The publisher SwA Swissannoncen is working with the Bern-based cross-media communications agency Maxomedia on a complete rebranding. As a first step, the agency is taking on the revision of the CI/CD and the redesign of various existing print media. This will be followed next year by the implementation of a new website and the development of a new B2B marketing concept. Maxomedia is responsible for the conception, creation and realization of the online and offline advertising measures.

Circulation figures The list of circulation figures for Swiss press products is now available - with no surprises. The AG für Werbemedienforschung (Wemf) recently published online the complete list with all circulation figures (see WW 35/07), including those titles that submitted their figures between September 15 and 30. The complete bulletin with the detailed circulation figures will be published in the course of November and there is little to add: For systematic reasons, the Wemf has adjusted the value of the provisionally certified circulation of 20 minutes upwards by 14,897 copies to 210,108. The paid circulation of Mittelland Zeitung also increased by 5,660 copies (now 207,531). The reason for the correction is an oversight because Wemf had not counted the Zurzach split, which the publisher had always included in Baden in previous years.
Minor corrections were made by Basler Zeitung (+105 to 94,084 copies) and Südostschweiz-Gesamtausgabe (+84 to 126,697 copies).
The list now also includes the titles of Axel Springer Switzerland - until recently the Handelszeitung publishing group and Jean Frey Verlag (see WW 35/07). The circulations of their business titles are all showing a slight to significant upward trend: Bilanz (plus 560 copies; new 38,660), Handelszeitung (plus 85 copies; new 30861 excluding former Cash subscribers), Stocks (plus 2488 copies; new 20,736) and PME-Magazine (plus 1,259 copies; new 12,053). In the consumer press, on the other hand, the flagship Beobachter lost 3,171 copies and now has a circulation of 311,910 copies.
Further changes compared to the previous year's circulation figures were recorded for the consumer press Teleclub (minus 2,012 copies; now 68,280), Ticino 7 (plus 838 copies; now 93,617) and TV Star (plus 920 copies; now 170,395). Sole proprietor Roger Köppel now reports a total paid circulation of 89,760 copies (up 6,911) for his Weltwoche.
René Worni

Schmuck By Heart visualizes how Gübelin has lost none of its radiance even after 150 years. In today's economic environment, family businesses are among the great exceptions. This is particularly true of those that have defied the competition for decades and have managed to consolidate their success with outstanding quality and innovative products. Since Maurice Breitschmied laid the foundations for today's Gübelin company 150 years ago, the name has stood for high-quality Swiss goldsmithing, innovative watchmaking and world-renowned jewelry expertise. In the lifestyle and fashion sector, there is currently a longing for authenticity and tradition. In many areas, such values are once again more in demand than fleeting trends and fast fashion. The new development also offers an excellent opportunity for traditional brands such as Gübelin.
In order to communicate "that the traditional Gübelin brand has lost none of its appeal and value even in the fifth generation", as the briefing states, the advertising agency By Heart was commissioned to position Gübelin independently in the competitive environment and to slightly rejuvenate the appearance of the brand. By Heart won the new client following a pitch, as Client Service Director Peter Krebs reports.
The values created by Gübelin are freshly interpreted in an elegant, strong brand bracket. CD Hans Siegwart wanted to "translate a traditional world into a contemporary world". The images should radiate trust. - Trust in a brand that has been reliable for 150 years.
The scenes were photographed by Frederic Auerbach, a star of the Parisian fashion scene. The new overall image developed by By Heart will adorn advertisements, posters and the POS of the eight stores from now until the end of the year.
Andreas Panzeri

 IP Multimedia (Switzerland) is losing Patrick Kaczynski, Head of Radio. He will become Head of Sales at Roger Schawinski's station Radio 1, according to an internal memo from IP Multimedia. Kaczynski is leaving his previous employer on October 31. He has held the position of Head of Radio since 2004 and was previously Senior Sales Manager Products on and offline at IP Multimedia. His professional experience also includes Search Hits (Switzerland), My-Link and Wer liefert was.

 The Association of Public Relations Agencies in Switzerland (BPRA ) expects fee income in the PR sector to grow by around 8 percent in 2007. This is the result of a survey of Swiss public relations agencies conducted in October. The most robust growth in recent years is probably due in part to the good economic situation. Two thirds of the agencies surveyed expect fee income at the end of the year to be significantly higher than in the previous year, while the others expect it to remain at least the same. A similar trend is emerging for 2008, albeit to a slightly lesser extent, according to the BPRA. The agencies are expecting growth primarily from clients in the energy industry, the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology sectors, the financial services sector, the real estate industry and the construction industry. The ICT/CE sector and trading companies are reluctant to place PR orders. According to the survey, clients are increasingly performing routine tasks themselves. However, PR agencies are being used more and more for highly qualified services, for example in the areas of strategy consulting and corporate communications.

Press In Zurich, Basel and Berne, the new commuter newspaper News is making a quiet appearance. In contrast, the paper is flattening the Mittelland with 132,000 copies. The launch of News on December 5 will be particularly interesting on the Central Plateau. This is because the new commuter newspaper from Tamedia and Basler Zeitung Medien will have a free daily circulation of 132,000 copies in its Mittelland edition, making it virtually omnipresent in WGs 32 and 41. By way of comparison, the titles Aargauer Zeitung, Solothurner Tagblatt, Oltner Tagblatt and Zofinger Tagblatt have a combined paid circulation of 185,000 copies. What is also striking is that the new free newspaper will have a much softer presence in the home markets of the participating publishers: 100,000 copies of News will be distributed in Zurich, 60,000 copies in Berne and 42,000 copies in Basel. This is surprising, because even the commuter paper 20 Minuten is more ruthless: in Zurich it has around 190,000 copies, in Berne around 90,000 and in Basel around 70,000.
Support from the parent titlesHowever, Rolf Bollmann is not one to play quietly. The project manager of News and board delegate of NP News Print explains the relatively small News circulation in Zurich, Basel and Bern with the reach strategy of the new title. In the three large agglomerations, News is intended to complement the Tages-Anzeiger, Basler Zeitung and Berner Zeitung titles by targeting an urban, younger audience between the ages of 20 and 50 in line with the content of the three parent titles. Bollmann then wants to add the news reach to the reach of the three existing parent titles. The situation is different in the Aarau-Olten-Solothurn area. "News doesn't have a basic title there, which is why it has to achieve a respectable reach on its own right from the start," says Bollmann. This, in turn, is only possible with a correspondingly high circulation.
Bollmann is not losing sight of one goal of the new free newspaper: the title is not primarily a self-runner, but should support Tagi, BaZ and BZ in terms of reach, socio-demographics and price/performance ratio - just as Le Matin Bleu supports Matin Orange in French-speaking Switzerland. In order to really achieve this strengthening, Bollmann offers advertisers a flexible, modular advertising combination between the four news editions and the three parent titles: The News total circulation of 334,000 copies, which exceeds that of Blick by almost 100,000 copies, can be booked on its own. But "News national" can also be combined with the Metropool. Ultimately, however, everything revolves around the News Mittelland module: it can be booked on its own or combined with one of the three parent titles and the corresponding news edition. The goal is obvious: Tagi, BaZ and BZ want to squeeze as much out of the Mittelland as they can. Bollmann puts it this way: "We want a wide reach in the four strongest economic regions of German-speaking Switzerland."
But why should younger readers reach for news in future when they already have 20 minutes? Bollmann also has an answer for this: "Commuters want short, portioned news. News offers this in a similarly short and compact form as 20 Minuten." Just how compact can be found in the tariff documentation: "No text element has more than 2,400 characters."
However, the addition to 20 MinutenNews is by no means intended to cannibalize 20 Minuten. That is why the new free newspaper will focus exclusively on classic news (foreign, domestic, business, culture, sport), while lifestyle and service, the USPs of 20 Minuten, will remain untouched, according to Bollmann. "We assume that commuters will take both papers in future," says the project manager.
Now that Tagi, BaZ and BZ are overrunning the Mittelland with news anyway, another question arises: will the Tages-Anzeiger launch its long-awaited sixth split, the one for the Limmat Valley, at the same time as News - also to give News a base there? "No," says Bollmann, who is also publishing director of the Tages-Anzeiger. "We have no such intentions at the moment."
Markus Knöpfli
 
See also
 
 
"Competitors Strangulation Strategy "AZ publisher Peter Wanner
and his fellow publishers at Mittelland Zeitung were caught on the left foot by the news of a high-circulation midland edition of News. In an interview on werbewoche.ch, Wanner expressed his disappointment at the breach of the non-aggression pact ("Gentlemen's Agreement" between Wanner and Tamedia publisher Hans Heinrich Coninx and CEO Martin Kall), the existence of which the other side denies. Wanner denounces Tamedia's strategy as a declaration of war on the entire AZ media group. It doesn't make things any easier that his former publishing director Rolf Bollmann is leading the battle for Tamedia. Bollmann knows the conditions in the Aargau/Solothurn catchment area from the FF. The other partners
of the Mittelland Zeitung are not very happy: "The concept of news with a small circulation in our region doesn't impress us very much," says Mathis Lüdin, publisher of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung. Nevertheless, he is skeptical. Christian Müller, CEO of Vogt-Schild AG, which publishes the Solothurner Zeitung, speaks of a "competitor strangulation strategy". Similar to Tamedia's previous measures, News is also aiming to destroy the existing product in order to establish a new one in its place. Although this would hardly affect the readership figures of his paper, it would have a strong impact on the advertising market. The reaction in Olten is
The response to the announced midland edition of News was more moderate. According to Thomas Müller, CEO of Dietschi AG, which publishes the Oltner Tagblatt (OT), his paper is not directly in a war zone comparable to Baselland, Solothurn or Limmattal. Müller is keeping a close eye on developments, as the OT generates half of its advertising from the Mittelland Zeitung network. The situation is likely to be similar at the Zofinger Tagblatt. Whether the allied publishers will ultimately launch their own free title remains to be seen. Peter Wanner intends to announce defensive measures before the end of the year. (rw)

 
Private television The Neuchâtel local broadcaster Canal Alpha is applying for a license for the Neuchâtel, Jura and Bernese Jura broadcasting area - with the discreet support of media czar Philippe Hersant. 
When Canal Alpha+ first went on air in the canton of Neuchâtel in 1987, no one would have dared to predict a long life for the small, Christian-oriented local television station. 20 years later, Canal Alpha (without the symbol of the cross) wants to become the regional television station for the entire Jura region. At the end of September 2007, the Société Neuchâteloise de Presse (SNP) with the newspapers L'Express and L'Impartial and the regional TV station Canal Alpha announced a collaboration in the multimedia sector. The two Neuchâtel media companies intend to launch a joint platform for regional information next spring. "There is no financial alignment between us and the SNP," says Joël Pelet, co-owner, president and director of Canal Alpha. The broadcaster, which was taken over by its current three owners Joël Pelet, Marcello del Zio and Pierre-André Léchot at the end of 2000, modernized and freed from religious dross, places great emphasis on independence. The collaboration with Philippe Hersant's SNP will be limited to the multimedia platform and selective cross-media projects.
No desire for conquestHowever, the new partners announced that the SNP would support Canal Alpha's bid for the television license. "It is exclusively a matter of political support in the context of the consultation process," clarifies Joël Pelet. If Canal Alpha is awarded the concession and the associated fee money of CHF 2.6 million, the potential audience would increase from 150000 to 300000. Pelet plans to decentralize the editorial office and set up a local editorial office in the canton of Jura, possibly in Delémont. Pelet would like to work together with the Journal du Jura (circulation 12,000) published by Marc Gassmann in Biel and the Quotidien Jurassien (circulation 22,000) published by Michel Voisard. However, only in terms of editorial content: "We are not aiming for a new company or a merger with other media companies."
Pelet emphasizes that his station does not want to act as a conqueror in the new areas that Bakom is combining into a single broadcasting area. Nevertheless, the Canal Alpha project has rubbed at least one media entrepreneur in the Jura Arc up the wrong way. In Delémont, radio pioneer Pierre Steulet, whose three local radio stations in the canton of Jura, the Bernese Jura and the canton of Neuchâtel are among the most listened to radio stations in French-speaking Switzerland, has reigned supreme until now. He also once had a regional television project, long before Bakom came up with the idea of merging the three areas into a single license: Steulet wanted to establish a station for these areas with Interjura TV. He had already obtained the license, but the bold idea failed due to a lack of financially strong partners. And when publishers Gassmann and Voisard pulled out, Steulet had to bury the project.
Now Canal Alpha is taking over the legacy, with a better chance of success thanks to the new RTVG and fee money. "We have held talks with Steulet," says Pelet, but they have, at least so far, "not found common ground". Steulet's reply is as diplomatic as it is ambiguous: "Canal Alpha should make us an offer." Otherwise, he plans to concentrate on his radios.
The diplomatic formulas are easy to interpret: A collaboration with partners in print is a different pair of shoes than a collaboration with a radio partner. In fact, Steulet's radios and the future regional television station are likely to be fighting over the same advertising customers. This dispute could be a tough one, as the advertising pie in the Jura Arc is more like dry brown bread than a juicy cake.
Buying what there is to buyWith a great deal of proximity to the public and public service, Canal Alpha nevertheless wants to embark on the adventure. Meanwhile, Philippe Hersant is rubbing his hands together. The purchase of the two Neuchâtel newspapers has not brought him big money so far; the SNP's modern printing plant is particularly interesting. Now his strategy of buying up whatever there is to buy with a view to future synergies could bear fruit: the financially strong Hersant is ready in the background to provide financial support for the future regional television company in the Jura arc, should it be necessary.
And who knows, perhaps there will be synergies with publisher Gassmann. He is pursuing his own television strategies as part of the bilingual broadcasting region for Biel and the surrounding area, Télé Bielingue. After all, the Journal du Jura is already published in collaboration with the Hersant papers. Since February 2007, the three newspapers have had a joint first edition and the same graphic appearance.    
Helen Brügger

Body jewelry Our reader Armin F. is neither a member of the Hells Angels nor a mercenary in the Foreign Legion. But he is a loyal reader of Werbewoche and wanted to express this with a tattoo last weekend after a stag party. That's not true, of course, but it would make a great story. The picture opposite was produced by Werbewoche itself, on the web at www.imagechef.com. The tattoo generator on the Internet has many other nice body jewelry gimmicks. The following always applies: the online needling machines require no bravery, are painless and deliver results within seconds. There are no limits to creativity. Have fun. (cl)

Saloon is a young design studio in the wild west of Zurich. The start-up includes Sarah Lüscher, Vera Studhalter and Marcel Britt. 
"The sun burned down on their heads. The desert sand seemed barren and barren. The time had come. They saddled their horses and rode off towards the industrial desert. Saloon is the new design studio in the wilds of Zurich West, which has been seducing customers with its specially created aesthetics for a few months now. "This self-advertisement is quite poetic and could also do credit to a copywriting agency. "There is no second chance to make a first impression. Images have to be created that immediately draw you in," says Marcel Britt. The "project manager" of the salon relates this statement to the effect of communication design. "More and more brands are focusing on aesthetics to increase their appeal. They have realized that a good brand should not only be differentiating and enduring, but must also move with the times. Good design is good business."
Just as the term "aesthetics" makes sense in several ways, the term "saloon" can also be interpreted in several ways at this new agency. "We are inspired by the prairie, the wide open spaces, the unrestricted view. The saloon is a place for exchange and interaction," explains Sarah Lüscher. Vera Studhalter adds: "There is the literary salon, the beauty salon and the saloon in the Wild West. Life takes place in all of them."
Those who meet up in the saloon for an interview with the two designers Sarah Lüscher and Vera Studhalter as well as Marcel Britt can do some pretty aesthetic theorizing. Later, the impressive portfolios show that theory can be put into practice just as beautifully. We are particularly proud of the packaging design and the resulting POS measures for Dianne Brill's new perfume. The former New York pop icon and muse of Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood lives in Zurich and was looking for "a graphic designer who could work at an international level" for her new launch. And one day she suddenly found herself standing in a saloon.
The commission became a breakthrough for the studio, because you don't need a large infrastructure if you want to be involved in large commissions as a designer. The saloon, just under 25 square meters in size, is located on the Maag site. "There were no customers when we started, which is very risky," says Britt.
Britt started his career with a banking apprenticeship. On his return from a language year in Sydney, he found a job in the stock exchange department of Raiffeisenbank - "completely burnt out". Nevertheless, he was not enthusiastic about a career in the world of numbers. Because the bank still wanted to keep him, he was transferred to the advertising department. This world of advertising fascinated him - and Britt then decided to go straight for "the hardcore version". He trained as an advertising assistant at the Sawi day school in Biel. For the one-year internship, he found "a great start" at Pucci Sulzer and later Jung von Matt. After four years of a classic consulting career, Britt wanted to move closer to creation and, with Dominique von Matt's blessing, completed his vocational baccalaureate in design. Britt wanted to be able to have a say in design issues as well as the rules of marketing.
After this further training, Marcel Britt moved to the design agency Code because he was able to work "extremely close to the creation" as a consultant. During this time, he also met Sarah and Vera. It soon became clear that the three of them wanted to do something of their own. Before the dream became a reality, however, Marcel wanted to gain further experience at Atelier Raffinerie, which was more oriented towards culture than lifestyle and where he mainly worked for the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Sarah Lüscher entered the world of communication at the daily newspaper Südostschweiz in Chur and Glarus. During her apprenticeship as a polygraph, she discovered that her dream job had to have something to do with design. Sarah studied relevant books and attended a day school for web publishing after her apprenticeship. This sector was experiencing its first boom at the time. But Sarah wanted to do more than "just" programming. An opportunity presented itself in Canada. She found a job in web design at Orion Compu Services in Toronto. "That was shortly after September 11, 2001. The head of the agency was Iranian. Due to the attacks, many of his customers bailed out because Muslim-run businesses were boycotted. This forced the company to lay off several employees, which in turn created an opportunity for me as an inexpensive intern."
On her return, Lüscher and her portfolio were immediately hired by Code. She was also responsible for various clubs as a visual designer for two years.
The third in the saloon, Vera Studhalter, attended the preliminary course at the Lucerne School of Design at the age of 15. In the four years of graphic design classes that followed, the time also came when she had to decide on an internship. "That was fascinating. I found promising addresses from all over the world in a reference book on design agencies. I then concentrated on New York, where I also sent my applications."
Fortunately, two well-known stars promptly got in touch. Her first internship was with Milton Glaser, the creator of the "I love NY" logo. After three months, Vera added to her New York experience with Steven Guarnaccia. Even more than with this top illustrator, however, Vera learned "just like that" in New York. "You're really overwhelmed by inspiration and realize that you're nothing yet." But as the Frank Sinatra song says: "If you can do it in New York, you can do it everywhere." Back in Switzerland, I got jobs at Dynamo Grafik, Cash Werbeagentur, Aldo Clerici and Code. At this "workshop for graphics", she initially only worked with the two founders Daniel Donati and Reto Gehrig. Over the following seven years, Vera not only witnessed Code grow to 14 employees. She also saw "how an agency builds itself up". The designers started with flyers for the Zurich party scene and were soon able to win large budgets for DaimlerChrysler or Coca-Cola, without losing the joy of working on smaller projects.
With their saloon, the three now operate as a full-service agency. "We can offer everything thanks to our network. Visual stimuli always play the central role. By these stimuli we mean intelligence, substance, aesthetics and functionality," explains Marcel Britt.
The Saloonies see an important opportunity in the trend that advertising clients increasingly want a design in their strategy "that is even more precisely tailored to the target group". They cite Swatch as an example. The watch brand commissioned Saloon to create a specially created visual for advertising in a magazine with a readership interested in design and art. The watch sellers were convinced: "This magazine is overflowing with beautiful illustrations. We have to let ourselves be staged by designers who put us in the fast lane despite the wild surroundings."
Andreas Panzeri

Portraits The "A day in the life of" section of the Tages-Anzeiger, Basler Zeitung and Berner Zeitung magazines provides a glimpse into the lives of a wide variety of people every Saturday, reflecting the sensitivities of the Swiss population. Now 200 portraits from the last 20 years have been printed once again and turned into a book. It is based on the original layouts of the section and provides a fascinating journey through everyday life in Switzerland, both visually and in terms of content. Available in bookshops in time for Christmas.

Traffic
Schaffhausen is now directly connected to Kloten Airport thanks to the S16 S-Bahn line. The poster campaign for this comes from Transformer. It will be launched in the next few weeks and dramatizes the Munot canton's direct connection to the big wide world in an eye-catching way.

 Edipresse is now also renewing its TV program guide TVguide, following the facelift of Télé top matin in the spring. The TVguide, which is included with the Saturday editions of 24heures and Tribune de Genève, will have 60 pages instead of 48 and be printed on higher-quality paper from November 3, 2007. The editorial section will be more focused on the readership profile of the two titles. In the program section, readers will now also find the programs of the local TV stations on the overview pages. A new logo and various design innovations complete the refresh. According to Edipresse, the TVguide reaches 351,000 readers.