PRfact is starting the spring with new clients from the sporting goods, cosmetics and services segments: Puma Switzerland, Kiehl's Since 1851, Diesel Fragrances, Somatoline Cosmetic, Coop shopping centers and Davedollé Pure Training are new additions to the Zurich agency's portfolio.
Since January 2009, the agency has been Puma Switzerland in media relations, below-the-line measures, cooperations and sponsorships. For Kiehl's Since 1851a brand belonging to L'Oréal Produits de Luxe Suisse, the agency is responsible for all public relations, customer-oriented events, sponsoring and cooperations as well as below-the-line measures.
On behalf of L'Oréal Produits de Luxe Suisse, PRfact is now also responsible for the public relations of Diesel Fragrances throughout Switzerland. The below-the-line agency with a focus on public relations also supports Somatoline Cosmetica consumer goods company belonging to the Bolton Groupe, with the brand launch in Switzerland in the areas of PR and communication.
The communications company also supports the Coop shopping centers during the 2009 Marble Championships in German-speaking Switzerland with public relations and invitation management for celebrities. Dave Dollé's personal training studios are also a new addition to the portfolio Davedollé Pure Trainingwhich PRfact has been supporting with media relations since the beginning of the year. In addition to communications, the agency advises Dave Dollé on cooperations and the development of the corporate training segment.

Spinas Gemperle has launched an information campaign for Helvetas on the subject of organic and fair trade cotton. The aim is to raise consumer awareness of fair trade and organic cotton and increase demand for fair trade clothing.
The core of the campaign is the information platform Bio-fair.chwhere store owners can place their offerings and consumers can locate suppliers. Boutiques can also be invited by e-mail to add organic and fairly produced clothing to their range.
The internet platform is being promoted with a poster and advertising campaign. The images show a banana and lettuce made from items of clothing. This is intended to illustrate the fact that many consumers opt for organic quality when it comes to food, but not when it comes to clothing.
The campaign is supported by Coop Naturaline, Switcher, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs Seco and Max Havelaar.

Responsible at Helvetas: Stefan Stolle (Head of Communications and Fundraising), Matthias Herfeldt (Team Leader Communications), Tobias Meier (Head of FairShop). Responsible at Spinas Gemperle: Lorenz Spinas (CD), Miriam Fischer (concept/AD), Wanda Michel (graphics), Susi Kammergruber (concept/text), Christian Schmidt (text), Gaby Füchslin (consulting manager), Conny Geibel (consulting), Sarah Illenberger (artwork), Attila Hartwig (photography)

Tony Burgener is moving from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to Burson-Marsteller Switzerland at the beginning of April. Burgener will support the Geneva branch of the PR and communications agency as a Senior Consultant.
Tony Burgener was Deputy Communications Director at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where he was responsible for media and digital matters, among other things. Before joining the IOC, Burgener was Head of Media and Public Relations at the Swiss National Exhibition Expo.02. Further stations in Tony Burgener's professional career were his activities as Head of Press and Head of the Private Fundraising Department at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He also worked for several years as a journalist and ICRC delegate in Africa and the Middle East.

Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha (RTR) is firmly established in the media landscape. Radio Rumantsch in particular recorded more listeners in 2008: Listenership rose from 57 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2008. Last year was the first full year in which the radio was present around the clock. With these results, Bernard Cathomas, Director of RTR, will hand over the reins to Mariano Tschuor in May and retire.
However, the desired increase in broadcasting time for Rhaeto-Romanic television was not achieved. SRG does not have the necessary funds, as Cathomas explained. Nevertheless, the discussion for more broadcasting time on a special channel remains topical.

Rhaeto-Romanic audience dwindling
The smallest SRG unit is concerned about the decline in the number of people who understand Romansh. This proportion of the population in the canton of Graubünden has fallen from 41% in 2000 to 33% today. If the trend continues unabated, the question of RTR's raison d'être could one day arise. At the moment, however, the language community is strong, also in terms of self-confidence, continues Bernard Cathomas.

Profit for the second time in 2008
With sales of around 23.5 million francs, the annual accounts closed with a surplus for the second year in a row. In 2008 it amounted to CHF 463,000. RTR's share of the total SRG budget amounts to 1.3 percent. With a national population share of around one percent, the minority bonus is modest, said Cathomas. RTR employs 163 people, spread over 123 full-time positions.

Schneiter Meier Külling was commissioned by the new fast food chain Hitzberger to develop its brand and complete market presence. The company headed by star chef Eduard Hitzberger, which offers healthy cuisine made from regional fresh produce, wants to establish itself as an alternative to conventional fast food.
The branding and communications agency's mandate included the development of the brand identity with the brand values and the communicative positioning, the conception of the logo, claim and color scheme as well as the implementation of all applications from the exterior and interior lettering to the Website and letterheads to the menuboards, staff clothing and biodegradable disposable packaging.
The first Hitzberger Restaurant & Take Away was opened in Zurich's Sihlcity on April 6, 2009.

The media behavior of the Swiss is increasingly shaped by digital media. The internet is becoming by far the most important medium. More than half of respondents rate it as "very important" from a personal perspective. In terms of personal importance, the internet is well ahead of the second-placed daily newspapers by almost 20 percent. TV and radio follow in second place.
> Graphics most important medium

Top media brands: Facebook and SF1
What are the most important media brands for the Swiss personally? For those under 29, it is the social media platform Facebook with a share of 48.5%. People over 50, on the other hand, prefer SF1 (with 50.4%). Among the young, 20 Minuten (42.2 percent approval) and Pro 7 (35.3 percent) follow, while among older people it is local radio (36.2 percent approval) and DRS 1 (32.3 percent). The analysis relates to German-speaking Switzerland.
> Graphic top media brands

What is needed for what? TV for entertainment
When consumers are asked which channels they use for entertainment, current affairs, sport and product information, it is clear that the internet dominates three out of four areas: Current affairs, sports information and product information. The Internet is most dominant in the search for product information: almost 80 percent of respondents use the Internet as their most frequent source of information. Only when it comes to entertainment is television still in first place: 54.4% of consumers prefer to be entertained by TV. Looking only at the under 20s, the Internet is already on a par with TV as an entertainment medium.
> Graphic media according to information requirements

Credibility of sources: Advertising good for fashion, cosmetics and food
The sources from which consumers obtain information on products/services depend heavily on the product category. Advertising is most frequently used as a source of information for beauty and cosmetic products, fashion and food. In other words, products that tend to be classified as low-involvement and are impulse-driven.
Online comparison services are the first choice as a source of information for banks, insurance companies and health insurance providers. The customer advisor is the most important source of information for cars, furniture, over-the-counter medicines and sporting goods. In other words, where professional advice is important for consumers.
The importance of the Internet is also evident here: the provider's homepage is the most important information channel across many categories, such as consumer electronics, large household appliances, cell phones, travel, home or music and video. However, recommendations from family members, friends and acquaintances achieve the highest credibility of all sources.
Consumers consider television to be the most credible channel for entertainment, current affairs and sport. Daily newspapers are the credibility leaders for politics, regional news and culture. The Internet is the most credible for event and product information.
> Credibility graphic

New electronic media and free newspapers are used more frequently
If you ask consumers how their media behavior has changed compared to five years ago, a strong trend towards electronic media can be observed. Almost 80% of consumers state that they use the internet more or much more. The figure is 70 percent for podcasts and videocasts and 54 percent for cell phones/iPhones/PDAs. In contrast, the use of traditional media such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and periodicals has hardly changed.
> Graphics increasingly used media

What is the most cross-media medium in Switzerland?
Some media brands are already used intensively in several channels, such as Der Spiegel in print, online, TV - and to a limited extent also on mobile. The media brands with the most cross-media use in Switzerland are Der Spiegel, NZZ, Blick and 20 Minuten.
> Graphic cross-media use

Women have a particular affinity for social media networks
The Swiss preference for Facebook is also reflected in the question about the most frequently used web address: Facebook follows Google and Bluewin. Just under 10 percent of respondents gave the address of the popular social community. Women have a particular affinity for it: Around 13 percent state Facebook as their most frequent web address, compared to just 6 percent of men.
Free newspapers are the junk food of the media
Although free titles such as 20 Minuten and Le Matin Bleu are personally important media brands for young consumers in particular, consumers would apparently be most likely to do without the free newspaper category. When asked: "What is the medium you would be most likely to do without?", more than 25 percent of respondents said free newspapers. Electronic media such as mobile phones/iPhones/PDAs and the Internet, which less than 5 percent of consumers could do without, and daily newspapers (9.8 percent) are more indispensable. Free newspapers are therefore the junk food of the media: ubiquitous, but quickly consumed, of little substance - and dispensable.
> Graphic dispensable media

Media consumers are mature and increasingly determine the content themselves
Media content is actively selected: The vast majority of respondents (80 percent) search specifically for information that interests them. People accept and demand the ability to actively select media: More than half of respondents (56.1 percent) would like to increasingly decide for themselves which program to watch at what time in the future. "On demand" therefore reflects an actual consumer need.
> Graphic information search behavior

The future of media is colorful and cheap
Finally, a look into the future, to the media landscape in 2020. The majority of consumers assume that there will be a broader and larger media offering in the future, which will also be cheaper than today and available everywhere, regardless of time and place.

Wirz is continuing the Sonntag CH newspaper's egghead campaign. Three new motifs have been added to last year's: Barack Obama's hairstyle, Mike Müller's and Nicki Lauda's red cap can be seen on the breakfast eggs. The new motifs will be used both as advertisements and posters in mid-April. Last year, the egghead campaign was voted the second best advertising campaign of the year and won an award in several categories at the ADC.

Responsible at Sonntag CH: Christine Rennhard (Publishing Director), Tanja Laube (Product Manager). Responsible at Wirz Advertising: Raul Serrat (AD), Tom Zürcher (copywriter), Matthias Freuler (CD), Hanning Beland (graphics), Peter Burri, Maddalena Sutter (consulting), Nicole Zehnder (art buying).

Valencia Kommunikation has produced an Easter magazine for Coop. In addition to the Coop Easter range, the 16-page magazine "For Easter to fall in love with" contains spring recipes, decoration tips, wine recommendations and a competition.
The Easter magazine was published on March 31, 2009 in German, French and Italian with a total circulation of 2.7 million copies. It was sent out as a supplement to the Coop newspaper and placed in Coop sales outlets. On Coop.ch/ostern an online edition of the magazine is also available for download.

Responsible at Coop: Lydie Goltdammer-Fourkal (Head of Advertising), Hélène Schmitt (Project Management). Responsible at Valencia Communication: Michael Gerber (CD), Tommy Schilling (Senior AD), Carlo Tagliavini (AD), Guillermo Garcia (Text), Marco Fritz, Patrick Hublard (Desktop), Marco Rosenberg, Manuel Schmid (Consulting), Martin Graf (Photography), Doris Moser (Food Styling), Claudia Schilling (Deco Styling).

If the wishes of the two boards of directors prevail, the Swiss Exhibition Association (VMS) and the Expo + Event Swiss Association will merge. The merger agreement drawn up at the end of 2008 will be submitted to the two General Assemblies for signature on April 15, 2009. The merger is intended to create a strong industry association that will be able to champion the interests of the live communication sector even more efficiently, the associations wrote in a press release on Monday.
The focus of the new tasks is to promote quality and expertise in the event and exhibition industry and to strengthen Switzerland as an exhibition location. However, the merger is also intended to reduce the administrative workload and share projects. One of the first tasks will be to find a new name and create a visual identity for the merged association. The "industry Oscar", the Xaver Award, will continue to be presented.
Founded in 1973, Expo + Event has 100 members, mainly from the exhibition construction and design segments, exhibition companies and organizers, event agencies and associated service companies. The VMS, which was founded in 1957, has 18 members and represents the exhibition venues and exhibition organizations, i.e. in some cases the direct contacts of Expo + Event members.

The "Institute for Competitiveness and Communication" of the School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland will be awarding the prizes for integrated communication for the 5th time on September 10, 2009. As of now, communication experts can apply with their innovative networked communication concepts for the Corporate Communications Award and with their concepts for creative media relations for the Media Relations Award. The latter is sponsored by SDA subsidiary News Aktuell. The concepts submitted must be implemented in practice by July 31, 2009. Entries can be submitted until May 31, 2009; the deadline for concepts with inserts is July 31, 2009.

The BSSM advertising agency has relaunched the traditional Rum Coruba brand for drinks importer Haecky Drink & Wine. Rumcoruba.com invites the user to visit Coruba Island. The homepage features interactive animations, recipes for drinks, a calendar of events and the history of rum. The website will be continuously expanded with new functions and content and developed into a community platform, the agency writes in a press release. The website was developed under the management of the import company Wolfram Berge from Nümbrecht.

Responsible at Wolfram Berge, Nümbrecht: Dieter Hahn (overall responsibility). Responsible at BSSM Werbeagentur, Basel: Rolf Schenk (CD), Daniel Bard (AD), Hannes Müller (text), Markus Binggeli (consulting). Programming: Avenit, Offenburg (Germany).

Konrad Stokar moved from external to internal communications at Sunrise on April 1, 2009. In future, he will be responsible for the Sunrise Centers division, which is expanding nationwide and for which around 100 new jobs will be created. He will be succeeded in the media office by Hugo Wyler, who previously worked for Cablecom. Together with Sevgi Gezici, Gottardo Pestalozzi and Dominique Reber, Wyler will be responsible for all of Sunrise's media work with immediate effect, according to a press release issued on Monday.