Jürg Bachmann new President of KS/CS Communication Switzerland

At the Annual General Meeting on May 7, 2021, the members of Communication Switzerland unreservedly approved the realignment of the industry umbrella organization. They set the personnel course for the new era by electing a new board and a new president. Jürg Bachmann, President of the Swiss Private Radio Association (VSP), succeeds Filippo Lombardi. The former member of the Council of States, who led the association for ten years, was appointed honorary president at the meeting. "I am very pleased about the trust," Jürg Bachmann was quoted as saying in a statement from KS/CS. "What is decisive for me is that the industry stands behind the new, focused orientation of KS/CS as well as the new board. Only together can we improve the reputation of advertising and create greater understanding among politicians, the media and the public for the great economic importance of the communications industry."

New minds for focused work

Together with Jürg Bachmann, the new board includes the following personalities from the communications and media industry:

• Silvana Imperiali, Vice President (Gamned Switzerland, Deputy General Manager)
• Vincent Antonioli (Debout sur la table, Holder)
• Marco Battaglia (BMine Consulting, Owner)
• Maria Luisa Bernini (Swiss Communication Agency, Owner)
• François Besençon (SAWI Academy for Marketing and Communication, Chairman of the Board)
• Siri Fischer (IGEM Electronic Media Interest Group, Managing Director)
• Christine Gabella (Tamedia, Member of the Executive Board)
• Michael Hählen (in flagranti, CEO and Partner / Ombudsman LSA)
• Roger Harlacher (Zweifel Pomy-Chips, Member of the Board of Directors / President SWA)
• Pam Hügli (Serviceplan Suisse, Managing Director)
• Susanne Lebrument (Somedia Group, Delegate of the Board of Directors)
• Fabienne Leuenberger (Camille Bloch, Head of Marketing)
• Christian Merk (former Zurich Insurance Group, CFO KS/CS)

"As an umbrella organization, we represent the entire communications industry. This should also be reflected in our board," the new president continued. "The search committee has therefore paid attention to a good mix in terms of gender, age, language and specialist areas." According to the statement, the new board's main task will be to strengthen the reputation and acceptance of advertising, to support parliamentarians and authorities in their work, and to proactively help shape laws that affect the communications industry. To this end, the Communications Council will act as a sounding board. On the other hand, the Board will set up working groups and commissions to work on individual topics in greater depth.

Standing committees and ad hoc working groups

With permanent commissions and topic-specific working groups, KS/CS wants to get involved in political discussions at an early stage in the future and make its voice heard more. Already active since last fall is the Regulation Committee headed by Marc Schwenninger, in which Economiesuisse and the Swiss Fair Trading Commission are also represented. "By monitoring the legislative processes, we create the basis for decision-making for the Board of Directors for targeted lobbying and more far-reaching measures," explains Schwenninger.

KS/CS also works with changing partners on a case-by-case basis in the working groups that the umbrella organization sets up as needed. In the "Tobacco" working group, for example, which is fighting against a total ban in the Tobacco Products Act (TabPG), these are the Swiss Association of Advertisers (SWA) and the umbrella organization of the tobacco industry, Swiss Cigarette. Another consequence of monitoring is the "Meat" working group, in which KS/CS advocates for industry interests at a very early stage of the legislative process and fights against impending bans.

"Back on a sound footing"

The 2020 annual result of KS/CS Kommunikation Schweiz shows a net loss of only CHF 8,006 despite considerable restructuring measures. The liquidation of the SAWI association resulted in an increase in equity for the association to just over 200,000 francs as of December 31, 2020.

On the other hand, there were various one-off additional expenses due to the reorganization of the Audit Commission, the relocation of the administrative office to the new Ernastrasse site in Zurich, and the double staffing of the General Secretariat until the end of May 2020. "Thanks to the reorganization measures and great budget discipline, the financial turnaround has been achieved," explains CFO Christian Merk. "The association is back on a sound footing and is equipped for the future." For the first time ever, Communication Switzerland has published its annual results in the form of an annual report including a consolidated balance sheet and income statement.