The Maxomedia agency has launched a national cross-media campaign for SBB around its new mobile ticket store. The campaign's message, "SBB Mobileticket-Shop - your ticket counter on the move", and the key visual, which shows an SBB counter employee on a cell phone display, convey to the viewer that they always have their personal ticket counter with them. In this way, they can buy tickets directly from their cell phone, as Maxomedia writes in the press release.
To inform customers about the new store, the campaign used rail posters, advertisements, articles in commuter newspapers, online teasers and other advertising media. In addition, SBB ticket offices were fitted with oversized cardboard cell phone displays to reflect the key visual.
Maxomedia is responsible for the conception and implementation of the entire campaign. It was created in collaboration with Mediabox, Ambient Partner, Spool and Outbox. The cross-media communications specialist has already handled previous communication measures for SBB Mobileworld, which was launched last year.

Jenni Kommunikation has taken on a new mandate from the Swiss company Cyon. The agency's main task is to provide technical advice and implement the Basel-based company's communications strategy. According to David Burkardt, CEO of Cyon, the aim is to anchor the company more firmly in the public eye. The decisive factor for the collaboration was Jenni Kommunikation's specialist expertise in the ICT environment, as the agency writes in a press release. Jenni Kommunikation impressed with its existing industry knowledge, contacts and track record in working with other Swiss SMEs.
Founded in 2003, Cyon currently employs seven people. The shared hosting provider currently has around 7000 customers, including companies such as Wuala.com and Bloggingtom.com.

Following its foundation in summer 2008, the Zurich-based market research company Mafo Concept is already on course for expansion and is taking over the Publitest brand. The previous owner, the Wirz Group, has decided to separate from its market research subsidiary, according to a press release. The Publitest brand, which has been in existence since 1962, will remain and complement Mafo Concept's portfolio of services.
For Rolf Hintermann, Partner at Mafo Concept, this acquisition closes a circle, as the statement continues. As Managing Director and co-owner, he was involved with Publitest for 30 years. His partners and Co-Managing Directors Sonja Wedekind and Vanessa Pejchar, who have equal rights at Mafo Concept, also have a Publitest past. Both market research specialists were under contract as project managers at Publitest before becoming self-employed.

Rolf Hintermann, Vanessa Pejchar and Sonja Wedekind (from left).

Digital radio is on the upswing. According to the SRG, the latest figures show a clear increase in sales. In 2008, six times as many digital radio sets (Digital Audio Broadcasting DAB) were sold as in the previous year. While there were 80,000 digital radios in Swiss households at the end of 2007, this figure had risen to over 200,000 by the end of 2008.
SRG broadcasts all its radio stations via digital radio, divided into language regions. It is planned to additionally broadcast DRS Musikwelle in Suisse Romande and World Radio Switzerland (WRS) in German-speaking Switzerland from fall 2009.

Bernhard Krättli will become Managing Director of Radio BE 1 as of March 1, 2009, succeeding Martin Freiburghaus. Radio BE 1 and Freiburghaus have mutually agreed to transfer the management of the private radio station to Krättli, according to a Ringier press release. During a transitional period, Freiburghaus will be responsible for the seamless continuation of business and the smooth handover of management.
Krättli most recently worked as Managing Director for Mediasense, a company specializing in the marketing of radio advertising. Prior to that, the 42-year-old was commercial director, deputy managing director and member of the management board at Radig. Radio BE 1 is distributed by Radig, in which Ringier holds an 80.7 percent stake.

On February 2, 2009, Pia Lehmann and Stefan Epli founded a new PR agency in Zurich. Under the name Epli & Lehmann, the consulting and implementation company for public relations, communication and design offers services in the areas of internal and external communication as well as marketing communication, according to a statement on Thursday.
Pia Lehmann is a federally certified PR consultant. She looks back on years of experience as Head of Communications at Coca-Cola and specializes in public relations, crisis communications and marketing communications. Stefan Epli has been active in the popular cultural environment for years, is media spokesperson for the Street Parade and has experience as an agency manager.

The more than 80-member jury of Best of Swiss Web has met, and the shortlist has been determined. 68 projects remain in the running for the award.
> To the shortlist
The Award Night, this year with the special category "Women Wired in Web", will take place on April 2, 2009. Those who have submitted a project for judging will receive two free tickets to the awards ceremony and dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Kongresshaus Zurich. Participants also have the opportunity to purchase additional tickets and reserve a personal table at a price of 240 Swiss francs.
Orders and information: [email protected]

A juice that creates strength: The TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles agency has created a dance spot for Gatorade in which a group of seemingly weak knights dance their way to victory.
A troop of wildly motley, weak-looking knights marching under the flag of the knighthood "G" is forced to stop at a bridgehead. Evil, clad in a dark robe and a ghost mask, blocks their path. They seem to have no chance: The monks of evil multiply and perform a perfectly rehearsed dance choreography. But they haven't reckoned with the effervescence of the curly knights. Their secret: a drink called Gatorade. Great spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles. Also in the spot are athletes Usain Bolt, Kevin Garnett and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Zurich agency Sensus is strengthening its Investor Relations division. The new Sensus Investor & Public Relations unit will act as a "focused service provider" for financial and capital market communications.
The range of services includes communications consulting and implementation in all areas of financial and capital market communications, communications for transactions, mergers & acquisitions, private equity and pre-market communications.
The creation of a separate organizational unit better reflects the importance and increasing demand in this area, Sensus partners Peter Kuster and Bernhard Schweizer wrote in a press release on Thursday.
Senior Consultant Barbara Galliker Guglielmetti joined the advisory team of the newly created unit in February. After completing further training in corporate finance at the University of Zurich, the communications graduate most recently worked at Credit Suisse and Bank Vontobel.

He'll probably have at least a double for that: American businessman Craig Dieffenbach has to pay heavily for his lazy marketing trick. Because he named his vodka brand after guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, he now has to pay his family 3.2 million dollars.
A few years ago, Dieffenbach launched a drink on the market under the name "Hendrix Electric". However, he did so without asking the surviving relatives of the exceptional guitarist for permission. Now the lawyers of the Seattle businessman and the Experience Hendrix company, which is entrusted with protecting the legacy of the guitar legend, have agreed on this horrendous sum. Dieffenbach had already been successfully sued in 2007. In addition, a judge ordered the vodka to be withdrawn from the market and all advertising to cease. "We are very pleased that justice has been served. Mr. Dieffenbach has been held accountable for his wrongful actions and has been prohibited from ever infringing our Jimi Hendrix brands again," Jimi Hendrix's stepsister Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix, told the media on Wednesday. The ruling honors the family's long-standing commitment to preserving the musician's legacy and artistic vision. Jimi Hendrix died of an overdose of sleeping pills in 1970 at the age of 27.
(Pictures: Keystone)

The Winterthur branch of the Federal Roads Office Astra is inviting ten tenders for information and communication (ICT) services. The I+C services of the individual projects comprise between 1,000 and 7,000 working hours over the project duration of several years. Interested PR and communication agencies can find the tenders in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce from February 23, 2009.
On March 17, 2009, an information event will be held at the Casinotheater in Winterthur to provide information about the tender procedure and answer questions about the published tender documents. Only those agencies that attend this event will be able to take part in the tender. No further information will be provided outside of the publication, the question modalities specified there and the information event.

According to a new report, the film industry in Hollywood can expect a slight upturn this year despite the economic crisis. It should even be possible to create new jobs.
In a recent report, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation forecasts an increase of around 1000 jobs in 2009 and a further 2000 in the coming year. The main reasons for this are said to be growth in cinema attendance and the expansion and spread of 3D cinemas. There will also be growth in cable TV production, according to LAEDC chief economist Jack Kyser. In his industry report, the economic expert gives Hollywood a B-plus grade for 2009. Last year, Kyser only gave the dream factory a C-minus.
According to the forecast, the total workforce in Hollywood will increase by 0.8 percent to around 126,000 this year. In 2008, there was a decline of three percent. "The increases in box office and cable are enough to take the uncertainty out of this year," Kyser told Daily Variety, according to the press release. 2009 has already begun with a strong start.
According to Kyser, the creation of tax breaks in California could also have a significant impact on the American film business. This is currently being discussed at a political level.
However, although the expected growth in jobs is encouraging, it is only marginal compared to the massive slump between 1999 and 2003. During this period, the number of filmmakers employed by the studios in Hollywood shrank from 146,000 to 113,600. One of the reasons for this was the fact that more and more filmmakers moved their work to other locations with more favorable production conditions.