Oliver Classen on the ghostly tug-of-war over the Zürichsee-ZeitungThe kingmaker in the looming Zurich regional newspaper war between Tamedia and NZZ (see page 17) is not based in Stäfa but in Lausanne, is called Hanspeter Rohner and currently has "nothing new to say" to media journalists. No wonder, after all, the PubliGroupe regent announced his verdict back in July, promising NZZ the P-share in Zürichsee-Zeitung (ZSZ) at the time, and the speculation that has since been fueled by some colleagues about ZSZ publisher Thedi Gut flirting with the certainly tempting Tamedia offers is therefore without foundation. Threatening gestures or right of first refusal: after his exclusive agreement with Falkenstrasse, Rohner will not - no, must not - give a hand to the Werdsträssler's expansion plans. This would thwart his own strategy.
Furthermore, P is by no means obliged to sell back its share package. In fact, Rohner has so far not even rung in the 30-day period in which Gut could exercise its right of first refusal. Tamedia's last remaining opportunity to gain access to ZSZ is also purely theoretical: the fact that the publishing family, which is keen to maintain its independence in order to avoid the paper battle for the
left bank of the lake transfers its own shares to Kall & Co.
in all probability.
Accordingly, professional attention should be focused on the local arms race. For example, the rumors that the Tagi is setting up its base camp in Wädenswil instead of Horgen. This location would be entirely plausible, as it would not only avoid a direct showdown with the ZSZ, which is based in the district capital, but also open up an area in which the Tagi is less strong than in Horgen. In addition, there is simply more going on politically and culturally in the parliamentary municipality of Wädenswil. And that has never done any local editorial office any harm - especially not one that is just being formed.
> Oliver Classen, Editor

is the new Creative Director (CD) and Deputy Managing Director of the Zurich advertising agency Scotti. Schaub worked for cR Seiler DDB in Basel for ten years until 2001, from 1999 as CD.
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Matthias Felder has joined the team at the Lucerne-based advertising agency Kobalt. The qualified communications manager will act as consultant and head of strategy/concept with immediate effect. Felder was previously Managing Director of the advertising agency Suxess. Nicole Koller is also new at Kobalt. The budding marketing communications planner has been strengthening and supporting the consultancy team and management since September.
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At the beginning of January 2005, Martin Denecke (photo) takes over responsibility as Agency Head and Creative Director (CD) at Scholz & Friends Zurich. At the same time, he joins the agency's Board of Directors and takes over from Diana Strebel, who wants to pursue a new career direction. Denecke was CEO of Lowe GGK until the end of 2000. He then worked as a creative consultant. Nicolas Edelmann joined Scholz & Friends at the beginning of November. The client consultant also previously worked at Lowe.
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Thorsten Stecher is leaving Weltwoche at the end of December after more than five years. He is moving to the culture department of Swiss television, where he will be responsible for the program "Kulturplatz" from 10 January.
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The online marketer Publicitas Webservices is strengthening its sales and product management. Marc Lottenbach (photo) joins the team from SevenOne Media. He will be responsible for customer acquisition and support as well as all areas of online marketing. Antonio Baglivo is taking over Product Management from Philipp Scheidegger, who is moving to the role of Product & Business Development Manager.

Design What does design achieve in times of sensory overload? What is a logo still worth? Andreas Panzeri spoke to design expert Michael Erlhoff.WW Michelangelo was a great artist. But he also designed weapons. We recently presented a beer can for Kronenbourg by design artist Philippe Starck. Is that like a literary figure making an advertising claim? Michael Erlhoff The theme is design in everyday life. On the one hand, we need object worlds that move us and provoke us a little. But the intelligence in design must also go other ways. We need to think about it: How can I design processes? How can I develop product reductions? This is an internal contradiction within design. Traditionally, designers have always been asked to make something beautiful. But we have actually long since reached the stage of overproduction. We should have known by now: If there are a thousand things, then I turn away, because it is so tedious to choose something from the thousand again.
The word design is everywhere. Soon, accountants will probably also want to call themselves financial designers. Isn't the term design becoming overused?
We have to assume that in the English-speaking world, all design and conceptualization has always been called design. Research design, for example, in the natural sciences. That is a completely normal term. We are a bit beaten by the fact that we formulate what used to be form design very imprecisely. I'm not that depressed about it. It's a symptom of the fact that - however misunderstood - the design debate exists. Twenty years ago it wasn't there, nobody knew the word design. Let's be glad that it has become known in the meantime. Now we have to take it as a platform and have a reasonable understanding of it.
Raymond Loewy designed such concrete symbols as the shell or the double red dot for Lucky Strike. Today, everything seems more diffuse. Are the big shapes or symbols used up or no longer in demand?
That is correct. It's been a long time since such striking symbols have come onto the market. Today, a brand is no longer characterized by just one symbol. It is now possible for brands to suddenly become two brands, for example in the case of a fashion label. This continues to happen. We have a much more secure relationship with the brand, which can no longer be represented by a symbol. Everything has become much more complex.
The web has had a lot of influence on graphic design recently. Where do you see upcoming trends, for example images and shapes from Japan?
The Expo logo at the world exhibition in Hanover made it clear: How do I get flexible structures into a form? We have learned such flexible structures from the web. I am no longer so fixated on having a single clear logo. We work much more with derivations, where you still have the feeling that it's the same thing. As far as future influences from Japan are concerned, it's hard to predict. I am shocked by the level of graphic design in Japanese magazines, for example. At most, I would say that something of the world of these manga and other strange figurative resolutions might stick. But these processes of exchange are very slow.
Starck's blasphemous appearanceDesigner Philippe Starck has been honored with the Lucky Strike Designer Award 2004 in Berlin.
Every year since 1991, the Raymond Loewy Foundation International has presented the Lucky Strike Designer Award, which honors international designers for their life's work. Donna
Karan, Karl Lagerfeld, cameraman Michael Ballhaus, graphic designer Kurt Weidemann and the Phoenix Product Design agency are among the previous winners.
Last Thursday, Philippe Starck joined the illustrious circle in Berlin. The Frenchman is known as the "designer of souvenirs" with everyday objects such as citrus juicers, kettles, knives, televisions and chairs.
As expected, Starck proved to be an enfant terrible in Berlin. He canceled scheduled interviews at short notice. In his acceptance speech, he also used witty words to blaspheme against design and appearance. For him, the greatest designer was the creator of the Kalashnikov. He called the prize donors hypocritical when they spread a disease with cigarettes and then want to cleanse themselves with a foundation. Nevertheless, Starck accepted the prize money of 50,000 euros. "Sorry, it's not against your father," he apologized to Raymond Loewy's daughter as he scurried off early.
Loewy, who gave his name to the foundation, recognized design as a decisive marketing factor and, in addition to the double-sided red dot for Lucky Strike (1941), also designed the Shell shell, the BP logo and cars such as Studebaker.
In addition to the big stars, the Loewy Foundation also honors young designers in over ten countries. In Switzerland, the CHF 30,000 prize will be awarded on November 24 at the Zurich School of Design. 95 graduates from design schools have applied for the award.
Design icon for the kitchen: Starck's citrus juicer.
Prizewinner and provocateur: Philippe Starck.
> Michael Erlhoff is President of the Raymond Loewy Foundation, jury member of the Lucky Strike Design Award and Professor of Design Theory in Cologne.

Awards Ruf Lanz has won over the jury of the London International Advertising Awards with "Stevie Wonder", the TV commercial for the Mühlehalde home for the blind, in the public authorities/social services category. "It's great that Stevie Wonder allowed us to do this passionate cover version," jokes Creative Director Markus Ruf. "I think it's about time the Mühlehalde residents knitted him socks for it." The other Swiss finalists came away empty-handed.

Publishers Everyone is now talking to everyone again. Nevertheless, it looks like a showdown between Tages-Anzeiger and Zürichsee-Zeitung: the Zurich press deal seemed as good as done and dusted. But ever since Theodor Gut, Chairman of the Board of Zürichsee Medien AG in Stäfa, announced via HandelsZeitung that he was still in talks with various interested parties, speculation about possible alternative scenarios to the announced sale to NZZ has been gaining momentum again.from Gut's perspective, Tamedia's expansion into the home territory of Zürichsee-Zeitung (ZSZ) is "damage to the corridor", triggered by the pact between PubliGroupe and NZZ. It can be assumed that this build-up of pressure plus the NZZ's declarations of intent, which Stäfa apparently regarded as insufficient, that it wanted to support the independence of the regional newspapers and take a leading position at national level, triggered a turnaround. Gut, who said at the end of September that he wanted to move closer to the NZZ and not lean on the Tages-Anzeiger under any circumstances, now qualifies this statement: "We have never denied contacts with Tamedia. Theoretically, anything is still possible." Neither NZZ nor Tamedia wanted to comment on what this new openness of the bride means for the two pressing potential grooms.
Kafkaesque dodgesDecisive for the seemingly Kafkaesque wedding preparations in the countryside is Gut's pre-emptive right to the PubliGroupe stake of 45 percent in Zürichsee Presse AG. With this, the Lausanne-based company helped ZSZ out of a financial crisis at the end of the nineties and to obtain liquid funds. Today, the share package, half of which the advertising group intends to transfer to the NZZ subsidiary FPH, is primarily of strategic importance. Gut did not summon the Tagi spirits himself. But he could appease them by exercising his right of first refusal and selling the stake on to Werdstrasse. The condition: In return, Tamedia would have to refrain from the Horgen offensive and instead launch it in the Zurich city area, in Winterthur or in the Limmat Valley.
However, a return seems unlikely, especially since an editorial cooperation between the Tages-Anzeiger and the ZSZ, which is intent on independence, is hardly conceivable. In addition, Tamedia wants to work together with Südostschweiz publisher Hanspeter Lebrument in the advertising business. This signal has probably been understood in Stäfa (see WW 39/04). And finally, it is questionable whether PubliGroupe would even return its shares in Zürichsee Presse AG to Gut under such circumstances.
Explosive for the NordostkombiIf the ZSZ were to cooperate with the Tages-Anzeiger, the loose alliance between the four regional newspapers and the other Nordostkombi members Schaffhauser Nachrichten and Thurgauer Zeitung would probably also fall apart. The NZZ, which wants strong and independent regional newspapers as a bulwark against the expansive Tamedia, would also be irritated. "What one of us does has consequences for all of us," says Theodor Gut, aware of the situation.
And this is more unstable than ever. On the one hand, a 36 percent share package in Oberländer is still up for sale, and on the other, Landbote is negotiating with NZZ and Tamedia as well as Stäfa in its search for new printing options. Oberländer, Unterländer and ZSZ print together at the Oetwil printing center, a joint venture whose technological upgrade cost the parties involved 30 million Swiss francs. They would also like to see the fourth Landzeitung, the Landbote, as a partner. "After all, it is the biggest investment in 12 years and will further strengthen the rural newspapers," explains ZSZ Managing Director Erland Herkenrath. At the same time, he emphasizes that all parties involved are committed to the contracts in the long term and want to fulfill them.
Without an agreement between ZSZ and Tages-Anzeiger, there would be a nerve-wracking showdown on the left bank of the lake between two editorial teams fighting for prime time in a catchment area that is too small. Tamedia would undoubtedly be better equipped financially for this. Those familiar with the situation on the ground consider the Tagi's chances to be good, as the loss of three or four thousand subscribers on the left bank of the lake would already hit the ZSZ hard.
In the wake of the upheavals in the Zurich press landscape, everyone is talking to everyone else. Hanspeter Lebrument is also among the interested parties. However, the Südostschweiz publisher is not interested in acquiring a stake: "We would never buy the 22.5 percent stake in Zürichsee Presse AG, nor would we buy the Oberländer's share package," he emphasizes. However, he does not rule out cooperation. Especially not if this would ease the competitive situation on the Obersee with the ZSZ-owned March-Höfe-Zeitung, the Fridolin and the Einsiedler Anzeiger. Lebrument sees no acute need for action. "I'll wait and see and take my chance when it presents itself."
Chronicle of an announced transferPubliGroupe and NZZ announced their intention to cooperate this summer. From January, the PubliGroupe subsidiary Publicitas will exclusively manage the NZZ advertising pages and, in return, will contribute half of the shares in Ackeret AG (Zürcher Unterländer) and half in Zürichsee Presse AG (Zürichsee-Zeitung) to the NZZ subsidiary Freie Presse Holding (FPH).
Tamedia went on the counter-offensive at the end of September with the announcement of its regional growth strategy for the Tages-Anzeiger, after various unsuccessful attempts in the past to tie the Zurich regional newspapers (Zürichsee-Zeitung, Unterländer, Oberländer, Landbote) closer to the Tagi. A first regional editorial office for the Horgen district on the left bank of the lake is to produce a daily tabloid supplement from March. The editorial location decision between Wädenswil and Horgen has reportedly not yet been made. Other regions, including the city of Zurich, are to follow. (rw)
Who rules on Lake Zurich? Südostschweiz is also involved in the battle for market power.
René Worni

Radio The private radio stations want a CPM that is as uniform as possible. This will result in higher rates for the time being.
For the first time, private radio stations have succeeded in publishing the rates of the pools and their modules together and, above all, well before the end of the calendar year. The relatively early and joint publication of the pool tariffs is an innovation that was not least envisaged in the context of the Radiopower.ch association (see WW 30/04) presented in September and has now become possible.
But that's not all: at the same time, the radios tried to harmonize the thousand-contact price (CPM) of the pools. The basic CPM should be 50 centimes (target group 15+), according to the specification. This has not (yet) been achieved everywhere, which is why the industry's wish has primarily had a price-driving effect, for example on the One Pool, which was previously comparatively cheap at 45 centimes.
This also significantly increases the CPM for the main target group of 15/49, and it continues to diverge significantly depending on the age structure of the pools (see table). Nevertheless, the harmonization can also be felt in this target group, at least at the level of the entire pools. For example, the price gap between the highest CPT per second (Radio Romandie) and the cheapest (Pool 2000) is now 10 centimes; in 2004, the largest price difference was still 13 centimes. At module level, on the other hand, there are considerable outliers, particularly where rural radio stations are involved: for example, in the Central or South-Eastern Switzerland modules of the One Pool.
The price changes made by the pools range between -16.9 and +20.3 percent. Roughly speaking, they reflect the losses or gains in reach, although strictly speaking, due to the increase in the Radiocontrol panel at the beginning of 2004, no direct changes were made this time.
reach or CPM comparisons should not be made.
Price reductions - both in absolute terms and in CPM - were only made by Pool 2000. One reason for this is that Canal 3 will no longer be involved in the new year (see box on page 15), which is why the pool reach is decreasing. However, strategic considerations probably also play a role: Pool 2000 - combined with the new Zurich module of the One Pool - can now be offered even better as an alternative to the City Pool.
The Radio Romandie Plus pool is the only pool to remain at this year's CPM. In terms of reach, however, it was able to increase slightly despite the departure of Canal 3.
The Swiss Radio Pool can also increase its reach thanks to new member Canal 3, although its price increase of 20.3% is not entirely comprehensible, as the gain in reach is only around 11%. In addition, its previous CPM (64 centimes) was one of the lowest, but will now be the second highest at 77 centimes.
Finally, a look at another price innovation thanks to Radiopower.ch: From July 4 to August 14, 2005, all radios and pools will offer a uniform summer discount of 20 percent for the first time. Until now, this has varied.
The radio pools are changingBecause Espace Media Groupe is hoping to take over the Canal 3 license, the Biel station is leaving Pool 2000 at the end of 2004. The reason: Pool 2000 also includes BE1, the direct counterpart of the Espace Media station ExtraBern. However, as internal information is often exchanged at radio pool meetings, ExtraBern would in future receive sensitive information about BE1 via Canal 3. This is to be avoided. From 2005, Canal 3 will now join the Swiss Radio Pool, but will also be dropped from Radio Romandie Plus (which was previously called Top Romandie Plus).
The One Pool is also evolving: as of 2005, it will have a new, smaller Zurich module (Top and Energy Zurich only), and the existing Zurich module (Top, Energy, Sunshine, Argovia) will become the Zurich Plus variant. This is in order to take better account of the different customer needs. In contrast, the previous Eastern Switzerland module (Top, Ri) will be discontinued. (mk)
Special case GrischaThe reach data for Radio Grischa reported by Radiocontrol (RC) is still blocked. This raises the question of how a CPM can be calculated for the One Pool. "For the price calculations at Grischa, we took the average reach for the whole of 2003 as a basis, namely Monday to Friday, target group 15+. The figures for the other One Pool members, on the other hand, correspond to the RC data for the first half of 2004," says Roland Baumgartner, Managing Director of One Pool.
The RC planning tool, on the other hand, is based everywhere on the data actually measured in the first half of 2004. Technically, this is not possible otherwise. "We are releasing the data with reservations under the motto 'better inconsistent data than no data'; the evaluations can still change and the current basis of the survey should not be regarded as definitive," writes Grischa Managing Director Claudia Glauser.
The blocking of Grischa data has been in force since spring 2004. At that time, additional clocks were added to the RC panel. This resulted in a loss of range of up to 30 percent at Grischa, which has not yet been conclusively clarified. (mk)
Radios fly the flag: Standardized thousand-contact prices are intended to strengthen generic marketing.
Markus Knöpfli

Accessories As part of a competitive presentation, Transformer has won the communication budget from Leder Locher. The Zurich-based advertising agency came out on top against two competitors and the leather goods retail chain's new image will be on display from mid-November. Advertisements in fashion magazines and magazines as well as measures at the point of sale are planned.

Media policy The Council of States' Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF) is proposing a change to fee splitting in the new radio and TV law: the National Council's version provides for a "maximum of 4 percent" of reception fees to be distributed to private radio and TV stations. The KVF, on the other hand, wants a range of 2 to 5 percent each. According to the communiqué, this would give more flexibility in the allocation. Licensed broadcasters are to receive a further one per cent of fees (around CHF 10 million per year) as a contribution to investment costs in digital broadcasting networks and other new broadcasting technologies.

Newspapers Tamedia is relying on tabloids for the planned split of the Tages-Anzeiger (TA) for the left bank of Lake Zurich: the regional section will appear in small format, as Group spokesperson Franziska Hügli confirmed to the Aargauer Zeitung. Daniel Bach will take over as head of the editorial team, according to the TA's internal "Kleine Hauspost".

Agencies LangGysi Knoll presents its clients with art To mark the company's 10th anniversary, the heads of the Bern-based advertising agency LangGysi Knoll came up with a thank-you gift with the potential to add value. Once again this year, they invited all employees, clients, media and production staff, press and friends to the agency party, which as usual was all about art. This year, however, they did not stay in Bern, but called the large crowd of guests to neighboring Burgdorf - more precisely to the Franz Gertsch Museum. There they were treated to an interesting guided tour of the current exhibition "Ostwind" - contemporary artists from the Far East - and the permanent collection of the famous Swiss photorealist, followed by an exquisite aperitif and a witty speech by co-owner Silvano Spezia. In it, he traced the arc from the founding of the agency to the present day and mused with relish about the resilient company name, which even the departure of two founding fathers did nothing to change. The clients are spared the unspeakable initials-bandworms that are typical of the advertising scene, quipped Spezia, referring to the other tradition: the LGK art series. Every year, the agency gives away a work by a Swiss artist as a thank-you gift. This year, this custom was crowned with a Gertsch serigraph, which was presented thanks to the artist and Stefan Wimmer, Managing Director of Galerie im Park. After the unveiling, the party retired to the romantic Kulturraum Alpina, where they were able to indulge in gastronomic art until the early hours of the morning.
Eye to eye: LGK guests in the Franz Gertsch exhibition.
(la)

Column The share campaign against the Zürcher Oberländer is not a provincial farce, but a sign of the times: In 1913, a certain Wolfgang Riepl, later editor-in-chief of Nuremberg's largest newspaper for many years, wrote a doctoral thesis on the history of the news business from antiquity to his time. As a rule, dissertations are long forgotten after 91 years. Not so Riepl's. Even today we still quote "Riepl's law", which essentially states that new media never replace old media, although its validity has recently been called into question: The business model, indeed the genre of the daily newspaper, seemed to be threatened by the Internet as much as by free newspapers. The all-clear can still not be given. The Swedish mother of all commuter newspapers has now spread like an oil slick: Metro currently prints around 5 million newspapers a day in 38 editions, 100 cities and 16 countries from New York to Hong Kong, from Prague to Milan. The company describes itself as the fourth-largest newspaper group in the world, a claim that is open to debate. There is no doubt, however, that the Swedes are on their way to becoming the McDonald's of print media.
be
In Switzerland, we know that this development does not necessarily threaten the established newspapers. According to the Wemf study, the distribution newspaper 20 Minuten has 78,000 readers. But even Blick - with 736,000 readers - has slightly more readers despite this competition and despite the price increase. The free paper has therefore evidently attracted many thousands of young people who had previously abstained from reading newspapers. Even if this is ultimately a victory story, it should not be proclaimed too loudly: Because although people obviously want to read Blick and other paid-for newspapers, many of them no longer want to pay for them.
There is also optimistic news from the Internet front. The loss of print ads in favor of online ads slowed down considerably in 2004. Newspaper advertising losses are currently hovering around minus 65 percent in the job market and minus 45 percent in the real estate and automotive market. At the same time, the economy is improving. Bruce Chizen, CEO of software company Adobe, recently even spoke of the "end of the recession in the advertising industry". Chizen may be a little too quick to extrapolate the US trend to the rest of the world. But in general, he is right. So can we rely on old Riepl after all?
My answer to this is a firm yes and no. The Zürcher Oberländer, one of the remaining regional newspapers, shows just how tough and unpredictable business is today. The unlisted AG, where only registered shares with restricted transferability have voting rights, is facing a campaign in which an agency is buying out its shareholders. This agency already owns 35 percent of the shares. Older shareholders in particular have given in to the speculator offering a multiple of the share price. And neither the NZZ Group nor Tamedia is behind this. Someone is acting on his own account. Someone who is investing heavily because he is obviously convinced that a takeover of the (quite solidly operating) Oberländer is imminent and that a hefty profit can be made on this opportunity. Crass media capitalism in the Swiss provinces: this shows how the situation has changed.
Conclusion: Good newspaper companies will be able to survive, but only by constantly fighting for new ideas and new business models. For decades, publishers in many European countries were able to specialize in golf; the money still flowed. Those days are irrevocably over.
> Peter Glotz is Professor of Communication and Media Management at the University of St. Gallen.

Food Betty Bossi has been making headlines ever since the nation's chef started selling ready meals in Coop stores. She taught Switzerland how to cook. With an unaided awareness level of 80 percent, the cooking phantom Betty Bossi is as familiar to us as William Tell. No wonder, after all, she knows how to do much better things with apples than he does. And now this: A young man sits on a park bench and thinks important things: "Where do we come from, where are we going? Does finite infinity exist?" Then we see a simple sandwich and a bottle of orange juice, and a voice from off-screen in this TV commercial for "Idea Betty Bossi" promises, "Finally, better food. It's nothing new that established chefs delight us with ready-made products. Even the legendary culinary artist Paul Bocuse lent his name to canned soups. If Betty Bossi has been selling "fresh convenience" in the Coop for two years now, we should be even less surprised. After all, she was born in 1956 not as a cook but as a marketing tool.
At the time, the Unilever Group was looking for new ways to advertise its fats. A certain Emmi Creola, then a copywriter at the Lintas agency, developed the "Betty Bossi Post. She probably came up with the first name "Betty" because there was already a similar, extremely successful household guide called Betty Crocker in the USA. And she chose the last name "Bossi" simply because it sounds good in all national languages.
Although a creature of art with a clear mission, Betty Bossi achieved phenomenal credibility in the decades that followed. People didn't even hold it against her when she recommended that the hallowed Rösti be refined with Planta margarine instead of butter. After all, it had fewer calories and was cheaper.
Freshconvenience products are not cheap. Ever since the major retailer Coop adapted the Betty Bossi brand for its new line of convenience products and pushed it into the market with an unprecedented push and pull strategy, Betty Bossi has been in the sights of the media and consumer advocates.
Criticisms include high prices and a lack of transparency. "Betty Bossi's dubious added value," was the headline in the Tages-Anzeiger. Coop describes the "Betty Bossi idea" less as an own brand than as a competence brand. And to distinguish itself from the negatively connoted term "finished product," it simply uses the English-German neologism "fresh convenience.
Critics are now asking what special expertise is needed to fill dill herbs into little bags with the Betty Bossi logo, and what a ready-made tomato soup, which Coop in turn has produced externally at the Liechtenstein company Hilcona, has to do with freshness. But it is not the critics who decide, but the market. With a rapid expansion of its product range, Coop increased sales of the "Betty Bossi idea" label by nearly 100 million francs to 360 million francs in 2003. According to studies by the IHA-GfK Institute, Coop has thus become the market leader in the fresh convenience segment within a short period of time. Only the coming years will show whether the Coop label can continue to grow in a similar way after the accelerated launch phase and hold its own as market leader against Migros' competitor brand Anna's Best, which has grown more sustainably.
Betty Bossi Verlag is convinced of the success of its new partner Coop. New products are developed in close cooperation, which guarantees optimum quality. And with the book "Die blitzschnelle Küche" they wanted to show how easy it is to refine ready-made meals from "Idee Betty Bossi". For example, by using a little tomato paste and adding fresh mint leaves when reheating ratatouille. This commitment obviously pays off for the Betty Bossi publishing house. After all, they receive license fees, which insiders estimate at between one and two percent of sales.
Until 2001, Betty Bossi was a classic publishing house and was wholly owned by the Ringier Group. In addition to the Betty Bossi newspaper (circulation 922,000), cookbooks and cooking courses, the company also operated a lucrative store selling cooking accessories. The company generated total sales of around 65 million Swiss francs.
In the fall of 2001, Coop took a half share in the company. At the same time, the cooking and quiz show "al dente" was launched on television, which effectively presented both the traditional products of the Betty Bossi publishing house (recipe books, accessories) and Coop's classic food products. These activities were still very much in the Betty Bossi tradition. The quantum leap followed in 2002 with the convenience offensive on Coop's shelves.
Completely new synergiesThe Betty Bossi story is utterly unique in Swiss brand history. The very rise of the real-life cooking advisor in the service of the Unilever Group to become the nation's cook was a minor miracle. This first chapter took place between 1956 and 1995, when Ringier and, somewhat later, Coop entered the scene and now share ownership of the brand.
The explosive aspect here is that precisely because the two groups operate in completely different areas (which nevertheless have a complex relationship with each other), completely new types of synergies are opening up.
Critics speak outNo wonder consumer advocates are watching this partial
The media group is keeping a wary eye on the joint venture between a media group and a major distributor and is warning against the emergence of a food monopoly "à la big brother is feeding you" that is difficult to understand. There has already been criticism that the Ringier press, above all Blick, has kept a very low profile in the price discussion surrounding the "Betty Bossi idea" label.
Until 2001, Betty Bossi operated a classic publishing marketing business. The focus was on direct marketing through mailings. Following the alliance with Coop, the brand is now suddenly at the center of classic campaigns with TV commercials and ads.
"In the past, Betty Bossi was very cautious in how it presented itself. Now, thanks to the activities of Coop, we are present to such an extent that we have to deal differently with this new public," says Ruth Bannwart, who is responsible for communications at Betty Bossi Verlag. What is important, Bannwart explains the strategy, is that Betty Bossi will in future stand as the competent brand for a wide variety of eating needs. This is still the upscale everyday cuisine, which is prepared on the home stove, and it is now also the area of fresh convenience products. The common denominator of these two thrusts can be described by a single term: Indulgence. Ruth Bannwart doesn't believe that Betty Bossi will lose out on its own brand if it stands for convenience food and traditional cooking in equal measure. The understandable reason: "Eating behavior is changing all the time. Studies show that during the week, demand for convenience foods is increasing, while at the weekends, people like to cook elaborate meals as before."
So from Monday to Friday at noon, Betty Bossi provides us with time-saving ready-made products such as sandwiches or Thai soup, which can be microwaved right away in the packaging cup. On Friday evening, we read the Betty Bossi newspaper and spend the weekend on a high culinary note with chestnut and fennel salad or venison leg in red wine sauce. Ruth Bannwart can certainly imagine it that way. After all, Betty's expertise in cooking and baking is to be communicated much more strongly than before.
New old BettyBy 2006 at the latest, when she celebrates her 50th birthday, we are to get to know the cooking Betty in a new way. And because the nation's cook is not, after all, flesh and blood in real life, she can easily redefine herself again and again according to her whims. To our parents, she once recommended such nutritious dishes as veal shank sofie or pâté babushka. And what does she advise today's twens? Maybe red mullet fillet in herb and sprout crêpe.
Cooked year after year1956, the Astra/Unilever Group gave advertising agency Lintas the
commissioned the first "Betty Bossi Post. It was a single newspaper sheet and was written by copywriter Emmi Creola-Maag along the lines of American household guides. The aim: to encourage housewives to cook with Astra and Sais brand oils and margarine.
In 1966, eight issues were already published annually, and subscriptions were also available. In 1973, the first Betty Bossi cookbook went on sale in collaboration with home economics teachers. In 1977, the Betty Bossi AG publishing house was established as an independent company.
This reduced dependence on the parent company Unilever and its products.
In 1995, Betty Bossi was taken over by the Ringier Group, and in 2001 Coop acquired half of the company's shares. In the same year, Betty Bossi was given its own cooking and quiz show, "al dente," on Swiss television.
With the launch of the finished products label "Idee Betty Bossi" at Coop, sales multiplied from around 65 million Swiss francs (Betty Bossi publishing house) to well over 300 million Swiss francs (Betty Bossi publishing house and Idee Betty Bossi at Coop). (thv)
Provides half of Switzerland with ideas for the home kitchen: the Betty Bossi newspaper with a circulation of 922,000 copies.
"I'll be like a dash when you come back ...": An Italian dreams of hisJulietta in faraway Italy over a Betty Bossi pizza in the Coop TV commercial.
Classics: Betty Bossi baking and cooking books already collect three generations of family cooks.
Ads for "Betty Bossi idea": casual, yet competent amateur chefs invite imitation.
Thomas Vaterlaus