Television Since last May, SRG Deutschschweiz has been advertising for new members with TV and radio spots, which were created by Advico Young & Rubicam and refer to the Mitreden.ch website. This was visited by 15,000 people between the launch of the campaign and the end of the year. 800 of them registered online for membership, as can be seen in the member magazine Link. That is twice as many as had joined the SRG supporting organization in the previous two years.

Television The ProSieben-Sat 1 Group posted record profits in 2004. All four stations were in the black. In its first year under Roger Schawinski, Sat 1 achieved its best result since it was founded, with pre-tax profits rising from EUR 4.1 million to EUR 89.7 million, although revenues were down 0.3 percent. Sat 1's earnings situation has "improved decisively".

Daily press The Aargauer Zeitung (AZ) is entering into a content cooperation with the Basel news portal OnlineReports.ch.OnlineReports will in future provide the regional edition AZ Fricktal with research, news and interviews as well as features and photos. The agreement is for an indefinite period and was preceded by a four-month trial period.

Market statistics With one issue less than in the previous year, the Publicitas Index recorded growth of 0.1 points in January, standing at 94.4 points and thus 0.1 points below the value for the same month last year. The slight increase is mainly due to the satisfactory development of real estate and job advertisements, comments Publicitas. The index for job advertisements rose from 124.2 to 125.2 points. It thus continues its flat upward trend.

Black and white printing The A4 mono laser 9022 underlines TallyGenicom's claim to be an innovative provider of laser printers for the office environment, and the new printer can be easily integrated into any working environment thanks to its wide range of connection options and emulations, such as the optional PostScript 3 module or wireless LAN.

Travel industry Hotelplan is abolishing the fixed offer form for beach vacations with immediate effect. The leisure behavior of Mr. and Mrs. Swiss has made the travel industry flourish. Thanks to specialization, the major Swiss tour operators also enjoy a very good reputation abroad - albeit at a high price. The maturity of the Swiss travel market can be seen not only in the expansion attempts of the major tour operators across borders, but also in key figures such as advertising investment. As the largest segment in the travel-leisure-hotels-sanatoriums product group, the travel industry is one of the most intensive and fastest growing advertisers: according to Media Focus, it invested 55 million francs in advertising in 2004, eleven percent more than in 2003. Even in the crisis year 2002 - after 9/11, the Iraq war and Sars - and despite poor economic development, the Swiss resident population still spent around 23 billion francs on travel (- 22 percent compared to the previous year). Transportation costs are not yet included in this estimate of the tourism balance sheet statistics. This corresponds to annual per capita expenditure of a good 3,300 francs. According to surveys, every second trip is booked through a travel agency, if business tourism is taken into account.
Upheaval in the travel businessDespite an increase in sales and high growth rates in bookings, the tougher competitive conditions have caused earnings to shrink considerably. The travel trade is in a state of upheaval: overcapacity and crumbling margins among travel providers, who have had their agency commission cut by the new pricing models of various airlines, unpredictable consumer reactions to calamities, low-cost airlines making city breaks cheaper than ever, and more and more Swiss people booking their trips directly online. All these developments are forcing travel agencies to adapt and restructure. After fierce battles over concentration, many saw a brisk price war as the strategic way out of stagnation, but this unbalanced volumes and capacities and put the entire industry in even more trouble.
Hotelplan, Switzerland's number two tour operator, is responding to changing consumer behavior by abolishing fixed prices for beach vacations. In future, Hotelplan also wants to perceive consumers as VIPs - "Very Individual Passengers" - in the important area of beach vacations. "Customers' professional and private circumstances are setting the standards for vacation offers more than ever," explains Röne Bertschi, consultant and concept developer at the Winterthur agency Dachcom. More flexibility is now required than package tours can offer. The results of the annual Elvia survey conducted by the Link Institute on the travel and booking behavior of the Swiss prove him right. The increased number of people taking three or more vacation trips a year is reinforcing the trend towards multiple and shorter trips. Consumers are demanding more transparency when it comes to costs and are only prepared to pay for what they really want to use, says Thomas Christen, Head of Marketing at Hotelplan.
More individualityThe introduction of flexible pricing in the new "Ferien am Meer" beach holiday catalog is designed to meet customer needs and offer more freedom of choice. Since, according to the Elvia survey, more than one in four respondents have made a booking with Hotelplan at least once in the last three years, individualization is likely to be well received. The first step was to involve the travel trade in the product renewal, as sales success depends to a large extent on the brand and product loyalty of the travel consultant. At the same time, the end customer must be informed about the new form of beach vacation. The online booking portal is currently still in the realization phase.
Competition for customersThe task for Dachcom was to communicate not only the new form of offer but also the new freedom. To this end, the agency developed a concept that focuses on the beach holiday catalog and the core message "no compromises" with a competition. "Specifically, the catalog published at the beginning of February was equipped with a booklet on the front page. In addition to the new service and new fare system, it also explains the competition," says Röne Bertschi. This measure is framed by a wide-ranging poster display as a central advertising medium for the Hotelplan presence. For the realization of the four poster subjects, the creatives Andrea Grabher and Alan Castioni chose the ironic exaggeration to get to the heart of the headline: the envy-inducing sandcastle, the water skier who only needs a high-speed boat, or children with a giant ice cream.
The message is reinforced by means of advertising campaigns in Sunday media and quality titles. In addition, measures such as trade press advertisements and stickers, retailer mailings and window displays are used to intensify the care of travel agencies.
Hotelplan AGThe 100% subsidiary of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, Hotelplan AG was founded 70 years ago. The travel group owns companies and brands such as Easy, Esco Reisen, Escolette, First Business Travel, M-Travel, Dornbierer Reisen, the vacation rental agency Interhome and the charter company Belair as well as the Horizonte hotels and resorts and foreign companies in Holland, England, Italy and Spain. The company employs over 3800 people worldwide and generated a consolidated profit after tax of CHF 13.5 million in the 2002/2003 financial year (- 32.5 percent compared to 2001/2002). (la)
Hotelplan treats its customers on vacation as "Very Individual Passengers".
Luca Aloisi

Newspapers The region is the trump card: With the relaunch of 24 Heures, Edipresse wants to strengthen its local roots. 24 Heures, the Lausanne daily newspaper, will appear for the first time on Saturday in a new look and with four regional editions. The media house Edipresse is thus completing the integration of La Presse Riviera Chablais (Montreux) and La Presse Nord Vaudois (Yverdon), which it acquired at the beginning of 2003 with the purchase of the Corbaz Group. The two regional newspapers will continue to operate with the same editorial staff as the front pages of 24 Heures. Two further editions will serve the city and region of Lausanne and La Côte, the shore of Lake Geneva between the cantonal capital and Geneva.
24 Heures - Région La Côte may be published depends on the decision of the judges. The French media group Hersant wants to prevent its competitor Edipresse from using the geographical name "La Côte", as a Hersant title is already published under this name in Nyon.
Edipresse publishing director Pierre Buntschu is optimistic in an interview with Werbewoche: "La Côte is not a brand name, but the name of a specific region. The judges who will have to rule on this are also aware of this." However, the decision will be accepted - whatever the outcome.
Last Thursday, Hersant obtained a super-provisional injunction preventing Edipresse from using the controversial name until the Vaud cantonal court has heard the case on Tuesday (after the editorial deadline). Apart from this legal dispute, however, everything is going according to plan with the 24 Heures relaunch on Saturday.
"Global strategy" for VaudThe restructuring of the Lausanne title is far more than just a facelift. "The relaunch is based on a global strategy for our print media in Vaud," says Pierre Buntschu. After all, according to the Edipresse publishing director, over forty percent of the population of French-speaking Switzerland are potential readers of 24 Heures. The daily newspaper will remain committed to regional reporting in the future; this is to be further strengthened with the relaunch. This focus on regional identity has already been clearly implemented in the edition for Lausanne and the surrounding area. The local editorial team has left the Edipresse headquarters on Bahnhofstrasse and moved into its own premises in Lausanne's old town, directly opposite the former editorial offices of 24 Heures' predecessor La Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne.
The split editions are headed by four editors-in-chief, who are responsible for the content of the second edition. The strategy also includes supplementing the existing local edition of La Presse with the launch of the weekly free publication Presse Hebdo. However, regionalization is not limited to the newspaper medium. There is already close cooperation between the local television stations and 24 Heures. "Some of the television producers are already taking part in the editorial meetings," says Buntschu. With Edipresse's recent declaration of intent to found Vaud TV AG together with the television stations TVRL, Canal Nord Vaudois and ICI TV, the Lausanne media house has underlined its cross-media ambitions in regional reporting.
Editor-in-chief Jacques Poget will remain in charge of 24 Heures as before. One of his deputies heads the central department, which is responsible for the newspaper's first edition. This will appear identically in all four splits. The editorial teams of the split editions only have a say in the design of the front page and the local sports pages. It is hoped that the new formula will keep those subscribers who see the disappearance of "their" newspaper as a loss.
Less expensive in the overall packageThere are also technical innovations at 24 Heures. Edipresse is working on the introduction of a standardized software solution for the production of all of the publisher's Swiss titles. 24 Heures was already connected to this company-wide database and editorial system before the relaunch. In terms of personnel, the restructuring was cost-neutral and there were no redundancies. On the contrary: according to publishing director Pierre Buntschu, some additional jobs were even created in the local editorial offices.
For advertising customers, too, almost everything remains the same - albeit with extended options. For example, all four regional splits can be booked individually. The rates for the split editions of the former "La Presse" newspapers remain at the current level. Those who advertise in the complete edition pay almost a quarter less than if they previously included 24 Heures and the two Corbaz titles. The reactions are obviously correspondingly positive. "Both large and small customers are satisfied with the new situation," explains Pierre Buntschu.
The redesigned 24 Heures newspaper with new regional editions.
Nick Lüthi

If your muscles are sore on Saturday, the day before was the Idée-VfW curling tournament, so anyone who laughs out loud because it looks so easy-going on Eurosport, or who even disparages curling as an old man's sport, should hold their tongue. In addition to the physical contortions involved in passing the stones, the wiping is also very hard on the bones. During the aperitif offered by SW, organizer Heinz Egli took the opportunity to thank rink sponsor IP-Multimedia, which supported the event with a substantial sum but was unfortunately not represented in the starting field this year. As did Radiotele, which offered a table but, unlike the other sponsors APG, Getunik and Publimedia, did not enter the race with its own team.
The first three places went to the Sunday Sliders from SonntagsZeitung with skip Thomas Stadler, the Q's, a team of representatives from the quality trade press, including Werbewoche advertising manager Thomas Stuckert, and the ZürichSee-Curlers from the OMD media agency with skip Oliver Huber.
For once, however, we put the losers at the top of our photos. The Rolling Stones, a selection of the designated Idée VfW President Christian Staub, were unlucky and did not make it to the final round. Unfortunately, the Eisstock Elite Vacherin with skip Sonja Hürlimann, Euro RSCG, and the Getunik Blizzards with Idée board member Andri Hofmann did not make it to the finals either. They took it in their stride, as they had the opportunity to return the favor at the Töggeli table in the restaurant.
Conclusion: satisfied participants and no injuries, just the occasional contrite face among the "pros" when they were defeated by a team of beginners. And for once, the hangover the following day came from the sport.
Beat Fritsch and his team mates Michel Pernet (left) and Pete Kurath from Blofeld Entertainment formed the shortlist team at the Idée-VfW curling tournament, which took place last week in Baden-Dättwil. Every year, various teams from the communications industry battle it out for points on the ice. And of course there is also plenty of fun and socializing. After each match, the winners have to buy the losing team drinks. Incidentally, the shortlist team paid three times, was invited twice and ended up in 7th place in the final ranking.
The hapless Eisstock Elite Vacherin: Roli Wahrenberger, Philippe Meyer, skip Sonja Hürlimann and Pascal Urscheler (from left).
Bravely struggling: The Rolling Stones with Beat Enderlin, Martin Bösch, Claudia Schudel and Idée board member Christian Staub (from left).
Bringing up the rear: The Getunik Blizzards of Andri Hofmann, Bence Szerdahelyi, Tom Jörg and Marco Zaugg (from left) still had fun.
Attention, action! Tamara Läubli from Team Iishüpfer with a perfectly executed stone release with a lot of feeling.
Hard work: Werbewoche advertising manager Thomas Stuckert (l.) and Oli Anderegg from the Q-Team of the Swiss quality trade press.
Kilian Gasser, reinforcement for the Lake Zurich curlers from OMD, awaits the stones that are yet to come.
The Publicurlers: Jörg Suter, Claude Goudron, Marco Giaquinto, skip Peter Frank (below) and coach Othmar Keller (from left).
Cosmocurlers: Rolf Ruch, Ruth Mumenthaler, Ernst Egli, Barbara Mumenthaler and Raffaele Esposito (from left).
The SW office also sent a team: Piero Schäfer, Claudia Facchinetti, Maja Hättenschwiler and Georg Gadient (from left).
The APG brush hunters: Victor Tschugmall, Gerry Stadler, Erwin Wanner and Juan Manuel Fernandez (from left).
Warming up at the Töggeli box: Michèle Szczepanski, Markus Marchel, Urs Kaufmann and Marc Lottenbach (from left).
Tournament winners: The Sunday Sliders (SonntagsZeitung) with Diego Quintarelli, Thomas Stadler, Remo Fehr and Kurt Birrer (from left).
Christoph Beuggert, Claudia Scherrer, Daniela A. Caviglia and Helmut Rodenhausen (from left) from the Script on Ice copywriting team.
Every year: The Milestones with Kurt Berner, Yvonne Philipp, Sarah Hammami and Marc Gantenbein (from left).

Magazines The lifestyle magazine Faces will be available at newsstands for CHF 6.50 in future. The two kiosk operators Valora and Naville are adding Faces to their product ranges across the board, with the first issue appearing on March 8. The previous free distribution will be discontinued. However, individual partners such as Parfums Christian Dior, Redken, Holmes Place and Bernie's may continue to distribute a limited edition of Faces to their customers.

Harry Sulzer has got back on the saddle and is now a sole proprietor of Creative Consulting, with an "extremely short commute". The former Bonaparte founder has set up the headquarters of his new Harry Sulzer Creative Consulting just seven meters from his bed. The Napoleon of Swiss advertising, who returned from exile after a motorcycle accident, loves to introduce his new company to colleagues as "HaSu Reklamebudeli". Gag or trend? "We are facing a revolution in the agency scene today. There is also a shift in large budgets from label agencies to low-profile performance brands. I count myself among them. "Harry Sulzer doesn't just waste time in traffic jams on his way to work. Valuable hours "and therefore a lot of money" would also be saved if there weren't too many people sitting around in the Reklamebudeli at a meeting. At Harry Sulzer Creative Consulting, the boss does the cooking himself - and he is the one who spoon up the soup in direct contact with the customer.
Sulzer believes it is important that his advice comes into play before the briefing. He is a staunch advocate of psychography as an extension of market research. This involves tailoring the content of advertising messages as precisely as possible to the communication behavior of a target group. Specifically: "The worm must taste good to the fish, not the fisherman. It is not the taste of the CD that is decisive, but the interest of a larger audience."
Sulzer cites the introduction of the Coop Supercard as a successful example of such work, which he carried out with Bonaparte from the initial concept, through naming and CI, to comprehensive communications support. The ongoing success has brought him further orders for Coop. Sulzer Consulting was able to introduce the "Prix Garantie" and is already working on the next job for Coop.
Otherwise, Sulzer "criminally neglected" his network of relationships during his involuntary sabbatical. He now only looks after three customers from Bonaparte's past. His goal for this year is therefore to acquire at least one new customer.
Sulzer also looks after an ex-GDR fag: a cigarette that is aimed specifically at smart shoppers and is free of Ostalgie. This is "a hybrid consumer who avoids the classic view by driving up to the discount store in a Porsche, for example."
Sulzer has a high profile as an advertiser. "But having a profile also means having a sum of good and bad qualities," he muses. His bad ones include a lack of diplomacy. "I'm very direct, and there are structures that can't stand that."
He has digested the end of Bonaparte. "We had five pitches and prospects. And then I crashed my motorcycle into this tractor." The pitches were lost. Everything fell apart. "I no longer had the strength to tighten the reins. The consequences of the accident had to be cured."
Anyone can fall over once. But you can't stay down. Despite such bad luck with his motorcycle, Harry Sulzer got back on his bike. The amateur pilot continues to fly acrobatics. "Flying acrobatics is a nice metaphor for our business. You have to risk something and yet not. You have to test the material enormously, whether it's an airplane or market research. You have to be on safe ground to be able to take off."
Sulzer's penchant for engines is legendary, although he "would never race". He doesn't drink alcohol either. But the bon vivant likes to say that he became an advertiser because he was impressed by how quickly you can become an AD in advertising in Doris Dörrie's film "Männer".
can buy a sleek Maserati. At the time, Sulzer was studying at the ETH in order to be able to develop computer games professionally. To do the same as the movie hero, he dropped out of his computer science studies. As he studied marketing as a minor subject and was good at writing, he managed to get into advertising after his third application to Publicis.
In his very first year he won ADC cubes, after two years he was a young 25 CD at Dubach, then a freelancer and finally
Co-owner of GGK Zurich for 14 days. Because he saw that this management buyout would cause problems, he moved to Lintas in 1997 as CD and shortly afterwards as CEO, which eventually became Bonaparte together with Rolf Sperisen. "The name was the program."
Little has changed in this history to this day. Napoleon was small and was always able to assert himself against much more powerful people. And he has returned once again.
Whether flying or business: "You should take a risk, but you shouldn't," says Harry Sulzer.
Andreas Panzeri

Press The Tages-Anzeiger is no longer accepting advertisements for the "PC-Kummerbuch" by Roger Bataillard. The point of contention is the "Kummerbox" section in the TA computer section, to which the book refers; the book gives the false impression that it is a TA-owned product, explains special topics manager Ulrike Hark. The TA also published a book entitled "Kummerbox" in 2004. Bataillard, head of the TA-Computerbund from 1997 to 2000, finds the ban on advertising "embarrassing and petty", as editor-in-chief Peter Hartmeier writes in an open e-mail. Hartmeier did not wish to comment, as a legal dispute is ongoing. (sm)

Campaign The Basel section of the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) has entrusted Schneider Berthoud with the communications mandate for the Füllinsdorf Technical Center, and the Basel-based advertising agency came out on top in a competitive presentation. A communication campaign is to increase the frequency of the center and make its services better known. The TCS Center Füllinsdorf includes a car wash with an attached interior cleaning service, a filling station (also for trucks and natural gas vehicles), a test lane, a bistro and a 365-day store with fresh products. Posters, advertisements, direct marketing measures and radio spots are used.