As a full-service telco company, Yallo also needs to have a broad digital presence - especially on social media platforms, where original video formats score best and increase reach. "We want to take our social media content to the next level. In Digital Flow Media, we have found a competent partner to accompany us from the conception to the realization of video content," says Carlotta Patané, Marketing Communications Manager at Yallo.

The two founders of Digital Flow Media, Adriatik Ajvazi and Deny Karagülle, are delighted about the collaboration: "Yallo is an incredibly exciting brand that has grown steadily in recent years, thanks in part to innovative communication. We are proud to support Yallo in expanding its social media strategy and producing the appropriate content."

Two new faces have been specially cast as hosts to guide viewers through the world of Yallo in an entertaining and humorous way. The plan is to produce high-quality video content in the categories of knowledge, entertainment, trends and interviews/surveys.

With around 27,000 employees in 25 countries, the "Europe West" region is a key market for the globally active audit and advisory group EY. The priorities of the new management include driving EY's sustainable growth through integral brand management and expanding the digital ecosystem in marketing.

"Contemporary brand management must be simple and, above all, understandable. This is the only way to achieve strategic and economic goals together," Thomas Sucic comments on his expanded role. "As Head of Brand & Digital Europe, I have the opportunity to merge understandable brand management and digitalization more closely at the European level."

Sucic holds a degree in business administration and has around 20 years of experience in marketing and communications, six of which were in a management role at EY. Before moving to the audit and consulting industry, he worked in various positions at Swiss SMEs.

"More and more women are working in film and advertising in Switzerland - and with increasing success," emphasizes FFAA initiator Derya Tuna. The association wants to encourage women working in film and advertising to network better and stand up together for equal conditions in entrepreneurial competition.

A Study of the Federal Office for Culture from 2021 has shown that women have fewer career opportunities than men in the entire Swiss film industry - from cinema to advertising to television. The study highlighted disadvantages in areas such as wages, training, professional associations, funding and the filling of key positions.

"We are optimistic and fight for equal opportunities in our fascinating industry," says Tuna. The association targets all sectors of the professional advertising and film industry in Switzerland, from commissioned films, commercials and documentaries to TV productions. Its main concerns include the wage discussion and the presence of women in management positions.

The Female Film & Advertising Association FFAA plans a variety of activities such as panel discussions, lectures and information events. In addition, close relationships with national and international partner organizations, agencies, clients and filmmakers will be cultivated.

Tuna and Rindlisbacher on the Board of Directors

Derya Tuna and Laura Rindlisbacher are the two women who head the newly founded association.

Film producer Derya Tuna has been Managing Director and Executive Producer at Tuna Production in Zurich since 2014 and a board member of the Swiss Film Association since 2018.

Laura Rindlisbacher is a documentary film director. She started her career as a production assistant and junior producer at Stories. After a few years, she went into business for herself as a casting director. Her debut as a documentary director with the film "Cargo" was nominated for Best British Short Film at the 2022 London Short Film Festival LSFF.

The 25th ordinary general assembly of Graubünden Ferien GRF took place at Valbella Resort on Wednesday. GRF Vice President Irene Müller-Ryser led through the meeting. GRF President Jürg Schmid was absent due to a routine hip operation. 

In terms of tourism, Graubünden can look back on a successful 2022. Measured in terms of overnight stays in the Graubünden hotel industry, Graubünden recorded its best tourism year since 2010. The return of foreign guests from the euro zone - especially from Germany and the Benelux countries - but also from the USA, Great Britain and the GCC, which compensated for the increased number of trips abroad by Swiss visitors, contributed to this.

Increased focus on sustainability and French-speaking Switzerland

For the future, Vice President Müller-Ryser expressed confidence despite the recent experience in a winter with little snow in 2022/2023. "In the long term, Graubünden is very well positioned," she said. The natural metropolis of the Alps will benefit from the trend toward more responsible travel, she added. In this context, it was announced that a new sustainability project position will start work at GRF from mid-2023. In addition, GRF is now actively working the Romandie local market.

In his welcoming address, Cantonal Government Councillor Marcus Caduff reminded the audience that 30 percent of the value added in Graubünden is generated by tourism. Currently, he called for resilience and adaptability from all tourism players. Agility, perseverance and job attractiveness are also the essential elements for tourism success, the government council said. Caduff expressly thanked the tourism industry for its constant performance.

Enjoy Graubünden "patgific

Regarding GRF's 2022 operating business year, the management of Graubünden Ferien with CEO Martin Vincenz highlighted a number of highlights at the General Meeting. Among the cross-media marketing campaigns that attracted particular attention in 2022 were both the launch of the world's first Mountain air sommeliers with mountain air tasting offers in the destinations as well as the publication of the "patgific" studywhich distinguishes Graubünden as the coziest canton. With the Rail Travel Podcast "Off the Track a new audio format was also tested for the first time.

In the course of the Alpine Circle tourism development program, further offers were launched in 2022 in the area of innovation and experience development. For example, new electric car sharing locations accessible by public transport were created along the Alpine Circle in Graubünden. In addition, a new digital travel companion Graubünden guests curated and relevant experience suggestions for the duration of their stay at a specific location. 

To support the partners and tourism service providers in the canton, the Shared Services division further developed its services. For example, the portfolio was expanded to include services in the area of marketing and pricing automation as well as in the areas of market research and data visualization. In particular, 2022 campaigns were implemented for Bergbahnen Graubünden, Gesundheitstourismus Graubünden and GraubündenVIVA.

More and more energy in the air

Guest speaker at this year's general assembly of Graubünden Ferien was meteorologist Thomas Bucheli. He reviewed the Swiss winter 2022/23 with a persistent high-pressure situation, the lack of snow as well as new temperature records. The summer of 2022 with heat records and drought as well as the summer of 2021 with repeated heavy thunderstorms and heavy rain were also meteorologically exceptional. 

At the same time, temperatures were rising continuously, Bucheli explained, "both winters and summers were getting warmer and warmer." The warming due to the greenhouse effect is undisputed, said the SRF editorial head Meteo.

However, one must be cautious about drawing direct conclusions from climate change. Climate research cannot yet make any reliable statements about changes in global weather patterns. "Despite these uncertainties, the following applies: Weather is converted energy. Global warming brings more and more energy. That's physics," Bucheli said. 

A continuation of the previous weather development is presumably to be expected. What does this mean for tourism in the Grisons? It is important to adapt to the observed and probable changes. Graubünden as a mountain destination can exploit its locational advantage.

Regula Marti, 38, will become a member of Tamedia's Executive Board with immediate effect. The "Digital Product" division ensures that the digital products reflect the interests of readers, according to the statement. In addition, the news platforms will be further developed together with other Tamedia divisions.

Marti has been with Tamedia since 2014 and has worked in various positions in Product Management, most recently as Head Digital Product Management. She has extensive experience in consulting and project management. She holds a master's degree in international relations from HEI in Geneva.

By expanding the management team, Tamedia aims to strengthen the central strategic role of the Digital Product Team while ensuring that the momentum of our product and service development remains high. Regula Marti's team is already working closely with the editorial teams, Consumer Business, the Advertising team and Technology to define the further development of digital products such as websites and apps, develop concepts and lead their implementation.

International tech platforms must pay fair compensation for the use of journalistic content, the alliance "Pro ancillary copyright" wrote in a communiqué on Wednesday. Otherwise, the Swiss media center would be permanently damaged. This, in turn, would harm the democratic formation of opinion.

The alliance is supported, among others, by the Swiss Media Association (VSM), in which the newspaper publishers are organized, the SRG, as well as associations of regional TV stations, Swiss private radio stations, and creative artists. The Keystone-SDA news agency is also part of the alliance.

The alliance is led by a seven-member co-presidency. This consists of federal parliamentarians from all political camps.

Search engine results

On Wednesday, the Federal Council sent a bill on ancillary copyright for consultation. In essence, online services should pay for the use of journalistic content in the future. This applies, for example, to search engines that display text and image previews of online articles in their results.

Today, advertising and subscription revenues are being siphoned off from Swiss media companies, while international Internet platforms are steadily increasing their profits thanks to journalistic content, the VSM wrote in a communiqué. The stakes are unequally long - because the media companies are dependent on a presence in the offerings of the tech giants, which act as quasi-monopolists.

"Wrong incentives"

Google is one of the main parties affected by the ancillary copyright. A spokeswoman for the company told the news agency Keystone-SDA that it would examine the Federal Council's proposal and participate in the consultation process. Operators of news websites already decided themselves whether and how headlines and links appeared in Google searches.

With reference to precisely this circumstance, Swico, the association of the online industry, opposed the proposed new regulation. In other countries, the ancillary copyright had no noticeable impact on quality journalism. In its statement, the association spoke of a "left-wing tax" and accused the Federal Council of wanting to shift media financing to private parties after the popular vote on the media package in February 2022.

Within the media industry, support is not unanimous. Critics of the Federal Council's proposal fear it could have a counterproductive effect. In a reaction, the Association Media with a Future (VMZ), in which 25 independent media have joined forces, spoke of false incentives. There is a danger that large publishing houses with a wide reach will benefit disproportionately.

In Germany, the major publishers would also have received significantly less money in the end as a result of the ancillary copyright than originally demanded, according to the VMZ. Overall, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

Digitale Gesellschaft Schweiz also criticized the ancillary copyright for damaging quality journalism instead of promoting it. This is because it makes it worthwhile to generate as many clicks as possible. (SDA)

Such advertising is also to be banned in places open to the public, such as kiosks and festivals, which can be visited by minors. This was announced by President of the Swiss Confederation and Health Minister Alain Berset to the media in Bern on Wednesday.

The Federal Council also wants to prohibit the tobacco industry from sponsoring national events to which minors have access. Online advertising for smoking products is to remain permissible if website operators use an age control system to ensure that minors cannot access pages with tobacco advertising.

With these measures, the national government wants to implement the initiative "Children and young people without tobacco advertising", which was approved by the people and the cantons in February 2022. This calls for a ban on all tobacco advertising where it reaches minors. A dispatch on the amendment of the Tobacco Products Act now goes to parliament.

Berset pointed out to the media that there are already systems for restricting the age of users in electronic games of chance, for example.

Disclose advertising expenses

Last year, the Federal Council sent its ideas for implementing the popular initiative out for consultation. There, they met with harsh criticism from the advertising industry and the tobacco industry. The proposal to impose an obligation on the tobacco industry to report advertising expenditure, sales promotion and sponsorship was particularly rejected.

The SVP and the center described this as "incomprehensible". It had not been the subject of the initiative, and motions to that effect had been rejected in parliament. The center, however, supported the proposal in principle. Left-green and health organizations welcomed the proposals.

The Federal Council is sticking to this reporting requirement. However, it is now proposing that companies be able to report their expenditures jointly so that they can maintain business secrecy. Berset told the media that such an obligation is the international standard. With this reporting obligation, Switzerland could fulfill a requirement of the World Health Organization (WHO). This is what the Federal Council wants.

It has been known for years that Switzerland cannot ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control due to a lack of restrictions on advertising and sponsorship.

New law is already being revised

In Switzerland today, the Food Act regulates advertising for tobacco products. Currently, such advertising is prohibited on radio and television. It is allowed on billboards and in cinemas, but certain cantons prohibit it.

The first tightening of regulations is expected to take place in Switzerland from mid-2024, when the Tobacco Products Act passed by Parliament in 2021 comes into force. From then on, billboard advertising and commercials for smoking products in cinemas will be banned throughout the country.

Even before the new law comes into force, the parliament is to debate a revision of this decree - precisely the new proposals, based on the accepted popular initiative. (SDA)

The core of the bill is that international corporations should be obliged to pay a levy to Swiss media for the dissemination of their journalistic content. According to the Federal Council, media professionals should also benefit from this.

Today, the offerings of search engines, social media and multimedia platforms are largely based on the journalistic achievements of classic publishing media. Due to their brevity, the text and image previews used - so-called snippets - have not yet been protected by copyright. As a result, media companies and media professionals today receive no remuneration from the providers of online services for the use of their services.

Only large online services affected

This is now to change. Because online services profit to a large extent from the services of journalistic media, the Federal Council considers compensation of journalistic media for their services to be justified in principle, as it wrote.

According to the consultation draft, only portals with an average number of users of at least ten percent of the Swiss population per year - currently around 900,000 users - would be subject to payment. According to initial estimates by the federal government, online services such as Google, Linkedin, Tiktok, Twitter, Xing and YouTube would be covered by the regulation.

The exploitation of rights to media content would be handled by a collecting society. This would collectively represent the interests of media companies and media professionals and negotiate the amount and modalities of remuneration with the online services subject to remuneration. According to the Federal Council, smaller and regional media companies should also benefit from the remuneration.

No consequences for media users

The Federal Council leaves open the question of whether the sharing of media texts and images by users of social media also leads to a remuneration obligation on the part of the providers. Two variants are being debated. However, the setting of pure hyperlinks is to remain free of charge. According to the Federal Council, the new regulations should have no consequences for Internet users.

The publishers' association has been calling for a performance protection right for some time. The work of journalists must be protected from the overpowering influence of the tech giants. For search engines, journalistic content is an important factor for their success.

When revising copyright law in 2019, Parliament had refrained from introducing a performance protection right for journalistic media. Among other things, it wanted to wait for developments in the EU. There, most member states have now implemented the new ancillary copyright directive.

Not solution to all problems

The background to the discussion about ancillary copyright is the difficult economic situation of media companies. One reason for this is that advertising money is increasingly flowing out to Internet corporations. It is disputed whether a performance protection right could generate significant financial contributions for journalistic media. The additional revenues could not be estimated at present, the Federal Council wrote.

Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider had already tempered expectations at the end of April. "I cannot and will not promise too much: This draft alone will not solve the structural economic problems of the industry," she said at the Swiss Press Awards ceremony in Bern.

The consultation on the amendment of the Copyright Act will last until September 15, 2023. (SDA)

Schawinski's partner is Stefan Bühler, former editor-in-chief of the Grisons Newspaperas Radio Alpin announced on Wednesday. The two radio initiators point to "a de facto media monopoly" of the Südostschweiz Group in the region. Hanspeter Lebrument's media group consists of TV Südostschweiz, Radio Südostschweiz and the newspapers Südostschweiz and Bündner Tagblatt.

"With a renewed award of the radio license, it could further expand its already dominant position," Schawinski and Bühler wrote in the statement. According to the legislation, however, if there are several bids, preference should be given to the one that most enriches the diversity of opinion and offerings.

Schawinski and Bühler are convinced that they will be able to make a "substantial and sustainable contribution to the diversity of information and opinion" in the region of southeastern Switzerland. Radio Alpin's 24-hour program will focus on information.

Schawinski's second attempt

This is not the first time that Roger Schawinski has wanted to realize a radio station in the region. Back in the early 2010s, he fought for a license in the broadcasting area of Radio Südostschweiz, which was then still called Radio Grischa.

Bakom granted Radio Grischa the definitive license in 2013 after years of rope pulling. It concluded that the Südostschweiz Media Group dominated the market, but did not abuse this position.

Schawinski then took the matter to the Federal Administrative Court without success. An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg also did not result in the desired license.(SDA)

Prior to EY, Catherine Mettler worked for eight years in various communications disciplines at the energy group Axpo. In addition to management experience, she brings with her experience in strategy and crisis communications as well as in the field of public affairs. Before moving into corporate communications, Catherine Mettler worked as a journalist, first at the European Business Channel, then in the development of Radio Argovia and finally as a reporter and presenter at Swiss television SRF.

With Michael Wanner, the 5th generation of the publishing family took over operational management at CH Media at the beginning of April 2023 (Werbewoche.ch reported). "The opportunity to join CH Media at this turning point is a task that I will be delighted to tackle together with the team," says Catherine Mettler.

OST is one of the most transfer-oriented universities of applied sciences in Switzerland. Through a close connection between teaching, research and practice, students can already apply their skills and knowledge to real projects during their studies - and thus actively contribute to the social development of the region. The upcoming campaign will take this unique connection as a starting point and position OST as an innovative and future-oriented university of applied sciences.

"Mona and Mateo convinced us with their precise understanding of our target groups, excellent creativity and a clear concept," said Carlos Friedrich, Head of Marketing OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. "The agency succeeded in developing a campaign idea that expresses our values and aspirations on all channels. We are very much looking forward to the collaboration."

Mona and Mateo's first works for the OST are expected to be on view starting in September.

Users will have to pay an additional fee if they share their access data with other users who are not part of their household. The initiative "helps us gain a larger base of potential paying members and grow Netflix in the long term," said co-chief executive Ted Sarandos.

"A Netflix account is for a single household. Everyone living together in that household can use Netflix no matter where they are: at home, on the road, or on vacation," the streaming service's website says.

Two new functions are now available for users to share the streaming service with people outside their own household: Under "Add additional member", users can share their Netflix account with a person who does not live in the same household for the additional fee. Alternatively, the profile can be transferred to a person outside the household, who must then take out a separate subscription.

The additional fee in Switzerland will be CHF 5.90 per month. In other European countries, it is graduated. In France and Spain, for example, the fee is 6 euros, in Portugal 4, and in the rest of the world 4.99 euros per month.

The new model has been tested for some time and has been introduced in Canada. "More than 100 million households share their account, which affects our ability to invest in (...) movies and series," Netflix had already stated in February.

Netflix had to cope with a significant decline in subscriber numbers in the first half of 2022. Since the second half of last year, however, the numbers have been rising again. Since the end of last year, the streaming service has been offering an ad-financed service in several countries. (SDA)