Advertising rates Many print titles are using the new rate system for hidden increases in their advertising rates The new rate system for newspapers, which was introduced three years ago, is continuing to gain popularity as of 2008. At least eleven other titles have decided to switch to fixed formats (mostly with a discount) and in some cases also to the integrated color millimeter rate. Wherever the integrated color millimeter is still being dispensed with, this is due to technical printing reasons, as there is no continuous four-color process. With one exception: the weekly newspaper (WOZ) could change over, but does not want to. "We are not yet experiencing any pressure or sufficient demand from customers and believe that with our large number of small-format advertisements, an integrated color millimeter rate would tend to complicate the rate structure," the WOZ collective explains. The Basler Zeitung (BaZ) has also been hesitant so far. However, it is unclear whether it will implement the system change this time because it has not yet set its rates for 2008.
The Südostschweiz (including the Sunday edition), which switched to the new system two years ago and was even the first newspaper to install a uniform rate for black-and-white and four-color ads this year, is backtracking twice: it is reintroducing the black-and-white rate. It is also doing away with fixed formats with a discount for black-and-white ads.
The reason given in Chur is the allegedly strong customer demand for separate SW rates. In concrete terms: Anyone placing SW advertisements with Südostschweiz will soon be 7.4 percent cheaper than this year, but around 800 francs more expensive than in 2006. The new SW rate for the Sunday edition is 240 francs higher than in 2006.
Le Temps is taking a more cautious approach in this respect: There, too, the declared aim is to align the black-and-white and color rates. However, they are not doing this all at once, but by gradually increasing the black-and-white millimeter rate - this time by 2 percent - and simultaneously reducing the integrated color millimeter by a similar amount. Exception: le Temps has already made the adjustment for job advertisements - the millimeter (b/w and vf) now costs CHF 2.60.
In the case of magazines, however, the trend towards a standard rate is unbroken: The majority already know it and Stocks, NZZ Folio, PME Magazine and Radiomagazin are now following suit. However, as they are each raising the SW rate to VF level, this is tantamount to a rate increase: in the specific cases, customers will pay between 14 and 44 percent more for a SW advertisement in future. Radiomagazin is behaving the fairest: it is simultaneously reducing its VF rate by 4 percent.
This brings us to the obvious and hidden price increases, which are also present this time. The biggest absolute increases in French-speaking Switzerland can be seen at 20 minutes and Le Matin Bleu - they are charging 18.2 and 33.3 percent more respectively after the introductory phase. 20 minutes is thus demonstrating great self-confidence, as the Tamedia paper's thousand-reader price (TLP) is still significantly higher than that of its competitor Matin Bleu.
20 Minuten Deutschschweiz also recorded a significant price increase of 9.5 percent, although this can be explained by the 8.8 percent increase in reach.
SonntagsBlick gained 5.5 percent, although its reach only just remained stable.
According to Mach Basic 2007-2, the Edipresse title Terre et nature lost a significant 14 percent of its readership, but has left its rates unchanged.
The same applies to Lausanne Cités and Automobil Revue, which also lost reach in the double-digit percentage range. Schweizer Illustrierte, SonntagsZeitung, 24 Heures, Gesundheit Sprechstunde, Gesundheits-Tipp, Glückspost and TVtäglich also recorded significant losses, but none of the titles saw their rates fall. Femina is even increasing its price by 0.9 percent - despite significant losses in readership. There can therefore be no question of a zero increase, as all these titles are raising their TLP. TV Star is doing the same. However, the paper is only lowering its rate by one percent despite a significant drop in readership of 8.8 percent.
Sélection is more exemplary: after last year's price reduction of 20 percent, it is again reducing its rate by 10 percent, although this time the decline in reach remained within the confidence range. Another positive example is GHI, which reported a 9.4 percent increase in readers and yet was content with a zero rate cut.
In contrast, the steep rate cuts at TV2 and TV Digital Schweiz appear to be more necessary than exemplary. Axel Springer Switzerland does not provide a reason, but the titles are clearly far from their target. By contrast, the behavior of Handelszeitung from the same publishing house is clear: despite a (slight) decline in readership, it will be charging a full 8 percent more per advertising page in future because Axel Springer Schweiz assumes that the approximately 43,000 former Cash subscribers will continue to be interested in Handelszeitung products.
Following the demise of Cash, HZ bought Ringier's subscription base and thus gained 34,000 new readers. The publisher provides concrete figures: HZ's paid circulation is expected to grow by 33 percent to 40,000 copies, while readership is expected to increase by 42,000 to 168,000.
The fact that Ringier's Cash Daily, on the other hand, is retaining its current rate indicates that the Dufourstrasse is not yet sure whether the free paper will be accepted by advertisers as a fully-fledged replacement for the discontinued weekly title Cash - despite its allegedly good readership figures. The situation is different for Abendblatt Heute, which will also remain stable in terms of rates: Logical, because with the 230,000 readers reported for the first time, the title has made a good, but not sensational start. The title must therefore remain competitive in terms of price in the increasingly competitive free newspaper market.
Hidden rate increases can be observed at NZZ, NZZaS, Neue Luzerner Zeitung, SonntagsZeitung, La Liberté and some smaller titles: Although they are leaving the price for fixed formats at the previous level, they are increasing the integrated color millimeter rate. As a result, publishers can offer large customers a higher discount on fixed formats, while customers who place small advertisements or intermediate formats will pay more in future.
Markus Knöpfli
 

 
Some big players are still missingNot all publishers have
published its rates. BaZ is the only major daily newspaper that is still calculating - and with it the Metropool. The Solothurner Zeitung does not seem to be ready yet either. The free papers Baslerstab and Biel/Bienne are also experiencing delays, as is Tamedia's Finanz & Wirtschaft. (mk)

 
Airport advertising The new advertising genre is gaining altitude: Simko Saatchi & Saatchi won bronze at the first international Airport Media Award. 
Oversized surfaces with a 3D effect, glass sculptures that float in space or electronically animated billboards - advertising at airports is often communication art at its best. No wonder, since the modern terminals are home to the coveted target group of discerning people and top earners. Nevertheless, the advertising idyll had one serious flaw: In the big world of advertising, airport advertising had no standing of its own. In terms of media, there were only a few connections between airports. Everyone "flew" on their own.
This changed dramatically a year ago. With the founding of the Initiative Airport Media (IAM), airport advertising is seeking to gain a new, international voice for its genre. The IAM is the working group of all those responsible for advertising at the most important German-speaking airports. In addition to nine major airports in Germany, Vienna and Zurich also belong to the new association (WW 38/06). The eleven airports handle around 200 million passengers per year.
On November 6, the first showdown of the Airport Media initiative took place in Munich: the international Airport Media Awards were presented for the first time in a prominent setting at the Kempinski Hotel Airport. The most original advertising ideas of 2006 and 2007 were honored, and the Swiss guests were particularly jubilant: Simko Saatchi & Saatchi, Geneva, won a bronze award in the "king category" of switched motifs.
For their client Feldschlösschen-Getränke AG, Rheinfelden, the Geneva-based creatives redecorated 17 passenger boarding bridges at Zurich Airport into Carlsberg tunnels. Passengers in Zurich can feel like stars of the upcoming European Championship 08. Those wanting to board the jet march in a wave of la-ola, cheered on left and right by Carlsberg fans.
Arun Roy, Marketing Manager at Zurich Airport: "We are naturally very proud that Swiss creative work was rated so highly at the very first Airport Media Award." Zurich Airport is an ideal playing field for Carlsberg & Co. especially for the European Championship 08. The 17 La Ola waves will be on display until next summer.
Only Jung von Matt/Elbe (Sixt) and Saatchi & Saatchi Frankfurt (Emirates) had placed ahead of the Geneva-based Carlsberg agency Simko Saatchi & Saatchi in the Airport Media Award.
The new creative award for airport advertising carries a different weight than its predecessor, the Munich Airport Award. For the first time, the new Airport Media Award brings points for the agencies in the annual creative ranking of the two German trade journals Horizont and wuv. Six, four or two points are awarded to the respective winners. Jens Hassler, spokesman for the Airport Media Initiative and Head of Marketing at Munich Airport, explains: "The fact that our competition has been awarded creative points for the first time shows that we have achieved a first important victory in the recognition of our generic marketing."
The composition of the jury also documented the new status of airport advertising. In addition to Arun Roy from Zurich Airport, Jan Hardorp, Managing Director Ströer, Cologne, Uwe Becker, Media Director Unilever, Hamburg, Andreas Bierwirth, Head of Marketing Lufthansa, Frankfurt, and Mike Ries, Managing Director Creation J. Walter Thompson, among others, evaluated the submitted works.
A total of 92 proposals were put forward in two categories. 33 advertising ideas were submitted for the "placed motifs" category. 59 works competed in the "free campaigns" category. Eight entries from Switzerland were submitted for this second "flight", for which no creative points are awarded. The winner here was the "moving BMW X-Drive display", which the jury rewarded with gold. An idea that really stands out: A BMW X5 is projected onto a wall behind the baggage carousel. An electronic distance measurement system then determines from the ceiling how high the pieces of luggage are as they roll up. This distance data is communicated to the screen, allowing the BMW to roll over the obstacles. The golden idea comes from the workshop of the Munich agency Plan Net Concept.
In a keynote speech at the awards ceremony, Erich Sixt, founder and shareholder of Sixt AG, described himself as a "huge fan of airport advertising". With ironic and subtle campaigns in terminals, the car rental company regularly collects international prizes and awards. At the Airport Media Award 2007, Sixt and its agency Jung von Matt/Elbe were delighted to win silver.
"Our working group has consolidated. The concert of airports is working," explained IAM spokesman Jens Hassler. Airport advertising will be more than just an at.on for agencies and brands in the future. A trend that has already proven itself in Munich. In recent months, the airport marketers have replaced the once familiar Schirner parallelograms with new light boxes - a luminous standard instead of the 64-degree inclined advertising spaces that have been in place since 1992. The agencies prefer the right angle in Munich. And so the Bavarian airport is expecting a four to six percent increase in marketing revenue for 2007.
Zurich Airport also believes in the growing appeal of the airport advertising platform until the end of 2008 - not least because of the European Football Championship. And also that the Airport Media Award can be celebrated on the Limmat in the coming years.
Peter Ehm, Munich

 The jury of the Global Awards has named the Swiss "Campaign of the Year" among the finalists. The "Love Life - Stop Aids" campaign from Euro RSCG Zurich, consisting of print, TV commercials, posters and a website, has made it onto the shortlist in the "Integrated (Mixed Media) Campaign" category. The Global Awards are part of the New York Festivals.

 
Agency management Andy Hostettler wants to work with a trolley instead of in a fixed office as CEO of TBWA/Switzerland. As one of many other innovations, the agency is also to leave BSW. 
WW: Andy Hostettler, you show an appetite for change. Why did you actually switch from JWT+H+F to TBWA/Switzerland? Andy Hostettler: Many people are still waiting for Remy and I to go public with the big reckoning. The fact is that we really parted on friendly terms. We've had our arguments over the 17 years, as every couple does. I realized that the Hostettler Fabrikant model no longer works in this sense. JWT is an international agency that is focusing more and more on London, Paris and New York when it comes to global clients. Even if they are based in Switzerland. The countries were given too little weight. We were often simply not taken seriously, and there were no alternatives - we had been talking about this development for years. We put a lot of money aside and were operationally successful. We would have had a war chest to invest. Not just in volume, but also in skills. That could have resulted in a new agency structure. But we were blocked by JWT international. I wanted to change that.
 
You have now been the new CEO of TBWA/Switzerland for eight weeks. How did this come about? As chance would have it, an old friend and colleague of mine, Christian Lainer, also became responsible for TBWA/Switzerland as Regional Manager. At first, Lainer just wanted me to help him better understand the Swiss market. This turned into something more and he made me an offer that I almost couldn't refuse.
What attracted you? TBWA is the most creative company internationally when it comes to communication. I'm not just saying that as the newly appointed CEO, it's also proven by the Gunn Report and various Network of the Year awards. With the "disruption" philosophy developed in Paris, it simply works. Added to this is the market success. TBWA is growing internationally. Most other networks are stagnating or declining.
Nevertheless, there were problems in Zurich. What do you need to change? I spent the first three weeks talking to every single employee. Over 50 interviews that clearly showed me the state of the agency. And I have to say: TBWA is probably the most underestimated agency in Switzerland. Huge potential, big, wonderful brands such as McDonald's, Masterfoods, SBB and now a very important client from the functional food sector. Nevertheless, we had a high fluctuation and a diffuse image.
Despite the disruption philosophy, TBWA Switzerland has always been a conventional agency. Creation and consulting were separate. We are now developing new working models that are disruptive in themselves. We will no longer be an advertising agency in the usual sense. In future, we will be much more of a business partner that solves tasks unconventionally.
What does "new model" mean in concrete terms? Separating creation from the rest of the agency is conventional. I want to take a disruptive approach. We have to say goodbye to garden-variety thinking. Consulting, creation, producing and online now work in the same room and at the same table. A creative must be able to listen to how the consultant tries to save the client's really good idea and not come back later with sentences like "the consultant messed it up again". The future lies in small, powerful units. To this end, we are forming two equally strong units in the agency, both of which function as independent business partners. These teams will each have around 18 people from all our departments, including Tequila and TBWA Health.
Two teams: will they also compete against each other in pitches? I have already launched an internal pitch on how and in what style our agency should be set up in the future. We are also rebuilding the exterior. We want to design an eye-catching façade and, most importantly, we will have a lower floor where everyone works physically. On the upper floor, there will be lounges, retreats for thinkers and developers as well as spacious discussion rooms or experience spaces. I myself will no longer have my own office. It is also the norm for a CEO to have their own large office. I have converted an old Swissair trolley into a mobile office. I take it on the road and can be found with my laptop and cell phone wherever the action is. By the way, wandering is exactly the right term. I don't want to stand still. My role models are the TBWA agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, Berlin and South Africa. The most attractive places to work.
In the market, money is moving in the direction of crossover. What's it like at TBWA? Working in an integrated way is a task that can only be solved really well on an interpersonal level. It's not enough for people to simply be in the same house. The disciplines belong in the same team. We will be the only agency among the top 5 that offers consulting, creation, producing and online in one business unit. Vera Süssli will also be joining us in December. She is a young e-marketing specialist who has already completed major crossover projects for Swisscom and Switzerland Tourism.
Other personnel changes?In addition to Armin Korf, we have hired a CD lyricist who comes from the world of culture. Bernd Schulze, musician from Chur, radio man, theater man and former CD copywriter at Publicis. So why shouldn't we also do TBWA Culture? Museums have a commercial mission and also have to advertise to their audiences.
That sounds exciting, but not very disruptive. Other new people? Advertisers doing advertising is conventional. Advertisers inviting non-advertisers to advertise, on the other hand, is unconventional. We bring in disruptors who have proven that they have done unconventional things. People from all kinds of professions. One of Switzerland's most successful artists, two completely unconventional entrepreneurs, a restaurateur and a young, hot journalist are also interested. Depending on the nature of the task, these lateral thinkers will be brought in alone or even in pairs. They should help us to constantly question and renew ourselves. The fact that we also give lateral entrants a chance is disruptive. Our youngest copywriter, Simon Smit, is a trained chef. He got into the media with his unconventional application and was hired by us within an hour, even though he is not yet a copywriter.
This interview is taking place because you want to leave the BSW with TBWA. Why is it conventional to be a major agency in the BSW? The fact that we are leaving the BSW is disruptive. There is currently no association that represents our strategy and our way of working with clients. The BSW sets rules. But rules are for those who don't know how to help themselves and therefore stick to conventions.
One of these conventions is the annual contribution, which we will donate in future to more meaningful projects that are more capable of development. For example, the ADC's Young Talents or the Room 13 talent search project. We can also use the former BSW pot to generate money for the School of Design or to support any unconventional projects.
Aren't you afraid that a few competitors will dismiss this as a PR stunt? some will rightly say that not everything is completely new for us either. But no one is doing it today in the same way as we do now and want to communicate it to the outside world.
How do you assess the development at other agencies? What Y&R recently announced with the integration of Wundermann/Futurecom is quite right, but it is by no means new. Nor is it progressive. Interestingly, Markus Gut already had the same constellation with all disciplines under one roof at Publicis - and he changed anyway.
And smaller agencies? in general, I think that models such as Ruf Lanz or Walker, which I personally find very creative, also have a chance in the market. However, such hot stores have no future potential and only limited growth. As soon as they grow, they become conventional because the bosses can't clone themselves.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri

Column The Swiss newspaper industry is battling enemies from within its own ranks and new competitors. A look abroad shows alternatives. If you want to keep up to date with who is working with whom against whom in Switzerland, you can't sit back and relax. New initiatives in new constellations are constantly being developed in the houses. Territories are defended or conquered, hostile attackers are fended off or strategically integrated. For industry observers, it is a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle with well-timed dramaturgical twists and exciting adventures, but it is still worth taking a look at another stage from time to time.
BusinessWeek puts William Dean Singleton in the spotlight. The head of the MediaNews Group, the fourth-largest media company in the USA, is known for his ruthlessness and acts as an integrative mediator in California. He got 18 media companies to launch a joint offensive on the web. They formed an alliance among themselves and negotiated a deal with Yahoo that regulates both editorial and advertising cooperation.
But that is not the end of the story for Singleton. Within his own company and in cooperation with other providers, he is trying to form clusters in order to make optimum use of resources and develop new business areas. His next project is to set up a national online marketplace where content and advertising can be presented together. "We have to work together now," Singleton is convinced: "None of the newspaper companies can make it to the other side of the river on their own."
Cooperation within the same group is a top priority at Axel Springer in Berlin. For a year now, the publishing house has been bundling its editorial forces in an integrated newsroom. Newspapers as diverse as Die Welt, Welt am Sonntag, Welt Kompakt and the Berliner Morgenpost as well as various electronic media such as Internet, mobile, videos and podcasts are produced from there. There are 55 workstations in the newsroom, and the people responsible for the various publications sit at an editor-in-chief's desk. More than 400 journalists work in the editorial pool. They are no longer divided between the various products, but work in thematic groups. The basic principle is: online first. Nevertheless, the journalists can also concentrate on working on a newspaper text if necessary.
According to the editorial managers, the concept has proven itself. Coordination with the respective journalistic profiles is also not a problem. And as there are few double users, readers are not bothered by the multiple uses. The journalist teams plan the thematic preparation of events together. Margaret Heckel, Head of the Politics Department, explained during a recent visit to Berlin that this would strengthen journalistic performance overall. The journalistic potential of the topics would be better exploited. All titles would benefit from this.
The Derwesten.de web portal launched on October 29 by the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) publishing group does not yet have any experience to fall back on. It combines the websites of five newspaper titles and contains news from 140 cities. The editor-in-chief is Katharina Borchert, who has made a name for herself as the blogger Lyssa. Her 22-strong editorial team can draw on local and regional news from around 800 editors. Around 900 have been retrained in the new editorial system, which is technically based on the input masks of the blogs. The West bundles all articles on a topic independently of the respective newspaper titles.
The online first principle does not apply here. The editorial team decides independently on the placement of the news after consultation. Journalism is specifically supplemented here with all the possibilities of Web 2.0. Geotagging is also used to link content with navigation via maps. Strength is demonstrated together. The publisher proudly announces: "Der Westen is the most comprehensive regional online portal in Germany."
Together we are strong is the solution everywhere. In Switzerland, the sense of community in the houses and among the houses is only just growing and is mostly still fragile. So we can look forward to further interesting twists and turns. When it comes to the question of who is an ally and who is a competitor, many a gentleman will be in for further surprises.
> Josefa Haas is Head of the Media Institute

 
Carlo Steiner is the new president of the Zurich Advertising Club and wants to set benchmarks with its events. 
The "hot seat" with Sacha Wigdorovits left no one cold at the last club evening of the Zurich advertisers. The Alinghi event also sailed under full wind. A club meeting on the construction site of the new Letzigrund Stadium became a home victory for Carlo Steiner. This week, a talk with Roger Schawinski about his new Radio 1 project is currently taking place, for which "many media celebrities" who have never attended a Zurich advertising club event before have also registered. "We want to set new accents in order to position the club even more strongly," explains the new President in his preview of the 2008 season. The aim of the new Board is to concentrate all activities on just a few. The President describes it as "setting a benchmark in the greater Zurich area". The advertising club is to become the first address as a meeting place for efficient specialist events and social industry get-togethers.
Anyone who talks to Carlo Steiner is quickly convinced that this is not someone who has taken on the dignities and burdens associated with the "office" of president for the sake of "club bureaucracy". "My main motivation is the fun factor," explains Steiner. He has been a member of the club for twelve years. Two years ago, he was asked to join the board. "I quickly accepted. You never stop learning," he says. In the club, you can exchange ideas, keep your finger on the pulse of the news and "hear what's going on in the market".
Of course, he was also a little flattered to be offered the honor of President after two years on the Board. "The presidency and the work on the Board take time. We work unpaid in the militia system. But of course this also gives me additional perspectives, both personally and professionally, to come into contact with new and interesting people." Steiner also describes his understanding of the club's activities as "educational entertainment where you can network at the same time".
The Zurich Advertising Club has been in existence for over 60 years. It is the largest such club in Switzerland with 300 paying members, 15 percent of whom are corporate members. The club has "a very good name". Steiner sensed this when he wanted to organize the meeting around the ground-breaking ceremony on the Letzigrund construction site and "immediately got a commitment" on his first phone call to the city manager. Despite its good image, the club does not want to be elitist. The new president makes no secret of the fact that he has made it his program to recruit additional members from younger generations. "At the moment, people from the creative scene are still in the minority. Almost all the important media people are with us." Steiner naturally wants to cultivate and retain these members. But the hope for the future is also to attract more people from the traditional creative scene. "With Andy Hostettler, CEO of TBWA Switzerland, we now have a thoroughbred advertiser on the board and have deliberately set an example."
In order to tailor its program optimally to the needs of its members, the Executive Board of the advertising club conducted an online survey in the spring. They wanted to know what the expectations were. "Our members are our shareholders. They pay contributions and if they no longer come to our events, we are doing something wrong." The report they gave the Board of Directors was very positive and was also confirmation "that we are on the right track". The ranking of the topics on offer showed a clear trend towards positioning ourselves even more strongly in future and differentiating ourselves more strongly from other competitors. "We have to set new accents, especially in competition with the entire range of leisure activities on offer in Zurich, because nowadays people only attend a club event if we offer exclusivity and good quality. That's why we are concentrating our activities on a few top events. Less is more!"
In addition to actively recruiting members in the coming winter, Steiner also wants to enter into a cooperation with the Sawi. The aim is to make the club attractive to students with discounted membership fees during their studies.
Carlo Steiner also comes from the media business. He took his first steps in the world of communication and advertising by training as a typographer at the then renowned Conzett und Huber AG. However, he soon became more interested in the people involved in this business than in printing technology. Steiner switched to sales at Publicitas. There he got to know the publishing business "from the ground up" before moving to Ringier for eight years. He was responsible as area sales manager for Blick and SonntagsBlick. "That was in the era when these newspapers, with Peter Übersax and Rolf Balsiger, were two brands that nobody could beat in the advertising and reader market." Steiner was later able to work on the founding and development of Cash as sales manager. After a detour to Curti Medien, he was once again tempted by a new opportunity at SRG SSR idée suisse: in 1999, he was responsible for key sales at the market leader Publisuisse.
Account management in German-speaking countries and partly also abroad. "Marketing SRG SSR idée suisse TV stations was a completely different discipline, although it's the same craft as advertising marketing," says Steiner, who eventually switched back to the print business.
After six years of Swiss television, he wanted to "give his life a new direction". TV is a mass medium, "very exciting. But in terms of quality, never as rewarding as the title Finanz und Wirtschaft." Steiner has been responsible for the luxury market at this "indispensable financial title" for two years. "An exciting clientele in a premium target group," he says happily. With the title Finanz und Wirtschaft, you can find your way in anywhere, because Switzerland's leading financial newspaper is a "first-class brand". The world of finance is also "an exciting subject", which also fascinates Steiner himself more and more, because he can learn something completely new here: Why does the stock market rise or fall? Which key figures are decisive for which companies? Why does a share fall or rise? "It's very interesting, I can follow the reasons at close quarters at the editorial meetings."
As a "movement person", he has also bought a few shares himself in the meantime. Carlo Steiner trains regularly and has already run six marathons, including the legendary ones in Berlin and New York as well as Zurich. "A fantastic and lasting experience in this setting," he enthuses. Beautiful cars also make him rave. The Geneva Motor Show is not just a must for the luxury ad salesman. He also loves this place because he is fundamentally interested in the optimization of products and a cultivated lifestyle. "Such an aesthetic and sophisticated car looks like a suit and is also an expression of lifestyle," he is convinced. A creative world view that Steiner can certainly use as a valuable guide when programming upcoming events at the Zurich Advertising Club.   
Andreas Panzeri

Publishing houses Rüdiger Hahn's small empire is probably about to come to an end.All three of Hahn's companies have been declared bankrupt in recent months. In the case of one of the companies, RH Media GmbH in Oberlunkhofen AG, with which Hahn was active in sports sponsoring, the proceedings were already discontinued at the end of October for lack of assets. The situation was different at Vierwaldstätter Verlags GmbH in Lucerne, former publisher of the TV program guide TVvier: Here, bankruptcy proceedings were opened on June 27, 2007 and are still ongoing. Finally, at Printmedien Schweiz AG in Zug, through which Hahn published Schweizer Fernsehwoche from fall 2006 to April 2007, bankruptcy was not declared until October 25. It is likely that here, too, a discontinuation decision will soon be made due to a lack of assets. Hahn had already resigned from the board of directors of Printmedien Schweiz in February, and the company has been orphaned since June. Since then, the company has had an advisor who had deposited the balance sheet.
Nothing could be learned from the bankruptcy offices about the reasons that led to the almost parallel bankruptcy proceedings. And Hahn did not want to comment "for lack of time". Thus it also remains open what the situation is regarding his private debt-restructuring moratorium. He had applied for this in February 2007, whereupon his trustee requested a six-month extension in June.
Rüdiger Hahn is a dazzling figure of German origin. In 2001, he founded Vierwaldstätter Verlags GmbH and - to the shock of Ringier, Jean Frey and Tamedia - launched the low-cost program guide TVvier, which he was able to sell to Ringier in 2004. After a two-year ban on competition, he launched Schweizer Fernsehwoche, with which he had less success.
Markus Knöpfli

Online The news network planned for spring is beginning to take shape. The construct of the news network, in which Tamedia, its subsidiary Espace and the Basler Medien are involved and which aims to position itself as the largest Swiss media portal by Euro 08 next June at the latest, is gradually taking shape. At its core is the national section of an independent editorial office in Zurich. The regional content for the Tagi, BaZ and BZ websites is provided by online page makers who are affiliated with the print editorial offices. They are able to intervene in the regional content according to regional requirements and overturn the hierarchy. So far, so good. But where is the common denominator? "The whole thing is structured in such a way that we don't have to create a new brand," explains Res Strehle, project manager and deputy editor-in-chief of the Tagi. Users access the portal via the respective print brand. This ticks away in the background, so to speak. What they have in common is the editorial section, a common structure, technology and ultimately a common philosophy on interactivity. According to Strehle, the visual consequences are not yet clear and proposals have not yet been decided. Information designer Oliver Reichenstein, for example (see
Internet-Zen
) wants to get close to the world of print, as presented by the New York Times, for example. Although this creates a visually convincing world, Strehle believes that if the structure of the website is to be the same for all participants, it will be difficult to maintain the look and feel of each brand. This is important because the platform sees itself as an actual collection point for a variety of media from the participating publishers. Not only Landbote and Thurgauer Zeitung are invited, but also titles from the Espace Media Groupe, namely from the Bernese Oberland and Solothurn, or Tamedia's SonntagsZeitung, but also Radio 24 or TeleZüri.those responsible have decided against an integrated newsroom similar to Axel Springer in Berlin. "We have the feeling that News needs both print and online culture," says Strehle. The online editorial team is therefore not subordinate to the print editorial team and should have its own spirit. However, both cultures are to exchange information intensively. Practice will show whether the model is the right one in the long term or whether it is tending towards a newsroom.
René Worni

 
Shopping Spreitenbach connects: People, cultures, cantons and, most recently, the two shopping centers Shoppi & Tivoli. The conversion of the Center Mall, a modern shopping arcade with numerous stores and cafés, took a year. The Shoppi-Tivoli management entrusted ZB Werbung with the communication of the conversion. The conversion of the shopping center was accompanied by a poster campaign. It all began with a poster on the building site. And so it went on for ten months: a new motif every month, with various construction utensils being showcased. Now there is no longer any sign of the building site and the last construction motif has given way to a poster with 30 paper bags showing the logos of all the stores in the new Center Mall. The bags are real. And some curious passers-by have already discovered that they are empty. Filling the shopping bags has been in the hands of Shoppi & Tivoli customers since the beginning of November.

 The Association for Quality in Journalism presented the Media Award for Quality Initiatives for the fourth time on Wednesday. The Bieler Tagblatt was honored for its community monitoring and improvements in the area of local journalism as well as the SDA for its multi-level service criticism system. The Bieler Tagblatt's award-winning "community monitoring" project is based on an analysis carried out in 2006, which showed how the paper reports on the individual communities in its catchment area. It revealed that some municipalities were not included at all, while others were overrepresented. The newspaper took corrective action in ten under-reported municipalities, improving the network of correspondents and communication with correspondents in these locations.
The second project to receive an award was the multi-level service review of the Swiss News Agency SDA. The editorial team is highly decentralized and includes editorial staff in three language regions. The editor-in-chief submits a newsletter four times a year, the deputy editor-in-chief monthly, the heads of department weekly, and once a quarter a customer is given the opportunity to criticize. There is also a blog for all employees.
The Quality in Journalism Association has presented the Media Award every other year since 2001 to honor editorial quality assurance initiatives. The award ceremony took place on November 7, 2007 on the occasion of the Herzberg Conference in Basel.
Jury members were Sylvia Egli von Matt (Director of the Swiss School of Journalism MAZ, Lucerne), Marco Färber (former Editor-in-Chief SR DRS, Winterthur), Karl Lüönd (journalist and author, Zurich), Karin Müller (presenter Swiss Radio DRS, Zurich), Stephan Russ-Mohl, Professor of Journalistic Practice and Editorial Management, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano) and Michael Walther (freelance journalist, author, initiator of the Media Award, Flawil).

 Two and a half years after the last relaunch, the Swiss out-of-home advertiser APG has given its website a thorough refresh and adapted the concept of the APG Poster of the Week public competition to the changing needs of the public. The current posters are interactively integrated into various location image sequences on the individual web pages and thus continue the poster displays of APG customers on the web. Visitors fly virtually through the current "Gallery of the Street" and can navigate to the individual posters using mouse movements to access information or take part in the weekly competition. The new world of moving images was created by Bruno Eberli, an advertising photographer based in Horw. The Zurich agency Futurecom is responsible for the implementation.

Mobile Swiss beekeepers fear for their bees. A virus is wiping out entire colonies. One man's sorrow, another man's joy. While one bee fights for its survival, another is spreading throughout Switzerland. We are talking about BeeTagg, a honeycomb-like pattern that can be read with the help of a cell phone camera and links to the web. According to its own advertising, this is the best way to retrieve content from the Internet using a cell phone. And the BeeTagg is on course for expansion. Switzerland Tourism has launched a special stamp as part of its winter campaign. The subject is a BeeTagg. But the honeycomb pattern also populates entire regions in the Appenzeller Vorderland. Over 60 hiking signposts and over 60 PostBus stops have been equipped with the BeeTagg. With just one click, travelers can call up the Postbus timetable. Incidentally, Werbewoche tested the technology. With moderate success. The service is not that easy or smooth to use. Nevertheless, we predict a great future for the technology, because the mobile bee takes away tedious typing work. We will find out how the other bee is faring in the spring at the latest. (cl)