With "LaunchPAD", the company is networking its DOOH portfolio and thus creating the basis for the programmatic playout of pan-European campaigns, according to a statement from Clear Channel. The service, with the first Broadsign-enabled SSP partners, is already live in the UK, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland. This makes Clear Channel Switzerland one of the first movers in the "LaunchPAD" offering, which will offer 4800 screens in five markets at launch, it adds.

Programmatic DOOH (PDOOH) is gaining momentum across Europe, according to Clear Channel. Harmonizing and delivering DOOH inventory for programmatic buying across a wide variety of independent SSP systems, is an important step in serving the growing demand for omnichannel and programmatic campaigns professionally and across countries, Clear Channel writes in the release.

"Brands are increasingly looking for ways to coordinate and precisely play out their messages within channels," explains Diego Quintarelli, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Clear Channel Switzerland. "With LaunchPAD, we can expand our successful Programmatic offering in Switzerland and in the future offer our internationally active customers a gateway for DOOH campaigns across Europe."

Other Clear Channel Europe markets, such as France, Italy, Belgium and other Scandinavian countries will be gradually integrated into "LaunchPAD", as will other SSP providers.

Karin Libowitzky is moving from Vizeum, where she was previously responsible for the business in Germany as CEO and shaped the areas of strategy, data and advertising effectiveness research in addition to continuing the traditional media business. She also brings more than two decades of experience in marketing consulting and technology. From 2010 to 2015, she managed the Interactive Media segment at SinnerSchrader, where she was responsible for the development of NextAudience, among other things.

Claudia Leischner most recently spent eight years as Managing Director of the international Gyro Creative B2B network in Germany and will now focus together with Karin Libowitzky at Accenture Interactive on closing the chain of content, data and technology in the sense of an integrated optimization of customer experiences. The focus will be on the operationalization of this model in the existing structures of clients' marketing organizations.

In 1986, media scientist René Grossenbacher founded Publicom and developed it into a major independent media research and consulting company. After handing over operational management of the company to his long-time deputy Stefan Thommen two years ago and serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors since then, he will not stand for re-election at the upcoming AGM and will step down from the Board, according to a Publicom statement. The move is in line with the long-term succession planning initiated four years ago with the acquisition of the shares by technology company Eurospider Information Technology, it added.

"The timing for the withdrawal is ideal for me. The company is excellently positioned in association with the new owner, the synergy processes have been successfully established, and a great, dedicated team is keeping the ship on course," says René Grossenbacher about his decision.

With the founding of Publicom 35 years ago, Grossenbacher built a bridge between academic communication science and media practice, writes Publicom in the release. According to its own statements, Publicom was the first company in Europe to use content analysis for the evaluation of communication campaigns and reputation monitoring.

Grossenbacher was also one of the pioneers of content marketing. He was a founding member of Switzerland's first corporate publishing agency and built up the corporate media division at Publicom, which was later spun off into an independent agency. Highlights of Grossenbacher's work included the development of the Communications Atlas of Switzerland, which served as the basis for modeling the Swiss radio landscape in the 1990s, the development of the methodology for reviewing the concession requirements for service public media, and the launch of MediaBrands, the first intermedia study for the qualitative assessment of media brands.

In the future, the Publicom founder intends to devote himself to mandates in the non-profit sector as well as to journalistic projects.

According to the foundation, their research revealed that a law of silence about lewdness, assaults and abuse of power prevailed at the French-speaking Swiss television station RTS. "The jury praised the work of the three journalists from the Swiss Federal Parliament. Le Temps. They succeeded, among other things with courage, tact and teamwork, in breaking the law of silence at a public media company in Switzerland, the statement continued.

Exposure of grievances

For years, the management of the French-speaking Swiss television station RTS had apparently allowed a cloak of silence to spread over cases of mostly sexual harassment, assaultive behavior or abuse of power. The journalists Revello, Busslinger and Héron exposed these abuses and therefore rightly deserved the title "Journalist of the Year," the jury said in justifying its decision.

The second main prize and thus the title of "Photographer of the Year" was awarded to Sarah Carp. This is the first time in the thirty-year history of the award that a woman has received this honor. She was honored for her work "Parenthèse - Rester à la maison" at Le Matin Dimanche because it was a particularly impressive portrayal of moments during the coronavirus pandemic.

Second prize in the Print category went to Christoph Lenz of The magazine for his article "The climate disgrace of Visp". In the article, he discussed the fact that climate-damaging nitrous oxide escapes as a waste product from a vitamin factory belonging to the Lonza chemicals group in Visp. And third place in the print category went to Tugba Ayaz. She also wrote for The magazine the article "The Switzerland of Others," in which she got to the bottom of a brawl among young people in the Tivoli shopping center.

Face recognition experiment

Valentin Felber and Sylke Gruhnwald won first prize in the online category for their work "Bangladesh: Left in the lurch" on Reflekt.ch. They addressed how the coronavirus crisis revealed that the South Asian country of Bangladesh is heavily dependent on the global textile industry. Andrea Arezina, Marie-José Kolly and Thomas Preusse also won second prize for "Schwangerschaftsabbruch: Sag, wie hast du's mit der Frist?" on Republik.ch. The article addresses the question of what should be given greater weight - the protection of unborn life or a woman's right to self-determination over her body.

And Timo Grossenbacher and Felix Michel took third place in the online category with "It's so easy to build a surveillance machine" on Srf.ch. The journalists demonstrated with an experiment that facial recognition on the Internet - i.e. the assignment of an identity to a person's image - works.

In the audio category, Simon Meyer, Katharina Bracher and This Wachter won with the NZZ on Sunday-podcast "Missing: Ursula Koch". The first prize for local journalism went to Julian Witschi, Catherine Boss and Marius Aschwanden for "Umweltskandal Blausee" in the Bernese Newspaper.

145,000 Swiss francs in prize money

The Fondation Reinhardt von Graffenried awards were presented Wednesday evening in Bern per category - print, online, audio and video, local journalism and photography. This year, they are endowed with a total of 145,000 Swiss francs, as Michael von Graffenried of Swiss Press Awards told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday.

Each of the winners was presented with a diamond in recognition of their work. The two main winners also received CHF 25,000 each, and the winners of the online, audio, video and local journalism categories each received CHF 15,000. The Fondation Reinhardt von Graffenried, which is independent of publishing houses, was founded with the aim of promoting Swiss journalism. (SDA)

The presenter and former Miss Switzerland from 1999 has her roots in the canton of Thurgau - as does the retailer Lidl Switzerland. So the two are connected by more than just a long-standing cooperation, Lidl writes in a statement.

In recent years, Anita Buri and Lidl Switzerland have realized numerous campaigns and projects together. These include the 5-day fitness program "Fit with Anita Buri". Since December 2020, Anita has been inviting celebrities for a coffee chat in the podcast episodes "Schnurri mit Buri". Another 16 episodes are planned for this year. Among others, the two wrestlers Christian Stucki and Samuel Giger - both also Lidl Switzerland brand ambassadors - but also Renzo Blumenthal and Fäbu Rohrer have already been guests on the podcast.

Salt is investing in a long-term right to use Swisscom's fiber optic connections and is thus participating in the high network investments and the associated business risks. However, Swisscom continues to bear overall responsibility for network planning, network expansion and maintenance, and remains the owner of the infrastructure, the statement added.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the amount of Salt's investment, a Swisscom spokeswoman said on request. The financial impact for Swisscom would be positive in terms of revenue and operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the years 2021 to 2025, as well as free cash flow over the term of the partnership. The effect in the current year 2021 is included in the new financial targets.

The partnership will allow Salt to significantly expand its fixed-line coverage, the third-largest mobile operator, for its part, wrote in a communiqué: by 2025, Salt's fiber coverage into homes, including current agreements with utilities across Switzerland, is expected to reach about 3 million households.

The partnership is not exclusive, Swisscom wrote. "Swisscom and Salt are free to work with other partners at any time," it said. Swisscom also offers any competitor non-discriminatory network access.

This would also give providers without their own network access to the maximum available bandwidth. Swisscom remains open to further cooperation projects - whether in the form of a fiber-optic partnership such as with Salt, fiber-optic cooperation at local level or other forms of network access (wholesale). (SDA)

As is known worldwide, the Twitter account of Donald J. Trump, the former US president, was suspended just two days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was also banned from using other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc. This has led to a general discussion about the impact of social media and how to act responsibly on it.

Responsibility on social media

There has long been a common understanding that all users are responsible for their own content and must abide by the rules of the platforms. In general, it is illegal to post anything that is disturbing, hateful, offensive, discriminatory, threatening, harassing, or defamatory. As a result, social media companies have left most of the responsibility for content to users, intervening almost exclusively in the case of very clear violations such as posts that are clearly sexual or glorify violence.

The most recent example of a public figure whose social media actions have caused unrest both nationwide and worldwide is the 45th U.S. President, Donald J. Trump. With 88 million Twitter followers and an account that was the sixth largest on the platform before the ban, according to Socialbakers, is clear that his message has a wide reach, whether you agree with former President Trump's policies and beliefs or not. Moreover, according to Twitter, he was the most tweeted person in the world in 2020.

But for many, he is also the clearest example of how social influence can be abused. His actions and those of others in his circle have sharpened the debate about what rules or guidelines should govern responsible behavior on social media, especially for politicians. But also what role social media platform providers play in enforcing those rules and how users should be held accountable.

One possible solution could be to raise awareness among social media users through constant educational efforts. At the same time, a large part of the population is calling for more fact-checking, moderation and monitoring by the social media platforms, but without prescribing too much about how one can use one's profile and what information a person is allowed to share - as long as no harm is done. This would certainly be a good step forward.

The dangers of misinformation

One of the biggest potential threats to social media is undoubtedly the potential spread of misinformation, especially in areas where this can cause significant harm. When creating or sharing content on social media, integrity is always key. However, not everyone has the best intentions, and some even go so far as to exploit social media and its influence to advance their own agenda, no matter what the consequences.

A Blatant Example - Covid-19 and President Trump

Many of Trump's supporters have perceived every word of his 36 daily tweets as an official government statement, including his factually incorrect tweets about the Covid 19 pandemic. In addition to refusing to wear a mask in public - despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation to wear a mask since March 2020 - these actions on Twitter have led to nationwide protests against government policies to combat the pandemic. After refusing to wear a mask for three months and pleading with his staff to set a good example, former President Trump finally posted a picture of himself wearing a mask in July 2020. He tweeted also:

"We are united in our efforts to defeat the invisible China virus, and many people say that it's patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't comply with Social Distancing."

But was it too little, too late? There is little doubt that the misinformation campaign has enormously worsened the outcome of the pandemic so far. After the nationwide division caused by the 45th president's tweets about Covid-19, Twitter took action and began monitoring his account. The Social media platform began fact-checking Trump's tweets about the virus in May 2020.

After the continued ban on social media platforms, even after the end of his term, Trump has created his own Website where he plans to keep his fans up to date with news from his wife Melania Trump and himself. According to The Guardian, the former US president will even create his own social media platform soon. "And I think that's something that's going to be the hottest ticket into social media, it's going to completely redefine the game, and everyone is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does. But it will be its own platform," claims Jason Miller, senior adviser to the former U.S. president.

The positive effects of social media

Despite the abuse by some individuals, it is important to remember that social media has also had many positive impacts on society and the enormous potential for good must be recognized. Certain movements have brought society together to strive for positive change. Social media provides a platform for people with good intentions and ideas to unite and collaborate to build a better society together. Influencers*, individuals with a significant audience base, can thus become powerful catalysts to advance the noble causes they pursue, no matter how big or small the cause. Some examples follow.

#BlackLivesMatter

One incredible example is the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which began with George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Since then, the world has united on social media platforms to fight Floyd's injustice. In 2020, #BlackLivesMatter was the second most popular hashtag and George Floyd was the third most tweeted about person in the world. Numerous influencers*, including celebrities around the world, have also united, sharing their support digitally as well as protesting injustice on the streets of their cities. Swiss influencers have also taken action to bring more attention to the movement.

#SupportSmallBusiness

Another movement that has been launched since the global pandemic has been the Support Small Business movement. Currently with over 26 million Instagram posts under the hashtag #SupportSmallBusiness, influencers have shared a common awareness of the negative impact the pandemic and government regulations have had on small businesses, especially in the hospitality industry. An ideal example is Family of 5's (FO5) travel blog, which shared a #FO5Support initiative which supports small businesses in Switzerland with the help of social media.

#StayHome

Also a movement that has started since the global pandemic is the #StayHome movement. Since the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, many Swiss influencers have joined forces to promote the importance of social distancing and staying home by leading by example.

#Mask

In addition, numerous Swiss fashion influencers, such as Luisa Rossi, have promoted the wearing of masks by showing how stylish masks can be.

Tips for responsible behavior

There are many creative ways to show responsibility on social media and still have a voice and stand up for what you believe in. So it's important to always maintain the highest level of integrity, no matter how large or small the audience. Everyone has a role to play in this matter, and users with meaningful influence must lead by example. Even companies like Kingfluencers are taking up the torch in the debate and actively seeking to provide guidance and advice to influencers and other players in the ecosystem on how to harness the true potential of social media and social influence for people and brands alike.

* Sherriene Redha is Social Media and Marketing Officer at the Zurich-based social media and influencer marketing agency Kingfluencers. She is currently studying Business Administration in Lucerne and specializes in performance, content marketing and storytelling.

Philipp Gut shares the shareholdership with founder and publishing director Giuseppe Nica in the newly formed Umwelt Zeitung und Medien AG, based in Aarau. Gut holds a doctorate in history, is a non-fiction author and the owner of Gut Communications in Lenzburg. According to a statement, he is considered one of the country's most distinguished journalists.

"We want to look at the megatopic 'environment' in its entire breadth and from different angles," Philipp Gut is quoted as saying in the press release. He wants to position the newspaper as a "liberal platform for innovation and debate in the best sense of the word." "We are convinced that we cannot maintain an environment worth living in against the economy, but only with it," says Gut, explaining his publishing commitment. This is also reflected in the newspaper's subtitle: "Wonders of Nature and Technology.

"We cultivate freedom of opinion and diversity of opinion," Philipp Gut continues. He added that the publishing house itself is politically neutral. "We deliberately hold back on political statements, but do everything we can to cultivate lively democratic debate - with interesting, well-founded and stimulating guest articles by well-known authors." In the current issue of Tuesday, President of the Swiss Confederation and Minister of Agriculture Guy Parmelin writes exclusively why the two agricultural initiatives to be voted on June 13 overshoot the mark in the view of the Federal Council. National Councilor and entrepreneur Matthias Samuel Jauslin and Matthias Betsche, Managing Director of Pro Natura Aargau, provide countermeasures.

Multi-channel strategy with expanded online offering

The Environment newspaper is published monthly initially in the canton of Aargau in the second bundle of the eleven regional newspapers of the Aargauer Woche with a circulation of 145,564 copies. At the same time it is also available online. Soon, the newspaper will appear in other areas of German-speaking Switzerland. It is free of charge and is distributed to households by DMC-Swiss Post.

The company founded in June 2014 Environment newspaper came from 2015 in cooperation with the now deceased entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast Andy Rihs as a Environment newspaper Squadra Mondo out. Following the successful current relaunch of the print product, Umwelt Zeitung und Medien is aiming for a multi-channel strategy in the future, which will include not only print and online, but also video, radio and TV.

Events have recently been permitted again in accordance with a decision by the Federal Council. Fittingly, the opening of the new conference and event center (TEC) took place on Monday at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Pratteln. The 2000-square-meter conference center is centrally located between the highway exit and the train station in Pratteln and aims to bring a breath of fresh air to the event location landscape of northwestern Switzerland. "The TEC is far more than a mere collection of different meeting rooms. It is a place of inspiration, promotes new ideas and offers an environment in which you can break out of the daily grind at work," explains Anja Ullmann, Head of the TEC Office.

Natural materials and various themed rooms are intended to create a pleasant atmosphere. On the second floor there are a total of twelve very different meeting rooms. The "Panama," "Casablanca," "Amazon," "Malawi," "Camargue," "Mumbai" and "Malibu" themed rooms are designed for four to six people and furnished to match their names. True to the TEC's motto "Innovation through Inspiration," they are intended to provide an ideal environment for a lively and creative exchange together with the "Baselland Business Factory," the "Inspiration Terrace" and the two creative rooms.

The TEC is also well equipped for classic meetings, conventions and conferences. For example, the "Boardroom" is available for board meetings or the "Small Conference" for meetings with up to 100 people. A modern technical infrastructure, the minibar offer and natural daylight are available in all rooms.

Auditorium for 300 people

The heart of the TEC is the auditorium on the first floor. Depending on the seating arrangement, the 430-square-meter space can accommodate up to 300 people. An eleven-meter-wide and 3.5-meter-high LED screen and a control room allow for countless event options. "Be it as part of a customer event, a conference or a meeting: Here, guests can really stage their grand entrance," says Anja Ullmann. In keeping with the current times, the Auditorium has the technical equipment to hold hybrid events and stream the event in real time to the participants' home offices or to the other side of the world. The Auditorium has already undergone its baptism of fire: on April 12, 2021, the kick-off live streaming event for the "Swiss Innovation Challenge" took place there.

Everything from one source

The TEC's technical equipment is state of the art and all support services also come from within the company. "This allows us to respond immediately to individual requests and ensures a smooth and uncomplicated process," explains Anja Ullmann.

For events with up to 100 guests, the catering will also come from the kitchen of the in-house restaurant "Boost. The idea is that the menu will change at regular intervals and reflect the countries of the theme rooms. Boost" is open to both conference guests and external guests, and all meals are also available to take away.

Booking by mouse click

The individual meeting rooms of the TEC can be booked online at Hdw.ch/tec, optionally for one, two, three or four hours as well as a half or full day. On site, too, the processes are digital: from entering the parking garage to checking in and unlocking the room, everything is done via smartphone. More complex bookings are handled directly via the Office de TEC.

With its conference and event offerings, the TEC is aimed at companies and associations as well as interested individuals, and with its charisma aims to attract customers not only from the Basel region but also from the rest of Switzerland and neighboring countries. A 300-square-meter coworking space is currently being planned in the Haus der Wirtschaft.

According to the spokeswoman, all employees will be offered a transfer to Ebay Marketplaces GmbH, which is domiciled in Bern. According to reports, the decision recently announced by regional boss Godert van Dedem was not well received by the staff in Zurich, as the Handelszeitung writes. Ebay will continue its international business in Bern, "as it has done for more than twenty years," says spokeswoman Choudhury. Ebay last caused turmoil in 2019 with job cuts in Switzerland. At the same time, there was a change at the top of Ebay International AG, which is based here.

Among other things, Swiss Gaming will produce the Swiss podcasts and help organize the podiums at Swiss events, according to a joint press release. On the Swiss Gaming website and LinkedIn will report on TGML's activities on an ongoing basis. Together, the initiators want to build an innovative marketing network in the long term that supports marketing experts in German-speaking countries in finding creative ideas in order to jointly develop sustainable solutions.

Each of the three DACH countries has similar challenges to overcome, the report continues. Ideas from Switzerland can be useful for industry colleagues from Germany and Austria and vice versa. This is precisely where TGML wants to start. The professional exchange is to be actively conducted across borders and strengthen the positioning in international competition by pooling experience. To this end, a podcast with a regional focus will be produced on a monthly basis in each country and made available via the various platforms.

By concentrating and sharing know-how and expertise, both via digital channels and as part of networking events, panel discussions and conferences, the aim is not only to create incentives for inspiration and innovation, but also a place for networking at regional level.

After 140 years, the cultural venue "Le Grand Théâtre de Genève" has decided to launch its most ambitious project yet: the renovation of the entire building - as well as the introduction of a more contemporary program. The renovation has offered a unique opportunity to share a new vision and change the way Millennials and Gen Z see the world.

Within the framework of this project, the idea of "ink-redible sneakers" was born. During the renovation, old materials of the GTG were collected and, with the support of the shoe brand Camper as well as the artist Fichtre, turned into a unique colored ink that connects the past of the cultural site with its future.

Personalized shoe boxes were then sent empty to dozens of selected influencers and editors. All they had to do was submit their shoe size to receive the sneakers as an invitation to the GTG reopening.

Responsible at Geneva Opera House: Alain Duchêne (Marketing Director). Responsible at Havas Village Genève: Gabriel Mauron (Creative Director), Laura Cros, Simeon Brandner, Thomas Lafourcade (Art Direction). Pascal Charvet, Antoine Karpat (Copywriter).