Networking At the last ADC Backstage of Benchmark, publishers spoke about their relationship with advertising. "Living from, with or despite advertising?" This was the title of an ADC event in the "Backstage of Benchmark" series last week. The invited speakers were Tobias Trevisan, spokesman for the management of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Roger Köppel, publisher and editor-in-chief of Weltwoche. Right at the beginning, ADC President Jean Etienne Aebi confronted the participants with his observation that traditional advertising is probably no longer worthwhile. Cross-media campaigns would dominate the industry. Although he personally had no words of praise for new media. Publishers in particular seem less convinced by traditional advertising. This was underlined by Gery Aebi, CEO of Wirz Werbung, in a short presentation with figures. Last year, only 23 ADC-worthy image campaigns were launched for newspapers. From 1986 to 1990, there were still 214. Gery Aebi concluded that the traditional media, i.e. Swiss publishers, had lost their role model effect. In his presentation on the FAZ, Trevisan emphasizes several times that brands must be cultivated. According to the classic pattern: first image building and then brand building. According to Trevisan, advertising is generally becoming more and more colorful and shrill and is therefore on the wrong track. As an example, he presented the FAZ's "Kluge Köpfe" campaign, which was named campaign of the century by Spiegel magazine.
Köppel also has a special relationship with advertising: it has made him a better journalist. Because he is confronted with advertising as a publisher, he has gained a new perspective. Namely that of the value creator. He comes to the conclusion that there should be a paradigm shift in publishing houses. The publishers' ethos of strictly separating the editorial and advertising business is bad for quality journalism, because a debate is important.
The panel discussion with Trevisan, Köppel, Pius Walker and Kaspar Loeb was moderated by TV personality Urs Leuthard. They all agreed that new forms of media will not revolutionize advertising, but that creative ideas and the substance of the messages will remain the focus.
Christian Lüscher

Bank With a large-scale advertising campaign by Schneider, Berthoud, Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) launches the new Maestro charity card for the Job Factory. The card is the result of BLKB's desire for a sustainable commitment to the region. Ten francs of the annual fee will be credited directly to the Job Factory. In addition, the Job Factory receives 0.25 percent of the amount for every payment made with this card. The Job Factory is a company that has been a pioneer in the fight against youth unemployment since it was founded in 2000. The advertising measures include advertisements, mailings, posters and brochures. There is also a five-minute trailer and a broadsheet.

 What is the advantage of organic products? The taste. This is the insight emphasized by the Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett advertisers in their image campaign for Bio Suisse. With the claim "Bio Bud. Bring back the taste", the creative minds at SFLB draw attention to the Bud products.  
The campaign kicks off with advertisements that rub people's noses in the problem of taste disappointment. The viewer is asked to rub a spot on the advertisement to smell what the product pictured smells like. However, the advertisements smell of nothing. The text finally resolves the disappointment: If you want to know what a good apple tastes like, bite into a Swiss organic apple. And you will notice: "Those who grow up on an organic farm in Switzerland simply have more character."

As of July 1, 2007, Andreas Merk will join the team of the corporate publishing agency Medianovis. According to the agency, the 37-year-old will further develop existing publishing projects and build up complementary business areas, especially in the online sector. He replaces Daniel Steim, who is leaving Medianovis.  
Andreas Merk studied business administration and journalism at the University of Fribourg. His professional experience includes Winterthur Life and Pensions (Media Relations Manager, Head of Intranet Team) and SBB Cargo Produktion in Basel (Head of Internal Communications). Most recently, Merk was Deputy Head of Communications and Media Spokesperson at the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET) and Communications Officer at the Innovation Promotion Agency CTI.

Society is changing. Funseekers are becoming dinks, dinks are becoming woofs, yuppies are becoming yammies. IP Multimedia claims to reach all target groups with its electronic media, even the most specialized ones. This added value in consulting quality and target group affinity is now being implemented visually in a humorous way with the new campaign by Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett.  
At first glance, the creative minds at SFLB show completely normal people. Viewed through the eyes of a media planner, however, completely new conclusions emerge: A woman depicted is an actual panic single, a farmer a homo solus, a woman in her mid-forties a homo yo-yo. Readers can find out more about the respective subspecies of Homo Sapiens via the zoo panel in the foreground of the picture. According to SFLB's media release, the exotic conspecifics have been on display in the advertising trade press since April 5.

 On behalf of the Federal Council, SRG is converting from analog to digital broadcasting, in this case to DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial). As reported by Der Bund today, the country's analog supply will be discontinued on November 26. With DVB-T, reception of SF 1, SF 2, TSR 1 and TSI 1 will be possible throughout Switzerland.  
According to the federal government, around 170,000 households (eight percent) in German-speaking Switzerland are affected by the switch-off, i.e. those whose television set is neither connected to a cable operator's network nor to a satellite dish. However, you can continue to use your existing television set to receive DVB-T. However, you will need a so-called set-top box (costing around CHF 150) from a specialist dealer.

The advertising agency Mycosign, based in Berg (TG), is advertising on a large scale: a giga print has recently adorned a company façade in Weinfelden. On an area of 660 square meters, a company draws attention to itself. The advantage of the large-scale advertising: the companies involved in the new building also cover the production costs with their paid advertising space. On behalf of Bare-Design, Samuel Scherrer from Mycosign was responsible for the idea and realization of this "cladding".  
The Berger advertising agency chose Christinger Partner from Schlieren for the production - screen printing and finishing - of the individual mesh vinyl panels. This business partnership had already been successfully used for the realization of the Ariel world record poster measuring 80 x 50 meters.

 The market for IP-based television - IPTV - will clearly grow in Europe this year. This is confirmed by recent studies by the management consultancies Goldmedia and Screen Digest, which estimate that the number of subscribers in Europe will almost double - from 2.9 million in 2006 to 5.6 million at the end of 2007. At the same time, IPTV revenues will increase from EUR 470 million to over EUR 1 billion in the same period.  
In addition to a large number of new IPTV offerings, the IPTV market is also expected to become increasingly globalized in 2007. Some of the major providers also want to establish themselves in other markets: Telecom Italia, for example, is already present with offers in France and Germany. Tiscali will also launch in Italy and Swisscom plans to finalize the takeover of Italy's Fastweb.
 
The analysts at Screen Digest and Goldmedia are convinced that IPTV will really take off this year. Companies that launched their services last year are now starting extensive marketing activities. And already established providers are in a good enough position to further increase their services and customer numbers significantly.

 Assai conceived and designed the new website of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Since the beginning of March, researchers and the interested public have been informed about the services and activities of the SNSF in a more target group-oriented and up-to-date manner at www.snf.ch.  
According to a press release from Assai, the information architecture has been completely revised. In addition to general information on the institution, visitors will find a differentiated presentation of the SNSF's funding instruments, information on the funded projects as well as institutional and scientific news. Tools such as the search function or "mySNF", the electronic application form, have been prominently placed. A clear teaser concept runs consistently through the entire website.

 While Bern's Bärengraben appears razor-sharp on "Google Maps," all that remains of Zurich's Bellevue is a pixel mush. The free paper Heute expresses its disappointment about this in today's edition and wonders why Zurich, of all places, which Google wants to make its most important company headquarters outside the USA, is being so shamefully neglected. So far, there has been no answer from Google. So Zurich residents will have to deal even further with the question of why and where Zurich lacks sharpness.

Advico Young & Rubicam's head advertisement has already been awarded bronze in ADC Switzerland. Now it has also reached the final of the most prestigious creative competition in the USA - The One Show. On May 11, it will become clear whether it will win bronze, silver or gold.

 Wemf has founded Net-Matrix in cooperation with SRG and the Internet industry association Simsa. The company's main purpose is to publish studies and statistics on Internet usage in Switzerland. The data collected will allow for a variety of analyses on Internet usage and the positioning of individual websites, according to a letter from the company. The new Net-Metrix research model has already been in existence for a year and is divided into four products: Net-Metrix-Audit allows a certified count of all page views to participating Web sites. Net-Metrix-Profile is a media planning tool with reach and user profiles of the participating websites. Net-Metrix-Tracking a tool for strategic analysis, streaming and analysis of total home internet usage. Net-Metrix-Base provides the basic information about Internet usage in general.
The Net-Metrix-Audit web statistics - formerly Wemf's Net-Audit - have been published monthly for more than four years. The first edition of the Net-Metrix-Profile study is scheduled to appear in a few weeks, and the Net-Metrix-Tracking panel study in the third quarter of 2007. The basic Net-Metrix-Base study - formerly Publica Data's Net-Base - has been published quarterly since 2002. These four products provide website operators with a comprehensive view of the medium and the advertising industry with professional planning based on neutral and reliable information.