CtP With :Empower, Agfa is presenting a range of complete turnkey solutions for entry into computer-to-plate (CtP), each combining a platesetter and printing plates with an online processor, :ApogeeX workflow management and proofing software and :Sublima screening technology, as well as installation, training and a service contract. :Empower is offered in three versions for different requirements :Empower V (violet), :Empower T (thermal) and :Empower C (chemical-free). All :Empower systems also include :Sublima cross-modulated screening technology and :ApogeeX Prime software for workflow automation. Agfa also offers system installation, training and maintenance. www.agfa.ch

Statistics Over the last 20 years, the graphic arts industry has lost 40 percent or 20,000 jobs according to BfS statistics, and a study commissioned by the employers' association Viscom from the Solothurn University of Applied Sciences on the labor market situation in 2010 expects this trend to continue at a slower pace. At the same time, the graphic arts industry expects the number of apprentices to increase by around 7 percent by 2010. According to Viscom, the companies surveyed see a large increase in the areas of multimedia and IT, and a smaller increase in the area of print finishing. In polygraphy, on the other hand, a decrease of 21 percent is expected. www.viscom.ch

Banks UBS uses Publicis' "You & Us" campaign to counter the impersonal image of the global financial giant In June 2003, UBS launched the unified brand, which was intended to position the banking institution as one company both internally and externally. Although the simplified brand structure of the integrated business model pushed corporate brands such as Warburg or PaineWebber into the background - and swallowed up billions in write-offs - it seems to have strengthened the brand identity as a central success factor. The corporate brand, which was already internationally preferred and best known at the time, continued to grow in all target customer segments. Central customer care
As the unifying element of the new brand architecture, the UBS brand has gained recognition, profile and market share in various markets. Both for the business with private and corporate clients and for
the labor market, where an improved starting position was created. In 2004, UBS, as a leading asset manager and provider of wealth management, securities and investment banking services, achieved the highest annual net profit in the company's history - around CHF 8.09 billion.
The success of UBS is also the success of its clients and vice versa. It is therefore not surprising that client service is the top priority in the core values. The first global advertising campaign since the introduction of the unified UBS brand was developed jointly by Publicis London and Zurich and is intended to emphasize precisely this qualitative relationship between UBS and its clients. The title of the campaign - "You and UBS" - also reflects the future brand communication.
In the first phase, the creatives used the symbolic imagery of togetherness to convey the personal relationship and intimacy between the customer and their advisor: two people consistently appear in the TV commercials and advertisements in a striking setting. However, the focus is always on the people, customer and advisor, with their needs and tailor-made solutions. All scenes were chosen in such a way that the feeling of familiarity is palpable. What the bank brings to this relationship is subtly conveyed by the background and the copy. The inward-facing advertising message is just as clear: the role of the advisor is essential, after all, only they can fulfill the promise in their customer contacts. The geographical focus of the brand campaign is on
the USA, where awareness of the Swiss financial services provider has already risen sharply but still has great potential.
CD Markus Gut is convinced that the new umbrella concept and the slogan work well in all markets, regionally and locally, in image and product advertisements and for all corporate groups and customer segments. Bernhard Eggli,
Head of Brand Management, recognizes another area of application: "I also see 'You and us' in connection with event sponsorship, for example when the slogan evokes feelings that clients and UBS share during a regatta at the America's Cup. The slogan can also be used in HR communication with existing or potential employees, but the primary aim of the campaign launched in February is to familiarize existing and potential clients with the multi-stage advisory process.
Different final versions
The first wave will run worldwide until June and will be followed by a second wave between September and December to improve penetration. The planned advertising measures were repeatedly tested in the various focus groups. The final versions differ greatly from country to country in some cases. In Europe, for example, a scene in a typical US snack bar was not used because it was perceived in tests as an unusual environment for discussing financial issues. The semantic challenge was not much easier in German. Compared to the English slogan, "Sie und wir" loses some of its connotation of familiarity and almost gives the impression of distance.
The central element of the UBS advertising campaign: the personal relationship between client and advisor.
Luca Aloisi

Sparkling wine According to ACNielsen Consumer Panel Services, CHF 55.5 million was spent on champagne and CHF 71.6 million on sparkling wine in Switzerland last year. A remarkably high 42 percent of all sparkling wines purchased are Proseccos. Sparkling wines from Spain are in second place with 33 percent. An average of CHF 64.20 per household is spent on real champagne in Switzerland each year. Demand for champagne is falling for products in the lower and medium price segments. Demand for products in the premium price segment is stable.

MA Leader Not all managers can be reached by cell phone, but almost all can be reached via the Internet Around 93 percent of Swiss-German leaders and top leaders have at least one cell phone in their household, but a good 3 percent do not use cell phones. This is the result of the MA Leader survey. 20 percent of the leaders and 24 percent of the top leaders even use several cell phones. However, very few of them, namely 15% of the leaders and 18% of the top leaders, have subscribed to SMS services. Almost half, namely 42 to 46 percent of managers, also have other mobile devices such as a Palm, pocket PC or handheld.5.5 and 4 percent of managers and top managers in French-speaking Switzerland, respectively, manage without a cell phone. Accordingly, more people (around 80 percent of all managers) do without SMS services. 40 percent of them have other mobile tools at their disposal.
At around 70%, interest in the Internet is quite pronounced in German-speaking Switzerland, with French-speaking Switzerland only slightly behind at 66%. Nevertheless, their hearts beat slightly stronger for e-commerce (38%), while the German-speaking Swiss have fewer preferences here (37%).
Only a few internet grouches
Around 95 percent of all managers now use the Internet regularly in some form (narrower user group), but even here there is still a vanishingly small number of people who can apparently manage without the Internet. In German-speaking Switzerland, there are just under 1000 managers, in French-speaking Switzerland slightly fewer.
In terms of usage, it is not surprising that the Internet is used everywhere and at all management levels with the same preferences: e-mail is at the top of the list, followed by the use of search engines, then retrieving addresses and telephone numbers and finally access to timetables and flight schedules. All of these options are used by over 90 percent of Swiss leaders and top leaders. However, between 80 and 90 percent of them also surf for entertainment or retrieve up-to-date information from daily newspapers and other providers.
In French-speaking Switzerland, more than 80 percent make purchases or reservations via the Internet, compared to a maximum of 79 percent in German-speaking Switzerland. Up to 65 percent of managers in both parts of the country carry out private banking transactions via the web, but when it comes to connections between companies and banks, they are more cautious (47 percent at most).
Markus Knöpfli

Wemf only presents its MA Leader study every two years. It surveys the media usage of leaders for selected print products and websites, and also provides information on their position in their professional environment and their purchasing intentions for high-end products. All in all, a rather dry subject for a presentation. The guest presentation "Leadership and the media - who leads whom?" by NZZ and Le Temps author Beat Kappeler, who went on a kind of media search for perpetrators and victims in his remarks, brought a bit of relief.
Projected onto advertising agencies, by the way, this is how the leaders look: A leader is anyone who exceeds the 100,000 franc gross limit as an employee, i.e. anyone in consulting. Or can shine with the same amount as a self-employed person - i.e. all freelancers known to us. Finally, top leaders are those who have bagged more than CHF 1,400,000 at the end of the year - i.e. all members of the management, both in small and large agencies, not forgetting the members of the extended management (usually the bosses' internal love affairs), the creative team - apart from the graphics apprentice, of course, but there are hardly any of those left anyway - the head secretary, the head secretary's adorable dog and the cleaning lady.
Incidentally, the Technopark shone this year compared to previous events held there. Really elegantly arranged canapés and white cloth on the bar tables. There were also young and chicly dressed people pouring the Cüpli. And Robi Weber, who is well known in the industry and responsible for the musical background, played the piano.
However, because the weather was so nice, the closing aperitif was short-lived. Most people were probably drawn towards the city center, where the views of strolling and beautiful people are certainly better than at an industry event in the bowels of Technopark.
Beat Fritsch wondered what you could do on a beautiful Monday afternoon when you've been lying in the sun all weekend. Fortunately, because the Wemf exists, there was no need to
was puzzled over for a long time. The AG für Werbemedienforschung presented the MA Leader, which is only published every two years, at the Technopark. It goes without saying that there was a big industry get-together.

Once your reputation is ruined, you can communicate with complete ease. This is what Serge Gnos says with a view to Tamedia, which made a profit of almost 50 million in 2004 The publishing business is - as we all know - extremely volatile. If the economy is doing well, then great profits are made, as in 2000 and 2001; if the economy slumps, the pendulum swings more strongly in the media industry than elsewhere and sales plummet, making it all the more important for a company in the communications sector to have its communications under control - and to professionally highlight both good and less good business results. After all, it is important to convince the public, owners and shareholders that the company is exceptional. And it is important to sell staff on a decision to cut jobs in order to increase profits as the final measure to save the company.
The best way to learn how to do this successfully is from professionals. From Tamedia, for example. After the medium-sized company from Werdstrasse taught us a lesson in whining for two years - the only thing missing was an appeal for donations similar to the WOZ - we are now learning how to mitigate an improvement in results achieved through mass redundancies. The most important rule here: Never go straight from complaining to rejoicing. After all, staff and the public could react negatively if the Group result has almost reached the 50 million mark again, but at the same time the journalistic offering as well as the editorial offices and printing plants responsible for the offering have had to make significant losses in recent years.
In addition to jubilant phrases for the owners such as "turnaround" or "turnaround", a well-tempered press release therefore absolutely needs negative elements for the attention of staff and the public - preferably in a generally understandable area.
So: "While bookings in the Alpha management market continue to rise slightly, the job market is unlikely to recover due to the persistently high unemployment rate. The canton of Zurich has a disproportionately high number of unemployed compared to the rest of Switzerland." After cutting more than 300 jobs, Tamedia managers at least know what they are talking about.
However, the fundamental goal of a publishing house - diverse and critical press work - comes at a price, not only in good times but also in bad times. A truism, one would think; and a "leading company" like Tamedia, according to its own advertising, should actually be aware of this.
If Tamedia continues to sacrifice staff and infrastructure on the altar of profit maximization to please its shareholders, it is not only jeopardizing its reputation as a social employer, but also its journalistic image. And: with the credibility of the products, first the readership and then the advertisers are lost. The continued sharpening of the red pencil therefore cuts into its own flesh. Because remember: you only lose a good reputation once.
> Serge Gnos is Central Secretary of the media trade union comedia.

Certification Regia HighPack AG (Regia), producer of fine packaging solutions and high-quality print products made of cardboard and plastic, has been certified as meeting the BRC/IoP standards for food packaging and ISO 9001:2000 and complies with the GMP guidelines for the pharmaceutical industry. Regia, which resulted from the merger of the companies Huber + Anacker AG, Wassermann AG and Trübsauerländer AG, meets the product safety standards required of packaging producers by the food industry. The certification was awarded by the SQS (Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems) in Zollikofen. www.regia.ch

Daily Newspapers The passing of what is probably the greatest taboo keeper in recent history gave the NZZ cause to break a taboo: for the first time in its 225-year history, a color photo adorned the paper's old aunt's face. But of all things, it was that of the papal corpse. This choice is surprising, as the unusual colorfulness of the April 4 edition automatically lends it a certain cheerfulness. It is no wonder that evil tongues claim that the central Zwinglian organ wanted to mock the religious competition from Rome with this imitation of Catholic visual culture. But perhaps the whole thing is just a parting gift for outgoing publishing director Tobias Trevisan, who for years campaigned for the parent paper of "his" NZZ am Sonntag to show its colors.

Workflow The new issue of Heidelberg News focuses on the topic of workflow in order to shed a little more light on process optimization using bits and bytes, as SMEs in particular often still have reservations about workflow solutions. Issue 252 of Heidelberg News can be requested by e-mail ([email protected]) or fax (0049 62 21 92 50 42). www.heidelberg.com

Awards In future, the International Advertising Festival in Cannes (this year from June 19 to 25) will also select the Agency of the Year in the Lions Direct and Cyber Lions categories, with the title going to the agency that has won the most awards in the category. A Grand Prix is worth ten points, a Gold Lion seven points, a Silver Lion five points and a Bronze Lion three points.

Presentation FEP Line prints advertising materials and customer gifts - for example the Smartpointer SP-150, which can be used as an auxiliary tool for wirelessly changing PowerPoint presentation slides (distance up to 15 meters from the PC or laptop). The SP-150 also includes a laser pointer and a USB flash memory, which is available in various storage capacities. The handy device is easy to use and no software needs to be installed. The smart pointers are available with advertising messages or company logos at attractive conditions. www.promo.ch