The promotion and small poster company Passive Attack, together with the nightlife magazine Bewegungsmelder, has presented the Best on Wall Award, a prize for small cultural posters. The winner in the individual poster category was the Reithalle Bern with a poster for a performance by the Russian DJ Vadim on February 6, 2000, designed by Philip Thöni from Bern. In the poster series category, the Stadttheater Bern was honored for its posters for the performances of the 2006/2007 season. The six-part series was designed by the graphic and design studio Flag from Zurich. The prize will be awarded on December 12, 2008 at the Dampfzentrale Bern.
The prize was awarded on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Passive Attack and the motion detector. Around 150 small posters were selected from around 1,000 posters and submitted to a jury. The jury consisted of: Roland Fischbacher, Head of Visual Communication at Bern University of the Arts, Christoph Reichenau, former Cultural Secretary of the City of Bern, Gonca Kuleli, Communication Center Paul Klee Bern, Karin Minger, Kunsthalle Bern, Urs Heer, Achtung! Werbeagentur Bern, Michael Röhrenbach, Reithalle Bern, Heimito Reinhardt, Art Director Bewegungsmelder, Silvio Brügger, freelance graphic designer Bern.

DJ Vadim

Bern City Theater

Ruf Lanz has made a model work up quite a sweat for the Sport Factory outlet in the Bally area in Schönenwerd: to dramatize the message that anyone can buy professional ski equipment thanks to the outlet's low prices, the Zurich agency has put a not-so-slim winter sportsman in the skin-tight suit of the Swiss skiati. The claim "Everyone feels like a pro there" is intended to draw attention to the outlet's cutting-edge winter equipment, according to a press release.
Ruf Lanz has been advertising for the outlet since 2002 and has been awarded a Cannes Lion for her campaigns this year, among others. The three subjects can be seen on occasional ads, posters and POS rotairs.
Responsible at Sport Factory Outlet: Peter Wider (overall responsibility). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf and Danielle Lanz (CD), Grit Wolany (AD), Torsten Maas (text), Michèle Leibacher (consulting). Photography: Oliver Nanzig. Image editing: Patrik Rohner.

Who hasn't seen them, the furniture testing machines from the Ikea furniture store? The same armchair is pressed, pressed and pressed 3.4 million times by a machine, and if it hasn't broken down, it's still being pressed.
However, such a test is even more emotionally convincing if it can demonstrate how good Ikea's beds are with real test sleepers. In spring 2008, the Swedish furniture store and Unikat therefore launched what is probably the largest live test of mattresses and pillows in Switzerland. Together with the Link market research institute, 350 test subjects were filtered out of over 13,000 applicants to put Ikea's new range of pillows and mattresses through their paces. These applicants were recruited using animated banners and a comprehensive test sleeper microsite. On the microsite www.ikea.com/ch/de not only contained the test sleeper form, but also a detailed mattress guide, the entire range of mattresses and pillows, tips on sleeping, bedtime stories and a test sleeper gallery. Participants were able to upload their own pictures on the subject of sleep.
The big mattress and pillow test was then carried out between summer and fall. The 350 test subjects were given individual advice in the Ikea furniture stores before lying down on the new mattresses and pillows at home. The results of the tough and unadorned live test had to be sent to Link on an ongoing basis.
The test results have now been incorporated into a campaign for the launch of the new Ikea mattresses. Daily newspaper advertisements not only communicate the new pillow and mattress range, but also put the good quality of the Ikea products directly in relation to the large mattress and pillow test. This brought "sensational" results to light during the day and night.
"8 out of 10 test persons sleep better on an Ikea mattress", Unikat can report. The well-rested campaign by CD Daniel Meier and his bright team is of course also present on the web with special promotions. Animated banners invite you to visit the microsite, which in turn covers all topics relating to the bed and the mattress test in detail. The campaign is rounded off with special POS activities such as an information flyer that communicates the dream results of the sleep test. In the Ikea furniture store, visitors will ultimately find "not just mattress salespeople, but specially trained sleep experts who will give them expert advice according to their sleep type", as Manuela Raue from Ikea promises.
Andreas Panzeri

> To campaigns 1 to 6
> To campaigns 7 to 12

At the Institute of Communication and Marketing IKM at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, seven more communication specialists have obtained the Master of Advanced Studies MAS in Communication Management.
One graduate was honored in the newly created Brand and Marketing Management degree program. One graduate was awarded this title.
The MAS Communication Management and the MAS Brand and Marketing Management are awarded 60 European Credit Transfer System credits. According to a press release issued by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts on Wednesday, this corresponds to around 1,800 working hours, including 600 lessons, self-study, examinations and the Master's thesis.
As part of the MAS Communication Management and MAS Brand and Marketing Management courses, students have the opportunity to tailor the course content to their individual needs. The subjects currently on offer are Strategic Communication, Corporate Communication, Marketing Communication, Internal Communication, Online Communication and Marketing, Brand Management, Sales and Distribution Management and Marketing Intelligence.

(Picture from left to right: Degiacomi Romeo, Bürge Patric, Aebi Doris, D'Arcy Susanne, Migliorati Marco, Müller Werner. Missing: Hilzinger Karin, Cavin Caroline)

At the end of May, Swiss Television (SF) and the publisher's television station PresseTV (PTV) put their cooperation on a new footing as of 2009. This not only means that the PTV formats "Konsum-TV", "100 Minuten" and "Fussball-Talk" will disappear from next year, but that there will also be changes for other programs. The most important change is that most PTV formats will be moved to SF1 and some of them will be moved from the weekend to other days of the week. Only "Motorshow TCS" and "Cash TV" will remain on SF 2 on Sunday evenings.
Some PTV programs will therefore undergo content or conceptual changes, such as "Gesundheit Sprechstunde" (GES), which will in future be broadcast with a new logo on Saturdays at 6.10 p.m. on SF1, weekly instead of fortnightly, but only 25 minutes long (previously one hour). This means that the program will be limited to one focus in future, whereas previously up to three topics could be covered. It will also have new features - with news and a sketch on quitting: the editors will examine common claims - such as that milk helps to relieve stomach burns - to determine their origins and truthfulness. The audience will still be present for "GES". However, as the shortened program is now produced in duplicate, it is no longer broadcast live.
Major conceptual changes have been made to "Motorshow". The format will also be broadcast weekly and now on Sundays at 5.40 p.m. on SF zwei, immediately before the rescheduled "Sportpanorama". "This is the absolute preferred time for us," says Hans-Jürg Deutsch, Managing Director of PTV. There will also be a change in presenter: Kurt Lotz, currently still working at NDR, will be the new main presenter, while Yolanda Surer will remain on the show on a topic-by-topic basis. In terms of content, the show will focus more on fuel consumption, safety and driving reports, with acceleration and speeding taking a back seat. In addition to TCS, Deutsch was also able to win back Coop Pronto as a sponsor, which already took part in "Motorshow TCS" three years ago.
There are hardly any changes to "NZZ Format" and "NZZ Swiss Made", which will now be broadcast on Thursdays at 11.15 pm (after Aeschbacher). "Cash TV/Cash Talk" will also remain the same, even the broadcast time on Sunday evenings at 10.30 p.m. will remain unchanged. The PTV viewpoints, on the other hand, will have a different slot - Sundays at 1.10 p.m., now always in the same order: on the first Sunday of the month, the Handelszeitung will cover a stock market topic, followed by the NZZ with a focus on politics, on the third Sunday the Basler Zeitung will feature an article with a cultural focus, and the SonntagsBlick will cover a topic from society and politics on the last Sunday. The program "Bekanntmachung" is also broadcast on Sundays, but at midnight.
Incidentally, all PTV programs will continue to be repeated on SF info. Furthermore, "Motorshow TCS" and "GES" will be translated: "Motorshow TCS" will also be taken over by TSR 2 in future, but instead of recording the program from scratch as before, it will only be dubbed in French. GES" will also be dubbed - in both French and Italian.
Markus Knöpfli

One place is still available
In May, SF announced that there was still a slot available for a 35-minute format on Sundays at 6.10 p.m. on SF1. PTV has now submitted two broadcasting ideas via Ringier, says Hans-Jürg Deutsch. However, it is possible that proposals will also come from third parties. However, it remains to be seen which format will be used. SF will decide in January. (mk)

Jung von Matt takes 1st place in this year's Horizon ranking of the most creative German advertising agencies. Compared to the record year 2007, the agency network with offices in Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart was able to increase its creative awards by a third to 216 trophies and a total of 2884 Kreapoints. Second place was taken by the Berlin-based DDB Group, already 600 points behind, and third place by Ogilvy & Mather from Frankfurt, as reported by Horizont.net. Scholz & Friends and the Hamburg agency Nordpol follow in fourth and fifth place.
Jung von Matt works for clients such as Mercedes-Benz, TUI, Bitburger, Bild-Zeitung and the car rental company Sixt, while DDB works for Volkswagen, for example. Ogilvy & Mather counts Deutsche Bahn, Ford, IBM, SAP and Unilever among its clients. The 30 most creative German agencies have won a total of more than 2,000 prizes in the most important national and international competitions. Among the year's highest-profile climbers are Heye from Munich (McDonalds), which climbed from 22nd to 13th place, and the Hamburg agency Kemper Trautmann, which made the leap from 13th place last year to seventh this year.
In the ranking of the most creative German advertisers, Volkswagen is at the top for the fifth time in a row, this year followed by Daimler-Chrysler and Ikea.

A Wild Parade
Advico, Young & Rubicam, Futurecom, Wundermann, and Allaccess are currently in the middle of moving. And anyone who wants to can help the creatives haul the boxes. The group has packed 24 moving boxes with various treasures from the agency’s past that won’t be moving to Hardturmstrasse 133. And you can win them. Some of the treasures include a Ficus benjamina, a 128-MB memory stick, an Alessi ashtray, and the «I love you» virus on a 3.5-inch floppy disk. To encourage people to pick up the boxes, the Y&R Group has sent out a “moving-free” Advent calendar, with a code hidden behind each door. Anyone who enters this code at www.yr-zuegellos.ch will find out immediately whether they’ve hit the jackpot or just a small prize with one of the 24 boxes. Maybe there’s even a Christmas gift for your mother-in-law in there.

You learn to save from the rich
Every year, it’s eagerly anticipated: the «Golden List» of Switzerland’s 300 richest people. This year, it should be particularly interesting to see who will remain wealthy despite the crisis. The creative team at Wirz has dramatized the theme “Life in a Crisis” on the rear shelf of a Rolls-Royce. It seems there wasn’t enough budget even for this campaign, which is nonetheless very original.

Creatively Balancing Work and Family
The Office for Gender Equality and the Department of Youth, Family, and Prevention in Basel, in collaboration with the Favo advertising agency, have created a very special kind of Advent calendar. At www.beruf-familie.ch, visitors can open virtual doors online to discover a wealth of useful, reflective, and humorous content on the topic of «balancing work and family life.» Traffic to the platform is being driven by posters in Basel’s trams as well as through freecards.

Unlimited Luxury
Just in time for Christmas, the 13th Junior Book from the Association of Freelance Photo Designers (BFF) has been published—entirely in gold and titled «Luxury.» This square, mini-format booklet features over 200 photos by the 47 BFF junior photographers in the genres of people, fashion, architecture, transportation, landscapes, and still lifes. The photographs reflect on and question the theme of luxury, shedding light on the needs we all share—from necessity to excess. Some of the photos are striking; others have a highly ironic undertone. They take the viewer on a tour through the department store of their most secret desires—where parking costs 1,000 euros per hour. As you leaf through the booklet, you’ll be amazed and reminded: luxury isn’t always about the world of commodities and goods for sale. A touch or the vastness of the sky can be pure luxury. The photographers were inspired by the question posed by the frugal barrel-dwelling philosopher Diogenes: ’What do I actually need?« A little grounding just before the season of love.

Planetactive has developed a Christmas microsite for Lindt & Sprüngli. At Christmas.lindt.ch, the Lindt Santa Claus now awaits visitors and invites them to take part in a competition. The main prize is a one-week luxury skiing vacation for the whole family in Gstaad.
Anyone wishing to send Christmas greetings to their loved ones will find a selection of festive Lindt eCards on the microsite developed by the full-service digital marketing agency. A prominent link takes you to the Lindt online store, where you can send the finest Lindt chocolate gifts to friends and acquaintances.
The microsite was realized by Planetactive in German and French. The agency provided the microsite with relevant measurement points so that performance can be determined using Google Analytics. In addition, the TEMcontrol tracking system developed by Planetactive can be used to measure user interaction separately by language and thus show the so-called "conversion rate".

Today, the business world places high demands on sales managers. They are expected to be able to develop and implement a sales concept based on the company's objectives. They are able to successfully manage a sales department in all areas, both in the office and in the field, and achieve maximum impact in relation to the effort required.
Jean-Paul Zürcher, President of the examination board, emphasized in his speech: "The sales manager examination as a higher federal examination is celebrating its 35th edition this year - that alone shows how enduring the value of this certificate is in the economy."
The professional examination is organized by the sponsoring associations Swiss Marketing (SMC), KV Schweiz and Verkauf Schweiz. Of the 264 candidates who completed the written and oral examination, 180 (68 percent) were successful, while 84 (32 percent) did not pass. The youngest participant was 25 years old, the oldest 52 years young. Around 12 percent of the newly qualified sales managers are women. Examiner Stephan Günther calculated that the distance from Bern to Thun could be covered on paper if the 30,000 A4 pages marked in the five written exams were lined up.
The following were specially congratulated as ranked candidates: Bernhard Däppen, Eich/LU (grade 5.1), Gabriel Troyon, Champvent/VD (grade 5.0) and René Bachmann, Winterthur (grade 5.0).
Evelyne Binsack then reported on her top performance and very personal impressions, who first crossed Europe and then the entire American continent by bike from Innertkirchen BE, before finally setting off on an expedition to Antarctica and reaching the icy South Pole by sledge after around 28,000 kilometers. Her personal conclusion to the almost inhuman exertions: "There are no shortcuts to big goals."
This was followed by a gala dinner in the festive setting of the Salle de Versailles, where the newly appointed sales managers and their families were able to celebrate their success in style. In the bar, not only mineral water was drunk until long after midnight ...
Patrick Bernd Buchert

Doped economy, doped training
By Dr. Peter Petrin, Vice President of Swiss Marketing (SMC) and Director of the SIB Swiss Institute of Business Economics (ww.sib.ch).
I was almost moved when I saw the television images of millionaire top managers asking the state for financial help. This brief touch of emotion was followed by annoyance. When the high priests of the market economy suddenly want to tap into the state or the public purse, things are really bad for us. Is that credible? And what happens in an economy and society in which the leaders are no longer credible? There is another way of putting it: In certain industries, top managers unashamedly request doping in order to survive in a competitive environment. Doping is when you use illegal means and methods to increase your own performance. Doping also means administering drugs. Drugs have fatal consequences. They only appear to strengthen the body; in reality they destroy it. And they are difficult to get off. In sport, we have seen that doping can also take on epidemic dimensions. Once someone starts, it doesn't take long - and almost everyone is doping. The consequences are devastating. We can only hope that we will be spared this in business.
I know what I'm writing about because I work in an industry where doping has become socially acceptable, and not just since the financial crisis. Doping is widespread in the training industry. It is simply called subsidizing. And the consequences are what you might expect. Those who do not have to distinguish themselves on the market through innovation and customer orientation will eventually become complacent and self-centered. The market economy is a marketing economy; there are many methods and instruments in marketing. However, you will not find the term subsidies in the index of any marketing textbook. We have suffered repeated setbacks in our economy, but we owe our high standard of living to the market economy and competitive economy. Doping does not belong in any industry; incidentally, this also applies to the further education sector.

Last but not least:

Curt Bürgi is a veteran of Swiss advertising: the trained typesetter and printer has been working in the world of consumer seduction for more than 50 years. He started out in his profession with lead type, and pixels, zeros and ones are lining up to mark his departure. However, there is no question of "rock". At the age of 67, Bürgi still looks lively and full of ideas. "Joy at work and gratitude for the good life" - that's how simply the advertiser describes his fountain of youth. He won't say how much he gets out of regular marathons and his daily bar of chocolate.
Bürgi was born in Schönenwerd and grew up in Aargau. It was here that he completed the training he had dreamed of as a boy: typesetter. In 1962, Bürgi started his career as an editorial graphic designer at Blick. In the legendary "Pope Breakdown", in which the demise of the then Pope John XXIII was announced too early, he was involved in the precautionary production of the second 1st page, which was then printed by mistake. From Blick, Bürgi moved to the Neue Westfälische Zeitung in Bielefeld, Germany. Here he worked for just under two years as a typesetter and apprentice trainer. "It was a very good time, but rather a step backward professionally. Because the Germans were still a long way away in terms of production technology from the level that was already standard in Switzerland." After his stint in Germany, Bürgi went to Lausanne to learn French better and then worked in a large Baden printing company as a chief estimator and chief scheduler. In 1971, at the age of 30, he joined Amag, Switzerland's largest automobile importer, as production manager in advertising. His career took off.
"At that time, I was the only advertiser at Amag and the only one who knew anything about printing, production and prices," says Bürgi. "That's why I was given a free hand, and I took advantage of my freedoms." In 1975, Bürgi was appointed head of advertising at Amag Switzerland. In 1979, he founded an in-house agency within Amag, where around ten graphic designers, copywriters and media experts supported him in the development of all advertising measures.
Creative freedom of movement
"I enforced that we ran mostly double- and full-page ads," Bürgi reports. "That alone makes a much more competent impression than tiny ads placed with high frequency." Another hobbyhorse of the advertising professional: car advertising without cars. Each of the more than 100 car models in Switzerland is covered with two to three subjects per year. Makes 200 to 300 different car subjects per year - and mostly models are shown. "Despite all the advertising, you have to sit in the car and see if you feel comfortable. You don't feel that from the ad," Bürgi says. "Advertising that conveys feelings or images gets much further. You should also not segment the target group too much, but appeal to as many consumers as possible. And that works best through the brand."
When Amag took over the marketing of Skoda and Audi in addition to VW, the in-house agency was dissolved. Bürgi used an external agency for each car brand. "I hired small, medium and large agencies, depending on the budget," he says. "In working with these agencies, I experienced a lot that I didn't like: briefings were given too little consideration, contact persons changed constantly, and the price-performance ratio was often not right. I decided: I want to have an agency of my own once more in my life. That was my ultimate goal."
Man of action
Planned, done. In 1999, Bürgi, by then director of advertising at Amag, left the company and founded the agency Bürgi & Partner with his wife and partner Andi Schaerer. "Many people called me crazy for giving up the director's position with quite a few privileges to start over," he recalls. "But I just had to do it." In the meantime, Bürgi & Partner employs 20 people - and continues to grow. For Bürgi, it was just the right time to stop and sell the agency to Andi Schaerer. As of January 1, 2009, it operates under the name "Schaerer & Partner".
Tough but fair
Curt Bürgi is known in the industry as tough but fair. With his honest assessments, he has shocked many a person - and put them on the right track. He has a good feel for people and a nose for what customers and consumers want. "That," he says, "is perhaps my greatest talent." Competitor and market analyses, as well as knowledge of prices and future techniques, are the basis of good marketing, he says. However, gut decisions always contribute to success. "Because emotions play an increasingly important role in advertising and marketing, the future belongs to image advertising," says Bürgi. He should know. In any case, he can't recall any real advertising flops from his pen.
"Car advertising has basically been about the same thing for 70 years," Bürgi says, flipping through a 1938 VW sales catalog touting the VW Beetle. That's right: It's all about cockpit, chassis and storage space for luggage, about speed, acceleration and comfort in the interior. In black and white and old letters. Otherwise, everything is exactly as it is today. Nevertheless, a lot has changed between hot metal typesetting and digital printing. Reproduction techniques have changed, and in addition to print, radio, television and digital media must be populated with banners and the like. "The last 50 years have been a sensationally wonderful time," Bürgi finds. "I was constantly allowed to learn something new, my work never got boring." However, the rapid progress also has disadvantages: Campaigns today are losing more and more of their punch, because the constant bombardment with incentives to buy is causing us to gradually lose our sensitivity to advertising messages. "Perhaps a regression would do advertising some good," Bürgi also muses. "The greater the flood of communication becomes, the less advertising can achieve."
Advertising with pleasure
His business partners and friends were surprised when Bürgi announced his retirement plans. "I received incredulity in unison: 'Bürgi, you're retiring? That can't be!'" But if you have yourself as a role model, such objections don't faze you. "From the heart, I could work another 50 years," Bürgi says cheerfully. "You can't advertise if you don't love this profession. But my head tells me not to overdo it. That's why I'm quitting now and enjoying other things." Bürgi is planning a long trip with his wife Anita, as well as commitments in the real estate, social and nature sectors. He does not yet want to be more specific about his ideas. But it is already clear that Bürgi wants to improve his handicap, because he is currently learning to play golf. And what Curt Bürgi does, he does right.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm

It's that time again. This issue of Werbewoche features three Werbewoche classics. The creative ranking, the presentation of the candidates for the 2009 Advertiser of the Year and the vote for the Campaign of the Year.
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.
Six personalities from the Swiss advertising scene have been selected by the election committee, consisting of former male and female advertisers of the year, and will now be put forward for election as advertiser of the year 2009. Unfortunately, this year it is once again an all-male list of candidates. The subscribers of Werbewoche can now choose their favorite from the six nominated advertisers. For this purpose, they will receive the corresponding election form next week. On January 14, one of the candidates will receive the coveted Werbewoche Egon in Zurich's Kaufleuten.
The editors of Werbewoche have selected twelve advertising campaigns for the Campaign of the Year award. They are all campaigns that appeared this year at least in the language region and had a significant advertising impact. The readers of Werbewoche and the TV magazine Tele can vote for the Advertising Campaign of the Year from these twelve campaigns. The winner of the Campaign of the Year award will also be honored at the Egon Awards on January 14.
2008 was an exciting year for Werbewoche. The relaunch carried out in August has proved successful and has met with very good acceptance. Starting in January, we will be making some minor adjustments, for example, the basic font will be a little larger. We hope that this will meet a widespread wish of our readers.
The next printed Werbewoche will be published on January 15, 2009. Until December 24 and from January 5, you will find continuous news from the communications and media industry on Werbewoche.ch.
We, the Werbewoche team, wish you, dear readers, a nice and peaceful time over the Christmas holidays and a successful and exciting year 2009.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]