The Wirz subsidiary Assai has launched a winter image campaign for Jeep. The Zurich-based agency for digital and dialog-oriented communication is focusing on Jeep's suitability for the snow. With two campaigns for the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland and Jeep Commander models, Assai is emphasizing the 4×4 expertise of both models.panorama ads for the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland are intended to express the endless driving fun. The poster campaign for the Jeep Commander aims to pick up the target group directly in the ski area: in parking lots at the gondola stations, at the ski lift or directly with posters on the ski slope. The campaign is also accompanied by an online presence, which was created and implemented by the internet agency Netvertising. What is still missing are the winter temperatures.

The Swiss TV marketers have agreed to reduce the booking periods from the previous three (1st half-year, summer and fall/winter) to two new booking periods. The decision already applies to the 2007 advertising year, which is now divided into two half-yearly booking periods. The decision was made after the national standardization of the three planning periods for 2006. The reduction in booking periods will lead to a simplification in the handling of TV advertising campaigns, the three marketing companies Cinecom, IP Multimedia and Publisuisse announced in a joint press release on Tuesday. Campaigns for the second half of the year can now be booked as early as the end of April. The new regulation is in response to a long-standing request from advertising clients and media agencies.

Blick reporter Viktor Dammann has now been acquitted by the Federal Supreme Court after all. And the first instance court is also taking the case back to court. The reason: for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the journalist's conviction violates the right to freedom of expression. However, the publishing house Ringier must pay the CHF 33,530 in legal fees and court costs itself. However, the court rejected compensation for Dammann on the grounds that his employer Ringier had paid the costs in question, reports SDA. In 1997, in connection with the Fraumünster mail robbery, Dammann had asked an employee of the Zurich public prosecutor's office for details of suspects' previous convictions and received the information. In 1999, he was fined 500 francs for incitement to violate official secrecy. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the judgment of the Zurich judiciary in 2001.
Last April, the ECHR in Strasbourg came to the conclusion that Dammann's conviction violated the right to freedom of expression. Dammann then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court, which has now overturned his 2001 verdict. The case has now been referred back to the Zurich High Court for acquittal.

Advertising for tobacco and alcohol will also disappear from the streets of the canton of Vaud by the middle of next year. The cantonal parliament has approved a partial ban as part of a revision of the law. This affects all tobacco products and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 15 percent or more by volume. The parliamentarians have also included alcopops in the ban. Various members of parliament explained that the revision of the Vaud law focuses on the protection of young people. They argued that people are most susceptible to the temptation of alcohol and tobacco at a young age. The ban on advertising tobacco products and alcohol applies to all public spaces. Advertising in private spaces will also be banned from July 1, 2007 if it is visible to the public.
The advertising ban is intended to supplement existing measures against the misuse of the two stimulants. In Vaud, for example, a ban on the sale of tobacco products to minors has been in force since the beginning of the year. Voters in Solothurn also introduced such a ban last weekend when they approved the Tobacco Act.

The Cash media group promises advantageous innovations in terms of pricing for 2007 and announces that, following the successful launch of Cash daily, the group's products already have more than one million gross advertising contacts per week. Pricing has therefore been realigned to multimedia advertising, according to a press release. For the first time, prices for advertising services have been standardized across all media. Simple multichannel packages have been created that ensure a presence in all cash products and have a high reach. More information about the prices can be found on the website:

The Zurich-based communications agency Vipr is launching DerivateTrends06, a client magazine for Forum Bank und Kommunikation on the subject of derivatives and structured products. The magazine will be published three times a year as a supplement to Finanz und Wirtschaft, as detailed in a press release. The aim of the publication is to give investors an understanding of trends, backgrounds, strategies and solutions with derivative financial products. The authors want to offer investors decision-making support in the form of specialist articles. The magazine is supported by the derivatives industry and does not require advertisements.
DerivateTrends06 will be published for the first time on November 29, 2006 with a circulation of 32,000 copies. This is the third publication of the Forum Bank und Kommunikation, which already publishes the Trends publications on investment funds and pensions. The communications agency Vipr is responsible for the concept, editing and realization.

The editor-in-chief of the Basler Zeitung since 2004 has decided not to resume his duties after taking a break for health reasons. He has announced his resignation as of December 31, 2006. Matthias Geering, Bachmann's deputy, will become editor-in-chief ad interim. Geering had already taken over the post of Editor-in-Chief at the beginning of September and will continue to hold it until the new Editor-in-Chief is elected. The succession plan has been initiated and discussions will be held with internal and external candidates in the coming days and weeks. Ivo Bachmann played a key role in the relaunch of BaZ in September 2004 and also in the massive expansion of editorial and publishing services in the regional sector that was realized this year. The Board of Directors and management regret the decision and thank Bachmann for his impressive commitment.
 

No, it's not a gag, like Didi Hallervorden's age-old gag of French fries in a bottle. The spray can condom will actually be available for purchase by Germans, Swiss and Austrians in summer 2008. According to the marketing company, the spray condom promises to solve many problems. For example, the fact that 82.4 percent of men permanently use condoms of the wrong size. The spray version is now supposed to offer pure fun. The spray can, which is dedicated to the pleasure revolution, is still in the product development stage. Problems exist in terms of the uniformity of the latex mass to be sprayed on and the vulcanization time of 10 seconds is also to be undercut. Tests are also still needed on compatibility and safety regulations. For once, however, disposal is not a problem, because the natural rubber product decomposes and becomes humus.
Already, the manufacturing company is looking for test subjects who have had experience with conventional condoms. But even if the product is not yet fully developed, the snappy design drafts already stand. They are colorful, well-behaved and somehow resemble thermos bottles.

154 federally certified sales managers from the 2006 examination year were honored last Saturday, November 25, 2006, in Interlaken. The examination has been organized by the sponsoring associations Swiss Marketing SMC, KV Schweiz and Verkauf Schweiz for over 20 years. The success rate this year was 64 percent. Of the 240 candidates, 154 passed the five written and five oral examinations. This year, there was a clear preponderance of diploma candidates from German-speaking Switzerland: 152 graduates are German native speakers, while French-speaking Switzerland is represented by only two graduates.

The games and toy manufacturer Hasbro has commissioned the Zurich advertising agency BMB Baertschi, Meroni & Bolleter to design an advertising campaign for the Swiss version of "Monopoly Banking". The latest version of the classic game, which is paid for by credit card, involves buildings such as the KKL Lucerne, the Zurich Opera House and the Federal Palace. The two subjects of the campaign show career types who risk everything for the new objects of speculation. BMB's work can now be seen in the daily and Sunday press.

With the new Managing Director Hardy Lussi, the organizational structure at SevenOne Media Switzerland is changing. The ProSiebenSat.1 Group's Swiss marketer will now be managed in three units: Marketing, Sales Interactive and Programming. Ole Rauch (33), previously Head of Sales & Marketing B2C, will assume responsibility as Head of Marketing for the previously separate Sales & Marketing B2B and Sales & Marketing B2C units. In order to further expand the non-TV business, SevenOne Media is giving more weight to the area of diversification. Freddy Berger (29) is responsible for this as the new Head of Sales Interactive. The third unit, Programming for Sat.1 Schweiz and ProSieben Schweiz, is headed by Mike Gut (38) as Director Programming and Managing Director of the two stations. 

On January 1, 2007, Sandra Peiti will start as advertising manager at the Beobachter. The 41-year-old is currently Head of Sales at Sportart. In this role, she is responsible for managing advertising sales for the magazine "SPORTmagazin", among other things. Peiti has many years of professional experience in tourism, the hotel industry and sports marketing, as well as extensive know-how in sponsorship and sales.