Basel. Bern, Geneva and Zurich, the four host cities of the 2008 European Football Championship, want to go to the financial pain threshold. This was announced by the four host cities on Tuesday. The major football festival is a unique opportunity for Switzerland to present itself to the world and to position itself internationally and sustainably, according to a press release from the participating cantons. Shortly after the 2006 World Cup, campaigns and events will be held throughout the country to get the Swiss population in the mood for the major event. Potential sponsors are still being sought, and on Thursday the National Council will also decide on the federal contribution of around CHF 80 million.

Television channels that will be broadcasting during the coming
Football World Cup do not broadcast live matches, the
advertising-relevant target group of 14 to 49-year-olds with
range losses of around 25 percent. This is the result
comes the joint study of the German advertising marketer Seven One
Media and the communications consultancy Medialogics. For the
The study analyzed the reach of the six largest German
private broadcasters during the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. The
Losses during the rest of the World Cup coverage and outside the
prime time were far less strong according to the analysis. In
Time slots without WM programs, the ranges remained constant or
between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. were even slightly higher than the TV usage of the
Comparison months without WM. The radiation effects of a WM on the
According to Daniel Haberfeld from Seven One Media, TV usage is by far the most
not as extreme as assumed, writes the Aargauer Zeitung. The
The advertising industry would miss an opportunity if it were to cut advertising budgets.
in the period leading up to the 2006 World Cup, says Haberfeld.

There will be no restrictions on the publication of current photos on the Internet during the World Cup in Germany. The agreement was reached on Monday after FIFA President Joseph Blatter met with the Chairman of the World Association of Newspapers WAN, Timothy Balding, in Paris. According to the agreement, Fifa has decided to abandon its strict restrictions on the publication of images of a match on newspaper websites after talks were first broken off by Fifa. The number of permitted images is now no longer limited and the photos may also be shown while the match is still in progress. Balding emphasized in the WAN communiqué that with this step, Fifa is supporting the traditional values of the free press and the free flow of information to the media and its users. Fifa had originally limited the number of photos per website and demanded that match photos only be published two hours after the end of the match.

Stefan Barmettler is moving to the business magazine Bilanz, where he will become a member of the editorial board, as announced by Bilanz-Verlag. Barmettler was editor-in-chief of the news magazine Facts until the end of 2005. The economist was previously head of economics at Weltwoche and Facts, where he was also the New York correspondent. Barmettler is the ideal addition to the management team, both personally and professionally, according to Bilanz editor-in-chief René Lüchinger. In addition to Lüchinger and Barmettler, Pierre-André Schmitt completes the management trio as deputy editor-in-chief.

At
Last Friday, the Creativ Club Austria (CCA) in Vienna selected the
The CCA awarded a total of 19 gold, 33 silver and
63 bronze medals. In the "International Campaigns" category
the Zurich advertising agency Reinhold Gold. The award was given to the
Announcement campaign "Kinderleicht kochen" for Annemarie Wildeisen's
Cooking. The same campaign only made it to one at ADC Switzerland.
Nomination.

The US media group McClatchy is buying its competitor Knight Ridder for 6.5 billion dollars. The two companies announced this on Monday. The merger will create the second-largest newspaper group in the USA.Knight Ridder is the second-largest newspaper group in the USA in terms of circulation, with 32 daily newspapers and 53 weekly publications. The company publishes daily newspapers such as the Miami Herald and Philadelphia Inquirer. McClatchy owns 12 daily newspapers, including the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the News Observer in Raleigh (North Carolina) and the Sacramento Bee.
According to SDA, the US newspaper market is considered difficult as more and more readers are turning to online media. Knight Ridder was put up for sale at the end of November under pressure from its largest shareholder. Despite the relatively good positioning in the publishing sector, the share price had fallen by over a fifth in the past year until the intervention of the major shareholder, according to NZZ. However, major media companies such as the Washington Post Group or Dow Jones had shown no interest in Knight Ridder. In addition to McClatchy, the largest US newspaper group Gannett (USA Today) was also in the running at times.

The publishing house Jean Frey is buying back warrants from its employees, as reported by the Tages-Anzeiger. This is intended to protect employees from losses. In 2002, 200,000 warrants were issued by Swissfirst Bank on the occasion of the change of ownership. Almost 50 employees had bought such warrants. Jean Frey wants to buy back the warrants, which were issued at CHF 6.50 at the time, for CHF 7. This was announced by Swissfirst at the request of the Tages-Anzeiger. Buyers are also free to purchase shares at the exercise price of 55 francs. However, according to TA, observers fear that the price could fall in the tight market if the warrants are actually converted and the shares sold immediately.

The two Basel-based private broadcasters Telebasel and NW1 will soon have to sit down at the same table, as the Federal Office of Communications Bakom is only awarding one license in the Basel region, which is linked to the cash injection from the new Radio and Television Act (RTVA). As the Basler Zeitung reports, the other broadcaster would have to accept existential competitive disadvantages. According to estimates, the money from the SRG fee pot for private TV stations in Switzerland amounts to CHF 2 million, which is likely to be lost for the Basel region. NW1 has already made several approaches regarding the concession, but its willingness to enter into talks has remained one-sided. In this context, the Basler Zeitung quotes the editor-in-chief of Telebasel, Willy Surbeck, who finds it completely pointless to merge two stations that both pursue the same thing. However, the NW1 negotiating delegation has already been told that it should occasionally submit proposals for cooperation. However, NW1 sees things differently: the ball is clearly in Telebasel's court to resume talks.

The women's newspaper (Fraz) is
This year's first edition has appeared in a new look. More playful,
more airy, visually more attractive and more diverse, that was the wish of the
the new appearance for the print and online publications.
Online edition. Monica Jeggli, the managing director of the
publisher Fraz, answered questions from Advertising Week about the
Relaunch.
Fraz is produced by a women's editorial team on a part-time basis and
published by a non-profit association. The quarterly
has a circulation of 2500 copies. It was founded
the women's newspaper in 1976 as the organ of the women's movement active in the 70s.
Women's Liberation Movement FBB. It has since become known as "the other
Magazine for women". Fraz is available by subscription and at
available in kiosks and bookshops in German-speaking Switzerland.
The interview with Monica Jeggli was conducted by Carole Scheidegger.
WW: Did you design the relaunch yourself or did you get external help from an agency?
Monica Jeggli: We
do not have the resources to hire an agency. I
as managing director of the women's newspaper developed the concept and
together with our graphic designers Felicitas Hoegger (Formerei GmbH)
and Liz Ammann (graphic design). As we wanted a playful booklet
with illustrative elements, Trix Barmettler from
Miriam+me for the illustration concept. I was also
graphic designer Martina Ott.

WW: What considerations were involved in the redesign?
Jeggli: The
The basic idea behind the relaunch was to make the women's magazine more attractive to new readers.
open. Many things about the magazine, such as individual section names, were
practically only understandable for insiders. We come from a rather
feminist tradition, but times have changed.
changed. Practically all the women in the editorial team are under thirty
years. You can see that in the magazine. In terms of content
we make a stimulating magazine that doesn't take women for fools.
sold. It should be critical, but also entertaining and fun.
make. And being fun also means being visually attractive.

But the new Fraz should also be open to browsing - it is
Finally, a magazine. With the previous layout, we had
no opportunity to publish short texts. The readers did not have
the choice between shorter and longer articles. Now we have the
two-page "in a nutshell" section with space for short news items.
We have always had a "Gansinger" section at the end of the magazine with
witty and snappy short comments. Unfortunately, this was not visible because
this page was laid out like any other text page. Now it is
small text islands with drawings by our illustrator, Fabienne
Roth. Our column, the women's quiz and the short story will also be
sold better thanks to the new layout concept. The clearly structured
Table of contents with pictures and short outlines of the main texts loads
to browse through the magazine.

WW: Would you also like to address a new target group?
Jeggli: Yes,
We clearly want to reach younger women as well. By that I mean
but not the twenty-year-olds, but women in their thirties and
upwards. We also want to open up politically. It is enough to stand up for the
equal rights for women, we cannot still worry about
all the injustices in the world.

WW: Are there any significant changes to the content or was it mainly a graphical update?
Jeggli: It
was about both. On the one hand, more airiness and aesthetics and
on the other hand, more varied content - shorter and longer texts,
Enhancement of the current section compared to the main topic. In
We are constantly developing in terms of setting topics. We
try to do something new and independent. That takes time.

WW: What new sections and columns are there?
Jeggli: New
are the short messages (short and sweet), the heads of the quarter, where
praise and blame are distributed, then the view that a
Opinion column, and the life guide. These are four satirical
Question-and-answer columns by four admittedly clichéd
Types of women. Advice books are mainly read by women. The
columns parody those of the other women's magazines and
ironize the sometimes absurdly simplistic claims of the
Guidebook literature.

WW: Did you design and implement the new website yourself or did someone else do it?
Jeggli: The
I developed the concept for the website, which was adapted to our new layout.
design and the technical implementation were created by Patrick
Jeggli and Anita Peyer from Noumenon Media Programming.

WW: Is there a change in the price structure for advertising? Will there be new advertising on the website?Jeggli:
No, the prices remain the same and our website remains ad-free.
We are still a non-profit company. Advertise with us
gives advertisers a high level of credibility.  

The Essen-based newspaper group WAZ is developing its own free newspaper, as reported by Der Spiegel. The newspaper group is responding to plans by Scandinavian publishers such as Schibsted and Metro, which are already successfully publishing free newspapers in several European countries and are also pushing into the German market. The project is the responsibility of Ulrich Reitz, editor-in-chief of the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. According to a report in Focus, a seven-person team is working on a 40-page free newspaper under his leadership. According to Spiegel, the Essen project is not related to the plans of other German publishers such as M. DuMont Schauberg or Axel Springer, who also want to respond to the threat from Scandinavia. It has not yet been decided whether the WAZ free newspaper will actually be published.

The specialist for marketing, advertising, public relations, project and event management is in charge of the new Wohnkunst trade fair. Wohnkust will be held for the first time in St. Gallen in November 2006. The aim is to put the spotlight on sophisticated and innovative living ideas, according to the press release. Freicom is responsible for the entire implementation of the trade fair. Freicom is represented in St. Gallen, Balgach, Zurich and Amriswil.

According to the French study AdBarometer by Interdeco, the global advertising market grew by 2.7% in 2005. This means that it lagged behind economic growth, which averaged 3.9 percent. According to the figures published in the study, advertising investments are expected to increase by 4.7 percent in 2006. Russia (growth 2005 +31 percent) and China (growth 2005 +18 percent) will again see particularly strong growth of 24 and 15 percent respectively. The American advertising market will grow by 4.4 percent and the European market by 3.6 percent. According to AdBarometer, the Winter Olympics in Turin and the Football World Cup in Germany are responsible for the positive forecast.