HDTV 50,000 TV households will be able to watch the European Football Championships in high-definition picture quality. However, nobody knows whether this SRG SSR estimate is correct. 
When the European Football Championship kicks off on June 7, it will be possible to follow the kick-off in high-definition picture quality for the first time. SRG SSR will broadcast all matches not only on its traditional channels, but also on HD suisse. Since last December, the new channel has served as a playground for testing and popularizing the new HDTV technology. "Conservatively estimated, around 50,000 households are able to receive HD suisse," says SRG spokesperson Daniel Steiner.
It is no coincidence that HD suisse was launched shortly before Euro 2008 and the Olympic Games in Beijing. SRG SSR knows that major sporting events play a key role in pushing through new technologies. This was already the case with the introduction of color television in 1968, the year of the Olympics. And the 2006 Football World Cup helped to make the 16:9 widescreen format palatable even to those who were previously skeptical.
Demand in the per mille rangeAccording to estimates by Swisscable, the association of cable networks in Switzerland, around 60% of the 2.9 million TV households in Switzerland now have a flat screen in widescreen format. The majority of these are likely to be "HD ready". However, nobody knows how many households actually receive HD suisse. This is because an HD-ready set-top box must be installed next to the HD screen. HD suisse is also broadcast via satellite. However, because 90 percent of Swiss households are connected to a cable network, cable networks play a key role in the introduction of HDTV. The crux of the matter is that HD-compatible set-top boxes are more expensive than those for normal digital television.
"Every sixth box that has been put into operation since December is HD-capable," says Cablecom spokesman Hugo Wyler on request. Cablecom does not communicate more precise figures. According to the published quarterly figures, Cablecom has added around 10,000 new set-top boxes per month since the end of 2007. In plain language, this means There are hardly more than 10,000 HD-compatible set-top boxes in operation in the 1.5 million Cablecom households. It is probably no different in other cable networks.
In contrast to the cable networks, all Bluewin TV set-top boxes are HD-compatible. However, according to media spokesperson Christian Neuhaus, Swisscom can only supply around 55% of connections with HD signals for technical reasons. This corresponds to around 35,000 households. According to Swisscom's quarterly report, 64,000 Bluewin TV connections were in operation in April. Swisscom does not know whether all of these households have corresponding screens. There is still the unknown factor of satellite distribution: because the 230,000 households with satellite dishes procure their own equipment, nobody knows how many HD-compatible systems are in operation. In view of the investment, it is unlikely to be very many.
Conclusion: SRG SSR's estimate that 50,000 households are able to receive HD suisse is probably too high rather than too low. René Meienberger, Head of Telecontrol at Mediapulse, confirms this. So far, the technicians have hardly come across any HD-compatible set-top boxes, he says. Of the almost 2,000 households covered by the Telecontrol panel, around thirty should actually be able to receive HD suisse, if the ratio of 50,000 HD-compatible households to a total of 2.9 million television households is correct. However, because the panel selection is also determined by chance, there are fewer in practice.
Highly complex survey "We have not yet specifically searched for HD-capable households. In view of the small number of households equipped for HDTV reception in the panel, it would be pointless to evaluate the viewing figures for HD suisse separately anyway. Representative values are not yet possible," says Meienberger. However, HDTV households and the number of channels in HD quality will certainly increase, also in the Telecontrol panel. Even if the recording is very complex, the newly developed SIP measurement method will also make it possible to correctly measure TV usage in these households, whether via cable or satellite, explains Meienberger.
According to Daniel Steiner, SRG SSR will find out the exact figures during the European Football Championships by conducting a telephone survey, among other things. Without precise figures, it is difficult to sell advertising, which is legally possible on HD suisse. Only a few customers have been acquired so far. Nevertheless, Sony has been a channel sponsor right from the start. However, its logo can also be seen in the trailers advertising HD suisse on the other SRG channels.
Adrian Schärer

 
Thanks to Telecontrol RTVG: the Swiss are watching less television but consuming more TV advertisingThe latest analysis of Telecontrol data shows that in 2007 the average Swiss German citizen aged three and over spent 325 minutes or five hours and 25 minutes per month on TV advertising alone. In French-speaking Switzerland, the monthly use of TV advertising increased even more, namely by 40 minutes or 13% to 348 minutes. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to claim that the French-speaking Swiss are more inclined to watch TV advertising, as measured against their total TV consumption, which is 24 minutes higher than in German-speaking Switzerland, the French-speaking Swiss "only" gave TV advertising 7 percent of their time, while the German-speaking Swiss gave it 7.7 percent.A breakdown by age group shows that Swiss-German children aged between 3 and 14 were exposed to 151 minutes of TV advertising per month, 15 to 24-year-olds watched 223 minutes, 25 to 44-year-olds watched 321 minutes per month and 45 to 64-year-olds even consumed 360 minutes of advertising. In French-speaking Switzerland, children up to the age of 14 consume 39 minutes more advertising than their peers in German-speaking Switzerland, while 15 to 24-year-olds in French-speaking Switzerland are exposed to TV advertising for less time, namely 24 minutes less. Among 25 to 44-year-olds, however, advertising consumption is again one minute higher than in German-speaking Switzerland, and among 45 to 64-year-olds it is even 20 minutes higher.
Women watch more advertisingIf we look at advertising usage by gender, there is one thing in common on both sides of the Röstigraben: women watch almost 80 minutes more TV advertising per month than men. This is a clearly disproportionate use of advertising. Although women in both language regions generally watch around 15 percent more television than men, they consume around 25 percent more TV advertising.
The period with the lowest TV advertising consumption is in summer, during the months of July and August. In both language regions, advertising consumption amounted to around 260 minutes per month. Last year's peak was achieved by the French-speaking Swiss, who spent 416 minutes on advertising in December 2007 (almost 14 minutes per day), while TV advertising consumption among the German-speaking Swiss peaked in November. However, it remained well below 400 minutes.
All these figures are the result of an analysis of Telecontrol data carried out by Publica Data (PDAG), a subsidiary of the Mediapulse Group. Using 35 German and French-language station logs, it determined all advertising blocks and other forms of advertising to the second and compared them with the viewer figures. The result: the 35 stations broadcast a total of 29,600 hours of TV advertising in Switzerland in 2007.
As the PDAG has been carrying out this evaluation since 2004, there are further interesting findings - also in terms of media policy: From 2004 to 2006, the number of advertising minutes broadcast was roughly stable at around 28,000 hours. Last year, TV advertising in Switzerland suddenly increased by 1500 hours.
More spot time for SwitzerlandHowever, not all advertising was intended for the Swiss audience. But there has also been an increase in this respect: While only 56% of TV advertising volume was produced for Switzerland in 2005, this figure rose to 72% last year. It is therefore clear that Swiss TV advertising is increasingly blending in with foreign advertising. In contrast, the advertising time broadcast by SRG stations remained essentially stable, as did the volume of Swiss private stations.
According to PDAG, both developments - the generally increased advertising density as well as the volume growth among foreign private broadcasters - are primarily due to the new RTVA, which came into force on April 1, 2007. This gave private broadcasters more advertising freedom, including with regard to interstitial advertising. The fact that this was of little use to Swiss private broadcasters may initially come as a surprise. However, PDAG explains this with the repeat programs of most Swiss regional TVs. These only have short programs and are still not allowed to be interrupted. In short, it was primarily the advertising windows that benefited from the RTVA. As a result, even more advertising francs flowed abroad in 2007.
A PDAG sample in November, when advertising is at its strongest, more precisely in week 46, confirms this finding, at least for German-speaking Switzerland: of the advertising time broadcast for Switzerland by the channels Sat 1, RTL and Pro7 in 2006, interstitial advertising accounted for 16%, while hinge advertising (advertising between two programs) accounted for 84%. In 2007, this ratio was reversed: the proportion of interstitial advertising in the advertising windows rose to 93%, while the proportion of hinged advertising fell to 7%.
 
Markus Knöpfli

 
 
 
 
 
These forms of advertising were examinedFrom the 35 station protocols examined
PublicaData (PDAG) filtered out around 580,000 advertising units that were explicitly intended for the Swiss public. The latter can be divided into four categories: Firstly, classic commercial breaks, which accounted for 86.6 percent of the advertising units broadcast in November 2007 in terms of time. Secondly, permanent advertising programs, such as AutoTV on SF zwei, were included, accounting for 21.5 percent. A third category evaluated is the mostly short sponsorship inserts, such as the sponsorship clock before the SF1 news bulletin (0.2 percent). Special advertising (erotic or single spots on Vox or Sat1) also accounted for 0.2%. Special forms of advertising such as billboards or product placement, on the other hand, are not included. No analysis could be carried out for Ticino.  

Swiss watch less televisionTelevision usage in minutes
decreased significantly in all three parts of the country in 2007. In German-speaking Switzerland, viewing time per capita now stands at 139, 6.7 minutes less than in 2006. In Suisse romande, viewing time fell to 163 (minus seven minutes) and in Svizzera italiana to 173 minutes (also seven minutes less). (mk)

 The Swiss Sedgwick Media Group is taking over the German hip hop portal Hiphop.de. The Arbon-based company intends to continue its expansion in Europe. In March, it acquired Hiphop.ch, a local urban lifestyle community, before which it tapped into the Asian market and integrated the US site Sixshot. According to the press release, the aim is to merge all portals into the "world's largest urban lifestyle community" in the coming year. According to Fahro Aman, CEO Operations & IT at Sedgwick Media, the company is focusing on a strong sub-market and intends to combine new and well-known online and offline elements from the media, music, internet and event industries to create a profitable value chain. Unlike Myspace and Facebook, the community is defined by content, which makes it an interesting closed target group for advertisers.

 
Company In 2007, the Sihl + Eika Group, which includes Sihl + Eika Papier AG and Giger Papier AG, both based in Thalwil, surpassed the record figures achieved in the previous year. The number 2 in the Swiss paper trade increased sales by 3.6 percent to 108 362 tons and net sales by 6 percent to CHF 208.5 million. The operating result (EBIT) of 13.9 million francs exceeded the previous year's result by 8.2 percent. In terms of both volume and value, Sihl + Eika was able to increase its market share from just under 32 percent to 33 percent. The company, which has been wholly owned by Papyrus, Europe's third-largest paper trading group, since spring 2007, is confident about its performance in 2008.

 Advertising bans column: Today, the communication and advertising industry is taking revenge for its own amateurish communication and advertising. 
The "Alliance against advertising bans" is dead - shattered by two referendum defeats in the cantons of Baselland and Solothurn, where advertising restrictions for tobacco and alcohol were at issue. The trade association, the publishers, the advertising industry associations and their clients are united in their goal, but not in their path. At present, the political wing seems to have the upper hand. The trade association, Economiesuisse, employers, innkeepers and farmers are all gunning for the Federal Office of Public Health. The industry associations, on the other hand, seem to be leaning towards understanding and mediation (after all, the FOPH allocates not insignificant budgets.) In other words: the special interests prevail, the fundamental issues have to take a back seat. This is always the case when political amoebas are at work. Meanwhile, the development continues, and it is heading straight in the direction that has been foreseeable since the time of the (rejected) Guttempler initiative. The large and well-functioning alliance of bureaucrats is preparing regulations against which the current restrictions on the advertising of tobacco, alcohol and medicines are a mere buzzer. The dominant smoke signals are coming from the EU headquarters in Brussels. Tübingen law professor Wernhard Möschel says: "The producers of EU regulations treat the consumer as a pathological moron in need of care who can't tell red wine from white wine."
What is being prepared in the torture chambers of EU bureaucrats will sooner or later be transposed into the applicable law of non-EU member state Switzerland with the certainty of clockwork on the famous path of "autonomous implementation". According to an overview published by Der Spiegel, advertising for wine, beer and spirits is to be subject to even stricter limits. A regulation ready for decision stipulates that the labels of high-proof spirits should carry large warnings: "Drinking damages the liver!" or "Alcohol makes you ill!" Advertising motifs that build on a feel-good, party and vacation atmosphere will be banned.
And as has often been predicted here, the terror of virtue is spreading to other areas. Advertising, production and sales restrictions for toys, lighters, food and cars have already been imposed or are currently in progress. Food manufacturers are covered by a network of extremely strict regulations. A central register of officially permitted phrases for health-related arguments ("strengthens the immune system" or "keeps you fit") is in preparation. Other formulations will no longer be permitted. George Orwell sends his regards: The "Ministry of Truth" is becoming a reality.
Before the summer vacations, the European Commission intends to publish proposals for restricting and regulating car advertising. The idea is that in future, every advertisement and every TV spot will have to make large and clear reference to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, while references to driving pleasure and sportiness in words and pictures will be frowned upon. 20 percent of the volume of every car advertisement is to be devoted to environmental arguments. The car war in Europe is foreseeable: The Italians and French with their small and low-powered models against the powerful Germans... Equally foreseeable is an orgy of hypocrisy. Environmental and safety arguments are being put forward, but in reality it's all about market share and money.
 
Perhaps this doesn't affect the politically traditionally bored and uncommitted interpretation and mood industry that produces advertising and communication. But what is taking place here is ultimately the restructuring of society and the state-enforced change of habits in production and consumption. Volker Nickel, spokesman for the German advertising industry, rightly sees "a gigantic re-education program for producers and consumers" coming our way. In Swiss editorial offices, this bureaucratic presumption is not an issue - on the contrary: the mainstream of state-believing journalism is willingly turning the screws of prohibition and regulation.
In view of this situation, it remains to be seen how long those responsible in the Swiss advertising industry and business lobbies can afford their luxurious conflict of methods. Today it seems to be taking revenge for the fact that the shoemakers have been wearing particularly bad shoes for many decades, i.e. that the communication and advertising industry communicates and advertises rather amateurishly on its own behalf. It could learn from other industries what long-term, tenacious and intelligent lobbying looks like. The pharmaceutical industry and health insurance companies are a good example.
 
Karl Lüönd is a freelance journalist and author

 
Company The Model Group enters into a long-term partnership with the two best Swiss beach volleyball players, Sascha Heyer and Patrick Heuscher. Heyer-Heuscher will become (sports) ambassadors and image bearers for the Model Group. Model and the Heyer-Heuscher team combine passion, commitment, power, innovation and team spirit.

 Three months after the relaunch of the free newspaper Baslerstab, Basler Zeitung Medien is taking positive stock, but wants to make further adjustments: As of August 1, the sports section will no longer feature news and agency reports, but only self-researched articles with current and local relevance. From this date, sports topics will be integrated into the "News" section. The aim is to offer around 180,000 readers stories with a high utility value and a finger on the pulse of the population. Reactions to the relaunch on February 21, 2008 have been positive, the media company announced on Wednesday: The new concept has been successfully positioned with readers, customers and partners.

As Head of Agency Relations at AdLink Media, Yves Keller wants to convince even more creatives of the opportunities of advertising on the web. Developments on the Internet are moving at breakneck speed. New products are constantly coming onto the market. No one can say which channels or media will be used in the future for communication and thus also for advertising. The only thing that is certain is that the Internet is now "understood as a mass medium and no longer as a purely supplementary medium, so logistics is playing an increasingly important role," says Yves Keller. Behavioral targeting, IP-TV using the example of Zattoo, the TV platform of 20 Minuten, advertising opportunities on podcasts and more and more interactivity possibilities from streaming to gaming speak for the strong diversity and the enormous development potential of the still young medium Internet. In addition, all these areas are made transparent in terms of the respective surfing behavior of users thanks to behavioral targeting. "An enormous amount is moving, and boredom is unlikely to set in for a long time, because things will continue at this rapid pace in the future," says the new Head of Agency Relations at AdLink with conviction. His job at the leading independent provider of Internet advertising in Switzerland and Europe: Yves Keller is to accompany even more customers into the Internet with the right advice or provide strategic support for existing partners at the Swiss branch in Goldbach.

The need for consulting is showing signs of change at the moment. When Keller started at AdLink just over two years ago, the share of consulting in relation to sales was still significantly higher. "That has to do with the fact that many media agencies are now aware of the possibilities of the Internet and have founded online units that can bundle their expertise there," Keller knows. In the past, he still had to negotiate with all media planners, including print and TV specialists, across all divisions about an ad placement on the web. At the agencies with online units, "we now know all the offers, have our own opinion and find the optimum in dialog with our consultants," says Keller.
Direct customers need even more advice. Here AdLink, with its Direct Sales unit, which was also newly founded, is sometimes still almost doing educational work: What is actually online? Keller also senses continued ignorance or even resistance among a surprisingly large number of creative professionals. "There is still a lot for us to do in the area of creative agencies. We feel that extremely. The media agencies are pushing the new medium, while it's still a no-go for many creative agencies." Whether this behavior has to do with the fact that you can't yet win the really big prizes online, or whether the new type of communication simply deviates too much from the well-trodden paths of classic advertising, "that's up in the air," says Keller.
The networker is all the more motivated by the fact that media agencies are becoming more and more aware of the issue, and thus demand is growing all the time. "You can also see that in the now proud online sales. So we're on the right track, but we're certainly not there yet, because media usage is still out of all proportion to spending."
Keller sees a significant benchmark for the development of Switzerland in the German or English market. There, the percentage of advertising expenditure in the online sector is significantly higher than in Switzerland. "This is an advantage for our argumentation." Around this development, there is also some pressure for internationally active companies in Switzerland to advertise more online. "The medium is being pushed. There are companies that have stipulations that, for example, 5 percent of the total media budget must be invested in online." A rule that naturally helps Keller a lot in building his business.
And what is most in demand among its customers?
"We have a subject pool for virtually every segment of interest, where you can buy different titles at a lower price. Our response network is certainly doing well, too. Only clicks are purchased there. In other words, buying instead of image advertising. However, behavioral targeting is on the rise. Here, for the first time in the history of media planning, we can really respond to consumer behavior, combine specific behavioral criteria into a segment, and thus put together a special advertising package for our customers," says Keller, who is fully versed in his profession.
After graduating from high school, Keller came into this world of media "rather by chance. Looking for a job that was as interesting as possible, he found work as a marketing assistant at the Handelszeitung. To further his education and at the same time have some fun, he also wanted to travel a bit at a young age. He earned a degree in English in San Diego and then briefly returned to Handelszeitung. Looking for a more concrete path, he later landed at Carat. At this media agency, he started as a print buyer, quickly became a planning assistant, then a planner. The direction was found. That's why Keller also completed training as a federally certified marketing planner while working, and was thus promoted to account manager.
What next?
The decision was taken from Keller by Stephan Suter. The latter offered him the opportunity at AdLink. "With the switch to online, I was thrown in at the deep end," says Keller. After all, he never felt like an "Internet freak," at most using his computer to send e-mails and, even as a boy, much preferring to play soccer on the field than electronic games on the screen. "But I learned quickly," Keller looks back. Moreover, he also saw an advantage in his netless past. "I knew exactly how my customers felt. After all, the media planners had just as little experience with the new medium - and thus a need for advice."
At AdLink, of course, Keller first had to earn his spurs until he was promoted to team leader and member of the newly formed management team at the beginning of 2008. In this role, he primarily maintains very close contact with the online managers in media agencies. Inhouse, Keller is more concerned with conceptual developments than with "daily business". He appreciates this confidence in being able to contribute to AdLink's strategic direction. Where is the company going?
"When a market is booming like our online business, there are correspondingly many competitors who want to get into that market, that's quite clear." For many publishers, doing their own online marketing is now becoming an issue. It would also be theoretically possible for a new player from abroad to come to Switzerland and find that this would actually still be an interesting market, "because we're just really about five years behind here." How can Switzerland arm itself against this already more developed competition from abroad? There are various factors that excite Keller about his profession, because he always has to reorient himself.
It is also a rewarding challenge for Keller to be able to lead a team of eight people at a young age. "It's fun to be able to respond to the different personalities. Different characters want to be nurtured differently." But Keller has always found the problem-solving process exciting. It's an opportunity he also sees as an obligation to continue to raise his profile. Working together toward a goal and achieving something together. This team player idea is something he holds dear. Even in soccer, where Keller still wrings time out of three training sessions a week to bring the right strategies to the field, even in central midfield, at FC Wädenswil.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Shopping To cook or to be cooked? To style or to be styled? With such oppositions, the Departement agency answers the question about Sihlcity's unique selling point - that you can not only go shopping here, but also eat well, have a chat, enjoy a wellness treatment and be pampered. This was staged to match the new claim "Everything for life" in Sihlcity.

 
Market research The MIS Trend Institute will soon be carrying out basic research for Mediapulse The Lausanne-based market research institute MIS Trend has landed a major contract: From 2009, it will carry out the so-called Telefonomnibus on behalf of Mediapulse - a large-scale, annually repeated basic study for the Mediapulse Foundation's radio, TV and Internet research. The Telefonomnibus comprises around 42,000 telephone interviews, which are distributed throughout the year. It provides market penetration data for the individual media, combines this with socio-demographic information and is used, among other things, to determine the basic populations of Telecontrol, Radiocontrol and Net Metrix. After 40 years of collaboration with the Basel-based Konso Institute, Mediapulse put the contract out to tender again. In addition to the price quotation, a solution proposal was also required - for the problem that fewer and fewer people are available for telephone interviews. Although most people have a cell phone, they do not have it listed in any public directory. Landline subscribers are also increasingly choosing not to have their names listed in the telephone directory. There was now a risk that the representativeness of the baseline study could suffer as a result. MIS Trend offered the best solution to this problem - namely the idea of conducting a written survey of households that could not be reached by telephone, explained Mediapulse CEO Manuel Dähler.
At MIS Trend in Lausanne, founder and director Marie-Hélène Miauton is delighted. The Mediapulse contract is not only interesting because of its size, but also because it is spread continuously throughout the year. MIS Trend, which works for the Federal Statistical Office and the Swiss National Science Foundation, among others, is well equipped: It has one call center each in Berne and Lausanne with a total of 450 telephone interviewees, most of whom speak German (Schwyzerdütsch) and French, but also many other languages, according to the website.
Markus Knöpfli

 
Finishing The trend towards greater individuality and uniqueness places new demands on the impact of print products. It is important to clearly differentiate and distinguish yourself. 
New finishing techniques, improved ink systems and coatings as well as a variety of substrates open up unimagined possibilities for turning print products into a sensual and unique experience. One of these possibilities is UV technology, which offers clear advantages, especially when printing on special substrates such as aluminum-coated papers or uncoated papers. When UV coatings are used, higher gloss levels can be achieved and matt-gloss effects can be reproduced even more brilliantly on a wide variety of substrates. The high degree of enhancement, the wide range of substrates and an accelerated application process make the use of UV technology a win-win situation. With the Speedmaster XL 105, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) offers complete integrated UV equipment ex works. A special brochure presents the diverse possibilities of UV technology using various application examples. The examples presented supplement information on press configuration, job definition, paper, ink and prepress.extremely high gloss cardboard is often used for invitations and as the cover of annual reports, brochures and leaflets. Because these printed materials convey a first impression of the content, a high-quality or even special appearance is particularly important here. When using UV coating on cardboard, an extremely high gloss can be achieved on "normal" materials, as the UV ink is already dry when the coating is applied thanks to the use of an intermediate dryer before the coating unit. This prevents the varnish from bleeding into the wet ink. The high-gloss effect of UV printing is increasingly being used to increase the value of the product or to create special effects. Even a normal substrate such as cardboard is given a particularly high value by the gloss of the UV coating. There are also specific requirements for printing when using uncoated paper. Here too, UV inks and coatings offer advantages. For example, ink and varnish are more effective when using conventional inks than when using UV inks and varnish. The UV inks also achieve a better color effect, and the UV varnish allows a higher gloss effect to be achieved. With UV application, however, the gloss result depends heavily on the amount of ink underneath. The more dried ink under the varnish, the better the gloss.
Inline further processingThe brochure also contains application examples for printing on self-adhesive film and plastic. The surface of the film is made of plastic and the backing material is paper. In between is a removable adhesive. The high gloss effect of the UV coating is also impressive here. The special feature of this application: The product can be processed immediately, as shown in the example of die-cutting. This is done either inline directly in the machine (although a second coating unit is required for this) or in a second pass. As a rule, plastics can only be printed with UV inks. The chemical drying of UV inks creates a better bond between the plastic surface and the ink and varnish film. The brochure was printed on rigid PVC with UV inks and partial UV coating.
With the Speedmaster XL 105 double-coating press, Heidelberg offers the right equipment for responding flexibly to customer requirements and producing economically at the same time. As an alternative to a pure UV press, the double-coating version of the Speedmaster XL 105 is able to apply a UV coating inline to conventional printing ink after applying a primer. The double-coating press also offers numerous other finishing options, such as combinations of primer with metallic coatings, pearlescent effects or functional coatings. It is not usually possible to overprint conventional inks with UV varnish. For this reason, the fresh inks are provided with a barrier layer. The water-based primer takes on this function and is dried before the UV coating is applied. This also makes it possible to create a matt-gloss effect with UV varnish, which increases the attractiveness of the end product. The brochure shows further application examples of various finishing options such as the use of silver lacquer, pearlescent lacquers and scented lacquer. Scented lacquer products are becoming increasingly popular in advertising. With such applications, it is possible to convey a scent in addition to the visual and content message. The scented varnish contains micro-encapsulated fragrances. The scent is released when the product surface is rubbed.
Metallic effectsAnother way to achieve extraordinary metallic effects is offered by the new cold foil technology. Heidelberg has further developed its FoilStar module for the Speedmaster CD 74, CD 102 and XL 105 series. The FoilStar is used to apply cold foil in the offset printing process, enabling metallic finishes to be applied to a wide variety of substrates with high quality and impressive brilliance. A new feature is the multi-web processing of the cold foil, previously only single rolls could be processed. Now, up to six webs with different films in different web widths can be used, which can save up to 50 percent of the costs for jobs with low film requirements. The cold foil is applied via an offset printing plate, which has various advantages. Set-up times are significantly reduced and a precise register is achieved even at high production speeds. Cold foil is ideal for fine structures and elements such as lettering, lines and screens, but is also suitable for solid surfaces. FoilStar also demonstrates its qualities economically, especially for short runs and frequent job changes.
Fast changeoverIn contrast to previous effect foil applications, which required a letterpress machine or a flexo unit, cold foil is applied in sheet-fed offset with FoilStar using two conventional offset printing units. In the first printing unit, adhesive is applied over the entire sheet or partially via the inking unit and an offset printing plate. The second unit - the actual cold foil unit - has pick-up and unwinding units for applying the foil. Together with the sheet, the foil is fed into the printing nip between the blanket and impression cylinders and transferred to the adhesive-coated surfaces by means of pressure. After the carrier foil is removed, the metal layer remains on the substrate. Another advantage for quick changeovers: both printing units are immediately available for printing again after the cold foil application. www.heidelberg.com
Sabine Flaxman

 
Paper I Mondi is one of the first European paper producers with a ColorLok license for six of its brands. 
ColorLok stands for improved paper quality and therefore outstanding printing results. The technology aims to enable better paper for better printing results. As the quality of the paper is extremely important to achieve optimal results, Mondi, one of the world's leading paper producers, supports the quality standards of ColorLok papers. By adding special additives, Mondi papers with ColorLok technology enable significant improvements in print quality on inkjet printers: richer, crisper images and shorter drying times. The papers also offer reliable runnability on printing and copying machines, regardless of inkjet or laser technology. The ColorLok initiative is Mondi's response to the growing demand for a better multifunctional office paper in the premium segment. Office papers certified with the ColorLok logo must meet high quality requirements in terms of print quality as well as physical and electrostatic properties. The first Mondi brands with ColorLok technology are the premium office papers IQ and Maestro: IQ Triotec premium, IQ Triotec unique, IQ selection smooth, Maestro trio extra, Maestro supreme and Maestro triotec TCF, which meet the new quality standard. (sf)