Sunday Press: A bricolage teaser by FCBLK is intended to build anticipation for the SoBli magazine *Sie + Er* without giving anything away about the cover.Anyone who sees the teaser images for the new SonntagsBlick magazine Sie + Er will be reminded of Ringier’s annual reports designed by artists. But the playful presentation in print and on posters is just another example of how advertising creatives make a virtue out of necessity: Editor-in-Chief Christoph Grenacher guarded the secret of the cover layout and the new logo like the apple of his eye, even from them. He revealed only this much: that the third issue, starting May 1, will be significantly thicker, will be streamlined in terms of content, and will be dedicated to the topics of lifestyle, culture, travel, and society; and that «an extreme emphasis on visuals» will be placed on it.
As much as everything is being kept under wraps, the title change and redesign are meant to be revealed to readers in a striking way: After the initial phase with the handmade magazine covers—«we seized the moment and played around with the SoBli magazine to our heart’s content,» says CD Mike Krüll—the reveal will come with a big “aha” moment. Since this isn’t just a simple facelift, as is often the case with relaunches, the reveal on the first day of publication will consist of a broad promotional campaign in which the magazine will be given away for free in unexpected locations. The magazine will be wrapped in an old-fashioned cover sheet and will only reveal the changes when the reader turns the page.
In the third phase of the relaunch, the magazine—featuring the Swiss flag as part of its logo—will give new relevance to the tagline «More Sunday» and set SoBli apart from the competition as the only Sunday publication that also features a magazine.
FCB Leutenegger Krüll announces the new SoBli magazine without revealing much about it.
Luca Aloisi

Fundraising Since it is more difficult to draw attention to important causes in times of inflationary donation letters, Publicis has developed something new for the children's aid organization Terre des hommes: the scratch card for free, in which a crying girl turns into a beaming girl when scratched free. Without any instruction, you learn how little money is needed to help the poorest of the poor. With his scratch-off poster (Cold hands? Scratch here. - Cold heart? Donate here.), Frank Bodin called for donations for Caritas five years ago.

Annual financial statements The SR DRS annual financial statements close with an operating income of CHF 187.8 million and a surplus of CHF 6 million. Radio has seen an upturn in sponsorship and media partnerships in particular. At the same time, operating expenses were lower than budgeted in all expense categories, and there were delays in the implementation of major projects. Market shares and reach remained practically stable in 2004 compared to 2003. Internet usage increased. Every day, 15,000 programs were accessed. As a major innovation, SR DRS intends to enhance morning primetime in 2005 with even more varied information offerings. The centerpiece is a 12-minute news program at 6, 7 and 8 a.m., which provides even more background information and analysis. SR DRS wants to "exploit the media advantage in the morning". DRS 1 will now start its morning program at 5.30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. as before.
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Column Karol Wojtyla was hired as the supreme guardian of the mother of all brands. In the quarter of a century of his work, however, the brand manager himself became a mega-brand: he made brilliant use of them, reproachfully noted the media, for whom he made headlines and thus sales for over two decades. And he had divided the church and left it a difficult legacy. It is questionable whether the half-empty churches in Europe are due to the Pope's policies or whether they are more a result of our affluent society. In any case, the critical comments contrast rather sharply with the fact that more than three million people made a pilgrimage to Rome within seven days to pay their last respects to John Paul II. Was this demonstration of affection and respect really just the product of ingenious public relations? Of course, Karol Wojtyla was a gifted, charismatic communicator. And it is a nice paradox that this pope from communist Poland, of all people, pursued a more modern marketing strategy for years than many companies in the Western private sector. The Vatican used the internet as a communication platform early on, and the Pope himself sang on CDs to reach young target groups. However, this alone does not explain his lasting impact. Because if the brand essence is not right, even the cleverest marketing program is useless. But the Pope's brand identity was right. His critics accused him of offending many believers with his conservative stance. However, with his clear message, he was also able to convince many people and rally them behind him.
A more moderate approach would hardly have been so successful. Every major brand is characterized by a clear profile. This inevitably means that some people love it and others reject it. There is no brand in the world that appeals to everyone. Neither Coca-Cola nor McDonald's would have become leaders if their products were not polarizing. In the consumer society, polarization is part of (good) business. It makes the headlines, and the headlines make for buyers or - as in the case of the Pope - for followers.
Completely unbiased: do people in Switzerland talk more about the profile-less Joseph Deiss or the edgy Christoph Blocher? And just as soberly asked: Would the media really have given Pope John Paul II the same attention and thus the same platform if he had chosen a more conformist middle course on celibacy and abortion? Of course not! An uncontroversial pope would have been ignored by the media and consumers (believers) alike. However, John Paul II did not set his course on the basis of such considerations. Neither market research nor strategic positioning analyses led him to his messages. He was guided solely by his own convictions.
Whether he was reading the riot act to the communists in Warsaw or the Sandinistas in Nicaragua; whether he was doing the wave with tens of thousands of young people or kissing a baby: Wojtyla always remained authentic. The masses instinctively sensed that the man in front believed in what he was telling them.
John Paul II thus embodied the three most important criteria for the success of a brand: he had a profile, was authentic and had excellent communication skills. This trinity of brand management was so pronounced in the late Pope that the former brand manager of the Catholic Church became a brand himself over the course of a quarter of a century.
The cardinals who are now choosing Wojtyla's successor therefore have no easy choice. The fisherman's shoes have become a lot bigger in the last 26 years. And the competitive environment in which the new pope will have to assert himself is a lot tougher.
> Sacha Wigdorovits is a former journalist and head of the Zurich communications agency Contract Media.

CP expert Manfred Hasenbeck* on magalogs as an industry trend.WW Mr. Hasenbeck, is the magalog bringing together what has always belonged together: commercial and journalistic communication? From a marketing perspective, magalogs are an ingenious means of differentiating the classic catalog to suit the target group. In the past, they were brickets weighing several kilos that worked according to the "eat bird or die" principle. To date, differentiation in the mail order business, which is driving this development, has only taken place at the price level. Today, on the other hand, more and more companies are grasping the motto "content sells", according to which our company designed the Eduscho magazine back in 2001.
If storytelling is the sales imperative of the hour, many companies will soon be publishing premium journalistic products - putting publishers under pressure.
Ads are no longer enough to build or strengthen a brand. The same applies to TV commercials and mailings. But catalog sales are also stagnating. This is why the sales departments of retailers are increasingly thinking about repositioning their products. The embedding of products in living environments and their emotional charge through narrative dramaturgies is further blurring the boundaries between customer and consumer magazines.
The Globus Magalogs are partially refinanced by third-party advertisements. Is this a general trend?
Shangai is a prime example of how dream worlds can be built. However, its financing model will not become a megatrend. Companies with a clearly defined communication objective do not want to dilute their magazine with third-party advertisements.
* Hasenbeck is Chairman of the Corporate Publishing Forum and Managing Director of Munich-based Burda Yukom GmbH.
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Print media Ringier Romandie hires the editors-in-chief for the promotional campaigns of the magazines L'Hebdo and L'illustré.
Last fall, L'Hebdo ran an experimental series of TV commercials in which editor-in-chief Alain Jeannet presented the magazine's strongest content. Newsstand sales increased more than expected, and similar promotions have already been seen in German-speaking Switzerland for Blick and Facts. However, while the latter abandoned the advertising concept without a sound bite, Daniel Pillard, Director of Ringier Romandie, is relying entirely on his telegenic editors-in-chief and is now pushing another wave of commercials for L'illustré.
WW Mr. Pillard, what did the success story look like after the first wave? Daniel Pillard Our first television promotion for L'Hebdo started in October 2004 and was an immediate and impressive success: the number of copies sold per issue rose by 29 percent. This spurred us on to repeat the measure for L'illustré in February. With comparable success: a 37 percent increase in newsstand sales. Surprised by these results, we decided to continue the campaign for both magazines until at least September.
Is that the only reason why you are using this market-screaming concept? Sure, we were inspired by the idea of some French publishing houses that have been using this type of TV promotion for their newspapers for over a year. And since the Publisuisse rates seemed reasonable to us, we decided to give it a try.
What measures have you used so far to achieve similar goals and with what results? Up to now, we have been content with buying good placements at Naville kiosks and offering incentives to sales staff. Very rarely, we flanked this with promotions in the daily titles and local radio stations. But none of this produced measurable results. In contrast, we now accompany the TV commercials with structured and systematic measures in the existing advertising media.
How do editors-in-chief Christophe Passer and Alain Jeannet deal with their new role as sellers of their own press product? Were there never any concerns that they might be pandering to the TV audience? Both feel visibly at ease on the other playing field; they are thrilled to be able to represent their magazines and promote them directly to the readership. The TV commercials are quite simply a very modern and efficient way of communicating the press products. It was important for us to be the first to use this medium in French-speaking Switzerland.
How was this received by the editorial team members and the audience? For the most part, the journalists in both editorial offices are proud that their bosses appreciate the content of the magazines on television. The audience reacted with surprise and slight amusement, but very positively, which encouraged us to continue with the exercise.
Will you now shift the media mix, or have you increased the advertising budget as a whole? The investments for the TV commercials were specifically saved in other items of the marketing budget that have lost importance: Reader promotions, merchandising production, etc.
Will there be image campaigns for L'illustré and L'Hebdo in addition to product advertising, or will these be scaled back in future? we had not planned an image campaign on this scale for the current year, neither for L'illustré nor for L'Hebdo. The other current advertising media will remain unchanged.
Are Ringier products in German-speaking Switzerland now also interested in the TV spot concept? Blick has also already used the TV promotion. Other titles could follow if the success of our campaigns is repeated.
"Easily amused": TV spot with Christophe Passer, L'illustré.

Interview: Luca Aloisi

Prize draws Nobody in Switzerland makes more millionaires than the Zahlenlotto. 392 since 1970, the creative minds at Contexta have realized that this windfall can happen to anyone and that no one can be seen to be a millionaire with a witty sticker campaign on mirrors in public spaces. It is not known whether the lucky person who hit the 99 million jackpot was tempted by the remark "Now it's your turn!".

Expansions The paths of the two publishers cross conspicuously often. "Our 5.4 percent increase in turnover in Switzerland is largely due to our acquisitions," said Ringier CEO Martin Werfeli at his Group's annual press conference. In other words: without the Bolero purchase and the acquisition of Le Temps, the Swiss publishing house would probably only have reported stable figures at best. At Edipresse, Ringier's partner in Le Temps, the positive effects of the joint venture were less apparent: its Swiss business generated 4.7 percent less turnover (see page 21).But it is not only at Le Temps that the two groups are crossing paths, they will also do so in the TV sector: Ringier TV has increased by 26 percent, Edipresse wants to learn to ride this golden donkey.
There are also similarities in Eastern Europe: both companies are active in Romania. And while Edipresse has been active in the Ukraine since 2000, Ringier is now also looking there, according to Werfeli - after the political change there anyway. Edipresse is also ahead of its Le Temps partner in Poland and Russia, while Ringier is ahead in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Serbia. "And if you're active in Serbia, Croatia is naturally close," says Werfeli.
Whether Edipresse will follow him there remains to be seen, but the French-speaking Swiss have announced expansion into new markets - including Latin America and Asia. How fortuitous: Ringier already has some experience in the latter continent. Werfeli is hoping for a change of leadership in Vietnam, for example, "which will enable more entrepreneurship".
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Print After a 15-year hiatus, the original Musenalp Express has reappeared.100 pages thick, with a print run of 330000 copies and the familiar pattern: reader contributions and photos, cartoons, reports and services. Othmar Beerli, founder of the youth magazine, got the trademark rights back from St. Gallen-based Mediax, where they had been after an odyssey through several publishing houses. As the magazine has since become a trend magazine and now only appears under the name Mex, publisher Jorge Chaves has now returned the old name to Beerli. It was agreed that Chaves would continue to publish Mex for adults and Beerli would once again publish Musenalp-Express for the younger generation.

Lawn mower "The Evolution is just one of many intelligent Brill products." This sentence from the adjacent advertisement does not contain any incorrect German. "Der Evolution" is English and does not refer to the evolution of humans, but to the evolution (pronounced: Ewoluuschen) in the world of lawn mowers. The fact that this is the case can also be seen in the picture in the Evolution ad. Humans obviously still have their evolution ahead of them. The Ewoluuschen has already done so. "The first lawnmower to take off in the garden and stand tall in the garage", reads the headline. Similar to the monkey in evolution, the Ewoluuschen in technology may not yet be able to walk upright - but it can at least stand upright in the garage. It is a consolation for Homo nudus, who still lags far behind evolution, that the Ewoluuschen works "pollen-proof" according to the display. Where else would we be! (pan)

Creative School The 31 participants of the 2004/05 course at the ADC/BSW Creative School have just been awarded prizes: Livio Dainese (Lowe), Koni Gebistorf (Contexta), Dominik Krattiger (Heye, Zurich), Maurus Zehnder (Jung von Matt/Limmat).Silver went to: Nicole Glaus (Lowe), Ondrej Maczko (Matter & Partner), Annika Ramer (Jung von Matt/Limmat), Jota Ziogas (Euro RSCG).
Bronze: David Dudler (Lowe), Alexander Fürer (TBWA Switzerland), Martin Stauch (Lowe Direct), Dario Kast.
The following were shortlisted: Florian Bosshard (The Edge Creative Solutions), Chantal Ehrensperger (Wirz Werbung), Caspar Heuss (Matter & Partner), Mario Moosbrugger (Publicis).
A total of 23 young creatives from the fields of art and 8 copywriters took part in the course. Of these, 11 were female course participants and 20 were male course participants. André Benker, Simone Fennel, Matthias Freuler, Valentina Herrmann, Cary Steinmann and Hans Tanner acted as jury members.
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Business cycle The BSW ranking has to be dropped until further notice because the US stock exchange law "Sarbanes-Oxley" no longer permits publication.75 percent This also applies to European agencies with connections to a US network. The BSW Spring Monitor 2005 therefore had to juggle the figures in some other way. According to the survey, 75 percent of Swiss agencies expect profits to "remain the same or increase" in 2005. Broken down, 22 percent expect less income, 35 percent expect the same and 42 percent even better income. In terms of actual profit, only 35 percent expect more money and 48 percent expect no change - which shows that
work is cheaper.