Werbewoche is giving away twelve tickets worth 75 francs each for the Preview Day Professionals of ewz.selection The Preview Day of ewz.selection is the showcase of Swiss photography of the year 2007 and will take place on: Wednesday, February 6, 2008, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the EWZ-Unterwerk Selnau, Selnaustrasse 25, 8001 Zurich.
Around 500 works with a total of more than 3000 images by professional photographers from all over Switzerland are available for judging in the categories Advertising, Editorial Photography, Fine Arts and Free. All works have been submitted for the ewz.selection-award, formerly The Selection vfg, and are available anonymously.
The Preview Day Professionals is aimed at art buyers, photo agents, picture editors, curators and other professional image makers. Unlimited networking and a small aperitif are included.
To win, send an e-mail with the reference "Preview Day prize draw" to
. The closing date for entries is Wednesday, February 6, at 09:00. If you are one of the lucky winners, you will receive confirmation from us by e-mail.

  Advertisers spent a lot of money on the advertising surrounding the Super Bowl football final on US TV: companies had to shell out an average of 2.7 million dollars to broadcast their 30-second advertising messages last Sunday. In an attempt to outbid each other, advertisers spared neither expense nor effort to put themselves in the limelight. The lavishly produced commercials often trump the actual show on the pitch. Some of the former Super Bowl commercials of recent years now enjoy cult status among fans. The online sector is also trying to capitalize on this phenomenon. The film portal iFilm, for example, attracts users to its site by providing what it claims is the largest collection of Super Bowl spots.
"The best thing that can happen to an advertising spot is for it to achieve cult status among people," explains Volker Nickel from the German Advertising Association, when asked by Pressetext. However, such phenomena are almost exclusively limited to the US advertising landscape, which has fundamentally different conditions to the German one. "In the USA, the TV medium has a completely different dimension than in Germany," says Nickel. In Germany, the TV sector is not as dominant as in the United States, but there is a more pronounced diversity of media used and advertising media employed.
In general, however, a concentration of advertising efforts on certain major events can also be seen in Germany. "The 2006 Football World Cup was also touted as an enormously important advertising event," says Nickel from today's perspective. Accordingly, high prices were quoted for advertising placements during the broadcasts. "However, interest from advertisers was ultimately not as great as expected," says Nickel. But even here, the prices were still a long way off the US price level. "Around 160,000 to 180,000 euros is the price we pay for a 21-second spot for such major events," says Nickel.
However, the high prices cannot prevent countless US companies from scrambling every year to broadcast their own advertising messages during the eight-hour live broadcast of the Super Bowl. The background to this is the enormous reach that the major sporting event consistently achieves every year. According to estimates, around 90 million viewers watched the football final on TV again on Sunday. "However, a large number of viewers does not automatically mean that advertising makes sense," Nickel notes critically. Rather, the advertising costs incurred must always be seen in relation to the advertising impact actually achieved.
According to a study by Nielsen Media Research, the price of a 30-second spot at the Super Bowl has risen by around 100,000 dollars per year since 1999. In 1994, for example, advertisers were quoted just under 900,000 dollars per aired commercial, while just one year later they had to pay 1.15 million dollars.

 Metrocomm in St. Gallen is acquiring the agencies Wortwerk Medien and Insomnia retroactively as of January 1, 2008. According to a press release from Metrocomm—which publishes the business magazine *Leader* as well as various trade journals and client magazines—this move will expand the company’s editorial resources while simultaneously allowing it to enter the electronic media sector. Many of these publications are already managed editorially by Wortwerk Medien. As a result of the acquisition, the editorial, layout, and sales functions for these publications will be consolidated under one roof. This will lead to faster workflows and simplify the launch of new titles, according to Metrocomm CEO Natal Schnetzer. With the acquisition of Insomnia, Metrocomm is also entering the field of internet media. Insomnia owns regional online newspapers such as Appenzell24.ch and Thurgau24.ch. All titles will continue to operate in their current form.
The owners and managing directors of Wortwerk Medien and Insomnia, Stefan Millius and Marcel Baumgartner, will become partners at Metrocomm and join its executive board. Natal Schnetzer will remain the majority shareholder and chairman of the board of directors. According to the announcement, the acquisition will have no impact on existing partnerships, clients, or projects. All projects are to be continued under Metrocomm’s new umbrella.

 
The Lausanne agency Tasmanie demonstrated the appeal of the French-speaking Swiss news magazine L'Hebdo to advertising target groups in and around Zurich. A media planner got stuck on a larger-than-life magnet at the side of the road. According to a press release, the news magazine wanted to use this rather unusual campaign to draw the attention of Zurich's advertising and media agencies to the attractive advertising opportunities for target groups. The campaign by L'Hebdo owner Ringier Romandie lasted a total of two days and made stops in front of the most important advertising and media agencies in Zurich, Zollikon, Glattbrugg and Schlieren. At the same time, Ringier Romandie launched a sampling campaign: promoters distributed L'Hebdo magazines, flyers and mailings in dozens of agencies in Zurich, the agglomeration and Winterthur.

 
The Carlsberg Euro-Tram, which has been running through Zurich on line 3 for a few weeks now, is now also running in Basel. The lettering on both streetcars was created by the Wallisell agency Frontwork. Barnetta, Spycher and Zuberbühler kick, head and dive on the outside of the streetcars. In Zurich, the interior of the streetcar is also dedicated to football. Passengers will find various sketches of moves on the ceiling. In addition, each player and even Köbi Kuhn has a personalized red seat. The agency Frontwork, which specializes in visual communication, currently employs 55 people:
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The corporate communications agency Heads developed the new magazine for employees and clients of ABN AMRO Private Banking Switzerland. Published in English, Close provides monthly information on current topics from the private banking business, portrays successful employees and provides the perspective of a private banking client in each issue. The bank aims to further strengthen the client and market orientation of its staff and deepen client loyalty, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. The first issue is dedicated to ABN AMRO's increased presence in Asia, portrays a Polish relationship manager and extreme sportswoman and features a Brazilian expatriate in Tokyo as a private client.
Responsible at ABN AMRO (Switzerland): Dr. Nikodemus Herger and Sabine Schweinzer. Responsible at Heads Corporate Communication AG BSW: Marco Simonetti (CD), Donovan Szypura (graphics), Ralph Hermann and Nadia Francioso (consulting) and Andreas Bantel (text).

 
Snapvillage, Corbis' microstock service founded in June 2007, is now available to the global market with 160,000 images in its database. The website is designed to be easy to use for creative buyers of all kinds, according to a Corbis press release. The image offering is intended to appeal to smaller companies and web design or graphic design firms as well as private users. According to Snapvillage, around 10,000 images are currently accepted per week, so there is still a long way to go before the total of around 80 million images on Corbis is reached. The subsidiary of Corbis, founded by Bill Gates, wants to combine the functions of non-commercial photo-sharing sites with those of an online marketplace in order to give buyers and sellers greater creative freedom in their transactions. The prices on Snapvillage vary between 1 and 50 dollars per image; this can be set by the sellers themselves. There is also the option of so-called Snappyness image ratings, which indicate the popularity of an image. For example, you can see how often a picture has been viewed, exchanged or purchased.

 Since Tuesday, the German news magazine Der Spiegel has been managed by the expected dual leadership of Mathias Müller von Blumencron and Georg Mascolo. They take over from Stefan Aust, who was recalled and released from his duties on the same day, according to an announcement by the Spiegel publishing house. These decisions were made by the shareholders of the publishing house, the Mitarbeiter KG, the publishing house Gruner + Jahr and the heirs of the magazine's founder Rudolf Augstein. The new editors-in-chief have been working for the Spiegel Group media for more than 15 years. The 47-year-old Von Blumencron has headed Spiegel Online since December 2000, while the 43-year-old Mascolo was most recently head of the magazine's capital city office in Berlin. The dismissal of Stefan Aust, who was appointed by Spiegel founder Rudolf Augstein (1923-2002) and led the magazine for 13 years, came as a surprise. On Monday, no agreement could be reached in the legal dispute between Aust and the publisher regarding the editor-in-chief's dismissal at the end of the year. Aust's claims for protection against dismissal will be heard again by the labor court on May 7 if the two sides do not reach an out-of-court settlement by then. Aust is of the opinion that his contracts are still valid until 2010 (Spiegel) and 2013 (Spiegel-TV). His contract ends on December 31, 2008," according to the publisher's announcement on Tuesday. More than one million euros are at stake.

OFCOM is currently investigating whether Swiss television used undeclared product placements during the broadcast of the Swiss Awards. During the program, prominent guests were driven into the studio in a car. The winners also received a trophy with an integrated watch. Both the car manufacturer and the watch company are listed as sponsors of the program. Nevertheless, according to Bakom spokeswoman Caroline Sauser, these could be cases of surreptitious advertising. Since 2007, the Ordinance to the Radio and Television Act has laid down new rules for product placement: at the beginning of a program, it must be indicated which sponsor provided which products. In addition, there must be no advertising effect during the program, Sauser continued.
OFCOM has requested further documents from Swiss Television, which must be submitted to the Federal Office by February 8. A decision will then be made as to whether supervisory proceedings will be initiated.

The heads of the German advertising agency Jung von Matt are planning to set up a PR agency. As the industry service New Business reports, Holger Jung and Swiss ADC member Jean-Remy von Matt want to set up a PR agency alongside their company, which has been voted Germany's most creative advertising house several times. However, Jung has not yet found the right agency head. Candidates can apply directly to his direct telephone extension, and this is not Jung von Matt's first attempt to enter the PR business: Since it was founded almost six years ago, the Cologne branch of Jung von Matt/relations has primarily dealt with event marketing and accompanying PR for clients such as Mercedes-Benz and Ferrero.

The St. Gallen local radio station Toxic.fm has had a new design since Monday. In collaboration with the St. Gallen advertising agency Die Gestalter, the entire graphic appearance has been revised: All print products and the Toxic.fm homepage have a new look. This also includes a new logo, whose lettering is used in different colors. In addition, different illustrators will create the design for advertisements and campaigns each year. The Italian illustrator Nazario Graziano will make the start. Die Gestalter will also continue to work for the broadcaster. Together with the new visual appearance, Toxic.fm's training program will also be adapted. From February, the training program for music editors will be integrated into the moderation. This will provide music editors with both music-specific and moderation know-how. Additional news magazines will also be broadcast at 13.00 and 17.00.

The French-speaking Swiss daily newspaper is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an edition written exclusively by women. Women members of the Council of States, parliamentarians, business leaders, scientists and artists met on Sunday in the editorial offices in Geneva to discuss the concept and design of the Monday edition, according to Le Temps. 60 female authors and editors include Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey, National Councillor Martine Brunschwig Graf, Nelly Wenger and former politician Christine Beerli. Political scientist Than-Huyen Ballmer-Cao, ABB Switzerland boss Jasmin Staiblin and former Lausanne mayor Yvette Jaggi also helped to create the newspaper.
Micheline Calmy-Rey wrote the front-page commentary. According to a press release on Monday, Le Temps wants to use the women's edition to draw attention to the progress that women have made in all areas of society. Le Temps will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in March. The newspaper was created in 1998 from the merger of the Journal de Genève et Gazette de Lausanne and Le Nouveau Quotidien.