The Association Quality in Journalism QuaJou elected Larissa Rhyn and Alexandra Pavlović to the Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting on Thursday evening.

Alexandra Pavlović is Head of Social Media at CH Media and also works as Online Daily Manager, where she is primarily responsible for national and international topics. Previously, she was deputy head of the online editorial department of the St. Galler Tagblatt. She learned her journalistic trade at the local editorial office in Rorschach. She studied popular cultures, journalism and Slavic linguistics in Zurich. She completed her Master's degree in Hamburg at the Hamburg Media School, where she obtained an Executive Master of Arts in Journalism.

"By exchanging ideas with each other, we help to further develop journalism and focus on important trends and topics that affect our industry," says 37-year-old Pavlović, describing her motivation for joining the QuaJou association.

The 31-year-old Larissa Rhyn is head of Tamedia's editorial office for the Swiss parliament and deputy head of the domestic department. Previously, she worked as a parliamentary editor for SRF and the NZZ worked. She started her career in journalism at the Südostschweizwhere she worked as a freelance journalist during her studies. She studied political science in Zurich and Montreal and completed her Master's degree in International Relations at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

"I would like to join the QuaJou board because I think it is important that journalism continues to develop - and that quality remains a key criterion," says Rhyn.

Barbara B. Peter, trainer and podcast producer at Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF. She has been a volunteer board member of the association since 2016 and was its Co-President from 2020 to 2022.

The new ten-member QuaJou Board therefore consists of the Co-Presidium with Fabienne Kinzelmann (Handelszeitung) and Franz Fischlin (self-employed) as well as the board members Urs Bühler (NZZVice President), Marco Schnurrenberger (SRF, Treasurer), Christian Beck (Personal), Silke Fürst (IKMZ), Alexandra Pavlović (CH Media), Eva Pfirter (Keystone-SDA), Larissa Rhyn (Tamedia) and Claudia Schlup (MAZ). Also working for the QuaJou are Valeria Aiello (Administration) and Charlotte Widmaier (Project Officer Journalism Day).

SRF management and quality debate

In the run-up to Thursday's General Assembly, a guided tour of the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF newsroom took place. This was followed by the Q-Club discussion on the topic of "The pressure to save money and time is increasing - what does this mean for journalism?". The panel included Nicole Anliker (Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of Newsroom NZZ), Conny Tovar (Co-Head Media Creation Ringier Media Switzerland) and Tristan Brenn (Editor-in-Chief SRF TV). The Q-Club was moderated by QuaJou board members Urs Bühler and Marco Schnurrenberger.

This meant that representatives from private media companies and the public service sat opposite each other on the podium. Tristan Brenn noted: "There used to be less competition. Everything was nicely organized in boxes: Radio, TV and print. Today, everyone meets online." When asked about making savings, he said that the lemon was slowly being squeezed out: "A public service company like us cannot simply generate additional income. We have to try to position ourselves more efficiently - or, as a last step, cut back on programming."

Ringier has also invested heavily in the newsroom. Conny Tovar said: "The days when we could rely on readers automatically coming back to us are over." On the podium, she expressed her enthusiasm for the opportunities that artificial intelligence now offers in everyday editorial work. Tovar assured the audience that the time gained would be reinvested in journalism.

When asked whether the NZZ Nicole Anliker replied to the question of whether we had a sponsor that never felt the need to make savings there: "For many years, we have also looked at the very small expenditure items." However, there have also been job cuts in the traditional writing departments. Instead, investments have been made in other areas such as visuals and podcasts. "Since 2015, the journalistic area has actually been expanded on balance," says Anliker.

The QuaJou association, founded in 1999 - 25 years ago - sees itself as a quality lobby for the Swiss journalism industry. It leads and accompanies the quality debate and organizes the annual Journalism Day (JourTag) as well as topical discussion rounds (Q-Clubs). Its members mainly come from editorial offices, media companies, media trade unions, professional associations, media science and education.

The UBI approved a corresponding complaint by four votes to three, as was reported in a press release on Thursday.

This referred to an approximately two-minute SRF report on the discontinuation of the criminal proceedings against former Federal Prosecutor Michael Lauber and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, which was broadcast on October 23 last year. In it, a criminal law expert and a political and sports journalist from the South German Newspaper critical of the discontinuation of the proceedings.

In the complaint lodged against this, the federal attorneys responsible for the ruling complain that the German journalist presented as an "expert" makes serious accusations in the article without being able to comment on them.

According to the UBI, there was controversy during the consultation as to whether the disputed statements ("caring protection of functionaries") were serious accusations or permissible criticism of the judiciary.

The UBI is an extra-parliamentary federal commission. Its decisions can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court once the written reasons have been submitted. (SDA)

In order to raise awareness of the benefits of emission-free driving among the customers of its retail partners, BMW Group Switzerland launched the "Joy Electrified Award", in which BMW Group dealers developed their own initiatives to promote electromobility in their region. For the winners, Serviceplan Suisse worked closely with BMW Group Switzerland to design an attractive and activating prize for use in the showroom.

The slot car track, specially designed for the BMW Group, is intended to provide electric driving fun for the whole family. The track is embedded in a landscape created by Aroma Productions, which includes 116 buildings, 87 trees, three rotating wind turbines and photovoltaic systems on roofs and hills. Visitors to the showroom can use the slot cars to recharge their batteries with electric driving pleasure and raise awareness of electromobility.

The slot car track was used in the showrooms of the three winning BMW partners Sepp Fässler, Felix Emmenegger and Hedin Automotive Dielsdorf.

Responsible at the House of Communication Zurich: Carina Kienzle (Art Direction), Kelsang Gope (Text), Thomas Lüber (Creative Direction); Sarah Mager, Sabri Abidi (Account Direction), Andrea Staub, Audrey Isaak (Group Account Direction); Carmen Aebischer (Production Management); Raul Serrat (COO), Nathalie Diethelm (CEO).

The members of Leading Swiss Agencies (LSA) appointed a new Chairman at their meeting on Thursday afternoon at the Amboss Rampe in Zurich. They elected the previous Vice President Andreas Hugi von Furrerhugi as the new President. He succeeds Beat Krebs from the Omnicom Media Group, who has chaired the association for the last four years and will remain on the Board. Andreas Hugi will be supported by the newly elected Vice President Laura Jenny from Agence Trio, who has been a member of the LSA Board since 2022 and represents the members of French-speaking Switzerland.

As the new president, Andreas Hugi wants to further strengthen the proven LSA strategy and position the association as the leading voice of communications agencies. "The LSA wants to focus even more strongly on establishing industry standards: With our Leading Quality Audit or the CMS certification as well as with further standards on ESG topics, we want to further fill the term 'Leading' in our association name with content," explains Hugi. "Anyone who is in the LSA demonstrates proven leadership quality and operational excellence in their agency as well as added value for their clients. We will also do even more to promote the relevance of the communications industry for the economic success of our clients."

The current board members Petra Dreyfus from Wirz, Mark Burow from Dentsu Creative DACH, Pablo Koerfer from Farner, Beat Krebs and Tobias Zehnder from Webrepublic were also confirmed in office.

Matthias Koller is stepping down from the Board after seven years, as are Pam Hügli and Walter Stulzer, who both served on the Board for four years.

Diverse association activities

With the second season of the LSA branded content format "The Perfect Match" the LSA showed how successful relationships between agencies and clients work. Four agency/client couples who work together as equals revealed what makes their relationship special and how their collaboration began.

At LSA Lunch-Time Podcast The LSA agency provided insights into the day-to-day work of the LSA agency and discussed current topics. In the LSA Live Talk customers spoke with the respective LSA agencies about trends and best cases on digital topics.

The LSA also launched a series of seminars on the topic of "Artificial intelligence and machine learning", which was kicked off with a leaders' discussion. These talks and impulse seminars on a wide range of current topics in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland met with great interest among LSA members and were well attended.

The LSA is also involved in various initiatives and projects for young talent. In 2023, for example, the only inter-university competition in Switzerland, the Junior Agency Awardwas held for the third time. In addition, the RealWWZ at the University of Basel invited over 30 Bachelor's and Master's students to find out about work opportunities at communications agencies. This opportunity was also offered to students in Lausanne, who took part in the SAWI forum and visited the LSA presentation. The workshops and events organized by the Young LSA the young and young-at-heart employees of LSA agencies were able to continue their education and network. The boot camp, the one-week intensive basic course for LSA agency newcomers or newcomers, also offered the opportunity to gain an overview of the industry in a short space of time and to acquire the necessary skills to work productively in the agency. Talented creatives or employees in strategic planning and/or consulting have the opportunity to take part in the Ad SchoolThe CAS in Creation and Strategic Planning. This is recognized by the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich and developed and implemented by the LSA in collaboration with the ADC.

Further information and all the activities of Leading Swiss Agencies can be found in the current annual report 2023 to find.

The Suttero brand stands for traditional Swiss craftsmanship paired with innovation and sustainable production from Switzerland. "We are delighted to be able to accompany this traditional Swiss company in our creative way on social media and to always feel the support and openness of the marketing team at Ernst Sutter AG - we really appreciate that," says Miriam Beck, Social Media Manager at Truestory.

After initial strategy planning and the creation of a visual framework, Truestory now designs and implements the content plans for social media on a monthly basis. "Conveying Suttero's brand values in moving images, animations or stills on Facebook and Instagram in a platform-appropriate way is at the forefront of our work. Another focus is on engaging the community and providing inspiration in the food sector," Beck continues.

Content opportunities include engagements at events in Eastern Switzerland such as Olma and OFFA, sponsoring activities, recipe suggestions, Competitions or sustainability issues.

Responsible at Ernst Sutter: Katja Roth (Suttero brand manager), Michael Sedda (overall responsibility for marketing). Responsible at Truestory: Norbert Rieger (Project Management & CD), Miriam Beck (Social Media).

For Lateltin's two beverage brands, Jsotta and Ginuin, the Bern-based agency has implemented a new image including communication measures.

Jsotta is made exclusively from Swiss wines and hand-picked Swiss herbs. The recipe for success for the Vermouth and its various product alternatives is "innovative strength, quality and a feel for trends". In keeping with this, a fresh, modern branding was developed to present the brand accordingly.

Ginuine stands for genuine, honest gin from Switzerland and was launched a few years ago by Lateltin. The range is complemented by the non-alcoholic version G'nuine Zero. In keeping with this contemporary drink, Bold has also created a brand identity that aptly showcases the unadulterated character of G'nuine Zero.

In the campaigns for Jsotta and G'nuine Zero, Bold relies on a diverse communication strategy to anchor the brands in the minds of consumers with fresh looks. The looks are intended to reflect both Lateltin's tradition and innovative strength. The key visuals and commercials for both drinks can be seen on a wide range of posters, DOOH, print and online media from May.

Responsible at Lateltin: Michaela Berger (Brand Manager). Responsible agency & production: Bold, Studio Canapé (Oliver Schmocker). Foodstylist: Nom-nom food studio.

With its importance as a transportation hub and the associated flair of internationality and adventure, Zurich Airport is well known to the entire Swiss population. However, the airport is still little known for its non-aviation offering.

With a 360-degree campaign, the agency Jim & Jim wants to strengthen the airport's image as a destination for gastronomy, shopping and leisure and anchor it as a love destination among the Swiss population. The campaign aims to focus on the diversity and attractiveness of the airport and actively involve visitors on site.

Cross-media awareness campaign

The focus of the assignment was on the development and implementation of a cross-media awareness campaign, including the activation of visitors on site at Zurich Airport. With the newly developed campaign claim "Everything. And even more." was developed to highlight the airport's diverse range of services. The campaign was implemented in German and English.

Broad spectrum of content

An eight-part video series was also produced to highlight the airport's various offers and invite the target group to discover them. In addition, a mixed video was created with all partners to emphasize the diversity of the offer.

The moving image campaign is accompanied by eight key visuals and prepared in various formats for social channels, online ads, digital steles and posters. A specific video was produced for the ten-metre-wide digital widescreen in the passage to the Circle.

The campaign is rounded off by an AI activation in Airport Shopping. Visitors have the opportunity to create a digital travel diary. Artificial intelligence is used to generate five images based on a photo booth picture, which visitors can then stage at different destinations.

Responsible at Zurich Airport: Mevina Studer, Salome Räber, Erich Brändle. Responsible at Jim & Jim: Andrin Buchli (overall direction), Bianca Stofer, Fabio Emch, Melanie Luu, Andrin Buchli, Kelly Nicole, Tabea Schlauri, Ann-Christine Lindner (idea and concept), Matthias Kappeler (DOP), Gidon Wessner (AC), Andrin Buchli, Ann-Christine Lindner (On-Set Prod.), Bianca Stofer (Director), Chiara Hess (Runner and Social), Patrik Lindén (Photography), Aurelio Ghirardelli (Gaffer), Julia Jauner, Laura Moser (Styling and Hair & Makeup), Bianca Stofer, Gidon Wessner (Post), Simon Hardegger (Color Grading).

Being close to people and authentic stories have always been an important part of his television work, Hartmann was quoted as saying in a statement from Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF on Thursday. Before moving to CH Media in 2020, Hartmann had already hosted various formats on SRF since 2005, including "SRF bi de Lüt".

Hartmann has worked as a presenter and co-head of TV productions at CH Media for the past four years. The 51-year-old will make his last appearance as part of the third season of "Masterchef Schweiz", which he is hosting himself. He looks back on an intensive and instructive time, according to a CH Media communiqué also issued on Thursday.

As presenter of "Happy Day", Hartmann succeeds Röbi Koller, who is taking his leave after forty years as a presenter. During his career, he has hosted various formats such as "Karussell", "Quer" and "Club", according to SRF. Since its first broadcast in 2007, Koller has been the face of "Happy Day" and guided the audience through 86 editions. (SDA/swi)

So-called rabbit hole effects are particularly feared. This refers to getting so deeply lost in a topic that you can no longer find your way out - similar to the main character in the story Alice in Wonderland getting lost down a rabbit hole. Algorithms - simply put, instructions written by humans for computers - can theoretically recognize such behavioral patterns and exploit them to encourage users to spend more time on a platform.

A new EU law on digital services (DSA) obliges online platforms to provide special protection for minors, among other things. It prohibits targeting them with advertising based on personal data. In addition, risks that exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior must be assessed and mitigated.

The Commission has doubts that Meta sufficiently complies with these rules for the protection of minors. The company's age control methods are also a cause for concern. These may not be effective.

The commission now wants to gather further evidence, for example through interviews. With the initiation of the proceedings, only a suspicion is being examined for the time being, the result has not yet been determined.

The Commission had already initiated proceedings against Meta at the end of April (Werbewoche.ch reported). This concerns the suspicion that the Group has not complied with the DSA when dealing with political advertising. This is because the law not only requires platforms to comply with stricter rules for the protection of minors, but also to take faster and stricter action than before against illegal content such as hate and hate speech online. Otherwise they could face hefty fines. In principle, large services such as Facebook or Tiktok have to follow more rules than small ones.

Proceedings are already underway against the online platform TikTok and the short messaging service X (formerly Twitter). TikTok is being investigated as to whether the Chinese company is endangering the mental health of minors with its app version TikTok Lite (Werbewoche.ch reported). X was sent a list of questions following indications of illegal and misleading contributions to the attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, which the company had probably not answered to the satisfaction of the EU Commission. Proceedings were initiated against X in mid-December. (SDA)

Swiss Post connects people. In the past and today. At least that is its claim and mission. The exhibition in Chur explores these different aspects of transmission and exchange. Social processes are to be reflected "in a world that has become fragile", the museum wrote on Thursday.

To this end, works of art were brought together in an associative sequence: works from the Swiss Post collection and those from the museum collection were juxtaposed. Since a federal decree to promote Swiss art and an ordinance of 1924, Swiss Post has collected over 450 works in 100 years. It also sponsored events for artists in Switzerland and was committed to art in architecture.

No postal exhibition without stamps

But art can also be more low-threshold. The postage stamp, the smallest format of a work of art, is also included in the exhibition. Over the past 100 years, Swiss Post has repeatedly commissioned artists to design stamps.

Campaigns were also launched using special stamps. Such as the "Stop AIDS" campaign in 1994, for which Niki de Saint Phalle designed a stamp. Her original design can now be seen in Chur.

During the three months of the exhibition in Chur, the various services provided by Swiss Post will be on display in nine cabinet rooms. Dialogue is the common thread running through the exhibition - whether it's about art on buildings, postcards or Postbus travel.

Diana Pavlicek, Head of Art Engagement at Swiss Post, was quoted in a press release as saying that Chur was chosen as the starting point for the exhibition series thanks to the linguistic diversity of the canton of Graubünden and its geographical location with its historically significant connections across the Alps. "Fragile. The Swiss Post Art Collection" is on display at the Bündner Kunstmuseum until August 25. The next exhibition will open in Bellinzona on September 13. (SDA)

With the claim "Celebrating Expectionality", the Dolder Grand is celebrating its 125th anniversary and also wants to manifest its role as a Swiss hotel icon. The campaign is intended to emphasize that the Dolder Grand is still a meeting place for international clientele who "appreciate the unique hospitality, the unique ambience and the unconventional in a special location", the hotel writes in a press release.

The Charles Blunier agency, which was already responsible for the rebranding of the hotel in 2019, has worked with the Dolder Grand's marketing department and General Manager Markus Granelli to develop a multi-faceted communication concept designed to attract attention from guests and within the industry.

The core of the communication strategy is an international OOH campaign that works with different wordings such as "Hollywood stars stay here", "Fashion designers stay here" or "Royals stay here". The layout is kept in a strict black and white typography and dispenses with both a motif and a logo or any other reference to the sender. Only a prominent QR code provides information about who is behind the campaign.

The aim of the campaign is to arouse the curiosity of viewers simply through the wordings and the otherwise anonymous design idea. The QR scan leads to the Dolder Grand website, which provides an insight into the "Guest Book", a tribute to forgotten moments and stories from the Belle Epoque to the 21st century.

Following the same idea as the OOH campaign, the subjects will be displayed in the form of print ads in well-known travel and lifestyle titles as well as online ads. The focus of the anniversary communication will include collaboration with the German-language edition of the Vogue. In addition to the traditional advertisements and online content, a joint event will be held in autumn 2024 to mark the anniversary. The campaign idea and additional content worlds will also be played out on social media to mark the 125th anniversary of the Zurich luxury resort.

Eichhof served free beer as part of Swiss Beer Day. To draw attention to the campaign, the Lucerne water tower was equipped with a gigantic beer can. The can is a faux out-of-home advertising stunt. The video was recorded in such a way that it appears to have been filmed by a passer-by to increase credibility.

Eichhof's idea was to surprise the people of Lucerne and invite them to raise a glass to their city. In order to reach a specific local target group, the post was shared by various microinfluencers and the "szene_isch.luzern" platform. The following day, "szene_isch.luzern" revealed that this was a CGI campaign. In total, over 100,000 organic impressions and 2,500 engagements were achieved on Instagram.

Responsible at Eichhof: Lara Rohrer (Group Brand Manager), Remo Viceré (Brand Manager). Responsible agencies: Hofmarschall Zurich, Monami Zurich (Nik Kottmann, 3D and motion designer; Luis Balzer, art director).