Paper UPM has published a helpful Printing and Paper Workbook for its UPM Finesse picture printing papers. 
The Duplex Edition is the second edition of the practice-oriented Printing and Paper Workbooks for printers, agencies and buyers of print products, with which the effect of printing and finishing techniques on different paper surfaces and grammage thicknesses can be compared. While the first edition focused on MetalFX inks, the current edition concentrates on duplex printing. Effect can be comparedA total of eight folders allow viewers to assess the different effects of duplex printing and compare the effect of an image motif in black and white, 4C and various 2C duplex reproductions. The examples are offered for comparison on the four paper surfaces gloss, premium silk, silk and matt and the two grammages 135 and 170g/m2 of the UPM Finesse paper range. "The print sample collection thus illustrates the influence of the choice of paper on the final result," explains Anke Böckmann, Brand Manager for graphic papers at UPM.
Enhancing print objectsDuplex is an old printing technique in which black and white images are generally printed with an additional color. Two print forms are created from a black and white template.
The high-contrast black form reproduces the drawing in the dark areas of the motif. Midtones and highlights are printed with the second color printing form, which can be selected from a wide range of spot colors, depending on the motif and the desired effect. "Duplex is still an effective technique for enhancing printed objects and making them stand out from the usual flood of four-color images," says Böckmann. Black and white motifs gain depth and plasticity through duplex, and a visual language is created from a single source. Duplex is therefore particularly suitable for depicting landscapes, but also for portrait and industrial photography.
The UPM Finesse Printing and Paper Workbook on duplexing is available at [email protected].
Sabine Flaxman

 
Zuvo is the No. 1 provider of addressed early-morning delivery. Now it faces competition from Swiss Post. Jürg Brauchli, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Zuvo and, more recently, Project Manager for Delivery Organizations at Tamedia and NZZ, shares his thoughts. 
WW The fact that Swiss Post—and not Zuvo—was awarded the contract for early delivery of *Blick* has upset several Zuvo partners. How do you respond to the criticism of Zuvo’s bid? Jürg Brauchli: Why the criticism? Our bid was cheaper than Swiss Post’s. I know this because, as a member of Bevo’s board of directors, I see what Swiss Post pays. However, I suspect that Swiss Post submitted an expanded bid to Ringier that also included magazines, which is why it was awarded the contract. In any case, it wants to get into early delivery—that’s its stated goal. Now that federal press subsidies have largely been eliminated, it also has more leeway to offer discounts.
The fact that Ringier is helping its publishing rival, Post, of all companies, to launch a nationwide addressed early-morning delivery service shows that publishers no longer speak with one voice when it comes to distribution.Perhaps they haven’t been doing so since they abandoned the Alternative Day Delivery Organization (AZO). If they had truly been in agreement, they would likely have pushed ahead with AZO.
Tamedia and NZZ want to «clarify their relationship with Swiss Post and explore a possible merger between Bevo and Zuvo.» Does that mean you want to kick Swiss Post out of Bevo? No, we can’t do that—after all, it’s a co-shareholder. At most, we could terminate Bevo’s contracts.
Which would amount to the same thing. Are you going to do that? That's still completely up in the air. If we already knew, we could have given notice by now. But first, we want to look into it.
Clarifying the relationship with Swiss Post—you could also interpret this to mean: You’re separating the operations in Bern by integrating Bevo into Zuvo. You’ll then contribute the entire Zuvo to Postmail AG. To put it another way: Is a merger between Swiss Post and Zuvo already a done deal? Not at all. If that were the case, Swiss Post would have to offer us its stake in Bevo for sale. But I haven’t heard anything about that from them yet.
Nevertheless, a merger would probably make more sense. For that to happen, there would have to be significant benefits for our newspaper and magazine titles—for example, that the cost per delivered copy would ultimately be lower than it is today. Early delivery of *Blick* alone won’t be enough for the Post to make an attractive offer. But it now depends on how the Post positions itself vis-à-vis the publishers and what else, besides *Blick*, it includes in its early delivery service.
They seem to be stalling. That's not the point. We want to clarify the situation in Bern now.
What is so urgent that needs to be clarified there? The distribution of Sunday newspapers, for example, is not handled by Bevo in Bern but is managed by a separate organization. This distinction between weekday and Sunday delivery does not exist anywhere else. That is why we want to take a close look at this now.
Distribution is the Swiss Post’s core business. With its new early-morning delivery service, it could essentially bring publishers to their knees. How do you plan to defend yourselves? With the early-morning delivery of *Blick*, the Swiss Post is undoubtedly taking a step in that direction. However, it is only taking this step at a loss. That’s why we don’t feel we’re backed into a corner just yet.
So it’s not too much of a challenge? Any competition is a challenge. But conversely, we could also start offering additional delivery services. At the moment, people are pointing to Germany as a cautionary tale, where the failed PIN Group is supposed to prove the opposite. But there are certainly successful examples of alternative delivery services to the postal service in other countries.
You haven't buried the AZO yet? For now, we're not considering daytime delivery; instead, we're continuing to boost our early-morning delivery with additional volume. After all, early-morning delivery is a volume-driven business. However, since the paid press is losing circulation, we must either raise prices or make up for the shortfalls with additional orders. We’re already doing the latter successfully.
In that respect, it would have been interesting for you to take a look. Of course, we would have liked to distribute Ringier's titles as well. But things just turned out differently.
Back to the Post strategy: I propose a bet. In three years at the latest, the publishers will hold a maximum of 50 percent of Postmail AG—or the Post will hold at least 50 percent of Zuvo. (laughs) No, I don’t want to bet. I’m not a speculator.
Interview with Markus Knöpfli

 The cable network operator Cablecom is increasing the wage bill for its employees by 2.6 percent from April. This measure was negotiated together with the communications union and employee representatives, as Cablecom announced on Wednesday. The salary increase is a few percent higher than the average: the calculated salary increase across all sectors is currently 2.2 percent (calculated by the consulting firm Cepec) or 2.4 percent (calculated by UBS). In addition, fathers among employees will in future be entitled to five days' paternity leave instead of the previous one day. Fathers are now also entitled to five days' adoption leave.
In cooperation with employee representatives and the Communications union, Cablecom also intends to examine its salaries this year using the methodology of the Federal Office for Gender Equality in order to bring transparency to the salary levels of women and men. According to the press release, adjustments will be made where necessary to eliminate wage differences.

 
Football Publisuisse looks back on a successful Publisuissini campaign. Werbewoche summarizes.  
In August, they flooded the advertising scene and for five months, they created a break-time atmosphere in the agencies - Publisuissinis. Television marketer Publisuisse made the likenesses of the local agency dribblers the talk of the industry and thus finally ignited Euro fever, at least among advertisers. Looking back, the creative stars in Panini format certainly don't have to hide behind their original from Italy. The campaign triggered a comparable collecting frenzy. Rumor has it that agency bosses even had to impose a Publisuissini ban because the offices were busy swapping, gambling and gluing instead of working. That's how advertising has to be in the end. But the agency bosses also made it their job to promote the album with the
to fill the pockets of the industry's playmakers. Geri Aebi turned out to be a secret collector. The CEO of Wirz was able to fill the album with the help of his agency colleagues. "A successful campaign. It was a perfect match for the vanity of the advertisers," says Aebi. Publisuissini project manager David Elsasser is also satisfied with the campaign. The campaign succeeded in positioning Publisuisse as an important advertising and sponsorship partner in the Euro 08 environment. "We were able to consolidate our image as an attractive partner, especially among creative agencies," says Elsasser. In addition, the company was once again able to express its innovative side.
Bern is also self-critical. As Elsasser told Werbewoche, the decals were the big topic in the industry, but many collectors had made a secret of their passion for stickers. For example, fewer Publisuissini fans made the pilgrimage to the swap meet at Puls 5 in Zurich than expected.
On January 31, the campaign came to its crowning conclusion. A full album entitled the winner to take part in a grand prize draw. The first prize, a VIP invitation to the Euro opening game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, was won by Sarah Laukemann, advertising consultant at the Zurich agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett. A flatscreen went to Linda Nelson, media buyer at Mediacom in Zurich. Silvia Welti, media consultant at Mediaschneider, won the coveted Töggeli box as third prize. Linda Nelson, who has only been working at Mediacom since July 2007 and is therefore not represented in the album, was particularly surprised by the win. She completed the album together with colleagues and only towards the end of the campaign. The full booklet is now not just lying in a drawer somewhere, but has its daily purpose: "At last, the people I talk to on the phone have a face."
Christian Lüscher

 
Snacks Advico Young & Rubicam celebrates 50 years of potato chips with anniversary ads for Zweifel. 
Zweifel has been doing everything it can for the best potato chips for 50 years. And is loved by the whole of Switzerland for it. In the anniversary campaign designed by Advico Young & Rubicam, you can now find out why Zweifel potato chips simply taste that little bit better. The four print subjects from the CD/AD Christian Bobs team are dedicated to typical Zweifel benefits such as the selection of ingredients, the fresh service and the constant search for new recipes. These currently include the anniversary potato chips in two surprising flavors. The subjects and POS applications are already in use.
Pioneering spiritIt was 1950 in Katzenrüti near Rümlang when Hans Meier, a cousin of Heinrich Zweifel senior, started producing potato potato chips by hand. Seven years later, the Zweifel company took over the small business. The chips became increasingly popular. In 1960, a production plant imported from the USA was put into operation and capacities were continuously expanded. Today, around 400 employees work for Zweifel. The fresh chips are produced using state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly technology at all levels. Today, the production plant is located in Spreitenbach. The company is still owned by the Zweifel family.
Zweifel offers the "freshness guarantee" as a unique quality criterion. A freshness service is on the road every day, delivering to the sales outlets, checking the supply and replacing products free of charge. This allows Zweifel to produce its potato chips without preservatives.
Andreas Panzeri

 
The free home magazine Neue-Ideen, published by Filippo Leutenegger, has streamlined its layout after just eight months of publication and now offers an advice hotline for homeowners. In line with the motto "less is more", more white space has been added to the layout and the use of color has been slightly reduced, with a focus on the essential design elements. This is intended to give the magazine more structure, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. In addition, readers will now be offered free advice from external experts on a home-related topic every month. The overhaul of the magazine, which was first published in June 2007, comes after just four issues. "We spent six months gathering and evaluating experience and came to the conclusion that the reader guidance needed to be improved and the magazine made more contemporary," says Leutenegger. The redesigned magazine will be published monthly from February 8 with a circulation of 670,000 copies and will be distributed to the letterboxes of homeowners throughout German-speaking Switzerland. It can already be viewed at Neue-Ideen.ch.

 
Marco Lutz won the jury and audience awards at the Swiss Film Awards in Solothurn with a trash video. 
The audience and the jury were unanimous as they rarely are at a festival. Marco Lutz from Winterthur won both first prizes in the "Sound & Stories" category for his "super lowbudget" trash video "Ah Ah Ah Ah" with the one-man band "Urban Junior". Public recognition that comes late for a 36-year-old who took his first step towards world class at the age of 17. Back then, however, it was still in sport. But let's take a look back at this un-Swiss success story of a trendsetter, entrepreneur and film director. "I'm a late bloomer in everything I do," says Marco Lutz. The snowboard pro and former eighth in the world rankings only started snowboarding at the age of 17. During his commercial apprenticeship, he needed "an outlet" for his desires. After that, he was on the board "every free minute" and only lived for snowboarding. Soon he was also able to live from snowboarding. "That was in 1988. I was lucky enough to grow with the first push of this new sport." As a result, the talent "got into contracts pretty quickly" and won many professional freestyle competitions around the world for nine years.
At the same time, Lutz and three colleagues founded the snowboard and skate store SigSagSug in Winterthur in 1995. "There was nothing else in this sector and the demand was huge." The young entrepreneurs quickly became one of the best-known retailers on the scene. The company is embedded in the umbrella company John Doe Ltd. "That's a term from American criminology," explains Lutz. John, or Jane Doe in the case of a woman, is what the police call people who cannot be identified. "We liked the name because we started out with a small store and didn't know where we were going."
Today, John Doe employs 18 people. The company is divided into three branches. In addition to the SigSagSug store, there is the wholesale business JD Distribution. Marco Lutz added JD Pictures as a third pillar in 1998. Through this film production company, which does not have its own technical infrastructure, Lutz now markets himself primarily as a freelance director for commercials. JD Pictures is still housed in the large store in the middle of the storage racks with all these props from the skater and snowboard scene. Marco Lutz feels like an entrepreneurial "maverick", but still enjoys being with his people. The entire John Doe business is rented in a former post office transhipment hall near Winterthur railroad station.
It all started with filming when Marco was still on the road with the snowboard circus: "I had an insanely crazy life back then." Snowboarding in July on the glaciers of New Zealand. Or at two o'clock at night in the mystical glow of the midnight sun in Sweden. In between times back home in Winterthur, he told his friends about such adventures. "But it all sounded so unbelievable." That's why he finally wanted to record his experiences.
Lutz bought one of the handy DV cams when he was 26 and had it with him all the time from then on. He showed the first video with snowboard footage as part of a customer promo in the store. Although the 40-minute film was "very amateurish and full of mistakes", people reacted enthusiastically and wanted more.
The self-taught filmmaker shot his third film in 16-millimeter format. He incorporated more and more "in-between stories and weirdness" or visual effects, for example with dynamite, until his snowboard films finally showed an unmistakable signature. He was able to market the films in Japan as well as in the USA. His last snowboard movie "Kingsize" (2003) sold 42,000 DVDs. And in Russia, the boom for such action sports videos is only just beginning. Marco Lutz's films are naturally at the top of the charts.
In the meantime, however, the director has changed the scene. Lutz no longer sees spontaneous action as a new challenge, but rather meticulously staged cinematic art. He has been shooting commercials, corporate films and music videos since 2003.
His first music clip was for the Grisons hip-hop collective "Sektion Kuchikäschtli". Since then, he has also filmed for DJ Tatana, Dada Ante Portas and Züri West. Lutz believes that one recipe for his films, which are celebrated by the industry, is that he does not want to imitate the style of the much more expensive US clips. "The problem is that in Switzerland we always chase after what's already out there. That's why one cliché follows the next in these videos." Lutz is trying to break this trend.
This image of being different has also earned him the corresponding specialized jobs in advertising. With Advico Young & Rubicam, Marco Lutz realized "EAR'Dis" for Sunrise. He is currently working on a similarly trendy project for Goldbach Medien. But he can also bring his style to bear in an "Employee Film 2007" for the Clariden Leu bank or an image film such as "Dubai Pearl".
The commercial director, who has a background in action and music films, is convinced: "You can turn any storyboard into something that makes people say: I've never seen it like that before." Lutz prefers to get involved at the creation stage. But there is also the usual way, where he is presented with a finished script.
Marco Lutz has so far worked with Absolut Turnus, Chocolate Films and PingPong. In Germany, where he attracted attention with a commercial for Ikea, he is represented by Markenfilm and BM8.
What attracts him to the commercial is "that you have to get to the punch line in 30 seconds". The whole focus is on that. "You have to work very accurately and precisely."
And the feature film? Of course, someone like Lutz has his dreams here too. But he wants to take his time. "I can't stuff my backpack with enough know-how until I dare to make a feature film." For him, this includes "a perfect book". Lutz doesn't want to write it himself, because he is convinced: "If you want to save Swiss film, it will only work if you take and support people who write good scripts and stories. I find it very tricky when directors start filming their own stories."
The "workaholic with a passion for this lifestyle" no longer seeks respite from all these activities by snowboarding, but rather by surfing. This text reached him in Costa Rica for proofreading. Over the next two weeks, he plans to introduce his two daughters - seven and nine - to the world of the boards that mean life to him.
Andreas Panzeri

 
Illuminated advertising The Social Democratic Party of the municipality of Pratteln (BL) has submitted a municipal popular initiative to "avoid unnecessary light emissions". Shop window, advertising and building lighting should be banned between 01 and 06 o'clock at night. Similar restrictions are already in force in the Basel capital of Liestal and in Ticino. The advertising industry does not seem to care, and the outdoor advertising company Affichage and the Alliance Against Advertising Bans (AGW) have not commented. Othmar Casutt, Head of PR at Affichage and AGW member, only expressed his personal opinion when asked. As long as the regulations were not only directed against poster sites and were also limited to after midnight, they were "not a disaster" for advertising. (mk)

 
Computers Apple presented new products at Macworld Expo. How we use computers and where we get movies from will change. 
The key data of the MacBook Air, which Apple boss Steve Jobs presented at this year's Macworld Expo 2008 in San Francisco in mid-January as the last and probably most important innovation of his keynote speech, are easy to list: an ultra-light notebook and currently the thinnest notebook in the world at between 4 (at its thinnest point) and 19 mm. Apple makes hardly any compromises when it comes to features, as the 1360 gram lightweight computer has a specially developed Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a speed of either 1.6 or 1.8 GHz, a modern 13.3 inch wide-format LED display that lights up in a fraction of a second and a fully-fledged keyboard that even backlights the keys with sensor control as the ambient light decreases, just like the high-quality MacBook Pro.Laptop with compromisesEven before Apple entered the consumer market and caused a worldwide sensation with its iPod and iPhone products, various online services reported meticulously on the opening speeches known as keynote speeches - and since then, expectations of the company have grown from year to year. So when Product Marketing Director Oren Ziv presented the new flask to the daily and trade press in Zurich just one day after Macworld, all this was of course already known.
However, the aha moment about what has been presented often only comes when you look at the device and can take a closer look at the new features. It became obvious that Apple had also made compromises in terms of the laptop's features. In comparison with a "normal" laptop, two familiar components are missing, even if they can be supplemented with adapters or external devices: a CD or DVD drive and an Ethernet port.
The omission of these components only becomes understandable when you consider that Apple deliberately omitted these components because the MacBook Air was developed entirely with portability in mind. The optical drive in particular is not only relatively large and heavy, but also a power guzzler. This omission is, if you like, the price to be paid for the fact that the computer can be used as a fully-fledged laptop and for wireless communication for five hours, regardless of the power supply.
However, CD/DVD drives are no longer a luxury. In addition to playing movies (DVD), both CD and DVD data carriers are used for installing software and backing up data. How can a user with a MacBook Air install an application or even a new operating system and back up his data if, in addition to the missing drive, there is not even an Ethernet or Firewire connection to transfer software or data at least via server or target mode (this allows software to be installed from a second computer using a Firewire cable, for example)?
Consistent conceptIf you think back to when Apple tipped over the floppy disk drive or the consistent switch to USB ports and peripherals on Apple computers, you have to admit that Apple was usually right when making such decisions. What is needed for such a drastic approach is simply an appropriate and consistent concept. And Apple has developed precisely such a concept for the MacBook Air. The new computer relies uncompromisingly on wireless communication. Apple has solved the installation of software in such a way that it can be installed from a second WLAN-capable computer with a separately installed utility program - even from a Windows XP/Vista PC. If the software to be installed is placed in the drive there, it appears on the MacBook Air as a CD icon called "Remote Disc" in the Finder window, which can then be used to install the software - as if the CD/DVD were physically present in the device. If this is too unsafe for you or if you do not have access to another computer, you can purchase an external "SuperDrive" for reading and burning CDs/DVDs that can only be used on the MacBook Air.
The "TimeCapsule" product, also presented at Macworld, is recommended for expanding the MacBook Air into a complete system. This combined data backup solution and WLAN base station, which matches the "Time Machine" system component introduced with the Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) operating system (see "viscomprint & communication" 22/2007), is an ideal addition to the MacBook Air. The data storage integrated in the flat housing of the "time capsule", which is either 500 GB or 1 TB in size depending on the version, can be accessed wirelessly and can be used as a backup solution for one or more computers equipped with OS X 10.5. This means that data can also be backed up wirelessly, as wireless burning to a second Mac or PC is not possible.
After the CD, now the DVDFirst for the US market, Apple CEO Jobs has declared war on video stores and DVD rental companies with "iTunes Movie Rentals", although not yet directly on the DVD itself. As with the successful iTunes Store, feature films can soon be downloaded from Apple's significantly expanded portal in the USA and, according to Oren Ziv, "later this year outside the USA". From the end of February, the offer will initially include an additional 1,000 feature films plus 100 in the new high-definition format from all leading film studios for rental. New films will be available for 30 days after the DVD has been released. The rate: $ 2.99 (3.99 for HD) for a 30-day rental period and 24 hours to watch after the first start, after which the movie disappears from the iTunes library.
This once again underlines Apple's efforts outside of the pure hardware and software business. Apple has apparently once again succeeded in convincing important content providers - this time the film studios - of its concept. In order to further strengthen iTunes, an important and central platform for Apple, the company has reached an agreement with the film studio 20th Century Fox to include an "iTunes Digital Copy" in addition to the actual film on the DVD. This "digital copy" is suitable for playback on iPods and can also be transferred to the iTunes library. A step that could be the subject of discussion in the future.
Will Apple TV become the "iPod for movies"? It remains to be seen whether Apple will succeed in shaking up the movie market after the music market. In the music business, CD sales have halved in seven years: While 20 million CDs were sold in 2000, only around 10 million music CDs were sold last year. On the other hand, music downloads have increased significantly. The DVD could experience a similar development over the same period of time - especially as this data carrier is used much less (people generally only watch films a few times). The bandwidth of ADSL networks and the performance of the infrastructure are likely to increase accordingly during this period.
With the expansion of its offering and the new possibilities of Apple TV to transfer not only YouTube films but also photos from the photo portal "Flickr" and content from the ".Mac" galleries to the TV set at home, Apple is strengthening its "movie distribution station" Apple TV, which many circles previously thought would be a sales flop. Following a software update, it will now be able to receive the content in the newly casually named "Apple TV Take 2" version at a reduced price (existing users will achieve the same functionality via a software update) without the help of another wirelessly connected computer. The wirelessly transmitting computer becomes obsolete.
It will be interesting to see whether Apple will achieve anything like the same level of success as with the merger of iTunes and the iPod music player. However, it is clear that Apple will increasingly rely on wireless technologies in the future.
This is as certain as the fact that Apple devices are unlikely to contain a floppy disk drive.
Jürgen Franck

 
Online Mediabox wants to earn money on the Internet with trendy niche sites. The new scene pool promises a lucrative and exclusive advertising environment.  
Mediabox is gearing up for the future on the Internet. The specialist for below-the-line advertising and marketer of youth and scene magazines also wants to earn good money with websites in the future. This is new territory for the young agency, but it claims to have identified lucrative niches: rather small websites that have been less attractive to large marketers such as Adlink and Web2com to date due to their reach. Mediabox is specifically targeting lifestyle and scene sites whose content appeals primarily to trend-conscious young people. As Mediabox Managing Director Sandro Proietto says, the company is in the midst of setting up a youth scene pool, which is due to be launched this month, comprising eight websites and focusing on the topics of sport, lifestyle, gaming, music and film. Nothing new, it already exists, say industry experts, and they are not wrong. The two online top dogs Adlink and Web2com have launched two youth pools in recent years, which they claim reach almost two thirds of Switzerland's youth with platforms such as Tilllate and 20min-Online.
Focus on exclusivityThe trendsetters, however, do not cavort on the playgrounds of such mass sites. The cool key figures focus on exclusivity and gather information where new trends are born. As Proietto says, he wants to offer his customers this "exclusive" advertising environment with the help of a pool, which also achieves the desired reach on the customer side.
To develop the scene pool, Proietto studied the "Giving the Beat II" study by the music channel MTV. The authors of the study examined the brand behavior of young adults. Their conclusion, which is relevant for marketing, is that young trendsetters must first be persuaded to engage with brands. In the so-called Cors, trends are born, developed, dropped and released into the mainstream. The link between the mainstream and the cors are the players, who are characterized by their broad network and can make the behavior of the cors suitable for the masses.
Mediabox focused on the so-called players for the scene pool. In an elaborate process, the agency examined all those Swiss Internet offerings that move between the mainstream and the trend epicenters. The Mediabox team was extremely selective in its choice. Offerings such as lautundspitz.ch, the slimmed-down version of the night owl portal Tilllate, did not make it into the pool because the site was "too mainstream". However, Proietto believes that the pool could be expanded with such online offerings depending on the situation, for example when the Street Parade or other major events take place.
Ambitious planAccording to Proietto, there are various reasons for entering the online business. The focus is on the opportunity to serve customers first-hand online in addition to the classic below-the-line and magazine offerings. As Proietto explains, the new role as an online marketer is also the logical consequence of what the agency always preaches to clients, namely to be innovative. The idea was not born overnight, but has existed since the agency was founded. Now that the infrastructure is in place and the time is ripe, such a project can be tackled, says Proietto. The project is certainly ambitious. Not least because the agency is up against two major marketers who have the online business firmly under control. Proietto has already felt this from time to time. For the Mediabox Managing Director, however, it is clear that the development of the Internet is in his favor: "The future is moving in the direction of communities. Trends are born around small campfires."
The USP of the future scene pool is the attractive price model that Mediabox is currently communicating. Proietto is convinced that the offer will definitely be a hit. The site operators also have high hopes. For example, Florian Rieser from aightgenossen.ch, a website specializing in hip-hop music. Rieser addresses a general problem that many small site operators have: "We simply don't have the capacity to reach large customers." In addition, especially in his case, he lacks the knowledge and contacts to get large orders. "We were seen as the hip hoppers with the wide pants and not as the creators of the biggest rap portal in Switzerland," says Rieser. He wants to place marketing entirely in the hands of Proietto and hopes that he will have more time to expand the portal in future. Romano Strebel, operator of the scene newsletter Ronorp's Mail, also sees the Mediabox project as an opportunity to expand the service in future. He is also convinced that the advertising market can only benefit from the small but exciting environment.
Launch of new advertising media In addition to the scene pool, Mediabox also wants to introduce a new generation of online advertising media to the market. We are talking about Adspot and Sitebar. Proietto sees a promising future in both formats. The Adspot is a moving image format that runs silently on the website and only enlarges on mouse-over action and then plays the spot with sound. The ad is only shown when the image quality and loading time are right. The major advantage of this streaming technology is that the end user does not need any special video software to view the video content. The sitebar is a banner in the familiar skyscraper format that automatically adapts to the available screen space. "Initial tests show that users are not bothered by the banners," says Proietto.    
Christian Lüscher
 
 
 
 
The scene pool of the Mediabox Aightgenossen.ch:
Informs daily about the latest news from the urban hip-hop and black music scene. Aightgenossen.ch has a high level of awareness thanks to its many partners. The website has around 202,000 unique clients per month. Twoleftfeet.ch:
According to the operators, it is Europe's largest and most comprehensive German-language board sports portal. Twoleftfeet.ch focuses on daily reports on all aspects of national and international board sports. The website has 120,000 unique clients per month. Ronorp.ch:
Ronorp's Mail offers selected daily tips in various cities. A newsletter is published from Monday to Friday. The site is able to reach 77,000 unique clients per month. Gbase.ch:
Is the largest Swiss gaming portal. The editorial team compiles daily news from the games industry and writes test reports and previews from the PC and video games scene. The site claims to have 250,000 unique clients per month. Art-tv.ch:
Is the first Swiss cultural television on the net with new cultural trailers, video reports and film reviews every day. A monthly newsletter points out current cultural highlights. The site has 30,000 unique clients per month. 78s.ch:
is an interactive online magazine all about music. Every day, a 12-strong editorial team reports on news from the music scene, current releases and concerts. The site reaches 24,000 unique clients every month. Hexadance.ch:
With 145,000 unique clients per month, Hexadance.ch is the leading site in the Swiss electronic art and music scene. The portal is visited 80 percent of the time by French-speaking Swiss. Klangundkleid.ch:
With over 60,000 lifestyle products, it is one of the largest e-commerce and shopping websites in Switzerland. It has 80,000 unique clients per month. (cl)

 
Video games With "Battlefield - Heroes", video game manufacturer Electronic Arts is testing a new business model: financing via in-game advertising. 
The video games business is booming. Last year, the global market grew from 33 to around 40 billion dollars. Although growth rates are not expected to be as stellar in 2008, they are likely to be well over 10 percent - and if the new business model from Electronic Arts (EA) proves successful, perhaps even more. The leading manufacturer of video games recently presented a potentially groundbreaking business model: the game "Battlefield - Heroes" is no longer purchased as a product in stores, but is downloaded directly from the Internet onto the hard disk - free of charge. It is financed exclusively via advertising in the game and so-called micro-transactions.
"Fifa" was given away EA launched a trial run of this model two years ago in South Korea, the epicenter of online gaming culture, with "Fifa". The game, which is a sales hit in our part of the world year after year, was simply given away in Asia. Before long, over 5 million users had signed up and were generating a monthly turnover of one million dollars. New shoes and smart T-shirts for the team are purchased, but the players' performance can also be increased in monetary terms. According to Gerhard Florin, Executive Vice President Publishing Americas Europe at EA, the majority of users do not invest any money, while a fairly large minority are prepared to spend 15 to 20 dollars a month.
This micro-transaction model is supported by in-game advertising revenue in "Battlefield - Heroes". But unlike "Fifa", where only advertising from licensed partners of the international football association can be implemented virtually, Electronic Arts is free to choose the advertising for the online shooter game, which will be available from the summer. This was developed from scratch by Studio Dice, the same team that programmed the earlier "Battlefield" titles.
Beginners with opportunitiesBut compared to them, the aim is to make it easy for casual players to get started: "We wanted to take Battlefield in a new direction with the cartoon style and beginner-friendly gameplay," says Ben Cousins, Senior Producer at Dice. In addition, the action title has a match-making system that allows players of equal strength to compete against each other and does not degrade beginners to cannon fodder.
Electronic Arts is now trying to capitalize on both the increased popularity of online gaming and the demographic expansion brought about by Nintendo's Wii. "People want to play games in new ways, with convenient access to quick fun," Florin is convinced. Good (marketing) preparation is likely to be crucial for the success of "Battlefield - Heroes", as the awareness of the title must be sufficient beyond the usual gamer community for the advertising and micro-transaction revenues to really add up.    
Marc Bodmer

 The Living-zürich.tv project has won the City of Zurich’s contest under the theme «We Live Zurich.» A total of more than 120 entries were received for the public contest, which was announced last fall. The organizers of the winning project will receive a grant of 25,000 francs. As part of Living-zürich.tv, residents of Zurich are invited to upload short films to an online platform before and during Euro 2008, thereby showcasing ’their« Zurich and sharing it with the world. Fans from Italy, France, and Romania will also be able to send greetings to friends and family, according to a press release from the City of Zurich. The jury awarded second place and a grant of 15,000 Swiss francs to the project idea »Rickshaws for Zurich.’ People in Zurich should be able to travel comfortably by bicycle rickshaw for short distances. The rickshaws would give Zurich another tourist attraction and, at the same time, an environmentally friendly mode of transportation. However, since the initiator of the idea does not wish to implement the project himself, the City of Zurich is seeking a suitable organization to take on the implementation. The 15,000 francs are available as seed funding.
The jury awarded third place to the project «Un bel caffè alla Migros.» A short film features portraits of people from all neighborhoods in the city. The documentary thus paints a picture of the city and its residents. The film loops are to be shown in public places throughout the city, such as post offices, museum lobbies, and train stations. The project will receive a grant of 10,000 francs from the City of Zurich.
In fourth place is the project «We Swim Zurich—An Interactive Guide to the City’s Swimming Facilities.» It is being awarded the prize of 10,000 francs from the Zurich Insurance Company Anniversary Foundation. The online swimming guide aims to highlight the joy of swimming in a fresh, atmospheric way using images, video, and audio recordings.