Interpretations of the future An exhibition on the retail of the future has just opened in New York. At its annual expo in New York in mid-January, the American retail association, the National Retail Federation (NRF), asked itself nothing less than what the retail of the future should look like. The exhibitors' main concern was how to address the hard-to-reach target group of young people between the ages of 17 and 24. The core presentation was the so-called pop-up boutique, a separate area with a series of pavilions in which various futuristic trends and technologies were presented. The concept of "social retailing", implemented by the New York design company IconNicholson and based on the much-discussed phenomenon of "social networking", caused the biggest stir: MySpace in a clothing store, or, as IconNicholson itself calls it, "Facebook meets the mall".
A showcase example of a still fictitious dressing area was presented, consisting of a mirror, computer and camera. You stand in front of an oversized mirror, the "Magic Mirror", on the surface of which skirts, T-shirts and belts appear depending on your selection, allowing you to imagine yourself in the mirror without having to change your clothes first. "Young people are social shoppers," says Rachael McBreartry, Vice President of Creative Strategy at IconNicholson. "They like to send photos to their friends on their cell phones to get feedback on whether they like it."
The social retailing scenario then unfolds in a similar but much more convenient way: the camera provided films the customer as she looks in various combinations projected onto the mirror by computer, while her friends at home can observe her via the Internet. They in turn send their comments to the addressee by cell phone. However, the customer does not have to laboriously read her messages each time, as the electronic feedback is also projected onto the mirror in an easily legible format.
Digital product catalogBut friends don't necessarily have to stay at home to take part in the electronic dressing experience. They can also settle down in the lounge of the respective clothing store, where they can also surf the catalog of available goods themselves. These computers will also provide information on whether and which sizes and colors of a model the store has in stock. According to IconNicholson manager Joseph Olewitz, the social retailing concept is set to gain a foothold in the USA this spring as part of a cooperation with a "major clothing retailer".
IBM's new software "IBM Store Solutions" is based on a similar promise, albeit far more expansive. In a fictitious set-up of the British clothing store Ben Sherman, it demonstrates how Kaitlin, a 22-year-old from the future, likes to go shopping: she sees a dress on a businesswoman on the street and quickly and unobtrusively snaps a photo with her cell phone. She sends the picture to the shopping blog she trusts, where the model is not only identified immediately, but she is also informed in which neighboring store she can buy it. She quickly goes to the relevant website on her cell phone and has the dress put back in her size, where it is ready for her when she arrives 20 minutes later. Once Kaitlin has tried it on, her cell phone, which in the meantime has communicated with the dress's electronic price tag, gives her some suggestions as to which accessories might go well with it. Kaitlin chooses a necklace, and because she can't afford it herself, she puts it on the store's wish list, which immediately sends her aunt a discreet email saying that her niece would like this necklace for her upcoming birthday.
Thomas Heckel, IBM presenter, believes that such a scenario will not be far-fetched in the near future: After all, 85 percent of US teenagers already use their cell phones while they shop, according to an IBM study. "It all depends on whether the retail chains themselves are interested in equipping their stores with the appropriate technology," says Heckel. "For most of them, it will be a while before they jump on the bandwagon."
Donna von Hoesslin and her company Betty Belts presented themselves at the pop-up boutique in a much less high-tech but still futuristic way. She designs jewelry and accessories that are made from 100 percent natural and recycled materials, such as driftwood or farmed shells. "More and more people want to buy environmentally friendly products," says von Hoesslin. "The store of the future can't do without it."
Richard RussoInterview
with Richard Russo, Hybridia CEO, the inventor of the pop-up boutique.WW: What is the motto of the pop-up boutique? Richard Russo: It's all about technology, about how digital content can be transported from the customer and to the customer in the easiest and most effective way. It's about the shopping experience, about more emotions. Most retailers still don't know how to approach the target group of 17 to 24-year-olds, which is where we can help them. WW: And that happened with the concept of social retailing? Richard Russo: Yes, I came up with the idea and IconNicholson implemented it. I asked myself, if MySpace is so popular, how can you capitalize on that for retail? I thought, why shouldn't you be able to have these interactive components in a store? Why do you have to hide at home to realize the idea? In the store, kids can present themselves like on "American Idol", the popular TV singing competition. They have fun and are more likely to come into the stores. WW: What do the other stands in the boutique symbolize? Richard Russo: The headline is "Green with Enthusiasm", so we have a hybrid car on display and Betty Belts integrated. It is extremely important for young people to actually implement environmental protection and progressive ethics; if you don't go along with this, you have no chance as a business in the future. Gerti Schön

Sponsoring The outstanding sponsoring projects of the past year were honored by the professional association for sponsoring, Faspo, in Hamburg with the 14th International Sponsoring Award. A jury of experts from business and science evaluated sponsoring concepts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland according to their creative implementation, planning and realization. It was noticeable that several projects from Switzerland also won awards. In the media sponsoring category, the International Sponsoring Award was won by Orange Communications S.A. with its "Orange Cinema" project. Also receiving an award in this category was Die Mobiliar and its supporting agency, Kultur Engagement Hans und Marlene Tschanz, for their sponsorship of the film "Mein Name ist Eugen." In the culture category, UBS AG was honored for its "UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra" project. (pan)

Newspaper distribution The delivery company of NZZ and Tamedia, Zuvo, is putting other organizations under massive pressure, because it itself is no different, whether in Aarau, Basel, Bern, Chur, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, St. Gallen or Zurich - larger publishing houses each have their own early delivery service for their daily newspapers. In most cases, these also work well together. For example, Prevag, the early delivery company of Basler Zeitung Medien, distributes NZZ, Tamedia and Ringier titles as well as its direct competitor Mittelland Zeitung in north-western Switzerland. Zuvo - Switzerland's largest delivery company and a joint venture between Tamedia and NZZ - bought into other distribution organizations in order to better coordinate such cross-regional distribution orders. Today, Zuvo holds a 50 percent stake in Luzerner Pressevertriebs GmbH, a 35 percent stake in Südostschweiz Pressevertrieb AG and a 25 percent stake in AZ Vertriebs AG. There are also shareholdings via the Zuvo parent companies: Tamedia holds a direct stake in the Swiss Post subsidiary Bevo in Berne and the NZZ Group holds an indirect stake in DZO, the organization of the Züriland newspapers.
Zuvo's aggressive policyFor several years everything went well, but for the past year Zuvo has been pursuing a new, increasingly aggressive policy. This began when Tamedia acquired a stake in Landbote and when the Zurich-based company later also took over Thurgauer Zeitung. This enabled Zuvo to secure the delivery organizations of both publishers. But this put NZZ under pressure: in order to remain an equal Zuvo partner, it had to contribute a similarly large area. It did this by simply spinning off the early delivery from the St. Galler Tagblatt, which is part of the NZZ Group, and handing it over to Zuvo from October 2006. As a result, the number of households served by Zuvo increased by around 50 percent within a year. The whole of eastern Switzerland was now in its hands.
The whole of eastern Switzerland? No, in the Munot city, one small publisher is still putting up resistance: Norbert Neininger, publisher of Schaffhauser Nachrichten (SN), refused to cede his own delivery organization to Zuvo. As a result, Zuvo unceremoniously terminated SN's distribution contract for around 5,000 copies of the NZZ and Tagi in economic area 42 and has had these distributed by its own carriers since January 1, 2007.
Zuvo also acted brashly elsewhere. In May 2006, it attempted in vain to prohibit its partner Südostschweiz Pressevertrieb AG from delivering the first Südostschweiz Sunday edition in court - because the internal distribution of costs was not regulated.
In the summer, Zuvo also approached Basel, where it apparently wanted to force a stake in Prevag, the early delivery company of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM). BZM CEO Beat Meyer confirms: "Zuvo approached us four months ago. It also exerted a certain amount of pressure. But Prevag is a 100% BZM subsidiary and will remain so." Meyer does not want to say any more.
Another Zuvo action is directed against the SonntagsBlick from Ringier: Zuvo terminated the paper's early delivery at the end of 2007 - according to Ringier sales manager Walter Lütolf "for no apparent reason". However, he suspects that Zuvo, which now also distributes magazines, is targeting the distribution of Ringier periodicals and is now trying to exert pressure in this way.
These brash individual actions by Zuvo may seem disjointed at first glance. But they fit in quite well with the new corporate strategy. Although Jürg Brauchli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zuvo and member of the Tamedia Group Management Board, is willing to provide information about this, he does not want to know anything about a more aggressive approach or attempts to exert pressure. "Zuvo and other delivery companies are faced with the problem that the circulation of daily newspapers is tending to fall, which is making early distribution increasingly expensive," says Brauchli. Zuvo is countering this by acquiring new customers and thus increasing capacity utilization. It is also making its organizational structure more efficient and is also considering a daytime delivery service as a second mainstay.
Since the beginning of the year, Zuvo has been gradually getting serious about increasing its capacity utilization. In addition to daily newspapers, it is now also taking magazines that were previously sent by post. Tamedia is making a start with its own business title Finanz und Wirtschaft (FuW). The twice-weekly newspaper is currently only distributed early by Zuvo, and from February it will also be distributed by Bevo. "There is a precise timetable as to when which Tamedia newspaper goes into early distribution and where," says Brauchli. The aim is to gradually reduce the circulation sent by post and at the same time to find out what additional volumes can be expected of the early distributors without compromising delivery quality.
Should the volumes one day exceed the scope of early delivery, the establishment of a daily delivery service could certainly be worthwhile, says Brauchli. However, this would require Zuvo to find large-circulation third-party customers such as the member press of Migros, Coop or TCS in addition to Tamedia magazines. This in turn depends heavily on the specific form of the new press promotion law, the new postal tariff system and the liberalization of the postal market.
What is striking about the Zuvo concept is that it is very similar to that of the former AZO: NZZ, Tamedia, Ringier, Südostschweiz and Valora had commissioned a committee in 2004 to set up an alternative delivery organization for magazines in competition with Swiss Post. AZO was ready to launch at the end of 2005, but was then put on ice in order to wrest tariff concessions from Swiss Post. "I find it rather strange that the project has now resurfaced at Zuvo and other delivery organizations, as various parties financed the AZO feasibility study," says Walter Lütolf, who was in charge of the AZO project at the time. "AZO was also shut down primarily at the instigation of Tamedia CEO Martin Kall," he adds.
When asked about the AZO parallels, Jürg Brauchli does not deny them. "AZO was a construct with cumbersome structures and too many contact persons," he says. "In order to manage additional orders, you need an efficient organization across all the delivery companies involved - and this can only be achieved through takeovers and shareholdings," Brauchli is convinced.
Friendly Zuvo - at least when it appears on the InternetAt www.zuvo.ch
there are no aggressive tones to be heard. Here are a few quotes: "Our thoughts and actions should be characterized by a high sense of responsibility - towards customers, partner organizations, employees and the environment."
"In a typical win-win situation, all partners working with Zuvo AG benefit: Tamedia and NZZ make their distribution network and delivery expertise available to all partner publishers and in return benefit from the denser distribution network themselves."
"The steadily growing cooperation with many large and small publishers not only makes newspaper distribution more economical, but also more environmentally friendly thanks to the savings in car kilometers."
"Zuvo AG aims to be the leading company for the early delivery of newspapers and periodicals on weekdays and Sundays in German-speaking Switzerland."
Markus Knöpfli

Culture The Filmpodium of the City of Zurich offers an attractive program that has become an integral part of Zurich's cultural landscape. In order to offer viewers good communicative access to the cycles and retrospectives shown, the outdated program guide was redesigned and the Zurich design and communications agency TBS Identity was commissioned to do so. The handy and clearly laid out program booklet gets to the heart of two different requirements: it presents itself as a substantial reading booklet with cultural aspirations. And it allows a pleasantly direct, clear and concise access to the dense and complexly structured program.

Advertising NZZ and Publicitas want to entice agencies with compensation It is now clear how NZZ, Publicitas and Publimedia are reacting to the fact that in-house publishers are compensating direct bookers by the dozen: The three partners are granting agencies as well as self-booking advertising customers a so-called "handling fee" (HE) of one percent on commercial advertisements and supplements booked in the titles NZZ, NZZ am Sonntag and the new magazine Z, retroactively from the beginning of the year. The prerequisite is that the annual volume is at least CHF 0.5 million, the invoices are paid on time and the advertisements are delivered via the digital data courier PrintOnline. The HE is intended to reward agencies and self-booking customers "for their volumes as well as for their advance services in the planning and processing area", explains Markus Ehrle, Head of Advertising Market at NZZ, but on closer inspection it becomes clear that, unlike the direct booking fee (DBE), the HE does not reward any additional work, as the booking can be made via any P-branch. The HE is therefore purely a price reduction. Or a "market share discount" criticized by Publipresse director Otto Meier, which is merely intended to win back market share. Incidentally, Ehrle does not want to reveal who pays for the HE in the end, the NZZ or the P.
But that is precisely what is crucial. Because the type of solution will determine whether other P-directed publishers want to jump on the HE bandwagon. Secrecy, on the other hand, undermines trust in the P even more and sows mistrust among publishers.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts. It is possible that individual independent publishers will now increase their DBE in order to become more attractive to the NZZ. It is also likely that many advertising clients will see the HE, like the DBE, as an additional discount and demand it. The HE would then be of just as little use to the agencies as the DBE, but the NZZ would be off the hook: it would no longer run the risk of being replaced by similar titles in media planning simply because of the DBE.
But what if the clients change their policy, reassess the DBE as a genuine additional service and leave it to the agencies, but demand the HE? Then the HE would amount to an own goal by P and NZZ.   
Markus Knöpfli

The Ringier media company is launching a new TV channel in Romania together with the Turkish media group DYH. From February 18, Kanal D Romania will go on air. Ringier is about to sign the share purchase agreement under which the media publisher will acquire 25 percent of Kanal D Romania. Together with Dogan Yayin Holding (DYH), Ringier wants to offer a "modern TV entertainment program" that will "focus on locally produced programs", according to the Ringier press release.
Ringier increases its market share in Romania with the signing. The media group is already represented on the Romanian market with more than 15 national titles. In addition to Libertatea, Romania's largest daily newspaper, most of the magazines and newspapers are market leaders in their field.
The Turkish media group DYH is the largest media and entertainment group in Turkey with a 42 percent share of the advertising market and revenues of more than 1.2 billion US dollars.

Health Jung von Matt/Limmat wants to get to the heart of Switzerland. For companies in the USA, it is now normal to offer special products for overweight people. If Switzerland continues to gain weight as it has done so far, this development will not stop at our young population. One third of the adult population and one fifth of the young population are already overweight. Jung von Matt/Limmat was therefore commissioned by the Swiss Health Promotion Foundation to raise awareness of the issue of obesity with a poster, advertisement and TV spot. The central message is: "It takes little to change a lot." To this end, the ads specifically draw attention to the website www.gesundheitsfoerderung.ch. There are various tips on this prevention campaign.
In a TV commercial, a father struggles with his child's excess weight on a seesaw. The child is heavier than he is, so he can't swing at all. Yet it would take very little for the child to have fun again. "It takes little to change a lot," is the message here too, with a reference to the website.
This slogan has not only triggered joy among obesity specialists. They complain that "a lot" rather than "a little" is needed to lose weight. Moreover, the Foundation for Health Promotion did not involve them in the planning. The medical specialists believe that the images make fun of fat people and are "discriminatory". The Federal Office of Public Health is also unhappy because the topic of nutrition and exercise is something they have up their sleeve and would have preferred to tackle comprehensively later. But it's never too early for those at risk...
 
The health promotion organization counters that the posters are only intended to attract attention in an initial phase and that further information can be found on the website. The four-year campaign will cost a total of CHF 35 million and will be financed by a compulsory levy on health insurance companies.    
Andreas Panzeri

In response to the direct booking compensation introduced by several publishing houses, the NZZ also rewards agencies and direct customers for their volumes and for their extensive preliminary work in planning and processing. The compensation is called NZZ handling compensation, amounts to 1 percent of the commercial advertising turnover and - as with the direct booking compensation - is linked to various conditions. For example, an annual turnover of at least CHF 500,000 must be achieved. In contrast to all other models, however, the NZZ handling fee is not only granted for bookings via NZZ Media, but also for handling via the entire PubliPresse network, including Publimedia. Industry experts also refer to the discount as a pure price reduction.

Mixer Kommunikationskommune from Lucerne is realizing all design applications in the areas of print, TV and stadium signage for the UEFA Cup Final 2007. In addition to the implementation of over 150 applications, the contract also includes a brand identity consultancy mandate. Mixer Kommunikationskommune was founded in 2003, is based in Lucerne and is made up of four people working in the areas of graphic display, photography and concept.

Large-format printing At the innovation event on January 18, Lettra Design, a company active in the production and assembly of lettering and large-format digital printing solutions, presented its latest acquisition at its headquarters in Liebfeld near Bern: a flatbed printer and cutter. This means that the sister company of Christinger Partner, Schlieren, is now also equipped with a print & cut solution. As part of the investment, the workforce was also increased. Lettra Design now employs 19 people.

The online marketplace Scout24 Switzerland and the cross-media solutions provider Xmedia Group have appointed Stefan Hackh as their new Communication Manager. With immediate effect, he will be responsible for all media relations for the two Group companies and their business divisions Xmedia Annoncen, Basis 06, Scout24, Autoscout24, MotoScout24, Autodom, ImmoScout24, JobScout24, Topjobs and FriendScout24. The former press spokesman for the Swiss cable network operator Cablecom replaces Reto M. Zurflüh, who is moving abroad. According to the companies, Scout24 and Xmedia wish to develop communication that is consistently geared towards the needs of all internal and external contact groups. The aim is to expand leadership in the Swiss market.

The Zurich advertising agency Euro RSCG was inspired by the fact that Flash's bike couriers often have their photos taken by the Zurich city police's speed cameras. Stickers with the headline "Official photographer of our bike couriers" were therefore affixed to the speed cameras in Zurich, which measure speed. The witty campaign is intended to draw attention to how fast Flash's bike couriers travel.