When Net-Metrix AG and Nielsen Online announced on December 4 that they would be merging their Internet panels in 2009, hardly anyone took any notice. However, with the panel merger, the two companies set the second milestone in the history of Swiss Internet research - for one measurement and one currency.
The first milestone was dug four years ago by the then Wemf director René Schmutz and Manuel Dähler, then head of the SRG research service: After years of competition, they managed to agree on joint Internet research. This led to the founding of the company Net-Metrix AG in 2007, in which the industry association Simsa also has a stake alongside Wemf and SRG. However, parallel to the first peace agreement, a new dispute broke out, this time with Nielsen Netratings, as Nielsen Online was known at the time. Nielsen was already involved in the so-called MMXI online panel (2001 to 2005), together with SRG, Goldbach Media and some publishers. However, when the cooperation came to an end, Nielsen dropped out as a panel operator during the evaluation for the new Internet research. Nielsen then simply continued to operate the panel on its own from 2006, taking advantage of the fact that the Net-Metrix panel was repeatedly announced but never delivered any data.
Nielsen Online then upgraded a year ago. The company announced that it would increase its NetView panel from 3,000 to 15,000 panelists by the end of 2008. The aim was to provide a more representative picture of the use of small websites, to record streaming, i.e. the use of downloads and thus also radio and TV consumption via the Internet, and to measure Internet use outside the home and at work. However, Nielsen pursued this strategy internationally, so the expansion was not primarily directed against Net-Metrix. Nevertheless, the main advantage of the Swiss panel project Net-Metrix Tracking was called into question, as it should also have recorded usage at home and at work as well as streaming. However, only with 3,000 panelists and therefore with less depth of focus.
However, instead of engaging in a competition that would have resulted in two different measurement types and currencies on the Swiss market, Nielsen Online and Net-Metrix approached each other (see interview). The result of the cooperation negotiations is impressive. For the new panel, "we took the best from both sides and brought it together", says Manuel Dähler, Co-CEO of Net-Metrix. Jörg Dietz, Director Sales & Marketing at Nielsen Online, explains: "We are taking over the basic research from Net-Metrix, the measurement software from Nielsen, and we are combining the participants recruited from the two panels in order to start 2009 with a base of over 4,000 panelists."
A whole range of benefits
The panel will then be increased to 10,000 @Home panelists and 1,500 @Work panelists by the middle of the year. This is a quarter less than Nielsen originally envisaged and four times more than was planned for the Net-Metrix project. The fact that the new panel is based on the Net Base basic research makes sense because it is more comprehensive than that of Nielsen, but above all because Net-Metrix Tracking is based on the same basic data as Net-Metrix Audit and Net-Metrix Profile, the other two modules of Swiss Internet research. Incidentally, the Mach Basic print and cinema research also draws on the same data.
The decision to use Nielsen's concept and software for future measurements is also undoubtedly the right one. Firstly, because the same software will be used for @Home and @Work measurement, and secondly, because Nielsen's measurement software allows much more to be researched: it shows every program that the user has currently activated - and how they switch from one to the other. This also makes it possible to track what the user does with downloads - be it an MP3 or a PDF file. Net-Metrix, on the other hand, would only have measured the use of browsers and Internet applications. And the @Work measurement would only have measured the use of those websites that also participate in Net-Audit, i.e. websites that are tagged with an SZM tag. However, it would not have been possible to determine whether and how untagged portals such as Google were used from the workplace.
Markus Knöpfli

Table: Structure and methodology of the previous panels - and how the new one works

A hole is where something is not," wrote the writer Kurt Tucholsky in his essay "On the Sociological Psychology of Holes." Somewhat more profanely, he later also wrote a skit around the question: Where do the holes in cheese come from? The poet does not give a clear answer. It may be rumored that the holes in hard cheese occur when the cheese contracts during fermentation.
Either way. For Publicis, the nothingness in the hole is a grateful subject for advertising Emmentaler. The motto: Switzerland is not only famous for its holes, but above all for the Emmentaler around them. Publicis translated this insight into the TV concept "Swiss Holes". As a continuation of the previously award-winning campaign, the spots now feature new pack shots that refer to the new AOC seal of quality of Switzerland's most popular cheese.
To spread the message of the TV campaign even more widely, Martin Denecke and Peter Rettingshausen's team implemented additional communication measures. For example, when turning the pages of a newspaper, the reader encounters a street of advertisements featuring everyday objects that are missing their holes. A birdhouse without a hole, a flute without holes, a railroad tunnel without a hole ... Then comes the resolution in an ad with the headline: "What would the world be without holes?", accompanied, of course, by the pack shot of an Emmentaler.
A video banner was also realized. Here you can see a titmouse approaching its bird house. But, alas, the birdhouse has no hole. Here, too, is Emmentaler's solution: "What if ...".
And finally, the campaign idea is also played out on the golf course: Lettering with the claim and the Emmentaler logo was placed in the holes of the green. (pan)

The advertising campaign for Coop Naturaplan with the organic molecules ("For nature instead of chemicals") was a first milestone in the communication of Krieg Schlupp Bürge / Springer & Jacoby for their client Coop. The second is now to be Verde. The first issue of the "green" magazine was published back in September. Number 2 of the organic magazine has now been produced and will have a circulation of several million copies throughout Switzerland and will be enclosed with various titles such as SI Style, Bilanz, NZZ Folio and L'Hebbdo. In future, Verde will be published four times a year. The magazine is dedicated to the organic lifestyle and picks up on the trend towards healthy, fair and enjoyable consumption. Over the last 15 years, organic products have developed from a niche product to a social trend. At the same time as the demand for organic products is increasing, consumer expectations in terms of enjoyment and aesthetics are also rising. Coop has now anticipated this development with the relaunch of Naturaplan. (pan)

Guiseppe Scaglione's Music First Network AG can now definitely go on air. No objections have been received against the licenses of Radio Monte Carlo & Radio 105. The licenses are therefore now legally binding.
"While the future of the other private radio stations in Zurich is still uncertain due to the upcoming court proceedings, we are now the only ones who have their licenses for sure and can plan accordingly. After eleven years of perseverance, this is a very special situation", the dedicated radio producer quotes himself in a press release on Wednesday.
Music First Network AG will go on air this spring with Radio 105, Zurich's new youth radio station. RMC Züri is scheduled to go on air at the end of the year. Music First Network AG will soon provide information on the detailed broadcasting concepts of the two stations, as Scaglione continues.

The Association of Swiss Advertising Agencies BSW comments on the decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of States (APK) regarding the lifting of the ban on advertising for wine and beer, which was announced on Tuesday. Although it applies to foreign advertising windows, it does not apply to the SRG.
This "relaxation of the RTVA" creates a completely unacceptable situation, writes the BSW in a statement on Wednesday. It is unacceptable that different standards are applied to one and the same medium. It is incomprehensible why alcohol advertising should remain prohibited on SRG channels and be permitted in foreign advertising windows. Both serve the same market and in some cases also appeal to the same people.
This decision by the APK therefore lacks any logic. The Association of Leading Advertising and Communication Agencies in Switzerland is calling for equal treatment of all providers. If the provisions of the RTVA for foreign advertising windows are relaxed, this should also be the case for SRG channels and private television, the BSW writes further.

Frustrating: you jump out of bed at the weekend to be one of the first on the slopes. And then you're not only stuck in a traffic jam, you're also queuing for your ski pass at the ticket office. But waiting before you hit the slopes is a thing of the past, because Ticketcorner has now rolled out the red carpet on the slopes: with the new online ski ticketing system, ski passes for 50 Swiss and 12 Austrian winter sports resorts can be booked directly online.
On the Ticketcorner.com website, the ski pass can be loaded onto a whole range of cards: the Ticketcorner VIP Membercard, the Ticketcorner Entry Card, the Coop Supercard Ticket and the Postfinance Card Ticket. The Swatch Snowpass and many keycards can also be loaded with the desired number of ski passes in this way. Ticketcorner transmits the ticket information entered to the selected ski resort - and the turnstiles on site then open the way to the slopes. Ski tickets can also be purchased via the Ticketcorner Call Center or at Ticketcorner advance booking offices.
Icy promo
The Zug-based agency Adcom Communication is promoting this clever idea. Its campaign aims to convey how easy the new ski ticketing system is. Adcom developed the slogan "The hottest winter season starts now" and works with typography and three subjects: a wagging computer mouse, an ice cream on a stick and a red carpet that leads directly into pristine white. Adcom limited itself to the colors red, black and white, the colors of the Ticketcorner logo. Simple - and very simple.
The motifs appear in print and online advertisements, on posters and postcards. In addition, promotional teams in ski suits swarmed out to various Swiss railroad stations at the beginning of December. They distributed around 20,000 ice creams and postcards with information about the new online service. According to Eric Hasler, Chief Communication Officer at Adcom, the reactions of passers-by to the distribution campaigns were extremely positive: "There was nothing left of the ice cream."

Anne-Friederike Wilhelm

Rolf Cavalli will become editor-in-chief of Blick.ch on April 1. The news portal, which is affiliated with the tabloid Blick, will thus have its own editorial team and gain more autonomy.
Marcel Zulauf, who previously led the website's editorial team, will become Cavalli's deputy, Ringier announced on Wednesday. The appointment of an editor-in-chief shows the value the publisher attaches to online and mobile. Cavalli, who has held various positions at Ringier since 1997, will also ensure the continued close cooperation between Blick-Online and the print editorial team.
According to Ringier, Blick.ch is the leading Swiss news website with 12.6 million visitors per year.

The two Baden-based companies Koller Direct and Mach recently signed a cooperation agreement. They are now working together in the areas of direct marketing and communication. Through the cooperation, the two agencies plan to achieve synergies for customers in direct marketing and communication measures.
Founded in 1985 by Jürg Koller, Koller Direct became an independent agency at the end of last year following the withdrawal of Grey Direct from French-speaking Switzerland. Under the management of Louis Dreyer, Mach has been offering communication consulting and services ranging from information and public relations to classic advertising since 1988.

(Image: Jürg Koller (left) from Koller Direct and Louis Dreyer from Mach)

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 in London on Tuesday. The sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter, although the antitrust authorities still have to give their approval. According to a report by SDA, Mecom is heavily indebted and therefore has a strong economic interest in the sale succeeding.
The Cologne-based publishing house has also taken over the ailing Frankfurter Rundschau. According to a report by the industry service Kress, Dumont Schauberg is aiming for a far-reaching merger of the Frankfurter Rundschau with the Berliner Zeitung.

In a current promotion, the portal for freelancers in the communications industry Freelancerportal.ch is offering two months' free presence for freelancers who register for a year before the end of January. The website now also offers a marketplace. In particular, office space, furniture, computers and other industry offers are advertised there.
More than 40 freelancers from the communications industry are now represented on the site with their work. According to Managing Director Monica Miraldi, 80 percent of these people have received specific job inquiries.

The Zurich agency Advico Young&Rubicam used masks that look like jet pilots' oxygen masks to advertise for Head in winter. The reason for the eye-catching masks was that Head snowboards take you to heights where the air can get thin. The masks, printed with a balaclava motif, were distributed to potential customers during Head's snowboard tests in the 08/09 pre-season.
Responsible at Head: Yves Isler (Category Manager Snowboard, overall responsibility). Responsible at AY&R: Caspar Copetti (overall responsibility), Philipp Skrabal (CD), Martin Stulz (text), Isabelle Hauser, Marietta Albinus (AD), Annik Weber (graphics), Sandro Breu, Daniela Britt (consulting).