Creative ranking 2010
Werbewoche's creative ranking shows which agencies performed best in the 2010 creative competitions.
Author: admin
Editorial offices should go to the sticks
Investigative journalism increasingly needs private funding. In the U.S., the foundation model is already Pulitzer Prize-worthy; in Europe, it is at least socially acceptable; and now it has been announced in Russia as well. Even in Switzerland, the seeds of such an initiative have already been sown. Guest commentary by Oliver Classen, press spokesperson for the development policy organization Declaration of Bern and former media editor.
Journalism that takes its democratic function as the "fourth estate" seriously and fulfills it requires not only good craftsmanship, but above all time and money. And investigative journalism needs a little more of all three ingredients. At the same time, editorial offices and publishing houses today are subject to an almost North Korean red pencil regime. The entire profession is suffering as a result, as is the quality of its politically highly relevant products. Accordingly, the news around four years ago sounded almost too good to be true: The long-time editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal and the wealthy Sandler couple are setting up a foundation endowed with 30 million dollars to fund investigative journalism.
However, the groundbreaking project was only really noticed in the industry when Pro Publica was awarded the Pulitzer Prize this April for a story about the scandalous conditions in a hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than two years of research and 400,000 dollars went into this scoop, which was first published on Propublica.org at the end of August 2009 and then in the New York Times magazine. The name "Pro Publica" therefore says it all: In the service of a critical public, the aim is to observe politics and business as centers of power, uncover misconduct and initiate change for the better.
The financing of "Pro Publica" is secured until the end of 2012. And not only thanks to the Sandlers. The list of donors includes such illustrious institutions as the Ford Foundation of the car giant of the same name, the Hewlett Foundation of the Texan computer magnate and the foundation of a law firm working for Coca-Cola, Shell, Google and General Motors, among others. It says so on the website, because transparency is the top priority of these journalistic pioneers. The problem of possible influence still exists, of course, but it is less than in conventional publishing houses with influential advertising clients. If the donors do PR on their own behalf, then it is rightly as sponsors of relevant, future-oriented investigative journalism. Incidentally, every ideal investor signs a legally binding pledge to stay out of all editorial decisions.
Donor-funded editorial offices are also gradually gaining a foothold in Europe. The "Bureau of Investigative Journalism" in London successfully began its work at the end of April and uncovered blatant abuses in the British healthcare system in the fall. The nobility was then struck by its natural competitor Wikileaks, which sent the Bureau all the war logs from Iraq for analysis at the same time as the Guardian. Also inspired by the Wikileaks phenomenon, the Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev has now set up a "Glasnost" foundation for independent investigative journalism. The fact that the enterprising banker holds 49 percent of the opposition Novaya Gazeta and recently bought the Independent and the Evening Standard in England shows that he knows what he is doing: The man knows what he is doing and believes in the future and necessity of "funding journalism".
He shares this conviction with Jürg Vollmer, initiator of "Maiak" and so far the only editor of the only donation-financed Swiss media project. However, the Zurich-based "Newsroom for Eastern Europe", which was launched in mid-2009, provides background reports on post-Soviet transition countries, from which there is otherwise hardly any reporting, rather than scoops. This is because "Maiak" has to make do with an annual budget of 150,000 francs, which comes from the "Swiss-Russian Society". Such interesting but harmless experiments in honor: What is needed in notoriously entangled Switzerland is more and better investigative journalism. This core finding of the current quality debate is undisputed. The rhetorical question remains as to where professional "funding journalism" is more financially viable than in the country of 12,000 foundations with a capital of over 30 billion Swiss francs.
However, the groundbreaking project was only really noticed in the industry when Pro Publica was awarded the Pulitzer Prize this April for a story about the scandalous conditions in a hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than two years of research and 400,000 dollars went into this scoop, which was first published on Propublica.org at the end of August 2009 and then in the New York Times magazine. The name "Pro Publica" therefore says it all: In the service of a critical public, the aim is to observe politics and business as centers of power, uncover misconduct and initiate change for the better.
The financing of "Pro Publica" is secured until the end of 2012. And not only thanks to the Sandlers. The list of donors includes such illustrious institutions as the Ford Foundation of the car giant of the same name, the Hewlett Foundation of the Texan computer magnate and the foundation of a law firm working for Coca-Cola, Shell, Google and General Motors, among others. It says so on the website, because transparency is the top priority of these journalistic pioneers. The problem of possible influence still exists, of course, but it is less than in conventional publishing houses with influential advertising clients. If the donors do PR on their own behalf, then it is rightly as sponsors of relevant, future-oriented investigative journalism. Incidentally, every ideal investor signs a legally binding pledge to stay out of all editorial decisions.
Donor-funded editorial offices are also gradually gaining a foothold in Europe. The "Bureau of Investigative Journalism" in London successfully began its work at the end of April and uncovered blatant abuses in the British healthcare system in the fall. The nobility was then struck by its natural competitor Wikileaks, which sent the Bureau all the war logs from Iraq for analysis at the same time as the Guardian. Also inspired by the Wikileaks phenomenon, the Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev has now set up a "Glasnost" foundation for independent investigative journalism. The fact that the enterprising banker holds 49 percent of the opposition Novaya Gazeta and recently bought the Independent and the Evening Standard in England shows that he knows what he is doing: The man knows what he is doing and believes in the future and necessity of "funding journalism".
He shares this conviction with Jürg Vollmer, initiator of "Maiak" and so far the only editor of the only donation-financed Swiss media project. However, the Zurich-based "Newsroom for Eastern Europe", which was launched in mid-2009, provides background reports on post-Soviet transition countries, from which there is otherwise hardly any reporting, rather than scoops. This is because "Maiak" has to make do with an annual budget of 150,000 francs, which comes from the "Swiss-Russian Society". Such interesting but harmless experiments in honor: What is needed in notoriously entangled Switzerland is more and better investigative journalism. This core finding of the current quality debate is undisputed. The rhetorical question remains as to where professional "funding journalism" is more financially viable than in the country of 12,000 foundations with a capital of over 30 billion Swiss francs.
Advertising rates 2011: The crisis is no longer an obstacle
When it comes to advertising rates, publishers are once again taking a more confident stance. Tamedia’s commuter newspaper *20 minutes*, for example, is taking full advantage of its status as a «stand-alone» commuter paper in French-speaking Switzerland and is raising its price per thousand readers by 14.3 percent. Only PME Magazine and Finanz und Wirtschaft are even bolder. But there are also titles that are becoming more affordable. In addition, a trend is emerging among newspapers: the flat rate is gaining ground.
Edipresse and AZ Medien are not changing the advertising rates of their newspapers and magazines as of 2011. Ringier Deutschschweiz, Axel Springer Schweiz and Ki-Media are also leaving their advertising rates at the current level. Only their up-and-coming titles Blick am Abend, SI Style, Beobachter Natur and Bon à savoir will see gentle price increases in line with the respective gains in reach. In terms of advertising rates in 2011, the impression could therefore be of a zero round.
But appearances are deceptive. Because at least a third of the 110 press titles listed are making either open or hidden rate increases. This applies in particular to the Tamedia titles Finanz und Wirtschaft, 20 minutes and Schweizer Familie as well as the member press of Migros and Coop. They all reported significant losses in reach in Mach Basic 2010 2 compared to the previous year, but continue to charge the same amount as this year for their reduced output. And in some cases even more: 20 minutes, for example, is daring to increase its advertising price by 7.3 percent despite a 6.1 percent drop in reach in French-speaking Switzerland. At the thousand-reader price (TLP) level, this corresponds to an increase of 14.3 percent. However, Marcel Kohler, Managing Director of 20 Minuten, does not see this as a problem: compared to its competitors in French-speaking Switzerland, 20 minutes is still very cheap in terms of TLP, he says. True, the TLPs of most paid and free weekly newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland are several times higher. What's more, two other titles are even cheekier when it comes to TLP increases: PME Magazine (+18.5 percent) has the steepest TLP increase, followed by Finanz und Wirtschaft (+15.7 percent). The Tages-Anzeiger and Basler Zeitung also saw astonishing price increases. On the one hand, both titles are introducing the standard rate for black-and-white and color advertisements, but on the other hand they are also increasing their page rates by 10 and 12.7 percent respectively without an approximate increase in performance. At Tagi, this results in a TLP surcharge of a whopping 13.5 percent, while at BaZ it increases by 8.8 percent. This does not take into account the current 1,800 BaZ subscription cancellations.
Speaking of uniform rates: what has long been familiar to magazines is now also finding its way into newspapers. Zentralschweiz am Sonntag, for example, already started with a standard rate, followed a year ago by Le Temps as the first western Swiss title, and now the idea is being copied by the Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Coop-Presse and Bündner Anzeiger in addition to Tagi and BaZ. Südostschweiz is clearly also aiming for the same goal, albeit in small steps.
If we have mainly been talking about price increases so far, it should also be mentioned here that some titles are acting in an exemplary manner. Readers Digest, for example, is reducing its rates in line with the significant loss in reach. Other titles such as WOZ or TV8 are increasing their prices, but the percentage increase remains below the growth in readership. Still others are keeping their rates at the current level, even though they have been able to gain considerable readership. The latter include Stocks and LImpartial (13 percent growth in readership each), Freiburger Nachrichten (12.5 percent) and Gesundheits-Tipp (11 percent). Their TLPs fell accordingly.
Markus Knöpfli
> Tariffs part 1 (pdf)
> Tariffs part 2 (pdf)
But appearances are deceptive. Because at least a third of the 110 press titles listed are making either open or hidden rate increases. This applies in particular to the Tamedia titles Finanz und Wirtschaft, 20 minutes and Schweizer Familie as well as the member press of Migros and Coop. They all reported significant losses in reach in Mach Basic 2010 2 compared to the previous year, but continue to charge the same amount as this year for their reduced output. And in some cases even more: 20 minutes, for example, is daring to increase its advertising price by 7.3 percent despite a 6.1 percent drop in reach in French-speaking Switzerland. At the thousand-reader price (TLP) level, this corresponds to an increase of 14.3 percent. However, Marcel Kohler, Managing Director of 20 Minuten, does not see this as a problem: compared to its competitors in French-speaking Switzerland, 20 minutes is still very cheap in terms of TLP, he says. True, the TLPs of most paid and free weekly newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland are several times higher. What's more, two other titles are even cheekier when it comes to TLP increases: PME Magazine (+18.5 percent) has the steepest TLP increase, followed by Finanz und Wirtschaft (+15.7 percent). The Tages-Anzeiger and Basler Zeitung also saw astonishing price increases. On the one hand, both titles are introducing the standard rate for black-and-white and color advertisements, but on the other hand they are also increasing their page rates by 10 and 12.7 percent respectively without an approximate increase in performance. At Tagi, this results in a TLP surcharge of a whopping 13.5 percent, while at BaZ it increases by 8.8 percent. This does not take into account the current 1,800 BaZ subscription cancellations.
Speaking of uniform rates: what has long been familiar to magazines is now also finding its way into newspapers. Zentralschweiz am Sonntag, for example, already started with a standard rate, followed a year ago by Le Temps as the first western Swiss title, and now the idea is being copied by the Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Coop-Presse and Bündner Anzeiger in addition to Tagi and BaZ. Südostschweiz is clearly also aiming for the same goal, albeit in small steps.
If we have mainly been talking about price increases so far, it should also be mentioned here that some titles are acting in an exemplary manner. Readers Digest, for example, is reducing its rates in line with the significant loss in reach. Other titles such as WOZ or TV8 are increasing their prices, but the percentage increase remains below the growth in readership. Still others are keeping their rates at the current level, even though they have been able to gain considerable readership. The latter include Stocks and LImpartial (13 percent growth in readership each), Freiburger Nachrichten (12.5 percent) and Gesundheits-Tipp (11 percent). Their TLPs fell accordingly.
Markus Knöpfli
> Tariffs part 1 (pdf)
> Tariffs part 2 (pdf)
Twitter trends 2010: Apple, Google and Wikileaks well in the race
Following Google's ranking of the year's top search terms, Twitter has now also announced its top topics.
In addition to the top topics of the year, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the football World Cup in South Africa, technology topics were also heavily involved. Apple's iPad in particular made it to sixth place in the "Overall Top Trends", closely followed by Google Android. In the technology category, Apple dominates ahead of Google and is represented four times in the top 10 with the Apple iPad, Apple iOS, Apple iPhone and the MacBook Air. With Google Android and Google Instant, Google still managed two top 10 rankings.
WikiLeaks is also right on trend. The Wikileaks Cablegate makes it to seventh place in the news events. Julian Assange himself is ranked fourth in the People list.
WikiLeaks is also right on trend. The Wikileaks Cablegate makes it to seventh place in the news events. Julian Assange himself is ranked fourth in the People list.
Politicians practice dealing with the media so that they understand young people better
Before lawmakers make a decision on the current legislative proposals regarding media use by young people, they should learn about the virtual realities of young people’s lives. The Pro Juventute Foundation is committed to this goal—and is holding a media workshop for lawmakers today, Wednesday.
At the event, the foundation will present its measures for an effective youth media policy: it proposes a media early warning system and calls for more support for projects to promote media skills. As young people today spend a considerable part of their lives in the virtual world, politicians need to know what the new media actually are and what support programs are already available in order to be able to decide on initiatives relating to young people and the media, says Pro Juventute Foundation Director Stephan Oetiker. That is why the foundation is holding this media workshop for parliamentarians today.
With Barbara Schmid-Federer (CVP), Viola Amherd (CVP), Sylvia Flückiger-Bäni (SVP), Margret Kiener-Nellen (SP) and Chantal Galladé (SP), politicians from left to right are represented. The participants will gain an insight into the problems facing young people today, such as cyberbullying and happy slapping, and receive training in the media workshops and projects that the foundation usually runs with young people.
Media early warning system for politics
The foundation is presenting its solutions at today's event: A media early warning system for politicians, the creation of a new system of competencies in the area of media policy and sustainable funding for projects to promote media literacy among children and young people such as Pro Juventute Gametest or Pro Juventute Handyprofis. With a media early warning system, a network of representatives from relevant organizations, politics and business can monitor technological innovations and thus alert politicians to the necessary steps in good time.
According to the children and youth organization, federal and cantonal media regulation is outdated. Political initiatives and decisions should be initiated in advance instead of lagging behind technological and social innovations. Through its Advice + Help 147, which around 146,000 children and young people turn to every year, Pro Juventute is able to identify the key trends and any problem areas at any given time and contribute to such a network, the foundation writes in a press release.
With Barbara Schmid-Federer (CVP), Viola Amherd (CVP), Sylvia Flückiger-Bäni (SVP), Margret Kiener-Nellen (SP) and Chantal Galladé (SP), politicians from left to right are represented. The participants will gain an insight into the problems facing young people today, such as cyberbullying and happy slapping, and receive training in the media workshops and projects that the foundation usually runs with young people.
Media early warning system for politics
The foundation is presenting its solutions at today's event: A media early warning system for politicians, the creation of a new system of competencies in the area of media policy and sustainable funding for projects to promote media literacy among children and young people such as Pro Juventute Gametest or Pro Juventute Handyprofis. With a media early warning system, a network of representatives from relevant organizations, politics and business can monitor technological innovations and thus alert politicians to the necessary steps in good time.
According to the children and youth organization, federal and cantonal media regulation is outdated. Political initiatives and decisions should be initiated in advance instead of lagging behind technological and social innovations. Through its Advice + Help 147, which around 146,000 children and young people turn to every year, Pro Juventute is able to identify the key trends and any problem areas at any given time and contribute to such a network, the foundation writes in a press release.
Swiss television should do more for national cohesion
Swiss television should do more to promote cohesion among Switzerland’s linguistic regions, but should not be required to create a separate channel for that purpose. On Wednesday, the National Council, acting as the second chamber, supported a motion to that effect introduced by Council of States member Theo Maissen (CVP/GR)—albeit in an amended form.
In doing so, he followed the majority of the Telecommunications Commission KVF. SP National Councillor Hans Stöckli, outgoing President of Biel, the largest bilingual city in the country, had previously withdrawn an identical motion. In Maissen's motion text, the large chamber deleted the demand for a Swiss television channel that would recycle programmes broadcast in the language regions - with subtitles in the other national languages or synchronized.
That would be too expensive, said Tarzisius Caviezel (FDP/GR) for the Commission. Studies show that SRG does not focus enough on the other language regions in the respective areas of the country. However, a separate channel would not remedy this situation and would at best lead a niche existence. However, the mission remains: the television company must strengthen the exchange and understanding between the language regions.
The Federal Council is now to report on the corresponding efforts by the end of 2012. Media Minister Doris Leuthard explained that the SRG is obliged to make its contribution to linguistic cohesion. However, this would be better achieved in a program with a high level of acceptance than in a minority channel. The company's Board of Directors had declared the promotion of linguistic cohesion to be a strategic goal, and a decision on implementation would be made in the spring.
That would be too expensive, said Tarzisius Caviezel (FDP/GR) for the Commission. Studies show that SRG does not focus enough on the other language regions in the respective areas of the country. However, a separate channel would not remedy this situation and would at best lead a niche existence. However, the mission remains: the television company must strengthen the exchange and understanding between the language regions.
The Federal Council is now to report on the corresponding efforts by the end of 2012. Media Minister Doris Leuthard explained that the SRG is obliged to make its contribution to linguistic cohesion. However, this would be better achieved in a program with a high level of acceptance than in a minority channel. The company's Board of Directors had declared the promotion of linguistic cohesion to be a strategic goal, and a decision on implementation would be made in the spring.
The Impact Check of Werbewoche
We present the top ten for 2010 in each category.
In the «Awareness» category, the two Migros campaigns—one for Migros Magazine (Jung von Matt) and the other for «I am» (Advico Y&R Exxtra)—lead the pack ahead of the «Naturaplan» campaign (Krieg Schlupp Bürge). In the «Uniqueness» category, the «Lovely Snowboard» theme from Swissmilk’s Lovely campaign (Ruf Lanz) takes first place, ahead of «Die Mobiliar» (Wirz) and the «Lovely Schwingfest» theme from Swissmilk. The «Snowboard» ad from the Lovely campaign also tops the «Brand Fit» category, followed by the “Die Mobiliar” ads and the “Schwingfest” ad from Swissmilk. Lovely also takes the top two spots in the “Likeability” category, followed by “Die Mobiliar.”.
> Top Ten 2010 (pdf)
> Top Ten 2010 (pdf)
Future Connection wins Cablex as a new customer
The communications agency Future Connection prevailed over several other agencies in the pitch for Cablex and secured the company—which specializes in the construction and maintenance of wired and wireless networks—as a new client.
In a first phase, the positioning will be sharpened and the CI/CD will be further developed in order to differentiate the company more strongly from its competitors. The second step is to increase awareness in the relevant market.
Responsible at Cablex: Markus Huber, Sales Manager. Responsible at Future Connection: Patrick Andersen and Martina Waser (consulting), Annette Truniger (project management), Karin Gleichner (design).
Responsible at Cablex: Markus Huber, Sales Manager. Responsible at Future Connection: Patrick Andersen and Martina Waser (consulting), Annette Truniger (project management), Karin Gleichner (design).
US Air Force: Access to newspaper pages blocked because of WikiLeaks
The U.S. Air Force has blocked access via its computer network to numerous newspapers that have published documents from the whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks.
According to a spokeswoman on Tuesday, at least 25 websites can no longer be accessed from Air Force computers. Among others, the New York Times and the British Guardian are affected. The spokeswoman defended the measure as a normal procedure for websites that disseminate inappropriate content.
In recent weeks, WikiLeaks has published tens of thousands of internal documents from the US State Department, exposing the foreign policy of the superpower. There is a debate in the USA as to whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be prosecuted for espionage.
In recent weeks, WikiLeaks has published tens of thousands of internal documents from the US State Department, exposing the foreign policy of the superpower. There is a debate in the USA as to whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be prosecuted for espionage.
To the point: Every year again
It's that time of year again. This issue of *Werbewoche* features two *Werbewoche* classics: first, the creative rankings, which are always eagerly anticipated in the industry, and second, the presentation of the nominees for the 2011 Advertiser of the Year award.
Werbewoche's creative ranking is about the creative performance of agencies that have won awards in national and international competitions. The selection of the competitions and their corresponding weighting was made in collaboration with a delegation from the Art Directors Club of Switzerland. The ranking is based on the self-declarations of the participating agencies. In individual cases, the editorial team made corrections based on the official rankings of the creative competitions.
This year, we have slightly modified the selection procedure for the nomination as advertiser. In addition to the selection committee, consisting of the former Advertisers of the Year and the respective finalists, for the first time the readers of Werbewoche have also sent two candidates into the race with a "wild card. Six personalities from the Swiss advertising scene have been nominated. We are particularly pleased that there is once again a woman among the nominees this year. Werbewoche subscribers can now choose their favorite from the six nominees. To do so, they will receive a corresponding voting form by the beginning of January at the latest.
On February 3, someone from the round of candidates will then receive the coveted Egon from Werbewoche at Zurich's Lakeside and be able to spend the evening celebrating as the newly crowned Advertiser of the Year 2011.
Another change concerns the publication day of the advertising week. Starting next year, it will be on Fridays for our subscribers.
But now we're taking a short Christmas break. The next printed Werbewoche will appear on January 14, 2011. Until December 23 and from January 4, you will find continuous news from the communications and media industry on Werbewoche.ch.
We would like to thank you, dear readers, for your loyalty. We wish you a nice and peaceful time over the Christmas holidays and hope together with you for a successful and exciting year 2011.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
This year, we have slightly modified the selection procedure for the nomination as advertiser. In addition to the selection committee, consisting of the former Advertisers of the Year and the respective finalists, for the first time the readers of Werbewoche have also sent two candidates into the race with a "wild card. Six personalities from the Swiss advertising scene have been nominated. We are particularly pleased that there is once again a woman among the nominees this year. Werbewoche subscribers can now choose their favorite from the six nominees. To do so, they will receive a corresponding voting form by the beginning of January at the latest.
On February 3, someone from the round of candidates will then receive the coveted Egon from Werbewoche at Zurich's Lakeside and be able to spend the evening celebrating as the newly crowned Advertiser of the Year 2011.
Another change concerns the publication day of the advertising week. Starting next year, it will be on Fridays for our subscribers.
But now we're taking a short Christmas break. The next printed Werbewoche will appear on January 14, 2011. Until December 23 and from January 4, you will find continuous news from the communications and media industry on Werbewoche.ch.
We would like to thank you, dear readers, for your loyalty. We wish you a nice and peaceful time over the Christmas holidays and hope together with you for a successful and exciting year 2011.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
Apple, book and almond kernel
An apple, a book, and an almond: *Werbewoche*'s reading recommendations.
Who will be Advertiser of the Year and succeed Regula Fecker?
Who will succeed Regula Fecker as Advertiser of the Year 2010? Six nominees are in the running.
The "Academy" of former finalists has submitted its proposals and, for the first time, our readers have also sent two candidates into the race with a "wild card". Subscribers are now invited to vote for who should represent our industry in 2011 as Advertiser of the Year. The voting cards will be sent by post soon. We are looking forward to a worthy coronation. The celebration will take place on February 3 at the Lake Side in Zurich.