With the first issue of 2009, Das Magazin changed its external appearance. A national campaign by JWT+H+F announced the change under the motto "Good as always, beautiful as never". Since then, the agency has continued to develop the campaign. Special issues are being advertised and advertisers are being wooed. In addition to classic subscription advertising, a steadily growing number of advertisements and filler ads are also being used in German-speaking Switzerland, according to a press release from the Zurich-based agency.
Responsible at Das Magazin: Thomas Estermann (Publishing Director), Finn Canonica (Editor-in-Chief), Oliver Burger (Area Sales Manager). Responsible at JWT+H+F: Remy Fabrikant (overall responsibility), Enrico Bachmann (CD), Reto Baumann, Jennifer Rimann (consulting), Enrico Bachmann, Mathias Bart (text), Robin Strebel, Grischa Rubinick (AD).

The agency Festland has created a TV commercial for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. It explores the question of what good management consultancy looks like in the economic crisis. The commercial, which continues the PwC campaign "Successfully through the crisis", relies on credible dialog rather than advertising effects, according to the press release. It shows employees of a company expressing their uncertainty about the course of business and brings PwC into play as an experienced partner.
The commercial was produced in collaboration with Swiss film director Luki Frieden and can now be seen in the news and business environment of SF, TSR and SF Info. It will be accompanied by various online measures.
> To the spot
Responsible at Pricewaterhouse Coopers: Urs Blickenstorfer, Mirko Paci. Agency: Mainland, St. Gallen/Zurich. Production: Shining Pictures, Zurich. Directed by: Luki Frieden.

SF chief reporter Christoph Müller, who was arrested in Thailand, has had his passport returned and can leave the country. However, he must report to the competent court in Pattaya at the beginning of April 2009. In a press release, SF editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann expresses his relief that Christoph Müller can leave the country and resume his work. Müller and Swiss Television are cooperating with the Thai authorities. Haldimann is certain that all the accusations will soon disappear into thin air.
Müller was arrested at the end of February on entering Thailand. The arrest warrant dates back to 2006 and is apparently based on a defamation complaint filed by a Thai organization.

Ogilvy Interactive has implemented an online campaign for Alfa Romeo that aims to make Facebook users in Switzerland "crazy" about the new Alfa Mito. The hook is the search for a crazy idea to win a Mito. On the Facebook page "Be crazy. Win an Alfa Mito." participants can post their ideas. A jury consisting of Lovebugs, Luisa Rossi, Daniel Bernhardt and Emilie Boiron will be responsible for selecting the best ideas. The final winner will be chosen by the community.

The direct marketing agency Hobi Punkt, based in Zollikon, has developed a new poster campaign for Wander. According to the press release, this is the culmination of an integrated communication concept with advertisements, product sampling and POS activities. The campaign is intended to strengthen the new Benefit Blends products and the Twinings umbrella brand in general.
Responsible at Wander AG: Christina Kieni-Römer, Alexandra Rohrer, Mireille Schmutz (Product Management). Responsible at Hobi Punkt: Andreas Hobi, Priska Noseda (consulting), Felix Hunziker (graphics/CD), J. Sommermeyer B.J.Y.L.D. GmbH.

The National Council wants to enable farmers to earn additional income from field advertising. It has approved a parliamentary initiative by Bernese farmer Andreas Aebi (SVP), which calls for the current ban to be lifted.
So far, the SVP in particular has attracted attention with field advertising. An advertisement by the company Agrola at the A+ near Bern also made headlines. It was eventually banned by the Bernese judiciary. Under current law, all advertising along freeways is prohibited. Exceptions are company addresses and announcements of an educational, accident-preventing or traffic-directing nature. Advertising on main and secondary roads, on the other hand, is permitted. The majority of the Traffic Commission wanted to maintain this regime. In addition to road safety, landscape conservation arguments were cited. Aebi's proposal was passed by 66 votes to 103.

The "Echo der Zeit" program on Swiss Radio DRS is getting a new editorial director. On July 1 of this year, Markus Mugglin will take over from interim editorial director Martin Durrer.
Durrer had temporarily taken over as head of the "Echo" editorial team after the previous head of editorial Casper Selg had to give up the position at the end of 2008 for health reasons, as Swiss Radio DRS announced on Thursday.
Born in 1947, Mugglin has worked as an editor at Radio DRS since 1987, first at "Echo der Zeit", then as a foreign correspondent in Brussels and in the economics department. He has been responsible for the UN dossier and global economic issues since 2004. He will continue to cover these topics.

The SF large-scale production "La Traviata im Hauptbahnhof" and the Swiss-Austrian film collage "Halbzeit" are nominated for an award at the 49th Rose d'Or Festival. A total of 79 entries are vying for a trophy in ten categories. The Golden Roses will be presented on the evening of May 5 at the Culture and Convention Center Lucerne (KKL). SF's successful opera program "La Traviata" is competing in the Performing Arts category, while the film collage "Halbzeit" by Christina Zurbrügg and Michael Hudecek is in the Arts Documentary category.
During the festival from May 2 to 5, 424 TV programs will be shown in Lucerne - six percent more than last year and more than ever before, according to an SDA communiqué. From this multitude, a jury determined the nominees, which 53 TV stations from 18 countries had submitted. As usual, most of the nominated entries (33) came from Great Britain, nine from Canada and five each from Germany and Holland. The remaining nominated programs are from the rest of Europe, the USA, Israel, Australia and South Africa. It has already been decided that the 2009 Rose of Honor will go to Sheena Macdonald and George Anthony. They have contributed to making the Canadian entertainment program more diverse and multifaceted, according to the festival.

Sappi has introduced a new category for the European Printers of the Year competition entitled Blue Green. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the Blue Green Award is intended to recognize outstanding creative achievements in the promotion of a good cause, which can be of a humanitarian, ecological or social nature.
The next deadline for the competition is January 31, 2010.

Keystone subsidiary Photopress is strengthening its team of consultants by bringing Sabine Hoffmann on board. The 27-year-old tourism specialist previously worked at the International Sports Agency (ISA) in the field of sports marketing and at Sporthilfe.
Photopress offers services in the areas of image production, image storage and image distribution. The company also acts as a PR agency for various companies and organizations.

The Lokalinfo publishing house with its five local and neighborhood newspapers Zürich 2, Zürich West, Zürich Nord, Züriberg and Küsnachter has to leave its long-standing domicile in Erlenbach due to the landlord's plans to build a new building. Publishing and advertising management will be working at Buckhauserstrasse 11 in Zurich from April 23, 2009, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The prepress work will not be continued at the new location, but will also be handled by Zürichsee Medien on a contract basis from April 23. Six part-time jobs will be eliminated. Some of the technical staff will be transferred to Zürichsee Medien. The publishing house is endeavoring to mitigate the consequences for those affected as much as possible, the statement continues. Some employees will retire and others will be supported in their search for a new job.
With this operational change, the publishing house aims to secure the 19 jobs in editorial, sales and publishing in the long term. According to the press release, the five published titles will continue to operate under the same ownership and management.

Maxomedia has realized a cross-media product promotion for Raclette Suisse. In the Coop, customers were made aware of a raclette competition for two months. Leporellos on raclette packs, posters on shopping carts and radio spots in the stores drew attention to it. In addition, advertisements in 20 Minuten and the Coop newspaper provided information about the competition.
Participation was via prize codes on the raclette packs. Participation took place via the homepage www.raclettieren.chwhere friends could also be invited to take part. Maxomedia was responsible for the conception, creation and realization of the promotion.