Thanks to his professional and political activities, Martin Arnold brings experience and a network in the fields of campaigning, public affairs and lobbying to the Communicators team, as detailed in a press release.

For the past eleven years, Arnold has been Managing Director of the Zurich Cantonal Trade Association, which represents the interests of around 18,000 members. As a member of the SVP cantonal parliamentary group, he was involved in financial policy and chaired the cantonal finance commission from 2007 to 2011. Martin Arnold is a member of the Oberrieden municipal council, which he has chaired since 2006. His political and economic commitments are reflected in his involvement in various committees of energy, pension, education and training institutions.

At Communicators, Arnold will further expand the business areas of consulting and the office for associations, location and real estate marketing as well as political campaign management at cantonal and national level. As a long-standing municipal president, he will also contribute important ideas and experience to Communicators' Public Support division. More and more municipalities are making targeted use of external communications specialists to support both the administration and the political authorities.

In this role, he is responsible for the implementation of strategic guidelines as well as the management and coordination of sales and market activities in the GCO division, as detailed in a press release.

Kaiser has many years of sales and management experience in the graphic arts and paper industries. Before joining Xerox, he was Sales Manager at Birkhäuser+GBC for several years. Prior to that, he was Sales Manager Print at NZZ and Sales Manager Packaging Board at Stora Enso Switzerland. Kaiser holds a degree in Marketing and Sales Management and an Executive MBA in General Management from the Lucerne School of Business.

Alongside Large Enterprise Operations and Channel Partner Operations, Graphic Communications Operations is one of Xerox's three central business units and is responsible for the top accounts in the graphic arts industry. The business units were reorganized last year in order to better respond to customer needs.
 

After falling for the first time in the previous month, Adscreen again recorded a significant increase of 20 index points to 643, according to a Goldbach press release. Not quite as high, but also significant, is the increase in TV by 5 index points to 621 and in electronic media as a whole, which recorded an increase of 4 index points to 619.

The radio media declined slightly, losing one index point to 417, while the Internet and teletext each lost two index points to 633 and 81 respectively. The overall market reached 233 index points in December, which corresponds to a loss of one point compared to the previous month.
 

Mario Poletti completed his studies in constitutional law, modern general history and Swiss history at the University of Bern in 1991, as detailed in a press release. He began his career in journalism at the Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten. In 1993, he set up a press office in Bern and subsequently wrote for newspapers throughout Switzerland. Mario Poletti made his debut at SRF in 1994 - he worked as a reporter and topic planner for "Rundschau" until 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he was a topic planner and member of the editorial board of the news magazine Facts. In 2004, Poletti returned to Swiss radio and television, where he has since worked as chief reporter for "10vor10". On March 1, 2013, he will become head of the "Rundschau" editorial team. He takes over from Dölf Duttweiler, who is managing the editorial team on an interim basis. He will remain in the editorial team.

 

By the time the world's longest tunnel opens in 2016, the Alptransit locomotive will have covered several thousand kilometers. The rolling symbol is intended to raise public awareness of the construction of the first flat railroad through the Alps.It is the second locomotive to advertise the project since 2002, according to a press release. The design, developed by the Blu agency, shows the visionary cross-section of the future tunnel. The message "Flat track through the Alps" shows that the Gotthard Base Tunnel will not only be the longest tunnel in the world but, together with the Ceneri Base Tunnel, will also be the first flat track through the Alps.

Responsible at Alptransit Gotthard: Ambros Zgraggen, Maurus Huwyler. Responsible at Blu Design und Kommunikation, Altdorf/Zurich: Irene Denzler (AD), Claudia Denier, Brigitta Schamberger (graphics).

Christening on November 15, 2012: The new Alptransit locomotive

 

Swiss TXT offers the radio live streaming platform as a service. The majority of SRG radio stations were already migrated on January 21, 2013 - without any loss of performance for users. According to a press release, between 15 and 20 terabytes or around seven years of added listening time of audio content are already being delivered to Internet radio listeners every day. SRG is anticipating strong growth in usage and has decided to switch to an audio live streaming solution from Swiss TXT. It has thus opted for flexible distribution solutions that are operated independently of international CDN providers and bundle the distribution volumes of several media companies.

The company achieves the necessary scalability and availability with distributed delivery via two data centers. This guarantees the reliable delivery of content even during peaks in usage - for example during a Federal Council election or a sporting event. The platform supports all common formats and also allows individual geoblocking of protected content as well as a detailed, clear evaluation of usage on the individual streams.

The majority of SRG radio stations were migrated to the new service on January 21, 2013 - without any loss of performance for users.

 

A portrait ad has a format of 300 x 1050 pixels. According to the press release, creativity is given free rein through the integration of various functions. A portrait ad consists of three parts and each of the three parts can be flexibly combined. For example, with videos, photo galleries, map material, 3D view, games, surveys or text messaging. The user can use all the features within the ad without leaving the website. A portrait ad is 100 percent interactive and ensures greater harmony between content and advertising. Last year, the portrait ad was awarded the "Rising Stars Award" by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Picture: Screenshot NZZ.ch
 

In addition to his current role as Head of Audit Financial Services, Rickert will also assume responsibility for KPMG's market presence vis-à-vis banks.

Philipp Rickert joined KPMG in 1996. Since then, he has worked as a banking expert in the national and international environment and was appointed partner in 2003. In 2011, as Head of Audit Financial Services, he took over the management of KPMG's banking and insurance audit in Switzerland, an area that he has since successfully developed further.

New heads of Financial Services and Insurance

As part of the reorganization of responsibilities in the Financial Services division, KPMG has also appointed Marc Gössi to head the Financial Services division. Gössi, a qualified auditor and partner, has successfully realigned the Management Consulting service group since 2011 and will continue to lead this area in the future. From May 1, 2013, he will be responsible for the overall coordination of market activities for banks, insurance and asset management companies.

The Insurance sector of KPMG Switzerland will be headed by Brian Greig as of May 1, 2013. Greig, a Swiss-Australian dual citizen and partner, has worked for KPMG since 1980. He was until recently Sector Head Insurance of KPMG Australia, a member of the KPMG Global Insurance Leadership team and a member of the Executive Committee and Deputy CEO of KPMG Australia. Brian Greig was responsible for the Swiss insurance market for KPMG between 1999 and 2002.

What began as a publicity stunt by the Spinas Civil Voices agency (Werbewoche.ch reported), developed over time into a supposed question of national security. Not surprisingly, the audience decided to let the Salvation Army represent them at the next ESC. Unfortunately, Swiss television had forgotten to clarify whether a proselytizing, uniformed free church was allowed to participate in the contest at all. For the contest - despite all the friendship between the peoples - has certain conditions and does not want to be misused as an advertising platform. 

The drama took its course: When compromises were sought and the band wanted to perform without a uniform, Emil, the 94-year-old bass player, announced: "I go with uniform or not at all!". And from then on, the Salvation Army greeted us daily from the front pages of the online media. The example of Blick.ch looked something like this: 

Source: Blick.ch

The problem was: The longer the discussion lasted, the less interested the topic became. A large part of the population is of the opinion anyway that Swiss television should finally save itself the annual ESC shame, which was bought at great expense with Billag money. Another part is of the opinion that the song is too boring to get worked up about. In addition, there is the group that appreciates the charitable efforts of the Salvation Army, but still does not necessarily want to be represented by a free church on the European stage.

The bottom line is this: A successful - almost brilliant - campaign. Probably never before anywhere in the world has so much been reported about The Salvation Army as in Switzerland in the last six months. And when the contest is over one day - Switzerland will definitely not return home with zero points this time - we can go back to everyday life.

Thomas Häusermann

 

30 million francs will be allocated to local and regional newspapers, as the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) announced on Wednesday in response to the Federal Council's decision. 143 titles with a total circulation of 134 million copies meet the requirements for discounted delivery by Swiss Post. This results in a reduction of 22 centimes per newspaper copy. The subsidy for the membership and foundation press category is somewhat lower, with 1082 titles currently eligible for subsidies: CHF 20 million is used to subsidize the 124.8 million copies at 15 centimes each.

Fewer beneficiaries

By the deadline in December 2012, not all of the publishers contacted had submitted an application for funding. Further applications are expected to be accepted, according to the press release. In order not to exceed the 20 million available, the Federal Council set the reduction at 15 centimes per copy instead of the calculated 16 centimes. This is because if more were spent, this would have to be compensated for with lower discounts in 2014. The number of supported newspapers has fallen compared to previous years: Without press subsidies, 13 million copies of daily or weekly newspapers, which are delivered free of charge to non-subscribers in regular large print runs, will have to make do.

Fewer publications will be funded in the membership and foundation press category than in 2012. The reason for this is that the Federal Council has now set a minimum length of six A4 pages per publication.

Federal Council wants to abolish discount

The future of this indirect press subsidy is open: The Federal Council would like to do without it altogether to save money. In the dispatch on the 700 million euro savings package, which it submitted to parliament in December, it proposes its abolition from 2015. The national government considers the benefits of indirect press subsidies to be minimal and also speaks of a distortion of competition. Distribution channels other than the postal service and online media would be disadvantaged. There are also demarcation problems with the question of which titles are eligible for subsidies and which are not. However, Parliament is concerned about press subsidies: last summer, it asked the Federal Council for proposals for measures to benefit the press. The Federal Council, for its part, has repeatedly spoken out against direct press subsidies. (SDA)

Teaser image: Keystone
 

To this end, Vizner Borel I Gelati has undergone a complete redesign and revamped its brand image. Now the agency wants to get the ball rolling for the dessert creations from Meilen with a refreshing campaign idea: In a playful way, the ice cream scoop is changed with minimal interventions and presented in a theme-specific way.

According to the press release, the communication package for B2B and B2C includes image and product range brochures, a trade fair presence, ice cream cards, POS material, all online measures including the website, advertisements and POS posters.

Responsible at I Gelati: Marc Renner (Sales Manager Foodservice/Wholesale, Midor), Simone Frei (Head of Communications Wholesale Dept. Industry, Federation of Migros Cooperatives), Nicole Thurnheer (Head of Product Range Development Wholesale Dept. Industry, Federation of Migros Cooperatives), Stefan Eberle (Product Group Manager Ice Cream, Midor). Responsible at Vizner Borel: Lajos Vizner, Guillaume Borel (overall responsibility), John Leuppi (text/concept), Florian Steiner (art direction/concept), Eliane Fischer, Romina Peyer (consulting), Jonas Kuhn (photography), Thomas Signer (food styling).

 

The 59-year-old will take over the newly created position of Director Regional with immediate effect and will be responsible for Publicitas' regional placement business in German-speaking Switzerland, according to a statement. Prior to Publicitas, Rehné Herzig, who holds a Lic. Oec. from the Copenhagen School of Economics, worked as a publishing and advertising market manager for well-known national and international publishing houses. These included Bonnier, Ringier, Egmont-Verlag and Tamedia.

Beat Roeschlin, CEO Publicitas: "With Rehné Herzig, we have been able to gain a seasoned industry expert. He is an important addition to the Publicitas management team and his role is of strategic importance for sharpening our service offering in the regional markets."