The Eastern Swiss advertising agency Hollenstein und Partner has created an advertising campaign for Promat, a provider in the field of structural fire protection. This is intended to aestheticize structural fire protection and show that safety and beauty are not mutually exclusive. The aim was to achieve greater awareness in the architect and planner segment and at the same time appeal to an audience that has no specialist knowledge.
This was accompanied by a press release reporting on the renovation of the Federal Palace dome between 2006 and 2008. Promat had the task of protecting the dome on both sides from fire while respecting the overall aesthetics of the Bundeshaus. The communication was sent to numerous editorial offices in Switzerland and produced as an advertising flyer.

Responsible at Promat: Peter G. Triet (Managing Director), Reto Walker (Marketing). Responsible at Hollenstein and Partner: Paul Seliner (consultant), Ruedi Hollenstein (overall responsibility), Cora Hollenstein
(graphic), Daniel Blatti (text).

The Lucerne agency Premotion has been commissioned by Unilever Switzerland to bring the naturalness of Knorr products to life. At the same time, "Knorrli" is to be positioned as a symbol of healthy eating and exercise. The boutique agency for marketing and events has created an oversized vegetable basket with an integrated puppet stage on which a play for children is performed. Knorrli plays the leading role.
As a souvenir, young guests will receive a CD with a radio play and an exclusive Knorrli song, and there will be classic tasting activities for parents next to the stage. The performances can be seen in various shopping centers in German-speaking Switzerland from autumn 2009.

The US Supreme Court has made the strict laws even stricter: swearing is no longer allowed on US television. According to US media reports, this court ruling means that in future every single swear word in live broadcasts will be punishable by the broadcasters. If even one inappropriate word slips out of a guest's mouth during a broadcast, the respective broadcaster must expect a fine from the FCC in future.
The stricter laws were originally initiated by a case in 2002. Back then, the singer Cher had spontaneously cursed during the broadcast of an awards ceremony. Verbal missteps by Paris Hilton and Bono Vox were also discussed in this context. In the end, the US broadcaster Fox filed a lawsuit against the FCC guidelines, which had been tightened under the Bush administration. Together with ABC, NBC and CBS, Fox argued in court that the regulations were unclear and undermined the right to freedom of expression.
Now four out of five Supreme Court judges have ruled that the new guidelines are neither "arbitrary nor capricious". For broadcasters, this means that in future their guests will have to be made very aware of how they should express themselves on television. A guest like Sacha Baron Cohen alias Ali G or Borat will probably be muzzled in future. The broadcasters will also have to think about how to mask the spontaneous outbursts of rage from sportspeople.

Ruf Lanz was nominated for a Clio Award with two different works: First, in the Direct Mail category with "Bad news, you've won a pitch" for Freelancerportal.ch. The other was the cinema spot "Sound designer" for the vegetarian restaurant Hiltl, the only film from Switzerland to clear the nomination hurdle. The winner of one of the international Clio statues will be announced on May 14, 2009.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, the United Nations and the European Commission emphasized the importance of journalism for democracy and peace. The media can contribute to dialog, reconciliation and mutual understanding, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in New York. The work of journalists challenges one-sided or entrenched views on religious or political differences and gives minorities a voice.
EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel has warned against restrictions on press freedom. "Without freedom of reporting, there is no democracy," said Michel in Brussels. A poorly informed society is a sick society. Development, human rights and democracy can only exist "if free and independent media are allowed to raise questions and initiate debates".

Appeal to China, Cuba and Eritrea
In addition, 125 media representatives worldwide are in prison because of their work. Some have been imprisoned for years, some even for more than a decade. Ban appealed in particular to China, Cuba and Eritrea to allow the arrested journalists the right to a fair trial.
"Murder and arrests are only the most obvious ways in which journalists are silenced. They often practice self-censorship out of fear. This is also unacceptable; journalists must be able to do their work without intimidation and harassment," Ban emphasized.

Lorenzo Natali Prize 2009 announced
In cooperation with the organization Reporters Without Borders and the World Association of Newspapers, the EU Commission awarded the Lorenzo Natali Prize 2009. Since 1992, this international prize has been awarded to journalists whose reporting promotes human rights, democracy and development.

Shortly after the announcement of the closure of .ch, the two media unions Comedia and Impressum sent a letter calling for a social plan for the 69 redundant editorial and publishing staff. Comedia writes that in view of the difficult economic situation, it will not be easy for those affected to find a new job of equal value - and certainly not immediately. "Verlag Punkt ch AG therefore has a particular duty to negotiate a decent redundancy plan with the employees and their representatives."
Free newspaper .ch to be discontinued - 61 jobs cut
The media union also writes that the .ch publishing experiment lasted less than two years. After many changes of direction and the associated uncertainties, to which the staff in particular were exposed, the abrupt "end" has now come. "Once again, it is the employees of the free newspaper who are suffering."
A similar sentiment is echoed by Impressum, which is also calling for a fair social plan and the immediate start of negotiations with the social partners. The Association of Media Professionals doubts that economic developments alone are responsible for the misère. Rather, the market has been flooded with free products in just a few years and overcapacity has been deliberately accepted. "It is highly regrettable that media professionals now have to foot the bill for the cut-throat competition among the providers of free newspapers. The price is the loss of their jobs, which could drive them into existential difficulties, especially in the current situation."

This year's Columbus direct marketing prize was awarded in Vienna last week. The agency at the airport in Altenrhein won two bronze awards. Of the 221 entries submitted, 35 were awarded a Columbus. The creative team from Altenrhein won in the D-A-CH category with the campaigns: "Regus invites you to fish for piranhas in the Amazon" and "15 years of Agentur am Flughafen".

According to a survey by the American organization Freedom House, press freedom has been restricted in all regions of the world. Of the 195 countries and regions surveyed, the media were only able to work unhindered in 70 in 2008, which corresponds to 36 percent. This compares with 72 countries worldwide in the previous year. In 2008, Freedom House classified the media situation in 61 countries (31 percent) as "partly free" and in 64 others (33 percent) as "unfree".
Restrictions on journalists have increased for seven years in a row, but 2008 was the first year in which they increased in all regions of the world, including Western Europe. "Today, journalism is struggling to stay alive, with pressure from governments, other influential actors and the global economic crisis exacting a huge price," explained Freedom House Director Jennifer Windsor.
Freedom of expression curtailed in Italy
According to the study, Western Europe is still the region with the highest level of press freedom, although Italy was downgraded to the "partly free" category. The authors justified this by stating that the Italian judiciary and legislature are curtailing the right to freedom of expression. The increasing concentration of the media in Italy is also a cause for concern.
Freedom House recorded the most massive decline in press freedom in Central and Eastern Europe. The organization cited the murder of journalists in Bulgaria and Croatia, attacks on Bosnian media representatives and the fact that Russian journalists were denied protection as examples.
Intimidation campaigns and "blogger hells"
In addition to Italy, Israel and Hong Kong were also downgraded from "free" to "partly free" status. China, Cuba, Iran, Burma, North Korea, the Palestinian territories, Zimbabwe and Belarus, among others, received the worst rating - i.e. "unfree" status.
In general, an increase in press freedom in South Asia and Africa in 2008 was "overshadowed by a campaign of intimidation against independent media, especially in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa", the study says. Freedom House publishes the annual report on press freedom since 1980.
The US Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also published a survey on Thursday - the list of "the ten worst countries for bloggers". This year's list includes Egypt, Burma, China, Iran, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on Sunday.

Daniel Küng takes over the management of the DZO Oetwil am See newspaper printing center. He replaces Hans Ruedi Hürlemann as Managing Director, who is retiring after two years at the end of 2009. This was decided unanimously by the company's Board of Directors. Daniel Küng prevailed in a selection process after the position was advertised. The printing specialist has proven himself as shift manager and head of the newspaper rotation department in the printing center, the company writes in a press release on Monday. He also recently successfully completed the Skugra entrepreneurship course. The DZO is responsible for printing the Zürcher Oberländer, Zürichsee-Zeitung and Zürcher Unterländer regional newspapers, among others.

After Advico Young & Rubicam won Axpo's advertising budget last year, the Zurich-based agency is now launching a campaign for the energy company. The aim is to draw attention to climate-friendly electricity production. TV commercials, advertisements, online advertising and the redesigned website will be used with immediate effect. Energiedialog.ch for use. These all rely on employees of the Group: Claudia Graber, Human Resources employee at the subsidiary Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke CKW, was selected for the first TV commercial. Further subjects will follow in the coming days and weeks.

> To the spot

Tagi editor-in-chief Peter Hartmeier has been named communicator of the month by Schweizer Werbung. Part of his success can be attributed to his communication skills, according to the citation.
For almost seven years, Peter Hartmeier has had the not-so-easy task of managing what is probably the most edgy newspaper editorial office in the country. And this was after he had previously mainly headed up business titles that tended to follow the same line. Quite a few people gave the Schaffhausen native little chance of leading the heterogeneous personalities at Werdstrasse in a consistent direction. But according to the Swiss Advertising Association, Hartmeier, who is said to have personally appeased disgruntled readers, proved all his critics wrong. Hartmeier has not shied away from using clear words and has also engaged in unpopular topics with striking comments, the association continues.

On May 8, 2009, 8 p.m., the Swiss Photography Award ceremony will take place in Zurich. Werbewoche is giving away 5×2 tickets for the event. Interested parties should send an e-mail by Monday, May 4, with the reference: "Fotopreis-Verlosung" to: [email protected]. The winners will be notified on Tuesday.
On the opening night of the EWZ Selection, a main prize of 15,000 Swiss francs will be awarded, as well as four prizes in the categories Advertising, Editorial Photography, Fine Arts and Free.
Photo outline: QUEEN MINI MOUSE / Alex Gertschen