In the article "Ein cleverer Coup der BaZ" (WW 15/05, p. 16), we read that the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung (NFZ), the resulting merger product of Fricktaler Bote and Fricktaler Zeitung, would one day be the largest newspaper in the region and, thanks to its large weekly circulation of 31,000 copies, would "also surpass the weekly Bezirksanzeiger with its 1,8137 copies". But the circulation comparison is wrong. The 18137 copies of the Bezirksanzeiger only include the paid circulation, forgetting that the official publication of 22 Fricktal municipalities serves 29 other localities with an additional 11290 free copies. And the latter should have been included in the comparison with the free large circulation of the NFZ. In total, the Bezirksanzeiger therefore has a certified circulation of 29427 copies (based on 2003). Rudolf Moser, co-owner of the publishing house Mobus AG, emphasizes that the current circulation of the Bezirksanzeiger, which has not yet been reported by Wemf, is actually around 34,600 copies. In addition, the Bezirksanzeiger had 41,000 readers in last year's Mach Basic, 5,000 more than the large circulation of the Fricktaler Zeitung.

Services Transa Bikes is offering a new service in Basel that pampers cyclists with unusual convenience: you no longer have to bring broken bikes to Transa, instead they are collected by a courier. Just give them a call and the bike breakdown service will come on behalf of Transa and bring the repaired steel bike back - if possible even on the same day. To promote the service, Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett has created a wild poster that looks deceptively similar to an official tow-away sign. With that certain small, subtle difference ...

Market Research Emmi, the Thai Tourism Board and Suva placed the most popular ads in the Swiss media in the first quarter of this year.Best of SoutheastAffinity of ads among supporters in the "Christian camp"
Gold (162) Padma Padma 28 - Protection program (fishermen's advertising)
Silver (160) Eschenmoser 10% Discount on everything (Wirz)
Bronze (155) Tentan Leucen - red cap
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of Werbewoche with an excerpt of the results from the Advertising Index (AX-Print) five times a year. This index (see below) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertisements. In the boxes on the left and right are ads that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group. The three subjects that performed best across the entire sample, i.e., all four target groups combined, are shown under the heading "Top Three." (ww)

Insurance Mobiliar has made a surplus and is distributing the money to its customers. Wirz Werbung is turning this into an entire campaign: "When things go well with us, everyone benefits." Wirz Werbung uses this claim to publicize the fact that Mobiliar can pay back some of its insurance premiums to all customers. This image advertising campaign is called a "surplus campaign" and such surplus payments are a tradition at Mobiliar. Since 1981, the insurance company has paid out around CHF 372 million. This year it is 10 percent of the net premium or CHF 50 million. The summery Christmas fairy tale of a windfall is possible not only for large customers, but also for small ones, because Mobiliar is organized as a cooperative. In a cooperative, it is not anonymous shareholders who benefit, but many customers.
With one million insured persons, that's a lot. Wirz has visualized this with many small status symbols that appear in heaps. The campaign gets to the point: it's not just one person who can afford a luxury yacht thanks to Mobiliar's surplus, but many who can afford a small boat.
Fairness visually implementedAccordingly, all four subjects work with miniaturized status symbols that large shareholders would otherwise have on a large scale: House, horse, yacht, private jet. In the cooperative downsizing, several of the symbols have been fitted into a single unit such as a stand, stable box or plot of land. Surprising, strikingly implemented and easy to understand, the campaign aims to make people aware: Come to Mobiliar, it's fair insurance.
"The idea fits in well with the times. Five years ago, an advertisement with this basic idea would probably have been less well received than it is today," says CD Matthias Freuler. At the time of the stock market fever, a cooperative seemed outdated. Now stock corporations are under pressure, and Mobiliar can play its trump card to the benefit of all. The various subjects can now be seen throughout Switzerland as posters, double and half-page advertisements and TV commercials. In the cleverly made film, a seagull lands on a mini yacht, then the camera pans up and you see lots of small boats. Each model boat was filmed individually in its position. The boats were then put together on the computer, rocking individually. The trained seagull could take off and land on command in front of a blue screen. The graphic element of the paper clip in the advertisements provides a link to the previously known campaign with the damage reports. A further series with these witty drawings will follow in the fall. These damage reports were invented by Jean Etienne Aebi and Publicis. When Publicis won the Zurich insurance budget, the agency had to relinquish its client Mobiliar for competitive reasons. Following an agency evaluation, the budget was transferred to Wirz Werbung. Matthias Freuler is delighted with this victory because his "baby" has now found its way back to him: Freuler was still involved with Publicis when the campaign was born. With the switch to Wirz, all other services such as Mobilife and Mobijeune have now been bundled with just one advertising agency.
Shared profit: instead of a horse for one, there are horses for all.
Andreas Panzeri

Not only media journalists are interested in how RTL Group intends to present itself and operate in the market after the changes at the top, but also customers and media agencies want to know where the TV provider from the Bertelsmann Group intends to develop and set its priorities.
To shed some light on the subject, Michi Frank and IP Multimedia invited some high-profile guests to Zurich last week.
Sonnenberg restaurant in Zurich. Representatives of the major media agencies and some top clients were present at the roundtable discussion chaired by Werbewoche editor-in-chief Pierre C. Meier. To get straight to the point: No dirty laundry was washed by the management clique of the broadcasters RTL, RTL 2, Super RTL and Vox - and unfortunately no juicy internals about the recent castling in the executive chairs were revealed. Rather, what was discussed in the hallowed hall of the Fifa Club was classified as secret as the recipes of Jacky Donatz, who swings the cooking spoons up there. The agency managers, owners and "heads of electronic media" in attendance really got to grips with the TV people.
The Sonnenberg kitchen then took care of the guests' physical well-being with a four-course meal that was simple by their standards, but no less tasty for that. And finally, chef Donatz took the time to write a dedication to each individual guest in his latest celebrity cookbook, which the guests were allowed to take home as a gift.
The Texterverband Script was also primarily about eating (and drinking, of course!). After the general meeting,
which was whipped through at breathtaking speed by Script President Stephanie Hugentobler and Managing Director Christoph Fuchs, the guests settled down at the tables of Bern's Cinématte. The feast under the motto ÜberNraschung consisted of a very (!) rich aperitif, various salads and a buffet with five different regional main courses and side dishes. Not forgetting the cheese and dessert display. An unparalleled feast for the eyes and palate, with many a hungry Texter filling their plate more than once.
In view of the full program, the actual AGM almost became a side note. Because just as unanimously as the copywriters sat together for a meal, they had previously approved all the personnel matters, budgets and proposals of the Board of Directors at express speed. And as we heard, the copywriters' club is also back on a solid financial footing. Bravo, keep up the good work!
Thanks to the copywriters' association Script, Beat Fritsch had the pleasure of a short trip to Bern last week, away from Zurich for a change. Script members and guests met at the Cinématte directly on the Aare for the annual (very short) general meeting and the accompanying program called Scriptnight. Once again, the Cinématte crew provided a sumptuous buffet.
The IP Multimedia roundtable discussion on RTL Group was also culinarily unobjectionable. The hand-picked guests of media agency CEOs and top clients were treated to delicacies from the kitchen of old master Jacky Donatz - and in contrast to GRP and market share forecasts, these are a 100 percent safe bet.
Our football team will never get as close to this trophy as Advertising Week! Script Managing Director Christoph Fuchs (right) and Kaspar Silberschmidt, retiring member of the Board of Directors, in the Cinématte garden.
The Script AGM, a sunny affair: President Stephanie Hugentobler (left) with Anton Neuenschwander and Cornelia Beutler.
After many years of voluntary work, Odile Nerfin and Eric Amoudru have left the Script Board.
Mélanie and Alain Martinet from Scriptnight sponsor Webstyle at the aperitif with Andy Ruf (right) on the calming banks of the Aare.
Robert Sulser (l.) told Script board member Paul Girard that he is currently involved in several exciting projects.
Guest visit: Richard Staubli (l.) and Nicoletta Mastropierro from the Board of the Berne Advertising Club with Script member Reto M. Zurflüh.
Script board member Sonja Brunschwiler (l.) with Franziska Hidber, Textatelier Silberfeder, and Joachim Lienert from Volltext.
Without the third-largest economic area, your brand lacks the PowerTexter-Talk in the Cinématte: Iris Erdenbrink with Pierre-André Rion (l.) from Sense and Philipp Gafner from Gruner Brenneisen.
Blatant misappropriation: Hans-Peter Fleury (right) misused Thomas Dvoràk's head as a pipe tapper.
Ernst Bannwart congratulated Hélène Apel, who was newly elected to the board of the copywriters' association in Bern.
Enjoying the sunny late afternoon by the Aare in the Matten district: Carla Muster and Michel Zenhäusern from Webstyle.
Dinner companions: Elisabeth Hubatka (l.) and Monika Luck, SW Managing Director, with ADC Chairman Andreas Prokesch.
Were they already preparing the handover of leadership at Scriptnight? ASW President Andy Ruf (l.) and his successor Diego Bally.
Pampering the script guests by every trick in the book: Cinématte caterer Christian Lutz with helpers Stephanie and Sabine.
In a good mood: Andy Lehmann with RTL-2 Managing Director Jochen Starke and host Michi Frank (from left).
Aperitif time: Albert Manzinger, CEO of EMI Music, with Klaus Kappeler and IPM Board President Jean-Pierre Wilwerding (from left).
Media specialists: Rolf Suter, Managing Director at m&m, Petra Kreussler, The Generation Media, and Karin Steiner (right), Drei Media Team.
Martin Krapf, Managing Director of IP Deutschland, with new RTL COO Anke Schäferkordt and Gregor Doser, CIA:Mediaedge.
Christoph Winschuh (l.), El Cartel Media, explained the German RTL 2 marketing model to Josi Bauer and Pierre C. Meier.
Vox Managing Director Frank Hoffmann (l.) with Sales Manager Astrid Breuer and Philip Hofmann, Sales Manager at IPM.

Votes Now that registered partnerships for same-sex couples are already a reality in some cantons, a national vote will be held on June 5 to help the bill win a poster campaign by Strahm Müller Werbung, which contrasts pleasantly with the subjects of the Schengen/Dublin referendum battle being fought at the same time. It quotes the popular "Love is..." comics from the 70s and 80s, but with the slight difference that homosexual couples are shown instead of heterosexual ones. And the written proof of love is no longer romantic, but legal arguments: for example, the right to hospital visits, inheritance or the partner's pension plan. The campaign aims to counter the political opponent with the strongest of all arguments, namely love.

Regula Weyermann becomes a Senior Consultant at Burson-Marsteller. She is responsible for corporate and financial communications for major clients and once attended interpreting school in Geneva. But just translating what others say was not Regula Weyermann's thing. The desire to "formulate her own thoughts" led her to journalism. After a stint in the foreign desk at SDA, she was soon writing her own articles - as a correspondent for the Berner Zeitung in French-speaking Switzerland. She enjoyed the international world there. Even as a student, Weyermann worked for the UN. Later, as a journalist, she reported on international conferences from the UN and was able to follow Federal Councillors, important entrepreneurs and heads of state at close quarters.
"I was always interested in finding out what was going on in the world." So the journalist dreamed of a job as a foreign correspondent. As there were long waiting lists at the newspapers, she took the plunge as a freelancer. Weyermann followed her partner, who was called to Nairobi on business. However, articles about Africa were "hard to sell". Nevertheless, her time on the black continent was valuable: "I admire the people there, how they struggle through life."
Back in Switzerland, Weyermann was in the mood for something new. She was in charge of public affairs for the Association of Development Organizations. She took another step in the direction of PR at Kuoni. She became Head of Communications Switzerland. Even as a student, she accompanied groups around the world as a tour guide for the tour operator.
When the post of Head of Corporate Communications at Kuoni became vacant a year later, Weyermann was once again one of many applicants. Internal and external communications, maintaining media relations, organizing conferences, answering journalists' inquiries - these were all part of her duties for six years.
She also became Head of Marketing Communications at the listed company. In this role, Weyermann was responsible for Kuoni Switzerland's advertising. She proudly remembers the big advertising campaigns "Holidays where you forget everything" or the brown people at Helvetic-Tours who could stay "longer on vacation". She would not have invented these campaigns, of course, "but helped them achieve a breakthrough internally".
The manager also learned a lot during this time when launching a new brand. "Reisen netto" still functions as a direct sales brand whose products are distributed via newspaper inserts, among other things. As head of the project team, it was interesting to determine the marketing mix.
Crisis communication was also a challenging chapter at Kuoni, for example during the attack in Luxor in 1997. As there were no model cases for such events, all communication measures had to be developed on the job. In the meantime, lessons have been learned and appropriate tools have been developed both at the federal level and in the travel industry and insurance companies.
During her time as Head of Communications at Kuoni, she succeeded in achieving "credibility both internally and externally", says Weyermann happily. In 2002, a dispute between the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors kept the spokeswoman in the media for months. No sooner had this crisis been overcome than the travel industry was shaken by the attack in New York and then by the grounding of Swissair. For the media spokeswoman, this was "a moment to reconsider", even though she really enjoyed her time at Kuoni.
Weyermann moved to Swiss Radio DRS. At the headquarters in Basel, she worked for a year as a member of the Executive Board for Communications and Marketing.
With all this experience in her rucksack, she was now tempted by the offer from Burson-Marsteller. Several clients with completely different topics and tasks are waiting for her communications support. She is delighted "to be able to work with leading minds in the communications industry on a daily basis". In the internationally networked agency, there is a lively exchange with colleagues all over the world. "This brings together a great deal of expertise."
Strengthened by crises in the travel industry, Regula Weyermann is looking forward to the dialog with leading minds in the communications industry.

Andreas Panzeri

Advertising market While radio and TV advertising moved forward in lockstep in March, online advertising stumbled, according to the Goldbach Electronic Media Index (GEMI), which measures the development of gross advertising revenue in Switzerland. Both radio and television increased by four points to 268 and 310 points respectively. By contrast, the online index fell by one point to 149 points.
This is the first decline in Internet advertising sales since August 2003, when the index fell from 90 to 88 points. This is the second time this year that the online index has shown weakness after the boom year of 2004. In January it only increased by one point, but in February it accelerated again to growth of five points.
Teletext advertising gained one point and thus continues to move leisurely on the plateau of around 200 points to which it fell at the end of 2001 after a period of growth. The Teletext Index peaked at 214 points in March 2000.
Thanks to the strong performance of radio and TV, the electronic media index also rose by four points to a record 309 points. It thus continues to rise significantly faster than the overall advertising market, whose index only increased by one point to 163 points.
Although advertising sales in the electronic media rose more than in the media as a whole in March, the Internet was weaker.
(sm)

Local TV Edipresse is rubbing its cheeks: Léman Bleu, the central building block in the TV strategy, has turned to the Frenchman Hersant.Bad luck for Tibère Adler, CEO of the Edipresse Group: entering the local TV medium is proving far more difficult than planned. The Geneva broadcaster Léman Bleu (LB), of all places, on which he was counting so much in his TV strategy, has put a huge boulder in his path. In February, when Adler announced his involvement in the TV sector, everything still looked so good with LB: the Edipresse Group, which has held a two percent stake in the station for years, offered to do something good for the struggling station by increasing its stake to 22 percent by the middle of the year and also taking over the management on May 1. But now, one week before the planned launch of Ecran Pub, the newly founded TV marketing company of Edipresse, the basket has been turned down from Geneva: the majority of the LB Board of Directors not only spurns Edipresse's courtship, it even wants to withdraw the Lausanne-based group's right of first refusal and instead welcome Tibère Adler's French competitor Hersant and the Geneva-based investor and director Stéphane Barbier-Müller as major shareholders.
Edipresse also receives a rejection in terms of advertising sales. Antoni Mayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LB, is working with Hersant and Barbier to set up a separate management organization in which the three partners will each hold a third. Time is pressing, as the previous marketer Force Promotion in Lausanne wants to give up its TV activities at the end of May and has already given notice to its TV sales staff.
Three-quarters majority requiredTwo unknowns remain, however: Firstly, the resolution of the LB Board of Directors still has to be approved by the Annual General Meeting at the end of May. As the right of first refusal is also to be excluded, three quarters of the shareholders must approve the project. Although Mayer is confident that he will achieve this majority (see box), Edipresse will not remain idle either. Christophe Rasch, who has been responsible for TV at Edipresse since February, is relaxed and describes the Board of Directors' decision as merely "a first step". The decision will certainly be corrected at the AGM with the support of the City of Geneva. Marcel Siegenthaler, Head of Advertising Market at Edipresse, is not worried either. The decision is merely a preliminary decision and by no means a disaster, he said.
The Leuenberger department also has the final say on major shareholder changes. However, as one French shareholder (the Bianco family) is primarily being replaced by another from the same country, Antoni Mayer does not anticipate any problems.
But what led to the slap in the face for Adler and Rasch? Mayer explains it like this: shortly after Adler announced that Edipresse wanted to increase its stake in LB, Hersant also submitted an offer. Hersant publishes the newspapers La Côte, Impartial and L'Express in French-speaking Switzerland and is in fierce competition with Edipresse's 24 Heures. The latter responded to Hersant's offer by improving its own. From a financial point of view, both offers ended up being similarly good, says Mayer.
Two aspects would have tipped the scales in favor of Hersant: Firstly, Edipresse was bluffing. At the beginning of April, Adler and Rasch announced that they had signed a four-year exclusive management agreement with LB. In fact, they had only signed a letter of intent to this effect with Force Promotion, which expressly made LB's consent a condition. This consent was still outstanding. Furthermore, according to Mayer, two people from Edipresse inspected the LB offices a few weeks ago and "acted like gentlemen". Affronts like this from Lausanne are not welcome in Geneva.
However, the decisive factor in choosing Hersant was an option that LB had been pursuing for a long time: "With Hersant, we can finally do cross-border TV," says Mayer. Hersant is already involved in three TV projects in and around Geneva, in Lyon, Grenoble and - just outside Geneva - TV 8 Mont Blanc. Incidentally, Hersant only became involved in the latter at the end of 2004, also thanks to the Bianco family, who held shares there and wanted to sell them as they did in Geneva.
LB could now join a TV chain of Hersant that stretches from Lake Geneva almost to the Mediterranean. This would open up numerous opportunities for cooperation for LB: the exchange of programs, for example, and entering into an advertising combination that extends beyond national borders. At the same time, as a broadcaster covering the cosmopolitan city of Geneva, LB would remain an indispensable partner in the French-speaking Switzerland pool for the Edipresse-affiliated western Swiss broadcasters TVRL (Lausanne), Ici-TV (Vevey) and Canal Nord-Vaudois (Yverdon), as well as for other TV stations.
Four instead of two marketersMayer does not want to burn bridges despite the slap in the face to Edipresse. But he is sticking to his guns: LB should now be able to orient itself towards both France and French-speaking Switzerland and thus retain more independence.
And as if he were trying to gain sympathy for his cheating, he says: "Remember that Geneva's border with the rest of Switzerland is only 6 kilometers long, while the border with France is 110 kilometers long." He also believes that the investments made by Hersant and Barbier will make LB less dependent on subsidies from the city of Geneva in future. These had previously amounted to around CHF 270000 per year.
If the LB-GV and DETEC give their approval, it will be exciting to see how the local TV market in French-speaking Switzerland develops. We can then expect new impetus from both Edipresse and Hersant.
In addition, four instead of two marketers will be knocking down the doors of advertising clients in future - in addition to Hersant and Edipresse, Radiotele and, more recently, IP Multimedia. Alliances are therefore likely. The first of these could come as early as this week, when Radiotele and Edipresse discuss the launch of a RomandieNewsCombi, a counterpart to the Swiss-German TeleNewsCombi.
Small shareholders will tip the balanceCurrently, Léman Bleu (LB) has a share capital of CHF 1.8 million. The main shareholder is the cable network operator Naxoo (formerly Tele Genève) with 40 percent, the French Bianco family, which has been involved since the company was founded, holds 30.5 percent, the City of Geneva 12.5 percent, Edipresse (via Tribune de Genève) 2 percent and various small shareholders own a total of 15 percent. Important: The City of Geneva also holds a 50.1% stake in Naxoo.
The Board resolution now provides for a completely new shareholder structure for LB. In a first step, the pre-emptive right is to be abolished. Hersant and Stéphane Barbier-Müller will then each hold 15.25 percent of the shares.
Bianco shares and then, in a third step, acquire the
share capital to around CHF 3 million, so that Naxoo, Barbier and Hersant each receive around 30 percent, while the remainder is divided between the City of Geneva, Edipresse and the small shareholders.
Antoni Mayer, Director of Naxoo and Chairman of the Board of Directors of LB, must now push this plan through at the Annual General Meeting at the end of May. He believes that the chances of achieving the required three-quarters majority are good because Naxoo, which he represents alone, and the Bianco family support the resolution. That already makes 70.5 percent. For the remaining 4.5 percent, Mayer must convince either some small shareholders or the representative of the City of Geneva. However, the latter has reportedly voted against the plan in the BoD. "Theoretically, the matter is close," admits
Mayer, "but we already have a few friends of Léman Bleu among the small shareholders." (mk)
Competition Commission decision still pendingWhether Edipresse will be allowed to acquire a 35% stake in Vaud TV, the planned merger of the Vaud TV stations TVRL, Ici-TV and Canal Nord-Vaudois, is still open. The Competition Commission (ComCo) does not yet know whether it will investigate the project. However, it has requested a statement from Edipresse and has since received it, said Deputy Director Patrik Ducrey. The background to the possible investigation:
In 2002, Edipresse was only allowed to take over the Corbaz titles La Presse Nord-Vaudois and La Presse Riviera-Chablais (which have since been integrated into 24 Heures) because the Group was prepared to relinquish its Corbaz stake in Ici-TV. By acquiring a stake in Vaud TV, however, this waiver could possibly be circumvented. However, the imminent entry of Edipresse into TV marketing poses no problem for the Competition Commission. (mk)
Hand it out, take it: Who will prevail in the battle for pole position in the French-speaking Swiss TV market?
Markus Knöpfli

Market research Gross advertising investment in Switzerland increased by 8.7% in March compared to the same month last year, showing a clear upward trend for the first quarter of 2005, according to figures from market researcher Media Focus. In January, an increase of 1.3% was measured and in February an increase of 6.2%. For the quarter as a whole, the increase amounted to 5.7%, which corresponds to CHF 47.9 million. The transport (64.6%), watches and jewelry (63.7%) and household goods and appliances (31%) sectors invested significantly more in advertising in these three months. By contrast, the vehicle market, by far the largest reported sector with a volume of CHF 92.8 million, declined slightly (-1%). There was even significantly less advertising than in the previous year in the consumer electronics (-19%) and tobacco products (-18%) sectors.

RestructuringIn the 2004 financial year, the Biella Group continued to be severely affected by the weak economic development in Europe and Switzerland and the competition in the paper, office supplies and stationery industry. The market decline continued, prices and margins fell further. However, the result for 2004 improved significantly thanks to the program launched in the previous year. However, this program, which led to increased job cuts in 2004, has not yet been completed, according to the Biel-based company.

Alcohol "Tatüüü, Tataaa ... If you don't grab it now, you won't be able to help yourself later!" This announcement promotes the immediate purchase of a limited edition of Sierra Tequila Silver in a fun promotional box. Packed in a red case labeled "First Aid" are also a set of teeth, salt shaker, drinking cup and other ingredients for enjoying the Mexican firewater in style. There's nothing disreputable about it, because if you don't need new dentures, you can enjoy the tequila when you really need first aid. However, this ad can no longer be viewed soberly if the headline is included in the creative assessment. "Immediate action at the scene of the accident!", the headline entices. Accident and alcohol? That evokes associations. Countless people have already died on the road - "Tatüüü, Tataaa ..." - despite first aid because of a tequila. Advertising for alcoholic beverages is currently a hot political topic. Unfortunately, this advertisement is unable to promote a creative or even intelligent approach to this problem.
(pan)