Last week, Holtzbrinck announced its intention to send targeted advertising to users of the student portal StudiVz (see ). This led to fierce protests from users. In forums, members of the community declared their withdrawal en masse, and data protectionists criticized the new regulations, as reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Now the portal is backtracking and refraining from targeted advertising. In an email, users were promised that no advertising would be posted in chats and via SMS. The portal has also made concessions to users on two other points: Entries from users who cancel their membership are to be deleted. The original plan was to keep the entries publicly accessible. In addition, members will not be kicked out immediately if they do not agree to the new terms and conditions by January 9. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the profiles will remain visible to all other members until March 31.

 The Spice Girls are back, the reunion tour is in full swing - for the first time in almost ten years, Victoria and Co. are back on stage together. As a publicity stunt for their big comeback, the girls were allowed to christen their own jumbo jet. They chose three names and let their fans decide on the best one in an online competition, as reported by SDA. And they set no limits to the imagination when creating the suggestions: Fans could choose between Spice Girl, Girl Power and Spice One. With so much creativity, it must not have been easy for the groupies to decide. But now the die is cast: Spice One is to be the name of Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 747, Spice One. Girl Power might have been more original. Although: Spice Girl does make you think. Well, hopefully the tour will still be a success for the five of them.

 The new dating site Lovebumble has entrusted its communication to the Zurich agency Meyer Werbung. The agency has designed a streetcar poster on which passengers are asked whether they are looking for a relationship that will last a little longer than this journey. The poster will soon be on display in Zurich's streetcars, according to a press release. The campaign also includes a postcard for shy people, which is available in the cards-for-free stands: with its help, you can get in touch with the man or woman of your dreams if you lack the courage to approach this person directly. The Lovebumble site is run by a team of social psychologists and coaches. According to the press release, it is all about commitment - you only get three partner suggestions, namely those that suit you. You are then immediately put in contact with them. If you want more suggestions, you have to say goodbye to them in person.
 
 
Text and concept: Thomas Meyer

 
The Zurich agency Rotor is launching Russian Standard Vodka as a brand in Switzerland. According to a press release, the launch campaign had to strike a balance between image presentation and communication with retail channels. With the slogan "Russia's No. 1 Premium Vodka", the vodka claims to be the market leader in the higher price segment in this country, as is apparently already the case in Russia. The campaign includes posters in German and French-speaking Switzerland in weeks 51 and 52. In addition, attention is drawn to the new product at points of sale by means of hanging labels on the bottles. This will be flanked by image advertisements in various print titles and specialist publications until further notice. Further sales channels will be developed in parallel with various events and gastronomy measures.
Responsible at Campari Schweiz AG:
Christian Kauffmann (Marketing Director) and Daniel Roder (Brand Manager), responsible at Rotor Agentur für Kommunikation:
Alexander Gessert (CD), Sascha Kieslinger (AD), Luca Santarossa (consulting) and Martin Hauser (media, production).

 
It has probably been a long time since so many people turned on the television at eight o'clock in the morning as on Thursday: 528,000 people watched the one-and-a-half-hour live broadcast of the Federal Council elections on SF 1 on Thursday morning. The audience market share was 88 percent. This is the highest figure ever recorded since the start of the market share survey, as SF announced. During the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the figure was even higher: shortly after 8.00 a.m., 749,000 people tuned in to SF 1 to find out about the new Federal Councillor's decision. This corresponded to a market share of 91.0 percent. The SF website, where the broadcasts were shown live, registered a total of 301,122 visits. Three Federal Council press conferences also met with interest. 114,000 viewers (45.9%) were present when the new Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf faced the media; 180,000 viewers (46.4%) watched Samuel Schmid's press conference and 178,000 viewers (42.2%) watched that of former Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher.

 Internet giant Google has found a new business area in which it wants to dabble. It wants to topple Wikipedia from the encyclopaedia throne. In the official Google blog Googleblog.blogspot.com, Vice President Engineering Udi Manber has announced that the search engine company is currently developing a platform called Knol. It is intended to serve as a source of knowledge and information on the Internet, as Pressetext reports. Experts will be given the opportunity to write articles on specific terms and keywords. In contrast to Wikipedia, they can add their own name underneath. Changes by other users will only be possible if the author agrees to them beforehand. While advertising is still taboo on Wikipedia, it has been part of the plan for the Google project from the very beginning. The authors are to be given the opportunity to place advertisements on their contribution pages and thus earn a share of the revenue. According to a Google spokesperson, Knol is initially a project for the USA. A launch date has not yet been announced.

 
Due to a decision by the German Bundestag regarding the minimum wage for the postal sector, the publishing house Axel Springer has decided not to provide any more funds for the PIN Group. The publishing house has invested around 620 million euros in the private postal service provider to date (see: ) and, together with other shareholders, has created more than 9,000 jobs, according to a statement on Friday. In the course of the liberalization of the postal market, the aim was to establish a competitor to Deutsche Post and the company had been extremely successful until the minimum wage debate began, reports Axel Springer. However, the Bundestag's decision has now called the company's competitiveness into question. All the more so as Deutsche Post is permanently exempt from the 19 percent VAT and accident insurance fees (3 percent) and would therefore have a blatant advantage. This would not only massively hinder competition, but make it practically impossible. The criticism of the EU Commissioner responsible for competition, the President of the European Central Bank, the Ifo Institute and the President of the German Cartel Office confirms this assessment, according to the publisher.
According to its own statements, Axel Springer would be prepared to relinquish its majority stake in the PIN Group if minority shareholders or new investors provide sufficient funds to enable an economic perspective. In addition, the statutory minimum wage should not exceed 7.50 euros and Deutsche Post would have to be obliged to pay full VAT and accident insurance from January 1, 2008, so that the competition-distorting cost advantage of up to 22 percent would be eliminated.

The Seilerzürich agency shows how drivers can really enjoy the winter. It is promoting Subaru with a new advertisement. Their 4×4 passenger cars offer all-wheel drive, which should ensure grip and directional stability in any weather. Seilerzürich illustrates this with a sticker expressing its love for Frau Holle. Responsible at Subaru Switzerland:
Werner Bärtschi (Director Marketing Communications). Responsible at Seilerzürich: Stefan Künzler, Bruno Zürcher (AD), Stefan Beck (text/concept), Andy Amsler (consulting).

 
One year after taking over the StudiVZ community portal, Holtzbrinck wants to make big money: From January, the personal data of the four million members is to be marketed. As the users of the network portal have indicated their personal interests, personalized advertising can be sent in future without wastage. According to Wuv.de, this is made possible by a change in the General Terms and Conditions. StudiVZ's approach is a thorn in the side of data protectionists: "We have always warned against presenting one's private life too much on Internet portals," said a spokesperson for the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection to the daily newspaper Welt. Here, "the naivety of the mostly young members is exploited." StudiVZ, on the other hand, maintains that changes to the terms and conditions must be confirmed by each user. The portal has already sent out the corresponding emails. In addition, the sale of user data to third parties is excluded. It is only about targeting.

 
Felix H. Mende, the long-standing Managing Director of Swiss Poster Research Plus (SPR+), is moving to Affichage Holding as of 1 January 2008 and taking on a new role in the Affichage International organizational unit. At the same time as his departure, he will join the Board of Directors of SPR+ in order to guarantee continuity within the company, as detailed in a press release. He will be replaced as Managing Director by Urs Hofmann, who has been working for SPR+ since October 2006 (see: ). He was first Head of IT and Databases at the research institute, then Head of Research Projects. With a degree in business informatics, he is ideally qualified for the new role.

Kathrin Aebersold has been Head of Marketing at Phonak Switzerland since December 1. She is the successor to Anita Lösch. Aebersold previously held a management position at McCann Erickson for six years, where, in addition to her role as Chief Growth Officer, she was also responsible for managing an international client. She holds a federal diploma in marketing management and has already gained initial experience in the hearing aid industry during a stay abroad lasting several years, as detailed in a press release. In her new role, she will report directly to the Managing Director of Phonak Switzerland, Marcel Ubezio.

 
Even after Christoph Blocher was voted out of office as Federal Councillor, Schaffhausen Television will continue to broadcast its weekly "Teleblocher" interviews. Schaffhausen Television is convinced that these interviews are an important contribution to the formation of political opinion, as SDA reports. Even as leader of the opposition, Christoph Blocher will have a significant influence on Swiss political events.