APG in Zurich, which belongs to Affichage Holding, has announced a change in personnel: Astrid Kägi will take up the position of key account consultant on September 1, 2008. In this role, she will be responsible for supporting media and advertising agencies. She will succeed Marcel Baumann, who took over as head of the APG Montagne profit center at the beginning of July 2008.
Kägi most recently worked as publishing director for the Swiss tourism magazine HTR Hotelrevue.

To coincide with Maria Ciccone aka Madonna's world tour, her brother and long-time companion Christopher Ciccone has published a biography of his famous sister. Officially, it is not authorized by Madonna, and the publisher praised the book as an ice-cold reckoning. After all, the brother's position - he has worked in his sister's shadow for over 20 years as the go-to girl - does indeed have great potential for frustration.
The book reveals indiscreet facts about the pop diva's life, as the NZZ am Sonntag writes, such as the fact that she gargles with salt water in the morning because of her voice, lost her virginity in the back seat of a car, likes to swear in fits of rage, didn't pay her brother for three paintings at one point and only gives her grandmother 500 dollars a month. But it's not that bad after all. What's more, according to the NZZaS, every hysterical fit is glossed over two pages later at the latest.
The "New York Post" claims to know that Madonna herself co-wrote "Life with my Sister Madonna", similar to Princess Diana's "Diana: Her True Story" by Andrew Morton. Of course, the publisher denies this. In view of the long list of her calculated provocations, however, the whole thing smells very much like a typical Madonna PR campaign. There's nothing better during the launch of a biography than a little family squabble.

The Basel agency Kreisvier Communications has strengthened its team with five new additions. Graphic designer Nora Donner joined from the Antwerpes advertising agency. Svenja Ruch and Jlona Camenzind are also new in the creative department, and Joachim Risch, an experienced polygrapher, has joined the team. Finally, the agency has brought Devi Geigenfeind on board as a consultant. According to the agency, the staff expansion is a response to the increased demands following the recent budget wins.

The sustainability and lifestyle magazine Ecolife, which was announced months ago, was published for the first time on Sunday. This publication marks the start of the series of so-called Lohas magazines (Life of Health and Sustainability) in Switzerland. Green is in, and Ringier and the Beobachter have also announced similar publications. Ringier plans to launch SI Grün on October 27, while the Beobachter will launch its magazine at the beginning of 2009.
Ecolife, which has the subtitle "consciously living beautifully", aims to appeal to an environmentally aware, but also lifestyle-conscious consumer group. It wants to reach a target group that has increasingly emerged in recent years following the "jute instead of plastic" phase of the green movement. Editor-in-chief Paul Stierli writes in the editorial for the first issue that despite all the sustainability, we should not forget to enjoy our own lives and live beautifully. "Not so much renunciation, but conscious consumption is the order of the day." In terms of content, Ecolife offers a wide range of lifestyle topics that have been dipped deep into the bath of sustainability in line with the magazine's concept. In terms of food, there is information about Bindella's terroir concept, in terms of living about an energy-saving house, in terms of fashion about the trend towards organic labels and in terms of energy about a solar power project in North Africa. On the "Personal" page, Paola Ghillani, former Managing Director of Max Havelaar Switzerland and now a consultant for strategy and sustainable corporate management, has her say. The Green Pages conclude the magazine with two publicity reports from advertisers and an industry index.
The visual appearance of the magazine is probably the most divisive aspect. The layout is restrained, sometimes rather sparse. Some will see the serious claim of the magazine in this, others will find it too staid. Unfortunately, the magazine exudes the charm of a health insurance brochure rather than that of a fun-loving lifestyle magazine. One would have wished the makers a little more courage.
The magazine, published by Profilepublishing in Wetzikon, appeared on Sunday with a proud first print run of 160,000 copies and was enclosed with the NZZ am Sonntag as a promotional measure. The 48 pages include almost eleven pages of advertisements from the usual suspects such as Coop Naturaplan, Erdgas, Bank Coop, Max Havelaar and Biosuisse. Ecolife will be published quarterly - on FSC-certified paper, of course.
Michael Koller

A settlement appears to be on the horizon in the legal dispute between Google subsidiary YouTube and American media groups over the copyrights of video clips. The media groups had demanded that excerpts of copyrighted films and television programs be removed from the video portal. According to a report in the New York Times quoted in the Sunday newspaper, they want to profit from online advertising on YouTube instead.
The technical implementation is to be carried out by a program called Video ID, which provides the video sequences in question with an electronic fingerprint so that advertising can be placed next to them. Part of the advertising revenue goes to Google, the rest to the media giants.
Universal Music, the television station CBS, the film studio Lionsgate and the games manufacturer Electronic Arts are involved in this deal. However, other companies such as NBC, which owns the Olympic rights, are still insisting on the removal of all clips. The American media group Viacom is even pursuing a billion-euro lawsuit against Google. In the longer term, however, according to the Sonntagszeitung, the countertrade with advertising could bring reconciliation.

The first Advertising Week appeared on August 27, 1973. The title has remained the same to this day, but pretty much everything else has changed. Or so you would think. If you marvel at the quirky layout with the countless titles in various fonts, the poorly resolved black and white images, framed here and there with bars like obituaries, then today's Werbe¬woche really is a paper from another planet in comparison. The '73 issue may just about serve as a panopticon for poor commercial graphics - albeit with a slight cult following.
But there are interesting parallels in terms of content. As early as 1973, the "TV ratings were in the basement", for example, the "reach for women in the average block fell from 26.6 % to 18.3 %". 1973 was also the year when Ringier snatched the important Lucerne publishing house J. C. Bucher from under the nose of its competitor Jean Frey in the "battle of the press giants", not least with "extraordinarily modern and well-equipped printing plants" and such "important press organs" as the Luzerner Neueste Nachrichten and the magazine for photography Camera with a Europe-wide reputation. Ringier is said to have paid 30 million for J. C. Bucher back then. 1973 was also the year when Ringier let the paper die for everyone and launched Annette (for women between 20 and 40).
There was talk of a "lean magazine" with an advertising section that would be limited to 15 percent of the magazine's average size of 40 pages with an initial circulation of 70,000 copies. The program magazine TR 7, which was predicted to have a dry spell of two years, was also launched in November. Another parallel is provided by Detlef Thierling, the controversial creator and first editor-in-chief of Werbewoche, in one of his biting editorials written in bumpy German. It deals with today's once again topical discussion about transparency in the advertising business: "...then one tries to make an active contribution to the object of price stability by daring to attempt to force the disclosure of calculations. Those involved in the debate on both sides will not give up so quickly."
Less reminiscent of today's times is the bold advertisement by the company Blausiegel, which advertised its condoms under the title "The Super Condom", which the editorial team noted with approval. Unfortunately, biting comments and criticism of the industry such as those penned by Thierling are rarely found in today's trade journals. (rw)

With the current campaign from Neue Lgk, Bernmobil is positioning itself as an environmentally friendly alternative to private transport. Posters and advertisements were used to call on people to pick up a T-shirt, with which passengers can travel by streetcar and bus free of charge for a month - as long as they wear the T-shirt visibly. In this way, Bernmobil wants to reward customers for their environmentally friendly behavior and for their commitment as an advertising medium for the good cause.
The initial results are impressive: At times, a 30-metre-long queue of people waited outside the Libero store (point of sale for the fare network), and all 800 T-shirts were gone in just over two days, the agency announced.
The campaign was also a topic in the media. Coverage ranged from Schweiz aktuell to the Bund and 20 Minuten to the "Rose of the Week" in Schweizer Illustrierte. Only the Bernese SVP took exception to the T-shirt slogan "Green drives red" and recognized it as party advertising financed with taxpayers' money. The campaign runs until September 12. Advertising materials: T-shirts, textile streetcar hangers, buttons, posters, advertisements, flyers, posters, follow-up mailing.
Responsible at Bernmobil: Roman Gattlen (Head of Marketing), Monika Scheiwiller (Head of Marketing Communications). Responsible at the New Lgk: André Benker (Creative Direction), Stephan Wittwer (Art Direction), Lukas Schmid (Text), Andreas Wyss (Graphics), Alfredo Trasatti, Nicole Brunner (Consulting), Dan Cermak (Photo).

From August 22 to 24, 2008, the Fraumünster Society will be holding the popular Zurich "Medieval Spectacle" in the Münsterhof for the fourth time. The Swiss National Museum wants to use the event to remind visitors of its own "medieval treasure trove", according to a press release. Because there are treasures from the Middle Ages to discover just a few steps away from the Münsterhof, the advertising agency Publicis created a treasure map to show Spectaculum visitors the right way.
Because the doors of the National Museum are now open every Thursday until 7 p.m., Publicis also produced a poster motif for this: an oversized hanging sign on the tower of the National Museum informs visitors about the extended opening hours.
Responsible at the Landesmuseum: Andreas Spillmann (Director), Christoph Stuehn (Head of Business Administration).
Responsible at Publicis: Ralph Halder (CD), Nina-Britt Rauer (text), Sonja Gross (AD), Margrit Weber, Sina Loosli (consulting), Marcel Kohler, Andreas Caruso (production), Marco Kappeler (litho).

Migros has canceled all planned image campaigns throughout Switzerland for the 4th quarter and in some cases already for September. This does not affect sales-related or product campaigns. As Migros spokesman Urs Peter Naef told Werbewoche, only those projects for which there were no obligations were canceled. The stop was initiated by Head of Marketing Oskar Sager. No information was available on the financial scope or the agencies affected.
According to Naef, the surprising freeze on spending across the board is linked to the reorganization of Migros' entire marketing. At the beginning of May 2008, the orange giant terminated all existing contracts with advertising agencies in order to review the agreements and standardize the conditions. (elk)
(Image Keystone)

Publicitas is merging its annual industry events Publishers' Conference and Publimedia Forum to form the new "Publicitas Forum", as Werbewoche reported back in May. The marketer has now announced further details about the event: The new Publicitas Forum takes proven elements of the Publimedia Forum, which focuses exclusively on print media, and combines them with new media, according to a press release. The event is aimed at communications experts from advertising clients, publishers and media companies as well as advertising and media agencies.
The event will take place on September 24 in Zurich and on September 25 in Geneva. After the start of the German-language event in Zurich, Stephan Gartenmann (Managing Director, Publicitas Publimedia AG) will give a talk on news from the media. Media and communication theorist Prof. Dr. Norbert Bolz (Technical University of Berlin) will then discuss the linking of media. Finally, Thomas Bargetzi (CEO/Sales Director, Publicitas Switzerland) will outline the new Publicitas on its way to becoming an all-media marketer.

UBS has appointed Michael Willi as its new Chief Communication Officer, the bank announced in a press release on Friday. Willi will report directly to Group CEO Marcel Rohner and will be responsible for corporate and brand communications. He will be in charge of Communications Management, Media Relations, Internal Communications and Brand Management.
Willi was most recently Head of Global Corporate Communications Management based in New York. He began his career at Bankverein in 1992 and held various management positions in UBS Corporate Communications. His predecessor is Tom Hill, who will be responsible for Group Strategic Advisory and Financial Communications.

Feico Derschow, who represents Commclubs Bayern on the jury of the Die Anzeige competition, reacts to Frank Bodin's criticism of the event. "I regret Bodin's departure," Derschow told Horizont.net. The accusation of his former jury colleague surprised him greatly. He had been familiar with the modalities of honorary jury work from the very beginning, and paying for accommodation costs was not part of it.
However, Derschow told Horizont.net that it was unacceptable for Bodin to base his criticism on false facts. His accusation that the club was pocketing the income from the entry fees was obviously a slander. In reality, the money is mainly used to run the competition and award the prizes. And if there is anything left over, it is used to promote young talent.
Bodin, Chairman and CCO of Euro RSCG in Switzerland, had resigned from his position as a judge for "Die Anzeige", explaining that the organizer did not want to cover his hotel costs. He also accused the Commclubs Bayern of money-making and questioned the competition.