Creativity The ADC recently presented its latest yearbook. It presents the most creative ideas of 2006, nicely organized by shortlist and metal. Readers can now also act as jurors for the ADC. The book comes with a few sheets of marking stickers. These can be attached to each subject in a specially reserved area. The book was designed by Euro RSCG and can be ordered online until August 31 at the subscription price of CHF 118 via [email protected].

Customer loyalty The Zurich agency Arco has launched a campaign for the Supercard in the Coop press. "Do you have a Supercard?" While sworn card opponents get on your nerves with every purchase, others experience this as a soothing sound at the supermarket checkout. "Points collectors love points," the creative minds at Arco are convinced. Because the true points collector knows: "Super points are the new national currency." The agency, which is based on Zurich's Rämistrasse, demonstrates this in its "Trend" campaign with subjects that are graphically littered with points. However, this deep affection for the two-dimensional circular shape is not only the defining stylistic element of the campaign. The message also has a real news value: Super Points are not only fashionable, hip and in, but now also offer more possibilities than before. Superpoints can now also be used to pay in all Coop City stores. No food or near-food products in the food department and no services in Coop restaurants. But lots of other nice things. True to the motto: "I have points, therefore I am."
Arco has been working for the Coop retail group for 20 years and during this time has realized "pretty much everything that can be summarized under the term communication measures, from packaging to opening events to advertisements", as Arco CEO Doris Horlacher explains. The request for the "Trend" campaign therefore came directly from Coop Supercard due to the long-standing collaboration without a pitch. In addition to the entire communication for Supercard in 2007, Arco is currently also realizing reader advertising for the customer magazine Beauty & Life for Coop. The rewards catalog "The big book of rewards" has become a "real bestseller". However, the term "bestseller" is not quite correct, as the book, which was designed and widely advertised by Arco, is available free of charge in all Coop branches.
The Supercard was introduced by Coop in 2000. It can now also be upgraded to a free credit card. With the Supercard, points can be converted into Miles & Moore with the airline Swiss. There are 600 attractive rewards to choose from in the Supercard catalog. And now - as communicated in the Arco campaign - more than 40,000 products can be paid for in full or in part with Supercard in 35 Coop City stores across Switzerland.   
 
Andreas Panzeri

The German news magazine Spiegel will publish a Swiss supplement on June 25. The print run is 50,000 copies. The supplement is initially planned as a one-off campaign. "We will analyze this issue very carefully and then decide how to proceed," Spiegel spokeswoman Ute Miszewski confirmed to Werbewoche in a report by the industry service Persoenlich.com. "The supplement will be published by Spiegel-Verlag itself," Miszewski continued. There had been reports in the Sunday press about talks between Spiegel and Tamedia. "There have been talks about Facts between Spiegel-Verlag and Tamedia. However, these are currently not being continued," the Spiegel spokesperson told Werbewoche.
Tamedia spokesman Christoph Zimmer also confirmed the talks to SDA. However, he did not want to comment on details. Tamedia will now first see how the situation develops. It is a long way from a one-off issue to a regular split, Zimmer continued. The situation would be kept under review and analyzed.
Read more about the situation at Facts in Advertising Week No. 22/2007:
"Facts will probably be next"

The Zurich-based packaging design agency Schoch&Sonders can look back on a successful start nine months after the agency was founded, as it announced on Wednesday. New clients include Emmi, Lindt & Sprüngli, Paul Mitchell, Baocha and Soremco. In addition to packaging design, the agency is also placing increasing emphasis on the areas of brand creation and corporate design. Schoch&Sonders cites a concept for a design edition for the Beck's beer brand as an example of innovative work. According to the press release, the design is not limited to the label, but extends across the entire bottle. For the Baocha tea brand, the packaging designers will be using mobile tagging technology for the first time. This allows consumers to obtain more information about the product directly from their cell phone.

In a guerrilla campaign for Pastorini, Spielzeug Publicis "exposed" wooden toys as we remember them from the old days. With a lot of imagination, children could turn a block of wood into a Ferrari, a stick into a sword or a cardboard box into a castle. The wooden Ferrari has been spotted in various parking lots in Zurich.

Banks UBS is not necessarily considered the private bank of the little man. But a lot of coin eventually adds up to a nice fortune. With this in mind, the bank has had coupons stuck to the front page of this week's edition of 20 Minuten. Anyone who hands in the coupon with their name and address at a UBS will receive an Alinghi cap as a gift. And the data may be used by the bank "for marketing purposes of the UBS Group". Hopp Schwiiz!

On Monday, the Competition Commission (ComCo) concluded a five-year investigation against Cablecom. The case revolved around the transmission of Teleclub. Cablecom originally only wanted to transmit the pay-TV broadcaster's digital television signals via its cable network if the Cablecom platform was used and customer management was handed over to Cablecom. In autumn 2002, however, the Competition Commission obliged the network operator to distribute the digital Teleclub program via the Cablecom cable network without these conditions. This enabled Teleclub to launch a competing product to Cablecom's digital program, which was of decisive importance in the initial phase of the growing pay-TV market, according to a statement from the federal authority.
However, the preliminary measures taken by the Competition Commission were partially revoked by the Federal Supreme Court in September 2003, which would have allowed the network operator to switch off Teleclub. However, Cablecom decided not to do so and complied with the original ruling of the Competition Commission. Teleclub and Cablecom were finally able to reach an agreement in October 2006 and Teleclub withdrew its complaint. Nine months later, the Competition Commission has now also closed its investigation.

TV Heinz Margot presents the SF program "Bsuech in..." and a Migros advertising program at the same time. An inadmissible dual role, according to the supervisory authority, which wants to investigate the case.Migros' "Fanmeisterschaft M'08" is in full swing, and the major distributor is bringing its advertising message to the people on SF1 in the style of a TV show. The show is hosted by Heinz Margot and Lolita Morena. The two of them already presented a Migros competition two years ago. In addition to his work for the orange giant, Margot is primarily known as a television presenter, formerly for his quiz show "Megaherz", and for the past two years he has presented the summer show "Bsuech in ...", which he will do again next July.According to the Swiss Radio and Television Act, permanent program employees of Swiss television are not allowed to take part in commercials. However, anyone who works for SF only occasionally or as a regular employee may also appear in front of the camera for commercial purposes. The exact dividing line between permanent and regular collaboration is not clear in the legal text. "This is a question of interpretation that must be considered carefully on a case-by-case basis," says Susanne Marxer, responsible for the supervision of radio and television at the Federal Office of Communications.
At the same time, it is inadmissibleTransferred to Heinz Margot's situation, this would mean that the Basel resident, who works full-time as a landlord in Zermatt, could certainly appear in commercials. However, for OFCOM as the supervisory authority, other criteria are also decisive when assessing inadmissible advertising appearances by program employees. "The appearance of an employee in the editorial section and in commercials during one and the same period is problematic and at first glance inadmissible," says television inspector Susanne Marxer, "regardless of whether the person in question is a permanent or regular employee."
This will soon be the case for Heinz Margot. From July 2 to August 13, he will be presenting the show "Bsuech in ..." from seven villages in the Bernese Oberland. Shortly before that, on June 27, he will present the round of 16 draw for the Migros "Fan Championship M'08". The other rounds will then be held in September.
Swiss television is aware of the problem of Margot's dual role. "We have looked into it intensively," says SF spokesman Urs Durrer, "and have come to the conclusion that we cannot prohibit him from an important source of income." The decisive factor was that Margot would only be in front of an SF camera for the seven programs of "Bsuech in ..." in the summer. So far so clear, Bakom had already come to the same conclusion. SF considers the simultaneity of editorial and commercial appearances criticized by the authority to be unproblematic, "as the programme 'Bsuech in ...' and Heinz Margot's appearance in the commercial do not take place on the same day."
"Take a closer look "Regardless of SF's stance, it is clear to Bakom that the matter needs to be clarified. "The way the 'Margot case' is currently presenting itself, I assume that we will take a closer look at it, ask SF and, if this is actually broadcast, open proceedings if necessary," says Bakom's Ms. Marxer. The investigation is also in SF's interest. It would bring legal certainty to a delicate gray area. Heinz Margot was unable or unwilling to comment to Werbewoche.
If the National Council had had its way with the revision of the Radio and Television Act (RTVA), Heinz Margot's appearance in an advertising program would have been clearly illegal. The Grand Chamber wanted to prohibit not only permanent but also regular program staff from appearing. This provision became known as the so-called Lex Russi, according to which Bernhard Russi would no longer have been allowed to advertise for the car brand Subaru as long as he was commentating on ski races for SF. However, the Council of States and ultimately the united Federal Assembly decided in favor of the more liberal regime. The most liberal regulation is for local radio stations and local TV stations with small coverage areas. Under the new RTVA, which came into force in April, permanent employees - with the exception of news editors - are also allowed to take part in advertising broadcasts.
Nick Lüthi

Real estate To further increase awareness of Homegate.ch, the largest and most successful real estate portal in Switzerland, Hesskiss is once again relying this year on the highly successful image campaign developed three years ago. In it, the well-known homes of such unusual characters as the witch from the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" and the cartoon mouse "Jerry" advertise Homegate.ch. The very differently realized depictions are each accompanied by the claim "To each his own home". Hesskiss has now developed two further subjects: the apple and the cuckoo clock.

The draft of the new concession for SRG SSR is currently undergoing consultation. Pro Sieben (Switzerland) is now publicly intervening in the debate and criticizing the fact that the draft envisages a doubling of the commercial offering of the public service media company. On the one hand, the ban on advertising and sponsorship for SFinfo is to be dropped in the new concession. In addition, first broadcasts can be broadcast on SFinfo under certain circumstances. As a result, the channel will become a fully-fledged broadcaster, writes Pro Sieben (Switzerland) in a press release. On the other hand, SRG SSR will have a test channel for high-definition television (HD-TV), which will also not be subject to a ban on advertising and sponsorship. The planned HD channel is an experimental channel. However, the draft of the new license would allow SRG to produce and broadcast original programming for the HD channel. This would be tantamount to such an unwanted expansion of the journalistic offering.
Pro Sieben (Switzerland) concludes: "The web options on SFinfo and on the planned HD trial channel will allow SRG to double its commercial offering in German-speaking Switzerland in one fell swoop." This is clearly not in line with the legislator's intentions, as it was emphasized several times in the explanatory notes to the new RTVA that the advertising and sponsorship provisions applicable to SRG SSR under the old RTVA should not be further expanded, but in some cases even restricted.
In the eyes of Pro Sieben (Switzerland), the draft of the new concession would therefore lead to undesirable additional economic competition from private companies through SRG SSR. Daniel Steiner, media spokesman for SRG SSR, disagrees. In an initial statement to Werbewoche, he said: "It would be nice if we could double our offering! However, opportunities such as online publications have developed on the market where our hands are tied in terms of advertising. We therefore expect the commercial offering to decline." 

 Zehnder Medien, with its 21 regional newspaper titles in German-speaking Switzerland, is launching a new platform for job advertisements this week under the name Swiss Regio Stellen. This combination of advertisements enables clients to place job advertisements individually in various regional weekly newspapers throughout Eastern Switzerland, the greater Zurich area, Central Switzerland and the Mittelland. They can find their employees where they live and work - without wastage, the company writes in a press release.

On Thursday, June 14, the ADC will present 50 international commercials that are considered lion contenders in Cannes. The event is free of charge and will take place at Studio Bellerive at Condor (Kreuzstrasse 2) in Zurich. As the number of places is limited, you can register at i until June 11.