Body care The new shampoo "Never ending shine" gives hair lasting shine, according to manufacturer En Vogue. The campaign should therefore be no less splendid, said Euro RSCG, and promptly tried it out on what is currently probably the most lackluster politician. The result is as striking as the advertising subject: George W. Bush with a halo. That he will outshine the long shadows of 9/11 with his lighthouse hairstyle at the Republican Party convention is beyond question. "Other 'colleagues' with image problems, whom the shampoo helps to shine in unexpected ways, are to follow," promises Euro-CD Jürg Aemmer.

TV The Swiss TV advertising market is expected to grow to almost CHF 600 million by 2006, with the share of the total advertising pie rising from 10.4% (2003) to 12.3%, according to the experts at Delphinarium. Under this name, the media consultancy Publicom regularly publishes surveys among a panel of experts from the media, advertising, communications science and corporate communications. Special forms of advertising such as sponsorship, narrow casting, split-screen advertising and product placement are said to be gaining in importance. More detailed results can be found at www.delphinarium.ch.

Pharma/Informatics The hospital division of the pharmaceutical company Abbott has commissioned Virus Ideenlabor to design and implement new communication measures for the drug Sevorane, an inhalation anesthetic. The Biel-based advertising agency won the new client Upsolut in a competitive presentation. The consulting company for IT and communication systems based in Bollingen has entrusted Virus with all communication measures. The focus is on making the Upsolut brand more widely known and strengthening it, as well as supporting measures for customer acquisition.

Daily newspapers For the agency cR DDB, the relaunch of BaZ is not just a relaunch, but a birth. The labor pains have begun. "If only it were already September 4," reads a poster showing the belly of a heavily pregnant woman. The sigh in the form of a letter, which the expectant mother is obviously letting out, probably refers to the due date. But why is she sighing so publicly on posters, advertisements and in radio commercials? And why only in WG 31? She is not alone. Two other subjects show pregnant bellies whose owners are thinking about the 4th of September. While in a fourth picture, a male (beer) belly is given no chance on September 4th. The 4th of September seems to be an important date in north-western Switzerland.
The campaign draws attention to the new BaZ. "The relaunch is like a birth," says publishing director Daniel Sommer - "the concept has been changed, the paper has been redesigned, the editorial team has been reorganized and new editorial guidelines have been drawn up. This is no mere facelift." And because BaZ has something to celebrate, the Basel agency cR DDB has developed a multi-part campaign that consistently pursues the image of pregnancy and birth.
The resolution will now be published on September 4. "Enough waiting - the new BaZ is here", is written above the picture of a newborn. On the same day, the new BaZ, which is published in a large print run of 31,000,000 copies instead of the normal 125,000, will be placed in all letterboxes of WG 31 and distributed free of charge at all K kiosks in Switzerland. The paper will then be distributed free of charge from September 6 to 9 at Basel SBB, Liestal, Laufen, Sissach and Rheinfelden railroad stations and at Basel Badischer Bahnhof.
Successful films repurposed
Also on September 6, all non-subscribers will receive a mailing with order cards for a BaZ trial or annual subscription. Here, too, the image of the birth is used: the cards each show a baby's hand on a pink or light blue background. Depending on the subscription chosen, a wristband can be placed around the little hand on the corresponding card - similar to the name wristbands in hospitals.
In parallel to this marketing kick-off, BaZ is also launching a campaign with an obvious "Jö" effect: even the advertisements contain the message that BaZ wants to celebrate not only itself, but all September births in north-western Switzerland. "We also ask hospitals, midwives and parent-child centers to let us know about parents who are having a baby in September," says Sommer, himself the father of a son. If the parents agree, BaZ has the newborn photographed and then publishes the picture together with 31 other baby pictures as a two-page giant birth advertisement in BaZ. "There are around 300 births a month at WG 31," Sommer knows. At best, this will result in around ten double-page congratulatory announcements.
Interesting briefing "September 4 is a special moment for BaZ," says Daniel Sommer. Because with the relaunch, the paper wants to mingle with the population in a completely new way. But to attract new
To gain new readers, it needs to break through its old image. "According to the reader surveys, BaZ came across as a bit preachy. The emotional attachment to it is also relatively small. Many only have it because there is no alternative," says Sommer. Some have also turned away from it. During the campaign briefing, they therefore asked themselves "how we can make the media-rich region curious and surprise them in a pleasant way". They also want to appeal more to women and young people. "The target audience should also be broader in terms of education, as the proportion of well-educated readers in relation to the population has tended to be too high to date," says Sommer. (mk)
The date of birth is certain to be September 4: the (feminine?) BaZ obviously has the timing under control, but no new life will spring from the beer belly.
Markus Knöpfli

Television RTL Group increased its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by 57 percent to 397 million euros in the first half of the year. Revenues increased by 11.1 percent to 2.46 billion euros, with profits in the Television division rising from 198 million to 310 million euros. The Group became debt-free in June. It intends to increase its diversification sales and expand geographically following the acquisition of a majority stake in the French channel M6.

Traffic The car-sharing company Mobility has chosen Zogg Kettiger Gasser following an agency presentation.Mobility offers 1750 vehicles at around 1000 locations in Switzerland and intends to massively increase its customer base over the next few years. The Zurich-based advertising agency impressed the client with a concept of regionally networked communication measures.

Sports retail The Migros SportXX chain of specialist stores is the first in the industry to establish a uniform image throughout the country. The Olympic flame in Athens has gone out, and Head of Mission Werner Augsburger takes stock of the 2004 Olympics for the Swiss delegation: "With five medals, we have achieved our goal." The athletes' sponsors are probably less satisfied, as this year's haul at the Games was much more modest than in Sydney or Atlanta. Sports retailers can take a more sporting approach to the mixed performances of our top athletes. Their performance has hardly any influence on the course of business. On the contrary. Neither the economy nor the consumer sentiment index have had any impact on the sports industry in recent years. According to ASMAS, the Swiss Sports Retail Association, the growth rate - in contrast to the rest of the retail trade - has been clearly positive for several years at three to five percent and broke through the CHF 2 billion sales barrier in 2003, excluding bicycles. "Sport and body awareness have become more important in society", comments Claude Benoit, ASMAS President, on the market development. Kurt Meister, sports market expert at the market research institute IHA-GfK, sees the "young old" as a growing and sporty target group that is in a very good financial position.
However, another trend has also contributed to the increase. "We have noticed that everyday clothing and fashion are becoming increasingly sporty." Indeed, while many fashion stores and departments can only keep customers happy with price promotions, they are increasingly stocking up on outfits and shoes in sports stores, flagship stores and specialist sports stores. One of the latter, and therefore one of the winners, is the Migros SportXX chain, which launched five years ago with six stores and now operates 32.
As the network is to be expanded throughout Switzerland with two openings in the fall and five planned next year, but the level of awareness is only high locally and is only 23 percent nationally, the communication managers have deviated from the local strategy. The plan is to almost double this rate within a year, according to Rolf Mathys, Head of Marketing at SportXX. In order to achieve the high like-for-like growth of eight percent, it has so far been sufficient to publicize the locations, specialist expertise and the wide range of brands.
Skiing over desert sand
Despite the strategic shift towards a national presence, the Migros subsidiary remained true to its in-house agency Inhalt & Form, which managed to create two half-minute TV commercials from a mix of image and sales - one for the warm season and one for the cold season. The connecting element in both is the tracks that the athletes leave behind with their respective equipment - from bikes to carving skis - on the breathtaking dune landscape: a large-format X that is projected onto the logo of the sports retail chain. In contrast to the cinema version, the TV commercials each contain two tag-ons to promote certain offers. The existing poster motif, the print inserts and the broad sponsorship portfolio are also used.
Image building with TV commercials: SportXX wants to expand further in the dynamic Swiss sports market.
Luca Aloisi

Radio Three additional national stations would be economically and technically feasible in Switzerland Just in time for Radioday, the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) publishes the results of three studies on the radio market - and thus provides food for discussion. One thing is certain: from both an economic and a (frequency) technical point of view, there is room for one more radio station in French-speaking Switzerland and up to two more in German-speaking Switzerland with a supra-regional ("agglo-spanning") or even language-regional character.However, in order for them not only to survive, but also to help boost the radio advertising market, radio marketing would have to become much more nationally oriented instead of the current focus on local stations. This in turn requires, among other things, "an optimization of the complicated pool structures", according to the study by the Berlin-based GoldMedia Institute.
Technical complications
On the technical side, OFCOM concludes that additional VHF frequencies could be freed up, but only by reducing the recommended safety distance between neighboring frequencies. This would have the disadvantage that the range of all transmitters would decrease because the majority of radio receivers cannot differentiate finely enough.
In addition, a comprehensive replanning of the frequency spectrum would be necessary, the financing of which would first have to be arranged. A switch to DAB would also be possible, according to a third study, but this would cost a total of CHF 200 million. OFCOM is now hoping that the consultation process will provide clarity on how to proceed.
Markus Knöpfli

Social Advertising Zunzúncito is the name given in Cuba to the smallest species of hummingbird in the world, which is only native to the Caribbean island. Because of its delicacy, the Zunzún is considered a symbol of the vulnerability of the child.Zunzún is also the name of a new non-profit association based in Zurich, which provides material and non-material aid to children and young people in Cuba. Hesskiss worked with Cuban graphic designer Luiz Rodriguez Noa to develop the name, logo and visual identity for the new Swiss association. According to agency co-owner Tamas Kiss, the Zurich-based agency will also support Zunzún in setting up the homepage and developing all communication materials.

Tobacco The Parisienne is now also available in black. Sulzer Sutter is advertising it - with fine silhouettes. "We still have more than a month to go. We're sure to come up with a great poster for the new Parisienne by then," teased the Swiss cigarette brand and its agency Sulzer Sutter this summer. The "under construction" posters were intended to prepare the ground for the new module in the typically peculiar Parisienne design. At the same time, smokers were able to try the new product in the white teaser pack, which they could buy from the promo teams, and discover the name of the new Parisienne printed on the sample cigarettes.non-conformist image
The target audience's high expectations will be fulfilled in the next few days. The end result - a silhouette campaign - is internationally unparalleled. The hand-cut motifs by artist Irina Polin, which depict various club scenes as silhouettes, are intended to reinforce the artistic positioning of the domestic brand in a completely new design language. British American Tobacco Switzerland (BAT) intends to use the "folkloristic" filigree umbrella appearance to combine the brand identity, the domestic roots and the imaginative world of Parisienne with the new full-flavor cigarette in its non-conformist black packaging. "We owe such quirky communication strategies to the wide scope of the brand itself and the customers who also understand the message," says CD Felix Dammann, who wants to continue the success of the previous plasticine and imprint campaigns. With the relaunch of Extra and Ultra alone, Parisienne was able to gain one percent market share in 2003, making it the best year in the brand's more than 100-year history.
What Dammann's team can already be credited with at the current launch is the further development of the unmistakable identity, which embodies completely different values to the US labels. The brand owes this strategy a market share of 14% and the top position among 18 to 30-year-olds.
Strong tobacco is the trend
In order to defend its leadership, BAT wanted to close the gap between the mild and strong varieties, especially as, according to Junior Brand Manager Thomas Baer, full-flavor varieties are on the rise again. "The trend has reversed. Many adult smokers are saying that if they are going to smoke, they want a full-flavored cigarette," explains Baer. In this growing segment - a quarter of the market after all - Noire is up against strong competitors such as Marlboro red and Winston Filter.
With the launch of Noire, Client Service Director Peter Krebs also recommended designing a completely new implementation. "We now reinvent the brand every two or three years and maintain the image of a trendsetter thanks to the constantly unexpected impulses," says Krebs. This is an important criterion in the stagnating cigarette market, where success is determined by a clear brand personality. The communication mix (around 33% for live marketing) is also independent with imaginative implementations - with an unchanged budget overall.
Unmistakable profile, black on white: artist Irina Polin cut the motifs for the Parisienne campaign with scissors.
Luca Aloisi

Social advertising For the first time, a Swiss agency - Publicis - has been allowed to create a stamp for the French postal service to publicize the UN organization The Global Fund and its fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The first thing to attract attention is the 50-cent stamp.

There was a huge party at Clear Channel Plakanda - you've actually gotten used to it by now. The party enjoys an excellent reputation, as the crowds prove every year, and once again the planners of the poster party were lucky in their choice of location. As is well known, the outdoor advertisers' events sometimes take place on greenfield sites - although there was always sufficient shelter provided. This year's party with the motto Hard Rock Cafe, however, was completely under cover in the Dübendorf hangar - luckily for guests and organizers, it was cool and wet outside. Beautiful old American sledges, rare guitars and many other contemporary exhibits on the walls gave the Flughalle more than just a touch of Hard Rock Cafe. The splendid atmosphere and the well-stocked bar even ensured that some of the more determined stayed in the hangar until late past three o'clock.
The fighters at the 8th AZ Cup, formerly known as the Baden Cup - the only official advertising tournament in Switzerland - got off relatively lightly. From Advico Young & Rubicam to Zogg Kettiger Gasser, no big name was missing - the German-speaking Swiss agencies must have been pretty deserted that afternoon.
Incidentally, the event no longer really deserves the name Grümpel - most of the games are played at a very high level. Rumor has it that some teams are even summoned to training camps before the tournament. And by signing mercenaries and legionnaires from partner companies, the coaches also tried to push the team performance a little higher. All in all - ambition reigns supreme; and sometimes a bit fierce. It was therefore all the more pleasing that there were no serious injuries - apart from bruises, minor strains and a lot of sore muscles. After all, at the last event two years ago, one player had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance - two others were on sticks for a few weeks. It is to be hoped that this positive trend towards fair play in advertising will continue. The weather also played along splendidly - a mild breeze and the occasional cloud in front of the sun also ensured that heads didn't get too hot.
Incidentally, the winner of the showdown on the pitch was Lesch + Frei, who faced Publimedia, who were clear favorites at the start of the tournament, in the final. Publimedia topped their own group with four wins, eliminated BG-/Opti-/Zenithmedia in the quarter-finals on penalties (the only media agency allowed to take part in the tournament, as owner Andreas Gedenk proudly pointed out) and also denied FC Contexta any hope of winning the tournament in the semi-finals. Apparently, the exhaustion was too great by the time they reached the final - they went down without much of a sound, although the slightly exhausted footballers from Weinbergstrasse did not show any more Brazilian ball magic.
Markus Marchel was also extremely lucky with the weather for his traditional Marchel barbecue, the twelfth in a row. Since the last barbecue two years ago, the former advertising manager of the Beobachter and Hotellerie Suisse has set up his own company, g...media, which specializes in cab advertising and other outdoor advertising spaces. The barbecue is a sure value for young and old - because Marchel always puts on a huge program, especially for the children, so that the parents can celebrate just as carefree. Because when Murmi, the clown and co. are watching for the kids, even the upper-crust quenchers turn into pious lambs.
Speaking of lamb - as always, the gigots made to a special Marchel recipe were superb. Tender and flavorful, they tempted many a guest to help themselves three or even four times.
Beat hoch dreigabs at the Clear Channel Plakanda party with CEO and host Beat Sulzer (center), shortlisted author Beat Fritsch (right) and their mutual colleague Beat Rusterholz. Many old acquaintances were rekindled and new ones made in other places too. The AZ Cup in Baden was a little tougher - the day before, the advertisers had been peacefully united in the Dübendorf hangar, but on the football pitch they gave each other no quarter. But there was a conciliatory ending there too. Finally, Markus Marchel brought the week to a close with his legendary Marchel barbecue - this year at the Villa im Park in Windisch.
Golden records have unfortunately gone out of fashion in the age of silver disks.
"When we and rock 'n' roll were young", hummed Rafael Müller quietly between Marlise Schneider (left) and Yvonne Müller.
Lotte and Peter Felser in front of the guitar backdrop of the Hard Rock Cafe specially set up in the Dübendorf hangar.

Alodia Najera, new member of the Mediabox print team, with Sandro Proietto (r.), co-owner of Mediabox, and Jürg Zentner.

Delegation from Winterthur - Monica Jäggi and Ronny Schmid came from the Konnex media agency.

Bruno Oetterli from Radiotele during customer care with Beat Krebs (l.) from OMD and Stephan Küng (r.) from Initiative Media.

Jan Maurer from the Küsnacht-based communications agency Unikat and Manuela Krähenbühl, Country Manager at Poster Publicity.

Sandra Vogler from Clear Channel Plakanda with Gerry Stadler, who recently joined Blick online.

Ford advertising manager Roman Sonders (l.) with Claudia Wilden, who skillfully uses her elbows, and Stephan Suter from Adlink.

Paul Jessup from ABN Amro with Laura Stimpson from London-based PSI Advertising, which buys advertising space from Plakanda.

Nicole Costa, Migros-Presse, spoke with Roli Wahrenberger, Business Manager Switzerland at Reader's Digest.

Lara Krensler and Flo Studer have decided to only perform together as the "Sæ Team" in future.

Had a good laugh: WOZ advertising manager Kilian Gasser (right) and Urs Schoch from the Herisau advertising agency Ecknauer + Schoch.

The Red Cell team greets the world: Marjeta Morinc, Eva van Looy, Remo Caviezel, Martina Maurer and Franco Elsener (from left).

Also in good spirits with Plakanda: Andrea Kaufmann and Walter Blum from Fiscom with Michael and Serena Fischer from Adcom (from left).

Marco Chini (l.), Barbara Litschi and Sibylle Widmer (r.) from Matter + Partner celebrated with Dietmar Knopf from Detail AG.

Publimedia playmaker Moreno Cavaliere (r.) gets a few tips from host Peter Wanner and advertiser David Honegger (l.).

Although each team had to have two women on the pitch at all times, they gave each other absolutely nothing.

Style study, or this is how you do it right: Stephan Suter, on loan from Adlink to the Mediabox team, pulls the trigger.

Winning picture: The women and team from Lesch + Frei kicked the best this year and took the winner's pot to the agency.

Walter Tagliaferre, captain of the winners, was doubly lucky - he received a brand new iPod as a competition prize from Bea Künzle.

Narrowly defeated in the final: Part of the Publimedia team with the frontrunners Markus Biehn (center) and Astrid Gartenmann (2nd from right).

The master and his tools: Markus Marchel with his 40 kilos of pickled lamb gigots and the original cactus jack grill.
Werbewoche advertising manager Thomas Stuckert didn't want to miss out on the legendary Marchel feast.
Especially praiseworthy at Marchel - the kids are well looked after and the stress-free parents thank the host.
Feeling right at home at a long table in the cozy tent: Elvira Werro (l.) from Beobachter and Hélène Sonderegger.
Christa and Rafael Müller from Werbehaus Zürich are regular guests at Marchel's legendary barbecue parties.
Family outing to Windisch: Roger Stemmer came to the big barbecue in the park with his daughter Jennifer.