As the printing press of the first regional Sunday newspaper played a trick, the first Südostschweiz am Sonntag (SOSo) was delivered two hours later than planned. The new printing press in Haag in the canton of St. Gallen had broken down, meaning that the 72 pages of the first SOSo had to be printed in two stages, as the news agency SDA reported on Sunday. On Sunday morning, the Südostschweiz Group celebrated the publication of the Sonntagsblatt in Passugg near Chur with around 300 guests. Publisher Hanspeter Lebrument described the first edition of SOSo as "the most comprehensive and advertising-heavy newspaper ever published in the cantons of Graubünden and Glarus". The seventh edition of Südostschweiz will considerably strengthen the independence of the Südostschweiz Group, Lebrument continued. Editor-in-chief Andrea Masüger explained that it was not the intention to simply launch a fourth Sunday newspaper on the market. Above all, SOSo wants to differentiate itself regionally from the other Sunday newspapers. As with the weekly edition, the regional section is located in the first newspaper bundle.

Kuoni is celebrating its 100th birthday by offering all customers a one hundred franc anniversary reduction during the birthday week from May 13 to 20, 2006. The reduction of 100 francs per adult and 50 francs per child applies to all offers in the Kuoni travel catalogs with a booking value of at least 1,000 francs per person, Kuoni announced. The promotion cannot be combined with other discounts. On Saturday, May 13, Kuoni is also inviting guests to a birthday party at all 61 locations in Switzerland. From 11 a.m., visitors and passers-by can enjoy free food and drinks, musical entertainment and a vacation competition, according to the press release.

The first edition of "Südostschweiz am Sonntag" can be delivered as planned on Sunday. The competent judge has rejected the application for a super-provisional injunction by the delivery and distribution organization (Zuvo) of Tamedia and NZZ. Tamedia confirmed the judge's decision to SDA in Zurich on Friday and told Grisons-based private broadcaster Radio Grischa that the parties had been invited to a hearing.

Zuvo, a company owned by Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the media house Tamedia, did not want to prevent the distribution of Südostschweiz am Sonntag, Tamedia explained further. Rather, the aim was to reach an agreement with Südostschweiz on a new cost allocation because a new title would be added to the distribution.

Zuvo distributes the products of NZZ and Tamedia. In the Südostschweiz region, the Zurich press titles are distributed by Südostschweiz Pressevertrieb AG. Zuvo holds a 35 percent stake in this company.

Microsoft is buying the US company Massive, which places advertising in Internet games. According to SDA, the software giant did not disclose the price. However, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the deal was worth between 200 and 400 million dollars. Ads in video games are intended to reach the attractive target group of young men who hardly ever use conventional media such as television.
Massive sells advertising space on beverage cans that appear in a video game, for example. Car manufacturers can enter their latest models in virtual races or advertise them on posters that appear in the game. The company has focused on games that update themselves via the Internet. This means that the advertising can be constantly changed.

The Swiss television program "Kassensturz" was awarded third place by the Stiftung Warentest for consumer journalism. The annual prize for the promotion of consumer reporting in German-language media was awarded this year to television programs. The winner was the WDR business magazine "Markt", ahead of the RTL program "Stern TV". A total of 29 concepts were submitted. The editorial concept of regular, independent and value-oriented consumer information was evaluated. Kassensturz' has the courage to carry out critical, investigative work, does not come across as accusatory and shows that consumer information can also be entertaining in the best sense of the word, the jury was quoted as saying in an SF communiqué.

The Diesel Walls competition organized by the fashion company Diesel offers three young artists the opportunity to design two monumental house walls in Milan and Berlin. The Diesel Walls are intended to create impulses in their surroundings and promote dialog between passers-by, galleries and the public. The exhibitions will be on display for two and three months respectively. There are no limits to the participants in terms of implementation and choice of ideas. Whether they work with painting, photography, video, light, sculpture, music or animation is irrelevant, according to the fashion house. Artists and students from art academies or universities worldwide may take part. The closing date for applications is May 19, 2006. Detailed information on how to apply can be found at www.dieselwall.com.

Over 11,000 entries from all over the world were received for the 85th ADC Awards in the USA. Accordingly, only a few received an award and a place in the highly acclaimed book. Euro RSCG Zurich is therefore all the more delighted that the "High Heels" campaign for Angela Gullé was awarded a Merit, as the agency announced. The awards gala will take place on June 8, 2006.

The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management is awarding four new scholarships to international participants of the Master of Science in Communication Management (MScom) program at the University of Lugano. However, only applicants who live and work outside Switzerland are eligible for the scholarships. The aim of the international association is to further strengthen cooperation between PR and communication professionals at an international level. The aim is to gradually facilitate the professional activities of the experts by creating academic networks and bridging the gap between them. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need to applicants who do not receive financial support from their employers for their continuing education efforts. Each grant amounts to CHF 21,000, which is half the fee for the MScom program. The application deadline is October 31, 2006, and a joint committee consisting of Global Alliance and MScom representatives will determine qualitative criteria for the awarding of the scholarships. The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management brings together more than 60 international PR and communication associations with a total membership of more than 160,000 professionals worldwide.

Email marketing performance increased significantly in the run-up to Christmas 2005. This is according to Epsilon Interactive's trend report for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The data collected between October and December 2005 is based on around 1.2 billion e-mails sent in these regions between Q4 2004 and Q4 2005 via Epsilon Interactive's Dartmail platform (formerly DoubleClick Dartmail).

As a result, the non-bounce rate increased further compared to the previous quarter to 93.8%. The click-through rate climbed to 9.3% due to increased engagement from retailers and publishers. Spam complaints fell to an all-time low of 0.36%, demonstrating the effectiveness of improved permission management. Open rates, an important indicator for many advertisers, have now stabilized at 29.8%. According to Epsilon Interactive, the key to successful email marketing lies in permission-based sending, which means that recipients have given their prior permission for certain mailing areas.

DesignFoto Kocherhans AG has undergone two changes: it has moved to the industrial area of Basel and undergone a structural reorganization. In the new premises, a specialized team offers fashion, advertising and food photography. This enables several parallel shootings on the same day and the realization of various projects at short notice, says DesignFoto. The larger space has increased the possibilities for customer care. Under the motto "The new address for your pictures", the company also works for a number of international clients.

The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has rejected a complaint against the US feature film "The Glimmer Man" broadcast on Swiss television DRS. The complainant, who was supported by 87 people, was of the opinion that two provisions of programming law had been violated: on the one hand, there was a threat to public safety due to the violation of constitutional principles and, on the other, the glorification or trivialization of violence. In its assessment, the UBI comes to the conclusion that "The Glimmer Man" is neither suitable for promoting a policy directed against the rule of law, nor are the scenes in question capable of endangering public order in a concrete way. In film genres such as action films, which are primarily about entertainment, it is not possible to demand behavior that conforms to the rule of law. The broadcasting time (10.50 p.m.) satisfied the legal programming requirements. Whether a film glorifies violence and thus violates programming law depends primarily on whether the broadcast allows the audience to maintain an appropriate distance from the depictions of violence shown. In its decision, however, the appeals body states that the accumulation of depictions of unbridled violence certainly raises critical questions. In particular, there is a risk that the inhibition threshold for broadcasting films containing violent content will gradually fall lower and lower.

(pr) Presseverein.ch officially went online on May 1.

The website of the journalists at Medienplatz Zürich
offers information and tips about the profession - but above all a page with industry news and gossip.

Current with an interview on the columnist war between Frank A. Meyer
and Christoph Mörgeli:
http://www.presseverein.ch/news

In addition to Presseverein.ch, the ZPV publishes its own newspaper. The "ZPV-News"
are published in the odd-numbered months with a circulation of over
1800 copies.

Currently with the cover story on the trend of offering newspaper articles as MP3 audio files.
Of course, the "ZPV News" article can also be heard:

http://www.presseverein.ch/news/zpvnews-online.html