The Bernese Grand Council approved an extension of store opening hours on Monday. The result is a compromise: stores will be allowed to stay open until 8 p.m. on weekdays. The regulation does not affect the longer opening hours in train stations, among other places. There was also a lively debate about the advertising of alcohol and tobacco. Advertising for alcoholic beverages up to 15 percent should be permitted at events. The reason given for the relaxation was that a number of events that are financially dependent on this advertising would otherwise no longer be able to take place. Advertising for alcoholic beverages will only be prohibited if the events are mainly attended by minors.

On Friday, the lower chamber adopted a motion in which it called on the Federal Council to examine the protection of Swiss jobs, citing the Trademark Protection Act and the Trademark Protection Ordinance. The discussion about the Swiss brand was sparked a few months ago by the cosmetics product "Juvena of Switzerland", which is manufactured in Germany but marketed as a Swiss product.
This March, the Schaffhausen-based cosmetics company Trybol called for better protection of the Swiss brand in an advertising campaign, as it had been unsuccessful in its complaint and appeal to the Fair Trading Commission against its German competitor.
The Federal Council was prepared to accept both postulates: "The issue concerns us," said the responsible Minister of Justice Christoph Blocher in the Council. However, he pointed out that a solution to the problem would not be easy: First of all, it would have to be clarified what constitutes a Swiss product - especially for companies that produce abroad. Furthermore, protecting the Swiss brand abroad is likely to be time-consuming in some countries, "and that's how long the abuse lasts", continued Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher.

The Zurich agency Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R) is launching a national campaign for the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society on June 19, 2006. The campaign aims to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis - MS for short - among the Swiss population and highlight the consequences it has for those affected: The damage and interruption of nerve pathways. The consequences for those affected are unpredictable and varied: they range from impaired vision, overwhelming fatigue, impotence and pain to paralysis and immobility. Around 10,000 people in Switzerland are affected by MS. The disease is most commonly diagnosed in young adults between the ages of 20 and 40. The cause of multiple sclerosis is still unknown and despite intensive research, there is still no cure for the disease.two posters each show naked people whose arm, leg, hip or neck is separated from the rest of their body by a gap. MS sufferers took part in the campaign and had themselves photographed by the well-known photographer Peter Hebeisen. He was originally commissioned by the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

This year, the Zurich Radio Foundation is once again awarding the Radio and Television Prize in the total amount of CHF 50,000 as part of a competition. The two prizes are regarded as the most culturally significant radio and television awards in Switzerland. The awards ceremony will take place on November 20 at the Zunfthaus zur Meisen in Zurich. The competition is held every two years and is open to individual programs and series that have been broadcast as in-house productions or co-productions in German or in a German-language adaptation by a Swiss radio and television station between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2006. On the other hand, personalities who have made their mark on Swiss radio and television with their overall achievements can also be nominated for the awards, writes the Redio Foundation in a press release. Further information can be found at www.alexbaenninger.ch.

According to an Emnid survey, only 7.6 percent of customers would buy a cell phone with a TV function. This was reported by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" with reference to the study by the market research institute TNS Emnid, which interviewed 1009 German citizens on behalf of the magazine "Zeit Wissen". Interest in mobile TV is therefore not particularly high. It is particularly low among women, with only 5.3 percent intending to purchase such a device. At 10.2 percent, men are still more interested in technology. It remains to be seen whether the mobile phone companies will have the success they are hoping for with their current mobile TV tests.

According to a study by German Nielsen Media Research, specialty and bulk mailers used direct mail as an advertising medium 13 percent more frequently in the first quarter of 2006 than in the previous year. The study also allows conclusions to be drawn about the use of direct mail in the media split and the media mix strategies of bulk and specialty mailers. In addition to traditional communication channels, direct mail is used to address specific target groups, mainly through the use of addressed advertising mailings. Wholesale and specialty mailers use direct mail as the main advertising medium in the media split with a share of 82.7%. 63.4 percent of the 2068 companies surveyed used direct mail exclusively. The highest priority for the sender is to address the customer personally. 88.6 percent of the gross advertising expenditure of large and specialty mailers was used for addressed mailings. More than half was spent on mailing catalogs. On average, mailers invested 9.2 euros per household in their advertising mailings.

The Biel-based company Farbendruck Weber has won one of the Sappi European Printers of the Year Awards in Stockholm. The paper manufacturer's gala event took place on June 10; a total of 38 printers were awarded gold, silver and bronze in nine categories. The winning entries showcase a wide range of printing and finishing techniques, including special screens, different combinations of full, spot and UV coatings, metallic inks, foils, embossing, precision die-cutting and special binding and folding. Farbendruck Weber received the gold award in the "Magazine" category for the "Hermès" lifestyle magazine, which contains articles and photos in four-color heatset web offset printing for the fashion house's autumn/winter collection. The jury said that the "Hermès" magazine impressed with its clean, vivid color reproduction and outstanding register accuracy. It was made up of five print experts who selected the winners - from more than 2050 works by printers from 31 countries in Europe and the Middle East. According to a statement, the judges described the standard of many of the entries as outstanding. The nine European winners will compete for the Sappi International Printers of the Year Awards, which will be presented in Budapest, Hungary, in October this year.

Dr. Oetker has commissioned Matter & Gretener with a cross-media campaign for the frozen pizza line Ristorante. The Zurich-based company will link print, DM, mobile marketing, distribution campaigns and communication at the POS. The results should be visible this June.

Every time Köbi's boys score a goal at the World Cup, Charles Vögele Mode AG customers also benefit: for every goal scored by the Swiss, there is a 10 percent discount on all non-reduced fashion items - and if the Swiss win, the prices fall by a further 10 percent. The discount can amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the original price. The promotion always applies on the first working day after the Swiss match - and of course also if the Swiss advance. Around a week ago, Charles Vögele had already distributed "Hopp Schwiiz" T-shirts to 50,000 children across the country free of charge.

During EURO 08, the Swiss Tourism Association is planning an advertising offensive aimed at the target markets of Italy, Germany, France, England and Russia. "Switzerland will invest a total of CHF 15 million," says Jürg Schmid, Director of Switzerland Tourism, in an interview with Sonntagsblick. Around 3500 journalists are expected to attend. "It's interesting that most of the live viewers will be Chinese. This is a huge opportunity for us," Schmid continues.
Schmid finds it "very annoying" that "Austria" comes before "Switzerland" in the naming of the European Football Championship. "Our aim is for the order to be reversed in the minds of visitors after the European Championship," continues the association director.

The Zurich advertising agency Euro RSCG has won the Best of Swiss Web in the "Creation" category with "Love Lips", the Stop AIDS campaign for the Federal Office of Public Health. The campaign has already received awards from the Art Directors Club Switzerland and internationally. Zurich-based Station AG and New York-based Oddcast Inc. were responsible for the technical implementation.

The e-commerce site Ebay is planning an advertising system in which Ebay sellers can use keywords to advertise their offers on other websites. At a conference for software developers, Michael van Swaaij, Head of Strategy at Ebay, provided information about the project. As the industry portal Cnet.com reports, the system is based on those of competitors Google and Yahoo. However, it differs from conventional pay-per-click systems as it will only link to Ebay auctions instead of acting as a general advertising network. Ebay plans to provide several hundred thousand users with code modules that they can embed on other websites. In return, the auctioneer must hand over a share of the sales proceeds. Which items appear in an ad depends on the keywords on the respective website - a system known as contextual advertising. Ebay scans the text of a website for keywords and links these to the relevant Ebay offer. Connected sites can expect to earn between 35 and 60 percent of the sales revenue.
A system test will begin in the coming days. Further information is not yet known. However, industry experts suspect that the move is a backlash against "Google Base" and "Gbuy". The "Google Base" database service allows Internet users to post all kinds of information or goods online. As the news agency Blooberg reports, Google is also planning to launch the payment service "Gbuy" at the end of June. This will make Google a trading platform and thus a direct competitor to eBay.