The department store chain Manor is launching its "Feel Africa" promotion on Friday. African-inspired fashion items, matching home accessories and culinary highlights await in the 72 stores throughout Switzerland. African sound can be heard, customers can paint T-shirts and ostrich eggs, children can listen to African fairy tales and have their hair plaited. The promotion is accompanied by a broad-based communication campaign. A catalog provides an insight into the product range, while advertisements, posters, radio spots and the Manor website provide information about the various store activities and highlights. The campaign focuses on people carrying products on their heads - in true African style. Instant prizes and a trip to Africa as the main prize can be won in a competition.

Peter Beeler takes over the management of the marketing and communications agency Gaam Partner in Eschlikon. He succeeds Horst Gaam, who founded the agency 40 years ago and is retiring. The new management will open an additional agency location in St. Gallen, according to a statement. Likewise, Gaam Partner strengthens the team in the area of conception and creation. The new agency mission statement is "Ideas that move" and aims to enable tangible and creative communication.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) has produced an information brochure and a website. They are intended to provide clarity on the revision of the Copyright Act. The information materials address questions such as: "What technical limitations should be granted?" and "How much copyright protection is appropriate?". With this project, the IPI wants to contribute to opinion-forming and at the same time familiarize laypersons with the complex subject matter, according to a press release. The Federal Council referred the draft revision to parliament on March 10, 2006.

(pr) Agfa Graphics and News International Ltd. have agreed on a ten-year strategic partnership. News International will implement a completely new production model in which Agfa Graphics will assume total responsibility from data reception to finished plates as part of an innovative facility management system. The contractual agreement includes Violet CtP systems, printing plates and company-wide software. Agfa will also provide 24/7 staffing, support, maintenance and technical services for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and News of the World newspapers, with implementation starting in September 2006 at News International's new central European printing facility in Glasgow, Scotland. It will then be rolled out to the Knowsley and Broxbourne sites. Agfa Graphics will supply 20 :Polaris XCV-S high-speed CtP systems for :N91v violet photopolymer plate imaging, complete :Arkitex newspaper workflow solutions with interfaces to Man Roland's PeCOM press controls, the plate processors and the register punching and folding systems. A total of 25 Agfa Graphics engineers and technicians will be available around the clock, seven days a week, to ensure News International has an uninterrupted and timely supply of printing plates. Stefaan Vanhooren, President of Agfa Graphics: "This is the largest contract in the history of our company. But more importantly, this contract brings a new business model to the newspaper industry. It underscores how we can deliver revolutionary value to our partners like no other by bringing together our real-world expertise, holistic solutions approach, innovative digital technologies and services." Ian McDonald, Operations Director of News International Ltd, said: "As part of our pre-press and production planning for our new print sites, we wanted to do more than just buy technology. Rather, we wanted to ensure fail-safe processes from data reception to the printing presses. Agfa Graphics understood our requirements and came up with valuable proposals that more than meet our needs for the next ten years. We are entering this partnership with great optimism."

The German Journalists' Association (DJV) wants to publish a "language primer of discriminatory and racist words". The catalog is to be compiled by the North Rhine-Westphalian state association together with the "Journalists against Racism" initiative and the Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research (DISS). A cooperation with the State Center for Political Education in Düsseldorf is also planned. At the Leipzig Book Fair, Federal Chairman Michael Konken explained the project: "Many words from Nazi German have become part of our vocabulary. We need to become aware of this and cleanse the language of these terms." One such problematic linguistic image is "Gutmensch", for example. The DISS has long been trying to prove the racist contamination of the center of society. As the Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes, the institute has been criticized in the past for the ideological and methodological weaknesses of such studies.

At the beginning of the week, TV station U1 announced its plans for an internet channel dedicated to pop and folk music. Now competitor Toni Brunner is following suit with news about his buureradio.ch. As the Internet radio station is also to be an event agency, the plan is to organize events in the style of the Buureradio.ch Stubete, which took place for the first time at the beginning of March. In addition to the rather impersonal Internet radio, the aim is to seek direct contact with listeners, according to a press release. Burreradio.ch has also comprehensively renewed its technical platform - something that was only planned for the second half of 2006. In the coming weeks, listeners should be able to benefit from the new archive, via which all magazines from the program will be available. As the audience keeps asking for the station's products, buureradio.ch is launching a clothing line with the logo. The first offers are planned for April.

According to the SRG Audience Council, the changes to the "Arena" program concept have proved successful. Thanks to the reduction in the number of main guests, the discussion program has become more dynamic and lively, according to a statement. Despite the adjusted number of participants, the diversity of opinions was adequately represented. Moderator Urs Leuthard also received high marks: he was knowledgeable in terms of content, acted confidently, had the necessary authority and acted as a neutral mediator. The length of the program was shortened slightly as part of the concept adjustment, but the Audience Council describes the new length as the upper limit. The "Sternstunde" program is impressive due to its high quality and is characterized by a broad selection of topics. The discussions are all of a high standard. However, the Audience Council considers the tight form of the discussions to be a brake. It also criticized the new decor.
The new "Wort zum Sonntag" speakers come across as likeable, competent, neither authoritarian nor lecturing. However, the team itself is too homogeneous for the Audience Council. It could imagine including younger people as speakers.
The Council also discussed the annual report of the new ombudsman Achille Casanova. It was pleased with the serious and competent work of the former Vice-Chancellor and Federal Council spokesperson.

Zurich-based PR agency Jenni Kommunikation celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday with around 100 guests at the Hotel Ascot. The company posted sales of around 1.4 million Swiss francs in 2005 and entered into a strategic partnership with Visinand Communication to strengthen its presence in French-speaking Switzerland. Urs Jenni founded the agency on April 1, 1996, which now employs six people.

The Bern-based agency Contexta is helping Swisscom to bundle its strengths. The telco company wants to show consumers that it is advantageous if all means of communication come from a single source. Anyone who decides to communicate with Swisscom Fixnet, Mobile and Bluewin will do so free of charge for one month. Contexta is responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of the promotional offer. According to the press release, the campaign should be on air soon.

Weltwoche journalist Urs Paul Engeler has been on trial since Wednesday for publishing a preliminary draft of the new state protection law in the summer of 2005. Engeler was fined 600 francs by the Bern investigating magistrate's office at the end of January. He contested this fine, which is why he had to appear before the responsible single criminal court judge on Wednesday. According to SDA, Engeler sees himself as a victim of arbitrary action by officials of the Federal Police and the Office of the Attorney General. With his article, he wanted to make the "serious encroachments on the freedom of citizens" planned by the federal police accessible for political discussion. Engeler also denounced the arbitrary application of Article 293 of the Swiss Criminal Code on the publication of secret official documents. If all such offenses were prosecuted, "three journalists would have to be convicted every week", said the Weltwoche journalist.
The complaint that led to Engeler being fined came from the Office of the Attorney General, which was apparently running "Operation Mondo". Engeler saw this as a clear indication "that they wanted to do something against Weltwoche". According to SDA, the court is likely to schedule the main hearing and verdict in the Engeler case for June at the earliest.
In mid-March, the Federal Council commissioned an investigation into the relevance of Article 293. Justice Minister Christoph Blocher is currently examining a corresponding amendment to the law.

The Vaud-based Kudelski Group is investing in digital television. It is acquiring the Digital Television Solutions (DTVS) division from SCM Microsystems for 11 million dollars. DTVS is a global leader in the digital TV access systems business, Kudelski announced. The takeover should be completed in 30 to 45 days. According to SDA, DTVS employs around 40 people. Kudelski intends to use DTVS's technologies to enable its customers to quickly bring solutions for the entire spectrum of pay-TV to the market. According to the communiqué, the French-speaking Swiss group is planning to create a new division focusing on secure pay-TV modules for digital television.
Last year, the TV encryption specialist Kudelski achieved a turnover of CHF 697.2 million thanks to its digital TV business, according to SDA. However, net profit fell to 86.7 million francs due to the new IFRS accounting standard.

2005 was a record year for TeleTicino, as the Ticino regional television company announced. Revenues and expenses of CHF 5.2 million were recorded, EBIT of CHF 101,000 and a cash flow of CHF 397,520, the latter of which was used entirely for depreciation. Compared to the previous year, turnover increased by 25 percent. This is partly due to the 17% increase in advertising and sponsorship income and partly to the 50% increase in the fee split allocated by Bakom. According to the press release, this share of fees thus reached 25 percent of operating costs, as stipulated by the applicable law. The additional income was mainly used to improve the broadcasting program and the technical infrastructure, as TeleTicino announced. In addition, the 13th monthly salary was introduced for all employees and the write-offs not made in 2004 were made up for.
TeleTicino is very satisfied with the new RTVA recently passed by Parliament, the press release continues. With the receipt of the new fee shares, the television station plans to introduce new programs, particularly in the areas of regional sport, culture, events, youth and family. Investments are also planned in the technical area and - in addition to the traditional cable network - new types of distribution.