The Axel Springer Group is launching a new free newspaper in Berlin with a circulation of millions. From September 20, the "Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend- Extra" will be published every Saturday, Group spokeswoman Edda Fels confirmed a report in the Financial Times Deutschland on Thursday evening.
The 16-page title will be published in a print run of one million copies. It will offer a selection of articles that appeared in the Berliner Morgenpost the week before. The editions will be delivered directly to households in the greater Berlin area by Deutsche Post letter carriers and women, SDA reported in the German media.
It is "a new type of newspaper concept", emphasized the Group spokesperson. This is neither a typical free newspaper nor a conventional advertising paper. Instead, the "Berliner Morgenpost Weekend Extra" offers a "best of" collection of articles from the previous week's Berliner Morgenpost. The aim is to arouse curiosity about the Berliner Morgenpost and attract new readers to the newspaper.
On Friday, Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner once again emphasized that the new newspaper is by no means a free newspaper in the traditional sense. In his speech at the publishers' conference of the Swiss press in Montreux, he reiterated his skepticism about the business model of free newspapers. With regard to the new product for the Berlin market, he referred to Axel Springer's long tradition in the field of advertising papers. On the sidelines of the conference, Döpfner said: "If the Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend-Extra is a free newspaper, then we have been a free newspaper publisher for several decades." He was alluding to press reports to the contrary, which had described the new Springer paper as a "free newspaper".
In this context, he also mentioned the long-standing cooperation with Deutsche Post, which is responsible for the delivery of the new newspaper in Berlin: "The cooperation with Deutsche Post is not a change of strategy, but has been practiced for decades in the delivery of our titles."

(Pictures: Keystone)

The media, marketing and digital agency Initiative has carried out a strategic reorganization. This was done in order to expand its network and focus on the company's growth, the agency announced in a press release.
The reorganization is part of an ongoing business development. It was led by Richard Beaven, who was appointed CEO in March 2008.
In addition to the reorganization that has now taken place at the highest Group level, the agency will soon be introducing a team of regional and functional managers, Initiative also announced.
The new President of Initiative Europe, Middle East and Africa is Mario Mateus, former CEO of Initiative Portugal. Roger Camplisson has been appointed as representative for the Asia-Pacific region. Annetta Cembrano takes over the management of Initiative Latin America from Jean-Christoph Petit, who has been promoted to President of Mediabrand Latin America. The new function of Worldwide Digital Communications will be headed by Bant Breen.
"A new era is now beginning at Initiative," comments Richard Beaven, global CEO at Initiative, on the changes.

Not good times for one of the largest and most important newspapers in the world. After it was announced a few days ago that the New York Times was shutting down its distribution company, putting 550 employees out of work, the ownership structure of the paper has now changed. Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim has taken a stake in the US newspaper's listed publishing house. At a press conference in Mexico City, Slim explained that it was purely a financial investment. The current share price is attractive.
The Mexican, who is one of the richest people in the world, bought a share of
6.4 percent in the traditional publishing house, which is controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger publishing family. The publishing house is suffering from a falling share price and declining advertising revenues in the print business.
Slim's surprising investment increases the pressure on the publishing family. It was only in the spring that it was forced to give the financial investors Harbinger Capital and Firebrand Partners two seats on the Board of Directors. The investment firms are the largest shareholders after the family and are demanding a change of course and higher profits. Slim is now one of the largest shareholders with his stake announced on Wednesday. It remains to be seen whether he wants to interfere in the ongoing business or is simply speculating on a share price gain.
According to a list published by the US magazine Forbes, Slim is the second richest person in the world behind US investor Warren Buffett, with an estimated family fortune of around 60 billion dollars. Among other things, he controls South America's leading mobile phone provider América Móvil.
The NYT Group lost almost 30 percent of its stock market value within a year.
For the first time in its history, it cut jobs in the editorial department this year. The newspaper is also under pressure from the Wall Street Journal, acquired by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, which has set itself the goal of increasingly competing with the New York Times.

The journalists' organizations Impressum and Comedia are demanding that the Swiss Press Publishers Association negotiate a collective employment contract (CEC). In doing so, they are demanding a commitment that the publishers made when they joined the Swiss Press Council Foundation, as Comedia and Impressum announced on Thursday.
The journalists' organizations are thus renewing their demand of 30 June on the occasion of the congress of the Swiss Press Association, which is taking place from Thursday to Saturday in Montreux. In its response of August 20, the Publishers Association denied that joining the Swiss Press Council Foundation gave rise to a right to negotiations. The publishers' association had terminated the CLA for German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, which dated back to 2000, with effect from August 1, 2004.
From fall 2007 to summer 2008, the social partners held talks on the problems that arose due to the discontinuation of the CLA for journalists. The publishers' association made it clear that it was not prepared to conclude a binding agreement for its members, even in part, the two organizations write in the communiqué.

The eagerly awaited speech by Hanspeter Lebrument, President of the Publishers Association, has caused anger. The journalists' association Impressum considers his comments regarding a collective labor agreement to be an affront. Lebrument said he would not give them back their "favorite toy", the collective employment contract. In addition, the "duties and rights of journalists" urgently need to be changed in order to strengthen the publisher's influence on the editorial team.
In his emotionally charged speech, Lebrument clearly contradicted the promises made by the VSP before joining the Swiss Press Council, according to a statement from Impressum. The association had committed itself in writing - with the personal signature of the president - to the supra-individual regulation of employment relationships, to the right to collective bargaining and to "duties and rights". This code forms the basis for the self-regulation of journalists by the Swiss Press Council.
Furthermore, the publisher president makes no secret of the fact that, in his opinion, he is seeking urgently needed changes to the "Declaration of Duties and Rights of Journalists". In doing so, he wants to restrict journalistic freedom in favor of the publisher's influence on the editorial team.
In today's statement, Impressum protested against Lebrument's comments. It is assumed that this fundamentalist stance does not correspond to the majority opinion of the members of the VSP and considers the termination of the social partnership to be a verbal derailment by the President and not the official position of the VSP Executive Committee, the association writes further.

The Swiss Society for the Rights of Authors of Musical Works has redesigned its website. Snowflake developed the concept, information architecture and design of the website and implemented the open source CMS Typo3 as the content management system.
The Snowflake agency, based in Zurich and Bern, specializes in the Typo3 system and develops and operates web solutions and applications.
Suisa wanted its new website to focus on a clear and concise presentation of the information on offer and therefore opted for the Typo3 system. This should now ensure that its customers - concert organizers, record producers, filmmakers and party organizers - and members - composers, songwriters, lyricists and publishers - can quickly find the content and documents they are looking for.

The global PR company Burson-Marsteller, based in Switzerland at its offices in Zurich, Bern and Geneva, and the financial communications provider Smithfield announced the conclusion of a strategic partnership on Friday. This will enable them to offer their clients a mix of Smithfield's London-based financial communications and global network, as well as a broad range of Burson-Marsteller's communications services.
Burson-Marsteller's financial communications department will soon operate in partnership with Smithfield's offices in New York, Frankfurt, Zurich, Milan, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and the Middle East.
According to John Antcliff , CEO of Smithfield, this means that the company can further expand its international service portfolio and offer customers a broader range of communication services.

The two French-speaking daily newspapers 24heures and Tribune de Genève are launching a new regional offering from October 11. In addition to local, cantonal, national and international information, they want to offer news on the respective regions in various sections, they announced in a press release on Friday.
The sections range from debates and local stories, to nature and culture, to a selection of tips for going out. The television magazine TV Guide from 24heures and la Tribune will continue to exist.
The daily newspaper 24heures is expanding its cantonal and local information offering. In addition to a stronger cantonal section, the newspaper will in future report on the four major regions of the canton of Vaud: Nordwaadt and Broye, Riviera-Chablais, La Côte, and Lausanne and its regions.

The Basel agency GB, C. has undergone a reorganization. With immediate effect, Peter Brenneisen will head the company, which will now operate under the name Brenneisen Communications AG. His former partner Andres Gruner is devoting himself to new goals.
GB, C. was founded in 1982 by Brenneisen and Gruner and was managed for 26 years. According to a press release issued on Friday, the agency's clients include global corporations, SMEs from Switzerland and renowned institutions.
In addition to the areas of branding and marketing communication, the rejuvenated team of ten will continue to focus on its core competence in the area of design. More information will follow soon.

Five companies will be honored this year with an award for good corporate communication. The "Golden Communicator 2008" goes to Life Science Communication, as the jury announced on Thursday. The agency designed the Mission Possible prevention campaign on behalf of Aids-Hilfe Schweiz. The campaign aims to prevent AIDS infections in the early stages.
Muller Martini Marketing, Phonak and British American Tobacco each received a bronze award. The jury recognized Muller Martini Marketing for its communication on the launch of a new generation of machines. Phonak was successful with its Hear-the-world campaign, while British American Tobacco's communication for Pocket Box stood out.
The prize for good media relations goes to Axa Winterthur. The insurance group receives the Media Relations award for the launch of the Crash Recorder for young drivers, which is designed to prevent speeding accidents.
The prizes are awarded by the School of Business of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland in Olten. The Communicators are sponsored by Argus der Presse. The Media Relations Award is sponsored by news aktuell (Switzerland).
The winners received their awards on Thursday at the Forum for Integrated Communication. Around 200 communications experts from Germany and Switzerland were in attendance.

(Picture: Representatives of Life Science Communications accept their award)

The agency Advico Young & Rubicam has realized the first campaign for its new client Harley Davidson Switzerland. The result is two subjects that are presented on posters and advertisements. According to a press release from the agency, the campaign is aimed specifically at people who are not biker types but would still like to get away from it all. Businessmen, lawyers or doctors who are under constant stress should start the engine and experience a ride that lets them forget everything for a while.
The subjects were realized by Swiss photographer Stephan Schacher in the USA.

Responsible at Harley Davidson: Christoph Haas (Marketing Manager Harley Davidson CH).Responsible at Advico Y&R: Philipp Skrabal (ECD), Christian Bobst (CD/AD), Johannes Raggio (text), Pablo Koerfer (consulting). Photography: Stefan Schacher.

Entire Hotel Up for Grabs
A free choice of any hotel room for one night, the breakfast buffet all to yourself, and the wellness area to share only with friends. This dream comes true for the winner of the current Best Western promotional campaign: He and up to 50 invited guests will have an entire Swiss Best Western hotel all to themselves for one night. Under the slogan «Win a hotel,» Maxomedia conceived, designed, and implemented this unique campaign for Swiss Best Western hotels. Existing customers can enter the contest through an oversized promotional card placed in their hotel room until the end of November. Banner ads on Swiss online platforms geared toward travelers draw the attention of potential Best Western customers to the promotion.

A Deadly Campaign for the Lung League
Werbeanstalt Schweiz AG is currently launching a campaign for the Zurich Lung League to raise awareness about COPD, an incurable lung disease. The campaign uses provocative images to shake people up and show that COPD is a widespread—and deadly—disease.
Everyone Makes It to the Front Page
The campaign is as clever as it is popular: These days, IKEA Switzerland is once again inviting members of its IKEA Family to a one-of-a-kind photo shoot: Anyone who’d like to own a personalized catalog and appear on the cover can now have their picture taken by professional photographers at IKEA stores in a replica of the cover’s backdrop. Shortly thereafter, the catalog featuring their own cover photo will be available. The campaign is being promoted and executed by Unikat and Photopress.

Butter Nibbled Away from Billboards
After Floralp demonstrated its popularity with croissants and braided bread this spring, a new wave of posters now shows that people, too, can’t resist Switzerland’s most popular premium butter. The advertising agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett, which is handling the campaign, has developed a new ad as part of the existing campaign that unmistakably shows just how well Floralp is received—so well, in fact, that people would rather do without everything else than go without this premium butter.

Neapolitan entrepreneur
«With its 110 part-time and full-time employees, »Real Clean« makes all kinds of businesses shine. The company was founded by Toni Romano. The boss of Real Clean was born in Naples—and later emigrated to Switzerland to keep things clean here. Ruf Lanz took this as the inspiration for the first branding campaign for »Real Clean.” The three ad concepts playfully allude to the unresolved problem of dirt in Naples. True to the motto: Ever since Real Clean boss Toni Romano emigrated to Switzerland, Naples just hasn’t been the same.