The Swissfilm Association "is delighted" that the twelfth competition under the patronage of the Federal Department of Home Affairs once again featured many outstanding productions "that also stand up to international comparison". Of the approximately 250 works submitted in four categories, 64 films made it onto the shortlist. 18 works were awarded a prize. The productions were judged by five independent juries made up of experts from the film, commissioning and advertising industries. The winning films with the credits of the agencies, film people and creatives involved can be seen at www.edinet.ch. In this print edition of Werbewoche, we show the six commercials that were awarded an Edi.

> To the winners (PDF)

WW: In September, FriendScout24 launched its first TV campaign in Switzerland. Why only now, six years after the Swiss offshoot was founded?
Martina Bruder: We are not appearing on Swiss television for the first time. FriendScout24 has successfully sponsored the series "Joya rennt" and "Super Single" for four years. Now we are taking a different, more direct approach. Our new campaign succeeds in presenting our messages in an even more pointed and emotional way. Other providers try to position themselves scientifically, or they have a couple recite slogans. We don't say anything in our commercial. We simply show the most beautiful and emotional moment of love, the kiss. FriendScout 24 is all about the feeling of life, the lightness and the pure joy.

Why didn't you hire a Swiss agency for the TV campaign?
Our TV sponsorship in collaboration with Mediafisch underlines that we know and appreciate the creative work of Swiss agencies. Initially, our campaign "Küssen kann man nicht allein" was only intended for Germany. But because the spot was so well received and, moreover, our cooperation partner Max Raabe is also touring Switzerland, our agency Kolle Rebbe adapted it for Switzerland.

"Küssen kann man nicht allein" has a budget in the double-digit millions in Germany. Other online intermediaries are making a more massive appearance, including in Switzerland. Why so shy?
Quantity does not equal quality. Our advertising budget in Switzerland is in the single-digit millions. What's more, we were already on Swiss TV when our competitors weren't even thinking about it. We rely on continuity. FriendScout24 has thus also become the market leader in Switzerland and a recognized institution.

Read more about this in the current print edition of Werbewoche.

In terms of awareness, the Swisscom campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi ranks ahead of the Manor “Yes or No” ad by Rod Kommunikation and the ad for Swiss Post by the advertising agency Wirz. The ad for Gault Millau/Guide Switzerland 2010 by the agency KSB ranks first in terms of uniqueness. In second place is the ad for Happysystems by the advertising agency Ammarkt. Third place goes to the Swisscom campaign. The ad for Swiss Post ranks first in the “Brand Fit” category, followed by Manor’s “Yes or No” ad and the Swisscom campaign. In terms of “Likeability,” Happysystems comes out on top, ahead of Swisscom and Gault Millau.

> To the results at a glance (PDF)
> To the detailed results (PDF)

Since the good old "in-house newspaper" to the newsletter to the intranet, internal communication has not only constantly evolved technically. Graphically and journalistically, the offerings have also been adapted to modern needs. Whereas in the past, uncritical adulation of the last company outing was celebrated, today's employee publications contain valuable dialog on issues relating to the company's future, job security and strategies. The language used must be entertaining and informative at the same time so that the magazine is not just perceived as compulsory reading. These demands are reflected in the quality of numerous magazines, which are no longer produced by "B journalists", as was noted at the SVIK awards ceremony last week in Zurich. 19 neutral experts with practical experience were allowed to evaluate 29 magazines "of the highest professional standard". For the first time, the publications were analyzed in two categories: Publications "over" and those "under" CHF 750,000 annual budget. Only three titles were submitted in the "expensive" category. However, all of them were deemed worthy of an award by the jury and the Credit Suisse magazine also won bronze at the Federation of European business communicators associations FEIEA, while the SBB newspaper even won gold. No ideas were submitted in the "Concepts and Strategies" category this year. Do people not dare to look at their cards or do they not have the courage to have their concept judged? Fortunately, the final results ultimately made a very different impression. pan

> To the winners (PDF)
 

The Swiss Indoors used a viral voting campaign to choose the best tennis player of all time. The concept and realization came from the duo Notch Interactive and Alex Schmid. Together with presenting partners Manor and Blick, an interactive online voting platform with exclusive video and image material from the Swiss Indoors archive was launched for the History Award, combined with campaigns on Facebook and in print publications. The visual centerpiece was a three-dimensional trophy featuring the names of the greatest tennis legends. For two months, fans were able to vote for their favorite player and win a VIP package with award presentation. Roger Federer received the most votes. The campaign was promoted across the board with advertisements, online banners and various customer loyalty measures by the partners.

The election procedure as an integrated concept by Alex Schmid and Notch Interactive

WW: What was Alex Schmid's job in this competition?
Alex Schmid: Roger Brennwald from Basel Swiss Indoors had the idea of having the "best tennis player of all time" elected on 1.11.11 as part of his tournament. To do this, he needed a setup with sponsors who would support the project. Manor was the first to get on board. We are the agency for Manor in the card business. We were therefore given the role of general contractor for this integrated concept. As project manager, we worked with our partner Notch Interactive to develop the strategic foundations and create an integrated concept. Project coordination also included developing the content for the voting tool, preparing the texts and translating them.

What criteria were used to select the various partners?
Manor is traditionally a sponsor of the Basel Swiss Indoors and was therefore a given. It was still a question of finding a media partner in order to be visible across the board. Blick, with its sports expertise, was ideal.

What did Notch Interactive contribute?
Notch Interactive was responsible for the creation and animation of the key visuals, which were also used as trophies at the awards. Notch Interactive also created the online concept, the web design, the mobile application, all player videos, the advertisements and banners. They were therefore also responsible for the technical implementation.

How does success manifest itself?
By the time the "electronic ballot boxes" closed, we had counted 38,000 votes. As interested parties were able to vote once every day, this means an average of 3.2 votes per participant with 12,000 participants. Anyone who cast their vote on the platform received a confirmation email from us. Attached to this was a PDF voucher for 10 francs, which could be printed out and redeemed at Manor. So far, these vouchers have generated around 100,000 francs in sales at the POS. This corresponds to a redemption rate of 2 percent, which can be considered very successful compared to other such campaigns.

Where were you surprised, disappointed?
We gave customers the choice of voting either via email or Facebook Connect. Surprisingly, most votes were cast via the email channel and very few via Facebook. To put this into perspective, it should be added that this channel was not actively advertised, but only made available. Facebook ads would certainly have helped to increase the rather low value of Facebook participation.

What were the tricky issues and how were they overcome?
We have worked with three major partners: Basel Swiss Indoors with Roger Brennwald, Manor with Bertrand Jungo and Marc Walder at Ringier. It was a challenge to keep these three partners up to date with the development of the project and to obtain their approvals within a fairly tight schedule. On the other hand, the voting platform thrived on exciting content. We had to find this in archive recordings that go back relatively far in the history of tennis. We're talking about black and white photos of the oldest players, which literally had to be cut out of the photo albums and then technically edited. We also had to obtain the rights to numerous videos in order to be able to put them on the website. From this material, Notch Interactive has put together some very nice documents.

What did the campaign achieve for the individual partners?
Manor certainly benefited from the store traffic and from the sales generated by the vouchers that could be redeemed in a Manor store as a thank-you for your vote. In the case of Blick, it was an added benefit for the reader. There was a trial subscription for potential subscribers, which was used extensively.

Interview: Andreas Panzeri
 

Xentran has created the template for a German, Italian and a French version. Alfa Romeo executives will also use Xentran's xNewsletter tool to send their newsletters. By using the tool, Alfa Romeo's managers will benefit from a newsletter system that simplifies the filling and sending of newsletters, according to the agency. The individual newsletters can then also be evaluated immediately in the tool itself.

Newsletter subscription
 

On the bus home the other day, I relaxed my mind by browsing through "Friday" from 20 Minuten. So I learned that shoe designer Walter Steiger is being honored with an award from the Federal Office of Culture, that badges on denim jackets are (back) in and that coffee wakes us up. Nice, next page. Aha, models Nadine Strittmatter and Fabian Pfenninger present the latest Versace for H&M collection further back in the magazine. My gaze wanders further. And then, on the right-hand page, in the most prominent position, so to speak, she smiles at me: The one that is "as flexible as my style". The one that fits into any pair of panties thanks to its soft, foldable sides, ensuring that I can "make the most of every day". Wow, pretty high standards for a panty liner. The marketing strategists at Johnson & Johnson have included a sample so that the "flexiform" from the Carefree family can prove its worth. In my opinion, this deserves another "wow". After all, advertising feminine hygiene products is still like walking through a minefield.

Or would it be better to say, again? It seems that in the early days of panty liners and tampons, which hit the shelves with the wave of the sexual revolution in the 1970s, everyone involved was a little more relaxed about the subject. In the 1980s, for example, people dared to appear in advertisements (see Vongestern.com) to call a spade a spade. In 1983, four snappy aerobics queens announced that "the Tampax application sleeve is much more hygienic than a finger". Johnson & Johnson, another distributor of the "o.b." brand, praised the advantages of the product in its 1985 advertisement, claiming, among other things, that the tampon was worn in a place where it could not be felt, "in the middle of the vagina, where there are hardly any sensory nerves". For its part, Carefree - incidentally one of the very first panty liners - uses the example of the fictitious Linda Vogt to discuss the topic of "days between periods". The text of the advertisement explains that many girls "have slight secretions on the days between their periods". I admit, "secretions" is not exactly a successful description of discharge, as "secretions" are called in the medical chargon. But at least it makes it clear that women don't just stick panty liners and the like in their underwear because they like their scent so much. But this is exactly the image that advertising conveys to women today. The creeping taboo can be beautifully illustrated by Carefree's slogans: "The underwear protection for every day" was still the slogan in 1985.

Four years later, they claimed to be emancipated: "Women's prerogative." (Editor's note: Are there men who want to dispute women's prerogative to use panty liners? Please let us know!) And then, at some point in the following ten years, things changed: "Feel free" followed in 1999, "Feel fresh. Feel free. Carefree." - I can hardly resist a wow for the original rhyme -, 2007 "Experience every day fresh!" and 2010 "The whole day as fresh as the morning".

Let us now assume that manufacturers of feminine hygiene products analyze their target group in detail and know how to address them with a high impact. This would mean that the female sex's relationship with panty liners and the like is just as messed up as the advertising messages intended to appeal to them. All the more astonishing that a company advertises in a trendy magazine that appeals to both men and women, and then with a sample. I looked around on the bus that Friday to see if any of the ladies present might be carefully removing their copy from the page and stealthily slipping it into their handbag. But I couldn't see anything of the sort. Perhaps that "Friday" issue will also be found in many places at the next waste paper collections, because the majority of girls and women have opted for the discreet way of checking out the advertising promise of "flexiform". To be honest, this would have been my plan too. Unfortunately, in my absent-mindedness, I wedged my copy of the magazine between the bus seat and the wall, as I always do with free newspapers.

Google Analytics or WebTrends provide interesting data on the origin of website visitors and their behavior. However, these tools do not answer one important question: How do the values achieved compare to other websites? Google is now publishing a study on website usage based on the analysis of hundreds of thousands of websites worldwide.

Where do the visitors come from?
Compared to 2010/2011, only search engines have gained in importance as traffic drivers. The importance of campaigns at an international level is considerable compared to our Swiss figures. The result of our non-representative analysis of Swiss websites is a massively higher search engine relevance, which could be partly due to the fact that Swiss companies prefer to invest in AdWords rather than display advertising.

How do visitors use the website?
The analysis of website usage shows declining values worldwide. I interpret the data as follows: Visitors are reaching the information they are looking for in an increasingly targeted manner and need to search for less time. The analysis of Swiss websites shows significantly lower bounce rates and dwell times.

Average conversion rate
The success of most websites is based on actions (orders, inquiries, downloads), which are measured using the conversion rate. Goolge has not analyzed the figures for Switzerland. We must therefore assume a value between Germany (1.0 %) and Austria (2.1 %) for Switzerland. A first step towards benchmarking the website has been taken. A comparison with the values of your website is definitely worthwhile in order to uncover the leverage for maximizing visitor flow and website usage. Imre Sinka

A key finding of this research shows that "social moms" (by definition, women with at least one child who actively participate on social media) are quite influential. A new study from NM Incite and Nielsen provides further context on the content trends, shopping propensities and overall engagement of the "social mom" on social media:

The "social mom" likes to access social networks via mobile devices. Fifty percent of all moms who engage in social media access these sites via mobile devices, compared to 39 percent of all women and 37 percent of the general population. "Social moms" are generally price-conscious. They are 56 percent more likely to download coupons than the general population. They are also more likely to shop online for cosmetics and beauty products than other product categories. The study shows that 86% are more likely to buy cosmetics online than the general population; they are also more likely to buy skin care products (85%), hair care products (74%) and fragrances (68%).

"Social moms": likes and dislikes

The growing influence of women is increasingly evident, as is their activity on social media, the study continues. Moms who actively engage with social media are 81 percent more likely to become a fan or follow a brand online; 86 percent more likely to update their status; and 84 percent more likely to comment on or post online content than the general population. The research also shows that social moms are definitely not shy when it comes to sharing their advice or reviewing products with others. This segment is 85 percent more likely than the general population to regularly share beauty and beauty product advice; 28 percent more likely to regularly share online shopping/e-commerce advice; and 6 percent more likely to post a product review online.

My thesis: One of the still active and important advertisers, who works on the client and agency side, answered the question "How is the advertising business doing?": "It used to be fun and we earned good money. Today it's tedious and we earn nothing." From my perspective, I can't say why it's no longer financially viable. But as far as the fun and new creative ideas are concerned, I experience this every day. Advertisements, posters, radio spots, TV commercials and all those e-mails are 90 percent garbage, i.e. ineffective. Just like the obtrusive SVP advertising with the stamping shoes. Too much is too much. The voters have clearly expressed this. Good, creative advertising requires courage, uncompromisingness and humor. If you are afraid of losing the advertising budget, if you make compromises and talk up the third-best solution into a creative super-solution, then the result is campaigns that make me grumble. I can afford such a moth because I don't have a budget of this size to lose. However, I think that everyone should have more courage to come up with more eye-catching, witty and creative advertising.

The unspeakable flyers that end up in my letterbox and in my e-mail account are brimming with boredom, are uninteresting and certainly don't arouse any desire to buy. That's what advertising is for. For example, when I take a closer look at some of the advertisements in the penultimate issue of Tagi magazine, I can't understand how intelligent products can be made so poorly and uncreatively appealing to non-stupid readers. On page 2, Swiss Power Group Groupe Mutuel couldn't make it clear to me what the message was, even after looking at it for a while. On page 9, Lindt tries unsuccessfully to win me over to their product with passion and pure passion. Several car brands seem rather unimaginative and undifferentiated. The corny headline of the Mazda advertisement is a signpost for the advertising misery. And it goes like this: "Get in now and start saving" (see picture). Haha. Please read my comment on the Swisscom ad on page 43 in Advertising Week 18. Just two pages further on, Knorr convinces me never to buy one of those gravy pots. The promotionitis ads on pages 50/51 from Migros and Sunrise are another prime example of our industry's lack of creativity and design. The following four pages are no better. I understand that advertising as I see it today is no fun. And as a customer, I wouldn't pay money for so much nonsense. My stand-up display this week is my self-carved Halloween pumpkin, which hasn't stopped laughing (see portrait):

Theophil Butz, once a star advertiser (quote from Ringier), now an inspirer and now a mocker. "Not an easy role, but a necessary one, which I perform here every 14 days." Please send any relevant information to [email protected].

The competitor Tele Säntis then lodged an appeal and the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the question of a possible threat to the diversity of opinion and offerings must be clarified in depth. The Uvek has now examined this question in detail and has come to the conclusion that the diversity of opinion and offerings in Eastern Switzerland is not at risk, as stated in a TVO press release.

It based its decision on an expert opinion by the Competition Commission COMCO. According to the report, the NZZ Group (NZZ, St. Galler Tagblatt, Radio FM1, Tele Ostschweiz) only has a dominant position in the radio advertising market in Eastern Switzerland. After examining various indications of a possible abuse of this position, the Competition Commission concluded that there was no threat to the diversity of opinion and offerings.

The unsuccessful Tele Säntis can appeal the decision of the DETEC again to the Federal Administrative Court. If it turns out that DETEC has once again not commented in detail on the concept of abuse, Tele Säntis will lodge an appeal, writes Günter Heuberger, Managing Director of Tele Top, in a press release on Thursday afternoon.

Tele Ostschweiz previously held a provisional license. Two further proceedings for FM radio licenses in Aargau and south-eastern Switzerland have not yet been concluded. Here too, the Federal Administrative Court had referred the proceedings back to the Uvek and requested further clarification.

TVO plans expansion
For TVO, the decision primarily brings security with regard to future planning: thanks to the fee shares associated with the concession, investments in programming and technology would be possible. As soon as today's decision is legally binding, TVO intends to start the long-planned expansion of its program. Among other things, news programs are to be introduced at weekends and other new broadcasting formats are planned.

> To the detailed results (PDF)