Sunrise announced Wednesday that it has signed a binding agreement to buy UPC Switzerland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Global. The price: CHF 6.4 billion.

UPC Switzerland is the leading cable network operator in Switzerland with access to 2.3 million households. The company owns a future-proof, Switzerland-wide cable network of a high technical standard.

With the purchase, Sunrise also assumes outstanding debts of the UPC Group in the amount of CHF 3.6 billion. Sunrise will finance the remaining CHF 2.7 billion for the purchase price by issuing a rights issue of CHF 4.1 billion.

The new company will continue to bear the name Sunrise. The aim is to become the best Swiss telecommunications company for customers, employees and shareholders, Sunrise wrote on Wednesday evening. The goal of the new company is to gain market share through quality, innovation and competitive pricing. The merged group will be better positioned to compete with direct benefits for the Swiss economy and consumers.

Remarkable: Just one year ago there were rumors that the UPC Group wanted to swallow Sunrise (Werbewoche.ch reported). This would have made UPC the number two in the Swiss telecoms market at a stroke. Now the company is being integrated into Sunrise.

Commenting on the transaction, Olaf Swantee, CEO of Sunrise, said: "Today's announcement is an important milestone for Sunrise, our customers, employees and shareholders. Together with UPC Switzerland, we will create a stronger and truly convergent challenger as well as significant value for our shareholders. We will accelerate innovation and improve the customer experience, based on the scale of the new company and the outstanding next generation network infrastructure. We have conducted a comprehensive due diligence process that gives us high confidence that we can realize the synergies. We are excited about the prospects of the combined company."

Peter Kurer, Chairman of Sunrise, added: "We have full confidence in management's ability to smoothly integrate UPC Switzerland and gain significant synergies from the merger, continue to deliver strong financial results and reward our shareholders for their support."

UPC CEO Severina Pascu on the acquisition: "The agreement reached today creates a new, fully converged national challenger in the Swiss market." And Eric Veter, Chairman of the Board of UPC Switzerland: "The coming together of the two companies now creates a unique provider in the communications and entertainment industry."  (hae)

The merger is subject to approval by the Competition Commission (Comco). Approval is expected in the course of 2019.

The handover will take place at the end of February. Berther has been with Somedia for over 30 years in various roles and has now decided to take a six-month sabbatical in the spring to spend with his family. After this time out, Berther will return to the Chur-based media company as a senior consultant at Viaduct on September 1, 2019. Together with agency head Christian Ruppanner, he is to further develop the business of the integrated marketing and communications agency.

Ralf Seelig was Berther's previous deputy. He is now responsible for magazine and book publishing, the Obersee Nachrichten and the digital gazette solution DIAM. He succeeds Berther as of March 1.

Meier joined Furrerhugi in August 2014. His work focuses on public affairs management for trade associations as well as election and referendum campaigns. At Furrerhugi, he is also intensively involved in the future field of digital public affairs. Before joining Furrerhugi, Thomas Meier was head of communications for the social affairs department of the city of Zurich.

As a partner of Furrerhugi, Thomas Meier will work in particular on establishing communications mandates in the city and canton of Zurich at the interface between politics and business. Furrerhugi. is an owner-managed communications agency with offices in Bern, Zurich, Fribourg, Lausanne, Lugano and Brussels.

PubliBike’s rental bikes and e-bikes are equipped with a front basket that displays an advertising poster. PubliBike and VBZ TrafficMedia have signed a contract to market these advertising spaces for the «Züri Velo» network. According to a press release, this offering perfectly complements VBZ TrafficMedia’s range of public transportation advertising in the city of Zurich. The minimum order is 30 bikes, and the minimum booking period is three months. By the end of March 2019, 200 bookable bikes will be in service; starting in April, 300; and by the end of 2019, 400.

VBZ TrafficMedia markets advertising space on and inside trams and buses for the Zurich Public Transportation Authority. The offerings include hanging signs, window decals, roof, side, and rear advertising, full-body tram wraps, etc. PubliBike is a subsidiary of PostAuto and is currently the largest bike-sharing company in Switzerland. Operations in Zurich began in April 2018. Since then, the fleet of bicycles and e-bikes has been continuously expanded.

They are expected to decide on the corresponding revision of the advertising regulations in May 2020, as the municipal council announced on Wednesday. With the new provision, it wants to ensure "that the bilingualism practised in the city of Biel/Bienne is also respected in the area of advertising".

The completely revised complaints regulations bring further innovations. The draft will now first go to the cantonal preliminary review, after which it will be made public. (red/SDA)

Last year, WEMF was forced to change the methodology of its readership research "MACH Basic" for cost-saving reasons. Among other things, the researchers want to reduce the annual number of interviews from the current 19,000 to 15,000 in future. In connection with this, the WEMF already changed the survey period for the readership data in its fall 2018 publication. For the first time, the reach of all titles was published on the basis of the last four semesters instead of the previous two semesters. According to WEMF calculations, this increased the reach of the titles by an average of 2%. However, individual newspapers and magazines recorded "reader gains" of up to 8 percent through no fault of their own.

The two associations SWA and LSA did not agree with this doubling of the survey period for a majority of the MACH Basic publications surveyed. For smaller newspapers and magazines with circulations of less than 20,000 copies, the readership figures had long been based on two years. This exception was accepted by the advertising market, all the more so as the readership figures for smaller titles change only slightly from year to year.

However, advertisers are still dependent on up-to-date usage information from all media! With this in mind, several discussions have taken place with the WEMF and other stakeholders in recent weeks. SWA and LSA are now pleased that a compromise has been found. From this year onwards, WEMF will continue to calculate and report reach on the basis of a survey year for titles in the "Daily press 1" category and for titles with a circulation of over 50,000 copies in the "Sunday press", "General interest" and "Consumer press" categories. According to WEMF, this is statistically justifiable even with the planned reduction in interviews.

With this solution, the advertising market will continue to receive annual readership figures for the 50 or so most important newspapers and magazines and WEMF can still save on interview costs. This means that advertising clients and agencies can continue to plan their campaigns on the basis of current readership data. The SWA and LSA remain in close contact with the WEMF and welcome further steps in media research that demonstrate the efficiency of print advertising.

In the age of digital transformation, both internal and external communication play a key role in companies. After all, knowledge management is now a decisive factor for competitiveness even more than production management. This book provides those responsible in companies with the know-how to understand and make excellent use of digital media as a means of communication with internal and external communication partners.

In their contributions, the authors shed light on digital transformation for various management areas in the company: Project Management, Reputation and Marketing Communications, Value Chain Management and Human Resources Management. While digital networking makes coordination in project management much easier, as employees do not have to be on site, the possibilities of the Internet with social networks and platforms are revolutionizing marketing communication. Not only does the reach of marketing activities increase enormously, for example through processes such as seeding, but the targeting of activities can also be increased through search engine optimization (SEO) or content marketing.

In value chain management, communication via digital channels can, above all, optimize processes and improve access to information. HR managers can optimize their recruiting by relying on online video recruiting, for example. Electronic management of personnel files also offers optimization potential. Topics include, for example: connected commerce, performance marketing, mobile marketing, newsletter marketing, seeding, affiliate marketing, SEA or digital HR.

Theoretically sound and always close to practice, the authors present approaches with which digital communication in companies can be designed not only in line with the times, but also effectively. A book for those responsible in companies who want to further develop their management and rely on the possibilities of digital communication to do so.

Digital business management Communication strategies for excellent management

Editors: Prof. Dr. Anabel Ternès, Marco Englert

Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Print ISBN: 978-3-658-23052-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-658-23053-1

Head of degree program Stefan Vogler paid tribute to the successful year. The guest speaker was Philomena Schwab, who was voted one of the "30 best under 30" in the field of technology by Forbes.

Once again, a group of students has completed the CAS Marketing Communications, and with particular success. "I was able to present 27 highly committed graduates with their certificates and am proud of them and their achievements, which they achieved alongside a demanding job. Many alumni keep telling me that this CAS was a career booster," says course director Stefan Vogler.

Guest speaker Philomena Schwab provided the study group with a final input as part of this CAS. The game designer grew up in Schwamendingen, completed a Master's degree in Game Design at the ZHdK and published her survival computer game "Niche" shortly after graduating. This sold over 100,000 copies. In 2017, business magazine Forbes named Philomena Schwab one of the "best 30 under 30" in the field of technology.

In her keynote speech, she gave the audience a refreshing insight into the topic of game design in Switzerland. She pointed out that games should not be underestimated economically - they generate more revenue worldwide than films - and that games are also being developed in Switzerland. The number of studios developing games in Switzerland has increased significantly. There are currently around 80 studios, twice as many as two years ago. She used the example of her game "Niche" to illustrate how a game is developed. Even if her successful formula of "idea - crowdfunding - early access - full launch" sounds simple, the effort behind it should not be underestimated. Above all, it became clear that this is someone who is passionate about games and their development, or as she says herself: "It's the joy of creating and the variety that drives me."

Afterwards, course director Vogler recognized the diverse and interesting certificate theses, which ranged from "Integrated marketing communication in a digital age using the example of the luxury watch brand H. Moser & Cie" to "Stationary vs. online distribution channel using the example of Fitnessshop24" and "Relevance and use of audio content using the example of SBB". Christa Weidmann, who works at Migros Genossenschaftsbund, was awarded the prize. She not only wrote the best paper, which dealt with "Brand identity and brand positioning of customer cards using the example of the (Migros) Cumulus card", but also achieved the best overall result. Weidmann, who has now completed the last CAS on the way to her MAS in Business Communications, is satisfied: "I was able to benefit greatly from this very practice-oriented CAS; fresh input from competent lecturers and great fellow students to question and optimize long-established processes and methods in everyday work."

A look at the lecturers' evaluations shows: Lennart Hintz, who taught Media Planning and achieved the maximum number of points, was extremely popular with the students. He is the second person after Dr. Karin Jeker Weber to receive top marks from the students. Unfortunately, he was unable to accept the trophy in person due to illness.

However, according to Switzerland Tourism, the current recovery is just a first step on the way back to the strong years. The industry association announced on Tuesday at its annual media conference that 43 percent of hotel overnight stays from Europe were still missing in the Swiss mountain region compared to 2008. In recent years, Swiss tourism has suffered in particular from the strong Swiss franc, which has made vacations in Switzerland more expensive for Europeans.

However, 2017 had already seen a brilliant recovery, with overnight stays approaching the record years of 1990 and 2008 for the first time. However, the Alpine region is not yet "out of the woods". In the meantime, the guest mix has changed and with it the destinations visited within Switzerland. Tourism regions such as Graubünden, Ticino and Valais have lost ground in the last ten years, while Zurich and Geneva have made gains.
 

In terms of the origin of guests, the USA has now become the second most important foreign market for Swiss tourism after Germany. In 2018 alone, Americans accounted for well over 2 million overnight stays in Switzerland - an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year. But Asian guests are also increasingly flocking to Switzerland.

More vacation guests are also coming from Europe again: Germany and the UK in particular have grown significantly, wrote Switzerland Tourism. The industry association is optimistic for 2019. It expects the positive trend from Europe to continue. In addition, the driving forces of India, China, the USA and Australia are also expected to pick up again in 2019.

In any case, industry members have already reported good prospects for the upcoming sports vacations. Perfect winter conditions had already prevailed over the festive period. And now the sports vacations are also expected to see an increase of over 4%.

However, Switzerland Tourism emphasizes that "massive" marketing efforts are still needed. The industry association would like more money from the federal government for this. The Federal Council has proposed to parliament that Switzerland Tourism be supported with CHF 55 million annually during the next legislative period. The industry wants to convince parliament to increase this amount to 60 million. The federal government contributes around 56 percent of the association's budget. (SDA)

The Canadian-British dual citizen Emily Engkent, also known from the watson success format "Emily National," is the new head of video at Watson as of May 1. The 34-year-old trained TV journalist succeeds Lya Saxer, who is leaving Watson at her own request to devote herself to her own projects, first and foremost the live late-night format "Late Life.

Engkent learned the TV craft at CTV in Toronto and has lived in Switzerland since 2011, where she first developed studio and web TV formats at Joiz and then at watson and led them to success. Engkent not only produces watson's "Wein doch!" sign, in which watson employees have to get drunk and complain under her supervision. With her own format "Emily National," she also holds up a socially critical mirror to her host country in a unique blend of irony, charm and more than passable Swiss German.

"I am very happy that with Emily Engkent we were able to win the internal candidate for the job, who has also represented Watson and our video unit with her person significantly to the outside. Just like her predecessor Lya Saxer, she is the most original, intelligent and technically skilled professional in this field in Switzerland," Watson editor-in-chief Maurice Thiriet was quoted as saying in a statement.

Hotels and health resorts in Graubünden registered 3,122,451 overnight stays by guests from Switzerland. This was 4.7 percent more than in the previous year and more than ever before, reported the marketing organization Graubünden Ferien (GRF) based on the overnight stay figures published on Tuesday by the Federal Office of Statistics.
The previous peak in overnight stays by vacationers from Switzerland was reached in 2008. At that time, 3,101,202 overnight stays were recorded.

The total number of overnight stays developed positively last year from a tourism perspective. With a total of 5,132,212 overnight stays, Graubünden recorded an increase of 5.7 percent compared to the previous year. The Swiss average was an increase of 3.8 percent. The very important guest segment of holidaymakers from Germany also provided good figures. These tourists came back, with overnight stays soaring by 7.9 percent to 841,149.

He is very pleased with the result and is really proud of the industry, GRF Director Martin Vincenz is quoted as saying in the press release. However, Vincenz still sees "room for improvement. Especially guests from the distant markets have been given too little attention so far. For this reason, the industry is intensifying its marketing activities in the Gulf States, China and the USA. (SDA)
 

Both awards are endowed with 5000 Swiss francs each and will be officially presented at the M4music award show on March 16 in Zurich. A total of 227 artists submitted their music videos for the "Best Swiss Video Clip" 2019. Among the 16 clips nominated for the audience award were Ay Wing, Autisti, Grégoire Poget, Meimuna, Moes Anthill, Pablo Nouvelle, Suicide Salmon, Tinguely dä Chnächt, Tompaul and Zeal & Ardor (two clips). The five music videos of ALL XS, Fabe Gryphin, Puts Marie, Too Mad and Trampeltier of Love were additionally nominated for the jury award.
 
In 2019, the jury prize goes to "Catalan Heat" by the Biel band Puts Marie and to director Simon Krebs, who lives and works in Basel and in Berlin. Laurence Desarzens, director of the HEMU-Flon School of Music in Lausanne, summarizes the jury's decision: "The video clip Catalan Heat convinces with the calm, aesthetic images of filmmaker Simon Krebs. They form a radical visual statement and contrast with the energetic song. The access to the childhood memories in Barcelona of Max Usata, lyricist and singer of Puts Marie, is not obvious in this clip, but emotional. Music and image thus combine to form an impressive whole."

The audience award goes to the St. Gallen rock duo Too Mad and the three directors Frederic Siegel, Kilian Vilim and Etienne Mory for their animated clip "Mind Invaders". The audience award was determined by online voting on the Mx3 platform.

The award ceremony will take place at the award show of m4music, the pop music festival of the Migros Culture Percentage, on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at 7 p.m. in Zurich's Schiffbau.