Pharma Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett makes a generics manufacturer appear modest. "Generics provide a salutary rethink with favorable consequences," is Helvepharm's company policy. The pharmaceutical company from Frauenfeld is one of the cheapest suppliers of generics on the Swiss market. The low drug prices are thanks to the company's philosophy. In contrast to other pharmaceutical companies that indulge in luxury, Helvepharm is modest and invests its money in its products. Packaging in golf green
The image advertisements created by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett show us where Helvepharm is saving money with the help of medicine blister packs. One package, for example, is reminiscent of a golf green and makes it clear that with generics from Helvepharm you are not paying for the CEO's expensive hobby. Because Helvepharm is, as the claim finally resolves, a modest pharmaceutical company.
In the product campaign, which is aimed at doctors and pharmacists, the focus is on the newly launched product and its effects, in line with the company philosophy. The connecting element to the image campaign is the medicine blister and the play with it.
Andreas Panzeri

Städtebau Wirz is promoting the new Sihlcity center in Zurich with the claim "the smallest big city". A new district has been created in Zurich on the site of the former Sihlpapier factory. The diverse offering includes 13 restaurants, around 80 stores, 1 multiplex cinema with 9 screens, 1 cultural center, 1 disco, an Asian SPA and a medical center. Sihlcity also has a hotel, the Arabella Sheraton, with 132 rooms. The 16 city apartments are in high demand. To ensure that future visitors know what to expect, Wirz Werbung has created a campaign that gets to the heart of Sihlcity - the smallest big city - in an amazing way. Together with image editor Felix Schregenberger, dozens of hours were spent eliminating what had been built up over hundreds of years. "Zurich has never been seen so primeval with today's eyes," says Matthias Freuler happily. The CD at Wirz believes that the "eye-catcher" poster could also become a sought-after object in many classrooms. In advertising, the two "Day and Night" subjects are used in a wide variety of forms.
A city within the cityThe urban idea of Sihlcity covers 100,000 square meters. On the south side, the center is directly connected to the new SZU double-track stop Saalsporthalle. In Sihlcity, great importance was attached to the merging of existing and modern architecture. In addition to new buildings, some old factory buildings have retained their traditional place. The tall factory chimney, for example, has become an unmistakable landmark of Sihlcity.
The investors and partners - without whom Sihlcity would have remained "a beautiful dream" - are convinced that the project has a "great future" due to its mixed use and will become a popular meeting place in the city.
The architect was Theo Hotz. General contractor Karl Steiner built the building.
 
Andreas Panzeri

Prevention Burson-Marsteller in Bern wants to make the emergency number 144 better known.heart failure is the fastest growing cardiovascular disease. Around 150,000 people in Switzerland suffer from it. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The epidemic extent of the problem will only become fully apparent in the coming years. If a person's heart suddenly stops, this means death outside hospital in nine out of ten cases today. Even in the case of a stroke, too much time is usually lost before a person is admitted to hospital. The Swiss Heart Foundation has therefore launched a nationwide lifesaving program under the patronage of the Federal Office of Public Health, the Swiss Medical Association and the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Health Directors. As a first campaign, Burson-Marsteller has produced two TV commercials in Berne that publicize the emergency number 144 in a memorable way.
Andreas Panzeri

Internet Assai does all the online marketing for Flims Laax and Falera. 
Although the hoped-for rush on the ski lifts failed to materialize due to a lack of snow, the winter sports destination Flims Laax Falera is at least generating traffic on the internet. Assai, a Wirz Group company and specialist in digital and dialog-oriented communication, is carrying out online marketing for Flims Laax Falera this winter season. To this end, the agency has dug deep into its online bag of tricks and is wooing winter sports enthusiasts with a wide range of measures.just in time for the start of the winter season, Assai launched an online game on the Internet to promote the young target group with viral marketing. The game was recommended by around 1000 users by e-mail. Assai also optimized the search engine marketing for the winter sports resort. The online specialist from Zurich launched an elaborate search engine marketing campaign that was all about "performance-oriented marketing". This means that search terms and advertisements on Google were subjected to "extreme monitoring". If one of the 30 ad texts or subjects did not fulfill the purpose, they were replaced immediately. Assai also worked with generic search terms. This is because users do not search for brand names in the early stages, but use terms such as family vacation or skiing.
Assai also designed a banner campaign. The planning did not focus exclusively on high-reach portals, but also placed banner ads on websites with a high affinity to the topic of travel. The online marketing was a success for the winter sports resort of Laax. Assai's measures tripled the click rate and the number of visitors to the Laax.com website.
Christian Lüscher

Media agencies The year 2006 was not only the best in the history of Mediaedge.cia, with global growth of 20 percent. Now the network has also been honored twice, namely by the two trade magazines Advertising Age and Adweek simultaneously as "Global Media Agency of the Year 2006". MEC is only five years young. "We are very proud of this, because our global MEC development strategy, from a classic media agency to a modern communications agency, has now been successfully confirmed by the market," says Volker Straube, CEO of Mediaedge.cia Switzerland. MEC's most important international clients include Campbell Soup, Colgate and Ikea.

Regional press The multimedia restructuring of the two Edipresse daily newspapers Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures will not start until March 21 instead of at the turn of the year - but with a revolution: The new Internet presence will play the central role in the redesign of the two Edipresse regional newspapers. Gone are the days when online presences were limited to copying the newspaper on the Internet. New on the web are continuously updated daily news, an English-language window, information on leisure and culture as well as a platform with blogs by external experts on politics, business and culture. In addition, there is a section designed by four female journalists with news from a women's perspective, called "Les Quotidiennes", the real trouvaille of this redesign. "The regional information varies from newspaper to newspaper, but the national and international information is the same, unless a specific Geneva or Vaud focus is required," explains David Moginier, editor-in-chief of Régionaux online, the 22-strong online editorial team, meaning that both newspapers will retain their own websites, but their content will be provided by a central editorial team. In addition, the journalists in the two print editorial offices will take care of the online publications. The local editorial teams are also required to monitor the news in terms of its suitability for multiple channels - print, web, audio and video. "The aim is to have much more and different content on the web than in the newspapers," explains Thierry Meyer, Editor-in-Chief of 24 Heures. And his Geneva colleague Pierre Ruetschi, Editor-in-Chief of the Tribune de Genève, adds: "The news goes on the web, the in-depth reports, commentaries and analyses in the newspaper."
The adoption of online content requires changes to the newspapers: "We want to develop the dialog aspect that the web allows for in the newspaper as well," says Ruetschi. The cross-media concept is visible in the new sections and sections in the newspaper, but also in the differences between the two media. Ruetschi defines it as follows: "The web is a cold medium, with short, standardized articles. In the newspaper, the sensual and emotional aspect comes into play more strongly, with different, more subjective journalistic forms and graphic elements and a personalized approach to current affairs."
Merging the three sections Switzerland, Economy and World between the two newspapers has freed up resources and capacities that are being invested in the quality of local reporting: "The local editorial team is at the center of our interest," says Ruetschi.
For his Lausanne colleague Thierry Meyer, the revolution is taking place "above all in the mind": "Our journalists need to develop new reflexes: What's good for the web, what's good for print?" It's not about journalists having to do the same work twice, but about optimizing the interaction between newspaper and web. However, the reorganization of 24 Heures also serves other goals. In the run-up to today's redesign, the newspaper had dared to take the step of publishing in four regional splits covering the entire canton of Vaud. The concept required adjustments because many readers felt that they were no longer fully informed about cantonal news. At the beginning of 2006, the paper responded by correcting the page layout. Now the second part of the adjustment is due. On the one hand, it is a visual change: the 24 Heures logo is more prominent in the split edition and the regional federation no longer appears on its own front page. The split concept has also been toned down in terms of content: "There is more space for cantonal and other joint information," explains Meyer. In addition, the technical conditions now allow different page numbers for the regional editions. "This is important because we have more advertising in the Lausanne edition than in the others. It doesn't make sense that this should be at the expense of editorial content." For Meyer, it is crucial to be able to convince the readers of 24 Heures that they receive "all the information they can expect from a full-length newspaper, plus local and micro-local information."
Like the Tribune, 24 Heures is also focusing on personalizing regional news, for example in the form of portraits. With debates and the adoption of surveys or readers' opinions from the web, print is also to be given an interactive character. And finally, the Lausanne paper has been persuaded by Readerscan results (electronic recording of reading habits by marking articles read with an electronic pen) to take over the second page of the Tribune, a widely read collection of short news items from around the world. So will the two major daily newspapers on Lake Geneva be like two peas in a pod in the future - except for regional aspects? "But no, the Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures brands will become even stronger. The editorial teams will present the information in such a way that it is most relevant to their region and their medium," assures Meyer. The coordination between the three editorial teams - the print editorial teams on the one hand, print and online on the other - promises to be exciting. "It won't be easy," admits Meyer.    
Feminist no, committed yesFormer TV journalist Madeleine von Holzen
is in charge of the new online section "les Quotidiennes". "But we are neither a women's magazine nor a feminist magazine," she says. The aim is to cover current affairs from a women's perspective, with research, but also in the form of daily commentaries, forums, portraits and interviews. She mainly works with text, but also - "to a very modest extent", says von Holzen - with a bit of sound and images. "I have noticed that many young women struggle with a female role that is changing very quickly in the area of tension between career and family," she says. In the "Quotidiennes", the women who have found their own way - be it the director of a large company, the organic farmer or the actress - should become "more visible".
A wide network of female politicians, bosses and academics are consulted for daily commentary, while the forums, which are also held on an ongoing basis, are intended to address fundamental social issues. Once a week, the "Quotidiennes" migrate from the web to the two newspapers with an entire page, otherwise the collaboration is selective and pragmatic, depending on the topic. "We are not feminist," emphasizes von Holzen, "but we are certainly committed!"
Helen Brügger

The 49-year-old Thomas Dähle is expected to take over as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung in the 4th quarter of 2007. He will succeed Franz C. Widmer, who is retiring at the end of 2007. According to a press release, Thomas Dähler will be familiarizing himself with his new role from 1 June. After studying geography, geology and history at the University of Berne and passing the final examination for the higher teaching profession, Dähler entered the world of journalism as a freelance journalist in 1980 after various deputizations at secondary schools. From 1985 to 2004, he worked at the Bieler Tagblatt as editor of various regional sections and as domestic editor, and from 1992 to 2004 as editor-in-chief and member of the extended management of Gassmann. From 2004, he worked as a page editor and member of the editorial board at the Berner Zeitung, from 2006 as head of the cantonal editorial office.

Branded entertainment To reach the hard-to-reach age group of young men between 21 and 34, the US beer company Anheuser-Busch is focusing on films on the Internet. Imagine you are the boss of an advertising agency and have come a long way. One day you come into the office and there's a monkey sitting in your chair - a real-life chimpanzee. How do you think he would approach your job? Would it have a creative moment or would it literally make a monkey of itself?  
Funny or not, this plot is part of a new series called "Replaced by a Chimp", which has just been launched. But the series is not being shown on TV, nor is it being produced by one of the usual movie production companies. "Replaced by a Chimp" is a new comedy series on the internet. It is produced under the aegis of the US beer company Anheuser-Busch. "We are constantly looking for ideas on how to communicate with our customers on a more personal level," said August Busch, the company's president, when announcing the project, which has been available at www.bud.tv since the beginning of February. "People are increasingly looking for content online, and Bud.TV will help define the boundaries of this new media world."
 
In fact, Anheuser-Busch, whose advertising campaigns are regularly very popular with the public due to their entertainment value, wants to position itself as a marketer of the future with this elaborate project. The impetus for this came two years ago, when the company increasingly tackled content projects for television. "We were going through 10,000 manuscripts a year that had the potential to grow beyond a 30-second spot," says Jim Schumacker, Vice President of Digital Marketing at Anheuser-Busch, who developed the concept. "Bud.TV acts as an incubator for shows that may later be further developed and sold on to television." The Internet serves as a valuable tool for investigating consumers' media usage habits. Users of Bud.TV have a wide selection of content at their disposal. Eight channels, from comedy and news to science fiction and reality TV, are offered on the website. Most films are on average four minutes long, but currently everything from one minute to eight minutes is available.
 
Entertainment and image boost The purpose of the 40 million dollar project is to appeal to the hard-to-reach age group of young men aged between 21 and 34 and to build up a branding tool over the years. "We want to entertain consumers and also create a positive image for the Budweiser family," says Schumacker. "It's an interactive activity compared to passively leaning back in front of the TV." In addition, you can react more flexibly: If a series is not popular with the audience, it can be canceled immediately or placed less prominently. Nine percent of all Americans already state that they watch videos on the internet every day. According to the market research company TNS Media Intelligence, Anheuser-Busch has already reduced its expenditure on advertising clips on network TV from 53.5 percent of its total advertising budget in 2004 to 47.2 percent in 2005. While 292.8 million dollars were spent on this in 2004, this sum fell to 287.2 million in 2005.
 
The aim of Bud.TV is to reach an audience of two to three million per month after the start-up phase. Whether this can be achieved depends primarily on two components, believes Joe Mandese, editor-in-chief of the advertising trade magazine Mediapost. "The trick is to offer good content and make sure that consumers know about it," says Mandese. "For this reason, they need to market the project well elsewhere." One strategy Anheuser-Busch is counting on is viral marketing, i.e. making the content cool enough for users to tell their friends about it and forward the links to the relevant pages. "The viral component is inevitable," believes Tracy Ryan, a marketing professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of a new book called "Advertising on Television". "As soon as someone has access to the site, the films are automatically forwarded and posted elsewhere on various video websites such as YouTube."
 
The fact that other advertisers also have the opportunity to present their brand to the public is ensured with segments such as "Hardly News", where game manufacturers can present new products. One marketer, Electronic Arts, produces an entire science fiction series called "Afterworld". The extent to which Budweiser itself will engage in product placement on Bud.TV is still unclear, but the name of the website alone is enough to create brand awareness. "Most of the shows don't currently include any references to the brand," says Ryan. "It's all about customers interacting with the website. That's how brand loyalty is created."
 
 
Consumer advocates protestThe Bud.TV project
is celebrated by the marketing world as innovative and forward-looking, but criticized by consumer advocates. They accuse the company of familiarizing a young audience with alcohol at an early age. Although Bud.TV uses an elaborate procedure to check the age of users before they can even access the website, 21 public prosecutors from across the country have signed a letter of protest to the company. The letter accuses those responsible of having taken inadequate measures to prohibit young people under 21 from watching Bud.TV.
In particular, the possibility of downloading Bud.TV clips onto the iPod is criticized. "Why ask for proof of age if the content can be distributed without any problems?" it says. The fact that advertising clips for beer are freely accessible to everyone on YouTube is not mentioned.
 
Gerti Schön

Philip Stuber will succeed Rona Diem as Head of Marketing at the St. Gallen radio station Toxic.fm on March 1. As the person responsible for Toxic.fm's broadcasting program, the 32-year-old Stuber has a close relationship with the station. On the other hand, as the organizer of the St. Gallen Culture Festival, he has the necessary experience in the event and PR sector.

The Gyselroth agency for digital media and print in Zurich has created a completely new corporate identity for RohnerChem. The company was founded in 1906, belonged to the French Groupe Novasep and was acquired by the German Arques Industries on March 9, 2006. Since then, RohnerChem has acted as an independent company in the market, which is to be underpinned and consolidated with the new corporate design. Having created a visual basis last year, RohnerChem is now continuously developing its identity and brand. The planned measures include the creation of a picture pool, an image brochure and the expansion of the website.

Letter PostMail has a new market presence. "Letter and more" is the claim with which PostMail is launching into the future. The yellow PostMail dove is intended to visualize the attractive appearance. It symbolizes the core business. This includes the transportation of messages and emotions to business and private customers throughout Switzerland. It will remain PostMail's trademark for the duration of the campaign. The first major advertising wave will run in March and April. PostMail will be advertised with advertisements in the Sunday and business press and with posters in major railroad stations. The campaign was designed by Publicis.

The Web2com index has been measuring the monthly development of online advertising in Switzerland for over eight years and, as every year, the Web2index is reset to 100 points. In January 2007, the online advertising index recorded an increase of 1.9 points and now has an index value of 101.9 points. The Web2com Index is based on monthly surveys of investments in commercial advertising on national and international online platforms. It is thus intended to show how Internet advertising is developing in Switzerland.