Communication Those responsible for marketing and corporate communication must also be financially savvy. 
It is well known that some management teams do not prioritize strategic communication. They are satisfied with communicative home cooking - a well-behaved appearance, positive press clips and a pleasing annual report. Communication as a "nice to have", which can also be shortened if necessary. After all, we all know the saying about the money thrown away on advertising, even if it is unclear which half.the language of managementBut communications people should no longer be fooled by this. Benefit considerations are familiar and important to every manager. Especially where a culture of controlling already exists, i.e. where targets, criteria and measurement processes are managed and (integrated) communication is seen as an investment. Here, it is important to speak the right language and, as communication specialists, to approach the matter in an interdisciplinary manner with controllers. After all, the often-cited professionalization of the communications profession is increasingly taking place beyond the - still important - technical level: in the competence around effort, impact and return, facts and figures.
Fundamental trendsA specialist event organized by the German PR Society in November 2004 (the Swedish PR Society, also represented, had already launched a corresponding project in 2003) outlined the underlying reasons why the topic of value contribution is gaining such momentum in the industry. Developments in the capital markets and the associated widespread introduction of so-called value-based management systems in companies result in the requirement to also quantify the qualitative, "soft" factors for corporate success and to manage them with the instruments of corporate controlling.
New approaches to corporate management and strategic controlling, such as the Balanced Scorecard and Beyond Budgeting, have made management even more aware of the relevance of soft factors for the future success of the company. As is well known, these are now more valuable than tangible assets in many companies and form - see brand - the most important competitive advantages. The new requirements of corporate governance and the international accounting standard IFRS 3 also have a reinforcing effect.
A tradition of measurement and controlEfforts to measure the efficiency and demonstrable business benefits of communication are not, however, the invention of cost-cutting accountants or followers of value-based management today. Even the communication managers of the early years, at the American railroads at the beginning of the 20th century, for example, kept detailed records of the success of their media work and the effects on business success, according to tradition. In brand management, marketing and advertising in particular, quantitative and qualitative strategic and operational measurement, evaluation and control procedures have long been established. And the BSW has been awarding the Effie Prize, for example, for over 20 years. However, a study by the Swiss Marketing Club SMC in 2002 found that "at least 48 percent of marketing investments are pure luck" and that only 27 percent of companies achieve their goals with their communication work. "Linking the benefits of communication with the balance sheet and income statement," says Daniel Rentsch, Head of the HWZ Center for Accounting & Controlling, "is also an enormous challenge from the perspective of our discipline. But it is clear to everyone that we have to work on it."
Communicators in the fogIf you want to measure the success of your communication, you need basics that often cause red heads: the corporate vision, mission and strategy. Communication must be aligned with these and contribute to their implementation and success. Notorious are the examples where such foundations were or are missing, requiring communications people to operate in a kind of fog, even in a delicate environment of contradictions. By definition, strategic communication is not possible - at best, it can be professional, which is important but not sufficient.
Moreover, fog and contradictions in communications controlling are by no means limited to the basics: Anyone looking for procedures and key figures that are suitable for everyday use, let alone simple, has not yet found them. In the meantime, the hope of being able to show the added value of communication precisely in francs and centimes has been dashed. And promising newer approaches, such as those based on value-based management, frighten many practitioners because of their complexity.
Nevertheless, some communications managers have successfully established controlling instruments in their day-to-day business. Due to its special transparency and professionalism requirements, Swiss Post is a leader in the use of communications controlling and will be taking a close look at its books at the symposium.
The right approachMore important than finding the "best" approach - this is a largely undisputed principle - is finding the right approach: the one that best suits your own company and its structures, processes and culture. For example, if a company already uses the European quality management model EFQM, the communications team would be well advised to work with this tried and tested approach. Many of the approaches are similar; brand-oriented approaches exist alongside stakeholder-oriented and reputation-oriented approaches. The table below "Methods and indicators of communication controlling" provides a good insight; all are described in the summary mentioned on the DPRG website (www.dprg.de). Lars-Christian Cords, partner at fischerAppelt Kommunikation in Düsseldorf, formulated the following rules:
- Adapting terminology to customer thinking
- No representation of the scientific discourse
- Demand only arises if there is practical relevance
- Focus on concrete benefits
Are we doing the right thing with our communication? And are we doing it as efficiently as possible? Or are we wasting our resources? Are we as good as the best? Such important questions can at least be provided with plausible, clear answers using an approach such as the Communications Scorecard.
"What gets measured, gets managed" is a well-known management maxim. However, it is precisely in the highly emotional area of communication that a particularly critical approach should be taken: Which metrics are valid? Which evaluations make sense? Which context is relevant? Which interpretations are conclusive? What does it really mean, for example, if we have evaluated so and so many clippings? Especially as communications controlling causes considerable effort and therefore means costs in itself.
And the moment should not come too late when the communication people look around: What exactly does our company know about the efficiency and value contribution of the controllers, the research department and the CEO?
Cyril Meier (53) is Director of the Center for Communications at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich.
Literature & Links:
BSW/Effie Prize:
www.bsw.ch/de/awards/74.asp German PR Association:
www.dprg-online.de/wert/wert.html (Contributions to value creation through communication)Jörg Pfannenberg/Ansgar Zerfass
, "Value creation through communication", Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch, 2005Manfred Piwinger/Victor Porak
, "Kommunikations-Controlling", Gabler, 2005 

 
 
Calculating for successThe first symposium "Calculating for success" will take place on Thursday, May 31, 2007, from 1 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the HWZ, Lagerstrasse 5 in Zurich. Renowned speakers will present the basic requirements of communication controlling: Prof. Daniel Rentsch, Center for Accounting & Finance HWZ; Dr. Mark-Steffen Buchele, University of Leipzig; Rudolf Blankschön, Head of Executive Communications, Swiss Post; Prof. Marco Casanova and Max Meister, Branding Institute, Bern
Panel discussion chaired by Cyril Meier.
Price Fr. 380.- incl. aperitif and
Documentation. Subscribers to Werbewoche pay CHF 280.
Registration at: www.fhhwz.ch
 
 

Digital photography A European premiere at the Sihlcity opening: Mediamarkt launched HP's new complete photo kiosk solution on the Swiss market. With the advent of digital photography ten years ago, not only has the way we deal with images changed, but private individuals/amateurs and professionals are also taking far more photos. However, this does not mean that images are being printed to the same extent. On the contrary, the majority of images are orphaned on computers or storage media and, in the best case, are occasionally used for digital slideshows, and because more and more images are being printed out at home, photofinishers have lost out on sales compared to the good times of analog photography. In the medium to long term, however, this decline in sales is likely to more than just return to the previous level, as digitally captured photos are starting to take off and the output of images is likely to increase in volume again.
The predicted flood of images will be boosted above all by camera phones, as according to information from IHA/GFK, sales of both digital and, as was clear, analog cameras are declining. Only digital SLR cameras are predicted to see (slight) growth. This year, however, around twice as many photo-compatible cell phones are expected to be sold as all analog and digital cameras combined. 
HP focuses on photo kiosksAccording to Arnold Marty, Country Manager Imaging and Printing at HP, the company is already well positioned when it comes to printing digital images for amateur and professional photographers at home or in the studio. However, HP is no longer satisfied with selling printers and consumables and now wants to secure a piece of the photofinishing market. The company is taking a different approach to its competitors and is the first provider of so-called photo kiosk systems to use inkjet printing instead of chemical processes.
HP offers three systems in the photofinishing segment: Firstly, the HP Photosmart Studio, the HP Photosmart Express Station and finally the HP Photosmart Minilab. They were all presented shortly before the opening of the new Sihlcity shopping mall in Zurich within the media market as a complete solution and, nota bene, a European premiere. At the Photosmart Studio station, users can independently transfer images to the system, compile posters, photo books, etc. and initiate the corresponding print job. The photo kiosk solution prints out an order slip, which is to be paid for when the pictures/photo book etc. are collected after one hour of production time. In the store, employees initiate the print orders and select the appropriate printing system. Posters are produced on professional inkjet printers and conventional photo orders on the Minilab, which is designed for larger volumes. Photo books are also produced on site at the Mediamarkt within hours.
The Express station, on the other hand, is completely self-sufficient. Designed as a self-service solution, the user can print out the images themselves at the station. A CD burner is also integrated, allowing the images to be burned to CD-ROM on site to free up space on the digital camera. In line with the camera phone trend, a wireless LAN network is also integrated into this kiosk solution. The station can be located in the cell phone via Bluetooth technology and images can be transferred in this way. HP was the first photo kiosk solution to network all the systems installed worldwide. Thanks to the connection to an ERP system (a system for making better use of a company's resources) at the retailer or with computers in the USA, both Mediamarkt and HP gain a very precise insight into, for example, the average number of printed pictures, formats etc. as well as other habits of the shoppers and can adapt their range accordingly.
The user guidance of the two kiosk solutions is extremely simple. The touch-sensitive monitor guides the user step by step to the order confirmation or directly to the image. However, the stations have one shortcoming when using USB sticks: no directories can be selected and - at least in the practical test - no Mac-formatted memory sticks can be used. There is still some room for improvement here.
The bottom line is that the new offer is convincing. Posters and self-bound photo books within hours is a convincing offer. For the Mediamarkt, the calculation should work out twice over, as many customers will probably use the hour of production time to find out about other offers.
Digital photo market boomingAccording to HP, the Swiss printed or developed around 200 million pictures at home in 2005 - this corresponds to a fifth of the approximately 1 billion pictures stored and used in Switzerland. The company estimates that this figure will rise to 400 million in 2008. In 2010, around 480 million of the 2.4 billion images are expected to be printed. HP has very ambitious goals as far as the Swiss market is concerned and wants to take a big slice of the cake. HP wants to generate 53 million francs from a market estimated to total more than 280 million francs next year. Between 1,000 and 1,500 stations are to contribute to achieving this goal over the next two years.
Jürgen Franck

The creative minds at Scotti let Seefeld Automobile shine. With two garages in Zurich Seefeld and Zollikon, Seefeld Automobile represents the brands Renault, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and now also Mercedes-Benz.  
Inclusion in the exclusive circle of official Mercedes-Benz service partners proves that first-class work is being done at Rotfluhstrasse in Zollikon, as Scotti writes in a press release. With an eye-catching poster and small advertisement campaign, the advertising agency is communicating that Gold Coast Mercedes owners are even more privileged than before.

Unic Internet Solutions has given the Zurich radio station's website a new look. A single content management system will make it easier to update the content, and Radio Energy now has a new virtual look. According to Unic Internet Solutions, the new website of the Zurich-based private radio station is modern, dynamic and trend-conscious. The private broadcaster's new website will feature lifestyle, stars and much more. For the authors of Radio Energy, creating and editing content should now be very user-friendly despite the many Flash elements.
With over 90 employees, Unic Internet Solutions is the largest owner-managed Internet service provider in Switzerland.

 The Valais government presented a revision of the law on Thursday, according to which the Valais tourism region would be centrally marketed in future. The bill now goes to the Grand Council.  
In this way, the State Council aims to increase the competitiveness of Valais tourism and ensure its success on the global markets, according to the corresponding SDA press release. The new law provides for a maximum of nine tourism regions, whose activities will be coordinated by an umbrella organization, it continues. Tourism taxes would be collected directly by the state and returned to the regions and municipalities. More funds are to be allocated to tourism in future. The state plans to create a company for Valais advertising and to finance its activities. It is to be given responsibility for the creation and implementation of a uniform brand and advertising.

 As part of the closer integration of Media-Daten AG with the German Media-Daten Verlag publishing house in Wiesbaden, its publishing director Dr. Laurin Paschek takes over the management of Media-Daten AG.  
Samuel Helbling was appointed Co-Managing Director in Switzerland. He reports to Dr. Paschek. Andreas Kösters, Executive Vice President Springer Science+Business Media, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Media-Daten AG.

Another intensive seminar on strategic planning will be held in Gerzensee from June 10 to 13.Where does strategic planning come from and where does it lead? What is its meaning, purpose and content? For the fifth time, bsw leading swiss agencies, in collaboration with the Account Planning Group Switzerland (APGS), has succeeded in attracting high-profile personalities from the industry as lecturers to answer the above questions as part of an intensive seminar. Four top-class experts have been announced for the upcoming intensive seminar in Gerzensee: ADC President Jean Etienne Aebi, BSW President Frank Bodin, APGS President Pascal Schaub and Advertiser of the Year Peter Felser.
Only every two years are the most important insights into the success factor of strategy imparted. Now it's time again, the call for applications for this year's camp from June 10 to 13 at the Gerzensee Study Center is open. This seminar currently offers the only opportunity for further training in the field of strategic planning in Switzerland.
The intensive seminar is primarily aimed at employees of bsw agencies, especially ambitious, holistically thinking consulting group leaders as well as consultants, junior planners, planners and those who want to become one, creatives and media strategists.
Seminar leaders Simon Walter, Planning Director Wirz Werbung, and Pascal Schaub, Head of Strategic Planning Publicis, "attach great importance to a mixed field of participants". If space is available - the number of participants is limited to 22 - interested parties from the client side are also welcome. The registration deadline is April 25, 2007.
The aim of the seminar is to familiarize participants with the meaning, purpose and process of strategic planning. After the course, participants should be able to analyze a market appropriately and, based on this, develop a promising advertising strategy that serves as an effective and attractive springboard for a strong campaign idea. In addition to theory, the intensive seminar also covers a variety of practical examples from briefing to success monitoring.
For more information, visit www.accountplanninggroup.ch or www.bsw.ch or call Agnes Collenberg on 043 444 48 10.
Andreas Panzeri

Car A car mechanic graduating class at the Technical Vocational School in Zurich has chosen a special form of final examination and turned artist in the process. What is art? Apprentices with a car as an art object. The examination of contemporary art and the unleashing of their own creativity have led to very individual views of the car as an art object. The result is an exciting exhibition of their own works, which were exhibited at the F+F School of Art and Media Design in Zurich in November. From the Lotus Esprit made of wood on a scale of 1:1 to nude photography, almost all art media are represented. From April 17, the best objects will now be exhibited again in Zurich's Stadthaus.

New Media The terms weblogs, wikis and podcasting, which fall under the umbrella term Web 2.0, are changing the way content is handled: Anyone can use them to publish. When a private user picks up a keyboard or uses a video camera or microphone to record and publish their captured, spoken or filmed content on the web, the result is known as user-generated content (UGC). In order to make the content available to a large audience, there are various platforms depending on the content. Typical and best-known UGC portals or Web 2.0 platforms are the video portal YouTube, the image portal Flickr or the mixed website MySpace, which cannot be clearly categorized. Other ways for private individuals to publish content without having to resort to these large portals - which also means that less of an audience can be reached - are weblogs, wikipedias or podcasts. Weblogs (a kind of electronic diary that can be added to either by the initiator or by anyone) and wikis (content that can be added to by the publisher or by users) are mainly text-based, although images and video are increasingly being used as supplementary elements. While wikis provide information (Wikipedia.com is the best-known wiki), weblogs - an artificial word made up of web and log - mainly focus on entertainment, sharing experiences or, like the local blog http://reklame.moblog.ch, present themselves as a communication platform.
Audio content can also be broadcast via the Internet connection, at least since it became possible to broadcast web radio programs. With programs such as Nicecast (www.rogueamoeba.com/nicecast [Mac OS], SAM Broadcaster (www.spacialaudio.com [Windows]), anyone who has something to say can theoretically publish web radio broadcasts. Web radios are to be distinguished from podcasts. Podcasts created with special software (e.g. Garageband [Mac OS]; Podcast Studio [Windows]) can provide complete audio or even video contributions and broadcasts. In contrast to web radio, podcasts can be listened to at any time and can also contain images or video sequences in addition to audio. They can be downloaded not only in the browser, but also by the user onto their computer or MP3 player.
Push technologies deliver content on a subscription basisUsers who rely on today's technologies do not have to actively search for content, as was the case when the World Wide Web was first established, but can make use of so-called push technologies. RSS technology, which enables "simple content distribution" (Really Simple Syndication), should be mentioned here in particular. Anyone interested in SF DRS broadcasts, for example, can subscribe to their RSS feeds and never miss an issue. The easiest way to subscribe is with the iTunes program, which is available free of charge for Windows and Mac operating systems. A corresponding Internet address (podcasting address) can be entered under the "Advanced > Subscribe to podcast" function. As soon as you open iTunes again, the current podcasts are available for download and can be synchronized with an MP3 player.
Content "on demand "Weblogs, wikis and podcasts are changing the way content is handled. The traditional way of delivering content at a specific point in time has gained competition with the new technologies. Users will increasingly decide when they want to consume which content. Wikis, weblogs and podcasts are not competing Web 2.0 elements. On the contrary, they can be combined very well. For example, www.rocketboom.com offers a daily show for download, which can also be subscribed to in the iTunes Store. A corresponding wiki is available at http://rocketboom.wikia.com and a blog at www.rocketboom.org.
The content broadcast or provided free of charge is financed by advertising. Merchandising products such as T-shirts also finance the service.
Jürgen Franck

Politician (Christoph Mörgeli) accuses publicist (Frank A. Meyer) of Nazi rhetoric. One of them shouts, "Honor violation!" "Whiner" bellows the other. The two squabblers are not ready to end their feud. The out-of-court settlement has failed, and now the case is going before the judge.The dispute between Frank A. Meyer, Ringier publicist of the social genre, and Christoph Mörgeli, SVP National Councilor and occasional columnist for Weltwoche, is as exciting as a topless mud fight. What counts is not the end result, but the fight. The more slippery the better.
The cause of the dispute is a column by Mörgeli that appeared in Weltwoche in 2006. The SVP National Councilor compared Meyer's way of taunting money-grubbing globalized managers to the petty-bourgeois hatred of anti-Semitic Germans of the Nazi era for "the eternal Jew, who was driven, rootless and money-grubbing and who was destroying society." Earlier, Mörgeli had been called "propaganda minister of the SVP leader Blocher" by his opponent.
The reasons are incidental, ridiculous, and superfluous, but the verbal bickering is simply delicious. In terms of bitch terror, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Osbourne couldn't have done it any better.

 Philipp Dreyer will take over as editor-in-chief of the glossy magazine Immobilien Business at the beginning of May. He will take over from Karl Wild, who is stepping up his commitment to Prime Communications and turning his attention to a new book project. Dreyer previously worked for "Immobilien Business" for several years. He returned as deputy editor-in-chief at the beginning of the year. Dreyer was previously sole editor at Atica, a Zurich magazine for home decor. The departing Karl Wild will now mainly work for Prime Communications. In addition, the former balance sheet journalist of many years' standing will also increasingly write for SonntagsZeitung, CASH and other national and international magazines. A new book project is also in the pipeline: Wild, who among other things wrote the bestselling memoirs of Werner H. Spross, will next year record the memories of another big shot in Swiss economic and social life.

Column Health programs are booming. Media outlets are hoping for high advertising revenues from the pharmaceutical industry - and are using dubious methods to do so. There must be something to be gained from private clinics and the pharmaceutical industry." That's what many executives in the media scene have been thinking recently and are building on health magazines. Numerous small publishers are trying their hand at it in print, while every regional TV station is creating its own medical soup. As a result, numerous inquiries from new editorial teams are landing on the desks of communications managers in the pharmaceutical industry every week. They all promote their program and hope for immeasurable advertising revenue. In return, they offer "independent editorial content" which - quite by chance - pushes the sponsor's product. But: Prescription drugs may not be advertised. That's what the Therapeutic Products Act wants. However, media managers in the pharmaceutical industry also like to receive visits from highly motivated advertising salespeople from TV stations who have no idea that medicines may not be advertised. Recently, one such media representative made a wonderful offer that would have passed muster for a lifestyle or home magazine. When he was told about the problem, he was speechless and said: "Ahaaa - what do we do now?" Good question. Back to field 1 and maybe study the basics of advertising regulations and the Therapeutic Products Act.
So the search is on for loopholes. Or to put it more accurately: people are looking for loopholes that turn a blind eye. These are found in large numbers; in the person of production managers or publishing people. They like to turn a blind eye, cash in, and the next program happens to feature an article about vaccination against cervical cancer or the importance of taking vitamin tablets. The whole thing is then billed under cover, for example as "advice". A publishing house or a TV station "advises" pharmaceutical companies? If you can believe it...
A look across the border: Germany has more than 30 programs about medicine, fitness and wellness. These range from "Fit for Fun TV" on Vox to "Was Grossmutter noch wusste" on SWR. We could zap our way through the wildest health programs every day from 11 a.m. and be thoroughly entertained. But: German-speaking Switzerland is so tiny that these regional medical programs are simply a waste of energy. Although most of them are "nicely" made, there is usually a lack of professionalism. Another issue is the all-important target group. Young people hardly ever watch such programs. The average age of viewers is 55, so the topic of contraception would be out of place there.
My tip: It would be worthwhile merging the existing regional health programs into a single program in the style of "Puls" on SF1, which would then be broadcast on the Telenews combination. Good role models here are magazines such as "Swiss Date" or "Lifestyle". Anyone who really wants to be taken seriously as a competitor to SF today cannot seriously believe that a health program with an editorial team that knows little about medical topics would be supported by the pharmaceutical industry for any length of time. From the editors' point of view, the topics should be as easy to implement as possible. However, if you want to present exciting medical topics well, you have to familiarize yourself with the subject.
Karin Müller is a communications consultant in Zurich.