The SDA subsidiary News aktuell has launched a mobile version of its press portal. The service recognizes which mobile device is being used and automatically optimizes the presentation on the display, according to a press release.
The mobile press portal gives cell phone users access to media information in text and images. Images and graphics are displayed as thumbnails. The reports are categorized by department and industry. All texts and images available in the press portal can be searched using the on-screen keyboard.
To activate the new service, simply bookmark Mobil.presseportal.ch on your cell phone.

The economic crisis is hitting the publisher of the men's magazine Playboy hard. The losses of the US media group increased significantly in the fourth quarter. After 1.1 million in the previous year, the loss rose to 145.7 million dollars in the last quarter of 2008.
Restructuring and other one-off costs of 157.2 million dollars had a negative impact, as the company announced on Wednesday. Weaker demand caused turnover to fall surprisingly sharply by almost 20 percent to 69.8 million dollars.
According to the balance sheet, Playboy recorded significant growth in the US-American TV segment and in video orders. In the traditional magazine segment, however, sales slumped by around eleven percent. According to the publisher, a small plus would have been recorded if it had not been for one-off expenses such as the restructuring. In addition to the financial turbulence, the company is also currently experiencing personnel turmoil. In view of the crisis, the daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, Christie, recently stepped down as CEO after more than 20 years. The new boss Jerome Kern has now announced further cuts.
In 2008 as a whole, the losses amounted to 156 million dollars after a profit of just under 5 million dollars in 2007. Sales fell by 15 percent to 292 million dollars.

Assai Dialog + Digital has won the pitch for the relaunch of Schoolnet.ch, Swisscom's ad-free platform for schoolchildren aged between 12 and 15. The relaunch is intended to adapt the site to the communication needs of the young target group and expand it accordingly, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. Pupils can now exchange information via SMS, pinboard, instant messaging and e-mail. They can also meet up in virtual cliques and socialize with other cliques in a fun way. Assai Dialog + Digital is responsible for the relaunch from conception to implementation.

You can never have enough snacks. Chocolate manufacturer Suchard, which belongs to the Kraft Foods food group, knows this and has a big heart for those with a sweet tooth. Suchard even regularly publishes love letters to its gourmet consumers: The so-called Billet-doux brochures with fine recipe tips have established themselves as popular periodicals among chocolate lovers and chocolatiers.
Suchard has now taken the 120th edition of the Billet doux as an opportunity to develop a comprehensive CRM concept together with the Amrein-Pieren agency. The aim: to provide the demanding and heterogeneous target group with contemporary and even more targeted incentives to buy.
To achieve this, Suchard is using a best-of of sweet love letters, consisting of postcards, the microsite www.billetdoux.ch, which offers chocolate recipes in German and French, an electronic newsletter and other sweet promotions and price campaigns.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm

Only the NZZ and the Willsauer Bote recently mentioned the study on "Political Communication Culture in Switzerland", published by the Institute for Journalism Studies and Media Research at the University of Zurich. The study is only based on a survey and therefore does not examine the reality, but only the perceptions that the players in the Federal Parliament have of each other. Nevertheless, the study flattened the respondents and called them the "elite", the "decision-makers" (politicians in the Federal Assembly and the government), their media spokespersons on the one hand, and the editors-in-chief, editors and journalists on the other, especially those accredited in the Federal Palace. They all received another questionnaire some time ago, and only around a third of them returned it. An initial result of this diligent work: the majority of respondents admit that they don't think much of opinion polls. So should they be praised for returning the questionnaire anyway?
Or should we give them a pat on the back for even trying to find an answer to the social scientists' clichéd specifications ("not at all true" to "completely true"), for example to the claim that "the power of the media is overestimated"? Shouldn't we first agree on how great this power actually is? And is it power at all? Or is it just influence?
However, the study comes to the unsurprising conclusion that politicians rate the influence of the media more highly than the media professionals themselves. This is a common behavior in Switzerland: Making oneself smaller/less important. Not surprisingly, the "media elites" also believe that the media primarily want to provide citizens with comprehensive information. Or to put it in more understandable terms: the media professionals themselves attest to lofty professional ideals. But what does the reality look like?
Let's take a sample from current events: A man moves to another municipality with his family, but fails to report the change of residence. Many months later, the municipal clerk responsible draws his attention to the omission in a letter.
Not only should everyone be equal before the law, but also before the authorities.
However, the media take up the case because this man is an heir, co-owner and director of a chemical plant, major shareholder in an ice hockey club, golf course owner and former mayor.
Are the journalists now praising the brave writer for remaining incorruptible? "Municipal president throws millionaire out of village and forgoes a lot of tax money", headlines the tabloid. "Tax haven wants to send millionaire to the desert", says a free newspaper, but then writes in small print that the man now lives with his family in a residential area of the city of Bern. And an online editorial bangs the nice title online: "Farmers' nest expels millionaire." At least the Solothurn newspaper acknowledged a few days later that the municipal clerk had acted "unusually and unceremoniously, but legally absolutely correctly".
The study reports nothing about this real existing political communication culture. Fortunately, we still have Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Güllen, visit of the old lady Claire Zachanassian. Just as the people of Güllen decide to accept her billion-dollar foundation and condemn Alfred Ill, the old lady's former lover, to death, the radio reporter begins: "Devout silence in the theater hall. Nothing but a sea of raised hands, like a mighty conspiracy for a better, fairer world. Only the old man sits motionless, overwhelmed with joy." Alfred Ill soon lies in his coffin. So everything is in order, the village elite are at peace with themselves and the media people get a snack in the restaurant.

The Bülacher Zeitung will also appear in printed form from March 6. This was announced by the new publisher, the Viennese publishing house Alpenmedia, on Wednesday. So far the multilingual daily paper was sent only as pdf by Mail.
The print edition will appear every Friday from March in all hotels and restaurants in the extended publication area, which includes the city of Bülach and the border region. As the Austrian publisher announced on Wednesday, all existing subscribers will also be served with the print version.
Readers had asked for a print version, writes publishing director Kurt Ulrich. This is now being published with an initial print run of 40,000 copies and is being printed in Austria. Sales and marketing are the responsibility of publishing director Joachim Schwarz. Ulrich Glausen Dennler will once again be in charge of editorial management.
The current team will remain unchanged and will be supplemented by a number of commentators, the publisher writes in its statement.

Ibrahim Zbat (41) is the founder, owner and creative director of the Zurich-based communication and design agency Zeta. It opened in September 2008 and specializes in graphic design, corporate design and advertising. "I see Zeta as a network," explains Zbat. "I work with a few permanent, well-established employees and, depending on the project, bring in art directors, graphic designers and illustrators with various specialist skills from Germany and abroad. This means that the creative team is tailor-made for each job and Zeta customers only pay for what they really need without any extra bureaucratic effort. Another advantage: they only have one contact person." For the development of communication strategies and concepts and consulting in the areas of branding, advertising and PR, Zeta cooperates with Flowcube Communications, the PR agency with which Zeta shares its premises on Zurich's Grüngasse.
Zbat has known many of the creative people he works with for a long time. "It's important to me that I know before I start a project that the specialists in the team fit together and that they can provide important input for the job," emphasizes Zbat. This is another reason why Zbat set up his own business: he wants to realize his own ideas autonomously and therefore allows himself the luxury of only working with people he has selected himself. A luxury that also benefits Zeta's customers. The Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Eventframe, Metaversum, the textile design studio Marty, the Italian fashion accessories company EnneElle and Pink Productions currently rely on the ideas of Zbat and his team.
Creative with a foundation
The specialist knowledge and wealth of experience that Zbat needs for his work as an advertiser and creative director was not acquired through traditional training, but primarily through on-the-job training. "Even as a teenager, I had a soft spot for creative work, for advertising, design and layout. And I loved painting and drawing," he says. "I started out working for the cultural scene, designing flyers, CD covers, theater and concert posters."
The first projects gave rise to the idea of setting up his own design agency. In 1993, Zbat founded the Walhalla agency in Bern with his business partner Marco Simonetti. Together, the two creatives develop posters and campaigns for Renault, Nidecker snowboards, Casio and Kangaroos Shoes. Zbat quickly makes a name for himself in the industry. However, he is not satisfied with learning by doing, but continues his education alongside his job: in specialization courses at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London. And because you never stop learning, Zbat is currently studying for a postgraduate diploma in graphic design.
Design in the museum
"One of the many highlights of my work at Walhalla was the realization of the complete corporate design for L'Atelier Renault, the automotive group's image center on the Champs-Élysées in Paris," recalls Zbat. "In the end, our work was even exhibited at the Musée de la Communication in the Louvre and at the Kunsthalle Bern."
The successful Walhalla team split up in 2004, as both Zbat and Simonetti were keen for new experiences and more autonomy. Zbat directs his steps to ARD Design. As a senior designer at the corporate and packaging design agency, he looks after the crème de la crème of Swiss companies: Nestlé, Migros, Coop, Frisco and Granador. From 2004, Zbat showed his creative potential as a freelance AD at Publicis, Walker, Assai and Burson Marsteller. In 2006, he joined Contexta as Art Director. Here, Zbat is involved in the realization of advertising for Swisscom Fixnet and the Clariden Leu bank.
Well packaged is half the sale
As Creative Director of Zeta, Zbat is closely involved in all projects. "I enjoy the dynamic environment of my work and love working with talented, inspired people," he says. "I'm fascinated by the idea that you have to package a message in the right way for it to be understood by the right people. And I'm interested in why people react to certain things. I appreciate having control over the entire workflow. But of course my employees have all the freedom they need for their creative work. Because they are highly qualified and I trust them."
Because Zbat selects employees and cooperation partners who think and perceive things in a similar way to him, Zeta does not experience the frictional losses that are typical of the industry, caused by endless debates between text and design professionals, between photographers and layout artists. "There is friction at Zeta, but no fundamental discussions that end up producing something average," says Zbat. "I want to implement ideas in their full force and take my customers along with me on this journey."
When Zbat is not knitting campaigns, he enjoys traveling, visiting contemporary art exhibitions or devoting himself to his passion: films in the cinema and on DVD. He is particularly fond of Nordic productions from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The films are a good distraction from his daily design work - and at the same time provide new impressions and inspiration for future projects. "It is still important to create clever communication for differentiated target groups and to impress with intelligent and surprising solutions," says Zbat. "Products are becoming more and more interchangeable, consumers are becoming more mature and autonomous. They pick out what interests, rewards and stimulates them. We have to react to this development." It will be interesting to see what plot Zeta will follow. Film off.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm

The agency GGK Zürich has won the advertising budget from the Berlin-based residential construction company Degewo. The account will be handled directly from Zurich, where the creative work will also be carried out, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The advertisements will be placed by a Berlin media agency, while local companies will also be responsible for producing the advertising material.
Degewo is the first client that GGK has been able to acquire after almost two years of fact-finding and network building. The client itself will provide information about the extraordinary campaign at a media conference at the end of April.
If other German companies were to source creative services originally from Switzerland again, as in the past, and Swiss companies were to use local, independent agencies again for their campaigns abroad, the opening of a GGK in Berlin would be one step closer, the agency said. However, it remains dependent on profitability being secured in advance through client budgets.

After data protectionists and users of the social network Facebook protested massively against the recently amended terms and conditions in recent days, the pressure on the operators has now become too great: the Facebook operators are backtracking and the original terms and conditions will apply again with immediate effect. The changes to the T&Cs would have given Facebook the right to continue using all user information ever posted as it sees fit - even if a member has long since logged off the platform. This would have made it impossible to completely delete Facebook profiles.
For the time being, users are to be given back their original control options. This was also confirmed by platform founder Mark Zuckerberg in the official company blog, according to the press release. While a new version of the terms of use is being worked on, Facebook has decided, after internal discussion, to return to the previous terms and conditions for the time being. In future, user rights are to be given even greater consideration and articulated more clearly.

When the mood is low, Mr. and Mrs. Swiss prefer to reach for a Swiss remedy - chocolate. And since the economic crisis, more often than ever. Cailler, the Swiss chocolate producer par excellence, therefore finds the slump very convenient. After all, there's always enough for a fine chocolate bar.
Since 2007, the Lowe agency, which belongs to Draftfcb/Lowe, has been working together with two foreign network partners for the chocolate producer Cailler, which belongs to Nestlé. The ball started rolling with the TV commercial "Emotion Factory", which was extremely popular. Lowe was also commissioned to design a suitable cross-media advertising campaign for Cailler, the "Emotions as a gift" activation campaign. Lowe Zurich and Lowe Paris developed the new interactive video website for this. With the help of a young woman, the user steals into the ancient chocolate factory and is allowed to turn the numerous wheels of the emotion machine, which produces the chocolate as desired.
The campaign was specially designed for Valentine's Day. On the day of love, loved ones were presented with their own sweet creations and surprised thanks to free home delivery. The broad-based activation campaign was the result of successful group work on an international basis. Lowe Zurich was responsible for the strategy, concept and overall responsibility for the campaign, Lowe Stratéus Paris was responsible for creating the offline communication media and Lowe Brindfors Stockholm implemented the online presence.
Adriana Zilic

Tempting: You can make your own chocolate creations via the video website.

The agency Designalltag has been commissioned by Sihltal Zürich Uetlibergbahn SZU to redesign its website. The structure and content have been completely revised, according to a press release. A competition has also increased the attractiveness of the website.
An advertising campaign, also developed by Designalltag, consisting of posters, postcards, train hangers and table advertising in buses and trains will draw attention to the new appearance.
Responsible at SZU: Marja-Leena Johansson (Marketing SZU). Responsible at Designalltag Rinderer GmbH: Felix Rinderer (consulting/concept) and Adrian Roth (graphics). Responsible for the implementation Internet: Cyberfactory AG, Marcel Vogel (consulting), Jean-Claude Schmid (Typo 3 implementation), Beat Götz (Typo 3 implementation).

Brevity is the spice of life. This is also the motto of Zurich's shopping paradise ShopVille-RailCity Zurich, where thousands of stressed-out passers-by take advantage of the countless offers every day. In the morning, a croissant and a paper cup of hot coffee are grabbed at lightning speed in order to rush onto the train at the last minute.
The Zurich-based advertising agency Stahelpartner created a campaign that gets to the heart of the matter: a central location in Zurich's main railway station with extra-long opening hours and a huge range of services that anticipates the customer's every wish. The pictograms used by Ricardo Perez with various subjects convey the desired advertising message briefly and succinctly: Everything has to go super fast. This year, motifs such as "Hungry?", "Pressant?" or "Easter present?" can be seen.
During implementation, it was particularly important for the motifs to be easy to understand and funny at the same time. To increase efficiency, posters on streetcars, baby F12 posters in S-Bahn trains and an advertisement in the free newspaper 20 Minuten will also be used from mid-February. Alongside the print motifs, weather fairy Susanne Eggenschwiler will present the amusing commercials on "Radio ShopVille-RailCity" and keep listeners up to date with the latest tips and trends. Since the pictogram campaign, ShopVille-RailCity has enjoyed a steady increase in sales. The average daily frequency in ShopVille-RailCity Zurich is 300,000 people.
Adriana Zilic