Grayling has been supporting Nokia in Germany for over ten years. Now the cell phone manufacturer has also chosen Grayling as its partner in Switzerland. In addition to strategic consulting, the agency is now also responsible for media relations and handling media inquiries. It will also advise Nokia on social media. The communication activities were launched in January with the flagship "Nokia Lumia 800". The activities surrounding the launch of the new smartphone are intended to actively support the realignment of the Nokia brand, as Grayling announced on Thursday.

 

Someone stands on the podium and announces in a confident voice that he will do everything better. The audience applauds frenetically. Flags and banners wave above their heads. The speaker kisses his wife, hugs his three children and waves to the crowd. He is the hero of the crowd. His vest as white as his bleached teeth. But doesn't everyone have a proverbial corpse buried somewhere in the darkest corner of their cellar? And if it has already been disposed of properly, then a stranger can be foisted on you during the election campaign. The mudslinging has begun. America elects a new president in November. Or a new old one. But before Democrats and Republicans go head to head in the ring, the conservative candidates are tearing each other apart. Somehow strange. Don't they all come from roughly the same political corner? Don't they stand for roughly the same values? At least compared to their arch-enemy, the Democrats. Maybe they're good buddies in private. Admire each other's gun collections. And talk about God and the world over a glass of whiskey. But there is a war going on. And tough times call for tough measures. Sometimes a male friendship is sacrificed.

The sad part of the whole story, however, is not the strange behavior of politicians running for office at election time. No, it is the fact that voters play along with this game. That even educated people adopt preconceived opinions and vote on this basis. Why else do the mistakes and shortcomings of your opponent count more than your own achievements in an election campaign? Ultimately, the office of president is a job. Admittedly, not the easiest. But that is precisely why someone running for it should be able to demonstrate a corresponding track record. But when it comes to the responsible task of a head of state, this doesn't seem to carry much weight. Here, those who make the best speeches and are the most efficient at putting their opponents on the spot come out on top. Voters are only too happy to be lulled by the promises. And then he takes office, the new man, and the seriousness of life begins. He will only be judged by his achievements. Like Obama. Americans were full of hope when he took his oath with his hand on the book of all books. Full of hope that the Messiah would now take his seat in the White House and fix everything. Or at least Harry Potter. Because the person who wants to solve all the big and small problems in this huge country would have to be able to work magic. After all, the grace period only lasts four years. Then it's back to shooting. Do you remember the game "chocolate eating", which - at least in my day - was never missing at children's birthday parties? By the time the hat, scarf and gloves are finally in place and you can start tampering with the chocolate, drenched in sweat and armed with a knife and fork, someone else has probably rolled another six and the whole thing starts all over again. Will the Americans give Barack Obama one more term in office so that he can reduce the chocolate mountain a little more? Will they put their trust in him once again, even though he hasn't managed to make everyone happy in four years? Or are the majority convinced that the Republicans can do better after all? Only to realize in eight years at the latest that they haven't managed it either. Full of hope, voters will then once again listen to the promises of a Democratic presidential candidate and be convinced that, yes, this is the one. This is the one who will lead our country out of the crisis. The show must go on.
 

WW: Mr. Wyss, your book promises to show how journalists and editorial offices can ensure quality in the media. What is media quality anyway?
Vinzenz Wyss: If media quality is to be determined, it must be based on the function that journalism fulfills in a society. Although we talk about media quality, we actually mean journalistic quality. It is not about the goals of the media organization; journalism must primarily do something for society.

What does it do?
Journalism should help society to observe itself. It brings diverse points of view to the public and thus facilitates discourse. It mediates between different, mostly inconsistent perspectives. In other words, it takes economic, political or even aesthetic considerations into account with regard to a certain issue "Should a certain traffic circle be built or not?" and facilitates the discussion: "Should the traffic circle be built at this price with this aesthetic?"

You mention the forum function of journalism...
Journalism must go one step further. It must hierarchize and evaluate. It must ask which arguments are credible and which are a deceptive maneuver. Journalism does not just present statements by different people. It places them in a context and tries to create transparency. Why does someone say A when they used to say B? Journalism provides the public with information to help them make decisions.

And you derive the quality standards from this function?
Yes, one criterion that can be derived, for example, is relevance. Socially relevant information belongs in the public domain. Topics that need to be fed into public discourse because they help an audience to make decisions. Is relevance independent of the media title? Of course there is a division of labor between the media titles. Different media - weekly newspapers, online platforms or radio - have different approaches. Some scandalize a little more, others tend to depict structures, while for others it is important to tell stories. However, the concept of relevance remains the same, regardless of whether it is an article in a tabloid or the NZZ.

The same things are relevant for a tabloid as for the NZZ?
Here we are at the "hardcore criteria" that journalism fulfills in contrast to other actors in society - politics, culture or business. If a company pursues economic goals, we do not expect them to be relevant to society as a whole. Journalism, on the other hand, does. I also expect a Swiss magazine to portray people whose stories are used to convey norms and values: How do I organize my life? What do I like, what do I dislike? These are also important services that tabloid journalism in particular explicitly pursues. I am not making a hierarchy between different types of media. Each has its function in society. The difference lies solely in access. For example, the tabloids are highly personalized.

Isn't it precisely personalization that is criticized when it comes to quality in the media?
Yes, but it is wrong to assume that journalism can do without personalization. For something to be understandable, it needs the ability to reduce complex issues. Journalism achieves comprehensibility - another quality criterion - by naming specific role players. Let's take the reporting on Philipp Hildebrand as an example. There are various players: the bank president, the politician, the lawyer, the victim, etc. It's a wonderful story. Ultimately, however, it's about a structural problem, about the questions: Is someone in such an important position allowed to carry out foreign exchange transactions? And how does Swiss society deal with this? The topic is highly relevant and journalism cannot avoid naming role models.

So personalization is not a problem?
But there is a problem when you tell stories for the sake of personalization. You have great heroes - perpetrators and victims - but the story being told is completely irrelevant. When it comes to what kind of panties Paris Hilton wears, you have to ask yourself to what extent this personalization helps to address structurally important issues.

Personalization is okay if it helps to explain things?
Exactly, it is a means to an end. But it must not be placed above the end. It's not enough to have a great story, to tell a fairy tale. Journalism should leave that to cinema, literature and the entertainment industry. Journalism should point out irritations, problems that should be solved.

What other criteria are important besides relevance and comprehensibility?
In contrast to literature, advertising or PR, we expect journalism to refer to facts, to make an effort to get to the truth. For example, by checking several sources. This also includes the concept of transparency. Where does a statement come from? Is it credible? What interests are behind it? This goes as far as the production conditions. It should be transparent how a text came about. The reader must know the background in order to be able to assess how a text should be judged.

Does transparency also include knowing who owns a media company?
Absolutely! It is naïve to think that a media company is the same as a commercial enterprise. Media companies have the power to interpret. They have the freedom to describe reality, although we can never be certain whether a description of reality is accurate. This freedom calls for responsibility, which also includes transparency regarding ownership. Are you in favor of a "Lex Weltwoche"? Absolutely. I am about to demand that the public must know where the resources that produce journalism come from, as we can assume that the means of power that are used - money, personnel - have an influence on the independence of the editorial team. In the interests of transparency, this should be disclosed. It is legitimate for a political party to own a media company as long as it is transparent.

Now we have some quality criteria...
Of course there would be more: independence, diversity of perspectives, the requirement for fairness, narrativity...

The list would be even longer. But how does an editorial team manage to ensure quality?
We, the authors of the book, believe that a conscious approach to quality can be organized. This begins by making your understanding of quality explicit. The journalistic understanding often exists in the minds of editors. What is needed, however, are journalistic guidelines. At Tamedia, for example, the guidelines could set out how to deal with topics that concern the company. It must be regulated how an editor at 20 Minuten deals with it when a product from their own company is in the dock. Do I then make it a topic? Quality assurance cannot be left to chance or an ad hoc discussion.

Journalistic guidelines already exist today ...
However, such sets of rules are often token exercises. They are made because it is good manners. In practice, however, the rules are dusty and are hardly ever consciously used as a means of control. Nobody knows them, nobody refers to them. It can be schizophrenic when a company sets out certain guiding principles but acts completely differently.

To what extent can your book change this?
The book attempts to provide practices and tips on how to refer to such rules and regulations on a daily basis in an organization's work process. They will only be brought to life if they are also updated in everyday life and become meaningful. It is important that such voluntary commitments - the treatment of children, the requirement for fairness, the use of hidden cameras - are regulated down to the smallest detail. Swiss radio and television has a great set of rules, which are also publicly accessible.

Is it up to the editors-in-chief to create or implement such rules?
It is above all the editors-in-chief or managing editors who have a duty. It is important that managers give their commitment and ensure that these rules are enforced. But without journalists being involved in defining the principles, there is no point. There must be a constant discourse. Do our guidelines still make sense? Do we need to make adjustments? Cases that contradict the guidelines should be addressed.

Given the current conditions in editorial offices, regulations could be perceived as an additional burden due to the reduction in resources and personnel.
Certainly. That's why I believe our book comes at the right moment. We are at a turning point. Some media companies are having major problems financing journalism. We authors are convinced that journalism can only survive in the long term if it strengthens its internal self-healing powers. In order to be credible in the long term or to differentiate itself from social media - from the constant noise - it should be in the interest of the entire profession, from journalists to management, to establish quality assurance structures. It is about consciously optimizing and improving journalistic performance.

Can you give an example of how journalistic performance can be optimized?
Let's take a day in an editorial office as an example. At the morning editorial meeting, someone says: "So, what are we doing today?" (Incidentally, this is already the first problem: too little planning is done in advance.) Another person replies: "I've heard that a politician wants to reintroduce the lockdown in Lucerne. Do we want to do something about that? " Another says: "Okay, I'll do it." That's it. This is where we should start. It would be important to follow the guidelines right from the planning stage. To ask: Why is it relevant? A story is relevant if it gives the audience guidance to make decisions. The journalist must uncover the motives behind it. Why does the politician want the lockdown? If it were about noise, embargo periods would be useless. In addition, the journalist should formulate a desired statement: "I want the audience to learn from my article, to understand that...

So quality is assured in the editorial meeting?
The process continues, of course. When the editor in charge sets off to gather soundbites - what politicians and those affected on the street think of the lockdown - we have to ask ourselves again: Are the goals we have set ourselves achievable? Or do we have new information and therefore need to change the story? Quality assurance goes as far as feedback, which is only worth anything if you refer to rules. Often it's just: "That was still good." Why it was good, what requirements were met, is not mentioned. You can't learn anything from "good". I have to refer to rules. For example: "I found the article interesting. But you violated the requirement of fairness, you didn't even talk to the accused..."

You work as an evaluator yourself. Is it possible to ensure sufficient quality internally or would it be helpful for print media to be externally audited, as is the case with licensed radio and TV stations?
I firmly believe that the print media would also do well to allow an external, critical view of their own organization. Without coercion, of course. But if a company says: We don't think we're doing a bad job, we have editorial conferences, planning processes, we also give feedback, but we still want to bring in someone who looks at these things from a different perspective, I think that makes sense.

Who do the media turn to?
Evaluators who currently review licensed radio and television stations would certainly also be suitable for doing this in the print sector. Mediaprocessing, Publicom, Certimedia or even Media Quality Assessment (MQA), my own company. But before you have an external assessment carried out, you can do a lot yourself. You have to put on the glasses that an external evaluator would use and take a critical look at your own processes. Our book can also help with this. What rules apply? You should map out the typical process from the idea for a journalistic story to the planning and criticism at the end. You will immediately find places where there are breaks. You should also involve employees and ask them where processes can be optimized. Or how to deal with audience feedback or complaints.

In what way?
For example, in the form of an audience council like the SRG has. Some people have the feeling that this is just self-congratulation on the part of SRG. However, there are also audience councils at private media, for example at Tele Basel. Tele 1 in Lucerne also wants to introduce something similar. These broadcasters want a reflection of people who regularly watch their program and give feedback on what they have noticed. That can be very fruitful. Kurt

Imhof has his difficulties in gaining the attention of practitioners with the "Quality of the Media" yearbook. Are you confident that you will be noticed?
I am confident. Some of the criticism is unfair to practitioners. They try hard, they love their profession, but unfortunately they are often at the mercy of structural conditions that squeeze them out. I think the journalists in the editorial offices are already doing a lot of what I mentioned. With the book, we can show them that what they do is important, but that quality assurance can be managed more consciously. This would also strengthen self-confidence, which I think is currently lacking in the industry. Formulating values and goals that you want to pursue with journalism forces you to formulate your self-image. Why you are there, how you understand quality in journalism. This also gives you better arguments against those who create structures. You have to convince them that it is important to invest in quality.

So the book is not aimed at publishers, but primarily at journalists?
Exactly, the book is primarily aimed at the creators, but also editorial managers and even individual journalists who sit at an editorial conference and ask themselves: "What am I doing there anyway? This is wasted time." The knowledge conveyed in the book can help journalists to get involved and create better structures. Of course, it would also be good for every publisher to read the book in order to better understand where the possibilities and limits of journalistic quality assurance lie. If they have this understanding, they will be a better discussion partner for the editorial offices and will be taken seriously.

Isabel Imper

Vinzenz Wyss (46) studied German language and literature, journalism and sociology at the University of Zurich. From 1991 to 1998 he worked as an editor and presenter for the private radio station Radio 32 in Solothurn. From 1994 to 2003, he worked at the University of Zurich as an assistant, senior assistant, research assistant and finally as managing director of IPMZ Transfer. In 2002, he completed his doctorate on the subject of "Editorial Quality Management".
Since 2003, he has been Professor of Journalism and Media Research at the IAM Institute for Applied Media Studies at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW in Winterthur. He is also a lecturer at the Media Institute of the Swiss Press Association and teaches at the MAZ School of Journalism in Lucerne and at the Institute for Journalism Studies and Media Research IPMZ at the University of Zurich. In 2009, Wyss was elected President of the Swiss Association for Communication and Media Studies. With MQA - Media Quality Assessment - he runs an evaluation office recognized by the Federal Office of Communications Bakom, which evaluates and improves quality management concepts in media organizations.

The book by Vinzenz Wyss, Peter Studer (former President of the Swiss Press Council, Editor-in-Chief of Swiss Television and Editor-in-Chief of the Tages-Anzeiger) and Toni Zwyssig (former Head of Training at Swiss Television SF, correspondent and editor) was published by Orell Füssli Verlag on January 15. With this 209-page work, the authors aim to make a clarifying contribution to the ongoing debate on media quality and show what constitutes media quality and how it can be implemented in editorial offices. The authors have spoken to professional media producers and critical media users in German-speaking countries, looked around for findings and recipes and recorded them in a guide.

WW: You were involved in the 2006 World Cup for Germany and helped win. In recent years, you supported Munich's 2018 Olympic bid and helped it lose. What advice would you give the Swiss organizers?
Abold: The ultimate goal must be to avoid all electoral maneuvers. An Olympic bid is a balancing act between grassroots democracy and dictatorship. On the one hand, a doer is needed, like Bernie Ecclestone in Formula 1. On the other hand, approval must be broadly supported, from the citizens to the various political bodies to the executive floors of business and government. This requires broad, unambiguous communication. An outsider cannot imagine how complex and complicated such an application is. Because there is also the phenomenon of "elephant memory".

What do you mean by that?
When Olympic or World Cup decisions are made, close attention is paid to the reactions of those affected. Nothing is forgotten, and this is often underestimated. Take the current attack by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter against the management of FC Bayern. In the German newspaper Kicker, he claims that the management allegedly made a big deal about the World Cup in South Africa two years ago. As a result, Africa closed Munich and refused to give its approval for the 2018 Olympics. Blatter specifically names the names, and the international news machinery is already spinning.

But Switzerland has no previous experience in this respect, so should it now take an example from the reigning Winter Olympic champions in Pyeongchang, South Korea?
Two questions, two answers. On the one hand, Pyeongchang is an example of how you shouldn't give up on your Olympic ambitions. The Koreans have applied three times. That shows respect and humility towards the IOC. Everyone was in the same boat for South Korea's bid - the politicians, the business community and the organizers. They even opened the prison doors to reactivate experienced lobbyists. And now a look at Switzerland, at the Sion/Wallis Olympic bid. Back then, they lost to Turin 2006 and complained bitterly and angrily. The term "mafia" was used. This should not simply be forgotten in a new bid, the IOC certainly won't do that.

What role does public approval actually play in an Olympic bid?
Vancouver, Canada, had an approval rating of just 60 percent before the bid, and 85 percent before the Games. The potential of public opinion should not be underestimated, as it is an indicator for the communication of solutions to problems. Switzerland has a very grassroots democratic approach. Cantonal citizens' initiatives for nature conservation or against funding have a very different impact than in Germany, for example.

Keyword money. Is Switzerland in a position to finance the Winter Olympics?
The issue of financing with the involvement of the public sector is just as problematic in Switzerland as it is in Germany. If Swiss Olympic, the umbrella organization of Swiss sport, now rejects the CHF 5.6 million expansion of a ski jumping facility, this does not speak for a general spirit of optimism in Swiss winter sports. I also see it as a disadvantage that the potential of large international companies with Olympic sponsorship ambitions is too low in Switzerland.

So you don't like Switzerland?
Quite the opposite. I regularly go skiing in Davos with Mrs. Acola. Switzerland is a great winter sports nation, a successful popular figure with great successes. Euro 2008 impressively demonstrated the country's organizational skills. The 2014 World Championships in Athletics will also show how well the communication platform works.

After the drawing board games in Sochi and Pyeongchang, project manager Sven Zehnder wants to give the Swiss Games the motto: "Simple games in real winter sports stadiums". As a Munich agency and bid expert, have you already been approached?
I don't know whether any large advertising and communications agencies are already involved in the planned Winter Games. In any case, we have not yet received any inquiries.

Interview: Peter Ehm

The Swiss path to an Olympic bid
Preparations are currently underway for a Winter Olympics bid under the project management of Sven Zehnder. He wants to showcase games in the Davos and St. Moritz regions that reflect the spirit of the times, a return to the Olympic spirit, trust in Switzerland and its expertise in terms of sustainability and environmental awareness. After Sochi and Pyeongchang, "simple games in real winter sports stadiums" should inspire the world in 2022 (or 2026). And that is the timetable:
- Following the creation and presentation of an overall concept, the sports parliament will make a final decision on the application on April 27, 2012.
- The Federal Council is due to make a decision in July 2012.
- The referendum in Graubünden is scheduled for November 25.
- In June 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awards the Winter Games for 2022 by secret ballot.
 

In terms of awareness, the SBB campaign by Contexta came out on top, followed by the ad for the Salvation Army by advertising agency Spinas Civil Voices and the ad for Zweifelchips by Advico Young & Rubicam. The ad for the Salvation Army came top for the criterion of uniqueness. The ad for SBB follows in second place. The ad for Zweifelchips is in third place. Mammut is the undisputed leader in the Brand Fit criterion, again followed by SBB and Zweifelchips. Mammut also wins in terms of likeability. In 2nd and 3rd place are SBB and Salvation Army.

To the results

Question and methodology

Method: Computer Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI).
Instrument: Online interviews via the Marketagent.com reSEARCH platform.
Target group: Web-active people from German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 14 and 65.
Sample size: n = 500 net interviews, random selection according to quotas.
Survey Period: 20.-26. 1. 2012.

Questions:

- We introduced you to some ads at the beginning of today's survey. Which of these ads do you remember? Please name the advertising companies or the brands advertised. (Awareness)

- In your opinion, to what extent do these ads stand out from other advertising in newspapers, magazines and journals? Please rate each from 1 (= does not stand out at all) to 6 (= stands out very much). (Uniqueness)

- To what extent do these ads fit the image you have of the respective brands/companies? Please rate each from 1 (= does not fit my image of this brand at all) to 6 (= fits my image of this brand very well). (Brand Fit)

- To what extent do you like the following advertisements? Please rate each from 1 (= I don't like it at all) to 6 (= I like it very much). (Likeability) The values shown are the top box ratings "stands out very strongly", "fits very well with my image of the brand", "I like very much".

The author of the representative study "Switzerland's advertising favorites" is the company specializing in online advertising.
Marketagent.com Switzerland, which specializes in market research and has a registered panel of
20,000 willing respondents in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland.
Marketagent.com Switzerland is a subsidiary of the leading Austrian
market research company Marketagent.com online reSEARCH GmbH and the
Swiss communications agency Contract Media AG.

 

At the weekend, Switzerland's youngest bank presented its new corporate design at the Mercedes CSI. Since Wednesday, Notenstein Private Bank has been using full-page print advertisements in the national and regional daily press to promote its new logo and online presence. In the coming days, further advertisements with the slogan "Great experience. Young bank. Strong partner" and impressions of the Alpstein mountains in Eastern Switzerland will follow. The new corporate design and the campaign were developed by Notenstein Private Bank's internal creative department under the direction of Roman Burch. The new logo harks back to the Notenstein coat of arms, which shows a white standing dog on a red background. The modern interpretation of this traditional coat of arms symbolizes - like the slogan - the bank's great experience and its simultaneous focus on the future. "Our team developed and implemented a new Notenstein Private Bank website in record time. All social media channels were also relaunched overnight.
 

The Swiss corporate publishing landscape, with its language regions and as the location of countless multinational companies, provides a good blueprint for international corporate publishing (CP). Hardly any CP product in this country is published in just one language, and when it is, it is often not even in one of the national languages, but in English, the Esperanto of the global business world.

No company with a presence throughout Switzerland can afford to publish exclusively in German. The minimum is a French version, which, with a little good will, is also read in Ticino. For readers east of the Röstigraben and north of the Alpine ridge, the reciprocal right does not necessarily apply to publications that appear first in one of the Latin languages. However, the prospect of finding a wide audience for the German version of a French- or Italian-language publication is also quite slim.

The effort required for translation, layout adaptation, printing and distribution is associated with cost consequences that are often out of proportion to the distribution. On an international scale, this disproportion puts a quick end to many a well-intentioned country edition.

But using adequate technology and novel distribution models - for example, as a digital edition for tablet computers - some CP products can now be published in additional languages and distributed in areas of the world where hardly anyone subscribes to them. And if they do, they would rather not be sent by mail in printed form for cost reasons.

All beginning is content
Let's start with the generation of the content. The product must have a certain credibility so that the CP agency can win over the desired expert in a worldwide author search. This is somewhat easier for a renowned agency with a well-known publisher as a client and with every author it acquires, because name-dropping works even with some luminaries who have been labeled as "divas". A continuously updated profile of the publication, which includes a list of authors as well as abstracts of the articles, proves to be extremely helpful as a door opener.

Once the author or expert has been engaged, the next step is to look for a picture. At best, a photographer can be found in the agency's network who has his or her base near the person to be portrayed, so that the assignment is associated with reasonable travel costs. However, many photographers are usually traveling somewhere in the world. The agency is therefore well advised to keep abreast of their travel plans - with a bit of luck, these will coincide with a local appointment, and once again a desired picture is in the magazine instead of an agency picture.

Adequate technology for the creation ...
International CP requires a round-the-clock editorial system that allows editors, layouters and other participants to contribute to the creation of the publication regardless of location. Work steps approved by the agency in the process, such as text production or proofreading, can thus be completed overnight by an editor in Singapore or a proofreader in Canada, for example.

This is especially true for translations, which today are also done by translators from all over the world in the case of traditional workflows. The editorial system even allows multiple language versions to be processed simultaneously.

Last but not least, it also simplifies the approval processes with customers. In the overview of the current status of work, they can attach electronic sticky notes, approve layouts and download PDF files for their internal processes.

... and for the production
If work on the publication has progressed to the point where prepress can take over the layouts, it naturally also does so with the help of the editorial system. At this stage, for example, the high-resolution images are still integrated into the layouts, and at a certain status of the workflow, print data is generated via status change. Regional advertisements are typical for multilingual publications. These can also be scheduled with the editorial system and automatically integrated in the workflow. In the case of very extensive publications, a page planning tool is used for this purpose.

Novel distribution models
Back to the world's inhabitants, who prefer to read their magazines on their tablet computers rather than printed on paper. The distribution model underlying digital publishing, with a newsstand app and issues that can be loaded into it, is worth a closer look. The editorial system provides tools to produce a publication for release in multiple channels. If the print version is the basis, an edition for the website or for tablet computers can also be generated in parallel or only slightly delayed.

If a tablet publication has to be produced in country-specific editions - for example, as a result of regulatory requirements - there is nothing to stop different versions being distributed via the App Store. The only thing that needs to be done is careful planning.

Fueled by blogs, tweets, and classic PR, a digital magazine manages to surpass the number of copies of the print edition with the number of downloaded issues within a few days. And not just in its home countries, but worldwide - even in markets where the publication has not yet been present.

A good proportion of recipients come from countries to which mailing the printed magazine is expensive and takes a long time. This reveals a highly interesting distribution model: worldwide, simultaneous availability as a pull medium, without the expense of logistics - and contact costs that become lower with each recipient. Exclusively qualified contacts, without scatter cost loss and deliberately wanted by the potential reader!

Versions à gogo
In the case of print products, regionalization occasionally goes so far that country-specific preferences even have to be taken into account when choosing the type of paper. It can happen, for example, that a version of the same magazine is printed on uncoated paper for Switzerland and the German-speaking countries and a version on coated paper for the Anglo-Saxon countries. However, since the content of the language versions often also differs greatly to completely, the choice of paper is negligible - there are hardly any more cost-saving commonalities. The coordination of several versions of a single magazine is therefore a massive challenge for the CP agency. In addition to the German edition for Switzerland, for example, there is also an edition for Austria or one for Germany. And the English edition exists in a version for Great Britain, one for the USA and one for Asia. In addition, there are language versions that have to be set with Central and Eastern European accents or even in non-Latin scripts.

Back in Switzerland, it becomes apparent that there is hardly any difference between an international magazine and a magazine that is produced in three national languages, for example. The challenges are comparable - apart from somewhat more "village-like" structures when it comes to recruiting authors, the team involved in realization, and approval by those responsible on the customer side.

Urs Arnold/Lukas Huggenberg

Expert knowledge is conveyed to an increasingly broad layer of addressees in their native language.

Specialists for international CP
Urs Arnold is Managing Director and Creative Director of Arnold Inhalt und Form (AIF) and a board member of Forum Corporate Publishing (FCP). Lukas Huggenberg heads AIF's content division and, as CIO, is responsible for the interface between design and technology.
AIF knows the needs of the international CP à fond. The agency conceives, designs and realizes the client magazine Bulletin of Credit Suisse in six print versions as well as an English-language tablet magazine. For the expert magazine Global Investor for Credit Suisse Global Research, which is published in seven languages, AIF is also responsible for text and editing and provides a US-American as editor-in-chief.
AIF also has overall responsibility for the customer magazine Think! for IBM Switzerland and IBM Austria. It is published in German and French, as well as in Austria in an edition that, in addition to the country-specific differences in grammar and language usage, contains a good 50 percent country-specific content generated by a team around the Austrian editor-in-chief engaged by AIF.
In Switzerland, AIF is responsible, among other things, for the Swiss Post magazine, which is published in three languages, the Helsana annual report, which is also published in three languages, and the Avenir Suisse newsletter Avenir Aktuell, which is published in German and French.

Contact: Arnold. Inhalt und Form AG, Urs Arnold, [email protected]
 

Due to budget losses in Germany - including Lufthansa and Beck's - the McCann Germany Group is undergoing restructuring, Katharina Lohse, CEO of McC, told Werbewoche. The decision has been made to close the Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Zurich offices and to consolidate the German-speaking business in Düsseldorf and Berlin. The location in Geneva, where the agency works for L'Oréal Switzerland, will remain in place. The remaining agency clients were offered the option of being served from Düsseldorf and Berlin respectively. As an alternative, Lohse suggested a move to the agency Draft FCB, which, like McCann, belongs to the US holding company Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). Lohse emphasized that the closure of the Zurich branch was not due to a loss of budget or clients. "Zurich had a great year in 2011." However, the result did not change the consolidation decision, Lohse continued. What will happen to the Zurich team? Discussions had already begun with the employees two to three months ago. No redundancies have been announced. "Our employees have all already found something new."

 

Vaudoise Insurance is going on the communications offensive in 2012. A national campaign by Contexta is proving in all media and disciplines that "no other insurance company is closer to its customers" - both geographically and in human terms. The French-speaking Swiss insurer already generates almost 40 percent of its sales in German-speaking Switzerland, and CEO Philippe Hebeisen sees further potential for growth: "I am convinced that an independent, medium-sized insurer like Vaudoise is a real alternative to the large insurance groups. With our manageable structure and over 90 agencies throughout Switzerland, we stand for the shortest communication and decision-making channels." The new positioning, but also the new brand promise, which Contexta condensed into the claim "Where you are", is consistently based on this customer proximity. "The campaign therefore focuses on authentic people from Valais, Basel or Zurich who are rooted in their region and who proudly declare themselves against the backdrop of the Matterhorn, the Middle Rhine Bridge or the Prime Tower: I am Vaudoise," emphasizes CD Moritz Staehelin. For the cinematic realization, the idea was extended by another dimension. In Tobias Fueter's film, the respective protagonists talk about their emotions and character traits while we see them mastering their everyday lives with confidence. (pan)

BLS has developed a new corporate mission statement. As part of this, Erdmannpeisker was commissioned to develop a communication strategy for implementing the new values. The measures, which will be implemented over several years, are primarily aimed at the company's own employees. The aim is to ensure that the new mission statement is well understood and lived intensively and that a sustainable cultural change takes place. Erdmannpeisker's idea: it is not the managers who address the 2,800 employees. Instead, colleagues give each other tips and advice. To this end, 12 employees were interviewed and later humorously portrayed by illustrator Rahel Nicole Eisenring. The result is a large-format calendar and a matching competition under the motto "Reliability". The best employee tips are published month after month. Without the finger-wagging. But humorous and absolutely authentic. (pan)
 

The newspaper had admitted that one of its reporters had tried to gain access to confidential data, said the Labour MP Tom Watson, citing Scotland Yard. In this particular case, a police blogger was affected. The reporter has since left the newspaper, Times editor-in-chief James Harding wrote in a letter to the judicial committee investigating the Murdoch affair.

"When the reporter informed his superiors that he was trying to gain unauthorized access to an email account on his own initiative in the course of his research, he was told to use legitimate means if he wanted to pursue the story," the letter reads.

Last Saturday, four journalists from the Sun tabloid were arrested on suspicion of making illegal payments to the police, including the current head of news, a department head and two former executives, as reported by the Guardian. However, no charges have yet been brought and the detainees have been released on bail.

The Murdoch affair broke out at the tabloid News of the World. After more and more details about illegal wiretapping methods became known last spring, Murdoch shut down the traditional Sunday paper. High-ranking managers of the newspaper holding News International, including publishing director Rebekah Brooks, were temporarily arrested and lost their jobs. (SDA)

Five films are nominated in each of the categories best feature film, best documentary and best short film. Other categories include best screenplay, best actress, best actor, best performance in a supporting role, best film music and best cinematography.

You can view the entire list of nominated films and people at here view.