Trend. Tryvertising works according to the motto: get the customer to test your product and let them talk about it.  
The perfect shopping paradise: simply walk into a store, pick up watches, designer accessories or the latest tech gadgets and pay nothing for them. What sounds utopian is already a reality in Japan. A store called Sample Lab opened in Tokyo this year. For a small annual fee, visitors can try out the latest products from a wide range of areas free of charge. The products on offer range from hot barbecue sauce to heavy sports equipment. The products can be tested in the store, but also at home. The interest of Japanese customers is enormous. The store operators are earning good money with their idea. On the one hand, companies pay for the mere presence, and on the other for data and information about consumers.
The business idea from Japan has a name: Tryvertising. The neologism comes from the English words "try" and "advertising". The idea behind it is simple: You advertise a product by letting customers try it out. Tryvertising is a further development of product placement. Products are not integrated into films, but into the consumer's non-domestic environment. It has been proven that people are more open to new things outside their own brand world.
Tryvertising is a major topic in the USA because traditional advertising is reaching fewer and fewer consumers. Various studies by market researcher Forrester Research show that only 13% of US consumers buy products that they know from advertising. Just six percent of consumers trust the messages from advertising. There has been a paradigm shift in consumer society. Futurologists speak of the trysumer movement. The new consumer is an experienced consumer who, thanks to new possibilities, first tests a product free of charge and buys it if they like it.
Because the Trysumer is highly networked, companies are stepping up their online activities. Take Procter & Gamble, for example. Two years ago, the consumer goods giant created an online platform called Tremor.com. Young people can order products, test them and write test reports online. To date, more than a quarter of a million teenagers have registered. The portal is a gigantic piece of market research. The multinational now wants to repeat this success with mothers. This is why Moms.tremor.com was launched last year.
But other big brands have also discovered product placement for themselves. Mercedes Benz supplies the luxury Ritz Carlton hotels with vehicles. Club members of the globally active hotel chain can test drive unlimited models during their stay. The Maybach and Porsche brands do the same. The sports car manufacturer has entered into a partnership with the Fairmont hotels in the USA.
Approaches in Switzerland tooFurniture is also deliberately positioned so that it can be tested. In Germany, for example, Ikea supplied the Etap hotel chain. Individual rooms were furnished with Scandinavian furniture. What works with furniture also works with shoes. The sporting goods manufacturer Nike came up with a special tryvertising campaign. The shoe manufacturer toured Europe this year with so-called "Nike Trial Vans". Nike offered thousands of shoes for testing in sports regions. Runners were able to try out each shoe on site with no obligation.
Tryvertising is not yet as popular in Switzerland as it is abroad. As a telephone survey conducted by Werbewoche shows, Swiss hotels, for example, distance themselves from this type of product placement. The basic tenor: "We have our own products that fit in with the hotel concept. However, there is a strong demand for tryvertising. Silvia Affolter, Managing Director of the hotel television channel Cityguidetv, is regularly asked by companies for product placements. Affolter: "Of course, if you can position yourself in a top hotel, you are advertising in an exclusive environment, and to an audience with purchasing power." The Swiss Hotel Association is not yet aware of any tryvertising campaigns.
They may not advertise in the hotel, but they do in the hospital. Bulgari, a manufacturer of luxury items such as perfume, jewelry and handbags, entered into a partnership with the Hirslanden Private Hospital in Aarau this year. Next year, well-heeled patients will be able to sample Louis Widmer fragrances.
Christian Lüscher

 
Ethics The Harbour Club met to discuss morality as a competitive advantage. An insight. 
When a top manager earns 300 times more than a normal employee, there is a need for explanation. The smart ladies and gentlemen, who are alternately referred to as CCOs, Heads of Corporate Communication and - by Christoph Blocher, for example - as "façade cleaners", have to explain something like this. 50 of these types have joined together to form the Harbour Club: a forum for managers who no longer feel at home in the traditional association structure of the communications industry; people for whom the terms "press spokesperson", "PR manager" or "sponsorship officer" fall short because they bear responsibility for the entire communication of their company.
The HC's November symposia live up to this high standard better every year because they do not avoid reality but also allow unwieldy topics. This year, the bold slogan was "Morality as a competitive advantage - communication in the age of values": Morality as a competitive advantage - communication in the age of value pluralism.
If openness, a willingness to question oneself and lateral thinking are the hallmarks of good communication, then the event - which took place in the spacious and practical setting of the Zurich-Leutschenbach television center - was above average. Sybille Sachs,
Professor at the University of Zurich/ HWZ, laid the foundation in a catchy mixture of theory and practice reinforced by experience by justifying the stakeholder approach precisely from the fashionable shareholder thinking: Is the investor the sole bearer of risk? Probably not, because: "Employees and suppliers also invest in the company - in the form of ideas, life time and knowledge." Sachs ventured a ranking of the most important stakeholders. After customers and employees, in descending order, they are shareholders, investors, society, regulatory authorities, partners, government, suppliers, politicians and trade unions. She only ranks the media in 15th place. Her studies of practical (company) examples clearly show that social responsibility, political cooperation, a willingness to innovate and other positive behaviors increase competitiveness and reduce business risks.
Kaspar Schuler, Managing Director of Greenpeace Switzerland, demonstrated what such risks can look like in concrete terms with a brilliant presentation by his organization, which is as defiant as it is effective. It has set itself the goal of "seeing the world through children's eyes". Its campaigns - always visualized and staged for media impact - last from three days (against unfair heating oil advertising) to eight years (chemical landfills in the Jura). Greenpeace's means are pressure from below, mobilization of (mainly retired) whistleblowers, but also of strategic bodies, such as auditors, who feel uneasy. The success is measurable. Novartis has just paid 200 million into a legacy foundation.
Ulrich Gygi, CEO of Swiss Post, used his company's transformation process from a monopoly to a competitive player to present the values he demanded of employees in his "inner mission": credibility, entrepreneurial spirit, partnership. He also came up with the motto of the day: "We have to learn to feel comfortable with change."
The fact that the shift towards socially responsible, open action, and not just talking about it, provokes resistance and reveals contradictions was clearly expressed in the four workshops. They were excellently prepared and - as the balanced number of participants proved - very well tailored to the specific interests of the paying participants.
Felix Wehrle, Head of Communications at Coop and inventor of the Naturaplan idea, showed in detail how the green vision of 1990 developed into a mass movement for organic food and fair trade, which today regularly convinces 50 percent of Coop customers. Ueli Haldimann, editor-in-chief of DRS television, used current examples (FC Thun) to demonstrate how decisions relevant to media ethics are made under time pressure. Hans-Ulrich Märki (IBM Europe) outlined the huge project of establishing a common new value system in a global group with 360,000 employees in 160 countries, and Reto Ringger, CEO of the SAM Group, provided a brilliant introduction to the world of sustainable investments and investment products.
The concluding panel, chaired by René Lüchinger, enjoyed additional contributions from Father Lukas Niederberger from Lasalle House and lawyer Valentin Landmann. Television director Ingrid Deltenre and Rolf Schläpfer (Roche) broke down the topic of the day to their respective corporate realities: To the media company with a public service mandate and to the global pharmaceutical company confronted with questions of values on a daily basis.
It was a packed day with thought-provoking topics, plausible case studies and obvious benefits for the more than 120 participants.
Karl Lüönd

 
Magazine In recent days, the publisher of Cicero has used a "somewhat awkward excuse" to ask selected readers from its target audience to send them a photo. 
Now the secret of these requests has been revealed. For the month of December, the "Magazine for Political Culture" has been launched with 160,000 individual covers. This is the first time that the unique year-end edition has been published with a photo cover. However, not only were 50 million different Reuters "Pictures of the Year" placed in a gigantic logistical effort, but also the photos of 20,000 personalities. They can now look forward to seeing their own likeness on the cover of Cicero, just as if they had won an SI Style casting. Only a little more serious looking, of course. (pan)

 
Letter to the editor Reply to the letter to the editor by Walter Merz, Werbewoche 41/07 of November 15.  
Dear BSW, I understand that your reaction to TBWA\ leaving the BSW and the directness of the reasoning is somewhat displeased. But we are no longer in the same boat. And we have also set a new course. It will take a few days, and then we'll love each other again from a distance. However, I don't want to leave one of the many little side blows uncommented on, because it doesn't just concern TBWA\:
The ranking: I mentioned the only valid position for TBWA\ at the time of the interview. I would never have expected that the BSW actually intended to publish such an incomplete ranking (over a third of the agencies did not take part, including the two largest networks). Incidentally, it was pure coincidence that it appeared in the same issue of Werbewoche. Publishing an incomplete list of 36 agencies, with partly consolidated and in some cases (that I know of) massively manipulated figures, cannot be in line with the claim of the Leading Agencies. Size alone is hardly meaningful and tells us nothing about the true resources of a company. The ranking has always served only one purpose for the BSW: The agencies should increase their revenues as much as possible so that the BSW can claim higher, revenue-based contributions. That's why you stubbornly insisted that as many agencies as possible take part. The fact that 22 BSW agencies (including those not affected by Sarbanes-Oxley) have not provided their figures could also mean that they have generated much more turnover but do not want to pay more contributions. We will probably never know, because TBWA\ will definitely no longer compete with BSW agencies in the future. Because it has never benefited our customers.
Andy Hostettler, CEO, TBWA\ Switzerland

The Zurich agency Publicis caused a stir among heavy metal fans with a guerrilla campaign at Zurich's Volkshaus. A group of rural youths dressed in barn clothes mingled with the mostly black-clad, pierced and tattooed audience at the Apocalyptica concert. Instead of the usual flyers, the backwoodsmen handed out rustic postcards from Muotathal. They showed that tickets from Ticketcorner for this concert could also be bought in the remotest Swiss village - namely at the post office in the PostShop. According to the press release, the die-hard fans reacted to the campaign with a great deal of humor. The campaign supported the Publicis campaign for the Ticketcorner range at PostShop points of sale. It communicates the new offer directly to the core target group as well as to specialist journalists who report on music, stars and concerts.
Responsible at PostShop:
Andreas Etter, Angela Hächler (Marketing Communications). Responsible at Publicis: Philipp Skrabal (CD), Roy Spring (text), Denis Schwarz (AD), Simone Platz (graphics), Tamara Gysi (fitting), Marion Marxer, Deborah Herzig and Bojana Taraba (consulting).

 
The governments of the cantons of Schaffhausen and Basel-Stadt have spoken out against the request of the National Council's Political Institutions Committee to guarantee parties and voting committees free airtime on television and radio. With the parliamentary initiative, the committee wants to achieve greater fairness in election and referendum campaigns, as reported by the SDA. The cantons have until November 30 to submit their responses, and the Schaffhausen government wrote that the initiative is a welcome concern, but fairness in voting campaigns can hardly be enshrined in law. Parties and committees have enough suitable platforms in electronic media discussion programs to present their arguments. Voters, in turn, are mature enough to correctly classify any oversized or unfair voting campaigns.
The Basel government also welcomes the request for more fairness, but admits that the instruments proposed in the preliminary draft are not suitable. It sees no convincing reasons for softening the ban on political advertising on radio and television. In addition, an imbalance would also arise between financially stronger and weaker parties, as the advertising spots would have to be paid for by the parties themselves. With more money, more effective commercials could be produced.

 
Since Tuesday, it has also been possible to place advertisements on Google's cell phone search page in Switzerland: Text-based advertising messages appear on cell phones as soon as an Internet search query is started via Google. Mobile ads have the same basic functions as text ads when accessing Google via PC. However, the number of characters is limited, as stated in the announcement on Tuesday. Google sees mobile devices as the central information devices of the future. According to Rikard Steiber, Product Marketing Director at Google EMEA, there are already more mobile devices worldwide than PCs and TVs put together, and the ads labeled as advertising appear at the top and bottom of the page in search results on cell phones. Users can use the text link to go to a mobile-friendly website or a telephone number is displayed which can be used to call the advertised services. Advertisers can generate mobile-friendly websites for free by using Google's Adwords Business pages for the Mobile Ads service. Messages can also be timed so that users only see the pages during business hours, for example. Registered advertisers also receive access to AdWords.

 
The Zürcher Oberländer is upgrading its website and Adlink Media is marketing it. The Goldbach Media subsidiary sees the new addition as an ideal complement. The attractive target group from the economically strong Zürcher Oberland region represents an ideal addition to the Adlink network in terms of quantity and quality, said Martin Radelfinger, Managing Director of Adlink Media, in a press release. On December 1, 2007, the online platform of the two daily newspapers Zürcher Oberländer and Anzeiger von Uster will be relaunched, which also includes the start of web TV. From then on, access to all news will be free of charge. The current editions of the two daily newspapers will be available to users in the form of an e-paper as a discounted subscription and to newspaper subscribers free of charge.

 In a press release, the media union Comedia criticizes Ringier's announcement to cut jobs at the Blick Group. Following the closure of the business newspaper Cash, this is "the second piece of bad news from Ringier this year", writes Comedia. It is regrettable that Ringier is cutting staff instead of investing in its employees and thus guaranteeing journalistic quality. The union is calling on the Ringier publishing house to offer all affected employees an equivalent position within the media company. Where this is not possible, a social plan is needed. Comedia intends to support the staff and their representatives in the social plan negotiations.

Since the launch of the web television channel 105TV on September 28, 2007, the Zurich advertising agency JWT+H+F has been in charge of this latest coup by media entrepreneur Giuseppe Scaglione. The basis is not only the pure development of advertising measures, but also a permanent exchange of know-how, according to a communiqué from the agency. JWT+H+F's first work for 105TV was the invitation advertisement and VIP invitation cards for the launch party at Zurich main station. Now the task is to attract as many users as possible to the screen. With 105TV, viewers can also become stars: All you have to do is upload your video to the site and have it rated by the audience. The winning users can look forward to winning a car. The others get lots of crazy fans.
Responsible at 105TV:
Giuseppe Scaglione (Managing Director). Responsible at JWT+H+F, Zurich: Mike Krüll (Creative Direction), Isa McInnes (Art Direction), Franco Elsener (Consulting).

 
As of December 9, the SBB timetable will change, bringing various destinations a good deal closer. For example, the journey time from Zurich to Paris will be reduced by a good hour and a half, from Basel it will be just under half an hour faster to the Bernese Oberland and from Bern to Valais you will save around 80 minutes. Jung von Matt/Limmat dramatizes the customer advantage with three subjects. The topographical effects of the timetable change are shown. The carpet of landscape between Paris and Zurich is simply pushed together. Gigantic waves form between Basel and the Bernese Oberland, which has moved into the immediate vicinity, and even the Swiss capital is now only a few car lengths away from the Matterhorn:

Reto Meissner (overall responsibility) and Sabine Walther (project management) Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat:
Alexander Jaggy (CD), Lukas Frei (AD), Livio Dainese (text), Fabian Röthlisberger, Simone Jehle and Jonas Brändli (consulting), Didi Knall (art buying) and John Hollander (3D illustration).

The Blick Group is cutting jobs but at the same time plans to invest more. Blick Editor-in-Chief Bernhard Weissberg discusses cost-cutting measures, shifts in editorial focus, and the unbiased political stance the new Blick aims to adopt. Werbewoche: The Blick Group is cutting jobs. Why is this reduction necessary? Bernhard Weissberg: On the one hand, we’re cutting jobs in the back office. Here, we’re partly making up for what was neglected in the past. In addition, we’re essentially making proactive savings in anticipation of the new concept: What—and therefore who—will we still need in the future, and what—and who—will we no longer need? The media union Comedia criticizes the fact that the company is cutting staff instead of investing in journalistic quality. What is your response to this criticism? We’re not just cutting staff; we’ve looked across the board to see where savings are possible. At some point, you have to start with the staff as well. Furthermore, in my view, the equation that more money necessarily equates to higher journalistic quality isn’t necessarily true.
They didn’t inform the affected employees until after the entire editorial staff and the public had already been told that job cuts were coming. Why? Whether you inform the public or the affected employees first, both approaches have drawbacks. We decided to speak with the editorial staff as a whole first. Otherwise, the employees who were laid off would already know during the general briefing that they were affected, which would put them in an uncomfortable situation.
How many people are still employed there now that the downsizing is over? About 70 in the main newsroom, and around 50 in the sports section today.
At the same time as announcing the job cuts, however, Ringier also said it plans to continue investing and, for example, will increase the scope of *Blick*. That’s a contradiction, isn’t it? On the one hand, we’re not only cutting jobs but also hiring new people. There will be a shift within the departments. On the other hand, the problem isn’t that we have too few people and, consequently, too few stories. On the contrary, I have too many stories and not enough space for them.
So does that mean we need more ads? More ads would always be nice—everyone would be happy about that. But *Der Blick* isn’t doing as badly as some of our competitors would like to make it seem. We’re still making good money, even if it’s not as much as it used to be.
Are the job cuts related to the planned integrated newsroom for online and print that Ringier announced for Blick? No.
How are you designing this newsroom? Is Axel Springer serving as a model here? The integrated newsroom project is just getting started. Springer isn’t the inspiration here, but of course we’ve looked at the few projects for a so-called «integrated newsroom» that have been implemented so far in Scandinavia, England, and the U.S. I can’t say anything about the details yet.
You say you also want to bring new people on board because there’s a shift in content. What will that look like? All of these measures are related to the new section we’re launching in March. There will be shifts within the departments, and for that I need people who are suited to the new formats. For example, reporters who can also write longer feature stories from time to time. It’s the same here as in private life: if you want to invest more in one area, you have to cut back elsewhere.
So where should *Der Blick* be headed? It should continue to be exciting and stay close to the action. Overall, *Der Blick* should focus on more topics and take on a more «magazine-like» style.
What does that mean? Less fluff—in other words, fewer short articles—more in-depth coverage, larger photos, and longer articles. Our reader research has shown that Blick readers also value longer articles more than bite-sized pieces. When Blick launched 48 years ago, it published the shortest articles imaginable. Nowadays, there are free newspapers and online outlets on the market that also feature short articles. So the situation has changed.
What about the political orientation of the new *Blick*—will there be a change in direction? I want my staff to approach the stories with an open mind and curiosity. They shouldn’t have already formed an opinion on a topic before they sit down to write an article. The stance at *Der Blick* will become more open. We want to give more space to a variety of opinions.
So will *Blick* become a daily version of *Weltwoche*? Well, *Weltwoche* doesn’t really allow for many different opinions. Compared to it, *Blick* will certainly remain more open-minded. But our editors should approach the stories with an open mind.
On Tuesday, the SDA announced that *Blick* and *Sonntagsblick* will once again be among its clients. Could *Blick* really manage without the SDA? There are pros and cons to not having an SDA subscription. We could have continued to get by without the SDA, but this makes things easier—especially for our colleagues at *heute* and the radio stations, who really need regional news. We also want to show solidarity with the other Swiss media companies. Otherwise, the Austrians might end up buying the SDA too (laughs).
Interview: Carole Scheidegger