Last week, 40 young creatives from ten European countries gathered in Stockholm for the «BestYET – Best Young European Team» competition. Switzerland was represented by Martina Kunz and Michael Holzgang from the Lysser agency in flagranti, and Patric Franz and Patrick Ryffel from the Bern-based agency Freiburghaus und Partner. They had 24 hours to develop newspaper advertisements for the Lego «Bionicle» figures. The briefing was presented personally by Sweden’s LEGO CEO, Esben Stærk Jørgensen. Working under time pressure, the Swiss team put a lot of effort into their ideas, but the jury ultimately chose other entries. The winners were Miranda Abs and Zoe Hough from England, who took first place with two entries. One demonstrates that parents can use the Bionicles not only to create something annoying—like an oversized nose—but also to pass on something positive to their children. The second concept shows how children can use Bionicles to build an ant. Second place went to the second team from England, Enrique Reija and Borja Alvarez. Julien Coissinot and Nicolas Pontacq (TBWA/MAP) from France took third place with their entry.
Andreas Prokesch, former president of the Art Directors Club Switzerland, represented Switzerland on the European jury. The jury also included Sébastien Vacherot (Chairman and Head of Creation, TBWA/MAP, France), Niels de Kuiper (TBWA/Neboko, Netherlands), Lin Stromsheim (Copywriter, Bates, Norway), Nikola Zinic (Creative Director, Bruketa&ZinicOM, Croatia), Stef Jones (Big Al’s Creative Emporium, United Kingdom), Frank Marinus (Creative Director, TBWA, Belgium), Dennis May (Creative Director, DDB, Germany), and Karin Kammlander (Member of the Board, Creative Club Austria (CCA)). The jury president was Tove Langseth (Creative Director, Lowe Brindfors, Sweden).
The «Best YET» competition is organized by European newspaper marketers and associations, who aim to foster an interest in newspaper advertising among young creatives. The Swiss participants qualified through the «Das kann nur ein Inserat» competition, which is organized by the Swiss Press Association. The young creatives received their invitation to the Swedish capital from Publicitas Publimedia. You can read more about «Best YET» in the upcoming issue of Werbewoche.
Top photo: Winners Miranda Abbs and Zoe Hough from Lean Mean Fighting Machine in England
Photo below: The Swiss participants, from left to right: Patric Franz, Michael Holzgang, Patrick Ryffel, and Martina Kunz

The winning entry for 2008:

 
Over the next few weeks, UBS will be focusing its communication efforts entirely on King Football: the employee testimonials will be scaled back, but a major campaign will be launched for this year's European Football Championship. The TV commercial for the big bank's footballing presence celebrated its premiere on Monday. It is part of a wide-ranging campaign in which UBS wants to awaken football fever and the anticipation of the European Championship in the country.
At the heart of the Publicis concept is the idea of an oversized football pitch that will cover the whole of Switzerland in June. The TV commercial is the centerpiece of the broad-based campaign: the first posters have been adorning Swiss airports since the beginning of April. All offices have been refitted to match the campaign. Until the kick-off on June 7, giant posters will be put up in several Swiss cities and raffles will be held for tickets to the so-called UBS Arena. With these public viewing events at 16 locations, the big bank is deliberately focusing its sponsorship activities around the European Football Championship on the whole of Switzerland and not just the host cities. The statements appearing in the commercials and on posters, such as "Right in the middle of the football festival", are intended to invite people to visit a UBS Arena.
With its "Mittendrin" campaign, the crisis-ridden bank not only wants to engage in traditional brand management via advertising messages, but also in so-called "engagement building". The UBS Arena is an ideal activation tool with a broad impact, according to a statement from the big bank. In view of the recent crises, UBS is setting a new tone with its football appearance (see:
UBS takes it easy
)>> TV commercial to watch

 Ruckstuhl Garagen AG has entrusted Marti & Partner with the overall communication for the brand and the eight associated garages. The choice was made after a multi-stage agency evaluation. In addition to events, classic advertising, public relations and promotions, the Zurich advertising experts from Mühle Tiefenbrunnen will also be using various direct marketing and customer relationship management measures for the new client. The self-image of the largest Opel dealer is to be expressed under the motto "With us, everything happens in a jiffy", according to a press release. Initial measures have already been implemented, partly in collaboration with the well-known radio weatherman Peter Wick. Further activities will follow during the early summer and in the fall.

 Werbeanstalt Schweiz AG can announce three new clients: Switzerland's largest real estate service provider Wincasa, the private bank RBS Coutts Bank Ltd. and the florist Zürcher Blumenmarkt. The latter will open a 50,000 square meter flower market in Brüttisellen at the end of 2008 with the largest product range in Switzerland, as the agency announced on Tuesday

 
Some news takes longer: as we learned in May, Richard Beaven has been the new head of the Initiative Worldwide media agency network since March, taking over from Alec Gerster. This makes him head of the regional managers and the global leadership team, in which he will define strategies and developments for the future. According to the press release, Beaven has set out to realign Initiative as a company and to be active in the fields of media, marketing and digital at the same time. The agency has 2,500 employees worldwide and has offices in Carouge and Wallisellen in Switzerland.
Beaven joined Initiative in September 2006. Previously, he was deputy managing director at Mediavest USA. In this position, he was responsible for the Starcom Mediavest Group's Procter & Gamble account and the development of digital agency resources. Prior to Procter & Gamble, he was Senior Vice President of the Coca Cola account at Mediavest.
In 2002, Richard Beaven played an important role in the transformation of Leo Burnett Media into a separate company (Starcom) and the subsequent merger with the subsidiary Motive to form Starcom Motive. Beaven studied economics, advertising and marketing at Bristol Polytechnic in England.

 This summer, the Swiss private station 3+ will show the first season of its own development "Bauer, ledig, sucht...". The show will be hosted by a familiar face: Andrea Jansen, formerly seen on the screen with "Joya rennt" and "Musicstar," is returning to TV after a break from her studies. The new 3+ format deals with farmers looking for a relationship, following the pattern of shows such as "Bauer sucht". Of these, seven are nominated for the show and portrayed. Then it's the turn of the interested ladies in front of the screens: they apply in writing to the respective desired partner. The bachelors can invite female candidates to get to know them. The time in the countryside will not be a romantic vacation, however, as 3+ promises: the applicants must prove that they can lend a hand in the field and in the barn and thus have the chance to win not only the recognition, but perhaps also the heart of the farmer for themselves. The docusoap is produced by Faro TV.

 Many people are licking their fingers after Apple's cult iPhone handset. Until now, anyone in this country who wanted to own one of the stylish devices had to rely on eBay or a nice uncle from America who brought it back with him on his trip to Switzerland. But now things are getting tight in England and the USA too: the iPhone can no longer be ordered in Apple's online stores there. The phone is sold out in the Apple Stores for these countries, the company announced over the Whitsun weekend. Various media outlets are now speculating that the supply bottlenecks could mean an imminent generation change. The next edition of the iPhone will possibly be presented as early as June and will probably be UMTS-capable. Apple has also often reduced or cleared its stocks shortly before the launch of new products or models. The next few weeks will show whether the rumors are true or whether the technology company's managers have simply miscalculated the quantities. One thing is certain: the wave of speculation can only benefit the popularity of the wonder phone.

 The computer scientist dismissed in the context of the child pornography affair at Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) has resorted to unusual means to get his job back: He has started a sit-in in front of the RSR buildings in Lausanne. As the management had forbidden him to carry out his action in the parking lot of the radio building, the man is now sitting diagonally across the street. He has set up his sit-in for an indefinite period of time. He even wants to go on hunger strike during Euro 08. With this drastic action, he wants to force the management to reinstate him. He was dismissed after he made it public at the beginning of March that a member of the RSR management had downloaded child pornography from the Internet. A strike threat by the station's employees over the same issue was suspended a month ago (see ).

 
After a pitch, the Zurich agency Rotor is able to develop a new olive brand for the specialty retailer Dumet. The company is undertaking this effort with a view to expanding abroad. The work includes the development of the logo including claim, the redesign of the packaging for the twelve olive varieties as well as the development of all communication media for the launch campaign in Austria.In addition, tastings and introductory price campaigns are planned in 26 Super Spar stores to raise awareness. The central medium is an A6 leaflet, which introduces each olive variety and provides information on taste, cultivation region and production process. Dumet AG has specialized in the selection, refinement and distribution of Mediterranean specialties for over 30 years.
Responsible at Dumet:
Josef Arnold (Head of Marketing and Sales) and Ueli Dubs (Chairman of the Board of Directors and owner). Responsible at Rotor Agentur für Kommunikation: Alexander Gessert (CD), Sascha Kieslinger (AD), Sandra Eichenberger (Desktop), Luca Santarossa (Consulting), Suzanne Regez (Consulting Assistance) and Martin Hauser (Production). Photo: Matthias Auer, Auer Fotostudio. Leaflet/Flyer:

 
The whisky brand Chivas Regal, which belongs to Pernod Ricard, awarded the advertising mandate to the international agency network Euro RSCG after a competitive pitch. With a turnover of 1.5 billion dollars, the spirits brand is in eighth place worldwide in terms of sales. According to the report in Advertising Age, the advertising budget won amounts to around 90 million dollars and it is not yet clear what the budget win means for Euro RSCG Switzerland. However, CEO Frank Bodin expects orders in the "probably small to medium range", as he told Werbewoche. The campaigns will be managed from outside Switzerland.
TBWA/Chiat/Day looked after the Chivas brand for 14 years. The last campaign, called "The Chivas Life", associated the brand with a luxurious lifestyle and was primarily run in a web TV format on the Internet. According to Adage.com, TWBA remains on Pernod Ricard's payroll, handling brands such as Jameson and Seagram's.

 
The Zurich dialog marketing agency Brüngger Bachmann Dialog was commissioned by the Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank BLKB to develop a new concept for the communicative support of customers from the children and youth segment. The implementation now centers on an Internet microsite where special offers can be downloaded, as well as a BLKB profit card that serves as a pass for obtaining the offers. This gives customers access to attractive services that change periodically, such as discounts on the night bus, free admission to the swimming pool or the Basel Zoo. The BLKB Profit Program is available in four different versions and differs both in terms of color and content. It is also divided into age groups. According to the press release, the program is intended to intensify customer contact in a sympathetic manner and to achieve long-term customer loyalty. /
Responsible at BLKB:
Samuel Holzach (overall responsibility), Olga Eggimann and Jutta Langlotz (project management). Responsible at Brüngger Bachmann Dialog: Remo Bachmann (CD), Christoph Bohn and Urs Obrist (text and concept), Manuela Eigenmann (graphics & screen design), Daniel Brüngger, Liv Bianchet and Margot Vögele (consulting). Programming of the microsite: Unic Internet Solutions. Production of the Profitcard: Baumer AG.

 
The Zurich agency Startbahnwest has rebuilt the communication world of the Jemalt 13+13 brand for Wander. The image concept of "Ovomaltine with vitamins" was completely revised and the appearance was given a new look, but in such a way that the core of the brand remains the same. The imagery has been designed in such a way that it can be used for different target groups and themes and depending on the time of year, according to the press release. The central visual motifs are families and schoolchildren, who are portrayed in an open, lively and emotional way. The redesign also includes a wide range of promotional materials, from brochures to displays. The work can be seen in specialist media and in pharmacies and drugstores in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. Responsible at Wander:
Christina Kieni Römer (Marketing Manager) and Esther Baumgartner (Product Manager Jemalt). Responsible at Startbahnwest: Zoe Maritz and Yves Burgener (consulting), Rüdiger Flothmann (CD), Christine Manger (AD), Gesine Dittrich (graphics), Natasa Maricic (text), Joely Tafanalo (DTP), Alex Colle (photographer), Frank Wirnsberger (hair and make-up) and Susanne Eckert (styling).