According to Impressum, Corriere del Ticino has decided to abolish five jobs. Impressum objects to this decision by the managers of the Ticino department for the following reasons:
The editorial teams were not involved in the decision-making process and colleagues in the department were presented with a fait accompli. The employee representatives were not asked for advice at any time. Furthermore, it appears that no alternative cost-cutting measures were considered to avoid the dismissal. And the information that was passed on to colleagues at Corriere del Ticino was incomplete and not transparent. Nor did it provide any insight into the real financial situation of the department. The cost-cutting measures had been presented as a consequence of the decline in advertising that has prevailed in the print media for several years.
In view of the above points and the fact that these measures affect more than 10 percent of the editorial staff, Comedia and Impressum are now demanding that the management of Corriere del Ticino immediately open a round of negotiations with the trade unions and the representatives of the employees concerned so that other, less drastic solutions can be found.

What sounds like a clear contradiction turns out to be a big hit: over four hundred enthusiastic athletes and beer drinkers took part in Erdinger Alkoholfrei's "Run for your life" campaign. The prize was an exclusive starting place in the world's biggest marathon in New York. Plus a personal training session with the team of Olympic silver medal winner Markus Ryffel.
In cooperation with Ryffel Running/Kuoni, Erdinger Alkoholfrei is looking for a runner - who has never completed a marathon - for the exclusive starting place in the 2010 New York City Marathon. Online voting started on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at http://www.erdinger-alkoholfrei.ch.
The winner qualifies directly for the casting event in mid-March. Under the eyes of an expert jury, he or she will have to face nine competitors. For the casting winner, this event is the start of an intensive period.
The winner will be prepared for the race in November. Olympic silver medalist Markus Ryffel will draw up a personal training plan and, together with his team, prepare the runner for the event in New York. The athlete's coaching ranges from nutritional advice, technique and running style analysis to marathon-specific training. However, the winner must complete the legendary 42,195 kilometers through the boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan alone.
Why is a beer brand launching such a campaign? According to a Compresso press release, Erdinger Alkoholfrei delivers the full enjoyment of wheat beer, but also has a regenerating effect. The drink is rich in vitamins and low in calories. It also contains minerals and trace elements and is free from chemical additives. This makes it the ideal drink for endurance athletes, according to the press release. In addition, Erdinger Alkoholfrei has significantly fewer calories than comparable isotonic drinks.

To mark this anniversary, Usgang.ch is launching the Swiss Nightlife Award. This award honors in the future the rotagonists of the Swiss nightlife in three different categories. Usgang.ch takes over the patronage and the organization of this award ceremony. The highlight is the Lifetime Award. This is presented to a personality who has had a decisive influence on the nightlife industry. Also various international and national acts will be present on this evening and entertain the attendees.
Usgang.ch was created ten years ago. In the meantime, over 200,000 unique clients are interested in the site every month, generating more than 8 million page impressions and around 600,000 visits. For 2010, the focus is on expanding editorial content and distributing the offering via additional channels such as mobile and (web) TV.

It is well known among businesses that top positions in search results generate qualified visitors at no cost. That is why companies are striving more than ever to achieve top positions in search results. But how do you make it to the number one spot on Google? The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Switzerland commissioned fourteen leading search engine experts in Switzerland to weigh approximately 100 different ranking criteria. The results are now available.
Search engines determine which websites achieve top rankings based on numerous criteria and complex ranking algorithms, such as the content and structure of the website’s text, the website’s reputation, and the website’s accessibility to search engine robots. Now, all that’s left is to figure out which criteria are the most important. The expert panel has weighted 100 ranking criteria. The analysis shows which criteria influence the ranking and how they should be weighted.
What are the key criteria?
Experts agree that a website must feature unique content to rank well on Google and other search engines. However, unique content and the placement of keywords in the title tag are not enough. The website’s reputation—which is reflected, among other things, in links from third parties—is also crucial. Experts consider purely technical programming aspects to be of little importance. And coming in last place by a wide margin among all criteria is, of all things, the one that many laypeople still consider central today: Experts attach almost no importance to the keyword meta tag.
The focus is on the search engine user
The expert panel’s crystal-clear conclusion is that search engine optimization must, first and foremost, be geared toward the interests of a company’s potential customers. This is because the truly significant ranking criteria are, without exception, aimed at one thing: providing search engine users with information that is truly relevant. And relevance is not a machine-based concept, but a human one.
A Valuable Tool for Assessing Search Engine Relevance
The 100 weighted criteria show that search engine optimization is no trivial matter; there are numerous aspects to consider and coordinate. Since search engines do not openly disclose their ranking criteria, specialists must acquire their knowledge through trial and error. They are now publishing this information for free, enabling interested companies to assess their website’s search engine relevance, identify optimization measures, and understand the effort involved.

In a nutshell
The complete study (approx. 60 pages, PDF) is available on the IAB Switzerland website (www.iabschweiz.ch) available for free download.
Imre Sinka, dotpulse Web Agency AG

"Four years ago, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen promised that no journalist should be arrested for what he writes," the new ROG report says. However, repression against media representatives continued unabated. Many journalists, it said, were facing lawsuits as a result of their reports or research. "Around ten legal proceedings have been initiated against opposition and independent journalists since January 2009," ROG continues to criticize. Senior officials did not hesitate to go to court to seek revenge for outspoken articles and reports.
The ROG report is based on the findings of an on-site investigation by one of the organization's representatives: During his visit to the Southeast Asian kingdom last December, the researcher met with Cambodian politicians such as the minister of information, diplomats, editors, journalists and representatives of human rights organizations, among others.
The ROG representative also visited newspaper editor Hang Chakra in prison. The journalist was sentenced to one year in prison for a critical article about government officials.
In the new publication, ROG also highlights the strict state control of the press and the low diversity of the country's media landscape: Of the approximately 300 media outlets registered with the Ministry of Information
registered newspapers, only 30 appear regularly. The vast majority of print media and television and radio stations support the government or are close to it. In contrast, oppositional
and critical newspapers were disappearing: With lawsuits and threats, they would, for example
pressured or advertising customers stayed away, according to an ROG release. The poor payment of journalists, blackmail of media representatives and their corruptibility are also addressed in the report.
ROG also fears that the imminent introduction of a new penal code will have a
could cause a lasting deterioration of the media situation. Representatives of the press and human rights activists criticized the lack of transparency in the drafting of the law. The reform of the penal code was already approved in October 2009 by the National Assembly and the
34 Senate, counter-arguments from the opposition were not taken into account. So far, the government has not published the text of the bill. However, as could be seen from the bill, new
Offences such as "defamation of character" or "publication of comments likely to exert pressure on
courts" were included in the law. These provisions could be misused to restrict media freedom.In its final recommendations, ROG calls on the Cambodian government, among others, to create an independent body for licensing radio and television stations to promote the emergence of independent media.

The French-language newspaper was launched in French-speaking Switzerland on March 8, 2006. In four years, its certified readership rose from 276,000 to 526,000. Together with its partner newspaper, 20 Minuten, in German-speaking Switzerland, this commuter newspaper reaches the largest readership nationwide.
The online edition, 20 minutes online, currently has approximately 2,012,000 unique visitors in Switzerland. The company announced on Tuesday that a new version with a revamped design and expanded content will go live in the coming days. The online content is produced by a 14-member editorial team. 20 minutes and 20 minutes online are published by 20 minutes Romandie. The company currently employs a total of 68 people.

The Basler Zeitung can no longer survive on its own in what is currently Switzerland’s strongest economic region and is selling itself to investors. And a week later, in Central Switzerland, the project for a new Obwalden Nidwalden Zeitung (ONZ) emerges as a countercyclical phenomenon. While the entire industry laments the crisis as if there were no tomorrow, a new newspaper is announced—and this, of all places, in structurally weak Central Switzerland, where the Neue Luzerner Zeitung has dominated the media landscape for years and where there is no shortage of competition from local advertising papers. And it’s not just any idealists behind the ONZ project, but local businesspeople and investors with a proven track record.
A media world turned upside down? It seems that way, but only at first glance. Small may be beautiful, but that’s not enough of an explanation. Have we, in the midst of all this crisis hysteria, overlooked something? The people in Nidwalden and Obwalden who are now seeking three million to launch their newspaper into orbit are certainly shrewd businesspeople. Urs Gossweiler, one of Switzerland’s few innovative publishers, is demanding generous payment—in advance—for his assistance across the Brünig Pass.
Anyone who buys ONZ shares may view part of the investment as a way to support their local community. And yet it looks like a good deal. That’s because the small and medium-sized newspapers—the B and C-tier titles of the Swiss press—have, on the whole, weathered the crisis far better than the big ones everyone talks about, simply because the latter never tire of complaining. Time and again, I see income statements that show positive figures for advertising revenue even for the past two years—or, if there are negative figures, they look far less dramatic than those of the big players.
The explanation is actually logical. Local and regional newspapers are not dependent on individual major advertisers or specific industries—and they are less severely affected by economic fluctuations because their advertising clients have fewer alternatives.
As far as ONZ is concerned, despite many decidedly positive signs, there are of course still question marks that should be viewed as residual business risk. The most important unanswered question: Is the market large enough to cover the project’s fixed costs? And secondly: Is it wise to publish the print edition twice a week, given that it’s well known that retail sales are concentrated primarily in the second half of the week? Finally: Will the Central Swiss manage to turn the costly online venture into a profitable business? (They would be the first to do so.) And, above all, will they manage to do so within a reasonable timeframe? After all, even the three million in venture capital won’t last forever.
The ONZ is an interesting field experiment, because there have long been many indications that reaching small, manageable communities through print media can indeed be profitable—provided that costs are kept under control. Last fall, I was invited to speak in a larger municipality in the Zurich Oberland, where a vibrant and well-produced village newspaper has been published for years—and remains profitable because the municipality is wise enough to provide only a modest financial contribution without interfering in its operations.
The savvy Oberlanders invited six similar newspaper models from the rest of Switzerland to present—and the presentations all painted the same picture: It’s possible, provided that editorial costs, in particular, are kept as low as possible.
In some places, this certainly borders on self-exploitation—which, admittedly, is a left-wing metaphor. To stick with this line of thinking: One could also speak of «citizen journalism,» a concept that has been touted in the online sphere for years but has never really taken off anywhere. However, this seems to be possible in good old print media. The experiment in Nidwalden and Obwalden will show whether such a business model is sufficient to provide decent compensation for journalistic work.

What is success? SFLB can certainly count this as a success with the commercials that have been illustrating the Cantonal Bank’s customer focus since 2003. Children reveal how they earned their first money. In the meantime, those children have become customers, and the banking landscape has also changed considerably. The concept behind a new advertising campaign therefore places greater emphasis on a more tailored expertise. Building on core values such as customer focus and continuity, an additional dimension is now being introduced: the lifelong partnership between the bank and its customers also encompasses the investment expertise of the Cantonal Bank and its employees. The motto of the campaign that has just launched is therefore «Success.» It is based on the idea that success means something different to everyone, as Elisabeth Bürgin, Head of Marketing Communications at the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks, explains. And because success means something different to everyone, the best investment advice is also highly personalized. The cantonal bank thus positions itself as a bank with advisors whose expertise «extends far beyond knowledge of the economy, money, and banking.» By staying close to customers and offering a competent investment strategy, the bank aims to «grow together» with them. The idea is brought to life through commercials that tell authentic success stories. In short clips, various customers share what success means to them. The testimonials are genuine. Sixty customers were cast for this purpose, as Peter Brönnimann explains at SFLB. The creative team also used the same footage to design the print ads. pan

In the “Awareness” category, the SBB RailAway campaign by Contexta ranks first, followed by Coop Pronto by Facing and the Lovely ad for Swissmilk by Ruf Lanz. The Lovely ad is the undisputed leader in the “Uniqueness” category, followed by the ad for the Fire Prevention Advisory Center by Saatchi&Saatchi and the Kleenex campaign by JWT+H+F. The Lovely ad also leads by a wide margin in the “Brand Fit” category. In second place is the Fire Prevention Advisory Service, ahead of SBB RailAway. In terms of “Likeability,” Lovely leads the pack, followed by the Fire Prevention Advisory Service and ahead of Lötschberger/Lötschental by Erdmannpeisker.
> Results at a glance
> Detailed results

Question and methodology
Method: Computer Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI).
Instrument: Online interviews via the Marketagent.com reSEARCH platform.
Target group: web-active people from German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 14 and 59.
Sample size: n = 500 net interviews per wave, random selection by quota.
Survey period: March 23, 2009 – November 25, 2009.
Questions:
- We introduced you to some ads at the beginning of today's survey.
Which of these ads do you remember? Please name the advertising companies or the brands advertised. (Awareness)
- In your opinion, to what extent do these ads stand out from other advertising in newspapers, magazines and journals? Please rate each from 1 (= lifts
does not stand out at all) to 6 (= stands out very strongly). (Uniqueness)
- To what extent do these ads fit the image you have of the respective brands/companies? Please rate each from 1 (= does not fit my image of this brand at all) to 6 (= fits my image of this brand very well). (Brand Fit)
- To what extent do you like the following ads? Please rate each from
1 (= I do not like at all) to 6 (= I like very much). (Likeability)
The values printed are in each case the top box ratings "stands out very strongly", "fits very well with my image of the brand", "I like it very much".
The author of the representative study «Switzerland’s Favorite Advertisements» is Marketagent.com Switzerland, a company specializing in online market research that has a registered panel of 20,000 respondents in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. Marketagent.com Switzerland is a subsidiary of the leading Austrian market research company Marketagent.com online reSEARCH GmbH and the Swiss communications agency Contract Media AG.

To cheer on the Swiss athletes in Vancouver and get the Swiss population in the mood for the Winter Olympics, various cheering scenes were recorded under the slogan "Achieving goals together". In everyday and sporting cheering situations, passers-by were cheered and cheered on by a mob. This resulted in several individual clips, a best-of and a making-of video. David Bröckelmann alias Matthias Hüppi comments on the scenes.
The films were mainly distributed via YouTube and social media platforms such as Facebook. During the end credits, viewers are invited to leave their personal wishes for the Swiss athletes in an interactive fan book. The fan book is integrated on the Swisscom Facebook page. Athletes can access it and view the motivational messages at any time. Participation is linked to a competition: Swisscom is giving away skiing vacations worth 5,000 Swiss francs.
Responsible at Adcom Group: Philipp Wetzel (overall responsibility), Matthias Koller (concept and consulting). Responsible at Vok Dams: David Korte/ Birgit Kriesche (Strategy). Production: Condor Films. Director and screenplay: Thomas Sabel. Voice actors: David Bröckelmann/ M. Pion. Music: Jingle Jungle.

This is the finding of a study commissioned by the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom). Overall, the authors attest to the high quality and professionalism of the SRG programs: The programs featured a high proportion of political coverage, and individual topics were presented in a multifaceted and timely manner. However, the report also highlights some weaknesses. Regarding radio, the report criticizes the fact that sources of information are sometimes not disclosed. Furthermore, news programs too rarely present differing opinions and perspectives on a given issue. With regard to television entertainment, the study criticizes the fact that producers do not sufficiently adhere to their own quality standards. They are content merely to distinguish themselves from poor examples among the offerings of commercial broadcasters. As for television shows, the authors even conclude that SRG programs differ little from their commercial and foreign competitors.

At the end of 2009, the London-based trend consulting agency Trendwatching.com revealed the quirks and trends we’ll be facing this year. Not all of them come as a surprise: «Urbany,» for example—the increasing urbanization—doesn’t strike me as a truly new trend. For quite some time now, you’ve been able to smell perfume in the countryside—and, every now and then, a whiff of country air in the city. Especially when the Mr. Switzerland recruiters are out and about. «(F)luxury» isn’t new either. Status symbols haven’t been clearly defined just this year—everyone decides for themselves what luxury means to them. Still, diamonds or an old Porsche always have their appeal.
With the vague buzzword «Maturalism,» the agency describes the trend toward bluntness. «Anything goes—as long as you like it.» A more accurate statement would be: Anything goes—even if you don’t like it. Even skin-tight rubber pants in public spaces. They are, in fact, a trend—a decidedly hideous one. «If anything goes, which brands will be daring this year?» the agency poses as a creative challenge. Let’s ask the Mazda beauties Li and Sing. Maybe they have some advice.
Spending Money Pragmatically
In addition, trendwatching.com identifies «Embedded Generosity» as a new trend (note the trendy choice of words!). According to the agency, generosity is becoming more pragmatic. Do you sense any generosity anywhere? Certainly not in our paychecks—that much is clear. Maybe we’ll donate to Haiti, in memory of that great vacation in 2004. But the homeless guy on the corner can go jump in a lake, whether he’s «embedded» or not. «Eco-Easy» is another trendy pipe dream: According to trendwatching.com, companies and governments will force consumers to act more environmentally consciously in 2010. Roaaaaarrrrrrrrrr. After the stunning successes of Kyoto and Copenhagen, I’m really starting to get scared.
Much more exciting are the trends currently emerging in Switzerland. Take «Anrempling,» for example. It’s «in» to no longer avoid people coming toward you, but instead to head straight for a collision. Chin up, eyes straight ahead—you move out of the way, *bump*. A tip: Never sit in the back right seat of a bus. Otherwise, you’ll have to squeeze past the spread-eagled legs of the young snob sitting next to you with all your might. Which brings us to the next trend: «Dummdreisting.» The truly stupid are becoming more numerous and louder, while the smart and sensitive are backing away faster and faster. They simply have no desire for confrontation or conflict. Or for a knife between their ribs. That’s why they no longer dare to venture into Zurich’s Langstrasse on Saturdays. It’s a tragedy.
The Courage to Be Yourself
But, as someone who’s almost half-Swiss, I can say this: that’s, of course, typically Swiss. Instead of setting boundaries, people rely on «giving in.» Because it takes courage to «just be myself.» Take the case of Gaddafi. When the Libyan dictator rattles his saber, Switzerland would rather send one of its own citizens to be tortured than bang its fist on the table even once. «But Gaddafi was trying to storm the Swiss embassy, wasn’t he?» Oh, I see, oh well, then. Sometimes it would be nice to be an American citizen, wouldn’t it, Mr. Göldi? Barack would have sent his Terminator long ago. But maybe the dictator is prone to «embedded generosity.» After all, it’s mega trendy right now.