The marketer of the new Swiss-German private television channel Elevator TV was announced on Thursday, with Cinecom being awarded the contract. The marketing of the channel, which will be launched in September, includes both advertising islands and program sponsorship. In the initial phase, Cinecom's Managing Director Matthias Luchsinger will personally take care of sales activities. At a later date, integration into the existing TV unit with Sat1 and Kabel eins is planned. As Cinecom announced on Thursday, it will present an action plan in the next few days and inform customers and agencies about the offers. According to the press release, Matthias Luchsinger is looking forward to his new role and is convinced "that Elevator TV's formats will meet with great demand". For the Publigroupe subsidiary Cinecom, the conclusion of the contract represents a significant expansion of the TV portfolio and a welcome addition to the existing offerings of Sat1 Schweiz and Kabel eins.

The news magazine Facts has spruced itself up and appeared in a new look on Thursday. As Editor-in-Chief Andreas Durisch announced in the editorial, the editorial team is convinced that readers will quickly become familiar with the new Facts. After all, it is essentially the same as the old one. Facts has therefore changed, but only "at first glance": with a new front page design, new fonts and a new architecture. Durisch, currently dual editor-in-chief of Facts and SonntagsZeitung, goes on to write in the editorial that nobody can escape the power of facts in the long term. That is why the title Facts is also the magazine's program. In the cover story "100 reasons why Switzerland is shining again", however, it is not so much hard facts that are presented as a colorful mix of facts. In the Switzerland section, in addition to an interview with Doris Leuthard, you also learn something about her "silent half". This is followed by the expanded business section, which is more prominently placed and also does more justice to the demand for hard facts. The subsequent knowledge section, with the main topics of Christopher Columbus and elephants in Africa, is very much on the magazine track, and in the next section, Lifestyle, which has been expanded in scope and includes the previous culture section, Facts is not particularly different from other weekly titles. What is striking, however, is the treatment of foreign information, which is only included from page 98 almost at the very end of the magazine, just before the final sports section.
However, apart from the rather offensive and successful design of the cover page, the surprise effect of the redesigned magazine remains limited. Although the announced improved reader guidance works perfectly, the impression prevails that the message "I want facts", which was also supported by an elaborate advertising campaign, has not been fully realized. Even if the first issue of the magazine was well received by the advertising industry, the battle for the attention of readers and the advertising industry is likely to remain tough.
Kathrin Fischer

The Zurich advertising agency Matter & Gretener has developed a direct marketing idea for the cleaning company Enzler: In addition to a checklist, potential new customers are sent a white glove with which they can check whether their current cleaner is doing a great job. The glove in question is also draped in such a way that it perfectly supports the headline of the mailing: "Dust on the door frames? The blinds? The radiators? Then get your cleaning service out the door today."

Zurich-based Condor Films was able to prevail in a pitch against renowned foreign competitors and is shooting a special format film for the Autostadt of German car manufacturer Volkswagen. The film will be shot over a period of 5 weeks at international locations under the direction of Johannes Brunner. Post-production will take place in Munich on a constellation of equipment specially configured for the project. The camera rig required to produce a film image spanning 6 screens is a proprietary development of the Zurich studio, according to the press release. Since 1999, Condor has realized twelve films in special formats for brand worlds and theme parks.

The paper wholesaler Sihl und Eika, based in Thalwil, was able to increase its sales in 2005 for the first time in five years. As reported by the SDA news agency on Thursday, the Group increased net sales by 2.3 percent to 185.9 million Swiss francs. Paper sales rose by 6 percent to 97,500 tons. Sihl and Eika were able to acquire additional knowledge through their integration into the Papyrus paper wholesale organization. At CHF 11.4 million, operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was at the same level as in 2004.

The film distributor Buena Vista has booked the Publisuisse offer Mono-Block for the Swiss premiere of the supporting film for the latest James Bond movie "Casino Royale": On Friday, May 12 at around 8 p.m., SF zwei will show the trailer before the action film "Mission Impossible 2". Only a single TV spot will be placed in a mono block. According to a press release from Publisuisse, the advertising message thus benefits from the full, undivided attention of the TV audience. The offer will be broadcast immediately before or after a conventional advertising block. From May 15, Publisuisse will publish the supporting film on the electronic spot database on its website.

In its session on Thursday, the National Council rejected the SP initiative that sought to oblige Swiss Post to guarantee newspaper delivery on the day of publication. The National Council rejected the parliamentary initiative by 101 votes to 63, according to a statement from the SDA news service. The SP wanted to enshrine in postal legislation that Swiss Post should guarantee the punctual delivery of subscribed newspapers and magazines on the day of publication. Newspapers should - as far as possible and reasonable - be transported by public transport. However, the National Council considered this to be over-regulation, as only around 2 percent of the newspapers delivered by Swiss Post could not be delivered on the day of publication. The effort required to close this gap was disproportionate. The minority argued with the difficult situation of regional newspapers in particular, which are affected by the delays.

The German TV group ProSiebenSat.1 increased revenues and profits in the first quarter. Compared to the same period last year, the company recorded revenue growth of 8.2 percent to EUR 465.3 million. Net profit rose by 7 percent to EUR 30.7 million. CEO Guillaume de Posch attributes the result to the slight growth in the TV advertising market and the new business models. He also predicts that revenues and profits will continue to rise, since ProSiebenSat.1 expects the advertising market to grow about two percent in 2006. In the first quarter, Sat.1, ProSieben, Kabel eins and N24 earned an audience share of 30.1 percent. This represents an increase of 0.1 percent over the same period last year.

The Forsa opinion research institute in Berlin was commissioned by Ringier to survey 1,544 Cicero readers in February and March. The published results show that the readers are in many cases opinion leaders, mostly academics and very interested in political and social discourse, reports News-business.de. The average age of the Cicero reader is 46 years, the average net household income is 3,900 euros. 49 percent of readers live in cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, 26 percent in metropolitan areas. The average reading time of 4.18 hours per issue also shows that the magazine attracts a great deal of interest.

The exhibition stand construction company Andreas Messerli has acquired a majority stake in Retailpartners. The company develops and realizes sales and customer zones in the Swiss retail trade and will continue to operate as an independent public limited company under the Retailpartners brand. Thomas Stiefel will also remain at the helm. According to a press release, the two specialists are joining forces to design and realize future-oriented and attractive sales and customer zones.

Column Conclusion after a night in the blogosphere: It may be useful in private, but nothing is negotiated socially online. With
A very tired mind. The night was short, as always on long-distance trips.
It was actually only supposed to be a short trip. To Robert from
Heusinger's Herd Instinct ("How capitalism works", http://blog.zeit.de/herdentrieb): More enlightening information on the current economy can be found there than anywhere else. Then to Niels Boeing's technosphere blog (http://www.heise.de/tr/blog): all about nanotechnology and the future as it is currently being planned in the laboratories.

But I was passed on. From Spindoctor to Softmachines, via
Sixtus and China-in-the-news on netzkultur, WeMedia, netzpolitik,
continue to Blogorama and PressThink to Instapundit to Blogger to Gawker
Media ... A few dozen bookmarks further on you are wide awake, infinitely
informed and even the last of all questions is off the table: what to
will do when Fifa soon turns this planet into a "noisy,
infantilized hell" (SZ) - of course: surfing the blogosphere.

Weblogs, blogs in fact, have a reputation for talking about things that are so
exactly what you don't want to know. Showing pictures that you don't want to see
would like to. To spread gossip, which is more like stomach acid than a
thoughts.
The bad reputation of blogs is well earned. Most of what is written in
one of the easy-to-use blog software is stammered, is
Scrap. Private. Irrelevant. But presented with a grand gesture. Will
We want to know what the completely unknown Hansmeiermüller from Saftigen
about Islam, VAT and his hormonal surges at the sight of
Shakira shares? You don't want to.

But that says almost nothing about the blogosphere. Because
These days, people are looking for relevant facts and enlightenment, surprising
and context, you end up on a blog more and more often. On dozens
of explosive, brilliantly written e-journals by thinking minds.

In purely arithmetical terms, this should come as no surprise. 70 million
Bloggers are now. Let's assume - unkindly - that 99 percent
of which fed the ocean of randomness. That still left 700000
Sites that are worth a regular visit.

Blogs uncover. In some places, blogs are the only way for dissidents to
A chance to make your voice heard. Blogs (automatically) network what
would otherwise hardly come together. No wonder the NGO Reporters Without
The limits of blogging.
A brilliant upheaval is taking place. Micro-media like blogs,
Podcasts, wikis are mapping the terrain between personal communication
and the media. With as yet unforeseeable consequences for perception,
Society and politics.

Jay Rosen, the new founder of Public Journalism, enthusiastically recognizes the
The beginning of true citizen journalism and the awakening of local
Democracy ("We are the Media"). The big media make use of
increasingly in the blogosphere, with images and text, for example after the
bombings in London or the floods in New Orleans. At the beginning of May
the immense possibilities were presented at a congress in London.
staked out (
www.mediacenterblog.org/events/06/wemedialondon/home).
This vision is appealing in terms of media ecology: more and more citizens are withdrawing
the well-known media of the dumbing-down industry and network
communities according to their inclinations and needs.
And they are also rather naive: companies, commercial providers and
Party apparatuses are getting massively involved in blogging - and they
are working on processes to bring the decentralized network world under control.
take.

Regardless of whether they can succeed in doing so, micromedia in a
The public is caught up in a fundamental problem - the destruction of the public sphere.
The blogger says I. He speaks out to the skylight and hopes that one
listen to him. 400 visits to a blog are already considered excellent
Viewership. And no matter how hard bloggers try to network
it remains a pop dance. Privately and for small communities, she likes
may be useful, but nothing is negotiated socially online.

In this respect, blogs & co., like the conventional media, are only a
Another symptom of the tyranny of intimacy. Would me
should I be wrong.

Oliver Fahrni is a freelance publicist.

Healthcare At risk, tarred and feathered
I'll say it again: everything used to be better. The
The poor were richer and the rich a little poorer, beautiful hair was a
and the Fa mermaid bubbled out of her mouth, happy and full of blood.
glittering waves. Even today, product managers want to give us the
The promise of tingling freedom and erotic adventures
sell. But their new visual realizations have the
The impact of a hair scale. In order to achieve the emotional added value with
their brands, these days they are content with the practiced
energetic wet hair swing at the nape of the neck. It's still in vogue.
What has disappeared, however, is the island between clouds and waves, the
innocent hand movement and the teasing water bead on the
Décolleté. These could be associated with dirty intentions.
which really doesn't fit in with the proper industry.
This is probably why the creatives have become more involved with the typical
I am more concerned with the movement of my head than with the "movement in my head". I nod
appreciative; the ads are truly more exciting than
Hair growth images in slow motion. (la)