Matthias Hagemann, Chairman of the Board of Directors and majority shareholder of Basler Zeitung Medien AG with his family, justifies the cutbacks at the Baz editorial office with the impending economic crisis. Despite the reduction in staff by a fifth, little is to change at the paper.
In contrast to the last major round of savings, he is now actually "very satisfied with the newspaper", Hagemann told SDA on Thursday. He would prefer not to change anything about the paper if it weren't for the "economic pressure". Job advertisements had already halved within a few months. Commercial advertising, on the other hand, still looks quite good at the moment. But it is hard to know how the crisis will continue to affect it. All we know is that the media are facing a serious crisis.
The reduction is not a direct reaction to current figures, but a preparation for what is to be feared. If action were only taken after a slump in advertising, this would be too late due to the notice periods.
Hagemann takes note of the fact that the editorial team rejects the proposed social plan; this will still be negotiated. He wants a social plan that is as generous as possible. Funds for this should also come from his own pocket.
For the readership, BaZ should offer "as much as possible the same offer as before", albeit with fewer pages. Such an increase in productivity - which is common in the economy - does not simply mean more stress, because processes can also be simplified and capacity gained. Hagemann also refers to the budget for the newspaper's freelance staff, which amounts to several million francs. This fact puts the circumstances into perspective.

The Basler Zeitung is cutting 22 full-time jobs. Eight employees will be made redundant, as the company announced on Thursday. In all other cases, the reduction will be achieved through natural departures and early retirement. A social plan has been drawn up.
Just under three months ago, the Group reported a 13.6% drop in profits to CHF 7 million, with slightly higher sales. The reasons for the job cuts are now cited as the economic crisis and falling earnings with rising production costs. The Board of Directors has decided on a "comprehensive package of measures" to reduce costs, according to the press release. However, quality is to be maintained.
The newspaper will continue to be published in its current format with four volumes in standard format plus a tabloid culture magazine. The Saturday weekend bundle introduced in mid-2007 will no longer be published from the end of February. However, individual sections will be moved to other frets. TA Media's magazine will continue to be included with the Baz am Wochenende.

Swiss owners of a Gmx mailbox used to get news from Germany and colorful stories from all over the world around the log-in and log-out pages. As of today, they can read German-language information about Basel and Blocher, Bligg and Beromünster on their way to and from the electronic mailbox. They can also access services specific to Switzerland, such as the weather forecast for all Swiss cantons and the TV program.
The Swiss news will be supplied by the Swiss news agency sda. "We are not setting up our own editorial team for the Switzerland portal," says Matthias Ehrlich (53), CEO of United Internet Media AG, Gmx's media marketer, "because we think it makes more sense for the news for Switzerland to also come from Switzerland." United Internet Media still has editorial sovereignty in releasing the reports, which sda supplies. "In the long run, however, there will be a click democracy on Gmx Switzerland," says Ehrlich. "Our users choose with their clicks what they want to read and what they don't."
High quality
Ehrlich does not see gmx.ch as a competitor to established Swiss news portals. "Those who are looking for specific information tend to go to the websites of Swiss newspapers," he says. "We serve a different clientele, namely users who quickly check their e-mails during their lunch break, for example, and pick up a news item or two from the day that way." Nevertheless, the Gmx reports are not fast food. "We don't want to compete with daily journalism, but quality is still very important to us," Ehrlich emphasizes. "The news is intended as a supplement to our e-mail offering, an additional service for our users. And we want them to like our service. We can only achieve that - apart from the reliably functioning e-mail account - with a well-researched and well-written news mix."
Ehrlich also wants to live up to this standard with advertising on Gmx Switzerland. Pop-up windows that disturb Gmx users while writing e-mails are taboo for him. Account holders also receive newsletters no more than twice a week. Instead of using guerrilla advertising methods, United Internet Media is trying to elicit the secret of its penetrating power from classic print and TV advertising, and transpose these modes of action to the Internet. "For example, we offer the largest possible advertising spaces," says Ehrlich. "Our log-out page, with the option to run an ad in maxi-AD+ format, is very popular with companies. We also work with TV-quality spots, votings as well as banners on fixed placements, and we use targeting." Targeting enables the anonymous and direct delivery of advertising to defined target groups. And it does so fully automatically and with low wastage. United Internet Media has developed several targeting products itself. The so-called target group planning technology links anonymous, statistically extrapolated usage information from users with offline data, such as their purchasing behavior. "This enables us to guarantee our advertising partners sufficiently accurate delivery of their advertising," explains Ehrlich. "However, we don't evaluate any data from private communications, because we consider that to be questionable in terms of data protection."
High time
Ehrlich cannot confirm that no company wants to spend more money on advertising in times of the much-vaunted economic crisis. On the contrary, print is suffering badly from the advertising slump, but online is catching up. "When money is tight, advertising has to become more efficient and effective and have a high reach," says the advertising professional. "That's why more and more companies are discovering online as a good alternative to print and TV and are now taking their first steps in online advertising." So the dip in economic growth is a huge opportunity for advertising on the Internet: "World Wide Advertising" is the order of the day. "In Switzerland, the online advertising market is currently still underdeveloped," says Ehrlich. "But the market is picking up now. The crisis is building up a lot of pressure to follow suit. That is, of course, an optimal starting condition for our new Switzerland portal."
In the run-up to the live launch of Gmx Switzerland, United Internet Media has already been able to sign up several major Swiss companies as advertising partners: Swiss, Swisscom, Ricardo, Coca Cola Switzerland and Feldschlösschen are advertising on the new portal. United Internet Media has entrusted the local marketing of advertising space to AdLink Internet Media AG Switzerland.
High range
Gmx Switzerland is a German language offering. A French and an Italian version for the other language parts of Switzerland are not planned. According to Ehrlich, it would be problematic to set up a service of this quality and with this reach in several languages as well. The restriction to the German language also offers advantages: The advertising reach of gmx.ch is particularly high due to the link with the German and Austrian Gmx portals. "This allows us to address the entire German-speaking region with the e-mail service and the respective country-specific messages and services," says Ehrlich. "As an advertising platform, the Swiss portal is thus exciting for all Swiss-based, advertising companies with target groups in German-speaking Switzerland and abroad, as well as for international groups with Swiss target groups."
Without the coupling with the German and Austrian Gmx portals, gmx.ch would probably not exist. "Offering a complex advertising tool like targeting only for a small economic area like German-speaking Switzerland would not be profitable," Ehrlich emphasizes. "In conjunction with gmx.de and gmx.at, however, synergies are created and the targeting offer on the Swiss portal pays off. So we can offer Switzerland an advertising platform with completely new opportunities and reach."
The precursor to gmx.ch is Gmx's Austria portal, which has been online since March 2008. The reactions of users and advertising partners to the launch of Gmx Austria have been very positive, reports Ehrlich: "The frequency of use and the length of time users spend on the site have increased significantly - and with it advertising revenues. And that by about 300 percent at once." Today, gmx.at is the largest Austrian service portal and the second-largest online offering on the Austrian internet. United Internet Media expects a similarly positive development for Switzerland.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm

Gmx - Fact & Figures
Freemail pioneer Gmx (Global Message Exchange) went online as a mail service in Germany eleven years ago. One year later, 250,000 people already had a Gmx account, and in April 1999, gmx.de had more than one million members. At the end of 2008, Gmx reaches 8.7 million unique users per month in Germany and is the number five most visited online service (AGOF internet facts 2008-III).
March 2008 sees the launch of Gmx's Austrian portal, with country-specific content and services added to the e-mail offering. Gmx.at quickly becomes the largest Austrian online service portal and the second-largest online offering on the Austrian Internet.
In Switzerland, Gmx is currently the third-largest mail service behind Hotmail and Bluewin, with around 750,000 mailboxes. The company expects the launch of the Swiss portal to bring rapid growth in Gmx users and rising advertising revenues. The company is also aiming for a place among the top 5 Swiss Internet portals. (afw)

The Gmx.ch log-out page offers ad space in Maxi-AD+ format. This advertising space has currently been secured by the online auction house Ricardo.ch.

Swiss news on the Gmx home page is supported with banner advertising from Feldschlösschen.

A worthy setting: At a gala dinner attended by around 250 people at Zurich's Kaufleuten, the award ceremony for the title "Advertiser of the Year 2009" was held on Wednesday evening. In attendance were the most important representatives of the Swiss advertising and communications scene. Here are some pictures, as well as the link to a Reportage from Action TV. A detailed report will follow in the next Advertising Week, which will be published on January 22.

(Award winner Frank Bodin with his partner, pop singer Emel)

(Pius Walker (Walker Advertising) and Alexander Jaggy (Jung von Matt/Limmat))

(Markus Gut (Advico Young & Rubicam) and Andreas Widmer (Y&R Group))

(Christoph Bürge, Daniel Krieg, Uwe Schlupp (all KSB/S&J))

(Markus Ruf, Michèle Leibacher (both Ruf Lanz) and Urs Schaad (Head of Sponsoring, Suva))

(Martin Spillmann (SFLB) and Thomas Winkler (Switzerland Tourism))

The Swiss film industry is in turmoil: after Swiss film associations accused the top film boss Nicolas Bideau of high-handedness, among other things, he dismissed them as "sick" in an interview. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Thursday, the head of the film section at the Federal Office of Culture (Bak) explained that the associations were at odds and that their members no longer felt adequately represented by them.
This assessment is based on an "incomprehensible, purely personal perception of Mr. Bideau", countered the associations ARF/FDS, Garp and the studio film association SSV in a joint communiqué on Thursday evening. "Since Bideau, according to his own statements, does not value associations and demonstrably strives to shape film policy by bypassing these professional associations, his perception could indeed be clouded," it continued. The denigration of the associations makes it easier for the Bak film boss to "pursue film policy ad personam". Bideau's statement that many members had left out of dissatisfaction with the associations was contradicted by Stefan Haupt, President of the Swiss Association of Film Directors and Screenwriters (ARF/FDS), when asked by the SDA news agency. The opposite is the case, he explained. His association is even experiencing an increased influx. Ruth Waldburger, a board member of the Group of Authors, Directors and Producers (GARP), added that there was no question of dissension among the associations. Although the associations pursue different goals, they work closely together.
According to the Tages-Anzeiger and Basler Zeitung, several associations have accused Bideau of acting on his own authority: Among other things, he had made a change to the ordinance on the Film Act without prior consultation. Haupt confirmed that his association, together with the Studio Film Association, had expressed its concerns in a letter to the Federal Film Commission. Bideau admitted in the interview that he had made "a communication error".
Different approaches
The dispute is also about money, as film funding concepts are currently being revised. In this context, there are efforts by producers to receive a higher share of performance-based film funding - at the expense of authors and directors, as Haupt explains in Ciné-Bulletin.
Bideau has repeatedly stated that he would like to support fewer producers with higher contributions in future. He is not a supporter of the watering can principle, he reiterated. Haupt sets a different tone: a healthy film landscape requires a broad humus, he said. You can't tell at first glance whether the seedlings will grow into strong trees: "No gardener would water in three places with a high-pressure sprayer to grow three trees".

The Indianapolis-based drug company Eli Lilly wants to settle years of legal disputes over controversial advertising practices for its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa with a billion-euro payment.
As the company announced on Thursday, Eli Lilly agreed to pay a total of around 1.4 billion dollars. The drug manufacturer admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay 615 million dollars to settle a criminal case and around 800 million dollars to settle a civil case.
The company pleaded guilty to advertising the use of Zyprexa between 1999 and 2001 for indications for which the drug had not been approved. This included, in particular, advertising Zyprexa for the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. In 2007, the company generated sales of 4.76 billion dollars from Zyprexa alone. That is around a quarter of the Group's annual turnover. It has around 40,000 employees worldwide.

Südostschweiz Partner AG is laying off 12 employees at its printing center in Haag SG. The reduction from 60 to 48 employees will take place in the spring, the company announced on Thursday, according to SDA.
The company, which has been printing newspapers for the Südostschweiz Media Group since spring 2006, is renewing its dispatch system at a cost of CHF 4.8 million. In future, the newspapers will no longer be sent in postal sacks but in containers. One consequence of this changeover is a reduction in staff, according to the press release.
The Board of Directors regrets that the irreparable decision taken in the fall of 2007 is now being accompanied by economically unfavorable circumstances. However, it is convinced that those affected can be placed in other companies. According to the company, a generous social plan will be provided. All those made redundant would be entitled to consult an HR consultancy.

The Bernese agency Visu'l has repositioned the Gstaad Mountain Ride cable cars in the Bernese Oberland. On the ski resort's posters, the ski slopes are described as highways - albeit free of traffic jams.
The agency is advertising the ski resort until March 2009 with posters, railboards, advertisements, trade fair appearances, promotions and other measures. The subjects show various mountain railroad offers in a new light. The gondolas are described as a space shuttle, ski slopes are compared to the A1 highway. The subjects are accompanied by the slogan "Gstaad works".
Responsible for associations of mountain railroads in Gstaad and the surrounding area: Roger Seifritz (Director Gstaad Saanenland Tourism), Denise Gysi (Marketing Manager Gstaad Mountain Rides). Responsible at Visu'l: Till Könneker, Barbara Lüthi (graphics), Rolf Loepfe, Till Könneker, Karin Künzle (text, concept and consulting), Christian Perret (photo), Karin Künzle (media).

«Sun, fun, and nothing to do»—it’s not just Swiss comedian Peach Weber who dreams of this. The prospect of «the best job in the world» has sparked the interest of hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. In Australia, they’re looking for someone who’d like to be paid a fortune just to relax on the beach.
Due to the huge response, the website on which the Australian state of Queensland is seeking an «Island Caretaker» crashed on its very first day online, the state government announced this week. A spokeswoman said that around 300,000 people had visited the site. ’We even had visitors from Mongolia and the Vatican City on the website.« A total of 350 people were able to submit their applications before the website crashed. From a Swiss horse breeder to a British teenager—the pool of applicants vying for this coveted spot in the sun includes people from all walks of life. The job description for this six-month position includes such enticing activities as swimming, snorkeling, and sunbathing. The only real work requirement is maintaining a blog about the island’s attractions.
The winner of the selection process will receive the equivalent of 120,000 Swiss francs for the six months of «work,» as well as travel expenses. On Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef, the ’Island Caretaker« will then be able to live rent-free in a multimillion-franc villa on the coast. Applications will be accepted until February 22.

Action Innocence is committed to protecting the dignity and integrity of children on the Internet. In January 2009, the organization launched a new awareness-raising campaign, which was implemented by the agency Euro RSCG Genève. The two subjects, a toy car and a doll's house, are intended to show how dangerous it can be to allow children to surf the Internet without supervision and information, according to the press release.
The subjects were adapted for various advertising media such as TV commercials, posters, advertisements and Internet banners. The campaign has been on display throughout Switzerland since January 12, 2009 and will also be shown in France from spring 2009.
Responsible at Action Innocence: Tiziana Bellucci. Responsible at Euro RSCG Genève: Delphine Saulnier (consultant), Pierre-Alain Brandt (CD), Yoann Cosson (AD), Thibault Michal (copywriter). Producer: Le Studio, Geneva (Nicolas Zen-Ruffinen, Julien Bourdeille). Photographer: Pascal Habousha, Brussels. Media: Mediatonic, Geneva.

22-year-old Nathalie Dylan has chosen an unusual way to finance her studies. In order to be able to afford a master's degree in family and marriage therapy, the young American is offering her virginity in an auction. The campaign is a huge success: over 10,000 men have already made Dylan an immoral offer. The total sum of the bids amounts to the equivalent of more than 4,353,000 francs. The highest bid currently comes from a 39-year-old businessman from Australia. The auction is being held via the website of the Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada. Nathalie's sister worked there as a prostitute for three weeks to finance her studies. Now she is supporting her sister in an even more daring project. However, as she explained to supermodel Tyra Banks on her show, she is not obliged to take the highest bidder. She takes her time to get to know the men. She wants someone with whom the chemistry is right. If this is the case, she can certainly imagine sexual practices that go beyond the ordinary. "I'm very open minded in what they wanna do," she told Tyra Banks calmly. She doesn't seem to have considered the mark of Cain that will be emblazoned on her forehead from now on.

The Cologne-based publishing house Dumont Schauberg buys the Berliner Zeitung and a number of other titles. The British media holding company Mecom sells all its German newspapers to the newspaper publisher. Mecom owns the Berliner Verlag with Berliner Zeitung and Berliner Kurier as well as the Hamburger Morgenpost. The group also owns ten websites, including Netzeitung.de.
Dumont is paying 152 million euros to the British company, as Mecom announced Tuesday in London. The sale is expected to be finalized in the first quarter, though it is still subject to approval by antitrust authorities. According to an SDA report, Mecom is heavily indebted and therefore has a strong financial interest in the sale going through.
The Cologne-based publishing house has also taken over the struggling *Frankfurter Rundschau*. According to a report by the industry news service Kress, Dumont Schauberg is seeking a far-reaching merger between the *Frankfurter Rundschau* and the *Berliner Zeitung*.