Consumer Magazines: In the new *Beobachter* TV spots, Matter & Partner skillfully plays on viewers« fears. »Promoted, Celebrated, Fired« and similarly pithy one-liners served as a striking promotional tool for *Beobachter* until just a few days ago. Following the posters, two low-budget commercials are now airing as a new advertising campaign on TV and will soon be shown in movie theaters as well. As a representative sample, the spots tackle social issues such as divorce court and AHV—and they do so in an unconventional and provocative way, with the voice-over associating the images with ominous scenarios: »Imagine if this happened to your AHV”—and the faucet suddenly stops dripping. The call-to-action remains—albeit without the phone number displayed on screen.
As drastic as the methods are, the intention is just as clear and blatant. Here, they’re playing on vague fears and feelings of powerlessness. Adi Brugger, the new head of marketing, also explains unequivocally what prompted the new umbrella brand strategy: «In recent years, Beobachter has been managed rather than actively marketed. We want to position the brand as a whole and specifically target new segments.»
According to the newly formed publishing management team led by Roland Oetterli, *Der Beobachter* magazine—along with its exclusive additional services such as book publishing, a consulting and expertise center, and the «Help Online» knowledge database—is to be positioned and promoted as a value-oriented brand that resonates emotionally with readers. «However, the communications budget will hardly be increased; instead, the mix and the specific target audiences will be redefined,» explains Adi Brugger.
Der Beobachter presents original low-budget commercials.
Luca Aloisi

Food Swiss food company Nestlé has completed a six-month review of its media agency relationships, with Publicis subsidiary Zenith Optimedia and WPP Holding's Group M (Mindshare and Mediaedge-CIA) to be responsible for planning and buying worldwide in future. The exception is Japan, where Nestlé will continue to work with the local agency
Dentsu works together. Nestlé puts the size of the budget, which includes all brands and subsidiaries, at CHF 2 billion. According to Advertising Age, around a third of this was previously managed by Universal McCann, mainly in the USA. The IPG subsidiary was eliminated in the final round of the review. The reorganization of the media budgets has no impact on the creative budgets, Nestlé states in a press release. The Group's core agencies are McCann Erickson, Publicis, J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy, Lowe and Dentsu.

TV Press Since last week, Tele has had a new look. The superfluous has been cleared out. Switzerland is the trump card.program guides are signposts. They help readers to keep their bearings in the TV jungle. But if you want to show the way, you have to know where you stand. This was not always the case at Tele: "We wanted to offer more and more in recent years and lost our bearings somewhat," admits interim editor-in-chief Stephan Sutter. With the redesign completed last week, he therefore wants to return to clear structures, starting with the design. The font family has been radically cleared out. Only three fonts are still in use. One of these is Poynter, a discovery by Tele-Art Director Stéphane Carpentier. It was developed specifically for listings and is intended to make the program columns easier to read.
The color coding in the margins, which previously indicated the different sections, has also disappeared. It was a particular thorn in Sutter's side. In the new Tele, only the individual program days are marked with colors. Much more colorful, brighter tones are used than before.
Tele has chosen a cool light blue as the basic color, for example for the content and editorial. The logo on the front page has also been colored accordingly. But it is not to stay that way. "The red logo simply clashed with the cover design and the winter hits theme," explains Stephan Sutter. It will be red again in the next issues. "We're taking the liberty of playing with it a little."
Program slides forward
Tele also gives the content a clearer structure. The "Schweizer Medienmagazin" becomes the "Schweizer TV- und Kinomagazin". Television takes center stage. The film section has been moved to the back, so that the program now begins after around 20 pages instead of 40. The multimedia section has been largely removed. What remains is a double page with games and technology and the DVD tips, which have now been integrated into the TV and cinema sections.
Stephan Sutter does not see this restriction to the core business
as a relaunch, but as a further development. His predecessor Klaus Kriesel had already realized that Tele had ventured too far into unfamiliar areas and discontinued the Finance page. Sutter, for his part, said goodbye to the Science section even before the redesign was implemented.
Plenty of room for SF DRS
One innovation in particular stands out in the listings: the SF 1 and SF 2 programs are now the only ones to be printed two columns wide. This gives program listings significantly more space. The fifth column of the first program page is now filled by the local stations TeleZüri, TeleBärn, Telebasel and Tele M1/Tele- Tell, which were previously squeezed into a small box on page 3. 3sat also has more space available. In contrast, U1 has been relegated to the very last box in the listings.
This focus on Swiss programs is Tele's trump card, which publisher Ringier is playing against the strong German competition. It can also be found in the topics of the editorial contributions. However, Stephan Sutter does not want to get bogged down in local affairs. As with the order of the channels in the listings, the weighting of the topics is more or less based on the ratings, he explains. Big boxes such as "Wetten, dass ..." will continue to have their place at the top of Tele's listings.
Redesign rescue planDeclining circulation figures are the background to the redesign of Tele. In the Wemf interim certification in October, the magazine
again lost 4.5 percent. Since 2001, the circulation of 223739
to 191424 copies.
Rival TR7 has caught up strongly with 173720 units. The German programs have also suffered a painful decline.
TV Spielfilm, for example, has almost half as many readers in Mach Basic 2003 as Tele (313,000 compared to 711,000). Here
Tele is gaining ground by focusing on Swiss television topics.
At the same time, the repositioning is also a cost-cutting exercise. In the editorial department, 8.1 jobs were cut. The number of pages fell from 124 to 116 with the relaunch edition, but the number of pages will be increased again as soon as the advertising situation improves.
The redesign changes little for advertisers. The prices remain the same. Tele has introduced new small formats within the program listings. In addition to third and sixth pages, ninth and eighteenth pages are now also on offer. (sm)
With the redesign, Tele is returning to clear structures and giving Swiss programs more space.
Stefano Monachesi

E-papers Digital newspaper editions are only a marginal part of Swiss publishers' accounts. They are popular with readers who travel a lot. "Please wait. The application is loading." "Veuillez patienter.": This or a similar message is received by anyone who selects one of the now quite numerous e-paper editions of newspapers and magazines on the Internet. The surfer almost feels transported back to the early days of the World Wide Web, when - with the feeling of being a pioneer - he listened attentively to the hissing and crackling of the telephone line and watched, deeply impressed, as the first website was hesitantly set up. In the hope of winning back or gaining one or two new readers, but above all because of the widespread herd mentality in the industry, one publisher after another is now also offering its print product digitally.
Back to the future
According to Katja Riefler, consultant for new media and author of a comprehensive e-paper study, around 25 software companies are currently offering solutions for generating electronic newspapers. And business seems to be going well. While Riefler counted 90 digital newspaper editions across Europe in October 2003, six months later there were already 220. Around two dozen e-papers can currently be listed for Switzerland alone.
One reason for the e-paper boom is probably the fact that they hardly meet with any resistance on the shop floor. After all, publishers and editors-in-chief can finally conjure up the well-known and familiar on the screen - and without additional editorial costs. The electronic newspaper also offers publishers tangible advantages. For the first time, customers in the most remote regions of the world can now be served with the latest edition on the day of publication at negligible distribution costs.
According to Christoph Bauer, Head of Marketing at NZZ, this aspect was also the main focus when the digital newspaper was launched in March last year under the "NZZ Global" brand. Above all, subscribers living outside the German-speaking region, who pay up to CHF 1358 (!) a year for the paper delivered by airmail, were to be offered a cost-effective alternative with electronic versions of the international edition and the NZZ am Sonntag. However, the willingness of overseas customers to replace the physical NZZ with the virtual NZZ has so far been very limited. For the Swiss businessman in Shanghai or the German professor in Harvard, the delayed delivery of the reference newspaper, which is probably used as a second or third newspaper anyway, is obviously of little importance.
A beacon for paid content
According to Bauer, the "screen newspapers" are more popular with business people, frequent travelers and generally with mobile readers in Switzerland, who currently make up around two thirds of NZZ Global customers. Especially for subscribers with several domiciles, the e-paper is a welcome addition to the print edition. The access to the NZZ monthly archive associated with the digital subscription is also appreciated as an additional benefit.
Marcel Sennhauser, Head of Interactive Media at Tamedia, makes similar observations for his company's products. The e-paper offerings of Tages-Anzeiger, SonntagsZeitung and Facts are also predominantly used by domestic customers: On the one hand, in areas without early delivery, but also as an additional subscription to the printed edition, which often leaves the house early in the morning with a family member traveling to work. According to Sennhauser, e-papers are also increasingly being used as a substitute for vacation redirects. And the electronic facsimiles can even be used as virtual specimen copies.
The industry's euphoria about this innovation is also due to the fact that it appears to be the first time that customers have been persuaded to pay for journalistic internet content: Users are apparently more willing to reach for their wallets for a format they are familiar with. Many publishers are also using the e-paper launch to seriously experiment with web-based business models and billing systems for the first time (see box above).
A supplement, not a replacement
Nevertheless, e-paper is still a very niche product. Not only can the lack of broadband connections in many places make reading digital editions a pain. The limited readability of newspapers reduced to screen size and the lack of hypertext functions in most cases also make the offerings appear static compared to conventional online services.
Experts therefore recommend e-papers as a supplement and not as a replacement for traditional newspaper websites. It is doubtful whether Swiss publishers see it the same way. In contrast to the New York Times, Washington Post or USA Today, for example, leading local newspapers have started to offer less and less print content on their portals since the launch of their e-papers.
The regular newspaper websites are therefore increasingly developing into suppliers of current (agency) news independent of their print mothers. Background and long-lasting information from the paper products can hardly be found in the free area and is therefore not covered by the search engines. As a result, the major newspapers in particular run the risk of gradually losing their importance as reference media. So are quality newspapers saying goodbye to the Internet with e-paper?
With 2,500 paying subscribers, the digital NZZ is the highest-circulation e-paper among Swiss daily newspapers.
Different business modelsPublishing pricing policies in the e-paper sector are also (still) experimental in nature. Most publications grant existing print customers more or less substantial discounts on additional digital subscriptions. Subscribers to SonntagsZeitung and Le Temps can even use their electronic edition free of charge. However, while Tages-Anzeiger, Blick and SonntagsBlick pass on some of the savings in production and distribution to their customers for full e-paper subscriptions, the NZZ has, according to its head of marketing, "deliberately opted for a stringent application of the print business model" and offers e-paper and print subscriptions at the same price.
Cash, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Basler Zeitung, Corriere del Ticino and La Regione also take this approach. A curious fact about the two Ticino newspapers: e-paper subscribers in Switzerland also receive the printed newspaper, whether they want it or not. Le Temps also only makes the PDF newspaper available to subscribers of the print edition. (mhz)
Very small circulationsEven the New York Times, the paper with the largest international reach, currently sells just 0.28 percent of its print circulation, with 3172 e-paper subscriptions. The USA Today newspaper only sells 900 electronic copies or 0.05 percent of its total circulation. The situation is not much better in Germany, where e-paper circulations have been certified by the IVW since the beginning of 2003, but with a few exceptions are still in the two or low three-digit range.
Only the NZZ publishes its figures in Switzerland. 2,500 copies - 1,700 as additional subscriptions and 800 as full subscriptions - are currently sold via NZZ Global, which corresponds to an impressive 1.6 percent of the total circulation. Tamedia, on the other hand, can only be elicited that its percentage figures are
are comparable to those of American newspapers. The circulation of the E-Tages-Anzeiger is therefore likely to be somewhere between 200 and 600 copies. The e-paper edition of Cash also has a circulation of
Information from Online Managing Director André Michel "in the low three-digit range". (mhz)
Martin Hitz

Fee splitting The federal government is distributing a good CHF 5 million from reception fees to private TV stations for the current year, CHF 1 million less than in the previous year, using a new distribution formula: 80 percent will continue to be distributed according to the financial figures of the stations, while the remainder will be distributed according to the professional experience of the journalists employed. In this way, the Federal Office of Communications wants to reward the stations' efforts to ensure high program quality, as reported by SDA.

Online In the UK, online advertising expenditure increased by 76 percent in the first half of 2004. This means that the Internet has already overtaken cinema as an advertising medium for the second year and now accounts for 3.24 percent of total advertising expenditure. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, this growth is due to the increased spread of broadband access and the use of search engines.

Press The Neue Zürcher Zeitung exercises various degrees of restraint with color images. Since September 30, the NZZ has been printed entirely on new rotary presses at the printing center in Schlieren. Long gone are the days when the old printing presses on the first floor shook the headquarters at Falkenstrasse 11. The new press in the Schlieren "cathedral of technology" (NZZ quote) now actually prints the digital image and text data generated in the editorial department, with no color concept in sight.
Until now, the printers have had particular problems where Gutenberg's art is black. The picture reports in the "Zeitbilder" section at the weekend regularly flattened out under a milky veil of clouds in the black image areas. That is now a thing of the past. Recently, the editorial offices have been trying their hand at color. This is no easy task, as the NZZ brand is continuing a tradition of almost 225 years and is meticulous about consistency.
"We will probably never produce a full-color newspaper, otherwise we will no longer be distinguishable from a regional paper," says NZZ coordinator Beat Brenner categorically. So restraint is already the order of the day. However, a color concept is not yet apparent, if one takes a look at last week's editions. The number of color images used in each issue and their placement appear to be random. However, color graphics and maps are already a regular feature. In general, the pages with service and cultural topics as well as the sports section are less afraid of color.
Although, according to Beat Brenner, the change is a "difficult" matter and no explicit instructions have been given to the editorial team, which incidentally also has sovereignty over the image as well as the text, there already seems to be agreement on some points. For example, the front pages of supplements such as "Automobil", "Luftfahrt", "Zeitfragen",
"Literature" and "Art" and so on will contain color pictures. In the main section, the sports section will open in color and in the business section, color graphics will increase readability. Otherwise, Brenner says, color will be used where it is needed. But opinions differ on this. "When in doubt, we do without color," he says. And if the editors disagree with the picture editors or photographers, Brenner decides together with the respective head of department. "We gain experience and still have to develop our color philosophy."
Brenner reckons that the process will have settled into place within six months. However, the NZZ does not want to become as rigid as the Frankfurter Allgemeine with its rigid color concept.
One thing is certain: the NZZ also takes colorblind people into consideration in its headline for the Münsterhof story.
René Worni

Stock market The investor Vincent Bolloré has increased his stake in the French advertising holding company Havas to 20.19 percent.Bolloré's objectives are unclear. In the press, he has described his commitment as a long-term investment. According to Havas CEO Alain de Pouzilhac, however, the holding company is still waiting for Bolloré to clarify his intentions.

In future, BaZ wants to charge publishers for cultural tips. The Basler Zeitung (BaZ) intends to charge between 5 and 20 francs for such tips from November onwards, arguing that cultural tips are not editorial contributions but fee-based entries. The Basel cultural scene is therefore boycotting the BaZ. Negotiations are underway. But how are other newspapers dealing with the BaZ proposal? "The tabular tips for going out in our agenda are and will remain free. We provide as many tips as possible, but the editors decide on the selection and length. In this way, we offer our readers an overview of what's going on culturally in our catchment area." This is how Markus Gisler, editor-in-chief of the Aargauer Zeitung, outlines the philosophy in Rüebliland.
It sounds similar at the St. Galler Tagblatt (SGT). "There are no plans to charge for this customer loyalty tool," says publishing director Daniel Ehrat, citing long-term considerations: "Our aim is to make the SGT the information provider that people turn to as soon as they need information about our region."
In Zurich, too, there are no plans to turn cultural tips into classified advertisements. "Short entries in ZüriTipp or on the Bellevue page of the Tages-Anzeiger are free of charge, a fee is not currently under discussion," says Eta Pavlovic from Tamedia. NZZ Publishing Director Tobias Trevisan emphasizes: "At the NZZ, tips are selected according to journalistic criteria." This is exactly the same for stock market prices. "They are also free of charge and the editorial team is free to leave out barely traded stocks."
Marco Boselli, editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten, sees the free entry in the What's up agenda as a reader service. The agenda will even be expanded. This has nothing to do with the dispute in Basel. 20 Minuten Basel is not a substitute platform for the Basel cultural scene. "For our young target audience, we focus on parties and events."
Markus Knöpfli

Telephony Advico Young & Rubicam lures young people with attractive bonuses The telephone provider Sunrise shows its competitors its hamster teeth (see page 11) and communicates a bonus program for prepaid cell phone users in an attractive way: Sunrise lets customers hoard rewards. The campaign, realized by AY&R, is aimed at younger, price-sensitive people. With Sunrise Prontomax, Sunrise has developed a prepaid offer for cell phone users up to the age of 27 that is precisely tailored to the needs of young people.
of a younger, fun-oriented segment. Collecting bonus points, managing them online and redeeming them for a profit - this makes Sunrise Prontomax an attractive savings program for keen cell phone users as well as a fun experience with entertainment value.
Reduction to the essentials
Sunrise Prontomax placed special demands on the creative team: a thematic implementation had to be found that would work verbally and visually both in traditional advertising and on the web. Sunrise Prontomax customers can manage and redeem their hoarded bonus via the Internet: the hoarding theme also had to work there. "If you want to communicate added value in the telecoms market - and practically everyone wants that - you have to be as simple as you are amazing," explains Daniel Comte, CD of the "Hamster" campaign.
Hamstringing for all it's worth should show how much fun value-added communication can be if it has the courage to reduce it to the essentials.
Andreas Panzeri

Competitions With 187 entries, the Swiss Commissioned and Commercial Film Award has attracted a record number of entries. 18 TV commercials are on the shortlist for an Edi: Alpenarena (client), Spillmann/Felser/Leo/Burnett (agency), Solid Film (production);
Mühlehalde home for the blind, Ruf Lanz, Condor Communications;
Lotérie Romande, Graber Communication, les réalisateur;
Migros, Publicis, Pumpkin Film; Emmentaler, Publicis, Pumpkin;
Hospice Lighthouse, Cavegnwerbung, H273 Hallerfilm;
Ovomaltine, Advico Young & Rubicam, Condor;
Pneu Egger, Wirz Werbung, Pumpkin;
Tibits, Wirz, blood, sweat & tears;
Rest. Hiltl, Wirz, blood, sweat & tears;
Suva (office chair), Catsky & Partner, SOHO at Topic Film;
Pet Recycling, Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, Solid & Haller Film;
Swiss Life, SFLB, Chocolate Films;
Swiss Radio, SFLB, idea production Martin Uebele;
Bluewin, (racehorse) Jung von Matt/Limmat, Pumpkin;
Yes to the movie, War, Schlupp, Springer & Jacoby, Topic;
Suva (toilet), Ruf Lanz, Chocolate.

Column Journalistic quality assurance doesn't need publishing fig leaves (like ombudsman offices), but an editorial culture of debate.You've been invited to a panel on quality journalism, Mbwana? And you're wondering what you're supposed to say there? The prefix "quality" is a sure sign that you are trying to sell a somewhat stale product. "Super quality!": You will only find this slogan in junk stores. Really practical, beautiful, unquestionable goods do not need this addition. There is no such thing as a quality Rolls-Royce.
The situation with quality is similar to that with ethics, of which banker Hans J. Bär wrote: "If all the signs are not deceptive, the term ethics has fabulous prospects of a prefix career, the likes of which we have only seen in the bio-
know the label: It becomes a seal of quality for safe consumption."
In fact, a small but flourishing industry is also being set up under the banner of "quality in journalism" (as a corner store in the shadow of the ethics group, so to speak). Its partners are professors of journalism, press councils, ombudsmen, media training centers, panel organizers and associations such as www.quajou.ch.
A slightly pastoral tone is noticeable in almost all quality journalism debates. This is no coincidence, because the core business is ancient: grey-haired preachers, converted sinners, dark prophecies, occasional self-flagellation and lots of pious words. We are in the age-old business of selling indulgences. And here it is true that great sinners are generous donors. This was recently demonstrated at the Publishers' Congress, where numerous ladies and gentlemen enthusiastically applauded the penitential sermons of ex-colleagues and federal councillors. (Shortly after they had almost overturned the collective labor agreement: with the nice thought that poorly paid journalists work more creatively).
The annoying thing about Swiss journalism - the lukewarm air, the shouting, the uniformity - also has tangible reasons: A decline in advertising, a lack of money and, as a result, fear everywhere. Everyone is trying to be on the safe side, not to miss out on trends and to copy the competition, which is also copying. (Just as an example: the NZZ Sunday newspaper copy).
The pseudo-cure is called opportunism: more provincialism (in the rabbit breeder reportage you, rabbit breeder, read your name), more service servility (your newspaper optimizes your marriage and tax return) and last but not least the boutique idea: heads, heads, heads write columns, columns, columns. In the hope that wit, warmth and intelligence come from photographed skulls like mustard from a tube.
And there are quality assurance programs, further training and ombudsmen for the people and their conscience. But can quality be bought like a face cream? Of course you can! But it will have just as little effect. Quality is like style and personality: it is not an accessory, but the result of a process, an attitude.
But this is precisely where the problem lies: what editorial team has a goal, a point of view, a culture of debate? The quality of a newspaper is the product of journalistic alertness, curiosity and conviction - in other words, something that cannot be trained, but only lived. And a question of tradition (which, for example, keeps an almost leaderless NZZ on course) and publishing will (why else would Blick be the most growing, most intelligent medium in the country, despite all the nonsense?)
In short: even a fish wrapped in newspaper stinks from the head down. Anyone who debates about quality on podiums and in editorials instead of in their editorial offices about ideas, goals and attitudes is making up corpses.
PS: Of course, none of this means that you shouldn't appear on the podium for a fee, Mbwana!
> Constantin Seibt is editor for politics and economics at the weekly newspaper (WOZ).