The Swiss Commission on Fair Trading (SC) has presented its activity report for 2007 and looks back on the past year. Last spring, Aargau National Councillor Pascale Bruderer was elected as the new President of the Swiss Commission on Fair Trading. One of the concerns of Doris Leuthard's successor from the outset was to raise the profile of the Commission, according to a press release. It was decided to publish all cases that have been dealt with and decided by the Commission on its own homepage. The respective company names will be covered (see ). There is a great deal of interest in the Fairness Commission: According to the press release, hardly a day goes by without the LK press office being contacted by an editorial team. The interest of the electronic media is strikingly high. The topic of sexism also kept the commission very busy last year: 15.7 percent of all complaints concerned this problem. The LK has therefore decided to revise principle no. 3.11. Among other things, a separate offence has been created for cases in which stereotyping calls into question the equality of the sexes. Another new addition is the possibility of penalizing inappropriate depictions of sexuality.
It is interesting to note that the proportion of objections in terms of media has shifted considerably. In 2005, 57.1 percent of complaints concerned advertising on posters, but this figure fell to 30.3 percent in 2007. On the other hand, there was a marked increase in print media: from 17.9 percent in 2005 to 41.1 percent in 2007.

The Lausanne-based agency Trio has been strengthened by the addition of concept developer/ copywriter Aline Di Silvestro. She earned her spurs at the agencies Wirz in Zurich, Publicis Lausanne and Saatchi & Saatchi Simko in Geneva. She then founded Adrenaline Communication Booster and worked for regional and national agencies. She is involved in the associations Créatifs Romands, Fédération romande de publicité (FRP) and the copywriters' association Script.

Daniel Truttmann, currently Head of Trade Magazines at Axel Springer Switzerland, will also become Publishing Director of the business titles Handelszeitung and Bilanz as of April 1, 2008. The 39-year-old will take over this role from Ralph Büchi. In addition to his position as Head of Axel Springer Switzerland, Büchi has also been President of Axel Springer International since the beginning of the year. Truttmann will relieve Büchi of the operational management of the business media division in future, the publishing house announced. However, the editors-in-chief of Handelszeitung and Bilanz will continue to report directly to Büchi.
Also from April 1, 38-year-old Christian Santa, previously Product Manager in the Trade Magazines division, will take over as Advertising Manager for the business magazines published by Axel Springer Schweiz. These include the titles Schweizer Bank, Private Banking, Schweizer Versicherung, Io New Management, PME Magazine and Haus Tech.
Patrizia Serra will remain in charge of publishing the investor magazine Stocks and will also be responsible for sales marketing at Axel Springer Switzerland at the extended management level.

 The departure of Stephan Gartenmann has resulted in a change in management at Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich: Editor-in-chief Markus Hegglin is also taking over the management of the publishing company Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich AG, which is owned by Tamedia and NZZ. He succeeds Gartenmann, who is leaving Tamedia, on April 1 (see ). In addition, the Tagblatt, which is now published weekly, will have a new advertising manager in Daniel Fritsche. He previously worked in the sales team of the Tages-Anzeiger.

 Change in the management of Inufa Transport Rundschau: As of July 1, 51-year-old Beat Keiser will replace the previous editor-in-chief Jürgen Hildebrandt. Keiser, who studied law and knows the commercial vehicle scene inside out, has been responsible for communications at Astag since 1998. He has also worked as an editor and test driver for the association's magazine Strassentransport. Prior to this, he held various positions in industry and public administration in the areas of public relations, advertising and communication.Inufa Transport Rundschau has been part of Swiss Professional Media since the beginning of the year. In addition to Technische Rundschau, the publishing house also publishes the international transport magazine ITZ, the magazine Logistik & Fördertechnik and the annual Swisstrans catalog. It employs around 85 permanent staff and 300 freelancers at its Basel site.

 The SRG radio station in Basel is in danger. As the Basler Zeitung reported at the end of January (see ), SRG is currently examining various projects. One of these envisages housing the entire Swiss-German radio station centrally in a new building next to the television studio in Zurich. Councillors Lukas Engelberger (CVP) and Urs Müller (Green Alliance) have asked the government questions about the future of the Basel radio studio. These have now been answered. The government council of the city of Basel, together with that of Baselland and possibly other governments, will "fight against a renewed marginalization of Basel as a radio location", they write according to
Basler Zeitung in a press release. The government currently has no updated assurances regarding the medium and long-term continued existence of the Basel-based broadcasters DRS 2 and Virus. Whether regional journalism will also be produced in Zurich in the future cannot be answered at present, and according to current information, the Basel studio currently has 130 full-time positions, spread over 183 people. It is important that the Basel region features in the Radio DRS program and is reflected according to its importance, the cantonal government further emphasized. According to the cantonal government, the departure of the cultural station DRS 2 would be a serious loss.

 Following the "Big Bed" TV commercial for Supradyn, Bayer Switzerland commissioned the Zurich agency JWT+H+F to develop a radio commercial on the same theme. The TV commercial implements the claim "Supradyn helps to recharge your batteries in case of vitamin deficiency" by showing an exhausted woman in a bed that is far too big. The radio commercial now uses an acoustic gag. The speaker is slowly but surely running out of juice. The solution: Fortunately there is Supradyn, which recharges her batteries. Responsible at Bayer: Kerstin Heini (Brand Manager). Responsible at JWT+H+F: Mike Krüll (Creative Direction / Text), Petra Nigg (Consulting), JingleJungle (Sound Recording, Technology).

 Zurich radio producer Roger Schawinski's new station went into full operation early Monday morning. Radio 1 started at 5:30 a.m. sharp with a short news program and the weather forecast. The broadcast started without incident. Morning presenters Marc Jäggi and Irina Hollander left it at a brief reference to the launch of the full program.
Since then, as announced, only hits from the past decades can be heard. Schawinski's concept is to broadcast a maximum of three current songs per hour and otherwise rely on a large selection of hits from days gone by.
 
After the Zurich City Council forwarded a recommendation to the Federal Council to grant a license to the new station, which is expressly designed "for adults", thereby snubbing the stations Radio 24 and Radio Energy, which are very popular with listeners, owner Schawinski can look to the future with confidence.
With Radio 1, he claims to offer high-quality information and discussion programs. To achieve this goal, he has put together an editorial team of highly experienced journalists. The program includes a daily column, a political satire and a focus show. In addition to many former employees of Schawinski's former station Radio 24, Weltwoche publisher Roger Köppel and Persönlich editor-in-chief Matthias Ackeret have also been signed up as columnists.
 
The start of broadcasting therefore went smoothly. However, the station's new website was not accessible on Monday morning. As editorial director Sandro Brotz explained when asked by SDA, the web server collapsed due to the large number of page views. They are busy fixing the problem.

 After 19 years at Tamedia, Stephan Gartenmann is moving to the "new" Publicitas at the end of April to become Head of Allmedia Sales. The 40-year-old will be responsible for the Allmedia strategy in the sales organization, provide sales support in the regions, drive forward the reorganization of Publicitas and support the Electronic & Interactive division. Gartenmann is currently Head of Regional Market Newspapers Zurich at Tamedia and in this function Publishing Director of the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich. At Publicitas, he will report directly to Thomas Bargetzi, CEO Sales Switzerland. He expressed his enthusiasm for the new appointment in a press release: "When Stephan Gartenmann called me, I didn't have to think twice. I am delighted that we have been able to recruit a marketing and publishing expert with in-depth knowledge of the industry for this new position". Gartenmann has acquired a great deal of management experience and solid knowledge of all aspects of the media market during his many years at Tamedia.

 The Japanese luxury brand Infiniti attracted attention at the Geneva Motor Show with a special whispering tactic. Attractive ambassadors from the company, which is part of Nissan Motors, whispered confidential messages into the ears of elegant and discerning visitors - the potential target audience - around the stand. "Infiniti is coming to Europe" or "Would you like to know the way to Infiniti, the new luxury brand?". According to a press release, this strategy enabled Infiniti to successfully assert itself against the deafening brand noise of the competition and steal the show in Geneva. The campaign, which was implemented for Infiniti at the Geneva Motor Show by the agency OMD Fuse, had the motto "Scream softly".

Manor's new branding is being communicated not only with Wirz Werbung's communication campaign, but also with a flowery three-dimensional idea. The event agency.ch has come up with something entirely in keeping with the new claim "Donnons du style à la vie": The new poster campaign from March 12 to 15, 2008 was staged using small trees in spring-like bloom. In locations such as Basel, Chur, Lausanne and Vevey, even the large trees on the street were dressed in spring-like blossoms overnight. The flowers consist of a red manor blossom in the middle and a white blossom in the background. The lilac trees will be sold on Wednesday to benefit WWF's "My Action for the Amazon" campaign. According to the agency, buyers will save at least 200 square meters of trees in the Amazon for a year.
Responsible at Manor:
Walter Tagliaferri (Head of Communications/ Media), Nicole Calegari (Project Management), Roman A. Müller (Overall Responsibility/ Marketing Director). Responsible at Eventagentur.ch AG: Daniela Hediger (project management) Yvonne Hartmann (sub-project manager), Elmar Schäfer (overall responsibility), Dekoplus: Christoph Hagedorn (decoration and flowering) Lüscher und Hirschmüller: Hubert Lüscher (technical implementation), Thomas Zimmermann (photos), Wirz Werbung: Petra Dreyfus (consulting).

 Findus is focusing on natural ingredients: Its lasagna, cannelloni, and Les Gratins product lines are now available without artificial colors or flavor enhancers. This message is highlighted in the new print campaign by Publicis. The campaign also avoids any mention of flavor enhancers in its content. The ads are designed to show in an honest and clear way that Findus frozen foods are naturally good, according to the agency. Findus now plans to continuously expand its «Naturally Good» quality standard across its entire frozen food range and is also communicating that its fish products—such as the Schlemmer fillets—are certified by the MSC, ensuring sustainable fishing practices. Contact at Nestlé Findus:
Roger Matter (Marketing Manager, Frozen Food Retail). Publicis team: Philipp Skrabal (Creative Director), Lori Fischer (Art Director), Serge Deville (Copywriter), Viviana Chiosi (Graphic Designer), Muriel Asté, Judith Hoeck (Consulting), Bianca Nerlich (Production), Martina Meier (Photography), Karin Messerli (Food Styling).