Heinrich Oswald, the former Chairman of the Ringier publishing house, is dead. He passed away last Thursday at the age of 90. Heinrich Oswald, a lawyer, was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Delegate of the Board of Directors of Ringier from 1972 to 1983. Publisher Michael Ringier paid tribute to Oswald on Wednesday in the tabloid Blick as "one of the great figures in the history of the Ringier publishing house". Oswald had given the company modern management structures in the 1970s. At the same time, however, he also attached great importance to journalism.
Heinrich Oswald's term of office included the merger of the two magazines Schweizer Illustrierte and Sie + Er, the takeover of C.J. Bucher AG in Lucerne, the expansion of the Adligenswil printing center and the launch of new magazines such as Glückspost and L'Hebdo. According to Michael Ringier, Oswald's founding of the Ringier School of Journalism was a pioneering achievement in journalism.
Heinrich Oswald was born on May 15, 1917 in Riehen BS. After studying and qualifying as a lawyer, he worked in the federal administration. He then worked as an authorized representative at Knorr-Nährmittel AG and from 1966 to 1972 as CEO. In 1972, he joined the media company Ringier as Chairman of the Executive Board.

 
Advertising sales Following her departure from Südostschweiz, Karin Waltenspühl is now working for competitor Stefan Bühler. Until last summer, Karin Waltenspühl was head of advertising at Südostschweiz (SOCH). At the end of February, after further training as a media manager, she reactivated her former consultancy Follow-me and refocused on publishing consultancy and advertising management. Waltenspühl has already landed two mandates: for the Laax-based magazine publisher René Chatelain, she handles advertising sales, promotion and, in some cases, the subscription service. Waltenspühl also runs the national key account management for the Rheinpool, an advertising combination of the Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, the Rheinzeitung and the Bündner Anzeiger.
A piquant fact: Rheinpool is in direct competition with SOCH. And Rheinpool partner Stefan Bühler, publisher of the Bündner Anzeiger, submitted a license application with Roger Schawinski for Radio Südost - a rival project to Radio Grischa from the Südostschweiz Media Group. Nevertheless, the change of sides does not cause Waltenspühl any stomach ache. "It's a question of supply and demand. And I have now received this offer," she laughs. (mk)

 
Cross-media Multimedia publishing has a future. Publishers Media-Daten and Renteria publish an overview of their offerings for the first time. 
For some, cross-media is a magic word, while others treat the term as a dirty word. Either way, there is hardly anyone in the media industry today who can avoid cross-media. After all, multimedia publishing has a future, as long as the content is carefully coordinated and the contact persons are given sufficient opportunities to respond. The term is difficult to grasp and not everyone uses it in the same way. It is also unclear how the Swiss cross-media offering should be structured and evaluated. 
 
The two specialist media publishers Media-Daten AG and Renteria SA, which operate the most comprehensive Swiss media database, have for the first time published an overview of the Swiss cross-media landscape. In the recently published handbook "Top 150 in Switzerland
er Medien" has published three new articles on this topic in a separate section: It is the first cross-media overview in Switzerland, then well-known media providers present important cross-media cases, and finally a study on the importance and use of cross-media is presented, which is based on a survey of the most important Swiss publishers.first overview of offerings
What is the common denominator that makes a crossmedia offering explainable and comparable? This is difficult to answer because Swiss publishers approach crossmedia in very different ways. Media-Daten and Renteria chose simple characteristics on which the cross-media providers were able to express themselves clearly. First, the categories of cross-media offerings were clarified. Is it an open offer, where the customer can choose freely from the possible media, or is it a closed offer with a fixed media package? Another issue is the size of the offer and how it compares with the rest of the offer from the same publisher. Then the media categories concerned are listed, and finally the type of information and documentation about the offer is assessed. Memorable symbols are used to facilitate a quick comparison, supplemented by the correct contact person.
Learning from a special case
The overview allows for an initial assessment, but this is the only way to get the right cross-media taste. In order to satisfy this taste, the individual case must be studied more closely. In this handbook, some cross-media cases are presented in detail. For example, the case of the Coop press for the launch of the Amag Seat Alhambra special model illustrates this well: The starting point was double-page advertisements in the member magazine and single-page advertisements in the Coop employee magazine, supported by posters, flyers and POS activities in Coop stores. This triggered advertising pressure using traditional print media, which was to be intensified online. Coop's Supercard was used for this purpose. On the one hand, there was information on the homepage and a mailing to cardholders to activate the card. In this case, interaction took place through participation in a competition in which a car worth over CHF 30,000 could be won.
In this example, however, not only are the means, process and costs listed individually, but the success is also precisely specified. Thanks to the precisely coordinated use of multimedia advertising, 79 vehicles of the advertised car model were sold. Sales increased by 52 percent compared to the previous year.
Does 1+1=3 apply to cross-media?
Swiss publishers agree on the importance of cross-media: 57% of those surveyed state that cross-media is already important to them today, and a further 32% confirm that this topic is likely to be of great importance to them in the future. Most of them emphasize that cross-media is not a marketing gimmick for them. Customers do not expect a list of possible media from providers anyway, but rather advice that includes a well-founded concept. Many clients are not opposed to cross-media proposals, but they are unsure. This is due to the complexity of the topic.
Some experts who have been dealing with cross-media for years are more specific. For example, Walter Weder from the Media Research Group, which publishes the annual advertising trend study. Weder has noticed an increasing awareness, especially among medium-sized and smaller companies. There is a very high affinity for cross-media in the tourism and leisure industry. The proportion of "very strong" users is also high in the media/services and automotive/transport sectors. There is less interest in the use of multimedia in the IT/telecommunications and banking/insurance sectors.
If the central idea is clearly visible in all the media used, synergies can be identified that more than pay for the effort. According to Martin Schneider, Director of Publisuisse, "1 plus 1 equals 3" in cross-media campaigns of this kind. He has found that the benefits are particularly strong in the context of major sporting events. Events such as Euro 08 or the Summer Olympics in Beijing are therefore ideal for cross-media projects.
Good advice is a guarantee for successful implementation, says Publisuisse, and Sarah Hammami from Tamedia is also committed to this. For her, the right implementation of the communication idea is paramount. Because if the cross-media specialists are brought into play at an early stage, there is the greatest chance that the media idea will also be excellent. Cross-media cannot be done with ready-made packages, says Ueli Weber, Head of Web2Com. If the idea is good and the media mix is right, the consumer will perceive cross-media as innovative advertising. This is the most important thing that clients and advertisers hope for from new communication concepts today.

Hannes Zaugg
Concentrated reference workThe book is a concentrated reference work
for the media industry. In addition, the data on the enclosed CD-ROM can be easily prepared for daily media work using search and display options. Media plans can be calculated quickly with rough calculations and integrated directly into office documents. The user-friendly tool lists all relevant data on the more than 100 most important print titles and the 40 most important electronic media in Switzerland. (red) "Top 150 Swiss Media" (with cross-media section), 2008 edition, published by Media-Daten and Edition Renteria SA. 148 francs (98 francs for SWA and VSP members). Available from:

 
Books Robert Stalder, the former GGK managing director and doyen of the Swiss copywriting scene, has written an ambiguous crime novel entitled "Der Sauhund". 
WW: It's a tempting idea to top off a successful career as a copywriter, CD, thinker and managing director with a book when you reach maturity. Why did you decide to write fiction and not non-fiction?Rober Stalder: I don't know anything about things. Just a bit about people, so fiction is a good choice. I don't know if mine is fiction, but there are revelatory novels, philosophical material, romance novels and crime novels. Why did you choose the last one - which is not meant to be judgmental here - and again: I don't know anything about philosophy or love. Just a bit about people. And they are sometimes criminal.
Such literary ideas can be tragically styled or entertaining. You have opted for a mixture. Did you learn this tendency to compromise as an advertiser? A book should be entertaining anyway. Tragedies should be too.
You used to invent poetry and do cabaret. Then you switched to advertising. What has this now almost lifelong interlude as an advertiser brought you? Relatively well-paid continuation of your earlier activities: Industrial poetry and service cabaret.
For years, you wrote a regular column in the Basler Zeitung. Was that an early historical substitute for the newfangled blogging? Yes, because columns are always letters to readers. No, because I have often tried to prove that they are not.
In your novel, you describe a perfect murderer. Have you always had a penchant for perfection?
The book is called "Der Sauhund". Why didn't you look for a nicer title? The title is by Markus Raetz, not me. I thought it was nicer than my working titles.
In the heyday of the GGK, the writing workshop below you as a CD became a school for many young copywriters and later agency heads. Should they now also learn something from Robert Stalder as a book author? Otherwise someone else will be more successful than me. Like Martin Suter.
Your strength was the headline. What headline would you use to sell your own novel? The story is probably not for the bookshelf. But hopefully something for under the lamp.
And what's next for Robert Stalder as a novelist? I'm currently planning a non-fiction book about the crime novel, which will decide between tragic and entertaining for both.
What's next with the advertising? whoever wants a campaign or advertising material from me can have it from me for a modest fee (i.e. appropriate to my abilities).
What's the easiest way for the readers of Werbewoche to get their own "Sauhund"? If they don't have it in stock, order it. Pick it up the next day.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
 

The bastardThe title character
in Robert Stalder's crime novel leads a double life. It's exhausting, he says, but then you live twice. Heiri Wenger has made it to head of finance at a medium-sized company, is a caring family man and always lives up to convention. But he is also a serial killer. And what happens when someone turns the career planning project into darkness? Driven solely by his ambition not to get caught, the head of finance orchestrates each murder a little more subtly, makes it a little riskier, and ultimately triumphs as a six-time murderer. Stalder describes this dark career subtly and with a great deal of cynical humor.
"Der Sauhund" was published by Kontrovers Verlag. This belongs to the Basel agency Bluegummy, Marketing Communications.the author
Robert Stalder ran the advertising agency GGK in Basel for six years and was the partner of the current author Martin Suter in the agency Stalder & Suter from 1981 to 1986. This became part of the then Jean Etienne Aebi conglomerate and later Publicis. In the meantime, Stalder managed GGK Düsseldorf. Today he runs his own advertising agency in Basel with his son Markus. He has published a collection of glosses and a novel. (pan)

 
Internet The suicide of Paul Tilley has reignited the debate about anonymous posts on the Internet.  
Paul Tilley's suicide is currently the subject of heated debate in the USA and Switzerland. On February 22, the 40-year-old creative director of the advertising agency DDB threw himself out of a window in Chicago. It is still unclear why the renowned creative threw himself out of a window. Relatives see the Internet as the reason for his death. The authors and ultimately the commentators of the industry blogs Agency Spy and Ad Scam, which are known for their biting nature, were responsible for the suicide because Tilley had been personally criticized on the web days before his death.
The smear campaign against Tilley began on February 19. In an article, Agency Spy published an internal email that the DDB manager had sent to his employees. In the article, the anonymous author criticized the creative director's management style, which triggered furious insults against Tilley. A short time later, the Ad-Scam weblog also took up the topic with its own article, which led to even more hostile posts against Paul Tilley. Three days later, the advertising manager took his own life.
The extent to which the offensive comments really influenced the decision to commit suicide will probably never be known. However, the case has reignited the debate about the legality of anonymous insults on the Internet. The most prominent participant in the debate is the advertiser Nina DiSesa, head of the New York office of the McCann Erickson agency. She has spoken out in a video entitled "Are bloggers dangerous?" and criticizes the reporting on the websites in question: "Weblogs can harm someone if they report meanly, brutally and above all anonymously about other people."
DiSesa not only speaks out in front of the camera, but also writes plain language on the weblogs themselves: "These hateful advertising blogs are apparently written by people who are bitter about the industry. People who contribute to these ugly blogs are losers. True, many people out there don't want to put their names to the horrible things they circulate about other people. But if someone doesn't have the guts to put their name under a comment, then they shouldn't be given the public platform to make such destructive comments about others." Criticism falls on deaf ears with the operators of Agency Spy. They justify their behavior in a post entitled "Nina DiSesa hates you, me and everyone who likes blogs". Anonymity is preferable because it is the only way to report critically on the industry and use insider knowledge.
The problem of anonymous abuse has also been the subject of intense debate in Switzerland since Tilley's suicide. On the Facts 2.0 news network, for example, a few dozen posts have been written on the subject - most of them anonymously. As in the USA, opinions on anonymous posts differ here in Germany. Everyone agrees that freedom on the Internet brings with it more responsibility. Especially when it comes to statements that refer to specific people and organizations.
Christian Lüscher

 Leonhard Sprecher is taking over as head of the sales department at the direct advertising company AWZ and thus has overall responsibility for sales. He succeeds Andreas Berger. Previously, Leonhard Sprecher was responsible for marketing for the SME and private customer segment at PostMail. He has also worked in the wine and spirits wholesale, tourism and leisure park sectors. At AWZ, he will further expand the four strategic business areas of unaddressed direct marketing, addressed direct marketing, IT services and lettershop.

 In Switzerland, political advertising on television is still prohibited, whereas in Germany, political parties are allowed to participate in private radio and television stations. However, according to the highest court, they are not allowed to influence program design. On Wednesday, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe declared a Hessian law to be unconstitutional, which generally prohibits parties from participating in private broadcasting companies. However, the legislator may prohibit shareholdings if this could influence program content.
The current ruling is intended to clarify the point at which broadcasting loses its constitutionally guaranteed freedom under the influence of a political party. Media laws in other federal states make the approval of broadcasting participation largely dependent on the share of the parties in the companies.

 Peter Bronhofer is moving from Tele Top to the production company Primetime in Schlieren, where he will take over as Head of Marketing and Sales. According to the press release, Bronhofer has been working in electronic media for 20 years. He was initially responsible for the development of Television and Teletext at Radiotele. He then worked at IP Multimedia Switzerland as Sales Manager for RTL and at Cinecom & Media as Managing Director of the Radio Department. On December 1, 1999, he took over the position of Head of Marketing and Sales at Tele Top.
At Primetime, his focus will be on the four TV programs produced by Primetime: Kochen.tv, Inform.tv, Futura.tv and Wohntraum.tv. These formats are broadcast on Swiss regional television stations and, according to Primetime, reach between 250,000 and 400,000 viewers per program and week.

 Google has been allowed to buy the online advertising company Doubleclick in a multi-billion dollar takeover and now wants to cut a number of jobs as part of the new acquisition. The European Commission approved the 3.1 billion dollar takeover on Tuesday without any conditions. According to the Commission's assessment, the purchase does not restrict competition on the market. The US regulatory authority, the FTC, already approved the takeover in December.
Google announced on its website on Tuesday that a plan for the workforce at Doubleclick is to be drawn up by the beginning of April. The job cuts could affect employees in the USA as well as in other regions.

 "The potato as supermodel" - this is how an agency report begins that fluttered into the newsroom on Wednesday. Is it about another casting event and has the bitterly evil Dieter Bohlen switched to a model selection show? One wonders - anticipating nasty scenes with eliminated candidates. But nothing of the sort is to be feared: The model contest actually revolves around the good old potato, which is being honored this year with its own "Year of the Potato". A UN organization is now calling for a worldwide photo competition to show the tuber in its best light. The aim is to illustrate the importance of the potato for food, work and income in developing countries. The competition takes place in two categories for amateurs and professionals. Entries must be submitted by September 1, with a total of 7,200 euros up for grabs. This makes casting fun again - after all, only in this competition do the leading actresses taste delicious when deep-fried, roasted and battered.

 
René Worni on independent private television: It is better to remain independent and act to the best of one's journalistic knowledge and conscience than to be fobbed off and bullied by the state with licence fee money. But if fees are to be distributed, then, please, everyone would like to have some of it. The old song about the duality of noble causes and economic constraints, a constant egg dance. Remember that publisher president Hanspeter Lebrument danced this dance to the assembled industry at the Epiphany Conference just over a year ago, when he called for journalistic and entrepreneurial independence. But it was clear to everyone that he was fighting just as relentlessly as his colleagues from the multimedia Swiss publishing houses present for his share of the fee pot. And the industry has long lived comfortably with this unease between desire and reality.
But now, a year and a half later, there is at least a glimmer of light on the horizon for the colleagues on Werdstrasse and their Tele Züri. This is because the majority of cantons and municipalities want Günter Heuberger's comparatively narrow-ranging Tele Top, rather than the long-established Tamedia station, to receive a license for the Zurich/north-eastern Switzerland region and thus fees. Tele Züri, on the other hand, is able to continue broadcasting on its own. This would give Tele Züri a unique opportunity to launch its brand as the only state-independent private broadcaster in German-speaking Switzerland.
Because brand is everything. Günter Heuberger has probably also realized that a veritable opportunity is opening up for the competition. He has not planned a studio in the city of Zurich for Tele Top. He is convinced that the location of the studio alone would make the program too urban, too tabloid and VIP-heavy. And on the other hand, Heuberger would give Tele Zurich program director Markus Gilli and his people every opportunity to denigrate him as a country bumpkin who (here's a conceivable example of an argument) "misses the audience" with his "state-sanctioned chronicler station". And apart from that: without a license, Tele Züri will remain in the regions in terms of media diversity, because the station does not have to worry much about broadcasting areas. Bakom wants to make a decision before the summer vacations, then we will know more.
René Worni, Editor

 
Shopping The department store chain Manor presents itself with a new concept, a new look and a campaign by Wirz. 
Switzerland's most successful department store chain is continuing its strategic development. With the claim "donnons du style à la vie", Manor is presenting itself in a new look to coincide with the start of spring. The style of the new Manor is "more feminine, more emotional and more modern", as PR Manager Markus Laub explains. Style-conscious from A to Z, Manor is styling itself to become the new top address for self-confident women and men who love fashion, trends and beauty. The aim of this comprehensive further development is to sharpen the profile of the Manor brand even more clearly for customers with the brand promise "donnons du style à la vie". With its new concept, Manor invites all customers to "discover a whole lifestyle world that runs through its stores". Manor is the right address for living well, feeling good and looking good. New, inspiring sales locations are being created accordingly.
Everything there corresponds to the new brand promise "donnons du style à la vie", from the decoration of the stores to the new website and the outfits of the employees. Manor held an international pitch for an image-defining advertising campaign, which was won by the Zurich agency Wirz.
The logo, which is also new, was developed by Wolff Olins in London. This agency also supplied the lettering for Orange. The new visual identity reflects femininity and elegance. With its refined typography, the revised logo with its free-standing flower is intended to appear "refined and modern". With its appealing look, it graphically underlines the new style-conscious statement of the Manor brand.
Bertrand Jungo, CEO of Manor AG, sums up the strategic development of his department store chain: "The new claim will accompany Manor into the future and become the focus of all our activities." To this end, the product range, consisting of attractive lifestyle, own and third-party brands, will also be visibly adapted. "However, we are still operating in the mid-price segment and are doing everything we can to offer affordable style for everyone," Jungo explains.
Customer needs are changing. Customers want to live well, feel good and look good. They are looking for inspiration and shape their lives according to their individual lifestyle. Manor has analyzed the most important lifestyles in Switzerland and consistently aligns its product range with these, through a successful mix of own and external brands. From fashionable outfits and type-appropriate cosmetics to the latest home accessories and espresso cups, Manor aims to offer a comprehensive product range for every lifestyle in the future.
As part of the further development of its own brand strategy, Manor is now focusing on four affordable lifestyle own brands: The already established lifestyle brands Avant Première, JJBenson and Yes or No will be joined by the new Maddison brand from fall 2008. Maddison represents fashion and everyday products that are tailored to a customer group that values comfort and functionality.
Avant Première is design-oriented, has its finger on the pulse of the times and impresses with fashionable eye-catchers. The quality brand JJBenson covers everything for chic-oriented customers with a timelessly elegant style. Yes or No represents everything that is young and "cool" and has established itself as a cult label for Swiss teens and twens over the past few years.
The emotional promise "donnons du style à la vie" also characterizes all areas internally. All Manor employees are preparing for the new branding as part of a systematic training program.
Information events and training courses support and motivate employees to act as brand ambassadors and offer customers a stylish shopping experience.
The launch of the new Manor appearance is celebrated with events. Trees with petals of the new Manor flower blossom in front of the largest Manor stores. Three stylish black Fiat Cinquecento cars are being raffled off for customers in an attractive competition. In some stores, Manor is offering a free ride home service with the Cinquecento until Saturday, March 14.
 
Andreas Panzeri
The history of the department storesManor AG
headquartered in Basel, is a subsidiary of Maus Frères Holding in Geneva. The company started out in Biel. It was here that the brothers and Engros traders Ernest and Henri Maus became friends with their customer, the retailer Léon Nordmann. In 1902, they encouraged him and later other customers to set up their own department stores. This gave rise to various more or less closely associated department stores throughout Switzerland, whose names are still vividly remembered in many places: Nordmann, Au Louvre, Vilan, Magazine zur Rheinbrücke, Galeries du Léman, La Placette, Innovazione...The Manor brand
- composed of the names Maus and Nordmann - was first created around 1965 when a new corporate identity was established. Since 1994, all 75 department stores belonging to the company in German-speaking Switzerland have been renamed Manor, as have all stores in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino since September 2000.