Research Funding for the MMXI Internet panel expires at the end of the year. SRG and Wemf are in talks about future cooperation models. Internet research in Switzerland has so far been conducted on two tracks: Wemf uses Net Audit to count visits to websites and surveys around 2,000 people for the MA Comis study. MMXI Switzerland operates a panel plus the Konso study with over 40,000 interviews. The five-year contract between MMXI's financial backers can now be terminated for the first time at the end of the year. The main client and main investor is the SRG Research Service, other investors are the SRG Directorate General, Publisuisse, Swiss TXT, IP Multimedia (Switzerland), Banner.ch, the Yellowworld.ch postal portal and Espace Media Groupe. These have financed MMXI research with CHF 2.4 million annually since 2001.
According to Manuel Dähler, Head of the SRG Research Service, no resignations have yet been received. However, he confirms that the future of internet research in Switzerland is currently the subject of intense discussion. He is in charge of this. "We are in the process of evaluating various options from 2006," says Dähler. The following options are under discussion: continue with the current research (panel), expand the existing system or make a change. According to Dähler, one thing is certain: "The demands on online research today are higher than what the current panel is currently able to offer." The question of future funding also needs to be clarified.
The considerations in Switzerland are based on the three-pillar model of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Onlineforschung (AGOF) in Germany (see box). If this model is followed, a merger of MMXI Switzerland and Wemf could be in the offing for Internet research in Switzerland. Both Dähler and Wemf Director René Schmutz confirm talks. "We are talking to each other," says Dähler. "We are clarifying whether we can get something clever off the ground together," adds Schmutz.
Solution by mid-year
It would be technically possible to merge the MMXI data with that of Net Audit, and both tools are well established internationally. They also have considerable customer numbers in Switzerland. And finally, Net Audit is envisaged as the second pillar of the AGOF model. However, the MMXI data does not fit into the AGOF model because it comes from a panel and not from an on-site survey. The opportunity to develop an international currency at the same time would therefore be lost with the MMXI data.
It would therefore also be conceivable to move away from the MMXI panel, which today belongs to Nielsen/Netratings, towards an on-site survey, as offered by the German company Infratest. However, this would mean sacrificing the five-year history of the MMXI panel.
No decision has been made yet. "There are currently three systems that link site-centric and user-centric data," says Dähler. The Dutch company Netstat, TNR Infratest and Nielsen/Netratings have submitted offers to Dähler. He is confident that a solution can be found by the middle of the year.
"Higher demands today": Manuel Dähler, Head of SRG Research Service.
"Doing something good together". René Schmutz, Wemf.
The AGOF modelIn order to establish a standardized currency for online reach on the German market, AGOF relies on a three-pillar model. An on-site survey using an online questionnaire (user-centric) forms the first pillar, the measurement of visits to websites (site-centric) forms the second and a representative telephone survey forms the third pillar.
Each of these pillars alone only provides an incomplete picture of internet usage: The site-centric measurement identifies the computers from which the websites are accessed, but not the individual users. The on-site survey only partially solves this problem, but it does provide socio-demographic data on some users. And the telephone survey only provides summary recall values, but also socio-demographic data.
Only through the interaction
of all three pillars, it is possible to determine the reach and structural data of online advertising media, according to www.agof.de. And this is how it works: The data from the on-site survey and the technical measurement are compared to filter out those users for whom data from both surveys is available. From this, so-called "ideal-typical user profiles" are created. Their socio-demographic data can then be projected according to the principle of similarity onto those users for whom only the technical data is available. Finally, all this information is transferred to the population as a whole thanks to the telephone survey.
Markus Knöpfli

Drinks/insurance So that we don't misunderstand each other, the advertisements shown are about nothing other than an insurance company that deserves our trust and the promise of being able to enjoy a sparkling wine to the full. A copywriter with style wrote the headline: "A woman with style chooses the man who suits her best". And another copywriter wrote: "No longer stands up to her wishes." Stamina - what suits a lady when drinking champagne and what is generally meant by wishful thinking when it comes to performance
of certain insurance groups - has been visualized by the AD with an old man who is just sitting, as well as two champagne glasses that are lovingly sparkling upright in the air. The man says: "Can no longer withstand your wishes."
This sparkling wine can be taken "dry, extra dry and brut". But this should not be interpreted here as a seduction to ambiguous thoughts in unambiguous advertising.
(pan)

The Zurich advertising agency Hesskiss has won the Lake Zurich and Oberland Transport Authority (VZO) as a new client in a competitive presentation, and is already working on various measures to win new customers and enhance its image, according to Hesskiss.

Beat Holenstein, APG, Head of Zurich Branch Office/Key Account Management, on special requests for poster displays.WW Are campaigns such as sticking jeans to posters or playing music from posters on the increase?Beat Holenstein We are indeed seeing an increase in such requests.
What successful examples are you aware of?
Igora - "mirror posters" for aluminum recycling ("This is what world champions look like"); Swiss Post - "ear posters" (youth account - account open/sound in); Widder sports fun ("pot-bellied poster"); NZZ subscription sales (dispenser for subscription orders on posters); introduction of L+M (cigarettes) using three-dimensional hemispheres and transparent posters; ZKB account openings (form stuck on posters to take away).
Are there also problematic wishes?
It always becomes problematic when safety is called into question, for example if there is a risk of injury due to protruding elements, risk of accidents due to parts being torn off, etc. The feasibility must also be checked for every request (weight problems, handling by displayers). There are also certain legal requirements that must be complied with.
What do you think of the effect of such enriched posters?
In principle, such specially produced posters, which are not usually produced or displayed in large quantities, only make sense if they are integrated into a "normal" campaign and contribute selectively to the overall effect.
Has APG already had to reject an idea?
APG is receptive to witty and creative ideas. On the other hand, the client is often surprised by the additional costs, which are mainly incurred in production, and ultimately foregoes them - also in order to invest the financial resources in the media performance of the basic campaign.
What about the costs?
The costs are generally calculated on a time and material basis. The largest cost block is production, and APG charges additional costs in the area of logistics (personnel expenses, etc.).
Interview: Andreas Panzeri

Printing Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA), together with an American investment company, acquires the Czech printing press manufacturer Grafitec, with which KBA aims to expand its market position in the small format class following growth in the global market for medium and large-format sheetfed offset presses.

Ideas The communication professionals at Face are constantly finding new, unprecedented ways to convey advertising messages in a target group-oriented and eye-catching way, making Face the leading Swiss provider of advertising space in unusual places: Face can advertise just as effectively in toilets and shower facilities as on beer mats and in pizza boxes. The advertising agency Ruf Lanz is now proving that advertising messages simply attract more attention in unusual places with an animal-themed advertising campaign: Animals carry their courtship or advertising message in a completely different place than usual. The first subject to appear in the advertising press is a frog, which is not puffing out its cheeks to its usual mighty size, but its upper arms. Further subjects will appear soon.

Advertising market The advertising trends study shows: Budgets will rise and fall in equal measure in 2005.
The upturn cannot be talked out of existence. The past year has made this clear. Accordingly, advertising clients, advertising and media agencies are cautious in their forecasts for 2005. Clients in particular have given up hope that everything will improve in the second half of the year. 50 percent of clients expect a slight increase in total advertising volume in the first half of the year, while 4.2 percent even expect strong growth, according to the advertising trends study by Media Research Group and HandelsZeitung. Expectations for the second half of the year are hardly any different: 51% anticipate slightly more volume, 2.1% significantly more. However, despite the cautious attitude, the mood is not negative. Only 9.3% of clients expect a slight or strong decline for the first half of the year and 12.5% for the second half.
Agencies are in good spirits
The agencies are even less pessimistic. Not a single one expects a sharp decline in the current year. For the first half of the year, 8.5% are predicting a slight decline, while no one is forecasting a decline for the second half. 48.9 percent of agencies believe in a slight increase from January to June, 61.7 percent expect a slight to strong increase in advertising volume from July to December.
Agencies are also optimistic about their own budget turnover. Almost two thirds expect an increase. Not a single one of the advertising agencies surveyed believes that turnover could shrink. Among the media agencies, 10.5 percent are expecting a decline.
The agencies' confidence is only partially supported by clients' expected spending. The increases are balanced out by the cuts: 25.2 percent of clients have more or less money available for communication in 2005 than in the previous year. Just under half have unchanged resources.
The multi-year comparison again paints a picture of an industry that has become more cautious. Never since 2001 have so few clients increased their budgets. There have also been more cuts than last year, although significantly fewer than in the crisis years of 2002 and 2003. The proportion of companies sticking to their established budgets is higher than ever before.
Looking at the individual sectors, there are clear differences. Only in IT/telecommunications and leisure/tourism do increases and cuts balance each other out at around 30%. In 2004, twice as many companies invested as cut back in both sectors.
The healthcare sector is very keen on advertising. 40 percent of companies have increased their budgets, while only 20 percent have reduced them. Last year, only 18.2 percent had more money available. The automotive and transport sectors have radically reversed last year's trend. While 46.2% slammed on the brakes back then, this year no cuts are being reported at all. One-fifth are spending more, while four-fifths are leaving the budget unchanged.
In contrast, retailers are now filling their piggy banks. In 2004, the sector was still lonely at the top with 57.1 percent increases and no cuts. Now, at 37.5 percent, it has the highest number of budget cuts. However, a quarter of the companies surveyed want to further increase their advertising expenditure.
Media and services earned the title of the most cautious sector. Not a single company that took part in the study invested more in communication in 2005 than in the previous year. 14.3 percent are cutting back. The sector was not included in the 2004 advertising trends.
The fact that clients are investing more than half (51%) of their communication budgets in traditional advertising again this year for the first time in a long time can probably also be interpreted as a sign of caution. This is at the expense of direct advertising, reversing last year's trend. Trade fairs and public relations are also suffering losses.
Within traditional advertising, television is benefiting in particular. Its share of the media mix of clients grew from 19.3 to
22 percent. The worst sufferers are magazines, whose share fell by 2.9 percentage points to 24.7% - and online media, which dropped from 5.8% to 4.8%. The clients' long-term forecast suggests that these shifts also have something to do with the current economic situation. In 2010, they again expect less TV advertising in the media mix (20.9 %). On the other hand, they predict growth in Internet advertising to 7.5%.
Newspapers, traditionally the strongest media category, are only losing around half a percentage point this year. Over the next five years, however, they are expected to fall by 2.5 points to 30 percent. Posters, which are now up 1.5 points to 10.8%, will be trimmed back to 9.4% according to the clients' estimates, while magazines could make up two thirds of their loss. Radio advertising will remain at 3.5% this year and will only gain 0.4 points by 2010.
While television was the winner in the media mix, it had to settle for second place in the ranking of lead media for the most important communication tasks. Although it improved by two places, it was unable to overtake the new number one: the commuter newspaper. The Sunday press had to vacate pole position and take fourth place. The daily newspapers, which had slipped from the top spot to sixth place last year, are now the third most important medium again. Trade journals, which were third in 2003, have dropped out of the rankings completely. Instead, e-boards are now in fifth place.
Under the magnifying glassFor the 2005 Advertising Trends Study, the communications managers of the 500 most advertising-intensive Swiss companies as well as 60 advertising and 25 media agencies were surveyed. While 35.5% on the client side took part in the survey, the response rate among advertising agencies was 55% and among media agencies a whopping 95%. The responses were collected by means of an online questionnaire between mid-January and mid-March 2005. The study was carried out by the Media Research Group on behalf of HandelsZeitung.
The annual advertising market study, which also contains the basic data for determining advertising trends, is available at www.mediaresearchgroup.ch. Special evaluations for media providers, agencies and advertising clients are also available. (sm)
Stefano Monachesi

Advertising market According to Wemf's Advertising Index Switzerland, the Swiss media recorded advertising sales of CHF 259 million this February, 2.9% more than in the previous year. Advertising expenditure in the finance/insurance (+26.3%) and residential/home (+26.2%) sectors grew the most. Services (+15.5%), culture/leisure (+13.1%) and clothing/shoes (+12.1%) also invested significantly more. In contrast, office supplies
(-19.1%) and SMEs (-12.4%) significantly reduced their expenditure.

Awards The German ADC judged more strictly and only awarded prizes for "real existing quality".
A lot of work awaited this year's ADC jury: over 7000 works - a new record - were awaiting their verdict. And for the most part, the judging was clearly tough. In each of the 36 categories, the 208 jurors were extremely stingy with their points and selected around 25 percent fewer winners than last year. Apparently, the higher the creative quality, the higher the expectations - in 2004, German advertising shot up to fourth place in the Gunn Report's international creative ranking. Jury chairman Fred Baader was not impressed by the track record and called for "not just quality, but real existing quality". He wanted to put a stop to the gold ideas that are created purely for the award show.
Clearer Springer & Jacoby
With success, as the list of precious metal winners shows. Not a single tattoo or piercing studio, not an unknown pub and no
There is hardly a hair salon among them. On the contrary: the ten Gold Nails went to brands and institutions, most of which are known beyond the country's borders. Springer & Jacoby received all five Gold Nails in German advertisers' favorite discipline - the automotive industry - for two Mercedes-Benz and one Smart campaign. This enabled S & J to make a comeback to first place in the top ten, which many did not believe it was capable of due to the delicate generational change in leadership. The creative team created real graphic feasts for the eyes in the "From A to B" line campaign for the G-Class and in the "Sound of Summer" TV and cinema spot for convertibles. In the latter, the viewer glides through landscapes and sounds that are shaped by oscillating bars, like an equalizer. The jury and audience agreed that this film is sure to win more medals at international competitions.
There was also a gold award for the cinema spot "Für Jungs, die damals schon Männer waren" by DDB Berlin, the up-and-coming agency of the year. The film, a testosterone-boosting homage to the fast workers' Ferrari - the VW Golf GTI - was virtually acclaimed by the audience. The unconventional TV commercial series "Blixa Bargeld reads Hornbach" for the DIY chain, created by the Berlin agency Heimat, also climbed to the top of the podium and was also named "Client of the Year".
Success for Jung von Matt
Jung von Matt was denied the gold nail. Thanks to the many silver works, it was nevertheless the second most successful agency at the ADC. For example, the cinema commercials for the energy drink K-fee, in which screaming monsters tear the audience away from the romantic atmosphere. The poster for the travel agency chain Tui, which renamed the Berlin subway station "Unter den Linden" "Unter den Palmen" during the cold season, can also be counted among the most beautiful, but only locally applicable JvM works. In the poster category, Scholz & Friends won its only gold nail - again in fourth place - for the first-class motif "Kent Nagano conducts Wagner" for the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus.
Hardly any bold concepts
Courageous and unusual concepts were not common in the Spatial Communication/Events category. Nevertheless, the jury awarded gold to two temporary works: an art and fundraising campaign for a mine-free world, which Heine Lenz Zizka staged for the aid organization Medico International with a virtual minefield, and the media installation and exhibition "Illumination:Evolution" from the Senckenberg Nature Museum, which was designed by Atelier Markgraph and implemented with a strong media and audience appeal.
As a general trend, Fred Baader noted that "the 'Brazilian crypticism' - the tendency towards pure visuality - that is often used in creative competitions has now clearly declined in the coding and decoding style". Instead, narrative formats, lots of emotion and humor were on the rise.
Gold posters: Scholz & Friends for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Gold communication in space: "Minenfeld" by Heine Lenz Zizka for Medico International e. V.
Gold ads: Mercedes-Benz G-Class, "From A to B", by Springer & Jaoby.
Gold TV commercials: "Blixa Bargeld reads Hornbach", by Heimat, Berlin, for Hornbach Baumarkt AG.
Gold TV and cinema commercials: "Sound of summer", Mercedes-Benz Cabriolets, by Springer & Jacoby.
Gold cinema spot: Volkswagen Golf GTI, "For boys who were already men back then", by DDB Berlin.
Luca Aloisi

Digital photography Whether in silver, white or black, the Coolpix S1 from Nikon is for anyone who wants a camera that is firstly good, secondly stylish and thirdly very small, barely bigger than a credit card and slim enough for a shirt pocket at 19.7 mm. With 5 megapixels, triple zoom, ED lenses and many innovative functions, the Coolpix S1 is not a new gadget, but a full-fledged digital camera to be taken seriously. www.nikon.ch

Turnover Agfa-Gevaert (Agfa) achieved a turnover of 3762 million Euros in 2004, a decrease of 10.7 percent compared to the previous year and hopes to become less vulnerable to economic fluctuations and more profitable by refocusing on the two business groups Graphic Systems and HealthCare. The Graphic Systems business group recorded a turnover of 1673 million euro, an increase of 3.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Packaging RFID technology is still too expensive. Shopping without queuing will remain a vision for the time being. The packaging sector is about to be replaced: the printed barcode could be supplemented or even replaced by a new technology in the near future. It all started in the automotive industry: in the 1990s, RFID technology was used as part of the immobilizer system. The aim was to put a stop to the theft of motor vehicles.
In Japan, school backpacks of elementary school pupils were fitted with RFID tags in a pilot project last year. The system, which is due to be rolled out in April 2005, will enable parents to receive a message by e-mail or directly on their cell phone when their child has arrived at school thanks to RFID readers installed at school entrances.
The latest example: US government ID cards are soon to be the most secure passports in the world. To this end, they have been fitted with special RFID inlays that can contain the much-discussed biometric data, among other things.
Initial applications What do these three examples have to do with the packaging sector? Not very much in practice yet. But there are already application models here too. For example, RFID transponders or RFID tags applied to packaging or products could make the payment process much easier - queues at the checkout could soon be a thing of the past. The goods would no longer have to be placed on the conveyor belt, but could be recorded in one go thanks to the applied tags.
No wonder the retail sector is interested in this technology. The world's leading companies - led by the Metro Group in Europe and Walmart in the USA - are currently pushing transponder technology. But there is another reason for this: RFID can also be used to improve processes within the entire logistics chain. The focus is on the chip coding of logistical units such as pallets or other containers. Even before the goods are unloaded from the truck, the recipient already "knows" what is on them. However, the coding of individual products with RFID chips (item tagging) is also already in use in some cases and is to be expanded.
Rewritable RFID tags even offer the option of changing or deleting information during the process. This saves printing costs and expensive and time-consuming relabeling. Data on storage duration and storage location can be stored on the carrier materials. This means that the products can not only be identified, but also tracked and monitored in terms of time and location.
Not for primary packaging
The microchip integrated into the RFID tag turns it into a mini computer. However, the label equipped with RFID technology has its price: although the development of unit prices naturally depends heavily on the costs of the components, realistic estimates assume transponder prices of 30 cents or around 50 centimes.
Although counterfeit protection is a recurring theme among suppliers of branded goods and in the pharmaceutical industry and copying costs huge amounts of money, it is not yet possible to speak of a breakthrough. The packaging industry is also still a long way from using RFID. According to industry experts, there is a lack of a uniform industrial standard. In addition, RFID chips are currently still too expensive.
It is therefore not currently worth equipping individual primary packaging with RFID transponders. What makes perfect sense for a pallet is therefore not (yet) worthwhile for many everyday products.
Retailers are very interested in RFID labels.
For more security during ID checks: The holder's biometric data can be stored on a chip in the travel document.
RFIDRFID or transponder technology involves contactless data transmission based on alternating electromagnetic fields. An RFID chip stores information that can be transmitted via antennas. This information can be recorded by readers and can then be evaluated. Similar to the already established barcode, RFID chips are used to attach information to goods, vehicles or soon also ID documents (see right) and can be read without a line of sight.
The attached transponders are also known as tags. If there are several products in a shopping cart, for example, they can even be identified simultaneously thanks to so-called bulk detection. Transponder technology was first used as an immobilizer in the 1990s and helped it achieve a breakthrough. Today, transponders and RFID tags are used in many places, e.g. for the transportation of dangerous goods.
US passports with RFID inlay German supplier Giesecke & Devrient will start producing the "world's most secure passports" this year. The new passports for the US government have an integrated chip that stores the passport holder's personal data. The envelopes of the electronic travel documents have an integrated RFID inlay. The chip can communicate with a reader via the antenna, which then displays the stored data.
In addition, various unique characteristics of the holder can be stored on the chip. This biometric data, for example the facial image or fingerprint, can be checked quickly and easily using the technology supplied. The first electronic passports are to be issued to US government employees at the end of the first quarter of 2005 and tested in practical use. (jf)
Jürgen Franck