The Swiss copywriters' association Script has published a new brochure with fee guidelines. As Script writes in a press release issued at the weekend, the association has worked together with the Swiss Competition Commission (Weko) on this. To ensure that all antitrust regulations are met, Script involved the Competition Commission in the planning phase.
This approach meant that the survey of copywriters could already be formulated in accordance with Weko specifications. Even though Script's collaboration began with rather mixed feelings, it quickly developed into an "extremely fruitful and constructive cooperation". The project managers were always able to count on the competent support of their partners in the Weko secretariat. The work of the Weko's statistics experts was "invaluable" for the professional association, especially when it came to evaluating the data.
The brochure "Fees for concept and text" is based on figures obtained by Script in a 2008 survey of copywriters. Both members and non-members took part. The survey was anonymous. Script used an online questionnaire to collect the figures for the following services: Hourly rates for text and concept as well as cost details for projects (mailing, PR, brochure, advertisement, customer newspaper, poster, radio spot, website, slogan and naming).
It is therefore worthwhile for copywriters to give the brochure to existing and new customers: it helps with the preparation of quotations, strengthens the position in price negotiations and creates more clarity, Script writes in its press release. The brochure comprises 16 pages and can be ordered from Script for a fee of CHF 20.

The agency DDB Berlin has created a beautiful TV commercial for Ikea Austria. At the center of the commercial, a love story, is a little boy who is looking for his true love. The key to happiness: a red Ikea chair, which he drags through the whole city to reach the doorbell of his girlfriend's front door. The commercial is intended to make it clear that Ikea's clever solutions make everyday life easier. No matter how old you are or what your dreams are.

> To the spot (please be patient)

Inhalt & Form is strengthening both its consulting and creative departments. The Zurich-based advertising agency has taken on six new employees since the beginning of the year and now has a staff of twenty. The team is supported by consultant Béa Weilenmann, who previously worked for various agencies such as Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett and Hess Kiss. Gina Buff has been hired as assistant and future consultant. Claudia Fuchs, who previously worked for Büro Blank and Designbüro Loup, is the new Art Director. Diane Zivkovic, who has already created for Freestudios/Saatchi&Saatchi in Geneva, will contribute as graphic designer. The new copywriter Adrienne Purkert previously worked for Euro RSCG Vienna and Zurich Tokyo. And since the beginning of the year, Tati Bevanda has been supporting the creative team as a polygrapher.

Advico Young & Rubicam has secured the entire budget of the popular Swiss mayo and mustard brand Thomy in a competitive presentation. Thomy belongs to the Nestlé food group. The Zurich agency is now to give the brand with the Thomy man as an advertising figure new spice in terms of communication. The first works are to be seen as early as this spring.

They all do it: young children, old men, women in their forties. They all play football. Not a matter of course in Iran. As 20 Minuten reported on Monday, men and women played against each other in Persia for the first time since the 1979 revolution. But the historic encounter was not without consequences. After the game, three officials were suspended because, according to the strict interpretation of Islam in Iran, men and women who are not related are not allowed to have physical contact. According to a newspaper report, the match between the women's team and the youth team of the Esteghlal club took place on January 22 in Tehran. The newspaper Watan-e-Emrus reported that the youth team won 7:0. Videos taken with cell phones were cited as evidence against those responsible, who had initially denied that the game had taken place at all. In 2006, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprised his compatriots by announcing that women would be allowed to watch men play football in the stadium. He explained that the presence of women would have a positive influence on the behavior of the fans. However, the spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the proposal. Why aren't cell phones with a camera function simply banned?

The nominations for the Swiss Film Prize Quartz 2009 were announced on Friday evening at the 44th Solothurn Film Festival as part of the "Night of Nominations". Christoph Schaub's "Happy New Year" received four nominations, ahead of the French-speaking Swiss film "Home". The secret of the jury - which may even include Bond director Marc Forster - has not yet been revealed.
This year, for the first time, the nominations were made by a committee of the Federal Office of Culture made up of members of the Swiss Film Academy. The winners of the Film Prize will be announced on March 7 at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center by Nicolas Bideau, Head of the Film Bak section, and Fredi Murer, President of the Swiss Film Academy.

The nominations:
Best Feature Film
Du bruit dans la tête (Vincent Pluss)
Happy New Year (Christoph Schaub)
Home (Ursula Meier)
Tandoori Love (Oliver Paulus)
Un autre homme (Lionel Baier)

Best Documentary Film
Au loin des villages Olivier Zuchuat
Giù le mani Danilo Catti
La forteresse Fernand Melgar
No more smoke signals Fanny Bräuning
The Beast Within Yves Scagliola

Best Short Film
Big Sur Pierre-Adrian Irlé, Valentin Rotelli
Gehrig comes Marc Schippert
I do not dream in German Ivana Lalovic
Mr. Selavy Peter Volkart
Un dìa y nada Lorenz Merz

Best animated film
The cable car Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun
Retouches Georges Schwizgebel
Signalis Adrian Flückiger
Tango Lola Izabela Rieben, Sami Ben Youssef
Tôt ou tard Jadwiga Kowalska

Best Screenplay
Boxing Jesus Stefan Jäger
Happy New Year Grischa Duncker, Thomas Hess, collaboration: Christoph
Schaub
Home Ursula Meier, Antoine Jaccoud

Best actress
Céline Bolomey Du bruit dans la tête
Natacha Koutchoumov Un autre homme
Alexandra Prusa Robbers

Best Actor
Nils Althaus Happy New Year
Raphael Carlucci Bringing chance
Dominique Jann Air Business

Best young acting talent
Joel Basman Air Business
Kacey Klein Mottet Home
Melanie Sauder Bringing chance

Best Film Music
Happy New Year Balz Bachmann, Peter Bräcker
A thousand oceans Luk Zimmermann, Christian Brantschen
Zara Marcel Vaid

Die-hard Beromünster fans in a rollercoaster of emotions: in December last year, the bad news that the medium wave station would be switched off. After the initial shock, the all-clear was given that the station could still be heard via DAB - and if necessary, loyal listeners would even be shown how to use the digital radio during a home visit. But disillusionment quickly followed. In rural areas, where there are still many dead spots, the popular station cannot be received on DAB radios.
The Entlebuch, areas in the canton of Schwyz, the Zurich Oberland, eastern Switzerland and around Schaffhausen have been hit particularly hard, as the NZZ reported on Sunday. Even worse - in many places around the former Beromünster country transmitter, of all places, the music wave cannot be received indoors. Although around 90 percent of Switzerland's inhabited areas are covered, there can still be gaps in reception in closed rooms. Restrictions in reception can also be caused by the reception performance of the DAB radio.
Ernst Weder, Product Manager Digital Radio at SRG, therefore recommends borrowing a device from a specialist dealer and trying it out at home first - this will prevent disappointment. Whether this will be of any comfort to a real Beromünster fan is questionable! However, the promise is that fine-tuning will eliminate reception gaps by the summer. However, there may be delays if the construction of new antennas is blocked by objections, as is currently the case in Appenzell. Does the Appenzell folk music scene now really have to choose between Antenne and Beromünster?

On Saturday, board members and employees of the Pizolbahnen demonstrated with banners on the freeway bridge at the Bad Ragaz exit, as neither the Pizolbahnen nor the Heidiland tourism organization are allowed to put up signs on the freeway. This is despite the fact that the St. Gallen Department of Justice and Police declared tourist advertising to be permissible in principle in response to an interpellation in 2005. Both Alpamare and the Hochybrig ski resort are allowed to advertise themselves with brown signs on the Schwyz section of the A3 highway.
With the advertising campaign, the mountain railroads wanted to draw attention to the "unequal legal treatment of location marketing boards". Bruno Glaus, President of the Board of Directors of Pizolbahnen, is quoted as saying that unconventional methods have to be used when regulations are applied unequally in different cantons. Not only the Pizolbahnen were denied tourist signs such as "Pizol" or "Pizolgebiet", the Tamina Therme in Bad Ragaz also tried unsuccessfully to obtain equal treatment with Alpamare.
The Pizolbahnen are also considering parking information boards as an additional option. These are set up on the A13 in the canton of Graubünden, for example, and inform skiers whether parking spaces are still available in Flims, Laax or other ski resorts. As the Astra is responsible for such national road signs, the mountain railroads are confident that they would also receive a permit in the interests of equal treatment.
Further advertising campaigns are planned for next week in the Linth region of St. Gallen and Schwyz as well as in the canton of Zurich.

This is not permitted...

...this, on the other hand, is.

The Board of Directors of Pizolbahnen.

BSW Leading Swiss Agencies, the association of advertising and communications agencies, provides agency selection tools for free download on its Website. Clients looking for an advertising, media or specialist agency can find a guide to choosing an agency in the new "Find an agency" section. Additional help is provided by information on industry principles and member portraits, according to a press release.
The agency selection guide shows various ways to find the right agency - from the direct route via the project order to the time-consuming and costly presentation to competitors. The industry principles, which were drawn up in cooperation with the Swiss Advertising Client Association (SWA), are intended to regulate the cooperation between client and agency. In addition to the range of services and the agency's remuneration, they also describe the rights and obligations of the agency and client.

The Swiss Association for Visual Communication (Viscom) has a new collective labor agreement. This was decided at the association's ballot on January 22 with around 91 percent of votes in favor. The delegates at the graphic arts industry conference of the Comedia trade union also approved the agreement on Saturday in Bern with 44 votes in favor, 34 against and four abstentions. However, due to the close result of the vote, Comedia has decided to hold a ballot. The result of the written member survey should be available by the end of February, according to a press release issued by the union on Saturday.
The absolute peace obligation, which prohibits industrial action for the duration of the CLA, remains in place, Viscom explained the positive decision in a press release on Friday. Benchmarks have been defined for the introduction of annual working hours. Wage adjustments remain a matter for the companies. The bonuses for night and shift work can be reduced. Minimum wages will be substantially increased in two stages. Finally, parity-based vocational training was realigned and the contracting parties agreed to exchange information on a regular basis.
Opinions in Comedia differ
The supporters of the new collective labor agreement emphasize above all the important achievement that the contractual minimum wages will be increased by up to nine percent in 2009 and 2010 and that there will no longer be a minimum wage below CHF 3,500 in the graphic arts industry from 2010. In addition, it has been possible to fend off various demands for cutbacks from the employers' association Viscom and, at the same time, to push through further flexibility within the framework of the company's annual working models with clear limits, according to the Comedia press release.
Opponents of the agreement are particularly critical of the reduction in the allowance for night work. Despite a transitional provision for newspaper printers and the preservation of vested rights for existing shift workers, this is a clear step backwards. It is also incomprehensible that Viscom, despite its initial willingness, ultimately rejected the necessary declaration of general applicability (AVE) of the CLA, arguing that the new CLA was still too expensive and too complicated.
The Syna trade union, which was also involved, approved the agreement on Saturday. The employers' association announced its approval of the new CLA on Thursday.

His fight has paid off: US President Barack Obama can keep his beloved Blackberry. However, he will receive a new, spy-proof device. In addition, all his messages will be recorded.
As The Atlantic magazine reported on Thursday, Obama will be allowed to send private text and e-mail messages with a new special device costing 3,350 dollars. Before being sworn in as the 44th US President, he had declared that his multifunctional pocket computer would have to be "ripped out of his hands" if the device was to be confiscated for security reasons as planned. His reasoning: emails and phone calls from friends could help him stay in touch with everyday reality during his time in office.
The US Secret Service had feared that foreign intelligence services could gain access to the president's Internet mailbox and thus obtain confidential information. There are also concerns that such a device could reveal the location of the head of state. However, this should not be possible with the new special device. In addition, only a small group of staff and friends will be authorized to communicate with Barack Obama via his personal Blackberry, explained Robert Gibbs, the new White House Press Secretary, on Thursday.
The Presidential Recording Act has been in force in the USA since the Watergate affair. The law requires all presidential documents to be archived and published on request.

Coca-Cola launches a global campaign with the slogan "Open Happiness". Two commercials, Avatar and Heist, were created by Wieden & Kennedy and are now on air in the USA. They advertise the classic Coca-Cola drink. Coca-Cola wants to push its Coke Zero brand with a third commercial featuring Pittsburgh Steelers player Troy Polamalu. The 30-second commercial will be shown during this year's Superbowl, the final game in the National Fooball League on February 1. This is the first time that the new Coke brand, whose market launch represents a huge global marketing success - the biggest in Coca-Cola's history, by the way - has been mentioned at a Super Bowl. The agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky is responsible for this commercial.
> To the Avatar spot
> To the Heist spot