From Thursday to Saturday, the frogmen and -women from Helvetic Tours will be out and about in busy streets. However, they are not diving for bargain gems, as the claim of the current campaign might suggest, but are instead advertising the Swiss vacation provider's new catalogs with flyers. "Affordable package vacations with design, style and class" is its motto. The campaign is taking place in Aarau, Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Winterthur and Zurich at lunchtime and in the evening. The offer of discounts and a price reduction of up to 20 percent will be accompanied by a new look. The new logo symbolizes both the sun and the earth and, with the Swiss cross, stands for trust and security, according to a press release from the tour operator. The visual identity was developed internally by Kuoni Future Lab under the direction of Remo Masala, Director of Corporate Branding and Marketing.

 
In the second half of 2007, Schweizer Radio DRS achieved a market share of 65.3%, which represents an increase of half a percentage point compared to the same period in the previous year. Reach grew by 1.4 percentage points to 63.6%, which corresponds to an average audience of 2.9 million people per day. This is according to the listener figures published by Publica Data and reported by the broadcaster for the second half of 2007. Within the programme family, there were shifts in the market shares of DRS 1 (-1.2 per cent) in favour of DRS 3 (+1.5 per cent) and DRS Musikwelle (+0.3 per cent). DRS 2 lost market share slightly (-0.3%), while DRS Virus remained stable. In terms of reach, DRS 2 remains stable, while DRS 1 is down slightly. DRS Musikwelle and DRS Virus recorded a slight increase in audience and DRS 3 a strong increase. The new news radio station DRS 4 News, which was launched on November 5, 2007, has an average of 300,000 listeners per day, which Swiss Radio DRS considers to be a considerable success, according to a statement from the station. However, the evaluation period is still too short for detailed analyses. The program is broadcast via DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), cable, satellite and the Internet. 

 
Four campaigning agencies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA have founded the "Worldwide Effective Campaigning Agencies Network" (We Can). The partners are 4C Business Campaigning (Switzerland), Agentur für Public Affairs (Germany), SVWP Kommunikationsmanagement (Austria) and The Balman Group (USA). The primary aim of the network is to better serve clients with an international focus, according to a press release. The network sees campaigning as an interdisciplinary and strategic approach to integrating the various communication, marketing and management disciplines. The agencies are active in the fields of public affairs, internal and external corporate communication, corporate identity, organizational development, change management, political and crisis communication. The network aims to ensure quality assurance through Pro:campaigning, an industry association supported by the four agencies and others. The association also aims to further develop the quality and theoretical foundations of campaigning.

 
As part of an agency evaluation, Coca-Cola has entrusted the Zurich advertising agency JWT+H+F with the work relating to the 2008 European Football Championships. The contract covers the development and production of all advertising activities relating to the major event, for which Coca-Cola is the main sponsor, according to the agency's press release. This ranges from a photo shoot with the three football ambassadors David Degen, Philipp Degen and Johan Djourou, to streetcar design in Zurich and Basel, Internet, viral, events, special advertising media in ski regions, a poster campaign and a TV commercial. Work is in full swing on the F12 poster motifs:
/ / Responsible at JWT+H+F:
Remy Fabrikant (overall responsibility), Mike Krüll (Creative Director), Mike Krüll, Simon Smit (text), Isa McInnes, Valentina Herrmann (Art Director), Vanessa Lehmann-Spalleck and Franco Elsener (consulting). Responsible for marketing at Coca-Cola: Flavio Calligaris (Marketing Manager) and Alessandra Nicoletti (Senior Brand Manager Sparkling Beverages).

 
The market share of private radio stations in German-speaking Switzerland remained stable in the second half of 2007. There were hardly any statistically significant changes. Radio 24 still has the largest market share among the private stations with 2.5 percent, according to figures published by Publica Data on Friday. Radio Argovia achieved a market share of 2.1 percent. Radio Energy came in at 1.9 percent, Radio Pilatus at 1.8, Radio 32 at 1.6, Radio Top at 1.4 and Radio Basilisk at 1.1 percent. In terms of reach - the daily number of listeners - Radio
Argovia, Rado Central and Radio Aktuell made slight gains, while Radio Top and Radio Grischa suffered slight declines.
Overall, the radio medium was used 4 minutes longer per day in German-speaking Switzerland than in the same period in 2006. Radio DRS increased its reach at the expense of foreign radio stations. Its market share also increased slightly. Within the DRS radio family, there were slight shifts in market share and reach.
There were hardly any shifts in western Switzerland and Ticino. SRG Radio RSR in French-speaking Switzerland achieved an overall market share of 56.9 percent in the second half. RSR's first program, La Premiere, had the largest share, at 39.2 percent. Couleur 3 came in at 4.8 percent.
Lausanne FM, the largest private radio station in French-speaking Switzerland, came in at 2.8 percent. At Ticino's SRG station RSI, the overall market share was 71.3 percent. The largest private station came in at 4.4 percent.

 The new information channel DRS 4 News will broadcast Christoph Blocher's speech at the SVP Albisgüetl conference on Friday evening. There is opposition to this from the SP and Arbus, an association for critical media use. The head of DRS 4, Lis Borner, defends the editorial decision. Arbus describes the live broadcast as a "derailment" and a "publicity stunt" for DRS 4 News. In doing so, the SRG broadcaster placed itself "in the propaganda service of the SVP", the association wrote in a communiqué on Friday. The broadcast is not the task of a public broadcaster and strains the trust of the population.
Criticism has also come from the SP: the fact that two SRG broadcasters are giving Christoph Blocher such a platform is untenable. The former Federal Councillor will also appear on the "Arena" show on Swiss television on Friday, prompting the other parties to stay away from the program. The SP will examine internally what measures can be taken, General Secretary Thomas Christen told the news agency SDA, confirming a report in the Tages-Anzeiger.
Lis Borner, editorial director of DRS 4, defended the broadcast when asked by SDA. It is one of the station's aims to broadcast and classify formative "key events" live. A conversation between Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger and the author Urs Widmer was the first broadcast of its kind. Blocher's speech will not be broadcast without commentary.
The speech was important in that the SVP wanted to explain at the conference how it envisioned the announced opposition policy. Borner said that they wanted to hear what differences there were to the SVP's previous policy, which had also "not always been state-supporting".
Incidentally, the entire Albisgüetlitagung will also be broadcast by U1 TV - as the last major program before it is banned from the analog network. So far there has been no public criticism of this, which is probably due to the fact that the TV station is not fee-financed.

 Radio 32 lost net reach in the past six months, but can now claim the title of the longest-listened-to regional radio station in the whole of German-speaking Switzerland. From Monday to Sunday, the station recorded an average daily listening time of 52.9 minutes among the over-15s. Net daily reach fell slightly compared to the second half of 2006, from 142,100 to 140,000, due to a faulty transmission system in the summer months which led to reception problems, the station announced. In the actual broadcasting area between Aarau, Solothurn and Berne, the positions of the most listened-to stations remained unchanged in the second half of 2007. In the target group of 15 to 49-year-olds, Radio 32 is in the lead with 66,900 daily listeners, followed by DRS 3 and DRS 1. Across all target groups, Radio 32 is in second place in the broadcasting area with 95,700 daily listeners, behind DRS 1 and ahead of DRS 3.
Radio 32 Goldies, the oldies station broadcast via the cable networks in the cantons of Aarau, Solothurn and Bern, recorded a net reach of 30,700 daily listeners. The daily listening time was 28.3 minutes.

 
The listener figures for the second half of 2007 published on Friday by Publica Data and reported by the station show further growth for Energy Zurich in the 15+ target group. In the target group of 15 to 24-year-olds, the radio station was able to increase its audience in German-speaking Switzerland (Mon-Fri, 24h) by eight percent, and by five percent in the target group of 15 to 34-year-olds. Radio was also able to increase its audience among the 15+ and 15-49 target groups. "Energy Mein Morgen" with Reto Peritz and Roman Kilchsperger gained listeners in German-speaking Switzerland and was listened to by 108,000 people every day. Among the young target groups, it thus remains the most listened to morning show, at least from Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. In German-speaking Switzerland, 217,000 people listened to Energy Zürich every day in 2007 (Mon-Fri, 24h).

 Der Spiegel has apparently finally filled the post of editor-in-chief: According to reports in German media, there will be an in-house double solution. Mathias Müller von Blumencron, the head of Spiegel Online, and Georg Mascolo, the head of the Spiegel capital office, are to succeed Stefan Aust. According to reports, the two new editors-in-chief will take up their posts on February 1. The decision for the dual leadership is said to have been made by the so-called Mitarbeiter KG, which is the main shareholder of Spiegel-Verlag. The second-largest shareholder, the publishing house Gruner + Jahr, was informed on Wednesday. However, according to the AFP agency, confirmation from the Mitarbeiter KG or Gruner + Jahr is still pending.
After the contract of Stefan Aust, still head of Der Spiegel, was not extended in November, the search for a successor began, which was largely conducted in public. In December, ZDF presenter Claus Kleber was considered the favorite, but he declined.

 The reorganization at Publigroupe has personnel consequences: Jobs were cut in the Media Sales division last week. This specifically affects the Business Engineering & Operations support unit. Ten percent of the jobs there were cut, which corresponds to twelve positions. Markus Bieri, Director Business Engineering Publicitas, confirmed the corresponding information to Werbewoche on request: "This involves a total of twelve full-time positions, of which six were made redundant, two early retirements are being reviewed, two internal transfers were possible and the remainder resulted from natural fluctuation". Two members of management are also affected by the redundancies. Bieri did not wish to comment specifically on the reasons for the job cuts: "These are economic reasons that we do not wish to go into in detail". The reorganization will lead to a reduction from eight to six departments within the Business Engineering & Operations organization. Bieri added that no further job cuts are planned in this area. Following these measures, Business Engineering & Operations is "properly positioned" and "equipped for the challenges ahead". However, the reorganization at Media Sales continues: "It is in full swing," Bieri explained. This is the biggest change in the company's history.

 The advertising sales team of Ringier's Health Unit has been restaffed since the beginning of January 2008: Daniel Andres is the new advertising manager and Carsten Schienmann is the new client advisor, Ringier announced on Thursday.Daniel Andres previously worked at IP Multimedia, where he held various positions within the TV management team. The 49-year-old was able to gain experience in the advertising sector as advertising manager for the titles Cash and Bilanz.
The 24-year-old Carsten Schienemann previously worked at The Guide Company. As a customer consultant at the Health Unit, he will also be responsible for cross-media support for advertising customers.

On Wednesday evening, the advertising industry named Pius Walker "Advertiser of the Year". Also honored was the creative achievement for Wirz's Die Mobiliar, which won the title of "Campaign of the Year. Around 800 advertisers celebrated exuberantly at Zurich's Kaufleuten. Our shortlist author Beat Fritsch was of course present at the event. Take a look at the pictures. Also on the road at the party were the people from Action TV. They talked to the visitors and captured the award ceremony on tape. You can see the film here.