The Bataillard wine company has created a wine game that allows players to create their own favorite wine. On Magellan-wein.ch Visitors can select three flavor profiles. To do so, they click on the corresponding containers, and just like that, their favorite wine is created. The oenologists at Bataillard then set out into the vast world of wine to find the one that best matches the tastes of the majority of participants. This new Magellan wine will be available in stores in 2010. A sailing trip for four people, valued at 6,000 francs, will be raffled off among the participants. In addition, three Magellan discovery kits will be raffled off each week.

Zurich Tokyo has a new client: The agency has been commissioned to develop a comprehensive campaign in the B2B segment for the global company Oerlikon Solar. According to a press release from Zurich Tokyo, the provider of manufacturing solutions for thin-film solar modules is considered the innovative flagship of the OC Oerlikon Group.
The first works will be on display shortly.

The state broadcaster Radio Liechtenstein closed 2008 with a profit of 33,000 francs on revenues of 3.4 million francs. The Principality subsidized the station with 1.5 million francs. Although the economic crisis had a negative impact on the advertising market in the second half of the year, 85,000 francs more than budgeted was received, the radio station announced on Wednesday. In the current year, the station expects advertising income to fall by 8 to 10 percent. Expenditure is therefore to be reduced by CHF 150,000 compared to the budget.

For the fourth time, SDA subsidiary News Aktuell is looking for the best PR images of the year. Companies, organizations and PR agencies from all over the German-speaking world can apply for the OBS Awards 2009 until June 5.
The images will be awarded in six categories: Corporate Communications, Events and Campaigns, Product Photo, Portrait, Program and Magazine PR, and Non-Governmental Organizations. The jury of experts sifts through the material and determines a shortlist of ten motifs for each category. The shortlist is published by News Aktuell in September. PR experts, media spokespersons and journalists can then vote for the best PR images of the year until the beginning of November. News Aktuell will then select the "PR Picture of the Year 2009" from the winners in each category. In mid-November, the winners will be announced at a media coffee in Düsseldorf.
The application is free of charge and can be done online at www.obs-awards.ch. The only requirement is that the images submitted must have been used for media relations and communications in the past 12 months.

Main winner: The best PR image of 2008.

The 200th issue of the street magazine *Surprise* will be published on Thursday. The anniversary issue is eight pages thicker than the regular issues and also features unusual content: What if, for once, people on the margins of society were to occupy central public spaces such as the Federal Palace, the Stade de Suisse, or the Zurich Opera House? What do the prominent figures there have to say about it? This «change of perspective,» as Surprise Managing Director Fred Lauener told the Basler Zeitung, is complemented by stories about the extraordinary talents of street vendors and a photo essay on street vending.
Surprise began in 1997, shortly after splitting from the unemployment newspaper Stempelkissen, starting small with just a few issues and street vendors in Basel. Today, Surprise can count on a loyal readership; according to the Basler Zeitung, its readership consists primarily of socially conscious, well-off middle-aged women. According to Lauener, up to 30,000 copies are sold per issue. Each copy is read by an average of four people, which disproves the cliché that people buy it purely out of pity.

Ruf Lanz's latest motif for the Sport Factory Outlet is dedicated to running shoes and running clothing. It shows a normal Swiss man, at least up to his neck. Underneath is the well-trained body of a Kenyan, one of the strongest running nations in the world. The message of the eye-catcher is: Discover the runner in you. The motif can be seen this spring on posters, POS rotairs, postcards and advertisements.
The Sport Factory Outlet on the Bally site in Schönenwerd sells sports brands at factory prices. Ruf Lanz has been promoting the company for seven years.
Responsible at Sport Factory Outlet: Peter Wider (overall responsibility). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf and Danielle Lanz (Creative Direction), Grit Wolany (Art Direction), Torsten Maas (Text), Michèle Leibacher (Consulting). Photography: LOZZA. Image processing: Pixelpolish.

The Zurich agency Scotti has developed a new corporate identity and a new corporate design for the flue gas filter solutions company Elex to coincide with its 75th anniversary. According to the press release, this was implemented in everything from the letterheads and sales documentation to the advertisements. The advertisements will be placed in the international trade press throughout the year.
Responsible at Elex AG: Mr. Ulrich Leibacher (Managing Director), Mr. Peter Studer (Head of Sales). Responsible at Scotti: Nina Scotti (overall responsibility), Ivan Scotti (CD), Florian Schumacher (AD), Michel Hitz (text).

Jung von Matt/Limmat brings the radio experience to television for Swiss Radio DRS 4 News: Against a black screen, the voices of Martin Alioth, Urs Siegrist, Cathy Flaviano, Beat Soltermann, Max Akermann, and Fredy Hunkeler discuss politics, the economy, society, and sports. «»Sometimes we see more when we just listen,” reads the message at the end of the spots. The minimalist spots rely solely on the power of the spoken word, according to a press release from the agency. Just like the radio station itself: DRS 4 News is a pure news station, with no music and no commercials.
In addition to TV, the campaign is also featured online with banners. It can now be heard and seen in German-speaking Switzerland.
> Spot 1
> Spot 2
> Spot 3
> Spot 4
> Spot 5
> Spot 6
Responsible at SR DRS: Béatrice Merlach (Head of Communications and Marketing), Bettina Werren (Head of Promotion and Projects), Cathy Flaviano (DRS 4 News). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy (CD), Samuel Christ (Copywriter), Patrick Beeli (Art Director), Ariel Zumstein (Graphic Designer), Martin Fritsche, Claudia Camenisch, Felix Zürcher (Consultants), David Lüscher, Notarmon Buchli (Web), Erasmo Palomba (Art Buying), Panam Film GmbH (Film Production), Jingle Jungle (Sound Mix), südlich-t OHG, Munich (Post-Production).

On Wednesday, the market research firm Millward Brown Optimor released its brand ranking, «Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2009.» The world’s 100 most valuable consumer brands are worth approximately 1.95 trillion dollars and recorded modest growth of 1.7 percent. Google tops the list at $100 billion, followed by Microsoft at $76.2 billion. For the first time, Coca-Cola also made it into the top three with $67.6 billion. There were 15 new entries during the 2008 survey period. The top newcomer is Pampers at No. 31, followed by Nintendo (No. 32) and Visa (No. 36).
» Overview of the 100 Most Valuable Brands
» Full report: Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2009
The most valuable Swiss brands are Nescafé (valued at $5.6 billion, up 23 percent) and Nespresso ($2.5 billion). The Swiss brands with the highest growth rates among the top 20 climbers are Rolex (+35 percent) and Nespresso (+27 percent). Nestlé’s bottled water brands also performed well, with six of them ranking among the top 10. In contrast, the Swiss brands Cartier and UBS (ranked 80th and 64th, respectively, last year) did not make it into the top 100 this year. Meanwhile, Zurich lost 37 percent of its brand value.
» Interview with Millward Brown Director Sana Carlton on the Brandz Study
» See the Interbrand study on the top 100 brands

Trends
Value for the Money
Brands offering good value for money performed well. This is due to both their quality and their price, as seen, for example, with Aldi (+49 percent) and H&M (+8 percent), which is now the number one clothing brand.
Luxury goods
Even when money is tight, consumers still treat themselves every now and then. Brands such as McDonald’s (+34 percent), Marlboro (+33 percent), and Budweiser (+23 percent) have all held their own.
At home
Household brands have seen strong growth. Home shopping: Amazon (+85 percent) and eBay (+16 percent). Personal care: Nivea (+24 percent). Gaming: Nintendo made its debut on the list, ranking 32nd. Pampers took the top spot in the new brands category. P&G achieved a brand value of $18.9 billion (10 percent of the company’s revenue) thanks to increased brand awareness. This is attributable, in part, to word-of-mouth from well-known «mommy bloggers.».
Mobile communications
The growing popularity of mobile Internet access via devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry has led to tremendous growth for the mobile carrier sector as a whole. BlackBerry’s brand value rose again (100 percent) as the company successfully expanded into the consumer market rather than focusing solely on business customers. The launch of the BlackBerry Storm with a touchscreen has made BlackBerry a direct competitor to the iPhone.

Calculation of Brand Values

The BrandZ Top 100 ranking determines the dollar value of various brands. To do so, it analyzes both financial data and research findings on consumers and business customers collected as part of BrandZ, the world’s largest brand value study. This is the fourth time the BrandZ study has been conducted annually.

The Zurich agency Advico Y&R is the only Swiss agency to make it into the new Lürzer's Archive. Four subjects from the Sonntagszeitung campaign are shown in the Publishing/Media section. Lürzer's Archive is the largest advertising magazine in the world and is published every two months with a worldwide circulation of around 150,000 copies.

It is currently on everyone's lips and is being hotly debated by politicians and experts as a universal means of boosting the economy: The scrappage scheme for cars. The Transformer advertising agency is expecting at least as much success from a scrappage scheme for old communication media and is therefore launching - not without tongue-in-cheek - the "Scrapping premium for old advertising".