Advertising Age has named Euro RSCG Worldwide as the largest global advertising agency. The agency dominates the rankings with 55 global clients and over 1,200 accounts, beating runners-up McCann Erickson and Ogilvy & Mather.
This ranking is based on Advertising Age's 2008 annual report. Each year, the company publishes a list of the world's 100 leading market companies. Of these 100 market companies included in the report, 82 work with Euro RSCG.

The end of TV advertising on French state television is as good as sealed. The four major state-funded broadcasters will no longer be allowed to show commercials from 2011. This was decided by parliament on Friday. During the transitional period, commercial breaks will only be permitted before 8pm, as Handelsblatt.ch writes. The Senate will still be discussing the reform from January 7. However, a spokesperson for the governing UMP party announced that the government can already bypass parliament on January 5 to put the bill into effect by special decree. According to the plans, French state television will also no longer be allowed to broadcast advertising during the day, according to a statement from the SDA. The loss of advertising revenue is to be compensated by the state. The French government wants to free public broadcasting from the quota system and thus raise the standard.
Critics accuse President Nicolas Sarkozy that the reform will primarily benefit private broadcasters, as they can hope for additional advertising revenue. The opposition and employees of state television, on the other hand, fear that the state will not fully compensate for the loss of advertising revenue. This would not necessarily help to promote quality. Sarkozy justified the advertising ban on the grounds of promoting the quality of public broadcasters, as they would no longer have to pay attention to viewer ratings. However, he did not mention his close friendship with Martin Bouygues, the head of the largest private broadcaster TF1.

The Zurich agency Werbeanstalt has been awarded a new contract by Sandoz. The agency will now be responsible for Sandoz International's biosimilars communications. The agency has already been working for Sandoz Switzerland for three years and won the Marketing Trophy at the Swiss Marketing Day 2008.

On Friday, the Swiss National Museum in Zurich opened an exhibition of the best press photos of the year. The events of the past year are visualized in 90 images, according to a press release from the National Museum. The pictures of the photographers who received the Espace Media Prize for press photography are also represented.
Swiss Press Photo is now taking place for the 18th time and will run until February 22, 2009. The exhibition can then be seen from February 28 to April 13 at the Forum of Swiss History in Schwyz and from April 22 to 26 at the Salon du Livre in Geneva. In August and September, the Swiss Press Photo will then make a stop at the Confederation's Käfigturm political forum in Bern.

The AY&R agency has launched a new campaign for Harley Davidson in Zurich's Sihlcity. On the occasion of the Harley Days, individual motorcycles are exhibited. In the rear-view mirror of the models, visitors can see what Harley riders leave behind them. The agency writes in a press release that just by sitting on it, you forget your everyday life for a while.
The exhibition will run until December 14.

The Swiss Paraplegic Foundation has created two new management positions. On February 1, 2009, Monika Priovino-Zürcher will take up her position as Zurich Head of Corporate Communications. Christian Hermle will be the new head of the Marketing/Fundraising department. According to a press release issued on Friday, the Board of Trustees intends to strengthen communication, marketing and fundraising activities with these appointments.

Monika Pirovino was Managing Director of Zug Tourism before taking over as Head of Marketing and Communications at Mobility Car Sharing Switzerland. For the last two years, she was Head of Marketing and Communications at GE Money Bank.

The new Head of Marketing and Fundraising, Christian Hermle, has worked as Marketing Director at Graphax AG for the last two years. He has been working in marketing and communications for around 20 years.

Sulzer, Sutter has baked a personal ambassador for the owner of Comic Cartoon Rainer Benz. A Gritti-Benz is to bring a greeting to all pre-Christmas parlors and thank the original Benz for the good cooperation over the past year, the agency said in a press release.
Responsible at Comic Cartoon: Rainer Benz (owner). Responsible at Sulzer, Sutter: Michael Kathe (Creative Director), Sebastian Krayer/Florian Bachofen (Art Direction), Katja Wölfel (Text).

A committee has formed in Bern to save the newspaper "Der Bund". The committee is now calling for people to sign an online petition, as reported by SDA on Friday. Bernese PR and communications expert, journalist and author Mark Balsiger initiated the formation of the committee and announced it in a letter to the editor in the Bund on Friday.
In addition to Simonetta Sommaruga (SP) and Werner Luginbühl (BDP), the committee also includes National Councillors Rudolf Joder (SVP) and Alec von Graffenried (Greens), former Grand Council President Christoph Stalder, several business representatives as well as Züri-West singer Kuno Lauener and media professor Roger Blum. A special website was set up for the cause: www.rettet-den-bund.ch is switched on.
As Bund owner Tamedia announced in December, "Der Bund" will either cooperate with the Zurich Tages-Anzeiger or merge with the Berner Zeitung. Both options are to be examined by the middle of the year. Tamedia said that "Der Bund" had no economic prospects without editorial cooperation.

The St. Moritz agency Spot Werbung has redesigned the Jet Set and Corvatsch websites. The Jetset.ch website focuses on the fashion collection. The Corvatsch.ch site gives an overview of the Corvatsch mountain and provides guests with information about the weather, piste conditions and events.
Jet Set, which operates in the ski fashion sector, was founded in St. Moritz in 1969 and acquired by a group of investors in 2006. The website is the first step in a long-term Internet strategy, which also includes the development of an online store and an extranet for B2B applications, Spot Werbung writes in a press release.

The advertising agency BSSM has launched an advertising campaign for the Saphir Group. The subject of a networked corporate world is intended to illustrate the development towards high demands on the information and communication infrastructure. Today's corporate world is becoming increasingly global, mobile and flexible, said BSSM in a press release. As a full-service partner in Switzerland, the Saphir Group offers solutions for this.
The advertising campaign appears in the daily press and in trade journals.
Responsible at Saphir Group: Daniel Meyer (overall responsibility). Responsible at BSSM advertising agency: Rolf Schenk (CD), Hannes Müller (text), Daniel Bard (AD). Consulting: Markus Binggeli.

Under the motto "Life is rich", the Zurich agency Scholz & Friends has realized a branding and event concept for Davidoff Cigarettes in Lausanne's "Cult Club". The agency created a club atmosphere with mirrors bathed in red light in the shape of the Davidoff brand motif, display cases, wall decorations, laser shows and audiovisual animations. With DJs, GoGo dancers, Davidoff drinks and hostesses, the brand world is to be brought to life for a young, urban target group in line with the slogan "Life is rich", according to a press release from Scholz & Friends.
The agency is responsible for branding, color design of the location and the party concept. Scholz & Friends has been responsible for the entire Imperial Tobacco account in Switzerland since January 2008, including brands such as Davidoff Cigarettes, John Player Special, Drum and Rizla.
Responsible at Imperial Tobacco Switzerland: Julia Gangloff (Market Development Manager), Sandra Spremberg (Brand Manager Switzerland, Davidoff Germany). Responsible at Scholz & Friends Zurich: Joerg Jahn (CD), Sibylle Moos (AD), Paul Labun (graphics), Thomas Blumer (text), Sebastian Breuer (text). Consulting: Uli Geiger (BGL), Fabian Keller, Merja Rinderli.

Affichage Holding has created a new "Public Affairs" position. The Group Executive Board has entrusted Claude Miffon with its management. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the most important tasks of Miffon, who holds a doctorate in law, include maintaining relationships with politicians, associations, institutions and social influence groups. Miffon will also take on national and international project tasks.
Advertising bans and the state's increasing intervention in economic competition have prompted the Affichage Holding Group management to create the new position, the statement continues.
Miffon, a long-standing member of the Executive Board and Head of Procurement at APG, will take up his new position on January 1, 2009.