The Audience Council of SRG Deutschschweiz has elected Sylvia Egli von Matt as the new deputy to ombudsman Achille Casanova. The election was made without discussion and unanimously, the SRG announced. The new deputy ombudswoman is the director of the Swiss School of Journalism MAZ in Lucerne. Prior to this, she gained broad professional experience as a domestic editor, freelance journalist, head of studies and media trainer. She is a founding member of the "Quality in Journalism" association and a member of national and international committees and juries for journalism awards. She succeeds Roger Blum as deputy to the SRG Ombudsman. For his part, the Bernese professor has been President of the Independent Complaints Authority since the beginning of the year (see
).

 According to some viewers, "Glanz & Gloria", the people program on Swiss television, is alleged to have carried out surreptitious advertising. This was reported by TV Star magazine. The Swiss Sat.1 presenter Anna Maier visited her godchild Nirmala in India for the aid organization World Vision, accompanied by cameras. According to viewers, the aid organization received an extremely broad platform and priceless free advertising. SF ombudsman Achille Casanova agrees with the complainants. "Important and legitimate questions" remained unanswered for the audience. For example, it remained unclear exactly what the collaboration between SF and the aid organization had looked like and why Anna Maier was presented in different roles in the report. Once as a presenter, three times as an ambassador for Hilfswerk. A few weeks earlier, "Kassensturz" had reported extremely critically on the charity, but editorial director Dani Pünter rejected the accusations. The report was primarily focused on Anna Maier as a person.

 Search engine giant Google is making headlines. Shortly after announcing that Google is launching a new tool for banner advertising (see also ), the company is already coming up with the next innovation. This time it concerns the video portal YouTube. In future, anyone will be able to create their own video page with the help of the portal - and even collect advertising revenue. YouTube is no longer just a website, but a viral distributor of content. YouTube videos can be found on all kinds of websites. Now the company is going one step further and making almost all other functions of its own site accessible to the general public. This means that anyone can recreate YouTube almost completely on their own site, without this generating more visitors for the parent site. In addition, they can of course advertise around these clips, as Spiegel.de reports.
It's crazy how Google is wasting resources, you could say. Because the movies are still being delivered from the YouTube servers. Google's generosity can only be explained by strategic arguments. The aim is to directly control as many moving images as possible that users around the world generate and post online.

Following a competitive presentation, the communications agency Rosarot Ideennetz has secured a contract from Amag Retail Switzerland to implement a long-term image campaign for the Amag Group's sales network. As Roland Imboden and Peter Picca from Amag Retail are quoted in a press release from the agency, the convincing creativity and the inclusion of a long-term marketing strategy were decisive factors in the award of the contract. The first results of the image campaign will be seen in mid-May.

 
 
Since February 25, 2008, viewers in Valais and Chablais Vaudois have been receiving SRG television channels exclusively in digital form via antenna. The switchover from analog to digital was successfully completed thanks to a comprehensive information campaign aimed at the population and TV retailers, as SRG announced on Thursday.The switch-off of the analog television signal followed a comprehensive campaign in which the population in Valais and Chablais vaudois had been regularly informed about the upcoming switchover since October 2007 (see
With the switchover in Valais and Chablais vaudois, the changeover from the analog to the digital antenna window was successfully completed in Switzerland.

 The ProSieben channel is launching a new cooking show called "Funky Kitchen Club" in the Swiss program window. The host is René Schudel from the Jungfrau region, as was reported in a press release on Thursday. In the first part of each episode, the 31-year-old, who won the "Best of Swiss Gastro Award" in the Newcomer category in 2006, creates a "culinary essence". He then uses this to prepare a menu together with guests in his restaurant "Benacus" in Interlaken. In the third part of the program, the invited guests enjoy the meal. Schudel's restaurant will remain open for guests during filming. One recipe per episode is offered as a pdf download.

 The search engine giant Google is launching a new tool for banner advertising with "Ad Manager". The special thing about it is that the tool can also be used to manage advertisements free of charge that were not sold by Google itself. With "Ad Manager", customers can place banners on websites and create performance reports - it is a kind of "advertising marketing kit", writes Spiegel.de. Users can sell the advertising space themselves or, if they still have free space, use Google Ads. The tool has already been tested by companies and was launched in a beta version on Thursday, as the New York Times reports. The latest Google child is therefore competing with providers of paid banner management systems - and thus also with its own acquisition Doubleclick, which was given the green light by the European Commission this week. According to Spiegel.de, "Ad Manager" is primarily aimed at small and medium-sized companies, while the paid version of Doubleclick is aimed at large companies.

 Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard will be beating the drum for Switzerland next Monday in Frankfurt. As part of the Euro 08 roadshow called "Icon", she wants to present the country as an attractive business and information location.  
In addition to Leuthard, Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank, and Jean-Pierre Roth, President of the Swiss National Bank, will also be discussing the global financial market at an event as part of the roadshow.
With this presentation, Switzerland is using Euro 08 to promote its own cause. Switzerland Tourism and the Swiss Confederation are taking the advertising message to six European cities. After stops in Berlin and Düsseldorf, the journey will take in Amsterdam, Paris and Milan.

 
 
There will be a change at the top of the Zurich agency Angelink: The previous managing director Andy Waar is leaving to realize his dream of a trip around the world. He will be replaced by two new faces, owner Markus Gabriel told Werbewoche. "We want to reorganize: In the future, there will be a division manager for classic advertising and a division manager for the online division." The new woman for the classic area has already joined the team: it is the Spaniard Inma Mendiola. She trained in communications on the Iberian Peninsula and then worked for agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi. She came to Switzerland three years ago and worked here for the Küsnacht agency Unikat and Walder Werbung in Uster.
The position as head of Internet advertising has not yet been filled. Gabriel is holding talks to this effect and expects to have the right man or woman in his agency in April or May. According to Gabriel, the reason for the reorganization is that the previous structure proved to be too inflexible when it came to growth. In addition, the new executives can now concentrate fully on their areas, which is particularly necessary in the rapidly developing Internet advertising business.
Once the two positions are filled, the agency owner wants to focus more on conception and creation rather than operations. "I've actually wanted to do that for the last year and a half since Andy Waar took office - but it turned out that the clients didn't always go along with that: They were used to me always being on the front lines and wanted that to continue," Gabriel says. He is now taking a new approach with the dual leadership, but is aware: "After all, as the owner, you are always also the managing director".

 
The Rentahess agency has realized another poster campaign in yellow for Radio Zürisee. It was launched on Monday in and around Zurich, as detailed in a press release on Thursday. Claims such as "The best of radio for 25 years" and "We've been making the best waves for 25 years" are used to draw attention to the station's anniversary.

Responsible at Radio Zürisee:
Matthias Kost (overall responsibility, Marketing Director). Responsible at Rentahess: Christoph Hess (concept, text), xDuba.ch Urs Dubach (graphics).

 
Autoscout24's "HotCars-Quartett" (winner of Best of Swiss Web 2008, Online & Mobile Campaigns category), which was realized last year by the Maxomedia agency, is entering its second round: in the second edition of the game, friends or acquaintances can be invited to play along via the "Tell-a-friend" function. If the invitee registers for the HotCars quartet, the sender of the "Tell-a-friend" mails will receive half of their earnings and five new cards for ten days. There is now also the option of sending a message to your mostly anonymous opponent at the end of a game, which is based on the classic card quartet and is played online. Car lovers and game enthusiasts challenge each other to a quartet game by e-mail. The principle is simple: the card with the higher value wins and goes to the winner. The aim is to collect as many quartets as possible and deposit them in the "bank". The more money you have in the bank, the higher the value of the prizes you can win.

 The Miss Zurich finalists can look forward to it: Their first public appearance is just around the corner. No, it's not an autograph session in Volkiland - they've come up with something a little more original: The twelve pretty ladies are lending a helping hand to the crisis-ridden Swiss banking scene. On Friday, they are to whisk stressed bankers and other business people away from their offices and give them "relaxing vibrations" during lunchtime in the Sihlcity shopping center. Whoever thinks this is a bad idea will be mistaken - it is apparently a power plate workout and not a tingling vibrating massage. Nevertheless, even the unathletic won't miss out: If the girls smile nicely, then it's a win.