Jung von Matt/Limmat has created the market launch campaign for two new Panasonic products this fall. This is the second time the agency has worked for the consumer electronics manufacturer. The aim is to playfully emphasize the characteristics of both products. The Lumix FX55 digital camera focuses on scene recognition and intelligent automatic mode; Jung von Matt/Limmat implemented this with the Rubik's motif: an unsolved Rubik's cube in front of the lens of the Lumix appears already solved on its LC display. Thanks to its pre-record function, the new Full HD TV camcorder (HDC-SD5EG-K) starts recording three seconds before the shutter button is pressed. Or as the headline sums it up: "Never miss the beginning again". Responsible at John Lay Electronics:
Gert Schröder, Timuçin Pekgüçer.
Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy, Lukas Frei (CD), Livio Dainese (text), Fernando Perez (AD), Yves Gerteis, Christina Baeriswyl (graphics), Martin Samsel, Sebastian Durband, Jasmin Schmid (consulting), Ilonka Galliard (art buying), Harry Burst (photography), Felix Schregenberger (image editing).

 
While the competition in other countries has good double-digit market shares, Google has a quasi-monopoly position in online search engine advertising in Switzerland with a market share of 95%. The internet giant earns around CHF 47.5 million a year from this. As Cash Daily reports, Swiss companies spend around CHF 50 million a year on advertising on search engine portals. The total size of the Swiss online advertising market is estimated at CHF 100 million, while online advertising currently only accounts for around 1.2 percent of total advertising expenditure in Switzerland.

 Good product, beautiful advertising medium, expensive photographer - that alone is not enough to create successful advertising. Very often, creatives miss the mark with their advertising messages despite having a big budget and a good product. A company with plenty of girl power is now teaching the industry what can go wrong: at 3iYing, young women between 16 and 22 criticize unsuccessful advertising. The New York-based company has become known for its own YouTube channel. There, the women, who are paid for their criticism on a project basis, explain in one-minute films what they don't like about a particular advertisement.  
There are now over two hundred of these films on the web: one complains that an ad for a make-up product does not show the effect of the product at all, but only shows the irrelevant breasts of rapper Eve in black and white. Another is annoyed by a sweet advertisement featuring Christina Aguilera, whose lascivious pose appeals more to the advertiser's fantasies than those of a teenager infatuated with sweets. Not all companies are happy about the direct criticism, as Advertising Age reported on Monday. Sony, for example, refused to accept that the commercials for their pink notebooks were both unrealistic and unaesthetic, according to a potential buyer.
Getting advice from the target group doesn't seem like a bad idea. For 3iYing, at any rate, business is now booming.

 On November 7, the Intercantonal National Lottery Swisslos will once again be putting its million-dollar ticket into circulation. The top prize is CHF 5 million, with prizes totaling over CHF 32 million up for grabs. The grand finale with the final draw will take place as part of the "Swiss Award - Die Millionen Gala" program on January 12 on SF 1. The lottery game for millions will once again be advertised this year with TV commercials, POS posters and lots of PR in Blick, Sonntagsblick and on Swiss television. Swisslos is working with the St. Gallen agency Lammoth Mailkonzept for direct marketing for the sixth time. The campaign will start in October with mailings, inserts and insert ads.

 The message is clear: Sonntagsblick has a little more to offer than its competitors in all respects. At least that's what the new umbrella campaign from Euro RSCG Zurich aims to convey. The creatives have implemented the advertising message with reportage images that are as emotional as possible, each with humorous allusions to the various subject areas covered by the newspaper. Sonntagsblick, which has had a refreshed layout and a different focus since last Sunday, is now being advertised on billboards throughout German-speaking Switzerland as well as in newspapers and magazines: Thomas Passen, Publishing Director, Marc Walder, Editorial Director Newspapers, Corina E. Schneider, Head of Communications, Marie-Eve Aegerter, Communications Consultant Responsible at EURO RSCG Zurich: Frank Bodin (overall responsibility), Claude Catsky and Jürg Aemmer (Creative Directors), Barbara Strahm (Art Director), Samuel Huber (Graphics), Claude Catsky (Text/Concept), Tom Hubli (Consulting), Maya Iseli (Art Buying).

 
The number of Swiss people using digital television services such as pay channels, HDTV and internet television is growing steadily. Overall, the need for a more targeted and individualized use of television is becoming apparent. This is the result of a recently published representative survey on television and Internet habits conducted by the Link Institute on behalf of Swisscom, which found that over 20 percent of respondents in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland now make use of a digital pay-TV service. For 75% of respondents, it is important or very important to be able to put together their own program; in the last comparable study in 2005, this only applied to 59%. Another reason is that around 60% of respondents prefer to watch commercial-free programs, compared to 45% of respondents in 2005.
New media such as television on the computer, IPTV and HDTV are also attracting increasing interest. While 17% of respondents already use one of the new technologies and see them as an enrichment, almost 40% are interested but still want to find out more. Only 8% of those surveyed feel put off by the wide range of options.
Picture quality in particular seems to be a key factor for digital television: it is very important to almost 80% of respondents. Accordingly, more than half said that they own a set equipped for receiving high-definition television (HDTV) or that they would look for it when buying their next television set.

 On Sunday, FDP politician Felix Gutzwiller was appointed to the Council of States for four years by the people of Zurich. The health expert was the only one to achieve an absolute majority, thus securing the first of Zurich's two seats in the small chamber. So far, so good. However, Mr. Gutzwiller not only spent many hours on the health ship giving political advice, but also used the latest advertising tools. Inspired by the American election campaign, where half-naked fans of Barack Obama ("Obama-Girls") and Hillary Clinton ("Hillary-Honey") mobilize for their favourite politicians with salacious clips, a certain Gutzi-Boy stirs the advertising drum for Felix Gutzwiller in a commercial published on the Internet platform YouTube. "Because I think Gutzi is good", says Gutzi-Boy and threatens to take off his clothes if anyone does NOT vote for his beloved Director of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich. To emphasize his threat, the boy starts stripping and finally clears the camera. A very entertaining example of viral advertising.
 
So now Gutzi-Boy can keep his clothes on. Just a thought experiment: what would have happened if, for example, runner-up Miss Sabrina Knechtli had suddenly come out as a Gutzi girl?

 According to a study commissioned by the Sonntag newspaper from the Institute of Media Studies at the University of Bern, the most important Swiss-German newspapers are now positioning themselves further to the right politically compared to four years ago. According to media professor Roger Blum, this is mainly due to the Christoph Blocher phenomenon: "The media are increasingly courting the Minister of Justice, they want to be part of the party - even if they don't share his opinion". Blum was commissioned by the newspaper to revise the left-right diagram of the most important Swiss-German print media, which he had drawn up for Facts in 2004. After analyzing comments from weekly and daily newspapers, the positioning of various titles shifted significantly to the right. Weltwoche, for example, is now classified as "right-wing" in Blum's scheme, and no longer as "right-liberal".
 
In an interview with the newspaper, Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger criticized the Swiss press's coverage of the National Council and Council of States elections. He had the impression that the media had allowed themselves to be instrumentalized by the campaigners. "Most of the media mainly reflected the very professionally staged bluster of the campaigners and their organizers. They hardly question the political claims of the parties," said the media minister.

 After media entrepreneur Roger Schawinski announced the purchase of the Zurich-based local station Radio Tropic earlier this month (see ), he has now revealed the name of his latest project. Under the name «Radio 1,» he plans to launch «adult radio» starting in March of next year, the former Sat.1 CEO revealed to the Sonntagsblick. To that end, Schawinski is already busy renovating a building on Hottingerstrasse. There, 20 to 30 employees will soon be working alongside him to bring his entirely self-financed vision to life—rumored to cost around 10 million francs. Schawinski said he has already been inundated with applications. With a program consisting of talk shows and a musical mix of «classic rock and adult contemporary,» the 62-year-old aims to break even within two to three years.

 From January 1 of next year, 42-year-old Heike Findeis will join the management of the Internet company Lycos Europe. She will take on the role of Chief Product Officer and will combine strategic thinking with operational strength, as CEO Christoph Mohn announced in a press release on Friday.
 
Heike Findeis has been CEO of Springer Science+Business Media Switzerland in Zurich since 2002. Prior to this, Findeis held various management positions at the HUSS publishing group. She also worked for RTL2, Videotext and the Bauer publishing group, where she started her career in the media world in 1991.

32-year-old Marlon Chng has been promoted to consulting group manager at the Zurich advertising agency Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett. The law graduate started his career at Advico Young & Rubicam. Chng then worked for Rufener Events and the Link market research institute, among others.

 The media industry should also benefit from the economic upturn. This is the demand made by the Comedia trade union in a press release on Friday. So far, only management and shareholders have been able to capitalize on the improved economic situation. Real wages have stagnated at best. However, the good economic situation must also have consequences in the upcoming wage round in 2007. Wages for all employees in the sector must rise by a minimum of 150 francs. There should also be no more gross wages below CHF 3,500.
 
In open letters to the major media groups, the union is also calling on the managements of Tamedia, Ringier, Edipresse, Basler Zeitung, NZZ, Südostschweiz, Orell Füssli and Stämpfli to investigate their companies for gender-specific pay discrimination.
 
According to Comedia, women still earn more than 20 percent less than men. The large wage difference cannot be explained solely by education, experience and position in the company.