The disruption had occurred at around 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, as a Swisscom spokeswoman said in response to a report by local radio station Radio Zürisee. How many e-mail accounts were affected by the nationwide disruption remained unknown. However, only some of the customers were affected.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Swisscom technicians gave the all-clear. Customers were informed by SMS that the specialists had found a solution and that e-mail access was fully available again. Swisscom technicians continued to monitor the situation for the time being. The exact cause of the disruption was not known.

Swisscom was already affected by an Internet breakdown a good two weeks ago. For hours, the offices of numerous major customers such as the media, banks and freight forwarding companies were cut off from the Internet. The cause was a software problem. (SDA)

This is the conclusion of the third and final cycle of the federal government's performance audit of the SRG, the results of which were published by the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) on Thursday. OFCOM conducted the audits on behalf of the Federal Department of the Environment, Energy and Communications (DETEC).

In this last cycle, OFCOM scrutinized human resources, the purchase and procurement of services, and advertising acquisition. It found a high level of professionalism, but also room for improvement.

Recommendations for unification

Although staff development is comprehensive, it is only viewed positively to a limited extent by employees, the report states. In order to improve this assessment, OFCOM recommends that SRG create a holistic personnel development concept and handle training measures in a uniform manner.

With regard to purchasing, OFCOM praises SRG for attaching great importance to the establishment of a national purchasing organization for procurements. Purchasing has achieved increasing financial success in recent years. However, program and production purchasing is not covered by the general procurement guidelines. OFCOM recommends that SRG change this.

Implementation of the recommendations made during the performance audit will be followed up as part of the ordinary financial supervision of SRG, OFCOM writes in a statement.

From strategy to financial reporting

OFCOM had also given SRG high marks in the other two audit cycles. In 2014, the central management processes of corporate governance, strategy, strategy implementation, planning, management by objectives and internal audit were examined. In 2015, OFCOM audited the harmonized cost and performance accounting, financial reporting and real estate management.

Three quarters of SRG's funding comes from license fees. Last year, it received around CHF 1.2 billion in fees. Since the narrow vote on the revised Radio and Television Act (RTVA) in June 2015, discussions about the programming and costs of Swiss television have not ceased. The No Billag initiative to abolish fees is pending. (SDA)

Currently, Apple generally retains 30 percent. In the future, it will only be 15 percent after the first year. When it comes to selling apps, the distribution will remain the same as before, marketing boss Phil Schiller told the technology blog "The Verge" on Wednesday. The change could encourage more providers to switch from one-time sales to a subscription model.
Google wants to follow suit, according to a media report. The Internet company also wants to leave 85 percent of subscription revenues to developers instead of 70 percent - and not just after the first year, but right from the start, the technology blog "Recode" wrote on Thursday night.

Apple's App Store is considered more lucrative for software developers and content providers than Google's Android because iPhone users are more willing to spend money. At the same time, however, Android has a market share of over 80 percent of the smartphone market and iPhones around 15 percent. That, in turn, also makes Android attractive as a platform.

In the future, paid advertising for applications will also appear in the results list when searching in Apple's App Store, Schiller added. The company has accelerated the approval process for new apps. Half of them will be checked within 24 hours and 90 percent after 48 hours.

In the past, it sometimes took a week for an application submitted to Apple to make it into the App Store. (SDA)

After 24 years of journalistic work for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the NZZ am Sonntag, René Zeller has decided to take on a new professional challenge. The current domestic editor and deputy editor-in-chief of the NZZ will become a member of the editorial board and head of federal politics at "Weltwoche." "René Zeller has distinguished himself as a hands-on journalist who researches tenaciously and comments pointedly. I regret his departure and thank him sincerely for his great and long-standing commitment to our newspaper," says NZZ Editor-in-Chief Eric Gujer.

In 1985, René Zeller (1962) completed a traineeship at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and three years later he joined the NZZ editorial team. He began his journalistic career in the Zurich department, moved to the domestic editorial department in 1994 and became head of the federal parliamentary editorial department in Bern in 1999. Zeller was part of the founding team of the NZZ am Sonntag and was the first domestic editor there from 2002. In 2004, he left the NZZ am Sonntag to take over as head of the federal house editorial department at Schweizer Fernsehen. This was followed by a detour into the communications industry until he returned to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 2008 as head of news. In September 2009, he took over as head of the domestic news department there; since the beginning of 2010, he has also been deputy editor-in-chief. Zeller studied history, constitutional law and journalism at the University of Zurich, where he earned his doctorate with a dissertation on Switzerland's internal security.

Coop's brief was to design a family magazine aimed at parents that triggers emotions, impresses with high-quality articles and fits in with Coop's brand world. Yjoo Communications won the pitch with a creative concept based on a simple motto: simply easier.

From conception to realization in three languages

The new Hello Family magazine is published in German, French and Italian. It has a clearer structure and aims to make life a little easier for families with tips, tricks and useful information. At the same time, family-friendly Coop products and services are to generate attention in a staged setting. The five main sections "Welcome", "Cooking & Housekeeping", "On the Move", "Living & Loving" and "Hello Family Club" reflect modern family life and what is needed for it. The mini section "Relax" offers a little relaxation in hectic family life with its mandala to color in.

More proximity thanks to emotional layout

Both content and design language are aimed at parents and grandparents. Emotional images and design elements ensure closeness and authenticity. The color coding of the individual sections supports orientation and at the same time provides warmth. The long recipe section with new recipes from Betty Bossi also appeals with its modern and Instagram-like photo style.

The Hello Family magazine comprises 52 pages and is published twice a year with a print run of around 650,000 copies. It is enclosed with the Coop newspaper (for family recipients) and can be taken home free of charge in larger Coop supermarkets throughout Switzerland. In a further step, the magazine will be published online on Hellofamily.ch prepared.

Responsible at Coop: Markus Graber (project management), Jacqueline Reist (project coordination), Sven Zgraggen (responsible for the Hello Family Club). Responsible at Yjoo: Nina Krucker (concept), Christian Nill (concept and editing), Deborah Paglialunga (project management), Remo Gerisch (art director), Rebecca Gerritsen (graphics).

Basel's Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois combines the esprit and offer of a modern, sophisticated city hotel with an architecturally historically significant house and 300 years of tradition. Wirz Corporate has placed this unique, exciting combination at the center of the hotel brand's further development. The result is a new appearance for the "Hotel of the Year" (Sonntagszeitung Rating 2016), which clearly stands out from the usual image of the upscale hotel class.

The new brand claim sums up the special experience at the five-star superior hotel: "Rich in history, young at heart." The combination of old tradition and young esprit runs as a guiding idea through the appearance: It is reflected, for example, in the high-contrast interplay of the historic rooms and interiors with the reduced, modern graphic style of the brand design, in the unusual and eye-catching color combinations or in the surprisingly staged portraits of the employees in the traditional hotel rooms.
In addition to the strategic-conceptual foundations for revitalizing the brand presence, Wirz Corporate has designed and implemented numerous communication tools and media. These include among others the Website, hotel and seasonal brochures, marketing materials, apparel, stationery and various giveaways.

Around two-thirds of all consumers decide which cheese to buy only before they reach the shelf. So attracting attention is becoming increasingly important not only in advertising but also at the POS - all the more so in view of the growing variety of products on offer.

That's why Appenzeller Käse commissioned its long-standing lead agency Contexta to develop a new, uniform and independent packaging design that meets current nutritional trends such as the call for fresh, regional and naturally produced quality products. It's no wonder, then, that the redesigned packaging centers on two illustrated dairymen, handwritten variety names, and a unified color and naming scheme: all Appenzeller cheese varieties now have the same names as they taste.

The new packaging design is communicated on the one hand with advertisements in retail newspapers, and on the other hand with two TV and online spots featuring the popular Alpine dairymen. For once, they have left their familiar surroundings in idyllic Appenzellerland and are now making sure that Switzerland's spiciest cheese really does end up in consumers' shopping carts in the new packaging - as always without words and with a lot of humor.

Responsible at Appenzeller cheese: Christoph Holenstein (Director), Monika Walser (Head of Marketing and Communications). Responsible agency: Contexta, Bern. Production film: Onfilm (production), Simon Nagel (director), Jan Mettler (DoP), Nicolas Senn (music). Production Photo: Caspar Martig, Claudia Linsi (photo), Süsstrunk & Jericke (photo editing), Ward Schumaker (illustration). Media: Mediaplus, Bern.
 

The device-independent application from E,T&H guides users through the topic with a powerful visual canvas. For example, an interactive questionnaire can be used to call up a checklist with customized action scenarios and send them directly by e-mail. Or discuss a potential analysis with the customer advisor. And, of course, the app always contains the latest information.

The multilingual application "SME payments in transition" is available in the app stores, can be installed on PCs and tablets and can also be accessed on the web. Ideal for use in face-to-face customer meetings or as a networked Information platform with the customer himself.

Responsible at Arizon Sourcing: Markus Beck (Head of BTO), Michael Mäder (Senior Business Analyst). Responsible at E,T&H Werbeagentur: Christian Hacker (conception, consulting), Jean-Marc Demeulemeester, Brigitte Andres (creation), Philip Vivas (digital). Fluxif (3D-Canvas).
 

160 years ago, Schweizerische Kreditanstalt - today's Credit Suisse - was founded by Alfred Escher. It substantially advanced the expansion of the railroad network in Switzerland with new financing options. Alfred Escher was not only the founder of Credit Suisse, but also the driving force behind the Gotthard Railway and the first Gotthard Tunnel - a masterpiece of its time. For Credit Suisse, it was therefore both an honor and an obligation to support "Gottardo 2016" - the opening celebrations of the centennial Gotthard Base Tunnel - as a main partner. The Credit Suisse "Gottardo 2016" Loki will be on the Swiss rail network until the end of 2017.

Responsible at Credit Suisse: Sandra Caviezel, Linda Krajnak (Sponsorship), Anja Herrmann, Claudia Kuhn (Advertising). Responsible at Havas Worldwide Zurich: Frank Bodin (overall responsibility), Folker Wrage (Chief Creative Officer), Denis Schwarz (Art Direction), Davide Schenker (Graphics), Claudia Sigg, Alexandra Hofmänner (Consulting).

Schlager is in - and its stars are spoiled by success. And yet it is precisely these artists who are known for their down-to-earth attitude and their closeness to the audience. As a long-standing representative of the pop pop industry, Francine Jordi knows from her own experience how important this fan-star relationship is.

In "Nur für Dich", Francine Jordi gets to know the biggest fan of a well-known musician and finds out from him why he is so enthusiastic about him and how being a fan manifests itself in everyday life. On the other hand, she accompanies the star during the preparations for his very personal thank-you for his fan. In doing so, it shows the television audience unknown sides of the artist and allows a look behind the facade. The new series also looks back on the star's career and life: How did he achieve this success? When did things not go so well? And which stories also made headlines off the stage? The highlight of each of the four episodes is a surprising encounter between star and fan - and an unforgettable shared experience. SRF 1 will be showing the four-part summer series from July 4 to July 25, 2016, every Monday at 8.05 pm.

Regarding the games of France, Germany and England, Robbie Williams addresses the world with three country-specific short clips. After a hearty sip of espresso, he gives the Romanians no chance against the French, picks the Germans as the winners in the game against the Ukrainians, and only gets into a moral quandary with his home country England. As a gentleman, he skilfully avoids treading on diplomatic ice. Either way, three finalists are one too many. So it seems that Robbie Williams is a better agent on behalf of good taste than a football oracle...

The football snippets from Serviceplan Suisse and Serviceplan Public Relations Suisse will be published in the next few days. And reach five million people around the world thanks to Café Royal's own channels and its agent. A short clip has already been released in the Netherlands for Queen's Day this year, with others for Switzerland, Austria and Australia to follow soon.

Responsible at Delica: Raphael Gugerli (CEO), Aurel Keller (Head of Marketing Intl. and Sales Coffee), Alexandra Schliepe (Head of Marketing Communications Business Unit Coffee), Marcel Berg (Senior Marketing Communications Manager). Responsible at Serviceplan Suisse: Christian Sommer (CD), Dieter Boller (text), Daniel Hesse (AD), Christine Rainford and Sonia Ducu (consulting). Responsible at Serviceplan Suisse Public Relations Suisse: Patricia Schmidt (Consulting). Responsible at Neverest: Jochen Hirt (Production), Maik Schmidt (Director).
 

With this replacement investment in a 16-page web offset press from Manroland, AZ Medien is reaffirming its commitment to its core print business and creating Europe's most advanced press integration in the Swiss midlands with this "Smart Printing 4.0" project, according to the company's statement.

The customer print shop Vogt-Schild Druck has been part of AZ Medien since 2005 and has firmly established itself at the top of its performance class with modern machinery in sheetfed and web offset printing as well as industrial finishing and customized, comprehensive publishing services.