The internet network My Space is buying the online music service iLike. My Space's parent company News Corp is reportedly putting up 20 million dollars for iLike. But the deal is probably not so much about money, but about annoying a major competitor, as the media service Kress writes: iLike is particularly popular with users of My Space's rival Facebook - there are said to be around 50 million users. With iLike, you can be inspired by the musical tastes of other users: Among other things, other members are shown what music someone is currently listening to. Bands can also use the service to distribute their music more easily - just as My Space and its many musician members would like.
Only time will tell whether Facebook will now cancel the application. Either way, one thing is certain: 20 million dollars just to annoy a competitor is and remains an expensive joke.

The economic crisis has led to a significant increase in questionable advertising campaigns in recent months. According to the German Advertising Council, the advertising industry's self-regulatory body, the number of complaints from the public about commercial advertising campaigns rose by a quarter to 147 in the first half of this year. Compared to the previous year, the number of complaints by the Advertising Standards Council increased by almost a third from 30 to 39. The number of reprimands ultimately issued rose from three in the same period of 2008 to five in the first half of 2009.
The Advertising Council blames the increase in so-called dirty advertising on the increased pressure to perform on the markets. However, this is no reason to go beyond the boundaries of socially acceptable market communication in advertising, emphasizes the Advertising Council. Smaller companies in particular are currently attracting attention by focusing their advertising solely on the production of attention.
Campaigns that are too aggressive can destroy customer relationships
However, attention alone can rarely create prestige for brands and also arouses little sympathy for the goods and services on offer. According to the Advertising Council, overly aggressive campaigns often return as a negative boomerang that can disrupt and even completely destroy customer relationships. "Crossing the line actually happens mainly in small companies, which usually do not seek professional advice. The boss often comes up with something and thinks he or she can achieve something positive just by attracting attention," explains Volker Nickel from the German Advertising Council to Pressetext. This rarely happens with large companies. "Although the larger companies also deliberately provoke, they almost always know exactly that certain transgressions only have a boomerang effect," says Nickel.
The Advertising Council issued reprimands in cases where advertising used violence, humiliating and misogynistic propaganda and was fundamentally sexist. For example, a company was reprimanded because it had advertised a laptop with a blood-spattered boxing man with blood-soaked bandaged fists and the headline "Unbeatable" and, according to the Advertising Council, initially refused to see why this was inappropriate for a laptop.
However, not every protest from the public automatically constitutes an overstepping of boundaries. In the first half of 2008, for example, the Advertising Council acquitted 108 campaigns. For example, the Advertising Council did not classify common images of models in lingerie on streetcar surfaces as "offensive, provocative and discriminatory towards women".
(Image: Keystone)

The Publix agency has moved and has been based at Bürenstrasse 1 in Lyss since August 10, 2009. After more than 20 years at Marktplatz 7, it was time for a change, writes Publix founder and co-owner Fredy Obrecht in a press release. Together with the property owners, the idea of using the former warehouse of Drogerie Christen AG for new purposes had matured. In the course of planning, the desire arose not only to renovate the building, but also to make a clear architectural and artistic statement in the town center.

The award ceremony for the Corporate Communications Award will once again take place this year as part of the Swiss Forum for Integrated Communication on September 10 at the FHNW School of Business in Olten. The focus will be on the rapid developments in communication.
Keynote speakers Silvie Rundel, Head of Press and Public Relations at the publishing house Die Zeit and Stefan Gürtler, lecturer in Corporate Communications at the FHNW School of Business, as well as various workshop speakers, including Monica Glisenti, Head of Communications at the Migros-Genossenschaft-Bund, will address the current challenges in communications and highlight opportunities for new corporate communications.
The best communication managers of 2009, whose achievements will be honored with the "Award for Integrated Communication" following the forum, will be given a strong presentation at the award ceremony: The best concepts and their implementations will be presented in detail by the jury president of the Award-CC, Rodolfo Ciucci, lecturer in corporate communication at the FHNW School of Business. The laudatory speech for the "Media Relations" category prize will be given by Winfried Kösters, Chairman of the "Award Media Relations" jury and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Swiss News Agency SDA Bern.

Urs Hangartner, Head of the Information Service of the Canton of Lucerne, will be leaving the State Chancellery at the end of August 2009. He has headed the Information Service since 1992. Until a successor is found, the service will be coordinated internally.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the State Chancellery thanked Hangartner for his many years of service. During his time in office, the government council and the administration have continuously increased public information and developed the Internet as a communication medium.
The change in the management of the information service is being taken as an opportunity to consider the concept for future requirements, the statement continues. The position of Head of Information will be advertised publicly.

Karin Frautschi joined Publisuisse at the beginning of July 2009 as Head of Key Account Management "Online Customers". In this role, she works with sales management to develop the customer processing strategy and is responsible for its consistent implementation in the market.
According to a Publisuisse press release, Frautschi's education, previous activities and management experience mean that she is ideally equipped to take on this challenging task. She has been working in the media industry for 10 years, most recently in a management position as Head of TV National at Publicitas Cinecom & Media Zurich.

Previon has redesigned the website of the Swiss fashion magazine Bolero. The website has been completely redesigned graphically and made more user-friendly, according to a press release from the agency. The navigation and structure have also been revised.

Comeback of the 1818 twins: On Wednesday, one of three new TV commercials was filmed that will run on TV from the fall. As the free newspaper News writes, 18 and 18 once again offer help in times of need - this time in a new outfit with a superhero mask and cape.
The directory assistance service 1818 and Swisscom's competitor, 1811, have been struggling with falling caller numbers since the abolition of the 111 number. According to the news, both providers received almost a quarter fewer calls in 2007 than in 2006. 111 ceased operations in that year. Since then, the prices for directory assistance have also risen steadily.

Getunik has implemented the first order for its new client Greenpeace Switzerland. The Internet agency realized the Campaign website anyone can exert pressure for better climate protection and motivate their Facebook friends to join in, according to a press release. Under the motto "You turn the earth: Give the world the right turn!", Greenpeace wants to invite as many people as possible to make a climate statement. The statements will then be collected and presented to the Swiss participants at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference. You can register via the website and publish a portrait photo and a political statement. The website also allows other Greenpeace country organizations to join the Swiss climate campaign quickly and easily.

The Goldbach Index (Gemi) shows a gain of 5 index points to 437 for e-media in July 2009. Offline advertising pressure on TV increased by 6 index points to 443, radio lost 2 index points to 251, teletext fell by 7 index points to 150 and digital advertising space lost 9 index points to 202. The Internet forgoes the summer vacations and advances by 10 index points to 499. All media published by Media Focus remain at the previous month's level of 184 index points.
When evaluating the index, it is important to note that, for short-term analysis, the data for each of the past 12 months is seasonally adjusted.

With retroactive effect from 1 July 2009, the Bachmann Medien agency is changing its organizational form. The former sole proprietorship will become a public limited company based in Basel. The agency's team includes Ivo Bachmann (Managing Director), Robert Bösiger (Publishing Director), Petra Geissmann (Graphics), Beat Grossrieder (Production) and Annina Bachmann (Administration).
Bachmann Medien, the agency for media consulting, media production and communication, has been around for two years. The company was founded by Ivo Bachmann, former editor-in-chief of Beobachter and Basler Zeitung. From its offices near Zurich and in Basel, it supports editorial offices and publishing houses, foundations and associations, administrations and authorities, companies and private individuals. Bachmann Medien carries out product analyses, optimizes organizational processes and develops new concepts. The company's services also include the production of printed and electronic media as well as publishing.

The market share of the Bing search engine in Germany will stabilize at ten to 15 percent. This is the conclusion reached by several media and search engine experts. On behalf of Horizont.net, they analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the new search engine, which Microsoft launched around two months ago. The respondents do not believe that Bing will be able to oust the market leader Google from the top spot. However, Lothar Prison from the media agency Zed Digital is quoted on Horizont.net as saying that if anyone could manage to establish a serious number two, it would be Microsoft with Bing.
The German version of Bing is available as a test version for the time being. It is not yet known when the full version will be launched.