Founded in 2004 as a team of three, ViznerBorel now employs twelve people on the premises of the former Zurich Maternité. Shortly before its fifth anniversary in spring 2009, ViznerBorel is ready for great things. "The tasks we face are becoming more and more complex," says Lajos. "The growing volume of work and the increased demands on our communications solutions require us to step up in positions of responsibility." ViznerBorel is an owner-managed agency. In the words of Lajos Vizner, this also means "that Guillaume and I still want to make a personal appearance with clients. We want to maintain this commitment." With the current volume of tasks, however, this is no longer always possible. The two founders therefore involve Hanna Zimmermann (creation/art) and Sascha Knauer (strategy/consulting), two long-standing and proven employees, in this commitment. They enjoy the trust of the customers and give them the certainty that even in hectic times a competent member of the management is always available for them. "The two of them have been doing an excellent job with us for years. It was an obvious choice to include them in the management team." The attitude of "le feu sacré" was the most important thing for Lajos and Guillaume right from the start. This means: communication in which there is no spark cannot ignite a fire. Following this philosophy, ViznerBorel serves its clients across the boundaries of classical and non-classical communication.
One of ViznerBorel's core competencies is "thinking in solutions". This is evident, for example, in the case of the client Denner, which the agency has been advising for years on the communicative development and repositioning of the brand. "We've come a long way together with the client." Other important budgets include Ikea, Igora Genossenschaft für Alu-Recycling, Schaffhauser Nachrichten, IGSU, Schild, Theater an der Winkelwiese or newly VW Nutzfahrzeuge
Hanna carpenter
After her graphic design class in Basel, Hanna Zimmermann had the desire to gain experience in the trendiest design metropolises. So she soon found herself in the graphics department of Studio Cerri & Associati in Milan, where she was able to be creative for renowned clients such as Ferrari, Prada, Maserati and Pirelli in two years rich in experience. "Each of these jobs was totally different, and I really enjoyed the great creative freedom," she recalls. She gained new experience in a more directive environment the following year in the editorial department of Das Magazin, under Wendelin Hess. "Doing a completely new issue every week within what was nevertheless a very prescribed framework was very exciting for me." In 2001 came her entry into the advertising world. "Wirz was a very good agency to get into this profession, because it covers all the branches of the industry. And I also met a lot of good people there. Among others, Lajos Vizner and Sascha Knauer." One of her works at Wirz that she remembers fondly is the posters for the Lucerne Festival, in collaboration with Max Grüter. One of these subjects was awarded silver at the New York Festivals.
To learn Spanish, her fifth language, Hanna allowed herself six months off in Madrid. But she didn't miss the opportunity to return to Switzerland with the experience of two instructive months as an art director at BBDO Contrapunto in her luggage. As a freelancer, she was then able to work on interesting projects at various agencies. One of them was ViznerBorel. She enjoyed the close collaboration in the team and the good working relationship so much that she soon knew: "I'd join here permanently right away."
Sascha Knauer
Sascha Knauer has been fascinated by advertising since he was a child. After a "down-to-earth" apprenticeship as a toolmaker, which was customary in his northern Bavarian homeland, he earned a diploma in advertising in Nuremberg. Sascha got his start in advertising at Publicis in Munich, where he worked as a consultant for two years and looked after major clients such as Siemens Nixdorf in all its facets. He still has fond memories of the night-and-fog campaign with which they additionally won the mandate for Siemens' Formula 1 sponsorship.
Knauer came to Switzerland nine years ago via Vizner. As a consultant at Weber, Hodel, Schmid, his responsibilities included a German start-up that was later sold to Deutsche Telekom. From here, he also managed Daimler Chrysler Aircraft Engines, another W, H, S client in Germany. He himself describes this time as "a tough and very instructive year in one of the best agencies." The move into strategy came at Wirz, with Cary Steinmann, after having been responsible for new business in a consulting team. Via various freelance strategy assignments and a short detour into the world of direct marketing at Fisch.Meier.Direkt, Sascha Knauer found his way back into traditional advertising with RufLanz. Why did he switch to Ruf Lanz? "Because ViznerBorel didn't exist back then," he laughs.
Andreas Panzeri

As a leading Swiss energy company, Axpo is also looking for new, innovative solutions in its internal communications. This is why it recently launched the "Axpo Magazin aktuell", a Flash-based e-journal with compact, multimedia-based information.
Hot topics
The e-journal complements the existing print title "Axpo Magazine" and is dedicated specifically to the Axpo Group's quarterly management meetings, at which the latest topics are discussed. The most important findings are to be communicated to employees as directly as possible. "We see the e-journal as an online extension of the printed employee magazine in order to communicate the results of the management meetings in a timely and modern way," explains Michaela Schäfer, Head of Internal Communications at Axpo. The entertaining form of the medium motivates people to use it in depth. "This ensures that the important information is noticed by many employees," says Schäfer.
Packing and turning pages
Readers of the digital magazine will encounter eight magazine pages with editorially prepared and strikingly staged content. The pages can be "grabbed" and turned with the mouse. Almost every page unfolds changing or in-depth content at the click of a mouse. Finally, the "Axpo Magazin aktuell" invites its audience to give feedback via live voting. The "Axpo Magazin aktuell" was produced by Infel AG, which specializes in corporate publishing. As a full-service provider, Infel was responsible for the concept, content and technical implementation. "Intranet publications are a particular challenge in terms of programming because they usually have major technical limitations," says Michael Schär, Multimedia Coordinator at Infel. An employee survey at Axpo confirmed the decision to use the e-journal for internal communication: The vast majority were enthusiastic about the new means of communication.

According to the Goldbach Index (GEMI), advertising pressure in July rose by one index point to 200 for the total media covered by Media Focus. The electronic media saw increases in radio, internet and teletext, while TV lost one index point. The advertising pressure recorded by Media Focus developed surprisingly positively in July between the European Football Championships and the Olympics. The indexed development of radio is striking with growth of 6 to 263 (257) and teletext by 7 to 140 (133) index points. Internet increased by one point to 292, while TV fell by one point to 463. The overall market recorded an increase of one index point to 200, with eMedia reaching the previous month's level at 439 index points.

The success of internal publishing is based on two main pillars: a clear concept that defines what the internal communication tools should achieve and which communication strategy they are committed to, as well as transparent and honest communication that also openly addresses unpleasant truths.
Like every area of corporate activity, internal publishing as part of internal communication can only be successful on the basis of sound, fundamental considerations. This requires a basic understanding and awareness of internal communication and its four fundamental objectives, namely strategic orientation, promoting employee loyalty, strengthening employee identification with the company and cultivating the organizational culture.
But as obvious as this may sound, publishing concepts that are not limited to technical aspects are rarely found in practice. A good publishing concept is not characterized by its scope, but it clearly defines the holistic intentions and priorities of internal communication. And this definition must be made jointly by HR managers, the communications department and company management.
The official channel alone is insufficient
Christiane Roth, Director of the University Hospital Zurich until the end of 2007, describes what this looks like in practice as follows: "In addition to line communication and cross-team discussions, we also rely on the intranet as an information tool for internal communication and regularly publish our staff magazine Puls. I give the responsible editorial committee the necessary freedom here, but I have been involved in developing the concept and objectives for this internal communication tool. This gave rise to the idea of the annual themes, which are defined together with me at the beginning of each year."
This awareness of a managing director that the employee magazine is an effective means of anchoring strategic issues with employees is beginning to spread more and more. In particular, it is also being recognized that the mere official channel for transmitting information from the top of the company to the bottom is inadequate. Ulrich Zwygart, commander of the army's higher cadre training until the beginning of 2008, comments: "I once read that every piece of information only survives 1.5 hierarchical levels. Even the head of the army recently complained that his orders were not getting through to the very bottom. You have to be aware of that. That's why, in addition to line communication, I also use written information for everyone. We have a lot of information on the intranet and the 'Quest back' tool, which records workplace satisfaction. We also have our monthly newsletter and the Ideanet, where employees can submit suggestions and improvements."
Walter Gränicher, President of Alstom Switzerland, brings up another important aspect of the employee magazine when asked whether employees identify more with a transnational divisional structure or with Alstom Switzerland: "In our surveys, we received a clear answer to this question: First the employee feels a sense of belonging to Alstom, then to the local level. And only then comes the business unit. This shows how strong the local bond still is, despite everything. That's why three years ago we reintroduced the employee newspaper for Switzerland, which was discontinued during the crisis. It meets the needs of employees well and contributes to local integration."
Courage to use clear language
Internal communication and internal publicity are often full of empty phrases and stereotypical and therefore meaningless formulations. The courage to use clear language and thus personal words and personal statements is called for. In which tone of voice, with which means of communication and in which language, when to use the corporate language English, when to use the language-cultural formulation on site - these are questions of corporate culture, company size and intercultural sensitivity.
Circus Knie has an exemplary multicultural communication culture in a small space: the 200 employees from 16 nations can count on open communication and the avoidance of unnecessary banter. "We have a good, clear climate. What we don't discuss are politics and religion. We simply respect each other in these matters. If they have Ramadan, then they have Ramadan. Period. (...). Our internal communication works with primitive means. We, around 200 employees, gather here, for example, in the main area of the Circus, where we are now sitting." So says and acts Fredy Knie jun.
For Emanuel Berger, Delegate of the Board of Directors of the Victoria-Jungfrau Collection, which includes four luxury hotels, a frank conversation is also essential: "I consider the personal conversation to be the most important thing, the personal approach to each other. Even if it's about a sensitive topic, for example if an employee suffers from body odor, you have to have the courage to talk." Emanuel Berger has this courage - and he likes his employees: "I feel connected to them. In the hotel industry, employees are part of a partnership, a community of destiny, and together we succeed or fail."
Markus Spillmann, Editor-in-Chief of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, analyzes an important part of internal communication as an appeal to self-responsibility: "I assume that employees also have a responsibility. They should know: You can go to the editor-in-chief. Conversely, however, it must not be the case that they can argue with a clear conscience: Spillmann doesn't care anyway! (...) Almost all of our employees are very well trained and highly competent. One can also speak of over-academization. And people with such a high level of expertise are not easy to manage. And I should and may appeal to personal responsibility."
Non-hierarchical stepless
Nobody in the cooperative of the Zurich courier company Veloblitz has any reservations about expressing their opinion on internal communication. The conspicuous features: an open climate, expressed displeasure and a very high level of identification with their own organization. "More happens on the radio than just the distribution of orders. It connects all drivers in a magical way and leaves room for the exchange of other information. Radio communication can therefore be described without exaggeration as the quintessence of courier communication. Unfortunately or fortunately, the other forms of internal communication do not follow the rigid rules of radio communication!"
And a second voice from the Veloblitz cooperative: "Our real internal communication often begins in the sofa corner in the evenings, where riders can discuss things at length. And it is probably at this very moment that it breaks out into its broad spectrum. At Veloblitz, the various channels that I could use as an employee are not laid out in any recognizable pathways. Guerrilla tactics are required if you want something. I can't go through any authorities or hierarchical levels for my concerns, as is usual in one of the large companies that expand and monitor their internal communication channels in a variety of ways."
The statement by Konrad Hummler, partner at the private bank Wegelin & Co. in St. Gallen, is also a plea for minimal hierarchy, albeit with a completely different structure: "We have a very flat hierarchy and a culture in which you can also go back on decisions. So we sometimes admit to throwing something that has been decided overboard. (...) Our Executive Board meetings are exciting debates in front of a large audience, as we have 16 members on the Executive Board. I've always loved the plenary meeting format, even in the military, where I preferred to give orders to the whole battery. Because most things get lost when communicating across all hierarchical levels, and in the end nothing comes out at all."
Patent remedies?
Internal communication, including the "right" content in internal publishing, is clearly, and this is nothing new, a matter of leadership. "Leadership can be learned," says John Antonakis, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Lausanne, encouragingly: "Leadership can be studied just like medicine. Similar to medicine, we can identify variables that have an influence on certain outcomes, for example the dosage of a medication or 'dosage' of charisma. We can then measure the variables. For example, dosage is measured in milligrams, charisma is measured using psychometric questionnaires or expert ratings."
Patent remedies? The answer is clear: no, there are no such things. Every industry, every company in its size and its national or international structure has its own laws. Every manager has their own character. On the one hand, the loud word fits, on the other, the quiet word. But it should be open, unambiguous and transparent. There are basic recipes, experiences that can be transferred to your own situation - whether it's addressing employees in a crisis situation or a content concept for internal publishing.
Andreas Jäggi and Viviane Egli

Roger Schawinski's Radio 1 station has already announced two new additions this week. Sabine Matz will join the team as editor at the beginning of December. The 29-year-old journalist previously worked for Radio Energy. Previously, she worked for the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich and Brückenbauer. At Radio 1, she will be employed as a reporter and for the news, editorial director Sandro Brotz announced in a press release on Wednesday.
At the beginning of the week, Brotz announced another new signing: the busy Zurich DJ Robert Meyer, alias Minus 8, will be in charge of the "Lounge" show with immediate effect. The brother of techno pop star Arnold Meyer and electronic music specialist with releases on various renowned labels is thus taking over Luca Papini's job. Meyer is a brilliant DJ and a perfect fit for Lounge," Brotz was quoted as saying in the press release.
Meyer started his musical career in the 80s as a bass player in a funk band, but soon discovered his passion for electronic music and experimented with keyboards and samplers. Time and again, his compositions are also used in advertising. For example, the computer giant Apple once licensed a piece of his. In 1993, he began working as a DJ. Since March of last year, Meyer has also been co-owner of the Zurich pub Nachtigall. He will have his premiere on Radio 1 as early as next Friday evening at 8 pm.

Metropool Online, the advertising pool of Tagesanzeiger.ch, Baz.ch and Bernerzeitung.ch, is dead. Long live Newsnetz. Like Metropool Online, the successor product Newsnetz is primarily a virtual service for the advertising market. Normal users, on the other hand, will continue to access it either via tagesanzeiger.ch, baz.ch or bernerzeitung.ch. They may notice that the three websites have been redesigned since August 8. However, the average user will hardly notice that there is an editorial team behind the scenes and that there are many more people working on journalistic content. Perhaps they will gradually notice when the additional editorial work actually brings them greater benefits. Because then they will visit the new-old platform more often.
For the time being, not much has changed from the user's point of view, but it has from the advertiser's point of view. This is because those who previously placed their online campaign in Metropool Online now generally pay significantly more in the news network. Here are four examples: A rectangle that cost CHF 25,000 in the Metropool Online now costs a total of CHF 37,800 on the same three entry pages since August 8. This corresponds to a price increase of 51 percent. A wallpaper previously cost CHF 45,000 and now costs CHF 60,600. Surcharge: 34.6 percent. A skyscraper used to cost 30,000 Swiss francs, while Newsnetz now charges 37,800 Swiss francs - a price increase of 26 percent. The most moderate price increase is for the Maxiboard: it will rise in price from 35,000 to 37,800 francs, which is 8 percent more than before.
What justifies such a price increase, especially in the middle of the year? Have the number of hits and therefore the number of contacts on the three sites increased so massively? Quite apart from the fact that there are no figures yet, it is unlikely. And even in the past, there was nothing to suggest a massive increase in traffic. If we compare the traffic figures for July 2007 and July 2008, for example, which the Net-Metrix-Audit internet research shows for the three websites tagesanzeiger.ch, baz.ch and espace.ch (bernerzeitung.ch does not have its traffic certified separately), there was no significant increase overall. Although tagesanzeiger.ch was accessed by 929,000 computers (unique clients) in July 2008, i.e. immediately before the Newsnetz launch, almost 200,000 more times than a year earlier, baz.ch recorded a decline of almost 100,000 to 226,000 unique clients, while espace.ch remained stable (311,000 unique clients). In short: the steep increase in rates for the news network cannot be justified by increased performance. But with what?
Dominik Lämmler, Head of Advertising Market at Newsnetz, is not at a loss for reasons. Firstly, the massive editorial expansion at Newsnetz and secondly, the relaunch of the three websites justify an increase in rates. And Lämmler claims additional traffic. At the end of 2007, when Metropool Online's rates were set, the three websites together still achieved a total of 1.8 million ad impressions per week, he says. In July 2008, however, the figure was 2.1 million, 16.6 percent more. This shows that the rate increase in terms of thousand contact price (CPM) was only moderate. "The CPM for Maxiboard was even 7.6 percent lower," says Lämmler. That's true, provided you accept the ad impression value (see box). And even then, the rate increase remains massive: the CPM of the Skyscraper is 7.7 percent higher, that of the Wallpaper by 15 percent, and for the Rectangle it rose by 30 percent.
By the way: These prices are not final. They are valid as an introductory offer until September 7. Lämmler is currently in the process of redefining the rates. "Whether we will raise the prices again has not yet been decided; we are still waiting for the latest analysis of ad impressions," he says.
Markus Knöpfli

For many years, Zurich's OrangeCinema on the lake has not only served Hollywood ham, but also vegetarian specialties from Hiltl. And this summer, as always, Ruf Lanz delivered a new movie spot as dessert. The 2008 film version looks over the shoulder of a sound designer and reveals how certain sounds are still produced today - even in Hollywood studios: with crunchy vegetables. With the help of carrots, leeks, celery, fennel, tomatoes and co., the brilliant final scene from Quentin Tarantino's film "Death Proof" is set to new music.
The idea and screenplay were written by Markus Ruf. The film was directed by Los Angeles-based Swiss commercial filmmaker Serge Hoeltschi, with whom the agency previously shot the award-winning TV commercials "Stevie Wonder" and "Andrea Bocelli" for the Mühlehalde home for the blind. The film was produced by Onfilm Zurich with Daniela Berther. The real Peter Bräker acted as sound designer. "Without these people, we wouldn't have been able to realize the project in this quality," says Markus Ruf. The film was shot on just one Sunday - with really fresh vegetables. A big thank you also goes to the Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for the film rights. The Hiltl cinema commercial attached promotes the DVD of "Death Proof", which has just been released.
Hiltl is the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe and was opened in 1898. In the past, people who still ate meat every day referred to Hiltl as a "root bunker". Today, however, Hiltl is a real trendy restaurant. Ruf Lanz has been advertising Hiltl since its reopening after the major renovation in March 2007. The first campaign was the one with passers-by who pressed their noses against the Hiltl windows and thus bore an astonishing resemblance to little pigs. Resolution: The new Hiltl House makes even meat lovers curious. This was followed by eye-catching guerrilla campaigns such as the fountains converted into giant cooking bowls for the new Hiltl cooking studio. The fruits of their labor: many customers from new circles for Hiltl. As well as numerous awards for Ruf Lanz.
Andreas Panzeri

About the person: Sound designerPeter Bräker, the sound designer of the new Hiltl commercial, has already realized the sound design for films such as "Snow White" by Samir, "Sternenberg" by Christoph Schaub, "Der Freund" by Micha Lewinsky or "Ernstfall in Havanna" by Sabine Boss and Viktor Giacobbo in his Zurich studio.
The Hiltl commercial can be found on YouTube under the keyword "Death Proof Hiltl".

Humor in advertising is a matter of personal belief
«Has your advertising department lost all respect for the Catholic Church and its priests?? A Catholic priest definitely does not belong on your »Partner Winner« page in this form! If you do not withdraw this ad, I guarantee you will face legal action.» This is how an outraged member of the public complained to the client behind this new campaign. Another ad caught the negative attention of the Jewish weekly magazine Tachles. And the winner is? Meyer Werbung. In more ways than one. In March, PartnerWinner.ch, a subsidiary of Tamedia, put the competitive pitch out to tender. Thomas Meyer won it with a strong belief in the impact of cheeky humor at the expense of religion. The ads were created in collaboration with photographer Nicolas Y. Aebi and PartnerWinner CEO Christoph Lüscher. “Funnily enough, all the models were really easy to recruit—except for the Orthodox Jew, whom I ended up playing myself. After all, I do have Jewish ancestors,” says Meyer. He had actually planned to do this shoot in front of the synagogue, but the team was threatened with a call to the police there, so the creative team ended up moving their shoot behind the curtain of a photo booth. (pan)

Franziska Propels Models to Success
Calling all the brave ones: Dressed as a dominatrix in vinyl boots, a corset, and wielding a whip, real-life supermodel Franziska Knuppe is looking for aspiring colleagues. Knuppe, too, was once a newcomer. She was discovered by Wolfgang Joop at the age of 22 in a Berlin café. Now the seasoned professional is hosting the second season of *Supermodels* this fall on the Swiss channel 3+. The concept, developed by the Zurich-based advertising agency and Publicis subsidiary Fast Track, was brought to life by Paris-based fashion photographer Leo Krumbacher during a photo shoot in Hamburg. Florian Beck served as creative director.

The Bread of Freedom
When two parties join forces, the advertising impact is often more than just doubled. This is exactly what happened with La Liberté, the independent daily newspaper in Fribourg, and the Association of Artisan Bakers, Pastry Chefs, and Confectioners of the Canton of Fribourg. For its client La Liberté, the Bern-based agency Wapico conceived, implemented, and organized the «Le pain de La Liberté» campaign. Originally intended as a contest, it evolved into a cross-media campaign. Posters and print ads served as the foundation. In addition, over 140 bakers were supplied with Rotairs and display stands, contest materials, and packaging for the bread. What was the prize in the contest? Bread, of course—for a whole year, and from the winner’s choice of a local bakery.

Migros' first five sales trolleys set off from Zurich in 1925 with six items. Today, the range includes thousands of products from all five continents of the world.
Exxtra Kommunikation and its AD Andrea Dübendorfer have now packed this variety of products and their origins into a visually appealing campaign. The focus is on foods from Asia, overseas and southern Europe. This extensive range will be advertised for 45 days with the claim "Everything that whets the appetite for the wide world" via advertisements, posters, e-boards and cards for free. Stefan Minder took the images at authentic locations in Asia and Italy.
The respective store sales staff wore the work clothes of Migros employees. In the stores, virtual show chefs with the M-Cooking chefs introduce consumers to recipes from around the world. Tasting sessions will also be held in the largest Migros stores. The campaign runs until August 25.

Andreas Panzeri

The squabble over "Supermodel" is going into the next round. Just last week, it became known that the production company Allcomm had stopped filming the starlet show on the private channel 3+ for the time being "because essential aspects of the contract had not been fulfilled," as it announced. Among other things, the TV station had insisted on filming during which the safety standards for the supermodel aspirants had not been guaranteed.
As could be read in 20Minuten on Tuesday, after the cancellation of candidate Carmen Beeler, four more candidates could now take their hats off. Apparently they have not been informed after three days, as announced, whether they have advanced one round or not. To the free paper, 3+ station boss Dominik Kaiser regretted that the information had not flowed correctly, but then said: "It's a pity that they want to give up now. All of those invited by us are among the most promising candidates of the castings." The further course of the super show can be expected with suspense.

Even those accustomed to doomsday scenarios from the US newspaper industry will take a deep breath: of the 8 billion dollars that the Tribune Co. spent at the turn of the millennium to incorporate Times Mirror and thus the Los Angeles Times into its group, 3.8 billion dollars had to be written off these days. The New York Times - one of the few papers on the other side of the Atlantic that still maintains reporting on the media industry and journalism - recently calculated how the stock market values of newspaper companies, which were once said to be the most profitable legal investment after casinos, have developed.
The large corporations have lost market value dramatically. The Washington Post Co. has lost 24 percent since the beginning of 2008, the New York Times Co. 26 percent and the largest newspaper group in the USA, Gannett, 52 percent. For many other listed publishing houses, price falls of 50 to 70 percent in the last one to two years are the order of the day. And there are even more drastic cases. For example, the market capitalization of the Journal Register Company, which publishes the New Haven Register and hundreds of smaller newspapers, fell to one million dollars in August 2008. The papers have thus lost 99 percent of their value since the beginning of the previous year. In the same period, GateHouse Media, another publishing house that publishes hundreds of small local papers, has lost almost 98 percent of its market value and is now listed at a market value of 26 million dollars. The Sun-Times Media Group in Chicago is trading 91 percent lower than in January 2007 and its share capital is currently valued at 34 million dollars.
Stock market players may now be wondering whether these are buy prices - and are certainly in good company with a large number of investors from outside the industry who are thinking "now or never" about taking advantage of this opportunity. Others who may have believed in synergy effects and their own superior management talents - such as Sam Zell in the USA and David Montgomery in Europe - have already got bloody noses. Which is why we'd better refrain from the surefire tip for investing or destroying money in the summer slump.
Instead, on this occasion - the Olympics are just coming to an end - we would like to remember Al Neuharth. He was, so to speak, the marathon runner and gold medal winner in the American newspaper business at the end of the 20th century.
In the space of two decades, he has turned the upmarket tabloid he founded, USA Today, into the highest-circulation US newspaper - with first-class sports coverage, by the way.
As a precaution, however, the optimist and bon vivant ¬Neuharth had already played out the end of the world twenty years ago - and imagined the lead story that the leading US newspapers would report on immediately beforehand. His headline versions: New York Times: 'End of the World - Third World Countries Hardest Hit'; Wall Street Journal: 'End of the World - Dow Jones Index Plunges to Zero'; Washington Post: 'End of the World - Government Sources Say White House Ignored Early Warnings'; USA Today: 'We're All Dead! Latest sports scores p. 6'. The joke may sound more macabre today than when Neuharth invented it. However, if it was intended to encourage a cheerful, summery serenity in dealing with the scenarios of the exodus of our daily newspapers, it still served its purpose in the Olympic year 2008.

After months of speculation about who would fill the CEO post at the NZZ Group, the cat is now out of the bag: Albert P. Stäheli, previously Head of the Espace Media division at Tamedia, will become CEO of the AG for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In this newly created position, Stäheli will head the NZZ Group Management. The NZZ Group comprises Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG as well as Freie Presse Holding AG, which among other things holds notable stakes in the media houses St. Galler Tagblatt, LZ Medien and Zürcher Landmedien. Albert P. Stäheli will take up his post at the NZZ Group on October 1.
With the election of Albert P. Stäheli, the new management organization for the NZZ Group decided by the Board of Directors and supported by the Group Executive Board will be put into effect, according to a statement on Monday. The new CEO will be responsible for implementing the group strategy. Alfred Hümmerich, former Chairman of the Group Executive Board and CFO, will support the introduction of Albert P. Stäheli and subsequently return to an independent consulting role.
Born in 1949, Albert P. Stäheli joined Berner Zeitung AG as a member of the Executive Board at the beginning of 1981. In 1987, he took over the management of the entire media division of the then Berner Tagblatt Mediengruppe BTM. In 1993, he became CEO of Espace Media Groupe and, after the merger with Tamedia in 2008, a member of Tamedia's Executive Board. Stäheli learned business administration, marketing and management at Sawi in Biel, at the Swiss Institute of Business Administration in Zurich, at the HSG in St. Gallen and at Insead in Fontainebleau.