Olivier Toublan is to become the new Editor-in-Chief and Directeur des rédactions of the Axel Springer publications in French-speaking Switzerland - the French-language monthly magazines PME Magazine and Private Banking. The 41-year-old will take over from François Schaller, who is stepping down at his own request after almost ten years, on April 1, 2009 at the latest. However, 54-year-old Schaller will continue to write for the publications, the publishing house announced on Tuesday.
Toublan holds a doctorate in economics from the HEC Lausanne. From 2003 to 2006, he was editor-in-chief of the business magazine Bilan in Lausanne. He was then responsible as Directeur éditorial for the Asia magazines of Edipresse, based in Hong Kong. Toublan returned to Switzerland in January 2008 and was deputy editor-in-chief of L'Hebdo.

The St. Gallen communications company Freicom is now communicating for CCA-Angehrn. The agency has been commissioned with all media and PR activities. The aim is to establish the wholesale company as a "freshness professional". The motto "Freshness for professionals" is also intended to make it clear that the focus is on professional customers, according to a press release. According to Markus Weiskopf, Head of Marketing at CCA-Angehrn, the shared roots in Eastern Switzerland form a solid foundation for a successful collaboration.
CCA-Angehrn is the second-largest cash & carry company in Switzerland. Headquartered in Gossau SG, the wholesaler currently manages nine cash & carry stores in German-speaking Switzerland.

Eduardo Zwyssig has been relieved of his position as Head of Marketing at Jungfrau Railways just a few months after taking up his post. Zwyssig took up the post in mid-June 2008. He was introduced by his predecessor Urs Kessler, who took over the overall management of the holding company as CEO on September 1. With immediate effect and until the position is filled, Urs Kessler will temporarily take over as Head of Marketing again. Zwyssig will be leaving the company at the end of May 2009 by mutual agreement, as Jungfrau Railways announced on Monday. No further information was provided at the request of SDA.

On December 1, 2008, Hansruedi Bichsel will join the team at Kretz, which is part of Zürichsee Medien. The long-standing CEO of Publimag will take over the management of Zürichsee Medien and the leadership of Kretz in February 2009. As part of the planned generational change, Bichsel will take over the management of the Stäfa office (Zürichsee Medien and Kretz) from founder Fredi Kretz. Kretz will continue to manage the head office in Feldmeilen until his retirement in spring 2010.
In addition to Kretz, which is active in advertising marketing for print media, Zürichsee Medien also includes Zürichsee-Zeitung, Radio Zürisee and Zürichsee Druckereien.

Miss Switzerland, Miss Molly, Miss Pregnant, Miss... all the competitions in the battle for perfect beauty have now been joined by another - the "Weight Watchers Member of the Year 2008". This time the supreme discipline is counting points, because the winner of the well-known slimming product line is the one who eats no more than 18 points a day, the so-called "fillers".
This tactic was successfully pursued by five women who prevailed against 130 other candidates via online voting. According to the organizers, they made it to the final "with their personality". On the "glamorous final night" on January 8, 2009 at Europapark, the best of the five candidates will be chosen and can then call herself a Weight Watchers ambassador. She will also be presented with a slim Daihatsu Trevis - true to the company motto - which is available in an economy package from just 58 "PS points".

It is not the job of this newspaper to comment on federal votes, especially if they have nothing to do with the communications industry. But one result of this weekend's vote was once again such a complete nuisance that an exception should be made here. We are talking about the hemp initiative.
It is pointless to discuss the potential dangers of hemp containing THC, which is regularly consumed by 600,000 Swiss people. It is roughly on a par with the popular drug alcohol. The fact that around two thirds of the electorate nevertheless voted against the legalization of the private use of hemp therefore seems to have arisen less from rational reasons than from a dull fear that this would usher in a kind of "Platzspitzization" of Switzerland.
The real annoyance of this referendum is not the social sanctioning of the ban on hemp. People will get stoned anyway. What is annoying here is the suspicion that the decision was motivated by a fear of one's own freedom. Or even more so of the freedom of others. A little more courage would have been called for, and a good sign of trust in the judgment of others. Or does anyone believe that legalizing hemp would have turned the Swiss population into a horde of permanent stoners? Apparently yes. If only the electorate were as creative in other respects...

On Monday, the secret of the "toothless chatterboxes" The secret is out: the organizing committee of the Ice Hockey World Championships in Switzerland wanted to use the enigmatic teaser campaign to draw attention to the 2009 Ice Hockey World Championships, which will take place in Switzerland from 24 April to 10 May 2009. In connection with the slogan "Tscheggsch de Pögg", it is now also clear why the shovel teeth have been lost from the beaming faces. Only a discreetly placed IIHF World Championship logo otherwise establishes the connection with the sporting event.
The idea for the campaign came from Frank Baumann, who can be seen on one of the posters himself. It was implemented by the "2009 IIHF World Championship" organizing committee. After a previous Advertising campaign to publicize the season matches The aim of the teaser campaign was to arouse the interest of the general public with a low budget, says Luciana Crameri, Head of Marketing & Events of the World Championship Organizing Committee, when asked by Werbewoche. For this reason, prominent people were deliberately chosen who were not associated with the sport - in the spirit of "2009 IIHF World Championship - Courage to fill the gap".
The motifs can be seen on posters and advertisements for another two weeks. Further advertising measures will follow in 2009.

Weber Harbeke: Burning the ice hockey nation into your memory

On December 1, Mobiliar and all 80 general agencies in Switzerland launched a new website. The site was implemented by Gold Interactive. Despite the size of the insurance company, the aim was to present all general agencies personally on the website, increase user-friendliness and enable barrier-free access, according to a company statement. The redesign of Mobi.ch will also form the basis for the future integration of multimedia elements and new online services such as an online premium calculator. The launch of the new website will be accompanied by an online Advent calendar.
Responsible at Mobiliar: Klaus Volken (Head of Marketing), Martin Doriot (Head of E-Services), Giuseppe Di Pietro (Online Marketing), Herbert Enzler (IT Delivery) and Giuseppe Marino (IE eBusiness). Responsible at Gold Interactive: Chris Götz (web design) and Kevin Luginbühl (concept). Responsible at Wyona: Michael Wechner (CMS). Responsible at Seven 49: Markus Schneider and Eva Bollmann (usability and accessibility).

Barbara Kreyenbühl will become Managing Director of The Reputation Rescue Company as of December 1, 2008. She takes over this role from Peter Metzinger, Chairman of the Board of Directors, who has been managing the agency on a temporary and part-time basis since it was founded in June of this year. Kreyenbühl was previously Head of Communications at the Culture and Social Affairs Directorate of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Kreyenbühl is quoted in the press release as saying that she chose this position because she is convinced of this new business model and its usefulness for customers.
The Reputation Rescue Company is a young agency that specializes in crisis communication and maintaining the good reputation of companies. It also insures its clients against staff shortages in the event of unexpected crises.

The Bernese daily newspaper Der Bund is to either cooperate editorially with the Zurich Tages-Anzeiger (TA) or merge with the Berner Zeitung (BZ). The Zurich publishing house Tamedia is examining corresponding concepts and intends to make a decision by the middle of next year. Without editorial cooperation, Der Bund no longer has any economic prospects, Tamedia announced on Monday. The financial problems of Der Bund have been known for some time. Both solutions would involve job cuts, said Christoph Zimmer, Head of Corporate Communications at Tamedia, when asked by SDA. However, it is still too early to provide more precise details.
Editorial cooperation between the Bund and the Tages-Anzeiger is being examined in the "TagesBund" project. The aim of the collaboration would be to offer the readership of the two titles a jointly developed mantle. It would be conceivable, for example, to exchange editorial content to a large extent or to share some of the departmental structure. The "Bern model" with two independent daily newspapers in one publishing house would continue to exist in this case.
In the "Berner Zeitung & Der Bund" project, a merger of the editorial offices of Berner Zeitung and Der Bund is being examined as an alternative to the TagesBund project. The economic strength of the Berner Zeitung offers a good starting point. If a collaboration between the Bund and the Tages-Anzeiger is not viable from a journalistic and economic point of view, the qualities and vehicles of the Berner Zeitung and Der Bund should be incorporated into the collaboration.
Over the past twelve years, the Confederation has posted losses totaling CHF 30 million. In recent years, it has repeatedly come close to the profit zone, but a good economic environment was a prerequisite. Since the sale of the Bund by the then publishing family in 1992, a total of five partners have held shares in the daily newspaper. In the summer of 2007, NZZ and Publicitas finally sold their shares in the Bund to Espace Media. The Espace Media Groupe has been majority-owned by Tamedia since August 2007.
Uli Rubner becomes temporary publishing director for Bund and Berner Zeitung
Uli Rubner (photo) will take over the management of the publishing house of Berner Zeitung and der Bund on an ad interim basis in January 2009. The 49-year-old will also help shape the two projects on the future of subscription-based daily newspapers in Berne as project manager. Uli Rubner, who was a member of Tamedia's Management Board from January 2005 to April 2008 as Head of the Magazines Division, will report directly to the Head of the Espace Media Division ad interim, Martin Kall.
Media scientists are not surprised
Media experts Roger Blum and Louis Bosshart are not surprised by Tamedia's plans, as SDA's inquiries have revealed. Increasing concentration is also inevitable for Bern as a media center. For Professor Roger Blum from the Institute of Media Studies at the University of Bern, however, it would be "a disaster for the federal city if there were no longer two newspapers competing in terms of journalism". Blum is therefore hoping for the option of a cooperation with the Tagi.
Fribourg media scientist Louis Bosshart is also not surprised by the plans of the Tamedia publishing house. This is a matter of increasing concentration, as has also taken place in other areas; this was to be expected. The Bern model, as advocated by the "gentleman" Charles von Graffenried, President of Espace Media Groupe, is "noble and elegant". But the reality has changed since the takeover by Tamedia.
(Image: Keystone)