Zurich Tourism, in consultation with the City of Zurich, has awarded the mandate for international city marketing in connection with Euro 08 following a competitive presentation. Advico Young & Rubicam and the international Young & Rubicam network, which also includes Burston Marsteller, won the contract. The measures include advertising, PR and event marketing, primarily abroad but also in Switzerland, and will run until the end of 2008. The decisive factor in the decision was the strong, overarching campaign message, which can be used in an integrated manner for all target groups and themes. Another important factor in the decision was the extensive national and international experience of the two agencies in sports and tourism marketing.

The World Trade Center in Zurich doesn't focus on modesty. "The one and only" is its slogan, because in addition to 16,000 square meters of space, it has a strategically perfect location, a multifunctional conference center for 1,000 people and its own day nursery. To ensure that the WTC also stands out from the mainstream of office buildings in terms of communication, the Zurich advertising agency Giger & Partner took care of the communicative renovation work: the development of the new logo, the advertising campaign, the image brochure and a direct mailing. So that the letting works.

The advertising business for German magazines has developed better than expected. With an increase of 8.7 percent, magazines recorded the highest growth rates of all advertising media. This means that magazine publishers can look back on a good business performance for the first time in five years. However, sales increased primarily on the Internet. The Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ) is forecasting growth of 2 percent for 2007. Companies are once again investing more in image advertising and magazines are benefiting from this in particular. Publishers have high hopes for digital business models in the coming year, especially for new technological developments such as mobile cell phone services and Internet TV. 55 percent of publishers expect higher sales in the Internet business.

The youth portrait with the provocative title "Schnäbi" and the piece with personified computer processes "Sigbeep - Sechs Prozesse suchen einen Operator" were honored with the Tpc creaTVty award 2006. The winners are Luzius Wespe and Valentina Vuksic, who each receive 10,000 Swiss francs. Both are HGKZ graduates. With "Schnäbi", 26-year-old Luzius Wespe not only won the prize in the film/video category, but also the audience award. Valentina Vuksic (32) won in the media art/media design category. With the Tpc creaTVty award, the TV production center tpc promotes young Swiss film and media professionals.

Migros boss Herbert Bolliger was harshly critical of competitor Coop. He said that Coop was copying Migros and that Swiss had violated an exclusive clause in the negotiations with Coop on the strategic partnership (see ). In an interview in Tages-Anzeiger, Bolliger said that in a letter of intent that had existed between Migros and Swiss, it had been agreed to negotiate exclusively with each other. Everything had already been arranged at Migros with regard to the announcement of the partnership with Swiss, the campaign was ready, the media release approved, the vouchers distributed in the stores and the advertisements booked. Bolliger now assumes that the Swiss Board of Directors changed its mind at the last minute.
In the same interview, Bolliger also accuses competitor Coop of often copying Migros. This was the case with M-Budget, Sélection, Cornatur and Léger. The Heidi line will probably also be copied at some point, says Bolliger. And guesses at the name "Geissenpeter".

Print Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) recently officially opened its new assembly plant in Shanghai. This is the first plant in Asia for Heidelberg, which has production sites in four other countries in addition to Germany. Bernhard Schreier, CEO of the company, explained that the machines produced in the new assembly plant will now also be supplied directly to customers in China. The company intends to consolidate its strong position in the Asian growth market.

As of January 1, 2007, André Hardmeier will take over national sales at Zehnder Verlag, which publishes 22 weekly newspapers with a total circulation of 743,692 copies. With Hardmeier, selected customers will now have a professional contact person at their disposal, writes the publisher. This will give customers direct access to all Zehnder newspapers from a single source, also with regard to the realization of individual and highly specific packages. Hardmeier was the key account manager responsible for the real estate market at NZZ for many years and is currently advertising manager for the sports magazine.

Nine students from the Zurich School of Art and Design have developed designs for notebook covers in a joint project with Hewlett-Packard Switzerland. Even though there is no accounting for taste, the proposed decorations are not entirely convincing. It's hard to imagine an office or lecture hall full of colorful, open laptops - even if the beer bottle and Haribo motifs might reveal something about the owners. Hewlett-Packard's own suggestions are also not to everyone's taste, with motifs such as a kitschy beach or a sunflower against a blue background. Maybe it's better to choose the do-it-yourself option and stick your own picture on it? Whichever variant you choose, somehow they all remind us of colorful, kitschy, self-decorated toilet lids.

Fashion Armani, Chanel, Calvin Klein - with these fashion labels, you can be sure that your wallet will be empty before your closet is full. The clever woman therefore buys from Duetto, the second-hand store for designer fashion fans. To spread the word about this insider tip, Publicis has created a series of posters that are confusingly similar to the appearances of well-known labels. Attractive models wear branded dresses with a discreet but striking feature: the trouser pockets are always turned outwards. In short: designer fashion for little money. The posters can be seen in Zurich city center from the beginning of October to the beginning of November.

As the new President of the Account Planning Group, Pascal Schaub wants to strengthen strategic thinking in all areas. Strategy is in demand in more and more disciplines today, says Pascal Schaub. Precisely because you can no longer plan everything. He is impressed by the way Tesco launches products that are only 40 percent ready for the market. Consumers decide the rest. Market research is free and highly efficient. Schaub is fascinated by the fact that YouTube users are spreading the word about the Mentos Diet Coke experiment and the new Dove campaign - even before it is on TV. Insights into what makes consumers tick, what they want and, above all, what they don't want are more important than ever. Otherwise, the community of digital natives, the species of people who are growing up with the new media, will strike back relentlessly.
The chief strategist at Publicis Zurich has just been elected as the new president of the Account Planning Group. This association, which he co-founded three years ago, comprises just over 20 members. Not many compared to an ADC. A lot, if you look back a few years in Switzerland. Schaub is convinced that "too many ideas are still being sold by Swiss advertising agencies according to the principle of trial and error". But more and more clients are realizing that it is more expensive to save on strategy and want this discipline at the table right from the start.
In Schaub's experience, customers are masters of two of their three most important marketing tools. Price like a crowbar. Distribution like a baseball bat. Unfortunately, they use the communication budget in exactly the same way - even if it is no bigger than a matchstick compared to the other two tools. Of course, it breaks in the process. "But you could also light a fire with a match," smiles the strategist. But where do you learn that?
Not while studying German at the universities of Zurich and Munich. Not as a film critic for a local newspaper, not as a lifestyle journalist for Annabelle, Tages-Anzeiger, Weltwoche. Not even in 10 years as a copywriter for agencies from Uster to Zurich.
It only took off with the crossing of disciplines. From studies to analytical thinking, from advertising to synthetic condensation. Schaub thought: Why not combine the two halves of the brain? So he switched to strategy at the turn of the millennium.
He was able to join Diana Strebel's team at market leader Publicis, and Schaub has remained loyal to the agency to this day. It's actually "wicked" - as Ali G would say - for someone to have worked at the same agency for 14 years, he marvels. In the Swiss advertising industry, however, there are only two options, comparable to a party: either you buy a beer, walk around with it and meet people. Or you stand at a well-placed pillar with the beer "and let everyone stream past". In addition: "Publicis is the only agency in Switzerland that combines all disciplines at one address."
This advantage allows Schaub to use and network all platforms for a brand - and even internationally from Switzerland with some budgets. "This challenge is fantastic for a planner."
Schaub has benefited greatly from further training at the planner meetings in the Publicis network. There is a team here that develops model strategies for smaller countries such as Denmark, Ireland, Austria, Israel and Switzerland, because in these markets "there are many parallels in terms of the increasing empowerment of consumers".
Schaub is also keeping a particularly close eye on developments in the growth markets. He could well imagine working in Asia one day. As a planner there, he could combine the knowledge he has circulating in his blood about our western brands with the traditions of these new markets.
However, Schaub still sees plenty of challenges and satisfaction here in the near future. More and more clients are no longer asking him just for creative planning. He is increasingly being asked for tasks such as developing an entire product offering or private label strategies.
Schaub is delighted when insights suddenly lead to interactivity in the outside world, whether on the 4-seater streetcar, in the Migros store or in the Cash daily e-paper. When Köbi Kuhn, the eternally and endlessly questioned man, suddenly plays a completely new role: asking back for Axpo when it comes to energy. Or when over a thousand UBS employees suddenly want to advertise: for their own company. To mention just two ongoing campaigns in which Pascal Schaub has been strategically involved.
The new President believes that the Account Planning Group has developed a good understanding of itself over the past three years. The next step should be an exchange with the outside world. Partners could also become a GDI or an IAA. "The interdisciplinary role of strategy is the big issue." An exchange that goes far beyond advertising. "I'm interested in the micro-credit planning of David Bornstein in Bangladesh, the radio community planning of Oliver Scotoni from Rundfunk.fm or the multimedia house planning of Thomas Trüb at Ringier." Strategy and planning as a success factor. On this side and beyond traditional advertising agencies.
As a first activity, the new President has just attended the conference "The battle of big thinking" in London. Here, 21 luminaries from the Anglo-Saxon world were each given exactly 15 minutes to speak. Three specialists each spoke on topics such as new media, branding, communication, planning and research. Then there was a merciless vote to see who got to the heart of the matter best. The Chairman of BBH in England, Jim Carroll, was not above doing this. "A lesson in British finesse and highly entertaining to boot," he says. More on this soon in Advertising Week.
"The British are debating intensively and openly about the role of the advertising idea, which is increasingly becoming a catalyst and networking agent," summarizes Schaub. Incidentally, they also invite market researchers to take part. Which once again demonstrates interdisciplinarity. In this sense: if Schaub does not go to Asia after all - in his next life he will become a Research Planner or Connectivity Director.

Andreas Panzeri

The advertising agency McCann Erickson had 150,000 pizza boxes printed to advertise the new Opel Corsa. These were distributed by over 60 pizza couriers in German and French-speaking Switzerland in October 2006. An SMS competition was also integrated into the cardboard advertising media.

The Südostschweiz Media Group is taking over the Engadiner Wochenzeitung (EWO), which is published free of charge in Samedan, from publisher Joachim Ernst. The Chur-based group previously held half of the publishing rights to the paper, which was founded a year ago, writes the SDA news agency. The company intends to strengthen its market position through the takeover. Close cooperation is also to be established with Bündner Woche, also from Südostschweiz. From December, the two free newspapers will be published once a week with a total circulation of around 70,000 copies and an identical advertising section. Of these, 18,500 copies will be distributed to Engadin households and 50,000 to the northern Grisons. The graphics and content of the two free newspapers are also to be spruced up.