The Lowe/Draftfcb agency has secured a place on the Clio Awards shortlist with a campaign for greater road safety. The work entitled "No Boundaries", which was created as part of the BSW/Keystone U28 competition, has been nominated in the "Innovative Media" category. The Clio Awards will be presented on May 11 and 12 in Miami. In addition to Lowe/Draftfcb, Publicis and Walker are also on the shortlist from Switzerland.

The Zurich agency Publicis is in the running for the Clio Awards in two categories with work for Pastorini. The campaigns for the Swiss supplier of wooden toys are on the shortlist in the "Billboard" and "Print" categories. The Clio Awards will be presented on May 11 and 12 in Miami. In addition to Publicis, Lowe/Draftfcb and Walker are also nominated for prizes from Switzerland.

Radio Basilisk is expanding its information offering. From May 2, "Radio for Basel" will broadcast the latest headlines every half hour instead of every hour as before, according to a press release issued on Thursday. This will be from Monday to Sunday between 6 am and 6 pm. On the hour, Radio Basilisk will continue to provide detailed news blocks on events in the region, Switzerland and abroad.
Last year, Radio Basilisk already expanded its information programs at lunchtime and in the evening. Now the station is meeting the information needs of its listeners even better. The "Radio for Basel" can now report on current events even more quickly.

Outdoor advertising French and Belgians now own 55 percent of Affichage shares The Swiss outdoor advertising company Affichage is now majority-owned by foreigners, at least in terms of shares. The French poster advertising company JCDecaux has been registered as the largest single shareholder since 1999 with a 30 percent stake, and since April 23, the Belgian holding company Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille has also held 25.3 percent. Last week, the company acquired various smaller Affichage share packages, including one from the US company Arnold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers. As Affichage has a transfer restriction clause in its articles of association that limits voting rights to 5 percent regardless of the percentage of shares held, there will be no changes to the Board of Directors for the time being. "We have no vacancies," says Affichage CEO Christian Kauter. In addition, the new Belgian shareholder has not yet applied for voting rights. If it does, it could propose the election of one or two representatives at the Annual General Meeting in the medium term, said Kauter.
But even then, the majority of the nine-member Board of Directors would remain Swiss. Today, only JCDecaux has two French representatives, CEO Jean-François Decaux and CFO Gérard Dégonse. "Affichage Holding AG is and will remain an independent Swiss company," said an Affichage press release. The company will also continue to pursue its strategy abroad, particularly in south-eastern Europe, "in cooperation with JCDecaux". JCDecaux, for its part, confirmed its commitment "as a strategic industry partner" of Affichage in a communiqué.   
 
Markus Knöpfli

The Zurich creatives from Walker are on the shortlist for the Clio Awards 2007. Three posters created by the advertising agency on behalf of Amnesty International as part of the Amnesty International campaign "not here, but now" are being judged at the Clio Awards. The motifs China-Zurich, Congo-Lugano and Iraq-Zurich are in the running. The posters are about child soldiers or people suffering from torture who are transferred to Swiss cities.
The Clio Awards will honor the best international advertising and design work on May 11 and 12 in Miami.

Insurance Zurich Financial Services continues its international campaign. Publicis shows that insurers also have a sense of humor. At the beginning of last year, Zurich Financial Services launched an international image campaign. With the exception of Switzerland, Zurich had previously been a blank slate for consumers. To establish the Group as a top-of-mind insurer, the Swiss financial services provider's brand strategists commissioned a global advertising campaign. The Zurich agency Publicis secured the advertising budget in 2004 and brought in two CDs for the international project, who are considered experienced in handling projects of this size. The Swiss Sacha Moser and the American Tim Hoppin have been paving the way to the top in terms of communication ever since.
Many people still remember the first campaign. The commercial was broadcast a few hundred times in cinemas and on television. A young man jogs casually through a suburb on so-called "jump boots". A few scenes further on, he disappears in the city in the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, all of whom are also on such hydraulic metal stilts. The commercial is accompanied by atmospheric music by Spacetrain, which is likely to be burned into the minds of most viewers like a CD. "The response to the campaign was very positive. We received thousands of emails," Sacha Moser sums up.
The Publicis team now wants to build on the success of the first campaign. This time, the creatives want to go into detail. American Tim Hoppin describes the project as a "Familiarity Campaign". This means that once the brand has been activated in the minds of consumers, the aim is to position the financial services provider and its services on the global insurance market. Sacha Moser: "Now that people know the name, the next step is to communicate what Zurich has to offer."
The aim is to raise awareness of the wide range of insurance products. And the creatives want to do this with humor, which is rarely used in this industry. Various TV commercials focus on insurance-related cases in surreal, over-the-top situations. For example, there is the obviously misguided satellite that lands on the car. The ironic words: "What if it always hit you?" Then there is the off-road vehicle driver who has probably taken the car advertisement too literally and wanted to go a bit too high with his off-roader. Scenes like this show that the insurer wants to make customers risk-conscious and Zurich-conscious at the same time with tongue-in-cheek humor. The current media plans include three commercials and ten advertisements.
The slogan "Because change happenz" with the teasing Z at the end is also consistently continued in the TV commercials and advertisements. Head of copywriting Tim Hoppin: "The slogan works. The Z symbolizes the insurer's presence, even if the world is constantly changing."
The launch of the second campaign is a further step towards "leading insurance" in important markets such as the UK, as shown by a golf commercial that was shot especially for the Anglo-Saxon cultural area. In it, Publicis staged everyday accident situations that do not end tragically, but are prevented with the warning call "Fore" (Flying Object Returning to Earth). In golf, "Fore" is called out when the ball has been missed and there is a risk of hitting other players.
The creative duo Moser and Hoppin were able to engage renowned filmmakers such as Laurence Dunmore (The Libertine) to shoot the commercials. And for the print shoots, star photographer Uwe Düttmann from Hamburg put himself at the creative service of Publicis.
Christian Lüscher
 
 
 
 
Advertising helper IFO (Identified Flying Object)What's in store for us? Advertisers are increasingly using satellites as eye-catchers. Is this junk from outer space a threat? Publicis is currently showing one of these massive celestial bodies smashed to pieces on the ground in the current Zurich campaign. Incidentally, the satellite specially constructed for the shoot weighed more than two tons. Wirz Werbung had an easier time of it.
Wirz Werbung staged a Russian satellite for the job provider Jobwinner. In the same macabre way as Publicis. But the thing was only constructed from two ironing boards. We don't need to be afraid of space debris, as the advertising likes to suggest. Fortunately, no such accidents have been documented to date.

The creative Zurich team from Rotor is developing the overall image for the microbrewery Degenbier from Trimbach. "Beer for the heroes of everyday life" is the leitmotif of the new design, which sees the advertising agency Rotor completely redesigning the small brewery's image. According to a press release issued on Thursday, an unmistakable beer needs an unmistakable image. Rotor is therefore taking on all communication tasks, from naming, product design and packaging to market launch and long-term brand management. The archaic logo figurative mark, the screen-printed bottles and the communicative continuation of the leitmotif are to make a name for themselves in future with some surprising campaigns.

Television Internet-based television has a future and the potential to become a mass phenomenon. Denis Gaumondie has it good. The 26-year-old Frenchman is a customer of the French telecommunications provider Free and has subscribed to the Freebox TV service. Not only does he have a fast ADSL2+ Internet flat rate with 28 MBit per second, but he can also make free calls to the French landline network and numerous international networks. But that's not all. He simply connects the free set-top box to his TV and receives more than 100 TV channels. If they want to watch more TV channels, they can pay an additional fee to use pay TV or a video-on-demand service to watch the latest Hollywood films. The interesting thing about Free is the price: Denis Gaumondie pays 29.99 euros a month for the complete package. - A comparable offer in many European countries usually costs twice as much.Triple Play, the combined offer of telephone, Internet and TV connection from a single source and via a single line, is the most important driving force for many telecommunications companies today when marketing their multimedia services. The bandwidths now available (via ADSL2+/VDSL) and efficient compression standards make it possible to transmit high-quality TV signals in addition to voice and data services. Such triple offers should help to compensate for the sometimes severe losses suffered by the major telcos in the area of traditional telephony.
However, it is primarily the end customers who can benefit from this: They receive a huge selection of TV programs, including small and very small special-interest channels. Even Real Madrid, Denis Gaumondie's favorite club, has its own TV channel on Free. Interactive TV services such as video on demand, shopping, user-generated content and multiplayer games are also becoming a reality. Some of them are already included in some offers today.
IPTV - the transmission of television via the Internet protocol# - therefore has the potential to become a serious alternative to existing TV infrastructure channels. IPTV is by no means just a new distribution channel for existing TV programs, but is expanding traditional television on a large scale. IPTV is also independent of the distribution channel: Whether DSL, cable, satellite, terrestrial or mobile: IPTV can be distributed via all channels.
IPTV gets off to a flying start in Europe in 2007 If 2006 already provided important impetus for the development of IPTV, it will really take off throughout Europe this year. The forecasts are very promising: by the end of 2007, there will be 5.6 million subscribers in Europe, twice as many IPTV customers as in 2006. The revenue figures from IPTV subscriptions will also rise from EUR 470 million in 2006 to over EUR 1 billion by the end of 2007.
More than 50 IPTV offerings are already on the market in Europe today. There are 19 in the five largest European IPTV markets of France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK alone. In France, Europe's leading IPTV market, telecommunications companies now offer 8 IPTV services and already supply more than 1.3 million customers.
The business models of the individual IPTV providers are different. The service offered by KPN in the Netherlands, for example, is similarly inexpensive to Free in France. For a monthly fee of EUR 19.95, customers can receive an IPTV package with as many as 70 channels in addition to their telephone and DSL connection. British Telecom, on the other hand, is pursuing a hybrid model in which free TV programs are transmitted via DVB-T and additional programs and interactive services can be accessed via IPTV. For CHF 29, Swisscom offers a TV package with 120 channels in addition to the existing broadband connection. Its IPTV package Bluewin TV also offers national ice hockey and football matches at a competitive price of just one franc per match for individual viewing. Comparable offers from other pay-TV providers are considerably higher at between five and ten euros.
This year's development trends on the European IPTV market also include the tendency towards globalization. Many providers are already present with IPTV services beyond their national borders. Telecom Italia, for example, is also represented in Germany (HanseNet/Alice and AOL) and France (Alice) and Swisscom AG is in the process of completing the takeover of the Italian provider Fastweb.
Will IPTV become a mass market in the future? IPTV is still a long way from becoming a real mass market in most European countries. Nevertheless, a platform is growing that will seriously compete with the existing TV distribution channels of cable, satellite and terrestrial. IPTV is also attractive for all program providers, as they suddenly have alternative distribution channels for their content.
The extent to which IPTV will become part of everyday media life in the future depends on various factors. These include not only the attractiveness of the content and competitive prices. There are other hurdles on the way to the customer. On the one hand, there are technical issues, such as stable transmission quality or standardized set-top boxes. On the other hand, there are convenient operating functions. Even if the various interactive services alone make it almost impossible to achieve the same ease of use as in the analog TV world, intuitive user guidance - in addition to the price - will certainly be decisive for success. However, communication with end users will be even more important: What added value and what advantages does IPTV offer over traditional television? If all this succeeds, IPTV will have a lasting impact on the future development of television and, above all, the telecommunications industry.
Until recently, the infrastructures for television and the Internet were clearly divided. While TV was transmitted via antenna, satellite or the cable network, the home computer communicated with the Internet via broadband ISDN or DSL. This situation has changed fundamentally with IPTV. A matter of course for satisfied Free customer Denis Gaumondie.
 

Klaus Goldhammer (1967) has been a visiting professor of economics and mass communication at the Free University of Berlin since 2004. In 1998, he founded Goldmedia GmbH in Berlin, which focuses on management consulting in the TIME market, which includes telecommunications, IT, media and entertainment applications. Goldhammer will outline the trends for the advertising industry with eight other speakers at the Mediarena industry event on May 10.

Slowly, the city's solicitousness is getting on your nerves, but the media don't always recognize it.  
Marvin is more than just the former Helvti bar in Zurich, it is also the mini radio station Marvin.fm, the 500-day Marvin countdown timer and much more. In short: a relaxed, urban feel, attention to detail, aesthetic motifs and freedom of thought. How can it be that philanthropic (and admittedly also quite self-serving and navel-gazing) projects are highly praised by the country and the media, while at the same time the city of Zurich bans lounges and thoroughly spoils the summer for both Zurich residents and tourists?
Want more? The Werd Bar, which is run by the city and where employees from the tax office next door eat during the day and have fun in the evening, will be serving free drinks and tapas on May 8. Ever heard of it? Of course not, nobody tells us that our tax money is being used for this.
Meanwhile, the labyrinth is dying and the media is reporting on the drunken nights of drug intoxication and dissolute encounters in hygienically untenable conditions. What has happened to the innovative and carefree spirit that animated Zurich just a few years ago? Regulations are slowly replacing sources of enjoyment and the administration invites us to tapas to make the desolation palatable...
Zurich, quo vadis? Media, ubi estis?

Column If Süddeutscher Verlag is put up for auction, the biggest tragedy of the daily press in German post-war history is looming.The owners of Süddeutsche Zeitung, the flagship of the German daily press par excellence, are once again in turmoil. What has already brought Süddeutscher Verlag and its prestigious title into serious difficulties in the past is continuing, following an internal logic: too many cooks spoil the broth. In the case of Süddeutsche, it is the five owning families who, to this day, do not see eye to eye on the strategic direction of their company. For some time now, the permanent question of a sale has therefore been brooded over. In the past, thinking in terms of returns and failing to make the necessary financial injections during the crisis years of the German-language press had already allowed the publishing house to slip a hair's breadth past a debt restructuring moratorium for months. The question arises as to whether it is permissible to treat proven democratic communication instruments in this way, even if, or precisely because, they are privately run.
Five years ago, the course was set for today's raging bickering over the sale of the publishing house, and the question "Is this allowed?" arises again. Because it is still far from clear whether Süddeutsche will pass into responsible hands in terms of journalism and publishing. It would certainly be good for the flagship to see some peace and quiet. Ever since the Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (including Stuttgarter Nachrichten) was brought on board as the sixth partner by the families for 150 million euros and 18.75 percent in 2002, thus sparing SZ-Verlag from bankruptcy at the last minute, all hell has broken loose in Munich from time to time. Because the hardliners at SWMH are mercilessly pushing for profit optimization. For example, the closure of the SZ edition in North Rhine-Westphalia, a recognized spearhead against the regional titles of Neven DuMont and the WaZ Group, turned into a human tragedy for the employees there. The youth magazine Jetzt also disappeared. Irritated young people even reinforced their outcry with public protests. At the insistence of SWMH, practically all of SZ's regional editorial offices were closed. At times, there were rumors that SWMH wanted to reduce SZ to a purely regional newspaper. However, the weight of the Süddeutsche Zeitung brand was stronger, and the decision was made to focus on supra-regional topics and expand foreign reporting, where it was possible to work together with other media houses (e.g. Tages-Anzeiger) at low cost.
The brash course also brought its operational hero, CEO Klaus Lutz, into play, who caused a sensation and envy in the industry with clever side business models, above all with the widely acclaimed (and copied) SZ-Bibliothek book edition. When Lutz began selling a SZ wine edition (with wines imported from Switzerland) last fall, the editors turned up their noses at how much brand expansion would be beneficial to the title. Nevertheless, Lutz's hands are tied as long as the question of ownership has not been resolved. The launch of a SZ am Sonntag planned for this spring is thus postponed indefinitely. This means that SZ will not be able to provide the necessary journalistic boost. In addition, SWMH is said to have demanded a profit target of 72 million euros from SZ-Verlag for the past financial year alone. That doesn't leave much room for maneuver.
It has long been clear that SWMH is seeking to acquire a majority stake in SZ Verlag and is insisting on its pre-emptive rights. It is backed by Medien-Union, which may not make much of a name for itself in southern Germany, but which is known for its long-term calculations and is not always a shady company. Until recently, none other than its own managing director Oliver C. Dubber played a leading role in ownership matters on the steering committee and later on the supervisory board.
In the meantime, however, more ropes have been torn. The asking price of the owner families (over 1 billion euros) exceeds that of SWMH (750 million euros). SWMH has withdrawn its representatives. The Hamburger Zeit suspects that an auction is likely. In addition to interested publishers (WaZ, Holzbrinck and Swiss publishers), this would also open the door to locusts. If they were to strike, the case could go down in German post-war history as the greatest tragedy of the German daily press.
René Worni is media editor of Werbewoche.

Swiss director Michael Fueter now has his own website. It features many of his commercials and a long list of his clients, and the commercial filmmaker's new website is simple, clear and discreetly black. There is no trace of a biography; Fueter prefers to present his work. The range of advertising films that can be viewed on his website is correspondingly diverse. The director can boast that he has worked for renowned companies such as BMW, Credit Suisse, Audi and Ringier.

RTVA After much discussion, the Mediapulse research foundation is finally in place. The foundation for radio and TV research is officially called the "Mediapulse Foundation for Media Use" and was founded on April 24 at the Museum of Communication in Bern. It is chaired by Marco De Stoppani, the former publishing director of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. De Stoppani was appointed by the Federal Council. He heads an 18-member foundation board, on which the SRG, private radio and TV broadcasters and the advertising industry each have six representatives. The new foundation corresponds to the research foundation stipulated in the new RTVA and is intended to guarantee the independence of radio and TV research in future. Until now, it was the SRG, with its SRG Research Service department, that not only conducted the research but also determined the methodology (such as Radiocontrol and Telecontrol) - which repeatedly led to mistrust in the industry.
SRG therefore spun off the research service last summer and founded Mediapulse AG for this purpose. SRG will now contribute 100 percent of Mediapulse AG to the foundation and thus separate itself from radio and TV research. The previous Mediapulse Board of Directors under Chairman Walter Rüegg, Director of Radio DRS, has resigned, allowing the Foundation Board to determine the election procedure for the new Board of Directors at its first constituent meeting. This must consist of six foundation board members and also be chaired by De Stoppani.

Markus Knöpfli