Industry association The association of Swiss advertising and communication agencies is now called BSW Leading Swiss Agencies. The collapse in margins last year is considered to be "dramatic". Fee revenues have fallen by a third in the last five years. "Agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to finance the quality of their work," said the board at the BSW Leading Swiss Agencies media conference. The reason for the stocktaking was the renaming of the association to a name that is even more committed to quality. The BSW has not only moved its offices from Zürichberg to the trendy (and cheaper) Kreis 5 district. The industry association has also changed its name to BSW Leading Swiss Agencies. A new logo (designed by Euro RSCG) marks the dawn of new times.
In future, above-average quality at an international level will be decisive for an agency's admission to and retention in the BSW. In times when "discussions are increasingly reduced to price hysteria", as BSW President Peter Leutenegger says, quality must once again be made an issue. Potential customers must be made aware that "good advertising is effective and provides 'business building ideas' for companies." The association is therefore keen to promote quality in the long term - among agencies and clients.
Realignment of the EffieThe leadership of BSW agencies is based on their ability to survive in the global market and meet international standards. Admission to BSW Leading Swiss Agencies is therefore linked to even stricter quality control. The association represents only the leading Swiss advertising and communications agencies that are up to the most demanding tasks thanks to their expertise, size and experience.
The main focus is on the efficiency of communication. Advertising must be effective and economical - this is what customers expect. The Effie Prize awarded by the association is being realigned in this context. In future, the measurable market performance of a campaign or the achievement of set marketing objectives will be rewarded with even greater priority. To this end, a new jury is to be convened in which "not only advertisers but also top people from the business world" will be represented, as BSW Managing Director Walter Merz explains. Everyone who submits a campaign "should recognize that they can win with good work if their campaign has had a measurable impact".
The award for outstanding market communication should not be "an award by advertisers for advertisers". Accordingly, ADC awards should no longer be so prominent in the judging process. The aim is to "honor companies that have the courage to invest in communication". Last but not least, the association also wants to make it more widely known "that communication is an important economic factor in Switzerland", as Vice President Kurt Gallus Schmid emphasizes.
Optimistic monitorAccording to an internal association survey, 2004 was a year of consolidation for BSW agencies. They were able to maintain their earnings compared to 2003. The BSW agencies are optimistic for 2005. 75 percent of agencies expect sales and profits to remain the same or increase compared to the previous year. The agencies see some untapped potential among clients: brand management, top management commitment, long-term thinking and communication as a key factor in marketing success - these are the elements that the BSW agencies believe are decisive in the advertising industry and to which even greater importance should be attached.
The new BSW logo: Swiss with a global horizon.
Andreas Panzeri

Fashion Strong messages, massive investments, clever price positioning: Strellson's rise in a shrinking market is the result of consistent brand management. For example, the colored man with a mottled grey Rasta hairstyle who was out and about in some major city in the mid-1990s wearing a Strellson wool crepe suit. Those were the years when multiculturalism was the trend. The advertising campaigns of the time - with double-sided testimonial-style subjects featuring strong personalities from major cities - shaped the aura of the Strellson brand. The deliberately harsh black-and-white photo style also lent the image a reportage-like authenticity. The brand suggested individualism with a product that is ultimately interchangeable. Strellson's designs revolved around the men's suit, reduced to its basic elements. A young executive might need ten of these in his wardrobe at home. Strellson offered him good quality, the added value of a "cool" brand and a price that was just half that of Giorgio Armani and still significantly lower than Hugo Boss. So there was simply no reason not to buy Strellson. As a result, sales doubled between 1998 and 2004 alone. Ten years ago, the brand was still present in 20 countries; today it is already present in 35.
Long-term brand developmentWith increasing success and the parallel expansion of the product range, the brand's self-image has also changed. The former menswear supplier now defines itself as a lifestyle label. And "Strellson of Switzerland" became simply "Strellson".
What has remained is the image campaign as the backbone of a clear pull strategy, for which up to 20 percent of annual sales are invested. In other words, Strellson is backed by people for whom long-term brand development has always been more important than short-term returns. Advertisements in lifestyle, political and business publications are still the central medium for Strellson's messages. These still revolve around the theme of "Modern Heroes". Every season, a symbolic figure is still "cast" from the street in a different cosmopolitan city.
The 2005 summer fashion is presented by a certain Asaf Youbiner, an event manager from New York. Such continuity in the communication strategy is rare in the fashion industry. "Marlboro has shown how effective such a long-term concept can be," says Strellson CEO Reiner Pichler.
On closer inspection, however, it is clear that this central campaign has also been subtly adapted to the brand development. The once strikingly provocative black and white has given way to moderate color photography. And the selected models also appear to be a little more interchangeable or more acceptable to the majority than before.
The Rasta Man from the 90s would hardly make it onto the Strellson image ads today. This focus on a broader target group is the logical consequence of the company's success. "Audi is very close to our lifestyle," Pichler recently told the NZZ am Sonntag. The focus on the "young middle class" is particularly evident in sponsoring. For years, Strellson mainly set local accents in this area, supporting the avant-garde Jazznojazz festival in Zurich, for example. In 2002, the company catapulted itself onto the international sponsorship stage with a spectacular coup. Strellson became the clothing partner of Real Madrid. Since then, contemporary icons such as David Beckham and Luis Figo have appeared at official club events in suits designed in the Thurgau border town of Kreuzlingen.
Straehl becomes StrellsonKreuzlingen is not exactly Paris. While in the fashion metropolis you "store" in the Lafayette department store, in the small town on Lake Constance you can only meet in the Coop Center. But at least the Saturday flea market has a touch of Puces de Saint-Ouen about it and the park by the lake is almost as pleasant to stroll through as the Jardin du Luxembourg.
In 1984, the brothers Uwe and Jochen Holy bought the Friedrich Straehl coat factory in Kreuzlingen. At the time, the Holys wanted to integrate the company into their Hugo Boss empire. A few years later, they sold Hugo Boss but kept the Kreuzlingen-based company. In the following years, the company mainly produced on behalf of other labels. In 1993, the Holy brothers decided to establish the Strellson brand as an international fashion brand. This was to be priced below competing brands such as Boss, Joop or Kenzo, but at the same time be more expensive and more exclusive than the national or even local labels popular at the time (for example Ritex in Switzerland). To help this concept achieve a breakthrough, they brought Reiner Pichler from Hugo Boss, who was not yet 30 years old at the time, to Lake Constance.
Today, Strellson is experiencing a real growth spurt. In the winter of 2003/2004, the company surprisingly launched a "Swiss Cross Jacket" in a limited edition of 3000 pieces. The lining of the jacket was made from Swiss army wool blankets dating from 1920 to 1940. An army knife chained to the jacket and a new logo in the shape of the Swiss cross completed the military feel. With such themed experiments far removed from the safe classics, Strellson is treading on thinner ice.
The cross brought luckAfter all, the fall of the Jordi empire had already shown that playing with the Swiss national insignia is not entirely risk-free. But the Swiss cross has brought Strellson luck so far. Indeed, the reaction to this campaign was so positive that Strellson decided to produce complete sportswear collections under the Swiss Cross label in future. At the same time, collections in the areas of shoes, underwear and travel bags were also launched on the market.
Does the rapid line extension indicate that the owners of Strellson now believe the time has come to reap the rewards of ten years of development work? "The expansion of the product lines does not necessarily have to dilute the identity of the brand. What we are aiming for is exclusivity across the board. If our shoes are in 20 very good shoe stores, this promotes our image. If they can be found in 400 stores, on the other hand, it damages the brand. Exclusivity always has to do with scarcity. How Strellson is perceived is therefore not only determined by communication. A clear distribution policy is just as important," says Reiner Pichler and adds: "It is crucial that a brand is actively managed and does not become a pawn in the market. That is hard work."
Parallel to the line extension, Strellson has also modified its communication strategy. While the traditional image advertising continues to revolve around the classic business look, supplementary product campaigns are focusing on individual leading articles. In the casual segment, the aim is to repeat the success of the Swiss Cross jacket with the so-called Swiss Protection Parka. This high-tech garment has an integrated FM radio with headphones and a combination lock to secure the parka. A year ago, Strellson launched a "business class package" consisting of a cotton shirt, wool suit and silk tie, all crease- and wrinkle-free, but equipped with extras such as a special inside pocket for airline tickets and passports. In future, such an innovative reference product will be selected from each collection and promoted internationally.
Individual strategiesAlthough Strellson now has a variety of products that would make a monostore concept possible, the company is clearly focusing on shop-in-shop solutions in leading specialist stores and department stores in its European core markets. The Strellson protagonists know that their brand has the best chance of succeeding in direct comparison with the competition thanks to the good balance between image, quality and price.
In order to celebrate Strellson fashion in the best possible ambience, a design competition was held in 2004. This was won by Vitra/Vizona in Weil am Rhein, whose restrained concept in the colors black, grey and white consistently places the fashion at the center.
In the main markets of Switzerland and Germany, Strellson's market penetration is now so high that future efforts will have to focus increasingly on maintaining this position. Reiner Pichler sees growth potential in France and England, for example. However, these are also two completely differently structured markets. "The French market is dominated by individually operating retailers, so it is clearly 'product driven'. A lot of persuasion is needed here to get retailers to back the Strellson brand. The English market, on the other hand, is 'brand driven'. Strong chains dominate here. Strong communication must trigger the pull effect that ultimately leads to a purchase," says Pichler.
The man behind the "Strellson success story" knows: "Even if the Strellson brand is better anchored internationally than ever before, this does not guarantee success. It is just as important that we find a tailor-made marketing and distribution strategy for each potential growth market".
Flying highThe trained businessman Reiner Pichler comes from Bavaria and was sales manager at Hugo Boss before the brothers Jochen and Uwe Holy brought him to Kreuzlingen on Lake Constance as CEO of Strellson in 1993. Under the now 42-year-old, the brand really took off. Strellson achieves double-digit annual growth rates in the shrinking clothing market, with sales doubling between 1998 and 2003 alone.
The NZZ am Sonntag estimated Strellson's turnover for 2004 at around 150 million Swiss francs. The company employs a total of 400 people, 125 of whom work in Kreuzlingen, where the management, marketing, design, quality control and logistics departments are based. A new logistics center was completed here in 2002 at a cost of around 30 million Swiss francs.
Strellson took over the European license for the Tommy Hilfiger Tailored Clothing brand back in 1999. In addition, the German brand Windsor is to be managed from Kreuzlingen in future. Cooperation with the Joop brand, in which the Holy brothers hold a significant stake, is also to be strengthened.
In 2004, Strellson launched a second sportswear collection in addition to the classic menswear collection. (tv)
Turning to the young middle class: The Rasta Man (above) is passé, while the models in the current campaign (below) are more popular.
Thomas Vaterlaus

Market research IHA-GfK in Hergiswil increased its turnover by 1.2 percent to CHF 89.7 million in the 2004 financial year, despite the sale of its direct marketing business to Bertelsmann. IHA-GfK won a number of major contracts during the year and invested several million francs in these projects as well as in staff and infrastructure. The funds for this came from internally generated cash flow.

Detergent Guerrilla marketing to attract attention to comfort. The focus: a pair of fabric soaps.
Boring and interchangeable - that's how most advertising for the low-interest detergent product group still looks today. But for Comfort, the market leader among fabric finishers according to manufacturer Lever Fabergé, 2001 marked the dawn of different times. At that time, Ogilvy London launched a European Comfort campaign that broke with the stereotypical style of conventional detergent commercials. High entertainment value was the top priority, as knowledge about fabric finishers and about Comfort in particular was not to be conveyed to the target group in the usual informative way, but to suggest a comparison in an entertaining way: What people value their skin care, they should also value the care of their textiles or their second skin. And: comfort should be synonymous with this textile care. In Switzerland, Comfort's country of origin, the campaign with the parallel world will not be launched until early summer, following a high-profile announcement. For the positioning, the British creatives enlisted the help of Bristol-based Aardman Animations (makers of the animated films "Chicken Run" and "Wallace and Gromit"). With a love of detail and originality, they realized the concept in a world with fabric people who care for their fabric skin with comfort, just as people care for their skin with gentle body care products. At the center of the elaborate production, which sets new standards in detergent advertising, is the couple Laura and Philipp.
Anything but fibrousIn the half-minute soap opera spots, they present themselves to the viewer in their quirky world of fabric - freshly recovered after the iron sauna in the gym, as secret agents in a nightmare or with gay beauty consultant Quintin. As befits a real soap, new characters also appear in the world of fabric, introducing new storylines. For example Stichler, a fabric biker who becomes a veritable softie after an accident with Comfort.
For the launch of the fabric world, Mediaxis worked with PR consultant David Schärer to place the main characters Laura and Philipp in the editorial columns of various print media and on TV programs. They appeared everywhere where they were not expected - at the Muba, at the Geneva Motor Show, at football matches or as studio guests. Radio spots and advertisements accompanied the guerrilla appearances.
"Studies have shown that this unusual appearance is understood and also liked when it is clear that the commercials are set in the fabric world," says Claudia Le Flocq from Mediaxis, explaining the pre-launch activities, which are intended to pave the way for the early evening soaps in the advertising block. There, the rag dolls will feel in the best of company in the neighborhood of the multimedia soap opera "Beck & Bondi".
Soaped up in the best wayWith Laura and Philipp, the endless series format returns to its origins. In 1932, the first real radio soap opera in the USA, "Betty and Bob", distracted housewives from their dull everyday lives with heartache.
The concept of the successful genre, which was based on domestic novels, was coined by its sponsors: almost exclusively detergent companies. Pioneers such as P&G were thus able to better bind the target group to themselves and convey their messages. In the year before the outbreak of the Second World War alone, P&G produced 22 serials. The first TV soap "A Woman to Remember" was launched in 1947 (la).
Two who have washed up: Laura and Philipp, advertising ambassadors for Comfort.
Comfort duo on text pages:On a first-name basis with celebrities.
Luca Aloisi

PR Because their advertisements say too little, IT companies are pushing into the editorial space of industry magazines. These magazines often give in. "We only place an advertisement if our product is also (positively) reported on in the editorial section." Eva Mercedes Boll, Head of Marketing at the IT magazine ICT kommunikation, has heard this demand from potential advertising customers time and again over the last two years. "More and more customers are making it clear to us that they no longer want to place advertisements. They say: traditional advertising doesn't do us any good, we do PR," says Boll. One customer even asked in all seriousness what he had to do to have the CEO of his company featured on the front page of ICT kommunikation. "The demand for editorial articles is particularly strong in IT titles," says Boll. She is well aware of this, as she is also responsible for specialist titles such as Architektur & Technik, Hotelier and Wohnrevue at ICT publisher B+L Verlags AG in Schlieren. Boll: "We receive far fewer such requests for our other titles."
Karl-Heinz Müller, Publishing Director of SysData, calls this "tie-in business". These have been "a certain peculiarity of the IT sector for some years now", he says. Müller, like Boll, can make cross-comparisons: Binkert Medien AG in Laufenburg, where he works, also publishes specialist titles from various sectors.
"Many IT customers - especially large companies - are doing less and less image advertising, preferring instead to place editorial reports," Liévin M'Bu, owner of M&F Trend Media GmbH in Basel, has also noticed. "This trend is very pronounced in the IT sector," he says, as his publishing house also publishes a variety of specialist titles, including the Schweizerische Informatik-Revue (SIR).
5 to 10 percent of turnoverBut why are print attempts apparently more frequent in the IT scene than elsewhere? And why do IT customers prefer to place PR texts rather than advertisements? "A service or software in the IT sector requires a lot of explanation, which is why it is no longer enough for IT companies to simply advertise their image," speculates Boll. M'Bu also speaks of "abstract IT solutions that require a lot of explanation". Daniel Meierhans, editor-in-chief of the IT title InfoWeek from the Compress Information Group in Thalwil, brings in another aspect: "The IT sector is heavily PR-driven, and there are also a lot of PR publications in this scene," he says.
There are many publishing strategies for countering this trend and the pressure. "Last year, we introduced the 'public reportage' format at ICT kommunikation in order to achieve a clear differentiation from our editorial contributions," says Eva Mercedes Boll. And she admits that the publisher found it difficult to take this step despite the clear labeling in the magazine. In the meantime, however, the public reports generate around ten percent of the total ICT advertising revenue.
Not so with Compress (IT-Reseller/InfoWeek). "Publicity reports are not compatible with the standards of our magazines," explains publisher Michael von Babo. Concessions to advertisers are therefore out of the question for him.
At SysData, on the other hand, publicity reports have long been one of the "special forms of advertising" listed in the media data. They account for around ten to twenty percent of sales, with a slight upward trend. However, Karl-Heinz Müller considers software tests, so-called case studies, which not only require cooperation with an IT company (comparable to car tests, for example), but are also paid for by them, to be more difficult. In such cases, SysData is walking a "dangerous tightrope", he admits. However, it is always made clear to the companies in advance "that the SysData editorial team determines the implementation in each case", says Müller. He adds: "For some IT companies, that's pretty tough stuff."
Trend doesn't affect everyoneLiévin M'Bu takes a different approach. His SIR not only lives from PR texts, these even make up the majority of the magazine at around 53 percent. According to M'Bu, his own editorial work accounts for only twenty percent. M'Bu calls SIR the "mouthpiece for IT solutions" and the PR articles, for example, "success stories": a two-page text of this kind, always combined with a full-page advertisement, costs CHF 5,500. The texts are provided with the company address. "However, it is not obvious to the reader that these are paid articles," admits M'Bu. They are also listed in the table of contents as editorial contributions. No wonder, then, that the publisher sees zero demand for labeled public reports. "They have too much of an advertising touch," he says.
However, some IT magazines also disagree. "I don't believe that the pressure from customers is greater here than in other sectors," says Heinrich Meyer, co-owner of Netzwoche publisher Netzmedien in Basel. He also does not see a movement towards more PR instead of advertising. He refers to a survey by the US market researcher IDC. According to this, only seven percent of IT companies' marketing budgets are spent on PR, but 36 percent on traditional advertising.
Even at IDG Switzerland (PCtipp and Computerworld), General Manager Gebhard Osterwalder cannot confirm a trend towards more PR. Publicity reports, he says, were trendy about two years ago. "But that has since died down." And Ingo Rausch, Managing Director of Mediengesellschaft Ulm in Adliswil, speaks of demand remaining roughly the same. At his online PC newspaper, publicity reports account for a constant five percent of sales.
However, what is striking is that the contradiction comes exclusively from publishers that focus exclusively on the IT sector, meaning that cross-comparisons with other sectors are less possible. What's more, the industry has now created other paid text vehicles in addition to publicity reports. They are called company portraits, case studies, project reports, product news, best practice or case studies. Some of these have been around for years.
In other words: Those who have been offering PR vessels for a long time feel less pressure because they can already channel it. A valve is already in place. Two examples should prove this. IDG's Computerworld magazine, for example, only introduced the paid company portrait section in the middle of last year - all identically presented pages about IT consultants. "These portraits are in demand in the magazine format," says Gebhard Osterwalder. That is why it is already clear that Computerworld will take over this advertising route after its relaunch in May (see "Taking small steps" on this page).
Example two: The company portraits and case studies in the six times a year published Netzguide of Netzmedien have also been "well used" for years, as Heinrich Meyer confirms. He doesn't want to name the percentage of sales, but he can give the reason for the demand: "There are companies that don't have advertising templates created. They say that they prefer to show what they do on a one-to-one basis," he says.
Contradiction or not - this closes the circle. Because Meyer's statement is very similar to that of Eva Mercedes Boll in the first section of this article.
Someone who wants to take advantage of the PR trend "Fewer advertisements, more publicity reports." This is how Daniel Frey outlines the most important changes in the IT magazine market. He states this after five years of working as a journalist for an IT title. His reasoning: "IT solutions are becoming increasingly complex and packaging them into an advertising message is becoming more and more difficult."
Based on this, Frey will soon be publishing the title it4kmu with 12,400 copies and eleven issues a year. A piquant fact: it4kmu does not have its own editorial team; its content consists exclusively of paid articles. Nevertheless, Frey does not just want to publish superlatives, pat-on-the-back articles and self-congratulations; the success stories, case studies, company portraits and interviews should contain real information. Frey sees this as a prerequisite for it4kmu to become a "mediator between suppliers and consumers". However, his claim has hit rocky ground with IT companies, as they hardly have any texts in Frey's style in their drawers. That is why he first has to do some educational work. Frey therefore had to postpone the launch from February to May 17. (mk)
IT titles: Advertisers expect more from the editorial text than from the advertisement.
IT-Reseller is a PR denier, Netzwoche and Computerworld offer PR vessels.
Markus Knöpfli

Non-profit organizations Swiss Air-Rescue (Rega) has entrusted Trio with its national patronage campaign for the current year, and the Lausanne-based agency convinced the Rega managers with a concept that focuses on peaceful, realistic images of the target group's lives instead of the usual negative, alarmist advertising style of rescue organizations.

Tourismus Lammoth Mailkonzept develops and supports the advertising campaign of the St. Gallen tour operator Sun-Tours, a dialog agency also based in St. Gallen, which creates full-page ads under the slogan "book direct - save direct". Sun-Tours wants to conquer the Swiss vacation market as a price breaker and retain customers in the long term beyond individual bookings.

Radio On April 28, the youth cable station Radio 105 is launching a new music profile. Internationally successful artists who have been neglected in the Swiss radio landscape are to be played more often, while the station also introduces the new slogan "It's not radio, it's 105". A new "radio and online project" will also be presented at a launch party on April 28 at Zurich's Q Club.

Additional businessThe online presence of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung is launching a paid service in the summer that is designed to enable interactive weight loss tailored to individual lifestyles. The program called eBalance.ch is based on the Swedish "ViktKlubb", which the newspaper Aftonbladet has been running for two years. The online slimming aid is based on extensive fitness, nutritional value and recipe databases. NZZ Online is working with the Hirslanden private hospital group to adapt it to Swiss habits.

Oliver Classen on SWA rituals and advertisers who (want to) play publisher.
It was that time again at last week's annual meeting: the President of the Swiss Advertisers' Association (SWA), Gérald Stalder, once again proclaimed his mantra that the major publishers "exploit their oligopoly for a shameless advertising pricing policy". This was followed by the obligatory - and competition commissioner-style - call for more print diversity, and Stalder was delighted with the guest speech by a representative of the World Federation of Advertisers. He expressed the view (and hope?) that in ten years' time, the major trading houses will also be the most important media companies in their respective home markets. A bold thesis! The two big players are already prominently represented in our press landscape with Migros-Magazin and Coop-Zeitung. But as the Magalog example of Migros subsidiary Globus shows (see page 20), there is still potential in Switzerland, especially in the family, women's and lifestyle sectors.
Retailers undoubtedly have in-house expertise, perfect distribution networks and - more importantly - brand-based credibility. However, it is doubtful that this could be big enough to sustainably compete with the magazines in these segments - even if some
Corporate publishers claim the opposite.
So it's nice when Switzerland's biggest advertisers occasionally invest their money in their own journalistic experiments. After all, innovation is in short supply in the print market. In principle, however, Migros & Co should stick to their guns and respect and continue to support the sacred duality on which our organically grown press system is based. Otherwise, not only the finely balanced relationship of dependency between publishers and advertisers will collapse, but possibly also SWA President Stalder, who would then soon have nothing left to complain about.
> Oliver Classen, Editor

Ten years of Facts were celebrated last week within sight of the Tamedia command center. Not only advertisers, but also show celebrities such as Beat Schlatter and Viktor Giacobbo met in the elegantly furnished EWZ Selnau, probably also to see their colleague Andreas Thiel, who, despite his dual role as presenter and show act, managed to deliver some subtle punchlines. For example, the potpourri of (partly faked) Facts front pages was commented on in a decidedly biting manner. The varied catering was impressive and left nothing to be desired. A bite of seafood or a small satay skewer here, a Thai soup or a tender piece of fillet there. And ... and ... and. Not even the food-savvy shortlist author can remember all the delicacies. The wines were just as good. And there were also plenty of cigars - but unfortunately, unfortunately, we forgot to buy the digestifs that are essential for smoking. And a cigar without cognac is only half a pleasure - half a mark off for that. Too bad, because the Facts-Fete just missed out on a 5 for good. Modern production methods in the industrial ambience of the Gugelmann site could be admired at the Visual Days 2005. The trade fair, organized by Antalis and its partners, always attracts many experts. Among them were many young professionals who came in classes. The audience was particularly fascinated by the practical applications. Wherever there were demonstrations, crowds of people formed immediately. The lithographic press was very popular, where prints were produced by hand as individual copies in the old-fashioned way.
But the spectators were also amazed by the complete re-cladding of a station wagon thanks to foils. The result was indeed worth seeing. It is so easy to create a car design or completely recolor an old car. Incidentally, it costs just half the price of a new paint job, they said. A real alternative.
The young talent competition for apprentices, in which impressive work was submitted, is also worthy of praise. Some of the solutions show great talent, and the wheat seems to be separating from the chaff earlier and earlier in the graphic design industry.
Beat Fritsch celebrated the 10th birthday of the Tamedia magazine last week with the Facts staff and many other guests. There was no more talk of turbulence and plummeting circulation and readership figures - everyone at Facts is confident and seems to be gradually getting over the hump. Plenty of reasons for a relaxed and upbeat mood at the EWZ Unterwerk Selnau.
Paper supplier Antalis invited visitors to Roggwil near Langenthal, more precisely to the legendary Gugelmann site. Over 600 visitors were expected to attend the Visual Days production trade fair, where they learned about the latest industry trends in the fitting industrial ambience of the former textile factory.
Facts-Conférencier Andreas Thiel - winner of a Prix Walo.
Antalis-Mini by Christophe Droz - one of the works in the apprentice competition.
Rails to be in good spirits: Facts advertising manager Daniel Schnüriger (l.) and Andreas Gedenk, BG-/Optimedia.
Caught toasting: Tamedia-UL Chairman Martin Kall (r.) and Edgar C. Britschgi, CEO of AY&R.

A visit from the PubliGroupe family: Publimedia CEO Daniel Strobel (right) and Mosse Director Peter Fehrlin.

Facts Team: Nicole Thalmann, Administrator, André Grieder, Head of Culture, and Benedict Rüttimann, International Policy (from left).

Small company outing to the Facts Festival: Alison Green, Susann Rickenbacher and Sonja Eberhard from Mediaxis/MPG (from left).

Henri-Jack Dutertre and Marietta Budiner from Shiseido with Susanne Fuhr, Facts Sales Manager at Presse Publicité (from left).

Elisabeth Demidoff, Director at Presse Publicité, with Dave Jäger, who has just joined Tanner Communications.

Cook better yourself. With Annemarie Wildeisen's KOCHEN, the cooking magazine with 295,000 readers. Further information at www.wildeisen.ch

Roland Achermann (left), circulation certifier at Wemf, with Piero Schäfer, Head of Communications at Schweizer Werbung SW.

Andrea Heusi, Denon, Martin Coninx, Andrea Waltzer, Facts, and Markus Will, Head of Magazine Readership at Tamedia (from left).

Andy Hostettler with table and bed companion: business partner Romaine Marti (l.) and friend Marie-Anne Braun-Cobigo.

Happy comrades at the Facts party: Marlis Schneider, Thomas Rüttimann, Bernadette Grossenbacher and Sandro Rüegger (from left).

Alexandra Kasper from Publicitas Swiss Press with Publimedia Director Moreno Cavaliere (right) and Head of Marketing Markus Ehrle.

Jürg Koller from the facts agency Grey Direct with Daniela Tocchio and golf fans Nadine Kündig and Peter Marti (from left).

SonntagsZeitung editor-in-chief Andreas Durisch with advertiser Silvia Rohner and Facts customer advisor Andy Florek (from left).

Satisfied with their Visual Days 2005: Jürg Pletscher (r.), Managing Director of Antalis, and Sales Manager Hugo Bolliger.

On the Antalis lounge sofa: Thomas Liedtke and Thomas Aebischer, Antalis, with Rolf Küenzi from ProjektTeam (from left).

Karin Locher (left) and Uschi Ambühl from Antalis charmingly organized the welcome at the Visual Days welcome desk.

Innovations in digital printing were presented by Philippe Rieder, Jürg Arheit, Patrick Galliano and Dieter Weber from NexPress Switzerland (from left).

Presented new software for personalizing images: Beat Drittenbass (l.) and Claudio Sieber, AWZ St. Gallen.

At the 3M trade fair outlet: Urs Furrer, Andrea Degiacomi, Marcel Oesch and René Liniger (from left).

Insurance The dialog agency Wirz Brugger Lüthi (WBL) has won the private customer division of Helsana Insurance as a client.Insurance The dialog agency Wirz Brugger Lüthi (WBL) has won the private customer division of Helsana Insurance as a client. Based on the results of a test order, Helsana has decided to develop its entire direct marketing together with WBL, the agency announced.