Zurich's arthouse cinemas now have a visually and functionally revamped website. The new website was created in collaboration with Brandnew, the specialists for integrated communication from Zurich.  
The site has been completely overhauled in terms of both design and technical functionality. An online ticket system for all Zurich art-house cinemas is now available to surfing movie buffs. Visitors to the site can find out about available seats in the virtual movie theater and then buy and print their tickets online in just three simple steps. Brandnew created a modern, understated look for the redesign. The aim was to give the website a clear and simple page and navigation structure. A well-thought-out structure and self-explanatory navigation create optimum user-friendliness. "From the outset, the aim was to define a discreet design. The aim was to give the films in general and the Arthouse brand in particular as much space as possible," says Isabelle Breu, co-owner of Brandnew, looking back on the concept phase of the project in the corresponding press release.

 The Award-CC recognizes communication concepts that address different dialogue groups and link at least three communication disciplines. A Media Relations award will also be presented for the first time.  
Combining different communication disciplines as skillfully as possible - internal communication, public relations, marketing communication, sponsoring, events, e-communications or lobbying: the Swiss Award-CC gives points for this. "The communication activities should be meaningfully integrated into the overall communication of the respective organization," says jury president Prof. Norbert Winistörfer from the FHNW School of Business, explaining the requirements for submissions to Pressetext. For the first time, outstanding media work will also be honored. For this award, the media releases and press kits used, the media events held, the media contacts made and the reports published will be assessed.
 
Communications professionals working in agencies, for large, medium-sized and small companies, non-profit organizations and public administrations are eligible to enter the Award CC and the Award Media Relations. Entries for the CC Award and the Media Relations Award can be submitted for communication concepts and work implemented between August 2006 and July 2007. The closing date for entries is May 31, 2007, the closing date for dossiers is July 31, 2007, the award ceremony will take place on September 13.

 Have you sinned a lot recently? Then do as the Mafia does and repent by investing in the Church. For example, by purchasing a Pope's Bilbel, limited edition, in a "high-quality white natural leather cover" with the Pope's coat of arms embossed in gold on the cover. Published by the Bild newspaper.  
Not only God knows that Bild has often violated the 10 commandments due to its generous handling of the truth. Nationalism, on the other hand, is not mentioned at all in the commandments and is not one of the seven deadly sins, which is why the tabloid can dedicate the "Benedict Bible" to its German pope with a clear heart. The honored Benedict number XVI did not miss the opportunity to write the introduction himself (what was that again about arrogance?). In the texts, he talks about his election as pope, reading the Bible and his papal name. This "bibliophile special edition of the Bible" offers something for everyone. For real geeks, after the papal prelude and over 1,000 pages of Bible text, there is an extensive appendix with notes on the biblical books, a timeline, two maps and an explanation of the biblical calendar. Tussis will love the three-page gilt edging and the two ribbon markers, while graphic artists will love the two-color printing throughout. The 800-gram Benedict Bible will be published on his name day on July 11 and costs 39.90 euros.

The media companies Tamedia and Espace Media Groupe are merging. The aim of the merger is to exploit synergies and jointly launch new media projects. According to the press release issued on Thursday, Tamedia will acquire 80 percent of the share capital of the Bern-based Espace Media Groupe and in return the current majority owners of Espace Media will acquire a stake in Tamedia. The purchase price for the majority shareholding in Espace is CHF 205 million in cash and 600,000 Tamedia shares, which are to be created as part of a capital increase. The current majority shareholders of Espace Media Groupe, primarily the Erwin Reinhardt-Scherz and Charles von Graffenried families, are thus acquiring a substantial stake in Tamedia. Charles von Graffenried is also to be elected to the Board of Directors of Tamedia.
Joining forces for new media projects
The change in media consumption habits and the shift of advertising money to the Internet pose major structural challenges for the media industry. With the strategic merger, Tamedia and Espace Media want to combine the competencies and strengths of both companies and take advantage of the opportunities arising from this change. The aim is to strengthen innovation and quality and to jointly launch new media projects in the areas of print, online and e-media.
Charles von Graffenried remains publisher of the Berner Zeitung and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Espace Media Groupe. The liberal-democratic orientation of the media published by Espace Media Groupe, which also includes the regional broadcaster TeleBärn and the capital city radio station Capital FM, will also be maintained in the new media group. Albert P. Stäheli will remain Delegate of the Board of Directors and CEO of Espace Media Groupe. The Board of Directors of Espace Media Groupe now consists of the Chairman Charles von Graffenried, the Vice Chairman Pietro Supino, the Delegate Albert P. Stäheli, Martin Kall and Iwan Rickenbacher as well as two members yet to be appointed, whereby the majority of the members should have their place of residence in the Espace Mittelland.
Development from a print to a multimedia company
The Espace Media Groupe, whose origins date back to 1888, and Tamedia, which emerged from the Tages-Anzeiger founded in 1893, have been linked for many years. Since 1990, Tamedia has held a 49 percent stake in the Berner Zeitung, the most important subsidiary of the Espace Media Groupe. Berner Zeitung has held 15 percent of the share capital of SonntagsZeitung since 1987. The 17.5 percent shareholding of Berner Zeitung in 20 Minuten further strengthens the cooperation.
In recent years, both companies have developed from pure print companies into modern multimedia companies. The Espace Media Groupe's new multi-media building in Berne is a sign of this change. In the fall of 2008, it will unite the editorial offices of the print media Berner Zeitung BZ and Der Bund as well as the studios of the regional broadcaster TeleBärn and Radio Capital FM together with the online portal espace.ch under one roof.
Sale of Radio Basilisk and Canal 3
Due to the new radio and TV law, which limits the number of private radio licenses per provider to two, the two companies are forced to sell one private radio station each. Tamedia is therefore aiming to sell the Basel radio station Basilisk by the end of 2007. In return, Espace Media Groupe is looking for a new partner for the bilingual Biel radio station Canal 3, while the leading Swiss local radio station Radio 24 and the Bernese capital city radio station Capital FM will continue to operate as part of the new company.
Tamedia capital increase and WEKO notification
The shareholders will decide on the capital increase of Tamedia AG at an Extraordinary General Meeting on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 in Zurich. At the same time, the Board of Directors will propose to the shareholders the election of Charles von Graffenried to the Board of Directors.
The planned merger of Tamedia and Espace Media Groupe will be notified to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission. Following approval by the Competition Commission, Tamedia will decide on a possible offer to the owners of the remaining 20 percent of the share capital of Espace Media Groupe.

 Swisscom is acquiring 35% of the Geneva-based video-on-demand specialist Transmedia. The telecoms company is thus taking a further step in its realignment as a multimedia provider.  
Swisscom had positioned itself in the multimedia segment with the launch of Bluewin TV. With its investment in Transmedia, Swisscom announced its third commitment in the media and entertainment sector on Thursday. A few weeks ago, Swisscom already invested in Dyte.tv and Liberovision, a software developer for virtual camera settings. The latest acquisition, Transmedia, is a leading provider in the video-on-demand (VoD) market. The company acts as an intermediary for VoD titles and also operates its own VoD channel for concerts, i-concerts. The channel is not yet available in Switzerland, but is supplied to international telecoms companies and cable operators such as Free, Telenet, Club Internet and BT Vision. Swisscom had previously obtained some of its French content from Transmedia.

 Movement in the Swiss IT market for public administrations: The boards of directors of Abraxas and Bedag have agreed to cooperate extensively in a letter of intent. The aim of the cooperation is to jointly strengthen their respective positions in the public administration market and thus realize synergy gains.  
According to the press portal, a joint subsidiary is to be founded, which will commence operations on January 1, 2008. The data center services and desktop services as well as the employees working in these areas are to be combined in the subsidiary. The prerequisites are good, write the companies; both belong to cantons, provide comprehensive IT services in administrations and are roughly the same size. Berne-based Bedag employs around 400 people in Berne and Lausanne, while Abraxas, which belongs to the cantons of Zurich and St. Gallen, employs around 300. With their main customers, the densely populated and large cantons of Berne, St. Gallen, Zurich and Vaud, they cover 40 percent of the cantonal public IT market. No job losses are expected as a result of the merger. On the contrary: the companies expect to create numerous new jobs, including highly qualified jobs, in the new subsidiary. The planned collaboration still requires the approval and agreement of the owner cantons of Berne, St. Gallen and Zurich.

The media union Comedia is against the merger of the Bern-based Espace Media Group and Tamedia. The union warns of redundancies, a reduction in media diversity, the closure of some printing sites and a loss of independence.The media union's reaction was not long in coming on Thursday after Tamedia's merger announcement. For Comedia, what the Zurich publishing house is presenting as a merger is a takeover with serious consequences for the Swiss media landscape.
In its statement, the media union fears that profit considerations will take precedence over the preservation of a vibrant media landscape. Every takeover of media and printing companies by Tamedia in recent years has always led to massive job losses.
Comedia also warns against a merger of the Bund and Berner Zeitung newspapers. The union also believes that the traditional Bernese printing company Benteli Halwag should be closed or sold.
Comedia is thus opposing the excessive weighting of profit interests, which could lead to a media uniformity. The union also draws attention to the fact that Tamedia can apparently easily raise CHF 200 million for the purchase of the Espace Media Group, while increasing the salaries of its employees by an average of only CHF 20 last year.

Every day at rush hour, News Aktuell Switzerland flickers hundreds of PR images across the world's largest digital screen in New York's Times Square. With this innovative service, the company enables its customers to reach a broader public. "Obs.BigApple" is the name of the new PR image distribution service offered by News Aktuell Switzerland in cooperation with PR Newswire, a United Business Media company. According to a report by SDA, the photos will be displayed during rush hour in Times Square, a place where over 1.5 million people pass every day. In addition, the images will be distributed via satellite directly to over 900 US media outlets affiliated with the Associated Press agency service.

 The Zurich agency Metadesign was honored with the International Corporate Design Award in the Re-Design category for the redesign of the Migros Bank website.  
At the Corporate Design Award 2007, just six of the more than 2,000 entries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland received awards. Metadesign was the only Swiss agency to receive an award from the communications association this year. According to the agency's press release on Thursday, the 12-member jury praised Migros Bank's new website as an "outstanding example of current design and branding." Metadesign is one of the leading international agencies for branding and corporate identity with around 250 employees in Zurich, Berlin, San Francisco and Abu Dhabi. The agency develops strategies and corporate identity systems for the consistent cross-media appearance of brands and companies such as ABB, Banque Pictet and Swiss Life.

 Revenues from online advertising in the USA continue to climb steadily. Last year, advertising expenditure on the internet reached a new record of 16.9 billion dollars, 35% higher than in the previous year.  
This was announced by the industry association Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers on Wednesday. As reported by SDA, the industry expects advertising revenues to continue to grow. Advertising companies and advertising agencies have recognized that interactive advertising appearances on the Internet are a unique way to reach customers, explained the IAB.

 With immediate effect, Intermag Basel is taking over the representation of the Belgian edition of Marie Claire (Medialogue) exclusively for the Swiss market. Intermag is thus adding another leading lifestyle title to its portfolio for the Belgian market.  
Ingermag Basel is a sales unit of Publicitas Service International and the leading advertising sales and marketing organization for international publishing houses in Switzerland, including cross-media services. According to its own information, Intermag represents titles such as Der Spiegel, Merian, National Geographic, Vogue and various editions of Glamour.

If you want to decorate the walls of your home or office, the Unterwerk Selnau currently offers a great opportunity. The Selection invites you to browse, discover and buy! Under the motto "Cash&Carry", high-quality photo prints are offered at bargain prices in the exhibition hall.  
Photo enthusiasts can purchase the 1,500 workprints that The Selection vfg put up for judging on Preview Day for just 80 francs each. These include works by well-known photographers. The high-quality A4 prints were produced on photographic paper by Photo Studio 13. Less for the walls, but beautiful on the table and inspiring for professionals is the Selection catalog with the 18 works selected by the jury from around 500 submissions as representative of a calendar year. Various authors comment on current topics in photography. With detailed information on the works and the photographers, the catalog is not only a working tool for advertising agencies, art buyers, photo agencies and picture editors, but also a lasting documentation of Swiss professional photography. It can be ordered from Schwabe.