The names change depending on the intention. When they want something from us, they call us "best agers". When they are among themselves, the black-clad ladies and gentlemen from the communications industry call us "silverbacks" or "Kukis" (from Kukident). Regardless, the important thing to know is that they only want what's best for us, namely our money. The paradox of media use has been known for a long time. Now a study* commissioned by the Swiss Media Association has provided a commendable insight into it: The older people get, the greater their tendency - at least on average - to get to the bottom of things. So they look to the media, among other things, for explanations and more in-depth information. In addition, he or she tends to have more time available for media use. As a result, many printed media have an above-average number of older users. As a result, print media has - in this generalization, wrongly - gained the reputation of tending to become outdated. However, this phenomenon is by no means limited to the print media. Some youth programs on television are able to attract more "Kukis" than viewers from the intended target group.

However, the real problem for marketers is not the intensity of media use by senior citizens, but their dwindling influence. With advancing age, the certainty of having found the right thing increases: not only in terms of partnership and world view, but also in terms of toothpaste, car brand and breakfast drink. For some of us "best agers", the power of habit is also stronger than the desire for something new. Safety comes before experimentation. Logically, this means that advertising contacts with people over 50 are more laborious, promise less return and are therefore more expensive than those with younger age groups, where a higher level of influence can be assumed. This is the cause of the much lamented "youth mania" of the media. The young simply yield better returns than the "Kukis".

The study dwells at great length on the preferences of media use and the instruments used for this. The apparent preference for print by the older generation is attributed to all kinds of - entirely plausible - factors. Only one, rather banal cause is ignored: People over 40 often have to deal with eye problems. Vision deteriorates with advancing age; screen reading tires people out more quickly (personal experience, confirmed by the ophthalmologist) and reduces their willingness to use reading devices of all kinds. On the other hand, the tendency to print out longer, coherent and/or difficult texts in particular is encouraged.

The study reports - sometimes in a somewhat compassionate, therapeutic tone - the distrust of older people towards new and social media, as well as their reservations about mobile reading. This could also be related to something very simple: the experience, often confirmed in a long life, that form also determines content: that short fodder, for example, inevitably leads to banality and that a decent, differentiated train of thought or a clever chain of argumentation simply needs space. The world is not a billboard. Life is not a headline. No one can tell the story of creation in fifteen lines.

Complexity and depth require differentiating formulations: Inversions, subordinate clauses, extempores - all stylistic devices with which caution is advised in online media writing courses. Some people also read with a marker, so they need the paper as an aid to memorization and repeated reflection. In other words, instead of writing long studies on the chances of winning over the older generation and converting them to tablet and Facebook users, we could try the opposite end of the spectrum: content and its careful, i.e. media-appropriate, preparation.

Communicating with the older generation is not hopeless. It's just more challenging.

Karl Lüönd, freelance journalist and author

*Jella Hoffmann: Best Media for Best Agers. Media usage behavior of the 50+ generation. Swiss Media Association, Konradstrasse 14, 8021 Zurich. Jella Hoffmann is Head of Media Research at LINK Institute for Market and Social Research.
 

Since its foundation in Copenhagen, the agency has grown continuously: a new office was added every two years - Zurich in 2008, Belgrade in 2010 and now London in 2012. The office opening in London crowns a successful year 2011, both in terms of clients and projects, says Strategic Director and founder Frederik Cordes: "We are currently working on several large projects, and some unique digital campaigns will be launched worldwide during 2012. Being part of the 24MAS Group has opened doors for us and put us in an excellent position to offer much more in terms of reach and scale."

Pete Russell and Gordon Dawson will focus on providing strategic advice to clients in the London office. Russell, previously at Publicis, later Managing Partner at Optimedia and co-founder of P1 Sport, together with Dawson, brings a wealth of experience in leading brands and IP into the digital world.
 

The tread change is to be understood literally here: A Facebook app is used to invite people to replace their profile picture with a picture of their tire profile. The Occasion Test is thus publicized in a simple and concise way. Users are automatically entered into a prize draw with 10 years of free car tires as the top prize. The Facebook app was flanked by contextually switched banners, targeted Facebook advertising and viral films. During the one-month campaign period, more than 10,000 active users were generated and a fivefold increase in TCS Facebook page likes was achieved.

You can find another film here.

Responsible at Serranetga: Remo Prinz, Maurizio Rugghia (overall responsibility), Nadine Rapp (project management), Samuel Textor (text/concept), Pascal Deville (art direction), Erwan Eydt (frontend), Stephan Meier (Facebook application), Gabriel Tenger (screen design), Tobias Bühler, Dominic Deville (film production).

 

Fürst Laffranchi Bauingenieuer is a Swiss company specializing in structural calculations. It designs load-bearing structures for buildings, civil engineering and bridges and supervises their execution. It also carries out condition analyses and static inspections of existing structures. Fürst Laffranchi acts as a consulting engineering firm for public and private building owners in the repair of bridges and buildings that require the solution of complex structural problems. Lackland has now tried to implement these characteristics in the new website.
 

On the 100-days.net platform, initiators (private individuals, groups, artists, associations or companies) present their projects and have them financed in 100 days by many individual donations from so-called boosters. In return, boosters receive unique goodies from the initiator, such as a signed CD, a book with dedication, a mention in the film credits or a personal conversation. Boosters support the realization of a project with their small and large contributions and can actively participate in it. Boosters are motivated by the fact that they help to turn great ideas into reality, are allowed to be close to the creation, receive attractive goodies and through personal love for exciting projects.

From now on, everyone can start projects on 100-days.net and be there when the first projects are visible and presented by Ron Orp on February 16. If you want to participate, you have to do three things: At the beginning it applies to show its project on 100-days.net and to present attractively. Then the project initiator promotes the project for 100 days, with a lot of creativity and the power of social media. After successful project promotion, the project is realized with the collected money.

You can see an example here.

Britta Boland and Martin Hannaford from Zora, Identity & Interaction Design are responsible for the 100-days.net design. The technical implementation was realized by IT Caps GmbH.

Due to budget losses in Germany - among others Lufthansa and Beck's - there will be some restructuring within the McCann Germany Group, Katharina Lohse (pictured), CEO of McCann Erickson, told Werbewoche. Within the agency group, she said, it has been decided to close the four locations in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Zurich and to consolidate the entire German-speaking business in Düsseldorf and Berlin. While the McCann location in Geneva, from where the agency works for L'Oréal Switzerland, will continue to exist, the remaining agency clients were offered to be serviced from Düsseldorf and Berlin, respectively. As an alternative, Lohse proposed a move to the Draft FCB agency, which, like McCann, belongs to the U.S. holding company Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). 

Lohse stressed that the closure of the Zurich branch was not due to budget or customer losses. "In 2011, Zurich had a super year." McCann's new clients included Logitech (EMEA campaign development), Acino Pharma (global brand development) and Logitech Sunstar Europe. However, the results of a single office did not change the consolidation decision, Lohse added.

What will happen to the Zurich team? Two to three months ago, Lohse explains, talks were held with the employees to evaluate their options in the Swiss and other markets. No layoffs have been announced. "Our employees have all already found something new." Some are moving to Draft FCB or Germany, while others have chosen agencies outside the network. Until the agency closes its doors, which is expected to be the end of February, Lohse is still busy re-housing current clients. She is not yet revealing what her personal future looks like. "I have decided to leave McCann and will take on a new challenge. First, though, I'm going to take a little time off." (imp)
 

The Super Bowl - the biggest football highlight in the USA - takes place on February 5. To mark the occasion, Volkswagen has once again opted for a Star Wars-themed advertising campaign. Back in 2011, VW launched a commercial for the blockbuster from the 1970s. The funny clip with the little Darth Vader was a huge success, and not just on You Tube. Now comes VW's next prank: the barked Imperial March - the theme music from Star Wars is "sung" by a dog choir. This commercial, appropriately named "The Bark Side", has already been listened to several times on You Tube, leaving fans of dog music puzzled. Because what this movie and VW are all about won't be revealed until the Super Bowl itself. Or can you see a connection?

So far you can watch the commercial from 2011 or listen to the dog choir:

 

Radio Heimatklang will broadcast folk music for 80 percent of its broadcasting time, according to a statement from the sponsoring company. The remaining 20 percent will be devoted to programs with names such as "So spielt ds Läbe", "Früsch ab Press" and "Volkstümliches Buurezmorge". This program is broadcast on Sunday mornings and also includes a sermon. The folk music radio station is sailing under the new name Heimatklang because it suits the content better than Neo2, according to Marc Lauper, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the newly founded Heimatklang Radio.
 

Wassmer will take over the management of the newly opened Zanox office in Zurich and the Swiss Zanox team, which was previously managed from the headquarters in Berlin. Wassmer's operational focus will be on expanding new customer business on both the advertiser and publisher side. The federally certified marketing manager comes from Publimedia, where he was Head of Consulting.

Zanox already supports some of the biggest Swiss companies in increasing their online revenues. At the same time, the performance advertising network helps many international advertisers such as HRS, eBookers or Esprit to expand into the Swiss market.

Zanox is a subsidiary of Publi Groupe (47.5%) and the German Axel Springer AG (52.5%).
 

Six nominees are eagerly awaiting the award, which they will receive at Lake Side in Zurich. Who the lucky winner is, you can read first on Thursday evening at Werbewoche.ch. But one thing is already clear: After two women, it will be a man again this year. This circumstance has prompted us to present the nominees in more detail in a tongue-in-cheek sexist parody of the US TV series "Mad Man". You can already watch the film by Andreas Panzeri and the music by T&Tea (see "Heads of the Week" in the upcoming print issue):

 

>Advertiser of the Year 2012 - Egon Award Ceremony at LakeSide Zurich

The redesigned magazine is divided into three sections. It kicks off with the visually stunning "Discover" section, which takes a surprising look behind the scenes of the world of mobility and encourages readers to discover Switzerland. In the "Experience" section, mobility and sustainability topics are highlighted and explained, along with an in-depth interview with a nationally known personality and controversial articles on current public transport issues. In the "Experience" section, Via accompanies prominent and unknown people on a trip to a region of our country, providing the best addresses as well as reports on destinations abroad that are easily accessible by public transport.

Via is now published ten times a year instead of eight, with a print run of 246,000 copies (186,000 copies in German, 60,000 copies in French) and reaches around 450,000 readers. It is available in distribution boxes at 160 railroad stations throughout Switzerland and is displayed in the trains of SBB and many other public transport companies; the magazine can also be subscribed to. Depending on the issue, it has between 32 and 48 pages.

Infel AG and Vogt-Schild Druck AG are responsible for production and printing; Publicitas Publimag is responsible for all advertising marketing.

Via is now also available as a digital magazine. The new app will be available to download at the same time as Via is published on February 3. With the app, Via can now also be discovered, experienced and enjoyed electronically. The Via app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store; more information at sbb.ch/mobile and via.ch.
 

The carnival and its colorful procession with colossal float constructions, elaborate masks, fabulous costumes and atmospheric Guggen have been a tradition in Solothurn for over a hundred years. Tele Bärn broadcasts the colorful procession from Solothurn for the first time live in full length from 2.30 pm. One week later, the Bern Carnival also enchants the federal city and attracts thousands of enthusiastic carnival revellers. The highlight of the carnival in the city of Bern is the parade. Tele Bärn broadcasts the big Bernese carnival procession at the end of the "most beautiful time of the year" live from 2.30 pm. A colorful reunion with all the Guggen, cliques and fools.