Viral marketing is on everyone's lips:
Advertising should be co-designed by the consumer. This shot can
can also backfire, however, as Chevrolet found out.
In mid-March, according to Pressetext.ch, the car giant launched a website with
Video clips of the new 2007 Tahoe model online. Visitors to the site
the opportunity to customize the clips with your own advertising slogans.
supplement. This was used extensively, and by no means only in
in a friendly manner. Some of the users reacted cynically and made
about the high fuel consumption of off-road vehicles and air conditioning systems
funny. Chevrolet, however, is showing greatness and, according to
press release from the net - despite slogans such as "The oil on
of our planet is almost exhausted. You don't need GPS to
see where this path takes us." Melias Tezanos, Press Officer
of Chevrolet, explained that the company had been anticipating positive
as well as negative reactions. 

Tassimo, a Kraft Foods beverage system that can be used to make coffee and other beverages, has commissioned the Dynamite Advertising agency in Cham with its spring promo. Anyone opting for such a system has the choice between vouchers worth 50 francs and the option of returning the beverage machine within two weeks for a refund of the purchase price. In addition to leaflets and POS material, the promotion also includes advertisements (Coop newspaper) and online advertising.

Print The companies of the visual
Communications in Switzerland in the fourth quarter of 2005
an upswing. This is the result of a survey conducted by the
industry association Viscom in cooperation with the KOF/ETH in the
January/February 2006. In the expectations of the business situation
that the printing segment, which has been the main growth driver in recent months
positive developments in prepress and print finishing
could grow more strongly in the next six months.
The association also reported that competitive pressure in the
graphic arts industry in almost 23 percent of those participating in the survey.
participating companies despite a considerable increase in some
This led to lower selling prices than in the previous quarter.
Compared to the previous quarter's figure, which was almost twice as high
However, this is expected to slow down the fall in prices. Encouraging development
Capacity utilization increased in the 4th quarter of 2005 and
reached an all-time high of 88.9%.

Roger Baur has started his own business with NetProfit and wants to open up better opportunities on the web for his customers.
that he would "invest a billion in the Internet and online stories".
invest". As part of these investments, a year ago he
www.myspace.com purchased. This community website contains 50
million registered private individuals. You can register your projects here,
Events, favorite music or even Aunt Olga and cat Siam
present. Similar communities are Tilllate or
www.klassenfreunde.ch. Baur works with the Friends as a consultant for the
Commercialization with. At Tilllate, he has been a "gray eminence" since
the founding of the company contributed a great deal to the literally boundless development of
contributed.

Roger Baur knows the net. He did some research and saw that
many advertising clients and agencies have a great need to catch up
"because the market is growing disproportionately". But many are sitting there,
are online - but have not been online for a long time, which is
Internet would really be possible.

NetProfit is now the name of the company Roger Baur is working with in this
market niche. "Nothing is stronger than an idea whose
time has come," Baur quotes Victor Hugo in his
working paper. It states that NetProfit offers its customers
to help them "see their opportunities in digital networks more clearly". The
Network consultant wants to "adjust strategies", "comprehensive profit opportunities
and find specialized personnel, cooperation partners
and manage projects. NetProfit can help build
websites or organize the marketing as a general contractor.

For his new company, Baur can rely on the partnership of an established
personnel consultants. The NetProfit office will be located in Wollerau -
but of course even more present on the web. Roger Baur retired at the end of last
year, he left Cinecom in order to "think again about what he wanted to do".
actually wants to do in his future career". The decision
He came to this conclusion on his honeymoon with Raphaela. Since then
he has held talks with various companies and would have
have already been "turned back on several times".

He is interested in
but more the form of the mandates. "There is huge potential in the
marketing of various websites," he is convinced. And in the industry
we know: Only a few have worked in the interactive field with digital
media as much experience as Roger Baur - especially in setting up and
Sales. Alongside other companies, he has worked with Qualiclick for two years.
and "understands very quickly what it takes to build a company.
successful".

Baur has always felt like an "early adapter" and was interested in
for new gadgets and thus found his ideal apprenticeship as a salesman for
consumer electronics. Even as a pen, he would have had "more turnover than
the head salesman". After his apprenticeship, he only found work at Migros
a job and therefore moved to APG as a poster sticker. Here he trained
Together with two colleagues, he formed "the team of hungry boys". As a result
After just one year of above-average performance, he was promoted to
Promoted to foreman. "But that wasn't the end of the line" -
and so he continued his education at night school.

After two years
At APG, he was responsible for the procurement of space at the
building walls in the city of Zurich. Here, too, he was able to complete the
double the turnover. Nevertheless, at APG in 1987, he was perceived with
25 years old, still too young for a management position in sales. So
He was poached as sales manager by his competitor Plakanda. "That
was considered treason at APG. But I worked for a small company
I saw more opportunities for my fighting spirit."

When Plakanda was sold, Baur felt the need for a
Variety. Together with friends, he founded the Vitatop fitness center
in Zurich and managed it for three years. During this phase he
also co-founded the Association of Fitness Centers and
cooperation with the health insurance companies. The fit
Together with the same friends, the young entrepreneur built a chain for
self-service solariums and in 1994, together with a colleague, founded
together with a consultancy firm for outdoor advertising. This meant that Baur was once again
back in the media sector.

He was looking for a new challenge as an advertising salesman at the
newspaper Sport, "only earned half as much there", but had great
Fun in this new world. In 1997 he initiated a special about
snowboarding and was also able to sell the idea. After this "first
Snowboard Special in Switzerland" he adapted the same concept
also for a Formula 1 special.

Then came the time of the Internet at Jean Frey Verlag. "Everyone wanted
Banner - without knowing what it is." Baur moved within the publishing house to
Weltwoche, where an Internet portal also became more and more of an issue. 1999
he sold the banners for the entire publishing house, and at the same time
still did the marketing planner. During this time, Qualiclick was looking for
a man for the key accounts. Baur's main task is to maintain contacts with the
media agencies. He trained the people and made the
agencies fit for the online market. Baur has also applied this idea to the
Transfer from Qualiclick to Adlink further developed. 

At Cinecom, Baur has created the "all-round happy package", where all
possible media with each other. But he did not want to
Crossmedia, "that sounded too banal for our multimedia projects",
in which a consumer of various media spends an entire day
is accompanied throughout.

At Cinecom, networker Baur, together with IP-Multimedia, has set up the IG
Adscreen and tried to reach out to everyone who wanted to do something in Switzerland.
have to do with Adscreen, in this association with meanwhile 30
members. With the sale of Cinecom to PubliGroupe
was once again time for something new, "because he was in great
company simply cannot develop so freely". - And what is there
Better than founding your own company.

Andreas Panzeri

The Swiss Textile Federation is now on board with the agency at the airport with a campaign for young talent, and other companies and organizations also put their trust in the Eastern Swiss agency. For example, the Winterthur waste disposal company Alpa and the Rorschach sewer professionals have entrusted their budgets to the creative crew at Agentur am Flughafen.

Regional press On the left bank of Lake Zurich, Tamedia has been gaining experience with the first regional edition of the Tages-Anzeiger - for a year now. "Would you like to receive the Tages-Anzeiger two
months together with the regional edition for 35 francs
test?" a voice whispers through the receiver. No? But maybe
to an unemployed colleague who is sure to find the job advertiser.
could use, make a gift? Currently running on the left
the wires are hot on the shores of Lake Zurich, because the Tages-Anzeiger makes
Telemarketing. A little more than a year after the launch of the
first regional edition for the district of Horgen in Wädenswil sells the
Insert in tabloid format hardly any advertisements and acceptance by the
authorities and the general public.

Since the first issue of the Tagi regional edition at the end of February 2005, the
the paper could just publish two private obituaries. The
"Business with death" is significant because it is seen as a type of
simple barometer for the appreciation of the ancestral population
works in relation to the newspaper. The same applies to club advertisements.
Especially in Wädenswil, the home of the left bank editorial office of the
Tages-Anzeiger, there is an almost
frightening density of associations. Nevertheless, there is a lack of their
Insertion readiness. Only recently, the advertising management
clubs and offering them a 15 percent special discount for the
Publication of their occasions offered. "In the local market decides who
has the club and death notices," says Peter Curiger, branch manager
of Publicitas in Horgen. He sells the ancestral Zürichsee-Zeitung
(ZSZ), which is under management contract with Publicitas, yet
occasionally also advertisements for the Tagi regional edition.

To even get to advertisements from local tradesmen and
organizers, the Tagi regional edition offers potential
advertisers high introductory discounts of 30 percent. Major advertisers
book directly in the Tages-Anzeiger and are not involved in the regional edition.
but local traders can hardly match this offer.
resist. However, it is known among ad salespeople that high discounts
can mean the death of a newspaper in the medium term.

If you flip through the tabloid, every now and then unpaid
filler and self-advertisements. Individual district municipalities have also
extended the delivery of its official advertisements for another year.
However, others, such as Kilchberg, Thalwil and Richterswil, give the sheet
the "official" ones don't or don't anymore. "It is unattractive when official
Advertisements bound by deadlines, time-delayed in the newspapers
appear," says Andreas Meienberg, municipal clerk of Richterswil.
At the end of 2005, the municipality definitely opted for the Zürichsee-Zeitung as its
decided on as the sole publication medium, not least because in the
Tagi regional paper the municipal council reports occasionally as a
fragmented fillers were used, says Meienberg.

Commercial success for the regional edition of the Tages-Anzeiger
is therefore a long time coming. According to branch manager Curiger, the
In addition, the volume of advertising at the Zürichsee-Zeitung remained the same as in the period before
the new competition. What is the situation in the reader market?
At least Tamedia is gaining evaluable experience on the left bank of the lake in the
local newspaper business. From the fall, these are then to be published in four further
Regional editorial offices on the right bank of the lake, in the Zurich Unterland and
Oberland and in the city of Zurich. Due to the
current surveys of the MACH Basic 2006-1 of the Wemf reaches the
Tages-Anzeiger in the district of Horgen 35,000 readers, the
Zürichsee-Zeitung, on the other hand, 30 000.

The data collected by VSW and Wemf in the Media Performance
However, circulation data from the Swiss press show that the ZSZ in
has stronger budget coverage than most district municipalities.
In the municipalities of Adliswil and Langnau im Sihltal, the values for the
Tages-Anzeiger, on the other hand, is higher, because the ZSZ, as a Sihltaler, is only
appears three times a week. Apart from the Sihl Valley, the
Tages-Anzeiger 2005 in ten district municipalities a coverage of
26.8 percent, Die Zürichsee-Zeitung 39.8 percent. According to the
The paper has increased its subscriptions, according to those responsible for the Zürichsee-Zeitung.
This, however, is also confirmed by the exponents of the Tages-Anzeiger.

For acceptance by the audience, however, the journalistic
Content critical. "We try not to do court reporting.
since March," says Patrick Gut, the new editorial director of the
Tagi local editorial office. The contacts to the public, to associations and
Authorities would become increasingly better. Individual communities disadvantaged
the Tages-Anzeiger with information, however. "Since you are the ZSZ
got better," that's what he hears again and again, says Gut. "We
have a lot in common, bad text submissions, the pressure of the
communities and similar workflows," says ZSZ editorial director
Charlotte Walder. However, 85 percent of journalistic primeurs read
one still in the ZSZ, she says confidently.

Georges Müller, ex-editor-in-chief of a local newspaper offensive at the end of the
90s in the district of Horgen, says in comparison: "The Tagi people make
an outstanding job, ZSZ had to wake up to that as well."

René Worni

Annual result V Jean Frey Verlag ends its financial year with slightly lower sales and profits. The turnover of the Jean Frey Group with the
Bilanz, Beobachter, Weltwoche and other trade journals
reported a decline in sales of 3.3 percent for the 2005 financial year.
to 93.2 million francs. Profit after tax also shrank
from CHF 11.2 million to CHF 6.6 million. At the same time, the
Return on sales fell from 11.6 percent to 7.1 percent.

However, CEO Philippo Leutenegger sees the overall result as
satisfactory and is in line with the difficult economic situation.
general conditions in the print business, he announced. The decline in
The publisher's main source of income is the volume of advertising orders,
which has generally declined in the print media. The publishing house has
in the past financial year in various projects and in additional
invested in personnel. These investments in the successful products
After a successful turnaround, which was followed by various
The focus was on the savings rounds that preceded them (rw).

The US media group Time Warner, which also owns the online service AOL, wants to become more involved in mobile telephony. To this end, mobile telephony is to be integrated into the triple-play concept (telephone, Internet, television via one connection). Time Warner is already involved in mobile services through a partnership with the network operator Sprint. The Swiss cable network operator Cablecom has already implemented this idea under the heading of "quadruple play" and has recently started offering mobile telephony in addition to cable television, broadband Internet and landline telephony.

The "Award Corporate Communications" for integrated corporate communications has secured even more partners and sponsors for its second year. The award is now also being advertised more intensively in western and southern Switzerland. New partners and sponsors for the award include Schweizer Werbung SW, the magazine Bilan, the Vaud School of Engineering and Business heig-vd and the company Tradoc Übersetzungen. With Frank Bodin from Euro RSCG and Dr. Christian König from Farner Public Relations, two further competent jurors have been recruited for the award. The award is aimed at large organizations and corporations as well as SMEs and agencies. Entries will also be judged in these categories. Entries can be submitted on the website www.award-corporate-communications.ch until May 31. The deadline for award entries is July 31.

The turnover of TV Production Center Zurich (TPC) fell from CHF 139.2 million to CHF 135.4 million in 2005. At CHF 0.5 million, the profit was significantly lower than in the previous year, when the television producer TPC reported a profit of CHF 4.7 million. 82 percent of the turnover of TPC, a subsidiary of SRG SSR idée suisse, comes from SRG. 95.1 million francs of turnover comes from Swiss television alone. According to SDA, this figure was around CHF 5 million higher in 2004. The reason for this decline is said to be the pressure to cut costs at Swiss Television. However, turnover with other SRG business units has increased. This also applies to turnover with other Swiss television producers, which increased from CHF 8.6 million to CHF 11.1 million. Business with foreign clients remained constant.

Dr. Caspar Coppetti, who took over as Head of Strategy at Advico Young & Rubicam (AYR) last year, will become a member of the creative agency's Executive Board on April 1. "Caspar has made a significant contribution to the agency's positive development over the past three years," said AYR CEO Edgar Britschgi in a press release explaining the promotion. Coppetti previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. As head of the strategy department at AYR, he is responsible for client consulting in the areas of market development and management.

The television station Rete 4, part of Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's media empire, has been ordered to pay 250,000 euros for the unequal distribution of broadcasting time during the election campaign. A few weeks ago, the responsible regulatory authority had asked the broadcaster to give the center-left opposition more space in the news program TG 4 between 22 and 28 March. Rete 4 did not comply and allowed Berlusconi's center-right government to have its say more frequently. On March 22, TG 4 was ordered to pay 200,000 euros, writes the NZZ. The magazine program "Studio Aperto" on the Berlusconi channel Italia 1 must pay a further 100,000 euros.