Total operating income fell to CHF 231.3 million due to the sale of the former NZZ regional media companies, as the publisher announced on Thursday. These were transferred to the CH Media joint venture together with the activities of AZ Medien. Adjusted for divestments, total operating income increased by 1 percent.

As the number of subscribers rose by 7% to 166,000, reader market revenue also increased by 2%. While print sales in the advertising market continued to decline in 2019, the digital advertising market increased.

Lower operating result

The operating result EBIT fell by CHF 3.3 million to CHF 17.5 million in 2019, mainly due to the decline in the advertising market. The EBIT margin increased from 5.4 percent to 7.6 percent.

The financial result rose by CHF 2.6 million to CHF 3.0 million. This results in a Group result of CHF 18.4 million, which is CHF 0.4 million below the previous year. Shareholders are to receive an unchanged dividend of CHF 200 per share.

2019 was characterized by the implementation of the strategy. The media group now wants to continue to focus clearly on quality journalism in order to grow further in the user market. "With an increase in the number of subscribers of around 7 percent at the end of 2019, we are on the right track in this regard," Group CEO Felix Graf is quoted as saying in the press release. (SDA)

Peter Schaumlechner (left) is the new sole CEO of the Impuls Media Group. His brother Patrick Schaumlechner (right) is leaving the company.

Patrick Schaumlechner, currently Co-CEO of the Impuls Media Group, has decided to retire from the film industry after 33 years and leave the Impuls Media Group at the end of March 2020. With immediate effect, he will devote himself fully to his second mainstay in the sports business.

Together with his twin brother Peter Schaumlechner, he has built up Impuls Media Group, one of the leading Swiss companies in film marketing. Over the past three decades, they have shaped the national film industry with successful marketing campaigns such as "Achtung, Fertig, Charlie", "Grounding", "Heidi" and the "Hunger Games" franchise. In January 2019, they sold their majority shareholding to CH Media. Since then, Patrick Schaumlechner has worked part-time for CH Media alongside his brother as Co-CEO of the Impuls Media Group.

Peter Schaumlechner will continue to lead the Impuls Media Group as sole CEO from April 2020 and in this role will continue to report to Roger Elsener, Managing Director Entertainment.
 

Life goes on: the coronavirus crisis postponed this year's award ceremony The 40th edition of the Zurich Journalism Prize ZJP will be held on September 8, 2020 at the Kaufleuten in Zurich and will be dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the ZJP.

Hans-Peter Nehmer, who had taken over the function of president since the beginning of the year, was confirmed in office. The members also appointed Alice Chalupny, Head of Corporate Communications at Mobiliar, as a new member of the HarbourClub Board.

Hans-Peter Nehmer, Head of Corporate Communications, Allianz Switzerland, was confirmed as President by the members of the HarbourClub. He has held this position since the beginning of the year (Werbewoche.ch reported). He succeeds Dominique Morel, who as of June 1 Partner at Boldt, the agency for strategy, communication and transformation, thus leaving the HarbourClub. His position on the board has now also been filled. The members elected Alice Chalupny, Head of Corporate Communications at Mobiliar, as a new member of the board.

Alice Chalupny, born in 1979, has been Head of Corporate Communications at the Mobiliar insurance company since June 1, 2019. She previously held the same position at Fenaco Genossenschaft, which is headquartered in Bern. Until 2014, Alice Chalupny worked as a journalist for various media houses, including Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz and Tamedia, most recently as head of business at SonntagsZeitung. She holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Zurich and a CAS in communication and management from the University of St. Gallen.

In the future, the board of directors of the HarbourClub will be composed as follows:

• Hans-Peter Nehmer (President), Allianz
• Larissa Alghisi, Julius Baer
• Alice Chalupny, the Mobiliar
• Edi Estermann, SRG/SSR
• Myriam Käser, Skyguide
• Salomé Ramseier, Hoerbiger
• Roman Sidler, Geberit

In view of the special circumstances and the measures adopted by the Federal Council to restrict the coronavirus, the BPRG held this year's general meeting by video conference (Werbewoche.ch reported). The online general meeting was limited to dealing with the formal agenda items. In his brief review of the year, outgoing President Cla Martin Caflisch talked about the past anniversary year. "With twelve events and a total of over 1,000 participants, we celebrated 60 years of the BPRG," said Caflisch.

Two new board members, one new president 

With Mike Petermann (SBB, Passenger Traffic) and Philippe von Bergen (Internet agency Iqual), two new members were elected to the board. While Mike Petermann will primarily be responsible for partnerships, Philippe von Bergen will take over the Finance and Data Management department. He succeeds Peter Widmer, who is leaving the board after four years. The general meeting elected Nik Eugster, who has been a member of the board since 2019, as the new president.

The Board of Directors of the BPRG 2020 is composed as follows:

• Nik Eugster (President, Gecko Communication / Euxtr Enterprises)
• Barbara Meier (Vice President, Klarkom)
• Benjamin Blaser (Vice President and Webmaster, Newsroom Communication)
• Thomas Jauch (Head of BPRG Office, Protection and Rescue Bern)
• Philippe von Bergen (Finance and Member Data, Internet Agency Iqual)
• Claudia Vernocchi (Swiss Association of Master Bakers and Confectioners)
• Marla Eva Moser (Nau media)
• Federica Castellano (Domicil)
• Mike Petermann (SBB, Passenger Traffic)
• Claudio Engeloch (Strategic Advisory Board, Blickpunktnord)

Kif Kef is Israel's Kit Kat and at least as popular there as its Nestlé counterpart is in this country. The name "Kif Kef" is based on two words that together mean fun. The term "Kif" per se is the Hebrew word for "high five.

After Israel's Ministry of Health communicated Corona rules of conduct that include a ban on all handshakes - and high fives - Kif-Kef producer Elite and Saatchi & Saatchi Israel took the initiative with a simple but clever real-time marketing campaign: The first half of the brand name, the "Kif," was unceremoniously removed. The chocolate temporarily renounces its high-five, and the population is expected to do the same.

This means that of all the people sitting in front of the TV or other receiver at the time, just under 70 percent were watching the "Tagesschau". Such figures are usually only achieved by a World Cup soccer final.

In quiet times, the "Tagesschau" makes about 50 percent market share. The special program "Tagesschau spezial," also broadcast on Tuesday, with further information on the Corona crisis, also reached an impressive 960,000 viewers, which corresponds to a market share of 49.3 percent.

"Enormous consternation"

TV editor-in-chief Tristan Brenn described these figures on Wednesday as "extraordinary" when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. This reflects the enormous need for information and the concern of the people.

SRF is increasingly taking on the old "campfire" function again, even apart from purely informational programs. Because the majority of the population's everyday life takes place within their own four walls, SRF has adapted its programming accordingly.

"Zäme dihei"

On Saturday evenings, SRF1 will be broadcasting "Zäme dihei". Sofa concerts and broadcasts into people's homes are intended to provide distraction. Children and young people - or their parents - will be supported by SRF stations in distance learning and leisure activities.

Those who like to watch sports programs will have to be satisfied with less next week. Because there are hardly any events, "Sportaktuell" will be replaced by a much shorter "Sportflash.

Like the other media companies, SRF has also sent most of its employees home to their home offices. So far, this has only had a noticeable impact on programming in eastern Switzerland: At SRF 1 radio, "Regionaljournal Graubünden" will be integrated into "Regionaljournal Ostschweiz" starting this week. This will make it possible to continue to fulfill the information mandate. (SDA)

With the "CH Media 2025" strategy, which was formulated in mid-2019, CH Media intends to focus on the areas of publishing and entertainment in the future. The strategy, which builds on the "Columbus" integration program, requires an adjustment of the organization, which will be completed in stages by October 2020.

In publishing, which currently accounts for around 45 percent of revenues with the editorial paid offers, the focus is primarily on digitization of the offers. The entertainment segment - which accounts for around 35 percent of revenues - is expected to offer new growth opportunities and the possibility of diversification in the medium term due to the continuing rise in demand.

In the course of this, the Operations, Technology & Integration area will be expanded and the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be introduced as of April 1, for which Roland Kühne, previously Head of Operations, Technology & Integration, will be responsible. In addition, the central Digital Division (CDO) will be integrated into the Publishing, Entertainment and COO divisions.

Restructuring and personnel changes

As of the beginning of July 2020, 39-year-old Mathias Meier from Axel Springer will join the Publishing Executive Board as Chief Product Officer. As Head of Product Development Image he was with the Image-Zeitung has played a leading role in a large number of digital initiatives in recent years and brings additional expertise for the digitization of the offerings. Meier studied information technology and design at Lübeck University of Applied Sciences in Germany and spent around 16 years at the Image-Newspaper.

Meier will join the Executive Board of CH Media's Publishing division, together with Pascal Hollenstein, Head of Publishing, and Dietrich Berg, Head of Advertising Market and Scoreboard, as well as Jürg Weber (until September 30, 2020), Head of User Market.

For his part, 62-year-old Jürg Weber will step down from the Publishing Executive Board at the end of September. The deputy CEO is stepping down from the operational management of publishing and the corporate management of CH Media two years after the company was founded, and will take on the role of Senior Advisor to CH Media from October 2020. In this role, he will continue to represent the company in selected projects and mandates.

Weber joined the company in 1997 as managing director of Lucerne Newspaper joined the predecessor company of NZZ Regionalmedien, and from 2009 was responsible for the Media Central Switzerland division on the NZZ Executive Board. At the end of 2014, as Managing Director of NZZ Regionalmedien, he additionally assumed responsibility for the Tagblatt media in eastern Switzerland. Until the launch of the CH Media joint venture in October 2018, he represented NZZ Regionalmedien on the corporate management of the NZZ. At CH Media, Jürg Weber was responsible for the user market in the publishing sector, the trade and consumer magazine sector and book publishing.

His responsibilities in the User Market division will be taken over by Management Board member Dietrich Berg from fall 2020, in addition to the Advertising Market and Scoreboard divisions already managed by him. In future, Roland Kühne will be responsible for the magazines and book publishing.

Following the departures of Executive Board members Peter Neumann (as of April 30, 2020) and Jürg Weber (as of September 30, 2020), CH Media's Executive Board has seven members.

As a symbol, the message in a bottle functions independently of the SOS symbolism as a message of hope and encouragement; the bottle was animated in collaboration with Cartoonbase. It forms the common thread between all measures and platforms of the national campaign: on site, online and offline.

It also connects the individual players in these life stories - the patients, the nursing staff and the other volunteers. And, as Mercy Ships emphasizes, not least the donors who make a decisive contribution to changing people's lives.

The campaign can be seen immediately and also functions as an appeal for donations.

After the festival management announced last Wednesday that they wanted to play it safe and set an alternative date, the festival will now definitely not take place from June 26 to 30 as originally planned. In an official statement, they acknowledge difficult times for the entire community.

"The global situation is dynamic and changing rapidly," says Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions. "We felt it was important to provide clarity as quickly as possible about the festival scheduled for June. We continue to be in close contact with our clients regarding the evolution of our plans."

"Our community is facing unprecedented challenges and collaboration has never been more important," adds Managing Director Simon Cook.

Swiss communications professionals were asked in which three areas AI will be used most frequently in the next few years. 92 PR professionals and executives took part in the survey.

More than half of the respondents are counting on the help of AI in media monitoring: 52 percent believe that in the next few years, software in particular will take over the monitoring of media and social channels. In second place among the areas of application for colleague algorithms is image recognition: 40 percent of PR professionals see great potential in AI-supported tools that automatically analyze images to identify motifs. In third place is topic and trend research: 36 percent of respondents believe that AI will significantly support them in identifying new trends and topics.

The areas of influencer marketing and media relations, on the other hand, will remain primarily in the care of human colleagues in the coming years. Only seven percent of PR professionals believe that their work with influencers will be supported by algorithms in the future. In traditional media work, too, the vast majority of respondents will continue to rely on personal interaction with journalists and the media: Only three percent think that artificial intelligence will be used here in the next few years.

These are the areas of professional communication in which AI will be used most frequently in the next few years, according to the respondents:

1. Media Monitoring 52%
2. Image recognition 40%
3. Topic and trend research 36%
4. Success analysis and evaluation of communication measures 35%
5. Content keywords 29%
6. Content Production 22%
7. Competitive analysis 18%
8. Target group definition 13%
9. Verification 13%
10. Reputation Management 11%
11. Crisis prevention and crisis management 7%
12. Influencer Marketing 7%
13. Media relations 3%

Founded in 2018, the consultancy supports leaders in organizational transformation processes by providing advice at the interface of business strategy, communication and stakeholder management. A strong focus is placed on the balance between performance and sustainable value contribution.

In the age of ecosystems, alliances, platforms and crises, managers are required to come up with creative ideas for business success, employee motivation and holistic stakeholder management. Boldt's clients value the unique combination of strategy, communication and transformation consulting, which pragmatically leads to holistic results. Boldt's expertise in corporate reputation, purpose development, change management, creative services and campaigning is also specifically geared towards digitalization. In the areas of research, data analysis and monitoring, Boldt works closely in a strategic partnership with UNICEPTA.

"Dominique Morel's knowledge of economic and digital contexts is highly attractive for our clients," says Matthias Graf, Founding Partner of Boldt. "Many Swiss-based companies are undergoing extensive change due to digitalization, changing market regulation and rapid innovation cycles. Boldt offers concrete support here, and Dominique's knowledge is a great asset."

Morel spent the last ten years leading marketing, communications and sales at KPMG, where he most recently specialized in reputation management, marketing consulting and customer experience. Under his leadership, KPMG completed the digital marketing transformation and established a number of innovative processes. Previously, he was Managing Partner at a digital agency and a consultant at the Wirz Group. Morel is the co-author of numerous publications on brand and digitalization topics and, as the long-standing president of the renowned HarbourClub, is also a co-initiator of symposia and the #bravenewcommunications project, which anticipate trends in communication.

Dominique Morel says: "My experience and Boldt's forward-looking concept are a perfect match.