More turmoil in the Zurich media scene: Ringier's Cash Group sees the future in digital channels and is expected to discontinue the weekly print edition of Cash by the end of June.  
As recently as March 2006, Thomas Trüb, head of Ringier’s Business Media Division, told *Werbewoche*: «The business newspaper *Cash* will continue to be published as a weekly.» The free newspaper Cash Daily, launched in September 2006, was even expected to provide a new boost for the flagship publication. That hope has been dashed. As Ringier announced on Wednesday, the weekly *Cash*, launched in 1989, will publish its final issue on June 28. Trüb commented in a telephone interview: «We were actually well-positioned in the readership market, but in the advertising market, we didn’t stand a chance against titles like the NZZ am Sonntag or the SonntagsZeitung.» Instead of continuing to struggle with two print editions, the Cash Group now intends to «pool its resources,» according to Trüb.
 
While the weekly print publication still has 279,000 readers and a certified circulation of 61,500 copies, the other offerings are growing. According to a press release, the Cash Group therefore plans to prioritize the expansion of digital media such as Cash.ch, Cash Mobile, and Cash Daily, and to strengthen the group’s position as a multimedia provider with Cash-TV and Cash-Talk on SF2. According to the publisher, Cash Daily has around 26,000 registered Livepaper users, and over 100,000 copies are distributed daily. With 220,000 visitors per day, Cash.ch is Switzerland’s largest bank-independent business and finance platform. . 
According to Trüb, from a strictly legal standpoint, the decision to discontinue the weekly edition of *Cash* has not yet been finalized. However, if no new ideas or investors are found by June 12, the business newspaper’s closure will become a reality. The plan is for the 46 affected employees to continue working within the Cash Group or at other Ringier publications. For subscribers to the weekly magazine Cash, an agreement has been reached with the Handelszeitung and Jean Frey publishing groups: For the remainder of their subscription period, they will receive either the Handelszeitung, the Bilanz, or Stocks—or «their money back,» as Trüb promises.

Poster I APG says goodbye to the large format (GF) and launches the innovative F24 format in January 2008. More than twenty years after the launch of the F200 format, APG is introducing a new poster format that seems unusual at first glance. Unusual because it is neither a portrait nor a landscape format, but an almost square format. However, the poster called F24 is not an additional offering from APG, which belongs to Affichage, but replaces its current and significantly larger "large format" - better known as GF.  
The reason for this also courageous step does not come by chance. According to APG marketing manager Roger Möschler, the previous GF had lost importance, fewer and fewer permits were being issued for new locations, and it was also too expensive in terms of total production costs (see also interview on p. 22).
 
7 instead of 12 square meters But the change from the 12m2 GF to the 7m2 F24 is only at first glance a step backwards for APG. Presumably, this change is the only way the media company can counter the fall of the GF into insignificance. Möschler was told that it has become increasingly difficult to obtain new permits; Switzerland is known to be a very regimented country when it comes to permits. Acceptance of the F24 format, on the other hand, is clearly better - initial clarifications with municipalities and cities have shown this.
 
APG even plans to significantly expand its large-format sites in the future. Of its current 850 or so GF poster sites, almost 500 of the best locations are to be converted first, and by the end of the year, a total of 1,000 sites will have been developed for the F24 format. In addition, APG plans to implement another 1,000 or so poster sites in 2008 and 2009, which will result in a total of around 2,000 F24 poster sites in the final phase of the project.
 
In addition to the new format, APG is also coming up with another innovative new feature. Selected F24 poster sites are to be illuminated with a new type of LED lighting - with "an effect comparable to that of backlit posters," enthuses Möschler.
 
"As early as next year's launch, we intend to equip individual top locations with the LED lighting system," adds the APG marketing manager about the hitherto unique upgrade of large-format posters. According to Möschler, the lighting system, which is being used in Switzerland for the first time worldwide, is available exclusively from APG. Technically, a strip consisting of specially developed LED light sources is mounted at the top of the poster. The highlight: the lighting is designed in such a way that only the F24 is illuminated without "scattering loss". This will probably limit any objections in connection with the lighting.
 
Sites, site quality and strategy The communication of the decision for the new format as the final step is the result of a huge project. Since summer 2006, the company has been working meticulously on the implementation. The company is currently checking which of the existing GF poster sites can be converted for the F24 format. "We are also looking at new sites without - and this is important - weakening the F12 sites," Möschler adds of the site strategy that has been adopted.
 
But where are the new posters ultimately supposed to attract a lot of attention? APG is targeting the larger Swiss train stations, conurbations, and arterial roads, and simply where, as Möschler puts it, "there are a particularly large number of mobile people and excellent poster sites are available for advertising purposes. Thanks to particularly attractive sites on public land in the big cities, APG can offer another premium poster product of the highest quality - complemented by the highly frequented locations in the major train stations. "Our customers will be able to benefit from the fact that, in addition to landscape (F12) and portrait (F200) posters, square posters can now also be used," he argues. Furthermore, a maximum of only two F24 panels are to be implemented at a site so that the "distraction" of other poster subjects is kept to a minimum. However, the majority of all F24 panels will be implemented as single sites - as wall-mounted or free-standing.
 
APG has high expectations when it comes to the locations and their quality: "Based on our locations, we are convinced that F24 will soon and quickly be included in the advertising campaigns of large, medium, and even small advertising customers. Möschler sees problems, as far as the launch is concerned, if at all then only once more with the permits: "There are poster-friendly and let's say 'the medium less inclined' cities and municipalities. Regardless of this, we are counting on good cooperation and long-term partnership here. The first permits for F24 poster sites have already been issued, so that the first wave can be built as planned between September and December 2007 and the official F24 sales launch can take place on January 1, 2008."
 
Competition will follow suit Like its smaller poster siblings F12 and F200, the new large poster can also be booked for campaigns lasting one, two, and three weeks. Wednesday is the "posting day" for the F24 - and, as with the F12 and F200 posters, poster networks can also be booked in addition to individual panels. When the large format is launched next January, it will be started in the large cities and train stations according to the top-down principle. In the agglomeration, only very heavily frequented routes and locations would come into question for F24 billposting. Nevertheless, according to Möschler, it should also be possible for local customers to use the F24.
 
Despite APG's dominant position in the Swiss poster market, there are competitors. Although the F24 is a clear innovation by APG, it is assumed in Winterthur that the competition will follow suit: "At the latest," Roger Möschler is convinced, "when the new large format is successful.
 
Jürgen Franck
 
 
 
F24 = 2(F12) = 6(F4) The "new large format" simplified here as a formula
is almost square at 268.5 x 256 cm (visual size: 267.5 x 255) and corresponds to two F12 posters arranged one above the other - and thus also six F4 posters.  
In terms of printing technology, the F24
be printed in six parts or, if the poster printing company has the appropriate large-format press, in four parts. As with the F12 posters, a one-centimeter overlap and an equally large unprinted strip are required for pasting; in addition, these strips are also required towards the upper poster sections.  
More information
to the new format: www.apg.ch/f24. (jf)  
 
 
"Switzerland is too small for the large format."  
Werbewoche talked to Roger Möschler, Head of Marketing and member of the APG Executive Board, about the development of the new F24 format.
 
WW: Why is Affichage or its subsidiary APG replacing the large format (GF)?  
Roger Möschler: We have noticed that the "old" large format is losing importance and that the poster sites are also decreasing. The decline can be explained on the one hand by conversions or renovations of properties and on the other hand by the restrictive attitude of the licensing authorities. As a result, the large-format business has developed into a business that is "not interesting enough" for us. For our customers, this decline in space, which is partly natural and partly forced by third parties, has the disadvantage that the quantity of GF spaces has now reached a level that no longer permits homogeneous and independent large-format billposting. As a result, it happened more and more frequently that the GF - because of too small a quantity - fell out of our customers' campaign plans. This fact forced us to question the GF as such for business reasons. Our conclusion at the time: Switzerland is probably just too small for a large format with 12m2 of advertising space.  
We then examined within a project how we should proceed here. Two options emerged: to remove the GF format from the market without replacement or to replace it with a new large format. APG, known as an innovator in the poster industry, opted for the latter: We are now introducing a new square poster format, the F24, to the Swiss market at the beginning of 2008.
 
WW: Can you give any reasons here why GF billboards have done so poorly economically?  
Roger Möschler: The logistics and management of our currently 850 large format jobs are very complex. Another major disadvantage of the GF, especially in comparison with the F24, is the significantly higher production costs for the GF overall: If you take the F12 format as a basis with a cost factor of 1, then the GF comes to a factor of 2.3-2.5. With a production cost factor of between 1.5 and 1.7, the F24 format is significantly cheaper than the GF.  
WW: How is APG proceeding now - when will the first F24 posters be seen?  
Roger Möschler: In the first week of June, we will realize the first two F24 placements at Tunnelstrasse in Zurich, a pilot site and top location. Between September and December 2007, we will then implement the first wave of 800 to 1000 F24s in the field. We will dismantle the "old" GFs towards the end of 2007, and from the beginning of 2008 APG will no longer be offering 12 m2 GFs. We also have ambitious goals for the F24. In the next one to two years, we want to add another thousand F24 poster sites.  
WW: How have agencies and customers reacted to the new F24 in advance? 
Roger Möschler: We talked to agencies and customers about the planned launch as part of a market survey. The reactions were extremely positive throughout. They very much welcome the fact that there will still be a large poster format in Switzerland; now even square and optimally combinable with F12 and/or F200 displays. Another advantage emphasized by customers and agencies is that with the F24, it will once again be possible to run a homogeneous and comprehensive large-format campaign. And this - compared to the "old" large format - at lower billposting rates and lower production costs. Original quote from a well-known creative: "Finally, now we have the perfect square in the poster formats!  
Interview: Jürgen Franck

Media groups If media tycoon Murdoch acquires the Wall Street Journal, the pressure on quality titles such as the NY Times will also increase. Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's generous offer to acquire the Wall Street Journal (publisher Dow Jones), owned by the Bancroft family of publishers, has caused a great deal of surprise in the USA. But few media observers doubt what the final outcome will be. "No matter what the Bancroft family says, the deal will be done," predicts the New York Times. "The brute force of capital always finds a way."  
Murdoch intends to take advantage of the excellent business coverage of the Journal and its parent company Dow Jones for the launch of his new business TV channel in October. "Dow Jones would be an excellent content provider for all its TV channels, there would be a lot of synergies for its global properties," says Dom Serafini, editor-in-chief of industry publication Videoage International. "It would also enable extensive cross-platform deals in terms of advertising."
 
Although the resistance of the Brancrofts, who control the course of the newspaper, does not seem to have been broken so far, one key aspect speaks in favor of a sale: despite its record circulation of two million, the renowned Wall Street Journal is not a profitable business, which is being observed with a frown in the USA. Under its last boss, Peter Kann, the newspaper lost a considerable amount of advertising, for which the end of the Internet boom in 2001 was responsible. The Journal relies more heavily than other publishers on technology ads and has still not been able to make up for the slump in advertising.
 
In order to attract more advertisers from the consumer goods industry, the weekend edition was introduced at the end of 2005. Although this has had a positive effect, the really big profits have so far failed to materialize. Dow Jones does not publish any figures on the Journal's profits. "I would say the Journal is borderline in the black," believes newspaper consultant John Morton. "Although some things have improved in recent years, the paper is still in trouble."
 
The industry reacted all the more astonished to Murdoch's purchase price of five billion dollars. "The fact that we have received an offer of this amount, especially in times of such low newspaper share prices, speaks to the quality and integrity of your work," wrote editor-in-chief Paul Steiger in a memo to the staff, warning: "We should avoid getting caught up in the question of what if."
 
The main concern in journalistic circles is that the conservative Rupert Murdoch will interfere in the Journal's reporting, despite assurances to the contrary, as has happened with other media in the past. "The fear is that he could extend his influence to the commentary page," Serafini specifies. "But that's pointless because the Wall Street Journal is already very conservative." There is also fear in the corridors of the WSJ of possible budget cuts and the often accompanying curtailment of journalistic resources, which new owners usually use to make their business more profitable.
 
Meanwhile, the discussion has already moved one step further: "If Dow Jones is sold, the pressure on the New York Times will also be substantial and there will be takeover bids," says Michael Wolff, media critic at Vanity Fair. Just as with Dow Jones, Times shares are listed on the stock exchange, but the Sulzberger publishing family has the decisive votes on the boards.
 
Wolff believes that the pressure from shareholders could become so great that the family will have to give in. "The idea that you can take a company public and still run it like a private company is currently being increasingly questioned. This certainly applies to the New York Times."
 
Gerti Schön, New York
 
 
 
The News Corporation media empire (selection)  
Newspapers/Magazines London Times, Sunday Times, Gemstar/TV Guide, Weekly Standard, The Sun, New York Post, The Australian
TV channels Fox Broadcasting, National Geographic, FX, BskyB, DirecTV, Sky Italia
Others Harper Collins, 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, MySpace.com, AmericanIdol.com
 
 
 
"Murdoch always gets what he wants"  
Murdoch biographer Jim Tucille
("Murdoch: Creator of a Worldwide Media Empire") tells us what he thinks about the media tycoon's plans.  
WW: What do you think of Murdoch's plan to buy Dow Jones?  
Jim Tucille: Murdoch is known for offering too much money for his new acquisitions, which are profitable in the long term. He has always claimed not to interfere in the reporting of a new medium, but that is not entirely true. The New York Post, for example, was a left-leaning newspaper before Murdoch bought it, and now it is extremely conservative. If he takes over the Wall Street Journal, its content will probably be even more pro-business.  
WW: Do you think he will be able to convince the Bancroft family?  
Jim Tucille: Yes, I think he will be successful in the end. He's putting in a lot of effort and offering a lot of money. He can be very charming and will say that nothing will change in terms of reporting. Murdoch always gets what he wants in the end.  
WW: How would you describe his personality?  
Jim Tucille: He is very controlled and always keeps himself under control. When I wrote my book, he put me off for six months and in the meantime made sure that I wasn't pursuing any particular goal with it. But once he agreed, he opened a lot of doors for me. It's hard to get anything out of him, he's shrewd and cunning, and all his loyalties lie with his empire.  
Interview: Gerti Schön

Swissness Exxtra Kommunikation continues the campaign for the Heidi brand from the Migros range. Three years ago, Exxtra Kommunikation built up the brand image of the new Migros dairy product line Heidi with a broad-based campaign. Migros introduced this new strategic own brand to its range in 2004 as a stimulus for the stagnating sales markets in the dairy products sector. The market launch with 30 products was successfully supported at the time. There are now over 40 items in the range and demand remains very high. 
The Heidi communication campaign was honored at the Effie Awards 2005. The Heidi brand name, its high affinity with the Swiss mountains and the promise of quality of genuine Swiss mountain milk have made it possible to clearly differentiate from other dairy product ranges and to present an exportable brand. A survey conducted after the first campaign showed that values such as naturalness, health and Swissness were successfully communicated. The survey also revealed that the unique product benefits of mountain milk "have been learned by a large part of the target group", as consultant Michael Broglin knows.
 
Exxtra has now continued the successful campaign. As before, this will be characterized by a TV commercial as the main advertising medium. New products will be promoted with accompanying advertisements, and the brand will also be profiled through sponsorship activities - such as the "Heidi" musical in Walenstadt.
 
The new TV commercial plays with Heidi's world and the associations that go with it without appearing kitschy. We see the same young woman as in the introductory spot, barefoot and in a traditional dress, calling after a runaway cow. After finding the runaway, Heidi sets about driving the cow back to the herd on the alp.
 
It becomes clear that the cow has a mind of its own and reacts to the woman's commands with indifference. "This is intended to show how there is still a healthy relationship between man and nature in the Alpine world," says CD Dieter Hofmann. In the end, the woman does manage to drive the cow up the mountain and - once she reaches the alp - to milk it. The off-screen text "Heidi is and remains 100 percent mountain milk" dramatizes the unique consumer benefits of Heidi products.
 
The commercial is aimed at a target group of women and men aged between 30 and 65 and will be broadcast on Swiss television and in the advertising windows of Pro7, Sat1, RTL, RTL2 and Vox.
 
Andreas Panzeri

 The new German edition of the glamor magazine Vanity Fair was published on Thursday on the occasion of the G8 summit in Germany with eight different covers featuring black and white portraits of celebrities.  
The celebrities are supporting the worldwide campaign "Global Call to Action Against Poverty" (GCAP) or the German campaign "Deine Stimme gegen Armut": Claudia Schiffer, Orlando Bloom, George Clooney, Heidi Klum, Salma Hayek, Herbert Grönemeyer, Penélope Cruz and P. Diddy. They are all wearing a "White Band" wristband, the international symbol of GCAP sympathizers - the initiative calls on the heads of government of industrialized countries to halve poverty worldwide by 2015, among other things. As Horizont.at reports, the G8 summit is also the focus of Vanity Fair's content in the form of reports and interviews on the topic. The publisher is also donating five euros to the "Your voice against poverty" campaign for every new subscription. Every subscriber receives the "White Band" wristband in return.

Newspapers Rolf Bollmann is also planning a free newspaper - possibly in opposition to his former boss: Just seven years ago, Sacha Wigdorovits and Rolf Bollmann launched the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten together. Today, the two are once again working on a free newspaper project - but separately and possibly as rivals.  
But first things first: It is well known that Sacha Wigdorovits, former project manager of 20 Minuten, wants to launch a free newspaper with home delivery in Zurich, Berne and Basel five times a week in September.
 
Tamedia now also has plans for a "new free daily newspaper". This "option" was announced at the press conference on the takeover of Espace Media. When asked, Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer clarified: "We are pursuing the project of a new free daily newspaper independently of Sacha Wigdorovits' project." A project group headed by Tagi publishing director Rolf Bollmann has been working on the project "for some time". "Rolf Bollmann has been involved in the development of 20 Minuten from the very beginning and is one of the most recognized specialists in this field in Switzerland," says Zimmer. It is still too early for further information. Which is why it remains unclear whether the new project is "merely" a further expansion of 20 Minuten, for example in Graubünden or Ticino, or a completely new concept.
 
Markus Knöpfli

Papier Antalis is doing something for the environment. And therefore came to its customers by train. Antalis recently drew attention to itself with a colorful SBB train composition. The paper tour, an event for customers and interested professionals, took the colorful train across Switzerland. Inside, there was a presentation of the latest Antalis innovations and an exhibition of the Antalis product range.  
However, the focus of the paper tour was on paper and the environment. One of Antalis' strategic goals is to raise customer awareness of the importance of using environmentally friendly paper. As a supplier of office papers, Switzerland's biggest paper wholesaler in terms of sales wants to take responsibility for the environment, just as large consumers should. However, this requires basic knowledge, which could be acquired from a wide range of presentations at the paper tour.
 
Knowledge of the various certifications is important for the environmentally friendly use of paper. Bruno Mojonnier, auditor at the SQS certification body, shed light on the current "label jungle" in a presentation. His conclusion: there is no all-encompassing paper eco-label, each one has advantages and disadvantages. The labels basically work in two directions: On the origin of the pulp resource on the one hand and the production process of the paper on the other. The energy consumption for transportation is not taken into account. A combination of labels would therefore be desirable in order to obtain the most ecological paper possible.
 
A statement by Urs Gsell, forestry specialist for the canton of Aargau, is also interesting. While massive areas of forest are disappearing elsewhere, in Switzerland we only use half of the wood that grows back each year. In figures, this amounts to five million cubic meters that are currently being added every year. Eike Lömer and Benjamin Höckendorf call for an end to prejudices against recycled paper. In a clear conversion table, the representatives of Steinbeis-Temming drastically visualized the environmental benefits of recycled paper. Two examples: The production of one kilogram of recycled office paper compared to the same amount of virgin fiber paper, for example, uses 2.2 kilograms less wood - or saves 31.7 liters of water. And the fact that these papers have long since achieved standard values in terms of practical use and visual appeal is something that no one really disputes today.
 
Jürg Pletscher, Managing Director of Antalis, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the paper tour when asked by Werbewoche. Over a thousand visitors had been welcomed and those who had been targeted had been reached.
 
The scripts of other presentations are available for download at www.papertour.ch. Statements from visitors can be found at www.actiontv.ch.
 
Beat Fritsch

Presse Regional newspapers are far too small to survive, says Espace Media and joins Tagi. Other publishers take a different view. The analysis by Charles von Graffenried, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Espace Media Groupe, is clear and gloomy: subscription newspapers worldwide are experiencing shrinking circulations and readership figures and thus decreasing advertising revenues. The Berner Zeitung is no exception. So far, Espace Media has been able to successfully replace the outgoing print advertising with investments in local radio stations, local TV, the Sunday press and 20 Minuten. "However, the enormous development in the online sector and in new e-media will exceed our possibilities in the future. These areas are risky and require major investments," said von Graffenried. That is why the sale of his company to Tamedia was a necessity, because only the merger with a strong partner would open up new perspectives. His delegate Albert P. Stäheli went one better: "Sooner or later, the large regional newspapers will face drastic profitability problems. The next downturn will determine the timing," he warned his (still) independent regional publishing colleagues.  
They have not missed the hint from Bern, but they don't seem too impressed. "It's true that we need to do more in the online sector," says Jörg Salzmann, Publishing Manager at Mengis Druck und Verlag (Walliser Bote), for example. "But that doesn't mean everyone has to merge." "Of course we publishers slept through the Internet," says Norbert Neininger, publisher of Schaffhauser Nachrichten. Nevertheless, he is also critical of the pursuit of sheer size: "History shows that good ideas rarely originate in large corporations." E-Bay, Google and YouTube were developed by a few bright minds who understood the new medium. Matthias Hagemann, publisher of Basler Zeitung, can also understand the Bernese argument: "The free armada really is a challenge to be taken seriously," he says. However, he considers the reason for the sale of Espace Media to be a "pretext". "It was about succession planning and money," he says, quoting Goethe's Faust: "Everything hangs on gold, everything pushes towards gold." Peter Wanner in Aargau sounds a similar note (see interview on page 17). And even publisher president and Südostschweiz publisher Hanspeter Lebrument states: "Espace Media was not sold out of necessity. The shrewd Bernese simply seized the opportunity to achieve a high price and additional influence."
 
But why isn't Lebrument just as clever? He has a different life plan, he answers. "I have children and want to hand over a publishing house to them, not primarily money," he says. Of course he wants to leave behind a healthy publishing house. But how do Lebrument and the other regional publishers intend to overcome the challenges mentioned above? They all agree on one point: none of them want to throw themselves at a big player - be it Tamedia or NZZ. However, the specific strategies are different. For Hanspeter Lebrument, one thing is clear: "Every region needs someone to get the news, including Südostschweiz." And he adds confidently: "I therefore believe that Südostschweiz will exist longer than Google."
 
Jörg Salzmann from the Walliser Bote is also convinced: "Our strength lies in local information. We have to develop this ourselves, no one from outside can help." However, he has already drawn inspiration from outside, from Gossweiler Media in the Bernese Oberland. Salzmann: "Even if I can't implement everything immediately, Urs Gossweiler's basic idea is still right: we have to observe how media use develops - and adapt."
 
Matthias Hagemann is also focusing on his region, Northwestern Switzerland. However, he points to the millions invested by Novartis in its new campus, which will create hundreds of new jobs in Basel. "The purchasing power here will increase enormously. It would have to be a devil's bargain if it didn't work out for us too," says Hagemann. In addition, his media company remains open to win-win deals "with anyone who is friendly to us". As before, this could be Tamedia, but he is not turning his back on NZZ either.
 
In view of the now overpowering Tamedia, is an arrangement with AZ publisher Peter Wanner also imminent? "No," says Hagemann emphatically. "Peter Wanner started the row - and that's that."
 
Norbert Neininger in Schaffhausen is tackling the future in a completely different way. He also works the local market. "We believe that even the classified ad markets are local and regional," he says. Nevertheless, he looks beyond the region in the online sector. "If people are looking for gold, we have to produce shovels," he says, pointing to the small software developer Onlineconsulting AG in Wil (SG), which his media company co-founded. It does not operate any platforms itself, but writes software for clients such as Goldbach Media, Swissinfo and others. "It contributes 5 to 10 percent of our total turnover," explains Neininger. "And whenever we need a platform, we can produce it ourselves."
 
Markus Knöpfli
 
 
 
"We feel strong"  
The Mittelland Zeitung is surrounded by language barriers and opponents. Peter Wanner is not impressed.
 
WW: Charles von Graffenried and Polo Stäheli justify the sale of Espace Media with concerns about the future: free press and the Internet would pose profitability problems for regional newspapers. What do you think of this argument?  
Peter Wanner: You can always have worries about the future. The real reason is the succession problem. 
WW: The argument could apply even more to your AZ Medien, which is smaller than Espace Media. Are you also looking for a strong partner?  
Peter Wanner: No, we want to remain independent. We feel strong enough.  
WW: German-speaking Switzerland now has two camps: Tamedia and NZZ. Are you now leaning towards NZZ because of the partnership with PubliGroupe?  
Peter Wanner: We don't want to be forced into one camp. We look for alliances on a case-by-case basis.  
WW: Just two weeks ago, the Berner Zeitung (BZ) launched a large-circulation edition (GA) for its Solothurner Tagblatt newspaper. That means that you can soon expect a GA for the Tages-Anzeiger in the Limmat valley.  
Peter Wanner: A large Tagi circulation in the Limmat Valley would be a declaration of war on the AZ Medien Group. Such an attack would violate existing agreements. If it came anyway, we would not stand idly by.  
WW: In view of this threat, wouldn't it be better to finally come to terms with Basler Zeitung Medien?  
Peter Wanner: Of course we would be interested in forms of cooperation with the Basler Zeitung. At the moment, however, the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung is an obstacle to talks.  
WW: The Bieler Tagblatt, which previously cooperated with the BZ, could become uncomfortable in view of the size of Tamedia. Is a cooperation with the Gassmann publishing house an option for you?  
Peter Wanner: We have always said that we are open to further cooperation.  
Interview: Markus Knöpfli by e-mail

Newspapers Advico Young & Rubicam has shot a movie spot with the real Godzilla for the SonntagsZeitung. On weekdays, Godzilla is a monster. On Sundays, however, the massive dinosaur is a nice Japanese, weighing only 54 kilos and exceptionally friendly. Following the pattern of the "weekdays - Sundays" comparisons, Advico Young & Rubicam has now supplemented the print campaign of the SonntagsZeitung with a first movie. A catchphrase throughout the week, a keyword for amusing information on Sunday: AY&R visualizes this dramaturgy in the cinema spot around the cult films with Godzilla.  
Godzilla exists in countless movie versions. In addition to modern computer animations from Hollywood, Godzilla has also haunted Japanese screens in simpler animated films since the days of silent movies. In one of these versions, Japanese actor Tsutomu Kitagawa played Godzilla in an entire series from 1999 to 2005. Wearing a 100-kilo rubber suit, the fine Kitagawa raged like a madman and destroyed props worth several million yen in the process.
 
After lengthy research, the team around CDs Urs Schrepfer and Christian Bobst have now managed to track down the actor of this Godzilla in Japan. "A star that nobody knows," says lyricist and Godzilla expert Martin Stulz.
 
Tsutomu Kitagawa was therefore quite surprised when he was flown to Zurich by Markenfilm Schweiz for this shoot. A Japanese employee at AY&R was then able to somehow make the idea of the commercial plausible to him.
 
The Sunday horror was realized by Luzian Schlatter in a Japanese store near Zurich's Milchbuck. The spot can be seen in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland and in the summer OrangeCinemas in Zurich, Basel and Bern.
 
Andreas Panzeri

Digital printing IT and printing systems provider HP recently surprised everyone with the presentation of new products from almost all segments. HP recently presented new printing systems at an event in Rome. In the classic sheet-fed digital printing segment, the Group presented two new printing systems: On the one hand, the company presented the HP Indigo press 5500 (Indigo 5500) and, on the other, the HP Indigo press 3500 (Indigo 3500).  
The Indigo 3500, HP's entry-level digital printing system, prints 68 pages/minute and is designed for digital print service providers working in traditional commercial printing. The Indigo 5500, HP's new flagship in digital commercial printing, is seen by the Group as ideal for the production of commercial print products, advertising materials, etc. The new model will replace the Indigo 5000 in the medium term. The new model will replace the Indigo 5000 in the medium term. Compared to the Indigo 5000, the Indigo 5500 has four instead of three paper drawers and a slightly larger print format of 330 ¥ 480 mm. The advantages of the larger format are particularly beneficial for customers in the USA, who can now print eight pages instead of just six in their letter format. In addition, the Indigo 5500 enables higher monthly print outputs and the use of additional and cheaper substrates.
 
The Indigo 5500 prints with up to seven colors and is said to be particularly suitable for the production of high-volume and/or personalized marketing materials and direct mailings, but also for the production of books and manuals. Thanks to its support for the new Light Cyan and Light Magenta colors, it is also suitable for six-color photo image printing. HP presented another innovation for companies active in this field in Rome: With the HP Indigo UV Coater, service providers can apply high-gloss, matt or satin coatings to prints or photos. The HP Indigo Photo Package enables companies to produce high-quality photo prints. The new package includes the HP Indigo press 5500, the HP Indigo Photo Enhancement Server for automatic evaluation and correction of images, the new HP Indigo UV Coater and the HP Indigo Production Manager (version 1.1 DFE), which can combine or control up to 16 front ends and several printing systems.
 
Products for large format HP also presented new products for large format printing in Rome. In addition to the new Designjet T610 and T1100, which are aimed more at professional users in the fields of architecture, construction, CAD etc., the HP Designjet Z6100 is of interest to companies active in commercial printing and the reproduction of art, for example. The Z6100 uses HP's new Vivera pigment inks, which, according to HP, produce high-quality prints at maximum printing speed. As a further feature, HP has integrated a specially developed sensor into the eight-color printer, which continuously checks the substrate to ensure high print quality. This makes this product range ideal for indoor advertising materials, which should even be suitable for outdoor advertising with shorter displays.
 
The Z6100 can be used to produce high-quality photographs, art prints or drawings. Available from June, the HP Designjet Z6100 also offers HP DreamColor technology, developed in collaboration with the Dreamworks film studio, for precise, predictable and consistent color results.
 
Secret revealed As "HP's best-kept secret", HP informed the specialist public for the first time about its activities in the area of "Speciality Printing Systems". Put simply, this is a division of the company that seeks out new markets for the use of HP's inkjet printheads and develops corresponding solutions. As a product, HP presented the new mPrinter 1700c, which can be used to apply variable text and graphics. HP's special printing system can be used to produce low-cost, three-color (CMY) color prints.
 
Jürgen Franck

Home electronics Coop takes over Fust. Of all the media budgets managed by the media agency m&m, that of the electronics retailer Fust is one of the largest. Since Coop now wants to take over Fust from Jelmoli, the question arises whether m&m will have to hand over the Fust budget - for example to Initiative Media Western, which manages the Coop budget. No one could be reached at m&m, at Initiative Media CEO Stephan Küng knew nothing, and there was no clear answer from the Coop press office either. As long as the Competition Commission has not made a decision, everything will remain the same, said spokesman Felix Wehrle. And in the event of a Weko-Okay, Coop intends to continue to manage Fust as independently as possible, also in terms of its appearance. Wehrle also referred to Interdiscount, which also belongs to Coop but is not managed by Initiative Media. Incidentally, he put Fust's total advertising budget at around 30 million francs. (mk)

Radio If Espace Media sells Canal 3, a rescue company will be ready. Due to the takeover by Tamedia, Espace Media Groupe will have to sell the bilingual radio station Canal 3. At Radio Bilingue SA, which has been in existence for three years and in which the publishing house Gassmann (Bieler Tagblatt/Journal du Jura) and the Cortesi office, among others, hold shares, there is a spirit of optimism. Chairman Thomas Eichelberger believes he is closer than ever to his goal of being able to operate "a station anchored in the region" for Biel. He is already in contact with Espace Media.  
However, a change of ownership can hardly be expected before the concession tenders. It is more likely that Espace Media will reapply for Canal 3 - in case its deal with Tamedia falls through. Eichelberger is considering a parallel submission - and wants to continue negotiations with Espace Media.
 
Radio Bilingue SA was founded in 2004 as a reaction to Espace Media's acquisition of Radio Canal 3. Representatives of the local economy, politicians and authorities feared at the time that the Bern-based group would discontinue the French frequency to save money. "These fears have been allayed," says Eichelberger. "But we will be happy if a solution is found in Biel."
 
Markus Knöpfli