While Iceland is considered incredibly hip, Greenland ekes out an existence in its shadow far away from all attention. That is about to change: The local tourism authorities are launching an image campaign.  
But unlike the Icelanders, they can't rely on figureheads like Sigor Ros or Björk. And the advertising budgets are more than modest - alone, so are the goals: "We want the world to know that we exist," Mads Nordlund, PR and Marketing Coordinator of Greenland Tourism tells Brandchannel.com. And he doesn't mean that ironically at all. The strategies are still very, very rudimentary, he says, but so is the Greenland brand. "Most people still think that polar bears run around the streets here and we still live in igloos," Nordlund continues. "O.k., there really are polar bears running around and some of us still live in igloos, but we are also a very modern society." The Greenlanders now want to present this to the world. We want the world to know that we exist and that you can actually travel to Greenland," insists Nordlund.
 
The Danish-born artist, who now markets his new home, has experience with such equally Herculean and sensational actions. In 2004, he helped the Danish artist Evaristti paint an iceberg red. He used his experience with icebergs again last year for a PR campaign for Greenland. On this occasion, he had an iceberg shipped to Copenhagen, where it was served in the form of ice cubes in drinks at a tourism fair. It remains to be seen whether the streams of visitors will soon flow in the direction of Greenland. If not, it is to be feared that Nordlund will soon send a whole caravan of icebergs in the other direction, freely according to the motto: If you don't come to me, then I'll come to you.

According to the AIS Advertising Index Switzerland published by Wemf AG für Werbemittelforschung, investments in advertising have risen by 6.3 percent compared to the previous year. Advertising sales amounted to CHF 235 million in August, with the following sectors investing significantly more in advertising than in the previous year:
Clothing/shoes (+46.2 percent)
Cosmetics/body care (+ 29.0 percent)
Transportation (+ 28.2)
Services (+20.3 percent)
Trade (+ 17.1 percent)
Pharmaceuticals/healthcare (+ 11.9 percent)
Beverages (+ 10.7)
Office/Computer Science (+ 10.3)
Fewer investments were made in the following sectors:
Tobacco products (- 64.8 percent)
Politics/economics/administration/industry: (- 14.5)
In August, the other sectors were at most 10% above or below the advertising investments of the previous year.
The August dates are on
available for download.

The Zurich-based communications agency puts the Swedish furniture retailer's sleep products to the test. Findings: Tested and found to be good.  
As you make your bed, so you lie in it. And what costs nothing is worth nothing - that is the general attitude of many consumers. Especially when it comes to mattresses. But in the case of Ikea, things are different. As ViznerBorel makes clear in its campaign for Ikea sleep products, you can get brand quality for incredibly low prices during the promotion week. The evidence can be seen directly in print, TV, radio and POS.

The latest issue of the business magazine Bilanz will not be available to buy at newsstands until Thursday. "Unfortunately, we have to remove all the pages with the incorrect Rümmeli texts," confirmed Editor-in-Chief René Lüchinger at the request of Werbewoche. The alternative "stamping out" would have been too expensive. On Friday, the business newspaper had retracted an advance report concerning Roland Rümmeli, manager of the Siemens pension fund, as action had been taken against the article (see ).
 

Following Anna Maier's move to Sat.1, Swiss television is developing a new entertainment quiz that will alternate with the cooking show Al Dente from summer 2007. Until then, cooking will take place every Monday evening on SF1.  
Mondays will continue to be the station's quiz evening in future, as those responsible for the program assure in a press release. Eiger, Mönch und Maier, or Kunz as the show was called when it was still hosted by Susanne Kunz, has been running successfully since February 2001. The head of the entertainment department, Gabriela Amgarten: "But now is the right time to plan for the future." A new quiz produced in-house will not flicker across the screens until late summer, when Sven Epiney's cooking show Al Dente will take over the slot.

As of January 1, 2007, Ringier is making a consistent distinction between the Group Executive Board of the media company and the Executive Board at country level. According to a press release, the main reason for this change is the significant growth in business in Central and Eastern European countries in recent years. These countries are more strongly represented in the new Group Executive Board under the chairmanship of CEO Martin Werfeli. 
 
Landolt to head Ringier Publishing Switzerland The Swiss activities will now also be combined in a separate organizational unit. Ringier Publishing Switzerland will be headed by Thomas Landolt, the current Managing Director of Ringier Publishing in Romania. Alexander Theobald, the former Head of the Magazines Division, will now be responsible for the activities in Romania and Hungary. Peter Mertus, the former Managing Director of Ringier Publishing Slovakia, is also a new member of the Group Executive Board and will be responsible for publishing operations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
successfully managed Ringier Publishing Europe. She is taking a career break at her own request, during which she will set up a foundation to support disadvantaged people for Ringier in Central and Eastern European countries. 

 
Vogt supports Landolt Ringier consultant Patrick Vogt will assist the new head of Ringier Verlag Schweiz as Head of Newspapers. Together with Thomas Trüb (Business Media), Daniel Pillard (Magazines Western Switzerland), Hans-Jürg Deutsch (Television), Daniel Terzoni (Controlling), Jean-Luc Mauron (Human Resources) and Managing Director Thomas Landolt, the 35-year-old will form the Executive Board. Armchair dancing also at Swiss Printers Rudolf Lisibach will also take up a new post on January 1, 2007. He will take over the management of Swiss Printers. He succeeds Hans Strickler, who is retiring after reaching retirement age. The new Managing Director Lisibach has been a member of the management team since the company was founded in 2005. This is in his role as Managing Director of Ringier Print Zofingen, which he will retain in the future. Like Ringier AG, Swiss Printers is part of Ringier Holding.

The Zurich-based advertising agency Walker and its clients are delighted with a veritable award monsoon from New York. Amnesty International's "Not here, but now" campaign won gold for best poster in the "Social Advertising" category and silver for "Best Use of Outdoor? The Fleurop Mother's Day campaign was on the podium even more often. The TV spots "Party", "Haircut" and "Hoover" won silver for "Best Performance". The TV spots "Haircut", "Kiss" and "Hoover" were also awarded bronze for their humor. And last but not least, the Fleurop poster campaign also won precious metal in the "Retail" category. Three other works by Walker were also shortlisted (see
).

Usually, publishers primarily court subscribers or those who might become subscribers. At Tamedia, the focus is on newsstand customers for once. Facts, Annabelle, Schweizer Familie and Sonntagszeitung now have a new newsstand offer.  
From September 29, 2006, kiosk customers can buy voucher booklets for four different titles from the Zurich publishing house at the blue k kiosks: For Facts, Annabelle, Schweizer Familie and Sonntagszeitung. The voucher booklet contains six vouchers for the price of five as well as an attractive competition opportunity. This means that newsstand customers are now also rewarded for their loyalty without having to commit to a title or a purchase cadence. With this offer, which is unique in Switzerland, Tamedia is responding to the increased customer demand for mobility and flexibility, as the publisher reports.

Success for Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett (SFLB) at the New York Festival: several of the creatives' final works (see ) win awards for the Zurich-based agency. The Zurich agency won a whole set of medals, including a gold medal for the Helvetas film "Natürlich" (Of course). The film shows the people of an African village washing, cooking, showering and drinking - but without water. "Because water is not a matter of course everywhere. The film won a special UN gold award in the "Philanthropic Appeal" category - the so-called UNDPI Gold. Silver was awarded to SFLB and the "dirty water" campaign for Helvetas. On World Water Day, people who ordered a coffee received a glass of contaminated water with it, just as millions of people do every day. Finally, SFLB won bronze for its award-winning announcements in swimming bands and at open-air concerts for PET recycling.

Advico Young & Rubicam wins silver twice in New York with Leica: once in the "Outdoor" category and once in "POS". The Leica campaign had already won a Distinctive Merit at the ADC New York and a Bronze Cube at the ADC Switzerland The poster campaign advertises Leica's Ultravid binoculars. The features such as the innovative optical system, higher image brightness and sharp contrasts were emphasized with three motifs: The exceptionally long posters are folded three-dimensionally in the middle like an accordion, so that the observer and the object being observed are suddenly close to each other. One motif, for example, shows an adventurer observing a polar bear that is dangerously opening its mouth right in front of him.

The Wall Street Journal Europe (WSJE) is the fastest growing pan-European daily newspaper. This is the result of the European Business Readership Survey (EBRS) 2006, which was published on Monday.  
Every two years, the EBRS determines the reading habits of Europe's most influential top managers. This year, 442,000 managers from more than 60,000 companies took part. Overall, the readership of the Wall Street Journal has grown by seven percent in the last two years, from 11,571 to 12,384, with the average readership increasing from 2.5 to 2.7 percent. This is the first year that the WSJE has outperformed the Herald Tribune, which has suffered heavy losses (from 3.3 to 2.5 percent).
 
The EBRS called the WSJE the "most influential publication among its peer group", which includes the Tribune, the Financial Times and the Economist. The WSJE also improved its cost efficiency per 1,000 readers and made significant gains in the online sector: 2,000 new readers, or an increase of 30 percent, were recorded by the trade journal, according to the WSJE.
 
The European edition of the American Wall Street Journal was launched in 1983 and is based in Brussels. It is part of the world's leading business news group Dow Jones & Company, which also operates the Wall Street Journal Asia and Wall Street Journal Online. Together, these publications have a paid circulation of 2.7 million.

The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) is penalizing several Swiss companies for surreptitious advertising. It has issued injunctions against Sat.1 Schweiz, Presse TV, Star TV and Alpha Vision (Fenster zum Sonntag) for violating the Media Act. This was reported by the Sonntagszeitung. The programs affected are "Joya rennt" and "Celebrations" on Sat.1 Switzerland, "Claudias Sofa" on Star TV, "Fenster zum Sonntag" on SF 2 and "Café Bâle" on Presse TV. The broadcasters had inadequately declared sponsors, engaged in product placement or placed sponsors in the picture for advertising purposes, Carole Winistörfer, Co-Head of Supervision at OFCOM, told the Sonntagszeitung. In the case of Star TV, OFCOM confiscates the "unlawfully generated income" and allows it to flow into the state coffers. The Federal Office is considering the same penalty against Sat.1 Schweiz and Presse TV.