Regional press Following the regionalization of the Tages-Anzeiger, Tamedia is also considering a large print run for its flagship newspaper. But Tamedia spokesman Christoph Zimmer waves it off: "We don't comment on rumors as a matter of principle. "One thing is certain: Zuvo, the sales organization of Tamedia and NZZ, is currently clarifying the logistical aspects of a Tagi large print run for the area of the four Züriland splits. In any case, it submitted a corresponding request for quotation to the sales organization of the Zürcher Landzeitung (ZLZ) at the beginning of October. This was confirmed by Bruno Fischer, Head of Sales at Druckzentrum Oetwil (DZO).
Zuvo and ZLZ Distribution have divided up the canton of Zurich on a territorial basis: On the right bank of Lake Zurich, right up to the gates of Winterthur, ZLZ-Vertrieb handles the early delivery for the ZLZ partners, NZZ and Tages-Anzeiger; Zuvo does this in the rest of the area. It is unclear whether the large circulation will cover other parts of the canton beyond the split areas or even the whole country. It is interesting, however, that Zuvo applied for a large print run with the Tagi main paper, not for several split large print runs. Furthermore, neither a start date nor a specific day of the week was specified.
Fischer's offer, on the other hand, is clear: "It's hard to think about launching before the end of the year, because we need a lead time of two months," he says. In addition, no large print run can be distributed in the Oberland on Wednesdays because Fischer's carriers are on tour with those of the Zürcher Oberländer and the Anzeiger von Uster. The same restriction applies to other ZLZ partners on Thursdays. "Two large print runs on the same day don't make sense," says Fischer.
It is astonishing that Tamedia is only now examining the idea - all the more so as the splits are offered to the municipalities free of charge as public publication organs. In addition, a large circulation that could be combined with the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich could perhaps alleviate Tamedia's problem with this title.
But the Zurich newspaper probably only came up with the idea thanks to development aid from Basel anyway, as the Basel newspaper had already launched a large circulation for the Basel region a month and a half ago. The preliminary results: BaZ won 150 full subscriptions and 2,300 trial subscriptions. It also brought the large circulation into the Metropool as a Plus variant. This should have whetted the appetite of Tamedia's strategists.
Markus Knöpfli

Christophe Waeber has been appointed Managing Director at the communications agency Saatchi & Saatchi Simko, based in Geneva. This is a newly created position. After Madeleine von Arx-Richter, former COO at Saatchi & Saatchi Simko, left the Geneva-based agency in September (see ), the position of COO was upgraded to Managing Director. "This upgrade is due to the rapid growth of the agency," explained CEO Pedro Simko to Werbewoche. "Christophe Waeber is the ideal appointment for us," said Simko. "He doesn't come from the classic advertising school. Rather, in addition to his impressive track record in management, strategic planning and relationship management, he also brings a wealth of experience from the media world and other marketing and communication disciplines," Simko continued. According to Simko, this know-how is both valuable and necessary for a communications agency in a communications world that is undergoing dramatic change and in which an agency can no longer distinguish itself solely through outstanding creations.
Waeber, who holds a Master's degree in Marketing and Business Administration from the University of Basel, has been Managing Director of Carat Switzerland since June 2005. He was previously Deputy Publishing Director and Head of Sales at Weltwoche and Bilanz (2004-2005), Managing Director at the media agency OMD (2002-2004) and Head of Strategic Planning at Seiler DDB (1999-2001).
 
Christophe Waeber will take up his new position at Saatchi & Saatchi Simko on January 2, 2007. The Geneva-based agency recently attracted attention by winning the Orange account (see
and ).

Planetactive Zurich, the full-service digital marketing agency, has developed an online promotion for Swisscom. The campaign is designed to promote the new «Swisscom Together» service, which allows users to group one landline and two to five cell phones into a single group. Planetactive’s responsibilities included creating and executing an online campaign, as well as developing a microsite for a photo contest.
http://www.swisscom-fixnet.ch/together
. In line with the main target audience for Swisscom Together, the photo contest focuses on the theme of «togetherness.» The photos will be displayed in a gallery on the microsite and can be sent to friends and family as e-cards or offline postcards. The photo contest is also the centerpiece of the campaign created by Planetactive. It will be featured on high-reach portals and target-group-specific websites. Since April 2006, Planetactive’s media division has been part of Neo@Ogilvy, Ogilvy’s global digital and direct media network. Planetactive is majority-owned by the German Ogilvy Group and employs a team of 85 business and branding experts, technology and Internet specialists, account managers, as well as creative and media professionals at its locations in Düsseldorf, Zurich, and Vienna.

Private TV After two months, the private channel 3+ has achieved an average market share of 2.3 percent in primetime. But these are average figures: the target was set so modestly that it was easily achieved: Two months after the start of broadcasting, 3+ has an average market share of 2.3 percent among 15 to 49-year-old viewers in primetime between 8 and 10.30 pm. This figure is higher than predicted at the start of broadcasting, but is only in the range of the viewer figures achieved by SuperRTL, the smallest of the German private channels in Switzerland. By way of comparison, Tamedia's TV 3 achieved a market share of around 4 percent in the first month after the start of broadcasting in the fall of 1999, with individual programs such as the in-house production "Superstar" with the indestructible Chris von Rohr as a juror also boosting the average figures. "On average, we had 51,200 viewers for the first three first broadcasts of 'Superstar'," says media spokeswoman Claudia Wintsch. This corresponds to a market share of 4.9 percent among the 15 to 49-year-old audience. Because the average age of the viewers was low, it was even 7 percent in the target group of 15 to 34-year-olds.
The "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" purchased in the USA, in which models present the latest underwear creations, achieved an even higher market share in this target group.
Not all promises keptThe attribute "young", which 3+ gives itself, can at least be fulfilled by the private channel: At just over 40, the average audience age measured by Telecontrol is significantly lower than that of Swiss television. The viewers of SF 2, which positions itself as a program for the young audience, are also around three years older on average.
3+ has not yet kept all the program promises that were announced in advance. Cheaply purchased canned US series such as "CSI" and the Bond flick "Goldeneye", which will be repeated for the third time next Saturday, dominate primetime. The credo of 3+ Managing Director Dominik Kaiser seems to be to expand gradually.
In-house productions plannedAfter "Superstar", "Switzerland's next Supermodel" will start in February next year, hosted by ex-model Nadja Schildknecht. Further in-house productions are planned for spring 2007: This is when the Swiss "Supernanny" is to be launched, and the start of a cooking show is also planned for this date. "We are currently developing these programs together with customers," says Dominik Kaiser without obligation.
There are also plans for a knowledge magazine that has already been announced. Kaiser is still keeping a low profile on further plans: "We are currently in the process of buying various new US top series and blockbusters."
The creative award for the best product placements and customer integrations in broadcast formats is still only an announcement: "As soon as we have more in-house productions on the channel, we will award it," says Kaiser.
SF in clinch with 3+Sauer aufgestossen
Swiss Television (SF) has been annoyed by 3+'s cheeky description of itself as "young Swiss television". As SF director Ingrid Deltenre has said at every opportunity in recent weeks, this has led to numerous calls from confused TV viewers who believe that 3+ is an additional SF service. As the parent company of SF, SRG SSR has therefore now taken legal action: As a precautionary measure, it has filed a request with the Zurich Commercial Court to prohibit 3+ from using the term "Schweizer Fernsehen" because there is a "blatant risk of confusion". 3+, on the other hand, argues that as a private entertainment television channel, it is positioned quite differently from SF. At the hearing, the single judge recently tried to persuade both parties to reach a settlement. This has not yet been successful. If no agreement is reached within thirty days, the commercial court will have to make a decision.
Adrian Scherrer

Cosmetics/body care +30 percent
Food +28.2 percentBeverages +24.8 percentServices +24.5 percentMedia +14 percentLiving/home +10.6 percent Less advertising expenditure was made by the following sectors:
Tobacco products -68.7 percent
Watches/jewelry -24.8 percentTelecommunications/Internet -23.5 percent Investments in the other sectors were a maximum of 10 percent higher or lower than advertising expenditure in the same month of the previous year.
 
The September dates are available at
available for download.

Regional press The prices of the regional splits of the Tages-Anzeiger in the Zurich area are now also known. It is still unclear how the new regional editions of the Tages-Anzeiger will affect its competitors, the Tages-Anzeiger main paper and the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich. It remains to be seen whether the Tamedia strategists will also launch a large circulation for the regional editions of their flagship. There are too many daily newspapers." This is Tamedia's press credo for the canton of Zurich, expressed by Rolf Bollmann, publishing director of the Tages-Anzeiger, in an interview with the Zürcher Landzeitung (ZLZ) on October 11. There, Bollmann also made it clear how, in his opinion, the Blätterwald should be cleared. In 20 years' time, there would still be "the Tages-Anzeiger as the only major newspaper in the greater Zurich area, with many small local papers alongside it", he said. And the NZZ would play "a special role" as a nationally oriented paper. Not a word about the ZLZ.
Tariffs for regional editionsThis is not a new idea. But expressed so bluntly and without the slightest blink of an eye in the ZLZ, it leaves no questions unanswered. Tamedia has already underpinned its power play with the rates for the regional editions. Accordingly, a full-page, four-color Tagi split page costs between 7 and 71 francs less per thousand readers than with the corresponding ZLZ partners. With one exception: in the district of Meilen, the Tages-Anzeiger has set its rate significantly higher than the local Zürichsee-Zeitung.
However, caution is required when making such comparisons, as the distribution areas of the ZLZ partners are not always identical to those of the corresponding Tagi regional editions. Here is just one example: the Tagi split on the left bank of the lake serves all municipalities in the district of Horgen, whereas the left-bank edition of the Zürichsee-Zeitung (ZSZ) is different: it is not distributed in the municipalities of Rüschlikon, Kilchberg and Thalwil and only partially in Oberrieden. The Zürcher Landzeitung association therefore has a blind spot there. In order to cover these four municipalities, the Thalwiler Anzeiger must be booked in addition to the ZSZ or ZLZ.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that the Tagi regional editions can hardly refinance their costs with this pricing strategy. Nor do they have to. "The regional editions will never be profitable on their own," said Bollmann in the aforementioned interview. The reason: the splits support the overall Tagi circulation, which in turn cross-subsidizes the splits thanks to its income from the national market.
Despite this pricing policy, Tamedia does not like to hear the word dumping: "We are not pursuing a dumping strategy, our prices are in line with the market," defends Christoph Zimmer, the new Head of Tamedia Communications. However, the split prices should give the regional and local economy "the opportunity to be able to afford advertising with us", explains Zimmer.
In the jungle of tariffsThe simple handling and clarity of the Tages-Anzeiger tariff policy is also striking. In this region, this is a welcome development, because although the ZLZ system is highly flexible, it is also complicated. The ZLZ partners can be linked not only in a trio, but also in pairs, each with a combined discount and, depending on the customer, also with a regional tariff. In addition, individual ZLZ titles can be combined with numerous third-party titles.
The Tages-Anzeiger is different: its splits can be freely combined with each other, but without a combination discount, according to Christoph Zimmer. Combinations between any split and third-party newspapers, such as the Landbote, the Uster Nachrichten or the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich, do not exist either, says Zimmer.
The ZLZ rate jungle is becoming even denser due to a large circulation offer that is difficult to keep track of, while the Tagi regional editions are starting without a large circulation. If, for example, Tamedia follows suit with a large print run from 2007, this will also enrich the rate documentation with figures.
But how have sales of the Tagi splits got off to a good start? If you ask the ZLZ partners, they feel little of the new competition. "On the left bank of the lake, where the Tagi has had a regional edition for a year and a half, we haven't noticed anything so far," says Jost Kessler, Head of Advertising at ZSZ. "In terms of advertising income, we are above budget this year and also above last year." On the right bank, however, some customers have told him that they will advertise with the Tages-Anzeiger on a trial basis. Despite this, Kessler says that his customer advisors have not returned in recent weeks with a flood of rejections.
Erland Herkenrath, Managing Director of ZSZ and Zürcher Unterländer, confirms: "I'm confident, because we haven't lost a single customer so far, but rather gained some." He also notes that Tagi sellers are "cutting their teeth in our regions." Konrad Müller, Publishing Director at Zürcher Oberländer, adds: "I've heard from indignant advertising customers that the Tages-Anzeiger is making offers that are up to 50 percent below its official split rates." But despite the price advantage, customers would not appreciate this. "Ultimately, they don't want a monopolist in the Zurich Oberland," explains Müller.
Cannibalism at Tamedia? In the city of Zurich, on the other hand, sales of the Tagi split are reportedly going well. According to reports, the local edition is a real bestseller - albeit at the expense of the Tagi main paper and the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich. Tamedia also owns 60 percent of the latter, with NZZ holding the rest. It also serves as the city's official publication organ, for which the two publishers have to pay a concession fee that is partly dependent on turnover.
At Tamedia, however, Christoph Zimmer is relaxed: "It is obvious that the Tages-Anzeiger regional edition for the city of Zurich and the Tagblatt are competing in the advertising market. However, we believe in the future of the Tagblatt." However, it is still not clear what this will look like two weeks before the start of the split. "We are in constructive talks with the NZZ and the city. It is still too early for further information about these talks at the moment," says Zimmer.
And what does he think about the possible cannibalization of the Tages-Anzeiger by the in-house regional split? That's not the case, he says. On the contrary, the city split offers those SMEs for whom the Tagi was previously too expensive and associated with too high a scatter loss an advantageous advertising opportunity. Nationally active companies, on the other hand, would continue to occupy the entire circulation in future. "So there will be no loss of sales, but a gain in sales," says Zimmer.
Confident Züriland budgetKonrad Müller from Zürcher Oberländer
has just completed its budgeting phase. "Due to the introduction of the integrated color millimeter rate, we increased our advertising volume by 4.3 percent compared to 2005, while advertising sales grew by 2.2 percent. I have now estimated sales at the same level for 2007," he says. The previous Züriland-Kombi has also been able to increase sales and volume by around 3 percent each. The Neue Bülacher Tagblatt will be added in 2007, which is why the combined rate will be increased slightly - despite competition from the Tagi. "We have estimated sales growth of 5 percent for the Zürcher Landzeitung," says Müller confidently.
Markus Knöpfli

Musik Coop is versatile. Not only in its product range. The number two retailer is now also producing music. A boy moves from the country to the city. He feels visibly uncomfortable. Coop's organic mountain cheese brings him a piece of home in the city. He smiles. In the Coop TV commercial there is this simple pop song. You know it. The band less so. The band, Nova International, has recently become well-known in Switzerland and is now listed in the Swiss hit parade. Thanks to Coop, and this is how it came about: At the beginning of the year, Coop launched the "For me and you" advertising campaign. The Coop TV commercials tell the funny stories of Coop customers. With the aim of being perceived as more modern and likeable. The music by Nova International is part of the TV commercials. The "hum-along feel-good pop rock", as one blogger describes it, is well received. And this despite the fact that Nova International have never been played on the radio or performed on an open-air stage.
The Coop customer center was inundated with emails and phone calls within a very short time after the commercials were first broadcast. Instead of complaints, customer service was inundated with inquiries about who the band was and how to get their music. Without further ado, Coop decided to produce an entire CD. The Coop TV commercial material was turned into complete songs. The Nova International album has been available in selected Coop sales outlets and specialist shops since October 17. In the Media Control album charts, Nova International are ranked 54th, and 39th in the Swiss airplay charts.
With Nova International, Coop has conquered the Swiss music market in a way that is unique, but not new. Time and again, advertising songs make it into the charts. And advertisers often rely on the songs of famous musicians. The most popular example from Switzerland is DJ Bobo's Chiwawa Song for Coca-Cola, which also stormed the charts abroad. Or the Graubünden vacation TV commercial "Fitta mit em Gion". It was so well received that Universal Music Zurich produced the alpine hit "Move your Füdli", which was played up and down on Viva.
Nova International may have created a catchy tune with "Drive Drive Drive", but not all Swiss radios are playing it. Tobias Müller from the music department at Radio Ri says: "The song works in advertising when you see the images. Emotional and cool. Otherwise, the boys' music is simply too lax for the radio." This opinion can also be found in the latest entries in forums on the Internet. "I always thought the song was great in the commercials, but it's no longer on CD
says the Börner. Good 4", writes Schwizerin, and Pvayva says: "I can imagine that it will be heard too often very quickly. At the moment I still like the song quite a lot. If it were the song in a Migros ad, I'd give it a 5."
A whole series of concerts with Nova International is being planned for spring 07. And the advertising agency KSB/S+J wants to produce more TV commercials with Nova International's music.
Christian Lüscher

The Agefi Group embarks on a new upswing with a diversification strategy. It is renaming itself AGEN Holding and is becoming increasingly active in the healthcare sector. The first step in this direction is the acquisition of Genolier Swiss Medical Network (GSMN). GSMN is a network of four clinics employing almost 400 doctors and a total of 800 employees. The transaction still has to be approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for the end of November. GSMN shareholder Michael Schroeder and Raymond Loretan are to be elected as new members of the Board of Directors. The latter is currently Swiss Consul General in New York, but intends to relinquish this post. Loretan is already being touted as the future Chairman of the Board of Directors. The current Chairman, Alain Fabarez, wants to step down as he does not know enough about the hospital sector. Agefi shares performed very positively after the announcement, rising by 28.5 percent.  
The company hopes that this step will give it a more solid financial and industrial basis. The aim is to benefit from the significant structural growth in the healthcare sector. The integration of GSMN into a listed company will further promote the company's growth and increase profitability, according to the Agefi Group's communiqué. Apparently, the creation of a large Swiss healthcare group is also already being considered - through mergers and acquisitions of other clinics.
GSMN has good earning power and will achieve consolidated sales of a good 120 million in 2006. The Annual General Meeting must approve a capital increase for financing purposes. The purchase price will be paid in cash and shares.
The historically grown core business in publishing will be continued, the statement continues. The Agefi Group is the publisher of the Swiss daily newspaper for business, l'Agéfi, which claims to have 133,000 readers.

Does luxury advertising also work online? The marketer Web2com, Cash-Online and the luxury watch brand Maurice de Mauriac have tested several online advertising media for their effectiveness. The results were very positive. The website achieved an increase in visitors of over 130 percent during the campaign. Around 40 percent of visitors wanted to find out more about the new watch collection. 30 percent were interested in the catalog, and orders for the print catalog even doubled. The operators of the study came to the conclusion that large-scale advertising formats with a high proportion of images are particularly suitable for online advertising for luxury goods. The online advertising media used in the case study were full banners, leaderboards, skyscrapers, expandable skyscrapers and text ads. Intrusive animations and messages were deliberately avoided. The advertising media were placed on Cash.ch for one month. User interactions with the Maurice de Mauriac website were measured (post tracking). The click rates were 0.27% for the full banner, 0.39% for the leaderboard, 0.55% for the skyscraper and 6.56% for the expandable skyscraper. The click rates for the skyscraper and expandable skyscraper formats in particular significantly exceeded the average click rate.

The St. Gallen direct marketing specialist Lammoth Mailkonzept has designed a direct mail advertising campaign for the Ringier magazines Schweizer Illustrierte and Glückspost. The unaddressed version of the mailing would outperform the addressed version in terms of success. Not in terms of response, which is usually less than one percent, but in terms of cost-per-order. This is particularly evident with products that are not aimed at small target groups but are of general interest, according to a press release. Attractive subscription offers are therefore the focus of communication. This is the third DM campaign that Lammoth Mailkonzept has realized for Ringier Verlag within eight months.

Swiss International Air Lines and Coop are extending their collaboration for a further five years until 2011. The two companies are already working together in the areas of customer loyalty (Coop Supercard points can be exchanged for Miles&More award miles) and in-flight catering. The two companies are now also planning joint sales campaigns to reach new target groups, according to a press release. A corresponding offer will be launched shortly.

After the Berlin publishing house Axel Springer announced the reduction of 266 jobs in administration in September of this year (see ), the publishing house is now announcing an increase in staff. On the one hand, Axel Springer has recorded an increase of 281 (+ 2.9 percent) employees in the first three quarters of the current financial year. According to SDA, this is the result of the media company's current personnel statistics. On the other hand, further jobs are to be created in the German magazine and online business as well as abroad. Investments are to be made primarily in areas close to the market, which will also result in new jobs. "We are pleased with this development because it proves that it is possible to create jobs with successful new business despite the contrary trend in the industry," explains Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer. The Executive Board assumes that staff growth will continue in the coming year with a series of new projects.