Tourism Travel provider Helvetic Tours has entrusted Fisch Meier Direkt with the overall budget for brand management and short-term offer communication. "We have picked up where Helvetic Tours left off and presented an idea that will generate a lot of conversation," explains Gilbert Fisch, Managing Director of the Adliswil-based dialog agency, in a press release. The campaign should be on air in time for the launch of the new beach holiday catalog at the beginning of January.

Carlo Imboden, publishing consultant and developer of the new measuring device, on quota thinking and competitive newspapersMr. Imboden, you are from Bern. However, the market launch of your Readerscan took place in Germany. No, I used to work for the Berner Zeitung and currently have a few Swiss inquiries. On the other side of the Rhine, however, the decline in readership and loss of reach of the print media is even more drastic than here in Switzerland and the pressure to act is correspondingly greater. In addition, the Holtzbrinck Group, to which Mainpost belongs, was an ideal partner because it is also extremely progressive in other areas.
What's new about Readerscan is not the technology, but its application. How did you come up with the idea of collecting usage rates for newspapers and magazines?
As a publishing consultant, two things always irritated me: firstly, that everyone thought they knew their readers. And secondly, the basic assumption that this reader knows what he or she is doing.
As a board member of the market research institute IHA-GfK, I was also involved in tele- and radiocontrol. The press also needs similarly precise and reliable instruments in order to be able to hold its own against the electronic media: I was already thinking this at the end of the 1990s. Readerscan emerged from this vision in three stages.
Competitiveness in honor, but doesn't your tool also promote
editorial quota thinking?
Only insofar as "quota" is understood as the measurability of a change. Up to now, publishers have only more or less elegantly poked around in the fog when it came to the use of their products in terms of content. Readerscan finally clears this fog and enables editorial teams to make optimum use of their limited resources.
The pen-armed advisor will soon replace the paper maker and the editor-in-chief.
(laughs) Don't worry! Experienced journalists are needed to interpret and implement the data. However, they must be able and willing to engage in continuous self-criticism. We simply show the editorial team the target. Each individual journalist has to shoot for themselves.
Interview: Oliver Classen

Sponsoring The real estate program "Wohntraum-TV" has gained Erdgas Zürich (EZ) as a sponsor.EZ will be running an information series on the subject of energy next year, which aims to highlight the advantages of natural gas as a heating energy. According to EZ Marketing Manager Sabina Cadalbert, "Wohntraum-TV" is the right platform to inform existing and future customers about natural gas in a relaxed environment.

Advertising market After four positive months, the Publicitas index fell again in October by 0.8 points to 94.2 points, with political advertisements in particular declining after the parliamentary elections had caused a high last year. Telecom companies and automobile importers, which had invested heavily in advertising in October 2003, are also holding back this year. The other advertising categories are showing significantly better results. The index for job advertisements continued its upward trend by 1.5 points to 121.8 points.

Award For the first time, the Swiss Press Association presented the Q Award, a prize that recognizes "outstanding" trade and specialist publications. all 96 magazines previously recognized by the association as Q titles were eligible to take part. The magazine Schweizer Bauer received the top award because, according to the jury, it is an "impressive example of consistent reader and advertising marketing". Despite the shrinking number of farmers, it has been able to significantly increase its circulation. In the quality category, the title La Forêt - Wald und Holz won because it skillfully appealed to a heterogeneous target group. In terms of market presence, Immobilien-Business magazine came out on top, while HK Gebäudetechnik magazine came out on top in the innovation category. Finally, Werbewoche received the Q-Award for design for its "modern and reader-friendly layout" by Kircher Burkhardt, Berlin.
(mk)

Advertising bans In the canton of Basel-Stadt, advertising for alcohol and tobacco is now also prohibited on private property if it can be seen by the public The Grand Council has extended the previous ban, which only applied to public property. Advertising for wine and beer was exempted - against the opposition of the left.

Research The Brand Media Monitor, a market research tool for marketing and media planners that examines the 150 most important Swiss brands, will be presented to the public on December 7. You can register for the presentation with breakfast at www.brandmediamonitor.ch.

On January 1, 2005, the Metropool will replace the Swisspool from the Metropool.newspaper combos On January 1, 2005, the Metropool will replace the Swisspool from the Metropool - which means that St. Galler Tagblatt, Neue Luzerner Zeitung (Neue LZ), Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures will lose their direct connection to a national combined newspaper. The titles are looking for an alternative and seem to be making progress. Jürg Weber, Managing Director of Neue LZ, expects the new offer to be ready by spring. "Unlike the Metropool, which is a classic pool, we will offer a completely new tool that takes into account the market's demands for more flexibility. "Weber speaks of the "modular principle". In concrete terms, this probably means a discount for booking several Metropool-independent titles at the same time; the more titles, the higher the discount. He does not want to say who is participating in the new model, only that it involves "powerful publishing houses", even across the Röstigraben. According to Weber, the new offer is expressly not intended as a supplement, but as an alternative to the Metropool.
(mk)

Awards Alfred Koblinger - Managing Partner of the direct marketing agency Palla Koblinger Proximity in Vienna - heads the jury of the Lions Direct.Awards Alfred Koblinger - Managing Partner of the direct marketing agency Palla Koblinger Proximity in Vienna - heads the jury of the Lions Direct at the international advertising festival in Cannes. According to Horizont.at, this is the first time that Austrian advertising has had a jury president for the Cannes Lions.

Fundraising campaigns for the Zurich Lighthouse bring Buddhists, Christians and Muslims to the same collection pot, and the Lighthouse needs money every year to avoid having to close. But the institution also has something to share: The Lighthouse, as the only hospice for the terminally ill in the canton, is open to all terminally ill people to live out their last days in dignity and to prepare themselves individually for death and say goodbye. The hospice has been communicating this message for years with a teddy bear, which awakens memories of security in all of us, just as we were able to experience it as children in an environment that still cared for us. For Markus Cavegn, this bear has since become a "trademark", just like the Knorrli or the Michelin man.Cavegnwerbung has thus continued the well-established key visual of the teddy bear and shot a commercial that proclaims a message that is as banal as it is true: "No matter what you believe, as a human being you will die one day." Donations are being collected for the Lighthouse so that dying there can be as humane as possible for everyone.
This appeal is implemented in the commercial with a funny idea despite the seriousness of the topic. A teddy bear styled as Buddha looks trustingly into the picture. The comment: "It doesn't matter whether you believe in reincarnation ..." Then the Buddha becomes a priest and the text says: "Or because you believe in Christian charity ..." The third bear appears as a Muslim: "Or because you believe in Allah's mercy..." Finally, a naked bear symbolizes the atheist: "Or if you believe in nothing at all. Help, because you too must die one day." At this point, the bear falls over dead in the film and the Lighthouse logo with the donation account is shown.
With this joint appearance by all the world's major religions, the Lighthouse institution was "linked to a current social issue", according to Cavegn. At a time when cultural differences are becoming ever greater, it is appropriate to point out that we are all human beings with the same desires and needs.
The Goodwill commercial was directed by Mike Eschmann, who made a name for himself with "Achtung, fertig, Charlie", produced by Hallerfilm and accompanied by a multi-layered soundtrack with chorals, Indian sounds and Muslim prayers created by Jingle Jungle.
With this spot, the Lighthouse is raising money to make dying worthy for people of all religions.
Initiative to saveThe Zurich hospice Lighthouse was founded in 1992. Since the number of AIDS cases has declined and treatment options have improved, the organization has been plagued by financial worries. Since the end of 2002, the house on Carmenstrasse in Zurich has therefore also been open to dying cancer patients. Although this opening has increased the number of patients, it has exacerbated the financial situation, as the canton and federal government only support these services for institutions that are obliged to do so under a service mandate.
The Zurich Health Directorate is of the opinion that pain-relieving care for the seriously ill is guaranteed by existing acute medical institutions. The Lighthouse Foundation Board, on the other hand, argues that the hospice saves costs for the entire system because it offers significantly cheaper care days than public institutions thanks to donations and voluntary work.
An initiative committee, supported by well-known institutions, has now launched the cantonal popular initiative "Save the Zurich Lighthouse". It remains to be seen when a vote will be held. The financial situation is therefore becoming increasingly precarious.
The President of the Lighthouse Foundation Board is Hans-Peter Portmann. Public relations work is coordinated by Doris Fiala-Goldinger.
Andreas Panzeri

Sportswear According to the advertising promise, the new Nike Shox should give even averagely athletic people wings.in the latest commercial from Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam, a "Mr. Average" chases after a hot dog cart. Just before it crashes into the sea, the man manages to add ketchup to the hot dog he received before the run. The commercial will be shown in Swiss cinemas and on television until the end of the year. It will be flanked by a "web-only continuation" spot on www.nikeshox.com, where site visitors can put their own face on that of the English speedster.

Awards The residents of Mühlehalde have once again been shortlisted: Ruf Lanz's fundraising campaign for the home for the blind has been nominated for the Swiss Marketing Trophy 2005, and its competitors in the non-profit organizations category are Arosa Tourism with the Arosa Card, the residential marketing of the municipality of Degersheim and Pro Senectute Basel-Stadt with the Belchenstrasse retirement home.