A few days ago, an observant reader sent an email to the editorial staff pointing out a striking similarity between two advertising images. One dates back to 2003 and was used at the time to promote an open-air concert in Basel; the other appears in the Henniez campaign, which is currently running again. It shows water spraying up and forming the shape of a woman’s body. For the author of the email, the situation is clear: The new campaign is a «cheap rip-off» by the top agency responsible. However, the lack of creativity seems to bother him far more than the act of copying itself: «I realize you can’t reinvent the wheel, but they didn’t have to copy the woman’s pose exactly as well.» Whether the concept was actually stolen or the similarity is coincidental will never be known (unless you ask the people responsible). But for the author of the email, the case is clear: «It proves one thing: even the big players steal without scruples.» See also:

 
The yellow PostMail carrier pigeon will be sent out again by Publicis with new messages from March 2008. The product campaign is aimed at business customers and promotes the products A Mail and large-format letters under the motto: For greater impact with your customers. The two new motifs are intended to draw attention to the benefits of the two products: A Mail letters show that the content is important and signal appreciation to the recipient, and large letters catch the eye and arouse curiosity. In an initial mailing, three chocolates will also be used to highlight three advantages of A Mail: Importance, appreciation and attention. Customers can find detailed product information on the Post.ch/effect campaign website. Responsible at PostMail:
Elisabeth Hasler (Head of Communications), Domenico Pereira (Head of Marketing Communications). Responsible at Publicis: Dani Kobi (AD), Albert Matzinger (text), Sonja Gross and Sandro Tissi (graphics), Stephan Lanz and Myriam Mojon (consulting), Suzana Kovacevic (art buying), Bianca Nerlich (production), Susanne Völlm/Red Department, photography/image editing Luca Tomasi, 3D-PostMail-Taube. Responsible at Publicis Dialog: Björn Brinkmann (CD), Suzanne Friedli (AD), René Bucher (text), Cyrill Schneider (AD Online), Gabi Knus, René Stettler and Nahuel Morales (consulting); Romeo Bucceroni: production Nemos.ch, implementation landing page.

The Lucerne agency Ideart presents the hot-off-the-press Lingerie & Swimwear Summer 2008 catalog for Perosa. The pictures were taken in Thailand in December 2007. German photographer René Schwerdtel shot the photos for the current collection with models Orsolya and Monika. The models present lingerie from the brands Lise Charmel, Lejaby, Barbara, Prima Donna, L'Aventure, Marie Jo, Chantelle and, of course, their own label Perosa. The result is now available as a catalog in all Perosa stores throughout Switzerland.
Responsible at Perosa:
Roger Schärer, Cornelia Schärer (Hair & Make-up), Ida Krebs (Styling). Responsible at Ideart Lucerne: Ludek Martschini (Creation/Consulting; Graphic & Layout), René Schwerdtel (Photographer), Jochen Möbus (Digital Operator), Peter Martschini (Production). Location: Evason Hideaway Resort & Spa, Thailand.

 
The city of Zurich has drawn a positive interim balance: the campaign launched by various departments in January against the sexual exploitation of children and young people on the Internet has met with great interest. "In the first week alone, we had over 12,000 visitors to our website - and to date, the information brochures have already been downloaded around 1,700 times", says police spokesman Reto Casanova in a statement from the city. The first phase of the campaign was aimed at the general public. It involved posters, streetcar advertising, a website for young people and one for adults, as well as various information brochures and banners in chatrooms. The posters show older people wearing masks saying, for example: "hoii, ich suech luschtigi mädels zum fun haa!!!! *ggg*". In a second phase, young people and parents are now being addressed directly, for example through lessons in class and parents' evenings.
Zurich is the first Swiss city to launch such a campaign. However, there has obviously been a need for it for a long time; various specialist departments and offices as well as related websites in Switzerland and abroad have responded well to the campaign and are interested in working together. The campaign will run over the next few months until the summer vacations. It will be repeated in the fall.

 
Around six months after Coop announced its intention to purchase the twelve Carrefour supermarkets in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Competition Commission (ComCo) has now approved the deal. According to the report in the Sonntagszeitung, the Competition Commission will officially announce its decision next Thursday. With the sale of the twelve stores and two unfinished projects in Chur and St. Gallen, the French Carrefour, number one in European food retailing, is withdrawing completely from the Swiss market (see: ). According to the Sonntagszeitung, the conditions attached to the approval of the sale are similar to those attached to the purchase of Denner by Migros. However, the central condition of the Denner sale, namely that the brand of the company sold is retained, cannot be implemented in the Coop-Carrefour deal, as it is not a purchase of a company but only the purchase of sales outlets.

 
Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett has created the spring/summer 2008 fashion catalog for Herren Globus. In line with the motto "Clothes make the man", the agency has thematically linked the fashion on display with professional career success, thus highlighting the competitive advantage that a visit to Herren Globus should give men. Under the title "Maximal Principle", the 46-page brochure provides everyone with valuable tips for a stylish appearance as well as useful advice for professional and private life, according to the press release. These include clothing workshops, detailed style advice, special sizes and made-to-measure products. A double-page advertisement was placed in various Swiss print media to publicize the new catalog.
Responsible at Herren Globus: Urs Leuenberger (Company Manager) and Gabriele Beer (Marketing Manager). Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Martin Spillmann (CD), Raul Serrat, Reto Clement (AD), Ricco Pachera (graphics), Martin Arnold (text), Pam Hügli and Marco Chini (consulting); Mathias Kessler (photographer), Werner Baumgartner (styling), Ringier PreMedia (pre-press).ad:

Catalog pages (front and four double pages):

 
The MACH Basic 2008-1 figures published on Tuesday by Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung show a further shift towards contacts with the free press compared to the previous year's study. Overall, a slight negative trend continues. However, the Swiss remain a nation of newspaper and magazine readers: 91.6% of the Swiss population aged 14 and over read at least one of the newspapers and 92.0% one of the magazines participating in MACH Basic on a more or less regular basis. In total, the titles included in MACH (excluding the local weekly press) lost a total of 256,000 contacts. However, this relatively unspectacular figure conceals a major shift within the titles. If you exclude the daily press (sold and free), the losses accumulate to a total of 1.276 million contacts. The daily press therefore generated 1.02 million new readers. This was followed by the free newspapers with an increase of around 1.193 million contacts and the sold daily newspapers with a decrease of around 173,000 contacts.

The proportion of free contacts in the daily press is now 28.5 percent in German-speaking Switzerland and 41.3 percent in French-speaking Switzerland. However, MACH Basic 2008-1 does not yet reflect the current reality in this area, as neither News nor .ch are included. The distribution extensions of 20 minutes and Le matin bleu are only partially represented, while that of 20 Minuten is not represented at all. If the two new free titles in German-speaking Switzerland were to reach their targets (which is by no means certain), the market share of the free press would rise to around 45%.
In the 2008-1 evaluation, the Zürcher Landzeitung, the St. Galler Tagblatt and the Basler Zeitung in German-speaking Switzerland and the paid Matin and the Tribune de Genève in French-speaking Switzerland suffered significant losses due to the success of the free dailies. The Abendzeitung Heute saw a significant but rather modest increase (to 259,000 readers) compared to 2007-2. This probably made the decision to replace the paper with Blick am Abend easier.
In the increasingly controversial Sunday market, the latest evaluation does not yet reflect the effect of the Sunday title. Nevertheless, both Sonntagsblick and Sonntagszeitung have lost significant ground compared to 2007-1. Südostschweiz am Sonntag is shown for the first time, with a modest 83,000 readers (233,000 on weekdays).
The general press lost a total of over 300,000 readers compared to 2007-1. The program press in German-speaking Switzerland continues to be badly hit, with Tele, TVStar, TVtäglich, TV vier and Radiomagazin, five of the seven titles reported, losing significant readership. The news and themed press has a surprise in store. Here, the street magazine Surprise made significant gains, leaving WOZ well behind. NZZ Folio and Schweizer Illustrierte, whose offshoot SI Style has become the new leader in terms of reach in the women's press, have lost significant readership.
For once, the result for Sélection (Reader's Digest) was also positive, with a significant increase in its reach in French-speaking Switzerland from 6.1% to 7.3%. However, this development will have to be confirmed, as it runs counter to both the previous trend and that of its German-language sister (Das Beste).
In the business press, Cash daily has a regular readership of 73,000 for the first time. This not exactly exhilarating figure corresponds to the average in the first year since the launch and is likely to be higher by now. It remains to be seen whether the 127,000 readers of the printed edition projected by the publisher six months ago will be confirmed by MACH. Meanwhile, there has been a change of leadership in French-speaking Switzerland. The money guide Tout compte fait is the new reach leader in the business press with 8.1 percent. However, if you focus on men, Bilan is still clearly ahead.
The negative trend is also continuing in the specialty press. No fewer than 26 publications have lost a significant total of over 600,000 readers. Fundgrueb and Auto Börse, two classifieds publications, recorded the relatively highest losses. It seems that the days of printed information in this area are coming to an end. The youth/events/film, IT, agriculture, private transport (especially car titles), health, sport, home/living/garden and culture/travel groups all reported losses. The consumer press and the food and drink group made short-term gains.
Detailed analyses of the new MACH Basic can be found in the special edition of the Media Trend Journal, which will be enclosed with the next issue of Werbewoche.

 
The Board of Directors of Radio Télévision Suisse Romande (RTSR) is launching an independent investigation into the affair surrounding child pornography images at Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) in order to restore the trust that was thought to have been lost. The affair has been weighing on the staff and management of RSR for weeks, the SRG announced on Monday. "With new statements and speculation appearing practically every day, media and public interest is being fed, the management is being restricted in its operational activities and the reputation of the media company is potentially being tarnished," the press release states, according to SDA. As soon as RTSR Chairman Jean François Roth and SRG Director General Armin Walpen have appointed an independent person, this person will start work. This person will investigate and assess the entire affair from 2005 to the present day. The affair flared up again at the beginning of March when the computer scientist at RSR, who had discovered the images on an employee in 2005, made the matter public. An investigating judge then intervened. The computer scientist was dismissed. The employee who had downloaded the images from the Internet had been warned by the RSR management in 2005. He was also placed on probation for three and a half years. The RSR management based its decision on the opinion of experts who came to the conclusion at the time that the photos were "a borderline case" but not relevant under criminal law. The experts now deny having delivered a serious expert opinion. They feel instrumentalized by the RSR management in the affair.

 According to insider information, which has not been officially confirmed by Credit Suisse, the major bank does not intend to renew its partner and sponsorship agreement with the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team, which expires at the end of 2008. According to an internal CS source, this decision has definitely been made, according to a report in the Sonntagszeitung. According to the report, this development was foreseeable; back in 2005, when Peter Sauber wanted to sell his racing team to BMW, CS played along by agreeing to sell its two-thirds share in the team to BMW over a period of three years. CS has now sold all its shares by the end of 2008, and the CS logo on the racing cars is likely to disappear as a result. BMW Sauber's main sponsor is Petronas, where Peter Sauber works as a consultant.

 
The UK's D&AD, the world's most rigorous creative competition judging panel, has appointed Pius Walker to the jury. Last year, the London-based creative jury selected 59 of the coveted Yellow Pencils from the 25,000 entries submitted from all over the world. The D&AD was founded in 1962 and has been chaired by Sir Alan Parker, David Abbott, John Heagarty and Tim Delaney, among others. Walker, founder of the Zurich-based Walker advertising agency, is the first Swiss creative to join the award jury.

 The newspaper man Reiko Opitz in Berlin has secured the traditional "Berliner Tageblatt" brand and now claims that a large publisher is offering him a "high six-figure sum" for the rights. The man does not want to reveal which company is involved, but he did reveal this much to Spiegel Online: the interested party publishes a large tabloid and comes from Germany's neighboring country, where people greet each other with "Grüezi". The news portal concludes that this nation can only be Switzerland and the publisher of the tabloid can only be Ringier. Ringier, however, refrains from commenting: it does not comment on rumors, it simply says. The newspaper name that is apparently being offered for sale has a rather eventful history behind it: the title first appeared in 1872, was brought into line by the Nazis in 1933 and finally discontinued in 1939. After the sad end, the rights to the name became available - and Reiko Opitz secured them in the summer of 2007.
His original intention was not to simply sell the name, but to launch his own daily newspaper "Berliner Tageszeitung - Berliner Tageblatt - erstmals seit 1872". According to Spiegel Online, the paper should have seen the light of day in December, but so far there is only an online presence at Berlinertageblatt.net. According to Opitz, this is due to the competition, which is acting like David against Goliath: The publishers of two previous Berlin daily newspapers, the Tagesspiegel and the Berliner Zeitung, are covering for him with temporary injunctions. The Tagesspiegel, for example, is complaining that Opitz is "feigning an entrepreneurial tradition as a characteristic of business relationships", reports Spiegel Online. However, the competent court was confronted with difficulties: When it tried to send the injunction to the address given in the legal notice on Berlinertageblatt.net, it proved to be "undeliverable" in the best officialese.
Spiegel Online portrays the aspiring newspaper man in a dubious light. His allies are rather shady: a pop singer and a former Miss Germany, for example. Opitz's mission is noble: he wants to create a liberal-conservative paper that sells for 10 cents over the counter. Which would invent the media genre of the "almost free newspaper".
Whether Ringier is actually interested in taking over the traditional name or even in working with Opitz remains to be seen. Perhaps a clever businessman has just made himself important. If the Swiss publishing house now wants to publish a daily newspaper in Germany in addition to the magazines Cicero and Monopol, it can certainly dress warmly: It is no coincidence that journalistic disputes are called "newspaper wars" in Germany. It is particularly intense in the capital. But perhaps Frank A. Meyer has some ideas on how best to launch the title on the market.

 Since February 1, 2008, Angelika Bühler has been supporting the ZurichTokyo agency team and taking over the strategic management of the agency. Bühler has been working in the communications industry for 18 years, according to a press release issued on Thursday. Among other things, she worked for Sony Overseas SA as Head of Communications for Eastern Europe and Switzerland. She also worked for the internet label Skim.com as Head of Marketing.
Bühler has been an independent communications consultant for six years, specializing in the use of new media as well as cross-media analysis and strategy development. She has already been involved in several concept phases at ZürichTokio in the past year.