Swissinfo.ch recently caused a stir with its cost-cutting plans. Now the SRG business unit has commissioned Condor Films to produce an image film. The film draws attention to the variety of information and services offered by the internet platform, which provides news about Switzerland in nine languages. The image film is based on the five thematic pillars of politics, business, culture, society and internationality. The project was conceived entirely in-house and realized with specialists. The film is available on Swissinfo.ch in the "about us" section and will be shown at events in Switzerland and abroad.

> To the spot

Responsible at Swissinfo.ch: Monika Gysin (Head of Marketing Communications). Responsible at Condor Films: Olivier Egli (Executive/Creative Producer).

The pitch for the mandate for the 2009-20xx flu campaign of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has been decided. Krieg, Schlupp, Bürge / Springer & Jacoby will implement the new umbrella campaign. The aim is to ensure that various prevention messages on seasonal and pandemic influenza are positively received. The campaign should also be able to keep pace with the rapid development of the pandemic.
For reasons of extreme urgency, the FOPH was unable to carry out the agency evaluation within the usual framework - by means of a two-stage selective procedure in accordance with WTO rules, as detailed in a press release issued on Tuesday. In consultation with the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Procurement Center (BBL), the FOPH therefore opted for an open procedure with competitive bids, in which six agencies were invited to pitch. They had either already worked for the FOPH in previous mandates or had the necessary size and experience to design and implement the FOPH's flu campaign in the shortest possible preparation time. The campaign is expected to start in August.

Marmite magazine, founded 50 years ago by the Club of Cooking Men, is changing hands at the beginning of July. The special interest title from Intervinum will now be published by the Basel-based publishing group BG-Press. The Basel-based publishing crew publishes various print and online products in the specialist and financial segment. The expansion of the BG-Press portfolio is intended to open up new potential in the reader and advertising market and compensate for the general decline in advertising sales by exploiting synergies in advertising sales.
The publication frequency, form and layout as well as the editorial concept of the magazine will be retained, the publisher writes in a press release on Tuesday. The distribution concept used by Intervinum of enclosing the magazine Vinum four times a year will also be retained to ensure a circulation of 35,000 copies.

The advertisers at GGK have created a campaign for Esso to support TCC's customer loyalty program. Those who collect loyalty points receive a discount on pans made of blackened aluminum from Thomas. The slogan "Ultralight cooking with space technology" refers to the fact that the material has already been used in space travel. A variety of advertising materials are used: F12 posters, pump toppers, displays, windmasters, flyers as well as floor stickers designed to direct customers straight to a specially developed display shelf.

Person in charge at Esso: ROC Switzerland: Henryk Chudzia, Kathrin Schubiger. Loyalty program: TCC: Max Widmer, Simone Seewer. Responsible at GGK: Christoph Knuchel, Jean-Marc Demeulemeester, Oliver Kindhauser, Martina Steffen.

Hesskiss has designed a poster for the Zurich Blood Donor Service that calls on the public to donate blood. The motif shows a doctor presenting a blood bag that has already emptied dramatically. It is accompanied by the short and concise appeal: "We need your blood NOW! ". This is intended to make it clear that there is a shortage of blood reserves in the canton of Zurich, as even less blood is donated than usual in summer.
The poster in F200 format is displayed throughout the canton of Zurich. It is coordinated with measures on the web. Donations can be made in all Zurich hospitals. Details and local campaigns at Blutspendezurich.ch.

Responsible at Hesskiss: Roland Hess (CD), Dieter Boller (text), Meo Giger (graphics), Nathalie Zeller (consulting). Photo: Phil Müller.

Realized communication concepts for the 5th "Award Corporate Communications" and the 3rd "Award Media Relations" can be submitted until July 31, 2009. The concepts will be judged in August. On September 10, 2009, the best communications managers and their achievements will be honored with the "Communicators" award. This year, the awards ceremony will again take place at the FHNW School of Management in Olten, following the "Swiss Forum for Integrated Communication 2009".

TBWA\ Zurich has developed a follow-up to the Ciabatta Grande campaign for McDonald’s. For the third time in a row, the online and TVC campaign centers on Don, the Mafia boss with an unmistakable love for the sandwich with an Italian flair. A new cheese sandwich has been added to the lineup. In the three spots, cinematically directed by Patrick Senn, the pure moment of enjoyment is dramatized: even a Mafia boss can escape the annoyances of daily business with a bite into the Ciabatta Grande. The fact that the Don doesn’t forget his love for the sandwich even during his arrest in the latest commercial can be seen on TV and on online banners from the beginning of July through August 11.

> To the spot 1
> To the spot 2
> Go to Spot 3

Responsible at McDonald's Switzerland: Thomas Truttmann (Director of Marketing & Communications), Jan De Schepper (Marketing Manager), Sébastien Dubey (Marketing Consultant). Responsible at TBWA\Zurich: Claudia Wolfers, Sven Oeschger (Unit Head), Tina Kazimir, Gian Marco Juon (Consulting), Urs Schrepfer (Creative Director), Martin Friedlin, Adrian Egger (Art Director), Tobias Bühlmann (Copywriter), Dominique Magnusson (Graphic Designer), Heiko Baumann (DTP), Toni Rubera (Image Editing), Christina Hengstmann (Art Buying), Raphael Brugger (Web). Media: OMD Switzerland. Film Production: Condor Films. Film Director: Patrick Senn. Producers: Philipp Petersson/Florian Studer.

Erich Gebhardt, Director of the Microsoft Development Center, is moving to Swisscom on September 1, 2009. As a member of the divisional management of Swisscom's Corporate Business Unit, he will be responsible for all IT and communication products in the key account sector. The Microsoft Development Center emerged from the company Media Streams, which was founded by Gebhardt in 2000 and focused on Internet telephony solutions. The Zurich-based development company was acquired by Microsoft in 2005.

The closing date for entries to the 50th International "Die Anzeige" competition has been extended to July 24, 2009. Ads published in Germany, Austria or Switzerland between January 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 can be submitted. The best works will be awarded a "Anzeiger" in gold, silver and bronze, and the ads on the shortlist will receive certificates. The awards ceremony will be held in Munich on October 27, 2009.

The 20 Minuten news portal is expanding its offering. Starting at the end of August, news from all of Switzerland's municipalities will also be posted. The idea has enormous potential, 20 Minuten is convinced, both editorially and commercially. The local news would be placed in a separate local section. The front of the website will therefore remain largely unchanged, confirmed managing director Marcel Kohler on Tuesday at the request of SDA a report from Persoenlich.com.
The news can be found via a search function in which the postal code or the municipality can be entered, said Kohler. Small communities where little happens are bundled into regions. News suppliers, he said, are primarily agencies whose services have not been fully utilized and whose reports are now being structured and bundled. "There are no plans to expand journalistic in-house services," Kohler clarified. No more people would therefore be hired.

Hofer Kommunikation is once again supporting the organizers of the 1st August celebrations in the city of Bern this year. The agency has designed posters and flyers and is responsible for event management. The program includes open doors in the renovated Federal Palace, a sea of lights on Waisenhausplatz and the fireworks display on the local mountain Gurten, financed by sponsors and patrons and accompanied by live music on Radio BE1. The celebration is organized by the City of Bern in collaboration with the city centre organization Berncity and Procap, the largest Swiss self-help organization for people with disabilities.

According to the latest edition of the NET-Metrix-Base 2009-1 Internet study, around 80% of Swiss people aged 14 and over use the Internet. That is 197,000 people or four percent more than last year. The increase took place in all language regions. Around 60 percent surf the Internet daily or almost daily. In 2000, this figure was only 14%. This means that the number has risen by 2.8 million within nine years. Around a fifth of Swiss people do not use the Internet at all.

Women use the internet less
The data analysis shows a clear difference between the genders. While around 70% of men use the internet daily, only 52% of women do so. However, women are catching up, with their daily Internet use increasing by 10% compared to the previous year, compared to just 8% of men. Women are particularly present in the group of offline users. One in four women do not use the Internet at all. Among men, the proportion of offline users is around 14%.

Number of offline users decreasing
In addition to the continuous increase in daily internet users, the number of offline users is steadily decreasing. Whereas in 2003 there were roughly the same number of daily users as offline users, the difference today is over 40 percentage points (see chart below).

(Source: NET-Metrix-Base)

The highest growth rate is among the 60+ generation
The number of offline users is highest in the older age groups over 60. Almost 40 percent of people over 60 and even 75 percent of people over 70 still do not use the Internet at all. In contrast, there are now almost no offline users in the under-30 age group.
Although the proportion of internet users decreases with increasing age, it should be noted that the over-60 age group in particular recorded the strongest growth rate compared to the previous year. Around 41% of people aged 60 and over have used the internet in the last six months. This figure is around 9% higher than in 2008, meaning that the growth rate of Internet use among the 60+ generation is more than twice as high as that of the population as a whole.