For the past 10 years, Manfred Strobl has managed the business of Optimedia Frankfurt as well as the Omnicom Media Group (OMD, PHD and Rightcallmedia) for Switzerland. Together with Claudia Mühlebach, a long-standing member of the Executive Board and now in an expanded role as COO, Manfred Strobl will lead Mediaschneider into the future. "It is great to be the new CEO of Mediaschneider. Urs Schneider's footsteps are very big, so I am extremely honored that he has placed his trust in me. Leading an agency with such a unique reputation, an immense foothold in the Swiss market and long-standing loyal customer relationships into the future is both an opportunity and a challenge - and I'm looking forward to it," says Manfred Strobl about his new position.

Urs Schneider carefully planned and implemented the change at the helm of his company. His successor joined the company back in October 2014 and has since been trained in all areas of the group. "Mediaschneider is characterized by qualitatively outstanding performance and proves that we will not stand still in the future. Manfred Strobl as the new CEO will bring new input as well as his vast experience - this is the ideal start to the new era of Mediaschneider," explains Urs Schneider. He will continue to be available to the agency as Chairman of the Board of Directors and in other board mandates within the Mediaschneider Group. He will use his capacity to cultivate long-standing relationships with clients and the media, personally support the team in strategic matters, pursue interesting topics of research and professional training, and drive the further development of the Mediaschneider Group.
 

Myriam Käser, Head of Corporate Communications, confirmed a corresponding report in Bilanz magazine on Thursday. According to Käser, the annual increase in earnings at EBIT level is "in the high single-digit million range". According to research by Bilanz, the one-off write-down will improve the operating result by five or six million francs in each of the following years.

In an interview with the Sonntagszeitung, Etienne Jornod, Chairman of the NZZ Board of Directors, said that a loss was to be expected for 2014 due to the planned closure and the associated write-down. However, he did not provide any figures. The NZZ Group reported a net profit of CHF 24.9 million for 2013.

At the end of November 2014, the NZZ Media Group announced that it intended to close the printing plant in Schlieren for economic reasons and have the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and NZZ am Sonntag printed at the Zurich printing center of its competitor Tamedia.

Teaser image: Keystone

Random examples that are not the exceptions, but the rule: Auto Bild Klassik costs 4.20 euros in Germany. In Switzerland: 8.50 francs. A Geo buyer pays 7 euros in Germany and 13 francs in Switzerland. The German Brigitte reader gets her magazine for 3 euros, her Swiss counterpart 5.50 francs. Der Spiegel costs 4.60 euros in Germany and 7.40 francs in Switzerland. Price differences that have repeatedly caused incomprehension among Swiss consumers in recent years. And which are even more difficult to understand in view of the current exchange rate development: The euro exchange rate has lost 16 percent against the franc since the lower limit was lifted. One euro is currently equivalent to around one Swiss franc.

A grievance that consumer protection has been fighting against for years. Compared to neighboring countries, Swiss prices are "exorbitantly high", Sara Stalder, President of Swiss Consumer Protection SKS, told Werbewoche.ch. In recent years, the SKS has campaigned for a revision of the Cartel Act, which would have led to the opening of market channels. "Unfortunately, parliament decided in the fall that no legal measures were needed," Stalder regrets.

Sara Stalder, Director of the Foundation for Consumer Protection SKS (Keystone)

The German publishers are responsible for the prices. They set the prices. The company 7 Days Media supplies 5000 Swiss sales outlets with international press products. The German press distribution company PVG acquired Valora's distribution business in May 2014 and renamed it 7 Days Media Services (Werbewoche.ch reported). When asked by Werbewoche, the company emphasized that as a distributor it has no influence on prices. The publishers print them on the magazines and there is nothing we can do about it.

Publishers offer little hope

Demand from German publishers. In addition to the various versions of Auto and Computer Bild, Axel Springer also publishes music magazines such as Rolling Stone and Musik Express. The publisher is keeping a low profile. According to press spokeswoman Svenja Friedrich, the company generally keeps a very close eye on currency fluctuations in all relevant markets. "Whether and when there will be adjustments to the distribution of our titles in Switzerland is something we have to leave open at the moment."

Gruner+Jahr, publisher of numerous publications sold in Switzerland, also holds out little hope of price reductions in the near future. Magazines such as Neon, Brigitte, 11 Freunde and Geo. The publisher cannot react flexibly to exchange rate fluctuations at short notice - in either direction. However, in the case of general copy price changes for the magazines, the exchange rate is "critically taken into account" when setting prices abroad, says press spokeswoman Suntka Halen. She explains the generally high Swiss prices with higher transportation and distribution costs. In addition to distances, the structure of the Swiss press market also plays a role, for example with postal delivery prices and higher costs for payment transactions in subscriptions or logistics costs in retail. In some cases, production costs are also higher, such as for the Swiss special section of GEO. In addition, the publisher also bears the local costs in Swiss francs.

In other words, it is unlikely that anything will change soon at Swiss newsstands. Even if a magazine costs less than half as much across the border as it does here.

Renewed initiative promises improvement

However, consumer advocate Stalder is far from giving up hope: "Of course we will continue to fight: we are calling on all retailers to reduce import product prices immediately. Certainly the 15-20 percent exchange profits for the time being and then, of course, this unjustified 'Swiss surcharge'." We are also campaigning for the Parliamentary initiative of Councillor of States Hans Altherr will now be successful in parliament. "A slimmed-down revision of the Cartel Act, so to speak," says Stalder. According to the text of the initiative, the aim is to put a stop to "excessive siphoning off of purchasing power by foreign companies". It remains to be seen whether and when an amendment to the Cartel Act will have an impact on print media prices.

Thomas Häusermann

The retired journalist was sentenced to a conditional fine of 30 daily rates with a probationary period of two years for the text. Because he contested this penalty order, a trial was held on Wednesday at the Regional Court of Littoral and Val-de-Travers. Dominique Arlettaz, who worked as a Neuchâtel correspondent for the Swiss Press Agency (SDA) until 2010, accused Hainard of criminal conduct in the text published at the end of 2013. According to his article, the former State Councillor allegedly ordered the arrest of a Russian child in 2005 so that his mother, who was to be deported, would go to the police station.

Frederic Hainard, former member of the cantonal government of Neuchâtel, left, appears with his lawyer Ivan Zender before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona (Keystone)

Cessation of proceedings submitted

During the trial, Frédéric Hainard accused the journalist of not having contacted him for a statement. He also referred to a discontinuation order from August 2012 regarding proceedings against him. The document showed that the orders did not originate from him, although he had taken part in the operation. The journalist Dominique Arlettaz emphasized that he had no knowledge of this dismissal of proceedings when he published his text. He would certainly not have written the text in this way if he had known about it, Arlettaz stated. However, he would have been interested in the reasons why the proceedings were discontinued. In principle, the journalist emphasized that he had been honest. He had only relied on proven facts from previously published articles and the report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry. It is still unclear when the defamation trial will continue. A date for the opening of the verdict has also not yet been set.

Two further trials against Hainard

In addition to this trial against the journalist, in which he is the plaintiff, the former Neuchâtel FDP state councillor is also the defendant in two other court cases. In mid-September, the Neuchâtel Regional Court sentenced him to a conditional fine for abuse of office. The background to this was a legal dispute with a woman dependent on care who accused Hainard and his mistress of coercion and abuse of office. This dispute and other events led to Hainard's resignation from the Neuchâtel cantonal executive in October 2010. Hainard also had to answer to the courts for his previous work as deputy federal prosecutor. At the end of September, the Federal Criminal Court found him guilty of abuse of office and violation of foreign sovereignty and sentenced him to a conditional fine. Hainard has appealed both the judgment of the Neuchâtel Regional Court and that of the Federal Criminal Court. (SDA)

As early as August last year, the NZZ.at a so-called workshop blog to allow future readers to participate directly in the creation of the online medium. Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Michael Fleischhacker, around 25 employees are working on the ambitious project at the Vienna site. "We were able to recruit very talented and high-profile young journalists from multiple award-winning Austrian media start-ups for NZZ.at," Michael Fleischhacker said in a statement.

NZZ.at was designed away from the smallest screen and is consistently focused on reader benefit. "We combine the best international content from the NZZ with stories we do in Vienna. To distribute this content, we use the opportunities that the digital world offers us. We see our readers as club members, as part of the project. The constant dialog at eye level, the willingness to engage in discourse, the ability for our journalists to follow subscribers just as much as the other way around, create this interaction that is expected today," explains Michael Fleischhacker.

Another new feature is that NZZ.at relies on a topic-centered structure instead of a department-centered one. All content is grouped around the three areas "News," "Phenomena," and "Club. Readers decide for themselves which content and authors they want to follow. In this way, they can de facto put together their own personalized newspaper. A separate form of advertising, the so-called daily presence, follows the approach: one day, one advertiser. In this way, NZZ.at creates a valuable advertising environment without disrupting the reading experience. NZZ.at costs 14 euros per month and can be canceled monthly.

"With NZZ.at, we can test new ideas and implement them quickly. We will also use the insights we gain from this for Switzerland. I wish our Vienna team a successful start," says Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group.

Watson's go live on the evening of January 22, 2014, came just three weeks after the roughly 50-person editorial team began work (Werbewoche.ch reported). Because many things were not yet fully developed and completed at that time, the portal was launched in a beta version. "We let people watch us make mistakes - because an online news portal is never finished anyway," emphasized co-founder and CEO Hansi Voigt at the launch. Trying out new things, learning from mistakes and being ready to make mistakes have remained important cornerstones of Watson in this first year.

Marked increase in traffic

The beta phase ended after a hundred days. At the beginning of May, Watson published certified traffic figures for the first time and was immediately able to report 602,000 unique clients. By the end of the year, the company had succeeded in significantly increasing traffic: The increase was particularly massive in terms of visits (+115 percent) and page impressions (+331 percent). For January 2015, too, all relevant traffic indicators are again pointing steeply upwards. Not least the news situation at the beginning of the new year - Charlie Hebdo and the liberalization of the Swiss franc exchange rate - helped to sustainably position Watson as a news portal.

Change from pull to push medium

Watson's focus on the smartphone generation has proven successful: In December 2014, 88 percent of all visits were generated via mobile devices. More than almost any other portal, Watson represents the transformation from a pull to a push medium, both with its app and through its social media activities. The site has 50,000 likes on Facebook and almost 25,000 followers on Twitter. The Watson app has been downloaded 115,000 times so far. Users have given it a remarkable 4.5 out of 5 stars - a value that is unparalleled in the news sector.

The search for something new continues

According to the press release, users particularly appreciated the fact that Watson is always trying out new forms of storytelling and presentation. However, this experimentation is by no means limited to the editorial team:

● In the area of advertising, Watson broke new ground and helped establish native advertising as a new form of advertising in Switzerland.

In the IT area, watson's own CMS was continuously expanded and enriched with new features. The focus is currently on individualizing the site for users: With their own profile, they can follow their favorite authors and topics and are informed via their dashboard as soon as new articles are published. "An online news portal is never finished anyway." This slogan still holds true for Watson. On the journalistic side as well as on the commercial and technical side, Watson has Watson set high goals. But one thing is clear after one year: Watson has come to stay.
 

An Editor-in-Chief for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, an Editor-in-Chief for the NZZ am Sonntag and the newly created function of Head of New Journalism. This structure is intended to spread the extensive tasks of journalistic management over several shoulders. Together, the three people are responsible for implementing the necessary transformation processes in journalism as the journalistic management of the NZZ. They report directly to the CEO or, in matters of content, to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NZZ Media Group. The process of filling the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the new function of Head of New Journalism is still underway. The editorial offices are involved in this process.

Jung von Matt/PR now looks after Turkey Tourism

Jung von Matt/Public Relations is now responsible for the external communication of the Culture and Tourism Office Turkey in Switzerland. The mandate includes media relations and events as well as the development of a country-specific social media strategy and influencer management. "With Jung von Matt/Public Relations, we can count on a creative PR team that is used to working in an interdisciplinary way without losing sight of the brand strategy," says Hilal Demirel, Director Culture and Tourism Office Turkey, explaining the agency's choice.

 

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Walder,Werber: Stilhaus becomes new customer

With a consistent, holistic and original concept, Walder,Werber prevailed in the pitch and will promote Stilhaus with a new image campaign starting in spring. Stilhaus in Rothrist is Switzerland's largest shopping center for building, living, gardening and design. A world of experience for visitors interested in design, it brings together selected manufacturers and retailers under one roof. As a first measure, eye-catching image posters are planned to attract customers from all over Switzerland to Stilhaus.

 

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Business4you is new main agency of Stars of Sounds

The Biel-based marketing agency Business4you took over all marketing tasks for Stars of Sounds from Lyss at the beginning of December 2014. These range from a guerrilla poster campaign to a new key visual and sponsorship concept. The decisive factor for choosing Business4you was that the marketing agency offers all marketing disciplines from one source and has profound competences in the areas of project management, communication, creation and online marketing. The first measure for Stars of Sounds was already implemented by Business4you on the first weekend of December 2014 in a night-and-fog action: A guerrilla billboard at the Christmas market in Aarberg, with which the limited number of reduced Christmas tickets was pointed out. For this purpose, a web banner with the happy Christmas message was placed on the website, which was redesigned and updated in a very short time - just in time for the start of advance sales on December 10, 2014. In addition, Business4you developed a new key visual.

 

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Hilti agrees cooperation with Martin et Karczinski

As the first project of the collaboration with Hilti, Daniel Zehntner and his new agency Martin et Karczinski are designing the 2014 corporate report. "Hilti is a great technology brand with a lot of charisma. Designing corporate reporting in the spirit of this brand is a fascinating task," says Daniel Zehntner, Managing Director of Martin et Karczinski in Zurich. Three months after its founding, the agency is already serving several Swiss clients in naming, brand positioning and corporate reporting. The team in Zurich is also involved in strategic consulting for the international projects for Lufthansa and Kuka, which are managed by Martin et Karczinski in Munich. For the development of the Hilti corporate report, Daniel Zehntner's agency can build on its many years of experience, having already designed more than 200 annual reports and being a co-initiator of the successful Annual Report Symposium.

 

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Dentsu Aegis Network: Into the new year with lots of good news

Lego and Burger King, Triumph and C&A, Goretex and British Airways... What reads like a list of Christmas presents and festive delights is now part of the work program at Dentsu Aegis Network Switzerland in 2015. As well as a number of other new customers for an active, healthy and happy year: Mastercard and Iberia, Watson and Paterson Entertainment, Codornu and Pandora, Flumicil and Dolo Specifen by Zabon, Microsoft and Xing, and Elite Partner Mediation.

As CEO Christof Kaufmann emphasizes, "the newcomers are not coming at the expense of the loyal ones": "Now that we have ensured the continuous quality of support for all existing customers in all respects and systematically expanded capacity, we can add a little more with a clear conscience."

 

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Werbeweischer and Pathé agree on new partnership

Werbeweischer and the Swiss cinema operator Pathé have agreed on a new and long-term partnership. The collaboration between the two companies will begin in 2018.

"The cooperation with Pathé sets a strong accent and new weights in the Swiss cinema advertising market in the medium term. After a very successful start in 2013, WerbeWeischer has introduced far-reaching new concepts and modernizations for cinema advertising in Switzerland. The contract with Pathé is an important milestone in this development," says a delighted Florian Weischer, Chairman of WerbeWeischer. And Nils Schilling, Managing Director Werbeweischer Switzerland, emphasizes: "We share a great passion for cinema with Pathé - this is the best prerequisite for successful joint work."

Pathé is one of Europe's leading cinema operators. In 2012, the company generated sales of around 850 million euros with around 3'800 employees in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. In Switzerland, Pathé is the leading cinema operator with a market share of around 25 percent - with top-modern cinemas with large audiences in Dietlikon, Bern, Basel, Lausanne and Geneva.

 

Even after her term as Miss Switzerland, Dominique Rinderknecht is still in demand as a model and presenter and therefore travels a lot. She covers around 30,000 kilometers by car every year. Her demands on a vehicle are correspondingly high. "I'm really pleased with my new car. I was immediately taken with the design - this mixture of a cute Fiat 500 and a powerful SUV is exactly my thing," she comments in a statement from Fiat Chrysler Switzerland. "As I'm often out and about in the car, I'm naturally also delighted with the comfort and the many safety features. I'm really super happy and can hardly wait to get out and about in my 500X," Dominique continues.

Alessandro Paolucci, Managing Director of Fiat Group Switzerland, is also delighted about the collaboration with the Zurich-based company. "With its striking and elegant styling details, the 500X appeals to a young and dynamic target group. Dominique is an excellent fit for this segment and we are delighted that we were able to inspire her for the 500X."

 

Nothing is more emblematic of the Australian diet than Vegemite. The rest of the world cannot share the love for the slightly bitter, concentrated yeast extract. The dark brown mass is best used as a spread on bread and crackers and has a salt content of eight percent - which is quite a lot.

At least Vegemite's relatives have a following in a few countries around the world: in Switzerland, for example, in the form of the cult spread Cenovis. And some English people can't do without Marmite - others can do very well (see "Last but not least" from 13.08.2013).

Spread, all well and good. But do you really need to fill the pizza crust with the malty paste? Yes, says Pizza Hut Australia. No, says the rest of the world. People on this side of the Atlantic are not overly familiar with filling pizza crusts anyway. The mixture of Vegemite, mozzarella and pizza dough certainly seems to take some getting used to for non-Australian palates. If the Host Sidney agency's campaign is to be believed. Bon appétit! (hae)