The Swiss press generated advertising revenues of CHF 151.9 million in June. This represents a significant decrease of 15.3 percent compared to the same month last year, as Wemf announced on Friday. All advertising categories declined. This ranged from -11.1 percent for job advertisements to -27.8 percent for real estate advertisements. The category of commercial advertisements shrank by 15.4 percent to 111.7 million francs, with only the Sunday press (+7.4 percent) posting an increase by print media category. The daily press recorded a 16.7 percent drop in advertising revenue to CHF 85.4 million.

On his upcoming trip through Europe and the Middle East, US presidential candidate Barack Obama will be under constant observation by the journalistic elite from the USA. The star presenters of the major television channels ABC, NBC and CBS will accompany him on the trip in the week from July 21 to 27 and present their programs directly from countries such as Israel, Germany and France, as reported by the New York Times according to SDA. The interest in the USA is obviously huge, so the media have sent around 50 journalists to follow Obama and, of course, keep a close eye on whether the candidate makes a blunder abroad. So the media darling is traveling through the countries of the Old World with an entourage that mirrors him in the media. And it is quite possible that he will never really make it there because his speeches are not for his hosts but for the viewers at home. Either way, it should be an exciting week.

The news network of the Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Basler Zeitung will have prominent reinforcements during the Olympic Games: Peter Achten will report daily from Beijing. His video reports will focus on stories about the Games - be it the environmental situation, the concerns and enthusiasm of the population or human rights. The 69-year-old worked for Swiss television for many years. He became known to the public as a newsreader. Before moving to Beijing as a correspondent in 1986, he was a member of the SF editorial team. After a stint as a television correspondent in Washington, he has been working as Asia correspondent for Radio DRS since 1997, and Markus Ryffel will also be writing a daily column on athletics competitions as an expert. The 53-year-old is one of the most important figures in Swiss sport. As an active athlete, he won silver in the 5,000 meters at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He won numerous medals at international championships. Ryffel still holds the national records for the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Together with his brother Urs, he runs Ryffel Running AG with stores in Bern and Uster.

 The European Football Championship also brought many viewers to Internet TV Zattoo. According to Publica Data, an average of 51,300 people watched Zattoo per match day. An average of 20,600 people used the Internet TV service per match. Users spent an average of 45 minutes watching a Euro match, as Publica Data announced on Monday. A total of 160,000 people used Zattoo's free internet service during the European Championships. Viewers were mainly younger people between the ages of 20 and 29.
62.3% of all match minutes watched on Zattoo were on SF zwei, 15.8% on TSR2 and 4.9% on TSI2. This means that 83% of all minutes watched on Zattoo were on Swiss channels.
From September 1, Internet TV platforms such as Zattoo will be subject to a fee in Switzerland. This was announced by the Federal Office of Communications three weeks ago.

 In Switzerland, publishers are currently in eco-fever, while in Germany a media company is just ending its experiment with a green lifestyle magazine: Hubert Burda Media is discontinuing the LOHAS title Ivy after two regional test editions. As Horizont.net reports, Burda does not see "a sufficient economic basis" for the magazine. Despite a good media response, the economic environment currently offers "no necessary prospects either in print or online". The publisher is therefore stopping the tests and is also ending the brand's internet activities.three magazines dealing with the environment and sustainability are to be launched in Switzerland in the near future: the magazine Ecolife from Profile Publishing, a planned line extension of Beobachter and a supplement to Schweizer Illustrierte (see
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In the opinion of media lawyer Peter Studer, the lawsuit brought by Nef's lawyers for personal injury has a good chance of success. What happened between army chief Roland Nef and his ex-partner is a private matter, Studer told SDA on Thursday. Further lawsuits on the matter are certainly possible. The medium sued, i.e. Blick, must now prove that there was a public cause for its reports on the case. It must also show that it had to assume that the sources it quoted were correct, and it is now up to the court to decide whether the public interest or the private interest of Nef and his ex-partner prevail, the former President of the Swiss Press Council continued. In any case, the central question for him is whether Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid was allowed to bypass the Federal Council as a whole in the criminal proceedings against Nef.

This man knows how to make the piggy bank burst: Ottmar Hitzfeld, the new coach of the Swiss national team, advertises for various Swiss companies - such as Power Plate and the furniture store Pfister. The former Bayern coach is also in demand in Germany, as the business magazine Bilanz knows: in our neighboring country, he acts as a brand ambassador for the BP subsidiary Castrol and as a football expert for Premiere. He is also said to be on the road for Swiss Life, for image campaigns and an online Bundesliga betting game. And as if that wasn't enough, he is about to sign a lucrative advertising contract with Credit Suisse - the cooperation includes participation in seminars, golf matches and advertising campaigns, according to reports. Poor Mr. Hitzfeld, I wonder if that's not too much for him? At least his tireless commitment to the economy is paying off: He will earn a total of around three million francs a year from PR appearances. In comparison, the paltry CHF 3 million he receives from his main employer, the Swiss Football Association, almost seems like a pittance.

If you don't want to be slowed down by snow, ice and rain, you should take advantage of the Smart winter check in good time. Daimler commissioned the Erdmannpeisker agency to develop a POS winter campaign to get this message across to Smart drivers all over the world. The Biel-based advertisers developed two themes that can be used as advertisements, posters, mailings, flyers or POS decorations. One version shows a Smart car covered in snow up to the sunroof and is aimed at countries with harsh winters. The other subject focuses on Smart's service quality with a tire change of a different kind. The campaign will be launched in August 2008 and is the responsibility of Erdmannpeisker:Responsible at Daimler, Stuttgart: Klaus Mader (Global Service & Parts division).
Responsible at Erdmannpeisker:Gabriel Peisker (CD), Daniel Hesse (AD), Oliver Krippahl (text), Michael Dängeli (consulting).

Gebäudeversicherung Bern GVB has announced a change in personnel: Bernhard Müller, who has been Head of Communications for 15 years, is retiring. His successor will be his former deputy, Kirstin Steyer, who has been with the buildings insurance company for a year. A media officer is currently being sought specifically for media relations and the editorial team. Until this position is filled, Steyer will be responsible for and coordinate media relations and contacts.

If you want to be part of the summer vacation scene, i.e. be close to the statistical center, you should also be available for work colleagues and customers on a sandy beach or in Finland, for example. A global survey of around 12,000 participants conducted by the online job portal Monster revealed that almost two thirds of all employees do the same. A fifth leave their contact details at least in case of an emergency, 24% occasionally read their emails and check their voicemail, and 17% even stated that they never stop working in principle - not even on vacation. As many as 38 percent are of the opinion that "vacations are vacations" and manage to switch off completely. With this in mind, we hope that you never see these lines when you are on vacation.

The Zurich-based branding agency Metadesign has won two International Stevie Awards at the International Business Awards 2008. In the category "Best Corporate Identity/Branding Design in a Series or Campaign", the agency won with the cultural campaign "The most beautiful French come from New York", according to a press release issued on Thursday. Metadesign won another award with the campaign song "Smiling Faces" for Allianz. The jury also named four other projects from the agency as Stevie finalists, including the corporate design for Triumph and the communication design for Continental Truck Tires, both in the "Best Corporate Identity/Branding Design" category.The International Business Awards are organized by The Stevie Awards and are presented in recognition of outstanding achievements in the international business world. The 2008 winners and finalists were selected from more than 1,700 entries from over 30 countries. The awards ceremony will take place in Ireland in September.

This summer, the Sonntagszeitung is sponsoring the Orange Cinema and the Montreux Jazz Festival, among others. AY&R has come up with a spot and a poster motif to match the respective event, which further establish the Sonntagszeitung's current Babushka campaign. At the end of George W. Bush's term of office, the spot once again addresses an issue that will long outlast his presidency: the war in Iraq. And the poster subject takes an ironic look at the favorite toy of bad boys: the electric guitar. Responsible at the Sunday newspaper: Diego Quintarelli (Publishing Director), Andrea Waltzer (Advertising Director).
Responsible at Advico Y&R: Christian Bobst (CD), Martin Stulz (text), Rob Hartmann (AD), Emi Lehmann (graphics), Fabian Biedermann, Lukas Tenger (consulting), Kathrin Gerber, Verena Rentsch (art buying). Responsible at Markenfilm: Uli Scheper (production) Sandra Trostel (editor), UPP Praha (post-production), JingleJungle (sound).