Daniel Staib, author of the study and
Senior Researcher at the GDI, on the implications for advertising and the
Discount communication.WW: David Bosshart said in his introduction that we are living in an increasingly
more interconnected and unstable world, we cannot say what tomorrow will bring.
will be. Accordingly, the CEOs of the participating companies
retail company reacted. How do you interpret the reaction?
Daniel Staib: We have the
results were, of course, strongly spun. In addition, we have
also tried to create contradictions. The reaction was indeed
that many played it down and said that the situation was not that bad.
changed quickly. We also have this kind of feigned composure
expected. It has to be said, however, that we did not analyze the four scenarios in
with the CEOs, but also with those directly involved in the
levels of management. In this respect, the
Results of their perception.

WW: And it shows that, although the market is no longer growing strongly, the sales area is increasing by leaps and bounds.
Daniel Staib: Exactly.
And this naturally begs the question: Where are the losers? And that can
simply not just the little ones.

WW: In the study you come under
concluded, among other things, that it is the shopping centers that are severely under
will suffer from the changes. Nevertheless, several major
experience shopping centers are planned in Switzerland. Will these be built on sand
built?Daniel Staib:
It is not possible to generalize and say that the shopping centers
will lose. Good mall concepts definitely have their justification
as well as the shopping experience. Especially in scenarios that
uncertainty and terror, the protected environment is
Shopping atmosphere in shopping centers a positive factor. My
The objection is more to the effect that all CEOs are already saying that
we are equipped with more retail space than any other country
except for the USA. That makes me wonder about the
profitability and how the investments are amortized. On the other hand
a new shopping center is more attractive and straight,
If the new experience concepts are implemented well, I recognize in them
certainly has great potential. But someone will still
lose. In the Zurich area, for example, this was Shoppiland, the
suffered a drop in sales of almost 25 percent between 1995 and 2004.

WW: Independent
of the scenarios, they all have two key trends in common: 1.
Switzerland as a special case has had its day and 2. the times of manageable
price competition are over. What consequences will the upheavals in
of the retail industry for the communications sector?
Daniel Staib: In the
In an international comparison, the Swiss market was more strongly
quality competition, especially in the food sector. The question is
now: How will retailers behave when Aldi enters the market soon?
occur? It can be assumed that the more intense price competition
Initially, the advertising industry was also involved. This phase
of the announcement, in which more and
more intensively, but will soon be followed by a
consolidation phase. You have to realize that discount chains like
Aldi communicates very little via traditional advertising channels. And
If the retailers' sales do not increase in the medium term, the
advertising budgets hardly grow. If Aldi grows at the expense of the major distributors
should take over a substantial part of the market, then the
sales losses are expected for the two major players, and this will
sooner or later this will have an impact on their advertising budgets.

WW: Turning
We move on from visions to actuality. Here you get more
the impression that in the next ten years we will have to deal with the special case of
Switzerland will remain: Lidl is delaying its market entry, Aldi will
German pricing policy for Switzerland, while
the growth rates in its country of origin have declined noticeably,
and the philosophy of greed seems to be pretty much exhausted.
Daniel Staib: The
Retail is actually a local business, which means that the
special case will certainly not disappear completely. Nevertheless, I am firmly convinced
convinced that in the coming years the retail industry will
will change a lot. The fact is that Aldi in Switzerland is not
can be as cheap as in Germany. But you have to assume
assume that Aldi will do everything in its power to create a very strong
maintain a good price image.

WW: But our customers are more demanding than our neighbors to the north.
Daniel Staib: In
In England, Aldi was apparently unable to compete due to similarly high demands.
on a larger scale. Now they are trying to
and "upgrade" the brand.

WW: Upgrading
seems to be the order of the day: Walmart is improving its clothing range,
Denner is now appearing with image commercials. The big players are responding to this
Retailer with low-cost and premium lines. Does this dilute
not a clear brand positioning?
Daniel Staib: The
depends on how well you do it. If you take Migros' expansion strategy
with M-budget to premium offers, then this corresponds to
what Tesco is already doing in the UK with great success.
has taken place. If a company that is so well anchored in the population
Companies such as Migros, in addition to the standard, a low-cost and
premium product range and communicates this well, then
it can work. In its pioneering days, Migros was actually
the hard discounter per se and then made a big
conversion process.

Interview: Luca Aloisi

René Worni misses journalistic innovations from publishers that go beyond satisfying the cross-media needs of advertising customers. The free newspaper
is not a passing joke, not a whim of the press. Before the
20 Minuten's devastatingly positive figures, Michael
Ringier, just a publisher without a free newspaper, at the annual
Publishers' Conference and to take off their hats to rumors that have persisted for some time
confirm: Prague is now daring to test its own
Umsonstblatt. He made no secret of his unease. Because
Editorial performance is the only thing a publisher has to sell.
and therefore cannot be free.
However, anyone who criticizes 20 minutes today (even in the house at the
Werdstrasse, where the naughty child took the pride of the family, the Tagi,
terrorized) is ostracized like a smoker among non-smokers.
The controversies surrounding journalistic content are increasingly taking place in the
Draught, outside the door. Inside in the warmth
relaxed by content that is variable in size around flashy advertisements
stretch or condense as required and can be transformed into events.
which were previously planned jointly by the publisher and editorial team.
have been. Because the once stubborn editorial team now realizes that all
are in the same boat. Anyone who doesn't understand that as editor-in-chief
or as a journalist.
The other way round: the newspaper as a counterweight to fleeting television and
The Internet, which is available everywhere, should be a place of socio-political
debate, demands Michael Ringier. Journalists should therefore
get even closer, ask even more questions and be even more uncomfortable.
But they already are today. The decisive factor, however, is how the vessel
which the publisher makes available to them,
including food security income.
But hand on heart. Where are the innovations that have more in their sights?
have as satisfying the cross-media needs of advertising customers who
are more than the result of takeovers and investments? When
was the last time the public felt that a publisher had a
journalistic concerns or even a relaunch taken seriously?
Publishers' drawers are full of exciting projects, such as
a daily business newspaper (it can't be Cash daily) or
Ringier's Neue Zeitung. You wait and leave the risk to Wolfgang
Fellner with his daily magazine in Austria. But enough time,
until his experiences are exploitable here at home? After all, the
Debate clear: content is not enough, it needs content.

René Worni, Editor Media &
Media

Paper Interview with Urs Hochuli, Managing Director of Arctic Paper, about ecological aspects and FSC. Paper has been labeled because of a missing
Awareness among the population has not been particularly high for a long time.
produced in an environmentally friendly way. This is no longer the case today. Thanks to
environmental regulations and thanks to a forward-looking approach by the
This situation has changed fundamentally for paper producers.

ww: Mr. Hochuli, can you briefly introduce Arctic Paper?
Urs Hochuli: Arctic Paper
is a privately owned paper group. Three paper mills
including their Munken, Arctic and Amber paper ranges are available under the
Arctic Paper umbrella brand.

ww: According to your brochure material, ecology and the environment are prominent themes at Arctic Paper ...
Urs Hochuli: The
is correct and applies to all Arctic locations. In the Swedish
Munkedal plant, which is one of the world's most environmentally friendly production
paper mills, Arctic Paper has established an environmental center and
shows on site what efforts are being made here to improve the
environment as much as possible.

ww: Environmentally friendly
Production is a key word in paper manufacturing -
sustainability (FSC) is another, currently even more topical one.
Urs Hochuli: Also
Arctic Papier sets the tone here. Many varieties in the paper range from
Arctic are FSC-certified. This guarantees that the
pulp used comes from sustainable forestry
and - most importantly - that we are responsible for the
Paper production also has sufficient FSC-certified pulp
have.

ww: Nevertheless, the share of FSC paper in the overall market is still relatively modest.
Urs Hochuli: The
is correct. However, this is also due to the fact that the increasing
Demand for FSC pulp currently not fully satisfied
can be used.

ww: In addition to two mills in Sweden, Arctic Paper also produces in Kostrzyn, Poland. What are the environmental standards there?
Urs Hochuli: This
plant is in no way inferior to the two Swedish plants and produces
also according to very ecological criteria. Kostrzyn is a
very modern production facility in terms of water consumption and
efficient cycles.

Interview: Jürgen Franck

Jürgen Richter, the German publishing doyen and ex-Springer boss, is practicing
harsh criticism of the takeover of ProSieben Sat 1 by its
former employer. However, it is not the merger itself that makes him
disturbs him. Rather, he is concerned with the time chosen and the underlying
underlying motives. The criticism of his own industry is reminiscent of Hans J.
Bär's book "Seid umschlungen, Millionen" (Be embraced, millions), in which the Swiss
private banker questioned banking secrecy, among other things. As
Richter does not want to be labeled a net polluter, however: "In order
to foul the nest from which I myself come and to which I have contributed for 35 years.
I love the media and especially the press far too much.
very much," explains Richter in an interview with Werbewoche editor Oliver
Classen. "The fact that individual exponents feel attacked when I
certain industry-internal dependency structures upon request and
favors, that only means that I'm not using them to
I'm wrong," the ex-Springer boss continues. Which
favors and structures, you can find out in the
Advertising Week of September 22, 2005.
No subscription? Single issues of Werbewoche can be
can be ordered by e-mail from Ginette Peter ()
(CHF 8.00+VAT/postage).

Retail trade In ten years, the
Swiss people shop differently. Where, how and with what consequences for the
Industry? The new GDI study "Retail Trade Switzerland 2015" takes a closer look at the
The GDI, in collaboration with Coop,
Migros-GenossenschaftsBund, Denner, Manor, Promarca, Rewe Switzerland and
interviews, expert and scenario workshops to explore the future of the
Swiss retail trade for discussion.
According to the experts, the main drivers of change will be the ageing population.
society, the increasing scarcity of resources, the growing gap
between rich and poor, the importance of information and
networking technologies as well as liberalization, globalization and
growing intensity of international competition. It became clear,
that the main competitor of the retail trade is not the retail trade
itself, but the freely disposable income, which, due to rising
Expenses for health insurance, pensions, taxes or energy
will decline significantly.
Growth is only possible for traditional retail if it can be combined with
its core competencies internationally or into sectors outside the industry.
Markets diversified. Due to the IT revolution, the
provider no longer focuses on his view of "our price" and his product
but the customer relationship and its "my price". Four extremes
The top managers have drawn up scenarios for the future:

The four scenarios

Reglobalization:
Liberalization brings standardization and internationalization of the
Offer. Biggest losers: the agricultural sector and those in Switzerland
manufacturing industry and independent retailers in small towns
and rural areas. The winners will be the strongest international
be specialty stores (category killers) and the food suppliers who, like
Category killers work (Waldi: merger of Walmart and Aldi).
Migros and Coop will shrink, Denner will no longer exist, Manor
is retreating to the big cities. But there are also many
Niches that will flourish and give rise to new concepts. The
Customers benefit in particular from low prices and a large
Variety of offers.

Break scenario: The Swiss
The retail trade and suppliers are evading the
globalization processes and isolate themselves from their environment. However
the long-term consequences are negative for all market participants. Because
is the big winner as the typical Swiss discounter.

Rollercoaster: Switzerland rides
continuously through the strongly fluctuating global economy. Swissness,
as a brand for everything, demarcation and integration also determine the
retail landscape in Switzerland. Swiss providers can
are under increasing pressure, however, as the free market
disposable income of consumers and households falls significantly.

Regio patterns: In this
scenario, regional providers can flourish across borders,
However, the growing dominance of China as a producer of goods and
India as a service center. What the major distributors in the
Switzerland, thanks to the opening up to the EU they can
compensate. Suppliers with a large catchment area such as shopping centers
get the international simplified competition across the border
massively.

Luca Aloisi

With his presentation on a
promotion campaign on Radio Energy Zurich has Heinz Frischknecht,
Owner of the St. Gallen advertising agency Ammarkt, at the Crossmedia Symposium
on September 7 in Zurich caused a stir. Frischknecht's
The presentation had given the impression that Radio Energy had taken on a
News article about the opening of a new Interdiscount store in Zurich
last May.
The audio example recorded by Frischknecht is an unfortunate one.
The compilation was, says Energy Program and Marketing Manager
Dani Büchi: "The editorial article about the opening was not
part of the promotional package," Büchi continues. The
The opening of the large branch was newsworthy in and of itself.
Andreas Meili, Head of Electronic Media at Tamedia, however, goes
assuming that the contribution was part of the promotion. Meili
speaks of a serious violation. He is convinced that radio
Energy has thus violated the Radio and Television Act, and
is considering lodging a complaint with OFCOM. He fears a precedent:
"In the future, advertisers will demand the same as with Energy in the
To be present in the news."
René Worni

Dani Kern is the name of the new
Sports commentator for SF DRS, who is a member of the team of
will be used. Kern has already been working since June 1999 for the
sports editorial department of Swiss television. Previously, he worked for various
local radio stations, most recently as head of sports at Radio Top. As commentator
of the Uefa Champions League match Liverpool FC against Chelsea FC will be
Kern to be heard for the first time on the station on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
be. As of next December, Dani Kern will regularly
Men's Ski World Cup commentary.

The potential of professional,
efficient sponsoring is still far from being fully realized in Switzerland.
exploited. This is the conclusion of the sponsorship study by MPM
Sponsoring Consulting, carried out by the GfS-Zurich Institute
was carried out. The study is intended to provide an overview of the image and effects of the
sponsorships in Switzerland.
The findings include the fact that consumers in Switzerland, and particularly in the
Romandie view sponsorship as a form of advertising. In contrast
to addressed advertising or radio commercials, however, is a large
of those surveyed consider sponsorship to be likeable. Furthermore, the
The study shows that sponsorship can achieve a significant image transfer.
takes place. According to Ute Riermeier, Managing Director of MPM
However, highly commercialized sports also have negative image values
transport. In this way, sponsors who support skiing or
Formula 1 are regarded as companies that merely participate in
are interested in money. According to MPM, this image transfer proves that the
Consumers clearly distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate sponsorship
differentiate.
The study also clearly shows that sponsorship is the
Purchase decision
positively influenced to a large extent. According to the survey, 52 % of the
respondents are more likely to buy a product from a company that offers sports
sponsored than by a company that does not sponsor. For companies,
sponsor culture, the figure is 46 %, for science sponsors 31 %, and
40 % of respondents would prefer to buy from companies that do social good.
sponsor.

The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM)
launches a public consultation on the participation of the City of Geneva in the
Local TV Léman Bleu. This concerns the planned takeover of around 8
% of the shares - currently held by Cablecom - by the
cable network operator TéléGenève (TG), as Yann Lehmans from Bakom
explained to Advertising Week. Through this trade, the
City of Geneva is the indirect majority owner of the broadcaster, which Bakom considers
Violation of the constitutionally guaranteed independence of
Radio and TV values. The city already owns 15 % to Léman Bleu and
a majority stake in TG, which in turn already holds around 30 % in the
local television.
OFCOM is now collecting comments from other market participants and will
to Léman Bleu in the second step, so that the broadcaster can
can comment on it. The entire dossier then goes to the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications.
According to Lehmans, a decision by Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger
not expected for another two or three months. After that, Léman Bleu
the complaints procedure is open.
The consultation does not include the planned participation of the
Investors Philippe Hersant and Stéphane Barbier-Mueller at the Geneva
TV station. According to Lehmans, no application has yet been submitted to Bakom
received.

(pr) Every second Swiss woman and every
second Swiss citizens have had at least one
free day spent in a Swiss winter sports resort. This resulted
a representative survey of 1,003 people conducted by Demoscope in the
Order from APGTouristic.
Connoisseurs of the scene had previously assumed that during the
winter season, around one third of the Swiss population at least
once in one of the many winter sports areas of the own country
stays. The telephone survey carried out in the last week of April 2005
Representative survey now paints a much more positive picture.
Accordingly, no less than 49% of the population (age 15-74
years) between the beginning of December and the end of April at least once to
one of these places. About one in ten (11%) drives at least every
second week once in the Swiss mountains. 18% are limited to
a single visit, with the length of stay varying between one
or several days can move. Especially often and intensively cavorts
the middle generation (35-54 years) in the Swiss snow. That
this is not always entirely cheap is evidenced by the fact that persons
from households with a monthly income of over 6,000 francs much more often
found in the native mountain environment than those with smaller
Budget.
APGTouristic, a corporate unit of the Affichage Group, has
as a contractual partner of major mountain railroads on out-of-home advertising in the
Specializes in the field of tourism and markets Big Posters as well as F12
Posters in the major winter sports areas throughout Switzerland. The
Swiss tourist areas record around 317 million visitors per year.
Mountain railroad passenger transports, 92% of which take place between Christmas
and Easter (Seilbahnen Schweiz, Branchenverband, Bern, 2000). With
various special studies, the young company APGTouristic aims to
the currently sparse data base in this segment
and create new bases for media planning.

The time of day is crucial to the success of
online advertising is just as important as for TV advertising. The
users shop online most often at lunchtime and in the evening. The most
is consumed online at lunchtime: The conversion rate is between 12
and 1 p.m. by 35 percent above the daily average. This result
is the conclusion of a study by US market researcher Atlas Solutions. In
Europe, the optimization of a campaign by time of day is already
usual. In Austria, for example, selection is very precise, and
Optimization according to the time of day is only one possibility,
explains Roland Kreutzer, President of the Internet Advertising Bureau
Austria (IAB), told Pressetext.at. However, Kreutzer confirms the
The results of the US study also apply to Europe, at least as far as
e-commerce campaigns.

On October 20, 2005, the
Swiss Investor Relations Association (SIRV) and the company
of Investor Relations Agencies of Switzerland (GIRAS) at the Hotel
Schweizerhof in Zurich held an event entitled "Is Investor
Relations measurable?" Marisa Wilde, University of Zurich, and Victor
Porák, University of St. Gallen, have investigated the effort required to
companies conduct investor relations, and whether this effort
measurably justifiable. In the first part of the event
Wilde presents the results of her study "Survey on
companies' reporting behavior". The study provides insights into
Motivations for companies to voluntarily disclose information.
Porák then uses his research project "Excellence in
Investor Relations", how the importance of IR and the "Return on
Investor Relations" can be measured. Finally, a
Panel discussion with Katharina Deuber (Cash TV), Marco Schaub (Financial
Analyst, Neue Zürcher Bank), Stefan Senn (Head of Investor Relations,
Swiss Re) and the two speakers Wilde and Porák.
Registrations are possible until October 14, 2005. Corresponding
Forms can be ordered by e-mail ().