Migros' online department store Leshop.ch is celebrating its tenth birthday with the launch of its own web radio station. Since Tuesday, Leshop.fm has been offering music and simple recipes in German and French. According to a press release, the shopping portal has entered into a collaboration with the US radio producers Agencing Inc. for the music mix. The majority of the recipes come from Geneva gourmet chef Claude Legras. The programs are also available in the online archive and as podcasts. The web radio is ad-free. Leshop.fm is an important step in the expansion of the supermarket into a multimedia platform, the company added. It is assumed that the station's listening time will extend far beyond shopping time. The portal currently has around 180,000 visitors per month and increased its turnover last year by 43 percent to CHF 92.3 million.

 
As an accompanying advertising measure for the EWZ online dialog magazine Powernewz presented on Monday, the agency responsible, Draftfcb, staged an EWZ April Fool's joke. The aim was to attract as many people as possible to the website. For example, one of the morning posts stated that a cat had got lost between 150,000-volt lines at the EWZ's Katz substation and could no longer find its way out. It was not possible to get it out without switching off the power. However, this required a 60-minute power cut in Zurich city center. On the Powernewz.ch/katze website, people could then vote on whether the power cut was justified. In the subsequent statement issued by EWZ in the evening
it was then said that only 24 percent of the 4,368 voters were in favor of rescuing the cat (the matter was probably seen through). However, the cat was saved by cat thief Fredi Rüegg (Beat Schlatter) without further ado. The fact that the EWZ was contrite at the end ("We apologize for this April Fool's joke") remains the only flaw in this otherwise successful campaign:
Harry Graf and Claudia Pfister. Responsible at Draftfcb: Nicolas Vontobel (CD), Roland Jäggi (AD), Boris Beuckmann (text), Christoph Bögli and Aline Litchenhaus (consulting).

 
The latest campaign from Euro RSCG Dialog & Digital recommends passengers from northern Italy to fly out into the world with Swiss via Zurich. The reason for the campaign is the decision by Italian airline Alitalia to cancel intercontinental flights from Milan and transfer them to Rome. The visual leitmotif of the campaign caricatures the image of the lactating Roman she-wolf, which is well known in Italy. Instead of a she-wolf, a Swiss cow with a bell makes Romulus and Remus feel at home. The advertising campaign is now appearing in various titles in Italy, with Swiss:
Frank Maier (Head of Marketing), Priska Heger (Head of Marketing Communications), Christine Moch and Tom Blum (Advertising). Responsible at Euro RSCG Zurich: Jürg Aemmer (CD), Claude Catsky (CD/Text), Aurelius Eisenreich and Nemanja Gajic (Text), Sarah Kahn (Graphics), Sheila Wan and Katja Bizjak (Consulting), Caroline Webb (Head of Art Buying), Edi Burri (Production), Raphael Hefti (Photo). Image editing: colore due, Milan. Overall responsibility: Frank Bodin.

 
In the 2008/09 season, the media group Ringier will become the fourth sponsor of the Zurich Grasshopper Club. It will advertise for Blick am Abend on the players' sleeves and shorts. As planned, GC now has four sponsorship partners on board: Mobilezone, Interhome (Hotelplan Group) and Adidas, all national companies. Ringier is already involved with GC as a premium press partner via the free evening newspaper Heute (see: ). According to Marc Walder, Editorial Director of the Ringier newspapers, this partnership offers a wide range of exciting brand appearances. "We will not limit ourselves to a presence on the GC players' kit," he said in the report in the free newspaper Heute. The collaboration between Ringier and GC does not include any commitment to advertising or editorial cooperation. However, innovative and target group-oriented campaigns are to be developed and implemented jointly.

 After losing Swisscom, Sporttip and probably also Carlsberg as sponsors, the Swiss Football Association (SFV) can now look forward to some positive news: its current partner Ochsner Sport is extending its contract for a further four years. The company will present numerous marketing activities relating to the European Championships. Technical sponsor Puma has also extended its contract. Sponsor Swisslife has also extended its contract, as has already been announced. The SFA has also gained Ferrero as a new sponsor. "We are also in negotiations with various companies for the two remaining vacancies as co-sponsors of the national team," General Secretary Peter Gilliéron told Werbewoche. He did not want to reveal who these companies are. He hopes that the new partnerships will be finalized by Euro 08.
He attributes the fact that Carlsberg is dropping out as a previous sponsor to the legal restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship, among other things. However, Swisscom and Sporttip had also complained about the fees, which had doubled. "You can't say that," says Gilliéron. "The rights were previously marketed by an agency. From July 1, we'll be doing it ourselves. The fees will increase, but the sponsors will also receive much more". An actual sponsorship package has been put together that includes more presence on the advertising boards and at events.
Incidentally, it has hardly any effect on the search for sponsors if the national team is defeated: "The sponsors plan for the longer term," says Gilliéron. The best example of this is main sponsor Credit Suisse, which has been involved since 1993 - although the national team was not always successful in the 1990s.

 The Zurich Film Festival has a new Artistic Director: Karl Spoerri is taking over from Antoine Monot Jr. who is leaving the position at the beginning of April. This was announced by the festival management. Spoerri will be supported by Nikolaj Nikitin and Christine von Fragstein, who curate the feature and documentary film competition series. Spoerri is also the festival director and managing director. Antoine Monot Jr. will remain with the festival as curator of the "Panorama D" series.

 Swiss Television, Ringier TV and Presse TV have reached an agreement in the dispute over the "Kassensturz" program on the "Cancer Gala". In a statement by SF editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann, the "Kassensturz" editorial team states that it did not want to give the impression that Ringier TV was making a profit from the production of the "Krebsgala". If this impression was created, she regrets it. The dispute was sparked by a report last November about the Cancer League's fundraising show "Krebsgala", which is produced by Ringier TV and broadcast on Press TV. The financing of the show was criticized as non-transparent. Ringier TV and Presse TV then filed a complaint with the SRG Ombudsman for untrue and misleading representation, which had caused great damage to the Cancer League (see
and ). According to the SRG newsletter on Tuesday, ombudsman Achille Casanova acknowledged that "the matter is proving to be complex". He therefore organized a meeting with representatives of Ringer TV, Presse TV and SF on 19 March 2008. Participants included Hans Jürg "Fibo" Deutsch as representative of Ringier TV and Presse TV, SF editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann, "Kassensturz" editorial director Wolfgang Wettstein and the author of the disputed report.
According to Casanova, the participants had "an open, interesting and constructive discussion". Even though various misunderstandings were cleared up, both parties basically confirmed their own assessment. Nevertheless, it was possible to find an amicable solution. Haldimann's statement to Ringier TV and Presse TV reads as follows: "The 'Kassensturz' editorial team would like to state the following about the controversial program: It was not the intention of Kassensturz to create the impression that Ringier TV was making a profit from the production of the cancer gala. If this impression was nevertheless created, we regret it." In return, the two complainants consider the matter to be settled and waive any further legal action.
"We are satisfied with this solution," Presse TV boss Fibo Deutsch told Werbewoche. "What is important for us is Ueli Haldimann's explanation and the fact that the 'Kassensturz' editorial team has apologized. It is rare that 'Kassensturz' regrets something". The amicable agreement was reached "because we don't want to argue as a matter of principle".

 We can't change it: Anyone who reports on advertising cannot avoid the German Cheshire cat and super model Heidi Klum. The beauty, who is not at all averse to advertising, has snapped up a new deal, extending her list of testimonials, which includes McDonald's, Taft, Douglas and Victoria's Secret. In future, she will be advertising for the German tabloid Bild and will also be photographed on the front page as a page 1 girl. This will be followed by a large-scale, multi-stage campaign. After losing mandates (see
) and commercial stops (see ), the mother of three can now finally position herself beyond her image as a clean-cut woman, says Werben & Verkaufen. We would also like Madame Klum to keep her beautiful hands off the tabloids of this world and see herself as an ad-free model for a change.

 
The international jury of the Ewz.selection Award has nominated 18 works for this year's Swiss Photography Prize. The selection was made from a total of 441 photographic works and 2752 images. A total of six prizes with prize money totaling 36,000 Swiss francs will be awarded, as detailed in the press release on Tuesday. The award ceremony will take place on the so-called Opening Night, hosted by actor Patrick Frey, on May 16, 2008 in Zurich. The photos will then remain on display until June 8, 2008, and the Ewz.selection Award for the best photographic work, with the highest prize money of CHF 15,000, will be presented for the tenth time this year. Four other prizes in different categories are endowed with CHF 5,000 each: the Vfg Vereinigung Fotografischer GestalterInnen photo prize in the Advertising category, the Sonntagszeitung photo prize in the Editorial Photography category, the Blick photo prize in the Fine Arts category and the Du culture magazine photo prize in the Free category.
The sixth prize, worth 1000 francs, is the audience award of the photography magazine Fotointern. It will be determined by a vote on Ewzselection.ch from the beginning of April. All nominated works can be viewed on the website. The jury responsible for the nominations consists of Veronique Damagnez, Editrice Photo à Mixte magazine, Paris, Nicolas Faure, photographe et professeur à l'Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne, Margot Klingsporn, Agentur Focus, Hamburg, Herlinde Koelbl, photographer, Munich, Donald Schneider, Creative Director Donald Schneider Studio, Paris, and Urs Stahel, Director and Curator of the Fotomuseum Winterthur.
The 18 nominees 2007
Björn Allemann, Zurich
Lena Amuat, Zurich
Fabian Biasio, Lucerne
Nathalie Bissig, Zurich
Markus Bühler-Rasom, Zurich
Betty Fleck, Zurich
Noë Flum, Zurich
Valentin Jeck, Uerikon
Raphael Just, Vienna
Ferit Kuyas, Wädenswil
Christian Lutz, Genève
Erika Maack, Basel
Annina Mettler, Zurich
Enrique Muñoz García, Biel
Andri Pol, Weggis
Philipp Schaerer, Zurich
Christian Schwager, Winterthur
Zsigmond Toth, Zurich

 
The Basel advertising agency Crome has expanded its 11-strong team by three people. Consultant Nicole Waldy has joined the consultancy in a managerial role, while AD Carmen Baumgärtner has joined the creative team as studio manager and Patrick Frei as copywriter/concept developer. The management is pleased about the transfer of know-how from the regional competition to Crome, according to the press release on Tuesday.

 
On April 14, 2008, Elisabeth Impoco will take over as Area Sales Manager Zurich East/Eastern Switzerland at the women's magazine Annabelle. She last worked for two and a half years at Künzler Bachmann as a consultant in direct marketing. Prior to that, she held various positions at Cinecom for six years, according to a statement issued on Tuesday. For five years, she was head of sales for TV Sat.1.

 
Yvonne Pfister has joined the TBS Identity team with immediate effect. She will support the Zurich-based communications and design agency in the areas of project management and consulting. The trained public relations specialist with a federal certificate has previously worked for both agencies and clients and has already gained experience in both project organization and communications consulting.