Facebook takes over the online communication service Friendfeed. The purchase will make the network even more active in real-time communication. By integrating the twelve Friendfeed employees, the communication platform is above all gaining technical know-how. Like its competitor Twitter, Friendfeed is a real-time content sharing service. However, with an estimated one million users, Friendfeed is nowhere near as popular as Twitter, which has around 45 million users. According to the Wall Street Journal, the purchase price is just under 50 million dollars, of which 15 million is in cash and the rest in Facebook shares.

Media Focus has expanded its archive for advertising creations. In recent months, the cinema and poster media groups have been integrated into the database. The Internet application enables cross-media analysis of advertising creations and data. An allocation or distribution plan can be displayed for each creation. Customers can access over 200,000 advertising motifs on Mediafocuskreationen.ch.

Is free journalism on the Internet coming to an end? For some time now, major media groups such as the New York Times and Robert Murdoch's News Crop., the world's largest media group, have been considering introducing compulsory charges for newspaper content on the Internet. But how do Swiss publishers and media companies feel about this? NZZ CEO Albert Stäheli is quoted on Newsnetz.ch as saying that NZZ is considering charging for special content such as financial services, specific economic topics or individual commentaries.
The situation is different for the other major Swiss media companies. Tamedia's news portals will remain free of charge for the time being. Experience with 20 Minuten Online and Newsnetz has shown that online content "can generally be financed through advertising", according to Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer. The aim of this strategy is to achieve the widest possible reach in order to ensure the continued existence of the site. Res Strehle, co-editor-in-chief of the Tagesanzeiger and member of the Newsnetz advisory board, explains that the next few months will probably decide which portals will prevail. At Ringier, however, there is no consensus. According to Marc Walder, Head of Ringier Switzerland, the question of fee-based models does not arise for Blick.ch. Michael Ringier, on the other hand, explained some time ago that it would make no sense to offer all content free of charge. That will change.

Variety of offerings makes it difficult to switch to paid content
The high density of print media in Switzerland makes it difficult to introduce paid content, as readers can switch to free content due to the variety of offerings. Due to the loss of readers, publishers would have to increase prices for advertising space in order to remain profitable. As a result, they run the risk of losing advertising customers to competitors such as Bluewin, which can offer advertising at more attractive prices, says Stephan Suter, head of online marketer Adlink. This is already the case in the USA, where not a single traditional print title is among the ten most-visited websites.

The Ziegler family has sold Ziegler Papier AG, domiciled in Grellingen BL, to the Kuttler-Frey family. The previous managing directors and delegates of the Board of Directors, Bernhard and Urs Ziegler, will hand over operational management to the two buyers during the first quarter of 2010. However, both will remain active in an advisory capacity. Although an internal family succession plan was an option, it was not implemented, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. The decision was made in favor of the purchasing family, as they are anchored in the region and will continue to run the company with the same strategy. The company will be handed over debt-free and with its earnings situation intact.
Philipp Kuttler-Frey holds a degree in business administration and economics from the University of Basel. The 44-year-old most recently spent eleven years as a member of the executive board of an international company in the chemical manufacturing industry. Isabel Frey Kuttler has a university degree in economics. The 41-year-old worked for 15 years in an international insurance group in Basel, where she was mainly active in Human Resources in line and staff functions.

Ziegler Paper
The Ziegler Paper Group operates as a niche company in paper manufacturing with an output of around 72,000 tons of fine and specialty papers. It has a subsidiary in the USA, but does not produce paper itself. In the 2008 financial year, sales amounted to CHF 127 million (previous year CHF 117 million). The number of employees is 182.

TBS Identity has produced a new annual magazine for Ernst Basler + Partner. Entitled "365°", it provides an insight into the diverse fields of activity of the internationally active engineering, planning and consulting company based in Zurich, Zollikon and Potsdam. In addition to project reports, socially and economically relevant topics are also addressed and discussed. The magazine character is intended to give the document a form that does justice to the diversity of the individual projects and integrates the variety into a formal clarity. The Zurich-based agency is responsible for corporate communications in the print sector, designed the corporate website and created the autobiographical work of company founder Ernst Basler, which is being published to mark his eightieth birthday.

Responsible at Ernst Basler + Partner: Bruno Basler and Danielle Lalive d'Epinay. Responsible at TBS Identity: Christian Tobler (CD), Kathrin Treml (AD), Heidi Röllin (project management), Nadia Ermert (polygraphy), Heini Fümm, Zurich; Christian Senti, Zurich; Cornelius Zoch, Berlin (photography).

Tilllate used the crowds at the Street Parade to promote its own cause. A guerrilla campaign, in which selected locations in the city center were plastered with door hangers, was intended to further increase awareness of the brand. The door hangers featured the keywords "Party" and "Hangover". Partygoers can use these to let people know whether they are currently at a party - but whether their room can be kept tidy - or whether they have partied a little too hard and don't want to be disturbed at the moment. The door hangers could be seen at building entrances, bicycles, ticket stands, hotel corridors, lockers, in stores, suburban train compartments, public toilets or simply attached to passers-by themselves.

A new agency for design and brand culture has been founded in St. Gallen. Schalter & Walter offers services in the fields of communication design, corporate design, marketing and advertising. The target group are clients from the region between Zurich, Eastern Switzerland and Graubünden. The managing partners are Caroline Noser, Myriam Rohner and Nicolás Durán. All three have many years of experience and work experience at agencies, most recently Noser and Durán were art directors at a large agency in Eastern Switzerland, where Myriam Rohner worked as a consultant.
Schalter & Walter GmbH is an independent company within Roger Tinner's new Alea Iacta Group, with which numerous integrated communication projects have been conceived, designed and implemented in recent years. Tinner, also a partner in the company, will provide the agency with strategic support in the future.

Company name for doers
The name Schalter & Walter describes the characters and strengths of the company founders - creativity and flexibility, the advertisers wrote in a press release on Monday. "We see ourselves as doers who tackle things ourselves, or rather take control." The office premises at Rosenbergstrasse 85 were also partly converted and renovated by the company itself.

The architecture firm HZDS in Zurich commissioned the Musqueteers agency to completely redesign its website. The Zurich-based advertising agency, which has been supporting the two general planners and architects Heinz Zimmermann and David Sigrist since the firm was founded more than seven years ago, added a navigation point to the website. In addition to the "Work" and "Company" sections, there is now the "Attitude" section, which occupies a central position and is linked to the first section "Work". All works are commented on according to the three key criteria of functionality, sustainability and beauty. The ideas and the design of the Musqueteers were congenially implemented by the code experts at Spoiled Milk.

Responsible at HZDS: Heinz Zimmermann and David Sigrist. Responsible at the Musqueteers: Michael Egloff (overall management, concept and text), Christian Eggenberger (design). Programming: Spoiled Milk, Dave Luisi and Christian Vollenweider.

The doors of Bold Werbung have been open since this month. Contrary to the name, which means striking, bold, even audacious, the size of the Bern-based agency has so far been quite modest. The founding trio consists of 33-year-old Managing Director Philippe Hansen, Art Director Tino Niederberger, who is the same age, and 38-year-old Creative Director Lindo Ganarin. Together, the three communication professionals have over 40 years of agency experience, including at Contexta, Maxomedia and Formeldrei. The communications company is active in both traditional advertising and new media.

Caption (from left to right): The Bold founders Lindo Ganarin, Philippe Hansen, Tino Niederberger.

The German news platform Stern.de has undergone a relaunch. The redesign is intended to strengthen its position as the news site with the most images. The core element remains comprehensibly prepared news. Fascinating images and the type of reporting, "which is very close to people", make Stern.de an "emotional guide" for users, editor-in-chief Frank Thomsen is quoted as saying in a press release. According to the press portal, the expansion of the service format was carried out jointly by the online and print editorial teams. The result is a complementary offering that is attractive for online and cross-media advertising. In addition, multimedia offerings such as web TV, interactive infographics and mobile products for iPhone, Android and WAP are being further expanded. The technical and visual redesign will continue the expansion begun in 2007.

Star TV will broadcast the closing act of the 62nd Locarno Film Festival live on August 15 from 8 pm. The private broadcaster is thus supplementing its daily coverage of the event. Selim Petersen, Head of Cinema, film journalist Philipp Portmann and presenter Melina Roshard will report directly from Locarno. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live together with Ticino Television (TSI). This is the second collaboration with SRG following the Quartz Film Awards ceremony in March this year.

Sales figures for Microsoft Windows fell for the first time this year. However, the software giant was able to score with its business software package Sharepoint. The company does not want to release exact figures. According to the New York Times, sales have already exceeded the billion mark. The product should also benefit from the economic crisis, as the server product is aimed at customers who want to save money with an all-round solution. With the help of Sharepoint, companies can create websites and manage their content. Colleagues can also work together on projects and documents. The software also offers additional business functions. Compared to specialized software, however, the range of functions is significantly smaller.

Extensive customer portfolio
According to Pressetext.ch, companies such as Ferrari, Starbucks and Viacom are Sharepoint customers. In total, more than 17,000 companies are said to use the software. Microsoft plans to launch a new version with additional features in the coming year, thereby further expanding its customer base.