The new head of the Federal Office of Culture's Communications Unit is Anne Weibel with immediate effect. She succeeds Eliane Baumann-Schmidt, who is moving to the Science, Education and Culture Commission of the Parliamentary Services. Weibel joined the Communications Service of the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) in 2002 as a research assistant. She later served as Deputy Head of Communications, as the FOC writes in a press release. The 32-year-old from Vaud studied art history, philosophy and history at the University of Lausanne. She added a Master of Art in Cultural Management from the University of Dauphine in Paris in 2006.

 Lowe, which is part of the Draftfcb/Lowe Group, has a new client. Following an extensive competitive presentation, Valser has commissioned the agency with brand and retail communication. According to Kurt Schmid from Lowe, the agency has already started work.

 "Promises not quite kept" was the verdict of the SF Audience Council for the summer series "Pfyn Pile Dwellers". On the other hand, the audience council was particularly pleased with the SF summer series "Criminal Cases that Moved Switzerland", and "Zug um Zug" also received good marks, with only the team of stone age experts on the pile dwellers program being able to completely convince the audience council. Otherwise, there was no consensus: while some missed the entertainment, others felt that the program would have benefited from more scientific information. In the press release, the Council came to the following conclusion: the difficult approach of turning exciting science into an experience for viewers is probably very difficult to implement.
In contrast, the summer series "Criminal cases that moved Switzerland" was rated very highly. Here, the difficult balancing act of presenting the human and tragic backgrounds of the perpetrators was managed well. The mix of archive material, current interviews and research was well received by the Council; the only criticism was the website, which offered no added value. Fernweh: Zug um Zug" was also rated as good for the most part. The Audience Council found the series entertaining and amusing, but some representatives would have liked more information on the country and its people. The structure of the show was also somewhat confusing, but presenter Mona Vetsch was convincing throughout.

 The Basler Zeitung is getting a new advertising manager in the person of current Baz cross-media employee Alexandra Heiniger. According to Publimedia Update, she will share the position with Harry Zaugg until the end of November. After that, she will have sole responsibility. Heiniger moved to Basler Zeitung Medien in June 2006. She previously worked as advertising manager at Publicitas in Aarau.

 
Contrary to tradition, according to which July is the quietest month for press advertising, advertisements were able to increase once again. The Publicitas index on the development of advertising investment in the daily press shows an increase of 0.3 points compared to the previous month and now stands at 97 points. This unexpected but highly welcome growth is thanks to the major distributors, banks and telecommunications companies, as reported by SDA. Job advertisements did not continue to grow at the same pace: the index rose by 1.4 points to 183.5 points - in July it had risen by 5.7 points. There was a decline in real estate advertisements, with the index falling by 0.4 points to 94.4 points. Publicitas sees the reason for the fall in the general decline in advertisements from private individuals and real estate companies alike.

 On September 20, Welcomedia is launching a free newspaper called Gastwoche, which will be distributed in restaurants. The paper will initially be published fortnightly, and from next year is expected to appear weekly, as sales manager Arnold A. Beuggert told Werbewoche. Its content will be dedicated to the areas of politics, business and society; "mainstream topics that interest visitors to restaurants, cafés and hotels", said Beuggert. The aim is to cover current topics in greater depth with background reports. The circulation is 25,000 copies, and the makers will be writing to 21,000 landlords over the next few days to introduce them to Gastwoche. According to Beuggert, the magazine is the "first personalized mass newspaper". The innkeepers will be given the opportunity to design a five-centimeter field on the front page themselves. They can use an internet-based solution to specify what should appear in this field themselves. "This gives restaurateurs the opportunity to advertise their business. And they can give guests their own newspaper," said Beuggert.
In addition to distribution in restaurants, there are also plans to sell the newspaper at newsstands for 1.80 francs. A cooperation with car companies is also being considered, "as an on-board magazine, so to speak", explained Beuggert. The idea behind the distribution concept to restaurants is that commuter newspapers would reach people on the move, where they only want to get information briefly and the contact time is subsequently short. Gastwoche, on the other hand, is intended to reach an audience that has time. Wemf is assuming a provisional reach of 100,000 readers throughout German-speaking Switzerland. An online presence is also planned.

Zurich photographer Véronique Hoegger photographed children's fashion at the Aathal Dinosaur Museum for the latest Migros model subject. The renowned photographer, who also works regularly for Weltwoche and Das Magazin, staged the kids there with dinosaurs and co. Responsible at Migros: Beat Mühlemann (Head of Marketing Communication), Claudia Haueter (Head of Advertising Super-/Consumer Market), Bettina Huwyler (Project Management Advertising Super-/Consumer Market), Alexandra Büchle-Meyer (Category Manager): Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Mathias Babst, Natasha La Marca (AD), Peter Brönnimann (Text), Martin Spillmann (CD), Dominik Mätzener (Consulting), Sebahat Derdiyok (Art Buying). Photography: Véronique Hoegger.
 
 

 On August 31, one of the biggest television shows of the year will take place in Zurich's Maag Halle. That's when TV Star magazine will present the Swiss Television Awards for the fourth time. A gathering of Swiss television celebrities is already certain. A total of four awards will be presented at the gala evening, namely to the TV personality of the year, an outstanding personality from the Swiss film and cinema scene, the most popular SF in-house production and the best program from a regional station. While the winners of the personalities and the best regional program are determined by a jury, the readers of TV Star were able to decide on the most popular SF in-house production, according to a TV Star press release. The nominees are "SF bi de Lüt", "Netz Natur" and "Donnschtig-Jass". For the best regional program, Tele Basel ( with
"Telebar"), Tele Bärn ("Star-Poker") and Tele Züri ("Sommertalk") are in the running, while Beni Thurnheer, Daniela Lager and Andreas Moser are nominated in the personalities category.

Advertising agency By Heart has developed new fall/winter campaigns for Burger, PKZ and Feldpausch. For Burger, Paris-based Swiss photographer Philipp Mueller took the photos. Only the best is good enough for the fashion house's clients, says a By Heart statement. In keeping with Burger's high-end concept, the agency advertises with erotic appeal in a realization that meets high artistic standards, it adds. The campaign for PKZ and Feldpausch builds on the capital of the two brands, according to the statement. The campaign is based on the style and tone of the upscale fashion world. It relies on an independent visual language and a striking reduction to the essentials. Patricia Schmid was used as the model for Feldpausch.
PKZ/Feldpausch campaign: Responsible at PKZ Burger-Kehl & Co. AG, Urdorf: Head of Advertising/Communications: Simone Schäfer/Caroline Röösli. Responsible at By Heart, Zurich: CD: Hans Siegwart; Strategy: Markus Bircher; AD: Nina Hofstetter; Client Service Direction: Peter Krebs; Consulting: Maya Baumgartner; Realization: Natascha Breu; Production Management: Rolf Hefti; Photography: Rankin; Image Editing: Straumann AG.
Burger campaign: Responsible at PKZ Burger-Kehl & Co. AG, Urdorf: Head of Advertising/Communications: Simone Schäfer/Caroline Röösli. Responsible at By Heart, Zurich: CD: Hans Siegwart; Strategy: Markus Bircher; AD: Roli Hofer; Client Service Direction: Peter Krebs; Consulting: Maya Baumgartner; Realization: Natascha Breu; Production Management: Rolf Hefti; Photography: Philipp Müller; Image Editing: Straumann AG.

André Schäppi is taking over the role of Editor-in-Chief of Technische Rundschau. The 46-year-old engineer most recently worked as a freelance journalist for domestic and foreign print and online media and runs his own communications agency. Schäppi brings with him a broad range of industry experience, including several years as editor-in-chief and publishing director of the Sulzer Group's customer magazine, according to a press release from Swissprofessionalmedia, which publishes the bi-weekly Technical Review with a circulation of 13,850 copies. The previous editor-in-chief, Benedikt Aeberhardt, will be leaving the company at the end of August to take up a new position at the technology and armaments group Ruag.

 Urs Rüegg has been appointed as the new Head of Communications at the Canton of Zurich's Department of Health. He succeeds Patrizia Bernardinis, who is leaving the authority after eight years. The 38-year-old Rüegg was previously deputy head of the communications department of the cantonal government. He will take up his new post on November 1, as reported by SDA.

Celebrities and products: This is what the readers of Ringier magazines are interested in. Heads Corporate Communications is putting this into practice in a new umbrella campaign with cheeky promises such as "L'Oreal Giliéron". Schweizer Illustrierte, SI Style, GlücksPost, Bolero and Goal are an attractive advertising environment, according to the Heads press release. In the new advertising campaign, Heads illustrates the advertising impact of ads in Ringier magazines with Freudian slips from readers: "Dolce and Cabanas" play the most beautiful football, the Queengemahl mutates into "Prince Philips" and "L'Oreal Giliéron" is considered the most beautiful of all misses. The trade press campaign runs from mid-August to December 2007.
Client: Ringier Magazines; Beniamino Esposito, Head of Advertising Market; Franziska Schmid, Head of Advertising. Agency: Heads Corporate Communication AG BSW; Creative Direction: Marco Simonetti; Text: Ralph Hermann; Graphics: Donovan Szypura; Consulting: Ralph Hermann, Nadia Francioso. Photos: Tom Haller. Styling: Mirjam Kaeser. Casting: Nadja Putzi.