Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose from 8.5 to 14.5 million Swiss francs. The Group result improved by 7.7 million to 12 million Swiss francs in the first half of the year. The group's revenue is steadily shifting away from advertising and printing and towards the reader market and revenue from new business areas, the company said on Wednesday. As a result, reader market revenues were stabilized. Additional revenues from digital subscriptions slightly compensated for declining print subscriptions. Business media, which includes trade media, the conference business and information services such as Moneyhouse, provided an increase in other revenues. Revenues in the print advertising market declined by 10 percent. There was also a decline in the printing sector due to the closure of the Appenzeller Druckerei and the company's own printing center in Schlieren. Total operating expenses fell by 6 percent to 204.2 million Swiss francs despite new investments. According to the press release, this was mainly due to the closure of the printing center in Schlieren.

"Tight cost management"

The NZZ Media Group intends to continue its strategy in the second half of the year: On the one hand, it is working with tight cost management, and on the other, it aims to attract more readers with new offerings and to expand the Business Media division. To counter the decline in sales in the advertising market, the company is exploiting further synergies within the Group, such as the centralization of prepress. This will result in the loss of a total of 15 jobs in Lucerne and St. Gallen. A large proportion of those affected will leave via early retirement, as the company already announced in June. (SDA)

Graphic and photo: NZZ Media Group

Since August 15, McDonald’s has been offering one of four refrigerator magnets for free with every Medium Meal and Salad Meal. The magnets, which have cult potential, are available through the end of August at all McDonald’s restaurants in Switzerland.  TBWA\Zurich has launched an integrated campaign featuring print, billboards, and online ads that puts a humorous spin on «tasteless» postcards, «embarrassing» family photos, newspaper clippings, and whatever else people tend to stick on their refrigerators. True to the motto: It looks better right away.

Online, the campaign takes it a step further: In a contest, users can use their own photos and post them on social media with the hashtag #McMagnets. In light of recent events, the online campaign is launching at Watson’s on wide boards featuring photos of Street Parade participants, and the magnets help you quickly forget the fashion faux pas from the weekend.

Contact at McDonald's Switzerland: Thomas Truttmann (Vice President of Marketing and Communications), Thomas Frésard (Marketing Manager), Sébastien Dubey (Senior Marketing Consultant). Responsible at TBWA\Zurich: Bruce Roberts, Tizian Walti, Bettina Klossner, David Voges, Stephanie Seematter (Creative), Ilonka Galliard (Art Buying), Stephan Lanz, Anna Magnaguagno (Consulting), Agnes Meier, Toni Rubera (Production), Tobias Jean (Digital). Responsible at OMD: Adrian Thoman (Account Director), Michael Zaugg (Digital Lead). Contact persons at Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland): Jenna Uldry (Junior Consultant), Benedict Ritschel (Rich Media/Front-end Developer), Pauline Wanner (Web Implementation), Oliver Kohler (Web Project Management), Lorenz Cugini (Photography), Ben Fernandes (Image Editing).
 

The 48-year-old joined Publicitas in 2013 as Sales Director and was appointed CEO in 2014. During this time, he transformed the business and repositioned the company in challenging market conditions. From 2003 to 2013, he held various management positions at AZ Medien. Prior to that, he worked at Tamedia from 1993 to 2003.

Commenting on the appointment, William Eccleshare, CEO & Chairman Clear Channel International, said, "I am delighted that Christoph Marty will be joining Clear Channel Switzerland as its new CEO. He has extensive knowledge of the media industry and a broad understanding of the strength of Out of Home and Clear Channel's great assets."

Christoph Marty in a statement said, "I am excited to become part of the Clear Channel Switzerland team and help take the company to the next level - always close to the market and customers. Winning the VBZ contract, the ongoing digital expansion plans as well as the strength of Out of Home in Switzerland excite me even more for this great opportunity."

Marty will take office as the new CEO no later than November 2016. Stefan Lameire, after the Departure of Jürg Rötheli CEO a. i. at the end of March 2016, will return to his role as Chief Customer and Revenue Officer Clear Channel International, while remaining President of Clear Channel Switzerland.
 

Aida Cruises and Costa Cruises had merged in the Alpine region and in Northern Europe as of December 1, 2015. Both companies belong to the British-American cruise company Carnival Corporation & plc. Now, media relations on the Swiss market for both cruise companies will also be concentrated at PrimCom.

Aida Cruises currently has a total of eleven ships. Aidaprima, the newest member of the fleet, joined in May 2016. The new flagship has room for 3,300 guests and in its first season cruises year-round from Hamburg to the major cities in the North Sea region. Highlights include a beach club with a UV-permeable foil dome and an activity zone with year-round temperatures above 25 degrees. A first in the cruise industry is the use of the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System: Mals technology allows the ship to glide on a carpet of air bubbles, reducing fuel consumption.
 

Has the world been waiting for this? Probably not. As we all know, there are more than enough laptop, smartphone and tablet DJs. But still, it's amazing what seems to be possible today. Pizza Hut UK is launching the world's first DJ-ready pizza box. In collaboration with Novalia, a company specializing in "printed electronics," and creatively supported by the agency Lexis, the pizza chain has developed the fold-out DJ booth. Presented in a Youtube video uploaded on Wednesday. Apparently really no joke: the box connects via Bluetooth to the laptop or smartphone and operates DJ software there. Who wants a copy, must Pizza Hut UK on Twitter follow. There you can find out in which stores the boxes will be distributed. Perhaps better without pizza inside - cheese residue and grease stains could severely disrupt the perfect set. (hae)

Since joining the consulting group in 2010, Loeb's focus has been on projects in the areas of reputation management and monitoring, corporate and personal branding, leadership coaching, positioning and crisis communications. He will provide information about his future activities soon. Dynamics Group is a team of specialists from the complementary fields of strategy development, communications management, and market and financial analysis.

Image: Xing.com

In the event of a fire or similar disaster at the Central Library (ZB), immense damage is imminent. On the one hand, people - around half a million people visit the ZB every year - are at risk. On the other hand, the precious, sometimes unique holdings could be damaged or even destroyed. In cooperation with specialist companies, the ZB has now renewed its emergency and security concept and tested it in an exercise on Wednesday. Personal protection remains the top priority, as Emil Rebsamen, head of building management, explained. In the event of a fire, the building will be evacuated. According to a media release, however, "initial precautions" could already be taken at the time of the evacuation of people, which could counteract excessive damage to the ZB material. Communication with the fire department is also important: if the fire department knows where particularly valuable items are located, it can intervene in a gentle manner if necessary.

After the fire department has extinguished the fire, the employees of the ZB begin to salvage the works. According to Rebsamen, good training for this disaster is of central importance. For example, every employee who brings works to safety in an emergency must be aware that "fully wet books" are twice as heavy - the racks could collapse under this load. Furthermore, the proper handling of water- and fire-damaged objects must be practiced. According to the press release, the ZB also intends to take more preventive measures. For example, it is planned to purchase additional emergency material "that is individually tailored to the special objects". Special attention will be paid to large-format or highly sensitive works that would be irreversibly damaged by the slightest contact with water. (SDA)

Image: Google Streetview

In recent years, Anka Refghi has been editor-in-chief of the exclusive Zurich Bahnhofstrasse magazine. She has also worked as a freelance journalist for other Swiss magazines and publications in the luxury and lifestyle sector. For publisher Francesco Ciringione, who launched the glossy magazine Prestige in Basel in 2006 as the heart of the Prestige Media International media group, Refghi is the ideal choice for the Swiss edition: "Not only is she firmly anchored in the Swiss luxury and media world as a journalist, but as a classically trained professional musician, cultural manager and with her many years of experience as a consultant in advertising, she has a background that does justice to the multifaceted nature of Prestige."

Since 2007, Graubünden Ferien (GRF) has been responsible for the management and further development of the Graubünden brand by means of a performance mandate. As part of a strategic reorientation, GRF will increasingly focus on its core tourism competence from 2017 onwards in order to achieve the turnaround in Graubünden tourism, according to the statement. As of Jan. 1, 2017, the management of the brand is therefore to be handed over to new hands. The canton as brand owner has now taken over the management of the "Graubünden Brand" office advertised in the cantonal gazette. This also represents a further step in the implementation of the "NaturMetropole" brand idea presented in 2013. Interested parties who meet the required suitability criteria according to the prequalification documents can participate in the tendering procedure.

Since December 2013, the weekly movie magazine "Kinowetter" has been a permanent part of S1's programming, and with such great success that the show is now moving from the eve to primetime. "Kinowetter at 8 p.m. as a lead-in to the main evening program forms the perfect bridge from the preceding documentary to the feature film that follows," says Mike Gut, Program Director at S1, delightedly.

The new slot will also see the magazine get a fresh face in the form of Thomas Odermatt. The 29-year-old, who lives in Lucerne, has worked as a freelance journalist, event presenter and model. He joins Christian Franzoso's team with immediate effect. Like his colleague Christian Franzoso, Odermatt will host the show from the Verkehrshaus Filmtheater in Lucerne. Kinowetter" is sponsored by the Biel watch company Hamilton and supported by the clothing company C&A.
 

The appointment of Geninazzi, senior consultant at Furrerhugi, as the discounter's media spokesman is intended to break down language barriers with media professionals in Italian-speaking Switzerland, according to the statement. Angelo Geninazzi grew up bilingually in Ticino, studied economics in Fribourg and headed the Economiesuisse office in Lugano for several years. He is currently mayor of Melide and very well connected in Italian-speaking Switzerland. Filling the media position in Lugano offers direct communication with the discounter, which currently operates eleven stores in Ticino.

In addition to Angelo Geninazzi in Ticino, Steven Loepfe and Philippe Vetterli (Storylead) for German-speaking Switzerland and Frédéric Jacquemoud (Farner Consulting) for French-speaking Switzerland continue to serve as media spokespersons for Aldi Suisse.
 

The cover photo of the Facebook page of Face was already faulty since Friday.

Already on Monday, Face was missing the A, B and O in all posts on Facebook and on the homepage. The agency, headquartered in Frauenfeld, thus supports the campaign of Swiss Transfusion SRC.

Only when it's missing, it's noticeable

What would happen if blood were suddenly missing because no one was donating? Not to be imagined, because blood donations are vital. In order to draw the public's attention to this fact, the international "Missing Type" campaign was launched, in which Swiss Transfusion SRC is also participating. It is implemented by companies and celebrities. Face also supports the campaign and yesterday and today, together with many other partners in Switzerland and in over 20 countries around the world, made the letters of the blood groups A, B and O (or the number 0) disappear from titles, logos, texts and products.

With this campaign, Swiss Transfusion SRC would like to thank all blood donors in Switzerland who help to meet the demand for blood with their selfless commitment, on the one hand, and motivate young people to donate who have never donated before, on the other. This is the only way to compensate for the age-related loss of loyal donors and to ensure the blood supply in the future.

Annual blood donation campaigns with employees

At Face, the request from Swiss Transfusion SRC for support of the campaign was positively received and participation was soon decided: "Anyone could be in need of a blood donation at some point, which is why we take this issue seriously. Social commitment is part of our corporate culture and is supported. Blood donors perform a great service for society," says Phil Klaes, explaining why he is taking part.

Further information and impressions of the campaign can be found
at Missingtype.blooddonation.ch