After many years of successful work at Publimedia, Markus Ehrle will become the new Head of Advertising Market and Business Development at NZZ-Verlag. As of November 1, 2006, Markus Ehrle will be responsible for all aspects of the advertising market of NZZ, NZZ am Sonntag and for relations with marketing partners. Markus Ehrle was fundamentally involved in the development and establishment of the national key account organization and is now responsible for a sales volume of CHF 400 million as Marketing Director and Deputy CEO of Publimedia. He is also a board member of Web2com, manages Publicitas Swiss Press and is involved in various industry associations. As the NZZ management writes in its press release, Markus Ehrle's broad experience makes him an ideal addition. 

The Zurich agency Matter & Gretener can hope for precious metal at the New York Festivals. Both the appeal for donations for the Salvation Army's homeless charity ("Grosse Loft von Calatrava") and the ads for the Minimax Chrome designer fire extinguisher ("Fights the fire, not the ambiance") were shortlisted by the jury. A decision will be made in September as to whether there will be more honors to come. The New York Festivals have been honoring the world's best advertisements, films and posters for 50 years.

The Lucerne School of Business HSW has announced the enrolments for the various Bachelor's degree courses for the 2006/2007 semester. Communication + Marketing, already the most popular course of study in the current academic year, was able to extend its lead even further. 115 people have registered for this discipline (previous year 81). Tourism + Mobility is in second place in the popularity rankings, followed by Finance + Banking, Controlling + Accounting, Public Management + Economics and Business Informatics.

A year's free housing worth CHF 15,000 is the prize of the new campaign of the SBB youth platform Gleis7.ch. The prize was made possible by the collaboration with ImmoScout24.
The Bern-based agency Maxomedia was tasked with further consolidating the platform's image as innovative and iconic and further expanding the existing community of more than 200,000 members. A viral module was therefore integrated into the online competition: If participants inform their friends about the competition, they increase their chances of winning. Various online and offline measures ensure that young people become aware of the campaign.

The new pay-TV channel Arena went on air on the first match day of the Bundesliga. As Spiegel Online reports, the channel showed itself to be in good shape despite some minor glitches. Arena relied on a whole host of experienced presenters, but Spiegel Online believes that the styling of the presenters and the channel still needs to be greatly improved. Spiegel Online praised the individual preliminary reporting from all stadiums.
While football programs could be watched on Arena without any problems, this was not really possible with the announced Internet TV from Telekom and Premiere. As the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported, the service, which is being praised as the television of the future, could only be viewed by a maximum of 43 customers, as they have to have the new VDSL service, which is only available in a few cities, and a modern multimedia box. Although a video stream of the Premiere/Telekom press conference from July could be viewed on the Telekom website, there was no sign of Bundesliga Future TV.

Süddeutsche Zeitung sees the project as a PR stunt that served to distract Premiere from its problems and boost its share price. It was already clear in May that the technology was not yet ready. According to the press office, test access for journalists should be available in a few weeks.

As a study by the British regulatory authority Ofcom Office of Communications shows, the young generation of 16 to 24-year-olds is bringing about a significant change in media consumption. There is a clear difference in media behavior between young adults and the rest of the population: The younger generation spends a total of 3 hours per week on the Internet, 21 minutes longer than the population as a whole; young people send 42 more text messages per week, but spend over 7 hours less in front of the TV each week. However, according to the study, when they do watch TV, they are more likely to switch on private digital channels than public television.
The younger generation adopts new technologies many times faster than the rest of the population.70 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds have experience with social networking sites such as Myspace.com (total population 41 percent). One in five young adults has their own website or weblog.

The shift away from traditional media not only affects television, but also radio, newspapers and magazines. The study emphasizes the strong influence of these results on media authorities, the public and politics. According to Ofcom, it is now necessary to find out how to deal with these changes. One thing in particular needs to be considered: This age group is changing its consumer behavior much faster than other generations.

Copywriters who wish to be entered in the Swiss Professional Register have until October 15 to do so. This is the deadline for submitting applications.
To date, 17 copywriters in Switzerland hold the title of Copywriter BR. Although the professional register is managed by the copywriting association Script, membership of the association is not a prerequisite for entry in the professional register. Admission is decided by an independent jury of experts on the basis of the work submitted. Both freelancers and copywriters employed by companies and agencies are eligible. You can find out more about the registration conditions at
www.scriptweb.ch.

Scout24 Schweiz AG, operator of more than 80 online marketplaces, is launching a TV campaign with its mascot Scouty, which now appears in three dimensions. According to a press release, the mascot is both a popular figure and an image bearer, and has a high recognition value among the target groups. It can be seen again and again in accompanying communication measures both online and offline.
In the new spots, Scouty demonstrates its ability as an uncomplicated solver of everyday problems. The spots, which are aimed at the consumer market, are intended to show how the marketplaces at www.autoscout24.ch and www.immoscout24.ch can easily and conveniently help customers find the right car or a nicer apartment.
The marketing team of Scout24 Schweiz AG, headed by CMO Frank Gerber, together with Serviceplan Zweite Werbeagentur GmbH in Munich, is responsible for the concept of the current marketing campaign. The spots were produced by Images Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH in Hamburg, while Zauberküche Marketing Solutions in Bern is responsible for media planning. The concept and implementation of the other measures is the responsibility of the Bern-based cross-media agency Maxomedia.

Hotelplan Switzerland has appointed Daniel Reinhart as Head of Sales and the new Globus Travel product line. The 48-year-old Daniel Reinhart will become Head of Sales and a member of the Executive Board. He joins Hotelplan from Kuoni. The division includes 105 tourist branches in Switzerland, seven business travel locations and the travel agency organizations in Germany and France. Reinhart succeeds Kurt Wipraechtiger, who is retiring at the end of February 2007.
Urs Freudiger takes over the management of the new Globus Travel product line. The 46-year-old Freudiger was most recently Head of Marketing at Globus. He also has experience in tourism from his previous position at Swissair. Freudiger will take over the management of Globus Travel on September 1, 2006. With Globus Travel, Hotelplan and Globus are launching new travel offers in the premium segment in fall 2006.

The cable network company Cablecom is broadcasting the station Rundfunk.fm, which will be broadcasting from the National Museum in Zurich for a month from August 14. This is the third time that Cablecom is broadcasting the station via cable to all households in German-speaking Switzerland. The radio program can also be heard on the Internet as a web stream on the Cablecom website www.hispeed.ch.
Rundfunk.fm will be broadcasting from August 14 to September 10 under the motto "Rhythm of the City". National and international DJs will perform the live radio program daily from 8 am to 11 pm. The music comes from a wide variety of styles. According to a press release, the aim is to provide a change from the usual hit parade songs on regional and national radio stations.

The Zurich agency Assai worked with Flims.com to create the website for the Flims Laax Falera region's summer brand. The agency provided the navigation concept and the design, the texts and the HTML templates for the brand website. The individual target groups are addressed with text and image worlds tailored to them. Information is provided for hikers and bikers, those interested in culture or wellness and families. The design is intended to convey a summer holiday mood and support the presentation and sale of the numerous offers with appealing images.

The regional station Radio Basel 1 is launching new sections and a refreshed program after the summer vacations. From August 14, the morning show team with Daniel Studer (Studi), Marc Bachmann and Simon Thiriet will offer the audience new program segments.
In the Basel German section "Phänomebâle - Wörter, wo kei Knoche me kennt", the presenters explain Basel German words and terms that have been forgotten. With "Studis Auftrag", listeners are encouraged to give the lead presenter as tricky a task as possible. Studer has to complete the task over the weekend.

Simon Thiriet will visit museums in the region and present them in the new "Museum Worlds" section. This part of the program can be heard every Tuesday at 11.45 a.m. in the show "Dein Mittag mit Patrick" with Patrick Bardelli.