Under the title "Urgent - Your card is suspended!" we received this e-mail today on behalf of GE Money Bank:

Your credit card will be suspended due to GeMoney key terms being changed. To activate your card you need to download the attached document and fill in the GeMoney security file to verify the legitimate account holder. Your card will be activated automatically after the security check details are confirmed. We would consider terminating your access to your stored funds if you failed to verify the legitimate holder of this account.

It almost makes you wistful when you think back to the original adventure stories that the internet mafia used to come up with. There was talk of missing uncles, fugitive generals, frozen assets and tempting investments. Lottery winnings had to be collected in Spain and wood-burning stoves had to be financed in the Russian provinces. The whole thing was written in a language that was recognizable as such. In the example above, probably not even Google Translate was asked for advice. That would probably be too much to ask when sending a supposedly lucrative scam to millions of recipients. Nevertheless, there seem to be people who are unsettled by the amateurish letter. GE Money Bank warns on the Website"At the moment, some of our customers are receiving a phishing email request for account verification. Please ignore this email and delete it unopened".

Thomas Häusermann

The approximately 75-member "IG of the Friends of the NZZ" wants to delete the "FDP paragraph" from the NZZ statutes, according to Schweiz am Sonntag. The newspaper quotes an as yet unpublished newsletter. Now it should be enough to confirm a "liberal and entrepreneurial attitude" - regardless of which party one belongs to. The group, which includes banker Thomas Matter (SVP), controls about 15 percent of the votes.

Outgoing NZZ President Franz Steinegger has little pleasure in this idea, rejecting the agenda item for the next General Meeting. In response to an inquiry from the newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, he stated that, firstly, the ten percent required for an agenda item was not available, and secondly, the alternative text formulated was so unsuitable that "one would also have to accept a Christian Levrat.

The "Friends of the NZZ" threaten an extraordinary general meeting or the invalidation of the ordinary AGM. They also criticize the NZZ board of directors ("paralysis and wrangling" in the board"), especially the newer members of the board, who were not able to bring about the hoped-for changes. Moreover, the board candidates proposed by them (former NZZ CEO Gerhard Schwarz and real estate tycoon Urs Ledermann) were not even contacted by board president Steinegger. (hae)

Teaser image: Keystone (background)

Klar deals with social issues under the special aspect of visual impairment. According to the announcement, it is an exclusive magazine of its kind. The design of Klar is tailored to the needs and reading capabilities of people with a visual impairment. Mettler Mettler + Mettler accentuates the special formal and typographic specifications and uses them as a conscious design tool. The large font as well as the demonstrative image treatment become the trademark of the magazine.

The first issue of Klar is dedicated to the theme "Man and Woman - Archetypes and Gender Roles" and includes picture contributions by Urs Lüthi, Michel Comte, Anja Schori, Maurizio Cattelan, Pete Souza and Roswitha Hecke and others. The magazine is published four times a year in German and French (under the name Clin d'œil) as a large-print magazine, in Braille and as an audio CD.

The agency was able to prevail against three other agencies in a pitch with an integrated communications concept. The first measures will be seen in late summer. The agency will also handle the redesign of the new Teleboy website. "Teleboy is a fantastic client with a very good product. And for us, proof that we are welcomed with open arms in the market with our integrated communication solutions," Michael Hinderling said in a statement from the agency.
 

National Councilor Jacqueline Badran was expelled from the Radio 1 anniversary party a week ago Friday for smoking inside the Aura Club by a window together with Weltwoche journalist Alex Baur. In a subsequent tweet, she blamed the bouncer involved and accused Alex Bauer of lack of assistance.

The case met with a great response in the media and triggered a huge wave of indignation in the form of reader comments. In particular, the accusation voiced by the bouncer that Jacqueline Badran had justified her behavior by saying that as a member of the National Council she was allowed to do such things resulted in shitstorm-like conditions in the talkback columns. This was despite the fact that the accused clearly distanced herself from this accusation at all times and the witnesses present, Alex Bauer and Bastien Girod, stated on the record that Jacqueline Badran had never mentioned her political function in her presence. The accusation that she had demanded special rights as a politician would "never go away," she said. Switzerland on Sunday.

As reported by the new Sunday medium, the media and public echo was deliberately set in motion by the Aura PR officer. In a letter to the journalists of an online medium, she pointed out that Ms. Badran had been "quite drunk" and that she did not even want to repeat the "wild insults" against the bouncer - unless it was desired in the context of "official statements". The wave of scandalization was triggered, public opinion was made. This, although even political opponents such as Mauro Tuena Badran's statement supportedshe had been sober that evening. Towards Blick.ch Badran compared the campaign to "witch hunts and the Inquisition."

The fact that the author, who picked up the story for the Tages-Anzeiger, worked until recently as a spokesman for the Aura operator Tao Group and is in a relationship with the Aura spokeswoman cannot be blamed on the writer, department head Edgar Schuler told Schweiz am Sonntag. In the future, however, any mandates of the author will be declared with each article. (hae)

Teaser image: Screenshot 20min.ch

Südostschweiz am Sonntag will now take over the national text pages of AZ Medien's Der Sonntag with editorial headquarters in Baden AG, as well as the layout. The pages for the regional editions of Graubünden, Glarus and Gaster-See will continue to be produced by the editorial teams of Südostschweiz. In addition to Südostschweiz, Schweiz am Sonntag is present in six other regions with its own regional edition: Aargau, Zofingen, Olten, Solothurn/Oberaargau, Basel/Baselland and Limmattal/Zurich. There, Schweiz am
Sunday so far as The Sunday.

The new paper is the biggest subscription Sunday newspaper in Switzerland. Based on Wemf figures, Schweiz am Sonntag will have a circulation of 203,156 copies in 2012 and, according to the Mach Basic II study, a readership of 441,000. In terms of circulation, the largest Sunday newspaper is currently Sonntagsblick with 224,260 copies, according to Wemf figures from last fall. The Sonntagszeitung has 175,882 copies and the NZZ am Sonntag 130,837.

Lots of reading material on Sunday

In German-speaking Switzerland, seven newspaper titles are currently vying for the attention of advertisers' readers every Sunday. Since the beginning of March, Ostschweiz am Sonntag has been published as the seventh edition of the St. Galler Tagblatt, which belongs to the NZZ Medien Group. At the beginning of 2012, Basler Zeitung (Basler Zeitung Medien) had launched a Sunday edition. Sonntagsblick (Ringier), Sonntagszeitung (Tamedia), NZZ am Sonntag (NZZ) and Zentralschweiz am Sonntag (Neue Luzerner Zeitung/NZZ) have been on the market for several years.(SDA)

A record total of 465 projects were submitted by companies and above all web and advertising agencies in the ten categories of what is probably Europe's oldest Internet competition. Around 130 of these made it onto the shortlist; around 100 jury members - ten per category - evaluated the projects in a multi-stage process. Ultimately, in addition to the ten category winners, a total of 25 silver and 36 bronze awards were presented. More than 700 people - including the entire Swiss Internet and mobile scene and almost all the creators - attended the award night. The event was hosted by Dani Fohrler and ended with a brilliant performance by Bernese musician Müslüm.

Master of Swiss Web 2013: SRF.ch best website of the year

For this year's Master, the expert jury, the readers of Netzwoche and the audience at yesterday's event (one third each) chose the new SRF Swiss Radio and Television website as the winner. According to the organizers, SRF.ch presents the entire radio and television offering in an attractive multimedia format. Visitors will find videos, audio, text and image contributions on their favorite topics. Interactivity is also a top priority - for example with an attractive social view. Navigation through the wide range of content is simple and intuitive. It is clear to visitors to the site where they are at all times. The additional information is not intrusive, but very useful. SRF.ch is also technically impressive across the board. In addition to the Master Award, the web project also won the "Usability" category.

"Graubünden - Webwandern", a project by Jung von Matt/Limmat, came second in the master's poll. The agency also won the "Creation" and "Digital Branding Campaigns" categories with the virtual hiking option.

Raptus also secured two golden buoys with the two web projects for Greenpeace Switzerland: "Petition for the protection of bees" and "Solar maker". The former was responsible for tens of thousands of signatures to urgently save the bee population. The second website allows users to search for and record rooftops suitable for solar power on the basis of Google maps.

Honorary award 2013 goes to Switch - Vint Cerf holds laudatory speech

The 2013 Honorary Award goes to the Switch Foundation - and thus for the first time not to individuals, but to an organization (Werbewoche.ch reported). The laudatory speech was delivered by one of the world's best-known Internet pioneers, Vint Cerf, via a film recording. Vint Cerf is one of the "fathers of the Internet" and winner of the most prestigious computer science award, the Turing Award. Today he is Vice President and "Chief Internet Evangelist" at Google. In his speech, the laudator emphasized that Switch has been doing an extremely good job for Swiss universities, for the entire Internet and in promoting young talent since it was founded in 1987. Thanks to its high quality, Switzerland has one of the most secure Internet networks in the world. The honorary award was accepted on behalf of Switch by the founder and all previous managing directors of Switch: Bernhard Plattner (founder and first managing director), Peter Gilli (Switch managing director from 1988-1995), Thomas Brunner (managing director from 2001-2012) and Andreas Dudler (managing director since May 2012).

The gold winners in the ten specialist categories

In each of the ten specialist categories, eight to eleven jury members - all top experts in their field - selected the medal winners. A total of ten gold, 25 silver and 36 bronze awards were presented. The complete list of all winners can be found at Bosw.ch/en/hall-of-fame/bestever. (hae)

Overview Gold Winner Best of Swiss Web 2013

Record-breaking, said SWA President Roger Harlacher the number of visitors: around 260 guests attended and eight new members were introduced: Amavita, Arosa Tourism, Barilla, Dr. Oetker, John Lay Electronics, Mazda, Mettler Toledo and Novartis Consumer Health. The SWA under its new director Roland Ehrler is therefore in full swing - and advertising clients are facing major challenges.

The theme of the event makes this clear: it is obvious that media consumption and consumers are changing rapidly and fundamentally. Big-name newspapers are disappearing virtually overnight. At the moment, nobody knows exactly what is going on with television. But what is the alternative? The hype surrounding social media has already given way to a more critical approach - at least as far as its suitability as an advertising medium is concerned. So the question remains: where and how can advertisers get their messages across to men and women in the future? And what form should these messages take?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but trends are emerging in the new digital world. Moderator Patrik millereditor-in-chief of the newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, presented a number of high-caliber media professionals:

Roger de WeckDirector General of SRG, spoke in his presentation "What makes Swiss society tick? A look at our digital country", he discussed the almost ideal opportunities for strengthening direct democracy through digitalization. It is turning the age of communication that has existed since Gutenberg into the age of interaction, in which every member of the Swiss nation of will can communicate their will - to everyone. Switzerland's Alpine myth is only partly about seclusion, but mainly about foresight and the search for contact across the passes. Despite all the differences between the Swiss, there are institutional values that are common to all and create opportunities for integration for everyone. These include the media. Roger De Weck emphasized the responsibility of radio and television to provide credible and comprehensible information and to create and strengthen the trust that is so sought after in times of upheaval. He expressed his thanks for the high level of trust that SRG enjoys far and wide and concluded by promising to justify it at all times.

Sven ReineckeDirector of the Institute of Marketing at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and Patrick Warnking, Country Manager Google Switzerland, recently returned from California and entitled their presentation "Marketing Innovation in Silicon Valley: A Brief Field Report." Gold has always been sought there, but the gold of our time consists of ideas that thrive better and faster in California than anywhere else. "The only chance for many companies is to learn faster than the competition" is the motto of countless companies. Or: "Done is better than perfect." What is astonishing is not only the openness and friendliness within the companies and towards visitors - but also the right granted to everyone to produce flops. Everything is allowed except a lack of ideas. Another special feature is the seamless cooperation between universities and companies in research. Reinecke spoke in particular of Stanford University, whose model of thinking is based on the assumption that problems can be solved better if people from different disciplines work on them.

Patrick Warnking then went on to talk about the visit to Google, where time for inspiration and dialogue is considered time well spent - but he also spoke about the government environment: in the USA, it took a year for self-driving cars to be legalized in three large states. Unimaginable in Europe.

Presented by Teletext and under the motto "Knackeboul raps against prejudices" declared David Lukas Kohler alias Knackeboul, shows in a surprise interlude how rap can be created with simple and perfectly applied means.

This was followed by a roundtable discussion in which the speakers, together with Matthias DangManaging Director of IP Germany, Florian Fels, Head of Publishing Ringier and Roger KuhnManaging Director of Storck Switzerland, discussed and clarified the findings from the presentations. It came as no surprise to anyone that the untenable situation of the lack of TV research results for three months was also discussed. However, Roger de Weck's remark was remarkable: "Swiss television has been facing competition from Germany, France, Italy and Austria for 30 years, which together have a market share of 2/3." And Matthias Dang dryly noted that advertisers are not prepared to pay more for any technology, no matter how modern, unless they can derive greater benefit from it in terms of their customers' attention to the advertising.
 

. SRF did not want to comment on the figures to 20 Minuten.

In the report, 20 Minuten also quotes an insider who points out further inconsistencies in the data: "Why, for example, is TV consumption in Ticino suddenly twice as long as it was in 2012, according to the new figures? Or why, according to the latest figures, time-shifted TV is particularly popular in the French-speaking part of Switzerland?" he wonders. In particular, he doubts the new measurement method, so-called audio matching. The insider: "The system is obviously not able to distinguish whether a viewer watches, for example, 'CSI:Miami' on a private channel, via Zattoo or time-shifted on his set-top box. So viewers are simply assigned to the wrong channels." In addition, there are doubts about the correct urban-rural weighting: "The more heavily the rural population is weighted in the basic population, the better for the public service broadcaster," the insider tells 20 Minuten further. This could be one reason why SRF performs better than the private broadcasters compared to the previous year.

Currently, experts are testing the measurement method (Werbewoche.ch reported). The second hearing on the expert reports with the Federal Office of Communications Bakom, broadcasters and the advertising industry will take place next week.

(Teaser image: Keystone)
 

At the center of the campaign are the "most unusual prizes of all time" according to the press release: experience prizes that are always aimed at several people. In the categories "Adventure," "Romance" and "Totally Crazy," individual prizes are raffled off - from a joint dive into the Mayan sea to a customized fireworks display for the beloved to a personal online video for friends with star aspirations.

The linchpin here is the Promotion website. TV commercials, ads and online lead to this site thanks to behavioral targeting, which has also been optimized for mobile devices. The promotion started on March 18 and will run until June 9, 2013, during which time three monthly prizes, twelve weekly prizes and 84 daily prizes will be given away.

Responsible at Freixenet Alpes: Ivo Gaube (Managing Director), Vanessa Wimpfheimer (Senior Brand Manager). Responsible at Metzgerlehner: Michael Rottmann (Creative Direction), Patrick Meyer (Text/Concept), Janine Aebischer (Art Direction), Annette Vetsch, Katja Kurzweck, Alexander Gyger (Graphics), Silvan Metzger, Mirjam Eberle, Karin Schweizer and Jacqueline Lima (Consulting), Mark Berger (Head Online & Social Media).
 

The two exclusive models will therefore be offered under the new name Red Edition and branded with a specially created logo. Its stylized fire-breathing dragon stands for power, dynamism and beauty and at the same time creates a link to Japan, where it is a very strong positive symbol.

The campaign for the Red Edition focuses on advertisements in newspapers and magazines and can be seen throughout Switzerland.

Responsible at Mazda (Suisse): Matthias Walker (Marketing Director), Anne Thorens (Manager Communication & Event), Nathalie Gantner (Advertising Specialist). Responsible at JWT/Fabrikant: Remy Fabrikant (overall responsibility), Monica Miraldi (Client Service Director), Dino Ceccato, Denise Paluselli (consulting), Mihoko Homma (strategy), Martin Bettler (Creative Director), Inken Rohweder (art direction), Joni Müller, Urs Zwyssig (text), David Guntern (image editing/DTP).

The agency is now communicating for Hornbach Baumarkt Schweiz. In addition to media and press relations for Switzerland, Freicom will also manage specific communication projects, as detailed in a press release.

The renowned Hotel Burg in Oberlech has entrusted Freicom with its entire communications. The mandate includes classic advertising and PR work for the hotel. The St. Gallen agency was also able to secure this mandate following an evaluation process.