The Swiss online music magazine 78s.ch doubled its readership in 2008 compared to the previous year to 271,000 unique clients. A total of 1.04 million page views were registered. The "magazine for better music", which was named "Internet Pearl 2008" by the NZZ Folio, mainly writes about new developments in the Swiss, but also in the foreign independent and underground music scene. 78s is also active as a concert organizer for Swiss bands and publishes a detailed concert calendar.

The investor newspaper "Finanz und Wirtschaft" will be published in a new layout from Saturday, January 10. The new design of the newspaper is primarily aimed at improving reader guidance. Thanks to an improved overview, readers should be able to find the articles relevant to them more quickly. The changes are a continuation of the redesign that began three years ago. Although the typography has been retained, the weighting of the articles has been visually enhanced. All images will now stand out in color from the body text, with only the editor portraits remaining in black and white.
For the third time in the paper's 80-year history, the title lettering has also changed. The connecting "und" no longer appears between the terms, but on the same line as "Finanz". However, nothing has changed in terms of the concept or the editorial format.
Stefan Semrau and Christian Hruschka from Twotype Design in Hamburg are responsible for the new layout.
Founded in 1928, Finanz und Wirtschaft is published every Wednesday and Saturday with a circulation of 35,324 copies and reaches 122,000 readers.

The Bernese newspaper Automobil Revue and its sister paper Revue Automobile have changed their layout. From January 7, both will appear in a more modern design. In addition to the design, the editorial content has also been further developed. Without compromising on technical expertise, more space is being given to the emotional side and lifestyle, according to a communiqué. For example, in the first redesigned edition, the psychogram of speeders will be debated.
Othmar Rothenfluh and Kurt Schwerzmann, the founders of the Zurich-based media design agency Schwerzmann Rothenfluh, are responsible for the design of the new layout.
Founded in 1906, Automobil Revue is published every Wednesday. With a circulation of 29,835 copies, the newspaper published by Bern-based Espace Media Groupe reaches 175,00 readers.

Pascale Lehmann, former senior consultant and co-owner of APR for Public Relations, and Renate Horat have founded the consulting agency Lehmann Horat Partners in Zurich. The agency specializes in corporate and financial communications. The new agency's core services include CI development and CD support, concepts for communication with internal and external target groups and crisis communication. The agency also specializes in media relations as well as conception and implementation support for corporate publications, media conferences and events.
Pascale Lehmann and Renate Horat currently support clients from the financial industry, technology and IT companies, cosmetics companies, law firms and service and consulting companies in the fields of security and human resources.
Pascale Lehmann is a Swiss certified PR consultant and has been working in the communications industry since 1993. From 2004 to 2008, she ran APR for Public Relations as a senior consultant and co-owner together with a business partner, where she supported listed companies and financial service providers in particular.
Renate Horat specialized in marketing and communication at the University of St. Gallen from 1993 and subsequently worked in this field for several years at various banks. She became self-employed in 2003 and managed a wide range of mandates in the areas of marketing, public relations and event organization, particularly for service companies.

Condor Film announces two promotions at the beginning of the year: As of January 1, Dominik Stibal takes over as head of the Corporate Films department and also becomes a member of the Executive Board. Olivier Egli becomes the new creative director of the department.
Dominik Stibal has been with Condor Films for two years in the Corporate Films department. As Condor announced on Wednesday, in addition to his work as a producer, he has so far been responsible as a consultant for the economic and strategic development of the department, which specializes in corporate films, as well as for the evaluation of new interactive communication tools.
Stibal studied economics with a specialization in communications at the Universities of Zurich and Berlin. After graduating, he gained several years of professional experience at a management consultancy as the person responsible for clients' communication strategies in the area of mergers & acquisitions.
Also from the beginning of the year, Oliver Egli will be promoted to creative director of the Corporate Films department. Egli has been with Condor Films since 2007 and has realized over 50 commissioned films as a creative and executive producer. Together with Dominik Stibal, Olivier Egli was responsible for the multiple award-winning product film "IWC - Book of Dreams," among others.

The advertising agency Advico Young & Rubicam has turned a skiing accident into a happy event for Sportplausch Wider. Various items in the POS campaign are intended to highlight this. Among other things, Wider offers a plaster embellishment set. This contains colorful, waterproof pens that injured winter sports enthusiasts can use to draw beautiful things on their plaster leg, according to the agency. The advertisers at Advico have also developed apology cards for the slopes, which speedy skiers and snowboarders can use to apologize to their "accident victims".
The gadgets will be available from December to March in the sports store at the checkout.
Futurecom has also expanded the Sportplausch Wider website. The agency has developed a "finger exercise" to advertise their fitness equipment. For example, a weight can be lifted on the site using a scroll bar. Three formats are alternately displayed on www.ourwork.ch.
Responsible at Sportplausch Wider: Peter Wider (owner). Responsible at Advico Young & Rubicam: Markus Gut (CCO), Julia Brandstätter (text). Responsible at Futurecom: Christian Erni (ECD), Patrick Bucher (text), Ruben Feurer (graphics), Christos Margaris (programming).

The Baden-based agency Grey Direct has become Koller Direct. The direct marketing agency was created under the management of Jürg Koller following Grey's withdrawal from German-speaking Switzerland at the end of 2008. Koller and his team continue to work in the former Grey premises. As a general advertising consultant, he also supports local companies and institutions. Koller Direct now works together with the web design agency Blue Mouse, which is located in the same premises.
The New York-based network company Grey is a global network of communications agencies. The Grey Group currently has over 500 offices in 88 countries.

The weekly newspaper St. Galler Nachrichten, which has been in existence for 25 years, is set to change from Thursday. The distribution area of the free newspaper will be expanded and new municipalities and post office boxes will be added. The Zehnder Medien company will now also serve all households in Herisau, Lustmühle, Niederteufen and Trogen as well as all post office boxes in the distribution area. The paper thus covers a large part of the Appenzeller Mittelland. The circulation of the weekly newspaper increases from over 11,500 to 66,584 copies.
The weekly newspaper will now also have an editorial page for Gossau and the surrounding area as well as Herisau and Appenzellerland. To cover the new pages, two additional editorial team members will be hired with immediate effect.
The St. Galler Nachrichten is one of the highest-circulation weekly newspapers in St. Gallen and the surrounding area and continues to be distributed by post.

The family business Zweifel Weine is celebrating its anniversary year with the PR department of TBWA. The company is celebrating its 111th anniversary with various events and activities. The agency's PR department won the mandate to manage the events in a pitch.
To kick off the year, the media conference and Arrivage tasting 2009 will take place on January 19 at the Zweifel Weinlaube in Zurich-Höngg. The company celebrates its anniversary with further events such as the Open Wine Cellar Day, the Rosemount Days and the Night of Delights. TBWA's advertising department is responsible for media and public relations, visual implementation in the anniversary year and event management for various occasions.
Responsible at TBWA: Ingrid Notter (consulting and PR), Stephanie Mück (PR), Martin Friedlin (AD), Dominique Magnusson (graphics). Responsible at Zweifel Weine: Walter Zweifel (Managing Director), Urs Zweifel (Oenologist), Beat Frischknecht (Marketing Manager).

In the canton of Zug, a new web newspaper is being created for the substantial and growing English-speaking population due to low taxes. The newspaper, with the address www.thezugpost.ch, is to offer "English daily local news"; the initiator Natalie Albrecht wants to address in particular the highly qualified immigrants. The content is mainly provided by the Neue Zuger Zeitung, but the paper also aims to do its own research. At the moment, however, the person employed for this purpose is mainly busy with translations.
The annual budget for The Zug Post is around CHF 100,000, according to Albrecht. The canton of Zug has donated a one-time amount of 30,000 francs. She said she is confident of raising the entire sum. The Zug Post is a supplement to the Zug4you.ch website, which Albrecht launched in October 2007. This offers general information about life in Zug and Switzerland, but without daily updates. Lucerne4you.ch is to be launched at the end of January, also without daily updates.

Sabrina Wägli will become Key Account Manager for Handelszeitung from January 1, 2009. In her role, the 26-year-old will support advertising sales under the management of Renato Oliva. Sabrina Wägli began her career in 1998 at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In 2005, she moved to Ringier's sales department, where she most recently worked as Key Account Manager for Ringier Romandie.

Roland Cecchetto and Dave Hertig founded their company Cecchetto & Hertig on January 1, 2009. The general partnership, based in Urdorf, Zurich, covers PR, marketing communication and customer loyalty measures. The focus is on communication services for SMEs.
Roland Cecchetto has over three decades of professional experience in a wide range of industries - from Migros and Mövenpick to the industrial company Bossard. Most recently, the 52-year-old worked for Jefferies Switzerland for eight years. At the Swiss subsidiary of the US financial company in Zurich, Cecchetto was responsible for overall communications as a member of the executive board. At the communications agency, he will be responsible in particular for the design and implementation of targeted communications strategies.
Dave Hertig was business editor at Sonntagszeitung and Cash between 1999 and 2003. Since then, the 34-year-old has worked as a freelancer and expanded his knowledge in the areas of corporate publishing, branding, entrepreneurship and lifestyle. From 2005 to 2007, Hertig was editor-in-chief of Audi Magazine.

Caption: Roland Cecchetto and Dave Hertig.