Beobachter is now providing a database of energy promotion programs on beobachter.ch. The database of the search portal energiefranken.ch will be available exclusively on beobachter.ch. With just a few clicks, homeowners can obtain an overview of the energy promotion programs offered by the federal government, cantons, municipalities and regional electricity and natural gas suppliers.
The search portal was developed by "Medienbüro Oerlikon Journalisten", which is also responsible for updating the content.

At the General Meeting of the Zurich Advertising Club on June 30, 2009, Carlo Steiner was confirmed as President of the Board of Directors. Sabine Bamert, Andy Hostettler and René Meyer were also elected for a further year. Lanny Cresta, a federally certified journalist, was newly elected to the Board. Cresta works as Junior Account Director at TBWA Switzerland.

Vasp is a young, owner-managed visualization agency in Zurich that specializes in complexity reduction and visualization. Behind the label Vasp is the concept "Visual Approaches to Solving Problems". The specialties of the agency with 15 visualization experts are the representation of knowledge and the implementation of unique images. "We can represent anything you can imagine," promise the two heads of Vasp.
Remo Burkhard and Michael Meier studied architecture together in Zurich. In a joint project, they found out "that it works better together than alone". Burkhard was good at simplifying. Meier was good at visualizing. The duo came up with "images and visualizations that are really convincing." To bring this idea to market, they founded a company.
Burkhard always wanted to study architecture, but never wanted to build. During an internship in New York, where he was able to work in the most renowned office for virtual architecture, his enthusiasm took him elsewhere. After seven months in the Big Apple, he knew: "I'm going to do something like that in Switzerland, too!"
Meier chose to study architecture because of his enthusiasm for the versatility of education. He also quickly knew, "I'm interested in revolutionary thinking, not building." You work a lot for the trash in the construction process. In addition, there are very long processes, while Meier was more enthusiastic about the quick projects. One of these was the Arteplage in Yverdon, where Meier was able to build the entire pavilion in 3D during his internship for Expo 02.
So their business idea "to make the best pictures" eventually captivated the two more and more. They were spurred on by the times in which 3D and new computer technologies were becoming more sophisticated all the time. "We became completely immersed in that world." In order to specialize even more, Burkhard added a doctorate on the topic of "knowledge visualization."
To earn the money for his studies, Burkhard did a lot of programming and worked for IBM and in banks. "There I saw that people worked almost exclusively with Excel, PowerPoint and Word," says the then career changer, comparing the business world to the much more visual world of architects. "Here, we worked with sketches, plans, models, 3D images, schematics, films and renderings to develop and communicate knowledge." That's why Burkhard and Meier quickly agreed: "The architects' methods can also be used in other industries - in advertising agencies, government agencies and banks."
How to simplify content? How can you pull the methods of architects into business? How can this lead to greater efficiency and more sales? Around these questions, the business idea of bringing methods from architecture into companies like IBM, ABB, or even banks was born. "We called our approach knowledge visualization." By this, the founders of Vasp Datatecture mean more than just an expanded definition of infographics and illustration. "We are first about complexity reduction, then about using the best visualization method." The megatrend of knowledge visualization, the two are convinced, will soon acquire a similar importance and duty for companies as corporate identity once did.
For Meier and Burkhard, their own company was "a start-up with a dream. Both were only able to inject start-up capital of 1,500 francs each. But the young entrepreneurs quickly got ahead. "We wanted a real company under the Swiss Code of Obligations. Not just a tinkering workshop with a kitchen table and unpaid night shifts and weekend work." Remo Burkhard learned what it takes to position a company properly beforehand in St. Gallen. There, he led the development of a competence center at the university for three years. For their own company, Meier and Burkhard knew: The dotcom crisis was still prevailing - and customers demanded security. Despite the crisis, they opted for permanent employees rather than freelancers and founded a limited liability company in 2003. The first office was a sublet in a consultant network in a prime location in Zurich Stadelhofen. "That's where we got to talk to management consultants during breaks and learned their language on a daily basis."
A first assignment was a 3D game around the Digital Divide. As part of the CH21 impulse program, a learning program for dealing with the Internet had to be designed. The solution was a computer animation as a Flash game. The successful project led to further requests from the training sector. The staff was expanded. "With five people, our customers felt: We are stable and not a one-day wonder." They received requests from corporations and provided internal training. This resulted in a major project for UBS, whereby they developed a modern training concept for training more than 1,000 client advisors. The key was the combination of complexity reduction and visualization. For ETH, their strategy had to be condensed from 100 pages of text to a double page spread. "Big Pictures" is the name given to this technique, in which the essence is presented with complex interrelationships on a poster, true to the motto "A picture is worth a thousand words".
With the growing success, advertising agencies such as Jung von Matt, SFLB, Matter & Gretener, Wirz or Publicis also discovered the creative services of the visualizers. They commissioned the company to implement unconventional image ideas, or seek advice when products that don't even exist yet need to be effectively depicted for a sales brochure. For example, prototypes for advertising in a car showroom or images in the real estate sector with which an architect or developer wants to attract investors for planned projects.
To handle all these growing demands, Vasp soon expanded to ten employees. "Suddenly we were a large company in the eyes of some customers," Burkhard noted with a smile. The growing success eventually led to today's ideal staff of 15 specialists. Because this size also requires a different structure and must be managed differently, Martin Vögele joined Vasp as CEO last November. The final kick in this development was a major project for the Klett publishing house, which is still in progress and involves 400 "completely new types of images.
The versatile agency now has its offices in a loft in Zurich's West End. In addition to 3D specialists and graphic designers, four scientific illustrators and a product designer also work here. It is striking that the young entrepreneurs have integrated "older hands" into their team. The head of consulting has thirty years of management consulting experience. The accountant has weathered a variety of economic storms. "With such a lineup, we simply have broader knowledge," the two young entrepreneurs are convinced. And by taking the pressure off management, they have more time for conceptual and visual work.
Remo Burkhard and Michael Meier are actively involved in all projects. "It's important for our customers that they can have a direct dialogue with us." For example, Vasp can not only explain the possible techniques to an advertiser, but also point out in conversation "how their idea could perhaps be made even more pointed with new techniques." Burkhard and Meier are competent to do this because their company is licensed to distribute "some of the best software programs for 3D" in Switzerland. "This gives us insight into future techniques that our competitors are not yet aware of." For example, in the area of modeling and exposure.
Of course, it is ideal if Vasp is involved in a project as early as possible and is not allowed to deliver "a finished picture" only at the end. "If we can bring in a possible solution with a sketch at the beginning, you're faster later and lose less time and money."
To help interested customers understand this paradigm shift and become better at visualizing themselves, the agency offers courses. In seminars with titles such as "Drawing for Non-Drawers" or "Power Point Doctor," participants learn easy-to-use techniques. "Of course, we also show the worldwide state of the art with current examples, which customers can implement not on their own, but together with us, if they can't get any further with Power Point and Co.", say Burkhard and Meier about their equally useful and ingenious sales idea.
The two also see a future market for their ideas in Asia. As a result of the bank orders, Vasp opened a branch office in Singapore last year. Because of the current financial crisis, however, it is only being run on a shoestring at the moment. Nevertheless, the accounts show that their earlier "dream" of being able to earn money with 3D images has turned into a company in a niche market. The Zurich pioneers are convinced that this is also due to the fact that they had added complexity reduction to the offer early on, which today guarantees half of the revenue. "I believe in our company, otherwise I wouldn't have started a family with three children," says Michael Meier when asked if there is room for anything else in his life besides work. Remo Burkhard cites "travel" as a compensation. But only to big cities and not to nature. "In the big cities, I find this fascinating overlap of endless cultures, information and impressions," he says. And the ideas have to come from somewhere, after all.
Andreas Panzeri

Remo Burkhard.

Michael Meier.

Vasp's work samples show: Virtual photography is predestined to make fantasies and fictions visible. Suddenly, ideas, objects, and content that were impossible to represent, or could only be represented with elaborate composings, model construction, and retouching, become realizable thanks to the computer.
Before prototypes of new products are produced, photorealistic images can already be used for marketing and advertising purposes.
The technology is also successfully used in architecture.

Emanuel Neubacher is the new editor at Zurich private radio station Radio 24, starting on October 1, 2009. Neubacher previously worked as an editor and producer at Energy Zurich. He previously worked as an editor at Radio Top.

The agency Publicis Dialog is running a campaign to publicize various pension planning events organized by Zurich Pension Planning Switzerland. With an allusion to society's youth mania, the campaign shows methods with which age can be visually corrected, according to the agency. The motif is accompanied by the claim "Even if you look younger than you actually are, no tricks help when it comes to retirement planning".
A series of 5 advertisements were placed in one issue of regional print media. First a classic advertisement on the subject of pensions. Two pages further on, a combination of teaser and resolution as an invitation to the pension planning event. After two more pages, a publicity report delves deeper into the topic.

Responsible at Zurich Switzerland: Sandra Brahm (Marketing Communications), Kathrin Schünemann
(Head of Advertising / Branding). Karin Werer (Head of Marketing Communications), Daniel Kohler (Head of Strategic Marketing BU Life). Responsible at Publicis Dialog: Folker Wrage (Creative Director), Suzanne Friedli (Art Direction), Georg Wirth (Graphics), Oliver Gisi (Concept/Text), Roman Steinacher, Christina Popa (Consulting), Adrian Häni, Jens Behmann, Sara Bieri (DTP), Fabio Clerici (Image Editing), Romeo Bucceroni (Production). Responsible at Optimedia: Malte Haenel (Media Planner)

Anyone can publish their opinion on the web in blogs and forums, on social media platforms (Facebook), through product reviews on Amazon.de or Codecheck.info. These opinions can in turn be found at the top of Google & Co, from where they spread further and influence purchasing decisions:
- For 76 percent of online shoppers, search engines are the most important source of information when making a purchase decision.
- 31 percent of tourism companies' turnover is researched online and booked offline.
It goes without saying that customers do not base their decisions solely on provider information.
Motrin fell to its knees over the weekend
Online brand reputation is significantly influenced by opinions and statements. If a company pays no attention to its online reputation, it can suffer a loss of image and sales. This was the case with Johnson & Johnson's US subsidiary McNeil. In September 2008, it launched Motrin on the market as a medication for back pain for young mothers. Six weeks after the campaign launch, the commercial and Motrin were a national topic in the USA, unnoticed by McNeil.
One Friday evening, a mother posted a negative comment on her blog about the statements in the Motrin commercial. This triggered the "Motrin Mom" wave. A prominent blogger became aware of the issue and tweeted about it. Within two hours, 5,000 tweets were posted by 1,000 people. Over the weekend, the anti-Motrin tweets were edited into a 9-minute video and published on YouTube. The anti-Motrin spot was viewed 95,000 times and 5,900 blog posts were published. The Motrin campaign was already a topic in the major US media on Sunday. The anti-Motrin wave caught the McNeil company sleeping, so that it had no choice but to shut down the website and the campaign.
Motrin's mistake was not the TV commercial, but the fact that the brand reputation was ignored. A catastrophe unfolded before everyone's eyes and no one was prepared for it. Professional brand reputation management that monitors the market, analyzes the statements and reacts in a targeted manner would have prevented major damage.

For a long time, the discussion about fundamental topics such as measurability of communications, the right system approach or acceptance was conducted among communications professionals. However, at the second "Communications Controlling" symposium at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich (Zurich School of Business), it was clearly demonstrated that there are now numerous tools for communications controlling that are suitable for everyday use, ranging from relatively simple process success monitoring to complex multi-stakeholder key performance indicators.
Interest in Communications Controlling on the rise
On Thursday, June 18, 2009, the Competence Center Communication of the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich held its second Communications Controlling Conference, this time under the title "Success Control in Practice". The event was made possible by the commitment of sponsors Wemf, Farner Consulting and Convento. "With more than 90 participants, we are clearly above the interest of the first time. For me, this is also an indication that the topic is seriously moving more and more communications professionals," said Cyril Meier, Head of the HWZ Center for Communications and responsible for the event.
In his welcome address, he emphasized that the HWZ, with its long tradition of business education and training, felt obliged to address the issue of impact-oriented communication and its measurement. After all, corporate communications will only be accepted by management as a value-creating corporate function if its successes can be measured.
In her opening presentation, Prof. Dr. Diana Ingenhoff, University of Fribourg, used the example of Telecom Austria to impressively demonstrate that and how the theoretical concepts developed in recent years are suitable for practical application. It is also gratifying to see that science in the German-speaking world is increasingly relying on a uniform terminology, definitions and systems. This facilitates access for communication practitioners enormously.
Dr. Christian König, CEO of Farner Consulting, emphasized in his entertaining and whimsical follow-up presentation how important it is for communications professionals to make efforts to become measurable. However, this first requires a differentiated, realistic awareness of target groups, messages and communicative impact goals. Furthermore, he warned against pushing controlling in the field of communications as long as the same does not apply to the other disciplines of corporate management such as legal or human resources.
At the end of the conference, Dr. Erich Wohlfahrt, Bayer, used the example of the integration of Schering into Bayer to show what insights communications experts could gain for their effective and efficient work through a practical system of communications controlling. He summarized his experience as follows: "When introducing communications controlling, I recommend starting with manageable projects before venturing into complete systems.
The five parallel breakout sessions, in which tried-and-tested communications controlling instruments were presented and discussed, were highly appreciated by the participants. Harald Amschler, Head of Research, Wemf, René Grossenbacher, Managing Director of Publicom, Rainer Maasen, Managing Director of Convento GmbH, Horst Pütz, Managing Director of MCCOM Consulting GmbH, and Christoph Spengler, Founder and Managing Director of Accelerom, Zurich, gave presentations.
Andreas Jäggi
Voices on the symposium
Dr. Albert Halter of SIX Group: "We have introduced numerous new communication measures in our company. Measuring success in various areas represents the next important step. The event provided interesting suggestions on this from theory and practice."
Cyril Meier, Head of HWZ Center for Communications: "Today's conference confirms that there are now numerous tools available for communications controlling that are suitable for everyday use, from relatively simple process success monitoring to complex multi-stakeholder key performance indicators."
"SBB attaches great importance to systematic controlling of communications in the future, and a corresponding system is being planned. Of course, I am particularly interested in the possibilities in the area of media response analysis. I hope that this will provide me with concrete input for further improving our daily media work," said Danni Härry, SBB's press officer.
Peter Kern, UBS Investment Bank: "Especially in times of tighter communications budgets, controlling is very important when it comes to making the best use of resources."
Fabiola Thomman, HWZ, conference organizer: "The numerous registrations for the second staging of the symposium underscore the increasing importance of the topic for those responsible for communications."

Practical examples for 2010 in evaluation
The next Swiss Communications Controlling symposium is planned for June 17, 2010 and will again be held at the HWZ. At that time, the organizers would again like to show participants insights into current examples of controlling in organizational communications. If you would like to take the opportunity to share your experiences, please contact [email protected].

In front of the store, a video wall magnetically attracts consumers. Then the potential customer finds a touchscreen in the entrance area. The interactive information pillar entices shoppers to linger and gives them the feeling that they have landed in the right store. The modern touch screen replaces in a very trendy way the boring signposts that used to guide customers to the different departments. Today, customers are welcomed into these departments amidst attractive decorations and music appropriate to the target group. The basic lighting is subdued, as in the lounge at the aperitif. At the POS, however, a product video shines in all its glory. - The store as a multimedia experience.
When shopping, people react consciously and unconsciously at the same time. The price is decisive, says the sensible side in the left brain. The right side of the brain listens to the music and checks whether the ambience is right. If the customer is relaxed, he is more likely to engage in a conversation with the salesperson. These are sensory marketing tools that address the sensory levels.
The trend that has become the norm in all stores today emerged in the 1970s with elevator music. Department stores were stocked with tapes and cassettes. These were regularly re-recorded in a copying line. A company in Spreitenbach made a name for itself early on as a pioneer in this niche market.
Fifty years of experience
Moodmountain was founded in 1958 still under the label Europhone. This term derived from the phonograph. The company started with simple music solutions for sales areas and business premises. In 1991 the company was taken over by Richard Koch. The new owner gradually expanded and brought Europhone into the world of new technologies. Tapes became CD players and finally, in the digital age, network solutions with hard disk systems. In line with the expanded offer, the name also changed to Moodmountain at the beginning of 2009.
Mood is a word that covers all moods. Mountain expresses the solidity of the company and Swissness. "The term reflects much better our world of emotions," says Markus Coradi. In addition to owner Richard Koch, who now serves as chairman of the board of directors, Coradi has also been named the company's new CEO with the new look. He joined as head of marketing and sales. Prior to Moodmountain, Coradi worked for Sunrise, Phonehouse and before that eleven years in the music industry - for example as business manager at City Disc and also in the record industry most recently as sales manager at Warner Music. Coradi supplemented this music background with a part-time degree in business administration. In addition, he graduated from SAWI as a federally certified marketing manager.
International network
The new name Moodmountain naturally also shows a reference to the internationally active Mood Media Group. The Swiss have been working with this globally active partner company for 15 years. Mood Media is active in 35 countries and manages 110,000 locations with music and over 5,000 stores with video solutions on several continents. The entire group generates 150 million Swiss francs in sales per year and employs 500 people worldwide. "We are active in a niche market, but we are the clear market leader there," explains Coradi.
Through its partner Mood Media, Moodmountain can also handle international projects from Switzerland, whether for the Marché gastronomy chain or Mövenpick Hotels, as recently in Finland, Hungary or Austria. Such orders are coordinated from Switzerland and installed with local partners on site. Moodmountain also distributes the specially developed hardware from Mood Media.
Moodmountain has entered into another partnership with Gadget. This company in the event sector and artist management realizes audio spots and soundscapes for Moodmountain. Ambius is a partner in the field of fragrance systems. This international supplier belongs to the Rentokil Group and "scents" about 500 objects throughout Europe - from parking garages and casinos to shopping centers and retail areas. Here, for example, changing rooms are supplied with fresh scent to eliminate unpleasant odors. In restrooms, grapefruit or floral scents are popular. Fragrances with more technical associations can be found in the transition from a parking garage to a mall in a shopping center. However, all of these scents are used "extremely discreetly." A few drops of the aroma are compressed to the nano level and then float into the chosen space with the air circulation. In most cases, the entire space is not managed either, but only the entrance area. "We are careful not to oversaturate," Coradi explains. In this sense, a scent should not even be consciously perceived. "It just has to smell good."
Moodmountain also has an important partnership with Dimension 3, a group of small entrepreneurs such as architects, designers and interior decorators, whose main concern is aesthetics. One brings greenery, the other the decor and Moodmountain the music, the images or the fragrance. This creates a complex sensory environment. Many customers have remained loyal to Moodmountain for more than ten years, "because they are satisfied with the service," as Coradi is pleased to say. Among the most important references are Denner, Migros, H&M, C&A, Volg, Globus, Marché, Mövenpick, Valora, McDonald's, Tchibo as well as UBS and many more.
Full service from a single source
Moodmountain employs twelve people. In addition to the service technicians, who are on the road throughout Switzerland, a marketing department, content management and project managers work in Spreitenbach. These draw schematics and ceiling plans: Where do the speakers go? What systems are there? Amplifiers? How are the evacuation systems integrated? How does the whole thing need to be wired and switched? Once this planning is complete, the equipment is assembled in a large workshop in Spreitenbach, delivered and finally installed on site. This full service naturally also includes comprehensive after-sales support. This is guaranteed by fast response times, service technicians and customer-oriented key account management.
When a company launches a campaign, the commercials can be synchronized at the POS. "We do this very intensively for Migros," explains Coradi. In the stores of the Zurich cooperative, advertisements for the campaigns or activities of the Migros Culture Percentage are thus placed on a weekly basis. "This demand in POS advertising will develop even more," Coradi is convinced. In the future, Moodmountain would also like to work increasingly with advertising and branding agencies for such holistic POS concepts.
Advertising campaigns are already possible today, for example at retailers, where suppliers have a specially produced spot placed. In such operations, synchronization between the constantly running music and the sound of the advertising is very important, especially if video content is also integrated. It pays off if everything comes from the same provider and is controlled centrally by a computer.
Moodmountain's technologies are always state-of-the-art. "We therefore have a high quality standard for the products and complementarily distinguish ourselves through the comprehensive full service, i.e. from consulting, planning, realization up to after sales. This advantage is highly appreciated by our customers," explains Coradi.
Customized programs
Most of Moodmountain's projects, or around 70 percent, are handled in the retail environment. Then comes the catering industry with 10 percent. Shopping centers/office buildings and public facilities, for example for the SBB, achieve a similar share.
Since 2001, an internationally valid standard regulates the requirements for emergency warning systems, evacuation systems can also be found in Moodmountain's portfolio. Often such public address systems for emergencies can be coupled with the systems for entertainment. Another diversification is Kids Entertainment. Here, children's cinemas and play corners are set up, where kids can entertain themselves with sophisticated game and quiz programs on touch terminals, for example, while their parents relax and shop.
Moodmountain works with original music and buys the licenses for it. The customer has to settle fees with Sui¬sa depending on the size of his sales area. The content, which is mixed by experienced music experts in Spreitenbach, is usually completely different in the morning than at lunchtime and in the evening - but always within the overall sound design concept, which is defined together with the customer. Different music concepts can also be defined for each sales floor with the help of the computer control system. Dance or rock in the young fashion department, lounge music in the perfumery and "mainstream" at the entrance. If a company such as the Globus department store is organizing a South Africa week, Moodmountain feeds in the South African music. Depending on the dominance of the POS promotion, the number of songs per hour varies - so employees don't feel disturbed. "These factors also have to be taken into account," Coradi knows.
Moodmountain can deliver the music for chain stores such as Migros or Denner centrally from Spreitenbach via a satellite system. Streaming solutions via the Internet are also possible. There are 80 different music programs on offer. For this, the CDs are entered into a database (over 6 million songs) and linked according to 700 different criteria - style, with voice, without voice, female, male, trumpet, drums or even number of beats per minute.
To determine the program, Moodmountain's specialists sit down with their client's marketing and sales departments and then determine the multisensory concept for music, video or scent according to the communication and sales strategy. "Such professional systems are a good differentiation tool compared to competitors in the market," Coradi is convinced. In addition: the time spent in the store becomes longer, the customer feels comfortable. "He is entertained and learns something with the info on the screens." If the customer stays longer, he naturally buys more. Moodmountain's overall multisensory solutions therefore boost sales. In addition, the brand is also strengthened, because with the visual components, the customer also consciously perceives the branding elements; music and scent have a more subconscious effect. Moodmountain is therefore convinced: "If the customer likes it in the store, this conveys a good image of the company to him from a perception point of view, and he will therefore come back again."
Andreas Panzeri

Markus Coradi is new CEO
at Moodmountain in Spreitenbach.

The company Rösti + Partner has commissioned the agency at the airport with its new appearance. The name was immediately turned into a program. Rösti + Partner now appears with the claim "Ready-to-use architecture and construction solutions" and Rösti key visuals.
The campaign can now be seen in advertisements, on a website and in a brochure.
Responsible at Rösti + Partner, Aarau: Matthias Rösti (owner). Responsible at Agentur am Flughafen, Altenrhein: René Eugstair (Creative Direction), Dominique Rutishauser (Art Direction), Benita Sutter (Graphics), Désirée Schmid (Text). Photography: Hans Scherrer, Rorschach.

In the online survey in March 2009, 137 managers in Swiss-German media companies were presented with current industry developments and forecasts for assessment. The results are intended to serve as a guide. "In uncertain times, a multitude of trend statements are circulating. The association wanted to know what the experts from its own ranks think about these forecasts," writes Josefa Haas, Head of the Media Institute. Haas designed the study and Publicom carried it out.
Of the theses presented, the following received the highest approval from the 137 executives: 96% are of the opinion that cooperation between media companies will increase. 94 percent each believe that multimedia offerings are the future and that customers will continue to be willing to pay for high-quality editorial services. In contrast, the thesis that there will be no more printed media in 2025 was hardly supported (22%). 24% believe that user content will replace journalistic offerings in the future. And a good quarter (26%) of respondents believe that the attractiveness of the journalistic environment for advertising will decrease massively.
For 86% of respondents, reducing costs is currently a priority. However, 13 percent consider this to be "not urgent". In line with this, 76 percent are not currently considering launching a new print offering, while 24 percent tend to urge this ("urgent" or "very urgent"). Theses in which supporters (+) and opponents are more or less in balance are as follows: launch new journalistic offerings (+: 47%), improve training for publishers (+: 45%), improve training for journalists (+: 43%), implement newsroom concepts (+: 42%).
Despite the desire to save money, managers are also aware that new ideas are needed. While 68 percent of those surveyed advocate focusing on the core business of content production, only 61 percent believe that professional journalistic services can continue to be financed through advertising and sales. 45 percent even state that alternative forms of financing will gain in importance. However, 79% are of the opinion that new offers should be developed for the advertising market. 87% want to use new technologies and platforms. And 81 percent are also prepared to enter into cooperations for this purpose. The key question is whether the state should support other forms of media in addition to local radio and TV in the future. 70 percent of publishing experts reject this, 32 percent even vehemently.
For the survey, 267 managers of those Swiss-German media companies that are also members of the Swiss Press Association were contacted. 137 managers, including 20 women, responded. The average age of the respondents was 49. 60 CEOs, 36 members of executive boards and 26 department and division heads took part in the survey. 63 people came from companies with up to 50 employees, 40 from companies with 51 to 500 employees and 35 from larger companies. The association intends to conduct this survey on a regular basis.
Markus Knöpfli

The digital radio technology Digital Audio Broadcast DAB+ suffered a major setback last week. On the one hand, the Swiss Private Radio Association VSP advised its members to opt for a digital broadcasting technology soon, clearly supporting the cheaper high-definition technology HD radio for financial reasons. In addition, the German Radio and Audio Services Assembly of the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telemedia VPRT has spoken out against the introduction of DAB+ radio in Germany, which is planned for fall 2009. Financial considerations play a central role in both recommendations. There are currently around 20 million FM radios in Swiss households and cars. In comparison: Only 30,000 receivers of the outdated DAB technology and an unknown number of newer DAB+ devices are in operation. The VSP agrees with the German VPRT, which warns against phasing out FM technology, as this would deprive private radio companies of their business and livelihood and destroy investments and jobs.

Polyconsult is running a campaign to publicize the regulations on fines for litter offenders. A new system of fines for litter offenders has been in place in Bern since June 1, 2004, but has hardly been enforced to date. This is now set to change from July 1, 2009, the agency writes in a press release. The city is tightening controls and imposing more fines on litter offenders. The Bern advertising agency was entrusted with the task of developing a campaign to make the public aware of the stricter controls.