Stefan Erhart, previously Managing Partner of Exxtra Kommunikation, has been appointed Head of Strategic Marketing Communication at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives (FMC). He will take over some of the responsibilities of former FMC Head of Advertising Beat Mühlemann, who left the company at the beginning of February. The 41-year-old will take up his new post on July 1. He is no stranger to Migros: For the past five years, he has served as Client Service Director and Managing Partner of the advertising agency Exxtra Kommunikation, where he was responsible for the retail giant's advertising. Before that, the qualified marketing manager worked for Advico Young & Rubicam. He has a total of 18 years' experience in marketing and communication.
In his new role at the FMC, he will be responsible for the strategic management of commercial communication for the Migros brand as well as the guidelines and framework conditions for the strategic own/program and channel brands, among other things, according to the press release. Ursula Künzle will be his internal and external contact until he takes up his post. Erhart will work in a team with Künzle.

 Swiss Post wants to simplify its image and increasingly operate under the umbrella brand "Swiss Post". The Postmail and Postlogistics brands and most of the brands of the Group companies in Switzerland and abroad will be merged under this umbrella brand. For strategic and legal reasons, however, the two brands Postfinance and PostBus will remain. With the new brand structure, Swiss Post intends to offer more services from a single source, concentrate its strengths, improve the impact of communication and reduce the need for coordination. According to the Swiss Post managers, the new structure increases the chances of being recognized in the market and saves costs. It is to be implemented gradually over the next three years and map the markets from the customer's perspective. In future, national and international business customers will find six service bundles: letters, print media, document solutions, dialog solutions, logistics and e-solutions.

 
And the next marketing campaign under the sign of the round leather: On April 5 and 6, a Töggeli tournament organized by Swisscom Directories will take place at Zurich Main Station. More than 200 teams of three will play for 15 tickets to the 2008 European Football Championships at more than 20 table tennis boxes. On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., there will also be a competition among celebrities on the "center court" of the table tennis tournament. The mixture of personalities from sports, business, politics, media and the music scene promises exciting entertainment for the audience, says the Swisscom subsidiary in a press release. It will donate 10,000 Swiss francs on behalf of the winning team to a charity of the winners' choice. Online registration and info at Directories.ch.

 
The case of the two Albanian refugees who were described as criminals by the then Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher at the Albisgüetli speech in 2006 continues unabated. Now the two Albanians concerned are suing Weltwoche for publishing their addresses and photos in the winter of 2007. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Heinz Lüscher, confirmed an article in the NZZ am Sonntag to the SDA on Tuesday. The publication meant that his clients could no longer feel safe, said Lüscher. He has therefore filed a lawsuit against Weltwoche for personal injury. On behalf of the two Albanians, he is demanding compensation in the amount of 100,000 Swiss francs and publication of the verdict in Weltwoche. Before the case is heard in court, the peace court hearing will take place on April 3.
Lüscher had already filed a complaint on behalf of the two Albanians against the then Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher in 2006, but dropped the case after the Federal Council and the Control Committee (CPC) issued a statement. The CPC found that Blocher had disregarded the presumption of innocence, the refugee status of the two and the Federal Council's information principles. The fact that Blocher later told the Council of States the untruth was also unacceptable. The Federal Council regretted Blocher's statements.

 Swiss television is getting ready for Euro 08 and is stepping up its activities surrounding the football tournament two and a half months before the opening match kicks off. In addition to the already launched program "Euro 2008 - Das Magazin", the special site was launched on Tuesday. The site will provide comprehensive coverage of the tournament and the Swiss national team, as SF announced. In addition to the latest news, results and tables, the best moments before and during the tournament will be shown as videos. In the "Fanwiese" section, SF commentators and presenters will blog about Euro 08, while TV clips about the third biggest sporting event in the world will go on air at the same time. Under the claim "Euro 2008 on Swiss television. The biggest thing for us", Swiss television presenters and commentators are creating a wave that will travel throughout Switzerland and sweep the nation along with it.
In addition, Swiss star photographer Michel Comte continued the "My Switzerland - my television" campaign with eight on-screen personalities around the major football event. The 30-second spots feature the main presenters and commentators for the European Football Championship: Matthias Hüppi, Rainer Maria Salzgeber, Bernard Thurnheer, Alain Sutter, "Match" coach Gilbert Gress and the official Euro ambassadors Simone Niggli-Luder, Stéphane Chapuisat and Bernhard Russi.
Rainer Maria Salzgeber:

 
The St. Gallen agency for marketing communications Cactus and the Rorschach Internet agency Neuwerk interactive will be merged at the beginning of April 2008. Neuwerk interactive will be integrated into Cactus AG and will move to St. Gallen for this purpose, according to the statement. With the joint location, the two companies want to combine their respective strengths - total communication solutions and online solutions. Founded in 1992, Cactus and its 10-person team work for small and medium-sized companies as well as several large corporations based in Switzerland.Photo (left to right): Nando Bosshart of Neuwerk interactive and Gabriele Masciali of Cactus.

 
"We don't sell sweaters," promises a model with a neat head of curls on German billboards. Underneath is the address Keine-Pullover.de. A particularly clever teaser, you think? No, the solution can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of the poster: The announcement comes from the German War Graves Commission. What do war graves have to do with sweaters, you ask? The answer is given to us online: The War Graves Commission doesn't sell sweaters because you can't buy peace. I see. To explain this, there is another flash of inspiration on the Volksbund's website: "Our world is overcrowded with consumer goods and the advertising that points this out," it says. Of course, we would never have thought of that. Less controversial is the following sentence: "But the most important good is peace". And it is precisely this peace - or rather the measures that promote it - that the we-don't-sell-sweaters want to promote.
A laudable intention for an extremely laudable undertaking. But we wonder whether it will reach the consumer. As can be read on Horizont.net, the campaign was conceived in-house at the Volksbund. Perhaps better that way. If it had been an agency, it might soon go down in advertising history with the message "We don't sell advertising". You can see it at Wir-sind-bankrott.de.

Regus, a global provider of workplace solutions, has launched a real estate party at Zurich's Kaufleuten. The company wants to use the after-work party to raise its profile and attract industry representatives in the city on the Limmat. The agency at the airport was commissioned to create the acquisition and invitation mailing.
Responsible at Regus (Switzerland), Zurich:
Garry Gürtler (Country Manager Switzerland), Lisa Lueg (Marketing Manager, Paris). Responsible at the agency at the airport, Eugster Kommunikation, Altenrhein: René Eugster (CD), Dominique Rutishauser (AD), Benita Sutter (graphics), Patrick Lindner (text), Miriam Egli (consulting/concept).

 Following a competitive presentation, the mountain railway company St. Moritz Engadin Mountains has opted for Prime, an agency specializing in brand and corporate communications. According to the agency's press release, Head of Marketing Dieter Bogner said that three factors were decisive in winning the contract: The understanding of the brand, the quality in strategy development and the cross-disciplinary solution approaches. In addition to the brand strategy, the contract includes the development of the corporate design and overall communication. The first results of the collaboration will be seen in summer 2008. St. Moritz Engadin Mountains includes the mountain railroads in the Corviglia, Diavolezza and Muottas Muragl areas, including twelve restaurants and three hotels.

 
Unpleasant times for mobile phone operators in Switzerland: according to a report by Sonntag, every third new cell phone antenna is now the subject of an appeal. And opposition to the new sites has apparently been gradually increasing over the past two years. This is not only problematic with regard to the almost 800 planning applications currently pending from Swisscom, Sunrise and Orange, which are intended to help improve the network. The planned switch to the new UMTS transmission standard, for which an estimated 6,000 new antennas will have to be built, is also likely to be extremely time-consuming to implement. A total of around 11,000 cell phone antennas are in operation in Switzerland. Appeals can delay the construction of an antenna by up to five years. However, more than one delay has rarely been achieved; only a few dozen antennas have not been built due to objections. According to Sonntag, the Federal Court is not entirely innocent of the fact that the discussion about cell phone sites is currently being fueled even more. In a decision last summer, it apparently allowed the municipalities to exert a certain amount of influence on site planning. This further complicates the approval process.

 The Moneycab business portal has undergone a makeover to mark its seventh anniversary and now boasts a Web 2.0-style design. According to the press release, the new look brings more editorial content, links to important leading media and navigation support for mobile devices. The tabbed navigation is designed to facilitate quick orientation. The latest news from around 100 German-language sources will be integrated into the areas of Business & Economy, Stock Markets & Markets and Finance via Storyspots.com, which also belongs to Moneycab. With the new design, Moneycab aims to meet the needs of readers who want to get a quick overview of economic topics without many clicks.

 The Aargau publishing house AZ Medien wants to adapt to the changes in the media industry: It is expanding its online platform from early summer 2008 and investing in the forwarding facility at the Aarau printing center. The Board of Directors of AZ Medien has approved both steps, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. However, the decision on a possible new free newspaper has been postponed again. The new online platform will focus on the Mittelland region and Northwestern Switzerland. Among other things, it will provide users with offers in the areas of "Search & Find", business, gastronomy and services. It will also include target group-oriented services, for example on the topics of events and going out. In future, various offers will also be available via mobile. In addition to the forum pages of the printed AZ regional editions, an online database is planned. Articles submitted by associations, institutions and political parties can be published on a new multimedia "neighborhood platform" on the Internet. According to the press release, 14 additional jobs are expected to be created in the online area.
The publishing house is investing 7 million Swiss francs in the forwarding facility. The aim is to create new capacity. According to the press release, this is intended for new print products in the compact and free newspaper sector, among other things. However, no further details on these new products are given: The final decision on the realization of these projects is to be made in the first half of 2008. This further postpones the decision as to whether the announced free project from AZ Medien will be realized. Originally, the publishing house wanted to make a decision at the end of January 2008. "It is a weighty project that needs to be carefully considered," explained AZ Medien spokeswoman Eva Keller about the delay. Various models are being considered and would also be open to cooperation with other media companies.