Adrian Schmid will be leaving his position as Head of Politics and Communications at the Swiss Transport Club (VCS) at the end of September. After more than seven years of commitment and the successful launch of the popular initiative "for more public transport", this is the right time for a change, Schmid was quoted in a VCS communiqué on Wednesday.

 Brüngger Bachmann Dialog won a pitch against various agencies and secured the local account of Skandia Leben AG, which belongs to the Old Mutual Group. As part of the global redesign of the insurance group with Scandinavian roots, the Zurich agency will, among other things, redesign the existing sales tools in relation to the various customer markets, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The first work will be seen in late summer 2008.

 
Last Thursday was the very last event before the eagerly awaited summer vacations: The inauguration of Snap Film's new office was celebrated. The aperitif was all about bella Italia. The assistant of owner Michael Kindermann has Sicilian roots and obviously had his fingers in the pie there.

 
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG is expanding the financial support it has provided annually to independent domestic filmmaking since 1998 as part of the Pacte de l'audiovisuel. Support is given to documentary, feature and animated film productions for television and cinema. This year's commitment of CHF 19.8 million will be increased by CHF 1.5 million in 2009 and by CHF 500,000 annually until 2011. From 2011, CHF 22.3 million will be allocated annually. This was decided in the new pact signed on July 16 between SRG and representatives of the industry. The renewed pact also introduces two new features: For the first time, a specific contribution will be made to the promotion of cinema films, particularly in the form of television advertising. SRG Director General Armin Walpen said at the signing ceremony that this will support filmmaking from project development to the promotion of the works. Close cooperation between TSR and independent producers will also be established in order to promote the development of new television series. Over the past ten years, the pact has provided almost 200 million Swiss francs to support over 1000 projects. Since August 2007, co-productions have been available online at
available. 

 
Together with the agency Spinas Gemperle, which specializes in social and ecological issues, the environmental organization WWF has launched an awareness campaign to protect endangered fish species. The aim is to appeal to the power of the consumer, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. Posters, advertisements and online banners are being used to encourage people to consume fish more selectively. The communication strategy culminates in the distribution of a WWF shopping guide, which lists recommended fish species and places of origin. The booklet is distributed via the Internet, mailings and displays at the POS. The campaign receives additional support from the members of the WWF Seafood Group, which includes the major distributors Coop and Migros. Responsible at WWF Switzerland:
Gian-Reto Raselli (Member of the Executive Board) and Jennifer Zimmermann (Campaign Management). Responsible at Spinas Gemperle: Lorenz Spinas (CD), Stephan Huwiler (AD), Tom Malecha (text), Tullio Tomasini (consulting) and Bianca Hotho (production).

 
New arrival at Erdmannpeisker: Gesa Birkmann joins the agency based in Biel. As Sybille Erdmann writes in a press release, Birkmann will be responsible for client support for Smart, Swisscom and Mammut. Birkmann worked for seven years in consulting at Jung von Matt and made a brief detour to the consulting team in the literature & design department at DDB Berlin.

 At this year's 24th International Short Film Festival Interfilm Berlin, viral spots will be awarded for the first time. Together, Interfilm Berlin and the PR agency Zucker Kommunikation are introducing the festival category "Virals" and awarding the "forward - international viral video award" for the best films from the Internet. Filmmakers, bloggers, agencies and all creative people who deal with viral films can propose films for the competition until September 19, 2008. The award is not looking for films with smiling babies or bankruptcies, but videos with a message, as organizers announced. Whether for or against brands, ideas, images - the important thing is the message and the intention to spread it virally on the net. 

 
The four-member management of Energy Zurich now consists of the current members Dani Büchi (management) and Pascal Frei (marketing management) and the new members Reto Suter (program management) and Tobias Lang (sales management). Reto Suter, who previously managed the program together with Hans Knobloch, has been with the station for nine years. The Zurich native graduated from the MAZ and has worked for Telezüri and Swiss Television, among others. Hans Knobloch will remain with Energy Zurich as a consultant.
Tobias Lang takes over the vacant position of Head of Sales. He has a degree in business administration from the HSG and joins Energy Zurich from the consumer goods industry (JT International and Feldschlösschen).
The newly created position of Head of News will be taken over by radio personality Mike Sgier. Roger Spillmann, the long-standing morning show producer at Energy Zurich, will become Head of Entertainment. He will be succeeded in the morning show by Stefan Büsser. Energy Zürich has been able to engage media professional Röbi Koller for internal training and additional quality assurance in the program.
 

 The real estate service provider Rösti + Partner is working with Agentur am Flughafen to relaunch its brand. Rösti + Partner is a member of one of the world's largest real estate networks, Colliers International. As a local hero in Aargau, Rösti + Partner takes care of the consulting, planning, construction and marketing of real estate.

 In 2008, for the first time, US companies will spend more money on online activities than on television, radio and cinema advertising combined. Online advertising cannot be described as a winner. The lion's share of investment will flow into companies' own websites. This was determined by the US consulting firm Outsell. Chuck Richard, author of the study, says: "For decades, media such as TV, radio and cinema were the channel par excellence for reaching companies' target groups. Today, companies are no longer as reliant on them." Overall, US companies are already pumping 65.1 billion dollars into their own online offerings - in other words, over 60 percent of the 105.3 billion dollars that will flow into the internet this year. In order to stay in business, US publishers are therefore increasingly relying on designing their own websites for companies.

 
Andreas Block will take over the position of Director of Marketing & PR at Volvo Automobile Switzerland in August. Andreas Block has worked for Volvo since 1999. After training as a banker, he studied business administration at the Universities of Regensburg and St. Gallen. He then completed his doctorate at the University of St. Gallen with a dissertation on direct marketing in the automotive industry.

 
Agence Trio has designed the latest Ohropax campaign. According to the press release issued on Tuesday, it is intended to promote the efficient protection of eardrums in a playful way. The Lausanne-based company uses the European Football Championship as a theme, where Ohropax customers were able to sleep well even after a Turkish victory. And Ohropax is also the ideal companion at the numerous open-air festivals, according to the message from the team from Lac Léman. In addition to the press campaign and posters, an animated commercial is being broadcast in pharmacies featuring a small elephant that looks powerless next to the water-resistant earplugs:

Muriel Ganière. Responsible at Agence Trio: Nathalie Langlois (customer service), Aline Di Silvestro (concept/text), Christophe Lacorbière (graphics), Laurent Huwyler and Christophe Lacorbière (multimedia).