Press Council Publishers and the SRG cannot (yet) join the Press Council. The journalists' associations have postponed their decision until next spring. 
The Impressum professional association recently decided on November 16, the Comedia trade union's press and electronic media sector committee at the end of October: the decision on whether to include publishers and the SRG on the Press Council's foundation board will be made in spring 2008 at the earliest. According to Impressum secretary Mathieu Fleury, the reason for the postponement is the only provisional result of the negotiations with the SRG. Time is not of the essence, he continues: "The great danger was a no vote."
The unresolved SRG positions were also a topic of discussion at Comedia, as Comedia Central Secretary Stephanie Vonarburg explains. However, time is still needed to rebuild the culture of discussion and trust with the publishers. This reminds her of the obstacle that has always plagued the negotiations on the inclusion of publishers in the Press Council: the lack of a collective labor agreement (CLA). Under the leadership of President Hanspeter Lebrument, the Swiss Press Publishers Association terminated the CLA in August 2004 and then only wanted to conduct negotiations under conditions that were unacceptable to the employee organizations.
This is because Impressum also insists on social partnership agreements. At the last delegates' meeting in May 2007, several voters demanded that publishers must first agree to a CLA. Former Impressum co-president Antoine Gessler, for example, declared at the time: "Impressum's position is clear: we don't want any publishers on the Board of Trustees until a CLA has been signed." The resolution passed at the time was a little more restrained: a credible commitment to professional ethics requires "a firm commitment to working conditions based on social partnership". This means: "A serious willingness to negotiate CLAs."
In the meantime, however, the positions have converged. The five years of negotiations on the Press Council changed the atmosphere. Mathieu Fleury says: "We arrived at a new culture of discussion." However, he then qualifies: "A CLA is not yet an issue." Stephanie Vonarburg shares this positive assessment; for her, too, the talks are "not yet as binding as we had hoped". A warming of the climate has obviously taken hold of the industry, and publishers are also trying to create a good mood. At their congress (mid-September), they announced in a press release that - inspired by successful negotiations in the area of professional ethics - the two sides had also resumed discussions on social issues.
Both publishers and the Press Council are disappointed with the postponement decision. Guido Blumer, Chairman of the Ethics Department and chief negotiator on the publishers' side, is even "extremely disappointed" about the postponement. It had been "excellent negotiations". "Everyone is happy. Everyone has praised the result." He has little sympathy for the link made by the journalists' associations with the collective labor agreement. Press Council President Peter Studer is also "frustrated", especially about the fact that both associations - or at least some representatives - want to keep the Press Council as a "bargaining chip" in the CLA disputes. Studer hoped to be able to finalize the publishers' membership during his term of office. He had given "fiery speeches" at both journalists' organizations and demonstrated how strongly the publishers had been involved. In particular, there were no formal changes to the journalists' code.
According to Studer, the SRG negotiations are also "only millimetres away from a solution". SRG fears that it will be over-controlled in future, as it is already supervised by OFCOM, the ombudsman, the Independent Complaints Authority (ICA) and the Federal Supreme Court. In plain language: SRG fears a flood of complaints and thus an overload of editorial managers. And the SRG? It is once again being as secretive as the Kremlin once was. SRG is "positive" about the negotiations, explains media spokesperson Daniel Steiner. Negotiations will continue on the outstanding points. If that's not news.
Hans Stutz

 In Bern, residents, commuters and tourists can now access the Internet free of charge via wireless connection at various locations. The free Internet is being launched by the Espace.ch Internet portal, network operator TheNet and Energie Wasser Bern (EWB). The service is available at Bern railroad station, Waisenhausplatz, Bärenplatz, Bern University and Länggasse. TheNet has been operating the large-scale wireless network "wlan@thenet" in the city of Bern since 2002. The coverage of the new "hotspots" is based both on parts of the existing TheNet network and on an extended network being built by TheNet and Energie Wasser Bern (EWB).
The download bandwidth is 300 kilobytes per second. The duration of use is limited to 30 minutes; if you want to surf for longer, you have to log in again, as SDA found out from TheNet.
The pilot project will run until mid-2008.
Depending on demand, it is quite conceivable that it will then be extended to other areas, said Marc Gugl, Head of Marketing and Sales at the internet platform Espace.ch, when asked by SDA. The project will be financed primarily through advertising on the Espace.ch homepage.

 Sonntagsblick and the advertising agency Euro RSCG will not extend the existing contract as of December 31, 2007. This was announced by Ringier on Wednesday. The Sonntagsblick is currently in a phase of complete renewal, it added. This concerns the editorial team, publishing house, Internet and also the advertising agency. Editorial Director Marc Walder and Publishing Director Thomas Passen state in the press release that the separation is due to the fundamental reorientation and has nothing whatsoever to do with the strategic and creative work of the agency Euro RSCG Zurich.

 
Cable networks For Cablecom's half-price campaign, Werbeanstalt Schweiz AG is betting on half measures. 
Half-given is half-done. Werbeanstalt Schweiz AG made this fact a cross-media topic for Cablecom. As one of the leading providers of Internet, digital telephony and digital television, Cablecom once again wanted to rely on the work of Werbeanstalt.
It has now launched its first campaign - and not half-heartedly, but with a lot of media power and a consistently clear message using a variety of advertising media. The idea: everything is halved - just like Cablecom's prices. On advertisements and posters, the PC mouse is cut in half with wrapping paper. A mailing was unceremoniously torn in half and only one half was sent out. Radio commercials are halved by only half being understood. In a clever twist, bus doors on public transport also halve the key visual of this campaign for Cablecom when they are opened. So what is being communicated so obviously?
The telecommunications market is highly competitive and differentiation is usually only possible through price. "Or through communication," says Reto Dürrenberger from the advertising agency. His strategy for this campaign: everyone should immediately understand that Cablecom is now offering an unbeatable half-price promotion on all products. One focus of the promotions is, for example: Anyone who orders Hispeed Internet together with Digital Phone can surf at half price for 1 year.
In the tense market situation, Cablecom has decided to communicate without half-hearted statements. To this end, the advertising company's ideas are actually doubly striking - with "half measures" in a wide variety of situations. At the last Freestyle.ch scene event, Cablecom sponsored the halfpipe with the slogan "half pipe - half price". At this event, Cablecom was doubly popular because the soft drinks could be sold at half price thanks to the sponsorship - a sensible campaign also in the service of alcohol prevention. Similarly appreciated by the public is a campaign where half sausages are handed out at half-time at selected Axpo Super League football matches. For example, 4000 half sausages were distributed free of charge to the fans at the match between FC St. Gallen and FC Zurich. "Here we wanted to give away half a sausage and not give away a whole one at half price," says CD Sarah Hiltebrand, explaining how the concept can also be varied depending on the gadget - so that the sympathy bonus doesn't degenerate into half a thing.
This was almost the case at the post office. The mailing, which was torn in half by hand, actually seemed so genuine to the recipient that the post office received a number of complaints. On the other hand, the half pizzas, which are distributed throughout Switzerland in specially packaged half boxes in cooperation with Pizza-Blitz, continue to be extremely popular.
"With all these campaigns, Cablecom wants to be remembered with a little something nice and show goodwill," says Oli Bergmann, Head of Marcom & Brand at Cablecom.
All of these individual campaigns are publicized by the advertising agency across all media, just as the entire campaign is publicized across all media. The radio spots play an important role here. Those for the sausages are not only spoken by professional voices, but also by the real grillers at the "Vorderer Sternen" in Zurich.
The campaign and the promotional offer will run until the end of the year.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Letter to the editor Open letter to the board of the bsw leading swiss agencies. 
As an industry association, the bsw swiss leading agencies has the clearly defined task of representing its member agencies to the outside world, positioning them correctly and minimizing possible negative influences. Original excerpt from the statutes: "As the major advertising and communication agencies in Switzerland are represented in bsw leading swiss agencies, the association can perform its role as the professional organization of Swiss advertising and communication agencies from a position of strength. It represents the interests of its members vis-à-vis clients, the media, the public and the authorities. bsw leading swiss agencies is committed to working conditions and fees that enable outstanding advertising work and appropriate profitability. On the other hand, the association supports a strict media policy that focuses on customer benefit as its primary goal.
In principle, there is nothing to be said against creating an agency ranking on this basis. It helps the advertising industry to get a transparent picture of the current situation of the agencies. Transparency is an important message when it comes to correcting the image of an industry that is still tainted by a lack of transparency and rip-offs.
This is the crux of the matter. Not only is the published ranking not representative of the advertising industry, but even worse, it is not even representative of the association. If it were at least an internal ranking for the association - but no, this incomplete list is published on a broad scale.
Why this incompleteness? The advertising agencies of the two largest agency networks in the world were unable to participate in the Swiss agency ranking despite repeated requests. The reason: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act applies to these agencies. Despite certain relaxations, it still does not permit the publication of business figures.
Let's assume that large and major advertising agencies such as
AY&R, Ogilvy & Mather, JWT+H+F, Grey, TBWA and the associated media agencies, internet agencies and direct marketing agencies are likely to publish their figures - this would cause a significant shift in the ranking. Consequently, the published ranking is not representative, a distorted picture of the advertising industry. And an act of uncollegiality. It is also stated in the statutes:
"Consequently, as a member of bsw leading swiss agencies, you can count on the solidarity of the other member agencies."
How does this go hand in hand with the branding of agencies that are not allowed to publish their figures, even if they would like to in the interests of transparency?
In this context, the official statement by bsw-leading swiss-agencies Managing Director Walter Merz in the press is particularly interesting: "The agency has refused to take part in the ranking and, following its publication, is now declaring itself to be a top 5 agency without any proof. This is unconventional, but also unfair. TBWA is clearly not a top 5 agency for the bsw, at least not until the agency creates transparency and provides the association with the relevant figures."
Unfair on the part of the agency? Rather, it is unfair on the part of bsw swiss leading agencies, which simply refuses to accept the fact that large agencies are not ranked for reasons beyond their control. In doing so, it is encouraging a blatant distortion of the market and putting a significant proportion of its members at a gross disadvantage.
The association's board and, in this case, its managing director would do well not to get caught up in any false arguments and only talk about transparency when they actually deliver it. After all, the published figures still leave enough room for skepticism and speculation.
This once again leaves a bland aftertaste and confirms a prejudice that our customers have always accused us of: Self-congratulation instead of transparency.
Remy Fabrikant, CEO JWT+H+F

 The Zurich advertising agency Wirz has won a new client in Manor. The Basel-based department store with over 70 branches in Switzerland invited Manor to a competitive presentation as part of a communications realignment. Wirz prevailed against various domestic and foreign competitors, including a renowned agency from Paris and Milan. All the more reason for the advertising team around Managing Director Thomas Städeli to be delighted, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The intensive work during the presentation will now be followed almost seamlessly by an equally intensive collaboration with the client for the launch and realization of numerous projects. The first works by Wirz will be on display from spring 2008 as part of a broad-based image campaign. 

Finanzen Ruf Lanz shows BB Biotech how research brings profit: for health - and on the stock market.
Advertising for financial products is rarely a dream job for creatives. Most of the time, it involves depicting old men playing golf in the manner of crisp sports fans smiling off into the sunset somewhere with a feeling of absolute security. Ruf Lanz has now approached this task in a completely different way. BB Biotech is a company that invests in leading companies in the biotechnology sector and thus enables private and institutional investors to participate in their success. only around a third of the 35,000 or so known diseases are treatable. Only a fraction of these can be cured. Nevertheless, medical progress is unmistakable: thanks to biotechnologically produced drugs, therapies and medical interventions are now possible that were unthinkable ten years ago. Researchers in biotech laboratories are trying to understand the processes within the human body and its cells. One of the greatest successes of biotechnology is insulin, which was developed 30 years ago.
Today, thousands of biotech companies worldwide with hundreds of thousands of employees are researching new active ingredients and therapies for diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease. More than every second newly approved drug now comes from the laboratories of the still young biotech industry. Demographics are increasing demand, as people in industrialized countries are getting older and older. Sales are growing rapidly and companies' development pipelines are full - for the dual benefit of patients and investors.
BB Biotech is one of the world's largest investors in the biotech sector and invests in successful companies in this long-term oriented industry worldwide. Since its initial listing in Switzerland in 1993, the BB Biotech share price has risen by 361 percent. The responsible asset manager is Bellevue Asset Management AG in Küsnacht, which together with Bank am Bellevue is part of Bellevue Group AG.
Performance: 361 percentNow, for the first time, BB Biotech has also invested in concise advertising. In order to draw the attention of new investors to BB Biotech, Ruf Lanz was commissioned to design a print campaign following a multi-stage presentation. The creative agency succeeded in getting to the heart of the complex topic in a striking and surprising way. Each of the three core messages was given its own subject: the "Lourdes" subject shows that, unfortunately, miracles cannot cure all diseases. Mankind remains dependent on innovative medicines. It is therefore worth investing in the medicines of tomorrow. The subject "Champagne from test tubes" visualizes the attractive performance since the initial listing in 1993. And the subject "Birthday cake with 120 candles" dramatizes the constantly increasing demand for biotech products because people are getting older and older.
The advertisements have been appearing in business publications in Switzerland and Germany since mid-November.
Andreas Panzeri

 Swiss Television is expanding its correspondent post in New York. Following the replacement of Denise Langenegger by 28-year-old Arthur Honegger next spring, SF intends to strengthen its background and business reporting from the United States. The 38-year-old Langenegger had set up the New York branch and will return to Zurich-Leutschenbach in the spring after ten years. "The USA offers a huge wealth of topics in addition to official politics. I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Arthur Honegger, an inquisitive young colleague, for this challenging task," said SF editor-in-chief Ueli Halidmann.
Honegger is currently an editor at "Schweiz Aktuell" and, in addition to covering a broad range of topics and reporting from all parts of the country, he will also replace Washington correspondent Tilman Lingner in the USA.

 Media Focus reports a very good advertising month in October: Compared to the same period last year, advertising pressure rose by 16.7%. As expected, the political campaign advertising market recorded the strongest growth: it achieved a whopping 458.1% increase compared to the same period last year, when, as is well known, no federal elections were held. The parties spent CHF 17.1 million on the final phase of the election campaign. The Swiss People's Party (SVP) ranks 7th among the top 30 largest advertisers. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) came in 11th place, making it the second party among the 30 largest advertisers in Switzerland.
In addition to politics, the key market of consumer electronics/photography/films also showed above-average growth in October 2007, with an increase of 54% or CHF 18.9 million. Across all sectors, image advertising once again accounted for a high proportion: with an increase of 54.9%, companies spent CHF 19.9 million on advertising with no product reference. Advertising pressure fell most sharply in the tobacco products sector: This market recorded a drop of 68.7 percent.

 As of now, Swiss web and mobile projects can once again be entered into the race for the "Best of Swiss Web 200" award. Entries will be accepted until the end of the year. On March 11, the best Swiss web project will then be awarded the "Master of Swiss Web". At the same time, prizes will be awarded to the outstanding projects in eight specialist and three special categories. The award, which is being held for the eighth time, has a new motto: "The Web is round". Accordingly, three special categories are dedicated to football sites. In addition to Internet initiatives and campaigns relating to the 2008 football year, specific web applications such as games or multimedia information services are in demand, according to a statement. In addition to this football judging, there will be a public vote for the best website of a Swiss football club. Furthermore, an interdisciplinary special jury, consisting of football and IT professionals, will select the best site of the European national teams.
The "Best of Swiss Web" Association, made up of the industry association Simsa, the trade magazine Netzwoche and around 90 jury members, promotes the Swiss e-business, Internet and mobile industry with the award, the statement said.
 
For more on the "Best of Swiss Web 2008" see
 Internet Award: Something's going on
. 

 
Best of Swiss Web The race is on to find the best Swiss web projects of the year. 
To stand still is to go backwards, as the saying goes. With Best of Swiss Web 2008, the coveted Internet Oscars are introducing some new features. The big award night will take place in March. Even if Best of Swiss Web is in no immediate danger of dying out, the Swiss Internet award is still always on the move. In its eighth year, major changes are once again on the agenda. The changes will affect the timing and the prizes to be awarded as well as the role of the jury. This will be accompanied by a clearer positioning of the main prize: the Master of Swiss Web will become an audience award in its entirety.New: industry overviewThe changes start with the entry process: each project will now be assigned to an industry by the participant when it is submitted. The purpose of this exercise is to gain an insight into the performance of the various sectors: Which sector records the most submissions, which the best? The best projects in each sector are communicated, but no prizes are awarded.
As before, all natural and legal persons resident or domiciled in Switzerland are eligible to participate. Works from the fields of e-business and the Internet are eligible in one or more of the eight categories. These remain unchanged: Technology Quality, Technology Innovation, Creation, Business Efficiency, Marketing Sites, Online and Mobile Campaigns, Usability and Public Affairs. In 2008, the established categories will be joined for the first time by an annual theme under the motto "The Web is Round". Here, football-related concepts will be put under the microscope. All submitted productions must have gone online in 2007 or have been largely produced in the last year.
New: Olympic prize showerNow, however, there will no longer only be winners and seal of approval recipients in the categories. The category winner will now receive a gold seal for a project that is excellent in all respects and a trendsetter in its field. In addition, silver and bronze seals will now also be awarded in each category. The members of the expert juries can award silver to up to three projects that are exemplary in their implementation and bronze to up to five projects that are convincing in a particular aspect.
Of the submissions that survive the pre-judging and are discussed on the actual jury day, none will be left empty-handed in future. Anyone who has made it this far and has been shortlisted will automatically receive a label from Best of Swiss Web 2008 together with an honorable mention as a solid "swiss made" ICT project.
New: Audience determines MasterWhoever wants to win the Master will still need to be nominated by the overall jury in future. On the one hand, the ten projects that perform best in the award distribution and shortlist ranking will automatically be nominated. This means that those projects that were submitted in as many categories as possible and performed well in them will have the best chance of being nominated for the Master's shortlist.
However, the jury has a right of veto or can give a project a wildcard. However, this puts an end to the jurors' influence. After that, only the Netzwoche and Netzwoche Ticker readers and finally the audience at the awards ceremony will decide who takes home the coveted trophy. The previous jury vote will no longer apply; readers' and public votes will be weighted equally.
If you want to secure one of the coveted Best of Swiss Web prizes, you have to act now: The submission deadline is now open until December 28. The juries will meet in January and thus carry out the preparatory work for the subsequent readers' choice by mid-February. Nothing will then stand in the way of the award ceremony in a dignified setting. The winners of the gold, silver and bronze awards and the new Master of Swiss Web will be decided on March 11, 2008 at the Kongresshaus Zurich.   
Alessandro Monachesi
Best of Swiss Web 2008: The schedule 
November 21, 2007:
Start of the submission period
December 28, 2007:
Application deadline
January 7 to 18, 2008:
Pre-judging of the submitted
Projects, creating the shortlist
January 23, 2008:
Jury day, determination of the winners and nominations for the Master of Swiss Web
January 30, 2008:
Start of the Master's election with the presentation of the Master's nominations in Netzwoche
February 15, 2008:
Conclusion of the reader poll
March 11, 2008:
Award Night, award ceremony at the Kongresshaus Zurich and master election, presentation of the ICT Yearbook 2008
What is Best of Swiss Web? 
Best of Swiss Web
is an initiative of the Swiss interactive media and software association (Simsa) and Netzwoche. Best of Swiss Web aims to promote the use of e-business and Internet technologies in Swiss companies and to set binding quality standards for the Swiss ICT sector. The Best of Swiss Web Association is responsible for sponsorship.

Radio BE 1 is being transferred from the NZZ subsidiary Freie Presse Holding to Ringier. *Werbewoche* spoke with Martin Freiburghaus, the managing director of Radig AG, the company that operates Radio BE 1. He comments on parting ways with the NZZ, the media landscape in Bern, and the opportunities with Ringier. Werbewoche: Do you regret that you are no longer part of the NZZ? Martin Freiburghaus: It’s not a matter of regret or no regret. It’s simply a legal requirement that a company may hold only two licenses. We worked well with the NZZ, and we’ll work well with Ringier, too. Aren’t you worried that everything will be turned upside down now that you’re under Ringier’s ownership? No, there have been no indications that Ringier wants to make major changes right away. Radio BE 1 is the local number one in both the listener and advertising markets; there’s no immediate need for major changes.
Ringier plans to focus on multimedia and bring together media across different genres. Are there any plans for collaborations with other Ringier media outlets? The purchase agreement was only signed on Tuesday; we haven’t yet formulated many plans regarding day-to-day operations. However, there are, of course, opportunities for synergies.
For example, a partnership with the *Abendzeitung Heute*? That's a possibility.
Don’t you miss having a local print partner, like the one your competitor Capital FM has with the Espace Media newspapers? It’s very important to us that we can count on a strong partner—especially given the overwhelming local media competition. We need a counterweight to Espace Media. We had a media partnership with *Der Bund* that continued even after the NZZ sold its stake in the paper. Now, new partnerships are possible. In this regard, Ringier, with its publications, likely offers us greater opportunities than the NZZ, which, after all, appeals to a somewhat older audience.
How did your employees react to the sale? Very well—not because they were relieved to be leaving the NZZ. But if we’re going to be sold, then we’d prefer it be to a major media company like Ringier.
Is it no longer possible to run a radio station without such an owner in the background? In Bern, given the dominance of local media, it could indeed become difficult.