Our grandmothers already had this saying in their repertoire. And it's still true: you are what you eat. Translated into the world of the technological revolution and in relation to a situation in which maximum physical and mental fitness is required, one could also say: top-class output is only possible if the input is clever enough. Applied to the examinations of Swiss Marketing candidates, which last several hours, this can only mean that: Nutrition before and especially during the big test must be a top priority. Unfortunately, not all talented candidates taking the exam are aware of this, says Claude Dubois: "All too often, we still see whole towers of chocolate and other sweets on the tables of our graduates - a form of nutrition that certainly does not guarantee optimal performance during the exam. " It is very important to the Head of Examinations at Swiss Marketing that the candidates are well prepared in every respect for their big day. "And that," says Dubois, "includes nutrition to a large extent." It may seem surprising at first that an examination organization would prioritize such a topic. But Swiss Marketing is serious about it - for good reason, says Dubois: "We don't focus on this area for some esoteric reason, but because it has a very direct influence on performance at the exam."

Brainfood tips in the exam package

Swiss Marketing is using new methods to raise awareness of this issue among future exam candidates. Firstly, a flyer on this issue has been produced in collaboration with Corinne Spahr from Bern - the former World Cup ski racer is now a qualified nutritionist HF. Entitled "Brainfood to help you prepare for exams", it provides information on all aspects of this issue. The summary reads as follows: "You can't eat any better than you already are. But the right choice of food and drink provides the ideal conditions for concentrated thinking and cool heads." Dubois can well imagine that this information will have a particular impact on younger participants of the so-called "Red Bull generation": "We think that our input will mainly resonate with young talents who are preparing for the marketing specialist or sales specialist exams." The flyer will now also be included in the exam pack so that candidates are made aware of the topic early enough. The aim would be to influence habits in the time leading up to the exam. This would also be in the interests of Corinne Spahr: "Nutrition is one of the relevant pieces of the puzzle when it comes to performing as well as possible in an exam."

Best practice in the food sector

The flyer not only provides information on how important building blocks such as protein, carbohydrates and omega-3 fatty acids work, but also manages to provide very specific tips. Things that every candidate has probably heard at some point - but has long forgotten before the exam and, against their better judgment, has resorted to the supposed performance boosters of coffee, energy drinks and sugar bombs. The most important building blocks for success:

- Liquid for transporting nutrients to the brain. Best practice: water, water flavored with syrup, diluted fruit juices, herbal and fruit teas.
- Omega-3 fatty acids as a lubricant for data transmission. Best practice: Oils such as rapeseed oil, fish, nuts and linseed.
- Protein for memory and the flow of information: Best practice: milk and dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, tofu, soy or legumes
- Carbohydrates for the brain's energy supply. Best practice: Dark breads, polenta, potatoes, pasta, etc.

With an actual "checklist for the day of the exam", the flyer specifically suggests how to get ready on the day of the exam. The checklist, which can also be used as a shopping list, does not come across as hostile at all. In addition to the recommendations that are derived from the four main directions, eternal consumer favorites such as Nutella, chocolate drinks and cereal bars are also included - in well-dosed form. It may be unusual for a professional association to give its people nutritional tips. But in an effort to do the best for its community, brain food is an important issue that deserves priority. After all, when it comes to professional success, marketers - established and future - should leave nothing to chance. In addition to clean marketing concepts, a concept for your own nutrition is an absolute must.
 

WW: In conjunction with the World Press Photo exhibition, Keystone is also launching the new Emphas.is portal. What is it all about?
Jann Jenatsch: With this exhibition featuring the best press photos, we aim not only to reach as wide an audience as possible, but also to provide an opportunity to engage with photography. Jodi Bieber was our guest at the opening, where she spoke in person about the story behind her winning photo of Bibi Aisha. At the Photo Night on May 28, former award winner Nina Berman will speak about her latest project. The third event on May 18 is dedicated to the launch of Emphas.is in Switzerland. Emphas.is is the first crowdfunding platform for photojournalism. The international press—from The New York Times to Le Monde and the BBC—describes Emphas.is as a radical innovation in the financing of photojournalism. Here’s how it works: Selected photojournalistic projects are presented by Emphas.is; you can learn more about them and—if you like the project—support the report if you wish. With as little as a 10-franc investment, I can participate as an individual and become part of the project community. A glossy magazine can also support the project and, for example, secure the right to publish the material first. Once the budgeted amount is reached, the project is carried out. However, if the required amount is not reached, the project will not be carried out. So it is this project community—and not the editorial staff of a glossy magazine—that decides whether the project will be realized or not. So it’s no longer just the media that determines what readers want to see, but a larger community—people who are interested in this photographer or this topic.

What role does Keystone play in this process?
My vision for photography is to provide a platform within the World Press Photo framework to showcase the most compelling projects and works possible. Following the successful international launch of Emphas.is, we have now taken on the patronage for Switzerland. We provide the framework to draw attention to this innovative project here. However, this is only possible thanks to the commitment of our sponsors. I am pleased that we have secured Bank Baumann & Cie. Banquiers, for example, as a sponsor for a long-term partnership.

The world of professional photography is undergoing major changes. What are the trends?
It’s the same as in other fields and even in society at large: small and medium-sized businesses are dying out or being pushed out. On the one hand, the trend is moving toward extreme professionalism with highly sophisticated photography. On the other hand, a kind of “everyday photography” is booming, with more and more people taking their own pictures with digital cameras. This is often more about capturing images than actual photography, and it’s also reflected in an extreme drop in prices. This is a concern not only for us but also for many freelance photographers. Many are working under conditions that no longer cover their costs. Only the good and the best are making it. We are in a phase where the wheat is once again being separated from the chaff.

How can Keystone respond to this development?
We strive to be active in both sectors. We go to great lengths to offer high-quality photography—both in terms of our own images and in distribution, where we work with the best partners. We want to help ensure that the language of photography can continue to evolve. Major players like Getty Images are growing rapidly and are increasingly dominating the market. Such agencies also contribute to the decline in prices. Their influence is global. We counter this by positioning ourselves as a Swiss agency—a kind of niche player.

How significant has video become in Keystone's portfolio?
We got involved because we see ourselves as a visual media provider. Video is a must these days. We have a fantastic joint venture partnership with AWP Finanznachrichten. Together, we’ve managed to establish our offering in the market over the past 18 months, with news and business interviews as our two main pillars. We’re a serious player on the right track, and we aim to be in the black by the end of 2012. Interview: Andreas Panzeri
 

The promoters were able to gain their first solid experience with specialist consultations for Gillette and Pantene. At the beginning of the year, a station sampling of Always Alldays was launched independently of the existing multi-brand promotion. Promoters distributed 100,000 panty liners at six locations within seven hours.

The aim of the promotion is to provide expert advice and promote joint sales. In addition, the Allaccess promoters are to emphasize Procter & Gamble's store presence by handing out product samples.

Responsible at Procter & Gamble Switzerland: Nina Cheval (Shopper Marketing Switzerland). Responsible at Allaccess: Pamela Gemperli (Project Manager).

Even before online advertising on mobile devices became an issue, this area with its numerous forms of advertising was a complicated matter. And it soon became clear that what worked on desktop screens could not simply be transferred to mobile devices. So special solutions and apps were created to load optimized programs onto smartphones and tablet PCs. But the apps fever of recent months is only a success story at first glance. Anyone who wanted to launch an app had to have it developed (often in-house) and then wait for it to be released in Apple's App Store. Anyone who wanted to be present not only on Apple devices but also on Android devices (and Windows Mobile, Blackberries etc.) had to repeat this procedure several times. Even if it only involved minor changes - which were then often pragmatically dispensed with. It became even more tedious and time-consuming when rich media solutions were to be used on mobile devices. This is because Apple banned Flash plug-ins for web browsers from its mobile devices, not least because they put the computers under too much pressure, which would have led to poor battery life.

A miracle cure?

HTML5 has long been touted in technical circles as a miracle cure for such calamities. This new version of the web language is regarded by developers as the "living standard" and will therefore not be officially adopted in the near future, but will be continuously developed further. The development teams of the various web browsers are therefore in a race to see who has already implemented the most of the numerous new features. Google and Apple are in the lead, as they have not only implemented HTML5 on their desktop browsers (Chrome and Safari respectively), but also on their mobile platforms (Android and iOS respectively). Many of the features that were previously only available with apps in collaboration with software developers are now accessible to web developers, making it quicker and easier to proceed. This is not the first time that the promise of "write once, run anywhere" has been bandied about in IT. And because quite a few people believe this with HTML5, the end of apps is often predicted. A year ago, for example, an American market research institute predicted that the peak of the apps wave would be in 2013. And the consulting firm McKinsey&Company predicted in a recently published report that half of all mobile applications would have switched to HTML5 within the next three to five years.

HTML5 does not only bring advantages

The new web standard not only offers advantages, the devil is in the detail. Not all features are implemented equally and completely in every browser. These features therefore deserve special attention: Video and audio: just like images today, these two media forms can be easily displayed in the browser. There is no longer any need to install and maintain separate plug-ins. However, there is currently no defined video format that must be supported by all browsers. Formats that can be implemented license-free have been discussed as a minimum standard. However, not all of the features demanded by the market can be implemented in this way (e.g. legal protection), which is why there will probably continue to be various solutions in the future, including proprietary and license-based solutions. Also because online video advertising, for example with pre- and post-rolls, is currently based on Flash, it will continue to be necessary to support several video formats. Design: Where today Flash from Adobe has to be used for 3D presentations and animations, for example, many design variants can be implemented directly in the browser with the new web standard. Online games can thus run directly in the web browser and be easily distributed - especially on mobile devices. Forms: It becomes easier to use forms to enter complex data, which are simpler and more fluid to use. Local data storage: With HTML5, web browsers can also store data locally in their own databases. Just like apps today, web applications such as price lists or timetables can simply be stored in the browser and can then be used without a connection to the network. Data protectionists fear that this option could be used to store far more user-specific data than can be achieved with the cookies available today. It is becoming clear that new web standards, which are summarized under the abbreviation HTML5, can boost the content business and online advertising on mobile devices. At the same time, related industries such as telecoms and devices will benefit as it becomes easier and more attractive to use data communication services on the move. For strategic and tactical planning, it is therefore advisable to monitor the development of HTML5 and take it into account accordingly. In future decisions on the launch of apps, the question will have to be asked as to whether the current expense is still justified or whether a solution with HTML5 can already be used. To ensure that such decisions can be approached competently and then implemented, the order of the day is to build up the relevant expertise. Once the relevant skills are in place, applications with HTML5 can be implemented and brought to market more easily and quickly. And because such applications are output in the same way as other web content, it is easy, for example, to test new variants with specific target groups in real time using A/B testing. Another important advantage is that there is uniform analytics data and it is no longer necessary to add up usage figures from different app platforms as sensibly as possible. If you want to have quick access to such an HTML5 application on your cell phone, simply save an icon with the corresponding link.

The spoilsport factors

But it wouldn't be the first time that technicians have come up with a new wonderland that fails on the market. There are a number of potential spoilsport factors to consider: Where it says HTML5 on it, it doesn't necessarily have to be HTML5 in it. Although all new browser versions currently emphasize their HTML5 capabilities, the same features are not always implemented identically and completely everywhere. If HTML5-capable browsers are available, this does not necessarily mean that they are in use everywhere. This is likely to be a significant obstacle, especially in the desktop sector, as many people seem to be as afraid of software updates as the devil is of holy water. On mobile devices, software updates often take place OTA (over the air) and are therefore largely painless. On mobile devices, there are still arguments in favor of apps: they can be easily sold via the app stores. They are less dependent on good data connections than is often the case with HTML5, where network access is often required for data storage and calculations (so-called cloud computing). And apps can easily access device components such as the camera, microphone or tilt and acceleration sensors, which is not provided for in the HTML5 standard and for which additional software packages are required. However, there is hardly any way around HTML5: This is the only way to display video content on Apple's widespread mobile devices - a user segment that hardly anyone will want to do without. The New York Times, for example, embeds video clips on its websites without using Flash. And YouTube has been offering videos for mobile devices with an HTML5-capable browser since last summer. Although apps are currently en vogue among companies and agencies alike, in future what will be needed above all is a good website that is designed and optimized for mobile use in accordance with the latest web standards. Christoph J. Walther
 

The Küsnacht-based company is taking a look back at the past few years, according to a Goldbach press release: "Goldbach started at the beginning of the new millennium with the many years of experience of Zurich's private radio station Radio Z from the 1980s. In the 1990s, the company also marketed the first Swiss advertising windows on German and French TV channels. So radio and television advertising were already core competencies at the start of Goldbach." Today, Goldbach is a listed marketing company in the field of electronic, mobile and interactive media in Switzerland and other European countries. In Switzerland alone, the company employs 245 people, while the Group as a whole currently employs around 550 people in ten countries. The Mediarena is also taking place for the 10th time with speakers on social media, mobile and moving images.

WW: What concept is used to promote the Blue Balls Festival?
Urs Leierer: We do the opposite of the advertising concept of other festivals. They put the stars of their biggest acts on the poster. We have a different approach and want to give promising talents a platform. We feature an artist who is not yet so well known. This year it's Lenka, a young Australian pop artist. Beda Achermann had her photographed in New York and designed the poster and cover for the program. This collaboration began over ten years ago. He delivers up to and including the layout, I do the rest myself with the infrastructure of Lesch + Frei. In terms of advertising, we are working throughout German-speaking Switzerland with a poster campaign in the five major conurbations and advertisements with our media partners 20 Minuten, SonntagsZeitung and Das Magazin. The program booklet will also be enclosed in a partial split.

What role do sponsors play?
They play a vital and existential role. Especially with our concept, where we sell individual shows and have a large supporting program. No admission fee is charged for these art events. 30 percent of our budget is therefore sponsorship money, which supports the festival. Axa is a presenting sponsor, other basic partners are Heineken, Trojka and Smart.

How does Blue Balls compare to Montreux?
Like Montreux, we also come from the blues and have developed with other musical styles. So we are very similar in character. Our differentiation is more against the other festivals. We are a comestible store, a boutique festival in contrast to the big open airs. They are more like the big players. There, a lot of bands are whipped through over three days at a package price. We are more cultivated. Compared to Montreux, we are a bit smaller. We are also moving more towards a younger audience and stand out by not just bringing music. 70 percent is live music. We also have our annual photo exhibition with a star photographer. This year it's Ben Watts from New York. We also produce works of art live on stage with young visual artists. We have a large video lounge on the roof terrace of the KKL. Shantell Martin will be showing her sketch projections there. Every year there is also a music film. The latest film "Upside Down - The Creation Records Story" tells the story of England's most ingenious and chaotic record company. The label manager will be present in Lucerne and will take part in our talk show "Meet the Artist".

A festival radio station?
Radio is not quite right. We work cross-media and invite 200 fans into the auditorium every day via 20 minutes. I also try to get as many interesting artists as possible in front of the microphone. The "Creative Talk" is hosted by Hannes Hug. We record it and present the clip the next day on the 20 Minuten online platform and on YouTube.

Are concerts also recorded?
Swiss television and radio are media partners. They record a few selected concerts. It's no longer as easy as it was in the early days of Montreux 45 years ago. Back then, the artists thought it was super cool if they were allowed to play in front of a TV camera. Today, they want total control over their performance. It's all about money. But I don't pay any price.

How has the festival's budget developed?
The first event 19 years ago was still an insider gimmick. 40 musicians played for free, 300 visitors at 49 francs earned 14,700 francs. Now we expect 100,000 people and play for nine days around the lake basin. The budget is 7.5 million, including third-party sales.

Has the ceiling been reached?
Blue Balls means art first, money second. I don't need to grow at any price. We need a good size to get the acts. But I definitely want to stay at this size and only continue to invest in art and artists.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri

Urs Leierer

The former advertiser launched the first event in Lucerne in 1992. It has since become one of the largest music and art festivals in Switzerland. The ambience around Lucerne's lake basin with the KKL, the Pavillon Open Air and the late-night shows at the Hotel Schweizerhof make Blue Balls unique. The international festival presents 120 events over nine days: blues, jazz, soul, funk, world, rock and pop. "An important turning point, where it became bigger and more professional, was when I decided at the end of 1998 to make the festival my full-time job and quit my advertising job. That was also the point when Reini Weber offered me a home and we founded Blue Balls Music GmbH together. At the time, I was able to work as a single mask in an office at the WHS," says Leierer, who now transforms 7.5 million francs a year into art and entertainment for 100,000 fans. Atmospheric images from the festival with art on the lake and concerts on several stages. The lake basin becomes a biotope of creativity for nine days.
 

Why Thomas Küng (54) is successful with his puzzle agency and puzzle book publisher is not really a mystery. For one thing, he does his job with passion, which is always a good prerequisite. On the other hand, brainteasers are back in fashion: in the 1980s and 1990s, crossword puzzles were the domain of grandma and grandpa, but today you see bank employees and schoolgirls, salespeople and craftsmen, mothers and students in the streetcar, in the playground, in the lecture hall or during their lunch break. "I've also observed punks solving a Sudoku or crossword puzzle to pass the time," Küng says. "It amazes me, but I'm very happy about it. The image of puzzling has changed completely in the last 30 years." Commuter newspapers, where crossword puzzles and Kakuro, Sudoku and Bimaru are part of the short menu that people like to eat every day, have contributed in no small way to the new passion for puzzles.

Küng has a good nose for the wishes of his "solvers," as he has proven on several occasions: With the creation of Switzerland-specific puzzles for the Swiss market, with the offer of the number game Sudoku, which was invented by the Basel mathematician Leonhard Euler, and with Bimaru, as Küng has christened his ship-sinking for one. Küng produces and markets his puzzles with great success not only in Switzerland, but also in Austria and Germany. And if something doesn't go as Küng had imagined, he consoles himself with the thought: "It was worth a try." So far, this attitude has also saved Küng from the widespread Monday morning frustration. "What I do, I do very happily," he says. "I haven't felt like I'm working for a long time.

The puzzle agency has set the tone in the Swiss puzzle business for 14 years. Küng's most important competitor on the Swiss market is one of his former business partners: René Lehner. Since the separation of the partners in December 2007, Lehner has been running the Zurich-based puzzle factory. Like Küng, he sells puzzles to newspapers and magazines and produces his own puzzle magazines.

Career with puzzles

Küng was born in Zurich in 1956. In his wildest dreams, he wanted to become an ice hockey goalie, because he considered goalies to be game deciders and heroes. But Küng doesn't even play ice hockey. So after graduating from high school, he completes a teacher training course, simply because it's the fastest way. Küng works in this profession for three years. In 1980, an opportunity arises for the young teacher to work as a rock music journalist. He swaps blackboard and chalk for pad and pen and tours from concert to concert. Küng's interviews, concert reports and CD reviews appear, for example, in the NZZ, SonntagsBlick and Annabelle. "This period was defined by pure enthusiasm," Küng recalls. "I experienced many brilliant concerts, Joe Jackson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, interviewed Mick Jagger and wrote a book about Polo Hofer. For the book baptism, the Rumpelstilz even reunited after a long quarrel.

From 1995, Küng also writes radio plays. They are produced with actors such as Mathias Gnädinger, Ueli Jäggi or Sabina Schneebeli and run on Swiss Radio DRS or are available in bookstores. At the same time, Küng founded Cartoon Pool in Zurich, a company that sells the work of cartoonists to magazines, newspapers and advertising agencies - a kind of artists' agency that Küng still runs today. Küng got the idea of running a cartoon agency from his friend, cartoonist Peter Gut. "Peter drew comic strips that were great, but were only printed in one newspaper, Küng says. "I thought that was a shame and put them in more newspapers. Word got around to other cartoonists, and so the Cartoon Pool developed very well.

The person who is responsible for the comics in the newspaper and magazine editorial offices often also takes care of the puzzles. "I sold a comic to Blick and was asked if I also had crossword puzzles," Küng says. "That's when I said, 'Not yet - but you'll have them in two weeks.'

Küng imported the puzzles he wanted from Germany, because at that time no one in Switzerland was producing puzzles on the scale he wanted. However, Küng is not satisfied with the quality of the puzzles: "They hardly contained any Swiss terms and the questions were often not clever enough for me,"- he says. "Nevertheless, I had to take responsibility for the delivered goods, of course. That was the reason why, after some time, I decided to make my own puzzles that meet the claim 'Swiss puzzles'.For large publishers, this segment is too small and thus uninteresting. But an agency with existing contacts to the media has a chance to succeed in the puzzle business. Küng has plenty of contacts through his work as a journalist and cartoon agent. And he fills the gap in the market.

Of course, Küng doesn't think up all the questions and answers he processes in his puzzles himself. He buys software that already contains a contingent of questions and terms. But what sounds simple is actually a lot of work: "I had to revise the entire vocabulary contained in the software, thousands of terms and paraphrases, myself. is like writing an encyclopedia. It's not just a matter of replacing typically German terms with typically Swiss ones, but also of eliminating errors and typos in the content. The bigger the medium to which Küng sells his puzzles, the trickier the mistakes: "You wouldn't believe what happens when a mistake appears in a crossword puzzle in the Migros magazine - especially if there's something to be won. Then the phones run hot there in the editorial office." Küng can't afford that. He works on the software for a year and a half until it meets his requirements.

Oblique and flexible

Küng has a compelling argument for selling his puzzles: A Swiss medium that can replace German with Swiss puzzles without having to pay more is quickly on board. Küng has now been producing Swiss puzzles for most of the major Swiss print media for 14 years. The demands of these publications are quite different. One medium wants a very complicated puzzle, another one that can be solved in a few minutes, commuter newspapers for example. "But make no mistake," says Küng. "Simple puzzles are often more difficult to create than complicated ones because we can only use a small vocabulary. But thanks to our well-positioned editorial team, we can even accommodate special requests. For SonntagsBlick, for example, the puzzle agency created a puzzle on the prince's wedding at short notice to satisfy the reader's short-term desire for royal details. "Media can only earn money with competitions if many solvers take part, says Küng. "And of course they only do so if the topics interest them and the questions are clearly solvable.

In 2001, after six years as a puzzle maker for Swiss media, Küng fills another gap in the market. He founded Küng-Verlag, which sells his puzzles in booklet and book form. "I thought that if Swiss newspapers now had Swiss puzzles in them and that was doing well, then a Swiss puzzle magazine should also be successful," says Küng. "I looked at the newsstand and could only find German puzzle magazines. Of course, I didn't know whether there were no Swiss magazines because no one had tried it yet or because competitors had long since lost out with it.Küng's market research at the kiosk is enough: His first product, the "Schweizer Rätsel-Heft," sells well. In the following years, the publisher conceives another 29 Kniffel booklets and books, not only for Switzerland, but also for Austria and Germany. The publications contain Sudoku, various types of picture puzzles such as nonograms, logic problems, Hashi, Bimaru, Kakuro as well as crossword puzzles, which for Austria are again equipped with country-specific language features. For this, Küng employs a small team of freelancers in Austria, who edit the vocabulary accordingly. Only Sudokus, nonograms and other visual puzzles are not produced by Küng himself, but he buys them from experts. This is because there are considerable differences in the quality of the popular number puzzles, and nono¬grams are purely handmade. So knitting them yourself is not advisable or would be far too time-consuming. "-We also supply the German market with our Sudokus and nonograms and have to assert ourselves there against a lot of competition, says Küng. "Now we have positioned ourselves as a supplier of the best Sudokus and nonograms. Of course, that has its price at the kiosk and in bookstores, but business is good.

Quality as the best recipe

Küng employs three full-time staff in the puzzle agency and six in the Küng publishing house. For special puzzles, he also draws on a pool of freelance puzzle authors. With this staff, he can also ensure the quality of the puzzles: Each puzzle is solved again by hand for checking before it goes out to the customer or is printed in one of the magazines. "Looking for puzzle authors is almost impossible, Küng emphasizes. "Crossword puzzle making is too fancy an activity for that. You can't encourage anyone to take up puzzles after all. That's why I have to wait until people get in touch with me who have puzzles in their blood, who have a passion for the job, like Küng himself, who has loved puzzles since he was a child and loves board games - even though he's a bad loser.

Küng's target audience is "everyone": "most people are interested in" puzzles, he says. "However, they puzzle for different reasons. As a result, we have a very mixed target group. For older people, puzzling is often a kind of memory training; children puzzle out of curiosity. Some are looking for an intellectual challenge, want to win something or simply pass their time. Others solve puzzles to switch off after work. Sudoku, for example, is perfect for that. Küng notices how a puzzle is received by people, especially when it's missing: When the Tages-Anzeiger once replaced the Bimaru with a second Sudoku, more than 200 ship-sinking fans complained to the editorial team. This response also surprised the puzzle producer.

Küng's latest coup is online and iPad versions of the most popular puzzles. "You can now get Bimaru on the iPad," he says. "And the iPad version of crosswords and Sudoku can also be integrated into other apps. We're working with various print media to develop iPad versions for crossword puzzles, Sudoku and Bimaru, which are interactive solutions that are integrated into their iPad layouts. So you can not only look at the puzzle, but also solve it directly on the screen. "D- By digitizing his puzzles, Küng is responding to the current app boom and the rapid rejuvenation of his target group. An application for the iPhone will only be available for Bimaru in June, but Küng will soon have to follow suit with the other puzzles. The puzzle community is waiting.
Anne-Friederike Heinrich

In a nutshell
Thomas Küng
*14.10.1956 in Zurich
1972-1977 Teacher training, Canton of Zurich
1980-1992 Free Rock
music journalist, Zurich
1992-1995 Author of radio plays and technical books, Zurich
since 1995 Managing Director Cartoon Pool, Zurich
since 1997 Managing Director Rätsel Agentur AG, Zurich
since 2001 Managing Director Küng Verlags AG, Zurich

www.raetsel.ch
www.cartoon.ch
www.kuengverlag.ch
 

It stands next to the main entrance of the shopping center. However, it is often used for very different events. Just recently, the shopping cart was on display for a campaign at the Lucerne trade exhibition Luga. The task was to estimate the number of balls in the cart. The prizes were shopping vouchers from Pilatusmarkt Kriens. Over 18,000 people took part in the competition. The addresses collected will subsequently serve as the basis for a direct marketing campaign.

The new promotional idea was devised by the Lucerne advertising agency Rocket - Powerful Advertising. It prevailed over several agencies in a competitive presentation and won the Pilatusmarkt Kriens budget for alternative forms of advertising.

Responsible at Pilatusmarkt Kriens: Philipp Arnold (Center Manager) Jasmin Adam (Marketing). Responsible at Rocket - Powerful Advertising: Mathias Schürmann (Consulting), Beat Niggli (Creative Director), Désirée Luginbühl (Graphics).
 

At the opening of the first Swiss Media Forum at the KKL Lucerne, Schneider-Amman said that the federal government must give the SRG the room for maneuver it needs in order to stand up to international competition and provide the public service. He argued that media companies in Switzerland must increasingly face up to foreign competition, according to a Swiss Media Forum press release. It is true that foreign programs have had a market share of around 60 percent in the television market for some time now. The presence of foreign media groups has been accentuated by the Internet in particular, said the Minister for Economic Affairs. This change could not be stopped. It would be an illusion to believe that previous market definitions could be defined quasi-politically.

Foreign broadcasters have a strong presence on the Internet. Schneider-Ammann went on to say that if SRG's competitors combine their programs with an Internet presence, SRG must also be able to do so. However, this development should not take place in an uncontrolled manner. The Federal Council is well aware that the SRG's fee-financed online offerings compete with private media companies. There is a risk of market distortion. Media change must be sustainable and the print media must also be able to adapt to it.

The Federal Councillor also commented on the quality debate. And he gave the Swiss media a good report card, unlike Ueli Maurer at the Publishers' Congress, for example. The media should honestly assume their responsibility as the fourth power in the state, said Schneider-Amman.

The debate about SRG's internet strategy will continue at the Swiss Media Forum. Speakers on Friday will include SRG Director General Roger de Weck, the CEOs of the four private media companies, Christian Unger (Ringier), Martin Kall (Tamedia), Albert P. Stäheli (NZZ Group) and Christoph Bauer (AZ Medien), according to a Swiss Media Forum press release.

 

It was Sunday morning after the changeover to summer time. As usual, I went to the letterbox shortly after seven o'clock to pick up the Sunday papers. One was missing, but there was a note on top, and on the note was scribbled in pencil: "NZZ volgt speter". At around half past eight, the promise was fulfilled. The newspaper delivery service works perfectly, even in rural areas. Irregularities occur at most two or three times a year.

The note must have been written by this friendly young man from Serbia or Montenegro, whom I met by chance on the same occasion a few weeks earlier: one of well over ten thousand colleagues who are never thought of, but who are more important than some newspaper people with illustrious names: the newspaper carriers. The loyal colporteur, if he is employed by the postal company Presto, receives an average of Fr. 22.10 gross per hour for his morning tour in all weathers, but his performance is predetermined. On Sundays it is Fr. 30.70. The regional, postal-independent early delivery organizations pay significantly less in some cases. The customs are tough. The tour manager has walked the tour with the carrier and set the reference value with a stopwatch. If the number of subscribers falls, as has regularly been the case recently, the paid times are also reduced. The special features and customer requests are listed in the tour journal: Mrs. Huber wants her newspaper in the milk crate; Mr. Hugentobler has a nervous dog, so close the garden gate quietly. Some newspaper carriers enjoy so much trust that they are given house keys so that they can use the otherwise inaccessible letterboxes in the hallways early in the morning.

6.30 a.m. on weekdays and 7.30 a.m. on Sundays are the latest delivery times for newspapers. Without early delivery, they would have an even harder time than they already do. If you don't receive your newspaper early in the morning between a shower and a coffee, you are lost as a reader for the whole day: people commute further and further, free papers are offered at the train station - and these also stand or fall with distribution. In all markets, the battle of the free papers was decided almost exclusively at the distribution level. The decisive factor, for example, was that 20 Minuten succeeded at the right moment in buying the exclusive right for distribution at SBB stations for very expensive money. The failure of .ch, on the other hand, was clearly linked to the failed attempt to organize early morning delivery to letterboxes. Since the never plausibly explained sale of the private delivery organization Zuvo, the early delivery of subscribed daily newspapers in the conurbations of Zurich, Basel, Berne and St. Gallen has been the monopoly of Swiss Post, which at the time, still as a state-owned company under strong trade union influence, had overslept the early delivery. A new collective labor agreement came into force last year, which above all increased social security: Continued payment of wages in the event of illness, accident insurance, retirement benefits. But the working world has remained tough for newspaper carriers. Time targets have been reduced in thousands of cases recently. And when it snows, for example, some newspaper carriers have to work half an hour or a whole hour early in the morning for free. Newspaper carriers - there are 10,000 of them at Swiss Post alone - are mostly people who don't have it easy in life anyway. The type of "sporty pensioner" who goes for an early morning run with the dog on a lead and earns a little extra is probably the exception. The vast majority of newspaper carriers are people from very modest backgrounds who rely on the meagre extra income. Trade unions have repeatedly complained that only unskilled workers in agriculture are paid less.

Actually, I'm a bit ashamed of my early-riser colleague with the idiosyncratic spelling!
 

In Zadar, Croatia, 43 young creatives from all over Europe are now working on a newspaper campaign to promote ties - because the long tie was once invented in Croatia, this year's best YET host country. The young creative talents not only need good ideas to solve this task, but also nimble fingers. Because the designs have to be on the table within 24 hours. Tomorrow, Friday, May 13 (! = lucky day!), from 4.30 pm, the 22 teams will have to present their work in English to the high-caliber international jury and media representatives from the eleven participating countries.

The young creatives are allowed to use computers or smartphones to research and plan the campaign. Only paper, scissors, glue and a few pens are allowed for the design of the subject(s) - a real challenge for the digital natives.

The task
The task that the young creatives have to solve this year can literally choke the throat: they have to design a print campaign that positions the Croata tie brand as a premium brand for the more or less popular men's ties and makes ties an indispensable styling element for every man again - regardless of whether it's the seasoned businessman or the green-eared newcomer in business. A tie is simply a must.

In Croatia and the surrounding countries, the Croata brand is synonymous with "tie". The Croata is part of the daily wardrobe of businessmen, diplomats, statesmen and celebrities. The brand is also known worldwide for its unique design, finest silk and high quality workmanship, but the company wants to further strengthen its position as a premium brand in the international market and make the tie an indispensable part of men's business wardrobes worldwide once again. All of this is to be conveyed by the print campaign that now needs to be designed.

The history of the tie's development is closely linked to the company's brand message - after all, the long tie was invented, believe it or not, in Croatia. The name "tie" is derived from the French "à la croate", which means "in the Croatian style".

Get to work
While the jury and the delegates from the countries are now taking a coffee break, the heads and pencils of the 43 up-and-coming creatives are already burning over the tie designs.

Of course, winning the best YET is also worthwhile: the subject of the best YET winning team will be published throughout Europe. In addition, the winners can travel for four days to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, which takes place in the French metropolis from June 19 to 25 this year.

The participants
Two more countries and seven more creatives are taking part in best YET 2011 than in best YET 2010. The two participating teams for each country in the competition were previously selected in country-specific creative competitions. The two Swiss teams qualified for participation in the best YET 2011 by winning first and second place in the Swiss Media Association's "Only an advertisement can do that" competition.

And these are the people who only have ties on their minds at the moment:

for Belgium
Team 1: Dries Debruyn & Dennis Vandewalle
Team 2: Jolien Tuyteleers & Kate Bellefroid

for Germany
Team 1: Sabine Stromsky & Emilie K. Olsson, Miami Ad School Berlin
Team 2: Dennis Galle, University of Applied Sciences, Aachen

for England
Team 1: Ed Redgrave & David Wigglesworth
Team 2: Poulami Chakraborty & Julia Earthrowl

for France
Team 1: Anthony Clouet, LEG & Daniel Jacob, LEG
Team 2: Marion Andre, BETC Euro RSCG & Sandra Mac Millan, Publicis Conseil

for Ireland
Team 1: Jody Monaghan & Joanne McLaughlin
Team 2: David Bowen & Ross Hardiman

for Croatia
Team 1: Martina Brkić & Ana Zidar
Team 2: Filip Korić & Ivan Žanetić

for the Netherlands
Team 1: Oscar Flinterman, Ogilvy & Joost van Nistelrooij, Ogilvy
Team 2: Celis Jansen & Joey Boeters

for Norway
Team 1: Henrik Berg, Slang Suburbia Advertising Agency & Inge Kvivik, Oktan Apropos
Team 2: Runde Woldsnes, Tropenatt & Eva Wiken, Westerdals School of Communication

for Austria
Team 1: Anna Beimel & Roman Beck
Team 2: Philipp Röhrich & Marius Grocholewski

for Sweden
Team 1: Hanna Samara & Tommi Lindholm
Team 2: Elisabeth Fischer & Anders Nyberg

for Switzerland
Team 1: Manuela Aggeler, miux & Isabelle Meyer, Umantis
Team 2: Patrick Ryffel, Contexta AG & Manuel Rohrer, Contexta AG

One jury member from each country also traveled to Zadar. All jury members are professionals from the media, advertising and PR sectors. Andreas Prokesch is on the jury for Switzerland. He has been part of the competition for many years.

All judges are allowed to advise all teams during their work and give them tips on how to implement the campaign and how to present their ideas tomorrow. However, influencing the creative idea is strictly prohibited.

The jury
Belgium Frank Marinus, Creative Director TBWA Brussels
Germany Daniel Bödeker, DDB Tribal Berlin
England Stef Jones, owner of Big Al's Creative Emporium
France Jean Francois Sacco, CLM / BBDO
Ireland Martin Wright, Gospel TM
Croatia Darko Bosnar, Večernji list, Chairman of the jury
Netherlands Arjen de Jong, Animal farm
Norway Lin Berge-Stromsheim, BATES
Austria Vinzenz Stimpfl-Abele
Sweden Cecilia Kusoffsky
Switzerland Andreas Prokesch, owner of Andreas Prokesch Konzepte & Texte

Tomorrow at around 9 p.m., the winner of the international creative competition best YET 2011 will be announced. The winner will be announced at a dinner for all participants.

At www.twitter.com/Werbewoche and www.werbewoche.ch you will be the first to read the names of the best young creatives from all over Europe.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich

The two Swiss teams at the first meeting after the briefing: Manuel Rohrer, Patrick Ryffel, juror Andreas Prokesch, Manuela Aggeler and Isabelle Meyer (from left to right)

bestYET 2011 live and exclusive: Follow creative competition in Croatia online and on Twitter

Medina had previously reported critically on the police authorities and private security services financed by large landowners. Medina had already received several death threats and the attack on him was connected to his work. This was said by Santos Galvez from the press office of the Honduran University of Journalism.

Medina is the eleventh journalist to be killed in Honduras in the past year and a half. The danger of being killed increases every day for Honduran journalists, said Galvez. (sda)