Guest commentary Google scores points with its entry into the online advertising market, says Markus Gabriel To clarify: Google's foray into the realm of visual advertising, announced last week, does not affect the search engine itself. The almost provocative rejection of banners and buttons vis-à-vis clients is still part of Google's puritanical self-image. Google now delegates to its worldwide "AdSense" partner network what is out of the question for its own site. And these partners won't be asked twice, as they can now earn money from contextual banners that Google sucks out of the advertising market and automatically sends to their site.hordes of webmasters who still stock up on commission-linked banners on affiliate platforms are also likely to turn to the new program. This is because money is paid for displaying banners and not just when a toaster is sold by clicking on them. This will make the Google network even larger and more attractive for advertisers. Advertisers can place their message in an extremely target group-specific and topic-related way without the need for a media planner or marketer. And presumably at massively lower prices than usual.
The technology used supports the advertisers in a clever way: They type in the URLs of sites they like as advertising media, and Google sends them back a list of partner sites that are similar in nature and therefore suitable as a scatter plot. Unlike with "AdWords", however, it is not the
It is not the machine but the advertiser who decides on which Google partner sites his banners appear. Which is why do-it-yourself advertisers will use this new offer en masse.
But communication agencies like ours also have a new, complementary tool at their disposal. We can make the online marketing mix more diverse and offer the selection of suitable sites from the Google universe as a new service without having to make complicated calculations with expensive media data.
to have to make a decision. Google's latest move is ultimately good news for all innovative market players.
> Markus Gabriel is the founder and owner of the Zurich-based offline and online marketing agency Angelink.

Newspapers With a circulation of 380,000 copies, the business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore is number three in Italy in terms of circulation - a publishing phenomenon that is unique in the world.380,000 Il Sole 24 Ore is now Europe's largest business newspaper, even ahead of the Financial Times. Created around forty years ago from a merger of two business titles, the Milan business newspaper now ranks just behind Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica in terms of circulation. Experts therefore believe that sooner or later the business paper will even become the largest Italian daily newspaper.

Cosmetics The Zurich-based agency Flowcube Communications is now responsible for The Body Shop Switzerland and the mandate includes strategic communications consulting for the management, the further development of the communications strategy and support for the company in implementing the measures. The Body Shop operates 44 branches for body care and cosmetic products in Switzerland. The company pursues an environmentally conscious business policy and operates worldwide according to the same ethical principles.

Event It's that time of year again: the cycling season is just around the corner. It's high time to celebrate this with a proper event, which is why the best sports address in St. Moritz, Viva Sportiva, has launched the first Engadin bike throwing event. The event gives burly men and women the chance to prove that they are real athletes and have more than just juice in their calves. The competitor who throws the bike the furthest will win a brand new Viva Sportiva bike. For the promotion of this event, which has almost become a tradition, Publicis has recalled the poster art of our grandfathers. In a slightly "hodlerized form", a strapping lad holds up a Viva Sportiva bike for a throw. The typography is also reminiscent of that beautiful era. Posters and postcards invite the whole of the Engadin to a test of strength on the Via Rosatsch in
St. Moritz-Bad.

Tobacco industry Sulzer Sutter strengthens the brand personality of Parisienne with a small world premiere - 10 by 15.5 cm - or more precisely: a packaging promotion.
It is probably the oldest advertising space, but is still often reduced to functionality by many industries: packaging. The cigarette industry is not exactly innovative in this sense either. The numerous national and international creative awards for the Parisienne packaging design "Smoke local" were therefore hardly surprising. In-house agency Sulzer Sutter had given the packaging of the Swiss BAT cigarette brand an unusual local color with various city maps, thus making the origin of the brand clear once again. On the other hand, Parisienne was once again able to break out of the unwritten rules of the industry and confirm its individualistic target group in its lifestyle avant-garde, and in the merry month of this year, the unconventional cigarette wants to attract attention again with unusual communication measures. The creative team led by CD Francis Sulzer and Felix Dammann has once again chosen packaging as the main medium.
59 times Facts, Figures & FunWhoever opens a Parisienne soft pack in the coming weeks will find one of 59 different subjects on the inside of the pack, which will surprise them again and again with their variety - entertainment, curiosities and puzzles. "We didn't just let ourselves be tempted into a remake of Ben Schott's hodgepodge, but developed our own ideas," says Sulzer. Naturally in the familiar Swiss, quirky Parisienne style and in the three or four true national languages - including a crash course in Romansh.
A cigarette packaging with the qualities of a dialog tool has probably never existed in this form before, consultant Jasna Smojvir is certain.
One of the motifs explains which farmer you can lease your own dairy cow from, while another ironically shows how to prepare a coq au vin - catch the chicken, press it into a wine bottle, leave it to cook in the sun - et voilà. Another type of pack is dedicated to a wide range of small-talk topics such as women's suffrage or the ranks of the Swiss army, "so that from now on everyone can join in the salute", as the packaging explains. But that's not all: the soft packs also contain information about the traditional sport of Hürnen from Furna, the only snow burner on the Swiss railroads, the Schengen Agreement and St. Gallen bratwurst, as well as quirky crossword puzzles, funny burn hole mending tips and a scantily clad pin-up girl. Entertainment, knowledge and distraction are provided.
A total of over six million limited edition packs will be produced for the 59-subject campaign. The limited edition will be advertised above and below the line in the typical spirit of the anti-brand: Ads demonstrate in an original way how the problem of homeless cigarettes can be solved - with the real Parisienne humidor, a Tupperware bowl, or a cling pouch. In addition, promoters in trendy locations offer customers exactly these replacement packs. In addition, various POS measures are used, such as the Parisienne fun booklet and the specially produced website Interieure.ch, where all the subjects can be found as well as the solutions to the relevant packaging puzzles.
Parisienne packs entertainment, knowledge and distraction.

Where to put the homeless cigarette? Sulzer Sutter has a patented solution for Parisienne.
What's the difference? The answer is Parisienne.
Luca Aloisi

Media policy On Tuesday, the National Council's preliminary committee was unable to finalize the settlement of differences on the new Radio and TV Act, meaning that the bill will not be ready for the summer session, but will only come before the National Council in the autumn. The committee held a hearing on the SRG foreign service Swissinfo and spoke out in favor of maintaining it. The federal government should pay half of the SRG's costs.

Prepress OneVision Software AG recently introduced the new versions of its Asura Pro, Asura and Solvero software solutions for print and media production, with a focus on enhancing color control through optional automatic reduction of ink coverage, removal of deep black and extended automatic gray detection. Another highlight of the new generation is the expansion of output control.

Agency The Lucerne-based creative agency Visuelt has been commissioned by the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) to design and implement the communication measures for an internal DDPS project in the area of project management and marketing. On behalf of the University of Applied Sciences of Central Switzerland (FHZ), Visuelt created the corporate design for the "Zentralschweiz Innovativ" project umbrella. The "Neuland" project, for example, is being implemented under this brand. Between 2005 and 2007, it investigated how the FHZ can specifically strengthen the innovative power of SMEs in rural regions.

Information technology For the 4th time, Go Out, a company specializing in computer security, is organizing the free IT Security Forum on 28 June in Winterthur. The St. Gallen text and PR agency Complecta has been commissioned by Go Out with numerous PR tasks to ensure that this year's forum is even better perceived by the public. This includes finding a suitable media partner, writing media releases, moderating the conference and editing important communication materials such as the invitation flyer, homepage and downloads.

TV The RomandieNewsCombi (RNC), a counterpart to the Swiss-German TeleNewsCombi, will be launched in French-speaking Switzerland on June 1. Not all participating TV stations have been confirmed yet: TVRL from Vaud, Ici-TV and Canal Nord Vaudois, Canal Alpha from Neuchâtel and Canal 9 from Valais, i.e. five of the six partners of the existing Pool Romand. The commitment of Léman Bleu from Geneva is still pending. In addition, the RNC is also open to Tele Bielingue, said initiator Bruno Oetterli of Radiotele. Whether his company will also receive exclusive marketing rights for the RNC, similar to the TNC, is still being negotiated, Oetterli continued, adding that the integration of the TV advertising pool into the Publiplan planning tool of SRG marketer Publisuisse contributed to the success of the TNC. The RNC is not expected to reach this stage until
January 1, 2006. "And once it has started, it could make sense to discuss cooperation with the TNC," Oetterli promises.
(mk)

Furniture The Swiss furniture system brand USM has invited four agencies to compete for its advertising budget, and according to a report by the industry service New Business, the account holder, the design agency P'inc in Langenthal, is also involved in the pitch. Stephan Göckler, Head of Marketing Germany, told New Business that because P'inc has been working on the account for many years, it was time to carry out a fundamental review of USM's communication. He did not want to reveal anything about the other pitch participants. Jung von Matt/Limmat, which realized a product campaign for USM office furniture in 1999 (then still as Honegger von Matt), is not taking part.

Print Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is reaffirming its commitment to SMEs with new offerings. In April, press manufacturer and solutions provider Heidelberg presented its range of solutions to customers in the small and medium-sized print shop segment, a segment that is very important to the company. Werner Albrecht, CEO of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Vertrieb Deutschland GmbH, also informed the German-speaking trade press about the background to the event, which was organized as a series of events over several days under the title "Small format - big impact". He also provided information on the company's strategies in the smaller format segment in general and on the situation in the German market, which is particularly important for Heidelberg. Bleak outlookAccording to Werner Albrecht, the environment in the printing industry is unfortunately not characterized by growth at the moment - and is not running in sync with the economy. According to him, the printing industry is a "late cycler". It is only benefiting from an economic upturn long after other sectors have recovered. "Our customers also feel insecure. They don't know where the journey is going," says Albrecht, explaining the state of the industry.
Where should a company invest today? In prepress, printing or postpress? These are questions that concern not only German, but also Swiss print shops to the same extent.
Increasing productivityWerner Albrecht noted that the German printing industry has shrunk by around a fifth since 1994, from 240000 to 190000 employees. However, the situation has not yet calmed down, he added.
One reason for this is the increase in productivity. In the case of sheetfed offset presses, for example, it has increased by over 100 percent in ten years. The productivity of saddle stitchers and other finishing machines has improved by 60 to 70 percent. Despite increased demand for printed matter, volumes have lagged behind these productivity gains. This has created free capacity. "These free capacities," says Albrecht, "are not good for the market. They are problematic because a larger supply has (negative) consequences for prices." Another force is cost optimization on the part of the "customers' customers". Print buyers have long since mastered the basics of business management, have learned what "just-in-time production" is, print smaller runs, etc., said Albrecht.
Albrecht sees a differentiation of print shops as a way out of this dilemma. The smaller formats in particular still offer sufficient potential. The combination of additional equipment in printing presses (coating units, punching or perforating equipment) with small and/or compact finishing machines gives companies the necessary advantages in the market. Print shops that pursue these strategies are therefore less interchangeable and can therefore escape price pressure to a certain extent.
Bernd Blumberg, Product Manager for the 35 x 50 cm and 50 x 70 cm formats, presented the solutions and products Heidelberg has to offer its customers in this area. These range from corresponding PDF workflows (prepress) to inline finishing options for the cost-effective production of matt/gloss effects (printing) and compact folding and collating machines (postpress). Many of these possibilities were demonstrated live at the event using practical examples (see box).
Improved service offeringTo make the offering clearer for smaller print shops, Heidelberg has divided customers/print shops into three business models (commercial printer/cost leader/specialist). With corresponding workflows, products and solutions, Heidelberg is demonstrating that it takes the needs of this important customer group seriously.
In addition to supporting customers with material consumption and reducing waste, Heidelberg will also increasingly focus on services in the future. "It is no longer enough to offer high-quality products and standard services. The range must be expanded," said Werner Albrecht on this subject. "We also have to stand out from the competition. A good price is important, but differentiation is also more important."
Profit after years of lossesSince 2001, total investments in prepress, printing and postpress in Germany, Heidelberg's most important market, have almost halved from 1.2 billion to 700 million this year. This has hit the company hard. The consequence was the sale of the web and digital printing business, following losses of 120 million and then 600 million euros in the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 financial years.
Following the sale of the two divisions, Heidelberg has achieved a turnaround. Thanks in part to a new cost structure, the company was able to generate a profit of 61 million euros again in 2004. Today, Heidelberg has focused on prepress, printing, postpress and services. (jf)
Opportunities for differentiationThere is great potential in inline refinement and finishing:
- Processing scented varnish
Application of a microencapsulated fragrance, over the entire surface or partially
- Coating dispersion, UV or blister coating - Drip-off coating
Cost-effective solutions for full-surface and partial matt and gloss effects - MetalFX colors Combination of silver base color with CMYK enables the reproduction of metallic colors
- Die-cuttingSimultaneous cutting or punching of, for example, self-adhesive materials for stickers (jf)
Jürgen Franck