Comvation, creator of the Contrexx web software, has launched a new search engine and directory for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The basic entry with company name, address and a direct link to your own website is free of charge, according to Pressetext.ch. With a premium entry, the company logo can be included for a one-off fee of CHF 80. The Swiss SME directory is actively marketed, so registered companies benefit in the medium term from more Internet visitors and better search engine results. The entries are checked manually. A banner advertisement can also be placed for an introductory price of between 60 and 120 francs.

Swiss Mountain Aid is launching this year's national fundraising campaign on February 1. Until mid-February, it is calling for solidarity with the people in the mountain region with advertisements, radio and television reports on SF and Radio DRS as well as by letter. The campaign was implemented by the Zurich agency Exxtra Kommunikation
The aim is to show how important support is for the mountain population, according to a statement from Berghilfe. Living conditions are more difficult for people in the mountains than in the lowlands. Jobs, education and shopping opportunities are rare in many places and the future is uncertain. The solidarity of broad sections of the population is therefore crucial for the healthy economic, social and scenic development of the mountain region.

The example will set a precedent, especially with the increasing shortage of money due to the crisis: in order to save money, the Californian online local paper Pasadena Now has laid off all its reporters and outsourced the writing of its articles to India. From there they now report on the mayor's speech or a new astronomy center at the university. For 500 to 750 dollars a month, the Indians transcribe the press reports from speeches and press conferences.
It's obvious that this doesn't always go well. For example, the editors 14,000 kilometers away mistook the city's football stadium - popularly known as the Rose Bowl - for a rice dish. To ensure that this remains the exception, fast-track courses are offered: In four to six months, the Indians learn the local peculiarities, for example what a brownie is, or which colors are popular on Valentine's Day. Editor-in-chief James MacPherson takes a pragmatic view: "It's not about glamorous stories, it's about survival."

On 27 January 2009, the energy group Atel Holding was renamed Alpiq Holding, paving the way for the merger of Atel and EOS and the launch of the new Alpiq brand. Zurich-based branding agency Metadesign developed this new brand, as well as the launch campaign, which can be seen in various media in Switzerland until further notice. According to the agency's statement, the campaign highlights the advantages that will result from the merger of Atel and EOS. Each relevant business area of the new company is thematized by at least one ad motif.
The first two motifs of the campaign:

Sylvia Vitale Rotta will be President of the Design Lions jury this year, and Lars Bastholm will chair the Cyber Lions jury. Vitale Rotta is managing director and co-founder of the Paris-based brand agency Team Créatif. Founded in 1986, the agency has a branch in São Paulo and specializes in the design, development and maintenance of consumer brands. Vitale Rotta was a jury member at last year's Design Lions and Eurobest Design in Stockholm.
Together with Rei Inamoto, Lars Bastholm is Chief Creative Officer of the American agency AKQA, which specializes in interactive marketing. He started his career at Grey Interactive in Scandinavia, then moved to Framfab in Copenhagen as CD and most recently opened the AKQA branch in New York. Having worked in the interactive sector for 13 years, he is one of the most awarded creatives in digital marketing and has already won three Cyber Lions, according to a press release.
The 56th Cannes Advertising Festival will take place from June 21 to 27, 2009.

The French-speaking Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps launched a new website this week. Letemps.ch has not only been given a new design but also an extended range of services - for example, the new multimedia format, additional subject areas such as lifestyle, science and the environment, as well as additional external sources of information such as AFP videos, France 24 and Lequipe.fr. According to a press release issued on Thursday, a financial platform also provides users with trading information on investment funds and the latest financial market news.
The new website was implemented by the Zurich agency R.Ø.S.A.
Topicality and background information are supplemented by an archive: At Letempsarchives.ch the entire archive of Le Temps since its first publication in 1998 and the Journal de Genève is now accessible free of charge.

Opponents of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which starts today, distributed around 50,000 copies of a fake edition of the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten in the cities of Zurich, Bern, Basel and Winterthur today, according to their own statements.
As 20 Minuten Online reports, citing the website of the left-wing political organization Revolutionärer Aufbau, the four-page anti-Wef newspaper was circulated on Wednesday morning. "The fat years are over," headlines the paper, which is laid out in the 20 Minutes layout.
It is not the first time that 20 Minuten has been misused for political propaganda, writes the editorial staff of the commuter newspaper. "We formally distance ourselves from the fake supplement," says Marco Boselli, editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten. He added that the company reserves the right to take legal action.

As the industry service Kress.de reports, Holtzbrinck-Verlag has appointed a new CEO for the internet portals StudiVZ, SchülerVZ and MeinVZ. Markus Berger-de León, currently CEO of the Internet companies Abacho and Myhammer, will take up his new post on March 1. He will then be faced with the difficult task of finding a solution to the rapidly growing competitor Facebook.

The low and certainly not cost-covering price of CHF 100 for a combined annual subscription to the Solothurner Tagblatt/Sonntagszeitung is legal. At least such subscription dumping does not violate the law against unfair competition. At least that is what the Solothurn-Lebern district court ruled at the end of 2008 and dismissed a lawsuit brought by Vogt-Schild against Tamedia. Dumping in the Mittelland can therefore continue with the court's blessing. In fact, another round has already begun - but this time in the advertising sector. The Solothurner Tagblatt has been offering its obituaries free of charge without interruption since 2002, and will do so again in 2009. That's even cheaper than dumping. Nowhere in the Solothurner Tagblatt's rate documentation is there any mention of "free obituaries". It simply reads "price on request". But anyone who actually sends an inquiry to Tamedia or Espace Media will be told clearly and directly: the obituaries are still free of charge in the eighth year.

A shake-up: tasks have been redistributed at local broadcaster Tele Südostschweiz. The editorial team for Glarnerland is now complete.
Sereina Venzin, Marco Nüssli and Marc Hosig have been appointed members of the editorial board of Tele Südostschweiz as of the beginning of the year. In this role, they will be responsible for the news programs on a rotational basis, writes the daily newspaper Südostschweiz, which belongs to the same media company, in its Wednesday edition. Editor-in-chief Hanspeter Lebrument will also take over program management with immediate effect. Together with Sereina Venzin, he will continue to support the team of presenters, which has also included Marielle Hunger since the end of October 2008. The new Head of Technology is Stefan Tscharner. He has been responsible for the smooth running of technical operations since mid-2007.
The Glarus news team is now complete. Fabian Heer, Claudio Landolt and Stefan Wehrle produce current reports from their home canton. In addition, an internship position for the Glarus editorial team will be advertised in the next few days, the newspaper continues.
With the new additions, the local broadcaster, which has been in existence for ten years, now has 24 employees. Tele Südostschweiz reaches an average of 45,000 viewers in the cantons of Graubünden, Glarus and St. Gallen.

Alexandra Elser has joined Grünbaum Koblasa Livingmedia as a new member of the Executive Board and Senior Project Manager. In her role, she will be responsible for the further development and management of the live communication agency together with CEO and owner Radek Koblasa.
Alexandra Elser was most recently a member of the management team at X-Act. She has over 15 years of experience in the event and trade fair construction sectors as well as in traditional marketing.

Awarded the 2009 Charlemagne Medal: The journalists' association Reporters Without Borders (ROG) has been awarded the European Media Prize for its contribution to European integration. As the founding association wrote in a press release on Wednesday, the organization makes an important contribution to the foundation of European values with its commitment to freedom of opinion and freedom of the press.
Reporters Without Borders fights for press freedom and against censorship all over the world. The association opposes the persecution of journalists and stands up for journalists in prison. Freedom of expression is a foundation of European integration, said Frauke Gerlach, Chair of the Board of Trustees. With the award, the jury is also turning a critical eye to changes in the media sector in Europe. There are state takeovers of media and media concentration in Europe. Gerlach cited Italy as an example of this.
"It is our wish that in the future the European states will articulate themselves even more clearly than before towards the governments of those countries that do not accept the rights of journalists," wrote ROG Secretary General Jean-Francois Julliard in his vote of thanks.
Last year, the Charlemagne Medal focused on the integration process of migrants. It was awarded to the Turkish-born director Fatih Akin and the French director Abdellatif Kechiche.