The brand and communications agency Tangram, based in Zurich and Vaduz, is expanding its activities in the field of web design and interactive media. To this end, it is strengthening its Vaduz office with the appointment of Chris Ongarello as a new multimedia designer from July 1, 2008. The Australian-born designer brings a wealth of experience in multimedia projects, the agency announced. In recent years, Ongarello has worked in the USA for Discovery Channel, Nascar and the US Ski Association (USSA), among others.

 A new study by the University of Fribourg has analyzed the offerings of SRG television channels and the private broadcaster 3+. According to the NZZ, the analysis shows that public television stations also rely heavily on entertainment. Entertainment and commercial content make up two thirds to three quarters of the total offering. In contrast, traditional information in the narrow sense plays an almost marginal role in quantitative terms. Information in the broader sense (factual topics, everyday life, service) accounts for 36% of broadcasting time on SF 1, 29% on TSR 1 and 42% on TSI 1, with information contributions being given more weight at peak times. the researchers also found that the individual parts of the country have very little to do with each other in terms of program content. "It is astonishing how weak the references to the other parts of the country are," the study states. "There is a clear and strong pull effect of German-speaking Switzerland on the programs of French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland". TSR 1 and TSR 2 refer to German-speaking Switzerland in 11 and 14 percent of their reports respectively, TSI 1 and TSI 2 come to 16 and 10 percent, while Ticino only appears in 3 and 5 percent of SF 1 and SF 2 reports respectively, and French-speaking Switzerland in 7 and 15 percent of cases. This confirms the general rule that larger countries attract more attention than smaller ones.
The researchers make a striking observation about sponsorship: At SF 1, around a quarter of all definable program elements and broadcasts are linked to sponsorship in some way.

 
Drinks manufacturer Rivella has elected Ulrich Moser as the new Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Moser, who presides over the Swiss Association for Marketing (GFM) in addition to various other mandates, replaces Robert Meier, as reported by SDA on Thursday. After 24 years as a member of the Board of Directors, 15 of which as Vice Chairman, Meier decided not to stand for re-election due to his age. As a branded goods expert and close friend of the owner family Barth, he has always supported the management team with advice, action and foresight, according to the Rivella communiqué.

 Saatchi & Saatchi Simko beat off competition from two rivals to win the mandate from Geneva Tourism. The budget includes the positioning and development of a new identity for the destination in western Switzerland. According to the agency, it was not least the "Lovemark" concept of Saatchi & Saatchi Simko that tipped the scales for those responsible at Geneva Tourism. This approach is intended to make the city attractive for tourists, but also for travelers visiting Geneva for business reasons or for congresses.

 Millions of TV viewers missed the second goal of the European Championship semi-final between Germany and Turkey. A power failure at Uefa's International Broadcasting Center (IBC) in Vienna caused ZDF, ORF and other TV stations to lose picture and sound for several minutes, as reported by SDA. All TV pictures are broadcast to the world from the IBC. All SRG TV stations were spared. SRG has permanent direct fiber optic lines to the most important sports stadiums in Switzerland. Before the start of Euro 08, SRG negotiated with Uefa that the corresponding lines could be used in the Basel stadium. As a result, the SRG signal could be broadcast directly and did not have to be rerouted via the IBC affected by the power failure.
 
 
ZDF and ORF took over the images from Swiss television via satellite. Other broadcasters, such as France's TF1, showed their viewers archive images.
 
According to Alexandre Fourtoy, head of Uefa Media Technologies, there were three six-minute outages in Vienna on Thursday. The extent of the breakdown still had to be clarified and an investigation was underway.

 
For Coca-Cola's 122nd birthday in May, the agency JWT+H+F created a double-page advertisement to show the parallel development of the drink and international football (see ). As a follow-up, the Zurich agency created a print campaign to accompany Euro 08. The various subjects were spontaneously adapted to the events, according to a press release. Themes such as anticipation, the starting signal and fan euphoria were included in the campaign. The images can still be seen in the daily press. Responsible for marketing at Coca-Cola:

Alessandra Nicoletti (Senior Brand Manager Sparkling Beverages), Barbara Hagmann (Brand Manager). Responsible at JWT+H+F: Mike Krüll (CD/Text), Paolo Tonti (AD), Sebastian Day (Graphics), Vanessa Lehmann-Spalleck, Franco Elsener (Consulting).  

 Although price is an important criterion when making purchases and the price-performance ratio is closely examined, Swiss consumers do not seem to know the prices of everyday goods. This is shown by the study "Do Swiss consumers know the prices?" conducted by the Swiss retail trade. Just under a quarter of the respondents were able to name the prices with a deviation of +/- 10 percent. Only just four percent knew exactly what the prices were. Price knowledge of individual products in the retail trade varies. Bread and toothpaste are cited as extreme examples: Around 80 percent of respondents estimated the price of bread to be 20 percent or more higher than it actually is. The reverse is true for toothpaste - here, a majority rated the product significantly cheaper than it really is.It is also interesting to compare the survey with 1997: the same survey was conducted then. The conclusion: ten years ago, consumers knew the prices much better. Whereas only 40 percent did not know what a liter of milk cost back then, 71 percent do today. According to the study, the situation is similar with other products such as sugar or beer.

 Andrea Müller has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Baz.online Internet portal. The online presence of the Basler Zeitung is currently being redesigned as part of the newsnet realized together with Tamedia and Espace Media. The Newsnetz will be launched on August 8.Müller, 52, has worked for SRG (radio and television) for 18 years, including as a federal house correspondent, domestic editor, correspondent for the Basel region and special correspondent in international crisis areas. For six years he was head of the Cantonal Sports Office of Basel-Stadt and since 2007 he has been an independent communications consultant. In addition to his broad journalistic experience, Müller also brings a large regional network of contacts to his new task, according to a statement on Thursday.
The Baz editorial team will continue to be responsible for the regional part of the coverage. The mantle will be taken over by the Newsnetz editorial team. Müller will not report to Newsnetz head Peter Wälty, but will be responsible for Baz.online as a separate unit.

 Loterie Romande and Mediaedge:cia are to continue and expand their collaboration. As a long-standing client of the agency in Lausanne, Loterie Romande began considering the choice of a new partner in the area of media strategy and purchasing at the beginning of the year, according to a press release issued on Thursday. In this context, it held talks with the most important agencies in French-speaking Switzerland. However, the decision on the exclusive contract was once again made in favor of MEC.

 Switzerland is getting one more gossip magazine: 20 Minuten is launching a new free people magazine together with Annabelle and Tilllate.com. The paper bears the project name "20 Minuten Youngster" and is to be distributed every Friday evening via the 20 Minuten boxes. It will be launched on October 31 and will have an impressive circulation of 137,000 copies. By contrast, the nightlife magazine Week, which has also been published on Fridays for five years, will disappear from the scene: It will be discontinued at the end of the year. The new people magazine will focus on stories from the world of national and international stars, plus fashion, style and nightlife. It therefore comes as a cooperation product of the two Tamedia papers 20 Minuten and Annabelle as well as the party picture site Tilllate.com. Tamedia also has a stake in the latter.
The editor-in-chief of the new magazine, whose definitive name is still open, is 20 Minuten boss Marco Boselli. The editorial team, with around 20 full-time positions, will be headed by a female duo: Kerstin Netsch and Sabine Eva Wittwer. The latter currently heads the "Life" department at Blick am Abend. Previously, she worked for various publications such as 20 Minuten, Bolero, Facts and the pop culture magazine Soda. Kerstin Netsch knows the Youngster predecessor title Week very well: She has been head of its editorial department since last year. She joined 20 Minuten in 2006, and before that the 33-year-old worked as an editor in the reportage department of Annabelle. Incidentally, Lisa Feldmann, Annabelle's editor-in-chief, is to accompany the work of the Youngster editorial team.
Dominique von Albertini, previously Head of Reader Market at Tages-Anzeiger, will become Publishing Director of Youngster. Sales will be handled by the existing sales organizations of 20 Minuten and Annabelle, headed by Marco Gasser and Daniel Schnüriger. Uli Rubner, a member of Tamedia's Management Board until the end of April 2008 and responsible for the Magazines Division, will accompany 20 Minuten Youngster until its launch as project manager.

 16- to 24-year-olds in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Spain will soon be offered free phone calls and text messages by the Finnish-British mobile phone company Blyk in return for agreeing to receive advertising messages on their cell phone. Young people are particularly interested in advertising and are therefore better suited to this type of model than other age groups, says Blyk, explaining the exclusion of all those who have already reached the age of 25. The offer is already working successfully in England. In our northern neighboring country, however, not everyone is yet convinced that the deal will work: "Even with a free model, the acceptance of advertising among cell phone owners remains questionable," says Volker Nickel, spokesman for the Central Association of the German Advertising Industry. Interested young people should perhaps also be reminded of the fate of Goethe's Faust: He also thought he was making a good deal when he sold his soul to Mephiosto in order to achieve earthly happiness. All he got out of it was an unhappy love affair with Gretchen. And the telecoms company that advertises with a devil offering bad deals is not exactly prospering in this country either. After all, there has been speculation for weeks as to whether Tele 2 in Switzerland will pull out of the mobile business. Remember: stay away from cheap deals.

 
Following last year's relaunch, the Zurich agency Cavegnwerbung is now responsible for the entire communication campaign of the Swiss Edi commissioned film award for the second time. According to a press release from the agency, the campaign is once again characterized by a real piece of Switzerland. The subject was shot by photographer Julien Vonier. No professional models, styling, make-up or retouching were used. The landlord Emil Eggli from the Restaurant Eggli in Appenzell has taken on the leading role in the picture himself and is calling on filmmakers to submit the best works they have produced this year. From July 1 to August 22, 2008, productions can be submitted that have been made by a Swiss production company or realized by Swiss directors in the last twelve months. Further information about Edi.08 and how to submit can be found at www.edinet.ch.
Responsible at Swissfilm Association:
Rita Kovacs (Communication). Responsible at Cavegnwerbung: Markus Cavegn (AD), Jürg Waeber (text), Daniel Soldenhoff (graphics). Photography: Julien Vonier. Organization: Nora Fehr.