Corporate publishing To achieve attention and acceptance with a customer magazine, quality and craftsmanship must be right. 
For long-term success and to make this measurable and usable, a consistent dialog with the readership is required. If the publication fails to achieve this, it rarely gets a second chance. Companies should shift the attention generated by their corporate publishing products from a communicative one-way street to dialog or, even better, interaction. No dialog without evaluation. Only in this way can a company consistently focus on the target group and optimize its communication and sales activities. At the same time, it provides arguments that encourage advertisers to increasingly use corporate publishing products as advertising media.what does dialog mean in corporate publishing? A credible publication is characterized by the journalistic preparation of content, a topical choice of subject matter appropriate to the publisher's environment and an appealing and emotional visual language. However, long-term success is ensured by its ability to engage in dialog.
Anyone talking about dialog must not only know who their readers are and what they want, they must also constantly check this. Dialog and interaction opportunities only make sense if they are followed up consistently and if they are aligned with the overarching communication and marketing concept of the publishing company. Tamedia Production Services considers dialog in corporate publishing products to be one of the most central elements of customer loyalty. Already during the concept phase, the highest value is placed on an intelligent and above all efficient dialog strategy, hand in hand with the editorial and graphic concept. In addition to content and form, the necessary resources must also be defined in advance.
The cornerstone of a successful dialog strategy is primarily a qualitative analysis of the target group. Today, knowing your target group means more than just being informed about geographical and socio-demographic aspects such as age, gender or income. More than ever, the psychographic aspects that describe character, personality and lifestyle are decisive. Today, for example, 25-year-old consumers no longer necessarily differ from 50-year-olds in their consumer behavior.
On this basis, the "right" reader offers can be developed: from competitions and invitations to events or reader trips to blogs and discussions, and ideally even the creation of communities.
However, the placement of dialog elements alone does not constitute a dialogue. How do we get readers to communicate with us? To do this, we need to strike an emotional chord and create real value. One example of this is a reader event that Production Services developed together with a customer for their publication: Readers can take part exclusively in an information event about Grand Cru, the best chocolate in the world. A topic in gourmet circles for some time now, fine chocolate, like wine, has developed its own language to characterize it. Over the course of half a day, participants learn about the so-called sensory language, find out all about the production of Grand Cru chocolate and finally make their own truffles.
The example mentioned achieved a positive and large response. This is because it simultaneously picks up on an emotional topic and meets a current trend among the intended target group.
In addition to the attractiveness of the dialog measures, the speed and simplicity of the response options also play a decisive role in the response. In contrast to the past, new technologies and modern infrastructure support us today.
What is the benefit of dialog? Only the evaluation and post-processing of the dialog elements make the success or failure of a customer magazine measurable. Both quantitative and qualitative evaluation allow a company to recognize developments and the needs of its target group. On the one hand, the findings and data make it possible to react to changes at an early stage and continuously optimize communication activities. On the other hand, they can provide the sales department with valuable arguments and an increased affinity with the target group.
Today, media experts and advertising customers are also increasingly recognizing the benefits that can be achieved by placing advertising in high-quality and professionally implemented corporate publishing products. The clearly defined target group and detailed information about the audience using an intelligent dialog strategy enable a targeted approach and reduce wastage. In addition, the credibility and connection of the readership with the publication leads to an increased likelihood of contact. A convincing argument when it comes to advertising.
Cosette Black

Geneva-based agency Saatchi & Saatchi Simko brings a stadium atmosphere to Zurich Airport for Carlsberg, winning bronze at the Airport Media Award in Munich. The award-winning advertising is displayed in 17 finger docks that connect the gates to the aircraft. These flying bridges are two meters high and around 18 meters long. The special format called for a special creation that utilized the entire length of the poster, according to a statement from the agency. Since June 2007, the 17 finger docks on both sides now show football fans forming a La Ola wave. Evelyne Cerutti (art director) and Boris Declerck (copywriter) are responsible for the creation under the direction of Olivier Girard (chief creative officer).

 
Award Newspaper designer Norbert Küpper, founder and organizer of the European Newspaper Award, reports on the current trends resulting from the competition. 
The organization of the European Newspaper Award wrote to more than 2000 publishers in Europe, and 287 newspapers from 26 countries took part in the competition. Ireland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands are represented above average, while only a few publishers from France, Italy and Greece took part. The use of visual media plays an important role in the assessment of the newspapers: Image cuts, image formats, unusual perspectives can strongly influence the overall impression of a newspaper and contribute to a modern, contemporary appearance. In general, the members of the jury bring all their expertise to bear and discuss many of the entries in detail.The jury The jury for the eighth competition consisted of eight people from seven countries. They are journalists, scientists and designers from Norway, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Not only the design is judged, but also, for example, the visualization of topics. In some categories, such as concept and innovation, the newspapers provide written explanations to make the jury's work easier. In many cases, the headlines are also translated into English so that the submission as a whole can be assessed.
Winners from Switzerland The main results of all eight competitions that have taken place so far can be found on the website www.editorial-design.com. In addition to the main prizes "Europe's Best Designed Newspaper", there are Awards of Excellence in 18 categories.
Basler Zeitung, St. Galler Tagblatt and NZZ am Sonntag won awards in several categories, Schaffhauser Nachrichten won an award for a double-page infographic and Le Matin won an award in the Innovation category for the introduction of the free newspaper Le Matin Bleu.
Switch to tabloid format completed In recent years, newspapers throughout Europe have switched to tabloid format. This change is now complete.
There are still some regional newspapers in Germany in the Nordic format.

A switch to a half-size format would be logical here. However, there is no indication that national newspapers such as the FAZ or Süddeutsche Zeitung will reduce their size. The Swiss format is already very handy, so there is no particular reason to switch to tabloid format here either.
Main trend: color, photos, outline color:
It is predominantly color images, rather than color areas, that are used in newspapers. Some are four-color throughout, especially in Scandinavia. In Switzerland and Germany, many inside pages are still black and white, and the outside pages of the books are filled with color photos.
Photos:
The trend towards large photos continues unabated. In some newspapers, for example, many small pictures are arranged into a block for local events. The proportion of images on a page is therefore quite high. Structure:
Monothematic pages can be seen more often, where the content is presented in several blocks - not a counter-trend:
No counter-movement is visible. Nobody is saying that readers should be presented with small black-and-white pictures and uninterrupted deserts of text. However, there are about a thousand newspapers in Europe where one would say: They should have a design overhaul. The reason is simple: the rules for good readability, clarity and reader-friendliness are often not observed. What trends are visible in individual categories and what can you learn for your own work? front pagesOf course, unusual front pages that are far removed from everyday standard solutions win in a competition. Upsala Nya Tidning, for example, shows a purely typographical solution that deals with the number of AIDS deaths. A similar design in another Swedish newspaper was about the results of elections. Other examples are very striking in their choice of motif. You can learn from this that you should leave the standard layout more often in order to confront readers with a topic more directly and aggressively than you usually do. Only those who draw attention to themselves will be seen. Continuity is certainly a feature of the reliability of our newspapers. But too much uniformity can bore the reader. That's why it's a good idea to make a cheeky and unusual front page more often.
Photo reportagePhoto reportage is a story that is mainly told with pictures. This genre occurs almost exclusively in Scandinavia, where around 600 daily newspapers publish photo reportages almost daily. The Basler Zeitung won an award in this category at the eighth competition. The photo reportage deals with the Basel carnival. It was published in three supplements of the BZ. The BZ photographers succeeded in documenting the carnival processions and telling a story in pictures. They often chose unusual perspectives and image cuts. In addition, individual people were interviewed and readers were invited to send their own cell phone photos to the editorial team.
Reader reporters at the Basler ZeitungThe BZ reader reporters mostly sent their children, themselves and unusual masks or motifs from the carnival. The photos were published in the newspaper or posted on the Internet. Reader reporters are also active at the German Bild newspaper. It is mainly celebrities who are hunted there. At the European Newspaper Congress in Vienna, Norbert Neininger, editor-in-chief of Schaffhauser Nachrichten, emphasized that reader participation in reporting has been a tradition at his newspaper for 142 years, which in turn is linked to the strong sense of citizenship and democratic culture in Switzerland.
The relationship between readers and their newspapersThe relationship between readers and their newspapers has changed considerably in recent years. The news used to come down to the reader from an instructive position. In the meantime, the editorial offices of many newspapers are trying to be on an equal footing with the reader. The change can be seen, for example, in the fact that articles are accompanied by the author's name and e-mail address and, in many Scandinavian newspapers, even by a small portrait picture of the author and photographer. The reader should know the people behind the newspaper.
Picture pages On picture pages, pictures are published on a specific topic. They do not tell a self-contained story, but often present a collection of similar photos. The St. Galler Tagblatt creates outstanding pages by contrasting a large picture with a few small ones. In Amsterdam Weekly, on the other hand, all the pictures are the same size. The image sections are also identical. The sequence emphasizes the character of a collection. Picture pages should be used more often because they create a relaxing and loosening moment in the newspaper.
Section front pagesSection front pages make it possible to give the newspaper a rhythm. Many newspapers in Europe place the best pictures here. Extreme image cuts, cut-outs and white space are the keywords. A new section with a powerful start can also give the reader a new boost, new interest in the product.
Inside pages with more soft newsSince the switch to tabloid format, the inside pages have become more relaxed and thus more similar to magazines. In Scandinavian titles, inside pages on normal weekdays are also often filled with soft news. In German-language newspapers, this trend can be seen more in the weekend editions.
Visualization remains problematicWhen it comes to visualizing topics, more text-oriented writers need to learn to think visually. It should be noted that there are hardly any people in editorial offices who can brief photographers in such a way that unusual and accurate visualizations are the result. You have to see the topic through the eyes of the reader. You have to think through the individual components of the topic: this can be presented visually, we need an infographic, this part is presented as text, the headline must contain the right keywords for the reader.
Only when you systematically think through at least the most important topics of the newspaper before you write them will the visualization also improve.
Trends at a glance If you work through the European Newspaper Award yearbooks once, you automatically pick up on the trends. You can then also determine where your own product stands. The front page, concept and photo reportage categories in particular are likely to provide new inspiration. "Zeitungsdesign 8", the yearbook of European newspaper design, will be published in the fall and costs 60 francs.
Norbert Küpper

Q-Award The jury only presented three out of five awards this year Three attractive problem solutions from the field of trade and specialty magazines were honored in the fourth round of the Q-Award on the occasion of the "Trade and Specialty Press Day": The winners are SMM Schweizer Maschinenmarkt, Swiss Engineering STZ and Competence H+ Hospital Forum. The jury's decision not to present the "Top Award" and the award for innovation should be seen as an urgent appeal to the industry to step up its quality efforts. Ten dossiers were submitted; the depth and quality of the documents varied greatly. In future, the jury will not only draw on the applications submitted, but will also encourage applications on its own initiative. Or nominate compelling candidates who - for whatever reason - have not applied, on their own initiative. This is probably the best way to fulfill the purpose of the awards.
The background to these awards is the permanent quality offensive in favor of the print media that the Swiss Press Association has been conducting for years. In a country with sometimes tiny market sizes and correspondingly tight budgets, high demands are placed on diligence both on the editorial and publishing side. In the same spirit, the Publishers Association has been awarding the Q seal of quality for some time now. High demands - and this year a rather average yield: good model maintenance, but few new drives.
Q publications appear regularly and are distributed in a clearly defined market. Corporate publications, event and trade fair publications are not permitted.
Q publications are produced by an independent editorial team. Editorial and paid contributions are clearly distinguishable and marked accordingly. The principles of the Fairness Commission are observed.
Q-Publications publish solid market data. Their rate documentation complies with the standards of the Swiss Press Association. The print runs are Wemf-certified and the advertising data is reported monthly so that reliable industry statistics can be compiled.
Q-Publications are also integrated into the e-services of Publimag AG, which is established as a leading advertising company in the field of trade and specialty publications and supports the Q-Publication and Q-Award projects as a sponsor.
Karl Lüönd

 
Media Days Munich Publishers have not given up their business in the face of Web 2.0. 
At this year's major event for the German-speaking media industry, the Munich Media Days, the guests were once again predominantly dressed in black. However, there were slightly more splashes of color this year compared to last year. This could be taken as an indication that many media entrepreneurs no longer see the media world, which has been shaken up by the Internet, as black as they did last November. This was the tenor agreed at the Print Summit, the publishers' elephant round table. The information market on the web is now clearly dominated by publishers, said Welt editor-in-chief Christoph Keese. Apart from the exchange of blows between private and public TV broadcasters over the expansion of their Internet offerings, to which the accompanying media devoted prominent headlines, the wealth of around 100 panels, elephant rounds and side events from all sectors offered one or two discussions that deserve a closer look here. 
How are (print) publishers, for example, dealing with digitization? Tom Turcan, General Manager Digital at the Guardian, explained the numerous functional possibilities of its website "Guardian unlimited" as an example of the extremely successful integration of content into the Internet. The Guardian was one of the first flagships of the British press to massively slim down its paper and switch to a compact format. In Munich, Turcan was able to present the impressive total audience of 18 million users of the Guardian brand as a result of his company's online offensive. It goes without saying that a print title cannibalizes itself with this strategy. "You have to accept that in favor of additional advertising revenue," said Peter Würtenberger, publishing director at Welt and Berliner Morgenpost. Würtenberger, on the other hand, warned against a super hype on the Internet in view of the still low revenues. Apparently, publishers are being tempted by successful sites such as YouTube or MyVideo to create their own brand extensions on the Internet, which may not fit the brand core at all. Not everyone needs their own dating platform, Würtenberger warned. As an English-language product, the Guardian benefits from a global focus, where German-language media have a comparatively difficult time. After all, German regional publishers already have a lot to show for themselves. Rheinische Post, for example, has massively expanded its opinion leadership in its catchment area with its online offering. "Online also offers the opportunity to attract national attention," said Oliver Eckert, Managing Director of RP online.
Newspapers are moving sidewaysThe publisher Eugen A. Russ from Vorarlberg is probably pursuing the most radical approach on the web. Russ has practically downgraded the print edition of his Vorarlberger Nachrichten, or rather spun it off, because the integration of online has not worked and because the Internet is by far the dominant business segment of his company. "Newspapers are losing ground, they are moving sideways, so we have to tap into new sources of revenue." With a comprehensive online offering that provides content for practically all aspects of everyday life in Vorarlberg, he achieves a reach of over 90 percent among 14 to 19-year-olds. Russ has thus also beaten Google. The actual newspaper uses the online platform like an agency. Russ focuses his media on an approximate audience radius of 25 kilometers on average. His MoJos, the mobile journalists, as well as a proud series of private content suppliers operate within this circle, following American models.
The question of what users ultimately want and whether this should be a service like the one in Vorarlberg was met with contradictory answers from the panel. Annik Rubens, alias Larissa Vassilian, one of the icons of the German audio podcast scene with "Schlaflos in München" (Sleepless in Munich), said that publishers were still being all too stepmotherly with their websites and putting superfluous videos online just to get in on the current trend. Vassilian himself has long ignored the expectations of users. "I do what I enjoy, and that is transferred to the audience." Frank Thomsen, editor-in-chief of stern.de, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of unconditional quality journalism on the web. Stefan Herbst, editor-in-chief of the Saarbrücker Zeitung, advocated diversity and wanted to use the reader as a source. This has already led to stories and images that would otherwise not have been available.
René Worni

Vocational training Migros is the largest employer in Switzerland. However, the fact that the 2,950 apprentices are not only trained in the retail trade is still too little known. In addition to the Cooperative stores, the Migros Group also includes many other companies, from chocolate factories to travel agencies and logistics companies. And these also train apprentices. In total, there are 40 training companies that offer committed young people a future in 40 professions year after year. This selection even outshines the not exactly small variety of products for which the retailer Migros is known. The creative minds at Weber Harbeke thought the same thing and brought this number to life for everyone with a poster.

PubliGroupe Robert Schmidli takes over as Head of Media Sales. Publipresse boss Otto Meier steps down On November 1, PubliGroupe quietly handed over the reins in the midst of the Group's restructuring: Otto Meier stepped down as CEO of the Publipresse division, which he had headed since 2002, while at the same time the former Publidirect CEO Robert Schmidli took over the overall management of the newly created Media Sales division. In contrast to Publipresse, Media Sales includes not only the Swiss print business, but also that abroad and the marketing of electronic media. "I handed over responsibility for Publipresse on 31 October", confirmed Meier on request, but added that he would be helping to ensure an orderly transition within PubliGroupe until the end of December.Meier has already relinquished several board mandates at P branches, and more will follow by the end of the year - including at Publimedia. However, he will retain other board mandates until the corresponding general meeting. "So there will be no abrupt departure," he says. According to reports from P circles, Meier will also be officially bid farewell by PubliGroup CEO Hanspeter Rohner at a dinner in mid-December.
The 56-year-old Meier remains silent about his future. He had agreed with PubliGroupe that he would not provide any information until the beginning of December. There are still some talks going on anyway. "However, my new job will most likely be independent of P," he says.
Markus Knöpfli

 
Branding Schneiter Meier Külling AG becomes new competence center for corporate communications. 
Külling Identity AG and m/& AG have merged as of October 1, 2007 and are now operating under the name Schneiter Meier Külling AG. Schneiter Meier Külling announces that this step is in response to the increasing customer demand for an integrated partner for branding and corporate communications. Andy Schneiter, 43, former Creative Director of Külling and one of Switzerland's leading visual designers, will become the new Creative Director of Schneiter Meier Külling. "Corporate communication and branding are growing ever closer together. Once new identities have been created, they need to be maintained and developed in the long term. The merger of our companies was therefore an obvious choice."
High creative potentialThe networked range of services under one roof offers sustainable customer benefits. "We can now offer a wide range of solutions from a single source: from strategic consulting and corporate identity to packaging, annual reports, customer and employee publications. The creative potential that is unleashed across the entire spectrum is enormous," says Philip Meier, 38, former Managing Director of m/& AG and new CEO of Schneiter Meier Külling. The management duo will be strengthened by Christine Gasser and Christian Guler, who are also partners at Schneiter Meier Külling. Christine Gasser, 38, a member of the Executive Board, can look back on many years of consulting experience. Christian Guler, 37, was an art director at renowned design agencies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin and Zurich before joining Külling in 2003. Kurt Lips, previously Managing Director of Külling, will concentrate on the design management of key mandates and will remain with the company. Founder Ruedi Külling is stepping back from strategic tasks and handing over the implementation of the defined strategy to the new management team. The company started on October 1, 2007 with all employees in the shared office premises at Rämistrasse 35 in Zurich.
Philip Meier

 
Cinecom finds the statistics currently available to be too contradictory. It is therefore considering conducting its own study. 
This is a long-standing problem: The movie industry uses two different methods and metrics to collect and report attendance figures. On the one hand, there is the survey conducted by Procinema, the Swiss Association for Cinema and Film Distribution; on the other, there is the Mach Basic Kino survey by WEMF (see box). Not only are their results contradictory, but they also lie «far outside any logic,» as the cinema marketer Cinecom recently wrote. Mach Basic has consistently reported much higher attendance figures. From 2003 to 2007, the difference ranged from 7 to 11.5 million people. Wemf’s figures were thus 32 to 43 percent higher than Procinema’s. Another difference is apparent: According to Wemf, cinema reach has been declining steadily—and in some cases significantly—since 2004, whereas Procinema’s figures show fluctuations. «Industry insiders have long been puzzled by the large discrepancies between (paid) admissions and the (survey-based) Wemf figures,» Cinecom notes in its newsletter.Widespread Uncertainty: Neither WEMF nor Procinema has a conclusive explanation for this. «Since we are not familiar with the details of Procinema’s survey methodology, we must first analyze the two approaches—and the differences between them—in order to make valid statements,» says Marco Bernasconi, WEMF director since March 2007. René Gerber, the managing director of Procinema, echoes this sentiment; he considers his figures to be «hard,» but also knows nothing about WEMF’s projections.
For Cinecom, this situation is unsatisfactory. When selling movie theater advertising, Marketing Director Jean-Claude Bruhin therefore relies primarily on the «harder» Procinema figures, as he puts it. He now uses the WEMF reach figures only for target audience analyses. «At the same time, we’re exploring the possibility of publishing our own study with more precise figures,» adds Bruhin. He envisions a measurement system based on the digital order-processing system that Cinecom has set up in the theaters it markets. This system is currently used to play commercials, and automated feedback allows for verification that the spots were actually shown at the correct time. Bruhin also wants to electronically track attendance figures and link them to the system. This could be done using a tracking device or through ticket control. «The concept could be implemented very quickly,» he says. However, he has not yet been able to present it to the parent company, PubliGroupe. The company is currently focused on other projects. In addition, the theater operators would also have to give their consent, which will provide plenty of topics for discussion. «For the time being, therefore, we shouldn’t expect much,» says Bruhin.
This works to Wemf’s advantage, since the Cinecom newsletter was also read there. Bernasconi got in touch with Bruhin. «We’ll meet in November to discuss the issue,» he says. «The goal is more plausible data,» says Bernasconi, without committing to a specific plan for how he intends to achieve this just yet. Will he make changes to the current methodology, or does he simply want to make it more transparent? Or will he propose an entirely new method to Cinecom? «I think we’ll find a way,» says Bernasconi.
Markus Knöpfli
Very Different MethodsWhile the WEMF
Procinema surveys approximately 23,000 people annually by phone (similar to Mach Basic Print) and collects weekly data from movie theater operators on the number of tickets sold. The advantages of Mach Basic:
It reports actual reach figures, and its metrics are widely recognized. The drawbacks: Due to extrapolation, the figures contain some uncertainty. It is not possible to analyze the data by individual theaters. Furthermore, WEMF reports only one «average week» per year; seasonal fluctuations do not appear in the statistics. In contrast, the Procinema figures
without extrapolation. In addition, attendance figures can be analyzed by week, individual theater, or film. The drawbacks: No sociodemographic data is available, and all figures are based on self-reported data from theater owners. However, 80 percent of movie theaters have electronic point-of-sale systems installed, and the data from these systems is also used for billing film distributors. Both surveys share a common flaw:
They are incomplete. The Procinema figures do not include free admissions. However, these account for only about two percent, according to René Gerber. Wemf, on the other hand, reports only attendance figures for those movie theaters marketed by Cinecom, the study’s sponsor. These account for over 90 percent of all moviegoers and theaters, says Jean-Claude Bruhin. (mk)Foresighted CinecomOn November 12,
As of the date bookings opened for the 2008 theater year, Cinecom switched its pricing basis from the Mach-Basic values to Procinema’s theater attendance figures, while keeping the absolute prices at the 2007 level. According to Cinecom, the change offers customers «greater planning certainty thanks to a narrower range of fluctuation.» The switch comes as a surprise,
Because at first glance, it seems to be a disadvantage for the medium of cinema: The significantly lower Procinema figures result in a higher cost per thousand impressions. But Cinecom has evidently learned from 2006: Back then, movie attendance rose by nearly 10 percent, yet this was not reflected in the WEMF figures (see chart). On the contrary, those figures fell by a good 2 percent. Cinecom apparently fears a similar scenario in 2008, as it expects attendance figures to rise again thanks to attractive films. It does not want to let anything spoil this success, which is why it is taking preemptive action with the changeover. Another advantage is anticipated:
The latest Procinema figures are available sooner than those from Wemf. For example, if attendance figures do indeed rise in the first half of 2008, the corresponding Procinema figures will be available in July, whereas the Wemf figures will not be available until September 2009. So if the cinema industry is indeed experiencing a (temporary) upswing, the CPM will improve more rapidly from now on. (mk)

 
After a construction period of six months, "Sportpanorama" will go on air for the first time in the new sports studio on Sunday, December 2, 2007. For the sports programs previously broadcast decentrally from three studios, Schweizer Fernsehen converted Studio 6 into a multifunctional, high-definition sports studio. The move to the new studio also marks the completion of the overhaul of the three SF sports programs "Sportaktuell", "Sportlive" and "Sportpanorama", each with a new look. The commissioning of the new studio marks the start of the 2008 sports year for Swiss Television, according to a press release. The new studio is designed for high definition and the sound technology is prepared for the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound standard. "Once again, sport is taking on a pioneering role at SF. With the new sports studio, we are taking a giant step into the future of television," says Urs Leutert, Head of the Sports Department. The new sports studio seats 113 viewers. The background décor consists of two HD plasma screens and an LED wall. Depending on the program, these are displayed with background images and program-specific colors. At the center of the studio is the multifunctional, white steel presentation desk.

 
At the beginning of November, Swisscom announced the discontinuation of Betty interactive television in Switzerland, and now the time has come in Germany as well: operations will cease by the end of December 2007 at the latest, and Betty will thus be laid to rest completely. In Germany, operations were to have continued for the time being until a possible sale, and an investor was already being discussed (see ). The plan did not work out. As Swisscom spokesman Christian Neuhaus told Werbewoche, Swisscom and the potential investor were anything but in agreement. Neuhaus did not comment on how their ideas differed, nor did he mention a name. The closure will affect 70 employees in Germany. They will be dismissed within the framework of their employment contracts and normal notice periods. Swisscom's other TV activities are not affected by this decision. Swisscom will now focus more on multimedia, Bluewin TV and Teleclub, Neuhaus said. There are no follow-up projects for Betty, where the expertise gathered so far could be needed again. When operations cease in Switzerland on November 30 and a little later in Germany, Switzerland's first interactive television will be history.
It remains to be said: The Betty remote control remains fully functional as a multi-purpose remote control. Anyone who no longer has any use for it will be compensated in Swisscom vouchers upon presentation of the purchase receipt. But no one knows what Swisscom will do with the 200,000 remote controls that are still lying in some warehouse, packaged and brand new.

 «Ringier is a company that has grown without a discernible strategy.» This quote, taken from the chronicle of Ringier’s corporate history by journalist Karl Lüönd—to be published next year—opened the Ringier fall media briefing. Publisher Michael Ringier used it to draw attention to the contrast between strategy and intuition. His company had, in fact, tended to be guided by intuition—they followed their instincts to find good business opportunities. That’s how the publishing house proceeded in Eastern Europe, for example. But it seems it’s not possible to do without strategy entirely: Ringier outlined several points that are expected to shape his company’s future. The media company intends to focus on existing markets rather than enter new market segments. The publisher anticipates that market developments in Western countries will repeat themselves rapidly in Eastern Europe, and Ringier aims to emerge victorious from this process: «We want to be the market leader in consolidation.» So launching, buying, or selling titles is certainly a possibility, but only in segments and countries where the company is already active.
Continued Revenue Growth This strategy appears to be paying off: Ringier expects revenue growth of seven percent for the current year—despite the discontinuation of *Cash* magazine and the sale of its TV magazines to Axel Springer. CEO Martin Werfeli was only cryptic when commenting on the expected profit: «We will make more profit than last year.».
The publishing house continues to see growth opportunities abroad—while Switzerland, by contrast, is classified as a «mature market.» In a few years, half of its revenue is likely to be generated abroad. Although things seem to be moving full steam ahead for the group outside its home market, publisher Ringier and CEO Werfeli emphasized the importance of Switzerland: this is where the publishing house has its roots. When asked about possible mergers—after having previously declined to comment on a potential takeover by Axel Springer—Michael Ringier nevertheless replied that he would agree to a «sensible merger» if the opportunity arose. They are considering the matter, even if merging is not their top priority.
Brands in a Media Network: In the area of new media, the publishing house plans to focus on integrated media offerings. According to Ringier, online offerings belong within a network: «We want to distribute brands across all media.» To drive this network forward, *Blick* is introducing an integrated newsroom as a major innovation: «We want to merge print and online,» said CEO Martin Werfeli. Ringier and Werfeli would not reveal much more about the new Blick: As Werbewoche had already reported, the paper is set to return to the «single-section» concept, while also taking on a more “magazine-like” format. It appears, therefore, that Blick is being prescribed the same formula as Sonntagsblick.
Ringier’s top management also remained conspicuously tight-lipped regarding the evening newspaper *Heute*. While they did announce a record-high circulation figure as a success story—just under 260,000 copies were sold on November 2— However, despite its popularity among readers, commercial success remains elusive. The company still expects it will take two to three years to reach the break-even point. When asked about the losses, Werfeli said, ’The losses aren’t so high that we can’t absorb them, and we’ll continue to absorb them for a while.« However, he added that Heute, as an evening newspaper, is also an »experiment.« The paper’s continued existence may not be set in stone.
Carole Scheidegger