The publishing house Anzeiger Luzern is redesigning the two weekly print titles Luzerner Woche and Anzeiger Luzern. They will appear in their new guise for the first time at the beginning of 2007, according to the publisher. The Luzerner Woche is to be redesigned as a regional tabloid and will continue to appear every Wednesday in broad-sheet format with a high proportion of pictures. The Anzeiger Luzern is to be positioned as a service newspaper with high reader value. The three editorial sections Lifestyle, Culture and Entertainment will be managed. The paper will also serve as an official publication. Both titles are read by over 153,000 people every week.

Capital Communication, the Zurich-based consultancy, wins the mandate from the newly founded Mammut Energy. This includes all tasks in the areas of PR, IR and CI/CD. Mammut Energy is active in the production of natural gas and is based in Zug. The company is currently preparing for a listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Capital Communication will provide Mammut Energy with communications support both during its going public and beyond.

The McDonalds fast food chain is focusing on music in its marketing. Customers could win an MP3 player in a promotion. The campaign was run in cooperation with Coca Cola. Up to 10,000 people won such a player with 10 songs. The explosive thing about it: in addition to the songs, the player also contained the Trojan QQpass, which sends sensitive data such as passwords and other personal information to its programmers. As the British online portal TheRegister reported, McDonalds has no idea how the malware got onto the MP3 player. However, they reacted promptly: the infected device was replaced with a flawless one and instructions were published on how users can rid their PCs of the Trojan. Technology has its pitfalls, so it is to be hoped that McDonalds has taken the right security precautions with its paid music download service, which is offered in a US branch via a WLAN network. No figures are available on how many titles were sold via the new service, but burger sales are said to have risen by 17 percent in the first few days.

Teleclub, the pay-TV with a significant Swisscom stake, and Cablecom have agreed to cooperate in the joint marketing and distribution of Teleclub's digital pay-TV offering. From June 2007, the digital Teleclub offering will also be distributed via Cablecom's digital TV platform. The services will be marketed jointly and can be subscribed to by both companies.  
Teleclub AG is owned in three equal shares by Criterico AG, ML Medializenz AG and the publishing house Ringier AG. The first two companies are wholly owned by Cinetrade AG. Swisscom holds a 49% stake in Cinetrade AG. In the discussion as to whether this is compatible with the constitutional principle of state independence of radio and television, the Federal Council recently decided that a minority shareholding is justifiable.
On Wednesday, October 11, 2006, Cablecom and Teleclub AG reached an agreement on future cooperation in the field of digital television. Under the terms of the agreement, Teleclub's programming will also be distributed via Cablecom's digital TV platform from June 2007. Cooperation will also take place in the areas of distribution and subscriber service. From summer 2007, Cablecom will also market the Teleclub program offering and conclude subscription contracts for Teleclub. The agreement draws a line under the long-standing differences between the two companies regarding the distribution of the fee-based Teleclub offering. Since December 2002, a limited Teleclub offering has been available on Cablecom's cable networks via the Teleclub set-top box. This limitation will be lifted with immediate effect.
Customers will be pleased The agreement will significantly enhance the digital TV range for Cablecom customers. In addition to a high-quality film program with 360 TV premieres per year, Teleclub's 17-channel offering includes further feature film, children's and documentary programs as well as numerous special-interest channels. The offering is rounded off by a massively expanded sports program: In addition to football (Axpo Super League, German Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League) and the national ice hockey league, golf and other sports are broadcast live (see
). From summer 2007, Cablecom customers will only need a single set-top box for reception, either with or without a recording function. Current Teleclub subscribers in the Cablecom network can continue to receive the Teleclub offer via their set-top box, but can now subscribe to all 17 channels. The Cablecom Digital TV service offers over 130 TV and radio channels. The combined Teleclub and Cablecom Digital TV offering will be distributed via Cablecom's digital TV platform from June 2007.
The aim of the cooperation is the joint expansion of digital television. One of the success factors for burying the hatchet was the desire to digitize more quickly. Cablecom spokesperson Stephan Howeg told Werbewoche that the aim is to expand market share in digital television as quickly as possible. And Rudolf Fischer, Managing Director of Cablecom, is quoted in the press release as saying: "The cooperation with Teleclub is an important occasion for the further digitization of television in our cable network."

The dispute between Swiss Television (SF) and the new private channel 3+ is currently before the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich. According to a report in the online edition of the Tages-Anzeiger, SRG representatives demanded an immediate ban on the slogan "Das junge Schweizer Fernsehen" (Young Swiss Television) and claimed a value in dispute of CHF 500,000. 3+, as a free rider of SF, was gaining an advantage with the slogan that was not based on its own performance. The lawyers for 3+ requested that the claim be dismissed. There are no areas in which the two channels meet. 3+ shows entertainment and does not offer a public service and is therefore not a free rider. They were also surprised that SF was trying to put obstacles in the way of its small competitor.
 
After the two parties had presented their positions, settlement negotiations were initiated. For the time being, however, without result. As SF spokesman Urs Durrer told SDA, the negotiations are to be continued. The district court has given the opposing parties 30 days to reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the court will decide.

The Zurich agency Lowe is launching the sporty campaign with a 70s look for the new directory enquiries number 18 18 next week. Lowe won the budget from Conduit in May of this year. In addition to the development of the launch campaign (TV, print, radio, online), this includes a medium-term collaboration. Conduit is part of the international information service provider Infonxx. The company has been present on the Swiss market for around six years and is launching its new directory enquiries number 18 18 next week.

Swiss publisher Werner Stocker has been elected to the Executive Committee of the International Publishers Association IPA. The General Assembly elected him Treasurer of the organization. Stocker is the director and co-owner of Dike Verlag. He was previously President of the Publishers Association of German-speaking and Romansh-speaking Switzerland between 1991 and 2000 and managed the publishing and bookselling company Schulthess Juristische Medien for several years.The International Publishers Association was founded in Paris in 1896. The Geneva-based non-governmental organization has an advisory voice at the United Nations and represents the interests of 78 publishers' associations in 65 countries worldwide. The IPA's main objectives are freedom of expression, copyright protection and the reduction of illiteracy through the promotion of books and teaching materials, reports the SDA.

The Zurich advertising agency Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett SFLB has created a handbag for the women's magazine Annabelle to make going to the movies more appealing to women. At the preview of "The Devil Wears Prada" at the Pathé cinema in Dietlikon, where Annabelle was present as a media partner, every female visitor received a popcorn bag converted into a handbag at the entrance. In addition, the moviegoers were made aware via Kinodia of the impending unfortunate situation that they would now have to remain silent for a long time. At least the women were allowed to nibble their popcorn with relish.

Lowe, the agency based in Zurich, is represented with two works in the final of the London Festival LIAA. In the "Television/Cinema - Cell Animation" category, the award-winning animated film "Today" for Winterthur Insurance is nominated and in the "Outdoor" category, the work for Zippo lighters is in the final.

Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft APG has revised and updated its practical reference work "Out-of-home media: A-Z" and brought it up to date. The lexicon contains explanations of around 400 expressions relating to the medium and also includes terms from the surrounding subject areas of advertising, media, media research, marketing and printing technology. The publication on the world of posters is now available in three languages (German, French and English) and is structured as an online tool. In the index, all terms can be sorted by alphabet in the desired language and a link takes you directly to the explanation of the term you are looking for. Additional links can also be found throughout the content. The work is aimed at active and prospective professionals as well as interested persons, as APG reports. It can be ordered at
can be downloaded.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media is further expanding its user-generated content business with a stake in the website. In September of this year, the media group acquired a 30 percent stake in the Internet platform MyVideo, as reported by the German industry magazine Werben & Verkaufen. The community portal is to remain largely unchanged. However, marketing is to be handled by ProSiebenSat.1 in future. The TV company also acquired a 30 percent stake in Lokalisten.de. The Internet platform now has over 325,000 members, as the company reports. With this investment, the TV group is further positioning itself in the market for community websites such as MySpace. According to Katja Pichler, Group spokesperson for ProSiebenSat1 Media, further expansion in this area cannot be ruled out.

The exhibition of the international competition "The 100 best posters 2005 Germany, Austria, Switzerland" is currently on display in Lucerne. The 100 best posters and poster series were selected by an international jury. Switzerland was particularly successful this year and the organizers were able to record a significant increase in participation compared to the previous year: The jury received 1,458 individual posters from 471 entrants, including 122 graphic design offices and advertising agencies, 322 designers, 22 clients and five printing companies. Eight percent of the entries came from Austria, 14 percent from Switzerland and around 78 percent from Germany. 30 of the 100 award-winning works were designed by Swiss people. The exhibition takes place in the Lucerne Town Hall and runs until November 5, 2006.
SWISS PRIZEWINNERS:
Aemmer, Juerg l Euro RSCG l Zurich
Brechbühl, Erich l Mixer l LucerneAtelier Bundi l BollBurri, Fabienne l LucerneAtelier Flavia Cocchi l LausanneDietrich, Alf l Euro RSCG l ZurichFrey, Peter l AarauHaeberli, Nicolas l Haeberli & Winkelmann l ZurichHren, Iza l iza hren, visuelle gestaltung l ZurichInfanger, Märt l Ultrabazar l LucerneJöri, Xenia l LucerneKleeb, Ueli l DNS-Transport l ZugKoch, Andrea l NeftenbachKuhn, Claude l KehrsatzLötscher, Caroline l DNS-Transport l ZugLüthi, Philipp l dbmb l BernMoser, Peter l Velvet l LucernePesce, Giorgio l Atelier Poisson l LausanneRodriguez, Nelly l Atelier Poisson l LausanneSchaffhuser, Jürg l Velvet l LucerneSchätti, Eva l Velvet l LucerneSchläfle, Marcel l Euro RSCG l ZurichStadelmann, Hervé l La Chaux-de-FondsTroxler, Niklaus l Niklaus Troxler Design l WillisauTroxler, Annik l WillisauVerrey, Olivier (Photographs) l Atelier Flavia Cocchi l LausanneWinkelmann, Reto l Haeberli & Winkelmann l ZurichWoodtli, Martin l ZurichZenger, Roland l dbmb l BernZumstein, Megi l Bringolf Irion Vögeli l Zurich