Publishing SystemSoftCare GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, announces that version 5.5 of the K4 Publishing System is now available and fully supports Adobe Creative Suite 2 and Adobe InCopy CS2. In addition, K4 will continue to be compatible with the older versions (InDesign CS and InCopy CS). One of the outstanding new features in InCopy allows editors to place and scale images directly in InCopy CS2. Another additional feature of K4 version 5.5 is the improved XML export. The new, optionally available K4 XML exporter makes all K4 objects available in a standardized output format.

Claude Catsky is looking forward to the first birthday of his Lion and his new client Ikea.it would probably be presumptuous to speculate on another Cannes Lion this year. What's more, it wouldn't be too healthy psychologically to win one. Ever since Claude Catsky was the only Swiss to hold one of the bronze cuddly toys in his arms at the world's most important creative competition, the Cannes International Festival, Catsky & Partner has experienced "a concentrated load of appreciation in the form of envy". Nevertheless, the Zurich-based advertiser is once again on the hunt for Cannes cats this year. The award-winning motif at the time showed an injured craftsman in hospital repairing his bed because he wants to return to his everyday life quickly. Now Catsky is once again submitting ideas for his client Suva. He is hoping that the jury will listen to his campaign for the new audio books from the Swiss Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Thanks to fundraising with Catsky's advertising, it should be possible to play these on CD devices at a reduced price.
Creative advertising that also makes a difference is one of the small agency's prides. Of course, it is not only thanks to his campaigns in recent years that the number of leisure accidents at Suva fell by four percent in 2004. "But our work is also a piece of the mosaic" in the process.
"Advertising with a snout" is what Catsky calls his style, but it should look different for every client. "You can save a lot of media money with creative quality because you attract more attention with conspicuousness," the CD is convinced. And: "You can achieve more with unusual ideas." The strategy serves as a springboard for jumping off. "Provided it's not rotten."
With its goal of creating "great advertising for big brands and small clients", Catsky & Partner now works not only for Suva but also for Unaxis worldwide, FIFA and, after winning a pitch, recently also for Ikea. Claude Catsky has only been working under his own name for two and a half years. Before founding his agency, however, the creative had already tried out self-employment as a freelance CD for several years.
The courage to found an agency came to him "at a difficult time". But after more than 200 national and international awards, including ten nominations on the shortlist in Cannes in the last ten years and two Lions - he had already won a Silver Lion in 1994 as an employee of Weber, Hodel, Schmid for a campaign for the Basler Zeitung - there were not too many reservations about this step. Catsky & Partner now also has an art director and a permanent consultant. An additional consulting assistant is currently being sought. For a few weeks now, the back office has been shared with the Viva agency in Zurich's Seefeld district. This came about because Catsky used to work for Viva as a freelancer, and now an attractive floor in the "Werberhaus" in Seefeld has suddenly become available. The possibilities for further synergies are open. "We obtain services from each other, like doctors or lawyers in a joint practice."
With such resources, growth can be managed more easily. "I can't immediately hire five new people for a new client, but I have to offer a perfect service from day one," calculates Catsky. He therefore believes that this entrepreneurial decision now makes Catsky & Partner "more attractive for larger clients too".
Claude Catsky, who originally started out studying German and art history, came to the company via a vacation job at
Aebi & Partner to advertising. He later worked there as a junior copywriter. Back then, when Jean-Etienne Aebi, Fredy Collioud, Reini Weber, Claude Martin and Martin Suter were his colleagues or superiors, "it was almost impossible not to learn from these luminaries". GGK Basel, WHS in the pioneering years, Aebi once again, Publicis and five years as a freelance CD at McCann Erickson were the next stops before he founded his own agency.
Few people know that Claude Catsky used to draw cartoons like his father Nico. These were even regularly printed in the Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten. Father Nico liked the drawings. His son saw too little future in them. He also only wanted to study at the Lucerne Jazz School as a hobby. It is all the more fun for the advertiser now that his eleven-year-old daughter and her hip-hop troupe "Da Kidz & Tiffany" have already won a preliminary round at the "Springboard" of the Little Prix Walo and made a TV appearance.
Aiming higher: Claude Catsky wants to "make great advertising for big brands and small customers".

Andreas Panzeri

Internet The Zurich-based company Human Relations GmbH is launching an online job placement platform for the financial sector, with users of Financegate.ch using search functions to go directly to employers' web advertisements. The initiators believe that focusing on the world of finance will make it easier for employees and employers in this sector to fill vacancies.

Detergents Three advertising agencies have made it to the final round of the pitch for the global creative budget of the detergent brand Omo According to a report by the German industry service New Business, manufacturer Unilever has chosen the two account holders Lowe and JWT as well as Bartle Bogle Hegarty. The budget amounts to 250 million dollars

Award Five printers from Switzerland have won gold, silver and bronze in the "Sappi European Printer of the Year" awards, which were presented at a gala ceremony at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. UD Print from Lucerne won gold in the "Annual Reports" category. Regia HighPack/Buag Grafisches Unternehmen and IRL Imprimeries Réunies Lausanne from Renens received silver for their entries in the "Books and Brochures" categories. Benteli Hallwag Druck from Wabern and Köpfli & Partner from Neuenhof received bronze in the "Brochures and printer's own advertising" categories.

Guest commentary Advertising is all about achieving good results with outstanding ideas. The ADC is for this
to make this measurable.
Pick up the nearest newspaper or magazine and turn to the first advertisement. Would you compliment your wife or husband in this way? Turn to the next advertisement. Would you flirt with the charming lady or the handsome gentleman on the bar stool next door? Take the same test with the next twenty ads. Most of them will fail. What's all this nonsense, you might say. This nonsense is to remind you that, in a nutshell, advertising is there on the one hand to confirm existing customers in their choice of purchase and on the other hand to charmingly ensnare new customers. Neither unkindness nor boorishness, nor braggadocio, nor emptiness of content will help. And yet, unfortunately, much of what we have to look at and listen to every day in the press, on billboards, on the radio and on TV is reminiscent of goofy self-congratulation or unimaginative braggadocio.anyone who doesn't have the courage and ingenuity to regularly compliment their partner sensitively (strategy) and surprisingly (idea) and skillfully (implementation) will hardly ever hear: "You're the best." This is even more true at our fictitious bar, where banal macho posturing and hollow chest-thumping have little chance of success.
Flirt success can be measured and evaluated purely numerically. That's what the Effie Switzerland is for. And the flirting approach can be judged purely subjectively. That's what the ADC Switzerland is for. And because it is the only authoritative association of professional flirters, it may come as no surprise that almost all the flirtations that win Effies have also previously been recognized by the ADC. But it's actually logical: those who flirt well have a priori better chances of success. And it's also logical that those who do nothing else all day but flirt demonstrably well can say quite accurately what is a good flirt and what is not.
The reverse conclusion: Advertisers who say ADC and Effie aren't important have little idea about life, don't give a damn about their clients' results and I feel sorry for them. And clients who say ADC and Effie are not important probably work in a company that is not about numbers.
Because only outstanding ideas achieve outstanding results. And if that's not what advertising is about, then what is it about? Today more than ever. In short: yes to the ADC.
> Daniel Krieg is co-owner of Krieg, Schlupp, Springer & Jacoby and member of the board of ADC Switzerland.

Public transport The cult of what else you are in Zurich is spreading: after children have drawn how they see a streetcar - as a ship -, JFK has posthumously outed himself as a Zurich resident and celebrities in and around Zurich are becoming aware of what else they are, the general public are finally having their say. The advertising slogan "Ich bin auch ein ...", coined by Publicis for the Zurich Transport Association, can now be ordered as a T-shirt with individual variations at www.zvv-shirts.ch. Examples of its use have been running as advertisements and radio spots with kebab stand owners, dentists and barmaids since this week.

Banks Burson-Marsteller uses young company testimonials to promote the SME expertise of the Berner Kantonalbank.Today it is easier for young entrepreneurs, said Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss recently about the promotion of company start-ups. And immediately qualified the statement in the following sentence. This is because the improved framework conditions in the form of technoparks, leaner administration, internet platforms and quality labels are offset by higher demands on entrepreneurs and more aggressive competition. When asked about start-up financing, Deiss appealed to the banks "to remain aware of their economic responsibility". A joint, self-supporting start-up fund for all Swiss banks would be welcome, he added. Whether this is in the interests of the banks, which are fighting for the best potential business customers in this venture market, seems questionable. Ultimately, this is about the future market of the micro-enterprise sector (companies with fewer than ten employees), which, according to Deiss' Department of Economic Affairs, employs over a quarter of the working population.
Local anchoring as USPIn this broad market, local and regional banks primarily communicate their USPs - local anchoring, proximity and relationship management - which, in addition to the lending business, most efficiently support the important market services of advisory and contact brokerage. In contrast, the big banks use supra-regional image campaigns and often sponsor regional venture platforms to raise their profile.
Authentic appearanceThe Berner Kantonalbank (BEKB) is targeting SMEs and new companies with its new image campaign - now in its seventh year with Burson-Marsteller. So far, the advertisers have targeted business and private customers, investment clients and BEKB shareholders. For the continuation of the image campaign, they opted for continuity: the campaign was to retain its documentary style in order to appear authentic and human. And to communicate the message credibly, copywriter and consultant Olaf Pilleri is convinced.
The Bernese photographer Hansueli Trachsel focused on the people behind the new entrepreneurs and managers in the ten subjects. With its natural implementation, the campaign conveys individual solutions and, not least, the success of the more than 100 start-ups that BEKB helped to finance in 2004. Three waves of the various advertising media are planned for 2005.
Actions not words: Burson-Marsteller documents how BEKB loans make a decisive contribution to the success of small businesses.

Luca Aloisi

Video Impressive picture quality that is well above today's PAL standard: In July, Sony will be launching the smallest and lightest camcorder to date that offers precisely this picture quality. The HDR-HC1E, Sony's second camcorder in this segment after the semi-professional HDR-FX1, is now also designed to meet the needs of enthusiastic amateur filmmakers. The 3-megapixel CMOS sensor and a high-quality lens with 10x optical zoom are among the features that ensure image quality.

Poster art Publicis won gold at APG's first Swiss Poster Award.
"A great start", reports the Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft APG on its first Swiss Poster Award. The jury had to evaluate 432 works in the newly created poster competition. The main prize, spanning all categories, in the form of the first "Swiss Poster Award", went to APG's in-house agency Publicis. The award went to their pill set for the charity organization The Global Fund. This poster was also awarded gold in the Public Service category. The awards were presented at the APG Poster Night in Zurich's Maag Event Hall, where a total of eighteen posters were nominated in the three categories Commercial, Culture and Public Service. The jury was made up of eleven experts under the chairmanship of Fredy Collioud. The most important criteria for the evaluation were: "Does the design do justice to the poster medium?", "Is it new, different and surprising?", "Does the message contain an idea?"
Since 1941, the APG has financed and organized the poster awards under the patronage of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA). After a "creative break" in 2000 and 2001, the competition was held again in 2002 and 2003 under the patronage of the FDHA, before the Swiss Poster Award was launched with new regulations and without the involvement of the Confederation.
The new exhibition will focus more than ever on commercial posters in the advertising industry. "Posters bear witness to the times and are therefore subject to change, as are the expectations of the advertising industry when it comes to assessing posters as part of commercial communication," says Christian Kauter, Head of APG. At the Poster Night, jury president Collioud expressed the hope that the new award had laid the foundation for better participation in the competition.
Witnesses of the timesSince 1941, APG has been promoting the design quality of posters with a competition. A book contains 1300 posters that were awarded prizes up to 1990. www.apg.ch
The juryFredy Collioud, President, Daniel Comte, Remy Fabrikant, K. Domenic Geissbühler, Markus Gut, Tobias Trevisan, Wendelin Hess, Danielle Lanz, Dominique von Matt, Roger Möschler, Martin Spillmann.
The jury's reasons for goldIn the "Commercial" category, the jury crowned SBB with gold for "the courage of uncompromising simplicity". It praised the generous, high-quality photography full of stories and emotion, "and without competition or special offers".
In the "Public Service" category, the pills from the Publicis creation with their "unerring declaration of war" on Aids, tuberculosis and malaria were a hit. "Advertising without pitying images and without a well-intentioned appeal to morality". A strong idea that communicates at lightning speed.
In the "Culture" category, the purist design in the "Souvenir train/Berlin" theme was convincing. Less is more. What remains is the memory of the landmarks of two cities.
The winnersOf the eighteen nominated posters, the jury awarded the following prizes
three in each category with gold, silver and bronze.
Commercial Gold Swiss Federal Railways (Jung von Matt/Limmat, Zurich)Culture Gold Souvenir Zug/Berlin (DNS-Transport, Zug)
Public Service Gold + Swiss Poster Award The Global Fund (Publicis, Zurich) Silver Terre des hommes (Publicis, Zurich)
Bronze Zürich Multimobil (Wyler Werbung, Zürich)Silver Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (Ruf Lanz, Zürich)
Bronze SUVA (Ruf Lanz, Zurich)Silver
Brückenschlag 04 (Lucerne School of Design)
Bronze Schauspielhaus Zurich (Publicis, Zurich)Andreas Panzeri

Media The fight for survival is entering its umpteenth round. In order for the WOZ to gain more subscribers and live a little longer, the employees are now even giving away their favorite things: for example, anyone who ordered an annual subscription by Wednesday was entered into a draw to win editor Johannes Wartenweiler's 16-year-old Apple Macintosh. This week, WOZ new subscribers can win editor Susan Boos' Mercedes - a cute toy Benz with low mileage. The jumble sale competition was organized by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett.

Competitions Goldbach Media has presented the first Crossmedia Award. Euro RSCG was the winner. In the first Crossmedia Award initiated and organized by Goldbach Media, 37 entries were evaluated. Five made it onto the shortlist. Euro RSCG won the trophy with a cross-media case for PostMail. This is designed as a "cobblestone in a Plexiglas box", because crossmedia also has something to do with guerrilla advertising. The jury under President Dominique von Matt essentially evaluated the work according to four criteria.
1 "Intelligent linking": What is the strategy for cross-media use? Did the communication tools reinforce each other or were they merely coordinated?
2 "The degree of innovation": Did the concept break new ground?
3. "Creative implementation": Was the content staged in a media- and target group-specific way? Is a consistent brand language clear and is the creative implementation excellent?
4. "Proof of success": Is it successful in the market? Can you prove the efficiency of the campaign or parts of it?
In the beginning there was a letterThe excellent Euro RSCG campaign for PostMail aims to make letter writing more popular again in Switzerland. However, the campaign does not aim to combat new media such as SMS or e-mail, but rather to reinforce the additional status of the letter. A newly discovered value of the letter is to be highlighted. More and more, sending an important message - such as a job application - in a neat paper form rather than by e-mail is once again seen as a commitment to elegance.
The award-winning campaign for PostMail is based on a single strategic guiding principle that runs through all media. This idea is expressed in the claim: "Great things begin with a letter."
For agency head Frank Bodin, it was important that cross-media in this campaign and in general "not only links the different media channels, but also strengthens them".
Crossmedia undeniably has a certain magic, but it also harbors a certain danger. Crossmedia could become a buzzword, similar to integrated communication - old wine in new bottles?
In a media society with many new channels and opportunities - but limited budgets - the question inevitably arises: How can I make better use of my media money? "Crossmedia gives more return on investment," Bodin is convinced based on his winning campaign. The Crossmedia Award is therefore comparable to an Effie - the criteria are also focused on impact.
New ideas for new media For cross-media to work, a meaningful link is needed that "must direct the target group from one medium to another in an entertaining way".
The campaign for PostMail requires few resources. The limited budget demanded a maximum of ideas that could generate measurable results. Two lead media were used: print advertisements and Switzerland's first "advertising stamp". These appearances were combined with radio spots, online advertising with the internet portal www.briefeschreiben.ch, direct marketing, for example to young entrepreneurs, public relations, for example with the "Write to your star" campaign in the Swiss magazine Schweizer Illustrierte.
In addition to the "revolutionary advertising on a stamp", the campaign includes many other innovations such as a stamp flag with the claim, the claim on the letterbox slot, Letters for Free in trendy places and fully equipped writing sets in post offices.
The PostMail campaign is ongoing and will continue to surprise with new elements in a wide variety of combinations in the future.
From crossmedia to crossworkCrossmedia is only possible in a team because it links several media. Frank Bodin would like to describe the process as "crosswork" and therefore emphasizes the fact that "a lot of people" such as Ruth Zeller, Sonja Hürlimann, the DM Unit, Optimedia and "of course the client" had to work together to further develop the creative ideas in the Euro RSCG's PostMail crossmedia case. New possibilities also mean new structures in the work process and therefore a new type of collaboration. It is not a question of designing a classic campaign and then linking a few "cross-media" elements into it. "The new approach has to be there right from the start."
If you look at the first award and see which 5 out of 37 campaigns made it onto the shortlist, the complexity of the cases is astonishing. A time of rethinking is clearly dawning.
In any case, jury president Dominique von Matt says: "The changes in the media landscape are intensified in the networking of media. The digitalization of the media, the trend towards branded content and 'permission advertising', which is just around the corner, are placing completely new demands on networking. If you don't master them, you will miss your target group."
It is seen as a positive move in the industry that Goldbach Media was the first to address the issue, naturally due to its corporate structure with a wide range of media from television and radio to the Internet and telephone.
Short-ListDove 2004; submitted by Lever Fabergé Feldschlösschen Bier;
Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett Granador 100 % fruit juice;
Jung von Matt/Limmat Opel Tigra Twin Top; Trio SA PostMail; Euro RSCG
One idea begets many children: "Great things begin with a letter" was applied to various media by Euro RSCG in an award-worthy manner.
Andreas Panzeri