A homepage is a homepage is a homepage? Not if it's the new one from Publicis.  
According to the press release, the cornerstone of the redesign was the claim "Publicis is the only communications group in Switzerland that unites all disciplines under one roof". In collaboration with web design artist Nadya, Publicis developed an independent website that makes full use of the wide range of digital possibilities. On the virtual tour, the visitor gets to know the disciplines of Publicis, Fisch.Meier.Direkt, Optimedia, BG Media and Zed Digital better and discovers small, subtle animation gimmicks time and again. Not standardized Internet tools and presentations are offered, but lively creativity: helicopters drop the current newsletter, the platforms of the respective companies are reminiscent of Captain Kirk's Enterprise headquarters and vacancies are humorously staged as coat hangers.

 Surprisingly, the family that owns the Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones is now prepared to negotiate the takeover bid from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch's global media empire News Corp wants to take over the Down Jones Group for five billion dollars. According to an SDA report, the Bancroft family said it wanted to hold direct talks with News Corp. The family controls the Dow Jones Group with a stake of just under 65 percent and has come to the conclusion that the company would be better positioned in combination or in cooperation with other organizations in view of the business environment. Until now, it had always rejected a sale to Murdoch, but Murdoch's offer of 60 dollars per share is attractive: compared to the share price before the offer was announced, this is a premium of 67 percent. The company now wants to hold talks with Murdoch to determine whether the editorial independence, integrity and journalistic freedom of Dow Jones could be safeguarded in the event of a merger. Murdoch had assured this, but critics doubt it.

 With The Green Channel, Thenewsmarket.com is launching the first vessel for videos focusing exclusively on environmental topics. With this offering, the provider is responding to the media's growing demand for video material with a broad selection of environmental topics.  
Thenewsmarket's green channel, which has a user base of 12,000 agencies in 144 countries, features videos from companies on topics such as renewable energy sources, eco-friendly transportation, green buildings and legislation to reduce carbon emissions. This year has seen a surge in demand for environmental, climate change and green content, according to Shoba Purushothaman, CEO and co-founder of Newsmarket. In recent months, news outlets have begun to allocate resources to track global political, regulatory and social support for green initiatives. Several companies in the transportation, consumer products and energy sectors have begun announcing environmentally friendly technologies and products. These are now available on Newsmarket, where journalists can register free of charge.

Fast food TBWA and Trimedia want to correct a few preconceptions in a trust campaign for McDonald's Switzerland. It is time for McDonald's to "set the record straight", according to the commentary on the new campaign by TBWA Zurich for its major client McDonald's Switzerland. The image of the restaurant multinational, which used to be teased as a "bullet roaster", has not been left unscathed by the fact that films such as "Fast Food Nation" or "Super Size Me" have been received as box office hits by audiences and have triggered numerous discussion forums on the subject of "fast food" in various media. Some of the statements refer specifically to McDonald's. Others remain in the realm of "prejudice". So how should we respond?  
Modern myths "History teaches us that rumors and half-truths are extremely persistent and usually last for a very long time," says McDonald's Switzerland. A large number of so-called modern myths circulate around the world about the top US brand. People tell each other all kinds of stories about the origin of the beef, the ingredients of a Big Mac, the employees and their working conditions, the restaurant facilities and much more. But what are these beliefs based on?
 
For this reason, McDonald's, in collaboration with the agencies TBWA and Trimedia, has now launched the information campaign "the whole truth" with a new website and advertisements. The company is telling the whole truth about itself and thus countering these "modern myths", as TBWA's strategy puts it. This means that everyone can now form their own opinion - based on well-founded facts.
 
Active education In a first step, two consecutive one-page advertisements are placed in selected magazines, which are intended to attract attention on the first page with a combination of snappy headlines and sometimes surprising subjects, and then provide brief and clear information on the respective topic on the following page. Interested parties can access further information on the topics via the website www.dievollewahrheit.ch, which is listed in the advertisements.
 
Cross-media banners will be placed on numerous websites, which will also lead to the campaign website. In the fall, a further step towards raising awareness is planned with the "Quality Scouts". Quality Scouts" will give interested parties a detailed insight into the production and processing of food and McDonald's high quality standards.
 
With these various campaigns, the advertising and PR agency for McDonald's wants to "support the already positive trend in image development and try to counteract rumors and half-truths in a surprising and exciting way", as CD Armin Korf at TBWA explains.
 
Andreas Panzeri

Trends
The motto of this year's SNDS conference was "Designing the Future". Werbewoche was there as a trend scout. Trend 1: Newspapers must give up their claim to sovereignty and share control with the reader. Newspapers must move away from one-way communication and become more transparent and inviting. Blogs are showing us how: It's easy to join in, users can contribute their knowledge and skills by generating content themselves. The online presence of newspapers is now quite schematized. The structure of the websites can still be optimized with regard to the reception of online content.
 
 
Trend 2:
Playing with the different media channels. Media behavior is constantly changing. New media are constantly being added to the old ones. Radio coexists peacefully with television, the Internet has not replaced TV. Nevertheless, one must react to the other.
 
The challenge is to exploit interactions between the different channels. Newspapers are starting to create their Internet presence separately from the print product by forming independent online editorial teams that focus on interaction: short news items via blogs, with the option of sending articles to friends and sharing them, with tools for their own web presence, interactive graphics and films.
 
The printed newspaper, on the other hand, specializes in reports, background and analyses, thematic packages and additional benefits such as supplements and magazines (see box Dagens industri and Politiken).
 
 
Trend 3:
The newspaper as a strong brand. The print product is to become a luxury product that, alongside the Internet as a fleeting news medium, ensures sustainability with exclusive reports.
 
Trend 4:
Newspapers are losing advertising customers to the web. Websites deliver measurable results. Due to the increasing popularity of blogs and communities, their sites are also becoming more and more interesting for the placement of advertising.
 
Trend 5:
Inserts serve as a platform for advertisers and to attract a different target audience. To counteract the negative advertising trend, new strategies must be developed between the marketing department and the editorial team without undermining the journalistic ethos. By working with consistent photographic or typographic concepts, magazines can achieve a stringent reader guidance despite disruptive advertisements.
 
Trend 6:
Staying on the ball. In order to maintain or achieve a good market position, it is essential to invest in new media, familiarize yourself with new technologies and make use of them.
 
Trend 7:
Free newspapers are a major competitor. Free newspapers now account for almost a quarter of the European newspaper market. They are not yet quality newspapers, but the standard is rising and they are diversifying.
 
Trend 8:
Information is elaborately visualized. In print and online, there are increasingly well-researched and highly visualized infographics. In editorial offices, there is a division of labor between layout and infographics. Simple pie charts and bar charts are created by layout artists to relieve the infographics department of the burden of creating complex visualizations.
 
Doris Oberneder
 
Doris Oberneder is art director of Werbewoche and freelance designer for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and KircherBurkhardt GmbH.
 
 
 
 
For the 28th time: The Best of Newspaper Design  
Since 1979
the Society for News Design (SND) and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication organize an annual competition. The best entries in the fields of newspaper design, infographics and photography are judged.  
In the 19 categories
four "Best Designed Newspapers" were selected (see box on the right), 8 gold medals, 82 silver medals, 7 Judges' Special Recognitions and 1647 Awards of Excellence.  
Among the German-language newspapers
This year, the SonntagsZeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Financial Times Deutschland, Welt am Sonntag, Tagesspiegel, Berliner Morgenpost and Stuttgarter Zeitung (see selection on the right).  
The winners
are available at www.snd.org/competitions/contest28.lasso.  
The book for the competition
"The Best of Newspaper Design™" (28th edition) can be ordered at www.snd.org. 
 
 
Society for News Design (SND)  
The SND is an international organization with the goal,
to improve global communication through high-quality visual journalism. 
Among the members
publishers, editors, designers and infographics experts as well as photographers, commercial artists and web designers.  
In addition to annual workshops
and exhibitions, various courses are offered and an annual "Best of Newspaper Design" competition is held (see box below).  
Regional organization for the German-speaking region
www.snd.dach.org  
More info
at www.snd.org  
 
 
Next events 11 - 13. 10.
Boston, 29th Workshop www.sndboston.com 26. - 27. 10.
Annual meeting of the SND/DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in Basel at the invitation of Basler Zeitung 
 
 
"You don't have to be aggressive, you have to be smart."  
Ally Palmer
founder and co-owner of the agency Palmer Watson Ltd, newspaper designer and consultant, on current trends.  
WW: What should newspapers concentrate on in order to remain competitive with the new media?  
Ally Palmer: In England in particular, there are few subscription newspapers. That's why people react very strongly to the Internet and get the news for free. Newspapers like The Guardian, which have invested in their online offering from the very beginning, have become very successful. Newspapers need to think about how they can work with the internet. We live in a free society. People download free music, read free newspapers. But if you really like something, then you should pay for it. That's another major problem for newspapers at the moment.  
WW: There is a strong tendency towards tabloids. Are serious daily newspapers putting their reputation on the line? 
Ally Palmer: There are only three broadsheet newspapers left in England, the Financial Times, the Independent and the Daily Telegraph, and only one in Norway. Tabloids are very successful. However, they have also lost readers due to the generally poor advertising situation. Perhaps newspapers will become even smaller in the future.  
WW: This time only European newspapers have been honored as "World's Best Designed". What's wrong with American newspapers?  
Ally Palmer: In America, there is a lack of competition in the newspaper industry. There are so many cities in America with only one or two newspapers. In Europe, on the other hand, there is incredible competitive pressure. In Edingburgh, for example, there are about 15 newspapers a day. And there are very few subscribers overall. This means that readers make a choice every day. That's why there are much better newspapers in Europe in terms of appearance and content, especially the German ones. You don't necessarily have to be aggressive, but very smart.  
WW: There is a trend towards using complex infographics. How do editorial teams get the necessary facts?  
Ally Palmer: The Spanish graphics are currently the best you can find in newspapers. At least one person on the infographics team has to be a journalist. It makes no sense to produce infographics without a good basis for using them as a kind of stopgap.  
WW: Do e-papers have a future?*  
Ally Palmer: If technology develops over the next ten years, then yes. People don't want it to be complicated. If e-papers can be handled as easily as paper, then there will certainly be a market for them.  
WW: What do you think about letting journalists create layouts themselves with the help of templates?  
Ally Palmer: Publishers want to get by with as few staff as possible. You can hardly tell that some newspapers work without a designer. With some you notice it immediately. On the whole, such newspapers are unsurprising and somewhat boring. I've seen a newspaper with a section designed entirely by readers. A great idea, but I hope that's not the future.  
WW: You were one of four jury members in the selection of the "World's Best Designed Newspapers" and received an award yourself. Were you surprised?  
Ally Palmer: As a jury member, we were not allowed to vote on projects where we were "biased" in any way. We judged the overall image of the newspaper. We are very proud of the award because it is now our fourth design to win this prize.  
Interview: Doris Oberneder.
 
* E-paper" refers to the flexible display.

Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett let tourists pose in the latest Migros fashion brochure. Migros, the model Swiss company par excellence, is not having any Swiss models advertise its fashion this time. On the contrary, in the new brochure, Indians, Argentinians, Thais, Peruvians, Spaniards and Frenchmen present the latest Migros fashions.
According to a press release from Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett (SFLB), the agency responsible for the brilliant idea, many of the tourists asked knew Migros and were happy to take part in the spontaneous photo session. Photographer Maurice Haas took pictures of them in Zermatt, Lucerne, at the Rhine Falls, at Chillon Castle and in Zurich.

Internet The mania surrounding Web 2.0 is the preserve of a minority. The vague term Web 2.0 is making advertisers sick to their stomachs. Alarm bells are ringing at every corner and symposium. Trend gurus like to send traditional media and their business models into early retirement with words like "swarm intelligence". However, the situation is not as bleak as is often claimed. In the research article "Web 2.0: Usage and user types" in the publication Media Perspektiven (4/2007), four authors from two German research institutes (see box) deal with the controversial trend. Interesting: The new web is largely unknown to the average user. Only one in ten surfs the Net Release 2.0. The majority of the population is indifferent to the virtual exchange of opinions.  
The report refers to various studies that were carried out last year. Using both quantitative and qualitative studies, the authors attempt to trace the current state of the Internet. Interesting: Internet use has hardly changed in the last eight years. The Web 2.0 hype in the media basically only refers to five percent of the total population who use Web 2.0 on a daily basis. The majority are elsewhere. Mostly on search engine sites or in the protected area of home banking. Email communication has been the number one Internet application for years. And this will not change.
 
Web 2.0 is therefore merely the playing field of a small minority. The profile of its users corresponds to that of the Internet pioneers 20 years ago: male, above-average income and very well educated. They mainly use video communities and wiki sites, with the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia being the most popular Community 2.0 application.
 
But even this group of early adopters is struggling with the new services. Active use is the exception, the researchers write. According to the results, just a third of Web 2.0 users produce and design content. The rest are "entertainment seekers" and "information seekers" who are not looking for opportunities to contribute, but generally only consume content.
 
Effects on other media The authors of the study see no danger for traditional media. This is also because the internet is primarily a communication medium and not an information medium. E-mails and instant messages are the main reasons why people go online. The authors of the report conclude that the high credibility of traditional media and their understanding of quality remain important categories that secure their place in a changing world of offerings.
 
Christian Lüscher
 
 
To the study The article "Web 2.0: Usage and user types"
was published in Media Perspektiven (4/2007). The report is based on the results of the ARD/ZDF Online Study 2006, the Youth, Information and (Multi-)Media (JIM) Study 2006 and the surveys conducted by the Result media research institute and the SWR research center. The data from the last eight years show that many elements of Web 2.0 are not a new phenomenon. (cl)

The winners of the prestigious competition were announced on Thursday, May 31. Both Ruf Lanz and Publicis Zurich have been honored by the NY Festivals jury, with Ruf Lanz receiving two gold awards in the categories "Retail Stores" and "Best Humorous Spot/Campaign" for the "George W. Bush" radio spot series for Sport Factory Outlet. According to the agency's press release on Thursday, the award-winning radio commercials with verbal slips from George W. Bush have already impressed the jurors of other renowned competitions: Ruf Lanz was the only Swiss agency to win an award at the LIAA (London Festivals). The agency also reached the final in New York with three pieces of work for Suva and the Airport Outlet.
Publicis Zurich received two Silver World Medals for work commissioned by toy manufacturer Pastorini and for the Zurich Schauspielhaus theater. According to a press release issued by the agency on Thursday, these were a poster campaign and the film "Opus Dei", which has already won several international awards. A total of 12 works by Publicis Zurich made it onto the shortlist of the NY Festivals.

Education In view of the federal elections in October 2007, the parliamentary services have taken the initiative to make civic knowledge accessible in a playful way. The Bernese communications agency nothing from outer space was commissioned to design a Flash application aimed specifically at a younger audience. The Tellvetia presentation, which went live today, is impressive. The Flash movie with 3D characters is a novelty for Switzerland. The two protagonists Tell and Liv demonstrate how all voters over the age of 18 can be elected to the National Council or Council of States. Tellvetia can be accessed directly at www.tellvetia.ch.

Health Food To keep the summer crispy for everyone, TBWA now also recommends a crispy salad from McDonald's. The focus of advertising for McDonald's Switzerland is currently on image. News about products is only communicated seasonally. For example, now at the start of the swimming season. McDonald's knows that women don't want to have to do without everything when it comes to food, even during the bathing season. That's why there's now a new salad menu. You can choose a tasty burger with a clear conscience, which is now served with a mixed salad and a drink of your choice.  
The advertising campaign in Swiss consumer magazines shows that such a tempting offer needs to be communicated accordingly. A young man seductively advertises this uncompromising summer offer. After all, McDonald's Switzerland doesn't want to hide from its customers why the decision for all things crunchy is particularly worthwhile now. The motif with the man who is "disruptively" dashing according to the TBWA strategy will also be displayed in almost all fitness studios in the women's shower rooms in Switzerland - waterproof, of course.
 
Andreas Panzeri

 Industry experts in Germany are incensed by an undercover story by the well-known investigative journalist Günter Wallraff. For the book "Ganz Unten," he worked for years on construction sites as Ali the Turk, and now he has been doing research in a call center.  
It's the growth industry par excellence - this year, the number of call center agents in Germany alone will grow to around half a million. To get an idea of what it's like, Wallraff applied to CallOn and completed a ten-hour trial day. He didn't get the job, but he already has one: He published his research findings in "Die Zeit," concluding that call centers are the mines of the modern age: "Thousands work in secret, becoming invisible - and so do their working conditions." No secret is the poor pay, often far below 10 euros an hour, a rate that is also cut in many companies for poor performance.
Some call centers require certificates from health insurance companies about the time lost over the past two years. No wonder: call center agents have to be extremely stress-resistant; it is not uncommon for them to have up to 90 customer contacts per day. In addition, so-called outbound calls, i.e. sales transactions, are on the rise. Agents sell lottery tickets and magazine subscriptions, but also insurance contracts and hedge funds, often overpriced. Almost always, he says, the customer is the one being cheated. "The call centers call people day in and day out - usually uninvited," Wallraff says.
His report drew harsh criticism from the industry. Wallraff is accused of blatant research mishaps, and of having chosen a black sheep from the outset in the call center he inspected - and there are black sheep everywhere. Compared to mines, call centers do not harbor health risks and accident hazards. Lobby associations point to the complaints office and the code of ethics, which clearly regulates that it is unfair to call consumers for advertising purposes without their consent. - The Süddeutsche Lotterie should definitely be informed of this, or does the code not apply to Swiss consumers?

Caught the eye. Awards More than 3000 posters from all over the world were submitted to the British D&AD Award. Three posters were recognized by the British jury. But only one campaign was awarded the coveted Pencil this year. Since its foundation in 1962, the British D&AD has therefore been regarded as the strictest guardian of global creativity. Pius Walker is naturally proud that his campaign for Amnesty International was honored with this coveted and only Pencil last week. The prize also attracted attention at customs. "Winning a Yellow Pencil is pretty exciting. At the latest when you want to leave England with it and get stuck at the strict security check at the airport because nobody believes that this is what a medal looks like," says Pius Walker. In the end, they agreed that it was "a harmless paperweight". (pan)