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA, to ensure fair working conditions at football events in future.
At the center is the symbolic motif of a South African construction worker with a dollar sign whipped into his back, which completes the word "Anstoss". The motif can be seen on posters and in advertisements that refer to the Internet. Supported by online advertising, signatures for the petition are being collected on a petition microsite. In a second step, from mid-May onwards, the campaign website Kick-off-south-africa.ch launched an online betting game that allows users to set up their own World Cup betting pool.
Responsible at SAH: Rosanna Clarelli (Head of Fundraising), Christian Engeli (Head of Communications). Responsible at Spinas|Gemperle: Lorenz Spinas (CD), Stephan Huwiler (AD) , Tom Malecha (text/concept), Alexander Moltzen (graphics), Johannes Gees (web), Conny Geibel (consulting).