There is a new advertising agency in Zurich West called Four. It was founded by the former management team of Fisch.Meier/Publicis Dialog: Sandra Genge, Christian Hansen, Björn Brinkmann and Philipp Sträuli. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the declared aim is to focus on impact rather than measures. This is why Four offers "multichannel creativity" and is media-neutral in dialog, classic and online. 
from left to right: Björn Brinkmann, Philipp Sträuli, Sandra Genge, Christian Hansen

 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.

 The branding agency SNK and the advertising agency Hesskiss have been commissioned by Telekurs Paynet (e-bill system of the Swiss banks) and Postfinance to further develop the product identity of the e-bill. The agencies will also redesign the website and develop new marketing measures. According to the press release, these include print and online advertisements, streetcar advertising in major Swiss cities and a commercial created in collaboration with Boutiq and Addictive Productions. Under the motto "There is always a faster way to your destination", Didier Cuche is a prominent representative of the e-bill. The commercial will premiere on July 17 at the Orange Cinema in Zurich and will then be shown in Bern and Basel. It can be viewed at E-bill is a service offered by Swiss financial institutions that enables e-banking customers to receive, check and pay their bills directly in e-banking.

 The advertising agency In Flagranti from Lys has won the Visana and Visana Business brands of the Visana Group in a competitive presentation. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the agency's strategy and the long-term usable creation were convincing. The implementation shows what is closest to you: the pillow. This is just as good a place to be as with Visana. This key image is supported by the claim "And you're in the right place here". This message is intended to appeal to both private and corporate customers.
Responsible at Visana Services AG:
Yvonne Kohler Giger (Head of Marketing Private Clients), Karin Lanz-Stirnemann (Marketing Communications Corporate Clients), Esther Trüssel and Franziska Lehmann (Marketing Communications Private Clients). Responsible at In Flagranti: Michael Hählen, Lorenz Schmid, Manuela Kern (Consulting), Lorenz Killer (AD), Andrea Tschirren (Junior AD), Jon Florin,Simon Kümin, Jürg Freudiger (Text/Concept).

 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. 

 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).

 
In future, lyricists and composers in the European Economic Area will be able to choose which collecting society they wish to entrust with the administration of their copyrights. This antitrust decision was made by the EU Commission, as the NZZ reported on Thursday. This affects 24 European collecting societies, which were previously responsible for the administration of copyrights within a national framework and basically held a monopoly. The societies grant licenses for the use of musical works and texts and distribute the money received to the authors. The decision also means that it will be easier to acquire a multi-territory license from a single collecting society for the transmission of music broadcasts via the Internet, cable or satellite in different countries. The dispute was triggered by an antitrust lawsuit filed by RTL and the online music provider Music Choice in January 2006. Parallel to the decision, but independent of it, the extension of copyright protection for sound recordings from 50 to 95 years was passed.
However, it is unclear what the fundamental decision to abolish the national monopoly of collecting societies will actually achieve. After all, musicians, for example, are already effectively free to choose their collecting society and can therefore also register with foreign societies. The multi-territorial licenses do not represent a revolution either, as they will be based on the existing reciprocal representation agreements of the national societies. With regard to possible effects on Switzerland, a non-member of the EEA, the Swiss Music Collecting Society Suisa waves its hand to Werbewoche; it is still far too early to make an assessment and the situation must first be analyzed in more detail.
 

 After his lawyers announced in a communiqué on Thursday morning that they had filed a first lawsuit against a media outlet for violation of personality rights, army chief Roland Nef announced to the media in the afternoon that the lawsuit was directed against Blick. The communiqué issued by Nef's lawyers on Thursday morning stated that the reporting by some media amounted to a smear campaign. "Some media are spreading truths, half-truths and untruths, the mixing and dissemination of which, regardless of their truthfulness, is personally damaging", the statement from the lawyers' office reads.
According to the investigations by the public prosecutor's office, there was no public interest in continuing the criminal proceedings against Roland Nef. Army chief Roland Nef neither bought silence nor paid for a declaration of disinterest, the lawyers emphasize
continued. "These insinuations insult his former partner and defame him in an untenable way." Making a payment is not an acknowledgement of guilt.
An "admission of mistakes in the relationship" does not make a person unacceptable, but rather signals the acceptance of responsibility for one's own part in the conflict "and represents a mature form of conflict resolution", Nef's legal representatives write in the communiqué.

 
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.

 Zurich-based branding agency Metadesign has won two International Stevie Awards at the 2008 International Business Awards. 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 recognized four other projects by 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 excellence in the international business community. 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.

 
At the beginning of 2008, Publicitas launched advertising offers with flexible pricing under the name "Dynamic Pricing" together with partner publishers. These include last-minute offers, offers with price co-determination such as "Name your own price", time-dependent offers such as "Time of booking", auctions of advertising space and other models. The market has responded very positively to the various products, writes P in a press release. Monthly sales are already in the six-digit range and will continue to grow strongly, meaning that a growth rate of several 100,000 francs per month is realistic. The program would also attract many new customers who had not previously invested in media from Publicitas and its partner publishers. The Dynamic Pricing project is currently running with ten partner publishers in over 25 newspapers, on the Internet, in cinemas and on other advertising media. Around 40 different offers are being tested on the market. After more than a year of preparation, Publicitas launched the project on the Swiss market at the beginning of 2008. The original aim was to make print advertising more dynamic and improve its image. The project was then extended to other media in line with Publicitas' all-media strategy.
 

 The new docusoap "Bauer, ledig, sucht..." on Swiss private broadcaster 3+ premieres on July 21. The Publicis subsidiary Fast Track has realized a two-part campaign for this format. The first phase supports the station's search for suitable candidates. Advertisements published throughout Switzerland show farmers looking to get married in front of a church and promote online registration. The second part of the campaign shows the consequences for life on the farm when the chosen candidate moves in: A cow, pushed into second place by her new love, packs her bags and moves out. 

 
Responsible at 3+:
Dominik Kaiser (overall responsibility), Cindy Muff (Head of Communications). Responsible at Fast Track: Florian Beck (CD), Felix Freese (text), Thomas Berger (AD), Raphael Monsch (AD), Daniel Gerber (consulting), Vera Schmid (art buying), Oliver Nanzig (photography), Patrik Rohner (image editing).

 
From September, Daniel Hügli will alternate with Katharina Deuber as presenter of Cash-Talk and Cash-TV. The 43-year-old has been deputy editor-in-chief of the free newspaper Cash daily since September 2006. Prior to that, he was head of the finance department at Handelszeitung for two years and editor at Bloomberg News from 1999 to 2004. During his studies and assistantship at the University of Basel, he worked as a freelancer for the Basel regional journal of Radio DRS1 and then completed a traineeship on the domestic editorial staff of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Hügli holds a doctorate in German and English.