Entrepreneur Adriano Agosti has not been elected to the Board of Directors of kiosk group Valora. At Wednesday's Annual General Meeting, shareholders voted 707,599 to 817,124 against his election to the supervisory body and instead elected Rolando Benedick and Markus Fiechter, who had been proposed by Valora's management. The months-long power struggle (see also ), to which Chairman of the Board Fritz Ammann had already fallen victim, has thus been decided. The Group's management ultimately prevailed over the group of investors led by Agosti, who had noticeably strong reservations about shareholder Agosti, who holds a share package of just over four percent. Among other things, it was argued that his demands were exaggerated in view of his small stake. There was also a possible conflict of interest because Agosti is also a fund manager.

 The Zurich High Court has comprehensively acquitted Paul Grau, the managing director of the private broadcaster Star TV, of the charge of pornography. Two other defendants, representatives of MMS value-added service providers, on the other hand, were convicted of multiple counts of failing to prevent a punishable publication. The high court thus largely overturned a decision by the Zurich district court. In the fall of 2006, the court had fined all three defendants between 2,500 and 5,000 Swiss francs. The accusation was that the media entrepreneurs were responsible for sex offers on cell phones: Underage youths could download porn videos broadcast at night as MMS to their cell phones (see
). The defense lawyers, on the other hand, spoke only of an unpunishable sin of omission on the part of their clients. The responsibility for controlling young people and their television consumption would be borne by the adults. In the case of Star TV's managing director, the defense was successful. He merely made broadcasting time available for advertising in return for payment, as stated in the written verdict.
The other two defendants, on the other hand, had indisputably accepted that people of the age of consent could directly receive MMS with pornographic content using appropriately equipped telephone devices, the higher court judges went on to write. The motive for the crime had been financial interests.
The superior court judges assessed the offense as failure to prevent a punishable publication, but not as pornography. The former managing director of the company Lawa as well as a representative of Televox were therefore sentenced to conditional fines of 90 daily rates of 55 Swiss francs each.
The court awarded Paul Grau, who was acquitted, compensation of 4,000 Swiss francs. However, he has to bear one third of the costs for the first instance proceedings.

Soft drinks Schweppes is increasingly becoming a popular aperitif and party drink. Feldschlösschen Getränke is taking this development into account and is focusing on a young and dynamic target audience with its new campaign. Advico Young & Rubicam has adapted the campaign for the Swiss market based on the new identity. The posters and advertisements show dancers in a surreal setting. This symbolizes their emotions, the beat of the music and the sparkling freshness of Schweppes. The print campaign is complemented by an in-store spot that dramatizes the upcoming party atmosphere with Schweppes.

 The Zurich agency Jung von Matt/Limmat has won the contract to handle the Sonntagsblick budget as part of an agency evaluation. The Zurich agency will realize a national brand campaign for the Ringier newspaper, which will be on display from April 2008. Commenting on the choice of agency, Sonntagsblick publishing director Thomas Passen said in a press release: "Jung von Matt/Limmat understands what makes the media world tick and has absolutely convinced us with its know-how and creativity." Dominique von Matt told Werbewoche that his agency will focus on cross-media: "The campaign will run on various channels". He did not want to reveal any further details, but was enthusiastic about the new client: "There is a clear sense of new beginnings and momentum in this title. The campaign should definitely reflect this."
Euro RSCG previously held the Sonntagsblick mandate, but the corresponding contract was not renewed last November (see
). Ringier spokesman Marco Castellaneta cited the "phase of complete renewal" that had taken place at Sonntagsblick last year as the reason.

The Baden-based agency Mach Corporate & Werbung has created the design concept for the CVP magazine Die Politik. It is also responsible for the ongoing design of the front pages. The twelve-page monthly magazine has been published since February 2005 and has increased its circulation from 8,000 to 10,000 copies during this time. It sees itself as a mouthpiece against political polarization and aims to reflect the values and positions of the CVP. In addition to the German edition, an identical version is published in French. The front pages designed by Mach consist of three elements: Concise main message, striking image and finally a solution approach. Responsible at CVP Switzerland:
Barbara Häseli (Editor-in-Chief, General Secretariat). Responsible at Mach Corporate & Advertising: Rolf Kälin (CD), Louis Dreyer (Consulting).

 Farmer Jürgen is desperately looking for a wife. One who will look after his farm, do the kitchen work and also provide some evening entertainment from time to time. Unfortunately, the two women he finds on the rustic romance show "Bauer sucht Frau" on the German private TV channel RTL suddenly don't want either of them. The lanky Jürgen is simply "too nice" for 32-year-old Cornelia. She refers him to her plump rival Gun-Britt (30 years old, has never had a relationship), who she knows would be only too happy to complete a one-week test phase on Jürgen's farm. Jürgen, however, being the clumsy type that he is, acknowledges the women's ritual in front of everyone with the words: "Well, a bit slimmer would be nicer, wouldn't it? You could watch dramas like this on the RTL show every week until the end of the year. Now the third season has been nominated for the prestigious Grimme Award. However, the rural matchmaking show is by no means a German invention: 25 years ago, Swiss television brought farmers together in the show "Bauer sucht Bäuerin" (Farmer seeks farmer's wife). Schweiz Aktuell is currently rebroadcasting the episodes every Monday as part of a review. However, it is far more tame than the German adaptation.

 There is to be a change in operational management at the Swiss Public Relations Institute (SPRI): the previous director Christoph Ottiger is leaving "due to differences of opinion", according to a press release. He and the Board of Trustees disagreed on the future strategic direction of the educational institution. The search for a successor has been initiated. In the meantime, the committee of the Board of Trustees, headed by President Marion Starck, will take the helm itself. Ottiger worked for five years as a lecturer, course and study director as well as a member of the management and director.

 
As CEO of the restructured Keystone, Jann Jenatsch is focusing on continuity and plans to offer video soon. 
The takeover of the Keystone picture agency by the Austria Press Agency (APA) and the Swiss News Agency (SDA) came as "a bit of a surprise" to everyone at the beginning of this year. But for Jann Jenatsch, who was promoted from COO to CEO with this structural change, this solution is the best. "Keystone has been transferred to an area where the agency belongs. It could have gone very differently and we would have been sold to some investors." With publishers and media producers as the new owners, Jenatsch sees an opportunity to "do in future what the former owners were aiming for with the sale, namely to guarantee continuity and enable development". A change had been on the cards for some time. Walter Grolimund, who took over Keystone 17 years ago and was able to develop it from a small agency into the most important image provider in Switzerland, only wants to remain active as Chairman of the Board of Directors. His life's work has attracted various investors. "The breadth of Keystone's offering is unique in Switzerland. And images are becoming increasingly important, not just for visualizing trendy websites." No one can pull a stock of images like Keystone's off the cuff in a hurry. Not even the know-how that Jann Jenatsch has been able to build up with his team at Keystone as longstanding production manager and number two alongside Grolimund.
So it really is "business as usual", the new CEO can reassure his customers. However, there will be a few interesting new features. The new owners APA and SDA promise synergies. In cooperation with the news agency in Switzerland, Keystone wants to bring the images even closer to the text - "everything from a single source". Thanks to the Austrian partners, there is a technological boost, as APA is already further ahead in this area and employs 70 people in its IT department - at Keystone it is 5. As APA is largely owned by ORF, video already plays an important role in Vienna. This is a potential that Jenatsch has long recognized for Switzerland as well.
This is why Keystone is launching a video unit in March: "We have little chance of competing with television." However, moving images will certainly experience a boom in the form of web videos as an extension of photos. "There is a need, we have the know-how, and the online media are already looking forward to it," Jenatsch reveals. However, the 20 permanently employed photographers will not be used for the new service. The new department is being set up in parallel and will have its own specialists. "The photographer has to condense the event into one image, the VJ tells the story in the form of a sequence. These are two different approaches."
Jenatsch himself has become acquainted with the world of images in all areas of his career. The Grisons native studied architecture in Zurich. At the age of 25, his parents thought that he could now start to look after himself. So he looked for a job alongside ETH and ended up "as a gofer" at Keystone. "Those were different times," he laughs and remembers the office at Zurich's Seilergraben, "close to the Safari Bar". Jenatsch had to pack the repros in envelopes, take them to the station and buy sandwiches on the way back. However, he soon discovered more challenging photographic jobs. In the late 1980s, Jenatsch set up the first color lab for Keystone. That was the time when you still had to duplicate slides for advertising clients, for example.
Because he thought he was doing everything better than his employer - "which is normal at that age" - he founded his own agency "Delay" in addition to his work as an editor at Keystone. With this agency, Jenatsch and his partners Christoph Ruckstuhl (now NZZ) and Willi Helfenberger (now 20 Minuten) were able to hold their own for five years as official festival photographers for the film scene in Locarno and Solothurn. Jenatsch also photographed stars such as Louis Malle in Paris and Robert De Niro in Berlin for Delay. However, this assignment for Japanese media turned out to be a flop. The dream of getting a superstar like De Niro in front of the camera in an exclusive shot was so exciting that Jenatsch "failed a little".
At Keystone, Jenatsch was in charge of infographics and also designed them himself. From 1996, he also set up the image database and developed what is now the largest department at Keystone. For the last seven years, he worked as production manager and "right-hand man" to Walter Grolimund.
An important challenge for the new CEO will be to continue to position Keystone correctly for the needs of advertisers. Although the company has been producing and distributing themed and stock images since 1981, Keystone is still largely seen as a news agency. "Due to its presence in the newspapers, this is almost inevitable." However, Keystone works "extremely broadly" and is therefore working hard to expand commissioned photography for companies, associations and organizations.
Jenatsch derives his passion for the job from his enjoyment of the pictures. Today, he only takes photos himself on vacation. Jenatsch experiences "Project Switzerland" at the agency as an ideal substitute for a hobby. He works with external photographers to create a visual documentation of the state of our country. The "Swiss football landscape" is currently being photographed. The 250 pictures on the subject of "football in the broadest sense" will be on display in an exhibition in Winterthur in the spring.
Andreas Panzeri

 The Hamburg-based publishing house Gruner und Jahr becomes the sole owner of the business newspaper Financial Times Deutschland (FTD). The British media group Pearson sells its 50 percent stake in the newspaper to the Bertelsmann subsidiary. Pearson publishes the English parent paper Financial Times. The two publishers did not disclose the purchase price on Wednesday in London and Hamburg. The purchase agreement reportedly provides for a long-term license agreement under which Pearson grants the German publishing house a license to use the newspaper name and editorial content. The sale must still be approved by the competition authorities.
FTD is to become part of Gruner und Jahr's business media publishing group. The monthly magazines Capital and Impulse as well as the weekly investor magazine Börse Online will also be published there.

Column The panic of decision-makers: Five follies on the road to self-cannibalizationThe industry press may celebrate the incident with a news flash - because, from a purely geographical point of view, the event took place far away: for the third time in three years, the Los Angeles Times, one of the world's great quality newspapers, has lost its editor-in-chief because he lost out in a gruelling clinch with the company's management over the appropriate resources for his editorial office. It is not only in California, however, that editor-in-chief's chairs have become uncomfortable ejector seats from which even journalists spoiled by success are catapulted out overnight. This is an alarm signal, but also a sign of helplessness.
An alarm signal, because the triple failure gives an idea of how much energy has been consumed in cutback management and how heated the mood must be in an editorial office that lurches from one drastic round of cuts to the next - also because its newspaper has become the plaything of investors who are suspected, not without good reason, of wanting to cash in as soon as possible and not tie up their funds in the long term in an industry that seems doomed.
A sign of helplessness, because at the moment nobody in the newspaper industry knows whether and how money can still be earned with quality journalism on printed paper in ten years' time. This is obviously leading to panic reactions, even among experienced decision-makers, which can only be described as self-cannibalization:
Folly No. 1 was to offer "everything for free" online, which, if produced using conventional printing technology, would still be expensive to sell. Imagine Coca Cola giving away its brew in modern plastic bottles, while raising the price of the same product in glass. It is hardly any different for all those publishers who put their content online for "free" while continuing to charge for printed paper via the old distribution channels. The value of their own highly respected brands was recognized too late in the newspaper industry - and tarnished by playing cheap on the web for fear of Microsoft, Google & Co.
Folly no. 2 was and is to flood the newspaper market itself with free products. Although this initially made a lot of money in Switzerland (20 Minuten), the imitators (Cash daily, heute, .ch and News) are already having a much harder time. However, all of them together are certainly causing damage to the (mostly in-house) quality titles. For one thing, the advertising market for print products is not unlimited. Secondly, it is not only Blick readers who are switching to free titles. Presumably, each and every one of us will occasionally take advantage of this - and thus save a few francs that we would have to pay at the newsstand for a quality paper and that their editorial teams urgently need.  
Folly no. 3 is a direct consequence of folly nos. 1 and 2: Where there is no longer enough money for in-house editorial work, the floodgates are wide open for free PR supplies. Successful in
However, PR placed in the editorial section undermines journalistic credibility. And it also reduces the advertising revenue of newspaper publishers if the intended communication purpose can be achieved more cheaply through public relations than with an advertisement.
The fact that good business can be done with "collateral products" was recognized by publishers as late as the brand value of their publications themselves - but late is better than too late.
Folly no. 4, however, is to promote the company's own labels and products in the editorial section without any inhibitions. This also undermines the credibility of journalism, at least for intelligent readers.
Folly no. 5 was and is to plunder editorial budgets at will. When healthy flesh is amputated, editorial offices bleed to death; journalistic quality and credibility are once again damaged - and folly no. 3 is further encouraged.
The tragicomedy of the Los Angeles Times is that the beginning of its decline is blamed on a top manager who, as an industry outsider, showed his newspaper and the industry ways out of the crisis in an almost visionary way: Mark Willes. The man, who came from the food industry, brought with him clever marketing ideas that could have saved the big newspaper tanker from rocking without damaging the paper's integrity. Instead of following his lead, he was scandalized by his own editorial team and competitors - and ultimately stripped of his power.
Willes is now retired and living in Hawaii. He will probably be waiting with bated breath to see when people in Los Angeles, and perhaps also in Europe, return to his concepts instead of wearing out one editor-in-chief after another.
 
Stephan Russ-Mohl heads the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano.

Insurance KSB/SJ surprises with a cheeky idea for AXA Winterthur this week in Weltwoche and TV Star. Carrier ads from Maurice Lacroix and Panasonic were each provided with a sticker from AXA Winterthur. This is a subtle yet attention-grabbing way of showing the wide range of items that can be insured with AXA Winterthur. This is why the sticker is placed on a watch on one occasion and on a TV set on another. The sticker itself features AXA Winterthur's well-known campaign claim: "You love it. We insure it."

 
Pharma Wirz advertising dramatizes how Pretuval helps with a funny commercial. Also for men's flu. 
As soon as men have an ailment, they turn into whining, annoying, grumpy children. And would love to have their partner at their bedside all the time as a faithful, caring mom. Or as a nurse. Or at least as a storyteller. Wirz Werbung, together with the film production company Wirz & Fraefel, shows this in a witty commercial that is sure to speak to the hearts of many women. For CD Matthias Freuler, Bayer (Switzerland) "picks up the target group in a humorous and entertaining way" with this story. The TV commercial for Pretuval tells the story of a "troubled" wife who reads to her husband from a magazine called "Monster Truck" that is completely unsuitable for her. And has a lot of trouble doing so. The 30-second ad, which is pleasantly different from other pharmaceutical commercials, can now be seen throughout Switzerland, and the Wirz agency has been working for Bayer for some time. In most cases, ideas from Germany have to be adapted. For this commercial, Freuler and his team were allowed to get creative themselves because Pretuval is only sold in Switzerland. "Bayer fully supported our courage to use unconventional pharmaceutical advertising," says the CD. It was a little more difficult to get the idea past the Swissmedic guidelines.
Andreas Panzeri