It doesn't always work at the first attempt: In recent years, there has been constant talk of the imminent merging of the Internet and TV, and devices have appeared on the market with which TV sets could be upgraded to be Internet-compatible. However, the tangled cables and configuration effort involved have so far only appealed to die-hard technology freaks, but not to the general public. One of the best-known examples is the Apple TV box, which was launched three years ago but has hardly been advertised since and has not taken off. Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently described the TV venture as "a hobby" at an industry conference. For as long as cable network operators in particular occupied the market with their set-top boxes, it was hardly possible to introduce innovations into living rooms. Consumers did not want yet another box with a new menu guide and an additional remote control. In addition, the cable TV market is extremely balkanized with numerous different providers, which makes a joint market offensive impossible. Jobs knows what needs to be done: go back to field one, take apart the various set-top boxes and redesign them from the ground up to make all the different functions accessible with a uniform user interface. Then, he said, the whole thing would still have to be presented to consumers in a way that would make them happy to pay for it. "I'm sure there will be smarter people than us who will figure out how to solve this problem," Jobs said, explaining why TV is just a hobby for Apple behind the iPhone and iPad. It's quite possible that Google will succeed in doing just that. Although the Google TV offensive was announced back in May of this year, it only really became concrete at the beginning of October, especially when the Swiss peripheral manufacturer Logitech presented the first Google TV box ("Revue"). Once the device is installed between the TV receiver and the TV, it becomes the central control point of the home AV system and controls (via external IR boosters) other devices, which basically meets Jobs' idea of an integrated solution. The apps familiar from smartphones can now be used on the TV, and thanks to Google's Chrome web browser, it is possible to surf the Internet, which is easier when a wireless keyboard is used as a remote control. Of course, media content, be it from the in-house library or from online rental companies, can be played. And there are several other cool features, such as voice control instead of remote control.
Google TV will soon be in everywhere
But the most important thing for future development is easily overlooked: Google TV is based on Google's open Android operating system. Quite a few cell phone manufacturers have already jumped on board this free offer from Google, because it allows them to save their own development costs and profit from the ever-increasing market shares and the corresponding awareness. Therefore, the chances are good that Google TV will soon be everywhere: In TV sets, but also in other set-top boxes and in game consoles. Just as teletext became established here thirty years ago in a relatively short time, the Google TV platform is likely to become the global standard on TV sets.
If Google TV succeeds in connecting home screens to the Internet, existing business models will be shaken up. Apps that can be used to call up and buy shows à la carte will cut into the established players, especially pay TV providers and cable network operators. But from Google's point of view, these are likely to be side effects and not the main intention. It's all about advertising, and first and foremost about user data. Google has long been analyzing our surfing behavior on the basis of search queries in order to identify our interests and preferences and to link them to corresponding advertising messages. If our TV habits can now also be analyzed, this represents a huge step forward. On the one hand, when surfing behavior can be supplemented with TV behavior and the corresponding user profiles become sharper. On the other hand, if population groups that hardly ever surf the web can be captured in this way, thus expanding the reach for targeted advertising sales.
Individualized program recommendations
At the heart of this strategy is the Electronic Program Guide (EPG). Just as with program guides, users can use it to decide what is on the screen and what is not. Here, Google can overtake existing offerings, such as those on cable providers' set-top boxes, and come up with individualized program recommendations. To do this, the company's own program selection from the past is offset against similar user profiles. If information from social networks ("See what your friends are watching") is also taken into account, a useful guide through the flood of programs can be created. Google TV can not only list all the programs received over the air, via cable or satellite, but also supplement the overview with content that has been recorded (family videos) or purchased (from on-demand providers) or that can be accessed on the Internet (YouTube, etc.). It is true that Google, as the platform owner, is in a good position to win the EPG war that is looming for the next few years. In any case, the service providers who currently make their business from aggregating program data will want to have their say. They could simply launch an alternative offering with an Android app and thus beat Google on their own platform.
Need for action on funding and advertising bans
The home altar is becoming a global marketplace, and that has profound consequences. Established broadcasters will feel the effects first. Because the first channel will no longer appear when the TV is switched on, but the home menu of Google TV, which can be freely compiled. And TV channels are now only one option among many, because conventional TV is only needed for live broadcasts, especially in sports. In addition, media consumption time in front of the TV can now be spent with many other contents and activities. For example, with interactive games, with web videos and video chats.
Google TV is shaking up the financing foundations of both fee-financed and private stations. If consumers accept Google TV, in the long term politicians will have no choice but to rethink the legal basis and adapt it to the new circumstances. After all, this can justify the transition from the license-fee-financed broadcasting fee to a nationwide pay-per-view system and thus individual usage-based billing (just as with water and electricity consumption). Subscriptions as well as individual sales of broadcasts could be considered. There will be a need for action not only in financing, but also in advertising bans: How, for example, should prohibited tobacco and alcohol advertising be dealt with, which is displayed on the TV screen, for example as a partial overlay of the current program, but is distributed via the Internet? Private stations must fear that providers such as Google TV will squeeze advertising out of them, since they can address viewers far more precisely thanks to targeting data. In addition, offerings like Google TV encourage time-shifted consumption, making it more difficult to measure reach for TV spots, which can then often be skipped.
If you have interesting content, you put it in an app and all you have to do is make sure that as many people as possible download it and, depending on the business model, pay for it. This opens up new opportunities for large publishers and small entrepreneurs alike. Where editorial teams work efficiently with multimedia, content can in principle be produced for this new distribution channel without any great additional expense. After all, the difference between an iPad edition and a TV edition is not that great. But via platforms like Google TV or Apple TV, innovative start-ups, such as video podcast producers, can also find an audience easily and all over the world.
It is still unclear how the advertising business will operate
The new TV wonderland will not arrive overnight - on the contrary: the majority of the population will continue to receive TV programs via cable, antenna or satellite dish for several years and consume them as usual. Video-on-demand services will also emerge only hesitantly, as service providers will have to conduct lengthy and complex licensing negotiations. And advertising, too, will only gradually shift in significant proportions, if at all. While advertising geared to personal interests is widely accepted in the web browser, some people may find it unpleasant on TV, leading to defensive reactions. Google has not yet announced any concrete plans as to how exactly the advertising business will run on Google TV.
Christoph J. Walther

In the «Awareness» category, the “I am” campaign for Migros by the advertising agency Advico Y&R took first place, followed by the Coop Naturaplan ad by the agency Krieg Schlupp Bürge and the PKZ ad by By Heart. In the “Uniqueness” category, the Suvarisk ad by Ruf Lanz takes first place, ahead of the Val Sinestra campaign for Swisscom by Contexta and the ÖKK campaign by Advico Y&R. In the “Brand Fit” category, the Toni Yogurt ad by Scholz & Friends Zurich took the top spot, followed by Coop Naturaplan and PKZ. Toni Yogurt also won in the “Likeability” category, ahead of Suvarisk and PKZ.
> To the results at a glance (PDF)
> To the detailed results
Question and methodology
Method: Computer-Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI).
Instrument: Online interviews via the Marketagent.com reSEARCH platform.
Target group: web-active people from German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 14 and 59.
Sample size: n = 500 net interviews, random selection by quota.
Survey period: October 6, 2010–October 15, 2010.
Questions:
- We introduced you to some ads at the beginning of today's survey.
Which of these ads do you remember? Please name the advertising companies or the brands advertised. (Awareness)
– In your opinion, to what extent do these ads stand out from other advertisements in newspapers, magazines, and periodicals? Please rate each on a scale from 1 (= does not stand out at all) to 6 (= stands out very strongly). (Uniqueness)
- To what extent do these ads fit the image you have of the respective brands/companies? Please rate each from 1 (= does not fit my image of this brand at all) to 6 (= fits my image of this brand very well). (Brand Fit)
- To what extent do you like the following ads? Please rate each from
1 (= I do not like at all) to 6 (= I like very much). (Likeability)
The values printed are in each case the top box ratings "stands out very strongly", "fits very well with my image of the brand", "I like it very much".
The author of the representative «Impact-Check» study is Marketagent.com Switzerland, a company specializing in online market and opinion research, which has an ISO-certified panel of 20,000 respondents in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. Marketagent.com Switzerland is a subsidiary of the leading Austrian market research company Marketagent.com online reSEARCH GmbH and the Swiss communications agency Contract Media AG.

Income from job advertisements increased by 15.2 percent to CHF 14.8 million, as reported by Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung. The print media generated CHF 136.3 million from commercial advertisements, which corresponds to an increase of 7.8 percent. Brochure inserts worth CHF 13.5 million were placed, 9.4 percent more than a year ago. The only area where income was less lavish was property advertisements (3.4 percent to 5.7 million francs). The Sunday and daily press felt the effects of the upturn in the advertising market, with revenues up 11.9% and 7.5% respectively. The general press increased by 10.2 percent, while the trade press (10.5 percent) and specialty press (7.9 percent) also recorded strong growth. The regional weekly press recorded the lowest growth at +3.8 percent. Advertising revenues in the financial and business press stagnated.

The results of the Practice Monitor 2010, published for the first time, are a product of the Swiss Corporate Communication and Public Relations Observatory, which was founded by the Università della Svizzera italiana together with SPRI, BPRA, HarbourClub and pr suisse in 2009. The Observatory, with its planned regular studies, is the central platform for the survey, which was conducted among communication professionals in Switzerland in February 2010.
The industry organizations intend to conduct this survey regularly in future in order to record and evaluate developments in professional practice, trends in the communication trade and the needs of PR professionals in the market as well as in education. "The Swiss Observatory is intended to measure and shed light on the various aspects of the profession within the defined parameters on an annual basis," says Francesco Lurati, Professor of Corporate Communication at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano (USI). "We hope that the results will promote active dialog in the industry and ultimately lead to the definition of new benchmarks."
In February 2010, over 15 percent of communication professionals in Switzerland took part in a survey, the majority of them in German-speaking Switzerland. More than half of them are communications managers in companies, CEOs of agencies or employees with budget responsibility. Approximately 60 percent of the participants have a university degree, and a good third have a federal certificate or diploma.
Well networked
PR professionals are exceptionally well connected. Almost 70 percent of Swiss public relations and communications professionals are members of a national or international professional association and almost all participants use online social networks both professionally and privately. The most popular professional platform for PR professionals is Xing, while Facebook was named as the favorite for private exchanges by almost all participants.
High proportion of women
Although women are in the majority in the industry, men are more influential. More than half of all PR professionals are female, but strategic positions and jobs with decision-making authority are still firmly in the hands of men. However, this ratio could change in the future, as the new generation of PR professionals under the age of 40 consists of 70 percent women.
Megatrend: Digital communication
Every second respondent cites the increasing influence of digital communication as the most important shaping factor for developments in the industry. This is also clearly reflected in the time that communication professionals invest in the management and production of digital communication. Already today, a quarter of working time is spent on this and this is expected to increase further. At the same time, usage behavior is changing from the current "try it all" approach to a bundled use of certain media such as social networks, online videos and special interest communities.
In day-to-day communication, professionals value the four main communication channels "corporate publications", "media", "interpersonal communication" and "advertising and promotion" equally. On the other hand, there is a greater difference in the communication disciplines: almost 80 percent name "topic-led communication" and "internal communication" as the most important disciplines. In the future, "community relations" and "internal communication" are expected to become increasingly important.
PR professionals see a growing need to measure the effectiveness of communication work. Despite this, measures are often limited to measuring clippings. However, the importance of internet usage measurement has increased significantly and has almost caught up with that of clippings. This shows the trend towards increasing differentiation of monitoring solutions, especially through the integration of social media.
Little influence on decisions regarding sponsoring and partnerships
The biggest surprise is the involvement of communications experts in activities such as "relationships, alliances and coalitions with relevant stakeholders", "sponsorship" and "philanthropy". Less than a quarter of respondents say that they are in charge of these activities. Only a third also feel significantly involved in strategic corporate decisions such as "changes in the corporate organization" or "mergers and acquisitions". The same applies to responsibility for the development of the corporate brand: only a quarter of respondents see themselves as responsible.
Different perceptions of the customer-advisor relationship
Companies show the greatest need for support from external consultants for editorial work. However, there is a divergent perception between companies and agencies regarding the main motives for cooperation between CCOs and agencies: agency managers rate their strategic involvement as high, while CCOs tend to value the support of agencies and consultants in implementation. The majority of clients are satisfied with the services provided by their agencies. Companies are less satisfied with the "international relationships" of agencies and consultancies.
When asked about personal professional development, communication experts articulate clear needs. More than half would like to gain more expertise in the "management of communication tools and channels", which also includes digital media. Specialist disciplines such as CSR and personal development are also expected to gain in importance in the future.
The Swiss Observatory
The Swiss Observatory was founded in 2009 by SPRI, pr suisse, BPRA, Harbourclub and the Università della Svizzera italiana. It is supported by YJOO Communications AG, Linkgroup, Adecco and Adwired. Regular surveys as well as ad hoc studies are conducted to provide the industry with the necessary data for continuous improvement of professional practice. The next study is already planned for February 2011. An electronic version of the study can be downloaded at www.spri.ch.
For further information:
Markus Berger, federally certified PR consultant BR/SPRV, Director SPRI Switzerland. Public Relations Institute, Zurich, [email protected],
Phone 044 299 40 41.

The Wall Street Journal Europe reaches top business target groups more effectively than any other pan-European brand, as the annual study conducted by Ipsos Media CT shows. Over 450000 managers in 17 countries across Europe are surveyed for this purpose. The study measures the media consumption habits of the European business elite and includes both print and online usage.
The results of the study show that the Wall Street Journal Europe has the strongest profile among its competitors in print and online among the so-called "C-suite" and top management, and can therefore offer advertisers a highly sought-after readership. In addition, the Journal Europe brand is most effective in reaching first and business class travelers and business readers in continental Europe, as the study shows. The brand reaches the financially strongest readers in print. In addition, the Wall Street Journal Europ is the most effective pan-European publication for reaching employees in banking and finance. The newspaper also outperformed the International Herald Tribune in terms of readership.
Over the past year, the Journal has invested in print online and mobile products, created new jobs, launched advertising and marketing campaigns and entered into new partnerships to strengthen its presence in Europe, said Andrew Langhoff, Publisher Wall Street Journal Europe and Managing Director , Dow Jones & Company EMEA. The Wall Street Journal Europe increased ad revenue by more than 40 percent in the first half of 2010, along with a nearly 20 percent increase in market share. Last month, the Wall Street Journal Europe expanded its lifestyle coverage, extending its Friday weekend supplement. New content and full-color print were added, along with new regular columns by Tina Gaudoin on style & fashion and Will Lyons on wine. In addition, the European Life & Style section online was given a new look, and new elements were added in the real estate and food sections.

"The level of participation was similar to last year," says a delighted Rita Kovacs, Managing Director of the Swissfilm Association. "The standard has even risen again," says President Peter Beck. It was therefore no easy task for the jury to eliminate from the abundance of entries the 80 percent that, according to the procedure, could no longer make the shortlist. 54 have made it. Which of them will win gold, silver, bronze or a special Edi will be revealed at a gala in the Schiffbau on November 4. A few creatives who are convinced of their work even without the blessing of this competition will certainly be missed. However, with a new jury, which has been expanded to ten to twelve experts per category, the Edi competition has been able to ensure even greater transparency and competence in the judging process in purely statistical terms. The names of these experts as "judges" of the Swiss Film Swing Festival are listed on Edinet.ch published. From October 25, all the films on this shortlist can be viewed there in high-resolution quality. A valuable archive and a treasure trove for creative comparison for filmmakers, clients and advertisers, as all the films on the Edi shortlists up to 2006 can be accessed in the collection. This overview is an exclusive service of the Swissfilm Association, especially in the corporate sector, as many of these image films are not shown on public television. In order to make the work of Swiss commissioned filmmakers known to as wide a public as possible via other channels, the shortlist will also be presented online next week on 20 Minuten as part of a competition for the public.
Andreas Panzeri
> To the shortlist part 1 (pdf)
> To the shortlist part 2 (pdf)

Freedom of the press is particularly respected in Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. In the six countries, the legal safeguards for the media and the high level of respect for the important work of journalists in democratic systems are exemplary, said the organization Reporters Without Borders ROG on Tuesday in New York at the presentation of its country ranking. These European countries set an example of respect for journalists and protection of the media. In addition, the six countries show consistency. Since the survey began in 2002, all of them have ranked first at least once. New Zealand is the only non-European country in the top ten. It ranks eighth, behind Austria and ahead of Estonia.
The EU states are in danger of losing their leading position in safeguarding press freedom. Although 13 of the 27 EU member states are represented in the top 20, the other 14 rank significantly lower, the report continues. France, for example, is only 44th and Italy 49th, with violations of source protection a fundamental problem in both countries, as well as the increasing concentration of media ownership and the subpoenaing of journalists.
However, the situation is even worse in Romania, which is ranked 52nd. Greece lost as many as 35 places and now ranks last among the EU countries, along with Bulgaria, and is in joint 70th place with Benin, Kenya and the Comoros. ROG attributes the sharp downward trend in Greece to threats against journalists and physical attacks on media people during demonstrations.
In the annual report, ROG's secretary general, Jean-François Julliard, says that European states urgently need to regain their role as role models. And he called on China to release the Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil rights activist Liu Xiaobao from prison. The fate of human rights activists, journalists and bloggers who courageously defended the right to freedom of expression was the organization's constant concern, Julliard said.
In addition to China, however, North Korea, Burma, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Turkmenistan and, for the fourth time in a row, Eritrea are among the bottom 178 countries. Syria and Rwanda are in the bottom ten for the first time. Where press freedom is worst is becoming increasingly difficult to say, the organization said. In all ten states, the media are persecuted and citizens are deprived of news and information.
That is why, according to Julliard, the defense of press freedom continues to be a struggle a struggle against oppression and injustice in totalitarian regimes worldwide and a struggle of vigilance in the democracies of old Europe.

A true paradise for tech freaks, one would think. Far from it, because the whole thing still doesn't go far enough for the effective Web 2.0 aficionados, as you can read in countless comments in various blogs. They actually want to have all the functions that they regularly use intensively on their PC or Mac: Linking articles, recommending them, uploading them to social web pages and making their countless followers happy via Twitter. And all of this is free of charge, of course. Unfortunately, that's what we're used to on the web. This is thanks to the initial mistake of the media companies, who in their Internet euphoria put the expensively produced content on the Internet free of charge and believed that the business model of primarily ad-financed content, which had been tried and tested for years, would also work on the Internet. Today, we all know that this is not the case.
But there are also classic apps like those from the NZZ or Die Zeit. The conventional newspaper layout is simply transformed onto the iPad. So to speak, the e-paper on the tablet. There is a table of contents. You can flip through the pages with a swipe of your finger, the font enlarges with a tap, or you switch to a text-only mode. There are no more pictures than in the original edition, nor are there videos or additional material. A solution that is outdated for many. Again, one only has to read certain biting comments in the industry blogs. But what these commentators ignore is the fact that many users appreciate precisely this simplicity of appearance and no longer want it.
Then there are hybrid forms. Spiegel's iPad app is one of these. It is based on the classic layout, but offers additional images and longer or shorter videos. Some of these are taken from Spiegel TV, while others are produced especially for the app. But everything is without frills and frippery. As a long-time Spiegel reader, I'm thrilled. I don't need more. But also not less.
Another aspect is interesting for me. Since I've been consuming Der Spiegel and Die Zeit on the iPad, I've been reading more articles than in the print edition. I also tend to read more articles in the NZZ. From time to time, however, I allow myself the luxury of reading the paper edition. Just because.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]

François Schmid-Bechtel has been working for AZ Medien for three years. He was previously head of football at "Blick" and worked for "Facts", the sports information magazine "Si" and the football newspaper "MatchMag".

Copyright affects all stages of the creation-agency-client value chain. On the one hand there is the protection of ideas, on the other the right of the buyer of a creation. The speakers Marc Schwenninger, Tamàs Kiss, Emanuel Meyer and Poto Wegener will dispel any ignorance of copyright law. Examples and experiences can be shared in the subsequent discussion.
The workshop will take place on Thursday, October 28 from 10.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Wirtschaft Neumarkt in Zurich.

Halloween will soon be upon us again and scares will become socially acceptable. However, there are scary moments in everyone's life that are not tied to this date. Anyone who has ever been involved in an insurance claim can tell you a thing or two about it. Or, if you're lucky, draw a sketch of the damage, as the popular campaign from Wirz has been showing for years. Because even a small claim can be a big shock, especially for young people, and above all a big hole in the modest household budget, Wirz has now created a spooky new look for Mobijeunes, Mobiliar's insurance for young people: black sketches and neon yellow lettering. The focus of the autumn campaign is on spiders. Ads, banners and a social game on Facebook will be used. There are also plans for a special Halloween theme and another spooky wave in autumn 2011. Mobijeunes is a special Mobiliar offer for young customers between the ages of 16 and 25. The target audience is also regularly addressed with events and competitions as well as via the Euro26 youth card, which is co-sponsored by Mobiliar. Pan

If you look at how many conferences are held on the subject of the Internet (or, as it is sometimes called recently, social media) and hear how confidently they talk, then you have to assume that there are at least a hundred thousand experts who have the Internet fully under control. The truth is that you can't have the web under control. If Heidegger were still alive, he would have to call the web the information stuff that can't be controlled. Fortunately, Heidegger is no longer alive, because there is already enough poking and prodding at congresses by people who do nothing but talk. Because I am now invited to these congresses myself (and the longer I go on, the more I talk a lot of garbage myself), I am in a position to give a few tips on how to avoid empty lectures:
Before you go, see what the speakers have achieved so far. I don't even listen to people who talk about web design but haven't done anything convincing themselves. Nothing achieved nothing to say. There is no theory without practice. And there are certainly no theoretical experts in the practical discipline of user experience design.
Here is my telegram to those who are now shaking their heads: Not everyone who drives a car is an engineer. Stop. If you don't make Internet, you don't know how to make Internet. Stop. If you only know your own opinion, you're a user. Stop. Theory without practice is speculation. Stop.
The key is not to be blinded by names, age or any design medals when assessing speakers. It doesn't matter how many great books the professor has written, how many articles the social media uncle has been quoted in or how many Twitter followers the new media rock star has amassed. (And just to be clear: there are no medals in web design.) The only Internet expert relevance factor that is immune to all bragging is Google Analytics. The statistics show what someone has really achieved and how their work has been received. Any ADC, Webby or Cannes Lions awards are even more complete humbug on the Internet than usual. (Anyone who believes ADC awards still have any relevance: Hands up, and don't move!) Even from the lectern, conventions would be more interesting if fewer people went. Nothing is more depressing than speaking into a yawning audience. In other words: use the Internet before you go to conferences.