Christian Weber becomes Head of Communication at Swisscom Directories. He will also become a member of the Directories Executive Board. The 39-year-old will take up the newly created position on November 1, 2008, with the aim of expanding internal and external communications at Directories, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
Weber has been head of press for the FDP Switzerland since 2002. Before that, he was a journalist in the Swiss parliament for five years.

Minz has given the Zug Cantonal Hospital, which was built from scratch, a new communicative appearance. In addition to redesigning the logo, the visual communication agency in Lucerne has also produced all print documents such as image brochures and patient guides, as detailed in a press release issued on Thursday. The advertising and poster concept as well as the web design and form templates were also developed. The pictures were taken by Lucerne photographer Fabian Biasio.

During the vacation months, Radio Basel 1 broadcasts a special summer program. Kreisvier developed a campaign for this in which the station's oval logo is transformed into a surfboard. The modified branding as a surfboard on a sandy beach is intended to evoke lightness, freshness and a summer mood, according to a statement from the agency. With an additional Hawaii frame, the motif also serves as a promotional ad. This means that even short-term events can be implemented within a few hours.
The advertisements are used as advertising media during the summer months.
Responsible at Radio Basel 1: Jenny Settembrini (Director Media Partnerships/ Events/ Promotion). Responsible at Kreisvier Basel: Sven Kahler (AD), Marcel Bitter (graphics), Gerald Mink (text/concept), Christian Jost-Cellarius and Angie Stubauer (consulting)

As part of the restructuring measures announced on Wednesday, the Lausanne-based media company Edipresse will be cutting a total of 50 jobs over the next two years. This has been prompted by the subdued development of the advertising market and the generally unfavorable economic situation, Edipresse Switzerland Director Théo Bouchat announced in a press release on Wednesday. Those responsible are expecting 25 redundancies, with the remainder to be implemented through early retirement. A total of 17 journalist positions are affected.
In a communiqué, the editorial conference of the Vaudois newspaper expressed its dismay at the extent of the cuts and recalled that 8.5 jobs had already been cut last November. The editorial team will now meet for a general meeting on Thursday, as reported by SDA.
In a communiqué, the professional association Impressum disapproved of the actions of the Edipresse management. The redundancies violate the internal collective labor agreement as they were not negotiated. Furthermore, the redundancy program was solely aimed at maintaining the Group's profit margin and was not the result of an economic emergency.
The Comedia trade union expressed similar sentiments. It condemns the redundancies and accuses Edipresse of "greed for profit". The union also fears "further nasty surprises". It assumes that the savings in Switzerland will be used to finance Edipresse investments in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Bouchat, on the other hand, stated that the company wanted to "anticipate market developments". Among other things, Edipresse expects a slump in the advertising market and a further decline in income from newspaper and magazine sales. Edipresse anticipates potential savings of around CHF 20 million as a result of the downsizing. The funds freed up will be used to further develop the newspapers and electronic service offerings in the coming years.
In the last three years, the largest newspaper publisher in French-speaking Switzerland has had to record a decline in income from individual sales or subscriptions of nine million francs. In the current year, Bouchat expects advertising revenues in the Swiss market to fall by ten million francs compared to the previous year.
Only part of this is attributable to the economic slowdown. For the most part, it is a structural decline in advertising volumes in the print media. More and more advertisers are turning their backs on newspapers or at least reducing their commitment. "We have to adapt to this before it's too late," said Bouchat. He does not believe that the readership will notice the reduction, as the decision has been made to cut back on services that are no longer in demand.
The Edipresse management also announced significant repositioning of the titles Le Matin semaine and 24heures for the following months.
(Image: Keystone)

The Internet for your pocket is here. With the latest devices from Nokia, Samsung, LG, Apple, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, you can surf the Internet almost as conveniently as on your PC at home, but from any location. The Zurich advertising agency Publicis and the image processing specialists from Studio Garrigosa have implemented the message "Internet wherever you need it" for Swisscom with four motifs.
The print campaign is accompanied by various POS measures and an Internet solution from Publicis Modem.
Responsible at Swisscom: Thomas Ulrich (overall responsibility), Patrizio Pivirotto, Roger Renfer (advertising management), Daniel Röösli (marketing communication). Responsible at Publicis: Martin Denecke (Creative Direction), Ondrej Maczko (Art Direction), Serge Deville (Text), Barney Rees (Graphics), Vera Schmid (Art Buying), Mark Becher, Melanie Gut (Consulting), Pierre Rebetez / Marc Uricher (Publicis Modem), Studio Garrigosa (Photography and Image Editing).

If it weren't for Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer would still be considered an alien. One who can do things with a felt ball and gut strings that no one can imitate. A ball poet, a godlike being, at least in his field. Michael Jordan had the same status in basketball. Diego Maradona in soccer. And Tiger Woods in golf. A new Internet commercial for the latest edition of the computer game named after him, "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09," alludes precisely to his uniqueness. Roll film: Woods' golf ball lands in a pond, in the middle of a water lily. In a place that would be out of reach for any player. But not for Woods. He briefly analyzes the situation, takes off his shoes, gently places one foot on the surface of the water, and walks - like Jesus - across the water. There he calmly sends the ball into the hole with a single stroke.
It's a clever way of using a rather inconspicuous person off the course, who has already starred in dozens of commercials - Woods has contracts with Nike, Buick and Gillette, among others - as an advertising figure yet again. Maybe he'll actually find his way into the Bible on the next run. Incidentally, the idea for the clip came from a gamer: a year ago, user Leviator25 had revealed in a YouTube film that you could walk across water in the previous version of the game. And so now the creatives have discovered the Internet answer movie as a new form of advertising. We'll stay tuned.
(Image: Keystone)

According to a recent study by consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the Swiss media and entertainment market is set for strong growth in the coming years. According to the study, turnover in the sector will increase by around a quarter to CHF 15 billion by 2012.
The lion's share of the money continues to come from traditional media such as the press, radio and television, according to the PWC study "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook", which the company published on Wednesday.
Although the online business is growing strongly, it will only generate 11 percent of revenue by 2012, estimates PWC. Today, it only accounts for 4 percent.
Worldwide, advertising revenue from the Internet would increase by 20% per year. Overall, the increase in advertising revenue for the media and entertainment industry is estimated at an average of 6% per year.
The battle for readers will have consequences for the newspaper market. Not all free papers are likely to survive, the study predicts. Only a few free newspapers would manage to generate enough advertising revenue to survive. Nowhere are free papers more popular than in Switzerland: Switzerland has the highest circulation in Europe.
The decline in traditional newspapers is continuing. Subscription figures and individual sales will continue to shrink. Price increases will not be able to fully offset this trend, according to the study. Nevertheless, it was found that the Swiss are attached to the traditional newspaper. Sunday newspapers were even able to maintain their sales figures in 2007.
The PWC media observers conclude that it is difficult to predict whether the so-called "Net Generation" of under 25-year-olds, who use digital and mobile media most naturally, will switch to more traditional media as they get older.

Legal investigations have revealed that alcohol and tobacco advertising is not permitted inside railroad stations in the canton of Bern. Until now, it was only clear that such advertising must not be visible from public areas.
Since January 1, 2007, the canton of Bern has banned the advertising of alcohol and tobacco in public places. The regulation also extends to railroad stations and railroad premises. Whether it should also apply to the inside of railroad stations remained a matter of dispute.
The canton has now clarified this issue with representatives of Aussenwerbung Schweiz (AWS). The clarifications revealed that advertising is also not permitted inside railroad stations, the canton announced on Wednesday. It has granted a transitional period until the end of 2008.
Originally, the cantonal economic office Beco had assumed that drug advertising inside the station was permitted. However, following discussions, the AWS and SBB have now agreed with the new assessment of the legal situation for the canton of Bern.
Tobacco advertising at Bern station (Bollwerk) and Thun station caused a stir in May. These posters had been put up in error and later removed. As charges have been filed, a judge must now decide whether anyone is liable to prosecution.

The Expo + Event Swiss Association is launching a new degree program in Live Communication together with the HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the course is aimed at professionals from all areas of live communication and other related disciplines. It is aimed at ambitious doers who want to supplement, systematize or deepen their skills in live communication at a higher level in professional, methodological and personal terms. After the training year, graduates should be able to strategically plan, creatively realize and economically implement live communication instruments.
Various well-known lecturers have been engaged for the new courses leading to the "DAS Live Communication" university diploma. Among others, Dr. iur. Bruno Glaus, an expert in the field of media, marketing and advertising law, will be lecturing. Kathrin Ebner, who works in corporate communications at MCH Swiss Exhibition, will also be teaching at the HWZ. Urs Hofer, Ilka Mellert from Zumtobel Licht, Meinrad Kofmehl from Jura, Thomas Schärer from Dr. W. A. Günther Media Rent and Silvano Stierli from Christinger Partner AG will also be teaching.

The new free weekly newspaper from Zürcher Oberland Medien AG will be published for the first time on November 6. The paper, called "Regio.ch", starts with a circulation of 90,000 copies. The distribution area, which covers 27 municipalities in the districts of Hinwil, Pfäffikon and Uster, has been divided into five areas. Regio.ch is published in five different split editions adapted to these areas. The existing weekly newspaper Kiebitz (Illnau-Effretikon) and the monthly magazine Wetziker Spiegel will be integrated into the new weekly newspaper.
The 17-strong editorial and sales team is already complete, the Wetzikon-based media company announced on Wednesday. Among other things, it publishes the Landzeitung Zürcher Oberländer. The managing director of the new ZO Wochenzeitungen AG is 42-year-old Andreas Wittausch. The editorial management will be taken over by 41-year-old journalist Gabriela Frischknecht. She previously worked in the editorial department of the Anzeiger von Uster. Hannes Frei will be in charge of the advertising department. Among other things, the 48-year-old was publisher and editor of the Uster Nachrichten for 15 years.
The headquarters in Wetzikon and one branch office each in Uster and Effretikon were chosen as the location for sales and editorial offices.

Blocher rants, Leutenegger tackles, Widmer-Schlumpf parries skillfully: "Arena", the show in which the greats of Swiss politics are pitted against each other week after week, is celebrating its 15th birthday. Just in time for the anniversary, the rhetoric show is presenting itself in a new look for the first time. A completely new, bright décor is intended to revitalize the discussions, writes Schweizer Fernsehen in a press release on Wednesday.
This makes it possible to vary the number of participating main guests, experts and audience members depending on the topic. The new studio also allows the inclusion of filmic elements: Statements from previous programs, links to external guests and questions from the audience.
The premiere program in the new look is dedicated to the Schmid affair. Under the title "The Schmid / Nef affair - accident or failure?", SVP President Toni Brunner, CVP President Christophe Darbellay, SP President Christian Levrat and FDP President Fulvio Pelli discuss the matter. It will be broadcast on August 29 at 22:20.

The structural changes at Edipresse also have an impact at management level. The media company announced on Wednesday that the editorial affairs of all Edipresse Switzerland products are to be placed under a single management at the beginning of 2009. Until now, this task was split between two positions, one for the regional newspapers and one for Le Matin and the magazines.
It was also immediately announced who would fill the new positions: Former L'Hebdo and Le Temps editor-in-chief Eric Hoesli will be the new head of this management position. Peter Rothenbühler has been appointed as his deputy, who will relinquish his position as editor-in-chief at Le Matin at the beginning of 2009.
(Image: Keystone)