Hot drinks Kraft Foods has entered into a Tassimo partnership with Bosch and presented it in style at the Dolder Grand. 
Whether it's espresso with a fine crema, a delicious cocoa specialty or latte macchiato with the typical three layers: Tassimo guarantees maximum beverage variety from a single system within your own four walls. The latest appliance can prepare eleven different varieties, including tea and cocoa. And you only need a single control button for all this. The portioning machine for Kraft Foods' luxury foods was launched in Switzerland in 2005. At that time, Kraft Foods and its big names such as Mastro Lorenzo, Jacobs, Suchard, Twinings and Hag were still working with the machine manufacturer Braun. Braun now belongs to Gillette. This company, in turn, was bought by Procter & Gamble. And because this group already serves coffee elsewhere, Kraft Foods had to find a new partner.
"This transition was not rushed, but was able to proceed smoothly," explained Daniel Meyer, Managing Director Business Unit Switzerland at Kraft Foods, at the media conference. The new partner Bosch has been in the fully automatic machine business for six years. The machine for Tassimo was developed in Germany, but the machines are built in Switzerland.
Max Leuenberger, Managing Director of Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances, Geroldswil ZH, announced that nine representatives are currently on the road every day to promote the new Tassimo to specialist retailers.
Tassimo chose Suite 100 in the newly opened Dolder Grand in Zurich as the stage for the media conference organized by Richterich & Partner. A clever move, as many journalists accepted the invitation mainly because this suite is also called the "Jagger Suite".
In future, however, such stars will no longer be used to promote Tassimo. While the competition from Nespresso advertises with an image of glamor thanks to Hollywood star George Clooney, Tassimo wants to appeal more to the masses.
At 39 centimes per capsule, Tassimo is the most attractive system in Switzerland in terms of price. The Kraft Foods product aims to score points with families in particular. The capsule has also been developed to be particularly environmentally friendly.
In Switzerland, coffee consumption is currently undergoing a "comprehensive change", as Meyer explained. For around four years now, there has been a growing trend towards closed capsule systems. Already 55 percent of new coffee machines sold use this system.
As Michael Krohn, Head of the Department of Industrial Design at ETH Zurich and Zurich University of the Arts, explained as a guest speaker at the Dolder, the coffee machine has also changed from a purely practical household appliance to a stylish object and thus a status symbol in the home. The machine has thus moved out of the kitchen and into the living room. Tassimo is responding to this trend with three different color models, which will soon be followed by a further range.
And independently of the launch of the new Tassimo, a new campaign has recently been launched for Mastro Lorenzo. The Zurich agency JWT+H+F wants to establish the former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi as a new ambassador for this Kraft Foods coffee brand, which also offers capsules for the Tassimo. This is because market research recently revealed that Swiss coffee drinkers do not identify with the entire Italian culture that Mastro Lorenzo has been using for advertising up to now. Christa Rigozzi, on the other hand, now embodies the desired brand image more precisely: she is Ticinese, the perfect symbiosis of Switzerland and Italianità. What else?
Andreas Panzeri

 The bimonthly magazine Seesicht is expanding its team. Sabine Lüthi will be working for the sales team with immediate effect. Together with Sales Manager Luciano Manuzzi, she will organize the sale of advertisements. Lüthi previously worked as a publishing representative for The Guide Company. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the magazine, which is now in its fifth year of publication and covers lifestyle topics relating to Lake Zurich, is responding to the pleasing development in the readership and advertising market with this increase in staff. At the same time, the management team has been strengthened. Publishing and event specialist Daniela von Babo is now not only responsible for financial management, but also brings her publishing, trade fair and event expertise to the management team. Von Babo was a partner in the Compress Information Group, which was sold to the Vogel Group last year, and Exhibit AG, which was sold to Reed in 1999.

 The Frauenfeld agency Koch Kommunikation has relocated. Since April 28, 2008, the agency has been working in a loft studio at Militärstrasse 4, having run out of space at its old location due to numerous new commissions, according to a press release. In addition to the change of location, there are also plans to expand the team: From July, two new faces will be joining the eight-strong team at the agency, which specializes in marketing/advertising, public relations and e-media: graphic designer Monika Beerli previously worked at Heer Druck in Sulgen. Programmer Milan Atanasovski worked for the Internet provider Backslash.

 Annoying advertising campaigns that generate consumer displeasure are often the most successful ones at the same time. In the course of the overwhelming flood of advertising with which the public is inundated today, agencies and companies not infrequently tend to deliberately overstep boundaries and break basic rules. Sometimes it is the case that shocking, perhaps even annoying advertising increases sales figures or awareness among target groups in the short term. Whether in the medium term for the enterprise image, the further product development and positioning with other target groups a positive effect develops, I dare to doubt , holds Konrad Maric, deputy chairman of the Austrian professional association for advertisement in the interview opposite Pressetext critically. In addition, the attribute "annoying" is also always subjective and is perceived differently by people.
It often happens that just poorly implemented and annoying advertising placements on TV achieve a great effect and remain in the memory of very many consumers. For example, simply designed cleaning agent commercials are familiar to almost every TV viewer. Advertising that is likeable, endearing and pleasant is a thing of the past, says Richard Huntington, strategy manager at Saatchi & Saatchi.

 
Telefon Saatchi & Saatchi Simko goes SME fishing for Orange Business Services. 
Telecoms company Orange is now offering SMEs a landline and mobile subscription from a single source. A survey conducted by the Zurich office of Saatchi & Saatchi Simko confirmed that many Swiss companies are dissatisfied with their current telephone solution. In the so-called "Lovemark Audit", Pascal Schaub and Marie-Theres Ott found out that SMEs are practically unaware of the growing range of Orange Business Services. The agency asked companies to complete a total of 40 questionnaires. The result of the qualitative study: Swiss SMEs can spontaneously imagine a better future for their business if they were to switch to Orange.
"Five out of six companies answer the question in the affirmative," says Schaub. What is strategically important is that thousands of SMEs are waiting for things to improve. In communicating the proposed solutions, the creatives took their cue from the existing business campaign, which shows the branded products of prominent customers on a black background. To communicate the new offer, Saatchi & Saatchi Simko taught the telephone cable how to write and staged it in a big way - from TV commercials to video messages via MMS. The media plan focuses on television and advertising at petrol stations.
Christian Lüscher

 
Innovation A new packaging, half tube, half dispenser, puts an end to leftover contents. 
When painter John Rands invented the tube in 1841, his main focus was on storing and removing paints. Today, all conceivable pasty substances such as creams, toothpastes, adhesives, ointments and foodstuffs are packaged in tubes. Over time, the simple tube has been supplemented by other solutions, such as the dispenser with one-hand operation.
A new packaging solution makes use of the advantages of both products. It was presented by Innovation Network Austria GmbH for the first time in Europe. Although it does not cost much more to produce than the classic tube, the new packaging combines the advantages of a dispenser with those of the tube. In addition, the pack remains airtight for the entire storage period. The heavy and rigid dispenser housing is replaced by a light and flexible tube casing. The built-in piston empties the tube practically to the end, thus preventing residual quantities of up to 15 percent from remaining. This complies with the new EU directives on environmental protection and energy saving. The solution also pays off in terms of costs. The manufacturing costs for daily-use contents are up to 60 percent lower than the manufacturing costs of a dispenser.
. sf 

 
Health Anyone who travels by streetcar in the city of Zurich over the next two weeks is likely to be in a good mood. The communications agency Match Communications has hired a Zurich cult author for the Swiss Dental Center. Under the name Stan Michael, he has written short stories about visits to the dentist for the practice community. The four surreal stories are available as cards to take away in hanging boxes. The campaign is part of a local advertising campaign designed by Match Communications for Swiss Dental Center. In addition to the cards, the Swiss Dental Center is distributing labeled apples on Zurich's Hardbrücke and Limmatplatz, thus creating awareness for the practice community located on Escher-Wyss-Platz in a refreshing way. 

Hauser & Partner's 3D communication specialists were responsible for the overall design of Credit Suisse's Annual General Meeting last Friday. They created a three-dimensional brand experience in the Zurich Hallenstadion in the image of the major bank. The brief was for the shareholders to be immersed in the CS brand world, not be distracted by anything and be able to focus their full attention on the Credit Suisse presentation. Hauser & Partner transported six articulated lorry loads of design elements to the Hallenstadion for the visual and design world and was on site with 30 employees for two full days from early in the morning until midnight, as detailed in a press release. The 3D agency has already planned, designed and realized events, exhibitions and gala occasions for Credit Suisse throughout Europe for its 150th anniversary.

 
As part of the 2007 annual report published on Tuesday, Agen Holding confirmed its previously announced commitment to the media sector. The independence and autonomy of the press division is to be promoted by opening up the capital to new strategic shareholders, according to the press release. The Board of Directors has also instructed Crédit Suisse to examine the various development options with the management and employees of the business newspaper Agefi. In terms of turnover, 90 percent of the holding company is active in the healthcare sector and 10 percent in the press sector. Overall, the holding company was able to increase its turnover and slightly reduce its loss. Between 2006 and 2007, total sales rose by just under five percent from 124.5 to 130 million francs, while sales in the media sector increased from 12 to 13 million francs. The Group's loss amounted to CHF 3.23 million. The loss in the press division fell from CHF 800,000 (2006) to CHF 350,000 (2007). The company anticipates sales of CHF 15 million and EBITDA of CHF 1 million for the press division in 2008.

 34-year-old Thore Lingel has joined the Wirz Corporate team in Zurich as Senior PR Consultant. Thore Lingel comes from Deekeling Arndt Advisors in Frankfurt, where he worked as a senior consultant, primarily for the chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA. Prior to that, he spent six years at Weber Shandwick in Hamburg, where he was responsible for internal and external corporate communications for various clients. The background to the strengthening of the PR team is various new clients in the area of corporate communications, the agency announced. In addition, the demand for PR services as part of the Wirz Group's integrated "Total Work" mandates is increasing.

 The private radio offering in French-speaking Switzerland is to be expanded thanks to a new digital platform. Interested parties have until the end of July to apply to the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) for one of the eight licenses. The digital platform is intended to expand the regional language radio offering and increase the appeal of the new technology, as Bakom announced on Tuesday. At present, only SRG programs can be received via DAB digital radio in French-speaking Switzerland.
The concessions that have now been put out to tender entitle the broadcaster to broadcast its programming on the digital platform at cost-oriented prices. However, this does not entitle them to fee-based financing. SRG is also granted the right to be present on the platform. OFCOM assumes that 18 channels can be offered on the platform: eight licensed channels with access rights, two SRG channels and probably eight channels that the radio licensee can determine.

 Radio 1 rejected the demands of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) to change its name and claim in a press release on Tuesday. Station founder Roger Schawinski will also send a direct reply to the German public media company on Tuesday. However, he will also be in personal contact with the Berliners: To discuss the matter, the media man has asked for a meeting with RBB director Dagmar Reim, as he confirmed to Werbewoche. Reim has agreed to the meeting, which is due to take place at the end of May. Schawinski would welcome it if the differences could be resolved in this way before it goes to court. RBB, under whose umbrella there is a Radio eins with the claim "Only for adults", is demanding that the Zurich station change its name and slogan or alternatively stop broadcasting via web radio. The German media company had initially given Zurich's Radio 1 until April 18 and then extended the deadline until Tuesday, April 29.
Radio 1 explained in a press release on Tuesday that RBB's demand in no way corresponds to German case law. As an example, the broadcaster refers to the lawsuit filed by a German hotel chain. This wanted to prohibit a hotel of the same name in Copenhagen from selling its offers in Germany via the Internet. However, according to Radio 1, the action was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice, among other things because there was no "sufficient economically relevant domestic connection". As further evidence, Radio 1 cites a statement by Angela Merkel, who made the following somewhat unfortunate linguistic remark in her latest video blog: "Because downloading computers is something that national borders cannot protect."
In the dispute between RBB and Radio 1, the situation is even clearer. As Schawinski had already emphasized, Radio 1 does not seek listeners or advertising in Germany. Therefore, neither the name nor the claim is to be changed. Roger Schawinski commented in the communiqué: "It is not a creative term that can be protected, but a term that is frequently used in everyday life." For all these reasons, the company is calmly awaiting a complaint from RBB.
RBB spokesman Ralph Kotsch told Werbewoche that his company intends to go to court if Radio 1 does not comply with the demands. The necessary steps would be taken at the beginning of next week if necessary. Schawinski is of the opinion that the planned talks with Dagmar Reim could still be helpful: "If we reach an agreement, the court proceedings can still be stopped." If it comes to a lawsuit, he is relaxed about it. He will definitely not give in.