Training In August, the Media Institute launches a new course in media management.  
Publishing house management has long since changed to media management, at the latest since publishing houses began to expand their core business beyond pure newspaper production. Since the turn of the millennium, they themselves have become more and more multimedia media companies with their own radio and TV stations and various online offerings. Training has also had to keep pace with this massive change in the media world. On the publishing side, the profession of media manager has emerged. The Media Institute of the Swiss Press Association has been training publishing and media specialists on a part-time basis since 1988. In 2004, the corresponding courses were completely redesigned, adapted to the changed conditions and, since 2006, have been consistently geared towards cross-genre media management. The Media Institute is the only institution in Switzerland to offer a two-stage course in media management: Firstly, a solid basic training for media professionals (course 1) as preparation for the federal professional examination. Course 2 then provides comprehensive training at management level and focuses on the networked application of industry knowledge to product development and marketing, management skills, controlling, planning, communication and law. The course prepares students for the higher professional examination for federally certified media managers.
The media industry is changingThe Media Institute has once again adapted the new media management course, for which interested parties must register by next June, to the changed conditions. "Media management is a subject that is still developing," says Josefa Haas, Head of the Media Institute. The benchmark here is the situation in the German media industry. Future media managers will therefore first deal with the product and also produce their own media content. Only then will the marketing of the product be considered. Personal development is also a central aspect of the course. Finally, the course enables students to independently manage projects, properties and entrepreneurial units in the various media genres and provides in-depth specialist knowledge of the national and international media industry based on case studies. The diploma thesis usually deals with a specific project from the participants' professional environment.
Course 2 for media management is aimed at managers in the media sector who want to develop their skills comprehensively. It is designed with a practical focus. The lecturers are established and proven managers and experts with close links to the media world. The course consists of specialist lectures, discussions, talks with guests, group work and excursions to leading media companies. The course content is continuously updated and refreshed. With the federal diploma, graduates receive a tertiary-level qualification that is widely accepted on the job market and in the education market. The focus is on proven industry expertise.
The course runs from the end of August 2008 to December 2009 and takes place once a month from Wednesday or Thursday to Saturday. The examinations will take place in February 2010. The closing date for applications is June 29, 2008 and applications will be considered according to the date of receipt.
René Worni
 
 
 
Course content Media ManagerProduct Management:
Fundamentals of journalistic and editorial concepts; content-related product production print media; technical product production print; content-related product production electronic media; multimedia; product strategy; market strategy. Marketing:
Basics; marketing communication and instruments; market research; advertising marketing print media; advertising marketing electronic media/crossmedia; user and reader marketing; management of media companies:
Organization; Strategy; Human resources management; Financial management; Legal; Employee management. (rw)?

 The months-long strike by screenwriters in the USA has come to an end in time for the Oscars. In a vote by 3775 writers in New York and Los Angeles, more than 90 percent were in favor of an immediate end to the industrial action. This was reported by various media based on the online edition of the Los Angeles Times. The authors want to resume work immediately. Their union, the Writers Guild of America, had reached an agreement with the film producers at the weekend. Among other things, the new three-year contract provides for better remuneration for the writers for the further exploitation of their work on the Internet and a larger share of DVD royalties.
The writers began their first strike in almost 20 years on November 5, 2007. The production of numerous series, films and most late-night talk shows came to a standstill as a result. The financial loss for the entertainment industry is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. The Golden Globe Gala on January 13 was also canceled due to the Hollywood writers' strike. With the agreement, at least the Oscar Gala on the night of February 25 has now been saved.

 
VSW Advertising Statistics In mid-February, the January data from the VSW advertising statistics will be published using the new system. WEMF Director Marco Bernasconi explains why another change had become necessary. 
WW: Four years ago, the advertising statistics were redesigned, and now another change is already underway. Why? Marco Bernasconi: In recent years, there have been various consolidations among publishers, leading to the emergence of sometimes complex flagship newspaper systems, and the launch of Sunday editions. All of this repeatedly led to differences in interpretation when reporting the data. To prevent this, the Swiss Press Association formed a project group chaired by Jürg Weber, managing director of the Neue Luzerner Zeitung, which made various clarifications to the regulations. The aim was to restore the advertising statistics to a basis that is credible and transparent and also ensures continuity.
Will there be a currency break? Yes, the new data is no longer directly comparable to the previous data.
But the last currency change was only four years ago. Yes, it coincided with the introduction of the Advertising Index Switzerland (AIS). At the time, however, no one could have anticipated that the AIS would be discontinued so soon. As a result, we had to revamp our advertising statistics.
Speaking of the currency change: Will the data from January 2008 be comparable to the January data from 2007 and 2006? Not with the 2006 data, no. But it will be with the 2007 data. That’s because we’ve back-adjusted the data for one year. So we’ve processed all the data from 2007 using both the old and the new systems to ensure a certain degree of comparability.
So there will be two data sets for 2007: one that has already been published and is comparable to previous years (through 2004), and a second data set that will now be published and updated month by month along with the figures for 2008. Correct.
When the system was changed four years ago, there were also parallel statistics, but that led to confusion. How will you prevent that from happening again? By ensuring that the data currently available for 2007 will no longer appear automatically starting in mid-February. In the statistics, January 2008 will only be compared to January 2007 under the new system. And if you want to analyze the 2007 data, a comparison with 2006 will not be possible. However, like all data since 1990, the existing 2007 data will remain available for manual retrieval and analysis in the online system. It should also be noted that there are some publications for which the 2007 data could not be converted to the new system. This applies, for example, to the *Basler Zeitung* and the TV program guides that were transferred from Ringier to Axel Springer Switzerland. In these cases, neither 2007 data will be published nor will a year-over-year comparison be included. We will indicate this with a footnote in the statistics.
A survey of publishers conducted by *Werbewoche* shows that, overall, there is little trust in today’s advertising statistics. Will this now change? That is the stated goal of WEMF and Jürg Weber, who is overseeing this process.
Five of the 14 survey responses stated that the statistics did not match the reported figures. Three others suspected that the competitors’ data should be questioned. Why should this situation improve now? We have contacted many publishers, closely examined their discrepancies, and made corrections where necessary. Based on a detailed analysis of the identified discrepancies, we have taken all necessary measures to improve accuracy. In particular, clarifications in the regulations and in the audits and consultations conducted by WEMF have ensured that publishers enter data in a consistent manner. Furthermore, we have determined that many discrepancies arise because different definitions are used in publishers’ internal statistics.
For about two years, the figures from the *Basler Zeitung* were incomplete—a situation the publisher deliberately allowed to continue. Will there be sanctions for such cases in the future? No, we can only reach out to the publishers and work with them to find a solution. This is because advertising statistics are not comparable to circulation audits, whose data are also communicated to the public. In that case, sanctions are necessary to prevent abuse. Advertising statistics, on the other hand, are a tool for the industry to identify trends and measure its own performance.
Should a publisher notify you if they believe the competition’s figures are incorrect? Sure. As with circulation certification, we rely on people reporting such observations to us. But we also ask questions on our own initiative as soon as a change seems implausible to us.
We keep hearing that self-published titles are a source of error. This is because publishers of self-published titles must report their data individually, whereas data for P-license titles comes uniformly from the MIS computer system. It is true that publishers work with different computer systems. But large in-house publishers, in particular, have also automated their data processing. We have reviewed these systems. However, it is clear that statistics can never be perfect. That is why we continually seek dialogue with the people responsible for advertising statistics at the publishers. We take care to ensure that the interpretations of the regulations are applied as uniformly as possible. I believe the margin of error will be in the per mille range.
According to the survey, there is still some uncertainty regarding the calculation of the new monthly net sales figures. One thing is clear: discounts are deducted, but not the consultant commission. And what about direct-booking discounts or retroactive charges? In the monthly statistics, we cannot account for retroactive charges. I therefore expect certain differences compared to the annual net advertising statistics. The direct-booking discount, on the other hand, has not yet been discussed in the working group. But the same principle likely applies to it as to additional charges.
Let’s stick with the annual net advertising statistics: Will they be essentially comparable to the new monthly net figures—essentially as the sum of the monthly data? No, the advertising statistics are more comprehensive. For example, in the case of a newspaper with a flagship publication system, they also include the local revenue of the flagship publications, whereas these are not included in the classified ad statistics. In addition, the advertising statistics include significantly more titles from the trade and specialty press category. The ad placement statistics, on the other hand, primarily include Q-publications. The scopes of the two net statistics therefore differ.
Are the new net figures comparable to the gross figures from Mediafocus (MF)? Not at all. This is because MF deliberately excludes part of the volume. Classified ads and small ads are not measured. When viewed in Swiss francs, the differences are even greater, because MF applies a gross page rate for the entire publication. Combination discounts or local rates are not taken into account.
What’s the general situation: Do publications have to participate in the advertising statistics? And do they pay anything for it? Publishers participate on a voluntary basis, but they do have to pay a fee. Since these are industry statistics, every publisher should actually have an interest in participating. After all, the industry is interested in having valid data. The Swiss Press Association also considers this important. Of course, it takes a bit of persuasion here and there. But after all, there’s no need to publish confidential data.
Interview: Markus Knöpfli
Advertisement Statistics—What’s Actually Changing: In general, all advertisements subject to value-added tax are counted—including those resulting from barter transactions, sponsorships, or investment funds. Although these were already included in the past, uncertainty arose time and again because they were not mentioned in the old regulations.
In terms of volume, the biggest change likely involves advertisements and brochure inserts for other publishing properties (print, radio, TV, online) from the same media company. Previously, these were considered in-house advertisements and were counted in full. Under the new rules, however, such advertisements are counted only if the company holds no more than a 50 percent stake in the publication. If the stake exceeds 50 percent, they are considered in-house advertisements and are no longer counted.
There is also a change in the categories: From now on, only real estate and job listings will be listed separately; the «Other» category (obituaries, classifieds, and adult ads), on the other hand, will be included under “Commercial” effective immediately.
A change has been introduced for job supplements such as Alpha or NZZExecutive, which are included with both the daily and Sunday editions of newspapers. These are now reported separately, and it is up to the user of the statistics to decide which category to assign the volume to. The advertising statistics now also include net revenue by title group. However, revenue by individual title cannot be derived.
The new regulations are available for download on the WEMF website (
). (mk)

 
Agencies Plan.Net opens its own agency in Switzerland in February. The leader in innovative interactive communication is part of the German agency group Serviceplan. 
For traditional agencies, the market in Switzerland is probably pretty much exhausted. The most important positions for large networks are occupied, as are the niches for small creative boutiques. However, industry experts see more opportunities for start-ups and thus also newcomers from abroad in the online sector. Plan.Net is now seizing a significant opportunity to become a future competitor to Futurecom or Web2Com. Since February 2008, the market leader from Germany has also been represented in Zurich with an independent branch. Yvan Piccinno, previously Account Director at Planetactive, the online specialist of the Ogilvy Company in Zurich, has been appointed Managing Director.
Plan.Net is part of the German agency group Serviceplan. It employs a total of 750 people and, with a gross income of EUR 103 million (FY 06/07), is "the largest owner-managed agency group in Germany". It has four divisions. The classic Serviceplan is responsible for "integrated brand management", Mediaplus for "communication planning", Facit for "qualitative marketing research" and Plan.Net for "interactive communication". The head office is located in the Haus der Kommunikation in Munich and unites "innovation culture under one roof" with all four agency branches. A second center is located in Hamburg.
30 percent growth per yearPlan.Net was founded in 1997 within the Serviceplan holding company and today employs around 210 people. In each of the last three years, the Plan.Net Group has recorded regular growth of 30 percent. Plan.Net's core competencies are innovative brand management, online conception and creation, media planning and buying, web design, mobile advertising, e-publishing and performance marketing. Its client list includes BMW, Media Markt, Lufthansa and Mars.
The Plan.Net Suisse office is set up in Zurich in the newly renovated "warehouse" at Giesshübelstrasse 62. It will start with four people. As early as 2010, Plan.Net Suisse wants to be able to offer all tasks autonomously on site in Zurich with 14 employees. "It's not just about being able to serve existing customers even better from Switzerland. We want to find new clients here and also acquire new international business from Zurich," explained Piccinno at the presentation of the new agency.
Plan.Net Suisse has already won the online platform Piazza.ch from Tamedia. Potentially, projects for Swiss will also be managed after the parent company Plan.Net in Germany has just won the global budget for the online creation budget of Swiss parent company Lufthansa.
For Manfred Klaus, Managing Director of the Plan.Net Group in Munich and responsible for the internationalization of the multimedia agency, Switzerland is a very important country for the development of the German market leader. He bases his plans on the statistics that Switzerland already has an Internet penetration of 73 percent compared to only 59 percent in Germany. Despite this, only 1.3 percent of total advertising money is spent online in Switzerland, while Germany already invests over 10 percent in this new media. In addition, 68 percent of people in Switzerland already have a broadband connection, compared to 51 percent in Germany. For Manfred Klaus, who has bundled the expansion efforts in a specially founded holding company, Plan.Net International, Switzerland, with its numerous international companies, was therefore a strategically important target.
Back in April 2006, Klaus founded the first agency abroad for Plan.Net in France. There are 31 people working in Paris. The most important clients are Porsche, Peugeot Scootes and Banque de France.
To date, Plan.Net has generated around 5 percent of its sales abroad. At the same time, the agency is responding to the wishes of its customers with this expansion. International brands have understood that online branding must take place simultaneously in all markets. Their target groups may be local, but they live and act globally. This is why Plan.Net entered into a partnership with Profero back in 2001. This specialist was founded in 1998 and is now one of the leading online agencies in the UK. Profero employs 250 people worldwide. Plan.Net and Profero together have more than 460 online marketing experts, media billings of over 160 million euros and cross income of almost 32 million euros. Together, the two owner-managed service providers form one of the largest independent online advertising providers in the world.
Close networkingThe specialists for interactive communication develop integrated online concepts in close networking with classic communication. Within the Plan.Net Group, Plan.Net concept's award-winning conceptual and creative expertise is complemented by the planning know-how of Plan.Net media, which has the purchasing power of a market leader and the largest online advertising media database in Europe. The Plan.Net Group's other fields of activity and areas of expertise also include mobile marketing, interactive TV, electronic publishing, performance media and search.
In future, Plan.Net intends to provide all these services not only for a broad portfolio of brands and products in Germany, but also increasingly on an international level. In addition to Switzerland, Manfred Klaus has therefore already set his sights on addresses in Eastern and Northern Europe.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Eyewear After developing the entire corporate identity for Klarsicht Optik in Winterthur last year, Transformer is now launching the actual introductory campaign for the brand new high-end optical store. With a straightforward and straightforward implementation, Klarsicht is positioned as an address with an accentuated fashion claim and as a counter-design to the percentage-ridden discount segment. The communication strategy includes advertisements in the daily press, CinéMovies and a lifestyle magazine published several times a year.

 
Werbefilme Interdata tested the impact of 700 TV commercials and used the Psychometer to calculate the films with the best resonance, whether at Cannes, the ADC, the film competition Die Klappe or the Edi: there is no jury that can really judge commercials objectively. Where people judge, there are different opinions. However, if not just an elite of a few selected creatives, but 120 test subjects from all walks of life take a close look at a commercial, we may come a little closer to the ultimate result. "Psychometer" is the name of this standardized measuring instrument for TV commercials. The Interdata Research Institute in Lucerne, in cooperation with IMAS International in Linz, has been using this psychometer to analyze commercial breaks on Swiss television since 1992. Around 500 commercials have been tested each year, which corresponds to 8000 films to date. For the tests under the scientific direction of Jos W. Vloemans at the Interdata Research Institute in Lucerne, half of the 120 test subjects are men and half are women aged between 16 and 50.
The test measures spontaneous recall and aided recall after the block has been played. In addition, the level of awareness of the commercial before the test and four response values according to the levels "liked", "worth watching", "opinion improved", "motivation to buy". Finally, a detailed impression is recorded using a list template "likeable", "entertaining", "interesting", "good product presentation", "convincing", "average", "boring", "exaggerated".
In the current analysis, a particularly broad selection of new commercials with 700 productions from 2006 and 2007 was examined.
Out of a total of 700 spots, only one managed to make it into the top 20 in all four main categories "Attention", "Appeal", "Improve opinion" and "Incentive to buy". The "Fitness Center" commercial for Zweifel Pommes Chips was conceived by the agency Advico Young & Rubicam and produced by Gapfilms/Nxtfilm.
Two commercials reached the top in at least three of the four core dimensions. Both advertise Nestlé products, namely Mövenpick "Eis am Stil" and Leisi with "Mann macht Frau Kekse". The lead of these campaigns was realized abroad. 14 commercials achieved a top position in at least two dimensions and 42 in one discipline. "You can see from this how difficult it is to advertise really effectively," concludes project manager Jos W. Vloemans.
More information about the Psychometer can be found at www.interdataforschung.ch. The Institute can also provide detailed data on all the films examined.
Andreas Panzeri
 
 
Take a look at
the list of the 20 best spots from 2006-2007.

 In an open letter, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Basel, Roland Trauffer, has criticized media reports about alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests. "The judges are sitting in the editorial offices," he writes. In the case of the Catholic Church, the "presumption of guilt until proven innocent" has applied for some time due to "high-circulation thought patterns". Trauffer states this in an open letter that he published on Wednesday. What is new is the "degree of shamelessness" with which "certain media seek the applause of their readership".
Any form of sexual abuse is of course inexcusable and should be punished by law. However, condemning a possibly innocent person without clear evidence is just as inexcusable. Trauffer is currently representing Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel, who took a three-week sabbatical on the advice of doctors.
According to the vicar general, "all Catholic priests are regarded as potential child abusers" in the reports of individual media outlets. Thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to pastoral care are being reduced to "ticking child terror time bombs". We need to talk about the place "where paedophilia is really a big problem, namely in the world outside the priests' rooms", said Trauffer.
In addition to various media reports, the open letter also criticizes the "Wort zum Sonntag" on Swiss television on 2 February.

 
Television With PresseTV, publishers are on the defensive against their negotiating partner SRG. Also because viewers are running away from them.
 
The figures for the publisher television channel PresseTV (PTV) on SF 2 are disappointing: last year, the first broadcasts of almost all programs fell by 10 to 34 percent. Not for the first time: Gesundheit Sprechstunde (GES) and konsumTV have lost around 50 percent of their viewers since 2003, and the situation is not much better for other programs. Café Bâle was therefore canceled in mid-2007. Only the Standpunkt programs were able to maintain their previous level. They have been the most stable value in the PTV portfolio for years. Another thought-provoking fact: while the SF2 channel as a whole reduced its market share last year by 1.5 percentage points to 8.2 percent, GES and konsumTV lost at least 2.4 percentage points, meaning that all PTV programs are below the SF2 average. (To be fair, it should be mentioned that SF2 without sports programs is also lower). Conclusion: 13 years after the launch of PTV, the publisher programs are at their lowest point.
Internet can make gains "In purely numerical terms, we have never been in such a bad position," confirms PTV Managing Director Hans Jürg Deutsch. Here and there he puts things into perspective or makes adjustments. NZZ Format, for example, is viewed by fewer people, but more intensively, he says. Other programs, such as GES, are only losing in terms of initial broadcasts, but are gaining in terms of reruns. There has also been an increase in the use of internet offerings. "But I don't want to make excuses: None of this makes up for the losses," says Deutsch.
He sees several reasons for the audience erosion. Firstly, there is the programming strategy of SF director Ingrid Deltenre: Since she brought audience-strong programs such as Musicstar, Pisa, Traumjob or Schweizer Hits into the SF1 program on Sunday evenings, parallel PTV programs have had a harder time. "We have our fixed time slots and were unable to react to viewer needs," says Deutsch. But he is also self-critical: "We at PTV have not been too innovative in recent years and have brought little that was new."
However, the meagre overall PTV balance sheet comes at the worst possible time for the publishing houses involved (including NZZ, Ringier, Axel Springer Schweiz and Basler Zeitung Medien). This is because the contract between them and SF expires at the end of the year. And never before has PTV been called into question to such an extent. On the one hand, SF Director Ingrid Deltenre has repeatedly indicated that she finds the PTV broadcasts annoying. In addition, SRG has had a new concession since the beginning of the year which, unlike before, no longer obliges it to cooperate with publishers (see box). Today, they are left as supplicants. "We are actually in a weaker position today than before," admits Deutsch. In addition, the loss of viewers is also sapping motivation within PTV. Nevertheless, none of the publishers seem to be thinking of quitting. "We want to continue making television in cooperation with SF," says Deutsch, who also speaks for Ringier. It sounds similar from Basel and at the NZZ.
The first negotiations have recently taken place. Neither the publishers nor SRG are revealing their cards. Both sides say they have agreed not to disclose anything about it.
Offer will probably be thinned outHowever, it is not difficult to imagine the possible scenarios. In addition to the end of PTV as a last resort, there are the following possibilities: PTV tries to get more suitable slots for the individual programs, while SF will only make concessions for those where it sees development potential.
Flexibilization in exchange for a performance mandate is probably the SF motto. The result: the PTV offer will probably be thinned out.
Another option: SF offers publishers the SF info repeat channel, which currently has a 1.2 percent market share, as a playground. Especially as advertising and sponsorship are now permitted there. Publishers would thus also be made more accountable in terms of communication.
Ultimately, however, it will all depend on the money. PTV currently receives an annual payment of CHF 4.5 million from SF. A further lump sum of CHF 7.5 million flows to the publisher from the SRG marketer Publisuisse, which acquires all advertising in the vicinity of PTV broadcasts. However, it cannot be assumed that SRG will pay the same amount of money as before. However, if less money flows in, one or other publisher will throw in the towel. This would also change the PTV shareholder base.
Markus Knöpfli
 
 
 
 
SRG has the longer leverageThe basis for the current cooperation negotiations between PressTV and SF is the new RTVA, as well as the new SRG concession that has been in force since January 1, 2008.
Article 25 paragraph 4 of the RTVA contains an optional formula. It literally states: "The SRG may offer individual programs in cooperation with other broadcasters." However, the cooperation agreements must be approved by the Uvek.
The new SRG concession also does not oblige SRG to do anything, but sounds more binding. Article 19 reads as follows: "SRG shall endeavour to continue cooperation with other Swiss broadcasters on its channels if this can increase the diversity of its offering (...) and does not incur any additional costs."
This creates a completely new situation for publishers (and also for the church-based Alphavision). According to Article 2c of the previous license, SRG was "obliged" to "grant broadcasting slots to licensed broadcasters" on its second transmitter chain. There is no such provision in the new license. (mk)

 
Einrichtungen Unikat launches a kitchen campaign for Ikea and presents the longest kitchen in the world. 
The campaign was impossible to miss. From Thursday to Saturday last week, commuters in Zurich's station concourse were amazed for the second time by a sensational installation by Ikea. After the event with the curtains hanging from the ceiling, this time Ikea presented what is probably the longest kitchen in the world. This was set up by the communications agency Unikat in Küsnacht together with the event specialist Spool. The aim was to communicate not only the quality and service, but also the broad spectrum of Ikea's kitchen range in a variety of ways.
Ikea and its marketing manager Carlos Friedrich can easily prove that Ikea kitchens are of exceptionally high quality: All kitchens are guaranteed for 25 years. But the creatives around CD Daniel Meier and Managing Director Jan Maurer from Unikat wanted to demonstrate with this record-breaking idea that the selection of colors and materials, cabinets and interior fittings, kitchen aids and electrical appliances is also comprehensive.
22 kitchen units - lined up in a column - formed an exhibition with a total length of 50 meters. The spectacle was opened with mobile kitchens throughout the station. On Thursday, February 7, the length of the kitchen line suddenly grew to 100 meters as if by magic. For this purpose, 132 sandwich panels were covered with lots of forex as kitchen elements, resulting in 30 additional mobile kitchen modules. After this temporary extension of the exhibition, the living modules swarmed out to Zurich, Lucerne, Winterthur, Rapperswil and Baden to spread the word about the Ikea kitchen exhibition at Zurich main station and in the furniture stores.
However, these events only formed part of Unikat's new kitchen campaign for Ikea. In the run-up to the major campaign, a large print campaign was used, ranging from double-page spreads to eye-catching small advertisements in the real estate section of newspapers. A humorous TV commercial focuses on the 25-year quality of Ikea kitchens with a son who obviously doesn't want to do without his mother's kitchen even at the age of 25. Ikea cannot guarantee that the son will become independent one day. But the quality of the kitchen can easily be guaranteed for so long. This commercial was realized by Wirz & Fraefel.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Magazine The French-speaking Swiss news magazine L'Hebdo has recently attracted attention in and around Zurich with an unusual campaign. "Is this a political manifestation?" asked passers-by. The excitement was caused by a larger-than-life magnet. This was intended to demonstrate L'Hebdo's appeal to advertisers from German-speaking Switzerland. In any case, real people were attached to the metal with the magical powers. The campaign was devised for Ringier Romandie by the Lausanne advertising agency Tasmanie. L'Hebdo can now boast 226,000 decision-makers from French-speaking Switzerland as readers. (pan)

 In January, Google Adwords took a nosedive in Switzerland. The number of booked advertising spaces even fell below last year's minimum value in August. This is shown by the January figures from Angelink yourposition's Swiss Adex, as reported by the agency. In January, just over 14 different companies were present with an adword per search query, which corresponds to a decline of 30 percentage points. The main reason for this is the tourism industry, which reduced its Google presence by more than half. While the last seasonal decline in advertising in July/August 2007 was mainly due to foreign companies, this time Swiss advertisers also paused their campaigns, as Angelink yourposition writes. The click price, on the other hand, fell only slightly and averaged CHF 1.77 in January (December 07: CHF 1.81).

 Microsoft has not buried its takeover plans, although Yahoo has rejected the billion-euro offer. The software giant finds Yahoo's rejection "regrettable". Microsoft has not ruled out a hostile takeover battle against the leadership of the search engine company. However, the company did not comment on a possible increase in the offer, which Yahoo criticized as "too low". Analysts had previously suspected that Yahoo wanted to drive up the price by rejecting the offer.
Following talks with shareholders of both companies, Microsoft expressed confidence that a takeover was "in the best interests of all parties", as stated in a press release after the close of trading. The response from Yahoo does not change the fact that Microsoft is convinced of the strategic and financial merits of the offer. The company reserves the right to take all steps necessary to implement its proposal.