Publicitas Cinecom has just announced that it will be offering cinema advertising at half price in January 2009. The cinema month of January will be exciting and promises plenty of action, drama and romance, according to the press release issued on Tuesday. With the exception of romance, this should also apply to the advertising month, and it can be assumed that Cinecom wants to counteract the currently not particularly good situation for cinema advertising.
Cinema January has a few potential major events in store: Australia (starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman), Revolutionary Road (Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio), Righteous Kill (Al Pacino and Robert De Niro), Changeling (Angelina Jolie and John Malkovic) or Slumdog Millionaire (directed by Danny Boyle).

"Bundesordner 08" is the name of the satirical review of the year to be staged at the Casinotheater Winterthur in mid-January 2009, in which cabaret artists, word acrobats and comedians will present biting revelations about this year's events in Switzerland. To promote the eagerly awaited production appropriately, the advertising agency Publicis was inspired by the film poster for the thriller The Birds by the "Master of Suspense", Alfred Hitchcock. The subject, illustrated in the style of the original poster, which will be used as a poster and advertisement, shows a woman being attacked by black federal files circling menacingly around her head.
Responsible at Casinotheater Winterthur: Paul Burkhalter (overall responsibility), Christa Kostgeld (advertising manager). Responsible at Publicis: Ralf Kostgeld (CD), Valentin Cheli (AD), Simon Müller (graphics, illustration), Bojana Taraba (consulting) and Vera Schmid (art buying).

The St. Gallen company Pronto Reinigung is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The agency at the airport has now put the otherwise discreet cleaning company in the spotlight. Several of the 300 employees can be seen at work - everyday heroes. Advertisements, radio sponsorship, an anniversary event and periodicals will be used, starting immediately.
Responsible at Pronto Reinigung, St. Gallen: Hans Herzog (Managing Director). Responsible at the agency at the airport, Altenrhein: René Eugstair (CD), Dominique Rutishauser (AD), Patrick Lindner (text) and Miriam Egli (consulting/concept). Photography: Daniel Ammann, Ammann + Siebrecht.

Billag has always been a grateful victim for the media, because the collection agency for television license fees is not particularly popular with the population - it is only really present when the bill flutters into the house. On Tuesday, Blick once again took a big swipe at Billag. Under the title: Terror spot on TV, it reported on an advertisement first broadcast in March 2008. Billag television commercialIt was expensive (1.5 million francs), intimidated TV viewers and the people had to pay for the whole mess. The paper also calculated that a single prime-time broadcast costs around 200,000 francs.
The Pixar-like comic spot illustrated what happens to televisions whose owners do not pay the license fee: A terrified television with human features was kidnapped by a futuristic special commando, then tortured and finally liquidated. Whether this is particularly tasteful in the age of Guantanamo remains to be seen, but ironically Billag could have initiated its own liquidation: A "People's initiative against excessive Billag fees" was created via Facebook, partly because of the expensive commercial, but also because of Billag's high administrative costs. The group already has 19,000 members. Its name: "Bye-bye Billag".

The 40th edition of the NZZ Chronik is being published today. Since 1968, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung has offered a review of the year's most important events at the end of each year. The anniversary edition is being published for the first time in magazine form, with expanded content including commentaries, generous photo spreads, graphics and an agenda for 2009, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. It is also supplemented with reviews of events 100 and 200 years ago from the NZZ archive. "Because only those who know what happened can assess what is."
In terms of content, the new publication offers a wide range of topics for 2008: from the global financial crisis and its global economic consequences to the election of the first black president in the USA, famines and environmental disasters with thousands of victims, wars, the ups and downs of international commodity prices and the European Football Championship.
Starting on December 1 of the previous year, the NZZ Chronicle covers a period of twelve months, which is seamlessly followed by the next year. The next Chronicle will be published on December 18, 2009. From Wednesday, the annual review will be sold individually at newsstands and will also be available in a hardcover edition in bookshops or from NZZ Libro.

In its White Paper for 2009, the Spanish newspaper publishers' association AEDE calls for help from the state. It is "surprising that the successively implemented rescue plans and public investment programs in Spain have so far omitted aid for the press," said Pilar de Yarza, chairman of the publishers' association. "Aid of the kind that is normal and customary in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal."
As reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, De Yarza predicts a drop in income of around eight percent for Spanish newspapers in 2008. In absolute figures, this would be a fall of 0.3 to 2.7 billion euros. He even estimates a 16 percent drop in sales, compared to a 5.9 percent increase in sales in 2007. The advertising industry institute Arce Media, on the other hand, expects a 14 percent drop in sales.
Several newspapers have already been closed in Spain in recent months, and job losses are progressing rapidly, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung. Luis Muñiz, editor-in-chief of the specialist publication Noticias de la Comunicación, accused Spain's publishers of not having prepared for the crisis in good times. They had therefore been caught "on the wrong foot".
On the other hand, there are positive signals from the online market, where a strong increase can be observed: both the number of readers and advertising revenues rose by more than 20 percent.

For the second time, Metzgerlehner Worldwide Partners has created a special advertisement for Schacke & Partner Financial Services for the Bilanz issue "The 300 Richest". The advertising motif for the independent investment advisor uses the pinstripe suit as a visual leitmotif. The advertisers played with the contrast between the headline "Better than calls and puts: Call us." and the serious business look, the agency wrote in a press release on Tuesday.

Responsible at Schacke & Partner, Zurich: Peter W. Schacke, Kurt Gubler. Responsible at Metzgerlehner Worldwide Partners: Felix Dammann (CD), Marco Lehner (strategy/text), Silvan Metzger and Anna Lea Michael (consulting).

Spotlight, the largest advertising film festival in the German-speaking world, had a record year in 2008 with 304 entries. In 2009, the international industry event returns to its original location in Ravensburg, where it all began twelve years ago. According to a press release, the expanded and redesigned Oberschwabenhalle is the ideal venue for the 12th Advertising Film Festival from March 26 to 27, 2009.
The competition also made gains in the ranking of creative competitions. Recently, the two specialist media W&V and Horizont in Cannes rated it highly with 37.5 percent and 40 percent respectively. The organizers see the reason for the successful result in the comparison of audience and expert opinion during the judging process. Decisions on the awards are made by a jury of advertising experts and the live and digital audience.
From 2010, the industry competition will be held for the first time in a major city in Baden-Württemberg. There will also be a reunion in the Lake Constance-Upper Swabia region in 2012 with the premiere of "Best of Spotlight", according to the press release.
The submission deadline for Spotlight 2009 is January 31, 2009. Agencies can enter commercials for the main competition for professionals, students at film schools for the student competition. There are two categories for each of the two sections: the traditional TV & Cinema category and Web & Mobile for the new advertising formats on the Internet and for cell phones. Festival director Peter Frey and Spotlight managing director Thomas Falkenstein are responsible for the program.

After a race weekend, Ovomaltine and Didier Cuche auction off a helmet worn by the ski star at the race that has just taken place ten times. The proceeds go to young skiers and to the Porte-Bonheur organization, which has been supporting orphans for years. The helmets, which cost 700 francs and are known for their originality and fun designs, are being sold via the internet portal Ricardo auctioned. Each of the helmets is decorated with a typical symbol of the country in which the race is taking place.
The first auction of three helmets will start on December 15, 2008, when the France helmet that Didier wore in the super combined on Friday and the giant slalom on Saturday in Val d'Isère will be among the items to go under the hammer. The auction will start at one franc and last around ten days.

The Aarau Standortmarketing association is looking for a new logo. However, this is not to be designed in secret, but ideas and suggestions for the new logo are being sought through a public competition, as detailed in a press release. In addition to fame and honor (in Westaargau), the winner will receive a prize of 4,000 Swiss francs.
Agencies, schools and private individuals are invited to give free rein to their creativity and submit their proposals. After a pre-selection by the jury, the best three ideas will be chosen by popular vote.
The Aarau Location Marketing Association was founded at the end of April 2008 to professionally market Aarau as a business location. This new beginning is now to be implemented visually with a fresh and unmistakable appearance. The association is looking for a new logo that represents Aarau as a location in a memorable and authentic way. Interested parties can register for the competition at: [email protected] and order the competition documentation.

Freelancerportal.ch now offers a marketplace where you can advertise office space, office furniture, computers and other industry-related services. Two weeks of advertising cost 50 francs, four weeks 80 francs. The marketplace is free of charge for people already registered on the portal.
Over 40 freelancers from the communications industry now present their best work on Freelancerportal.ch. According to Managing Director Monica Miraldi, around 80 percent of the communication professionals represented on the portal received specific inquiries via the portal in 2008 and thus more than recouped their annual fee.

Christian Kauter will remain CEO and Delegate of the Board of Directors of Affichage Holding in 2009. At the request of the Board of Directors, the 62-year-old will not retire for the time being, which would be possible at the age of 62. Klaus Hug, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Affichage Holding, was quoted in a press release on Monday as saying that Kauter's retention of operational management would ensure continuity for the Group in difficult economic times.
On January 1, 2009, Christian Kauter will hand over the position of Managing Director of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft APG to Ivan Schultheiss. The change at the top of the Affichage Group company with the highest turnover was already announced in July. Kauter will retain the management of the Swiss business segment as well as his functions as CEO and Delegate of Affichage Holding and will focus more on strategic tasks.