The sport is particularly popular among Finns and the organizers see it as a kind of revenge of man on technology: cell phone throwing. Finn Lassi Etelaetalo won this year's championship on Sunday with an 89-meter throw in the "over-the-shoulder throw" category, reports the SDA news agency. It was a fast throw with a lot of power behind it, according to the organizers. Incidentally, the world record in the mobile long throw is 94.897 meters. The world championship has been held in Finland since 2000.

The restructured state broadcaster of the small neighboring country is on the road to recovery and is in the black for the first time. As reported by the news agency SDA, the profit in the first half of the year amounted to CHF 71,000. Consistent cost control and an increase in advertising revenue have brought the station out of the red. In addition, redundancies due to cost-cutting measures were not compensated for - and the staff put in extra work.
According to the broadcaster, however, the workforce is now to be increased in the second half of the year to the target number required for regular operations. There are also plans to optimize the broadcasting network. The subsidized state radio station aims to produce an appealing programme from and for Liechtenstein and the region.

The pay-TV channel Teleclub will have a modernized look from 1 September 2006. With the new brand image and the new claim "Das Beste. First.", Teleclub wants to position itself more strongly: According to the communiqué, as a "unique premium product in the Swiss television market".
The previous brand image and the previous claim "Teleclub - entertainment, what else" did the trick for the last 10 years. But thanks to the new concessions (see Teleclub receives TV concession until 2013), a new era is dawning for Teleclub. And, of course, this should also be seen. The new image should ensure that the new features are noticed and that Teleclub can further expand its positioning as a fascinating entertainment brand and thus set a clear accent in the Swiss TV market.
The new era: sports television With in-house produced live sporting events such as the Axpo Super League and, from September, the Swiss National Ice Hockey League A and the UEFA Champions League, the sports offering is being massively expanded. Together with other exclusive live sports broadcasts such as the entire German Bundesliga, top football from England, Italy, France, Holland and Portugal, motor sport with Formula 1 and all golf tournaments from the European and US PGA Tour, Teleclub also wants to position itself as "the best sports television". According to the press release, Teleclub thus offers viewers a unique variety of programs in the areas of movies, sport and family.
Teleclub on new distribution channels With the launch of Bluewin TV before the end of 2006, Switzerland has a new attractive and innovative distribution channel for television programs. Teleclub - in which Swisscom is also involved
- will also be available on Bluewin TV. This means more choice, more highlights and new Teleclub products - such as video on demand or live events, which allow access to individual live sports broadcasts.

While the castings for the casting show of the private channel 3+, which starts on August 31, are in full swing, the news team has now been completed with experienced female presenters.
Nicole Ulrich, editor at Radio Zürisee, and Nicole Berchtold, former presenter at Star TV and editor of the Ringier program "People", won the race outside the casting process. This means that two more experienced presenters have been hired, 3+ announced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 200 people took part in the first audition on Sunday and 100 more will face the jury next Sunday. The most interesting applicants were invited from the flood of almost 1000 applications. The 60 best from both auditions will then be invited to the re-call.

Effective: Anyone who picked up the Gesellschafts-Bund of the NZZ am Sonntag first saw almost half a page of advertising across the entire newspaper portrait format instead of the front page. Behind this, on the second page, the front page of the Gesellschafts-Bund peeked out, with just "schaft" ("shaft") to be read. If you wanted to get to the Bund overview, you had to turn half the page. Bank Coop drew attention to its sustainable investment funds with just under half a page of advertising. The slogan "Our sustainable investment funds conserve resources" already appeared in the advertising. That's why we've reduced paper consumption by 52 percent" was effectively staged by the creative agency Ruf Lanz. Literally.

Coop will be the main sponsor of the Ringier TV show "konsum.tv" from October 1. "konsum.tv" will be broadcast fortnightly on Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. on Swiss television (SF2). At the same time, "konsum.tv" will feature a new concept and new studio decor, focusing in particular on information and advice on everyday consumption.
Communicating core competencies
As Coop announced in a press release, the content of the program, which is hosted by Marc Caprez and Eva Camenzind, is in line with Coop's core competencies. Coop's commitment is therefore a contribution to open and useful information on topics that are closely linked to consumers' quality of life, Coop added.
Synergetic media landscape
In addition to the program "al dente", also produced by Ringier TV, which is broadcast with great success on SF1 on Mondays, "konsum.tv" on SF2 is the second TV format to be broadcast during prime time in collaboration with Coop. In addition to its own Internet presence with direct links to Coop, "konsum.tv" is accompanied by information about the program in the SonntagsBlick and the Coop newspaper to generate publicity.

From September 16, the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung will be included in the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) newspaper system. This will make MZ the strongest print medium in north-western Switzerland, Publicitas announced in a press release on Friday.
The current large circulation of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung will be retained. This means that the MZ will also have a normal and a large circulation in future: The normal circulation will be 212,843 copies with 450,000 readers, the large circulation on Wednesday will be 270,838 copies with 499,000 readers.

According to Publicitas, these changes will also make the 1,000-reader price more attractive for the second time this year. From September 16, the 1,000-reader price for normal circulation will fall by a further four francs to around 59 francs, and for large circulation by five francs to around 57 francs.

Six projects received awards at X'06. A pistachio dispenser won in the packaging category, while a take-away food bag that can be converted into a table won in the applications category.

Pro Carton and the Swiss Design Association announced the design competition, which comes with prize money of CHF 7,000, for the first time this year. The jury had to assess a total of 26 entries from students at various universities of applied sciences in Switzerland.

Versatile cardboard The jury members were impressed by the students' wealth of ideas. Jury president Prof. Gregor Naef said that the participants had "impressively demonstrated how versatile cardboard is as a material". These projects were the most impressive:

In the cardboard packaging category, the pistachio dispenser by Corina Wolf, the rice portioner by Mark Wunderlin, and third place went to Alban Liam-Schär with a pouring device for paint and varnish cans.

Patrick Rüegg's take-away bag that can be transformed into a table won the cardboard application category, followed by Laurent Auberson's multifunctional bookmark and Graziella Luggen and Susann Brütsch's picnic packaging that can also be a table.

The winning entries will represent Switzerland at the international Pro Carton design competition in Gothenburg. The works can be seen on the website below.

Parking tickets via cell phone, airline tickets via the Internet: new technologies are becoming part of everyday life. This is a challenge for the advertising industry, because if it wants to place its messages effectively, it needs to know where to find its consumers.

And that is more difficult than ever. The Düsseldorf-based advertising agency Interone Worldwide, a subsidiary of the BBDO Group, must have come to the same conclusion when it surveyed 1,000 people between the ages of 14 and 49 about their media usage behavior. Generation Tekki 2.0 is the name given to this consumer group in reference to the next generation of the Internet, which promises far greater design options for users. It is only the very young who regularly use blogs and podcasts, but the trend is clear: away from TV and towards cell phones and the Internet. Online services such as e-bay and Amazon have also established themselves among older users. In terms of spontaneous purchases, the Internet has already surpassed television (34.5%) with 36.7%.

For the advertising industry, this means that you can no longer limit yourself to traditional channels such as TV or print. "A mix of instruments is important," says Martin Huber, Managing Director of Intertone, summarizing the results of the study. He distinguishes between four consumer groups: the technology experts, the mobile-focused, the techie mainstream and the media conservatives. "A separate language must be used for each of these groups," says the agency's creative director, Christoph Mecke, in Handelsblatt. Depending on the consumer style, the language is rational or emotional, marketing-oriented or rather individualistic.

Kurt Schmid takes over majority shareholding in Lowe Switzerland. The former Managing Director now holds 80 percent of the agency's shares.
W
he deal is a fact, Schmid confirmed to Werbewoche. Schmid had been in talks with Lowe International since April and negotiated "a fair solution" with the network. Lowe International now still holds 19 percent of Lowe Switzerland's shares. The big advantage of this new ownership structure, according to Schmid, is that Lowe Switzerland is no longer subject to the strict U.S. reporting standards for publicly traded companies, but to Swiss standards. Schmid estimates that this will create savings in the six-figure range. This upheaval had already become apparent in the spring, when Lowe International announced that it would reduce its agency headcount from 83 to 36 (see "Management buyout at Lowe Switzerland?").
Formerly the third-largest agency in Switzerland, Lowe & Partner intends to maintain its position as a medium-sized agency with 20 to 25 employees in the future. Currently, the agency still employs 30 to 35 people; according to Schmid, the staff reduction will be achieved through natural mutations. The reason for the necessary reduction in staff is primarily the loss of the extensive mandate from Orange, whose marketing activities are now managed exclusively from Paris.

After the agency's relocation and the loss of two important mandates, besides Orange Credit Suisse, Lowe is now to regain calm. Schmid wants to achieve this through continuity and efficiency. One step toward streamlining the company is the elimination of the separation between Lowe Direct and Lowe Advertising. The management team remains unchanged. In addition to Schmid, creative director Keith Lowell and agency manager Rolf Jeger continue to lead the company. Schmid himself is pleased that he will now be working more on the front lines again, developing strategies and growth ideas in personal contact with clients.

The Iranian leadership has decided to impose further restrictions on media freedom. This time it also affects the foreign media.

According to estimates, over 90 percent of Tehran's inhabitants have a satellite dish. As reported by Sda, the Iranian judiciary has now ordered them to be removed from rooftops. Those who do not comply voluntarily face fines of up to CHF 8,000 and confiscation of the equipment.

The main targets are the satellite channels critical of the regime that are operated by Iranian dissidents in the USA. Such programs are very popular in Iran. However, other satellite broadcasts from Germany, France and the Arab countries are also popular as a change from the five programs of the state-run IRIB.

The Competition Commission COMCO has approved the integration of Impriméries réunies Lausanne (IRL) into Swiss Printers. All other legal issues have also been clarified.
As Ringier reports, this means that the accession of the company to Swiss Printers announced on May 30 (see
"Edipresse acquires stake in Swiss Printers") definitely. IRL is the fifth subsidiary of Swiss Printers alongside Ringier Print Zofingen, Zollikofer, NZZ Fretz and Zürcher Druck+Verlag. Edipresse now holds a 16 percent stake in this company. Its representative on the Swiss Printers Board of Directors is Michel Berney.