In the annual market statistics for the past year, 16 of the 25 BPRA agencies reported that they recorded an increase in turnover in 2014. The agencies that make up the BPRA represent around two thirds of the overall market and generated net fee income of CHF 71.3 million in 2014. Overall, for the first time in over five years, the BPRA recorded an increase (4.2 percent) in the turnover of member agencies compared to the previous year. This figure - together with the forecasts made by members in fall 2014 - gives grounds for optimism for the current year 2015.

The market continues to be led by Farner Consulting (+11.6% increase in turnover). Farner is well ahead of the second-ranked agency Furrerhugi. (+ 33.7 percent). It is followed by Burson-Marsteller (+ 2.9 percent) and YJOO (+ 2 percent). New in fifth place is CR Kommunikation. Wirz Corporate and Communicators follow in sixth and seventh place. The top 10 is completed by Cabinet Privé de Conseils s.a., Freicom and PR Fact. The complete market statistics can be found here.
 

Around 144 million francs will flow back to policyholders from the surplus fund this year. In an amusing way, Wirz focuses on the fact that Mobiliar customers simply don't have to do anything to collect their profit participation. This can be experienced in three TV spots as well as on posters and in advertisements, realized with director Benjamin Brettschneider and photographer Jonathan Heyer.

An online competition was also launched to accompany the campaign. The user is asked to do the same as Mobiliar's customers: simply do nothing and benefit. Not necessarily easy if you are used to always doing something on the computer. You can play along here.

The campaign was launched on April 1, 2015, and can be seen on all high-reach stations as well as on billboards and in various publications throughout Switzerland.

Thomas Kurzmeyer, CD at Wirz: "Both the core message and the red and white package as the key visual have remained unchanged for six years. So it's important to find ways to still make the whole thing look fresh. I think we succeeded quite well this year." Mobiliar agrees: "Wit and heart are key elements of Mobiliar's communication. This campaign again shows that in a good way," says Sarah Pittet, advertising project manager at Mobiliar.

Responsible at Die Mobiliar: Christoph Ott (Head of Advertising & CI/CD), Ronald Halter (Campaign Specialist), Sarah Pittet (Advertising Project Manager), Lina Moro (eServices). Responsible at Wirz: Livio Dainese, Fernando Perez (ECD), Thomas Kurzmeyer, Caspar Heuss (CD), Luca Schneider (AD), Nadia Gantenbein (Graphics), Wolfgang Bark (Text), Yves Rückert, Pascal Fussen, Lorena Ladner, Elena Hadjimina (Consulting), Johannes Schulmeister (Digital), Bettina Faessler (Art Buying), Mario Müller (Production). Director (TV): Benjamin Brettschneider. Film production (TV): Markenfilm, Uli Kreis, Florian Studer. Photography: Jo-nathan Heyer. Responsible at PHD Switzerland: Ginette Manz (Out of Home & BTL Buyer), Anna Pérez (TV Buying Manager), Andreas Adolf (Manager AdOperations), Hans-Hermann Hahn (Digital Manager), Peter Hüssy (Account Director), Michelle Heim (Print Buyer).
 

Advico Y&R came up with this surprising ambient campaign to draw attention to the free help offered by Blaues Kreuz Zürich. The Vicafé barista bar served its take-out coffee for a week from 6.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in a very special way: in paper cups that made the coffee look like a glass of beer. (uma)

Responsible at Blue Cross Zurich: Henrik Viertel (Head of Communications). Responsible at Advico Y&R (Member of Y&R Group Switzerland): Markus Gut (CCO), Dominik Oberwiler, Martin Stulz (CD), Olivia Gnani (AD/concept), Renée Weber (consulting)
 

2C Communication has been committed to raising awareness and education about breast cancer in Switzerland since 2007 and is, among other things, the organizer of the Zurich Pink Ribbon Charity Walk. The Pink Ribbon Loop Route is a joint project with "Awareness DeutschlandgUG", which is responsible for Pink Ribbon activities in Germany. Nestlé Fitness Cereals, Philips and Swiss Life are the main partners of the Swiss Pink Ribbon Loop Route. Nestlé Fitness Cereals and Philips have been committed to Pink Ribbon Switzerland for several years and Swiss Life would like to support the important prevention work against breast cancer with its commitment.

You can discover beautiful regions by bike or on foot and be part of the largest loop route in the German-speaking world. Those interested can choose a section or part of the recommended daily stages and enter their individual kilometers in the planning tool. The pink loop fills up symbolically and all the kilometers covered in one of the two countries are added up at the same time. The aim is to cover the entire distance from April to October 2015. In order to cover all Swiss language regions, one route starts in Geneva and one in Lugano and continues to Constance, where it runs through the whole of Germany to Hamburg and back to Passau. The Pink Ribbon route recommendation is intended to send a visible signal of solidarity and also raise money for breast cancer prevention.

Celebrities in the spirit of solidarity

To draw even more attention to the project, Swiss celebrities are supporting the Pink Ribbon campaign. Sports legend Bernhard Russi will hike over the Gotthard, Tanja Frieden and Franco Marvulli will go on a surprise bike tour, ice princess Sarah Meier will rollerblade a section of the route and Pink Ribbon ambassador Beatrice Tschanz will set off on a walk. They are all part of the large international solidarity movement under the banner of Pink Ribbon, because breast cancer goes beyond national borders.

(from left to right: ice princess Sarah Meier, former top athlete Franco Marvulli, sports legend Bernhard Rus-si, Olympic snowboard cross champion Tanja Frieden, Pink Ribbon ambassador Beatrice Tschanz)

The planning tool

The user receives over 100 route recommendations and can select and plan their own route section on the overview and detailed maps. Various search functions, presentation of the tours with interactive elevation profile, printout of the tour information as a PDF file, download of GPX files, mobile-optimized presentation, etc. - these are just some of the fantastic features that the website offers the user. Extensive comment functions for a dialog-oriented presentation allow the website to grow into an active community platform. The Schleifenroute is part of the largest European outdoor platform "Outdooractive".

For more information Looproute.ch

 

Following his apprenticeship as a design engineer, Stefan Zahler studied visual communication at the University of Art and Design in Basel. After graduating as a designer FH in visual design, he worked - first as a designer and later as an art director - in design and communication agencies such as Hilda Design Matters, Kirchhoff Consulting and Wirz Corporate. He conceived and designed annual reports, employee magazines, books, image brochures and product catalogs.

Stefan Zahler has also developed various apps: for games, a search engine, a catalog and an employee magazine. In addition to his conceptual and creative work for Zoebeli Communications, Stefan Zahler is currently creating his own typeface.
 

Voss, a German national, joined Ringier in January 2010 as "Head of Corporate Development and Strategy Ringier Switzerland" In this function, he was a member of the Executive Board of Ringier Switzerland and Germany. As of April 2011, Voss was appointed COO of Ringier Switzerland and Germany. From July 2012, he was additionally responsible for the Entertainment division (including TV, radio, sports marketing, ticketing) and became a member of the Group Executive Board at Ringier. In July 2014, Voss was appointed CEO Publishing and Entertainment. As part of this function, he sat on numerous boards of directors of the Ringier Group.

"Michael Voss is leaving the media company for personal and family reasons," a Ringier release said Tuesday. Michael Voss was CEO-designate of the planned joint venture with Axel Springer Schweiz (Ringier Axel Springer Medien Schweiz), which has yet to be reviewed by the Competition Commission. "Against this background, it was mutually decided between Ringier and Michael Voss to complete the separation already now," the release continues. This in order to calmly determine the future CEO of the planned company.

The fact that Voss will not be the boss does not affect the realization of the joint venture. Ringier spokesman Edi Estermann told SDA that it is contractually agreed that Ringier is entitled to appoint the CEO. The search is now on.

Ringier CEO Walder will personally take over the interim management of the Group's Publishing and Entertainment divisions. Within the Publishing division, Alexander Theobald, Head Operations & Business Development, will take over the interim management of the Blick Group. These arrangements are effective immediately. Marc Walder, CEO Ringier, on the departure: "Michael Voss has been instrumental in shaping and driving the transformation of our company over the past five years. He did this both as COO of Ringier Switzerland and most recently as a member of the Group Executive Board of the two Group divisions Publishing and Entertainment. He personally drove forward many further developments and transactions successfully and competently. On behalf of the entire company, I would like to thank him for his extraordinary work and enormous commitment. I wish him all the best and continued success for his professional and private future."

 

The production of the public broadcasters unites the three respective regional languages and brings them to life, announced SWR in Baden-Baden. Zurich German, South Baden Alemannic and Low German will be spoken. It is reportedly the first cooperation of its kind on the radio.

The radio play is reportedly a 50-minute monologue in dialect by the Black Forest author Hugo Rendler. The radio play entitled "Abgfahre" tells the story of a southern German bus driver who reaches his limits.

The Schaffhausen playwright Andri Beyeler has translated the original, which was originally set in the border region of southern Baden, into dialect for SRF and adapted it to Swiss conditions. "A de Grenz" is the title in Alemannic, and "an de Grenz" in the Low German version.

Those involved worked on the production for around a year. The radio play will be broadcast on Friday (April 10) at 8 p.m. on SRF1 and at 10:03 p.m. on SWR2. Radio Bremen and Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) will broadcast the radio play at the beginning of May. (SDA)
 

Gian Simmen is currently recommending the new Allroad model Leon ST x-perience - "the perfect business car even for smaller companies that are at altitude". The fleet mailing, which was sent exclusively to leisure and tourism companies located at least 800m above sea level, was created by Lovemarks agency Saatchi & Saatchi Zurich.

Gian Simmen reports exclusively on his first impressions with the Seat Leon ST x-perience. Interested parties can register online for a test drive using a personalized code and, with a bit of luck, win an exclusive experience day with Gian Simmen.

Since the start of the ski season, the Seat Leon ST x-perience has also been present in 30 ski resorts with winter posters. At home in the Swiss mountains, where you would least expect the spirited brand.

Responsible at Seat: Andreas Huwyler (Marketing Manager), Gregory Panizzutti (Advertising Manager), Christoph Enderli (Fleet Manager), Anja Adinolfi (Online Manager). Responsible at Saatchi & Saatchi Zurich: Pascal Schaub (Managing Director), Felix Freese, Frédéric Nogier (Creative Direction), Léonie Kelly, Soraya Shademan (Consulting), Stella Feurer (Graphics).
 

The new publication "Corporate Communication and Public Relations" also expresses the self-image of the profession from the point of view of the Swiss professional association PR Suisse, according to a media release published on Tuesday. The reason for this is the rapid social, economic and technological upheavals of recent years, which have also placed greater demands on communication - both in practice and in training and further education. The publication is intended to describe the diverse range of relationships and activities of communications and PR professionals and to derive from this a contemporary professional profile and the requirements for practice and training.

President Peter Eberhard says: "It was time for an update of our 2010 position statement, as the demands on communications professionals have changed substantially over the past five years. This applies above all to the progressive shift from one-way to dialog communication and the development of the media landscape in the broadest sense. We are also concerned with clearing up misconceptions that keep cropping up here and there about the social function and benefits of professionally understood communication."

The site map, which is available in German, French, Italian and English, is aimed at all active communications professionals, apprentices and trainees, as well as all those who are otherwise connected with or interested in the industry, including the media. A supplementary service section, which for reasons of topicality is maintained exclusively on the website, refers to training providers, specialist media, literature and job exchanges.

Site assessment (PDF)
 

"The Price is Right" is one of the greatest game show classics in television history. The original version was broadcast back in 1956. The concept of the show has remained unchanged since 1972. From 1989 to 1997, "The Price is Right" was also shown by German private broadcaster RTL. The principle of the show: the candidates have to guess the correct prices of items. If they are correct, the product is theirs.

Andrea misjudged the smart Hyundai Sonata at 19,849 dollars. When, for some inexplicable reason, the assistant also revealed the second highest - and correct - prize, the contestant seized the opportunity and shouted: "I've won!". Presenter Drew Carey took the unclear situation - wrong guess, correct prize revealed - in his stride and announced confidently: "Congratulations, Manuela has just given you a car".

However, the uncomplicated handling of the mistake probably paid off for everyone involved in the end: Andrea has her car, the clumsy Manuela is suddenly a star and the show, as well as sponsor Hyundai, are happy about almost 13 million views in just four days. So much viral attention for the price of a new car - a rogue who suspects calculation. (hae)

With this new work, Scotti shows how a company must present itself on mobile devices nowadays: Surprising, clear, informative and entertaining. With good content and less technical gadgets. The new website is now available on desktops, iPhones, Androids and tablets: Scotti.ch

Responsible at Scotti advertising agency: Patricia Meneghin (consulting), Peter Rettinghausen (creative director and copywriter), Jeannine Jones (web design), Komma3 (programming).
 

Orange Switzerland was acquired by Xavier Niel on February 23, 2015. The new branding and naming is a logical step in the company's further development under its new ownership, according to a March 31, 2015 statement, and is "a great and unique opportunity for the company to create its own identity. An identity that fits the ambition to offer Swiss consumers more innovations and simpler services.

Details of the new appearance will be communicated on April 23, 2015. Meanwhile, Orange is keeping the new name a secret. Nevertheless, the newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag believes it already knows it: Salt. The reason for this assumption is that various names have been entered in the trademark register that suggest Orange: "Salt", "Salt Communications", "Salt Mobile" and "Salt Cinema". The latter is reminiscent of Orange Cinema, the company's cinema brand. The trademarks were registered by Bär & Karrer in Zurich. The law firm also registered isolated trademarks for Orange, the newspaper said.

Further indications are changes to Salt.ch - Holder of the Domain is also Bär & Karrer - and a new, still inactive Twitter account @SaltMobile_Care. It remains a mystery, however, why the French Swiss satirical program "26 Minutes" announced the name "Salt" as the new Orange name in a sketch back in February. Orange does not want to comment on the issue. (hae/SaS)

Image: Switzerland on Sunday

Would YOU find the name "Salt" a good choice?