The 36-year-old joins Xing from Swiss online retailer Brack.ch. Neuhaus joins the Zurich-based team led by Xing Switzerland CEO René Maeder and will be responsible for marketing activities in the Swiss market. The main focus will be on digital marketing. Sabina Neuhaus brings with her many years of marketing experience in the online sector. Most recently, she was Senior Marketing Manager at Swiss online retailer Brack.ch. Before that, she managed the marketing campaigns of Galaxus and Digitec for eight years in the same position. Sabina Neuhaus holds a master's degree in sociology, journalism and applied psychology from the University of Zurich.

After Xing filled the newly created position of Managing Director Switzerland with René Maeder last August, the online network is further strengthening its presence in Switzerland with this new addition.

 

After the big Education Day rally was cancelled at short notice due to threats of violence (PDF message), the young people should still be able to make their concerns public. On the one hand, students will have their say, and on the other, they will interview decision-makers. The contributions are framed by a music program, which the young people selected with the music editors of the two transmitters, as it is called in a message from Tuesday. This is intended to give the students as large a forum as possible. They had prepared intensively for weeks with videos, texts and performances for the day of education, that should not be all in vain, said station boss Roger Schawinski, according to the statement. (SDA)

Submissions that meet the on-time deadline (January 18, 2016) will benefit from a CHF 200 discount (990.-; LSA members 790.-), but can now be submitted until January 25. According to LSA, a further extension is not possible. The finalists will be announced at the end of February and the Swiss Effie Awards 2016 will be presented in April. The Effies will also be included in the creative ranking of Werbewoche in 2016.

Interdiscount is increasingly focusing on a distinctive cross-channel strategy. Maxomedia won the tender for the new campaign against several competitors. The campaign was launched on January 3, 2016 and will be used extensively throughout the year.

The aim is to publicize the various purchase and delivery options. For the first time, the communication focuses on emotions and not exclusively on price and product benefits. Through emotional communication, the Interdiscount brand wants to set itself apart from its competitors in the tough, noisy price war and establish itself as a personal, likeable brand. With this in mind, Maxomedia created the new claim "Shop the way you like it", which focuses on the individual needs of customers and at the same time underlines the new strategic direction.

Maxomedia focused on big emotions in the implementation. At the heart of the campaign is the TV commercial, which dramatizes the various purchase options in the form of a love story. Various adaptations were derived from this for banners and social media measures, as well as for advertisements and brochures. The main characters are intended to arouse sympathy and make the story easy for the general public to grasp and tell with just a few images.

Responsible at Interdiscount: Martin Koncilja (Head of Marketing). Responsible at Maxomedia: Bernhard Herzig (consulting), Romaine Brunner (consulting), Reto Schild (creation), Daniel Rödel (creation), Antonia Bekiaris (text), Noah Moor (motion design), Philippe Stucki (graphics). Responsible at Tasty Pictures: Sean Fee (Director), Stefanie Bereiter (Production), Lea Fee (Production), Amanda Nikolic (Photography). Responsible at Jingle Jungle: Federico Bettini, Roland Schmid (sound design & voice recordings).

Swissmom.ch and the associated forum Swissmomforum.ch are the largest Internet platforms in Switzerland for questions about pregnancy, birth, baby and child. The core target group is expectant mothers, couples who want to have children and young families. AZ Medien takes over Swissmom GmbH, founded in 2004, in its entirety. Together with Wireltern.ch, AZ Medien is now responsible for two of the most important Swiss online offerings in the "Parenting" segment. The company writes in a statement that it has thus taken over clear market leadership in this area. AZ Digital has been the exclusive marketer for the Swissmom platforms since November. As of January 1, 2016, the entire company with its platforms, employees and all content relating to pregnancy, birth and baby issues will be transferred to AZ Medien. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
 

Regarding awards, the festival announced two changes on Monday: "Press Lions" will be renamed "Print & Publishing Lions." "With the renaming, we are aligning the award with developments in the print and publishing world," said Awards Director Simon Cook. Press Lions was introduced in 1992. Press, the second oldest category at Cannes, was introduced in 1992 as "Press & Outdoor" and split into two separate categories in 2002.

The second prominent change: "Digital Craft" will be separated from the two categories "Cyber" and "Mobile" and become a stand-alone award. Terry Savage, Chairman Lions Festivals, on this move: "The Cyber and Mobile juries have told us that with the steady increase in UX (user experience) and craft-focused submissions, there is a need for experts from these fields to sit on the jury. We have therefore decided to separate the category and give this specific area its own jury. This step will also relieve the very labor-intensive "cyber" jury work."
The new category is designed to evaluate and reward the creative and craftsmanship behind content - including design, technical execution and overall experience - across all digital platforms and devices.

Other changes to the awards include the "Product Design" category, whose subcategories have been expanded and revised. The "Titanium & Integrated Lions" will be split into two independent categories. The "Design Lions" will receive the category "Experience Design" and the "Outdoor Lions" will be expanded to include a large "Digital Outdoor" section. Entries can be submitted from January 21, 2016.

Speculation about IPO

According to British Trade media the owner of Cannes Lions, the Ascential Group, which until recently was called Top Rights Group, is toying with an IPO. Experts see the renaming and other maneuvers as preparation for a later IPO. The Ascential Group is owned by the investment firm Apax Partners and the Guardian Media Group, which publishes The Guardian newspaper, among others. According to both Redbox.com have been saying for some time that they want to part with the Cannes owner. Guardian Media Group has already sold 80 percent of its subsidiary Auto Trader on the stock exchange at very good prices in 2015. The Ascential Group is extremely successful and in 2014 made a profit of the equivalent of around 120 million Swiss francs - of which around 80 million Swiss francs went into the account of Lions Festivals, the company to which, in addition to Cannes Lions, Eurobest also belongs, among others. An IPO would presumably raise and £1 billion, putting the investment of the 2008 purchase back into the owners' coffers. (hae)
 

He expands the Branders team under the leadership of René Allemann (CEO) and Pascal Geissbühler (Head of Strategy) with the aim of providing companies with comprehensive support in the development of holistic brand worlds. "Holistic customer experiences are a decisive competitive advantage today. Design is a strategic success factor here. We are delighted to have gained 44-year-old Thom Pfister, a nationally and internationally recognized designer, for this task," says René Allemann, CEO of Branders.

Prior to Branders, Thom Pfister worked as Creative Director at Contexta and Komet, among others. He has over 20 years of experience in renowned Swiss and international advertising and design agencies and is a member of various industry associations, including Art Directors Club Switzerland, Swiss Graphic Designers Association and Alliance Graphique Internationale. He received his training at the Lucerne School of Art and Design and worked for McCann-Erickson, Studio Achermann and the London design studio Tomato.

 

It has not yet decided anything. However, it is examining whether it would be possible to split the concession. This would mean that Parliament would issue a general concession and the Federal Council would be responsible for the operating concession. The KVF instructs the administration to show by the summer how such a division could be implemented legislatively to enable parliament to have a say. National Councillor Thomas Müller (SVP/SG) is demanding in a parliamentary initiative that parliament be responsible for the SRG concession. He argues that a parliamentary decision is an indispensable basis for the democratic legitimacy of the basic service mandate to the SRG. The initiative raises a legitimate question about the public service debate, the KVF wrote in a statement on Monday. However, it wants to postpone the preliminary examination until the Federal Council's report on the public service is available. The report has been announced for June. (SDA)

Image: Parliamentary Services 3003 Bern

Havas Digital launches the e-mailing campaign "Häsch gläse im Blick?" to promote trial subscriptions to Blick and Sonntagsblick. The recipient of the email finds himself at the table of a typical Swiss pub. On the landing page Blick-schnupperabo.ch the innkeeper takes the order for the trial subscription.

The entire process, including the entry of personal data, takes place in full-screen video sequences from the first-person perspective. Depending on the user's interaction, different sequences are played out and seamlessly strung together: In the case of male guests, the landlady flirts; seasonally, Santa Claus, ice hockey players, or a carnival-goer appear in the Blick-Stammbeiz.

Responsible at Ringier Switzerland: Marko-Filip Ninkov (Marketing Sales Manager), Nicolas Pernet (Marketing Manager), Alexander Strehler (Online Marketing Manager). Responsible at Havas Digital: Peter Rehnke (overall responsibility), Arnaud Fasnacht, Wolfgang Kunz (project management); Bruno Manser, Merlin Zuni (creative direction), Ronja Hienle (art direction), Anneline Cachat (web design), Celine Goldschmid (graphics), Frank Grafunder (production), Who's McQueen Picture (film production).

Andi Rohrer has been working at Swiss radio and television since February 2012. He first worked as a presenter on "Virus TV" and "Wild@7", then as a radio voice on SRF Virus and since spring 2013 on Radio SRF 3, where the 33-year-old presents, among other things, the Saturday morning column "Mini Räder - Mis Läbe". Andi Rohrer also hosted three seasons of the show "Virus Voyage" on SRF zwei together with Anic Lautenschlager. Andi Rohrer: "After four intense and great years at Swiss Radio and Television, I'm going on the road in 2016. I am very grateful for the exciting time behind the microphone and in front of the camera. When and where you'll hear or see me next is still completely open - but I'm already looking forward to it."

Julian Thorner (l.) and Andy Rohrer

His successor at Radio SRF 3 will be Julian Thorner. From March 2016, the 28-year-old from Thurgau will be heard every Saturday morning. Thorner worked as a presenter at the youth station Joiz from September 2011 to mid-2015. There, among other things, he presented the daily show "Noiz." He is currently completing part-time studies in communications at the Zurich School of Business. Julian Thorner: "I'm really looking forward to the new challenge at Radio SRF 3. The medium is new territory for me as a TV presenter. But here, too, I can do what I love most: tell stories, stories that move, make people think and maybe even laugh - and at my absolute favorite radio time, Saturday morning."

How the Tages-Anzeiger writes, Heimat Zürich is to be managed by a Swiss team of three that has already been determined - the names are still being kept secret, as some of them still work at later competitor agencies. The entire team will comprise 16 people when it starts in April. In contrast to the job advertisements in Berlin, where at least four years of professional experience are required in the creative field, lateral entrants will also have a chance in Zurich. The first clients have already been acquired, co-owner Matthias von Bechtolsheim told Tages-Anzeiger.

Heimat is not new to the Swiss market. The Berlin agency has already been handling Swisscom's private customer advertising for three and a half years. Currently with Lara Gut as a tray driver, previously among other things with epic, paused Battles and Roger Moore as a normal store customer. Interestingly, Heimat does not want to manage the Swisscom budget from Zurich, but continues to keep these threads firmly in Berlin hands. (hae)

 

Agency at the airport wins language experts as new customers

With over 70 employees, Diction is one of the most successful language service providers. In the future, the agency at the airport may create and implement a suitable marketing concept for the professionals in proofreading, correcting, translating and copywriting. The first measures will be seen shortly.

 

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Polyconsult: With a double success into the new year

The Bernese advertising agency Polyconsult can report two pitch successes at once. On the one hand, the Swiss Heart Foundation was won as a new client, for which Polyconsult will implement the stroke emergency campaign. The first work will be on display in June 2016. In another pitch for the basic campaign of "Schweizer Fleisch", Polyconsult also prevailed as budget holder against three renowned agencies. The new communication appearance of "Schweizer Fleisch" will be launched in fall 2016.

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New sign: Award of contract for signage Kantonsspital Winterthur

Neuzeichen, the Lenzburg agency for communication and orientation design, was able to prevail over the competitors in the selection process for the wayfinding system for the expansion project at the Winterthur Cantonal Hospital. In different stages, a new building for radio-oncology, parking spaces for visitors, patients and employees as well as the high-rise replacement building "Didymos" will be constructed, significantly increasing the capacity of the Cantonal Hospital Winterthur. The task of developing a uniform signage solution across all buildings, which takes into account the construction stages and integrates the new buildings, also represents one of the conceptual core competencies of the Neuzeichen team in the field of orientation design.