Rahel Giger joined the presenter team at Radio SRF 3 at the beginning of March 2014 and will be heard on air from mid-March. Before joining SRF, the 38-year-old had been a presenter and training manager at Radio Pilatus since 2001. She learned her craft as a presenter and presenter manager at Radio Grischa in Chur. Pascal Scherrer, head of journalism at Radio SRF 3: "Rahel Giger is an accomplished radio journalist and seasoned presenter who joins SRF 3. With around 15 years of microphone experience, she meets the high demands placed on an on-air personality. We are looking forward to the refreshing voice from Graubünden."

For Rahel Giger, radio is both a vocation and a pure passion: "As a full-blooded presenter, I'm really looking forward to the new challenge. It's an honor for me to be here for the SRF 3 audience; lively, poised and with a healthy dose of humor."

Andrea Obrist, who most recently worked as Head of Advertising Market at Tageswoche, has extensive experience in marketing, advertising and sales, according to the press release. In particular, she was responsible for the development and management of direct advertising at AZ Medien AG in Aarau. Andrea Obrist is 46 years old and has a degree as a federally certified sales manager.

As a company for the distribution of printed matter, product samples and other advertising materials, Distriba distributes Baz Kompakt on Thursdays in the city area and loose leaflet inserts on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the communities close to the city. Andrea Obrist's task will be to modernize the company, develop an active sales concept and open up new business areas.

At first it looks as if the man has no chance against the technology. But in the end, Timo Boll catches up and wins the game by a hair's breadth. The robot is not quite, but almost as precise and fast as a human.

In reality, the robot is not nearly as good as the commercial (and the accompanying making-off) would have us believe. A few days after the launch, Kuko drops the ball and reveals that the match is a fake. All the rallies were edited together. Many fans took this advertising campaign the wrong way. According to the comments, it would have been better to wait until the technical development was really ready. (sis)
 

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Around 400 people, mainly from the media industry, gathered on Thursday evening for a double celebration: on the one hand, the Swiss School of Journalism Maz in Lucerne has been in existence for 30 years and, on the other, it has a new director in 55-year-old Diego Yanez. The former editor-in-chief of SRF television replaces Sylvia Egli von Matt, who headed Maz for 15 years (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Keynote speaker Doris Leuthard painted a critical picture of a media industry facing major challenges. Uncertainty will increase and keep the industry on its toes. So far, publishers have mainly reacted with acquisitions and takeovers, while other sectors have responded with training and further education. Leuthard called for innovations for new business areas.

Danger: snippets of information instead of information

The media minister gave the Swiss media a comparatively good quality rating. Nevertheless, she expressed concern that this quality could suffer as a result of increasing economic pressure and editorial overload. She sees a danger in the reduction of information to snippets in the morning and evening and to sensationalist stories. This leads to half-knowledge, to information without commentary and criticism. Citizens are dependent on free access to information. Without this communication, there is no public sphere, and communication is indispensable for the democratic formation of opinion. What is important is not so much how citizens inform themselves, but that they inform themselves. Leuthard referred to the Federal Council's mandate for a promotion concept for the media, which provides for short and long-term measures. However, if a decision is made in favor of direct funding, a constitutional basis is required.

Over 1000 students

The MAZ began operations in September 1984 under founding director Peter Schulz with 27 students. Today, the School of Journalism has over 1000 students from practically all media companies in German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein, 300 lecturers and a team of 30 permanent employees. It is networked with universities in Switzerland and abroad. The Maz describes itself as "the leading competence center for journalism in Switzerland". It is supported by Swiss publishers, SRG SSR, professional associations and the city and canton of Lucerne. The Board of Trustees is currently chaired by Iwan Rickenbacher. The annual budget of the Swiss School of Journalism is around six million francs. The Maz is financed to 80 percent by the students and their employers. The public sector (Federal Office of Communications and cantonal tuition fees) and the founders each contribute 10 percent. (SDA)

Image: Keystone

The 39-year-old Dorer has been a board member of the conference since March 2012, as the organization announced in a press release on Wednesday. He succeeds Martin Spieler, former editor-in-chief of the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, who chaired the association for four years.

Daniel Weber, Editor-in-Chief of NZZ Folio, was appointed Vice President. Stefan Regez, Editor-in-Chief of Schweizer Illustrierte, and Arthur Rutishauser, Editor-in-Chief of Sonntagszeitung, were newly elected to the Board. The Conference of Editors-in-Chief currently has 52 members.
 

The anniversary campaign was conceived and realized by the Neue LGK agency. The big challenge for the agency was to reach as many people as possible from "zero to one hundred". Because it was a "birthday surprise," the utmost secrecy was called for: the public was not to find out about the campaign in advance.

The cross-media campaign achieved a high frequency at the POS and in the online store within a very short time thanks to dominant measures and a high reach. The package of measures implemented for Big Bang included a jacket ad in 20 Minuten, POS materials ranging from paper bags and postcards to rotairs, radio spots, and online banners. The campaign was supported by PR measures and a promotion in downtown Zurich.

During the anniversary year, Interio is offering discounts of up to 40 percent on selected furniture and home accessories for 40 weeks. These promotions will be communicated in a newsletter and selective campaigns. In this way, the reach and frequency of the Big Bang can be successfully leveraged until the end of the year.

Responsible at Interio: Reto Waidacher (CEO), Bettina Korn (Head of Marketing), Sabine Schneider (Marketing), Eric Salzmann (Head of E-Commerce), Larissa Chee (Marketing E-Commerce). Responsible at Neue LGK: André Benker, Hans Tanner (Creative Direction), Stephan Wittwer (Art Direction), Heike Gross (Text), Marion Kähler, Miro Pfister, Jeannine Moser (Graphics), Lars Müller, Linda Frunz, Nick Schoberth, (Consulting), Ansichtsache (Prepress).

The new Himmapan Elephant Park - the new home of the little ambassador - is the largest construction project in the zoo's 50-year history. According to the Knie Children's Zoo in Rapperswil, the facility is a commitment to the conservation of the endangered Asian elephants and at the same time a continuation of a 90-year tradition at Knie.

The opening ceremony will take place at the children's zoo in mid-May this year. The aim of the current campaign is to draw attention to it in a striking way. Renowned photographer Peter Hebeisen, who has made a name for himself with his portraits of animals, among other things, has designed and implemented the campaign for the children's zoo.

Responsible at Kinderzoo Rapperswil: Franco Knie (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Benjamin Sinniger (Management). Peter Hebeisen: Concept, design, photography and production.

 

Shooting Knie's children's zoo from Hebeisen Peter on Vimeo.

The picture showed two ice hockey players with advertisements for two well-known beer brands emblazoned on their kit. What the Blue Cross considered to be appropriate and realistic, the government classified as a violation of the advertising ban in the voting newspaper (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Although Blue Cross believes it has a good chance in the Federal Supreme Court, it has decided not to take legal action, as it announced on Wednesday. If the Supreme Court were to correct "the government council's censorship decision", this could lead to the vote having to be repeated. This was "not something the voters should be expected to accept". For this reason, the photo has now been slightly altered: The scene is the same. However, instead of the names of specific beer brands, the two dress advertisements now say "Lager Bier" and "Bier" in general.

The Blue Cross initiative wants a ban on advertising for all alcoholic beverages on sports fields and at sporting events. A ban on the advertising of spirits is already in force nationwide. However, the initiative wants to extend the advertising ban in the canton of Zurich to all alcoholic beverages, especially beer. If the initiative is successful, the Blue Cross intends to launch it in other cantons as well. (SDA)
 

In his new role, Markus Will will be responsible for the strategic development and operational management of the Beobachter consulting division, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Axel Springer Verlag Schweiz. Will has been working in the media industry for 20 years. He has been with the Beobachter before: from 1999 to 2002 he was responsible for its publishing marketing and online activities.

In the past years, Markus Will managed customer contact centers as well as logistics and CRM departments of various Swiss publishing houses. At the same time, he completed further training in e-commerce and the Marketing Executive diploma course at the University of St. Gallen. In his last position as Head of User Market at Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), he co-initiated the digital payment strategy.

The reason for the system change is technological development. Even those who do not own a TV or radio can now receive corresponding broadcasts, for example via a smartphone or computer. Almost every household therefore has radio and TV reception. The fee regulation is to be adapted to this development.

Fee or tax?

A minority of the SVP did not want to accept the deal or to refer it back to the Federal Council. "A media tax is being introduced that is unconstitutional," said Natalie Rickli (SVP/ZH), explaining the motions, because it is a tax, not a fee, as the Federal Council claims. "A fee is paid for a service, the tax is unconditional." Since everyone is now being asked to pay, it is clearly a tax.

Rickli also tabled a motion to reject the proposal. Before the financing was newly regulated, a discussion about the public service had to be held. The Federal Council should prepare a message on the definition of the public service of television and radio. And a referendum should clarify whether the majority of the people and the cantons are willing to create a constitutional basis for a media tax.

Parliament does not want any delay

The majority, however, wanted to discuss the bill on Wednesday - the National Council decided by 119 to 68 votes "to enter" and did not reject the bill. Commission spokesman Martin Candinas spoke of an "unnecessary delay" if a referendum was first held or a fundamental discussion on the public service.

Parliament has instructed the Federal Council to work out a new, device-independent levy system, said Viola Amherd (CVP/VS). Not to discuss the bill now "would be a hairpin turn that can hardly be surpassed in terms of inconsistency". This was also pointed out by Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard. The Federal Council does not refuse to discuss the public service at all. But at the moment, the only issue is the financing of the public service, not its content.

No more controls necessary

In the new law, the Federal Council proposes that in future all households and all companies will have to pay a fee. The only exceptions would be people who receive supplementary benefits and small businesses with an annual turnover of less than CHF 500,000. Checks in households would no longer be necessary. The fees could be reduced from today's 462 francs per household to around 400 francs - since more households and companies would have to pay in under the new regulation. Overall, revenues would remain the same.

"Opting-Out" demanded

However, the revision of the law is controversial. Opponents of the bill are calling for a so-called "opting-out option" for households and/or companies that continue not to consume radio and television programs. However, the Federal Council and the advisory committee do not want to see any such softening. They argued that this would increase the administrative and control burden again and nullify the advantages of the revision.

Still no political advertising

Political advertising on radio and TV remains banned. During the debate, the National Council refused to relax the advertising regulations. Hans Killer (SVP/AG) had demanded that the ban on political advertising on radio and TV should be lifted. However, a majority in the National Council did not want to hear anything about this. Opponents argued that an advantage would be created for parties with a lot of money. (SDA)

 

With the 46-year-old, Process is strengthening its consulting team with a proven brand specialist. The agency is thus underlining its claim to an interdisciplinary approach to branding: every brand is the basis for a wide range of identity-creating measures across various internal and external channels. Process supports its clients in this with its comprehensive and networked competencies. After a period of six months, Martin Fawer will become a member of the Executive Board and in this function will be responsible for the Consulting division.

Martin Fawer studied German language and literature, art history, journalism, communication and multimedia at the universities of Basel and Fribourg. Fawer knows both the client side and the way agencies think and act. He earned his professional spurs at Futurecom, the Pro Juventute Foundation, Ringier, Axel Springer and finally Orell Füssli, where he is responsible for all marketing communications and the realignment implemented since 2010. For many years he has also been involved as a lecturer in marketing, integrated communication, sales promotion and direct marketing at universities of applied sciences and various organizations.

With Fawer's move to the Executive Board, the current Consulting Director Rudolf Rodenburg will become the "face to the outside world" of the Process management in Zurich at the beginning of December 2014. He takes over the role of Managing Director from Martin Kessler, who founded the company 19 years ago, together with Bärbel Fritz (Group Creative Director). From 2015 onwards, Kessler will mainly be involved in managing the Process Group and in this role will continue to preside over the three companies in Zurich, Shanghai and Taipei.
 

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Zucker has been working as a presenter at media pioneer Roger Schawinski's Radio 1 for four years. She is the first woman to join the management of the now six-year-old station. The 41-year-old will take up her new position in April, according to the press release. (SDA)