Enigma The "Choose a new capital" advertising stunt has everything a good teaser campaign needs. It is self-financing, it creates confusion - and it enjoys a lot of publicity: the posters looking for a new capital city are impossible to miss. "Voters" can vote by SMS for Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Basel. As soon as the 800 posters were put up in the four cities, they became a talking point. On the streets and on the Internet. It is not so much the content that is causing a stir, but rather the question of who initiated the campaign. This is because he remains anonymous on the posters and on the election website. Who is behind this advertising stunt? A political committee? Or is it a continuation of the Tagi coat of arms campaign? A quick internet search last week brought clarity. Swiss bloggers claimed to have discovered that it was a campaign by the Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG), which is working with the University of Zurich to investigate the advertising impact of billboard advertising. This is because the domain of the election website is registered in the name of a psychology student at the University of Zurich who is studying the effects of advertising. The website's technical contact is Christian Hotz, who works for the APG.
False trailsSo far, so good. The evidence spoke a clear language. It was clear to the Internet scene and individual media outlets that APG was conducting an advertising impact study à la Angie Becker. "Of course APG is behind it, together with some student who is doing some kind of research that APG can then use to show how efficient such a poster is," writes Christian Leu from the Leumund blog. The message spread quickly. The mystery surrounding the mysterious campaign seemed to have been solved.
However, Werbewoche's research revealed that this was a false trail deliberately laid by the campaign's creators. This is because the owner of the capital city domain wrote her research paper, to which the citizen journalists referred, last year. It was a literature review that compared various studies on the advertising impact of poster campaigns.
On the phone, Anita Stalder, as the student is known, explained that the connection made between her and APG was unfortunate. "A misunderstanding", because she had become the holder of the domain through personal contacts and had nothing to do with a research assignment or the campaign. APG continues to remain silent about the background to the campaign. It confirmed the indications of Werbewoche, but did not comment on the research. "The committee wishes to remain anonymous," says Christian Hotz. Nothing more could be learned.
A false trail, an APG that wants to keep its client anonymous, a student who researches posters but has nothing to do with the campaign? If APG doesn't have a finger in the pie, who does? Advertisers agree that a big player will provide an aha moment on January 14.
There are increasing indications that the advertising agency Publicis created the mysterious campaign. "We can assume that it's about the new football capital of Switzerland," says Frank Bodin from Euro RSCG. At least that's what the posters suggest. Because the venues for Euro 08 on Swiss soil will be Zurich, Basel, Geneva and Bern. The rumor among industry insiders that this could be a Publicis campaign for Swisscom-Mobile can be denied.
Politicians in Bern are amazedCD Markus Gut from Publicis makes it clear that Publicis is not advertising for Swisscom Mobile in this case. So all that remains is speculation and a mysterious campaign that has managed to garner a lot of publicity, cause a great deal of confusion and generate a lot of discussion on the Internet. Which was exactly what the makers wanted. Because the teaser campaign principle only works if the big guesswork is followed by a loud "aha". And something else was very successful: A referendum that finances itself with 50 centimes per SMS. This should certainly give the politicians in Bern food for thought. However, the Federal Chancellery recommends that federal employees boycott the election of a new capital, writes Blick.
The gag will be resolved on January 14. Basel, which has led the rankings since the start of the campaign, will then presumably be crowned the "new capital".
Christian Lüscher

With Demeulemeester Publicité in Winterthur, Caroline and Jean-Marc Demeulemeester want to provide services as a small agency just like the big ones, and would rather have a new agency in Winterthur than "the thirtieth in Zurich", says Jean-Marc Demeulemeester. The CD with 20 years of experience at large agencies such as Advico Young & Rubicam, Publicis, JWT+H+F and most recently four years at Lang Gysi Knoll opened a new office in Winterthur in December together with his wife and well-known marketing manager Caroline Demeulemeester. Demeulemeester Publicité was founded back in summer 2006. The small agency aims to "offer services like the big players". Thanks to the couple's experience and a network of contacts that has grown over the years with many specialists from Alex Schmid Direct to Peter Döbeli's Konnex, Demeulemeester prefers to work "with a nimble team rather than a large apparatus". This is also what customers increasingly want: "To cover what is needed and to select the best professionals in each area".
Caroline Demeulemeester has been working as an advertising and marketing manager for 15 years. Initially in agencies, later on the client side, she was able to acquire extensive know-how at major companies such as Beauté & Parfums by L'Oréal, Coop Switzerland, Jumbo-Markt and Credit Suisse Group.
She entered the industry with a marketing degree in Milan. "I wanted a Master of Advertising. But that wasn't available in Switzerland." So the native French-speaking Belgian ended up spending four years at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and Bocconi University to get a taste of international thinking. "Famous lecturers taught at the school, and my fellow students later included well-known names such as Benetton photographer Oliviero Toscani," she enthuses about this inspiring time. Because it was almost impossible to get a job in advertising in Milan even with an EU diploma in Marketing & Advertising, but without vitamin B, the young advertiser, who specialized in strategy and market research, finally started her career in Geneva.
Her idea of advertising back then was "pretty idealistic", as her knowledge at the Istituto was also shaped by "exciting projects" that the school was able to realize in collaboration with major global brands. In Geneva, things remained international, but a little more pragmatic. She was allowed to work in a specialized agency doing advertising for Piaget throughout Europe. However, this did not work out the way she had learned. "The people in creation mainly determined the content."
However, she preferred to do marketing and work on products and market research. That is why she first switched to the client side and became an independent marketing consultant in 2002. As a consultant, Caroline Demeulemeester continues to support numerous projects for companies that want a distribution concept, process optimization or marketing analyses, for example. With the additional activity in the newly founded agency with her husband, she is now "virtually returning to advertising".
Jean-Marc Demeulemeester discovered his "primal love for advertising" at school and began an apprenticeship as a graphic designer at the age of 16. In the subsequent carousel through well-known agencies, the communications professional and designer won numerous awards. Last year, he crowned his work with a bronze Lion in Cannes in the Direct category for Swiss Post. He is also proud of his campaigns for Swiss Life, Heinecken, the advertising with the creatively peeled potatoes for Swiss farmers and the first series of the "Wir lassen uns nicht behindern" concept for Pro Infirmis.
Caroline and Jean-Marc Demeulemeester came up with the idea of becoming self-employed together a long time ago. "At some point, we thought it was only logical to combine our expertise." They were also repeatedly asked about this in their environment. The couple were considered a "dream team". Why shouldn't that also work at work?
Nevertheless, they were both afraid of contact. How does that affect the relationship? "It takes strangers longer to understand each other. We are very quick." But is it possible as a couple not to be offensive during a discussion? "Straightforward communication makes it easier, but also more complex." Finally, the last uncertainty was: is it acceptable to take such a risk of dual independence with a family of three children?
The decision was made while on vacation in Dubai. That's also where the first order came from. Because Caroline's brother works in the desert state as a consultant for companies wishing to immigrate, he arranged the tailor-made advertising agency for one of them. "In Dubai, even big agencies like Publicis or Y&R are just start-ups. As a small, owner-managed agency, we have almost better chances," says Demeulemeester Publicité. There are also promising contacts with clients in Paris. But the agency also wants to acquire clients in Winterthur and eastern Switzerland. "There are some of the most interesting brands right on our doorstep," says Jean-Marc.
However, Demeulemeester did not want to install the new office right on the doorstep of the family home. When both partners work in the same agency, you have to be able to set boundaries. "You have to build up discipline," says Caroline Demeulemeester. Even as a management consultant, she stuck to fixed working hours, switched on the answering machine at lunchtime and cooked for the children. Now the geographical boundaries are even better defined. The work should stay in Winterthur. If you have to work at the weekend, you go to the office and get the peace and quiet you need.
There is room for five people in Winterthur. Demeulemeester Publicité does not want to become a large agency. "We are serious about the concept. We want to be a kind of boutique where you can look after clients very personally." At Demeulemeester, advertising remains a matter for the boss even after the pitch and is not carried out by a second set.
Andreas Panzeri

The media trade union Comedia welcomes the proposal of the National Council's State Policy Committee to continue indirect press subsidies by means of participation in the distribution costs after 2007. However, Comedia demands that the annual subsidies of CHF 60 million for general press subsidies and CHF 20 million for the regional and local press be formulated as minimum amounts, as can be seen in a statement.  
With the press subsidy, Swiss Post will continue to be obliged to deliver subscribed newspapers and magazines at preferential prices regardless of distance. This also includes the member press, which is important for the democratic formation of opinion. The media union is pleased that part of the subsidies will now be reserved for the smaller daily and weekly newspapers in the regional and local press, as the special promotion of this small-circulation press is a contribution to securing valuable jobs in an industry that has been affected by large-scale job cuts in recent years.

GlarusNord-Anzeiger is the name of the new tabloid, which will be distributed free of charge every Friday from January 12 via early delivery to households in the Glarus lowlands in the municipalities of Bilten, Niederurnen, Oberurnen, Filzbach, Obstalden, Mühlehorn, Mollis and Näfels with a circulation of 70,000 copies. "This means that the free newspaper will reach precisely those eight municipalities that will form a single municipality from 2011 as a result of the Glarus municipal merger," announces the Südostschweiz publishing group. The GlarusNord-Anzeiger replaces the Linth Land Anzeiger, which has been discontinued by publisher Küng Druck and can look back on a 100-year tradition with its predecessor Glarner Anzeiger. With its new 16-page tabloid, Südostschweiz is focusing on the function of a classic gazette that serves as an advertising platform for established businesses and associations as well as the municipal administrations for official announcements. A four-color advertising page will be available for as little as 1,200 francs. Südostschweiz Publicitas in Glarus is responsible for advertising sales.
On the editorial side, Südostschweiz Presse AG has set up a 50 percent position and wants to work with freelance journalists. Portraits, columns and personal surveys will be published regularly and a front-page story will be published weekly. The paper sees itself as strictly local, and proximity to the population has top priority. Synergies with other weekly newspapers from Südostschweiz are to be exploited both editorially and in the area of pre-press, as the company reports.
René Worni

Digital transmission Three years after the last rate reduction, PrintOnline is once again able to reduce the prices for transmitted advertisements.advertisers who want to book an advertisement in print titles and send it to the individual publishers are increasingly using PrintOnline (POL) to handle the transmission. According to its homepage, POL sees itself as a "hub" between customers, graphic designers, lithographers and agencies on the one hand and publishers or printers on the other. For every advertisement that reaches a publisher via POL, the latter pays a fee: large publishers pay an annual connection fee of CHF 15,000 and CHF 10 per advertisement. Smaller publishers can waive a connection fee, but pay CHF 30 per advertisement. If the advertisements are smaller than 311 square centimetres (half a tabloid page), large publishers pay CHF 6 and small publishers CHF 18. In either case, a fee of 2 francs per megabyte transmitted is added.
POL will reduce this data volume-dependent charge to one franc in 2007. This is the first time the company has reduced its tariff since 2003, albeit only minimally. This is possible because POL was able to reduce its operating budget by around 200,000 francs through a series of optimization measures in the high-performance network and storage area, as Managing Director Kurt Obrist explains.
POL was founded in 1998 by Publicitas, Ringier, Tamedia and NZZ as a non-profit company to provide an industry solution and to make it easier for advertising clients to handle print advertising.
POL therefore passes on any surpluses to the publishers in the form of rate reductions. However, due to the advertising slump, POL's turnover stagnated, even last year. Although the number of advertisements transmitted online each year increased steadily (exception: 2002), the fact that these tended to be smaller for reasons of economy meant that POL income grew less strongly than the volume. The year 2005 makes this particularly clear: POL forwarded 12,3836 advertisements at that time, 7.6 percent more than in the previous year, but small advertisements accounted for more than half of the total volume at 55 percent.
More volumeLast year, POL felt the effects of two other trends: firstly, the volume of advertising in magazines and newspapers picked up again, and even commercial advertisements were up slightly, which is why POL was able to increase its volume again by 2.7 percent to 125,841 advertisements. In view of the booming job advertisements, however, it may come as a surprise that POL was not able to increase more strongly.
However, the second trend is becoming noticeable with classified ads: These advertisements are increasingly being placed and transmitted via Publiconnect, Scout24, Unio or Prospective, the specialized providers for online and print classifieds markets - bypassing POL. The result: for the first time, POL was no longer able to increase its share of small ads, but only just maintained it at 54 percent - which corresponds to a loss of market share in a booming segment. However, Obrist is neither surprised by this nor does he want to talk about a loss. "We are in the process of returning to our traditional area, commercial advertising, and have been able to make gains here again, particularly with national campaigns," he states.
For 2007, Obrist has set itself the goal of further minimizing the manual effort involved in the entire advertising workflow. For this reason, the POL interfaces to both the prepress companies and the publishers are to be connected and automated. Obrist intends to approach such companies more frequently this year.
He has the same goal with the Australian company Quickcut, through whose German subsidiary 20 to 30 foreign advertising customers manage their advertisements in Swiss and other European print titles. "We also still have a manual interface with Quickcut, which we want to automate," says Obrist. This will make it easier for foreign customers to advertise in Switzerland. And vice versa: POL and Quickcut should also make it easier for Swiss companies to advertise in foreign print media.
POLAS decommissionedThree years ago, POL
with the POLAS (PrintOnline Advertisement System) service, for which a separate company was even founded. However, this company has now ceased its activities, says Kurt Obrist. The reason: so far, not a single customer has been found who wanted to use the remote publishing service. Advertisers, such as car importers, who need to adapt their advertisements regionally, for example, should be able to save a basic advertisement with their own CI in the POL system so that authorized garage owners can access it, insert their individual text, choose a different image if necessary and then place a booking order for the regional newspaper. Obrist does not know exactly why the offer was not well received. "However, I believe that remote publishing will become important in the future, which is why we are sticking to our guns with POLAS," he says. Markus Knöpfli

Night programs Since the beginning of this year, it has been noticeable that the eastern Swiss regional broadcasters Tele Top and Tele Südostschweiz have taken the testosterone out of their erotic programs after midnight. After five years, the "adult program" with the provocative title "Watchme TV" has been discontinued. Instead, Tele Top broadcasts reruns of its news formats and magazines. According to the broadcaster, the debate about porn and violence that young people download onto their cell phones was one of the reasons for abandoning the erotic business. Tele Top assumes that the porn providers wanted to distribute even harsher content in the advertising blocks in future. The broadcasters are losing "a lot of money" as a result of the cancellation of the erotic programs. While zapping through the night, viewers already noticed three weeks ago that Star TV had also cut ties with its Lovers TV. Instead, Star TV spends the night with entertainment films or cult horror movies. The private channels 3+ and U1, on the other hand, continue to focus on nudity. Andreas Panzeri

The Swiss economy is planning to make considerable investments in the communications sector in 2007. This trend can be seen in the recently published Farner Communications Index. Nine out of ten Swiss companies have increased or maintained their communication budgets for 2007. The reason given by 25 percent of the companies for the changes in their budgets is to adapt to future requirements, while 13 percent of the companies have changed their available funds.  
The Farner Communication Index started with a value of 71 at the beginning of the measurements in 2003 and has now reached a five-year high of 91 percent. It is compiled by the opinion research institute Isopublic on behalf of Farner Consulting and is based on a representative survey of the 500 largest Swiss companies. The index covers the entire spectrum of corporate communications, in particular PR, advertising and events. It is surveyed every year at the turn of the year and reflects the intentions and expectations of Swiss companies in the communications sector.

The Zurich alternative radio station Radio LoRa fears that its broadcasting area will be reduced by the Federal Council. This would hinder its integrative work in favor of social and ethnic minorities. According to the alternative broadcaster, the Federal Council wants to expand the broadcasting areas of Radio 24 and Radio Energy so that they can achieve better profitability. Radio LoRa is referring to a hearing of the Federal Council that will last until January 22, as reported by SDA.  
Radio Lora is fighting back and standing up for its previous broadcasting area, according to the station. The makers of Radio LoRa are around 300 volunteers. The commercial-free radio station broadcasts information in 20 languages.

The Basel-based corporate communications agency Basel West won a number of new mandates in 2006. These included the launch of the new Life Science Park Allschwil-Basel for Burckhardt + Partner, a PR mandate for Formex, the 125th anniversary of the Salvation Army Switzerland, Jermann Ingenieure + Geometer, LIF Leaders' Integrity Foundation - a network for corporate ethics, Pantec for pharmaceutical patents, the Prosperita collective foundation, Rivella's activity report and a new customer magazine for Soprema Abdichtungs-Systeme. With the youth magazine Teensmag, the agency also lost a design contract that had been running for over twenty years. The publisher is now realizing the layout internally.

Just two months after its launch, over 20,000 customers have ordered Swisscom's Internet TV. This is significantly more than expected. There are therefore installation bottlenecks. The new television service has already been successfully installed in over 10,000 households, as the company reports. However, Swisscom Fixnet is working flat out to process the pending orders and is increasing its installation capacity.  
However, some customers still have to wait up to six weeks. In order to reduce waiting times, the company has added another 100 technicians to its existing team of 300 installers. There are also said to be bottlenecks in the availability of routers. Individual regions of western Switzerland are affected by this.
 
Nevertheless, the response from customers has been positive, according to Swisscom. According to the company, the ease of use and attractive content are particularly appreciated. The reactions of industry-related market participants have also been consistently positive. In terms of distribution, Swisscom is currently focusing on the market launch in the private customer segment. The company is therefore referring interested sales partners and their distribution networks to the second half of 2007.

Daily newspapers Scholz & Friends Zurich is now responsible for communications at Blick, the highest-circulation Swiss daily newspaper published by Ringier. The Zurich-based Friends won over the publisher in a pitch against two competitors. The budget includes all communication measures. Dietrich Berg, Head of Blick Publishing, on the agency's decision: "Scholz & Friends Zurich convinced us with their combination of media expertise and excellent creation. It's good to have an international partner at our side who convinced us with a large orchestra of the best ideas." Katrin Seegers, Managing Director Consulting Scholz & Friends Zurich: "For us, Blick is a high-caliber client that always defines the Swiss newspaper market in a bold and imaginative way. We are looking forward to the challenge."
Blick is the third account win since the trio Katrin Seegers, Jan Leube and Matthias Spaetgens took over the management of Scholz & Friends Zurich in early summer 2006. Scholz & Friends Zurich looks after clients such as Balisto, Ebly, Masterfoods, Credit Suisse, Riso, Honda and Siemens Hausgeräte.
Andreas Panzeri

The Zurich agency By Heart is responsible for the relaunch and launch campaign of Ringier's Betty Bossi newspaper. Ringier opted for By Heart after a competitive presentation. Eight additional pages, a fresh layout, more exciting content and even more concrete benefits for the more than 850,000 subscribers are planned. For example, an online recipe database. The leek campaign will be launched in the second week of January with four print subjects designed to emphasize the newspaper's new appeal.