Beat Fritsch on the pleasing outcome in Cannes.You really have to let it roll off your tongue again: Four Lions and an additional seven shortlisted places for Swiss agencies. Ruf Lanz, Matter & Partner, Krieg Schlupp Springer & Jacoby, OgilvyOne, Walker Kommunikation and Publicis were the only big ones to win the lions in the categories Lions Direct and Press & Outdoor, but so what? Nevertheless, the creative director of a Swiss network agency grumbled slightly begrudgingly that Cannes was actually an advertising film festival. That's no longer true - even if film is still the supreme discipline and the inclusion of new categories such as Cyber, Direct and the new Radio occasionally caused a slight wrinkle of the nose. Cannes is
a festival of advertising - all advertising. This is certainly how the organizers see it, in addition to the agencies that received awards in the aforementioned categories. Which they have once again clearly underlined with the introduction of the Radio Lions this year and also the revision of the Titanium Lions for integrated campaigns.
The festival has also become friendlier in other ways after the takeover by the exhibition specialists from Emap. Better documentation, better guidance through the festival, better service and, last but not least, better use of sponsorship potential for the benefit of visitors and reporters. Good feedback was heard throughout. Also at the Swiss representative Cinecom. In addition to the fundamentally positive balance, the Swiss Party again attracted more guests than the previous year, which is very much to the credit of the generous hosts.
So let's enjoy the "new" Cannes. Let's bask a little in the glitz and glamor that the winners, especially Ruf Lanz, have brought to Switzerland. And let's see the world as rosy, beautiful and poppy as it is shown to us in the film of the Grand Prix winner Honda Diesel by Wieden + Kennedy London.
But the best thing about Cannes 2005 is that there are still competitions where we can put the Austrians in their place!
> Beat Fritsch, shortlist author

Ink The Siegwerk Group (headquartered in Siegburg near Cologne) is planning to take over the packaging printing inks division of the Swiss company Sicpa Holding SA. A contract to this effect was signed in mid-June, making Siegwerk the world's second-largest packaging ink manufacturer with combined sales of 613 million euros. On the product side, the expertise of the Siegwerk Group in the areas of film printing, paper labels, cigarette packaging and wallpaper printing will be expanded by the know-how of Sicpa's packaging printing inks division in the tobacco sector and film labels as well as in the corrugated board sector and other applications.

Printing/Networking As an extension to the globally used offline preset system InkZone Box from Digital Information Ltd., online solutions are now also available for automatic ink zone presetting on offset presses.printing systems from Heidelberg and MAN Roland (InkZone Card), from Akiyama, Komori and Mitsubishi (InkZone Strip) and from Planeta (InkZone Tape) can be supplied online with preset values from prepress.

Digital printing Konica Minolta is launching five new color systems this year. The first is the bizhub C450 multifunctional device, which uses Konica Minolta's newly developed Emperon printing technology to produce 35 color or 45 black and white pages per minute, targeting the higher-volume color market. Standard formats up to A3+ and user-defined formats can be printed as well as grammages up to 256 g/m2. Two finishers are available for finishing. A brand new feature is banner printing in A4 height and up to a length of 1.2 meters, which can be used as posters, billboards or shop window decorations (available from Dec. 2005). The bizhub C450P, a pure printing system, and the bizhub 351, a slightly differently configured model variant, are to follow in the middle of the year.

Cannes Digital technology dominated the scene at the 52nd Cannes International Advertising Festival.
In May, the Cannes Film Festival showed the world premiere of George Lucas' third "Star Wars". In digital projection. A screening with an epochal character, because this digital "Star Wars" in the cinema can also be seen as a declaration of war on conventional celluloid film.Digitally projected films were also part of the good tone or image at the advertising festival in June. And since content and form ideally form a unity, digital technology has naturally also had an impact on the narrative style of the forward-looking commercials: "Digitally Processed Imaging" is the magic word that can be used to move emotions in a completely new way. And what has this actually achieved?
Frank Bodin, CEO Euro RSCG, left Cannes a little "confused". For him, the jury was "disoriented" and he also cannot understand the decision in favor of the Honda spot by Wieden + Kennedy as the big winning film. Bodin does not believe that animated films are the new trend. What is striking, however, is that in addition to a great deal of innovation, "a true orgy of execution" can be seen in the high-flyers in both film and print. "A new level has been reached, which of course requires corresponding resources."
Even those who were not able to attend Cannes on the Côte can keep up with the discussion about the latest trends in the international creative business. Pius Walker, for example, who made it onto the shortlist in Cannes with his spot "Garden" for Düring's Powerflame, followed the competition on the Internet every day. According to Walker, you almost have a better overview on the website www.canneslions.com than on site because you are not constantly distracted by parties. He was pleased to discover that "not everything has been done before", as is usually the case. He also discovered that most Swiss spots "have a weak point in the music".
Markus Gut traveled to Cannes at least for the weekend. The CD from Publicis was delighted to be shortlisted for the "Rhinoceros" commercial for the Swissinfo internet portal. Not an animated film. Surprisingly, an animated rhinoceros by Publicis for the Zurich Zoo's "Lion enclosure" fundraising campaign did not make it onto the shortlist for Gut. He therefore does not want to overestimate the "trend". "On the other hand, I also noticed that more cheerful films were shown this year than in the past," says Gut.
Ernst Wirz, a director who is better known for his acting films, also does not want to overestimate the trend towards animation. "You can still attract attention with good action, but it's often staged in a more extreme way. I can't get a commercial with people running and screaming out of my head since Cannes." Wirz has noticed that animated films are much more creative than they used to be. "No longer just special effects for their own sake."
Bene Abegglen also noticed "scream films" such as those seen by Ernst Wirz. The Creative Partner at Contexta also noticed that there were fewer commercials with crowd scenes, but many "with emotion and a sensible use of humor". This meant that even hours of visioning never got boring for him. He says: "More clients should be brought to Cannes for this kind of lesson."
Matthias Freuler, CD Wirz Werbung, confirms the trend towards DPI. However: "Trends are one of those things. So let's talk about a current 'preference'. This year's festival did indeed show a preference for drawn films. It already started last year. The dancing drops of water to the music of Queen won gold for Evian. I fear that these drawn films will be seen as a trend, and then we will be inundated with a plethora of drawn animated films at the next edition of the festival. And then the mini-trend will be over again."
DPI or Digitally Processed Imaging is of course also celebrated as a trend in the festival newspaper Lions daily. In an article entitled "Magicians on the move", it is estimated that 99 percent of the spots shown have been digitally processed. However, it is no longer just animated films that can be seen, but often a whole firework display of computer effects. "Commercials with an overwhelming 'wow effect' make it difficult for subtle films," said Werbewoche correspondent Beat Fritsch at the cinema.
A place on the shortlist: Powerflame spot by Pius Walker.

Rewarded with the Grand Prix: Honda from Wieden + Kennedy.
Andreas Panzeri

Organizations The Swiss Farmers' Union (SBC) entrusts the image advertising for Swiss farmers to the Bern-based advertising agency Burson-Marsteller.Organizations The Swiss Farmers' Union (SBC) entrusts the image advertising for Swiss farmers to the Bern-based advertising agency Burson-Marsteller.
Burson-Marsteller. It prevailed in a two-stage competition against renowned competitors from Zurich and Bern, as detailed in a press release. The first installations will be on display next year.

"Broadcasting is culture and not a commodity", postulate SRG, ARD, ZDF and ORF.media policy Members of the supervisory bodies of the four public broadcasters met last week to exchange views. They discussed the consequences of possible liberalization in the GATS free trade agreement for radio and TV. Should the audiovisual media, like any other service, be fully subject to the most-favored-nation clause, the broadcasters believe that financing a public service via fees or public contributions would become obsolete. They are calling on their governments to ensure that the Unesco Convention on the Protection of Cultural Diversity can be concluded quickly and with the same legal status as the GATS agreement.

Insurance Younger people are hardly familiar withNational Versicherung anymore. An outrageous image campaign by SFLB is now set to change this.
Just like nuclear physics, advertising is also familiar with the phenomenon of half-life. Advertising ideas with a low tendency to decay are far more common in the insurance industry than in others. The importance of traditional advertising played a subordinate role here for a long time; the industry invested less than half a percent of its gross premiums in advertising budgets. In line with the development of long-term customer relationships, one of the central objectives of insurance marketing, the less differentiated image and product advertising often remained faithful to a basic idea for decades.inert brand personality
Target group-oriented DM, sponsoring and other measures were later built on this. If there are any insurance companies that have - consciously or unconsciously - strongly embraced this strategy in their commercial communication, National Versicherung is undoubtedly one of them.
The green, yellow and red rhinoceros Nasi, together with cycling legend Ferdy Kübler, has shaped the image of the Basel-based all-lines insurer for over 20 years. The catchy jingle has remained as immortal as these popular characters. The appeal of this concept, which was implemented less and less with traditional advertising media, remained unusual and
remained high. What is serious here is that business development further cemented the current situation in communication. Despite tough conditions in the dynamic but saturated market, National was able to report "satisfactory growth" in 2004. The insurance group increased gross premiums by 1.1 percent to around
1.8 billion francs. In the life insurance business, it even clearly bucked the declining market trend.
So what prompted the top ten primary insurer - measured by premium volume - to change its successful strategy? The dangerously sluggish brand personality. A Mafo study has shown that unaided awareness in the age segments varies greatly. While older age groups are still familiar with National Versicherung, the younger segments are no longer even aware of it. Head of Marketing Willi Erdin blames the low advertising presence of the insurance company for the growing demographic challenge, but without giving any reasons for this.
Repositioning the brandHe has only been at the Markom desk for a year. "The last big campaign was a good ten years ago. It's mainly older people who remember the Nasi and Kübler campaigns. In the longer term, I therefore fear that young people will no longer take us into account when choosing insurance," says Erdin. That's why the goal for the new campaign was set: "We have to reposition our brand and make it better known." Furthermore, National should be perceived as the independent, straightforward and flexible Swiss insurance company where continuity in the personal customer relationship is central. In order to communicate these values and shake off the dust with a radical update, National, like other insurance companies, now wants to build a younger and independent image with a humorous campaign.
Nasi is slowly retiring The National is said to be open-minded, easy-going and humorous, making it a top-of-mind brand again. Rhino Nasi does match these attributes and was still very popular. However, it is often seen as childish and not very professional. It will therefore be retired in installments as the sole image carrier and will still appear as a logo element and promotional item to make way for a new world of images.
The agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett (SFLB) was commissioned for this because its platform "is also likely to be noticed by the younger generation thanks to its provocative humor," says Willi Erdin.
In fact, the surprise effect and entertainment value now visible after the long advertising silence would hardly have been expected from the almost contourless National Versicherung. The approach not only assumes that nothing is certain, which is also the new claim. It benefits - not unlike a cuckoo's egg - from the strength of well-known brands and their advertising worlds.
Because even in the perfect cliché world of advertising, not everything is safe. Authentic-looking and easily recognizable brand worlds were "made a little imperfect" to suit the various sectors - non-life, life or personal insurance, says CD Martin Spillmann. However, he smiles, any similarities with real-life brands are completely coincidental.
Nothing is certainUnavoidable would be the right word here. On the posters for trendy fashion, the model is suddenly wearing a plaster cast, the car brand with the new 9 Series unexpectedly advertises with a dented model, and a gallery has to advertise its exhibition with an empty picture frame. For the product advertising of a furniture store (name not only known to the editors), the creatives even imitated the funny names.
The Krea team avoided the dangerous pitfalls of copyright law even more wittily in their commercial: After all, who would expect the shower gel man to get hurt during his daring jump into the refreshing water?
But just that: Nothing is really safe. Fortunately, National Versicherung covers even such cases without any problems.
The misfortune: For most younger people, National Versicherung is hardly a household name. Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett has been tasked with rehabilitating the company's image with a campaign >> page 7

With the new, humorous campaign, National Versicherung wants to be seen as open-minded and become a top-of-mind brand again.
Provocative humor: recognizable brand worlds are "made a little imperfect" on National's posters.
Cool advertising campaign for young people.
Luca Aloisi

Retail A consortium of the Zurich agencies BrandPulse, Designculture and Retailpartners has won the project for the brand development and implementation of the convenience store chain Avec in a pitch.Retail A consortium of the Zurich agencies BrandPulse, Designculture and Retailpartners has won the project for the brand development and implementation of the convenience store chain Avec in a pitch. Avec is a joint venture between the Bern-based consumer goods group Valora and Migros and aims to achieve market leadership in the convenience sector by 2008. A pilot store will open in mid-September.

Starting next year, Wemf will no longer publish the Mach Basic and Mach Consumer studies annually, but in the spring and fall. The next publication of the two studies will take place as planned on September 13, 2005, the 1/06 edition will follow at the end of March 2006, and the 2/06 studies will then appear in September 2006. "The semi-annual publication rhythm will make the print media genre more attractive," says Carine Lins, Head of Marketing at Wemf.The quality of the data will not change; the sample for Mach Basic will continue to be based on around 23,000 interviews per year or 70 interviews per day (including weekends). However, the publication will now be on a rolling basis. The Mach Basic 2005 from next September will be based on the interviews from April 2004 to March 2005, for the publication in March 2006 the interviews from October 2004 to September 2005 will be used, and for the coverage published in fall 2006 the results from April 2005 to March 2006 will be taken into account.
Due to the semi-annual overlaps, from March 2006 the published coverage will be made up of 50 percent of the interviews for the previous study and 50 percent of new surveys. "The unchanged large sample ensures methodologically stable coverage from one publication to the next," says Lins.
Lins is reassuring when it comes to the additional costs that the publishers have to pay as clients of the studies: "As we don't have to conduct any additional interviews, the cost increase will remain within a tolerable level for the print industry. Only the work steps required for a second publication will have to be financed." The type of publication (CD, online, report volume) will also remain the same. But what is the reason for the double rhythm? "We are responding to a request from the advertising industry for more up-to-date print data," says Lins.
Advertising clients are cautiously pleased. "Is this step really necessary?" asks Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Association of Swiss Advertising Clients. The association has long been calling for an expansion of print research, "but in terms of quality and less in terms of publication frequency," says Siegrist.
Media agencies take a similar view. "The money should rather be invested in the methodology," says Severine Hörler from Mediacom. Peter Hostetter, owner of Mediaxis-MPG, also believes that the benefits of the new publication rhythm will primarily be enjoyed by publishers who are launching or relaunching new publications. "But I'm not clamoring for it myself," he says. And Robert C. Baier from MediaBaier warns of additional costs and effort for agencies. "Or will we also receive 0.5 percent more in fees?" he asks mockingly.
(mk)

The X marketing trade show will take place again at the end of August. Marketing, while certainly the most important, is now just one topic among many.
At the end of August, it’s that time of year again: marketers, advertisers, print buyers, and anyone interested in marketing and promotional materials will flock to Zurich-Oerlikon to draw inspiration from the latest market and marketing trends and developments in the exhibition halls of Messe Zürich. X’05, this year’s edition of the «X» trade show, aims to reach an even larger target audience with information and exhibitors from the field of education and continuing education. X’05: A Gateway to Continuing Education
Since, in the view of the trade show organizers, ongoing professional development is the foundation for a successful career, the
Organizer Reed Messen has created a new section called «Learning.» Thematically, however, the offerings are based on the traditional «X-topics» of marketing, communication, and sales. At the trade show, leading institutions such as Sawi, the Swiss Public Relations Institute, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur, the St. Gallen University of Applied Sciences, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Swiss Marketing Academy, the Università della Svizzera Italiana, Webtech AG, and other institutions and companies will present their training and study programs.
The «Learning» section is intended to serve as a link between training providers and professionals. Visitors can learn about training and continuing education opportunities on-site and receive advice. According to trade show director Iris Sorgalla, the announcement of this section has generated significant interest among both universities and training institutions. This is evidenced by statements from exhibiting institutions: «What’s particularly interesting to us is the focus on initial and continuing education. X’05 is an ideal platform for us, as we can reach our target audience at this trade show,» explains Jürg Engi, director of Sawi. Regula Umbricht, head of the Management Continuing Education Center at the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen (FHS), supports the expansion of the offerings: «We very much welcome the new section, as we view continuing education as an important opportunity for personal development at every stage of life.» The FHS St. Gallen will present its offerings in the field of management continuing education at X’05. Finally, at the booth of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSW), visitors can learn about attractive postgraduate programs and courses in the fields of service marketing and management, business communication, and event management. «Through professional counseling, we strive to find the right continuing education program for our clients,» emphasizes Luc Ulmer of HSW Lucerne. Also represented at X’05 are the GET Marketing and Executive School and SPRI. The latter will showcase its wide range of offerings—developed in partnership with Sawi, HWZ, Text Akademie, MAZ, the University of Lugano, and Academia Engiadina—ranging from introductory courses and specialized courses to programs leading to a federal certification and postgraduate courses.
The Swiss Marketing Academy will present the latest training tools for marketing and communication. School Director and Managing Director Hansruedi Knöpfli reveals his plans: «In addition to our traditional training programs, we will be introducing our new courses in the event and seminar sector, which we will be holding at various locations.» Webtech AG, a company specializing in internet-based continuing education solutions, is expected to unveil some interesting new products. Such topics extend beyond the «Learning» section as well: For example, a roundtable discussion has been announced for Wednesday afternoon at the Mediencafé, featuring high-profile figures from politics, business, and academia.
For the Swiss Marketing Association, X’05 is one of the most important events of the association’s year. «At the Media Café we operate, we will be presenting, among other things, the winners of the Swiss Marketing Award, the ‚Trophy 2005,’» explains Patrick R. Duss, director of Swiss Marketing.
The X’05 marketing trade show opens its doors on August 23.

Jürgen Franck

media, the Migros magazine demonstrates greatness with its circulation and reach. Migros' Cumulus card is not only a successful DM tool that keeps customers loyal. It has also recently become a ticket platform, and when the customer magazine changed its name and concept, it was also given the function of a circulation catalyst. It fulfilled this function perfectly.
Accompanying the launch, the marketing campaign generated hundreds of thousands of new recipients, increasing the total circulation by a good 12% to around 2.3 million copies. This corresponds to a reach of almost three million. In order to do justice to this role of the newly most widely read and, according to the copy test, most popular people magazine, Publishing Director Jrene Shirazi and Head of Editorial/Publishing Marius Hagger commissioned Wyler Werbung with an advertising campaign. This was to implement the editorial concept and thus the weekly's recipe for success with Migros-typical humor.
The focus was therefore on more or less ordinary people - normal people with interesting lifestyles. Although the absence of A and B-list celebrities is not sacrosanct, Migros-Magazin (MM) wants to set itself apart from the other, usually more celebrity-heavy people magazines.
For CD Ruedi Wyler, the increased attention that the MM-Normalos and their fates are temporarily given was the basic idea for the image campaign. Just as the competition in Basel bluntly compares the effect of an advertisement in their press organ directly with that of an oversized brand logo, Wyler exaggerates the same effect, but in an indirect way: "We dramatize the large audience and the exciting stories by staging the latter as big film stars. We're not inventing a UAP, but rather focusing on the effective editorial performance of the new MM in the ads," says Wyler.
The film poster realization cultivated by AD Andreas Konrad meets the objective because it is popular, fast, likeable and eye-catching. The depiction of the four motifs so far is based on famous films such as "Armageddon" or "The Miracle of Bern" and conveys the plot, content and seductive potential of the MM article in a condensed and ironic way. In addition, the glamour of the film poster dramatizes the magazine's large audience. Indirectly, the aim is to communicate with advertisers that their products will also be elevated to star status in MM.
"With our concept, we are not only conveying the facts in an original way," Wyler is convinced. The highly visible appearance in the trade press should make a decisive contribution to enhancing MM's image among this target group.
Extraordinary people are not only found in the movies: Migros magazine features everyday heroes.

What is the largest Swiss movie audience compared to the MM readership?
Luca Aloisi