Focus Online is having Markus Koch's finance blog sponsored by the investment company Fidelity. According to the press release, this is the first time that a weblog has been marketed as part of a comprehensive advertising cooperation. In the blog, stock market guru Koch reports almost daily from Wall Street with the success of well over 40,000 users. For the investment fund provider Fidelity, this is an opportunity to get in touch with the target group as closely and interactively as possible. The blog also offers fund specials, tests and a fund yield calculator. Focus emphasizes the guarantee of editorial independence. In addition to a general increase in awareness, Fidelity also hopes to rejuvenate the target group.

The Swiss Association for Visual Communication Viscom has surveyed its member companies in the graphic arts industry and found an average wage increase of 0.9%. Although just under 40 percent of the companies have a zero increase, a further 40 percent have increased their payroll by up to 1.5 percent. The survey also revealed that just under 11% of companies concluded new agreements with additional benefits - either with profit sharing or bonuses. Half of the companies that implemented wage increases made full or partial use of the option of individual wage adjustments. The survey was conducted among Viscom's 800 member companies, 40 percent of which took part in the survey.

CNN is becoming visually calmer: from Friday, February 10, 0 a.m., the news channel will present itself with a significantly revised design. The logo will be modernized, various graphics gently adapted and the news ticker scroll bar will give way to a much calmer information bar that displays complete short news items without movement. The total number of design elements has also been significantly reduced. The design adjustment is intended to draw attention back to the program content - the journalistic work. As Pressetext reports, one reason for the measures is the ratings gap to industry leader Fox News.

There has probably never been anything like it: The successful Radio 105 and SEAT, the emotionally charged car brand from Barcelona, are entering into a partnership that goes far beyond previous forms of cooperation. In an extraordinary cooperation and with a far-reaching co-branding concept, Radio 105 and SEAT are demonstrating what is possible in cross-marketing. As of February 1, 2006, Radio 105 will be "powered by SEAT". And in the truest sense of the word: not only will the Radio 105 presenters and DJs be driving SEAT brand vehicles from now on, but SEAT will also have a strong presence on Radio 105 in general.   
From stationery to the Radio 105 website, business cards and presenter cards to Radio 105 advertisements and TV spots - everything is "powered by SEAT". In addition, SEAT is also a partner of individual radio programs where the "powered by SEAT" logo is acoustically integrated. These include "105 Dope", the popular hip hop and R'n'B program, and "105 Switch on", the successful show by the well-known Swiss DJ M-Live.  
 
Radio 105 and SEAT are taking an even more uncompromising approach with the station www.105dope.ch, which can only be received via the Internet. By fully integrating the SEAT brand into the station layout, the two partners are underlining their intention to enter into a long-term collaboration.  
The partnership between Radio 105 and SEAT begins with a community of values. For both brands, innovation, trendsetting, youthfulness and style are not just buzzwords, but a living corporate philosophy. With their co-branding, Radio 105 and SEAT want to build a bridge to the future and cultivate their shared values in a fruitful collaboration.  

Western Switzerland's Edipresse Goup has acquired a stake of 55 % in the French publishing house Le Grand Kapital via its subsidiary in Luxembourg, the company has announced. Le Grand Kapital publishes the lifestyle magazine Citizen K International, which appears quarterly in Paris. The magazine is opinion-forming in terms of fashion, lifestyle and trends, the communiqué continues. There is a close relationship with leading fashion manufacturers and brands in the high-end sector. The magazine can therefore guarantee advertisers access to those readers who regularly invest in high-end products and services. Citizen K has seen a steady increase in readership, although Edipresse does not provide circulation figures. However, it does mention the price of the magazine: at one euro for around 400 pages, the price-performance ratio is optimal. Edipresse has already been involved in the launch of the Spanish edition of Citizen K. Within a year, the circulation of the Spanish version had increased to over 100,000 copies.

The Finance Forum and the business news website Moneycab are jointly launching a new news service, the "Finance Forum Weekly" newsletter. It offers free, compact information about the world of finance and IT/finance. The content is edited by the Moneycab editorial team. The newsletter is sent to around 10,000 recipients every Friday. Moneycab also offers its own "Finance Forum" dossier, which publishes the latest news on a daily basis. The news will also be available on the Finance Forum website. A special offer is aimed at financial institutions and their ICT providers. They can have their announcements published on Moneycab and in the new "Finance Forum Weekly".

According to the press release, the Zurich agency Code is responsible for strategically correct communication and a sophisticated product design for Di Bennardo. The young company imports and distributes olive oil from Sicily and other Italian olive products. Code is responsible for the creative implementation, product design and product development. The first works should be visible in two to three months.

The works submitted for the Swiss Dialog Marketing Prize 2006 will be presented to the public for three days. The dialog marketing exhibition will take place from February 24 to 26, 2006 in Zurich's Maag-Areal. At the same time, visitors will be able to act as jurors: Their votes will be used to determine the winner of the 2006 Audience Award.

The Coop Personalversicherung CPV/CAP is now present on the Internet. The website was designed and produced by Futurecom interactive. The agency was responsible for the structure and content concept, the design concept and realization as well as the programming of the website, which is aimed at the insured members of the Coop Group as well as the tenants of CPV/CAP and people looking for accommodation. The website, which is available in German, French and Italian, is primarily informative in nature and offers forms and publications, Futurecom reports. The visual world has been newly created independently of the existing CD guidelines of Coop Internet communication and, in keeping with the institution, places people at the center.

The Hitzkirch-based drinks manufacturer Unidrink has commissioned the Jung von Matt/Limmat agency to manage the overall communication for the Ramseier brand in Switzerland. According to the agency, the first measures in the catering sector have been in place since mid-January. A consumer campaign is to give the fruit juice new strength from April 2006.

Last Thursday, the "Media Talents Award", initiated by Tamedia and also held at Werdstrasse, took place for the first time. Within one day, seven teams from Swiss media agencies put their skills to the test. Briefing in the morning, planning during the day, judging in the early evening and the awards ceremony at night - that was the exhausting program. In groups of two and three, the participants worked on their model case: the market launch of a fictitious new car brand for hybrid-engine passenger vehicles. With smoking heads, the solutions were submitted at half past four, half an hour later the presentations had to be put on the screen and the judges had to be convinced. The eleven-member jury assessed the market analysis, strategy, planning and marketability, creativity, presentation and overall impression. "Almost all the groups did a very good job," was the unanimous verdict of the jury. The award went to the team from Initiative Media Western. Mediaedge:cia took second place, while third place went to OMD (Switzerland). The teams were able to celebrate their success that evening at the closing party in Zurich's Kaufleuten.
BSW Swiss Leading Agencies and Media Trend Journal are the sponsors and co-initiators of the event alongside Tamedia. The organizers want to specifically promote young talent in the media business and give them a platform.

ViznerBorel is strengthening its consultancy with Sascha Knauer. He previously worked for several years at agencies such as W,H,S and Wirz Werbung. His clients have included Swisscom Mobile, Kuoni, Helvetic Tours, Laax.com, Siemens, Calida, Suva and Nike. The ViznerBorel agency was founded one and a half years ago and now has seven employees.