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Merger In Fricktal, the smallest publisher becomes the biggest - because BaZ lets him take the lead. The newspaper merger in Fricktal (see box) makes one person in particular the big winner: Walter Herzog, owner of Herzog Medien and publisher of the Fricktaler Zeitung (FZ). Herzog will not only hold a clear majority in the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung (NFZ), but will also hold the positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editor-in-Chief. In addition, he will be allowed to print the entire NFZ, while Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM), which has been responsible for printing the Fricktaler Boten (FB) to date, will (for the time being) be left empty-handed. Herzog gains even more: as the smallest newspaper publisher in this region to date, he advances to number one. With its 11,000 subscribed copies, the NFZ will clearly outstrip the largest title to date, the Fricktal split of the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ) with its 6,639 copies. And thanks to the large weekly circulation of 31,000 copies, which is distributed free of charge to all households in the upper and lower Fricktal, the NFZ also outstrips the weekly Bezirksanzeiger with its 1,8137 copies. Nevertheless, Herzog is modest. He does not feel a sense of triumph over his previous competitors, he says. "But it fills us with joy that our family, which has been publishing a newspaper in Rheinfelden since 1878, is now also in charge of the NFZ. "A kind of cockfightThe current merger was, however, preceded by a kind of cockfight: After BZM joined FB two years ago, FZ increased its large circulation last May and since then has also been distributing it in the upper Fricktal, FB's home region. Under the aegis of publishing director Riccarda Mecklenburg, the latter responded in the fall with a relaunch and also a large circulation, which in turn also covered the FZ's home territory. It is difficult to say which side ultimately suffered more. Herzog says that his FZ did not suffer, but was able to maintain the advertising volume of 2003 in 2004. Wemf's advertising statistics, on the other hand, show a 12 percent drop for FZ. FB, on the other hand, was in the red last year - due to the relaunch, as co-publisher Bernhard Binkert emphasizes. Nevertheless, he claims that the relaunch in particular contributed to the "good overall Fricktal solution". Ruth Ludwig-Hagemann, who represents BZM at FB and also sits on the Board of Directors of NFZ, agrees.
Be that as it may, Ludwig is also satisfied with the new solution, even though BZM will only hold a minority share in future. For BZM, it is much more important to enable the emergence of a "better positioned newspaper" in Fricktal. Above all, however, the newspaper association that BZM is striving for will make concrete progress. BZM and NFZ have also agreed to launch the Northwestern Switzerland Newspaper Association as a national advertising platform from June 1. This cooperation is open to further partners, emphasize Ludwig, Binkert and Herzog.
Strengthening all combinationsThe fact that this alliance came about also makes BZM the winner of the Fricktal merger. Because when BaZ publisher Matthias Hagemann presented the idea based on the model of the Südostschweiz association two years ago, he was met with skepticism by all publishers in northwestern Switzerland. No one could imagine BZM as a partner of the small publishers, rather as their gravedigger.
In Fricktal, however, BZM can now show for the first time how it understands partnership. It has clearly understood this opportunity. It has not only renewed the combined offer, but has also placed it on the same level as the previous advertising combinations. This is because the FB is in the Hattrick combination, together with the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (bz) in Liestal and the Volksstimme in Sissach. And the FZ is linked to the Freischütz in Muri and the Aargauer Woche, the free paper of AZ Medien. Ludwig, Binkert and Herzog say that all of these combinations are to be strengthened thanks to NFZ. In the next few weeks, Herzog therefore wants to start talks with the other publishers about future cooperation.
Everyone benefits from the mergerThe retention of the previous combinations demonstrates most clearly that all publishers will benefit from the NFZ merger, even without new commitments. This message has at least been received in Liestal and Sissach, as has the fact that the BZM in Fricktal has taken a strong back seat. "The fact that the big player is not simply swallowing the small one has already strengthened our confidence in BZM," confirms Rolf Wirz, editor-in-chief of Volksstimme and member of the management team at publisher Schaub Medien. The company is therefore interested in continuing the hat trick. "And we will certainly also take a closer look at the new advertising combination with BaZ," he adds.
bz publisher Mathis Lüdin takes a different view: although he also welcomes the NFZ merger "because of the overkill in Fricktal", he remains cautious about the Northwestern Switzerland association. "Let's see," is all he says - which sounds far less averse than before. Apart from that, he has already entered into two collaborations with BZM in recent years: Firstly, he has his bz delivered early by the BZM sales organization, and secondly, since last summer there has been a Saturday job combination between bz and BaZ. And the latter has "certainly not harmed" the bz so far, at least that's what Lüdin says.
The new situation in Fricktal is only viewed with some sadness in Baden. "We could also have imagined working together there," says Ueli Eckstein, Head of Print Media at AZ Medien. However, the NFZ will not become the main competitor of the Aargauer Zeitung. "That is still the BaZ," Eckstein clarifies. Eckstein does not yet know whether the Aargauer Woche will therefore maintain the combination with the NFZ. "We first have to take a closer look at whether we are not too closely linked to BaZ as a result," he says.
Merger in FricktalThe regional newspapers Fricktaler Zeitung (FZ) and Fricktaler Bote (FB) are merging to form the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung (NFZ) on June 1, 2005. Herzog Medien AG in Rheinfelden is behind the FZ. The FB is published by Fricktaler Bote AG, in which Binkert Druck AG in Frick and Basler Zeitung Medien (BSM) each hold half of the shares. Herzog acquires 58 percent of NFZ, while BZM and Binkert each receive 21 percent. A mutual right of first refusal has been agreed.
The NFZ will extend its publication frequency from three to four days a week. The new paper will become the official publication organ of almost all municipalities in the lower and upper Fricktal. The editorial offices in Rheinfelden and Frick will remain in place, while Herzog Medien and Binkert Druck will produce the typesetting. The place of printing is Rheinfelden. Publicitas in Rheinfelden and Frick is responsible for advertising acquisition. (mk)
Two become one - the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung.
Markus Knöpfli

Web The Bern-based Internet service provider New Impact acquired a number of new customers in the first quarter of 2005, realizing an online presence for the health insurance company Atupri, relaunching the website of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) and creating an extranet for data exchange. New Impact was commissioned by the ice hockey club SC Bern to develop a web-based administration tool for the internet and intranet (for marketing and sport). It is also working on the relaunch of the website and an extranet customer portal for the recruitment agency Atefos.

Seminar Topix and Apple recently presented new tools for data management Data is the company's capital for agencies and prepress companies. Protecting, securing and/or making it quickly available is therefore a major concern (not only) for these companies, and the topic of "Taming the flood of data" was the subject of a seminar organized by Topix AG, St. Gallen, and the hardware and software provider Apple Computer Switzerland. Dieter Herzmann, Managing Director of Topix, welcomed over 60 participants to Zurich at the end of March. The focus was on the latest developments in the field of data management - in particular Apple's powerful server systems and the Xsan technology introduced in January.
Xserve and RAID systemsSince Apple "really" entered the server market with the Xserve servers, the company has been causing a stir with innovative products and solutions. Apple's advantage of developing both hardware and software pays off here. In addition to the Xserve servers, Apple offers high-performance and high-availability RAID systems (see box), which manage up to 5.6 terabytes of data in a RAID enclosure and can be connected in series. The Xserve RAID storage systems are of interest to companies that manage large amounts of data and require high availability - in the media and printing industry, for example, for video editing and when using content and asset management systems. The IP failover function with two or more Xserve servers was also presented at the seminar. With this method, if the first server fails, the second server takes over its functions while retaining the same IP address. This allows increased reliability to be achieved.
The new version of Remote Desktop was shown in a live demo. This Apple software enables the remote control and monitoring of computers and servers.
Xsan - where it makes sense The afternoon seminar focused on Xsan. This part was presented and demonstrated by Apple Systems Engineer Stephan Blattmann. Xsan is Apple's cluster file system that makes data storage available for shared use. Xsan uses so-called metadata servers to manage data access to the storage systems (e.g. RAID systems), with a second metadata server taking over its function as soon as this important server fails. The Xsan cluster file system thus enables different servers or computers to access the same file system at the same time. Overall, this increases data availability.
In such high-speed networks, all computers must be equipped with special FibreChannel cards and double-routed FibreChannel cables must also be used so that Xsan can fully exploit its capabilities. Apple also offers the necessary software for this with Xsan.
Upper middle class
With Xsan, RAID systems and G5 servers, Apple "only" plays in the upper mid-range and not in the top league of server and data storage systems, but offers solutions at affordable prices that should be sufficient for most agencies and prepress companies. Speakers Dieter Herzmann and Stephan Blattmann from Apple provided detailed information on this. What was missing from the seminar were objective comparisons with other systems. On the other hand, this would have been somewhat difficult because, on the one hand, Apple is quite alone with this overall offer - and on the other hand, one afternoon would certainly not have been enough.
As a treat, Reto Büchler, Topix, gave a first glimpse of Apple's new Tiger operating system, which has now been announced and should be available at the end of April.
TopixTopix AG was founded in 1989 and is now a recognized system house and partner for all IT matters. Its specialization in the graphic arts industry makes Topix an efficient consulting and support company with a complete range of services, from consulting and sales to support, service and training. Based in St. Gallen and with a support base in Zurich, the company currently employs 13 people. Further information can be found at www.topix.ch. (jf)
RAIDThe acronym RAID stands for a combination of several inexpensive, redundant data storage devices (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). Redundancy means that if one hard disk fails, the data on it is not lost but is restored or made available by the other hard disks. Depending on the requirements, different RAID levels are available (e.g. RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5).
The advantage of RAID systems over servers with larger hard disks is that smaller and combined data storage devices are cheaper than large mass storage devices. (jf)
SANA SAN (Storage Area Network) is a storage network in which several servers or workstations access one or more storage units via SAN switches (distributors). This is also referred to as shared storage. SAN consolidates the content/data in one volume. All servers used can access all hard disks available in the SAN via a switch.
Each computer that is to be integrated into the SAN network requires corresponding software (e.g. Xsan from Apple). Access to the files is regulated by the additional and necessary metadata controller - another dedicated server that acts as a conductor, so to speak. Another metadata controller (as a standby controller) is required so that it can take over if the first metadata controller fails. (jf)
15 Xserve and 3 Xserve RAID in one rack.
Xsan is Apple's cluster file system.
Jürgen Franck

20 years of computers The Windows operating system is turning 20 and Microsoft wants to celebrate this milestone birthday with a large-scale advertising campaign. It is planned in 11 countries and will run for 15 months. It is not a new product that is being advertised, but the XP operating system, which has already been successful on the market for three years. The ads and TV commercials
are intended to show "how dreams can be realized with Windows", Microsoft has already revealed. The campaign has the motto "Start Something". It shows, for example, how a PC music studio can be used to create a
how to set up your own business or how to become a family photographer.

Digital camera The new HP Photosmart M22 delivers optimum images without much effort - whatever the weather. On the outside, the digital camera has a water-repellent, bronze-colored full metal housing, while on the inside, a resolution of 4 megapixels and a 6x digital zoom ensure razor-sharp photos up to A3 format. The HP Photosmart M22 will be available in stores from May.

Awards As part of the "40 years of television advertising in Switzerland" anniversary, SRG marketer Publisuisse and the Art Directors Club Switzerland (ADC) have identified the highlights of Swiss TV commercials. A jury chaired by Hansjörg Zürcher awarded the ADC Evergreen to eight commercials. Three of them were created by Advico Young & Rubicam: "Luxusdampfer" for Migros (1993), "Fussballspieler" for Milch (1994) and "Die Fliege" for Hakle (1996). The oldest award-winning commercial is "Wohlgefühl" for Valser Wasser, which Gisler & Gisler created in 1980. The other evergreens: "Business Women" by GGK Basel for Crest condoms (1995), "Rasta" by Wirz for Pulmex (1997), "Autoradio" by Honegger von Matt for Panasonic (1998) and "Garage" by Publicis Farner Aebi Strebel for Die Mobiliar (1999). The spots were selected from the 172 gold and silver winners of the ADC judging from 1976 to 1999.

Paper trading In March 2005, the manufacturer Sappi presented the Sappi European Merchants of the Year Awards for the first time, recognizing the special contribution made by its four leading paper wholesalers, and said that the four awards were a sign of Sappi's efforts to link its own activities even more closely with those of its business partners in order to achieve an unparalleled level of service. Sihl + Eika Papier AG received the award for added value.

Local television The government of the city of Lausanne wants to help Télévision de la région lausannoise (TVRL) make ends meet. It is asking parliament for an interest-free loan of CHF 400,000 to cover the current deficit of CHF 9,000,000 and to ensure liquidity until the end of 2006. At that time, TVRL, together with Ici TV, CNV and Edipresse, wants to establish the cantonal broadcaster Vaud TV and benefit from fee splitting under the new RTVA. The loan from the City of Lausanne could be converted into shares in Vaud TV at this time. The government plans to acquire a 20 to 35 percent stake in the cantonal broadcaster.

TV From the beginning of 2006, Publisuisse will be responsible for sponsorship on TSR television in western Switzerland.SRG's TV advertising marketer has already been handling this task since 2002 for all 13 SRG radio stations and since 2003 for TSI television in Ticino. Schweizer Fernsehen DRS continues to market its sponsorship internally.

Training How do you launch a new product? The 8th year of the ADC/BSW creative school presented their work, and the jury, which assessed the final projects of the 8th course of the creative school, attested to the very high quality of the young ADs and copywriters' work. The course, in which 11 female talents and 20 young men, mainly from BSW agencies, took part, started on September 22, 2004 and finished on April 8, 2005. As with the big boys, the teams with the most outstanding solutions to the fantasy task "The first low-cost car from Ikea" were awarded gold, silver and bronze cubes at the finale, with the briefing stating that the market for "very low-cost cars is extremely thin". There would therefore be great potential for a truly innovative concept: three doors, five seats, sufficient power, safety, modernity, attractive design. The briefing held out the prospect of a price for Ikea's fantasy car of "well under CHF 10,000".
This also clearly defined the target audience: young, first car, tight budget, self-confident, innovative. The following were defined as the newcomers: all age groups, open to new things, post-savvy generation, positive, innovative.
What should the advertising convey? The message here should be: New and exclusive to Ikea is a super-affordable car, made by Volkswagen!
Why should the consumer believe this? Unlike the Smart, the concept is credibly minimalist in the true Ikea tradition. A lot of value for little money. High quality and reliability thanks to VW ga-
rantized. Distribution exclusively via Ikea branches, maintenance at selected VW branches.
The style of the presentation required the following: "Reduced (to the max), young, challenging." The only formal requirement was to observe the Ikea logo and the VW logo.
Fewer copywriters than beforeDifferent teams were put together to solve these tasks. As only 8 copywriters and 23 art people took part in the course, for the first time this year it was no longer necessary to have an AD and a copywriter in each group. There were also teams made up exclusively of ADs. "This model has been working abroad for some time," says André Benker, who acted as a CD coach together with Hans Tanner in the final phase of the course.
However, the two professionals only wanted to provide advice and deliberately "didn't shoot off any ideas", but instead gave creativity as much free rein as possible. As is customary, all groups first developed a strategic plan. Because the briefing was very open, "a bit of time was lost for long creative discussions", as Benker says.
The coach considers the ideas that were finally worked out to be "more well-behaved and cautious" than one might actually expect from young people. But in the current economic situation, they are perhaps already "conditioned not to dare and try out anything". Exception: The team that was awarded a Gold Cube decided to take an unconventional approach and tried things that are not feasible in everyday professional life, but which open up a lot of possibilities as a creative gimmick. The winners tried to sell Ikea's new car through a cleverly staged journalistic campaign in the media.
The participants of the ADC/BSW Creative School (if they are younger than 28 years old) will be invited to participate in the Young Creative Program in Cannes from June 19 to 23.
ADC/BSW Creative SchoolThe judges for the 8th course of the ADC/BSW Creative School were ADC members Valentina Herrmann, Simone Fennel, André Benker, Matthias Freuler and Hans Tanner as well as - representing the BSW - strategic planner Cary Steinmann.
The work will be carried out from mid-April on www.kreativschule.ch
presented.
The next course starts in September 2006, registration closes in mid-June 2006 and ends in April 2007 (ap).
The gold winners: Livio Dainese (Lowe), Koni Gebistorf (Contexta), Dominik Krattiger (Heye, Zurich), Maurus Zehnder (Jung von Matt/Limmat).
Silver: Nicole Glaus (Lowe), Ondrej Maczko (Matter & Partner), Annika Ramer (Jung von Matt/Limmat), Jota Ziogas (Euro RSCG).
Bronze: David Dudler (Wirz Werbung), Alexander Fürer (TBWA Switzerland), Dario Kast, Martin Stauch (Lowe Direct).
Andreas Panzeri

Banks Ruf Lanz sends an 87-year-old woman on a thieving spree for Bank Coop. The dictators Mobutu, Marcos and Norriega do not have an account with Bank Coop. Ruf Lanz used this exclusion procedure in an initial campaign to promote Bank Coop's good image. Certain customers are not wanted. Now the idea is being turned around: there are people who should definitely have an account with Bank Coop. Potential customers in the area of investment advice are approached via the cinematic story of an 87-year-old woman. A film spot shows with a wink how the pensioner has to supplement her finances by robbing handbags. She missed out on relying on the services of the investment advisors at Bank Coop when she was younger. "We presented ideas with varying degrees of cheekiness at the annual presentation. This spot was spontaneously well received precisely because of its pointedness," says CD Markus Ruf, pleased with Bank Coop's courage. "We don't have a budget like the big banks. So we have to stand out more quickly and advertise more pointedly." Ruf Lanz can also strategically justify her work with the very unconventional campaigns for Bank Coop to date.
Success in three stepsIn addition to quantitative goals such as growth and earnings, Bank Coop also sets itself qualitative goals that include social, ethical and ecological aspects. The agency expressed this attitude in spring 2003 with the image campaign "A decent bank". With the claim "We are proud that not everyone has an account with us", a TV commercial featuring Ed Fagan was shown alongside the print subjects with the dictators. When asked by a reporter what he thought of Bank Coop, the class-action lawsuit terror was completely at a loss. Because he had never heard of it ...
This image campaign has succeeded in significantly increasing awareness of the Coop Bank and showing what it stands for: Prosperity with decency. As a result, supported awareness increased by 14 percent from 2002 to 2004. This success also raised the agency's profile. The campaign was awarded ADC silver twice, ADC bronze and shortlist once each, gold at the New York Festivals, gold at Midas, finalist in Cannes, at Eurobest, Epica and London Festival.
In a second step, the image was followed by the product level. In 2004, Ruf Lanz had real bankers - advisors, analysts and managers - sing well-known lullabies in a TV commercial series that remained unconventional. With the original resolution: "We want everyone to be able to sleep peacefully" - even those who have not yet benefited from Bank Coop's eco-mortgages or the fee-free private account.
With the 2005 campaign now underway, Ruf Lanz is taking communication one step further. The aim is to show that Bank Coop is also an investment bank. The message: it is worth talking to a Bank Coop investment advisor in good time. Because even investors with smaller assets are welcome here. And the money you save is invested sustainably. So that you have enough of it in old age.
This is expressed in a drastically pointed way with the opposite: those who do not invest their money sustainably in good time may have too little of it in old age.
This insight is dramatized in an elaborately produced TV commercial: a pleasant old lady chugs into the city on a Puch Maxi. Rays of sunlight tickle her face. Viewers get the feeling that the old lady is on her way to the bakery or a café. They are all the more surprised when the elderly woman rides her moped very close to a young man - and snatches his chic Friday bag in a flash. She throws her stolen goods into the metal basket on the front of the moped. Then she accelerates with a triumphant laugh. In the text, the laconic resolution: "So that you can manage without additional income in old age. Talk to one of our investment advisors in good time. Bank Coop. A decent bank."
Making of...For the realization, Ruf Lanz opted for an 87-year-old cinema actress from Sweden. "We wanted someone who didn't act as obtrusively as is sometimes the case in other Swiss commercials," says Markus Ruf. No expense was spared for the elderly star, but all risks were taken. The old lady never sat on the moped herself, but had herself doubled for the driving scenes. For the scenes in which she can be seen in the picture, the moped was mounted on a car trailer on which the woman could sit comfortably.
Condor, as the producer of the commercial, has shown that even in Zurich, picturesque spots and hidden alleyways can be made to look like something out of a big movie. The film was directed by Andreas Hoffmann. He has already realized the award-winning commercial for Suva with the unfortunate man in the plaster corset in the men's toilet for Ruf Lanz. The music was composed by Space Train to match the deceptive tranquillity and make the theft as surprising as possible. (ap)
Supplementary pension: Because the senior citizen did not speak to her banker in good time, she now has to resort to brazen methods.
Andreas Panzeri