Agencies Even after the takeover by WPP, Grey Global Group will remain an independent network under its current name.Ed Meyer (77), who has been with Grey since the 1950s, will remain Chairman and CEO of the Group until at least the end of 2006. The British holding company is aiming for improved profitability. WPP's operating margin in 2003 was 12.3 percent, while Grey's was only 5.8 percent. By taking over Grey, WPP is catching up with its competitor Omnicom, but with revenues of around 8 billion dollars, the British company is still 600 million behind the number one in the communications industry.

Private TV On the occasion of Screen-up 2004, Werbewoche asked the heads of German private TV stations about the importance of ancillary business and the impact of new technologies on the business model.
1. ancillary business is becoming increasingly important for broadcasters. How high is the share at your broadcaster today? How will the share develop in the future? 2 What does future digitization mean for broadcasters?
3. do digital hard disk recorders with time-shift function and ad blockers pose a threat to broadcasters?
4 What will the television business model look like in ten years' time?
Josef Andorfer, Managing Director of RTL 2The share is already over seven percent today. Our goal is to increase this share to 20 percent in the medium term. But the market is constantly changing. Three years ago, income from CD sales was very important, today it is income from merchandising and mobile value-added services. We want to expand this area in the future.
Mobile value-added services will be the growth market for television. Fortunately, we also have the mainstay of children's programming, where there is a great deal of merchandising potential. In programming, we will pay more attention to ensuring that additional income is possible.
The cake will be divided among more and more providers. That's why we need to broaden our offering and provide more digital services. In-house productions that we own the rights to and can therefore sell on two or three times are particularly important.
I don't think the danger is as great as originally assumed. Experience in the USA has shown that both broadcasters and advertisers are adapting to this.
For example, advertising is produced in such a way that it is also perceived in fast-forward mode. Advertising is also increasingly being integrated into programs. Split screens are one possibility. However, there is also a growing need for viewers to watch a particular program at the same time as thousands of other viewers.
You have to constantly face up to all challenges, whether they are of a technical nature or relate to the variety of products on offer, only then can you be successful. That's the case in any business.
Anke Schäferkordt, Managing Director of VoxThe share at Vox is still below ten percent. This is primarily due to the fact that we do not have any music formats. Ancillary revenues are considerably higher when a station has strong music programs and can therefore enter the music business.
At Vox you will find the entire range of ancillary business, from classic merchandising to competitions, teletext and our Internet offering, which is enjoying ever-increasing popularity.
The proportion of ancillary business will also continue to increase for us. However, I do not believe that it will be possible for a station like Vox with its current positioning to compensate for strong fluctuations in the advertising market with ancillary business alone. Although ancillary income will be an important pillar in the future, the advertising market will remain the most important source of revenue for us.
The first important aspect is the expansion of channels. I personally don't believe that there will be 300 channels, but we can expect a significant increase. There will not be many additional full program providers - who is going to finance them! - but there will certainly be many new special-interest channels that can only achieve very low market shares due to their target group-specific approach.
In the course of this further fragmentation of the market, it is particularly important for a broadcaster,
to be a strong brand in order not to get lost in the flood of offers. We are on the right track with Vox.
We are following this development closely and there are many answers to it. We have been hearing for years that the development will be so rapid that advertising-financed channels will have major problems in three or four years' time. I personally don't believe that.
Distribution-specific forecasts by technicians are always too optimistic. Those who have been dealing with this for a long time will remember the forecasts that were made about video recorders back then. They said that soon nobody would be watching television at actual broadcasting time.
The reality is different. Many viewers remember their programs and watch them at the time they are broadcast. That will remain the case. Nevertheless, we take this development very seriously. We are therefore calling for further deregulation of the advertising market throughout Europe. Many things are not allowed today. New forms of advertising will certainly be one of the answers to the challenges of technology, especially time-shift functions.
It will look similar to today. The classic 30-second commercial will no longer have the share it has today, because there will be more innovative forms of advertising. Nevertheless, I believe that many free TV channels will be around 80 percent ad-financed.
Ingrid M. Haas, Secretary General, RTL
In 2003, it was around 15 percent. That is already quite good, but we want to increase this share further. RTL Group's French family member M6 is the pioneer in this area. The aim is to market RTL content on all platforms: On teletext, mobile, online, DVD and video. Not forgetting shopping. Value-added telephone services are working well, as are the SMS chats.
The diversification business is a growth driver, although traditional TV advertising will remain the number one source of revenue.
We support the digitization of all three distribution channels. DVB-T was launched in Berlin at the beginning of 2002 and is making good progress in Germany. In cable, much depends on the outcome of the ongoing cartel proceedings at the beginning of October. Digitization will certainly bring viewers many new channels, which will at the same time drastically increase the need for viewer orientation. Strong channel brands will be the winners here. We are well positioned and will take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization.
We have various studies from the USA and other markets. The results vary and hardly allow us to draw direct conclusions for the German TV market. We are therefore monitoring developments very closely, but do not expect any major changes in viewer behavior in the short term. And the medium-term effect also remains to be seen, as there are cult and must-see programs. I watch GZSZ at a certain time because, as a 15-year-old girl, I phone my girlfriend afterwards to talk to her about the latest show. I also don't switch on "Who wants to be a millionaire" fifteen minutes later. The counter-strategy is relevant television. Television that people want to watch at a certain time. So you need
Live and event programs.
But that alone is not enough. Something also needs to happen when it comes to regulation. The current restrictions on individual commercials should be lifted as far as possible. Politicians should have more faith in the common sense of television producers and in the maturity of viewers, because in our highly competitive market, no broadcaster is going to interrupt its program every five minutes with advertising. There will certainly be new forms of television advertising in the future. We can only speculate about exactly what they will be. But one thing is certain, it has to be intelligent and funny advertising.
In my opinion, a ten-year forecast is not serious, as only the next five years can be reasonably predicted. There will always be free TV financed by advertising. However, digitalization will mean that many
niche channels will be added. Strong channel brands and television families in particular will continue to be successful.
Dejan Jocic, Managing Director ProSiebenThe share is currently around seven percent in relation to the Group as a whole. We will grow in this area. To this end, we have created a diversification area within the Group that encompasses all non-TV revenues. We are seeing a strong upturn in online, televoting and call-in. Thanks to our in-house produced formats, we have intensive convergent integration with all non-TV media. In the medium term, we want to increase the share of ancillary income to 15 percent.
The additional hundreds of digital channels that are coming our way will certainly fragment the market further. I compare it to a large video store. Most customers are initially unsettled by the wide range on offer. Where do they turn? First they go to the shelf with "new releases" or "highlights". ProSieben, Sat1 and RTL are in this corner.
The major broadcasters have the task of guiding viewers through the entire television landscape by setting innovations and trends and doing so with as many in-house productions as possible. If you look at the exploitation chain - whether it is pay-per-view, pay TV or DVD - it is important to have an original program, i.e. a program that has not been exploited anywhere else before.
In other words, in-house productions in the areas of fiction, comedy or shows. That is one of our strategic goals.
Of course there will be, but you mustn't forget one thing: If you've been watching Premiere or Teleclub for two hours, you always get the feeling that you're missing something.
This primarily has to do with the topicality of the program, and viewers have long since become accustomed to commercial breaks. That's why I have little fear of these technologies.
A healthy mix between traditional advertising revenues and a smart integration of interactive revenues such as IP-based video revenues from Internet and mobile, pay-per-view and revenues from
Micropayment through direct to consumer business.
Roger Schawinski, Managing Director Sat 1We want to significantly increase the share of non-commercial revenues. This is the declared goal of the entire AG.
The competition is growing and so is the challenge. Sat 1 plays in the premier league of German television. We are relevant and modern. I don't see any threat if we do our job well.
No. The past has shown two things: firstly, not every device is successful on the market, and secondly, despite all the recording options, people prefer to watch television "live", so to speak.
In ten years' time, it will still be based primarily on traditional advertising, but the share of other areas will be 20 to 30 percent.
Peter Kölbel, Project Manager U-1 GroupI can't quantify this because we don't have an analysis for Switzerland. In our group, for example, the proportion at the Kosava station in Belgrade is 50 percent.
In Germany, it is still much lower, but with a strong upward trend. Both today and in the future, such income is much more important for a small broadcaster than for the large broadcasters.
Firstly, production costs will fall dramatically. This is the only way to make 300 channels a reality. The focus on specific target groups is becoming increasingly narrow. In the USA, for example, there is no channel for fishermen, but there is one for fly fishermen and one for deep-sea fishermen. With the new production techniques, you can work with small teams.
Television will become more intimate and reality formats will gain in importance because they are cheaper and quicker to produce. With simple technology, we will return to formats as we did at the beginning of television. For example, live soaps produced on a daily basis.
The demand for image content will increase in the future. It is therefore important to be a player that has content and can produce it at a reasonable price.
The trend in advertising is towards product integration. In the USA, efforts are now being made to integrate the advertising message into the soaps. This way, viewers cannot escape the advertising.
It will be more complex for the advertising industry; it will no longer be possible to simply book spots, but ideas will have to be developed together with the content producer.
The large broadcasters will lose market share of perhaps seven percent to many small broadcasters. However, this will not put them under as much pressure. The opportunities lie with the small broadcasters.
Andreas Bartl, Managing Director Kabel 1The share is currently around five percent and is expected to grow to over ten percent in the medium term.
More choice means more competition, but also more opportunities for a broadcaster like Kabel 1, for example with a digital Kabel 1 bouquet.
Not an essential threat - only a small percentage of viewers will use it.
Advertising-financed free TV will still be at the center, although strong free TV brands will have diversified their offering to such an extent that they generate over 30 percent of their revenues outside of traditional advertising.
Claude Schmit, Managing Director of Super RTLWe already generate around 20 percent of our revenue from "television-related ancillary businesses" such as merchandising, licensing or paid content offerings on the Internet, and the share of profit is even significantly higher.
I think we are well positioned in this area and can expand it even further. Our colleagues at M6 in France, who generate more than half of their sales outside of the traditional TV business, are a role model.
The future will be digital or not at all. And we are also facing up to this new technical challenge, for example in our commitment to DVB-T.
As a children's channel, we occupy a special position: children like to watch advertising and don't switch it off. That's why I'm relaxed about this development.
What's more, the stronger the brand, the lower the risk of being shut down. We are very popular with children, and our children's brand TOGGO was one of the three finalists in this year's Markenaward 2004 alongside BMW and Germanwings.
I believe in television. It is possible that TV and the Internet will continue to converge and new forms of advertising will enable new revenues. But ten years ago, many predicted that interactivity would change the television landscape. That has not happened. I don't think we will be living in a fundamentally different TV world in ten years' time.
Interviews: Pierre C. Meier

Publishers Edipresse grew organically by 1.8 % in the first half of the year - mainly thanks to higher individual sales and subscriptions (+6.7 %), which offset the decline in advertising revenue (-3.2 %). As the Spanish subsidiaries are now fully consolidated, Edipresse's total turnover rose by CHF 8.8 % to CHF 413.5 million.

Oliver Classen on Ringier's embarrassing discrimination against free newspapersThe fact that you should only believe statistics that you have falsified yourself is now a truism of the publishing business. The arbitrary definition of market segments, in which one's own flagship happens to occupy the top position, has also been part of the war trade in newspaper marketing since before yesterday.Bernhard Weissberg's latest claim in the in-house Sonntagsblatt that Blick, despite 20 Minuten, is still not only "the strongest" newspaper in Switzerland, but also the one with the widest reach, is a bombshell. Here the noble paid-for newspapers, there the lowly free newspapers: With his tragicomic attempt to reanimate the two-tier society in the press (which has long since been overtaken by reality), Ringier's newspaper boss is reopening the very rift that the Swiss Press Association is currently trying to fill (WW 31/04). And in doing so is damaging the entire industry.
Let's remember: It's only been a year since the then newly appointed association president degraded 20 Minuten to a "pure fad" in Blick (!). In the meantime, it has fortunately dawned on Hanspeter Lebrument and his board that incorporating the former arch-enemy is far more beneficial to the species than demonizing it.
Which is why the association should quickly bring Blick, apparently blinded by tears of grief, to its senses. This is also because Ringier accuses the entire competition and thus ultimately also Wemf of "disinformation". The question remains as to who the conspiracy theorists from Dufourstrasse still trust, if not even the neutral coverage meter and its press typology. Apparently only their own base marketing instincts. The noble tabloid savages are thus doing a disservice to the preservation of the species.
Let's see whether Lebrument shows courage at the Publishers' Congress and speaks a clear, clarifying word on this matter - if not publicly, then at least with Michael Ringier.
> Oliver Classen, Editor

Radio Espace Media Groupe continues to expand. The Espace Media Groupe is ending the struggle for survival of Biel's Canal 3 radio station. The previous sponsor, a foundation, is dissolving and transferring the license, assets and contracts to Radio Canal 3 AG, which was founded by the EM Groupe. Whether representatives of the foundation will sit on the board of the new company is still open, said Bruno Wyss, President of the Foundation Board. Polo Stäheli, CEO of EM Groupe, did not rule out the possibility that Radio Canal 3 AG could later become part of Berner Zeitung AG (BZ). Radio ExtraBern and TeleBärn are also subsidiaries of BZ. The latter is 49 percent owned by Zurich-based Tamedia. Canal 3's programs will remain independent and bilingual. EM Groupe intends to seek synergies with its other electronic media primarily in the administrative and commercial areas. For example, the advertising sales company Conradio will also be responsible for Canal 3, said Stäheli. However, he could not yet say whether there would be any changes to the membership of Pool 2000. EM Groupe does not want to forego the share of the fee-splitting that Canal 3 has received up to now, but it does want to forego money from the city of Biel and the canton of Berne. Discussions are already underway with the Federal Office of Communications, but the takeover does not have to be reported to the Competition Commission in accordance with the new Cartel Act, says Polo Stäheli.
(mk)

Business press After a long downturn, some publishers are finally catching a whiff of morning air again The circulation trend in the business press shows the same picture across the board: The titles reached their circulation peaks in the years 1997 to 2002, and today they are all worse off than they were in 1996, with one exception: the French-speaking Swiss magazine Bilan was the only title to remain remarkably stable - at a good 19,000 copies in each case - and today it is pretty much in the middle of its maximum (1996) and minimum (1999). It is difficult or impossible to compare readership figures, but overall they confirm the circulation trend. "Since the Internet bubble burst, the business press has been on the decline, and there is currently a market shakeout and a cut-throat competition," says Filippo Leutenegger, CEO of Jean Frey AG. His monthly magazine has lost the most readers of all business titles with -12.2 percent and was also the biggest loser in terms of advertising volume from January to July 2004 with -19.3 percent.
Don't wait for an upswing
Nevertheless, the balance sheet remains the Swiss business title with the widest reach, and Leutenegger is doing everything he can to get his flagship back on track. However, he has no illusions: "The relaunch in spring 2003 didn't achieve much," he states. Nor does he want to rely on an economic upturn. "You have to ensure an improvement yourself," says the CEO, who is therefore examining "a few things" with regard to the balance sheet. He does not want to say anything more specific at the moment. However, nothing is sacrosanct, not even the monthly publication frequency, he adds.
The situation is different at the Handelszeitung publishing house: publisher Ralph Büchi is brimming with confidence, even though his HandelsZeitung (HZ) is also reporting a loss of readers. "However, it is not significant and is already historical," he says. Current data, on the other hand, shows that HZ, as well as Stocks and PME Magazine, have managed to reverse the trend. For example, HZ was able to increase single copy sales (EV) by 9 percent over the first half of 2004, while subscription sales remained stable. Stocks even managed to increase its newsstand sales by 45 percent and also gained in subscriptions. "According to this interim balance sheet, the title has again sold over 20,000 copies," says Büchi happily. At least the circulation and single copy sales of PME Magazine are stable. After the relaunch the week before last, the marketing machinery, which had been throttled back in recent months, has been ramped up again.
Even in terms of advertising revenue, Büchi sees more than just a silver lining on the horizon. Although the total advertising volume in the first seven months of this year was still down for his titles, they are doing comparatively well. In terms of commercial advertising, HZ is the only non-daily newspaper to report growth of 3 percent. "In the current cut-throat competition, we are the market share winner," says Büchi happily. The relaunch of the HZ last September was "perfectly timed" in view of the upswing.
Quality before quantity
Unlike his colleagues, Gerhart Isler, publisher of the
Finanz und Wirtschaft (FuW), does not expect a cut-throat competition. "We have to learn to think longer-term and in cycles," he said. Whether Cash, HZ, FuW or Bilanz - they all have their niches and are doing quite well, he believes. Isler has been working in the industry for 27 years and has experienced similar ups and downs more than once, the last time in 1987.
In any case, in terms of circulation or readership figures, FuW is back to where it was in 1996, before the Internet bubble, says Isler calmly. He regards the current 135,000 FuW readers as the basic potential of his paper, i.e. those people who cannot do without the "dry, boring and complicated specialist journal" even when the economy is bad. The new readership figures have not caused him any panic because FuW has always sold itself in the advertising market not through circulation or readership figures, but through the quality of the target group and its low wastage.
Plucked pages: Business publications have lost circulation and readership in recent years.
Trust remains highThe reputation of business leaders may have suffered as a result of events in recent years, but trust in business journalists has not. At least that is what the publishing managers of relevant titles believe. However, they all identify a psychological factor. "The economy is no longer the fashionable topic it was for a while," says Gerhart Isler, for example. "As long as Swiss athletes perform well, many people are interested in them. But if they can no longer keep up with the world's best, interest wanes. It's similar with interest in the economy," adds Ralph Büchi.
A survey of Stocks readers showed that trust remains high. They were asked whether they would trust the investment recommendations. The result: "77 percent have already implemented tips from Stocks several times for personal investment transactions," says Büchi. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli

Column Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is all about the sausage, i.e. satisfied, loyal customers. Two examples and a conclusion: let's talk about customer loyalty. Don't worry, I don't want to talk about data mining and other "achievements" of IT-supported marketing. I just want to tell you two stories, the first of which begins at Bellevue. This is where Zurich's most famous sausage stand is located: the Vordere Sternen. Its sausages have achieved national fame. Anyone who doesn't stop off at Vorderer Sternen at least once a quarter for lunch or before going to the opera house is not considered chic in Zurich's high society.
That's why I recently visited this most unfriendly of unfriendly sausage stands again. And I was not disappointed: after I had paid for the six-franc bratwurst with a twenty note, the rude person behind the counter gave me the change in coins. When I asked if he could give me back a ten note, he explained without even glancing at his till: "I haven't got any more."
I asked him to ask his colleague. He actually came over, held out his wallet filled with tenners and said: "No, the two five-franc notes are too heavy for me." Whereupon I had no choice but to return my sausage and leave hungry.
But that didn't matter at all. Because firstly, I want to lose six kilos anyway, ever since my partner told me in her own diplomatic way that "you've never had chubby cheeks like that". Secondly, there are Globus, Sprüngli and Migros Gourmessa just a few steps away from the Vorderer Sternen. These are also great places to eat and are served in a very friendly manner. And thirdly, I was a customer at the Vorderer Sternen for forty years. So it was high time to try something new.
But I'm actually a very loyal customer - if I'm treated not only as such, but also as a person. Just like in the second episode, which is set in Sils-Maria.
What does the Waldhaus luxury hostel have in common with the above bratwurst stand? Clearly, the outstanding location. The view from the rock on which the hotel stands over the plain and Lake Sils makes the heart of every visitor to the Engadin beat faster.
The fact that people are happy to pay for this has a lot to do with director Urs Kienberger and his team. Over the past few years, I have been Kienberger's guest two or three times, who always welcomes you personally and regularly enquires about your well-being later on.
You may object that this is normal for a five-star hotel. Unfortunately, it is not. What's more, Kienberger doesn't leave it at that.
We were recently sitting in the dining room with a relative from the United States. It was around ten o'clock in the evening when my mother called to say that my father was having an unexpected operation the next morning. Of course, we packed up immediately and drove back to Horgen.
Three days later, I received a small envelope from Sils. It was handwritten and the lines inside were also handwritten. They were from Urs Kienberger, who had enquired about my father and wished him a speedy recovery. I was deeply touched. Don't worry, I can tell the difference between something that is done out of marketing considerations and something that is done out of sincere sympathy. The letter in question clearly belongs in the latter category.
Agreed: At first glance, the two episodes don't seem earth-shattering. Just everyday Swiss service life. Nevertheless, they are instructive: they show that even today, customer loyalty is not a question of data mining and CRM software, but of decency and empathy.
> Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency Contract Media.

Thomas Trüb The founder and first editor-in-chief of Cash on recipes to lead the title out of the current crisis.WW Mr. Trüb, Cash's readership figures have reached a historic low on its 15th anniversary of all times. Wouldn't it have been more obvious to let the occasion pass quietly? Thomas Trüb Now more than ever is our motto. But it's not as if we're only experiencing unpleasant things at the moment. Despite all the times of crisis, we have launched two very successful elements in our newspaper in the last 24 months: The "Enterprise" bundle, which is aimed at SMEs, has
a very good response. And Cash Value, our monthly wealth magazine, will make a decent positive contribution to earnings next year. We will continue on this path.
Can you name the new features that will be included in the anniversary edition on October 21?
This is still at the highest level of secrecy at the moment. Just this much: business journalism cannot and should not be reinvented from scratch. The challenge is rather how we can attract new readers again. We have been working hard on this this year.
Cash reached its peak in 1997 with 461,000 readers, since then the audience has shrunk by over 35 percent. When will the bottom be reached?
Two years ago, we already thought it couldn't go any lower. But it seems that at the time, our wish was father to our estimates. Today, on the other hand, we have hard facts that indicate that the bottom has indeed been reached and that we will be able to report rising figures again over the next three years. We
This is particularly evident in the renewal of subscriptions. We will again be able to report a positive development in terms of circulation certification.
You yourself came up with the concept 15 years ago that has become one of the most successful Swiss launches of all time. Now Cash has been a loser for years. Has the half-life of new launches generally become shorter?
This applies to magazines, where new launches are booming, particularly in the short-lived lifestyle sector. However, the shorter half-life certainly does not apply to the business sector. The economy is and remains the driving force of society. After all, it is the economy that brings in the payday, not politics or culture. That is why the economy will always remain a dominant theme. Incidentally, cash has not been a loser for years. It is and remains the Swiss business publication with the highest circulation, and we intend to build on this position.
Apparently, however, business journalism also needs to get closer to the actual needs of readers. For example, with even more service.
We are already highly service-oriented today. But we will do even more in this direction in the future.
What active contribution can Cash make against the widespread weariness of economic topics?
This weariness comes primarily from areas that we cannot influence: lack of growth, lack of reforms, scandals about exorbitant salaries - no matter how hard we write about them, we cannot dispel the associated depressive mood. Rather, our opportunity lies in tapping into new subject areas. That's what we're counting on. Cash will occupy additional topics. That is our recipe for a positive future.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle

TV The cable network operator Cablecom is apparently planning another national TV channel under the project name Canal Suisse, which has nothing to do with the expansion of the Infokanal (reported by Werbewoche), reports the SonntagsZeitung. The model is the US parliamentary channel C-SPAN, launched by the cable television industry, which reports on political events around the clock. In addition, the "best productions of the regional stations" are to be broadcast. The first half of 2005 has been set as the deadline for implementation.

Jewelry/watch retailer The Lucerne-based jewelry and watch company Bucherer is parting ways with the Zurich-based advertising agency Lesch + Frei after a good ten years, and Bucherer is still preparing the briefing for a pitch among three agencies. According to Head of Marketing Paul Herzog, the separation is due to a realignment and the fact that "Lesch + Frei now know us better than we know ourselves".

Publishers The daily newspaper Tribune de Genève has entrusted its overall budget to the advertising agency Grey.publishers The daily newspaper Tribune de Genève has entrusted its overall budget to the advertising agency Grey. Grey prevailed in a pitch against four competitors. It will implement a package of measures that includes everything from classic advertising to direct marketing and events.

Patrick Lienert is back. As CD and Managing Partner of LangGysiKnoll, he is to open an office in Zurich. As a passionate chess player, finding the best solution for the task at hand is his thrill. Now Patrick Lienert has also found the ideal chess move for his real life.The industry could only puzzle when the CD of DDB Zurich left the agency in Zollikerberg. "Leaving was an emotional decision," says Lienert today and immediately adds: "My desire for advertising is absolutely unbroken, on the contrary. But now I want to be able to bring in even more of an entrepreneurial element."
The creative, who originally studied economics for a few semesters, has now found his "ideal job" with his old Bernese colleagues at LangGysiKnoll (LGK). Lienert will become CD in Bern and is to open his own agency in Zurich as Managing Partner of LangGysiKnoll.
"I always try to understand and approach a task as a whole," explains the strategist, who, "unusually for a creative", is also a qualified advertising manager.
His partners in Bern were positive about the idea of the Zurich office right from the start. "That's not a given at a time when you still have to calculate and stay lean."
In Zurich, Lienert not only wants to acquire new customers and support them directly on site. As some employees at the Bern headquarters commute from Zurich, suitable meetings will also be held at the new branch in future. Zurich is therefore to become its own functioning small agency with a clutch function for Bern, without a large infrastructure and central services, but with a strong focus on creation.
For Patrick Lienert, the analytical component is an important platform for creative work in order to be creative at all. "With analytics, you clear the field and focus, trying to get to the heart of things," he explains.
Lienert found his first opportunity in advertising at an agency in Bern as an advertising canvasser for the members' newspaper of an aviation club. Later, as a copywriter, he made the leap to Springer & Jacoby in Hamburg. "I was almost bursting with pride". He returned to a CD job at Jäggi in Bern, then moved to Publicis in Zurich as a copywriter and finally to DDB as a CD. In four years there, "unusually for this agency", he won various prizes and designed prestigious campaigns for Sat 1 and McDonald's, for example.
Hobby botanist Lienert, who knows (almost) all of Switzerland's wild plants, likes to devote himself to his roof garden in Witikon. A child now also lives under this roof. One more reason why Lienert wanted to organize his future and, by joining LangGysiKnoll, has found "a well-rounded situation in which everything works out".
Andreas Panzeri