Albert P. Stäheli, Group CEO of Espace Media, on redundancies, budgets and the splitting of the company's shares.WW: Espace Media Groupe announces further cost reductions in its annual report. Are the redundancies at the Berner Zeitung, which the SonntagsZeitung reported, the first step?
Albert P. Stäheli: The fact is that the Espace Media Groupe has 1034 full-time positions. The fact is that 1.5 jobs were made redundant at the Berner Zeitung in May. Do you think that's worth reporting?
But we are making savings? Yes, we are examining various rationalization options, and not just at the Berner Zeitung. Although Espace Media Groupe's first quarter results were up on the previous year, they were below budget. Of course we therefore have to take measures on the cost side.
You proved last year with the federal government that saving money helps.
With a loss of around 0.8 million, Bund Verlag AG closed the year better than expected. Subscription income was even slightly lower than we had budgeted. Advertising revenues were pretty much on target. But in terms of costs, some measures were implemented earlier than planned, so that the shortfall was halved again compared to the forecast. Incidentally, the Confederation itself broke even; the shortfall was caused by the Anzeiger Region Bern.
The circulation of the Solothurner Tagblatt has also reached your target: a year ago you were talking about 5,000 copies, today there are 5,334. What target have you set yourself for this year?
It is still too early to set targets. Development will certainly continue. Sometimes rather erratically, because expansion depends largely on where the Tagblatt is distributed. We are still of the opinion that there is a need for a Solothurn title with a Bernese connection.
TeleBärn has increased its turnover, although viewer numbers are stagnating. When will the station reach the black?
This depends on whether the new Radio and TV Act is implemented quickly. The program could be expanded with a share of the fee splitting. This would ensure increasing viewer numbers. If the splitting is delayed, it will remain at its current level for the time being.
Espace Media has announced a share split that is intended to create "optimal conditions for the sustainable further development" of the Group. Who would you like to bring into the shareholder base?
We want the company to be more broadly based. The value of the shares has grown enormously and is now around CHF 6,000 each. The splitting will reduce it to CHF 300, making the shares affordable for interested parties from our readership. In addition, the requirement that buyers must have a close connection to the region will be abolished. In future, a place of residence in Switzerland will suffice.
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Guest commentary The Koran affair and the whistleblowers: Peter Studer reminds us of the "two-source rule. "Once again, a dispute over media impact and ethics has divided the US public and caused a stir far beyond. It's about a dozen words in a Newsweek report: "Sources say interrogators flushed a Koran down the toilet to humiliate prisoners." The sentence sparked violent demonstrations; 17 people died in Afghanistan. Newsweek withdrew the text a few days later under pressure from the White House, because the (only) anonymous source was no longer sure where it had picked up the information, and the debate has long since taken on a life of its own. Liberal commentators call Newsweek's editor-in-chief a wimp, while conservatives lash out at the "unpatriotic East Coast media". The New York Times responds with excerpts from confidential FBI reports detailing US torture practices - albeit in 2002.
But let's ask what specifically went wrong and whether the Swiss media could be accused of something similar. Newsweek quoted sources, but only had one. This is surprising, because the basis for the success of the parent company, the Washington Post, has so far been the "two-source rule"; the paper only wanted to publish the scandalous evidence surrounding "Watergate" on this basis. It is legitimate to castigate Bush's secretive, even manipulative information policy. But media outlets that want to fight this battle have to be clean about their own kidneys. After all, Newsweek had submitted its story to the Pentagon, where nobody was offended by the Koran anecdote. So it's not enough for a scandal. But it was still misconduct.
It is often noticeable in our newspapers that numerous suspicions are printed without the quality of two - even anonymous - sources being precisely described. (Not to mention the fact that suspects are not even questioned about serious allegations). In addition, reporters are all too quick to offer anonymity just to elicit further details from an informant - even if the informant does not request confidentiality. So there is much to improve, not only there, but also here.
> Peter Studer was editor-in-chief of Tages-Anzeiger and SF DRS. He has chaired the Swiss Press Council since 2001.

Promotions She's a rocket. This is how Patty B., the new girl at the side of the "most popular Swiss bandleader" (Music.ch), was recently introduced. Pepe of all people? That's the one who in 1977 - in the full juice of his youth - warbled his way to sixth place at the Grand Prix d' Eurovision with the ethno-shred "Swiss Lady".
Those were the days! Today, Pepe prefers to leave the lady at home in the cupboard with the man from the mountains. Why is that? We have discovered a possible explanation - in a Nestlé advertisement. The female pleaser pictured in it seems a little underexposed and is likely to go off like a table bomb at best: Ffffffffff ... plop - and all the kid stuff is hanging from her neck and hair.
Sorry, but the modern Swiss lady won't win a flower pot with this complicated presentation. Let alone a night "in bed with Piccolo Man". We, too, thankfully do without such pomp and opt for the "desire for simplicity". For example, a pizza alla senape, even if the menu suggestion from Nestlé's kitchen seems a little waffly to us.
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Media Class, PubliConnect, PrintPlus: the many names in the print and online marketing and classified advertising market are confusing. Clarification is needed.
Publimedia Webadvertising (PWA) does the same on the Internet as Publimedia does in print: it offers media planning, placement and booking of online advertising for major clients. PWA also compiles the Publimedia Webadvertising Index, which is based on monthly surveys of investments in commercial advertising on national and international online platforms. www.webadvertising.chPublicitas Webservices (PWS) transfers the print management model to the online sector. It markets websites exclusively and supports website providers in the development of new online advertising formats (most recently: Metropool's "Maxi-Board"). www.p-webservices.ch
PrintPlus is a new contact point for customers who want to run combined national print and online campaigns in the commercial sector. The competence center is based at Publimedia, but works closely with PWA. www.publimedia.ch/printplus
PubliConnect is the counterpart to PrintPlus in the classifieds sector. The new contact point is aimed at key accounts that want to place combined print, online or mobile classified ads. PubliConnect offers direct access to over 2000 newspapers and magazines as well as around 60 Internet portals. The PubliConnect tools are class precursors. www.publiconnect.ch
MyPublicitas is a tool that allows professional advertisers to design, edit and place both print and online classified ads from scratch. It is also possible to save templates - for job advertisements, for example. Customers receive a collective invoice from Publicitas for their bookings. The tool will be incorporated into Class in an expanded form.
Publicitas.ch is a tool that is almost identical to MyPublicitas.ch, but is aimed at the occasional advertiser. Booking is only possible here after advance payment.
PrintOnline (POL) sees itself as a digital data courier through which professional customers, lithographers and advertising agencies can send advertisements to the connected publishers. POL can be used independently of the booking channel and is a joint company of NZZ, Tamedia, Ringier and Publicitas (25 percent each). There is a possibility that POL will one day lose some of its print classified advertising volume to Class. www.printonline.ch
Polas is an additional service provided by PrintOnline upstream of the dispatch process. It enables customers to design their advertisements online on the basis of predefined templates and to manage their logos and addresses. Polas is based on a media and rate database that enables online booking.
Class is a project that aims to offer an industry solution in the classified section from mid-2006 at the earliest. As a booking tool, it offers professional and occasional customers access to all affiliated titles and online platforms. Print, online or mobile ads can be placed individually or in combination via Class. Customers receive their invoice from the provider that gave them access to the Class network. Class itself is not active on the market vis-à-vis advertisers and end customers. Publicitas will be the main shareholder with a 65 percent stake.
Unio and MediaManager are tools offered by P-independent companies. The entire insertion process - from copywriting and design to cross-media booking - can be handled web-based via the publishing solution Unio Palma (Unio). MediaManager, on the other hand, is an online-to-print tool developed by Xmedia that enables the CI/CD-compliant preparation of print advertisements from existing online advertisements. The WhiteLabel-capable MediaManager can be integrated into existing online marketplaces or alternatively obtained with fully functional WhiteLabel marketplaces. Both tools are already available and offer themselves as an alternative to Class. PubliConnect, on the other hand, says that Class will offer much more than the two tools in terms of media database and other capabilities. www.unio.ch, www.xmedia.ch
Markus Knöpfli

Design agency manager Leone Ming and AD Christine Böhmwalder on their work on Affichage's new look.WW: What was the biggest challenge in this branding project? The task was to develop a design concept in which ten existing brands or companies had to be involved. In addition, an icon was required as a graphic element and a clear, visual statement about the affiliation of the individual companies to the Affichage Group. Based on these specifications, we opted for an umbrella brand strategy.
Leone Ming: For all Affichage Group subsidiaries, an icon and the brand suffix "Affichage" have been integrated alongside the company name. The addition "out of home media" in the umbrella brand defines Affichage Holding's field of activity. In addition, the colors and fonts of all logos have been standardized. This composition stands for the spirit of optimism and the dynamic process within the entire group.
What elements does the new corporate design consist of? Leone Ming: The new logo consists of the elements icon, the company name and the addition "out of home media" for the parent company and "Affichage" for the subsidiaries. As a rule, these elements are presented as a unit. In certain cases, such as the labeling of poster media, the icon can be used as a stand-alone element or key visual.
What is the function of the triangular icon? The icon is made up of two graphic areas and forms the shape of a triangle with the outer lines. The individual red areas deliberately allow for the interpretations "A" and "1". The triangle occupies a key position in the new corporate design as a graphic recognition feature or key visual. Its use and deliberately simple design ensure that the brand is quickly and permanently memorized.
What is the significance of the new lettering and the new corporate color? The Serpentin font was the inspiration for the lettering. The individual modification has resulted in a modern font. Among other things, good legibility and easy reproducibility were also taken into account in the specially designed lettering. We opted for a confident red and a traditional blue for the colors. The new corporate colors underline the character of the Affichage Group: the red stands for dynamism, strength and an expression of vital power, and the blue conveys reliability, a sense of responsibility and competence.
How did you approach the design? The A and a dynamic sign were the basic elements. We used them in playful exercises and finally realized that the A also contains the 1. The affichage is the market leader. That was so convincing.
Is this icon unmistakable? Leone Ming: We naturally had the design checked by the relevant offices at an early stage in terms of trademark law, both for Switzerland and for all European countries.
There are two or three similar shapes in the sense of triangles.
However, these have nothing to do with our newly added line. The unique piece is therefore secured for us.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri

Foundations The St. Gallen-based text and PR agency Complecta has been commissioned by Espas Winterthur with numerous communication tasks.the foundation for the economic and social integration of people with disabilities offers the outsourcing of secretarial, accounting and telephone services. Complecta's task is to publicize Espas Winterthur's services to the target group of associations and SMEs in the region. To this end, the agency is working with media specialists from Konnex AG, who have developed a media strategy for Espas Winterthur. PR reports, publicity reports, an advertising campaign and a direct mailing for clubs and associations are being used.

Market data Gross advertising investment in Switzerland increased by 2.6% in April compared to the previous year. More money flowed into the transport sector in particular, which increased by a whopping 111.3%, thanks mainly to the airlines Swiss and Lufthansa, according to Media Focus. There was also clear growth in household goods (42.9%) thanks to new coffee machine systems.

Free press SBB and Südostbahn (SOB) have awarded the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten the contract to set up newspaper boxes in the St. Gallen region. 20 Minuten will be available at around 50 stops on the two railroads from mid-June. SBB and SOB had invited several publishers to submit bids by the end of April.

Ambient Media Propaganda, the Zurich-based specialist for special forms of advertising, now offers advertising media for the catering sector, ranging from sugar sachets, napkins, placemats and pizza boxes to biscuits and refreshment tissues. In addition to the production and distribution of advertising materials, the service also includes controlling and reporting.

Newspapers According to the weekly newspaper (WOZ), it needs 300,000 Swiss francs to overcome its financial crisis and continue operations. 27,000,000 Swiss francs have already been raised through the fundraising campaign launched at the end of March, including 39,000 Swiss francs earmarked for the newly created capital fund of the ProWOZ support association. ProWOZ has also gained 85 new members

Cross-media The Cash Group is launching a real estate marketplace. Under the name Cash Immo, advertisements will be published both in the Wirtschaftswochenzeitung and in a separate online channel, which has been online since the beginning of the week. Cash has entered into a partnership with ImmoScout24 for this purpose. Over 40,000 properties from the ImmoScout24 advertising pool are presented in a white-label solution, supplemented by editorial content and advisory tools. Advertisers can also book the print edition of Cash Immo online. Two pages of advertisements with a large proportion of images appear there every week. They replace the previous editorial page "Dream Homes", while the "Cash Classifieds Real Estate" remains independent of it.

Agencies Reuters is expanding its news offering in Switzerland and, according to a report by its competitor SDA, a French-language financial service with four journalist positions began operations on Monday. Reuters already operated services in English and German. The German-language editorial team has also been expanded by one position to seven employees.