Marketer Adlink has entered into an exclusive marketing partnership with Cablecom for the portals Hispeed.ch, Swissonline.ch and Swisstalk.ch.Hispeed.ch and Swissonline.ch offer largely identical content in the areas of entertainment, information, marketplace and computers for users of the two Internet access services. Swisstalk as a chat platform can be booked for specific target groups by region, age group, gender and area of interest.

Since the end of June, Radio Top, a merger of the three local radio companies Thurgau, Wil and Eulach (Winterthur), has been restructured to become a public company with a shareholder base. This step makes the historically developed but extremely complicated ownership structure more transparent: Top CEO Günter Heuberger will hold around 54% of the top shares, top board member Martin U. At the end of June, the shareholders of the three parent companies unanimously approved a corresponding share swap and also appointed the CEO as Chairman of the Board of Directors. "A dual mandate that I wasn't looking for," says Heuberger. But because no other candidate could be found and the previous Chairman of the Board, Urs Lüdi, resigned after selling his Radio Thurgau AG to Heuberger, the majority shareholder had no other choice.
Parallel to the company restructuring, the three sublicenses will be merged into one license. The Federal Council still has to give the green light for this at the end of 2004 as part of the transmitter network planning.
(mk)

Column The Europeanization of politics and the media requires journalists who dare to cross the border and articulate their different view of things.one of the popular platitudes is the talk of a "European public sphere", which is unfortunately still lacking. This is why the "European idea" currently seems so emaciated and hardly reaches the masses. This was the case again just recently when more than half of the electorate ignored the election to the EU Parliament, and there are good reasons to suspect that such a cross-border public sphere is a chimera that merely stems from the wishes of hardcore propagandists of European integration. In any case, it has nothing to do with the reality of modern mass media. The attempt to create a European newspaper with The European has failed on the market. And the Franco-German TV niche channel Arte only survives because, as a public broadcaster, it can ignore viewer restraint.
Apart from the very manageable transnational specialist audience, which is mainly informed about economic matters via the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Europe and Herald Tribune, the following therefore applies: despite mass tourism, the universalization of consumer and popular culture and supranational institutions, information about current affairs is still tied to national communication spaces and media. The latter are determined by language, but also by culturally specific information interests and forms of presentation. The existing national public spheres cannot be blended into a European media pudding.
In the long run, the cases in which individual journalists work in other countries and promote the exchange between different media cultures are more consequential than such integration fantasies. This can be observed at the Berlin-based Springer newspaper Die Welt, which has had a Swiss editor-in-chief for two months: Roger Köppel is making himself increasingly visible, particularly through his desire to look at German conditions from a Swiss perspective. The familiar suddenly seems strange. What we were used to accepting with a shrug of the shoulders suddenly proves to be provocative, while other things that always trigger the same reflexes in the German scandalization circus are viewed more calmly.
One example: Köppel has not only set his paper on a Eurosceptic course that is otherwise rarely articulated in Germany, he is even risking a clash with the journalistic principles of his publishing house. His different view becomes even clearer when the new editor-in-chief takes up arms against the elitist arrogance with which the German establishment flatly refuses to allow its own people to vote on fundamental political alternatives. As a German subject, one has almost forgotten that the sovereign himself could and should decide what can drastically change his future. "The" Swiss, on the other hand, do not put up with politicians making brash declarations: A referendum on the draft European constitution is out of the question because it could be rejected!
In this case, journalistic border-crossing drastically demonstrates the forms of political participation that have been adopted north of Lake Constance. In this way, the confrontation with neighbors who tick differently becomes productive. So let's hope that more and more colleagues will relocate their workplaces across borders. This will create the only European public sphere worth wishing for: an internal market of experiences and opinions that relies on diversity as a source of unrest and challenge - and not on politically correct simplicity.
> Heribert Seifert is the NZZ's media and culture correspondent in Germany.

According to a study by the international agency network Icom, the Olympics in Athens are leaving Swiss advertisers cold.Icom determined what percentage of marketing activities in various countries relate to the Olympic Games. Australia is in the lead with 70, followed by Italy with 60%. Bringing up the rear are the UK with 3%, Turkey with a "negligible" share and Switzerland with a mere 0%.

Alcoholic beverages After an internal Saatchi & Saatchi evaluation, in which the agency branches from England, Hong Kong, Turkey and Switzerland were invited, the Carlsberg Steering Committee in Copenhagen decided in favor of the campaign from Geneva. Various directions were tested internationally. Saatchi & Saatchi Simko's campaign won in all countries. The campaign, which consists of three print and poster subjects in a first phase, will be visible worldwide in the fall. The realization, which will take place in Bali, will be entrusted to the international star photographer Vincent Dixon.

Television The TV channel Eurosport will no longer accept alcohol advertising in the future, as the industry portal Brand Republic quotes from the reasoning behind the decision: "Commercials for alcoholic drinks are inappropriate on a sports channel whose target audience is interested in fitness and healthy lifestyles. According to its own information, Eurosport reaches 98 million households in 54 European countries. It belongs to the French TV group TF1.

Event industry From suck-up slogans to a serious marketing tool: The event market wants to grow up. Friday the 13th is hardly an ideal date for an event for superstitious people; potential visitors might feel safer within their own four walls. Especially in their own bed. Ikea, known for its quirky promotions, takes advantage of the calendar coincidence: On the supposedly unlucky day, the furniture store is bringing its new catalog to friends of the Swedish style of living as part of its "Complete Bedroom Party". Under its Dietlik roof, the world's largest home furnishing company will present new products, tell Swiss bed stories and "toast to sweet dreams" with a Swedish buffet. With one of the relatively highest densities of events, the organizers in Switzerland's confines can hardly avoid such dates. Over 800 events with over 6000 visitors each had to be spread out over the past year, for example. And this does not even include sporting events.
"The Swiss are real party animals," says Hansruedi Knöpfli, Head of School at the Swiss Marketing Academy, getting to the heart of the matter. And who would dare to contradict him shortly after the Street Parade public event, which attracts millions? As the provider of the practice-oriented diploma course in event and sponsorship planning, Knöpfli wants to introduce students to all aspects of events - from corporate events for the board of directors, to B-to-B events for retail partners, to launch events for end consumers and public events for prospects.
Despite the generally high level of interest in the course, which Knöpfli also interprets as a sign of economic recovery in the industry, he is somewhat understanding of the critics' reservations. "Within the marketing mix, events still have a short tradition as a specialist subject. There are no reliable figures in the domestic market, nor can we speak of market transparency," says Knöpfli. However, the need for a concept, structure and controlling is helping to drive forward the development of a scientific basis. However, this will require a few more years of scrupulous research, evaluation and classification of the data.
data obtained. Costs that hardly anyone is currently willing to take on.
Ultimately, the subject of events does not seem to lend itself to either academic theory or marketing theory. Hansruedi Knöpfli knows that whether or not an event is creative and sparks the interest of visitors hardly depends on the theoretical concept. On the other hand, concepts make it easier to handle planning, logistics and legal problems.
The SPRI is also responding to the increased demands of clients and customers in the event sector with its new postgraduate course in event communication. However, the focus here is on overall communication and the key measures for an event, explains course director Marina Villa.
Positive trend in the trade fair sector
The importance of these tools becomes clear when you consider the economic significance of the event industry in Switzerland. According to surveys by Expo & Event and MCI, the industry generates annual sales of around one billion Swiss francs with well over 700 all-round and specialist agencies.
According to Wemf, trade fairs and exhibitions contributed around 240 million Swiss francs (2003). According to the Swiss Exhibition Association, which calculates the net income from the rental of hall space, this represents a regular decline of 1.6 percent compared to the previous year. However, according to Bruno Kleger, the person responsible, this will probably be made up again this year.
Yuri Camagni from exhibition specialist Messerli attributes the stable to positive development to the streamlining of trade fair structures in recent years, among other things. As a result, exhibitors have regained their confidence and motivation.
Established exhibition stand construction companies such as Messerli, which has strategically expanded its range to include event services and interior design, benefited in particular from the changes and concentration. Messerli thus appeals to those companies that want to give their offices, reception areas and showrooms a uniform CD and thus anchor the brand, its values and soft factors visually even more succinctly with the target group.
At the same time, Messerli supports event agencies with equipment and implementation tasks. The trend towards more space for exchange and networking - away from the shrill and loud mega-event with pure entertainment value - now confirms the development of such new service units. "Until a few years ago, only progressive sectors such as IT relied on a lounge atmosphere and upstream and downstream measures for their events, but now even the industrial sector is getting a taste for it," says Yuri Camagni. In addition to emotional imagery, he has noticed an additional trend at trade fairs that goes in the same direction and serves to provide personal, proactive customer support. "Many exhibitors enhance the impact of their trade fair participation with elaborate accompanying events or lounge areas. Here, contact and business can be better cultivated in a pleasant atmosphere away from the competition."
As with trade fairs, increased multimedia and professionalization also open up new possibilities for measuring and tracking success in the event communication arena. Thanks to the trend towards interactivity and individualism, below-the-line agencies have been able to significantly outperform traditional agencies in the competition for budget shares. "Clients are also demanding more quantitative metrics for 'below the line' measures," reports Polo Looser, Director of MCI Switzerland.
For the Swiss market launch of Evra patches - already the second most widely used contraceptive in the USA - MCI organized an event for 1,500 guests in Zurich's Maag-Areal. "We have now been able to calculate the return on investment from this event," says Looser. In future, he is convinced that such measurement data will be included in event planning. The benchmarks for the various sectors - from cars to fast-moving consumer goods - will play an even greater role.
Economic efficiency, meaningfulness
In contrast to the past, events today also pursue similar goals to traditional advertising: Gaining market share, setting trends and strengthening the brand. In addition, according to Looser, the Eventflector measurement system developed jointly by Reflection Marketing and MCI includes criteria such as integration, strategic and brand relevance, event implementation and so on. The insights gained from the Eventflector lead to proposed solutions for further measures.
In addition to the previous event elements, such as the mix of emotional experience, information in a group setting, a positive environment and a stronger memory effect, such new event measurement models explain the growing popularity of experience-oriented events. In particular, products with a strong lifestyle orientation such as energy drinks (Red Bull) or new medicines are increasingly being advertised via live communication, while traditional advertising media only play a supporting role and receive a more modest share of the budget.
According to Christina Spindler, member of the Group Worldspan management team, the decisive factor for this positive development was also the disillusionment after the super hype at the end of the 1990s and the realization that event marketing was often only a means to an end in itself and thus remained pointless and purposeless: "The central question today is the profitability and meaningfulness of a business event." In contrast to Germany, she is already seeing the first promising increases in turnover in the Swiss event industry. Despite the unstable economic situation, she is pleased that "above all, the behavior and attitude of customers has changed positively. Clients are increasingly seeking out agencies on their own initiative and no longer the other way around. The inquiries for 2005 are also very good." More and more international holding companies, which otherwise rarely come to Switzerland with their events, are also organizing events here.
Annette Weisskopf, partner of the Zurich-based Action Agency, which works for clients such as Swisscom Mobile and Nokia, particularly in the youth segment, distinguishes between sectors with great event potential and those that are on the decline: "Sponsorship events in the fashion sector have declined dramatically in recent years because they often missed the target groups they were aimed at. On the other hand, sport and music in the form of open-air and freestyle sport events have once again seen strong growth." Her business partner Andreas Lehner sees the reason for this in the prices of Swiss fashion events, which even offset the supra-regional spill-over effect, and in the fact that sports and music events are often more innovative despite their tradition and their media response is often broader.
Whether sponsored in-house productions or self-directed business events, the question remains: Will the event industry benefit from the handicap of traditional advertising media with the segmentability of increasingly multidimensional and individualized products or not? In any case, the recently founded IG of event contractors Eventcircle.ch is the first to attempt to get rid of the event industry's Jekami image: through clear differentiation from other disciplines, greater market transparency and exchanges of ideas and contacts between external and internal service providers. The goals have been set, but there is still a long way to go.
Celebrity presenter for Evra's medical event: Sandra Studer with a contraceptive patch.
Mega party for a million guests and dozens of event partners: Street Parade Zurich.
On Friday, August 13, it's safest in bed. Ikea's invitation to the "Complete Bedroom Party".
Trends in live communicationBased on a GDI future study and internal assessments, MCI Director Polo Looser develops three trends for the future of event marketing.
Thesis 1: The megatrend of the experience economy continues: creating emotions, making experiences, experiencing spectacles, helping to shape productions, being seduced, stimulated or fascinated.
Thesis 2: In the future, experiences will be co-created by the participants, because anchoring in the memory of the visitors only arises through high involvement.
Thesis 3: The content of the event will become more important in the future. Instead of sensory overload, clear storylines, scene expertise and strategic objectives are increasingly in demand. Rapidly advancing globalization is further reinforcing the above trends.
Luca Aloisi

A long-awaited moment at Springer Science+Business Media Schweiz AG (SSBMS). After 170 days of construction, the Rüschlikon media building was inaugurated, bringing together several Swiss specialist publishers - Baublatt, Auto& Technik, Transport Rundschau, Kommunalmagazin and Gestion et Services public as well as publications for driving schools. Springer Science+Business Media Schweiz also includes Media-Daten AG in Zurich - the publisher of Werbewoche, Media Trend Journal, Produktion & Print and the Media-Daten-Handbücher.
Springer Science+Business Media operates in 18 countries, publishes over 1450 specialist titles and unites more than 70 publishers under the holding umbrella.
Illustrious hosts and guests in Rüschlikon: From left to right: Peter Jenny, Human Resources, Robert Schmidli, Chairman of the Board of FachMediaCom, Stefan Rühling, Executive Vice President Springer Science+Business Media, Hanspeter Lebrument, President of the Swiss Press Association, Heike Findeis, Chairwoman of the Executive Board and Board Delegate, Dr. Robert Siegrist, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Renato Polentarutti, Managing Director Construction, Hans Peter Meier, Commercial Director, and also Rüschlikon's Mayor Dr. Brigitte Gürtler (right). Robert Siegrist, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Renato Polentarutti, Managing Director Construction, Hans Peter Meier, Commercial Director, and also Rüschlikon's Mayor Dr. Brigitte Gürtler (center right).
Dr. Robert Siegrist, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Springer Science+Business Media Switzerland, welcomed Benno Albisser (right), municipal clerk of Rüschlikon.
Heike Findeis expressed her special thanks to the entire staff of the new media center in Rüschlikon for their commitment.
The audience in attendance also acknowledged the speech and event with a big round of applause.
El. Ing. ETH Richard Staub from Bus-House (l.), Uwe Guntern, Editorial Manager Baublatt, and Sandra D'Arienzo, Editorial Office Baublatt.
Dr. Robert Siegrist presented Hans Peter Meier, Renato Polentarutti and Peter Jenny from Springer Science+Business Media Switzerland with a gift.
Stephan Brunner, Brunner-Werbung, discusses with Ruedi Klaus from Baublatt and Toni Vetterli, Head of Marketing at Schweizer Presse.
Peter Sachs (l.), media consultant at Baublatt, with Usam Ugarte, owner of Ugarte Creative Communications and an enoteca.
Great interest in the new media house: Hansruedi Hüppi (left) and Werner Stegmann from Greutol AG, Otelfingen.
Engrossed in a discussion: Dr. Robert Siegrist, Chairman of the Board of Directors, with Samuel Helbling (right), Publishing Director of Media-Daten AG.
René Rusch, owner of the agency René Rusch & Partner, with Christoph Vogler, CEO of the advertising agency Grey.
Andrea Götz in a good mood with Sabine Schaub, Executive Vice President Springer Science+Business Media, and Robert Schmidli, Chairman of the Board of FachMediaCom.
A toast to the new media center in Rüschlikon: Sonja Fach and Heinz Scheuthle, member of the Executive Board and Head of Office Design at Büro-Fürrer AG.
Stefan Rühling, Executive Vice President Construction Division Springer Science+Business Media, Hans Peter Meier, Commercial Director Springer Science+Business Media Switzerland (SSBMS).
Ursula Trachsler from Baublatt had a great chat with Dr. Urs Schäfer, Managing Director of the Association of Swiss Floor Covering Wholesalers VSBG.
Hanspeter Lebrument (left), President of the Swiss Press Association, and Andrea Götz, Delegate of the Board of Directors of Südostschweiz Print AG, also sent their best wishes.
Showing patience while queuing at the barbecue: Wilf Seifert (left), freelance journalist at Transport-Rundschau, and Moritz Weibel, Publimag.
Kurt Wieser (l.), authorized signatory at the formwork technology company Holzco-doka, with Werner Holenstein, media consultant at Baublatt.
Good discussions: Herbert Zahnd (l.), Baublatt, Dina Solomir, Wädenswil University of Applied Sciences, and Markus von Allmen, Einsiedler Anzeiger.
José Gonzàlez, Head of Media Consulting at Baublatt, with Georg Thoma, Field Service Consultant at Pestalozzi Haustechnik in Rapperswil.
Pierre François Moser (l.), media consultant at Baublatt, and Reto Martinelli, member of the management board of Neonilluma AG.
Gustav Schmidinger, Media Consultant, in conversation with Bettina Meier, Marketing Communications Manager at Baublatt.
From the Basel publishing house MMV AG: Eleonore E. Droux (l.), Managing Director, and Sabrina Schaub, Publishing Assistant and Advertising Director.
Urs Rey, Head of Prepress at the new Medienhaus Rüschlikon, with his deputy Priska Decimo.

Recycling PRS and SFLB launch a major manhunt. They are hunting for pet bottles worth 120 million francs.
It was not a meteorite, but the insufficient collection rate that spelled the death knell for the blue dinosaur of the Pet Recycling Switzerland (PRS) association. "The message we now have to get across requires a completely new approach," says Jean-Claude Würmli, Head of Marketing at PRS. The advertising dinosaur has succeeded in increasing the recycling rate to 71% - compared to just 30% in the EU. However, its pedagogy could not keep up with the rapid growth in sales. 45800 tons in sales ...
A record-breaking 90 percent of all large, empty pet beverage bottles from home consumption are taken to the collection point. However, the collection discipline of consumers leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to half and third-liter bottles, which have increased significantly due to their convenience properties. Because only around half of these containers find their way back into recycling, the PRS feels compelled to open new collection points. A study by the association showed that where there are pet containers, the empty bottles also end up in the designated place. Since the beginning of 2004, the collection point network has therefore been growing by around 50 new points every week.
But that is not enough, Würmli admits. 21,000 pet collection points should be available by the end of the year; primarily at the
Sales outlets that are legally obliged to take back bottles. But the time pressure is growing: the Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape is insisting on compliance with the Beverage Packaging Ordinance and is threatening to introduce a bottle deposit, which would cost the whole of Switzerland 120 million francs.
... and just under 32500 collected
To highlight the seriousness of the situation - 1840 tons are missing - the agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett (SFLB) launched a search for every incorrectly disposed pet bottle on behalf of the PRS.
The search is receiving professional support from former "Aktenzeichen XY" presenter Konrad Toenz. In three TV commercials based on the earlier XY shows, Toenz calls on the public to help. For example, in the search for a 1.5-liter pet bottle that has been missing for two years. Or: "A green drinks bottle, about 23 centimetres high, which was last seen in the canton of Schwyz above Rickenbach on the Vita course," Toenz says in a meaningful tone. The campaign is reinforced by wanted posters showing relevant images of various Pet bottles in the style of police identification photos.
With this ironic appeal, those responsible want to encourage consumers to join in and positively influence their attitude. And what better way to do this than by searching for every single Pet bottle. After all, every bottle is important, says Würmli.
Pet on the wanted list: Former "Aktenzeichen XY" man Konrad Toenz calls for recycling in ironic commercials.
Luca Aloisi

Food No perfect summer is complete without a tasty barbecue - our country is well stocked with meat and sausage specialties for hot grills on hot days. But that hasn't stopped Zurich's LakeSide from expanding its range with a new, wholesome delicacy. In addition to crispy salads, California bars and cool coupes, the restaurant on the lake has recently started offering fiery thighs from South American, (hopefully) controlled production, with the best whip - sorry, grill masters always keeping the carefully selected pieces at the right distance from the embers so that the skin does not burst, the meat is crispy on the outside and remains juicy on the inside. Above all, to allow the unique flavor to come into its own.
When the pieces, brushed with coconut oil, sizzle lovingly kissed by the flames and spread their pleasant aroma in the air, the connoisseur's mouth is watering. The specialty is garnished with diced tomatoes, which the advertiser had in mind when designing the flyer. Voilà et bon appétit.
(la)

Credibility What used to be clumsy product placement now comes across as "programming" or "branded journalism". However, the problems and discussions remain the same, and the fact that the title question "Yesterday's role models?" is of a rhetorical nature is demonstrated by scandals such as the one surrounding Ringier's unofficially sponsored TV doctor Samuel Stutz. Or the TV inaugural speech by Germany's new national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, which was castigated as surreptitious advertising by the news magazine Focus last week. The stumbling block was the screen placed behind the head of the football hopeful and advertising medium: viewers had to fixate on the logos of the association sponsors emblazoned on it for an hour.
Of course, there are also more elegant and subtle methods of manipulating media consumers who rely on mandatory declarations - or exploiting the program providers' notorious lack of money. These go under unsuspicious names such as "programming" or "media cooperation" and all have just one aim, namely to smuggle advertising messages into TV programs and onto newspaper pages.
"The average consumer should no longer be able to tell who is informing them, the editorial team or an advertiser." You couldn't say it more bluntly than Oliver Kaiser in the current issue of Kontakter. Kaiser describes himself as a "brand content manager" and is probably Germany's leading border blurring strategist at the moment. In his opinion, we are facing a paradigm shift, because "brands themselves are becoming media".
If Barbara Baerns is to be believed, this is already in full swing. That is why the Berlin journalism professor has ordered essays from renowned colleagues, as well as the managing director of the German Advertising Association, which shed light on editorial marketing, advertorials and similar gray areas. The development and progressive dissolution of the principle of separating commercial and editorial content is discussed analytically throughout. Alarmism has no place in this explosive anthology.
Clear opinions, on the other hand. For example, that of the editor: "Transparency of the origin of what is presented, that is what we can expect. No more, but certainly no less." Otherwise credibility, the basic resource of the media industry, will continue to erode. Until the industry groans in a variation of Neil Postman's bon mot: We're advertising ourselves to death!
> Yesterday's models? On the separation of advertising and program, edited by Barbara Baerns. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004. 292 pages, Fr. 60.40
Oliver Classen

Body care The benefit of repairing brittle hair up to 85% is implemented by Publicis, Garnier's in-house agency, in an eye-catching poster campaign: thanks to the diligent use of Fructis, a woman's plait stretches over two, sometimes three poster sites and reaches a proud ten meters on Zurich's Weinbergstrasse. Not to mention the luscious head of hair that is gathered together on the 362 poster sites.