The "Int. Historic Racing Festival Lignières Historique" took place near Neuchâtel from August 14 to 17, 2014. The racing event on the only racetrack in Switzerland celebrated its 50th birthday this year. The Abarth 595 also turned 50, reason enough for Abarth to be there as the "Official Car".

A special highlight was that a pre-production model of the new Abarth 695 Biposto, the "fastest Abarth of all time", could be seen live on the race track. The sporty two-seater is a genuine racing machine with road approval. In an online campaign in the run-up to the event, Abarth fans were able to register for a cab ride in the new 695 Biposto together with professional racing driver Yoshi Ohmura. An offer that was very popular.

In order to bring the community closer to the experience of the small sports car, Abarth was on site with three camera teams and broadcast live from the cockpit of the 695 Biposto, among other things. The live stream was announced on Abarth's YouTube channel via Facebook. And as a worldwide first, users were able to register directly for a test drive in the 695 Biposto during the stream.

Responsible at Fiat Group Automobiles Switzerland SA, Schlieren: Alex Orsi (Brand Manager Abarth Switzerland). Koncept & implementation: Weber Harbeke Partners, Zurich and Eventagentur.ch, Zurich. Film Production: Fiftyfiftyfilm.ch.

 

The draft is not convincing, neither from the point of view of a liberal understanding of the state nor in terms of health policy or consumer protection. Not to mention the massive encroachment on economic and advertising freedom. According to the press release, France has had a comprehensive ban on advertising tobacco products for decades, combined with higher prices than in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the proportion of smokers in our neighboring country is still higher - combined with a worrying growth in illegal trade. In Switzerland, there is also a lack of evidence that the proportion of smokers has developed more positively in those cantons that have enacted advertising bans that go beyond federal law than in the other cantons. A central argument of prevention and health policy makers - that advertising bans have a direct influence on the number of smokers - thus collapses. All the more so as tobacco consumption in Switzerland has fallen continuously in recent years.

The new Tobacco Products Act (TabPG), as presented by Federal Councillor Berset in spring, was opposed in Bern shortly before the consultation deadline by Councillors of State Filippo Lombardi (SW Schweizer Werbung) and Hans Hess (Association of the Swiss Tobacco Trade), National Councillor Gregor Rutz (IG Freiheit) and Babette Sigg (Konsumentenforum Kf). Although they approve of a specific law on tobacco products, the preliminary draft is, in their opinion, an expression of a restrictive health policy that increasingly disempowers citizens and a fundamental attack on the free market economy, the press release continues. Above all, however, it has the potential to expand into an unmanageable flood of bans and regulations. Alcoholic beverages and foods containing sugar, salt and fat are particularly at risk. Such a law no longer corresponds to an appropriate prevention policy, but instead exudes the spirit of interventionism and state paternalism. Numerous business associations and organizations such as SGV and Economiesuisse, as well as the communications and media industry, have spoken out against the preliminary draft in their own statements. Only the increased protection of young people met with approval.

 

The website was developed together with the agency Hinderling Volkart. It impresses with its clear design, simple navigation and is responsive, as 20 Minuten writes in a press release on Thursday. The visual appearance of Friday Online is based on the familiar fresh "look and feel" of Friday magazine. In terms of content, the blogzine complements the online world of 20 Minuten with its focus on lifestyle and young social issues.

Friday has been in the boxes of 20 Minuten every Friday since 2008. The magazine reaches half a million readers throughout Switzerland (MACH Basic 2014-1).

At Radio Day, industry experts addressed topics such as "Digital radio won't come on its own," "What do young people want to listen to?" and "What comes after Media Watch?" One program highlight was the presentation by Christoph Stuehn, Director of Memoriav. Using historical documents of the time, he reaffirmed the importance of radio as a mediator of information - not only in difficult times. Among the other speakers were international radio producers such as Laura-May Coope of BBC Radio 1, who addressed the assembled Swiss radio community. The conclusion in unison: The environment is getting tougher, but radio is holding its own.

Since its inception, the medium of radio has provided information in real time and independently of time and place. Memoriav is committed to ensuring that Swiss radio heritage is preserved for posterity. Thus, Director Christoph Stuehn also spoke about the history of radio at Swiss Radio Day. He reinforced his speech with a selection of historically important radio broadcasts of our time, such as about the swearing-in of General Guison, the federal referendum on women's suffrage, or the first reports on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the attack on the World Trade Center.

"Radio - more versatile than ever before"

The Radio Night attracted numerous guests to Zurich's Kaufleuten last night. The organizer Swiss Radioworld, a subsidiary of the Goldbach Group, presented an exciting program under the motto "Radio - as versatile as never before". The guests followed discussions and presentations and took the opportunity to cultivate existing contacts and make new ones in the relaxed club atmosphere. Ralf Brachat, Managing Director of swiss Radioworld: "As I walked through the hall I met many agency managers, planners, radio producers and customers. I'm really pleased about that."

This year's event kicked off for the second time with the so-called Radiocampus in the Kaufleuten Lounge, which was aimed primarily at planners and consultants. Under the motto "Radio - more versatile than ever", Martin Baumgartner, Head of Business Development at Swiss Radioworld, moderated a lively panel discussion. The insight: the fixed, old-fashioned 20-second spots are increasingly being supplemented with creative, customized solutions. Jan Müller, presenter and program manager at Radio 105, and Stephan Küng, owner of TWMedia, presented successful practical examples. Michael Gassler, Managing Director at Leo Burnett Switzerland, representing the creative agencies, called on radio producers to provide even more appropriate formats and said: "We would like to realize more radio campaigns". There was agreement in the round that radio advertising has a creative future ahead of it.

(Ralf Brachat, MD Swiss Radioworld and Nick Läderach, Radio 24)

For the actual Radio Night in the club hall, Radio 24 host Nick Laederach welcomed two eloquent, exciting speakers. Martin de Munnik, founder and COO of Neurensics Amsterdam, explained the effects of campaigns based on the processes that take place in the brain. From a research perspective, he said, radio advertising has two key advantages: As a single-sense medium that appeals only to the sense of hearing, it has an all the more lasting effect in our subconscious. In addition, melodies can activate those areas of the brain that are relevant for purchase decisions. Geoff Linsell, the second speaker and Managing Director of Moving Brands Zurich, introduced the audience to the fascinating world of "sonic logos". Using various examples, he showed how firmly we associate certain sounds with logos and, increasingly, products. You thought a Harley-Davidson sounded like that purely by chance? Far from it. In the meantime, a lot of money is flowing into the development of the right sounds. And the developments and possibilities, especially for radio advertising, are far from over: Audio branding will become increasingly important in the coming years.

The evening ended outside, on the terrace and in the courtyard - with bratwurst from the star grill and the live program from Radio 105.
 

A large marquee was erected on the roof of the main station parking garage (10th floor) and furnished with vintage furniture from the Zurich Brockenhaus. Thousands of LED throws and magenta spotlights gave the parking garage an enchanting glow. The location was used for the first time for an event on the initiative of Streuplan.

In his speech, Thomas Back, founder and managing partner of Streuplan, thanked all customers, partners and employees for the 10 years of cooperation. In this day and age and in our industry, this is anything but a matter of course, if not unique. At the beginning of Streuplan, below-the-line communication was a marginal phenomenon in the marketing concepts of most clients. "Today, really big campaigns are based on a good below-the-line idea," says Back. Existing and potential customers today are much more clever and experienced in dealing with advertising than you often read in briefings. They would therefore expect much more than interchangeable imagery or a clumsy sprinkling of sales messages. "They want to be surprised, entertained and challenged by advertising. They want high-quality and useful content that inspires, educates or convinces them. Wherever possible, they want to have their say and feel valued," says Back. He is convinced that this development will continue in the future. He therefore encouraged clients to take new paths in communication, to have the courage to have more fun and enjoyment in advertising and to have the courage for more radical marketing in Switzerland. Streuplan is ready for this challenge.

Marco Pfleiderer's team was responsible for the culinary entertainment. DJ Le Mueck provided the musical accompaniment throughout the night. And as befits a guerrilla agency, the Zurich city police were also guests on several occasions. The gates of the parking garage closed at 5 o'clock.

What began with the idea of the first Swiss Below the Line agency in 2004 now employs over 20 staff and more than 200 freelancers, brand ambassadors and promoters.

 

At the same time, the range of existing advertising spaces is being reviewed, optimized and expanded. Among other things, new BigPosters are being planned at highly frequented locations, according to a statement by the outdoor advertiser. At the beginning of July, APG Mountain was already able to announce further cooperation with the Téléverbier mountain railroad company, and now the contract extension with Zermatt Bergbahnen follows. "We are delighted with the trust placed in us by these two partners, because it confirms our high commitment to quality and enables the continuous expansion of sustainable advertising space in mountain regions," says Markus Bien, Managing Director of APG Mountain.
 

"It would be important to define exactly what is meant by public service today," says Kaiser in an interview with Handelszeitung. This is a political question that needs to be clarified by politicians. He thinks it is good that the SRG exists. Many programs would not be possible without fee money, such as the "really well-made news programs". But: "At the moment, it seems that everything SRG does is automatically public service. In other words, that SRG defines the public service itself," Kaiser told Handelszeitung. He asks whether it makes sense for SRG to show the same programs that private broadcasters show. He is thinking of series, feature films or entertainment formats such as "The Voice". According to Handelszeitung, Kaiser therefore suggests: "In principle, the federal government could also link the allocation of compulsory fee money to desired public service content and then put this out to tender." In this system, all broadcasters could apply for individual content. The broadcaster that would produce this content best and most efficiently would receive the money and the contract, according to Kaiser's proposal.

Teaser image: Keystone

Every year, around 665,000 children worldwide are born with a significant hearing loss. The consequences are serious: especially in developing countries, children with untreated hearing loss have hardly any prospects for their future. With the "4EARS" campaign, the Hear the World Foundation, together with hearing care chains in Sonova's own Connect Hearing network and partner stores worldwide, is raising awareness of this underestimated issue. In addition, the partner stores donate a sum of money to the foundation for every hearing test performed, thus enabling children in need around the world to benefit from better hearing.

To illustrate this commitment, Serranetga developed a visual language that shows the campaign in a simple and emotional way. The key visual is a child's hand holding up four fingers. On the one hand, the gesture stands for the idea of a hearing test for four ears instead of just two - in other words, for the customer in the hearing aid store as well as a child in need who will benefit from the campaign. On the other hand, it points out the four simple steps from hearing test to help for the affected children. For the campaign, German photographer Philipp Rathmer photographed children of Sonova employees. The resulting print material and a short film will be shown in partner acoustic stores. Other elements of the campaign include a microsite and street promotions.

The campaign is currently running in Austria, and implementation in other countries such as Australia, Canada and the USA is being planned.

Responsible at Connect Hearing Group's Hear the World: Elena Torresani, Head of Hear the World Initiative, Michèle Meier, Corporate Communications and CSR Manager, David Resch, Marketing Connect Hearing. Responsible at Serranetga: Daniel Zuberbühler, Olivia Guler (Consulting), Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor (Creative Direction), Philippe Lehmann, Stephanie Lang (Design), Matthias Ziegler, Steffen Pejas (Text), Erwan Eydt, Diego Dirren (Programming), Philipp Rathmer (Photo), Snapfilm (Film), Martin Kirchberger (Music)

For the "4EARS" campaign, the well-known German photographer Philipp Rathmer put children of Sonova employees in the limelight.

The campaign microsite provides valuable information about hearing loss and shows visitors how they can help quickly.

 

"Energy Air" is the name of the youngest child in the ever-growing Energy Event family. The Open Air will be held for the first time on Saturday, September 6 at the Stade de Suisse in Bern. Around 40,000 expected visitors can look forward to concerts by national stars such as Pegasus, Bastian Baker, Lo & Leduc and Dabu Fantastic, but also inernational acts such as Family of the Year, Steve Angello or Kodaline. As usual with Energy Events, all tickets for "Energy Air" were raffled in advance. The Open Air will also be broadcast live on Energy TV and Energy.ch. The 36-year-old Energy managing director Dani Büchi is in the final organizational spurt and explains the background to the upcoming event to Werbewoche.ch.

After "Energy Stars for Free," "Energy Live Session," Energy Movie Night and Energy Fashion Night, how did Energy decide to become an open-air event organizer?
Dani Büchi: We've wanted to bring the unique atmosphere of Energy Stars For Free outside for a long time and set up a big open air with our listeners. The timing was ideal this year because we found a partner in our presenting partner Swisscom who was willing to set up such an event with us. The project is a big and exciting challenge for everyone involved, and we are looking forward to it.

Isn't Switzerland saturated or even oversaturated when it comes to open airs?
You can't compare the Energy Air with other open airs for various reasons. We have more than twelve international and national acts performing on one stage on one evening. This variety does not exist at an open air in this density and so alternately. In addition, as usual with Energy Events, you can't buy tickets for Energy Air, but only win them with luck. These two points alone make Energy Air unique.

What considerations lay behind the principle of giving away all 40,000 tickets?
Something that you can buy does not have the same desirability as something that you just can't buy, but can only win with luck, sometimes even a lot of luck.

In general, what is Energy's motivation for putting on concerts and events?
Energy has long been more than just a radio station: Since the launch of Energy in German-speaking Switzerland in 2003, we have evolved from a classic private radio station for the young target group into an entertainment brand with multifaceted activities in the areas of radio, TV, online, social media and events. Today, we are represented in Switzerland with three stations in the cities of Zurich, Basel and Bern. What was initially a classic private radio station, Energy Zürich, has developed into a nationally active entertainment company. We are thus available on all vectors with different products and achieve both broad and compact coverage of the advertising-relevant target group across all platforms.

Swisscom is acting as the sole main sponsor of the event, and the tickets are being given away - does this calculation work? Is holding the event also associated with a risk for Energy?
We finance our events primarily through sponsorship and enter into appropriate partnerships for this purpose - such as the long-standing cooperation with Swisscom for various events. In some cases, of course, we still have to use our own marketing resources, such as at the premiere of Energy Air. But our goal is not to make money with the events, but to build up a strong marketing tool, on the one hand for the Energy brand, and on the other hand for the bond with our listeners and commercial partners.

Did the bad weather of the outgoing summer affect the interest in tickets or are you satisfied with the way the pre "sale" went?
Satisfied is an understatement. We are overwhelmed. Even in the first few days, when we only communicated that the Energy Air would take place in Bern on September 6, 2014 and no act was known yet, we received so many inquiries that we could have easily filled the Stade de Suisse to capacity. That's a great compliment to us and our partner Swisscom and confirms that we've built up a strong name for ourselves in the event business. Energy Bern and its listeners are of course particularly happy that the event is taking place on their doorstep, but the ticket requests from all over German-speaking Switzerland have also far exceeded our expectations.

The line-up is based on popular national and international artists. Clear international headliners/top acts are missing - deliberately? Or is it primarily a question of budget?
We are happy to welcome Steve Angello, currently the biggest electronic DJ star in the world. This is a great coup that we have managed to pull off. But it is the versatility of the line up and not a single name that is in the foreground. Our events should musically whet your appetite for more. At Energy Air, or at Energy Stars For Free, more than ten acts play two to four songs. In this way, visitors discover acts they didn't know before or for whom they wouldn't have bought a concert ticket before.

Finally, an outlook: Will Energy Air take place again in 2015?
Yes, of course. The date is set, the Stade de Suisse is reserved and the first acts have already confirmed.

Interview: Thomas Häusermann

Images: Energy.ch

The adjustment is part of the focus on the core market of Switzerland and the activities in Serbia and the resulting adjustment of the international portfolio, APG wrote in a press release on Thursday. The Executive Board has been composed as follows since September 1, 2014: Markus Ehrle (CEO), Beat Hermann (CFO), Beat Holenstein (Partner & Product Management), Daniel Strobel (Advertising Market & Segment Companies), Christian Gotter (Logistics) and Marcel Seiler (Human Resources). Thomas Rainer, previously Head of International Markets, stepped down from the Executive Board on September 1, 2014.

Beat Hermann has assumed overall responsibility for international activities. Thomas Rainer continues to support the company on a part-time basis for ongoing processing tasks and for looking after the subsidiary Alma Quattro in Serbia. However, he will primarily devote himself as planned to his management duties in the Central Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia region at JCDecaux SA. The position of Head of Marketing & Business Development held by Markus Ehrle will not be replaced.

The seamless transition has been ensured since June 1, 2014 by distributing the areas of responsibility within the company management. Beat Holenstein has assumed responsibility for market research, product development and yield management, while Daniel Strobel is in charge of innovation projects. The Communications department and the tasks relating to business development remain the direct responsibility of Markus Ehrle.
 

For the launch of the new website, Hangar 51 not only developed the claim/slogan "We build ideas," but for the monthly Frontwork Newsletter with "Frontwork CIS" also a special storytelling.

With "Frontwork CIS" the special agents Ni Dozzo, Gabby, McFee & Co. support their strategic and operational head Fibbs with words and deeds in solving tricky cases, each of which revolves around a current Frontwork project. The September story "The Yellow Snake" revolves around a Frontwork project in Winterthur. Whoever solves the puzzle can win competition prizes.

Mark Seeholzer/Hangar 51 developed the character design with illustrator Mark Töbermann, inspired by American CIS/CIS agent stories. Fibbs and his badge are at the center of the frontwork key viusal; integrated into it is an emblem showing a hand holding a powerful key. This symbolizes the coat of arms of Wallisellen, the company's longstanding location - and Frontwork's key to building ideas: "The key to build ideas".

Responsible at Hangar 51: Mark Seeholzer (concept/text). Responsible at Frontwork: Fabio Vareni (Managing Director). Responsible for Marketing auf Zeit: Janine Bosshardt. Illustration and character design: Mark Töbermann.

 

100 years of Swiss Air Force, 50 years of Patrouille Suisse: At Air 14, which takes place from August 30 to September 07 in Payerne, there is every reason to celebrate. The anniversaries will be celebrated with spectacular air shows and exhibitions all about the air force.

An important partner of the meeting is Swiss, which is also represented at Air 14 with a brand presence, as Aroma announced in a press release on Wednesday. The presentation is intended to strike a balance between information and entertainment. For example, visitors can use a flight simulator to recreate the landing approach over Zurich in real time and with full physical effort. In the photo box, visitors can have their picture taken in front of various photo subjects and have the pictures printed out as a postcard on site or share the card via QR code. Exhibits from flight operations such as a turbine, A330/340 wheel or baggage container as well as large-format subjects from the Swiss world round off the presentation.

With a presence at the Dream Job Street, Swiss brings aviation professions closer to visitors. The Diamond DA40NG training aircraft from Swiss Aviation Training is a particular highlight, according to the press release.