The "Euro 08 against trafficking in women" campaign aims to denounce the inhumane business of modern slaves in the sex trade with a stirring film. The campaign is supported by FIZ - Fachstelle gegen Frauenhandel and works together with well-known sponsors. These made a spectacular film possible, which the Walker agency was able to realize with London-based Sonny Production in Prague. 200 women and 100 men stood in front of the camera as extras. The story, realized like a trailer for a cinema film, equates the modern tugboat trade with a historical slave trade or even a cattle market. The film was directed by Jeff Thomas, who also has experience with "CSI" series. The music is a gift from Jonny Greenwood. He was also a hot contender in this year's Oscar race for the best film score with the dark masterpiece "There will be blood". However, it ended up with two Oscars for cinematography and leading actor because parts of the composition were not originally composed for this film with Daniel Day-Lewis. In Berlin, however, the music was awarded the Silver Bear.

Either way, Pius Walker is delighted with the gift and is eager to see how the stirring atmosphere of this film will also touch audiences in Switzerland. The commercial will not only be shown on television at prime time during Euro 08, but also on all the big screens at public viewings. The spot will be shown there shortly before the start of the game to shake up the audience and draw their attention to the fate of enslaved women. A bold but also daring move for a human and political message shortly before the sporting spectacle. The initiators publicized the explosive issue at a media conference in Bern on Monday. Werbewoche will report more on this in the upcoming print edition no. 21/2008.
Andreas Panzeri

The Association of Swiss Professional Photographers has honored the best work by SBf photographers with its first-ever SBf Award. The unendowed award went to Alfredo Croci from Bern in the advertising category, to Terence du Fresne, also from Bern, in the art/free work category and to Basel photographer Stöh Grünig in the reportage category. Three Merits were also awarded to Barbara Sorg from Muttenz (Advertising category), Stephan Weber from Nidau (Free Work category) and Verena Gerber-Menz from Burgdorf (Reportage category). According to the press release, the main criteria for the jury's awards were innovation, implementation of the concept and the photographic quality of the work. The SBf Award is an internal photo competition organized by the Swiss Professional Photographers SBf. The jury was made up of Luc Debraine (journalist, Le Temps), Hans Tanner (Neue LGK Kommunikations AG) and Josef Riegger (SBf photographer). The award-winning works can be viewed at www.sbf.ch until the next SBf Awards are presented.
Image: Award-winning photography by Alfredo Croci in the advertising category

 The women's magazine Annabelle is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. To mark the occasion, its readers are to receive particularly thick mail: The big anniversary issue from September 10 will have a minimum of 404 pages. In terms of content, the Annabelle world will be presented with the usual recipe, i.e. in dazzling colors, but also in cool black and white, with reports and glamorous style stories, people and fashions, gossip and critical journalism. Editor-in-chief Lisa Feldmann is already promising a "colorful potpourri of topics".

 With the support of the Swiss Direct Marketing Association (SDV), Swiss Post has examined the economic importance of direct marketing. According to the press release, the study was prompted by the increasingly loud discussions about possible restrictions on this communication tool. The management consultancy HTP in St. Gallen, which was commissioned to carry out the study "Direct Marketing as an Economic Factor", analyzed the importance of direct marketing for the job market, its influence on the prices of postal services and its benefits for advertisers. The results show that just under 20,000 people work in the direct marketing industry in Switzerland on a full-time equivalent basis. The approximately 2,100 service providers generate an annual turnover of almost CHF 3.7 billion for direct marketing services. If 10 percent is deducted for sales that are not directly billable, the figure is still 3.3 billion, which corresponds to 0.68 percent of Switzerland's gross domestic product (GDP). Around 1.4 billion francs of this is generated by printing companies. Experts estimate that this corresponds to around a quarter of the industry's total turnover. Swiss Post generates sales of 776 million francs in this segment and employs around 3,700 full-time equivalent employees.
The authors of the study assume that a tightening of the Data Protection Act would restrict the use of addresses for customer acquisition. This would have particular consequences for those companies and organizations that communicate a great deal via direct marketing, such as aid organizations.

Thomas Kopp is a new member of the management team at MPM Sponsoring Consulting in Zurich. He is responsible for looking after international clients, expanding international business and coordinating partner agencies abroad. The 39-year-old has many years of experience with sports rights and sports marketing agencies in Germany, the USA and Switzerland. Most recently, he was responsible for marketing and sales at Global Sports Marketing in Zurich. Prior to that, he worked at IMG in Wolfsburg as Senior Manager for Marketing and Sales and at the sports marketing agency Drewes & Keretic in Hamburg. MPM, based in Vienna and Zurich, is active throughout Europe in the field of strategic sponsorship.

 
Rarely, very rarely does the opportunity arise here to say a few words about sport. If at all, it is only in connection with the European Championship and its sponsors, which is being held under the absurdly strict dictates of Uefa. Today we will also be talking about football and journalism, but for a different reason. For once, an exceptionally good interview with a sportsman deserves a mention here. An interview that was so much more productive than all the game-is-over-and-the-athlete-is-exhausted-but-we-need-a-statement interviews that are usually presented to us. Perhaps this is also due to the footballer himself: His name is Ivan Ergic, he is captain of FC Basel and one of the most talented midfielders in Europe. And he was on the verge of a big breakthrough, before moving to the Italian Serie A to Juventus Turin. But then he suffered a nervous breakdown and could no longer cope with his life. Instead of the glorious move to Italy, he spent several months in a psychiatric clinic and finally made the arduous journey back to the FC Basel first team. He has been back there for some time now, fully supported by coach Christian Gross and with a completely unusual attitude for a professional footballer. In an interview with Daniel Ryser from Woz, he criticizes capitalism, names Karl Marx as one of his most important sources of inspiration and cultivates the idea of fair play. "A fair game is more important to me than success. That's my personal revolutionary idea, which I don't want to break with," says the 27-year-old Serbian-Australian dual citizen. Last week, this outstanding article - originally published in Woz in May last year - was awarded the 2008 Zurich Journalism Prize in the young talent category. 
 
>> more about the Zurich Journalism Prize:

 The new management of the Alden Hotel Splügenschloss in Zurich is now relying on Jenni Kommunikation. The PR agency will advise the management on communication issues and implement the hotel's communication strategy in Switzerland. Hotel director Reto Monticelli has already worked with Jenni Kommunikation at the Hotel Ascot, as detailed in a press release. The Alden Hotel Splügenschloss is to be positioned as Zurich's leading boutique hotel. It is housed in two historic buildings in a prominent location near Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse.

 
Catherine Mühlemann, Managing Director of MTV Networks Central, will be leaving the Viacom subsidiary this summer. The 41-year-old from Bern wants to take on new challenges after seven years at the head of the music channel family, according to the website of industry publication W&V. Mühlemann said that she had achieved everything she wanted at MTV. MTV Networks in Germany has developed from a music channel into a media company with strong, cross-platform brands, and it is not yet clear who will succeed her. A new General Manager for MTV Central & Emerging Markets will be sought both internally and externally, according to reports. Mühlemann took up her post at MTV in May 2001. She initially took over the management of MTV Central (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). In 2003, her responsibilities were expanded to include the emerging markets, the growth markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Today, she is responsible for a total of 18 television channels with over 600 employees, reaching 64 million households in 22 countries.
According to strongly substantiated rumors, Viacom wants to sell its local music channel VIVA Switzerland. A PR agency from Zurich is apparently currently looking for interested parties for the station, which has been part of the MTV Networks broadcasting group since the takeover of the German television company VIVA Media AG in 2004. The music channel is considered highly profitable by insiders. For example, the studios of VIVA Switzerland were sold due to the high expected returns. The channel's programming is now handled entirely by MTV's broadcasting headquarters in Berlin.

 The Goldbach Index (GEMI), which shows the development of advertising pressure for various electronic media in comparison to the market as a whole and is compiled and indexed by Media Focus, set a new record for electronic media in April, reaching 431 points (previous month: 424) with a disproportionate increase of 7 index points. The Internet in particular, which has not been spoiled in recent months, increased by 8 index points to 268 (260). Television also shone with an increase of 8 index points to 459 (previous month: 451). Radio also improved with an increase of 5 index points to 250 (245). Teletext followed suit and also grew by 5 index points to 127 (previous month: 122).
 
Compared to the increase in the GEMI index for electronic media of 7
index points, the total of all media recorded an increase of 3 index points to 203 (200).
 

 
International sporting goods company Nike has appointed Rico Fallegger, previously General Manager Switzerland, as its new Managing Director for Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia in time for the European Championships. He will take over operational management of these countries from Bassersdorf and Vienna from June 1, 2008.   
Rico Fallegger can look back on many years of experience in marketing and sales. His professional career first took him to Metro International, where he worked in purchasing and marketing. After university, he went through a classic marketing and sales career at Unilever. This led Fallegger through brand and key account management to marketing and sales and finally to business unit director. As Market Development Director, he spent four years at Mars, where he was responsible for brands such as Mars, Snickers, Twix, and Uncle Ben's.
Stefanie Teichmann, the previous Managing Director for Nike Austria and Slovenia, is leaving Nike at her own request and with the plan to take on a new professional challenge.

 It is well known that the Zurich Government Council has a questionable attitude with regard to the Federal Council's licensing decisions for radio stations and regional television stations. The latest figures from the Mediapulse media research foundation show just how questionable and contrary to the preferences of the television-watching population this stance actually is - the cantonal government is arguing in favor of awarding a license to Tele Top instead of Tele Züri in the Zurich-Northeastern Switzerland region. According to Mediapulse, the regional television stations achieved an average market share of 2 percent in their broadcasting areas last year. However, two stations deviate considerably from this average: Tele Züri achieved 5.5 percent in its broadcasting area and Tele Top 0.3 percent. This means that Tele Züri achieves a similar level of viewer interest in the Zurich region as the German channels ARD and ZDF. However, according to a report in the NZZ am Sonntag, Tamedia is taking an increasingly relaxed view of the decision: "This market share is proof of Tele Züri's performance," Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer told the Sonntagsblatt. Tamedia continues to believe that Tele Züri has a very good chance of being awarded a license on the basis of this record and a convincing license application.
Günter Heuberger, Managing Director of Top-Medien, had the following to say about his station's sobering results: "We broadcast in a heterogeneous area that stretches from Lake Constance to Rapperswil. The rather low market share can be attributed to this." Heuberger went on to say that his station would be in a better position if it had been awarded the license for the Zurich region.
 
 
 
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 At its Annual General Meeting on May 22, the "Basel Cable Network Foundation" approved the annual financial statements of Tele Basel. The turnover of CHF 5,510,238 is offset by a profit carried forward of CHF 45,116. The daily viewer reach increased last year to 120,000 people (+ 7 percent), the market share is now at 2 percent (+ 0.1 percent). According to a press release issued on Friday, these figures mean that Tele Basel has achieved the second largest reach and market share per broadcasting area of all Swiss private TV stations after Tele Züri. In order to ensure the quality of the TV program, it was decided to create a consultative working group with experts in view of the new broadcasting license that may be granted by the Federal Council in June.