According to the Faspo sponsorship association, the sponsorship industry has every reason to be optimistic about economic developments in the coming months despite the economic crisis, as the sponsorship industry is experiencing a boom. The reason for this is the stable medium and long-term commitment of sponsors with sports clubs, cultural and social institutions and other partners, which is cultivated by commercial enterprises.
Continuity in sponsorship is important in terms of the credibility of brands and companies, says Faspo President Bernd Reichstein. Companies check in advance exactly which of their brands are suitable for which sports club, cultural or social institution and then stand by them even in difficult times. This gives both sides planning security even in times of crisis.
Faspo sees another reason for the stable development of sponsorship in the strong sponsorship commitment of SMEs. The service sector and the supplier industry, which is dominated by SMEs, account for a large proportion of regional and local cultural, social and sports sponsorship. SMEs are significantly less susceptible to the upheavals of the global economy, according to the press release issued on Tuesday.
The fact that the sponsorship sector is resistant to crises, unlike the rest of the advertising industry, was already evident during the advertising market crisis in 2001, when sponsorship recorded above-average growth rates. This is in stark contrast to traditional advertising measures, which have not yet been able to return to the 2000 level.

Tele Züri plans to significantly expand its current broadcasting area over the next six months. In addition to the canton of Zurich and the Aargau districts of Baden and Bremgarten, the station's program will be broadcast via Cablecom's network to the entire region around Lake Zurich, including Rapperswil-Jona. Large parts of the canton of Glarus, the Linth plain and now the entire canton of Schwyz are also covered.
Corresponding agreements have already been signed with the cable network providers for the distribution of Tele Züri on the analog cable network, as detailed in a press release. The activation of Tele Züri in the Schaffhausen and Zug area is currently still being examined by the cable network operators concerned. "We had already held talks prior to the licensing decision in order to be prepared in the event of a negative decision. However, the definitive conclusion of the negotiations was only possible after the licensing procedure," Tamedia spokesperson Zimmer told Werbewoche.
Via digital TV throughout German-speaking Switzerland
In addition to analog broadcasting, Tele Züri will also expand its broadcasting area digitally in the first half of 2009. It is planned to be included in the Cablecom Digital TV service throughout German-speaking Switzerland and in Ticino, as well as in BluewinTV's nationwide service. In north-eastern Switzerland, Tele Züri is expanding its broadcasting area with digital distribution in parts of the canton of Thurgau. The Tele Züri program can still be received on the Internet via the TV provider Zattoo. The distribution of Tele Züri via its own livestream service is being examined.
When asked whether it wasn't a bit risky to expand the broadcasting area so massively in times of falling advertising revenue, Christoph Zimmer said: "The decision to expand the broadcasting area was not just made for one or two years, but with a long-term perspective. Also for the times after the crisis."
New 2.05 million potential viewers
Tele Züri's programming will continue to focus on the Zurich region and those areas of German-speaking Switzerland with close links to Zurich, the press release continues. Broadcasting without a license enables Tele Züri to extend its transmission area to these regions without legal restrictions. In total, Tele Züri will reach more than 1.06 million households in the future with the expansion of its broadcasting area in the analog and digital networks.
This corresponds to around 2.05 million potential viewers in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. The new broadcasting area is therefore around 50 percent larger than the station's current license area, which covers around 605,000 households with around 1.35 million potential viewers.
No appeal on the concession issue
In return for expanding its broadcasting area, Tele Züri has decided not to appeal the questionable licensing decision of the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) to the Federal Administrative Court in Bern. "The decisive factor in our decision not to appeal was that we can now expand our broadcasting area and thus remain competitive. The new competitor Tele Top creates a new situation for us in which we can only maintain or even increase our income by expanding our broadcasting area," said Zimmer.
Stable spot prices for the time being
Zimmer said: "We will gradually expand the broadcasting area in the first half of 2009, but the advertising prices will certainly remain the same until June 2009. Until then, the Tele News Combi rates will also apply." As the concessions are always linked to advertising restrictions, the loss of the concession in this area could also bring advantages. Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer confirmed that the loss of the concessions means that individual advertising restrictions will no longer apply, which will bring certain relief: "For example, there is no longer an upper limit on advertising minutes per hour. However, these simplifications will not be decisive for the commercial success of Tele Züri."
(Inquiries: elk)

The advertising revenues of US newspapers have fallen drastically: In the third quarter of 2008, US newspapers generated two billion dollars less in advertising revenue than in the same period last year, according to the US Newspaper Publishers Association (NAA). This represents a decline of 19 percent, according to the association. Never before have revenues fallen so sharply in a single quarter. According to the association's statistics, advertising revenue for US newspapers in the third quarter amounted to 8.2 billion dollars, the lowest figure in 13 years.
Advertising Age expects revenues to fall further in the final quarter of 2008. Advertising revenues on newspaper websites also fell in the third quarter, as they did in the second quarter. All advertising sectors were affected by the negative development, according to the report: losses were reported in both national and local advertising as well as in the classified advertising sector. The "historic low" is the result of the current economic crisis, which is further exacerbating the structural problems of newspapers, according to Ad Age.

Due to falling advertising revenues, the German interview magazine Galore will only be published every two months next year instead of ten times a year. The Dortmund-based Dialog-Verlag told Horizont.net that it is facing turbulence on the print market. "This also affects us as an independent publisher. The bimonthly publication rhythm is a consequence of this."
For the time being, this step was also justified by the fact that the volume of the magazine could hardly be managed by the readers. Nevertheless, the publisher is increasing the size of Galore by 16 pages per issue. In future, each issue will also include a DVD with films from the Arthaus film distribution program.
In 2005, the publication frequency of Galore was increased to ten issues per year, with one double issue each in summer and winter. The paid circulation in the third quarter of 2008 was around 73,000 copies.

Christian Albisser will become Editorial Director at Radio Sunshine on March 1, 2009. He takes over from Frank Kleiner, who has been Editorial Director and Head of Sport at the Zug local station since October. Kleiner will remain head of sports and will continue to expand the sports department, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

The advertising and communications agency Wapico has won the mandate of the Théâtre de la Cité Internationale Paris in a competition. The Bern-Freiburg agency won the pitch against international competition. According to the agency, the theater will be relaunched under new management in January 2009 with a cross-media campaign.

Roger Möschler will be the new CEO of the large-format digital printing company Christinger Partner from January 2009. In his new position, Möschler will assume operational responsibility for the company. Most recently, he was Head of Marketing and a member of the Executive Board at APG, which he is now leaving after more than 20 years.
Karlheinz Kaiser and Toni Fricker, the owners of Christinger, intend to gradually withdraw from the day-to-day business, the company writes in a press release. However, as owners and board members, they will continue to help shape and support the strategic direction of their company together with Roger Möschler. With around 70 employees, Christinger is active in the fields of large-format digital printing, advertising technology and lettering.

The agency Zürich Tokio has two new alpine clients in its portfolio, Adventure Zermatt and Bar Casa Antica, for whom it will develop new corporate designs. The newly founded provider of various outdoor activities Adventure Zermatt, which specializes in skiing, opted for the Zurich-based communications company in an agency evaluation. The Casa Antica bar in Klosters is celebrating its reopening this winter with a new look. The aim is to position the bar as a "place to be" in the region's nightlife for both national and international customers, the agency writes in a press release. Work for the two new clients will be on display this year.

Arc TV is appealing against the decision in favor of Canal Alpha Plus for a regional television concession in the Jura Arc. In a communiqué issued on Tuesday, the broadcaster once again emphasized its independence from newspaper publishers in Switzerland and abroad.
Arc TV was underestimated, complain its president Sylvio Bernasconi and his deputy Pierre Steulet. Bakom had considered the two applicants to be of equal value. Federal Councillor Leuenberger then preferred Canal Alpha Plus in order to avoid a concentration of media, as Steulet had already been awarded two radio licenses with Arc FM and BNJ FM.
A total of thirteen regional television stations have been awarded a license. They will receive a total of CHF 31.4 million in fee money.

In a recent study from the "Digital Marketing Compass" series, the agency Planetactive analyzed the interaction between the two most common forms of online advertising, search (search engine advertising) and display (traditional online advertising) (see glossary of the article Media Focus: Online advertising holds three percent of the Swiss advertising market). One of the aims was to determine the optimum budget split for integrated campaigns. The analyses clearly showed that the combination of display advertising with search (sponsored links, results of a search engine query that are purchased and therefore listed in the top positions) leads to significantly higher campaign efficiency.
Click rates of users who have clicked on search links and for whom at the same time
Ad views are recorded for advertising media of the relevant campaign
are 23 percent higher than in the group that was exclusively
Search was addressed. The comparison with the click-through rate of
users who click on display ads in campaigns without accompanying search ads.
support had clicked. The click rate of the "Search plus Display" group is
is about four times higher here.
According to the study, the ideal search share is between 25 and 35 percent of the online budget. However, the Planetactive study shows that the positive effect of combining display and search differs depending on the industry and campaign. The effect is greater for B2C campaigns than for B2B campaigns.
According to Stefan Längin, Group Managing Director of Planetactive, the combination of search and display is essential. Otherwise, there is a risk that users who are motivated by display advertising will ultimately end up with another competitor found via search.
Planetactive publishes the "Digital Marketing Compass" brand every year
at least two studies on current topics relating to digital marketing. The
The focus of the study is on German-speaking countries. The analyses combine
the agency for digital marketing combines the results of qualitative primary surveys with quantitative evaluations from the ad server.

According to a study by the consulting firm Prognos, daily newspapers in Switzerland will generate eleven percent less advertising revenue in 2010 than in 2007. The publishers see the only growth prospects for newspaper publishers in digital business areas. However, the income from online advertising would not compensate for the loss of other advertising income.
Despite the significant decline in advertising revenue in the printed press, it will not lose its role as the strongest advertising medium - at least temporarily. The study predicts that in four years' time, daily newspapers will no longer be the most important advertising medium, at least in Germany. By then, television will be more important for the advertising industry for the first time.
After considerable declines in the next two years, advertising expenditure would increase again in 2011 and 2012. However, the 2007 level will not be reached again.

The Basel advertising agency Favo is launching a campaign for the Equal Opportunities Office and the Basel-Stadt Youth, Family and Prevention Department to raise public awareness of the issue of "reconciling work and family life". The focus is on an online Advent calendar, which can be found at www.beruf-familie.ch can be found. Each calendar box contains information, links and tips on how to successfully manage the balancing act between work and family life. A daily cartoon is intended to lighten up the serious topic, writes the agency in a press release on Tuesday. In addition, a competition with prizes for the whole family should increase the attractiveness of the online platform.
Posters in Basel streetcars, postcard distributors in daycare centers, neighborhood meeting points, libraries and advice centers as well as free postcards in restaurants throughout the city draw attention to the calendar and the website.