Automobil Christa Löpfe has designed and realized a new customer magazine for Toyota. 
"Welcome to the Toyota family!" This greeting was the core of the briefing for Philipp Rhomberg, CEO of Toyota AG, for his customer magazine. Christa Löpfe's media office was to give it a new form. The ideas of the former editor-in-chief of Annabelle were convincing. "Christa Löpfe's concept corresponded exactly to my idea of a professionally produced magazine," says Philipp Rhomberg happily. Löpfe returns the compliment: "I was lucky that the magazine concept and its implementation were approved and supported unchanged and without compromise."
Toyota's customer magazine has a long tradition. Walter Frey, who built up Toyota AG over forty years ago, was one of the first in Switzerland to have the idea of publishing a magazine specifically for his customers.
The "welcome" has been the program ever since. However, the language in the new magazine has become even more personal with the consistent use of the "we" form. "The content not only informs, it should also entertain, touch people emotionally and benefit Toyota customers. That's why there are no so-called lifestyle topics in the magazine that have nothing to do with Toyota. All articles are related to the sender or to life in, around and with the car," adds editor-in-chief Löpfe, who is also responsible for the production, organization and coordination of the magazine.
Well-known journalists such as Stephanie Riedi, Philipp Löpfe, Matthias Mächler and Katja Alves were recruited for editorial work. In-house at Toyota, employees provided input and contributions for their new customer magazine, in particular Mark Strähl, Head of the Toyota PR & Sponsoring department, and Press Manager Emanuel Steinbeck.
Löpfe also had a clear idea of the magazine's design. "I wanted to move away from the visual appearance of an annual report and towards a journalistic product." This was "adequately implemented" together with art director Chris Burkhard. Daniel Soldenhoff was responsible for the image processing and final artwork and Beatrice Mächler for the image editing. The proofreading was done by Text Control and the translations by Marco Gehring and Jean-Paul Scherer. The first issue was printed by AVD Goldach. Published twice a year, the Toyota magazine has a print run of 190,000 copies and is published in German, Italian and French. It can be ordered via
Andreas Panzeri

 SRG announced on Tuesday that its board members will earn roughly the same this year as in 2007. The management, on the other hand, can probably hope for more pay: The freeze on basic salary increases that has been in place for the past two years was lifted at the beginning of 2008, as Blick reported on Wednesday. The basic salaries for the ten-person management team for 2008 have already been set. However, the figures will not be published until next spring with the 2008 annual report. There does not seem to be too much in it for the SRG bosses: spokesman Daniel Steiner told Blick that there will be "no big jumps". According to Blick, SRG Director General Armin Walpen earned CHF 540,000 last year, compared to CHF 534,000 the year before. According to Blick, the average salary of the other members of the Executive Board rose from CHF 364,000 to CHF 372,000. The slight increase was made possible by higher performance-related components, as the pay freeze only applied to the basic salary.

 
Packaging printing KBA has been the market leader in sheetfed offset presses for packaging printing for many years.   
The demands placed on packaging printing have increased in recent years. Packaging should stand out at the POS, ensure a high degree of recognition and still be able to be produced at reasonable prices. Rapida presses in all format classes up to the 2-meter Rapida 205 are suitable for display printing. There are many reasons for the Rapidas' strong market position. They range from the substrate flexibility of the Rapida presses and their predecessors to the extensive know-how in the field of coating finishing, process innovations, robust engineering and individual solutions for integrated substrate logistics that these presses offer.Features for high performanceThe basis for printing on thick cardboard, corrugated board or plastic sheets is the lean sheet travel. The necessary unit design with double-size impression cylinders and transfer systems was introduced back in 1965 at what is now the KBA plant in Radebeul. It creates the prerequisites for processing medium and large-format cardboard up to 1.2 mm thick, microwave even up to 1.6 mm thick and, with suitably modified cylinders, even much thicker beer felts. However, the basic design of a machine is not everything. There are also features that ensure high output, a wide range of finishing options, integrated logistics and end-to-end quality control in packaging printing. Here, too, KBA has a lot to offer.
Precise controlMachines with single or multiple coatings are now standard in packaging printing. Whether dispersion or UV coating, surface, panel or spot coating - everything is possible with the chambered doctor blade coating units. New techniques such as the hybrid process with its matt/gloss effects have been developed and perfected to market maturity at KBA. Coating changes and cleaning are now done quickly. This also applies to changing the coating formes or chambered doctor blades. Coating plate changes have long been automated on Rapida presses, whether in medium or large format. The coating application quantity and quality can be precisely controlled with a wide variety of anilox rollers. Rapida presses have also been emission-tested since 2000 and have been awarded the eco-certificate recognized by the relevant authorities in many countries.
In addition to coating, Rapida presses with the appropriate equipment can cut, perforate, number and even die-cut. A tried-and-tested corona tower is available for the trouble-free processing of plastic materials.
Connecting to overall conceptsThick and rigid substrates demand a lot from printing presses and operators. Here, too, a range of KBA specialties is available: In addition to the manual non-stop version at the feeder, an automatic version is also available for Rapida presses. Here, a rake located under the suction belt table is moved between the residual pile and the pallet. This rake lifts the residual pile further. A major advantage of the lowerable non-stop roller blind in the delivery is that it runs in in the direction of sheet travel and therefore works particularly reliably. Stoppers are therefore much rarer than with other methods. The lowering function provides sufficient time for the pile change. Both automation modules develop their full productivity when they are used together with automated pile logistics. A wide variety of logistics components can be combined to create efficient and user-oriented overall concepts.
Monitoring by means of RFIDAn innovation which KBA will be presenting at Drupa is the PileTronic RFID system. This provides the first components for RFID-monitored substrate logistics by identifying and recording pallets at the feeder and delivery. A read/write device is installed at the feeder which records the order-related identification number stored on a chip in the pallet and makes it professionally available to the MIS/PPS via LogoTronic for post-calculation, scheduling and material logistics. In addition, KBA PileTronic RFID can be used to track the location of all substrate pallets in the production facility.
Packaging printing places the highest demands on quality. Color variations, register differences, toning, stencils and hickeys must not affect the packaging and therefore the image of the branded article. This requires consistent quality control and regulation with corresponding documentation. KBA has been offering this for years with its Quali-Tronic inline sheet inspection system. It enables seamless inspection of the printed sheets. A new addition is DensiTronic PDF, which scans the complete sheet on the DensiTronic console and compares it with an approved PDF. Decades of close and successful cooperation with international packaging groups have led to KBA being recognized as the number one in sheetfed offset packaging printing. For the near and more distant future KBA has many interesting solutions in the pipeline for enhancing quality and efficiency, for new fields of application and for the increasingly important issue of brand protection.
Sabine Flachsmann

 
Poultry Ruf Lanz brings chicken from the Thurgau company Frifag onto the screen and out of anonymity with a TV commercial series. 
One egg is like another, and it's not much different with chickens. Nevertheless, there is also the famous small difference in chickens. But you usually only notice them when you eat them. The chicken produced by poultry manufacturer Frifag is considered "first class". The company in Märwil, Thurgau, is not an organic farm, but one of the largest poultry producers in Switzerland. Nevertheless, Frifag does an extraordinary amount for the quality of life of its chickens and turkeys. From feed and husbandry to comprehensive hygiene measures. And instead of being reared in large centralized fattening farms, the chicks are reared on 88 farms throughout Switzerland.

The result: Frifag's farmers know their chickens from egg to slaughter and can therefore guarantee exceptionally high meat quality.
On a first-name basis with the chickenYou can only control what you know. This is where Ruf Lanz's freshly hatched image campaign for Frifag comes in: A series of TV commercials humorously exaggerates how thoroughly Frifag's farmers know their chicken, from an early age.
The farmer's wife is overjoyed at the birth of a chick, while the farmer flashes his camera somewhat overzealously into the idyll. Or the farmer's son explains to his father that Erwin the chicken is heartbroken because of a problematic love triangle with Poulet Berta and Poulet Fredi. And finally, a visit by father and son to a supermarket leads to a happy reunion with Poulet Heinz - in the refrigerated section.
Ruf Lanz is very happy about the commercials featuring more or less happy chickens. The collaboration between Frifag and Ruf Lanz was "refreshingly direct and constructive", explains Markus Ruf. The crew around director Patrick Senn and Condor succeeded in capturing the unconventional stories on film without the usual Heidi clichés from agricultural advertising. In addition to countless chickens, 220 people were also cast to create an exciting balance of characters within the three-headed farming family. Fun fact: "The farming family likes their chickens so much that they have even taken on a subtle resemblance to them," reveals Danielle Lanz.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Ecology High gloss and ecology can be sensibly combined. This was demonstrated by Ivo Druck AG at a customer event in Buchs. 
Ecologically sensible action is currently a much-discussed and topical issue. The printing industry is also concerned with this, as the raw material wood forms the basis for paper production. In many cases, ecology and economy are difficult to reconcile, and weighing up costs and environmental protection becomes a balancing act for companies.Commitment to the environmentIn order to give consumers the opportunity to act in an environmentally friendly and economically sensible way, the non-profit organization FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) was founded in 1993. The independent organization is committed to globally valid rules to ensure the ecologically and socially correct production of wood. The FSC label, which may only be used by companies that have successfully passed the certification process, serves as a sign of this. This creates a seamless production chain that can be traced at any time, from the origin of the wood to paper production and printing.
Ivo Druck has been FSC-certified since July 2006, which means it is allowed to process FSC paper and print the coveted label. The proportion of FSC paper used in production is constantly increasing. To further promote the trend, Ivo Druck organized a customer event on the subject of FSC at its production facilities in Buchs. The paper wholesaler Antalis provided background information on the label in an exciting specialist presentation. In addition, the interested participants were able to get an idea of the various FSC paper types for themselves using numerous paper samples. The range is now huge. Different surfaces, paper thicknesses and colors are available.
Quality and environmental protectionThe wide range of products makes it possible to produce even the highest quality printed matter using FSC paper. High gloss and ecology are therefore not mutually exclusive. This is a very important aspect for Ivo Druck, as the printing company is known as a provider of high-quality print products. Elaborate finishes and razor-sharp image quality can also be achieved on FSC paper. By opting for FSC paper, Ivo Druck customers not only receive the usual high quality, they also make an active contribution to protecting the environment.
Sabine Flaxman

 Defeat for Laxey at Publigroupe's Annual General Meeting: on Wednesday, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected the hedge fund's proposal to lift the restriction on registration and voting rights. 83.63 percent of the votes said no to the British company's proposal to lift the current restriction of 5 percent. The 104 shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in Lausanne, representing 53.28% of the capital, thus supported the Publigroupe Board of Directors by a large majority.
The latter has rejected a change to the restriction on registration and voting rights on the grounds that the current regulation is crucial for protecting the company's independence. In addition, the restriction on registration and voting rights is in the interests of the company's owners as well as its partners and customers (see
). Chairman of the Board of Directors Philippe Pidoux welcomed the shareholders' clear decision in a press release. The Annual General Meeting also approved all other proposals of the Board of Directors with clear majorities, as Publigroupe also announced. The proposed increase in the dividend from CHF 12 to CHF 13 was approved. Finally, the Annual General Meeting elected Etienne Jornod, Muri bei Bern, as a new member of the company's Board of Directors and confirmed the existing members Christian Budry, Gerhart Isler and Felix Weber in their positions.

 
TV research Whether Bluewin TV, DVB-T or video on demand: Mediapulse can measure them all Although the reception of analog TV signals is still the norm in Swiss households, according to the 2007 KommTech study, around one fifth of Swiss TV viewers are now tuned in to digital - via satellite (DVB-S), home antenna (DVB-T), TV cable (DVB-C) or telephone line (IPTV). As a result of the SRG switching the terrestrial distribution of its TV signals from analog to digital last year, DVB-T has received a boost, particularly in French-speaking Switzerland. However, DVB-C and IPTV are also being promoted. Swisscom, for example, hopes to double the number of BluewinTV subscribers to at least 140,000 by the end of 2008, which would correspond to almost five percent of all Swiss households. A completely new situation with regard to digital TV reception will arise if mobile TV (DVB-H) also proves popular.
Mediapulse AG also wants to keep up with this rapid development. The company, which is responsible for TV usage research in Switzerland, has therefore recently upgraded its TV panel so that all households with digital TV can now also be measured. "Since mid-April 2008, the Telecontrol data now also includes complete live digital usage on the TV screen at home," says Mediapulse CEO Manuel Dähler. Specifically, it is now also possible to record the range of programs that flicker into homes via BluewinTV or newer set-top boxes.
Mediapulse has already measured the majority of digital TV usage. Digital reception via satellite, for example, did not present any problems. The situation was different for cable reception, where new set-top box models made measurement more difficult or even impossible. Overall, around a quarter of digital TV households or a maximum of four to six percent of all Swiss TV households were not or not fully covered by April.
The completion of the TV measurement was made possible thanks to a new approach: instead of just recording the signals from the set-top box, the focus is now on the TV screen. The Telecontrol system "reads" the channel number and logo, among other things. This method also makes it possible to measure new forms of usage that are only made possible by digital reception, such as video on demand or time-shifted television using DVD and hard disk recorders. "We are already collecting the corresponding raw data, but we are still analyzing it and will only release it later," says Dähler. Conventions first have to be agreed, for example on the question of how time-shifted television should be offset against live television.
The measurement gaps in digital TV have been an issue in Switzerland on several occasions. The discussion flared up again recently when SF Director Ingrid Deltenre from Mediapulse publicly demanded an explanation for the decline in SF ratings since the beginning of the year. She suspects a connection with the new digital terrestrial distribution of SF programs (DVB-T).     
 
Markus Knöpfli

 
Book Benjamin Bartels and Maximilian Kohler went on the road as journeymen graphic designers in America. How the internship became a journey.  
The Walz, popularly known as the journeyman's journey, has a long tradition in Europe. In the 12th century, the first craftsmen set off to learn abroad. Today, however, the custom is only practiced by carpenters. In their typical garb - wide-brimmed hats and black flared pants - they wander the country in search of masters. Two designers from Germany prove that a waltz is not just a matter for a trade guild. Benjamin Bartels and Maximilian Kohler embarked on a graphic design journey about a year ago. As part of their studies at Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences, the two students went on a journey to deepen their knowledge in agencies abroad. "We wanted to follow the idea of the Walz," says Bartels. Just as carpenters are subject to a strict set of rules, the graphics students also wanted to establish one in order to give the project a certain seriousness. The most important guiding principle was the "two plus one" rule. "Never stay in one place for more than two weeks and one day," explains Bartels.
They were based on the walking time of carpenters who, according to guild regulations, now travel for two years and one day. For Maximilian Kohler and Benjamin Bartels, however, the "two plus one" rule had a temporal purpose: "We wanted to get to know as many customs, beer brands and other keyboard assignments as possible."
The two students chose the Autopista Panamericana, the intercontinental highway that connects North and South America, for their journeyman's piece. There were various reasons for choosing the Panamericana. On the one hand, it seemed possible for the graphic designers to complete the 17,000-kilometer route in six months due to the road conditions. Secondly, it allowed contact with a wide variety of cultures and social classes. The most important criterion, however, was that the German passport is recognized as a 90-day visa in most American countries.
To help Bartels and Kohler get to work on the road, they gave themselves the internationally understandable name "Gringografico" and set up a website that served as a digital business card.
On July 7, 2005, the time had come. Equipped with the bare essentials, the duo set off on their journey across America from Vancouver. Just like their fellow craftsmen, they even had their own outfit. Wearing sporty black clothing and carrying a bright yellow belt bag, they knocked on agency doors. The bag contained the so-called rolling book, in which they had received their certificates from the master craftsmen and which ultimately also served as a sketchbook. The idea obviously appealed to many agency bosses. Creative Director Jell Helm from W+K: "A ballsy, fucked-up, optimistic idea."

To start their work as graphic artisans, the graphic day laborers had a laptop, a digital camera, a camcorder and sketchpads with them. The two adventurers recently told an Orell Füssli event in Zurich that finding work had never been a problem. "In the end, the implementation showed us the limits very clearly," says Bartels. "Instead of a printer, we used pen and paper. The digital camera served as a scanner. Photo shoots didn't take place in the studio, but on rusty washing machines in the garden. An Ikea curtain served as the background," says Kohler.
Bartels and Kohler worked their way through eleven countries and four time zones. In the process, they discovered that people work differently on the American continent than in Germany. Benjamin Bartels says: "Advertising on the American continent is not based on concepts and briefings. First and foremost, everything has to be simple. The ideas that originated in our German minds and those that work in American minds were sometimes worlds apart."
Bartels and Kohler were able to deepen their knowledge in 14 agencies. They were only allowed to implement a few ideas during their time on the road that were actually used by clients. "We mostly helped the agency staff with day-to-day things to take the pressure off them," says Bartels.
Convincing the agencies was not always easy. The renowned advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, for example, was a big nut to crack. Although the two journeymen had contact addresses, it proved almost impossible to convince the "dragon" at reception. Wieden + Kennedy is the largest agency in Portland and one of the largest in the USA. A construct with a huge organization. "After annoying phone calls and persistent e-mail correspondence, we ended up at W+K 12," recalls Bartels.
This subdivision of the agency is an internal school. Every year, twelve applicants are selected from thousands to work together as an independent agency for real clients. Bartels and Kohler were allowed to help build a creative donut mini-golf hole.
A documentation of their adventures, which is also their diploma thesis, was published as a book entitled "Gringografico - on the road for food and fame!". The publisher Hermann Schmidt has published their anecdotes as a diary. A must-read for all those who want to undertake a similar journey in times of globalization. Photo series, sketches, illustrations and commentaries flow together to form an impressive overall picture of this pioneering achievement. The book comes in a bright yellow belt pouch, just like the two heroes actually wore on their journey. The book by Bartels and Kohler was awarded a silver nail by ADC Germany at the beginning of April.
 
Christian Lüscher

 
The homeowner magazine Neue Ideen, published by Filippo Leutenegger, is extending the contact hours for its legal advice service. From May, the free legal advice service will also be available to Neue Ideen subscribers in the afternoons from Monday to Friday. The expansion is due to strong demand, writes the magazine in a press release on Wednesday. The service can now also be accessed by email. The magazine has also been given a thicker cover and now has four more pages. Under the direction of lawyer Lukas Kramer, a service section will provide information on particularly frequent legal disputes. The free publication is aimed at homeowners of all kinds and will be published eleven times a year from 2008 with a circulation of 630,000 copies. The magazine's publisher and managing director is Filippo Leutenegger, ex-CEO of Jean Frey and former editor-in-chief of Swiss television.

 
Office Zurich is becoming increasingly popular as a business location. Locations close to the airport are particularly attractive for many companies. Of course, it is even better to have your offices directly on the airport site. With a total of one million square meters of rentable space, the airport operator Unique is one of the major players in the Swiss real estate sector. Last year, Unique entrusted Weber Harbeke with the communication of its real estate offering in order to make this attractive business location known to those responsible in the companies. The campaign that has now been continued dramatizes the fact that these properties are not just close to the airport, but right in the middle of it. And thus, as the claim puts it, closer to the world. So close that you can almost see the landmarks of San Francisco, London, Barcelona, Rome and Dubai through the window.

 
Packaging Highly refined packaging is all the rage. The Model Group's customer symposium was held under the motto "Glitter & Glamor". 
Innovative packaging solutions made from solid and corrugated cardboard are the core business of the Model Group. The company produces a wide range of different packaging solutions at its sites. In addition to transport packaging and displays, these include highly refined cardboard boxes for food, confectionery, cosmetics and perfumes. The development and production of high-quality sales and presentation packaging is one of the specialties of Model PrimePac in Au and Model Kramp in Hanau, Germany. Exciting specialist presentations in the morning and an interesting factory tour of Model PrimePac AG in the afternoon gave participants the opportunity to gather ideas and find out about the wide range of finishing techniques on site.Underestimated mediumWith the words: "We want to show you at this symposium how we can finish packaging," Elisabeth Model, CEO of Model PrimePac AG, welcomed the more than 50 participants. Gold, glitter and mica are words that have always fired the imagination and fascinated people all over the world, Model continued. However, the decisive factor is whether the product also has the value that it radiates. The aim is therefore to develop and produce packaging that suits the product on the one hand and also takes ecological aspects into account on the other, she emphasized.
With his presentation "Packaging, the underestimated medium", Bernd M. Michael, one of Europe's renowned brand professionals, took up the cudgels for packaging. "People talk about all media, but there are far too few figures on the impact of packaging," said Michael. He could not understand why the packaging industry was doing so little about this and not finally putting the medium of packaging in the right light. The industry should therefore take the fairy tale "Clothes make the man" to heart like the Bible.
Technology as a creativity killer "80% of packaging today is colourless, confusingly similar and therefore interchangeable," criticized Michael. Michael sees one reason for this situation in the areas of responsibility within companies. As a rule, technology and not marketing is responsible for packaging. However, this means that the focus is on stackability and transportability rather than attractive design. The controllers, who make decisions based on cost rather than marketing aspects, also have far too much influence. They are the real bosses of the marketing departments. In market research tests, the cliché always wins and rarely the unusual. And the design ultimately gets lost in formal aspects. Michael cited the standardized bottle, which was introduced in Germany a few years ago, as an example of the destruction of brand differentiation. However, the brand needs the power of distinctiveness, he appealed to the participants. Michael is convinced that many old and very well-known brands, which are known for their unmistakable packaging, do not stand a chance with the controllers today. However, brand differentiation is absolutely essential due to the fierce cut-throat competition that exists in almost all product categories today.
Being uniqueMichael also warned of the danger posed by private labels. These increasingly look like established brands, but are much cheaper. In the future, private labels would ride in the slipstream of established brands even more systematically and copy packs. Brands must therefore make their packaging unique and unmistakable, he emphasized. "The pack is the most concentrated advertising unit and ideally the core of the brand world. It is also a way out of the daily threat of trivialization."
Michael described the perfumers as kings who always knew how to skillfully emphasize the personality of the brand with the packaging. He cited the triangular shape of Toblerone, the square packaging of Ritter Sport chocolate and the Maggi bottle as examples of distinctiveness. In Germany, 50,000 brands are advertised. However, the average adult's vocabulary is only 3,000 words, which means that a lot of information is no longer absorbed. "We have to help people. The uniqueness of a pack is one way." In recent years, some well-known brands have even succeeded in establishing the pack as a status symbol and positioning a purely functional product as a high-quality gift. This is the case with the packaging of Faber-Castell's colored pencils and pencils or Bosch's screwdrivers, which are packaged in a high-quality tin box.
New effects with pigmentsThe presentation by Corinna Ludwig, Merck (Switzerland) Ltd, entitled "Activate, differentiate, position - challenges in marketing" was dedicated to the power of colors. Colors are sensory impressions, visions, ideas and emotions and part of the respective culture, she said. "We have also stored brand images in certain colors in our heads." The perception of color in connection with certain effects is also the same for most people. Blue stands for fresh and cool, red for warm and cozy and yellow for fun and sunny. With effect pigments, it is possible to create an additional layer and add a new dimension to the effect of a color. With such pigments, natural effects such as mother-of-pearl sheen or glitter effects can be reproduced and used for the coloring of products. Tests have shown that blue with an effect stands for innovation, while blue without an effect stands for status.
Ludwig criticized the fact that so-called colour trends are used too little in practice for product positioning. Currently, silver tones are very popular, with which the observer associates high-tech, functionality and design. As an example of how colors can be used as an individual sales tool, Ludwig presented the Japanese packaging of a single cigarette brand. Different colored flower motifs on the packs allow the consumer to choose the pack according to her respective outfit. A strategy that was a complete success, at least with the female buyers.    
Sabine Flaxman
Model GroupThe Model Group, which operates in the packaging business and is headquartered in Weinfelden/TG, achieved consolidated Group sales of 700 million Swiss francs (+17.3%) in the past financial year.
The Group consists of 20 subsidiaries in seven countries and employs 2,861 people. Investments of over CHF 100 million are planned for this year, of which the fundamental renovation of the corrugated cardboard plant in Czosnów near Warsaw and the construction of the new Model Kramp GmbH plant in Hanau are the largest single investments.

 
TV research Mediapulse measures digital TV from the screen. But there are other methods. An overview. 
Mediapulse, the foundation for radio and TV research that has been active for a year, is gearing up for the digital future and must therefore decide on a measurement method. Firstly, it installs stationary measuring instruments in the TV sets of panel households, which can recognize the channels switched on using frequencies, codes and electrical voltage. The second form of measurement is carried out using mobile devices (small box or wristwatch) worn by the panelists. The built-in microphones pick up ambient noise, including radio and TV sound, and reduce it to codes (audio matching). In a control center, the same is done with all available programs. The codes of the measuring devices are then compared with those of the control center, allowing the programs used to be identified. The Radiocontrol clock, which is used in Switzerland for radio and sometimes also for TV measurement, works according to this method.
Digital technology per se does not pose a fundamental problem for either form of measurement. However, since the technology has many different standards, it also makes new forms of use and offerings possible and the number of receivable programs is increasing exponentially, new solutions are needed, of which the five most important methods are presented here.
Audio matchingSome places rely entirely on audio matching (as described above). However, this requires huge computer capacities at the headquarters in order to record, encode and compare hundreds of available stations with the measurement data. For comparison: Mediapulse currently records around 180 radio and TV stations using this method.
CodingIn the second approach, the measuring device manufacturers agree with the individual TV broadcasters that, in addition to their digital signal, they will also transmit an individual code that is inaudible to the human ear (= coding). This then enables the measuring device to make the correct assignment.
InterfaceA third way is via the set-top boxes that every household needs for digital reception. These boxes are very different. However, with individually developed and subsequently installed software (= interface), the channels can be correctly assigned. Mediapulse has also previously used this solution for TV research.
SIPA fourth approach, now chosen by Mediapulse (see page 1), focuses on the screen: Only what appears there is recorded. For this purpose, the measuring box in the household is equipped with Screen Interface Processing (= SIP). SIP is a kind of scanner that - invisible to TV viewers - scans the screen second by second for information such as channel number, channel logo and other information and saves it.
SubstitutionThe fifth option is to consider a radical solution: instead of installing just a single measuring device in the panel household, almost the entire existing TV set is replaced (= substitution). Only the screen and any existing video recorder remain, but the set-top box, hard disk recorder (PVR) or DVD player (if present) are removed and replaced by other devices. Although these fulfill the same function, they are equipped with measurement technology and storage media. This allows the TV behavior of the panelists to be studied in even greater detail, right down to the volume, brightness or color tone settings on the remote control. The favorites list can also be viewed.
Possibilities and limitationsAll of these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages include the costs, which are of course particularly high in the case of device substitution. However, there are also scientific concerns about substitution: it may represent too strong an intervention and could influence the panelists' behavior instead of simply measuring it.
For the coding and interface variants, on the other hand, the measuring device manufacturers are dependent on the cooperation of the TV broadcasters or set-top box manufacturers. However, this help is sometimes difficult or impossible to obtain, especially from box manufacturers and broadcasters abroad. Those who choose these approaches therefore usually have to decide which programs they want to measure and which not. However, this also means giving up the claim to measure all TV consumption as far as possible.
The same applies to audio matching, but here the scope is limited by computer capacity. However, the method also has significant advantages: TV consumption can be measured more individually than with any other approach. TV usage outside the home can also be included.
That leaves SIP, which, like audio matching, works independently of TV channels, set-top box manufacturers and reception type, but also knows no capacity limits. The only effort required is the coordination with the range of programs available in the panel household. As SIP monitors what is happening on the screen, it can be used to measure not only live TV usage, but also time-shifted television using video recording, video on demand, DVD or PVR. This is because the channel information reappears on the screen when recorded TV programs are played back. The SIP can therefore read it in again and assign it to the original broadcasts.
If panelists view private video or DigiCam recordings on the screen, this is also recognized, partly because channel information is missing.
Several methods usedWhich of the approaches described are used depends on the measuring device manufacturers. Some also combine several variants. The Swiss Telecontrol Group, for example, which is part of the German GfK Group and also supplies the measuring devices for Mediapulse's Swiss TV panel, primarily relied on the interface variant until two years ago. Telecontrol VIII, the latest generation of measuring boxes, can also "read" around 30 set-top boxes.
"For around a year now, however, these boxes can also be equipped with SIP. Austria, for example, has been using devices with SIP since the end of 2007," says Matthias Steinmann, founder and CEO of the Telecontrol Group Telecontrol also works with the substitution method. "At the request of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fernsehforschung (AGF), the German equivalent of Mediapulse, we developed the TCScore system, which largely replaces the TV set in the panel household," says Steinmann. AGF has ordered 9,000 such TCScore substitution sets at a cost of 19 million euros. 30 test households are currently under observation. Austria has also ordered 600 TCScores, which corresponds to half of the TV panel there.
However, it is clear that even with these technologies, not all forms of usage can be measured. For example, mobile TV, streaming (Internet TV on a PC) or downloads on an iPod are not yet recorded. But according to Steinmann, Telecontrol already offers solutions for these areas too.
Markus Knöpfli
Need for clarificationWhatever TV research can measure - it cannot limit itself to the search for suitable instruments and measurement methods, but must also help to clarify at least three other fundamental questions. Namely: Should everything that is broadcast and used also be measured?
Where are the limits to measurement technology - financial and otherwise? And with regard to time-shifted television, it must be agreed (as is already the case today with repeat programs) when a program is considered to have been viewed. Only when broadcast and consumption take place simultaneously (live)? Or also when parts of it have already been used an hour earlier via cell phone? Is only what is seen on the same day counted? And how do you count what is only watched tomorrow or in a week's time? (mk)
No big differenceLike SRG, ORF in Austria also switched the terrestrial transmission of its TV signals from analog to digital (DVB-T) last year. This affected around 30 percent of all TV households, almost all of which have since switched to digital reception. GfK Austria, which is responsible for the TV panel there, has been measuring all households with digital TV using SIP since the beginning of 2008. There are no figures yet. However, TV research manager Alke Sulimma has not noticed any significant change in behavior. "Despite the greater choice now available, daily TV viewing time is trending downwards," she says. Sulimma can only speculate about the reasons at present. (mk)