With words one can argue excellently, with words one can prepare a system, with words one can believe excellently, not an iota can be robbed from a word." Friend Mephisto is speaking in Faust I, verses 1995 ff., and it is well known that he was a devilishly good connoisseur of human nature.
 
Fox, deer and wild boar, live in peace! In future, I will mainly hunt words, buzzwords and empty phrases. My current favorite game is the "partner". 
 
"Your real partner for the finest specialties" was written on the truck blocking my view of the traffic lights. Above it was the logo of a company known for cheap convenience food. Conversely, shouldn't the company Bianchi, for example, which distributes exquisite fresh fish, be a "fake partner"? What makes a partner "genuine" anyway? It has to be the horrible factory sauce together with the ready-made vegetables that are served to the "partner" guest as a dish of the day using a microwave for 15 Stutz in all the restaurants that can't do any better.
 
In the meantime, I'm being referred to as a "partner" everywhere. Rail Event claims to be my "partner for rail experiences" and IBSK is "the partner for glass scratch removal". Hundreds of partners for printed matter and complete IT solutions are buzzing around the web, as are "partners for used and new cars". I come across "partners for commercial real estate", asset management and garden design, for cash registers, chainsaws, professional construction drying, but also for outpatient anesthesia.
 
Which probably wouldn't be a bad idea at all to protect against the ubiquitous dumbing down of terms. After all, what does "partner" actually mean - apart from the personal and intimate sphere? The term describes an equal partner, someone who - another fashionable term, certainly, but appropriate here - is "on an equal footing" with me, strives for a common goal and, if successful, shares the spoils with me. Laurel & Hardy were partners, or Dick & Doof, Tintin, Adam & Eve, but no insurance agents or car salesmen, please.
 
What do my "partners" for insurance, chainsaws and glass scratch removal really want? They want to create an artificial closeness where, at best, a business relationship is up for discussion. In reality, they all just want what's best for me, and that's at the back right. But they cheekily lay claim to exclusivity: from now on, I'm your partner and no one else's; don't you dare do it with anyone else...!
 
When I buy a chainsaw, I definitely don't need a partner, I need goods for money, thank you, goodbye, warranty case reserved! Even when I buy a car or have something printed, I don't want to enter into a long-term commitment - I only do that when I have built up trust after months and years of a good customer relationship and voluntarily come back for more. Take this lovely travel agency, for example, which put together a wonderful trip to Sicily for me last year and didn't bat an eyelid, but only charged me a ridiculous handling fee when the whole thing had to be postponed for months.
 
In its hackneyedness, "your partner" is a perfect example of how terms have been trashed in the name of ubiquitous marketing. And you know what? I suspect anyone who uses such slangy terms is also dealing in inferior goods. Anyone who tries to "take me in" with the colleague or partner scam instead of convincing quality and service is suspect.
 
The use of language betrays inner states. Mephisto says it like it is: "For just where the terms are lacking, a word (or a word with a punch) appears at the right time." Goethe was definitely not a copywriter. Rather, if anything, "your partner for the elegant use of language".

The most prominent example of this type of protest this year is not from Switzerland, however, but from Turkey. In Istanbul on Taksim Square, a similar digital protest started a few weeks earlier. While this case was also about a shopping center, the consequences of the protests are a lot more massive than in Bern. In fact, they are so profound that parallels were quickly drawn with the Arab Spring during the demonstrations in Istanbul. At first glance, it seems that way. If you look closer, there are major differences between the Turkish protests and the uprisings in the North African countries of 2010. Particularly with regard to the use of social media, which contributed significantly to both movements, at least the following three are worth mentioning:

First, while Internet penetration in the North African countries is between 0 and 15 percent, Internet use is more than common in Turkey. Indeed, Turks go online via their cell phones a good twice as much as the European average. There are now more than 40 million 3G subscribers (as of 2012). The fact that the protests against the removal of Gezi Park in Istanbul were heavily organized via Twitter is therefore no great surprise. And that brings us to the second difference. The Arab Spring, it was said, was set in motion thanks to social media. But if we compare the origin of the tweets, we see striking dissimilarities. Ninety percent of the tweets with the hashtags #occupygezi, #direngezipark and #geziparki came from Turkey, and of those, half again came from Istanbul itself. In the Egyptian revolution of 2010, only just under 30 percent of the tweets were "geolocated" in the Arab region; the rest came from the international community - moreover, most of the tweets were directed at Anglo-Saxon readerships because they were written in English. This is then where the third difference ties in. Almost all of these domestic tweets were written in Turkish. This clearly indicates that Turkish citizens used Twitter to communicate with each other and to organize themselves. The use of social media in the protests around Istanbul is truly remarkable. In part because the domestic mass media wanted little to nothing to report on it, the protesters have begun to communicate what is happening on the ground, like a live ticker, to those not present, including with the help of videos. They even encouraged each other to turn off the TV and "read Twitter." Meanwhile, under the hashtag #BgünTelevizyonlar?Kapat, which means "turn off the TVs today," a new boycott is underway.

Dear companies and governments, remember this: People, whether as customers or as citizens, want their concerns to be taken seriously. And what happens when they are not? Where do they make their concerns known? Through the channels with which they are familiar. It's quite simple: If you block the classic channels, people will avoid them and organize themselves through other channels. And today, this naturally includes social media. All the more reason to take these new platforms seriously.

By Manuel P. Nappo, Director of Studies CAS Social Media Management HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich. www.fh-hwz.ch/smm
 

Christophe Biollaz will become the new Chief Financial Officer with effect from January 1, 2014, succeeding Markus Haering, who is retiring. Christophe Biollaz, who works for the Oettinger Davidoff Group Switzerland/Basel, is moving to the MCH Group on December 1, 2013, where he will take over the function of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as a member of the Executive Board. After completing his studies, the business economist HWV/FH, who lives in Therwil (BL), held management positions in various companies in Switzerland and abroad, including at Novartis, Syngenta, Hero and Lindt & Sprüngli. Since 2012, he has been responsible for strategy, business development and finance in Europe within the Oettinger Davidoff Group.

Christophe Biollaz will assume his new function as CFO of the MCH Group from Markus Haering who will be retiring on May 31, 2014. Markus Haering has been CFO of the former Messe Basel and today's MCH Group since 1990.

Christoph NeuenschwanderChief Development Officer and Delegate of the Board of Directors of Winkler Multi Media Events, is leaving the MCH Group on December 31, 2013. He joined the MCH Group as a member of the Executive Board on January 1, 2009 and, as Delegate of the Board of Directors, has mainly been responsible for the operational management of Winkler Multi Media Events in Wohlen since October 2010. Following his departure, Neuenschwander will continue to be available to the MCH Group in an advisory capacity.

The new Managing Director will be Christian Künzli will take over the operational management of Winkler Multi Media Events. He spent 18 years with the Nüssli Group in Hüttwilen, most recently as Head of the Events Division and member of Group Management. Künzli will join the company in October 2013.

Jean-Marc Devaud, member of the Executive Board and Managing Director of the subsidiary Expomobilia, will assume overall management responsibility for the MCH Group's event services companies - Expomobilia, Winkler Multi Media Events and Rufener Events - as Chief Event Services Officer (CESO) and delegate to the Board of Directors as of January 1, 2014.
 

As part of his life planning, Daniel Jorio has decided to step down as Director of Finance and Controlling at SRG at the end of 2013. SRG writes this on Presseportal.ch. He will be available to provide support until his successor starts work.

Daniel Jorio joined SRG in 1989 as Controller and was appointed Head of Finance and Controlling in 1999. Since July 1, 2007, he has also been a member of the SRG Executive Board as Director of Finance and Controlling. In this role, he has been responsible for the national organizational unit Business Unit Sport (BUS) since 2011. According to the press release, Daniel Jorio - always in close cooperation with SRG's business units and the authorities - has made a significant contribution to the introduction of a tightly managed financial policy, modern norms and standards, increased transparency and modern financial instruments at SRG. Following his studies at the University of Geneva, Jorio worked in finance and controlling for the companies Zschokke, Nestlé, Polysar International and BASF Switzerland in Switzerland and abroad.

According to the press release, the succession process will be initiated by the Director General in consultation with the Chairman of SRG.

Teaser image: SRG SSR/Marcel Grubenmann
 

Starting in 2014, the agency will seek a focus on cross-media presence. "We are focusing on the connection between online and offline with an emphasis on community building and social media," says Christoph Balsiger, owner of Kargo Kommunikation. The new appearance will be fresh, cheeky and eye-catching as well as convincing with lifestyle character.

The national "bike to work" campaign was launched in 2004 by Pro Velo Schweiz to promote cycling at work. Around 1,600 companies with a total of 770,000 employees participate in the national "bike to work" campaign.

Teaser image: Biketowork.ch

Elmer has achieved an interim success in both lawsuits. This is the result of court rulings published by the defendant on Wednesday. In the personal injury proceedings against Weltwoche, the Zurich District Court ordered the weekly newspaper to provide evidence to support its allegations. The Press Council had already come to the conclusion in July 2012 that Weltwoche should have at least mentioned Elmer Dementi before calling him a "thief" and "blackmailer" (Werbewoche.ch reported). The text also failed to mention that the ex-banker denied the allegations.

Elmer has also scored a small success in the defamation proceedings against Bilanz: The High Court decided that the proceedings, which were suspended today, should be resumed. The Zurich District Court must therefore once again deal with Elmer's accusations against the business magazine, which had reported critically about him. In February 2011, the court ordered the proceedings against Bilanz to be suspended until a legally valid verdict against the ex-banker had been reached.

No legally binding judgment yet

There is still no legally valid verdict in the Rudolf Elmer case. In November 2011, the High Court refused to hand down a verdict on the grounds that the indictment was incomplete. It sent the case back to the public prosecutor's office and demanded additions.

In January 2011, the Zurich District Court sentenced Elmer to a conditional fine of 240 daily rates of CHF 30 each for threats, attempted coercion and violation of banking secrecy. Both Elmer and the public prosecutor's office appealed the sentence.

Elmer was dealt the next blow on the evening of his conviction: on his way home from the trial, he was arrested again and remanded in custody for six months. The reason for this was an internationally acclaimed media conference just a few days before the Zurich trial, at which Elmer handed over several CDs to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Elmer stated at the time that these CDs contained data on around 2,000 tax evaders. It later transpired that the CDs were empty.

The former managing director of the Julius Baer branch on the Cayman Islands considers himself a whistleblower because he leaked client data to cantonal and federal tax authorities on several occasions - in the hope that the account holders would be punished as tax fraudsters. However, the data was not used. Switzerland is said to have lost around CHF 100 million in tax revenue as a result. (SDA/uma)

Teaser image: Rudolfelmer.com

 

The headings Research, Pharmaceutical Location, Drugs and Healthcare are intended to illustrate the fields of activity of the Association reflect. Under the headings Facts/Statistics, Session and Media Releases, information and graphics are available for further use. The two sections Careers and Biotech Learning Center, which are primarily aimed at schools, are managed as separate subdomains. A newsroom provides readers with new information on a daily basis and invites them to interact via the comment function.

Responsible at Interpharma, Basel: Thomas Cueni (Secretary General), Roland Schlumpf (Head of Communications). Responsible at Basel West Corporate Communications: Thomas Aerni (Consulting, Design Concept. Responsible at Dimando, Zurich: Peter Kohlhaas (Project Management, Consulting).

The aim is to increase coverage in the daily media as well as in specialist magazines in the hiking, outdoor and health sectors. The agency is active in both consulting and implementation. The mandate includes media relationship management, text and image production, the distribution of a media kit with a test product and the hosting of press material on the multimedia database.

Together with co-director and editor Reto Waser, director and cameraman Daniel Reichenbach created "A Palace Story", an "ode to the team". According to the agency, the service at Badrutt's Palace Hotel shines out over the snow-covered mountains of the Engadine into the world. "This film is dedicated to the 520 employees of the hotel, who guarantee the legendary service of this hotel day after day with heart and soul. A kind of bottom-up story with a Cinderella effect," says Reichenbach.

"A Palace Story" is the third film that the agency has produced for Swiss 5-star hotels such as the Bellevue Grand Hotel in Gstaad and Les Trois Rois in Basel.
 

The Zurich Cantonal Association of the SRC faces the challenge of raising awareness of its work for disadvantaged people locally. 2,400 volunteers in the canton of Zurich are committed to helping other people. This is precisely where the campaign by Marti Communications for the SRC Canton of Zurich comes in under the motto "The region helps".

The public can gain an insight into the numerous activities through a comprehensive campaign that uses posters, online and PR measures to show what the Zurich Red Cross does throughout the canton. There are 15 posters showing 17 volunteers and employees working for the SRC Zurich. Since the beginning of July, the posters have been hanging in the regions where the people portrayed live. In the municipalities on the right bank of Lake Zurich, for example, you will only see the poster "The right bank of Lake Zurich helps." with the corresponding volunteer or employee.

The posters were created by illustrator and comic artist Christophe Badoux. At Marti Communications, Thomas Krebs (consulting), Stefan Beck (concept/text) and Bruno Zürcher (art direction) rolled up their sleeves for the Zurich aid organization. Feature Media ensured that the commitment of the people portrayed is also present on the World Wide Web.

 

The celebrity grillers give an insight into the bedrooms of the stars: Two grill chefs, Philippe Berthoud and Claudine Nyaguy, visit various Swiss celebrities (Amanda Ammann, Max Loong, Die Oeschs, and others) in their homes. But the barbecue is not just for the three of them: friends of the celebrities also come to the BBQ. They add their "mustard" to the grilled dinner.

The new format "Die Promi Griller" will run on Sat.1 Switzerland starting July 4. It was conceived as well as produced by Björn Hering and will air weekly during the summer months. But don't worry. If you miss the program, it can also be seen on Myvideo.ch can be followed. Long live the barbecue season! (uma)

Teaser image: Wikipedia
 

Since July 3, 2013, the new Website online. The appearance was revised in all areas and adapted to the latest technical needs. The central element is the timeline with slider function: Here, the user can listen to program segments and songs of an entire hour or already pre-listen to them before they go over the air. In the media library, individual items can also be accessed by day or keyword, whether on a PC, tablet computer or smartphone.

The new homepage of FM1