Only four out of ten cyclists still wear a helmet. With a new campaign by the Zurich agency Ruf Lanz, the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) and Suva want to increase this rate. The motto of the campaign is "What is fragile needs protection. Wear a bicycle helmet". Last year alone, around 1,500 people suffered craniocerebral injuries, some of them serious, in a bicycle accident, according to a press release issued by the BFU and Suva on Wednesday. 30 bicycle accidents even ended fatally. The campaign aims to motivate people to wear a bicycle helmet, among other things with the TV commercial "Die Melone". The two campaign partners advocate wearing a helmet even on short journeys and in the city. However, they also remind us that a bicycle helmet is not life insurance.

 The private broadcaster Radio Basel 1 is announcing various personnel changes as of the beginning of April: 26-year-old Simon Thiriet, who has been working as a presenter and producer at Radio Basel 1 for four years, will take over as Head of Presentation. He will be supported by 37-year-old André Millischer as deputy head of presentation. The 40-year-old presenter Patrick Bardelli, who has been with Radio Basel 1 since 2005, will take on the new role of Head of Quality Assurance and Training. He will be responsible for coaching the editorial and presentation team. 30-year-old Lisa Mathys, who has led the presentation team for four years, is stepping down as Head of Presentation at her own request. However, she will return as moderator after an extended maternity leave.
Finally, after more than six years at Radio Edelweiss and Radio Basel 1, five of them as head of the morning show, 32-year-old Daniel Studer will be taking on a new role outside the station in July.

The Publicis agency is realizing the second edition of the campaign for Schweizer Illustrierte. The three new subjects are also intended to focus on the proximity to the stars and provide insights into the stars from the worlds of culture, sport, politics, business and entertainment. For example, a famous national team player plays against his daughter on the Playstation at home and scores a goal. The "hottest" subject of the campaign not only shows the relaxing effect of a hamam on a diva, but also demonstrates how many people can fit into a steam bath. And finally, the viewer sees a star standing helplessly in front of her closet. A sharp piece of underwear hints at the VIP's "double life". The campaign has been running since March 25 and can be seen on posters and advertisements.
Responsible at Schweizer Illustrierte:
Urs Heller (Publishing Director), Dominic Geisseler (Editor-in-Chief), Franziska Schmid (Advertising Manager Ringier Magazines), Nicole Wesche (Product Manager). Responsible at Publicis: Florian Beck (CD), Thomas Berger (AD), Res Matthys, Nina-Britt Rauer (Text), Silvia Holend (Consulting), Christina Hengstmann (Art Buying). Responsible at OMD Media: Luise Diem (Managing Director OMD See). Photographer: Holger Pooten.

 The fan TV project Emotions08.tv wants to show all European Championship matches with Swiss participation as well as the semi-finals and finals free of charge on the Internet. However, managing director Patrick Kappeler did not want to reveal to 20 Minuten how this will work technically: The company is operating in a legal gray area. Emotions08.tv is now looking for presenters for the project, as the matches are to be commentated live. "Anyone who is fed up with Hüppi and co. can now do it themselves," Kappeler told 20 Minuten. He doesn't seem to be afraid of Uefa: He would find a way to broadcast the matches even if Uefa sued. As expected, the football association is not enthusiastic: "We will not tolerate such actions. We reserve the right to take legal action in individual cases," says Martin Kallen, COO of Euro 2008 SA.

The Zurich-based Internet and communications agency Update has revamped the website for Prospective Media Services. The new site is designed to give users an insight into the services, references and partners of the multimedia consulting agency for job advertisements, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. At the same time, it is the entry point to the e-disposition tool, which clients can use to independently manage their job advertisements in print and online media.

 Euro 08 is just around the corner. The Zurich agency STBS Identity has designed and implemented the corresponding co-branding for SRG. The contract also included the development of the image clip series, which can be seen on the SRG corporate units' channels in the run-up to Euro 08. TBS Identity brought the Zurich-based film, video and post-production company Frame Eleven on board to develop the concept and produce the image clips. A small sample of the clips can be viewed here.

The Reinhold advertising agency is kicking off the advertising year for Rivella with the new spring campaign "Who cuts a good figure?". The focus is on strengthening and updating the low-calorie Rivella blue.
At the heart of the campaign are prominent Swiss people who know what it takes to cut a good figure. Swiss musicians and models such as Seven, Nadine Strittmatter, Michael von der Heide, Lauriane Gilliéron and Emel speak out in favor of the low-calorie Rivella blue. You can see the celebrities' favorite outfits for spring. "We deliberately only show the stars' outfits and not their faces," explained Patrick Naef from the Reinhold advertising agency. "We think it's exciting to use a celebrity testimonial in a different way".
With these images, the drinks manufacturer wants to raise awareness of the fact that Rivella blue is easy on the figure. Market studies have shown that many consumers are not sufficiently aware of the drink as a low-calorie soft drink. "That's astonishing, because Rivella blue has been on the market since 1959, making it the first light soft drink in Europe," says Naef. A strong competitor for figure-conscious drink lovers is the Coca-Cola group, which is currently making strong inroads into the market with its "Zero" soft drinks. However, Reinhold wants to take a different communicative approach with Rivella: The agency will dispense with Anglicisms and will not promote Rivella blue as a "light" drink, but will rely on the German expression "Mit wenig Kalorien" (with few calories). After all, Rivella is the quintessential Swiss soft drink.
The positioning statement of the Rivella blue campaign is "Who cuts a good figure?". It is also the quiz question for the online competition on the new website
. The aim is to match individual outfits to the right Swiss celebrity. Ten outfits of your choice, each worth CHF 2,000, will be raffled off.
The Reinhold advertising agency has developed a total of eleven motifs featuring Swiss trendsetters from all language areas. The campaign kicks off with double-page ads in the Sunday press and the complete edition of 20 Minuten. The media plan will then be supplemented by consumer and fashion magazines. For ten weeks, 1/1 pages and tactical competition ads will be used. They will be flanked by a broad-based online campaign with special banner formats. Reinhold has also put together a complete gastropackage: placemats, glass coasters, stands and rotairs. They are all eye-catching with a slim waistline.
Responsible at Rivella AG:
Mike Brodbeck (Head of Marketing), Esther Stalder (Group Product Manager Soft Drinks). Responsible at Reinhold: Reinhold Weber (Creative Direction), Oli Kreienbühl (Art Direction), Wolfram Scherer (Text), Patrick Naef (Consulting). Photography: Federico Naef.

 
Pet bottles, aluminum cans, glass and the like do not belong in the garbage can, but in special collection containers. The Swiss Recycling Association has come up with a group game called Re-Tour: 50 weatherproof posts are distributed throughout the area. The dice decide how far the game piece can be moved. Once the recycling tasks have been completed, the game continues - including trapdoors and detours. Just like the ladder game, only much bigger and in the open air. The game is packed compactly in the Re-Tour backpack, as can be read on the website. If you think this would be a useful Christmas present for your children, don't get too excited - there's a catch: Re-Tour is exclusively available to sections and groups of the youth associations Pfadi, Blauring & Jungwacht and Cevi. So if you haven't yet sent your children to the Scouts, you should do so now: The environment will thank you.

Less than two months after its launch, the final whistle has already sounded for the football newspaper Basler Fussball. "Interest from the advertising industry was far below expectations," publisher Michael Martin confirmed to Werbewoche, as reported by Basler Zeitung. "Acceptance among readers and sponsors was very good, but the volume of advertising exceeded all worst-case scenarios". For this reason, the last issue of the football paper, which was launched on February 2, was published last week (see
Tout Bâle is on the ball
). "Our advertising partner, Publicitas, was unable to find a new advertiser for the past four weeks - even if it was only for an eighth of a page. The circulation of 20,000 was probably too small in view of the large print runs of the free newspapers and the price collapse on the market," explained Martin. The initiators had originally expected to break even this year. However, actual sales were far below the timetable that Martin and co-founder Daniel Schaub had drawn up together with Publicitas.
Of course, they were aware that such a project would need a start-up phase. "But if the sale doesn't work even when FC Basel is at the top of the table and Basel will be the host city of the Euros, you simply have to look for new solutions," Martin continued. However, he is not apportioning blame. In his eyes, the partner Publicitas had exhausted "all the possibilities within its power". But even with the small advertisements, the football newspaper had achieved far less than hoped for. Readers and football clubs in the Basel area, on the other hand, had been enthusiastic and had quickly achieved a high level of awareness.
The publisher was very disappointed because he had believed in his project. "But better an end with horror than horror without end". If it had continued in the same style, the small publishing house would have made a loss of 300,000 francs in the first year, "but more important to us than the sum were the signs that we would not be able to survive as a small newspaper in today's market in the planned form." Subscribers will now be refunded the full price, and monthly contracts have been agreed with sponsors as a precaution. In the next two weeks, it will be decided whether Basler Fussball will be published again in a different form and in a different place.
According to Martin, solutions have been found for the editors: "Most of them were working for us on a freelance basis or with a small workload; they have all found a new job or are about to do so". The publisher will continue to publish the monthly magazine Rotweiss, which is doing very well with both readers and advertisers.

 With immediate effect, Publicitas International is taking over the representation of Publiprint (Groupe Figaro) and Zefir Web titles exclusively for the Swiss market. Publiprint owns titles such as Le Figaro, Figaro Magazine and Madame Figaro, while Zefir Web owns various online offerings such as Lefigaro.fr, L'express.fr and L'Expansion.com. Publicitas International is thus supplementing its portfolio with further business and lifestyle titles for the French market, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.

 Marco Thomann and Thomas Zesiger are taking over as presenters at Radio Sunshine in Central Switzerland. They will fill the currently vacant position of Head of Presentation and thus complement the program management, as the station announced on Wednesday.Thomann was previously employed as Deputy Head of Presentation and Zesinger as Deputy Head of Music at Radio Pilatus in Lucerne.
The program is to be further developed and expanded under the two radio producers. At the same time, the necessary structures are to be created to ensure the defined processes and internal guidelines for achieving the quality targets for the license expected in summer 2008, as the press release explains further.

The publishing house AZ Medien has announced a new online platform. Christoph Marty, Head of Cross-Media, discusses local content, role models, and the expansion of news content. Werbewoche: AZ Medien has announced a new online platform. Are you planning a new portal with its own URL, or will the existing azonline.ch site be expanded? Christoph Marty: We’re launching a new portal with its own address; however, we don’t want to disclose the URL just yet. At launch in early summer, the site will feature about 60 percent new content and about 40 percent existing content. Will the new platform primarily offer service information? Yes, we will focus heavily on services in the area of structured directories.
Why are you expanding the service section rather than traditional editorial content, as other media companies are doing? We’re doing both! As a first step, starting in early summer 2008, we’ll be expanding the information in the structured directories section. In a second phase, starting this fall, we’ll also be expanding our news coverage.
You obviously see a need for local service information? Yes, we want to provide users with information at the local level. Just as they turn to Swissquote for stock prices and the NZZ for business news, they should be able to find everything they need to know about where they live on our site—from events and clubs to local news.
Do you work with partners for this? Yes. For example, Swisstombola will provide us with information about clubs. We also have other partnerships in the works, but we don’t want to name them yet. For instance, we’ll also publish events from the Zurich, Basel, and Bern areas; however, we don’t produce this content ourselves.
The new portal will also include a section called the «Neighborhood Platform.» It will feature contributions submitted by clubs, organizations, and political parties. Will it replace the existing forum pages in the print edition of the Mittelland-Zeitung? No, those will remain. So far, we’ve only been able to print about 10 percent of the submissions we receive; the online platform will help address this. In the future, the articles printed in the newspaper will therefore be a sort of «best-of» selection.
Are community features also planned for this platform? Yes, but they will be curated by our editorial team. We want to combine editorial content with community features.
Are there any models for your new platform? We’ve certainly looked around to see what’s already out there. Our platform will certainly include elements from the German platform «Der Westen» by the WAZ Media Group, as well as aspects of the community site Meinberlin.de.
So you'll have two online presences—the newly announced platform and the existing news site azonline.ch? It's quite possible that the two sites will be merged.
How large will the editorial team be? We are adding 14 positions. By the end of the year, we should have a total of over 25 positions for our online offerings, divided among technology, editorial, and sales/marketing.
Will you be developing the portal in collaboration with other media companies? The newspapers of the Mittelland Association are part of the preparatory working group, and we hope they will also be involved in the implementation. It depends on how well our concept is received. We are also open to additional partners.
Is your platform a response to the news network announced by Tamedia, Espace Media, and Basler Zeitung Medien? Well, we are, of course, adapting to the changes in the media industry. But it’s not a direct response, because we’ve been planning this service platform for quite some time. We’re primarily responding to providers like Swisscom Directories and Local.ch, which have launched local directories.
You’re investing in online content—so the question arises: Will you also be adopting the currently popular newsroom model? Of course, it depends on how you define a newsroom—but we’ve already planned a cross-departmental news desk. The construction work for this has begun and will be completed in the fall of 2009. How TV and radio will be integrated into the news desk alongside print and online remains to be decided.

Interview: Carole Scheidegger