Peter Marti, once a successful
advertiser, has written a book. Why he called it "Lizard Marketing"
is not clear to the reader after 176 pages. Apparently it is also
because he doesn't go into it. Perhaps peacock marketing
more appropriate, because Marti adorns himself with other people's feathers. Apparently
David Ogilvy, the great American advertiser, is Marti's role model, the
he likes to quote often. There is nothing wrong with that, because
Ogilvy has supported numerous advertisers around the globe for many years.
The only pity is what business and marketing consultants
Marti makes of these ideas and, with the exception of Absolute Return, no
brings in an independent idea. (rh)
Lizard Marketing by Peter Marti; Orell Füssli Verlag, 2006, 176 pages,
44 francs.

The car manufacturer Saab has taken a new approach to its brand communication. As part of its sponsorship commitment, the Tuesday crime drama and the cult series "24" will be supported on Swiss television from June. The billboards, which emphasize the criminalistic effect, were created by Fisch.Meier.

The Zurich-based agency Jung von Matt/Limmat has won a seal of approval for its website www.alessandro-fischer.ch in the "Creation" category of the Best of Swiss Web competition. A total of 33 entries were submitted in this category and three seals of approval were awarded. "The website is a portfolio application that meets the needs of the photographer, his clients and interested parties," says JvM/Limmat.

Communication General planning, media experience, trained personnel and luck - that is what made the trains smoke-free.
entire public transport system in Switzerland smoke-free. Half a year after
of introducing smoke-free travel, it's clear that it's working." This
Susanna Oertli, vice director of the association, drew a positive balance
public transport (VöV), at a media conference at the beginning of the week. For
the success of this change in behavior, which has been achieved throughout Switzerland.
Oertli four reasons: The tolerance of non-smokers, the good work of the
train crews, a general trend in society and finally
a practical advantage: more space for everyone without unused seats in
Smoking compartments.

But that is only one side of the coin. What Oertli does not
mentioned: For the coordinated introduction of smoke-free trains of altogether
19 public transport companies was a general staff-prepared
Communication necessary. The threads ran through the
Ruedi Helfer, who is responsible for communications at VöV. And this
planned in different phases. As phase I he designates the time until
to the yes vote of the 19 public transport companies for a joint approach. "If the
media get wind of the matter, this unity would hardly have been
possible," says Helfer. The media were correspondingly "flabbergasted
when VöV made its delicate decision about a year ago.
communicated - even more so shortly after the major SBB power outage.
Phase II followed: smokers and opponents of the ban came forward.
loudly. Something that helper feared, but then did not occur
one: Smoke-free public transportation did not become a summer hole issue. Another risk
were the photo shoots for the award-winning conversion campaign of the
Advertising agency Jung von Matt/Limmat (JvM): a dromedary at a Ticino
station could not be hidden. The smoke-free opponents would have
get wind of the situation and use it for their own purposes. That happened
not. At the same time, the staff of the 19 public transport operators in the
Dealing with recalcitrant smokers. "For the success of the
overall communication, this should prove to be very important."
Helfer says looking back.

The decisive phase III began with the media conference on 5.
December 2005. The message was: From Sunday, December 11, the
Public transport definitely smoke-free. Then came the acid test: almost every medium
tested the public transport staff on the deadline with smoking journalists. "The
was foreseeable," laughs Helfer, himself a former DRS journalist. "But
the staff was well trained and provided little material for the media -
Except that these were amazed at the sovereign reactions." The
Advantage of the media test: On the following day, the changeover was again
a topic of discussion throughout Switzerland. "The fact that this behavioral change is so slim
went over the top also has to do with luck. In addition, we have
obviously caught the right moment," says Helfer looking back.

The JvM agency takes a similar view. "In order for such a conversion
people have to be ready for it. That was apparently the
case," says campaign copywriter Michael Kathe.
   

Markus Knöpfli

Major events such as the upcoming football World Cup are ideal platforms for sponsorship. But how efficient are such sponsorship activities? Different studies come to different conclusions about the impact and value of sponsorship. The Hamburg-based Fachverein für Sponsoring (FASPO) is calling on market research institutes and the media to be more careful and responsible when interpreting and publishing market research results on sponsorship at major events. This is because FASPO recently observed an increasing number of negative media reports on sponsorship involvement at the Winter Olympics in Turin.
According to the sponsorship association, publications from market research institutes as well as university research institutes are increasingly questioning the effectiveness and efficiency of World Cup sponsors.
It is clear that the sponsorship association does not want to accept such "business-damaging behaviour": FASPO emphasizes that the impact and utility value of sponsorship are individually dependent on the strategic objectives of the company. "Communication research has long proven that sponsorship works on an emotional level," comments Jens Krüger, FASPO board member and market researcher himself.

Exhibition organizers and event designers can still submit their work for the Branchenoskar Xaver until June 30, 2006. The reason for the extension of the deadline by one month is feedback from numerous interested parties who are fully booked due to various projects before the summer vacations and therefore do not have time to register. The new deadline will give more potential winners the chance to win a gold, silver or bronze award. The jury meeting will now take place in mid-July. On Wednesday, 23 August 2006, the Xaver will be awarded in Hall 3 Messe Zürich in the event categories Business (invited guests), Public (public event) and Budget (total budget under CHF 75,000) as well as in the categories Customized, System and Budget.

Following Deutsche Telekom's agreement with the German Football League (DFL) in the dispute over the acquired internet rights to the Bundesliga, Premiere has lost hope of broadcasting via cable or satellite. As reported by the industry service Horizont, the DFL officially accepts Telekom's legal opinion that the acquired Internet license also includes distribution via cable and satellite. However, Telekom is waiving its right to exercise the rights in return for a significant reduction in license fees. In addition, Telekom will receive the mobile rights for three Bundesliga seasons from the 2006/07 season onwards. The agreement also provides for Telekom to become a premium partner of the Bundesliga and to have its logo on the substitution boards and shirt sleeves of the 36 clubs in the first and second divisions. This preserves the exclusive rights of the Arena cable group, which acquired the TV license for 210 million euros. Premiere customers, on the other hand, will only be able to watch the Bundesliga with a VDSL connection from Telekom, which is likely to disappoint most of Premiere's pay-TV subscribers. The loss of the rights for distribution via cable and satellite caused Premiere's share price to plummet to an all-time low of less than ten euros on Tuesday.

Doctor Jean-Jaques Fasnacht is back on the air. Every second Thursday between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m., he will be on Schaffhausen's Radio Munot with tips on health and illness. His program is entitled "Xundheitstipps mit Tokter Fasnacht" and is intended to address current health issues in an entertaining way and in understandable language. Until recently, Fasnacht was responsible for a similar section on Radio DRS. However, the broadcaster ended the collaboration after five years because Jean-Jaques Fasnacht is now politically active as co-president of the anti-nuclear energy association "KLAR! Switzerland" is politically active. According to Radio DRS, Fasnacht had not kept a low profile politically as agreed. For reasons of independence, transparency and credibility, there should be no confusion between editorial work and political commitment. Jean-Jaques Fasnacht has waived his fee for his new program. Instead, Radio Munot is making a donation to "Médecins sans Frontiers" and Unicef.

At the moment, SRG is not at all interested in launching its own sports channel as a pay-TV service. This was stated by SRG Head of Sport Urs Leutert in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger. Two days before the World Cup kicks off, he provides information about future plans in the face of rising costs and increasing competition. SRG's basic sports offering will be reduced. On national TV, viewers will continue to see summaries of all goals and matches, while the most attractive games will be broadcast live, Leutert continued. In ice hockey, however, the red pencil is being applied: The package will be reduced, especially in the playoffs. "Consumers who want the SRG broadcasters' current program will have to add other providers and pay extra for it," the head of sport told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. The exploding prices for sports rights are a particular concern for SRG in football, but "normality and common sense" have returned in other areas. It is still conceivable that SRG will forego the Champions League or Euro 2008 in its own country; with regard to Euro 2008, SRG is still "in intensive negotiations" with Uefa. Rising rights costs are to be offset by savings in production. According to Leutert, sponsorship income only makes up a small part of the refinancing in the single-digit percentage range.
Leutert went on to explain that the merging of media means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between traditional channels. In future, a distinction would have to be made between "free" and "pay" as well as "linear" and "on demand". SF should cover the "free" part; what has to be paid for will in future be covered by other channels in Swiss football. In the "on demand" area, the current offering will be maintained. This means that it will still be possible to watch SF sports programs on the Internet.

Just in time for the World Cup, the sports magazine Sport Bild is launching the only daily World Cup newspaper that will be available in stadiums and at fan festivals throughout Germany. This was announced by Axel Springer Verlag. Sport Bild täglich is being produced in cooperation with Medienfabrik Gütersloh and FIFA and will be included free of charge with the official program magazine from June 9, 2006. In addition to top World Cup topics, the magazine offers an eight-page preview of all the matches of the day, match reports and information on the previous day's games, a daily World Cup TV planner and two extra pages with reports on the German national team. The latter will contain amusing and personal stories directly from the German team. The editorial deadline for the newspaper is one o'clock in the morning. "With the World Cup newspaper, we are implementing our motto 'Closer is not possible' in an ideal way," commented Ralf Koslowski, General Manager of Sport Bild, on the launch. Anyone who was unable to get a ticket for a stadium match can download an e-paper version free of charge from June 7 at www.sportbild.de.

The Football Mobile Ticker from 20 Minuten brings the World Cup news to your cell phone. Euro RSCG has created a motif for this service that shows football "just as briefly, concisely and yet comprehensively as the new mobile ticker does", according to the press release. It depicts a typical situation during a football match - albeit with Lego figures. The motif can be seen in the daily press and on the Internet.

On June 7, Thurgau Marketing launches its new 2006 campaign, which uses posters for 14 days to position the canton, particularly in the greater Zurich area. Three subjects will be used to promote the canton: "Paradise - located in Thurgau, where else?", "T-Budget - in Thurgau you get more for your money" and "Thurgau.ch - or surf on Lake Constance". This is the third time that the campaign has been carried out in the Greater Zurich Area, with the aim of further increasing awareness of the "Thurgau" brand and its appeal. In this context, Thurgau will also be present on the e-board at Zurich's main railway station this year.