From 5 May, Bernese radio BE1 will be broadcasting the promotional laughter break launched by health insurer ÖKK in its morning program. From Monday to Friday, a well-known national or international comedian will make a short appearance for a month, including well-known stars such as the duo Hinterletscht, the Chaostheater Oropax, Ingo Oschmann, Blues Max, Piet Glock and Jess Jochimsen. The artists have a free choice of topics. They are broadcast at 6.45 and 8.45 a.m. on 101.7 MHz. The comedy breaks were produced as part of an image campaign by the health insurance company ÖKK. The idea behind the humorous campaign: laughter is known to be the best medicine, reduces mental stress and strengthens the immune system at the same time. The focus on humor is part of ÖKK's repositioning on the Swiss health insurance market, which was developed last year.
 

 It was already known that Euro RSCG Zurich would be awarded a Cube this year by the renowned New York ADC (see ). Since the awards ceremony on Thursday evening, it has also been clear in which category the agency can claim the prize: The spot for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra won silver in the coveted "Film" category.

 Rock star Bryan Adams has been active for a while with Phonak's Hear the World Initiative, which raises awareness about hearing and hearing loss. On Thursday night, the musician opened an exhibition in News York featuring his pictures of other celebrities. Adams has photographed Mick Jagger, Amy Winehouse, Plácido Domingo, Joss Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Annie Lennox and Franka Potente, among others. They all draw attention to the topic of hearing. The photographs will be on display for two weeks in New York and then come to the Römische Höfe in Berlin. There the pictures can be seen from May 30 to June 11, 2008. Finally, the exhibition will travel on to Zurich for its third stop.
The exhibition has its own website
in German and English. There, the original photographs by Bryan Adams can be purchased online via an auction. The net proceeds of the pictures will go to the "Hear the World" Foundation.

 The 48th Rose d'Or Festival opened at the Grand Casino in Lucerne on Friday. 75 entries from the world of television entertainment are vying for one of the eight Golden Roses. Swiss Television's "The Magic Flute - in front of and behind the scenes" is also nominated. The shortlist was chosen from a total of 402 television programs from 34 countries. With 31 entries, England has the most nominations. Eight each come from Germany and the Netherlands. The remaining nominations come from the rest of Europe, Japan and Australia. Swiss television is nominated in the Performing Arts category with 'The Magic Flute
The competition is divided into eight categories: Arts Documentary, Comedy, Drama, Sitcom, Entertainment, Game Show, Performing Arts and Reality. One of the coveted Golden Roses can be won in each of these categories. Best Entertainer and Best of 2008 will also be honored with one rose each.
It has already been decided that Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Studios, will receive the honorary rose. In the coming days, a 20-member jury will decide which of the nominees will receive a Rose d'Or Award at the awards ceremony on May 6 at the Lucerne Culture and Convention Center (KKL).

 On Advertising Day, Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid addressed the assembled members of the industry with wit and humor and was not flustered by the announcement that he was "half a Federal Councillor". The appearance of the rather dry magistrate surprised and convinced not only the Werbewoche editorial team, but also the host, the Swiss Advertising Association, which named the Minister of Defense as communicator of the month. Schmid had included various industry-specific statements in his speech. It was certainly a clever move to speak about the impending advertising bans and the legal regulations in French - so not every critical word was heard by the audience. Schmid also commented cleverly on his own party's posters: "These posters are ... striking. That's why they're called that. That's all I have to say." No Federal Councillor has ever criticized more elegantly, writes SW spokesman Piero Schäfer in his laudatory speech. The entire speech can be read here. See also: . 

 
Public viewing arenas for the European Football Championship are springing up everywhere. However, it is now becoming apparent that the public's interest is limited. The first arena events have already been canceled, and the 16 arenas run by Uefa partner UBS have only sold half of their tickets to date. The most prominent cancellation so far is that of the FCB Arena in Basel's Markthalle, as Cash Daily reported on Friday. The football event planned as a stadium with 2000 spectators will not take place due to poor advance sales. The organizers cite Uefa's poor image as one of the reasons for the failure. Another reason is probably the price of the tickets, which were around 20 francs. Accordingly, the expensive VIP seats also had a hard time in the run-up to Euro 2008.
UBS has not yet canceled an event. However, the major bank has only sold half of its total of 440,000 grandstand seats in 16 arenas and all matches. Only Swiss matches and finals are well attended. There are also regional differences. Aarau, Zug and Biel are fully booked, while only a quarter of the 80,000 grandstand seats at Zurich's Bellevue have been sold.

 
Global spending on advertising grew by 4.7 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year. This is according to the latest "Global Adview" figures from the market and media research company Nielsen. The strongest growth was recorded in the Asia-Pacific region with 12.1 percent, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with 4.7 percent. North America recorded a slight decline of 0.5%. According to the Horizont.net report, advertising expenditure for all media grew globally. Television performed best with 5.2% and thus remains the leading advertising medium. Magazines grew by 4.4 percent, with double-digit growth in the Asia-Pacific region. And magazines were the only medium to also grow in North America. Newspaper advertising sales increased by 3.8 percent in 2007, while radio advertising sales rose by 4.7 percent. No figures are given for the Internet.
Across all sectors, only the automotive industry (minus 3.2 percent) and the media (minus 1.5 percent) invested less in advertising in 2007 than in 2006. The retail sector remained at the previous year's level, while all other sectors increased their expenditure. Pressetext.ch sees the decline in expenditure in the media sector as an indication of the tough times that are widely predicted for the media in the coming years. If the heavily advertising-dependent industry itself is reducing its advertising expenditure, this seems to point to difficult times ahead.

 
From May 5, a new series of short reports on the subject of fair play will be broadcast on SRG radio and television programs. In connection with the upcoming Euro 2008 sporting event, over 800 short interviews were conducted in all four national languages, in which celebrities and lesser-known people from all over Switzerland were asked what they understand by fair play. The celebrities include President of the Swiss Confederation Pascal Couchepin, Mummenschanz founder Bernie Schürch, Grisons cabaret artist Flurin Caviezel and Marco Solari, President of the Locarno Film Festival. In the press release, SRG explains the reasons for the program: "Fair play is indispensable in our society, it is the basis for a well-functioning coexistence in everyday life as well as in sport. The program "Fairplay" is broadcast daily on SF1 after "10vor10". The idea came from director Martin Uebele.

 The marketing agency CFG AG, founded a year ago, was dissolved at the end of April due to a lack of synergies. The three partners Beat Frei, Ruedi Glaus and Mario Cecchin want to go their separate ways again in all friendship: Beat Frei will continue to run the advertising agency under the new name Freiraum Werbeagentur AG. Ruedi Glaus will become Managing Director of Aarcom Werbe GmbH, based in Baden-Dättwil. And Mario Cecchin will set up his own company and until then continue to look after his mandates as an agent, in particular Media Trend Journal, which, like Werbewoche, belongs to Media-Daten AG. The date for the foundation of Cecchin's new company is expected to be around mid-2008. The mandates, which the respective partners look after within CFG AG, will continue to be managed and advised by the same reference persons in the new companies without any restrictions.

 The free newspaper 20 Minuten is launching "20's Best", a lifestyle guide for the young and affluent target group. The pocket-sized booklet will be distributed from Monday with a print run of 350,000 copies in the city and agglomeration of Zurich via newspapers, dispensers, stores and restaurants. The guide contains discount and savings offers from various brands. The 20-minute promotion partners benefit from a cross-media promotion package: the distribution of 20's Best is supported by a networked campaign across print, online, radio and transportation media. The guide can also be browsed and downloaded online.

 
Peter Eisenegger and Daniel Landolt are strengthening Bern-based Contexta in the Internet and interactive marketing sector with their Zurich-based Atfront. 
You are bubbling over with ideas and like to try out new things. So why not team up with an agency that has many interesting clients but often too few people for the exact skills offered by Atfront? "Contexta was in a situation where the agency had more and more clients who wanted to do interactive and online advertising," say Peter Eisenegger and Daniel Landolt, explaining the "win-win situation for both agencies".
Zurich-based Atfront is now part of Contexta Holding. With this step, the Bern-based advertising agency aims to expand its expertise in the field of interactive marketing communication. The aim of the merger is to "open up innovative dialogues with target groups in a rapidly changing media environment that have a measurable impact in the client's favour".
The partnership applies retroactively from January 1. However, the Zurich-based company has already managed digital ideas for the Bern-based company on a freelance basis on several previous occasions, for example for Swisslos, Calanda and Appenzeller. "You can solve a lot with collaborations. But at some point you have to be able to offer your expertise in a more compact way. We will now be involved in the briefing for new projects right from the start," Eisenegger and Landolt are pleased to say. However, both companies will continue to operate independently.
Atfront, which operates in Zurich's Kreis 4 district, has been around for four years. The name is intended to express the company's desire to always have its finger on the pulse. "Knowing what's going on, what people want and what is technologically possible," say the Atfront team. This also includes being able to assess which of the many new possibilities ultimately makes sense for customers. Ultimately, "Atfront" also means "close to the customer".
The agency's first assignment was a comprehensive learning program. With the "White Risk" CD-ROM, Suva wanted to warn people about the dangers of avalanches in a playful way.
E-learning or knowledge transfer with interactive media has been Atfront's core competence ever since. The broad term can be applied to both services and products in marketing. "Advertising is also e-learning in the broadest sense. If I want to sell something, I have to explain to the customer why they need it," says consultant Peter Eisenegger.
And how do users get the information they want? CD Daniel Landolt adds that Atfront wants to appeal to all the senses with its communication. "Linking the media and preparing the content in such a way that it can be absorbed as easily as possible" is the objective. In this sense, interaction is an increasingly invoked core element. However: "People on the Internet today are often just watching TV. We, on the other hand, want to work with involvement. This leads to real learning effects," says Atfront.
The two agency partners found their way to this "front" in different ways. Daniel Landolt first got to know the technical side as an electronics technician. He then wanted to train further as a designer, because both are important in this industry. "Anyone who designs has to know what is technically possible."
 
After completing his preliminary course at the F+F in Zurich, Landolt initially worked as a web designer in an internet agency for three years. At the same time, he studied visual communication at the HFG in St. Gallen. An exchange semester took him to America. There he studied packaging design, visual communication and interactive design. The passionate mountain biker and snowboarder conceived the idea for "White Risk" as his diploma thesis because he was also interested in the topic of avalanche protection in his private life.
On his return to Switzerland, he also showed the work to Peter Eisenegger. He had just returned from long trips to Australia, the USA and South America and had worked as a freelance consultant in between. Together they then developed the idea of selling the concept to Suva. After around two years of looking for sponsors, it finally worked. White Risk" turned into a major contract - the first step towards independence.
Peter Eisenegger comes from a commercial background, trained as a marketing planner and worked as a consultant at Wirz in Zurich for six years. During this time, Eisenegger also trained as a communications manager. On the same course, he met Nadine Borter, the current CEO of Contexta. The contact, which continues to this day, led to more and more collaboration with Atfront and Contexta.
Eisenegger and Landolt discovered their shared passion for creative projects long before Atfront. For example, they founded a T-shirt label as a "hobby to earn money". "That was successful. But nobody took enough time to maintain the brand." Eisenegger and Landolt have already thrown themselves into their next project, a trend research platform called "Trendguide". "Is it still online, and who is in charge of it today?" they discuss during the interview and discover in their search for an answer that inventing and initiating projects is their greatest passion. "That probably has a lot to do with curiosity."
With their agency Atfront, this curiosity is now to be satisfied in the longer term. After starting out as a duo, a programmer and a designer have also been permanently employed after four years. Atfront also works with a large network of specialized freelancers.
The office will remain in Zurich. However, workstations for Eisenegger and Landolt have also been set up at Contexta in Bern. "We commute regularly, which is necessary for sensible coordination." For larger projects, the two can also imagine spending a little longer in the offices with the beautiful view of the Aare. Conversely, the Zurich team can now offer Contexta its own meeting room in the heart of the advertising mecca.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Column Should TV stations - whether public or private - develop editorial vehicles to help charities fill their coffers? 
 
No, no, we dare not doubt their good will. Nor do we doubt the zeal. After all, it's a great pity that "17,000 people in their prime die of cancer every year". And that's just in Switzerland, but it's comforting to know that everyone dies once. If not from cancer, then in another way. Usually in their prime and almost always far too early. For publishers and publishing directors, at any rate, obituaries are a safe budget item. And that will remain the case.
But the zealous members of the Swiss Cancer League and the Swiss Cancer Research Foundation have taken up the fight against fate and feel let down: "Unfortunately, Swiss television is still on the sidelines in the fight against the most important cause of death in Switzerland."
Should public television, for example, stop broadcasting for two hours every day and drive viewers into the woods (watch out for ticks!) or onto training bikes in the basement? After all, exercise significantly reduces the likelihood of developing cancer.
Or should Swiss television broadcast daily films of bleeding tarry lungs or tracking shots through a diseased colon, accompanied by warnings about the dangers of smoking or eating sausages?
No, the zealous do not want deterrence, but glamor: a "cancer gala", red carpet, celebrities, cameras and chic dresses, all broadcast live at prime time on SF 1. They have become obsessed with the idea that gala shows are "great opportunities" to raise funds and reach politicians.
They collected over 20,000 signatures and presented this petition to SRG Director General Armin Walpen in mid-April. He did not even criticize the attempted interference in programming autonomy, but is said to have announced a discussion in the SRG management.
Should TV stations - whether public or private - develop editorial vehicles to fill the coffers of donation organizations?
No, certainly not.
True to the neoliberal zeitgeist, the "Krebsgala" people simply want to socialize the costs. They have so far been forced to "switch to a private channel and contribute to the production costs", they explain honestly. The previous "Gala" model: Ringier TV mobilized some of its Cervelat celebrities and produced a glittering evening entertainment show in which publisher Michael Ringier is staged as a noble donor. The whole thing was broadcast on SF 2, for which the organizer Presse TV - and indirectly Ringier TV - had already received a share of SRG licence fee money.
And last but not least, Ringier TV is asking the "Krebsgala" promoters to pay a quarter of a million francs for the special "Gesundheit Sprechstunde" show. The unpleasant conclusion for the cancer aid organizers: the net proceeds from donations are quite low.
But let's assume for a moment that TV stations would give themselves over to broadcasting "donation galas" ordered by charitable organizations. Be it the Cancer League, Lung League, Rheumaliga (rheumatism, the "number one widespread disease"), or be it Amnesty International, Caritas, Greenpeace or Terre des Hommes. Several hundred organizations are registered with the Zewo Foundation, the Swiss certification body for charitable fundraising organizations. All causes are important, all organizations must have the same rights, so we would probably have to attend a gala at least once a week. The only problem is that Ringier's entertainment papers have not yet built up enough celebrities over the past few decades to give all these "gala" events enough glamour to firstly attract viewers to the screen and secondly encourage donations. Actually comforting! Because to paraphrase Bertolt Brecht: Woe to the country that needs celebrities.
 
Hans Stutz is a freelance journalist