The Tour de Suisse will be stopping off in the canton of Aargau again next year, organized by the advertising and communications agency Schaerer und Partner from Lenzburg.
The fourth stage of the 2010 Tour de Suisse, the "Aargau stage", will be decided on Tuesday, June 15 in Wettingen. The start of the fifth stage will take place the following day, also in Wettingen. "The Mittelland always plays a central role in the stage planning of the Tour de Suisse," says Marco Canonica, partner and responsible project manager at Schaerer und Partner. According to a press release, Marco Canonica speaks from his own experience - he organized the Tour de Suisse final stage in Aarau in 2003 (as part of the 200th anniversary of the Canton of Aargau), the arrival and start in Bad Zurzach in 2005 and the start stage in Bremgarten in 2006. Cycling fans can therefore rest assured that, thanks to this wealth of experience, the fourth stage of the 2010 Tour de Suisse is in good hands with Schaerer und Partner.
Responsible at Schaerer und Partner, LenzburgMarco Canonica (project management). Responsible at the municipality of Wettingen: Dr. Markus Dieth (Mayor of the municipality).

Is this advertising or art? How did the Swiss-Film "LX forty" from the point of view of commercial communication? Is this a commercial for Swiss, or rather one for the director, Marc Forster? Opinions differ. The decisive factor is probably that "LX forty" is different, according to a statement from Schweizer Werbung SW. Instead of traditional channels, the focus is on online, PR and events. And the content does not reflect a product, but the world of thought of the Hollywood star. The text, written and spoken by Forster himself, gets under your skin and stands out pleasantly from the messages of conventional commercials. Together with the beautiful images, it communicates what is important for Swiss: Swissness, internationality and quality. With LX Forty, Marc Forster has brought a different dimension to the world of advertising. SW thanks him with the title "Communicator of the Month".

On July 1, Swisscom, in collaboration with ICTnet, awarded the Swisscom Innovation Prize for the best university diploma thesis in the ICT field for the third time. The three graduates Christoph Mäder, Michael Läderach and Alain Preibsch from Bern won over the jury with their thesis "Location Based Service Framework" and secured the prize of CHF 10,000.
As part of the winning project, a system was developed for the simple creation of GPS-based services. The aim was to be able to guarantee the use of offers from a wide range of service providers with all mobile devices from all manufacturers.
The Swisscom Innovation Award is intended to promote talent and reward outstanding achievements. It is awarded once a year to an individual or a team.

The Zurich cantonal government does not want to introduce a new logo for the cantonal administration after all. The reason given for abandoning the corporate design is the current financial situation. The government had earmarked CHF 12 million for the introduction of a new, uniform corporate design for all cantonal offices.
As a result, the swan song was already being sung for the elegant double lions that currently adorn the stationery of the cantonal administration. In political circles, however, the question was quickly raised as to whether a logo, with or without lions, really needed to cost 12 million francs. The costs seemed too high to some, even in times when anti-cyclical economic stimulus measures are booming.

Last August, Orange8 Interactive expanded its online marketing services with a new business unit: Performance Marketing as a holistic digital media competence focuses on success-based display and search campaigns. Thanks to the well-rounded portfolio, the agency can now offer online marketing projects from the initial concept idea to advertising in all relevant digital media channels. The new unit, based in Zurich, has now grown to five employees.
Orange8 is also creating something new in the area of Internet technology: the company is currently establishing a web-based control and reporting solution in the area of ad serving and performance tracking. This will further expand the full service of creativity, technology and media. According to the agency, clients appreciate this offer. BLS, for example, recently had Orange8 design and implement a new portal for the Lötschberger excursion region on Loetschberger.ch, and the platform is now being advertised in search engines and with banner campaigns.
The Performance Marketing division supports clients such as Ackermann, Allianz, Extrafilm, SAS, SIX, Urech, Weltbild, Travelwindow and Schuler Weine.
In the area of websites and e-commerce, new clients such as Manor, SchellenbergWittmer, VZ VermögensZentrum, Helsana, Visana, BLS and the specialist publisher Documedia have already been acquired this year for portals, corporate sites and microsites. After the Migros shopping and experience center Westside launched into the digital world with Orange8 last year, the agency can now also carry out the entire online implementation for the Säntispark of Migros Ostschweiz.

After more than a year of intensive research, the research institute Swiss Poster Research Plus (SPR+) is today presenting the results of its "Station Study" at Zurich Main Station, supported by experts from the German Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems and the Swiss market research institute GfK.
Until now, there has been no research into how passers-by move around inside buildings and come into contact with posters. Since train stations in particular are highly relevant for outdoor advertising as hubs of mobility, SPR+ is proud to close this gap today and fulfill another market promise on time. The key to mastering this outdoor advertising research challenge was to capture the mobility inside the stations. First, SPR+ worked with the Fraunhofer Institute IAIS to create a realistic route model in order to determine all possible routes for pedestrian flows. In a second step
GfK Switzerland's counting staff measure the frequency of passers-by at important junctions such as station entrances, platform entrances and crossings.
Finally, the mobility for the entire station was calculated on the basis of the measured values collected and compared with the geocoded poster spaces in the same way as the street model. A world first: for the first time, statistically significant performance data is shown for station areas. For individual posters, for station campaigns and for classic campaigns consisting of a combination of street and station posters. From the end of August, the performance data will be available to customers in the tried-and-tested SPR+ Expert analysis and evaluation tool.
The station study was commissioned by the outdoor advertising companies APG and Impacta and breaks new ground in outdoor advertising research worldwide. Based on broad statistical surveys in the 27 most important railroad stations in Switzerland, it provides a scientific model for measuring hard media performance data for billboards inside buildings.

Bernhard Weissberg is stepping down as Blick editor-in-chief, the Ringier publishing house announced on Thursday. A successor has not yet been appointed. The reason given for the 49-year-old's resignation is the upcoming relaunch of the newspaper and the introduction of the newsroom with the associated structural changes. Possible new tasks at Ringier are being discussed with Weissberg, the media group writes in the press release.
Weissberg became deputy editor-in-chief of the tabloid in 1997. He was then editor-in-chief of Sonntagsblick from 1997 to 2001. In 2006 he became editor-in-chief of Heute. In November 2007, he was appointed editor-in-chief of Blick. From 2002 to 2006, he was a member of the Ringer Group Executive Board as Head of Newspapers.
According to the press release, deputy editor-in-chief Ralph Grosse-Bley will be in charge of day-to-day editorial operations. Marc Walder will assume overall journalistic responsibility for Blick until the new editor-in-chief is appointed, in addition to his role as Managing Director of Ringier Switzerland.

In addition to the resignation of Blick Editor-in-Chief Bernhard Weissberg, there will also be a change at the top of the Blick Group: Thomas Passen will step down as CEO on July 17, while Caroline Thoma will succeed him and become a member of the Ringier Switzerland Executive Board. Passen is leaving Ringier due to differences of opinion regarding the strategic direction of the Blick Group, as detailed in a press release issued by Ringier.
Thoma has been publishing director of the free newspaper .ch since 2007. Prior to this, she was Publishing Director of Annabelle for five years and held the same position at Sonntagszeitung for two years. From 1996 to 1998, she worked for the weekly newspaper Cash as deputy publishing director and head of the reader market.
Passen has held various positions at Ringier since 1996. He started as Head of Production and Advertising Coordination, was Publishing Director of Gesundheit Sprechstunde and Cash and Head of the Magazine Readership and Advertising Market. In 2007 he became Publishing Director and in 2008 Head of the Blick Group and member of the Executive Board of Ringier Switzerland.

Since March 2009, Cash has focused on digital distribution via the web and mobile applications. As announced, Cash is now further expanding its digital offerings with new content and services. Since July 1, the expanded news channel on Cash.ch has offered a service section for careers. This contains information and tips for successful career planning and job hunting. In collaboration with the platform for management positions Topjobs.ch, job offers from the areas of finance and business, marketing and sales as well as HR are also published. In cooperation with Moneyhouse, personal networks and relevant company data are displayed.
The Derivatives Guide now offers investors neutral guidance on derivative financial products and is now supplemented by an issue calendar. This provides investors with the most important information about structured products before they are traded on the stock exchange. Cash will soon be offering an iApp for iPhone users, which will improve the usability of the mobile services. Mobile.cash.ch and the iApp offer access to the News, Stock Exchange, Video and My Cash sections with personalized services.
There are also changes for advertising customers: Cash.ch now offers them the option of a permanent presence or a dedicated presence. In particular, there is now also the option of brandweeks with rectangles, wallpaper and background coloring.

The Goldbach Media subsidiary Adlink Media is expanding its existing range of performance-based billing. Advertisers can now choose between a premium and a blind network for cost-per-click campaigns. According to the press release, the Response Premium network comprises a selection of Swiss websites that are disclosed to the advertising client. Response Blind is the cheaper alternative. The two bookable response offers do not overlap, i.e. no website is represented in both networks.
"With the restructuring of Adlink Response, we are responding to the needs of our customers in the area of cost-per-click campaigns. We now offer advertisers with performance-based billing requirements both a convincing low-cost option and a high-quality response product within the largest website network in Switzerland," says Urs Flückiger, Deputy Managing Director of Adlink Media Switzerland.

Since Michael Jackson passed away, sales of his albums have skyrocketed all over the world. All over the world? Not quite. In a small country with lots of mountains, clocks and cows, the King of Pop is missing from the charts: he chose the wrong time for his death. According to 20minuten online, the current Swiss hit parade, which has been published since Wednesday and will be presented on the radio at the weekend, was based on the previous week's sales figures. And as Jacko only died on Friday night, he won't storm the Swiss charts until the weekend after next. So Papa Jackson has nothing to worry about: His son's death is also making the cash registers ring in Switzerland - even if a look at the current hit parade suggests otherwise.