For many years, McCann Switzerland was one of the leading agencies in the country. Then came a period of reassessment, which has since been used to reposition the company. «Now we’re moving forward into the future stronger than ever,» explains Katharina Lohse. Since September 2009, this executive with international experience has served as CEO of McCann Erickson’s Swiss operations. During this time, she has already made a significant impact—not only with the physical relocation of the Zurich office from its historic building in Zurich’s 6th district to the up-and-coming Westend neighborhood.

«The Truth – well told» is displayed there as a kind of creative guideline for successful advertising in a frame next to the front door. «In my view, to make companies, products, services, solutions, and offers relevant to people, effective communication always requires two fundamental elements: truthful content and effective execution,» says Lohse, explaining the philosophy. For her, content is «true» when it is credible in terms of the product and brand, conveys messages that stand out in the competitive landscape, addresses consumer needs, and «summarizes all of this in a single core message.» The execution is «apt» when the core message is engaging, intelligent, yet immediately understandable, and is conveyed vividly to the audience through appropriate channels and media. «That is our recipe for success, which we implement consistently and with great passion.»

Katharina Lohse has now been representing McCann Erickson’s philosophy for three years on behalf of the international network, which has 270 offices in 125 countries. In Switzerland, the CEO oversees 42 employees in Zurich and 16 in Geneva.

After gaining experience in Hamburg, Katharina Lohse quickly rose to leadership positions at Draft FCB, Publicis, and McCann Erickson in Frankfurt. Since September 2009, she has served as CEO of McCann Erickson Switzerland in Zurich.

With the help of Lara Croft

This journey began when she was 18, during a career information session at school. «I loved what they said there about the role of a consultant at an advertising agency. After that, the rest just fell into place.» However, Katharina Lohse’s assertiveness—which would later become a defining trait—was already put to the test right from the start. Since there were no apprenticeship positions available in her area as an advertising clerk, she enrolled in a journalism program after completing an alternative apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade clerk in Lüneburg. But the newly introduced, trendy program was hopelessly oversubscribed. So Lohse moved from the countryside to Hamburg, where she studied marketing and communication at a private university and, at the same time, found a job as a junior at an agency in Germany’s communications capital. She owes her fluency in French to a scholarship in Paris.

One formative experience was that, even as a junior consultant at her first agency, KMF, she was already able to manage her own client. Four guys from Germany, along with their colleagues in England and France, wanted to launch a video game titled «Lara Croft Tomb Raider.» Of course, there was no budget. But there were plenty of ideas—and, above all, no unnecessary inhibitions. Katharina Lohse boldly reached out to bands like Die Fantastischen Vier, Die Ärzte, and even U2, and managed to secure collaborations with them. This generated a huge wave of publicity and ultimately took «Lara Croft» all the way to Hollywood. Lohse herself made a brief detour to the corporate side, where, as a trade marketing manager, she «learned a lot about the retail sector and its challenges.» At the same time, she was able to apply the knowledge she’d gained from her agency work to negotiations and presentations. «But I then realized that I was more interested in a holistic approach, which is why the agency side appeals to me more. It also offers the opportunity to work for and with different brands and to continually gain new knowledge that can be applied to other areas.» That’s why Katharina Lohse moved to Draft FCB in Hamburg, where she was responsible for managing the Nivea HairCare and Nivea Styling brands globally.

Her next stop was Publicis, where she spent over four years managing communications for brands such as Charmin, Tempo, Bounty, and Oral-B—both regionally and, in some cases, globally—across all channels for Procter & Gamble, among other clients. She also had the opportunity to teach at the P&G Communication Excellence Seminar. A particular highlight was the exciting projects for P&G that focused on target audience segmentation. «We designed these so that they are based on psychological commonalities that can be broken down into shared moments of need and are simultaneously valid for media segmentation.»

For Tempo, the challenge was to address the fact that these tissues had lost significant market share to Aldi’s new private-label brands and other lower-priced competitors. Lohse and her team therefore sought ideas on how to evoke an emotional connection to the image of the «strongest tissue»—beyond just flu season—in other contexts as well. Ultimately, this concept succeeded in positioning Tempo ahead of the other store brands for the first time in eight years.

Her collaboration with Credit Suisse played a significant role in her career—and not just from a professional standpoint. In the meantime, Katharina Lohse was approached by a headhunter and hired as Managing Director at McCann Erickson in Frankfurt. Her global responsibility for Credit Suisse’s budget took her to the bank’s headquarters in Zurich up to three times a week. That’s how she came to love and appreciate Switzerland.

She has never regretted joining McCann either. «McCann’s philosophy, our employees, and the many client projects inspire me anew every day.» Lohse believes the approach is the right one: «to first address the substance of the problem before developing ideas.» She also appreciates the collaborative spirit among the many people involved in the international network, as well as with clients. «I’d worked at other agencies and networks before. But nowhere else have I experienced services that are as consistently focused on the client as they are at McCann.» In advertising, she explains, you don’t come up with creative ideas just for the sake of creative ideas. «Ultimately, we have our clients, and they want their goals to be achieved. That’s why I think it’s extremely important that the consulting and strategy provide a very solid foundation, allowing the creative team to develop great ideas that not only appeal to the creatives but also work for the brand.»

Happy about the new team

As CEO, Katharina Lohse is personally involved in this process every day. «You shouldn’t go into advertising if you can’t get excited about the creative side.» However, she says she is «no dictator.» She is very good at «documenting processes, which ultimately makes everyone’s job easier.» For this part of the creative process, Katharina Lohse is now regularly called upon to assist with the network’s international pitches. She has just spent a few days at McCann in New York for this very reason.

In Zurich, Lohse now raves about a «great team spirit» surrounding the new CCO, Folker Wrage, as well as other key new hires she also found with the help of a headhunter. In London or Germany, she could have called the right people herself. In Switzerland, Lohse first had to learn that not everyone prefers to work at McCann. «But for me, that was a good time for a fresh start. Every agency goes through ups and downs because every agency has to reinvent itself from time to time, no matter how big or small it is. You just have to go through certain processes. And now we’re on the upswing again.» And when a good team is at work in an agency, «that automatically reflects in the market and, consequently, with the clients as well.».

With this foundation in place, Katharina Lohse is confident enough to set her goals: «We want to return to the top 5 Swiss agencies.» The second goal is to leverage the agency’s extensive network based in Switzerland to manage lead budgets for international companies headquartered here.

To find some well-deserved relaxation amid this fierce competition, Katharina Lohse enjoys skiing and is also passionate about a wide variety of water sports. She also loves cooking with friends and is happily in a relationship with a strategic planner. She greets the people of Zurich with «Grüezi» or, if it’s later in the evening, with «Guete Abig,» because Zurich has become a new home for the internationally successful advertising executive—one she «couldn’t imagine living without.».

Andreas Panzeri
 

McCann Erickson

The international network has over 270 offices in 125 countries. There are 42 employees in Zurich and 16 in Geneva. Currently, the agency is working in Switzerland on a major campaign for Mastercard, as well as on interesting projects for Coca-Cola Switzerland (including all its sub-brands), Opel Switzerland, Nestlé, and Edipresse. It has just secured an international account in the healthcare sector. The agency is also pleased to see a growing number of local clients. After many years in District 6, the Zurich branch has marked its reorientation with a move to Förrlibuckstrasse 30. Katharina Lohse has served as CEO here since September 2009. Folker Wrage is the CCO. 

Work Samples:

Let's take the example of the Tages-Anzeiger media brand: The WEMF study MACH Basic 2010-2 shows that the newspaper has 473,000 readers per issue (LpA). And the Net Metrix Profile 2010-2 study showed that Tagesanzeiger. ch generates 338,000 unique users per week (UUpW). The Tages-Anzeiger brand therefore has a gross weekly reach of 811,000 people. But how many of them consult both the newspaper and the website? And how many read exclusively on paper, how many exclusively on the portal? Are those who primarily use Tagesanzeiger.ch urban, young and female, or do they tend to live in the countryside, are they middle-aged and male? And are there changes in usage among this clientele, for example away from the newspaper and towards the Internet? Or does the online edition appeal to a completely different, new audience? The publishers have not yet been able to answer all these questions.

With the new joint pilot study "Total Audience 1.0", WEMF and Net Metrix now want to remedy this situation. As the name suggests, the study provides more precise information about the total audience of media brands. In the case of the Tages-Anzeiger, this means that 83,000 people currently read the print edition every day and consult the portal at least once a week. This means that this media brand is used by 728,000 different people every week (= net reach of Tages-Anzeiger and Tagesanzeiger.ch). 390,000 of them obtain their information only from the newspaper, and 255,000 access it exclusively online. Information on the age, gender and region of residence of the users can of course also be retrieved. However, it will only be possible to determine whether and how this usage changes with follow-up studies.

However, cross-evaluations are possible, for example between Blick and NZZOnline. The result: 32,000 of the total of 638,000 Blick readers also consult the Nzz.ch portal at least once a week, which is used by a total of 319,000 people every week. This means that advertising in both media reaches 925,000 different people.

The pilot study "Total Audience 1.0" was conducted for 23 newspapers, 3 magazines and 15 websites (including A-z.ch, Scout24 and Newsnetz.ch), which paid extra for the study.

For the new intermedia approach, WEMF had to collect additional data on the use of websites from the people who had been surveyed for MACH Basic 2010-2 by means of follow-up interviews. The corresponding answers now form a kind of bridge to the Net Metrix Profile 2010-2, where such hinge questions have been standard since the launch four years ago. Incidentally, this also applies to the new MACH 3 research system (see Article MACH 3 in a 1:1 test). MACH 3 will also include questions on the online and mobile use of newspaper content as part of the research concept. The "Total Adience 1.0" study is different: Here, the use of apps is not yet included because the survey ended in March 2010.

Markus Knöpfli
 

20 Minuten reaches 2.2 million people every week. According to its own figures, "Total Audience 1.0" shows a total of 2.188 million users for the print and online offerings of 20 Minuten in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland - excluding double users. In German-speaking Switzerland, 20 Minuten reaches 1.633 million users per week, while 20minutes in French-speaking Switzerland has 551,000. These figures include readers of the newspapers 20 Minuten and 20 minutes, users of the websites 20minuten.ch and 20minutes.ch and the portal Piazza. ch. However, the people magazine 20 Minuten Friday was not included. (mk)
 

With the subjects appearing in the Basler Zeitung, Wohnbedarf is, as it were, expanding its sales business, according to a statement. It thus shows its unique pieces to friends of modernism, its numerous fans and the general public in an entertaining and memorable way outside the store as well.

The ads will appear in the Baz for two months starting in March, mostly on the front page of the business section. The campaign will be accompanied by online measures, banners and a new website.

> To the subjects (PDF)

Responsible for housing needs: Bruno and Ursula Maurer, Wohnbedarf Basel (overall responsibility). Responsible on agency side: Thomas Petraschke, (CD), Flux Design, Basel. Graphic: Heidi Windlin. Text: Hans Peter Brugger, Basel.

With the stylistic device of the hidden object and in the corporate colors black, white and red, Switzerland is presented as a country teeming with sellers and buyers. Apartments find their tenants or buyers, offices their companies, garages their vehicles: homegate.ch brings together what belongs together. Under the headline "Simply find", this service becomes tangible.

The campaign includes advertisements, posters, TV spots, and trade show booths. Homegate.ch worked with Coundco to adapt the campaign to all online media.

Responsible at Homegate: Myriam Reinle (Head of Marketing), Daniel Bruckhoff (Head of Communications). Responsible at TBS Identity: Jürg Neuenschwander (communications consulting), Michael Schädelin (text), Daniel Leber (CD), Thomas Geissberger (AD), Flavia Papi (project management), Maura Zimmermann (polygraphy), Daniel Frick (illustration), Boutiq Film Productions (production TV spots), Florian Wieser from Coundco (web).

A production team will combine reports from the SN media radio, television and newspaper for Sunday, said Norbert Neininger, publisher and editor-in-chief of Schaffhauser Nachrichten, according to SDA in an interview with the media magazine Klartext. In terms of content, the digital Sunday edition will be based on the print edition, Neininger said in response to an SDA inquiry. Currently, there are around 2,000 to 3,000 iPads in the Schaffhausen region, he said. Later, the digital SN Sunday edition will also be distributed on Google's Android operating system.

Schaffhauser Nachrichten had already made headlines at the beginning of the year when it made the online edition of the newspaper chargeable. The newspaper thus took a pioneering step in the Swiss media landscape. The SN publisher is also campaigning for ancillary copyright at the level of the Swiss Media Association. It stipulates that content belongs to publishers and journalists. Without such a right, paid content would not be
possible.

Neininger is critical of the search engine Google, which now earns money from editorial content of media houses. "In my opinion, Google operates a parasitic model," he said in the Klartext interview. Anyone who believes as a regional publisher that they can drive additional traffic to their online site with queries via Google and thus sell advertising is mistaken, he said. No regional publisher earns money with this model. This model has failed.

Fabienne Frei, born in 1978, replaces Jürg Aegerter as Eastern Switzerland correspondent. The Thurgau native has been working in the Eastern Switzerland regional editorial department of Swiss Radio DRS since 2006, initially as a stagiaire and since February 2008 as an editor. Frei studied political science and Russian language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zurich. She will switch from radio to television on June 1, 2011. After an introductory period in Zurich - where she is learning the film trade - she will take up the correspondent post in Sankt Gallen at the beginning of 2012. Jürg Aegerter leaves SRF and opens a wine bar in Sankt Gallen.

Monika Balmer, born in 1969, takes over the Bern correspondent position from Roland Luder, who is also leaving SRF. Monika Balmer has worked at Schweizer Fernsehen since 2002. Since then, she has worked as an editor for "Kassensturz," "Quer," and "Tagesschau," as well as a producer and topic planner for "Schweiz aktuell. Before joining SF, Monika Balmer worked as a print journalist, among others for Saldo, the weekly newspaper for the Emmental and Entlebuch, for the Thuner Tagblatt and Tele. She completed her diploma training at the Media Training Center in Lucerne. Monika Balmer will take up her new post in Bern on August 1, 2011.

Born in 1973, Adrian Arnold has been reporting from Paris since 2007. This summer, the Valais native returns to Switzerland to join the Federal Parliament editorial team in Bern as of July 1, 2011. Michael Gerber will succeed Adrian Arnold in France on July 1, 2011 - as previously reported. Now 41, Michael Gerber has worked for Swiss television since 2003. From 2004 to 2007, he was an editor at "10vor10," and since then he has been working as a correspondent for Western Switzerland.

This is reported in the latest editions of the TV magazines Tele and TV-Star. In the program entitled "Menu Surprise", top chef Beat Caduff welcomes a celebrity guest to his home. Caduff has no idea in advance what he is going to cook because the guest brings the ingredients with him. This will be a challenge even for a holder of 15 Gault Millau points, which makes the homesick Grisons native particularly happy: "It can be a bit weird." In any case, the show will be as spontaneous as possible. Producer Thommy Rüegg: "It's like when a friend comes to visit and the host is still cooking."
 

Over 4,000 Parisienne Special Edition packs will be available in stores and online from March 1. From A for Asconienne to Z for Zermattienne, no village has been left out, including Corippo, the smallest municipality in Switzerland. You can customize and order your own "ienne-Päckli" on the completely redesigned website Parisienne.ch or with the new "ienne app". This tool from the App Store also offers a fast-paced Swiss geography game with plenty of addictive potential and great competition.

Not only the pack design bears the signature of Formeldrei. Advertisements, versatile measures for the point of sale, B2B communication, a new website and the "ienne" app were also realized.

> Last but not least: Made and burned in Switzerland

Responsible at BAT Switzerland: André Hefti (Brand Manager Parisienne), Véronique Seydoux (Parisienne Brand Executive). Responsible at Formeldrei, Bern: Moritz Adler (graphics/concept), Christian Wüthrich (text), Marco Mesot (consulting, concept), Jeanine Hochueli (consulting). Online: Station AG, Zurich.

As the TV channel 3+ proudly reports, winegrower Fredy, who won the heart of the beautiful Bea in the summer of 2008, has become a father to a daughter for the second time. Farmer Adrian, who has been married to his farm girl Eveline since last fall, became the father of twin girls. And farmer Alois and his wife Barbara also have reason to celebrate: the stork has brought them a little girl as well.

Let someone try to say that this whole thing—matchmaking for lonely farmers—is just one big hoax. Because it’s not: the babies are living proof. At 3+, we’re certainly thrilled about the new arrivals and offer our heartfelt congratulations to the young families on their happiness—we’d like to join in on that. And maybe, dear farmers, next time you’ll be blessed with a little boy who, later on, when you’ve grown old and frail, can follow in your footsteps. The main thing is that the baby is healthy, right?
 

The new fund campaign from SFLB provides the first suggestions on what to do with the extra time. Since March 1, what is probably Switzerland's largest crossword puzzle has been available at Swisscanto-zeit.ch online, which consists of over 2,700 words and is several meters long. Everyone who helps to solve the puzzle will be entered into a prize draw for Swisscanto funds.

The success of the competition was not long in coming: around two hours after the puzzle went online, it was already completely solved. And this despite the fact that each participant is only allowed to solve a maximum of 10 words per day. But the guessing game is not over. Because every time the puzzle is solved, it starts again from scratch. And Swisscanto will soon be surprising people with new tricky giant puzzles.

Responsible at Swisscanto: Urs Wieser (Head of Marketing), Roman Kappeler (Communications), Felix Cabernard (Project Manager Client Marketing). Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Roland Buob (AD), Christian Stüdi, Patrick Suter (text), Patrick Suter, Dan Strasser (CD), Martin Spillmann (ECD), Pam Hügli, Ivana Giannakis, Patricia Kuster (consulting). Puzzle production: RätselMedia Lotti, Oswaldo Lotti. Web programming: Station.
 

Lüthi is currently a study leader and media trainer at the Swiss School of Journalism Maz in Lucerne, Swissmedic announced Wednesday, according to SDA. Lüthi brings experience as a lecturer, consultant, media spokesperson and journalist. Gross had moved to the Federal Office for Migration as chief information officer in early March.

In 2010, Springer earned 510.6 million euros before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), 53 percent more than in 2009. Group sales increased by 10.8 percent to 2.89 billion euros. Net income adjusted for special items rose 85.5 percent to 283.2 million euros, the company announced Wednesday, according to SDA. Shareholders are to receive a dividend of 4.80 euros per share, up 40 cents. Springer also announced plans to increase the attractiveness of its shares with a one-for-three split. Revenues are expected to increase further in 2011. Our digital and international activities will continue to drive revenue and earnings growth in 2011, said Group CEO Mathias Döpfner in Berlin.

In Switzerland, the German publisher owns various TV program guides as well as Bilanz, Handelszeitung and Beobachter, among others.

(Image: Axelspringer.ch)