Nathalie Strobl is already working with Namics Rotweiss for the second hype on the web. "We are facing the second big Internet hype. I sense a clear upswing in the entire communications industry, but especially in the Internet sector." Nevertheless, Nathalie Strobl does not want to "view the development uncritically". The Head of Creation at Internet service provider Namics and CD of the Namics Rotweiss creation unit founded in January 2006 is convinced: "Communication is shifting. And the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in this. "Let's click back: there was the big boom, then the big crash. At that time, however, the redistribution in the various media was still too fast. The big ideas didn't yet fit into the small channels. That's different now. Broadband is standard, which is why Strobl is working with the claim that this medium now has more and more to offer in terms of brand experience. "This is our big opportunity: we can now use more opportunities than ever before to emotionalize and build brands for our customers."
Nathalie Strobl has been working in the industry for over ten years. She started out in automotive design. "I'm a big car fan. Cars are a reflection of the times and society, a design aspect like fashion." Strobl studied design in Pforzheim. During an internship at Mercedes-Benz, she realized "that not only design, but also communication for cars can be fun". This is how she came to visual communication.
She was one of the first to graduate in 1996 with a thesis on the newly created Internet. "It was a medium that fascinated me right from the start." She initially started her career in the classic sector at Jung von Matt/Neckar. The daughter of a French mother also worked as a designer in Paris for two years. But then she built up the creative department as Head of Creation for the Internet pioneer AGI.
The start-up in Stuttgart was soon joined by branches in Berlin and Hamburg. With AGI, she experienced both the new economy hype and its crash. This also gave her a crash course in employee management. "It was terrible, we had to let a lot of people go." This was particularly tragic because the team spirit in such pioneering agencies is very special. "We were the task force for the new medium."
After the crisis, Strobl continued at Dorten in Stuttgart. Here she worked "format-neutral" on ideas and strategic communication solutions for clients such as Quelle Versand and Hypo Vereinsbank. In October 2004, she finally found her way back to her greatest passion, the Internet, "the medium with the greatest potential". She became Creative Director and a member of the management team at Namics.
Namics was founded in 1995 by Internet pioneers as a spin-off from the University of St.Gallen. The company now employs over 150 people and is part of PubliGroupe. In addition to its headquarters in St. Gallen, Namics also has offices in Zurich, Zug and branches in Hamburg and Frankfurt. As the Swiss market leader in consulting and technology, Namics has so far realized over a thousand projects relating to "everything to do with the development of business processes on the Internet".
There are several teams at the individual locations that function as independent business units. These have their own management structure, acquire their customers themselves and are also responsible for the results. Specialized people can also be hired across teams.
To meet the ever-increasing demand for brand-building measures on the Internet, Namics founded a new unit, Namics Rotweiss, in January 2006. Here, strategy and creation are given a very special emphasis, as we know them from classic advertising. Consequently, the ten employees of Namics Rotweiss to date are designers, consultants, copywriters, concept developers, animation experts and strategists - from all over the world.
With this specialization, Rotweiss deliberately wants to complement the range of services and set itself apart, which is why it also operates as an independent brand on the market. What communication goals does a brand have? What should the statement or message be? How can we play this on the Internet?
"The great thing about the internet is that you can appeal to multiple senses. That's the best way to generate emotions. And I use emotions to create a brand experience." This is how the CD from Namics Rotweiss defines her work today. She still has great respect for traditional advertising. But while TV commercials play something to her - whether I like it or not - it's "great" how people voluntarily go to websites on the Internet and spend five minutes there to discover new information.
Of course, the Internet designer has the obligation to present the offers in such a way that the recipient retains this desire. "I don't care about a stupid flashing banner, I ignore it or it just interests me." However, if something is really well done, stands out and is unique, then people are interested and click on it measurably more often. "People click on things they like and actually stay there. That's why creation is so important."
Namics Rotweiss has currently implemented the new Phase 1 website for Cailler and is in the process of expanding it further. The new brand presence for Rivella will also go online in the next few weeks. Rotweiss was able to impress with its concept and design in this pitch. "Rivella is creating a comprehensive, interactive brand experience, from image-enhancing animation design to the integration of events and the online shopping experience. Added to this is a traffic concept that significantly increases the frequency of visits to the website." Strobl knows that this sounds very strategic. But with the Internet, we are only at the beginning of a development that will surprise us with many more surprises in terms of creation.
   
Andreas Panzeri

TV production The small Bernese production company FaroTV, which is now owned by Condor Films and has enjoyed international success with the TV format "Joya rennt", has been successful once again: it has won a tender from SF2 for the production of a residential docusoap, which will be broadcast from fall 2006. This was confirmed by SF spokesman David Affentranger. However, he did not say who the Bern-based company beat out in the pitch. According to reports, it was RingierTV, the German Ufa and B&B Endemol. FaroTV itself also declined to comment, although the docusoap may be its first SF commission.
Markus Knöpfli

Column A little more sportsmanship would be a good thing for the departing Schröders and Berlusconis of this world How similar the images are, across all ideological divides: for parvenues who have made it to the top in politics, the loss of power often seems to go hand in hand with a loss of reality. In any case, for both Silvio Berlusconi and Gerhard Schröder, the farewell was apparently so unimaginable and at the same time so painful that it took both of them days to acknowledge their election defeat as such. In the meantime, they spent an agonizingly long time playing the poor loser.
However, Berlusconi was denied the evasion that Schröder used for himself. Not even his own supporters would have believed the Italian prime minister if he had blamed the media for his own downfall. Anyone who, like Silvio B. to date, has all six of his country's major TV stations under his control and is also the majority owner of the largest magazine publisher can hardly be brought down by journalists. Berlusconi has achieved the feat of losing his majority despite his media supremacy and a weak opposition - and then accusing his own interior minister of rigging the election.
However, there are other similarities between Berlusconi and Schröder: both were regarded as "great communicators". Both, one as media chancellor, the other as media magnate and prime minister, played with the media in a populist and rather high-handed manner. And both ultimately lost out to the media.
During the Italian election campaign, there was hardly a blunder that Berlusconi did not put his foot in. "Here is just one downright grotesque example: Because Lucia Annunciata, the former RAI director, asked his majesty critical questions as a TV journalist, he ran out of the TV studio, furious and headless, in front of the camera." The journalists didn't need to be against Berlusconi. It was enough for them to follow their duty as chroniclers and report on how the prime minister dismantled himself in the media from appearance to appearance. So it can at least be assumed that Berlusconi ultimately fell into the same trap that Schröder had already fallen into and that politicians and military leaders often fall into.
In conflicts - in election campaigns as well as in war - both camps perceive the media as hostile. American media researchers have described this as a hostile media phenomenon. But apart from partisan newspapers, it is simply unwise for the media to take sides too one-sidedly. They alienate the part of their audience that disagrees with them and thus stand in the way of their own commercial success - an insight that is admittedly spreading rather hesitantly in the Romance-speaking world compared to Anglo-Saxon and German-speaking countries.
What remains to be seen now is what will happen next. Unlike Schröder, Berlusconi has amassed so many millions that he does not have to go into Putin's or Ringier's service. However, like Helmut Kohl and Giulio Andreotti before him, he will most likely be scandalized. Let's wait and see what else the now no longer gagable judiciary will bring to light after the fall of the monument - in conjunction with the media that Silvio B. does not control himself. Perhaps his purchase of a house in Switzerland is the first indication that he intends to escape all this in time. In the meantime, we hope that the alpha dogs of politics will learn from the German goalkeeper Olli Kahn. The Berlusconis and Schröders of this world would benefit from a little more sporting spirit in the role of loser.
Stephan Russ-Mohl heads the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano

René Frei is the new head of the independently operating IT and Prepress division at the Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM) group. The 45-year-old is the successor to Hansjörg Gerster, whose career change had been certain for some time, according to the communiqué. Frei was previously managing director at the company Delec Informatikmanagement. The human resources department of the BZM Group will be reorganized in connection with the initiated structural reorganization of the company and adapted to current needs. Stephan Gugelmann will take over the management of the cross-company service department as Head of Human Resources as of July 1. The 38-year-old previously held the position of Head of Human Resources at the media company Ringier. Gugelmann's predecessor, Beat Bucher (60), will continue to assume responsibilities in Human Resources.

Andreas Zehnder, who took over the Zehnder publishing house from his father Rolf Peter Zehnder last November, is clearly serious about revamping the empire with 2 trade journals and 22 free titles and giving its print products a more serious image. The first thing he did (as previously reported) was to hire publishing expert Daniel Sommer (ex-Basler Zeitung) with the task of revamping the publishing house in terms of marketing. However, it has only now become known that Andreas Zehnder also joined the Swiss Press Association at the same time. The move is tantamount to a break with family tradition, as his father was never a member of the association. However, for a long time the association did not want to accept free newspaper publishers into its ranks. And Rolf Peter Zehnder, who founded Switzerland's first free newspaper and was therefore regarded as the enfant terrible of the industry, was even more reluctant to join.
It seems that Andreas Zehnder now wants to draw a line under his father's pioneering days and open a new chapter. To this end, he has registered his two specialist magazines Schützen-König and Active Life as well as the three free newspapers Neue Oltner Zeitung, Wiler Nachrichten and Züri Nachrichten as members of the association on behalf of the publishing house. "I'm curious to see what this will bring me," he said when asked.
Another step also points to a new beginning: Zehnder and Sommer have had Wemf survey the reach of all 22 free titles in the empire since April 1, 2006. The results are shown for the first time in Mach Basic 2007-2. Only six Zehnder titles were included in Mach Basic 2006-1.
Andreas Zehnder is also stepping on the gas in the printing sector: because the Neue Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ) has been printed by Tamedia since the beginning of the year, he took over the newspaper press and Ferag finishing line from TZ publisher Huber & Co. Both will now be installed at Zehnder Print in Rickenbach - together with a second purchased system. The publisher does not want to reveal how the additional capacity will be utilized. However, he does hint that he has won new orders. Among other things, it is known that he was able to take over the Hinterthurgau regional newspaper (5400 copies), which is published five times a week, from TZ as a print customer. The company's own papers also benefit from the TZ printing press: the Winterthurer Zeitung and St. Galler Nachrichten can now be printed in four colors throughout.
Markus Knöpfli

Outdoor advertising The Affichage subsidiary Sportart is expanding its event division for Euro 2008 - through which it also markets sports facilities in Basel.14 days ago, when Basel cantonal councillor Christoph Eymann announced the appointment of Thomas Kastl as the new marketer of Basel's St. Jakob's Hall and other sports facilities, anonymous accusations of nepotism soon arose. Although Eymann firmly denied this, Kastl's choice is surprising at first glance: the Bavarian, sole owner of the little-known event company Levent AG and managing director of the even less well-known event company Sui Generis AG, actually has little to offer compared to the experienced organizer Messe Schweiz, who also applied for the job.Although opinion is divided on Kastl's expertise (see box), it is clear that as Managing Director of Sui Generis he can draw on a large customer pool that has long been prepared by third parties without his involvement. These "third parties" include Affichage, the Swiss market leader in out-of-home advertising, and its subsidiary Sportart AG, the market leader in the purchase and sale of sports rights in Switzerland. Both are backed by Sui Generis. Kastl's election in Basel therefore says little about the Bavarian himself. Rather, it sheds light on Affichage's strategy in the field of sports marketing.
New field for AffichageIn the more than 100-year history of Affichage, sports marketing is a new activity. The out-of-home advertiser first set foot in this field in 2002, when it acquired an 80 percent stake in Zurich Sportart. This has little to do with traditional out-of-home advertising, but it does market the sponsorship packages of numerous sports associations and major sporting events. For example, it serves the Swiss Football Association as a coordination office for sponsorship and partnerships. Incidentally, the remaining 20 percent of Sportart is held by the TV rights marketer Kentaro, based in Wil SG and London.
"In recent years, it has become increasingly common for sponsors that we support to want to organize events," reports Sportart Director Oliver Achermann. "This opened up great potential for us with regard to Euro 2008," adds Christian Kauter, Affichage CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sportart. However, it was clear that Sportart would be overwhelmed. "It specializes in sponsorship, not events," clarifies Kauter. That's why the experienced German live marketing agency Max.Sense Marketing GmbH was brought in as a partner and Sui Generis AG was founded a year ago, according to the press release the "first full-service agency for live marketing in Switzerland".
 
The first contracts were landed last year, such as the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour in Switzerland, during which the original 18-carat gold World Cup trophy made a stopover in Zurich on the last weekend of March 2006. Sportart and Max.Sense each hold a 40.5 percent stake in Sui Generis, while Andreas Rickenbacher, a member of the Bernese SP government elected at the beginning of April, (still) holds a further 9 percent, with the remaining 10 percent in the hands of Kastl since December.
The fact that Kastl has now won the mandate to market the sports facilities for Sui Generis in Basel, one of the main venues for Euro 2008, is the crowning glory of the diversification strategy Sportart has just embarked on. This means that suitable venues are also available for event contracts for the major football event. Oliver Achermann, member of the Sui Generis Board of Directors, says: "Marketing sports facilities was not one of Sui Generis' goals, but now a good opportunity has arisen. This means we can also ideally serve sponsors and partners if required." This is Sportart's strategy.
The perspective of Sui Generis is different: Kastl can rely on the customers of Sportart, on the know-how of Max.Sense for event organization and on the services of Affichage for the entire outdoor advertising sector (including perimeter advertising). And sports facilities are also available in Basel. Everything from a single source.
This overall package is unlikely to have escaped the attention of Councillor Eymann. However, Sportart's very sporty customer base probably offered him the greatest guarantee for better utilization of the sports facilities.
Sportart's second daughterNeben Sui Generis
Sportart AG also has a second subsidiary, Attaro AG. This was also founded a year ago as part of a 50:50 joint venture with Sportart co-owner Kentaro. While Kentaro buys international sports rights, Attaro organizes the corresponding major events throughout Europe. For example, Attaro organized the football matches between Argentina and England in Geneva in November and Argentina and Croatia in Basel in March. Despite the good start, Sportart has since reduced its stake to 28%, with Kentaro now holding 72%. "Organizing such major events is neither Sportart's nor Affichage's core business, which is why we want to limit ourselves to activities in Switzerland," explains Christian Kauter, currently Chairman of the Board at Attaro. Criticism of KastlHis list of references
The last campaign in 2004, launched to prevent violence, was neither as popular as hoped nor sustainable. These are the main accusations made by the Basler Zeitung against Thomas Kastl. In addition, there was the anonymous accusation of nepotism against the Basel Sports Office. He got to know Kastl as an "accomplished event manager", says Affichage CEO Christian Kauter in response to the accusations. Ultimately, however, everyone is judged by their results. "We will therefore have to prove our ability in Basel," says Kauter.
Markus Knöpfli

Search engines The Zurich agency Hochspannung wants to make the best-known search portal Search.ch even better known.With a consumer campaign in the best-known print media, the Zurich advertising agency Hoch- spannung wants to make the public even more aware of the popular services of the successful Swiss web portal Search.ch. A simultaneous B2B campaign in the trade press will provide information about the advertising opportunities on the Search.ch portals. Search.ch and its subsites can be used to search specifically for vacant apartments, telephone numbers, addresses and maps of the country and city. And it is precisely this fact that the advertising agency Hochspannung has - specifically - implemented. The agency in Zurich, founded only three years ago, won the budget in a pitch.The creatives around managing director Matthew Katumba, CD Alex Taiganidis and consultant Tom Fäh first formulated the self-confident slogan for their ideas: "Always a direct hit." Around this, catchy ad subjects have been visualized for the consumer campaign. These advertise the individual sites such as immo.search.ch, map.serach.ch or tel.search.ch.
For the implementation of the campaign, the visually familiar targets were modified so that the bull's eye is not a circle but a symbol for the information sought. Thus, the key stands for the apartment or the shape of Switzerland for maps.
 
The advertisements are supported by radio spots. These are designed in the style of "illegal" broadcast jamming by a radio pirate and, depending on the season, advertise tickets for a hike or offers for finding an apartment.
 
In the B2B campaign, the stylistically related slogan is: "Banner away!" This call is aimed at advertisers and media planners in Swiss advertising agencies. The arguments why it is better to "start banning" on Search.ch are provided by the individual ad subjects. For example: "Advertise with keywords - instead of wastage" or "CHF 30 per 1000 contacts in your target group - any questions or what".
 
These relevant statements on media services were placed in the familiar brackets of the Search.ch logo. This is intended to achieve an additional recognition effect. Anyone who enters these arguments formulated here in connection with Search.ch into the net will be automatically forwarded to a website with detailed information via an extra URL. Both campaigns are presented by the client on the net at about.search.ch. Here, in addition to an evaluation, comments can also be made on the advertising.
Search.ch and Swiss PostSwiss Post
acquired Räber Information Management GmbH (RIM) in spring 2004, which operates Search.ch, Switzerland's largest search engine. This also includes tel.search.ch, the most widely used electronic telephone directory. This site is also generally regarded as one of the most visited Internet sites in Switzerland. The reason for the takeover: Swiss Post wants to offer its customers a comprehensive range of services online as well - and to adapt in the long term to changed customer behavior, namely increased Internet use.Search.ch is now one of the most important Swiss Internet platforms. Since its founding in 1995, it has consistently focused on the needs of Internet users. More than 1.8 million regular users are now loyal to the Swiss search engine - and the trend is rising. The Swiss Post Group company is consistently focused on and specialized in Swiss web content.
The "Swiss original" is geared to the demands of a constantly growing Internet community and has various search services on offer such as tv.search.ch, kino.search.ch, events.search.ch, shopping.search.ch or mobile.search.ch.
The electronic telephone number and address search Tel.search.ch is considered the fastest telephone directory in Switzerland. If you are looking for an address or even a restaurant in any city, map.seach.ch is the best choice. This Internet site was voted the best Swiss website of 2005 in the Best of Swiss Web 2005 http://www.bestofswissweb.ch competition. The search service combines addresses and points of interest (museums, restaurants, parking garages with information on occupancy, bus stops with timetables) with a Swiss map, which is displayed either as a street map or as an aerial map.
Andreas Panzeri

Since the beginning of April, Nicole Blaser has been on board as the new Production Manager at Kreativschmiede FCB Leutenegger Krüll. Nicole Blaser has professional knowledge in image processing and enriches the production department and the DTP team with her many years of experience in prepress and print shops. She acquired her specialist knowledge as a desktop artist, production manager, administrator and in customer support in Switzerland and in the field. Nicole Blaser previously worked at Detail AG and Druck Sprint AG, among others.

Celebrity associations to boost the image of farmers and their products. With the help of Burson-Marsteller. "I am and will always be a farmer at heart. There is no better profession than this," Mister Switzerland Renzo Blumenthal is said to have claimed between a photo shoot and a car show. So much professional pride from a famous man is worthy of a "Quote of the Week" from the Swiss Farmers' Association (SBV). However, the revelation could not have come at a better time - even if it stands in stark contrast to the development of the profession in Switzerland. As the sharp decline in the number of farms has led to a decline in the public's understanding of the services, strong lobby and concerns of farmers, the SBC responded in 1998 with its first national image campaign with the claim "Good, there are Swiss farmers", which was intended to strengthen consumer confidence in farming families. Not only by portraying them as sympathetic producers of healthy and organic food, but also by anchoring other services such as landscape conservation. Above all, it was intended to present the completely changed Swiss agricultural sector following the reforms with more modern images.
Edelweiss fabric as the common threadThe concept line, which was also intended to promote the acceptance of local products, argued from the farmers' perspective. Thanks to their natural and modern products, they would bring life to the city, i.e. form the basis for the well-being of the population of the city and countryside.
The agency is now also changing its point of view. Instead of farmers, consumers are now addressing their peers. However, the first ten testimonials are prominent and therefore attention-grabbing consumers. In order to stand out from the overflowing sea of testimonials - the Swiss Fruit Association has also been running a celebrity campaign for years - and to be recognizable again, the creative team at Burson-Marsteller put Michelle Hunziker, Köbi Kuhn & Co. in typical Edelweiss farmer shirts. The well-known claim reinforces this visual bracket or the "light blue thread" that holds the striking print and poster campaign together right down to the below-the-line area of the trade fair appearances. A TV commercial version is not ruled out in the concept, which is initially designed to run for three years.
According to copywriter and consultant Olaf Pilleri, the selected celebrities were to provide an element of surprise. That's why they were specifically looking for contemporaries with an urban, open-minded and active charisma. However, it remains to be seen whether it will always be possible to realize testimonial subjects with a high rarity value, as in the case of Coop and Migros bosses Hansueli Loosli and Herbert Bolliger respectively. While in 2006, alongside show, political and business celebrities, it is mainly representatives from the world of sport who will shine, the next wave will also see celebrities from the world of culture donning the farmer's shirt and making a crisp statement.
Luca Aloisi

The medical association Cosano has entrusted the Basel-based advertising agency Bluegummy with its communications budget. Bluegummy developed the name and corporate identity for Consano and is responsible for all communication measures. Consano is an independent association of doctors who are looking for new solutions for the care of chronically ill patients and their underuse for cost reasons.

On Monday, May 15, at 4 p.m., the free evening newspaper "heute" from the Ringier media house will be published for the first time. With an initial print run of 200,000 copies, "heute" will be distributed in 400 to 500 boxes in Basel, Berne and Zurich. 150 colporteurs will also distribute the free paper to commuters. Ringier reports that the recruitment process for the 20-strong editorial team is almost complete. This means that five more people have been hired than originally reported. The young team, led by editor-in-chief Bernhard Weissberg, will report daily on 32 pages in tabloid format. Daily news as well as news from the areas of entertainment, people and lifestyle will be covered. There will also be information on events and leisure, a TV program and a guide to going out for the young, urban target audience. The editorial team has been divided into a "blue group" and a "red group". The blue group deals with news topics, the red group with nightlife, music, games and fashion topics, as Ringier confirmed on request. The head of the red group is Daniel Steil, former head of entertainment at Blick.
By structuring the editorial team in this way, Ringier is dispensing with the traditional division into departments, as "the thematic emphasis is different and the organization should take this into account. In addition, it is a small team that does not want to and cannot afford large hierarchies, it says
at the request of Werbewoche from Ringier.

The first quarter of the 2006 advertising year closed with an increase of 1.1 percent. As Media Focus announced on Wednesday, the expected growth was not quite achieved, but the monthly trend development gives hope for an improvement. The advertising month of March shows this positive trend in advertising investments with an increase of 2.9 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year, with the following key markets seeing the highest growth in advertising investments: Energy +54 percent, Watches/Jewelry +20 percent, Finance +15 percent, Consumer Electronics +14.5 percent and Pharma/Health +14 percent. Cosmetics/personal care -23.5% and telecommunications -20% invested significantly less than in the same period of the previous year. The effect of the launch of the new Cailler products is reflected in the ranking of the largest advertisers in March 2006. Nestlé ranks third behind Coop and Migros, while Swisscom is only in 6th place behind Unilever and Swiss Post. Aldi Switzerland is represented in the first top 30 advertisers for the third time in a row in 19th place.Media
Focus is a joint venture between the two market research companies
IHA-Gfk and AC Nielsen. Media Focus has been recording the
Gross advertising expenditure in Switzerland in the media Newspapers,
Magazines, television, radio, posters, cinema, teletext and the Internet.