The Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) is once again cracking down on Swiss television for surreptitious advertising. According to a report in the Sonntagszeitung over the weekend, the January 12 episode of «Swiss Award» allegedly featured improper promotion of VW cars and Omega watches, and the sponsors were not adequately disclosed. The award winners—Jörg Abderhalden, Marc Forster, and others—were driven to the studio in VW sedans; four VWs were also raffled off among the audience; and Omega watches were included in the prizes awarded to the celebrities. Although VW was named as a sponsor during the program, that may not be sufficient. OFCOM has now requested that SF submit the sponsorship contracts. If the suspicion of surreptitious advertising is confirmed, the Federal Office will initiate a regulatory investigation. Just under 900,000 people watched the show, in which Swiss wrestling champion Jörg Abderhalden was named ’Swiss of the Year,« with Hollywood director Marc Forster and Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte taking the next spots.

 The news portal of the free newspaper 20 Minuten is expanding its offering and launching a finance channel. It is aimed at online users interested in business and finance and is intended to supplement the news offering specifically in the area of finance. The sponsoring partner of the channel is Postfinance. Users can find the latest stock market and financial news, the SMI, DAX, STOXX 50, Dow Jones, Nasdaq and Nikkei indices as well as exchange rates, interest rates and metal and energy prices in the Finance Channel. The indices can be viewed as an overview as well as in detail with all stocks, the winners and losers of the day. A comprehensive stock search is also available. The offer is supplemented by various financial calculators, current investment products and the Postfinance trading platform.

The Swiss publishing house Ringier is expanding its offering in the Far East. From May, Ringier Trade Publishing will publish a total of 30 trade magazines. The new magazine Salon Today China positions itself in China as a business magazine for beauty and wellness owners. The monthly magazine presents the latest innovations in the wellness sector. According to Ringier, the associated website already has 28,160 subscribers. "Trade magazines are developing very well in China. We will continue to launch two to three new titles every year and expand our online activities," said Thomas Trüeb, Head of Ringier Pacific, in a statement on Monday.
The next magazine to be published in May will be Metal Finishing China. It is aimed at the Chinese metal industry.

 
In future, Ruf Lanz will take part in significantly fewer awards than before and instead concentrate on the "most rigorous" national and international competitions. These include the "Swiss Championship" of the ADC, the "European Championship" Eurobest and the "World Championship" in Cannes, according to a press release. According to agency owners Markus Ruf and Danielle Lanz, the reason for this is "the ever-increasing number of awards and the unwillingness to employ a secretary just to fill out entry forms". Ruf Lanz has decided not to take part in the upcoming New York Festival or the ADC Germany. She has also not submitted any work to the Swiss DM Award.
The withdrawal comes after several successful competition years. The agency - which has been consistently ranked in the top 3 in Werbewoche's annual creative ranking for five years - has regularly won awards, particularly in the DM category, such as a Gold, Silver and Bronze Lion in Cannes.

 
Search engine provider Google is not at all pleased about Microsoft's expansion plans. After it became known that the software giant had made an offer of almost 45 billion dollars to the faltering website Yahoo, Yahoo's competitor Google has now reacted with strong words. Google Vice President David Drummond accused Microsoft of aiming for an Internet monopoly with the purchase of Yahoo. The new conglomerate MicroYahoo would dominate the market, particularly in messenger and e-mail services. "It's about the fundamental principles of the Internet: openness and innovation," Drummond wrote in the official weblog of the company from Mountain View in the US state of California. Microsoft rejected the accusations and warned against a Google search monopoly. A merger with Yahoo would lead to more competition in Internet search and online advertising. "If monopolists call monopolists monopolists, then we are in the Internet year 2008," wrote the online platform Wuv.de very aptly.Microsoft had stated, citing market research data, that Google controlled three quarters of global search sales, while Microsoft and Yahoo together accounted for 20 percent.
According to the latest industry rumors, Yahoo is currently planning to drive up the price for the takeover by Microsoft and is also considering cooperations with Google or a sale to another interested party.
As was announced on Monday, Google has now offered its arch-rival Yahoo "all possible help" to fend off the takeover. Google boss Eric Schmidt offered Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang his full support over the phone. There is now intense speculation about a cooperation between the two search giants. Yahoo could outsource its own Internet search at low cost and run it via the Google search function. However, Google's own takeover bid is considered unlikely for competition law reasons.

The tenth course of the ADC/BSW creative school came to an end at the end of January 2008. The conclusion of the seven-month course was marked by the awarding of prizes for the final projects at the ADC Gala. 19 young creatives were briefed to breathe new life into the Uhu brand. Almost everyone still knows Uhu, but the competition is huge and inexpensive no-name private labels are conquering the market. To make matters worse for the students, Uhu made a breakthrough in research with Uhu Verso. A second tube, which quickly separates objects that have been glued together, is to be made known to consumers. The message: Thanks to Uhu Verso, you always have a second chance.
Gold was won by the concept "Uhu Verso sticks. Uhu Verso solves." by the young art directors Peter Brunner, Stoll, Traber und Partner, Bern; Marianne Friedli, Walker Werbeagentur, Zurich; Philipp Lüthi, Cosmic Werbeagentur, Bern and Barney Rees, Euro RSCG Zurich.
The next course at the creative school starts in August this year.

The Zurich advertising agency Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett has secured a new mandate in a selection process. SFLB is now responsible for the communication of Mum Deodorants. It has been commissioned by Mum - a licensed brand of Doetsch Grether AG - with an international campaign. The result, which according to a statement from the agency will show Mum from a fresher side, is to be seen this spring in England, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

 
Anyone who has read the book will not have forgotten the scene in which the protagonist Octave Parangos has to leave a meeting bleeding from a slight excess of cocaine in his nose. Parangos is a copywriter at one of the largest French agencies, the meeting is about a multi-million euro contract, but if the blood drips onto his white shirt, what else is there to do but leave cold? We are talking about the cult novel "99 francs" ("39.90") by the French author, journalist and former advertising copywriter Frédéric Beigbeder, who offers an unsparing but also ludicrous reckoning with his time in the Paris advertising industry. He describes it as disillusioned to the point of cynicism, morally bankrupt, the spearhead of a borderline-debauched consumer society - and, of course, quite coked up. Beigbeder proved just how autobiographically inspired the novel, published in 2000, was when he was caught red-handed by the police pulling a line of coke from the hood of a car near the 8th arrondissement. Initially, the 42-year-old and his friend fled, but they were caught by the police. After a brief detention and a relief of two sachets of cocaine, they were released. The only suspicious thing about the episode is that the sequel to the novel "99 francs" has been on the market for six months. Somehow the whole thing smells not only of coke, but also of a promotional tour.

Following a multi-stage evaluation process, researchers at EPFL Lausanne have selected the McCann Erickson agency as their partner for the entire integrated communication of the "Frontiers" scientific publication concept. "Frontiers is a scientific publication system in which scientific work is evaluated, reviewed and improved by other scientists. The publications are published online and, at the upper level, as a comprehensive printed journal.
As a first step, McCann Erickson has developed the corporate design including templates for publications, brochures, journals and a trade fair stand. The next major task is to hand over the entire online publication platform to McCann Erickson and its partner MRM Worldwide. An advertising campaign and other activities are also being planned. The agency is also hinting at another contract: Another major project from EPFL Lausanne is already in the pipeline and is also likely to find its way to McCann Erickson, according to a statement.
Responsible at EPFL/Frontiers Research Foundation:
Prof. Henry Markram (President), Dr. Kamila Markram (Vice-President), Dr. Fred Fenter (Frontiers Editorial Director). Responsible at McCann: Timo Kirez (CD), Amina Belkasmi (AD), Sandra Panchard (consulting), kGeneva (production), Urs Jaermann (overall responsibility).

The campaign for the Swiss Music Awards, which will be presented for the first time on February 27, was launched in the past few days. The creatives at ZürichTokio were commissioned to develop a corporate design, TV commercials, advertisements, a jingle, a website and the design of the awards. The aim was to make the Swiss Music Awards known to a wide audience and to encourage people to vote online. The young Swiss Music Awards were to be given an unmistakable, modern face. A requirement that was not easy to fulfill given the tight budget, according to the agency. Daniel Donati, owner of ZürichTokio, is now very satisfied with the result. The collaboration with the IFPI, who initiated the event, was also fun. The campaign will therefore continue next year in the same rhythm.
Responsible at Swiss Music Awards:

Oliver Rosa (Executive Producer). Responsible at ZürichTokio: Daniel Donati (Creative Direction), Karin Glarner (Art Direction), Niels Schäfer (Graphics), Micha Schmid (DTP), Rahel Isler (Consulting), Adrienne Purkert (Text). Animation TV spot: Combo Entertainment - Roman Peritz (Director/Producer), Siro Micheroli (Director/Producer), Milos May (AD/Postproduction). Sound: Peter Bräcker.

The Baden-based agency Grey will now take care of all communications matters for the financial services provider IBG. IBG Financial Markets emerged from the International Bank of Greece in 2001. Large national and international banks in particular use the services of the company, which is based in Switzerland and overseas. This will serve as the basis for all further tasks.

Now the cat is out of the bag: Migros' new head of marketing is Oskar Sager. The current CEO of the family business, Sager has previously worked for Migros, but also for its competitor Coop. With his new post, he will also become a member of Migros' Executive Board.
After studying at the University of St.Gallen, Sager worked for Migros for four years: First as project manager in sales and marketing at the Migros Cooperative Zurich and then as assistant to Erich Gugelmann, then vice president of the FMC administrative delegation and head of marketing. Later, Sager was Managing Director of Interio Switzerland for five years. From 1995, he headed Coop Mittelland and then the Northwest Switzerland region. A year ago, he joined Sager, a family business operating in the insulation materials sector in Dürrenäsch (AG), as CEO. According to the press release, the 51-year-old will join Migros in the coming weeks and succeed Urs Riedener, who will become CEO of milk processor Emmi on March 3.
The Federation of Migros Cooperatives announced on Friday that the new Head of Marketing had been appointed, but that the name would not yet be given out of consideration for internal communications at the current place of work.