Swatch is supporting the Blue Balls Festival and has become a presenting sponsor of the Lucerne music festival. In doing so, the watchmaking group wants to mark its presence on the Swiss music and culture scene. According to a press release, the two brands complement each other perfectly and are intended to further develop the festival. On the evening before the last day of the festival, on July 25 from 5 p.m., the Biel-based company will present its latest watches and bijoux from the 2008 fall and winter collection before the creations are available in the stores. The festival will take place in Lucerne from July 18 to 26. It offers around 100 events and attracts 100,000 visitors.

 
According to a survey, 79% of Swiss people find advertising on television annoying. This negative list is followed by the Internet with 51 percent, private radio with 49 percent, cinema with 32 percent and newspapers with 19 percent. These were the findings of a survey of 601 people conducted by the Lausanne-based MIS Trend Institute on behalf of the Ringier magazine Edelweiss. The respondents included 300 French-speaking and 300 German-speaking Swiss and were also asked about the independence of the media. Fifty-four percent of respondents believe that journalists in the country are unable to report independently: The media are under pressure from political parties and the authorities. Almost as many, namely 53%, believe that the media are subject to financial pressure.
In contrast, most respondents believe that the media generally do a good job. They have particular confidence in news magazines, daily newspapers and radio, reports the SDA. According to the survey communiqué, the statistical margin of error in the survey is plus or minus four percent.

 Last year, the planned fee increases for SRG board members caused outrage. The SRG's Assembly of Delegates has now definitively set the flat-rate fees, following the Federal Council's decision in December. The new fees are as follows: the fee for the Chairman is set at CHF 135,000; this corresponds to the fee for 2007 and also the recommendation of the Federal Council. Last year, it was planned that the Chairman's salary would rise to CHF 180,000 - but after some fuss, Chairman Jean-Bernard Münch decided against the increase (see
).
The flat fee for members of the Board of Directors will amount to CHF 32,000 in future. The fee supplement for the Vice Chairman will remain at CHF 1,500. The additional lump-sum fee for committee chairmen is CHF 3,000. The attendance fee of CHF 1,000 for members of the Board of Directors (excluding the Chairman of SRG) will be retained for committee meetings. There will be no attendance fee for ordinary Board meetings.
Taking into account the committee meetings that are usually expected in a year, the regulation would result in an average total fee of CHF 38,000 for a member of the Board of Directors, SRG announced. This amount is below the Federal Council's recommendation of CHF 40,000 for a member of the Board of Directors without special functions.

 
Swisscom is massively upgrading its telecommunications infrastructure for the 2008 European Football Championship so that the ball can roll on the screen and the media can report on the matches. An additional 100 kilometers of data cable, 40 kilometers of telephone cable and 15 kilometers of fiber optic cable are to be laid. This is primarily necessary because of the expected peaks in the mobile network, for example when everyone wants to make a phone call to each other because of a goal, and because of the enormous increase in bandwidth requirements due to HDTV.The temporary upgrade will cost the European Championship sponsor around CHF 7 million, although exact figures were not given at the media orientation on Tuesday, according to SDA. 13 independent telecommunications networks will be set up to supply the four European Championship stadiums and 21 other locations such as Uefa headquarters, fan zones, hotels, airports and railroad stations. By comparison, this is three to six times the requirements of a major international corporation. "We are setting up small telecom companies in the stadiums," said Swisscom man Urs Schaeppi.

 
The Basel agency Schneider, Berthoud has developed a communication concept for the burglary protection specialists at the Basel joinery Robert Schweizer to draw attention to the dangers of burglaries. Advertisements, a website, mailings and other advertising materials are used to show that even the simplest measures can help prevent break-ins:
Gaston Schweizer (overall responsibility). Responsible at Schneider, Berthoud: Urs Schneider (CD), Albert Kuhn (text), Eveline Spitz (graphics), Daniel Kloetzli and Roger Berthoud (consulting). Illustration: Melk Thalmann, Lucerne. 

Jean-Remy von Matt will be a member of the jury for the Titanium category at this year's Cannes Lions Integrated Lions. The co-founder of Jung von Matt was already a jury member at last year's Cannes Lions in the Outdoor category. The Titanium category will be chaired by Mark Tutssel, creative director of the Leo Burnett agency network. The advertising festival takes place from June 15 to 21.

"Sarah Marshall" sounds like an ordinary English name. But its bearers have not had it easy in recent weeks: countless posters have been put up in the USA with inscriptions such as "You suck, Sarah Marshall", "My mother always hated you, Sarah Marshall" or "You do look fat in those jeans, Sarah Marshall". A mean act of revenge by a disappointed lover? No, the production company Universal Pictures had distributed the posters: They were riding the viral wave for the film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". The campaign was not met with vain joy by the Sarah Marshalls of real life: as several of the namesakes told the Chicago Times, it is not exactly funny when huge posters announce that you are annoying. In addition, there was ridicule and worried calls from friends. One of the vilified has now hit back and taken revenge on film producer Judd Apatow: Sarah Marshall from Greenfield in Massachusetts has taken out her marker pen and written her own posters. Inscription: "I hate you, Judd Apatow". The only question is whether this will scratch the man behind blockbusters like "Knocked Up" and "Superbad".

Picture: People.com

 
The Dieselwall artist competition, which has already been held in several cities by fashion company Diesel, was also launched in Zurich this year. The prize was a huge wall at the Zig-Tag restaurant in Zurich's Hardau district, for which the artists had to submit design proposals. The winner out of 380 international entries was 41-year-old Andreas Marti from Zurich. The jury consisted of Peter Lämmlin, Alltagagentur St. Gallen, Daniela Hardmeier, art historian, Museum zur Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen, Daniel Strolz, architect and designer, Amt für Hochbauten der Stadt Zürich, and Lorenz Gianfreda, graphic designer, Büro Destruct, Bern. According to the jury, the winning project "Bag Bellow Break" stood out for its simplicity and connection to the location. The competition is supported by the City of Zurich, which had coordinated the project with the conversion of the property. City Councillor Martelli welcomes the new art in public spaces.

 
Following the campaign for the 150th anniversary, which was enriched with regional humor, Zweifel & Una has now launched an image campaign for the regionally active Glarus-based bank. According to the press release, the aim is to increase the regional bank's appeal and level of awareness by using accurate and sometimes cheeky print and poster subjects. The agency from Schwanden in the canton of Glarus is playing on the fact that the Glarus-based bank has just 18 employees and, although small, is "absolutely healthy" in contrast to the larger banks.responsible at GRB Glarner Regionalbank:
Dieter Elmer (Director). Responsible at Zweifel & Una: Marianne Zweifel (concept, text) and Kate Isler (concept, design).

 The Valora kiosk group completes its personnel restructuring: With Thomas Vollmoeller, the company will have a German CEO from June. After studying economics in St. Gallen, the new 48-year-old CEO worked for ten years at the consulting firm McKinsey, as Valora announced on Tuesday. He has held various positions at Tchibo since 1997. Most recently, as a member of the Executive Board, he was responsible for the entire non-food division. In addition to the top management of the Group, Valora is also appointing a new or reappointing a new head of the Retail division. The 40-year-old Kaspar Niklaus will take over as head. The qualified agronomist (ETH) will become a member of the Executive Board. He has also previously worked for McKinsey, Migros and Coop, among others. He has managed Coop Bau+Hobby since 2005.
In the press release, Rolando Benedick, Chairman of the Board of Directors, expressed his conviction that with Vollmoeller and Niklaus Valora would be able to achieve its goals of long-term and sustainable success. Benedick himself has also taken over as Chairman of the Board of Directors after a months-long power struggle following the involvement of investor Adriano Agosti.
The current Valora CEO Peter Wüst will remain with the company until his successor has been trained. He had already announced this when he announced his resignation in April. Wüst had also managed the unprofitable Retail division on an interim basis after Valora parted company with Manfred Zipp "by mutual agreement" in August 2007.

 35-year-old Alain Messerli is taking over the management of the marketing research company Concept Zurich with immediate effect. The political science graduate has been part of the team at parent company H,T,P, Concept since February 2000 and has since helped to build up the Swiss office. Thomas Schindlbeck, Managing Director and partner of the H,T,P, Concept Group, is entrusting Messerli with the management of the Swiss business and will continue to advise Concept Zurich on strategic issues. H,T,P, Concept also has offices in Munich, Berlin and Mumbai. Concept Zurich focuses on new approaches such as consumer blogs, e-track and innovation portals.

 
Internet provider The Net, in collaboration with Energie Wasser Bern (EWB) and Espace.ch, has been offering an open wireless network with free Internet access in parts of the city of Bern since November 2007. Further locations are now to be added in time for the European Football Championships. With this step, the Bern Hotspot, as the joint project is called, represents an ideal communication platform for residents, tourists and football fans, according to the press release issued on Tuesday. The Net's wifi has been in operation since 2002.SSID: wlan@thenet