Associations Perhaps Cary Steinmann will join the ranks of creatives after all. The Art Directors Club Switzerland (ADC) is considering accepting "other participants who are important for the quality of advertising" in the future.When strategic planner Steinmann applied last fall, he was denied admission. Now the ADC AGM has formed a committee to examine various options and present them to the members at a later date.ADC judging for the Electronic Publishing category is also becoming more open. Up to now, websites and banners have been the main categories judged. Sub-categories such as cross-media or viral campaigns will be introduced in 2006.
Finally, the ADC Board was also expanded. Daniel Krieg, co-owner of Krieg Schlupp Springer & Jacoby, has been appointed as the seventh member.
(sm)

Insurance Contexta shot a road movie for Basler Versicherungen and Baloise Bank SoBa. Even the sun dance worked. "No matter what you do and wherever it is, with Basler Versicherungen and Baloise Bank SoBa you are in good company." The Bern-based agency Contexta has been consistently implementing this core message in film and print for several years. The campaign with the invisible companion won one of the coveted Effie awards in 2003. As the first spot with the cliff jumper has been on air for almost four years and the second spot with the hot air balloons has also reached a respectable age of three years, the client and agency now felt that the time was ripe for a third film. This film should have even more emotion and even more beautiful images. It was also clear that the invisible companion had to continue to be there reliably when needed in an emergency.
The result is a real Hollywood-style road movie. The film was shot by Zurich-based Wirz + Fraefel Produktion. In April, the crew traveled to the valley of the gods in the dusty desert of Utah. In four days of shooting, a 30-second TV version and a 40-second version for the cinema were produced under the direction of Ernst Wirz.
For the spots, a complete gas station was carted in from Los Angeles in wind and clouds and set up in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad. But because Doc Cota, who plays the gas station attendant in the film, was a real Indian on set, he was able to make the filming possible on time with a fair-weather dance. However, this savior in distress was not the subject of the commercial. The film shows a couple driving through the desert. They run out of gas. But of course there is a petrol station in just the right place.
"For example, we could have invented a story in the snow in the Swiss mountains. But the American desert seemed more cinematic for this statement," says CD Bene Abegglen. The cloud of dust behind the car really does create the desired cinematic feeling of "being abandoned" and adventure, especially in combination with the music by Crazy Tunes. Wirz + Fraefel brought in Hollywood professional Christopher Chomyn for the camera.
The campaign works with this image spot on television and in cinemas instead of advertisements because the target group can be reached here "at a good price-performance ratio", as Contexta calculates.
Andreas Panzeri

Commuter papers Tagblatt Medien remains silent about plans against 20 Minuten.
Remarkable: The free weekly Anzeiger is "no longer an option" in Tagblatt Medien's defense strategy against 20 Minuten St. Gallen. Publishing director Daniel Ehrat said this on request. There are a total of three to four other options, one of which is to remain inactive. Another option could be a slimmed-down Eastern Switzerland edition of the St. Galler Tagblatt. Ehrat waves it off. "We have decided on a variant, but we are keeping our plans secret." However, he adds: "We reserve the right to approach SBB for the distribution of a possible product from our company." Strange, given that Tagblatt Medien only had until May 17 to make an offer to SBB for boxes at stations in Eastern Switzerland (see WW 18/05).
Did Ehrat let this deadline pass? He remains silent about this. For its part, 20 Minuten received the green light for boxes from SBB last week (page 19). The launch was announced for mid-June.
(mk)

1 secondTV commercial In Belgium, a new breath freshener is being advertised with the shortest commercial in the world. Not three seconds, as it takes to quickly read an image, and not two seconds, as alleged Coke commercials claim, but a single second - "the fastest commercial in the world". It was realized by Duval Guillaume in Antwerp. The commercial was placed between two "normal" commercials on all TV channels in Belgium. The commercial shows a drop of gel being dripped onto a woman's finger and then applied to her tongue. This is followed by a pack shot with the logo. Of course, the commercial can also have an indirect effect by reporting on the "sensation" in all media.

Banks Luzerner Kantonalbank has entrusted Aseantic with the "New Internet" project, which includes a redesign of the bank's website as well as a concept for the strategic use of the Internet platform for greater customer proximity. The launch is planned for September 2005. Aseantic was awarded the contract by Luzerner on the basis of previous good cooperation on the relaunch of the intranet.

Newspapers Having reached its eastern limit in St. Gallen, 20 Minuten is now putting out feelers to the west.Tamedia is in talks with Edipresse about expanding the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten into western Switzerland. 20 Minuten boss Rolf Bollmann confirmed to the western Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps that he recently met Edipresse director Tibère Adler and Théo Bouchat, director of Le Matin and the Edipresse newspapers, near Geneva together with Tamedia boss Martin Kall. The main topic of discussion was a possible launch of the commuter paper in French-speaking Switzerland, but Edipresse is not willing to confirm the meeting. And Bollmann emphasizes that the Zurich-based company is still in the analysis phase. They could not simply adopt the Swiss-German concept, but had to create a product adapted to the French-speaking Swiss mentality. So it makes sense to talk to the market leader there.
Bollmann could not be reached by Werbewoche on Tuesday. Nevertheless, if 20 Minuten ventures west, it will probably be with one or two editions for the urban centers of Lausanne and Geneva. And should Edipresse show no interest or prefer its own project, Tamedia would, according to Bollmann, look for another partner or jump over the Röstigraben on its own.
Since the launch of 20 Minuten in Zurich in 1999, the prevailing opinion in both German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland has been that the small market in French-speaking Switzerland is not worthy of such a title, especially as there are hardly any large agglomerations here and, above all, no comparable commuter flows. However, the greater Zurich area was always used for such comparisons. In the meantime, however, 20 Minuten has also been able to establish itself in smaller areas; St. Gallen will confirm this trend.
No wonder, it now sounds different in French-speaking Switzerland. In fact, according to the last census, "Greater Geneva" is in second place after Zurich and Lausanne is in fifth place, well ahead of Lucerne and St. Gallen. And commuter traffic between Lausanne and Geneva, as well as from Vaud to Lausanne, is becoming increasingly important. The more than 30,000 commuters from France who work and consume in Geneva every day represent further potential.
There are also realistic opportunities in the advertising market. Major customers who already book 20 Minuten will welcome the advantages of national booking. After the disappearance of Swisspool, the industry would suddenly have a national offering in the daily press sector again. And one with a clear target group, the young and young at heart.
The category advertisements from Geneva and Lausanne represent another important potential. According to reports, a number of well-known customers have been waiting for an alternative to the existing offer for some time.
The question remains as to whether Hersant might become a Tamedia partner instead of Edipresse. In any case, Philippe Hersant emphasized at a press conference on Monday that he wants to grow further in French-speaking Switzerland after Neuchâtel and Nyon. In addition to the local television station Léman Bleu in Geneva, he also explicitly expressed interest in free newspapers. A collaboration with 20 minutes in France, where former 20 minutes shareholder Schibsted has been active since 2002, would also be possible. The total circulation of the seven editions there is 775,000 copies, with the latest research confirming over two million readers.
Either way, the experts in French-speaking Switzerland are convinced (but cannot be quoted) that 20 minutes is coming - and most of them think it will be this year.
20 minutes, made in Switzerland, is probably just a matter of time.
Constant Pochon, Geneva

Magazines One year after Monopol, another magazine for art, life and the art of living is set to conquer the German-speaking market from Berlin-Kreuzberg: Liebling, which will be published bi-monthly from June with a circulation of 60,000 copies (and is self-published), sees itself as a recommendation organ for fashion, design and culture and is aimed at a trend-conscious, 25 to 40-year-old alternative audience.

Posters Leone Ming Establishment has developed a new image for Affichage and its subsidiaries. 7500 posters throughout Switzerland have been arousing curiosity since May 18 with a bright red number 1 on a white background. Then, on May 26 and just in time for Affichage's Annual General Meeting in Geneva and the APG Poster Night in Zurich on the same day, the secret was revealed: APG and all other Affichage companies will be presenting themselves with a new image. As part of the strategic realignment and on the basis of a comprehensive situation analysis, the agency Leone Ming Establishment in Schaan, Liechtenstein, was commissioned to develop and design the new image.
Striving for the top spot
Leone Ming as the "spiritual father" of the new brand and Christine Böhmwalder as art director and thus designer of the new word-image brand say of their design: "On the one hand, the triangle symbolizes the 'A' for Affichage, on the other hand, the graphic area on the right forms a '1'. It stands for market leadership in the various market segments of out-of-home media."
The new Affichage design is a design concept that creates a level of communication to express the common strengths of all Affichage companies. It allows what was previously mutually exclusive - "the simultaneous commitment to individuality and unity", as Leone Ming explains.
The major challenge for his agency was to integrate all Affichage subsidiaries and affiliates with all their shapes, colors and fonts in the various logos into a single umbrella brand strategy. "We solved it by having all Affichage companies carry the icon next to their name as a recognition effect." The company names have remained the same. Now, however, the affiliation to Affichage is immediately apparent thanks to the icon.
This icon should be a key visual so that it is quickly recognizable. "However, simple doesn't mean easy to make - but very well thought out," says Ming.
Around a year ago, Affichage invited four agencies to pitch for the implementation of the project. The Ming agency impressed with its ideas and approaches. Just two weeks after the briefing, the agency in Schaan was able to present its first concrete ideas. Since then, the team has spent 15 months working on the realization.
The logistics for this order take on unusual dimensions. More than 400 cars, from passenger cars to large trucks, have to be printed with the icon. Around 20 houses and branches will be labeled, the large ones with illuminated signs, the smaller ones with lettering boards. APG has well over 70,000 poster holders. For the first time in the company's history, the billboards are being marked. Competitors have been doing this for some time and in some cases with large boards. Affichage wants to be more discreet. "The focus is on the customer's poster," says Roger Möschler, Head of Marketing at APG.
Leone Ming has created a concept in which the Soleil poster holders are discreetly marked on the side. From the front, all you can see is the red stripe as an elegant accent. The icon only becomes clear when viewed from the side. The urban furniture (Telecab, Citytel, city maps) and the illuminated poster boxes are marked with the overall logo at the bottom right. The branches and cars have been labeled within three days since May 25. A little more time is taken for the poster holders. These will be labeled by the company's own affiche artists during their tours over the next two months.
Web presence also renewedIn addition to the physical items, the websites of all Affichage companies also had to be adapted to the new design. Since May 26, there has been a completely new APG homepage. You no longer have to enter APGSGA as before, but simply APG or SGA. You will then be redirected to the appropriate version depending on the language. Affichage Holding is also getting a new homepage. All Affichage companies are listed on it, so you can find
The website provides easy access to all subsidiaries. www.affichage.ch therefore acts as a portal for all Affichage websites. The concept and design of the homepage was developed by Futurecom in Zurich. Leone Ming supervised the job and was involved in the entire art styling. For Leone Ming, the Affichage project team also proved to be "very motivated and decisive".
The various printed materials and business stationery also represented a major logistical challenge. Affichage worked together with the BUAG printing company, which pre-printed everything under strict confidentiality.
For all these maneuvers, 20 representatives of all Affichage companies were invited to Winterthur in March and introduced to the project. On May 20, these representatives were sent all the documents packed in cardboard boxes. These packages had to remain sealed until 5 a.m. on May 25. At half past seven sharp, the new printed materials, give-aways, work clothes and design elements were handed out.
presented to all employees in all branches throughout Switzerland. On May 24, the entire Affichage management team was informed about the new branding and the umbrella brand strategy at a workshop in Berne.
Affichage and associated companiesThe new icon is made up of two graphic areas and forms a triangle with the outer lines. The triangle symbolizes the A for Affichage. The graphic area forms a 1, a number that stands for market leadership in the various market segments of out-of-home media.
Leone Ming Establishment: "Loosa, hirna, zaaga, tua "The agency works with a strong marketing approach. The design only comes into play in a second phase.
The agency deliberately operates as a small group with only six permanent employees. In addition, there is a pool of highly professional freelancers. They have to work in the studio in Schaan for the duration of their assignment. These premises in a former electrical workshop are just one hour from Zurich, two hours from Munich and three hours from Milan.
Leone Ming works for an international clientele. "We are noticing a trend where we are being asked more and more by larger companies," explains Leone Ming. The owner, who is personally involved in all orders, founded the agency seven years ago as a marketing agency in the field of management consultancy. Graphic design was added four years ago. Christine Böhmwalder, the art director, studied in Vienna and has worked in various large agencies.
Leone Ming studied business administration, specializing in marketing, tourism and HRM. He has worked in Zurich, Milan and Paris as a managing director for a large medical group. While developing and presenting countless sales and marketing concepts all over the world, he also had to deal with advertising concepts. This exciting collaboration with advertising agencies motivated him so much that he eventually wanted to set up his own agency.
Its owner describes the Leone Ming agency's recipe for success as "loosa, hirna, zaaga, tua", which means "listen, brainstorm, present, implement" in Liechtenstein dialect.
Striking tandem: Christine Böhmwalder, Leone Ming.
Advertising customers have priority: the APG logo now adorns the billboards, but only discreetly.
Andreas Panzeri

Promotions Getting hold of the coveted second points of sale in the retail channels is a difficult undertaking, but the Blue Spirit agency has succeeded with the national Guitar Box promotion, which is based on the Heineken brand pillar of music. These are Heineken-green "guitar cases" with space for 13 beer cans. World-famous Fender guitars adorn the front and back, forming the 13-pack air guitars and potentially becoming collector's items. The highly acclaimed idea and its implementation were well received by retailers. The limited

Radio For the launch of the web radio ip-radio, Euro RSCG developed a politically correct campaign - cinema spot and advertisements - with a lot of goodwill from all those involved, which speaks to many people's hearts.the basic idea is based on the audio junk with which we are bombarded in all stores and family restaurants today. Public transport users are just as badly affected: street musicians usually play more unsolicited guantanameras than music on all networks. The 20-minute target group makes it clear to such troublemakers what it wants: only the good sound of ip-radio.20min.ch.

previously Senior Account Director at Publicis Zurich, is moving to McCann Erickson Geneva as Managing Partner. From the beginning of June, he will form a tandem with long-standing Managing Director Curdin Janett, according to the agency.Philippe Meyer, Meyer will in future act as a bridge builder between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland....
Peter Ulmann has been appointed Head of Sales at Radio Basilisk's marketing company Medag. He will take up the position on June 2. He is currently
Ulmann will be working as Head of Sales for the Basel regional television station NW 1. The previous Basilisk sales manager, Monique Stauffer, will be
Ulmann's deputy and key account manager.
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Schreibwerk Verlag is strengthening its advertising sales team with Susanne Frischknecht. From the beginning of July, she will be responsible for the German-speaking regions of Switzerland and Ticino for the magazines Massiv and SuperSolo. Frischknecht previously worked as advertising manager for Bolero.
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Willem Baumann joins McCann Erickson Zurich as Art Director at the beginning of June. Baumann has already been working for the agency on a freelance basis for two months. He previously worked at Advico Young & Rubicam.
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As Business Development Manager, Nico Podgorny is taking over the development of online dialog and permission marketing at Swissclick. Podgorny most recently worked as an Account Manager in the B2B sector for the online computer retailer Bechtle Comsoft Direct.
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Connie Voigt is taking over as editor-in-chief of HR Today. She takes over from Cordelia Kissling, who headed the specialist magazine for human resource management for eight years. Connie Voigt was most recently Head of Communications at the airline catering company Gate Gourmet.

Mobile phone market With Yallo, TDC wants to establish a low-cost brand for pragmatic cell phone users alongside Sunrise. A few weeks ago, mobile phone providers reacted to stagnating sales with new tariff models for their pre-paid and post-paid customers. TDC Switzerland - with a market share of 16 percent (Bakom, December 2003) the number three among mobile phone providers - did not react to the actionism with a budget offer for its Sunrise brand, but instead launched Yallo, a completely new prepaid brand for a specific market segment and customer group. When you consider that, according to IT analyst Gartner Dataquest, the market penetration of mobile telephones in Switzerland is expected to rise to 90 percent by the end of the year (May 2004: 84 percent) and that the proportion of prepaid customers is 40 percent, you can see that there is still great potential in this sector. The new brand also serves a different target group (over 25-year-olds) and has its very own business philosophy for them: that of slimmed-down mobile communications. Yallo is aimed at those cell phone users who simply make calls or send text messages, but who previously had to pay fees for the entire multifunctional package. This target group, which does not have much in the way of MMS, VGA camera or UMTS, can also be expanded to include those who are no longer able to find their way through the opaque jungle of tariff models or who do not want to commit themselves to a cell phone contract. What is a must-have for some is just an expensive gimmick for a growing group of others.
Reduced to the essentialsThese people who act critically are the focus of Yallo. The brand identity, which was developed by several agencies - including Assai, MetaDesign and Prime Communications - is also credible: straightforward, fresh and direct at all levels. Prime Communications is responsible for the classic advertising presence. "When everything is becoming more and more, we finally need less again," is how she sums up the core message. Like the strategy, all advertising materials are aimed at reducing complexity. The messages are reduced to the essentials and are advertised in print, posters, radio and online.
True to the monobrand strategy developed by HTP, St. Gallen, and MetaDesign, Zurich, Yallo is intended to stand for a completely new and not an additional offer. The strategists are certain that this will not affect Sunrise's good positioning with the "simple and affordable" Yallo brand. In addition to the primary features, Yallo stands out from the competition thanks to the standard rate for all calls to all external networks. Meta-Design translated the new business model into a clear and friendly design that is intended to appeal to modern users with a "soft spot for the Internet".
Straightforward message, simply packaged: Yallo campaign by Prime Communications and MetaDesign.
Luca Aloisi