The Zurich agency Ruf Lanz is advertising the book "The Blocher Principle" on behalf of Meier Buchverlag Schaffhausen. According to a press release, the campaign aims to show that even colleagues in the Federal Council could learn something from the book: behind the book cover, all that can be seen is a hairstyle that is strikingly reminiscent of that of Micheline Calmy-Rey. The subject appears in large format in newspapers and magazines. Danielle Lanz and Markus Ruf are responsible as creative directors, Oliver Nanzig took the photographs - and not entirely unimportant: the hairstyle was created by Viktor Regli by Coiffeur Blow. Responsible at Meier Buchverlag Schaffhausen:
Marie-Christine Neininger, Norbert Neininger, Matthias Ackeret. Responsible at Ruf Lanz Zurich: Danielle Lanz, Markus Ruf (Creative Direction), Marcel Schläfle (Art Direction), Markus Ruf (Text), Michèle Leibacher (Consulting). Photography: Oliver Nanzig. Image editing: Patrik Rohner. Hairstyling: Viktor Regli by Coiffeur Blow.

 The Swiss Art Directors Club is looking for designers, photographers, filmmakers and web designers who would like to become members, as well as copywriters and art directors who are interested. On October 11, the ADC admissions committee will decide who will be admitted to the club. According to the announcement, the criteria for admission are the same as in previous years: Once again in 2007, only those who have made a substantial creative contribution to several award-winning works or who have otherwise achieved excellence in the field of advertising or design will be accepted. Anyone wishing to apply for ADC membership should send a portfolio in A4 format of award-winning or award-worthy work as well as a data carrier with the best TV or radio spots by October 8 to the office: Art Directors Club, Oberdorfstrasse 15, 8001 Zurich.
Under the leadership of Board member Markus Gut, this year's admissions committee is composed as follows: ADC Board members Geri Aebi, Daniel Krieg, Alexander Jaggy, Andreas Prokesch and Urs Schrepfer. As well as ADC members Petra Bottignole, Luigi Del Medico, Michael Fueter, Uwe Schlupp and Thomas Schöb.

 Anyone who still doesn't believe that the Swiss press landscape has undergone lasting change in recent years must be living like a hermit. Since 20 Minuten has become the newspaper with the highest circulation in Switzerland and has been able to continuously increase its profits and readership figures, no one can avoid the topic any longer. In the run-up to the launch of the new free newspaper .ch, the upheaval can be clearly observed: As Tamedia, Espace Media and Basler Zeitung announced on Friday in front of a large media crowd, the three major publishing houses now suddenly also want to launch a new free quality paper called News together at lightning speed this year. Despite all the obviousness, however, those responsible deny any connection to .ch. In addition, there are constant reports in all the media about the preparations for the new title around initiator Sacha Wigdorovits. Most recently, Sonntagsblick reported under the title ".chaos" that the distribution of the newspaper in stands close to properties - between 25,000 and 35,000, depending on the source - is under considerable threat and is meeting with great resistance from property managers. Based on a case in Basel, where the real estate management of the city of Basel expressly spoke out against the installation of stands without a specific request, the distribution concept was practically doomed to failure. "Quote me on this: the head of sales has so much to do that he can't give any interviews at the moment," asks logistics manager Peter Kümmerli, referring to board member Wigdorovits. And he says: "Don't believe everything you read in the newspaper! A lot of things in the article were inaccurate or exaggerated. In the specific case in Basel, however, the administration was actually not notified. The information was missing from our database."
Wigdorovits confirmed that, according to the article, over 150 property owners had contacted him to prohibit him from putting up stands. However, he went on to explain that this should be seen in relation to the 8,500 property management companies that have been approached and is therefore a very small number. No more could be elicited from the big man in the background. He referred to the press conference on the first edition scheduled for Tuesday. The question of whether he already regrets his sales strategy therefore remains unanswered for a while yet.

Freelance technology journalist Matthias Zehnder will take over as editor-in-chief of the Coopzeitung from mid-October. The 40-year-old will succeed Kathy Horisberger, who stepped down from her post in July.
Zehnder was already involved in the redesign of the magazine, as Coop announced on Monday. He has previously written for various daily newspapers and co-produced the magazine Anthrazit. He has also worked regularly for Radio DRS as a technology expert.
Zehnder studied German and philosophy at the University of Zurich and began his career at the Winterthurer Landbote. The Coop newspaper has a circulation of 1.7 million copies.

 Tamedia is selling parts of the Huber & Co. graphic arts company, which has belonged to the Zurich publishing house since 2005, to various companies. The Flawil printing and publishing house in eastern Switzerland is taking over the commercial printing division of Huber PrintPack in Frauenfeld as of November 1, 2007. At the same time, the magazine publishing operations of Huber & Co. will also be transferred to Druckerei Flawil. The St. Gallen-based family business K+D AG will take over the packaging printing division of Huber PrintPack on November 1, 2007. Discussions for further sales are planned. Around 40 full-time jobs will be lost at the Huber Group as a result of the sale. The Flawil printing company, which among other things publishes the daily newspaper Wiler Zeitung, will continue its magazine publishing activities in the newly founded company Huber Print with the existing employees in Frauenfeld. A total of 39 employees and six apprentices will continue to be employed by Druckerei Flawil AG, including around 14 employees at the Frauenfeld site. Excluded from the sale of the magazine publishing business is the TIR TransNews magazine, which will go to the publishing company Welcomedia, as Tamedia announced on Monday. The production of Huber PrintPack's commercial printing division will be transferred to the Flawil site during the fourth quarter of 2007.
The St. Gallen-based family business K+D AG is taking over the packaging printing division of Huber PrintPack on November 1, 2007, and will continue to operate it at the two sites in St. Gallen and Liebefeld near Berne. At the same time, K+D is investing more than seven million Swiss francs in further modernization of the machinery at its headquarters in St. Gallen, according to a statement. It continues to employ 22 people and two apprentices from Huber PrintPack.
The takeover by the two companies Druckerei Flawil and K+D AG is intended to secure the continuation of Huber PrintPack's packaging and commercial printing business in eastern Switzerland and around 80 full-time jobs in the long term, the two companies wrote in a communiqué.
Huber & Co. is also planning to hold talks with possible buyers for the Huber PrintShop business unit in Frauenfeld, which has six employees. At the Huber Group, around 40 full-time positions will be cut in the course of the sale, subject to the employees' statutory participation rights. The company has invited the works committee and the employees of Huber PrintPack AG, as well as representatives of the Comedia and Syna trade unions, to negotiate an appropriate social plan and will support the employees in their job search. The apprentices affected are guaranteed to continue their apprenticeship until they complete their training.

 
A new course is paving the way for aspiring Swiss copywriters to obtain their diploma. From October 2007, Schreibszene Schweiz will be offering a one-year training course in Zurich in partnership with the Swiss Professional Association for Copywriters Script. The teaching program includes courses in creativity techniques, writing workshops, weblogs and podcasts, as well as radio spots. The main lecturer is Paul Girard, board member of the copywriting association. Frank Bienenfeld, managing director of the event "Das Goldene Ohr", leads the radio spot course.

 In his blog, SF editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann is critical of the new Blocher TV. He asks rhetorically what to make of this project and lists three points in response. Firstly, the program would "clearly and in several points" contradict the legislation on radio and television, according to Haldimann. The law stipulates that radio and television must "adequately express the diversity of opinions" in their broadcasts. The SF editor-in-chief wonders, again rhetorically, how a series can achieve this if only the same politician is allowed to speak. Secondly, Haldimann believes that the Blocher interviewer Matthias Ackeret can be described "without reservation as an admirer of Christoph Blocher", a "Blocher groupie" so to speak. Thirdly, it is said that the program is to be financed by sponsorship. However, according to the RTVA, news programs on current political events may not be sponsored, and Teleblocher is clearly a "program on current political events".  

 Nokia, the world's largest cell phone manufacturer, wants to become number one in advertising on cell phones. To achieve this goal, Nokia is taking over the US company Enpocket, as the Finnish company announced on Monday. A purchase price was not disclosed. Enpocket is considered the leader in technical platforms for advertising on cell phones. The company, headquartered in the US city of Boston, offers a platform with which advertising content can be transmitted to cell phones via SMS, MMS and video.

 German-speaking Switzerland has had a fifth Sunday newspaper since Sunday: the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) launched its seventh edition on the weekend of Sunday. With a circulation of 240,000 copies, it is immediately the second-largest Sunday paper in the country. Sonntag is a "milestone in the history of the AZ Medien Group", said publisher Peter Wanner on Saturday evening in Aarau at a celebration to mark the launch of the new newspaper. He expects to break even in "about two years". The AZ Medien Group is in charge of the MZ network. The first edition, printed in four colors throughout and comprising five newspaper volumes, has 72 pages without the regional section. The news of the discovery of the body of missing Ylenia dominated the front page. In the news section, it is noticeable that foreign policy is hardly a topic: the first issue only contained longer domestic political reports. The newspaper aims to "inform, inspire and entertain" readers, writes Sonntag editor-in-chief Patrik Müller in his editorial. The paper wants to contribute to the diversity of the press and opinions. Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and the head of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, have their say in interviews.
In contrast to Sonntagsblick, Sonntagszeitung and NZZ am Sonntag, Sonntag reports in detail on regional events in the cantons of Aargau, Solothurn, Basel, Zurich and Bern in various regional sections. Südostschweiz also pursues the concept of a seventh edition on Sunday with regional news. Sonntag differs greatly from the weekday editions of MZ. In addition to current affairs, it also devotes separate sections to the economy and sport. Commentaries and reports on people are featured in the People section. Culture, leisure and science topics are dealt with in Foyer.
Due to technical problems, part of the print run was delivered late, according to the AZ Medien Group. Sunday was distributed to subscribers by midday. However, the majority had received the newspaper by 8.30 am. 30,000 copies were delivered to newsstands in Switzerland. Sonntag will be delivered to the homes of subscribers to the MZ network free of charge until the end of the year. In 2008, AZ subscribers will have to pay an annual surcharge of CHF 26. The Sonntagsblatt will initially cost two francs at newsstands. Introductory price.

 On Saturday, the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) published a new additional bundle for the weekend. With the new bundle called "Wochenende", BaZ wants to better serve its readership, as stated in the short introduction in the newspaper; according to a study, the BaZ Saturday edition is mainly read on Sundays in north-western Switzerland. The first lead story in the new edition is a long interview with the writer Zoë Jenny in London; the middle double page is taken up by a report on children in their parents' bed. There is also a page on fashion, three puzzles, four columns and a hiking suggestion for north-eastern Swiss. The photos are large, the layout airy.
The new BaZ-Bund comprises eight pages in newspaper format, including just under one and a half pages of advertising; the rest of BaZ filled 54 pages on Saturday plus 24 tabloid pages in the enclosed cultural magazine with a calendar of events. Publisher Matthias Hagemann wants to address the family as well as leisure and lifestyle topics. However, the new Bund will not bring a price increase.
The BaZ is clearly targeting the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (BZ), which, due to its cooperation with the Mittelland-Zeitung (MZ), has been sending its subscribers the new MZ Sunday newspaper Sonntag since last weekend; after a start-up period, it will cost a maximum of 30 francs a year extra. For 368 francs a year, BZ publisher Mathis Lüdin promises seven editions a week in future via an advertisement in the Saturday edition of his paper.

 With regard to Switzerland's conspicuousness on the international stage, there is the well-known joke that a Brussels diplomat was once asked how Switzerland was perceived abroad. "Not at all," was the diplomat's short and, to put it mildly, devastating answer. Of course, we know that it's not quite like that, for example from Hollywood films, where Switzerland makes brief appearances from time to time thanks to its pocket knives and financial houses, albeit contradictory ones; MacGyver on the one hand, Nazi gold on the other. The latest case in which Switzerland has once again become a topic of discussion is similar to Nazi gold; Switzerland has once again come under fire from the British press for the SVP's sheep posters, this time from the Independent, which wondered whether the country was on the verge of drifting into a 4th Reich. At the same time, however, it was reported over the weekend from across the Atlantic that the US TV show "Travel Cafe" had won the most prestigious television award in the USA, the Emmy, with a program about Switzerland. "Skiing in Switzerland is more than just skiing. It's a lifestyle" was the motto of the show, which showed the presenter making a devout pilgrimage to important Swiss winter sports resorts. Whichever way you look at it, the contradictory signals from the Anglo-Saxon world about Switzerland's image continue to puzzle us. But entertainment is guaranteed, and we can eagerly await the next act.

 From now on, Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher will be featured in a weekly 15-minute programme on the Internet and on regional television, making him the first Swiss politician to have his own regular TV show. In addition to the Internet, it will be broadcast on Tele M1, Tele Tell, Schaffhauser Fernseher and Tele Südostschweiz. In the first program, which is already online, Blocher comments on the much-discussed "conspiracy" against him and the associated Roschacher case. In further broadcasts, the head of the FDJP will be asked about current topics as well as his own state of mind. He will be interviewed by the author of "The Blocher Principle" and Blocher adept Matthias Ackeret. The program was initiated by the Schaffhausen publisher and editor of "The Blocher Principle" Norbert Neininger.
Regarding the purpose of the program, Federal Councillor Blocher told the new weekend newspaper Sonntag that it was about connecting with the people; he attaches great importance to talking to the population. Sonntag and Sonntagsblick agree, however, that the program is primarily for the election campaign; they have their doubts that the one-year program will continue after the Federal Council elections on 12 December.
Christoph Blocher's political opponents are reacting with irritation to this innovation by a Federal Councillor. According to Sonntagsblick, SP President Hans-Jürg Fehr, for example, said that political advertising via television is prohibited under the Radio and Television Act; Bakom should therefore check whether Blocher TV falls under this.