Internet Many Swiss publishers are now generating revenues on the Internet. But are they really making money with it? Is the Internet already a profitable business? The question is easy to ask, but the answers from publishers are vague. Business on the Internet is at a low level and oscillates between small profits and loss-making business. In two to three years, however, it is hoped that the profit zone will be reached. However, the shock of the burst Internet bubble after the turn of the millennium seems to have been overcome and confidence in online business is intact again. Publishers are certainly investing heavily in the expansion of their web activities. The Internet is an important part of the growth strategy and is at the top of the priority list. Most publications now have at least one website with a range of offers and additional services. Web presence has become mandatory, and growing sales on advertising-financed sites of 40 percent annually show where the trend is heading.
"We are investing heavily in the Internet and this area is growing strongly in terms of turnover," explains Christoph Tonini, CFO and Deputy Chairman of UL at Tamedia. He estimates that the Internet business currently accounts for around four percent of the Group's total turnover. "We want to continue to grow there," he says. The Group is currently investing in the expansion of the website of the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten, is redesigning the Piazza portal and has plans in the jobs sector. However, Tamedia has not yet earned any money on the Internet. At the bottom line, the Group is still in the black in this business. "We are in the investment phase," says Tonini.
The NZZ is also investing heavily in the web. The contribution margins for the online commitment are constantly improving, says Regula Meili, Head of Online Marketing. "However, we are not yet in the black." She estimates that the break-even point will be reached in three years. Meili estimates that online activities currently account for less than five percent of the NZZ's total turnover.
"On the question of whether we are losing or making money on the Internet, we can clearly say that we are making money," says Ringier Group spokesperson Marco Castellaneta. However, most of the income is generated via platforms that are linked to an existing publishing product. It is therefore not possible to quantify the earnings in detail. Ringier has over 150 brands on the Internet worldwide. "Until now, these presences have often only been marketing presences and communication platforms for newspapers, magazines and television programs." Most brands have developed their own web strategy. Not all of them have focused as much on the Internet as Cash with its ongoing Cash daily experiment in Switzerland.
At Ringier, as in many other media companies, the Internet is currently developing very quickly: "In five years' time, we will probably be talking about the Internet differently," says Castellaneta. Growth on the web is a declared goal of the Group and is on the list of priorities. "Ringier is currently developing a strategy for the digital business, because it is clearly our intention to earn money on the Internet," says Castellaneta.
The Espace Media Groupe, publisher of the Berner Zeitung and Bund, is apparently also earning money in Bern. Espace CEO Albert P. Stäheli reports that Internet revenue accounts for around 1.5 percent of the company's total revenue.
In Basel, Switzerland's second-largest economic area, publisher Matthias Hagemann invests an average of one million francs a year in the web activities of his company, which publishes the Basler Zeitung. However, with a conservatively calculated turnover on the Internet of around 700,000 francs, the publisher has so far added to this. "It's a difficult business and not easy, especially for a regional newspaper," says Hagemann. If you come up with new ideas and business models, there is bound to be someone else who is already doing it successfully.
The German Axel Springer publishing house recently announced that the group generates five percent of its turnover on the Internet and is already earning good money online. But such success stories hardly impress the Basel-based publisher. He has doubts as to whether the German business model is really sustainable: "Nobody has found the ideal model yet," says Hagemann.
At Edipresse, the company that largely dominates French-speaking Switzerland and publishes over 150 newspapers and magazines internationally, the Internet has so far only been profitable in the classified section. Edipresse is involved in numerous corresponding portals. Philippe Gendret, Deputy Director of the "Matin et Magazines" group at Edipresse, speaks of high profitability and double-digit growth. However, the phenomenon affects all publishers who want to remain in the classifieds business, which has migrated significantly to the Internet. On the other hand, the publisher is making a profit on the portals of Edipresse titles. "We are making losses," says Gendret. Preparing the content is expensive, and every few months the sites have to be upgraded with new tools such as blogs, video and mobile in order to remain competitive. "In small Switzerland, it's difficult to offer a generalist site; it works much better in France or Germany," he says.
As with all publishers, Edipresse does not yet know exactly which channels work best with the public. It's a constant process of trial and error. On the Le Matin site, for example, news dominates in the morning, while interactivity is more in demand in the evening. Gendret estimates that the Group generates three percent of its total turnover (of CHF 450 million) on the web.
For the AZ Media Group, publisher of the Aargauer Zeitung, Ueli Eckstein, COO and Head of Print Media, puts the share of online business in Group sales at two percent. Classified ads dominate here. Eckstein does not want to say how high the profit is, but the bottom line is that they are already making money on the web.
In Graubünden, publisher Hanspeter Lebrument generates around four percent of his Südostschweiz's turnover online. "It's now a pretty good business," he says. Unlike Tamedia, for example, the investment phase is over at Südostschweiz. "We invested a lot of money at the beginning," says the publisher. What Ringier has moved away from is clearly working well in Chur under regional conditions: Lebrument has founded his own Internet company, Südostschweiz New Media, whose biggest customer is himself with his holding company and other subsidiaries. He makes a profit - "a few 100,000 francs a year". Here too, Lebrument skillfully keeps his empire together. The titles belonging to Südostschweiz receive services from Südostschweiz New Media more cheaply than elsewhere. The company is also regarded as the largest service provider for web and IT solutions in the region. "The Internet is once again seen as an opportunity. There is no absolute guarantee, but it is probably a solid business," says the publisher.    
 
René Worni

After five years in leading positions in the areas of television and new media, Andreas Waldis is leaving the Ringier media group on May 31, 2007. The 40-year-old marketing and media specialist will take up an independent position in the area of digital media and cross-media marketing, as Ringier announced on Wednesday. Over the past twelve months, Waldis has been responsible for the development and management of the New Media competence center at Ringier. He networked Ringier's online activities, established the digital committees at Group and country level and oversaw the launch of new products and services in the field of new media. At the same time, he played a key role in the development of Ringier's new digital strategy, acted as an internal consultant and project manager and transformed the New Media staff unit into a separate department. Prior to this, he was responsible for marketing and sales in the management of the television division for four years and made a significant contribution to the commercial success of RingierTV. Waldis' successor will be appointed in the coming weeks.

Trade fairs ... are above all one thing: a platform and meeting point between suppliers and consumers or customers.
Whether as a small-scale customer event or a large-scale trade fair, a company's move into the public eye has one main objective: to stimulate consumer/customer demand for products or services - and ideally to put the exhibiting company in the "right (positive) light" at the same time. On the other hand, visitors appreciate the opportunity to directly compare products, solutions and services from several suppliers in one place. They can also gain a more comprehensive opinion of a product or company.
Finally, the organizer provides the exhibition hall and the most important infrastructure. For their part, organizers hope for a high utilization rate - i.e. as many square meters of exhibition space sold as possible. The trade fair organizers often work together with stand constructors or specialized companies and thus offer exhibitors a helping hand so that they can design their trade fair presentation professionally.
Trade fairs are classified according to their focus on trade visitors (business-to-business = B2B) or the general public (business-to-consumer = B2C). The latter have a very long tradition. Originally associated with a church festival (the name trade fair is derived from the Latin term Missa = church feast day), these events, also known as public fairs, still have great appeal today. Nevertheless, over the years, trade fair organizers have increasingly specialized in specific visitor segments/target groups. This goes hand in hand with the changing and much broader interests of the population. Examples of such specialized trade fairs include the IT trade fair Orbit-IEX, Suissetransport in Bern and the Swissbau construction trade fair in Basel.
Another trend in the trade fair sector is the shift from sales fairs to so-called sample fairs, which has already been completed in many places. Visitors are therefore hardly able to purchase products at the trade fair and take them home with them, but they can convince themselves of the benefits of an exhibitor's products and services on site.
Indirect successThe trade fair appearance itself is initially associated with costs, which are usually taken from the marketing budget by the exhibiting companies. The total costs of a trade fair appearance are made up of at least the costs for the exhibition space, the design of the stand and the actual stand construction, the costs for the infrastructure (water, electricity, telecommunications) and for gifts or product samples (giveaways). In addition, there are further costs such as those for the advertising materials produced for a trade fair as well as the expenses for the people required for the organization and implementation and/or for the stand personnel.
No guarantee of successWhether and how successful a trade fair is for a company cannot always or rarely be measured in Swiss francs. In the capital goods segment, the decision of a single order won at the trade fair can finance the costs of the trade fair. In the consumer segment, on the other hand, samples/product samples help with branding, which is why participation in a trade fair must be seen as a long-term investment. In most cases, it is therefore not possible to refinance a trade fair directly through participation. In addition, trade fairs are pure networking. It is not uncommon for competitors to meet at trade fairs for initial discussions about cooperation, or for exhibiting companies to revise or update their corporate strategy. One thing is certain: the direct competition that is also present at the trade fair is inspiring.    
Technical terms around the trade fair business(trade)fairs
are characterized by the following key points: They take place on a recurring basis (usually annually), often last more than two days and are limited to one or one and a half weeks. Trade fair organizers differentiate thematically between public and trade fairs. New German: B2C and B2B trade fairs.
In Germany, typical B2C events are often referred to as exhibitions rather than trade fairs: A well-known example is the IAA - the International Motor Show.
The most important trade fair in an industry is known as the leading trade fair. In the graphic arts industry, this would be the Drupa trade fair, which takes place every four years.
In order to attract large numbers of visitors and probably also to make better use of the exhibition halls, trade fairs are often combined. These multi-sector trade fairs are in vogue. 
In contrast to trade fairs, conferences are dedicated to a specific topic. The focus of this type of event is usually on (specialist) presentations - which are then also referred to as specialist conferences - which in turn usually take into account current developments within an industry.
The terms conference or symposium are often used instead of the term meeting. In contrast to conferences, symposia usually focus on or discuss scientific topics.
Finally, lectures are speeches to an audience and are usually part of all the events mentioned above.
The term congress refers to a meeting where the focus is usually on technical content.
Trade fair companies either rent the grounds, halls or parts thereof to guest organizers or act as organizers themselves.
The term exhibition city refers to cities that have special exhibition grounds or exhibition halls for mostly supra-regional or even international exhibitions. Swiss trade fair cities include Aarau, Basel, Bern, Bulle, Delémont, Fribourg and Geneva,
Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Martigny, St. Gallen, Thun and Zurich.
 
Jürgen Franck 

The service provider for web-based solutions, Namics, has supported Clariden Leu in realizing the intranet of the newly created bank. A joint intranet was conceived, designed and filled with content from the existing five intranets. Namics also advised on the design and conception of Clariden Leu's new website. The website is characterized by a simple navigation structure and is intended to underline Clariden Leu's uniform communication concept, according to a press release. The merger of the independent Credit Suisse private banking subsidiaries Clariden Bank, Bank Leu, Bank Hofmann, BGP Banca di Gestione Patrimoniale and the securities dealer Credit Suisse Fides to form Clariden Leu was completed in January 2007. This required a new and standardized intranet for all 1,800 employees. The result was an easy-to-use working tool which, thanks to its topic-oriented approach, makes a decisive contribution to identification with the new organizational structure and contributes to the rapid transfer of knowledge within the new bank. Namics consolidated the content of the existing five intranets within five weeks and transferred it to the new portal. A newly defined publication process ensures that the specialist departments can post and update content independently.

Models Juan Isidro Casilla, ad forger on duty, recently also sneaked into an issue of Schweizer Illustrierte Style with one of his fake ads. Jung von Matt/Limmat gladly accepts this steep pass and passes it on to the advertisers for Schweizer Illustrierte Style. Per the double-page spread with Casillas' portrait, advertisers are advised to book ads themselves early enough before he does. 

Self-promotion m&m celebrates its 25th anniversary with a campaign by GGK and posters in front of competitors' offices. over five billion francs are spent on advertising in Switzerland every year. But very little of this comes from the pot for self-promotion. Just as a shoemaker boasts about bad shoes, most agencies are astonishingly modest in this respect - apart from the investments for the various competitions. These days, m&m presents itself differently. The media agency, which has been actively involved for 25 years in deciding how these five billion francs can be used most effectively each year, has attracted attention with full-page advertisements in the Sunday press and various daily newspapers. Six subjects with clear typography and an equally clear statement - "Mecklenburg, the only internationally active media agency in Switzerland" - were designed by Zurich-based GGK. Based in Switzerland, m&m has "recently" established a presence in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, England, Dubai and the USA.
The subjects with this self-promotion are also available on some selected websites and in the form of posters. These have been strategically placed by m&m directly in front of competitors' offices.
Andreas Panzeri

The importance of strong national tourism marketing and state support for innovation for Swiss tourism were the central themes of this year's Tourism Industry Day on Wednesday in Bern. In order to promote growth, marketing must be expanded - and not cut back as planned by the Federal Council. The Federal Council is currently proposing to Parliament a budget of CHF 186 million for the financing of Switzerland Tourism for the years 2008 to 2011, which effectively means a cut. The tourism side is demanding a minimum of CHF 195 million.
However, the organization wants parliament to increase its budget even further - to CHF 207 million for the years 2008-2011. The number of overnight stays and guests in the current financing period has risen sharply, said Switzerland Tourism Director Jürg Schmid. This shows that investments in Switzerland Tourism promote growth.
The tourism industry uses a measurement to back up its claims. This confirms the economic importance of international tourism marketing and underlines the benefits of federal investment in Switzerland Tourism. With the CHF 46 million invested by the Confederation, Switzerland Tourism generates a direct turnover of CHF 2.26 billion. This turnover in turn returns CHF 318 million in taxes and duties to the Confederation, the cantons and the communes.
The planned reduction in the InnoTour innovation program from 28 to 21 million francs will not simply be accepted. The tourism industry will campaign for the planned reduction for 2008 to 2011 to be reversed.
The fact that the Federal Council has halted plans to set up a company to promote the country has been met with extraordinary regret by the presidents of the most important Swiss tourism organizations. They would like to see a ?powerful? national advertising.
Klaus Künzli, Central President of GastroSuisse, told the Sda news agency that it was incomprehensible that the project could not be presented to parliament quickly for reasons of prestige and responsibility. The parliamentarians should take up this issue.
Climate change poses major challenges for tourism, as Franz Steinegger, President of the Swiss Tourism Association, said. Numerous low-lying winter sports resorts must therefore already consider today how they want to attract tourists tomorrow. This is another reason why tourism is dependent on government support for innovation.

Sponsoring A few days ago, the fourth edition of her longseller "Sponsoring - the practical guide" was published - once again expanded, revised and brought up to date. And another book by Elisa Bortoluzzi Dubach, "Foundations - the guide for applicants", is already being published. This book is also likely to be a bestseller. In her new work, the successful author, consultant and university lecturer addresses private individuals as well as organizations, clubs and associations. It is aimed at interested parties, event organizers and companies from the fields of sport, culture, social affairs and ecology.

Time out After 17 years in Switzerland, André Morales has decided to work as a creative consultant for an international advertising agency in São Paulo for a year. The freelancer and former CD at McCann, who previously worked in Zurich, also wants to be available to his friends and colleagues there for travel tips or help with professional questions on site. He can be reached at [email protected].

Gastronomy Ruf Lanz makes even meat lovers curious about Hiltl's new vegetarian restaurant Friends of meat-free feasting have a new gourmet temple. On March 5, the most traditional vegetarian restaurant in Europe returned from its temporary location in the old stock exchange in Zurich to its original address on Sihlstrasse. After a long and intensive renovation phase, the new Hiltl is significantly larger, more elegant and more diverse. At the same time, it draws on over one hundred years of tradition and combines this with surprising innovation. Guests will now find an elegant premium restaurant, a bar serving small snacks until late into the night, a patisserie, a cookery school, a store and a take-away. A particularly striking architectural feature is the large expanse of glass that extends from floor to floor. However, the stylish architecture is not just an artistic end in itself. The glass also provides a fascinating insight into the kitchen and thus offers Zurich's first dining theater. The culinary spectacle can also be seen from the street for advertising purposes.
"No wonder all passers-by become curious," says Ruf Lanz. The creative agency addresses this curiosity in a witty and intriguing way in its opening campaign. It shows women and men curiously pressing their noses against the Hiltl window - and thus bearing an astonishing resemblance to a pig. In this way, the core message is brought to the point: the new Haus Hiltl makes even meat lovers curious.
Not just for veggie fanaticsAfter all, many Hiltl guests occasionally eat meat and don't come to Hiltl out of a missionary vegetarian conviction. They simply come because they appreciate the healthy food and the atmosphere.
With this campaign, Ruf Lanz has succeeded in continuing the style of the always clever and tongue-in-cheek advertising for Hiltl, without simply copying the previous wit of Wirz Werbung. Ruf Lanz is Hiltl's new creative agency because Rolf and Marielle Hiltl want to position their various companies more independently in future, including in the area of advertising. Wirz will continue to handle communications for the Tibits chain, while Ruf Lanz will handle the campaigns for the Hiltl parent company.
The opening campaign consists of six motifs. They will be used on posters, Cinemotion, the e-board at Zurich main station, streetcar posters, advertisements and postcards. An unusual invitation to the opening has already been sent out, which also picks up on the theme of curiosity. The invitation was torn open in the post out of curiosity and taped up again with eye-catching adhesive strips. So you're lucky if you still received one.
Andreas Panzeri

Finishing At the Hunkeler Innovationdays 2007, the focus was on solutions as well as European and global innovations For four days at the beginning of February, Lucerne was the global center of modern paper processing. The focus of the "Innovationdays" exhibition organized by Hunkeler AG at the Allmend Exhibition Centre was on the presentation of technical solutions for printing-on-demand, for data centers and mailrooms and for web finishing. Now in its seventh year, the event has evolved from an in-house exhibition to a leading industry gathering of international significance. A look at the development since the first edition in 1994 impressively shows the growing importance of Innovationdays on the international trade fair scene today. The number of visitors had multiplied tenfold by the time of the exhibition two years ago. The increasing demand from exhibitors ultimately led to the change of venue from Zofingen to Lucerne.
 
Paper processing and form finishingThe trade event aimed to demonstrate solutions. The exhibitors demonstrated ways in which printed matter produced using digital printing can be produced and further processed or enhanced inline. The event mainly focused on continuous feed digital printing and its finishing options, which are usually used to produce mailings, bank statements, invoices - known as transactional printing - or newspapers.
It is precisely in this environment that the expertise of the organizer Hunkeler lies, which was at the forefront here with innovations. The Lucerne-based company, which is the market leader in some segments, refers to these activities in the further processing of digitally printed products as paper processing. New components from Hunkeler based on the POPP-6 standard (POPP = Printer Online Paper Processing) - including unwinding and rewinding modules, high-performance cutters (for longitudinal and cross cutting as well as variable cut-out), stack deliveries and spiral folding, offset and transfer modules - enable the processing of papers or half cartons (from 40 to 300 g/m2) at speeds of up to 220 meters/minute (roll-to-roll production).
One highlight of the trade fair was the production of a mailing on a Variweb production line from Hunkeler, which demonstrated much of what is currently technically possible in this area. The mailing was punched inline several times in a single pass and from roll material: In addition to a die-cut shape based on the silhouette of an airplane, an address window was also die-cut. The perforation, trimming to the final format and subsequent folding were also carried out inline and therefore in a single operation. To monitor quality and completeness, an integrated video camera compares the mailings with the previously printed addresses.
Many of the applications on show in Lucerne are also likely to give new impetus to forms, which have often been declared dead. Intelligent forms fitted with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) labels are experiencing a renaissance thanks to new technical possibilities. These logistics forms equipped with corresponding transponders were produced in Lucerne on another Variweb line.
 
Digital printing trade fair includedSince Hunkeler offers and adapts its systems for various digital printing systems, these suppliers could not be missing. The participation of almost all leading digital printing suppliers impressively underlines the importance of this trade fair - as does the fact that more and more suppliers are exhibiting at Hunkeler.
Some of the companies that exhibited in Lucerne for the first time and, in particular, their new products are presented in alphabetical order (and without any claim to completeness) in the box on the right. Among them were further Swiss or even European premieres.    
 
 
 
Hunkeler AGThe in Wikon, Lucerne
based company Hunkeler, which employs 250 people, is mainly active in the field of paper processing. This division (not included in the article or below is the disposal systems division, which is dedicated to paper disposal) offers complete solutions in the field of print output management and manufactures offline web finishing systems (systems that process printed roll paper) for finishing forms and advertising mailings. Customers use Hunkeler machines to produce customer and business cards, forms with multiple functions, mailings with stickers and integrated labels from paper rolls or continuous stacks. The company matches its digital paper processing machines to continuous feed and cut sheet high performance printers from Delphax, Océ, HP Indigo, IBM, Xeikon or Xerox for the transactional printing and mailing production segments.  
 
 
 
Premieres of selected Agfa Graphics Herseller digital printing systems,
which attended the Hunkeler event for the first time, launched a new inkjet color printing system under the name :Dotrix TransColor. The Belgian company sees the system for printing transactional and transpromotional documents (e.g. invoice printing for large companies in connection with marketing) as well as for producing colorful and high-quality direct mailings. Thanks to the "Spice" printing unit (Single Pass Color Engine), almost 500 A4 pages per minute can be printed in color on both sides in one pass at a maximum paper width of 65 cm. Canon, also exhibiting at Innovationdays for the first time, presented the imagePRESS C1 printing system to the trade public as a Swiss premiere. The compact device can be used to print pre-prints or print-on-demand jobs up to SRA3 format (320 ¥ 450 mm cm). The color printing system, which is also very well suited as a proofing solution thanks to an integrated color management system, has an advantage over inkjet printing systems due to its significantly higher printing performance (14 pages/minute). The system, which features a range of new, leading technologies, can produce print products that are in no way inferior to offset printing. The imagePRESS C1 prints at true 1200 dpi and is equipped with various innovations, such as an oil-free fusing system. A transfer ribbon enables consistent print quality on a wide variety of media. The imagePRESS C1 can be used by companies in a wide variety of sectors: as an extremely precise proofing system, for short runs and print-on-demand jobs. It is also suitable for variable data processing in numerous sectors, including advertising agencies, in-house printers, copy stores and printing companies. According to Canon, the system, which has been on sale since November 2006, has been very well received. Over 70 ImagePress C1 systems have already been sold in Switzerland. 
IBM announced three new digital printing systems in Lucerne with availability in March 2007. One of these, the Infoprint 5000 roll-to-roll color system, was on display. This inkjet printing system achieves print speeds of up to 64 meters/minute and can be used in PostScript/PDF environments. The high printing speed is provided by an inkjet system developed by Dainippon Screen. Last year, this Japanese manufacturer introduced a Truepress Jet520 color printing system with speeds of up to 64 m/min, which is equipped with ink heads from Epson.
Kodak demonstrated the production possibilities of digital newspaper printing with its Kodak Versamark VX5000 digital printing solution. Equipped with modules from Hunkeler AG, the Versamark enables cost-effective four-color printing of newspapers at remote locations or in short runs. In its standard configuration, Kodak is showing the Nexpress 2500, a printing system capable of printing up to 2500 A4 4/4-color sheets in one hour.
Océ presented the Swiss premiere of the Varistream 9230 - a web printing system that can print up to three colors on both sides. This makes the Varistream ideal for transactional printing, where corporate colors are to be used, for example. With the Varioprint 6250, the Dutch company also presented one of the fastest duplex single-sheet printers for the first time in Switzerland.
Xeikon presented its Xeikon 6000 printing system, which was only launched last autumn. The roller system prints up to 168 pages/minute (equivalent to 12 meters/minute) - in full colour and on both sides (duplex printing). A new toner is used, which has a more ideal particle shape and thanks to which better printing results can be achieved, especially when printing surfaces. It should also reduce toner consumption - a not insignificant cost factor in digital printing - by five to ten percent. The production of a so-called self-mailer was demonstrated in Lucerne; these are mailings that do not require envelopes or envelopes and are usually produced in a single operation.  
Xerox presented the Nuvera 288 black and white printer, the fastest cut sheet printer currently available, which was announced last fall and shown in Europe for the first time. Corresponding software and hardware ensure that the two printing units work together as if they were one unit. Xerox also showed the Xerox 495 CF roll-to-roll printing system in production at the Innovationdays.
Jürgen Franck

The online store Bumble.ch relies on blog sponsorship: a full banner advertises poker accessories from Bumble.ch in the weblogs Infamy, Kulturtv.ch, Leumund.ch and Starfrosch. The banner campaign is accompanied by an editorial article in each of the participating blogs. "Blog sponsorship allows us to reach a target group that would otherwise be difficult to reach," says Marcel Tschopp from Bumble.ch, explaining the decision to use this new form of advertising. Bumble.ch sells "useful products for everyday life". The products range from wellness and living to sport and games, cooking and romance. The Bumble.ch poker store sells poker accessories ranging from chip sets to poker tables. Bumble.ch and the blogs were brought together by Christian Leu's latest project, Blog2.biz. His aim is to act as an interface between business and blogs and offer individual, customized communication solutions for bloggers and companies.