This "exceptional situation" is also associated with a reduction in scope, the company announced on Saturday. Due to the cyber attack that became known two weeks ago, some systems and services are still not available.

The IT department of the NZZ is working with external specialists on measures to remedy the situation. The electronic edition, the e-paper, on the other hand, was available without restrictions.

Newspapers of the CH-Media publishing house, which purchases IT services from the NZZ, also appeared in reduced numbers on Saturday. Instead of 16 different local split editions, only their four could be produced, the company told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Daily newspapers in all three major regions of northwestern Switzerland, eastern Switzerland and central Switzerland were affected. All journalistic content was available online and via the app.

No end in sight

The cyber attack on the infrastructure of the NZZ media group became known two weeks ago. So-called ransomware was used, CH Media announced at the time. Hackers can use this to penetrate a victim's computer system and gain access to or block IT systems or data. They can also lock out their victims with encryption technology and demand a ransom.

As the Keystone-SDA news agency learned from publishing circles, a ransom demand was made. The media companies did not comment on this when asked. CH Media publisher Peter Wanner, on the other hand, had stated in an interview a week ago that to his knowledge no such demands had been made. The financial damage was limited, he said.

It was unclear how long the problems will last. It said it was not possible to provide any further information on other effects on CH Media titles at the moment, as this was part of an ongoing investigation. Due to the "rolling development", no details could be given, NZZ stated. (SDA)

The duo led the Republic-editorial team on an interim basis since the beginning of the year. Oliver Fuchs had previously relinquished the editorship. He, too, had led the medium's journalism on an interim basis.

Hamilton-Irvine, 44, has been part of the five-year Republic-crew. Among other things, she has served as chief of staff and, for the past three and a half years, as co-head of the inland editorial department. She also teaches journalism at the MAZ School of Journalism in Lucerne and at the University of Fribourg.

For many years, the 53-year-old Binswanger was the France correspondent of the Magazine and is a political columnist. He is the founder and former co-leader of the Republic-Feuilletons.

Entire Board of Directors resigns

Most recently, the magazine made headlines because of unrest in the company's management. In March, it was announced that the entire Board of Directors would resign.

Publicist and manager Roger de Weck already resigned in mid-March due to differences of opinion on the Board of Directors (Werbewoche.ch reported). According to the information provided at the time, there were disputes about strategy, the importance of journalism, how to cope with the challenging situation and the role of the Board of Directors.

The 69-year-old had only taken over the job in November. Chairman of the Board of Directors Sylvie Reinhard and Alfonso von Wunschheim also intend to step down as soon as a successor has been identified.

The Republic was launched on January 14, 2018, as an ad-free digital magazine for politics, business, society, and culture. At the launch, there were many advance praises and around seven million Swiss francs from patrons as well as potential readers.

The online medium was struggling to survive financially in 2020 and launched appeals for additional subscribers. It says it has over 28,000 members and subscribers and employs over 50 editors, technical staff and other employees. (SDA)

Finally, a German word can be described here that is not yet in the Duden, but is nevertheless already used very frequently. This is usually reserved for Anglicisms. Hopefully, however, this word will never make it into the Duden, because that would be somehow too shameful for our industry.

The interpretation of the word "third party understandable" is simple. Understandable for third parties. The reason for its use, however, seems meaningless at first glance, but very revealing at second. In the past, messages simply had to be understandable, not understandable to third parties. Best of all for those whom it concerned: in church the faithful, on television the viewers or on a billboard the customers.

Who are the third parties, please?

When concepts or campaigns are returned from management with the comment that they are not comprehensible to third parties, marketing managers and their agencies are usually at a loss. After all, they learn the classic sender-receiver model in their training courses. Who are these third parties who do not understand?

If the cooperation between the agency and the marketing department is working well, the unknowing management is usually identified as this third party and complained about. In the case of less well-functioning cooperation, the comment is simply forwarded to the agency with a request for optimization.

What rarely happens, but would be important: That as a third party the customer is meant, to whom the product or service should be sold in the end. Therefore often also called "end customer". Which is a doubly wrong formulation. It is always proclaimed everywhere: Customer first or more old-fashioned, the customer is king. But it doesn't seem to be about the customer at all. In first place comes the ME, regardless of whether this belongs to the agency, the marketing and communications managers or the management. In second place are always the others from this triumvirate and only in third place the "end customer". In other words, the person for whom the whole thing is intended. This also clarifies the question of who the "third parties" are for whom what we are doing here is not comprehensible.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.

Mobilog was founded in 2021 as part of the AMAG Group to respond to the growing demands for high-performance logistics in the automotive sector. The high model and product range diversity and increasing service demands of customers are constantly presenting vehicle dealers and workshops with challenges. Mobilog positions itself as a competence center for all logistics activities in the vehicle and parts business.

Heads was entrusted with finding the name when the company was founded. Mobilog stands for the combination of mobility and logistics. Now Heads was tasked with designing a corporate identity for Mobilog that would make the company more independent and make it clear that the logistics service provider is available to the entire industry as a competent partner.

The fact that Mobilog moves Switzerland is symbolically expressed in the new logo by the displacement of the "i-dot" - the sphere. This sphere runs through the brand's new appearance as a strong recognition feature. In addition, the main color, the deep sky blue in contrast to the white, creates a concise design language.

The Lindt Gold Bunnies have been around for over 70 years and are known worldwide. The MRB agency has dedicated a small world of experience to the Lindt Gold Bunny. An "Infinity Room" awaits visitors to Zurich Main Station, where they can pose with the Gold Bunny. In the mirror room, you are surrounded by an infinite number of Gold Bunnies from all sides. Light, sound and chocolate flavor round off the Easter experience.

The world of experience is open until Easter Sunday at Zurich HB.

Responsible at Lindt: Sarah Edmonds (Group Product Manager Pralinés & Seasons), Laura Scheller (Product Manager Easter), Joëlle Schmid (Junior Product Manager Easter). Responsible at Metzger Rottmann Bürge: Christoph Bürge (strategy), Silvan Metzger, Carol Hämmig (consulting), Frederick Rossmann, Fabian Zahner, Raphael Monsch, Tobias Bühlmann (creation). Production partner: Brogleworks.

The SRF program "Einstein" wins the Walking Ibex in the category "Science Communication". The prize was awarded by the Swiss Science Film Academy and recognizes special achievements in the field of "Science Communication".

The award was presented to the team of the SRF program "Einstein" at an awards ceremony on Sunday. "'Einstein' has been around for 16 years almost to the day, and we are very pleased to receive this award," said Andrea Fischli, co-head of science editorial. "Science has the noble goal of advancing humanity, and we at 'Einstein' contribute to that. By using science to make the world more comprehensible, exciting and entertaining. This award goes to the whole team, as well as the cameramen, editors and writers who make our show possible week after week."

"Einstein" is a science program that reports weekly on current and profound topics from all areas of knowledge. Experts help make connections and bridge the gap between everyday life and science. The aim of the program is to inform, educate and entertain a broad audience with fascinating stories from all areas of science.

To create the necessary attention, Maybaum Film involved the company in an avoidable scandal. Like in a true-crime format, TeamWork employees stand in front of the camera and tell unbelievable stories. Because the working conditions at TeamWork Switzerland are simply scandalously good.

With the scandalous campaign, however, TeamWork not only wants to attract attention. It is also intended to show that "Teamwork" is not only eponymous, but also part of the philosophy. "This gives the concept the necessary authenticity, while at the same time introducing the target group to their potential colleagues," says Flavio Alraun, Creative Producer on the part of Maybaum Film. The campaign includes an employer branding video, various recruiting ads and several videos highlighting Teamwork's departments.

In addition to concept and production, the film production company is also responsible for content distribution. Together with the partner company Attackera, the multichannel campaign was set up and managed. According to the agency, the use of programmatic videos in particular led to an above-average number of views of the job advertisements.

Responsible at Teamwork: Cindy Schneiter. Responsible at Maybaum Film (production): Flavio Alraun (Producer), Noëmi Krüsi (Director), Sara Maag (Cinematographer), Marco Joeger (Motion Design), Sara Maag (Editor), Tim Zumstein (Sound Design/Mastering) Responsible for Attackera: Kevin Köchli (Distribution).

In Switzerland, never as many eggs are eaten as at Easter. Just in time for the Easter celebrations, "GalloSuisse" is currently prominently featured on all channels with its "The Swiss Egg" campaign. The TV commercial produced in 2022 is now being supplemented with a broadcast sponsorship of "Mini Chuchi, dini Chuchi," a seasonal DOOH motif and social media advertising.

Responsible for GalloSuisse: Simone Möri (Marketing Project Manager), Karin Frederiks (Marketing Department), Willi Neuhauser (Marketing Department). Responsible at Erdmannpeisker: Gabriel Peisker (Creative Direction), Selina Helbling (Consulting), Christina Weisser, Jenny Ziörjen (Art Direction), Laura Fässler (Motion Design), Markenfilm (Film Production), Ivan Boljat (Direction Imagespot), Stefan Künzler (Osterspot), Florian Studer (Producer), nono photography (Photos), Ceres Media (Media Planning).

Aroma Creative was commissioned by the Zurich Cantonal Council to bring democracy, its history, its institutions and the opportunities for participation closer to young people. The agency convinced with a mix of experience-oriented as well as digital knowledge transfer and physical action spaces. Starting in the fall, there will be an Outdoor Escape with many puzzles for school classes, families and people interested in politics in the cities of Zurich, Winterthur and Uster.

Aroma Productions will be going on a festival tour with Campari Switzerland in the future. An event toolkit was designed and implemented for Aperol. The Aroma team also takes care of the event service - from project management, material storage, set-up and dismantling to material maintenance. The performance can be seen at various festivals throughout Switzerland.

In addition, Aroma Creative traveled to the Baden State Brewery Rothaus in the German Black Forest for a first acquaintance regarding a new experience. The company has won several awards for its beers and brand. Aroma will stage the Zäpfle Heimat museum for the brewery as part of the world of enjoyment. A start is already being made on implementation in around 18 months.

297 PR professionals and executives from Switzerland and Germany took part in the survey conducted by Dpa subsidiary News Aktuell and Per. According to the survey, artificial intelligence is not yet being used extensively in the communications industry: 41 percent of the communications managers surveyed are not yet working with AI. However, there are significant differences between PR agencies and media outlets: While every:r second respondent from companies has not yet made use of AI (47 percent), the figure for agencies is only one in three (33 percent). Overall, however, it should be noted that 59 percent of respondents are already using AI in their communications.

Those who already rely on AI in communication use it primarily for writing texts: one in three respondents is supported by an AI when writing (32 percent). One in five respondents also uses AI to find out about new trends and research relevant topics (22 percent). AI is used almost as frequently for media monitoring (20 percent). Agencies are already using AI much more frequently than media outlets, especially for copywriting: only 25 percent of media outlets have AI write their copy, while 42 percent of agencies already use ChatGPT and the like.

AI is rather rarely used for verifying information or for image recognition: Only 7 percent of respondents verify content for correctness using AI. They just as rarely use AI to identify and categorize image content. Artificial intelligence is hardly used at all in the areas of reputation management (3 percent), influencer marketing (3 percent), video production (3 percent) and crisis prevention or crisis management (2 percent).

Don't worry: Opportunities outweigh risks

Even though 41 percent of those surveyed have so far refrained from using artificial intelligence, the majority view it positively for professional communication. 66 percent of respondents see AI predominantly or rather as an opportunity in this respect. Only 13 percent see it as a risk, while 17 percent have a neutral attitude toward AI. Skepticism about the use of AI in communication increases with age: While 87 percent of those under 35 see the opportunities in AI as predominant, only 57 percent of those over 55 have a positive view of AI.

Advantages and disadvantages of AI in PR

The respondents see the greatest benefit of AI in the fact that they gain more time for demanding activities such as strategy, conception and creation (63 percent). In addition, a clear majority expects AI to speed up work processes and thus save resources (60 percent). Just under half believe that AI will produce better-quality media analyses (48 percent), and one in three think that target groups can be addressed more efficiently thanks to AI (33 percent). The respondents also rate the rapid provision of expert knowledge as an advantage (32 percent).

According to communications professionals, the greatest danger in the use of AI is blind "AI faith": 67 percent fear that critical questioning will be unlearned. In second place among the risks is the question of authorship: 60 percent complain that the copyright for AI-generated texts is not clearly regulated. A good one in two respondents also criticize a dependence on the quality of AI (56 percent), are concerned about ethical challenges (56 percent) and see the risk of information distortion through the use of AI (55 percent).

The results at a glance

Areas of application of AI in PR

• We do not use AI yet 41%
• Text creation 32%
• Theme and trend identification 22%
• Media Monitoring 20%
• Content tagging 13%
• Competitive analysis 11%
• Image production (symbol images) 10%
• Success analysis and evaluation 10%
• Target group analysis 8%
• Information verification 7%
• Image recognition 7%
• Video Production 3%
• Reputation Management 3%
• Influencer Marketing 3%
• Crisis prevention and crisis management 2%

Evaluation of AI within one's own work

• Predominantly as an opportunity 23%
• Rather than opportunity 43%
• Neither 17%
• Rather than risk 10%
• Predominantly as risk 3%
• Do not know 3%
• Not specified 1%

Advantages of using AI in communications work

• More time for demanding activities (e.g. strategy, conception, creation) 63%
• Resource saving 60%
• Better media analysis 48%
• More efficient targeting 33%
• AI provides expert knowledge that I could never acquire at the speed 32%
• More personalized communication 29%
• Better risk management and crisis management 23%
• Higher competitiveness 23%
• Better reputation management 16%
• Fewer sources of error 9%
• No advantages 2%

Disadvantages of using AI in communications work

• Critical questioning is unlearned through 'AI faith' 67%
• Lack of clarity on copyright issues for AI-generated text 60%
• Dependence on the quality of the AI 56%
• Ethical challenges (transparency, privacy, authenticity) 56%
• Information distortion 55%
• Application error with AI use 54%
• Privacy violations 43%
• Lack of controllability of AI tools 42%
• Employee uncertainty 38%
• Loss of competence due to outsourcing into the hands of AI 37%
• Reduction of jobs 28%
• No cons 0%

Within the framework of the "PR Trend Monitor" by News aktuell and Per, an online survey was conducted in February 2023 among 297 communications professionals from companies, organizations and PR agencies in Switzerland and Germany.

From 2016 to 2021, Andrea Portmann presided over the cantonal tourism umbrella organization, Aargau Tourismus, as its director, building it up and continuously developing it. The 48-year-old currently works as Head of PR & Communications at Eniwa, where her responsibilities include issue management and sponsorship. She has lived with her family in the canton of Aargau for over 20 years: "The tourism marketing of my region of residence is not a task like any other, but an honor that I will tackle with a great deal of passion and commitment," Portmann is quoted as saying in a press release.

René Kamer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TourismusRegion Baden, is also very pleased with the election: "I am extremely pleased that we have been able to win Andrea Portmann, a proven tourism expert with an impressive profile and a great track record, as our new Managing Director."

Until Portmann takes office on August 1, the operational management of the organization will be in the hands of long-time deputy managing director Stephanie Kiener. The vacancy arose at the end of January 2023 due to the separation from the then managing director: Mirco Capodanno had resigned from his post while still on probation - by "mutual agreement," a statement said at the time.

This year again, ten projects are up for election as "Master of Swiss Web 2023". The decision as to who will become Master of Swiss Web does not lie solely with the jury. The BoSW community also has a vote. The final score will be determined in equal parts by the votes of the jury, the readers of Netzticker and the visitors of the award night on May 10 in "The Hall" in Dübendorf.

Subscriber:inside of the Net tickers can vote for their favorite starting Wednesday, April 12.

Master of Swiss Web 2023

The nominees