You don't have to be the Swiss Confederation or a major bank to be a main sponsor. The eight-strong Bernese communications agency Nothing from Outer Space is joining the ranks of cultural sponsors and supporting this year's Shnit short film festival. From October 19 to 22, when the fourth edition of Shnit flickers across the screens at the PROGR Bern, it's time to be imaginative. For a foretaste, Nothing from Outer Space recommends the Shnit.ch website in its press release. There, interested parties can get a first impression of the amazing, gripping and moving productions that will be shown at the film nights.
In the run-up to the festival, the communications agency is convinced that Shnit will have a "mind-uncorking effect" on the audience. That's why Nothing conceived, designed and technically realized the 3D-enriched Flash website for Shnit free of charge. The site has already received an award from Edelflash for "beautiful graphics, 3D animation and sound effects".

At the Young & Rubicam EMEA Retail Conference from October 10 to 12, the best works in retail communication were awarded for the first time. A five-member jury judged retail campaigns from the entire EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). 
Gold was awarded to the integrated launch of the Migros Selection line by Exxtra Kommunikation in Zurich. Silver was awarded to the current appearance of the British department store Marks & Spencer, "Your M&S" by RKCR/Y&R London. Bronze went to Coop Italia's "Coop is you" campaign, created by Y&R Milano.

For the first time, the Zurich-based dialog marketing agency is also demonstrating its skills in the online sector: Fisch.Meier is responsible for the text and visual design of the e-newsletter for Hewlett-Packard. The newsletter informs more than 120,000 Swiss subscribers every month about HP products and promotions. As Fisch.Meier writes in the corresponding press release, the purpose of the newsletter is not only to provide information but also to generate leads, build customer loyalty, support sales and increase traffic to the HP online store.

For over 20 years, Iren Meier has been giving conflicts a face and the victims a voice. Now she has been awarded the Zurich Radio Prize. Editor Christian Eggenberger receives this year's television prize. The current Middle East correspondent for Radio DRS, Iren Meier, has become the station's trademark, according to an SDA report. The 51-year-old, who has already been honored several times, is distinguished by her competent, credible and radio-friendly foreign reporting, writes the radio foundation that awards the prize.
Christian Eggenberger was honored for the multimedia productions Photosuisse and Designsuisse. With these series realized for SRG SSR Idée Suisse, the 53-year-old has implemented the national cultural mandate in an exemplary manner, the radio foundation explains its award.   
The two prizes, worth CHF 25,000, have been awarded for 30 years by the Zurich Radio Foundation "for exceptional broadcasts and outstanding personalities in radio and television". The prizes will be presented in Zurich on November 20.

According to media reports, the investment company Avantaxx is taking over the advertising agency Springer & Jacoby. And it does so in full. The audit of the ailing creative agency was therefore positive. The reason for the purchase: the investment company wanted to strengthen its advertising and communication activities. The deal was announced on Friday. It is not yet known how Springer & Jacoby will be revived. The agency Elephant Seven, which had also entered the race together with Pixelpark, has thus come away empty-handed. Although initial negotiations had failed, talks were recently resumed. Elephant Seven and Pixelpark will merge before the end of this year.

Markus Gisler (former head of Aagrauer Zeitung and Cash), Medard Meier (former editor-in-chief of Bilanz) and Andreas Z'Graggen (former editor-in-chief of Berner Zeitung) are founding a communications agency together. As reported by the SonntagsZeitung, the agency will venture onto the market under the name G.M.R.Z.. The trio will focus on advising companies on how to deal with the media. Behind the R in the agency name is Maya Repele, who will support the three in their consulting activities.

What looks chaste doesn't necessarily have to be well-behaved: On Egyptian television, people have recently been talking about the wedding night and other sexual challenges in a demurely veiled and Koran-compatible manner. "Avoid heavy, greasy food," lectures the show's 39-year-old host, Heba Kotb. Otherwise, she says, the wedding night risks being crushed by social pressure and heavy stomachs alike. Such unholy topics are presented weekly by the doctor, who specializes in sex problems, in Egypt's first sex education show, SDA reported Monday.
Every Saturday evening at prime time, the devout Muslim removes taboos on the Merhwar satellite channel. As a rule, people hardly talk about sex either at school or in the family, so a lack of sex education and misinformation are widespread. And because many men marry late for financial reasons, Egyptians often don't have their first sex until after 30. No wonder, says the presenter, many Egyptian men and women are dissatisfied with their sex lives.
Many things are actually permitted, she says, provided, of course, that the partners are married, because Islam is - or was - considerably less hostile to lust than the Catholic Church, for example. You have to talk openly about that, says Kotb, who does, however, uphold a taboo: Gossiping with girlfriends about their husbands' sexual potency is absolutely not on. Incidentally, the show is sponsored by a private Egyptian clinic.    

Advertising expenditure in the Swiss daily press remained unchanged in September. The Publicitas index remains at 92.6 points. However, job advertisements are still on an upward trend. They rose by 2.2 points to 153.3 points. According to Publicitas, this trend is likely to continue. There was also a modest increase in the index for real estate advertisements, which climbed from 96.7 to 96.8 points.
According to the SDA, all other advertising categories are still struggling to achieve noticeable growth. In the case of commercial advertisements, it should be noted that the poor result was due to low investment by national advertisers. The same applies to inserts.
Occasional advertisements also decreased compared to the previous year, due to the decline in political advertisements. The asylum referendum in September 2006 resulted in fewer advertisements than the proposals for the bilateral agreements a year earlier.

The fashion group Tally Weijl has also been selling pink plush bunny costumes in 22 countries since last Saturday. This is linked to a photo competition under the motto "It's fun to be sexy". The competition takes place on the Totally-sexy.com website and runs from 14.10. to 14.11.2006. The closing date for entries is 18.11.2006. The photos will be uploaded to the website and judged by Internet users. The prize is a weekend in Paris for two people including flight, hotel and club entry. To take part, a woman must put her boyfriend or colleague in the bunny outfit and have her picture taken with him. As part of the promotion in the pedestrian zones in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Geneva, however, the male bunnies were made available.

The German media group Bertelsmann is working on the development of its own Internet platform based on the MySpace model. As Der Spiegel magazine reports, Bertelsmann's RTL and Sony BMG divisions are also being asked to push ahead with the project. Der Spiegel sees the lack of financial resources for acquisitions as the reason for the strategy of in-house development.

Radio and television reception fees in Switzerland could rise by 6.5 percent in April 2007. As was announced at the weekend, the SRG has notified DETEC of additional funding requirements averaging CHF 72 million per year for 2007-2010 (see ). The majority of these 72 million, namely 48 million, would flow into the modernization of radio and television, Max Gurtner, Head of Corporate Communications at SRG SSR idée suisse, told SDA. Of the 72 million per year, 52 million would go to television and 13 million to radio. CHF 7 million will go to the online sector. The modernization represents "a huge challenge". Everything will change, from production to distribution. The corresponding investments are needed to implement high-definition and Dolby Digital for television or digital audio broadcasting for radio. All of these new technologies would directly benefit consumers. If the additional demand could not be met, a further round of savings could also affect the program. The Federal Council is expected to decide on TV and radio fees in February 2007. If it agrees to the SRG's request, this would mean a 6.5 percent increase in fees. Instead of CHF 450, the annual fee would then be CHF 480.
In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, SRG Deputy Director General Daniel Eckmann said that if the Federal Council were to refuse the subsidy, it would be an illusion to believe that there would be no consequences. The SRG's savings motto has always been: "The program" last. After various cost-cutting exercises, consequences for the program could not be ruled out.

IPTV - television via internet protocol - is considered the new generation of TV. In Germany, two providers, HanseNet and Deutsche Telekom, are already on the market, while in Switzerland, Swisscom and Sunrise (see ) are still in the test phase. At least at Swisscom, this should be completed soon. After initial start-up problems, the launch of Bluewin TV has been announced for the second half of 2006. In addition, simsa was recently promised an initial "experience report" in November. Will it still work out for the Christmas business? In any case, clear marketing strategies and tariffs are required for the implementation of IPTV, as acceptance will depend very much on pricing.