H. Elias Fröhlich, who is responsible for music at Blick, is moving to Glückspost within the publishing house as of September 1. Fröhlich, who has held the position at Blick since 1988, will be responsible for the Glückspost website and will write interviews and stories for the people section and articles for the advice section. As the publisher confirmed a report by Kleinreport based on internal e-mails, Blick editor-in-chief Werner de Schepper praised Fröhlich's commitment to Blick and wished him all the best for the future.
The 29-year-old Olivier Joilat will be the new head of music at the tabloid. Joilat studied German, modern history and media studies at the University of Basel and has already written sporadic reports for Blick. At Radio X, he has set up and moderated various programs. Joilat has also been an editor at 20 Minuten since 2002, where he has been responsible for music for the past year. Joilat's workload at Blick will be 60 percent.

The Worldwide Academy (WWA), the advisory committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is planning to introduce a Master's course in 2007 that will deal with topics relating to international intellectual property. The interdisciplinary course is to be offered at WIPO's Geneva headquarters, as reported by WIPO in a press release.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea will be distributing the new catalog to customers at over 2,500 post offices throughout Switzerland. In total, several 100,000 copies will be distributed. At larger post office counters, postal customers will even be proactively made aware of the Ikea catalog by counter staff. However, this new distribution channel is initially only intended as a test and will be launched soon, as Carlos Friedrich, Head of Marketing at Ikea Switzerland, told Werbewoche. How long this test will last depends on the success of this campaign. It is therefore not yet possible to provide further details. The background to this new distribution measure is that many Ikea customers did not receive the catalog by post last year. As a rule, the regular free delivery fails because of the "No advertising" stickers on the letterbox.
Ikea Germany is also struggling with the same problem, as Werben&Verkaufen writes. However, a different solution is being tested there: 150,000 Ikea catalogs are to be offered at kiosks for 2.50 euros next September.

The customer magazine Pending from the Swiss writing instrument manufacturer Prodir was awarded silver at the Best of Corporate Publishing (BCP) 2006. This makes Pending one of the best publications in the B2B / Media, Culture, Entertainment category. Dr. Eckhards Sohns from the agency "Comunicazione" and Christoph Schnug from the agency "Studiocmilano" are responsible for the production of Pending. Pending is published twice a year in German and English with a total circulation of 32,000 copies, as Prodir writes in a press release. The BCP is the highest award for German-language corporate magazines in Europe and is presented by the Forum Corporate Publishing in Munich. With a record number of 542 publications submitted, the prize was awarded for the fourth time this year.

At a media conference on Tuesday, Swisscable, the association of TV cable companies, presented a survey showing that 33% of the Swiss population is willing to switch to digital television. The association is calling for a rapid transition to digital television.
The development towards digital television is also underway in Switzerland, Dr. Hajo Leutenegger, President of Swisscable, told the media in Bern. Unfortunately, however, Switzerland is lagging behind the rest of Europe. Only 10 percent in Switzerland are already using the new distribution technology. In a European comparison: 69 percent of households use digital television in England, 42 percent in Italy, 38 percent in France, 28 percent in Spain and 20 percent in Germany.
The representative survey, which was conducted in May 2006 by the market research institute Demoscope with 800 people between the ages of 15 and 84 in German and French-speaking Switzerland, shows a relatively high willingness to switch despite hesitant usage behavior. Around a third of those surveyed would like to switch to digital television in the next three years. 22% could imagine switching at a later date.
Nevertheless, there is still a lot of convincing to be done, says Leutenegger, as a relatively high proportion of 19% are still undecided according to the study, while 26% are even opposed to switching. However, Leutenegger is convinced that he can convince customers to switch to digital television because it is simply better than analog television. The arguments are better picture and sound quality and a wider range of programs with more choice. In addition, digital television promises a new television experience thanks to new offerings such as HDTV (High Definition TV), digital video recorders (PVR, Personal Video Recorder), electronic program guides (EPG, Electronic Programming Guide), content on demand (voD, Video on Demand) and interactive television (ITV). Leutenegger went on to say that it was important to introduce the new services quickly.
The survey also showed that there are major differences in TV behavior between the German-speaking and French-speaking Swiss. For example, significantly more German-speaking Swiss watch via cable, as this gives them access to a wider range of channels than the French-speaking Swiss (45 channels on average in DCH, 36 in WCH). Although the use of digital television is equally high on both sides of the French-speaking divide, significantly more German-speaking Swiss state that they intend to upgrade their television reception to digital in the next few years. The German-speaking Swiss attach greater importance to individual programming, while the French-speaking Swiss tend to focus on a wider range of programs.
The study also revealed that only 10% of respondents consider mobile television via cell phone to be attractive. The possibility of reading and answering e-mails on the television and using the Internet would be welcomed by 16%. Video telephony via the television met with an even greater response: 38% considered this option to be very or somewhat attractive.
Swisscable advocates a transitional phase in which analog and digital television are broadcast in parallel (simulcast). However, the analog offering should be limited to a minimum offering until around 2010. Swisscable also advocates basic encryption of channels. This would offer the possibility of offering tailor-made program packages.

ProSieben wants to bring viewers back this fall and winter with a new program. In the recent past, ProSieben has suffered a loss of audience in the preferred target group of 14 to 49-year-olds, as reported by Werben&Verkaufen and DWDL.de. With a new program, however, ProSieben will "once again reliably offer what the station stands for, and that is quality-conscious, innovative, modern and special television," announced Managing Director Andreas Bartl recently in Hamburg. The channel wants to "strengthen and expand its core competencies", Bartl continued. This includes Hollywood blockbusters on Wednesdays, double feature film programming on Sundays and mystery series on Mondays. Under the motto "We are back", series such as "Lost", "Surface", "Charmed" and "Grey's Anatomy" will return. Heidi Klum enters a new round with her show "Germany's next Topmodel". The new season of the casting show "Popstars" comes in late summer and Katharina Witt curves in her ice skating show "Skating with Celebrities" in the fall. The fun factor is also being expanded: Stefan Raab is staying on the ball with various "TV-Total" events and Christian Ulmen is coming with the crime comedy series "Mr. Soft".
Another new show is "Ox Race", in which celebrities have to remain seated on the back of a steer for as long as possible. The show "Wedding Planner" is booked for Monday evenings and on Saturday evenings it will be "It's Showtime" from August. Jürgen von der Lippe will start with his show "Extreme Aktivity". Oliver Pocher will present the "Big ProSieben Federal Youth Games" and then there will be a 50-year "Brav" gala.
However, it is still unclear how the telenovela "Lotta in Love" will continue, as the series has fallen far short of its target with market shares of between seven and eight percent. The decision is to be made this summer.

After the canton of Thurgau had already submitted a negative consultation to the federal government, the canton of Solothurn has also rejected the planned amendment to the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). The existing law is sufficient to combat so-called free-rider marketing.
The European Football Association (UEFA) had informed the Swiss Confederation of areas where it believed there were gaps in current Swiss law in relation to the Euro 08 European Football Championship. The Confederation saw no need for action in three areas, but intends to regulate the special offense of ambush marketing by amending the UCA.

In the first six months of the current year, 4.93 percent more advertisements were placed in German magazines than in the same period last year. This was announced by the Association of German Magazine Publishers. In the first quarter of 2006, growth had amounted to 3.3 percent. A total of 111,463 advertising pages were booked in general-interest magazines from January to June. Of the 28 segments covered, 18 recorded an increase, including in particular the segments with the highest advertising figures such as current magazines and periodicals (+11.3 percent). TV program guides were also among the winners, increasing by 14.9 percent. More ads were also placed in weekly (+4.3 percent), fortnightly (+3.7 percent) and monthly women's magazines (+13.3 percent). The motor press (+5.5 percent), sports magazines (+7.3 percent) and the business press (+5.8 percent) also saw increases. By contrast, lifestyle magazines (-1.9), audio, video and photo magazines (-2.9) and IT and telecommunications magazines (-5.1 percent) were among the losers. Stern sold the most advertising in the first half of 2006 (+6.6), followed by Focus (+0.6) and Spiegel (-0.8 percent).

More than 200 invited guests attended the tenth anniversary of rotor Agentur für Kommunikation. After a first refreshment with food & drinks in the agency's courtyard, 64 racing enthusiasts signed up for the qualifying of the Tenth Grand Prix of Zurich. Whether as a Carrera driver or as a spectator, the excitement went on until the end. After the award ceremony, which was performed by the charming Miss Carrera 2006, DJ Steve McQueen and the unplugged band Los Bandidos led the way deep into the night with their Tequilla Racing Punk.The subsequent race was held in pairs in a knockout system 1 against 1. Between the races, Beat Engeler of Fischer Architekten AG and Martin Hauser, co-owner of rotor, talk shop about the drivers' performances.Great amazement in the VIP grandstand: Bernd Götz of Swiss Re with his wife Inge, Lorenz Hauser, music and events specialist, and Gilles Bachmann of Fauxpas Grafik.Peter Burri, marketing manager of Health Promotion Switzerland coaches his son Tim. Miss Carrera 2006 Oxana Fedorova presented the prizes to the finalists. The runner-up André Becchio was taken comfortingly in the middle. And the winner Oliver Fitze owner Hum Records was happy about the hard-fought Carrera package.Afterwards the racing circus celebrates until the early morning hours the rotor anniversary Grand Prix to the legendary Tequilla Racing Punk of Los Bandidos. Text & Image: rotor
 
Upload: Beat Fritsch
Support: Kathrin Fischer
Good Job: Urs Bühler
 Around 100 participants - direct marketing and CRM decision-makers from a wide range of industries - accepted the invitation.
The forum started in Zurich with the key note speaker Prof. Dr. Belz from the University of St. Gallen. He reported on the latest results of his study "Dialog Marketing Revisited". His contribution, which was as vivid as it was critical, opened up a new perspective on dialog marketing to the professional audience. Belz showed what breakthroughs in customer dialog are possible in the various industries and fields of application when specific solutions are applied.

Richard Webber continued the international program. The micromarketing expert from England, who is recognized beyond national borders, posed the question of how neighborhoods affect consumer behavior. The answer lies in the MOSAIC typology co-developed by Webber, which clusters people into consumer groups according to the principle "like and like go together" and thus optimizes direct marketing campaigns.

In addition, speakers Paul Watts, Director Experian Business Strategies, and Kai Schäffner, Director Marketing & CRM at Vorwerk, explained how this principle is implemented internationally.

The second day also offered a jam-packed program. The focus was on a large number of case studies and best-practice examples from the fields of facility management, fundraising, publishing, market research, and banking and insurance.

In addition to the interesting technical presentations, the congress offered a variety of opportunities for exchanging opinions and experiences, which the participants used intensively. The summary of the microMarketing Forum was positive throughout. The event was held for the fourth time and has thus established itself among decision-makers in the industry. The concept provides for the annual congress to be held alternately in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Interested parties can find the presentations for download at
www.microm-online.ch

The race organizers open qualifying for the Tenth Zurich Grand Prix. Sascha Kieslinger, Art Director rotor and Alexander Gessert, Creative Director and co-owner rotor.Maurizio Scarpa from Sfax Hairstylist welcomes two beauties to the paddock.Christine Roth, the former Marketing Manager of Freitag Lab enjoyed herself together with Daniel Kistler from Ringier.Ludwig Dörr, the former advertising manager of Coop Switzerland found time for a lightning visit to Zurich despite his retirement.Music meets film: Phonogen.com founder Rino Meyer poses with Beat Lenherr of panimage.With enough fuel in the tank, 64 drivers fought for thousandths of a second to qualify for the race on the rotor Speedway at Club Zukunft.

The German news programs "Tagesschau" and "Tagesthemen" are to become more comprehensible for the average viewer. This was announced by the new ARD editor-in-chief Thomas Baumann, who took office last July 1. According to the media magazine Dwdl.de, Baumann explained on Friday that he wanted to "offer more guard rails and orientation markers". For example, there will be more "explanatory pieces" in the "Tagesthemen" and more longer reports in the "Tagesschau". "Despite the professionalism of our newsmakers, some viewers sometimes find it difficult to follow," says Baumann. Three years ago, a study by the Gewis Institute found that only 12 percent of Germans still fully understand the "Tagesschau", while 88 percent have problems with individual words or entire reports.

Gabriela Kollar took up her management position as Head of Sponsoring and Crossmedia at Publisuisse in spring 2006, as the SRG marketer announced on Monday. She heads the sponsorship and cross-media department, which is integrated into sales and is responsible for achieving sales targets in the areas of radio and TV sponsorship and cross-media. Kollar has been working in the fields of communication, sponsorship and event management for around 15 years, as the press release explains. For the past two years, she has been responsible for the Swiss Ski mandate at the sports marketing agency Sportart AG. Prior to that, she spent around six years at UBS AG, where she was responsible for the conception, planning and execution of various sponsorship and event projects.

For the first time since 1980, Coca-Cola is once again focusing on a globally uniform approach. The global strategy is being pursued in part due to criticism in recent years that the different campaigns had led to a scattered image of Coca-Cola in some markets. The brand budget for the new campaign has been increased by 400 million dollars in order to sharpen the brand's image again. The Apple brand has been chosen as a model, as it is universally perceived. Disney also serves as a role model, according to a press release. The new Coke campaign is aimed primarily at young people.