Politics The Federal Council has granted Cablecom a concession to expand its information channel in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino.Politics The Federal Council has granted Cablecom a concession to expand its information channel in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. In future, Cablecom intends to broadcast tourist information, information on cultural events, pictures of the countryside, weather and timetable information as well as information on its own cable program. The license is strictly limited to this content in order to take account of Cablecom's dominant position as a program distributor and to prevent distortions of competition

The Japanese company Sony wants to approach Swiss customers more directly and has chosen the St. Gallen agency Lammoth Mailkonzept as its partner for its entry into dialog marketing. The campaign will start in March with a mailing for Sony projectors in German and French-speaking Switzerland, which is intended to maneuver B-to-B customers to Sony dealers.

TV The Central Swiss broadcaster TeleTell has launched the weekly short program "Immobilien-Tipp". Further information is available via Teletext and on the ImmoMarktZentralschweiz.ch website, which is operated by the six cantonal banks of Central Switzerland. Several real estate companies in the region are also partners.

AdScreen Will Publisuisse soon be marketing screens at kiosks as well as TV screens at home? If the Council of States has its way, the SRG will have to cede more millions in fees to private providers than the Federal and National Councils had planned. No wonder, then, that it is looking for new sources of income. One possibility would be to expand the activities of Publisuisse. In fact, the SRG advertising marketer is "thinking about new business areas", according to its Head of Communications Peter Kaufmann, and screens at kiosks could soon become one such business area. One thing is certain: The press wholesaler Naville, which operates 200 sales outlets in French-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Swiss television TSR and Publisuisse are working together on a project. The plan is apparently that Naville will equip its kiosks with screens, TSR will supply them with content and Publisuisse will be responsible for advertising - possibly cross-media with TV.
Kaufmann confirms that a joint project is currently being tested. "However, it has not yet been decided whether it will become an additional pillar for us," he says. He has no further information, as all the people responsible are on vacation. At Naville, the project is confirmed indirectly: They refer to the TSR press office. However, the person responsible cannot be reached there.
Goldbach Media AG is a company that generated net sales of CHF 3.4 million from screen marketing last year (see page 18) and recently started offering a screen network at independent kiosks in German- and French-speaking Switzerland (WW 7/05). What do they say about the potential new and powerful competitor? Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler is relaxed: "We welcome every competitor. It stimulates the market." Incidentally, he is used to Goldbach Media often being the innovator and Publisuisse the copier.
(mk)

Publishers The Hersant Group is complaining to the Competition Commission (ComCo) about its competitor Edipresse, which is in breach of the conditions imposed by the ComCo on the takeover of the Corbaz Group at the end of 2002, La Liberté quotes from a letter from Hersant. Firstly, Edipresse has still not reduced its share of votes in Rhône Média Valais below 33 percent. Secondly, by creating the Vaud-TV network, it has broken its commitment not to seek control over the local station Ici-TV. Hersant therefore sees reason to revoke the takeover license.

Corporate publishing is an important part of the instrument mix of good and successful corporate communications. The professionally produced customer magazine is the company's communicative flagship, it supports the strategy through targeted topic setting, and it contributes to gaining reputation through high credibility. Corporate publishers tell stories, illustrate and copywrite them along a magazine journalistic dramaturgy. Strong brands like Harley Davidson, Ovaltine or Twinings live on stories. And a customer magazine pays off in terms of maintaining existing customers and attracting new ones, as the sales manager of a German company calculates: A magazine costs 8 euros, while a visit by a sales representative can be expected to cost around 800 euros.Communication opportunitiesCompanies are increasingly recognizing the advantages of corporate publishing. The variety of media used is increasing. The analysis of target group potential is leading to new, sophisticated hybrid media. These include magalogs, i.e. magazine-like catalogs in the consumer business, or newsmags, a construct of newsletter and magazine for decision-makers, or journalistically prepared annual reports that report on important company meetings with authentic reports.
Quality is in demandThe steadily growing importance of high-quality media for business requires service provider support at the highest level of quality. Forum Corporate Publishing, founded in 1999, is a modern marketing and service platform for professional providers in all aspects of corporate publishing. The association aims to promote its members economically, professionally and politically, for example with courses such as Dipl. Corporate Publisher in cooperation with the Swiss Text Academy and SPRI, with awards such as Best of Corporate Publishing or with study booklets.
In spring 2005, TNS Emnid will publish a new study on in-house communication in Germany. This much in advance: 93 percent of decision-makers rate internal communication as the biggest construction site. The potential of corporate publications is far from being exhausted if it is possible to create a real network between employees (not only print/online, but keywords such as national/international, centralized/decentralized, standardized/individualized, top down/bottom up, etc.). (bs)
Forum Corporate Publishing (FCP)14 leading media service providers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland founded the Forum Corporate Publishing in May 1999 to create a community of interests for this field of work for the first time in the German-speaking world. The Forum advanced to become the largest association of this media discipline in Europe. The FCP is a competent marketing platform for professional service providers. The purpose of the association is the economic, professional and political promotion of its members and the image building of a promising media industry. (bs)
Stories make brands: Steven Twining represents the tenth generation of the Twinings tea house. In the customer magazine Contact, he reveals
the little tricks for a perfect cup of tea.
Beat Schaller

Image brochures With the merger of the Wilhelm Group and the DMS Consulting Group two years ago, a unique consultancy firm for personnel management was created in Switzerland. "Perfectly interlinked services, independent and yet from a single source: the Wilhelm-DMS Group," says the advertising. This has now been realized by Zurich-based Art & Work - Communication, Design, Coaching. The imagery for the service brochures was created by German artist Per Singer, who has been working intensively on the topics of communication and technology for many years.

is strengthening its creative team with three new art directors. Robert Köhler joins the Bern-based advertising agency from Sulzer Sutter.Contexta Christian Bircher most recently worked for Büro Reinhold. Frederick Rossmann joins from JWT + Hostettler + Fabrikant....
Since the beginning of March, founder and Chairman of the
Andreas Auerbach will take over the business of Voice Publishing. The previous Managing Director, Jürg Wildberger (photo), is reducing his workload but will remain a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors and will manage a number of mandates for the company in future. In addition, he will devote more time to his
own company Media W.
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The Lucerne culture magazine has hired Beat Reichenbach (photo) as publishing director. Among other things, Reichenbach was head of
regional editions and weekly newspapers at the Neue Luzerner Zeitung before launching the wrestling newspaper "Schlussgang" last summer.
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Patricia Vanek is joining Aegis Media Group Switzerland as Head of Electronic Media & Research. She takes up the newly created position with immediate effect. Vanek most recently worked for the private broadcaster U1 TV. Prior to that, she was responsible for media research at TV 3 and Head of Planning Radio/TV at IP Multimedia (Switzerland).
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Since March 1, Iris Isenschmid (photo) has been the new Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications at Energie Wasser Luzern (EWL). Isenschmid previously worked for Wirz and Migros, among others, and as a research assistant at the Institute for Business Communication at HSW Lucerne.
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Cécile Wolfsteiner is taking over the newly created position of Product Manager Sales at Ringier-TV. She previously worked as a Sales and Account Manager for the company.
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Arno B. Gähwiler has taken over as Head of Sales at Westiform Switzerland. He has been given the rank of Vice Director at the group of companies for visual communication. Gähwiler previously worked for 15 years as a shareholder, member of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Board at competitor Litex Neon.

Press 20 Minuten Week swallows Good News magazine Concert promoter Good News is giving up its magazine. The previous publication frequency (ten times a year) was no longer sufficient in view of the speed of electronic media, writes Managing Director André Béchir in the editorial of the current issue. As the costs of increasing frequency are enormous, a partner was sought and found in 20 Minuten Week. From March 31, subscribers to the Good News magazine will receive 20 Minuten Week every 14 days, in which parts of the magazine will be integrated. 20 Minuten Managing Director Rolf Bollmann confirms that the main features of the cooperation have been agreed. However, details such as the launch date have not yet been finalized, he told Werbewoche. According to Bollmann, the Good News magazine will disappear as a separate product, as will the short version, which was previously integrated into the daily edition of 20 Minuten on a monthly basis. Instead, 20 Minuten Week will be published every two weeks as a music special. The content will be produced entirely by 20 Minuten, emphasizes Bollmann. Good News only provides information.
20 Minuten Week can thus increase its circulation from 60,000 to 900,000 copies and will also be distributed by subscription for the first time. The advertising rates are to be increased accordingly. Ringier is expected to take over the printing of 20 Minuten Week from the AZ Medien Group. The Zurich-based media company holds a 44 percent stake in Good News. However, negotiations have not yet been concluded.
(sm)

Radio The youth cable station Radio 105 is leaving the Association of Swiss Private Radio Stations (VSP) with immediate effect, stating in a communiqué that the VSP has repeatedly worked specifically against FM distribution of Radio 105. It pursues a protectionist and backward-looking policy aimed at preserving the vested interests of many local radio stations. The VSP rejects the accusations and counters that Radio 105 has rarely sought cooperation from the association, preferring instead to operate with media communiqués, some of which are counterproductive.

Daily newspapers Are price pages and stock market advertisements also at risk of migrating to the Internet? The consequences would be devastating - especially for the NZZ. In the good old analog days, the NZZ was still a "must-read" for Swiss securities trading - both under stock exchange law and in its own newspaper headline. With the introduction of electronic trading on the Zurich Stock Exchange ten years ago, this special status lapsed. What remained, however, was the publication obligation of listed companies - keyword: listing advertisements - and the daily (closing) price pages in the business section of the daily press.If you count the latter on any given working day, a regional newspaper averages a maximum of two pages, the Tages-Anzeiger three to four and the NZZ a whopping 11 to 13 pages. In contrast to the classifieds market, a shift of this segment to the Internet would therefore hit the central organ of the Swiss economy by far the hardest.
Calculable cluster riskNZZ publishing director Tobias Trevisan also acknowledges "a calculable cluster risk". However, this only applies to the four or so daily fund advertisement pages discreetly marked as such at the top right. These are paid for by the advertising banks on a monthly basis per line and, according to Trevisan, cost the clients roughly the same as regular full-page advertisements.
The remaining eight regular price pages on average are an editorial reader service that the NZZ obtains from the financial information service of Telekurs Financial (TKF). Trevisan is unable or unwilling to quantify how much of a burden such a pre-selected and pre-formatted page places on the editorial budget. TKF, the third player in this non-transparent market alongside Reuters and Bloomberg, is also keeping quiet about this (see box). A look at the Swiss customer list is granted: It includes the Tamedia titles 20 Minuten and Finanz & Wirtschaft as well as a number of regional newspapers, but not the Tagi.
Online is already sufficient for derivativesIn contrast to its competitors, Telekurs currently only offers print data, but no Internet data. No wonder TKS Sales Manager Peter Wanner emphasizes the "better clarity and handiness of printed stock exchange pages" compared to the digital real-time medium. Trevisan also emphasizes that Internet financial services do not provide archivable reviews of a trading day (which are still required by the supervisory authorities), but merely snapshots of current trading activity. These are probably for
active stock market participants, but not for the general public.
However, one trend is definitely pointing towards the Internet: Last fall, for example, the Admission Board of the Swiss Exchange (SWX) exempted the growing number of issuers of derivatives, bonds and other fast-moving securities from the publication requirement in newspapers. SWX spokesman Werner Vogt believes it is "not unlikely" that more sustainable financial instruments and at some point even listing notices will only have to be published electronically. For Swiss publishers with national daily and business newspapers, such electronification would not only mean losses running into the millions, but also a further loss of importance. It is difficult to say what would weigh more heavily for NZZ & Co.
"Quote Publisher "As a globally operating financial information service provider with Swiss roots, Telekurs Financial (TKF) believes in the future of stock market pages in the press. This is demonstrated by the "Quote Publisher" content management system developed by the Biel-based Telekurs subsidiary Rolotec in cooperation with the NZZ. This software package automates the production of stock market pages, which is under immense time and precision pressure, and reads the financial data - for example closing prices, high and low prices, volume data, but also calculated values such as market capitalization - directly into the respective typesetting system.
The "Quote Publisher" also keeps the subscribed business editors informed of all important stock market news and trends. The newspaper's internal manual work is limited to the selection of securities and stock exchanges and the insertion of any advertisements in the stock exchange pages. According to TKF Sales Manager Peter Wanner, the costs of this service vary greatly depending on the scope of delivery, technical complexity and contract term. (oc)
Share prices as a reader service, fund advertisement pages and emmision advertisements as sources of income: The latter are coming under increasing pressure.
Oliver Classen

Publishers Gerhart Isler, former publisher of Finanz und Wirtschaft, has acquired a 32 percent stake in Jean Frey. Tito Tettamanti has increased his stake in the Zurich publishing house from 25 to 32 percent. Group lawyer Martin Wagner, who is to replace Adriano Agosti as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors, continues to hold 10 percent. Charles von Graffenried and Peter Kleiner are also stepping down from the BoD. Business lawyer Ulrich Kohli is to become the new Vice Chairman and Filippo Leutenegger the new Board Delegate.