Fundraising Ruf Lanz turns a dachshund into a guide dog for the Mühlehalde home for the blind in Zurich People who only go blind when they reach retirement age are not considered disabled under Swiss law and therefore receive no financial support. The Mühlehalde home for the blind in Zurich is a home for people who have become blind or severely visually impaired in old age. It became famous thanks to the multiple award-winning TV commercials by Ruf Lanz, in which the residents of the home sing cover versions of hits by Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli. Resolution: "Not all blind people can earn millions by singing." These commercials have increased the volume of donations by several hundred percent over the years. The number of new donors has also risen sharply. Nevertheless, the home for the blind is still dependent on donations.
 
There is currently no money for the production and, above all, the placement of another TV commercial. That is why Ruf Lanz is now donating an eye-catching new print advertisement to Mühlehalde. It shows in a surprising way where it leads if you have to save too much. For example, instead of a professional guide dog, you can only afford a helpless dachshund. The motif is used as an e-board, as an F12 poster and as an advertisement in all formats. Photography and image processing were provided by Stefan Minder and Felix Schregenberger.
Andreas Panzeri

Tourism The Swiss advertising agency played with the world-famous youth hostel logo. The result is surprising. "Beautifully located" is the claim with a cleverly ambiguous play on words for the Swiss Youth Hostels. The subjects are illustrated with various versions of the "only slightly modified" signet for youth hostels. The symbol is internationally registered and therefore known worldwide. The advertising agency has also conducted field research and found that 95 percent of young people in Switzerland associate the symbol with the fir tree and the little house with "youth hostel". "There is a value in this logo that is good for the campaign," the creative team quickly agreed. However, "it wasn't easy to get the rights for our playful alterations," explains strategist Reto Dürrenberger from the advertising agency.
Playing with the imaginationFor CD Sarah Hiltebrand, the effort was more than worth it. In the new campaign for the youth hostels, the protective fir tree with the inviting house next to it allows an almost unlimited play with the imagination.
"Where you can spend the cheapest South Sea vacation" is the headline for an alienation of the logo as a beach hut with a palm tree. "Where shouting is a good thing", reads the logo in the style of a child's drawing. The message is clear: children are also welcome in youth hostels. Just like "party mice", which the advertising agency visualizes with a mouse hole in the hostel, just like Mickey Mouse. Hiltebrand wants to design further subjects "depending on the customer's needs". The advertising agency is also planning a few guerrilla campaigns around the current campaign, which of course will not be revealed here.
For Dürrenberger, the campaign with these easy-to-decipher symbols can not only "work very quickly". It is also a sensible use of limited resources. The Swiss Youth Hostels are organized in the form of a foundation, so there was little budget for an elaborate photo shoot, "although there are a few visually very exclusive buildings with hostels that would have made wonderful subjects". Such buildings used to be bequeathed to the foundation with regularity. There are a total of 58 youth hostels in Switzerland, and they are open to everyone.
The Swiss Youth Hostels were the first client of the newly founded advertising agency two years ago. However, the agency is not housed in such a hostel, as it has now grown to ten people and is already considering further expansion.
Andreas Panzeri

Wine I The Numéro 10 agency recommends Valais specialties such as Cornalin and Petite Arvine The trend is unmistakable: Foreign wines are increasingly dominating many fine restaurants and supermarkets. For many wine lovers, local wines apparently taste too exotic or are no longer considered chic. This is particularly true of Valais wines, which are usually imagined as Dôle or Fendant in a liter bottle. Yet - in vino veritas - many Valais wines hide truly fine wines. The Bernese agency Numéro 10 wants to make this known by focusing its campaign for Valais specialties entirely on new, aesthetic and quality-related images. These deliberately ignore the codes of homeland and tradition that have been popular in wine advertising to date. "There is a clear link between the exclusive worlds of luxury and perfume," explains CD Gilles Aeby. In fact, there are many similarities between the world of wine and the world of perfume: the flavors, the aromas, the fragrances.
In this concept, the Cornalin and Petite Arvine specialties are to gain in importance, added value and quality. And rightly so, as these wines also develop numerous aromas and bouquets, as a test during the presentation of this campaign showed. At the same time, the association with perfume also emphasizes the nobility of this wine by identifying it with the prestigious world of Parisian perfumes.
Conclusion: Valais wines should be positioned by their quality, which can stand comparison with great foreign wines, and at the same time demonstrate the richness of Valais wine culture and the numerous local grape varieties.
The subjects appear in magazines and posters in the shopping centers.
Andreas Panzeri

 News aktuell Switzerland is looking for the best PR images of the year. The industry prize Obs-Award is presented in cooperation with News aktuell in Hamburg. Media outlets and PR agencies have until August 12 to submit their motifs for the Obs Awards 2007.  
After the competition was held very successfully in Germany last year with over 500 entries, it is being extended to Switzerland this year. The competition, which recognizes the growing importance of PR photography, is named after the original image service (Obs) of News aktuell. The award is presented in six categories: "Corporate Communications", "PR Event", "Product Photo", "Portrait", "Program and Magazine PR" and "Infographics". Media outlets and PR agencies can apply for the Obs Awards with photos and graphics that have been produced in the last twelve months.
 
Entries are free of charge and can be submitted via an online form at Obs-awards.de. Last year, the SOS Children's Villages won the main prize with the motif "6 villages for 2006". The award ceremony will take place in November 2007. Prizes in kind worth over 5,000 francs will be awarded.

 America is increasingly elevating itself to the role of the only true climate protector. New York wants to become the most environmentally friendly city, JP Morgan founded an investment department for alternative energies, and now Rolling Stone is elevating itself to the status of the most environmentally friendly magazine. The American magazine for music and pop culture Rolling Stone is the first magazine in the world to print on carbon dioxide-free paper. Starting with the June 28, 2007 issue, the magazine will be published in Catalyst Cooled paper, an environmentally friendly type of paper produced by Catalyst Paper. According to a report from Worldpressonline.com, the paper is produced in a special process in which no carbon dioxide is released into the environment. But Rolling Stone does not only want to improve the world in a material way, but also in an ideological way, because the first issue on environmentally conscious paper is completely dedicated to the protection of the planet. But it's not clear whether the paper comes from deforested areas or elsewhere, and transporting the magazine halfway around the world probably doesn't really reduce the carbon dioxide levels in orbit either. But at least the switch to the new paper is a first step toward the axis of green.

Once again this year, the ADC Europe evaluated the medal winners of all European competitions and selected the best works of the year. The jury awarded a total of 23 medals last Sunday. The most successful agency this year came from Switzerland: the campaigns of the Walker advertising agency won three gold medals. The winners in the respective categories were the Fleurop Mother's Day campaign, the Amnesty International posters and the Fleurop annual report. Walker also received a nomination for another piece of work commissioned by Amnesty International. Nine further nominations went to Switzerland: Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett once for Kimberly-Clark and twice for the Mary Woodbridge campaign for Mammut. Publicis received two nominations for Wilson. Ruf Lanz was also nominated twice, namely for Radio Energy and for Ion Eglin. The jury awarded one nomination each to Lowe for the BSW/Street Safety campaign, to Euro RSCG Group Switzerland for BAG/Stop Aids and to Advico Young & Rubicam for Head Snowboards.

 
The eight leading professional associations in the communications industry have institutionalized a new admission procedure for prospective specialists in the disciplines of marketing, sales, communication planning, public relations or direct marketing. Those who pass this examination have the necessary basic knowledge to successfully continue their education in the fields of marketing, sales, communication planning, public relations or direct marketing. The KS Kaderschule in Zurich and St. Gallen is one of the providers of the Markom course. According to a press release, the preparatory course for the Markom exam also offers prospective marketing specialists a decision-making aid for later choosing between the individual marketing disciplines.

 Multicolor Print in Baar will have a new Managing Director at the beginning of next year. Daniel Ettlinger will take over from Anton Schaller, who is retiring in February 2008. Ettlinger currently manages Buchsmedien, where he is responsible for the print and publishing divisions, Multicolor Print writes in a press release. He has realigned Buchsmedien, an NZZ Group company, over the past two years and brought it back to success. Prior to this, Ettlinger managed the branch network of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft in Eastern Switzerland for ten years. He has extensive knowledge of the media industry. He worked as an editor for the St. Galler Tagblattmedien, sold advertisements for Orell Füssli Werbe AG (now Publicitas) and advised clients on advertising campaigns. As an employee of Rüdiger Druck in St. Gallen, he gained experience in the production sector.

 Mike Krüll, the former Creative Director of FCB Leutenegger Krüll, has joined the agency JWT+H+F as Creative Director Text after a short break and a few months as a freelancer. He completes the range of services offered by JWT+H+F, according to a press release. Over the past two years at FCB Leutenegger Krüll, Krüll has gained experience in networking all communication channels. Complex solutions for clients such as Nivea and Ferrero have challenged him personally, according to the press release. At JWT+H+F, he will meet up with old acquaintances Andy Hostettler and Remy Fabrikant: The three have previously worked together at GGK and W,H,S,. "The power team of yesteryear is complete again," Hostettler exults in the press release. And Mike Krüll says: "I`m coming home."

 Handelszeitung is a media partner of the ICT conference X.Days 07, which will take place in September under the motto "Empower your People", according to a press release. The aim of the cooperation between the two partners is to sensitize decision-makers to all the important topics that should be on the agenda of a Chief Information Officer in 2007. A separate bundle on these topics will appear in the Handelszeitung on September 19, 2007. Business editor Matthias Niklowitz is responsible for the special edition. A further advantage of the media partnership is for the participants of the X.Days. Following the event, they will receive a six-month subscription to the Handelszeitung.

The German publishing group Handelsblatt is discontinuing the free business newspaper Business News. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Holtzbrinck subsidiary announced that although the paper had been successful with readers, there had been too few advertisers. Business News was first published in August 2006 and most recently had a circulation of 111,500 copies. The distribution concept consisted of placing the paper in company foyers. The free newspaper, designed in tabloid format, was distributed on weekdays. This concept did not succeed on the advertising market. In general, free newspapers have a difficult time in Germany, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung continues.
As a follow-up project, the Handelsblatt publishing group is planning a new Internet portal under the management of the previous Business News editor-in-chief Klaus Madzia. Most of the employees can be kept on.

The Wirz subsidiary Wirz Corporate has been responsible for public relations for the technology group Samsung Switzerland since June 1, 2007 and also manages its press office. Kurt Hofmann joined Samsung on March 1, 2007 as Marketing Manager and is responsible for the entire marketing of the three product groups "Computers and Peripherals", "TV, Video and Audio" and "Household Appliances". Kurt Hofmann previously worked for Sony and Canon.