The Zurich restaurant and Grand Café Schmuklerski at Badenerstrasse 101 is to host regular jazz, soul and blues performances in future. Under the label "on stage Schmuklerski", the landlord Thomas Bickel, the advertiser Eduard Ulli and the well-known vibraphonist Thomas Dobler want to give "live music in the restaurant" a new swing. The idea is being launched with the "Late Summer Festival '09". Ten evenings between August 20 and September 24 will feature top-class concerts with Swiss and international musicians. The initiators will then use the experience gained from the festival to continue programming jazz at the Schmuklerski "as weekly as possible". The unconventional aspect of the musically sophisticated concept is that there is no admission charge for these shows. There is only a drinks surcharge of 12 francs on the first consumption. "We want to be open to the general public. People should come in, enjoy the atmosphere and stay if they like it," says Eduard Ulli, who wants to turn the "on stage Schmuklerski" logo into a "brand for enjoyable, high-quality entertainment in Zurich's nightlife".
Eduard Ulli doesn't play an instrument himself and prefers to listen to rock music. For the co-owner of the Agor advertising agency, live jazz without ideological blinkers is "a perfect stylistic device" to culturally enrich the city of Zurich. "There is a lack of places with live music in this city," Ulli lamented back in 2004, when the then live jazz bar "The Gig" on the corner of Müller and Rotwandstrasse had to close after five years. "The Gig" did briefly find asylum on Fraumünsterstrasse, with prominent support even from Freddy Burger and Elmar Ledergerber. But here, too, circumstances played out differently. That's why Ulli had been looking for a new venue for some time and has now found open ears with the landlords Dragana and Thomas Bickel.
The ex-football star opened Schmuklerski five years ago in a former junk store and quickly became a success. After a complete rebuild, the restaurant has now been open to the scene again for just under three months with a spacious extension and urban style. "Our restaurant already served as the center for the first Zurich Film Festival. Now we are hoping for further success with the jazz festival," says a delighted Bickel.
To ensure that this works, Eduard Ulli and his partners at Agor, a renowned 13-strong specialist agency for marketing communication in the B2B sector, are managing the basic appearance, advertising and sponsorship for "on stage Schmuklerski" with a great deal of goodwill. They have already been able to win over colleagues from their industry, such as Oliver S. Hug from Propaganda, to support the poster display, as well as the Karl Schwegler printing company for the print media. The plan is to generate "real" sponsorship activities in the sense of a cultural commitment for the "one stage Schmuklerski" series in addition to such sympathy work in the future. "The events are ideal for customer events," Ulli is convinced. A members' club with corresponding VIP benefits has already been launched.
Musically, "on stage Schmuklerski" will be advised and programmed by Zurich vibraphonist Thomas Dobler, who is known throughout Europe. For the opening event, he has put a focus on "great voices" on stage "virtually overnight" with Judy Emeline, Alexia Gardner, the American blues singer Tommie Harris and, as "an insider tip", the versatile television personality Sandra Studer as a jazz singer (26.8.). The US jazz pianist Kenny Drew Jr. and the Viennese bassist Georg Breinschmid will cause a sensation. Robi Weber, winner of the "Swiss Jazz Award", is also well-known from the advertising scene. His trio will accompany Lilly Martin (29.8.). The exact program can be found at www.schmuklerski.ch.
Andreas Panzeri

25 years ago, the environmentalists of Greenpeace Switzerland took to the barricades for their cause for the first time. Greenpeace Switzerland has now commissioned the agency with the entire communication concept for the 25th anniversary. The anniversary measures include advertisements, ambient measures and the creation of an independent 25th anniversary logo.
The first works can be seen in October/November 2009.
www.startbahnwest.ch

The Lucerne agency Wave has created a visual identity for the launch of Access Health Care's Botarin facial care line. With the claim "Cremen statt Spritzen" ("Creams instead of injections"), the subjects are being used in a first wave primarily in women's magazines, at BTL activities and at numerous events. Advertisements, panels, POS and competition cards are used as advertising media.
Responsible at Wave-Advertising, Lucerne: Peter Frey text/concept, Klaus Fiebiger (consulting).

www.wave.ch

Once again this year, the Swiss Film Pearls were presented at the Locarno International Film Festival. The five best films honored were "Home" by Ursula Meier, "Un autre homme" by Lionel Baier, "No More Smoke Signals" by Fanny Bräuning, "La forteresse" by Fernand Melgar and "Bergauf, Bergab" by Hans Haldimann. The selection is based on the assessment of Swiss film journalists and will be shown free of charge as a mini-festival in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino at the end of the year.
An honorary pearl was also awarded for the first time. Art-tv.ch, the organizer of the Filmperle, honored the long-standing television journalist Madeleine Hirsiger. Hirsiger came to television in 1972 as a trainee on the Tagesschau news program. From 1979 to 1984, she was the first woman ever to be a Federal Parliament correspondent in Bern. She wrote reports on cinema films, the Solothurn Film Festival and the Locarno, Cannes and Venice festivals for the Tagesschau. In 1986, at the suggestion of Alex Bänninger, Head of Culture and Society at Deutschschweizer Fernsehen, she was appointed Head of the Cinema Department. From 2004, she was responsible for feature films, television films and documentaries for the Pacte de l'audiovisuel. Not only have numerous Swiss films been made under her responsibility, but also major cinema successes such as "Die Herbstzeitlosen" by Bettina Oberli and "Sternenberg" by Christoph Schaub. Madeleine Hirsiger receives the Pearl of Honour for her life's work, which is characterized by expertise, creative power, passion and a good "gut feeling" for films, according to a press release from Art-tv.ch.
www.art-tv.ch

The graphic designers at Cosmic Bern have already won several awards. Over the years, they have shone at various ADC awards and have been among the 100 best posters several times. Now one of their posters has been nominated for one of the most coveted design awards.
The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany is not considered the prize of prizes for nothing, the agency writes in a press release. This is because you cannot apply for this official German design award yourself. Works must be nominated by the relevant ministries of economics or technology in the country and have already won national or international awards. Only then is a selection made by the German Design Council. Finally, the prize is awarded by the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology.

http://www.cosmic.ch

From Monday, August 17, Radio 24 is expanding its early evening program. Radio 24 now broadcasts the info program Info24 from 4 p.m., with background information on lifestyle and new media. After 5 p.m., the most important events from the world of business will be discussed in greater depth and classified. "We finish work an hour earlier. People want to be fully informed," says Karin Müller, Program Director of Radio 24, explaining this move. Radio 24 is thus further expanding its program and consistently focusing on listeners' needs, according to a statement from the station. Radio 24 celebrates its 30th birthday on October 23.
www.radio24.ch

Goldbach Media increased sales by 20.2 percent to CHF 139.4 million in the first half of 2009. Profit from continuing operations improved by 44.6 percent to CHF 8 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew by 10.5 percent to CHF 6.1 million. However, the profit attributable to shareholders fell by 52.5 percent to CHF 1.6 million, as the company, which is active in the advertising marketing of electronic, interactive and mobile media, announced on Thursday according to SDA.
Goldbach Media gained market share in the important online business in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Overall, the company was also able to expand its market presence in the online business in the Eastern European markets. However, sales stagnated in the Czech Republic and declined in Romania. The advertising marketer is also feeling the effects of the economic crisis in Croatia. Golbach Media expects double-digit sales growth across the Group for the 2009 financial year. Due to currency effects, operating profit is only expected to grow at a single-digit rate.

Getting to big events in Zurich by streetcar or bus saves time and nerves. After all, you can hardly ever find a (legal) parking space nearby by car. Ruf Lanz is dramatizing this in a surprising live cinema spot for the Zurich public transport company (VBZ).
The following scene regularly takes place at the Orange Cinema in Zurich: In the middle of the commercial break, the screen goes black - and a stern police voice can be heard from the loudspeakers: "An important announcement from the city police: The vehicle with the license plate ZH 221 577 is parked in a no-parking zone. The driver is urgently requested to move the car. Otherwise we will be forced to have it towed away." A non-professional actor in the audience is startled when the license plate number is called out - and hurries towards the exit with his car keys. Only after a few seconds of uncertainty does the resolution follow: "It's worth changing. Your VBZ Züri-Linie."
According to the agency's press release, the live cinema spot has caused quite a stir at the OrangeCinema on eight evenings so far, causing heckling ("Typical man!" or "Probably an Aargauer!") - and even applause. Even the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper wrote after the premiere screening: "The cinema audience at the lake is thrilled - by an interactive commercial from VBZ."
Documentation of the live spot:

A new form of discussion between Germans and Swiss will take place weekly from August 15 in the Thurgauer Zeitung and Südkurier (Constance): Each Saturday, the two newspapers will publish the same column by a member of one editorial team or the other on the topic of Switzerland/Germany; a week later, a journalist from the other editorial team will then respond. The authors of the two editorial teams refer to each other in their columns. Readers can get involved in this journalistic conversation across borders via Thurgauerzeitung.ch directly.
Uli Fricker, editor of the Südkurier, opens the dialog this Saturday. A week later, Ursula Fraefel, editor-in-chief of the Thurgauer Zeitung, will answer him. In addition to the editor-in-chief, TZ editors Christoph Widmer, Marc Haltiner, Thomas Wunderlin and Martina Eggenberger as well as publisher Peter Hartmeier will also be taking part in this German-Swiss dialog. The range of topics is deliberately broad: Everyday life in the Lake Constance region between Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, eastern Switzerland and the greater Zurich area will be covered as well as fundamental political, economic and social issues.
With a circulation of 150,000 copies, the Südkurier is the leading newspaper in the Lake Constance and Upper Black Forest region and is published by Südkurier GmbH in Constance - a subsidiary of the Holtzbrinck media company. With a circulation of 40,000 copies, the Thurgauer Zeitung is the leading newspaper in the canton of Thurgau and the oldest newspaper in Switzerland after the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. It is published by Medienhaus Huber & Co. AG, a subsidiary of the Tamedia media company

Nothing now stands in the way of the SRG reform. The Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) has approved the new statutes, as announced on Thursday. SRG can now definitively streamline its structures and abolish the double subordination: In future, the whole of SRG will be subject to the sole strategic management of the national Board of Directors and the sole operational management of the Director General.
As part of the new concession of November 28, 2007, the Federal Council required SRG to examine whether its structures still meet today's corporate governance and efficiency requirements. With the approval of the statutes by the Uvek, the reform requested by the Federal Council has been implemented and definitively adopted.

The early newspaper delivery companies Zuvo and Prevag announced in March 2009 that they would be cutting the wages of their carriers massively. Although the Comedia and Kommunikation trade unions are not in a direct social partnership with Zuvo and Prevag, but do represent the interests of those affected as trade unions, they have called on the company managements to enter into negotiations with the trade unions. However, four rounds of talks have so far failed to find a satisfactory solution for the affected employees, as Comedia writes in a communiqué. The management is said to have refused to enter into real negotiations with the two unions.
Comedia and Kommunikation have now drawn up an action plan and will be launching the first union actions against Zuvo and Prevag in the near future. This may result in interruptions to home deliveries.

The Journal du Jura has a new editor-in-chief in Stéphane Devaux. The 49-year-old is currently head of the regional department of L'Express and L'Impartial in Neuchâtel. He will take up his new position on October 1, 2009 and will succeed Béat Grossenbacher, as the publishing house W. Gassmann AG announced on Thursday. Grossenbacher has accepted a new challenge at the Swiss news agency SDA as deputy editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of the French editorial team.
In a difficult economic environment for newspapers, he aims to strengthen the Journal du Jura, the press release continues. He also wants to continue the excellent work of his predecessor and the successful collaboration with other regional newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland in the Arc Presse and Romandie Combi partnerships.
(Photo: Christian Galley, SNP)