Festivals Cinecom's Swissparty in Cannes is almost as traditional as the advertising festival itself, but what is new is that the cinema marketer has been joined by the producers' association Swissfilm Association as a partner and they are throwing the party together at the Plage Miramar. The invitation could not be creative enough for the illustrious audience, which is why Cavegnwerbung came up with the idea of dramatizing the performance of the Swiss advertising elite with a pleasant pinch of self-irony. Party people are given buttons that they can pin to their chests when they win the lions: A Swiss cross for worthy losers and for all those who want to save themselves in the potential camp of the winners "My Grandfather was Brazilian", "Waiting for my Greencard", or "I think in English".

Graphics Now in its third edition, the "100 Best Posters of the Year - Germany Austria Switzerland" competition is considered an institution of poster design throughout the German-speaking world, according to the organizers. 400 designers submitted 1,200 posters this year. The works selected by the jury will be exhibited at the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek in Berlin from June 18 to August 24, and later in Lucerne and Vienna. All award-winning posters will also be published in the book "100 beste Plakate 03" by Verlag Hermann Schmidt. Detailed information can be found at www.100-beste-plakate.de.

Online advertising The success of the Internet depends above all on the commitment of all market partners. WW: Mr. Theus, online advertising has been on a steep upward trend since the beginning of the year. How does this small boom manifest itself in the Internet department of Optimedia/B, G, Media? Patrick Theus* 2003 was already a very good year for Optimedia's "Interactive" unit. We were able to double the number of campaigns last year. However, this is first and foremost the result of the goal that we have been stubbornly pursuing for years to integrate the Internet into the media mix in a truly sustainable way. To take this step, media agencies need people who can make the actual performance of the Internet clear to clients. In personal discussions with clients, it must be possible to arouse the enthusiasm that the highly emotional medium of the Internet deserves.
So you see the future success of the Internet primarily as a communication task?
This is certainly a central part of the success. The fact that the Internet is not yet a natural part of the media mix also has to do with the previous specialization of the entire Internet sector. In most cases, the Internet specialist talks to the e-responsible person on the customer side. The holistic view is given far too little consideration. In addition, these discussions are often limited to the technical level, which is not enough to generate additional budgets for online media.
The high intensity with which more and more people are using online media stands in stark contrast to the still neglectful treatment of the Internet by advertisers.
Any agency that still excludes the Internet today is not doing "total media". This is because the online medium is increasingly covering the target groups. Until five years ago, it was mainly young men who used it. Since then, however, we have seen strong growth among women and senior citizens, for example. With the increasing number of users, the Internet has almost caught up with the average population.
In view of the sharp rise in
online advertising sales, clients now also seem to recognize this.
increasingly to be understood. Can we already welcome this development as a trend reversal?
What looks very good in percentage growth rates is still quite modest in absolute figures. I would therefore not like to speak of an actual boom in Internet advertising at the moment. But we are satisfied. I hope that we will succeed in further increasing the order value of the campaigns and thus shift even more of the traditional sector to the Internet. That makes sense, because you can achieve more advertising impact with the same budget. There are enough studies to prove this.
What else can media agencies do in this area?
We need to work together with creative agencies on how the high impact we are used to from traditional advertising can be transferred one-to-one to the Internet. The first steps have been taken, but there is still a lot to do.
On the other hand, the loss of image that the Internet suffered with the crash of the new economy is still having an impact. In your opinion, has this already been overcome?
The clean-up that has taken place in the meantime has certainly done some good. The wheat has been separated from the chaff and what remains are quality sites. Today, we have numerous portals and news sites that generate high reach, but also a broad spectrum of specialized sites that allow us to get close to our target group. The offer is particularly good in German-speaking Switzerland.
*Patrick Theus is head of the "Interactive" unit at
Optimedia/B, G , Media.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle

Competitions Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett (SFLB) is among the winners of the 6th International Food and Beverage Awards (FAB Awards), taking the top prize in the alcoholic beverages category with its TV spots for Feldschlösschen (Stewi, "Robido" and Matterhorn). Wirz Werbung (three times for Tibits), JWT + Hostettler + Fabrikant (twice for Smirnoff Black Ice) and Exxtra (for Candida White) had to make do with shortlist places. SFLB was also shortlisted (for the Dolder Grand Hotel).

Regional transport The Zurich agency Id-Segmentmarketing is launching a charm offensive for the VZO. "My daddy greets 250 women every day," says the little charmer proudly. His name is Manuel Weber, he is the son of a driver for Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland (VZO) and in this capacity is the poster spokesman in an image campaign for the company. Chiara Zwicky's father also works for the VZO and has a good relationship with the female sex: "My dad smiles at other women!", she reveals in her testimonial. "My dad, the VZO driver!" is the name of this new image campaign by Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland. The idea is formulated in the copy: "This is what VZO chauffeurs are like: friendly and courteous."
The task of the Zurich agency Id-Segmentmarketing is to present the diverse services of the 170 VZO chauffeurs in a sympathetic and honest way and at the same time to increase the corresponding appreciation of the chauffeurs. The target group is defined as passengers and commuters in the VZO area. In addition, the VZO employees, who stand behind the campaign and must identify with it.
"My husband takes care of the offspring," announces Mirjam Weber, the wife of a VZO driver, in another subject. "My son opens the door to strange women!" Elsbeth Wehrli, the mother of a VZO driver, is quoted as saying.
The chauffeur is also human
You get on the bus and take them for granted:
the (driving) competence of the VZO drivers. Very few people pay attention to the men and women behind the wheel of the buses. The fact that they don't just drive, but are also people and are there for the numerous customers 365 days a year with friendliness and helpfulness, is usually only realized at second glance. If at all ...
The VZO, one of eight transport companies affiliated to the Zurich Transport Association (ZVV), offers top-quality service. This is confirmed time and again by the annual ZVV quality measurements and test customer results. However, passengers' perception and appreciation of drivers and their services could be higher. But how do you tell customers? The right communication on this topic is a balancing act between arrogance and bourgeoisie.
"We let the members of the VZO chauffeurs have their say, because they know them best," said the two concept developers Reto Dürrenberger and Daniel Izquierdo from Id-Segmentmarketing. The philosophy of Id-Segmentmarketing is "no academically sophisticated strategies, but also no self-celebrating, hyper-creative advertising ideas". The result should be "clear and comprehensible marketing work" that can be implemented within budget.
With the statements now formulated on their posters, the advertisers want to describe the additional services of the VZO chauffeurs "humorously and ambiguously". The photos do not show models, but actual members of the chauffeurs' families. The photos were taken of people in their personal surroundings, and the statements in the headlines correspond to the unpretentious visual language.
The subjects appear as full-page advertisements in the free newspaper 20 Minuten and as window stickers or dispensers in VZO buses as well as posters at bus stops.
Credible: The VZO testimonials are real.
Andreas Panzeri

Online job market After jumping by 10 points in January, the Jobpilot index gained a further 6 points in the quarter to April and now stands at 54 points, indicating a recovery in the online job market. 100 points correspond to the level of January 2001, with the index reaching its lowest point of 37 points in July 2003.

Advertisements Advertising sales in Switzerland are still not making any headway. Publipresse, the PubliGroupe division that sells press advertising in Switzerland, was 3.6 percent down on the previous year in the first quarter of 2004.advertisements Advertising sales in Switzerland are still not making any headway. Publipresse, the PubliGroup division that sells press advertising in Switzerland, was 3.6 percent down on the previous year in the first quarter of 2004. This is what Hanspeter Rohner, PubliGroupe CEO, told the Handelszeitung. Nevertheless, there could be a silver lining on the horizon: According to Rohner, March was the first month in the last three years to show a positive result compared with the same month last year.

Column Quality newspapers once signaled their claim with deserts of lead. Nowadays, they also rely on white space and promise their audience relief from the compulsion to read.When a newspaper undergoes a visual renovation today, one result is almost always certain: the new layout welcomes the reader with more "white space", i.e. more empty space on which there is no text, not even a picture and/or an information graphic. Even traditional titles, which have long been considered a guarantee of rigorous thoughtfulness, cannot escape this trend. Hamburger Zeit, for example, has been transformed into a decidedly airy structure in which there is suddenly so much space next to the text columns that critical readers can comfortably jot down their marginal glosses. Die Welt, the Berlin daily from Springer Verlag, sometimes leaves as much space for nothing on its page 3 as is reserved for editorials in other papers. Now the Tagesspiegel, which is also printed in the German capital, has followed suit and entices readers with very manageable text clouds on its large-format pages. There are editions in which such a newspaper only includes a medium-sized report with a series of short news items in the margins. The entire foreign reporting of this metropolitan newspaper is then reduced to two or three texts that offer more than mere protocol notes.
Modern layout for quality newspapers therefore consists above all in the art of omission. It calculates with a reader who obviously wants to know at first glance whether the newspaper promises him relief from the compulsion to read. The sheer encyclopaedic mass of text that used to be the hallmark of the "broadsheets" is now being resolutely stripped away. The old promise of informing the reader as comprehensively as possible and illuminating the background has lost its suggestion. What is needed today is a convincing signal of clarity.
However, this is created primarily through selection and omission. Selection rather than abundance is a tried and tested means of gaining attention, one of the scarcest resources on the media market. This is the only way to get the reassuring message across: Here is the really important information that is worth spending the scarce reading time on.
Just as nouvelle cuisine filled its plates with quotations of dishes rather than actual meals, the modern layout of some quality newspapers puts the aesthetic staging of meaning before thorough information. In times of crisis, this kind of layout concept is also very pleasant for publishers, as it saves space and costs for editorial content that is no longer printed.
In the long term, however, this can have highly undesirable consequences. If the text is so clearly devalued visually, it loses its appeal in the long run. You can already observe this with readers who prefer to read Focus-type magazines. Reading becomes browsing, the supposed news magazine is treated like a coffee-table journal that is used as a secondary medium. Anyone who uses visual tricks to make readers believe that they can inform themselves about the world without any effort will have to disappoint them. Even if quality newspapers are in a bad way and their future may be uncertain, they should not commit suicide out of fear of death and give up what is their indispensable strength.
Heribert Seifert sees airy layouts primarily as a way of saving money.

> Heribert Seifert is the media and culture correspondent of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in Germany.

Sponsorship The sponsorship for the Swiss season of the dating show "MTV Dismissed" has to be renegotiated because the filming planned for June in the Dominican Republic had to be postponed to 2005 due to the storm disaster. This means that the contracts with the sponsors Clerasil and SSL Health Care Switzerland are now null and void, and it is still unclear whether they will transfer their commitment to the postponed program. "We don't have any signals yet, the decision will be made in Germany," explains Mehmet Inan, Head of Production IP Multimedia.
The postponed "Dissmissed Switzerland" is a particular disappointment for the Swiss candidates. Media partners Energy Zurich and 20 Minuten had long since called for auditions and the flights to the Dominican Republic had already been booked. One consolation: their applications remain valid and they will be contacted again next year.
(dse)

Newspapers With the changeover to tabloid, Blick is introducing a new advertising system - and often higher rates. Oskar Gasser, co-owner of Zogg, Kettiger, Gasser, finds the rate reductions that Blick is offering its customers as part of the definitive changeover to the tabloid format "stingy". "Blick will now have more full pages to sell, so Ringier could certainly have reduced advertising rates more," he argues. Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), is also "disappointed". "The clients clearly expected more, because the publisher incurs lower material costs and the advertising client receives a lower advertising impact," he says. A linear price reduction would therefore have been justified. A reduction to full-page and double-page ads alone, on the other hand, is "simply not enough." For the small-format Blick, a modular rate structure replaces the millimeter price. One four-color page now costs CHF 28700 (-9.2 percent), two full pages (panorama) cost CHF 60500 (-10.4 percent). All other ad formats, on the other hand, will be more expensive: a three-quarter page landscape will now cost CHF 27800 (+6 percent), a half page landscape CHF 18900 (+0.5 percent).
According to Bernhard Weissberg, Head of Newspapers at Ringier, Blick was based on a McKinsey study with eye tracking. According to this study, small-format advertisements on a tabloid page tend to attract more attention than those in broadsheet format. He also knows "that all publishers who switched to tabloid and made massive price reductions regretted it afterwards." And finally, Weissberg continues, even Hanspeter Rohner, CEO of PubliGroupe, sees no reason to offer lower prices simply for format reasons.
Readers get a better view
At the same time as the transition to the new format, the layout of Blick will be revised and the editorial content expanded. In addition to the current affairs and sports sections, there will be an expanded service section with additional TV tips and horoscopes. The special pages on cars, computers, travel and rock and pop will be smaller, but will appear daily. The Weekend supplement will remain in a large format and will be enclosed folded - because of the giant puzzle, which is a hit with readers.
The Tabloid-Blick will be published as a stapled binding. This has the disadvantage that it can no longer be divided up for reading. "It's true, this is an issue for people," says Weissberg, but a clear majority still prefer a small Einbund newspaper to the large Zweibund newspaper. "Readers will get used to it," he says. Blick-Verlag also has to solve another logistical problem: The restaurants need new newspaper holders, the existing ones cannot hold the thicker magazine.
The switch to tabloid was obvious after the results of the May test run: 69 percent of buyers at the 3,000 sales outlets with both formats opted for tabloid. In addition, in a survey
75 percent of individual purchasers and subscribers considered the small format to be better. 90 percent could well imagine reading Blick only in tabloid format in future. And of over 5000 direct opinions expressed, around 80 percent were enthusiastic about the new format. In addition, individual sales increased by 5 to 10 percent during the test phase.
Advertisers, media planners and advertising clients have been more reserved in their response to the new format. Oskar Gasser is less than pleased with the small format. "Blick is losing its newspaper character and is then just a newspaper," he criticizes. As an advertiser, he doesn't like the smaller format either: "In broadsheet format, a whole page comes across as bulky, but in tabloid it tends to lose out."
What counts is the content, not the formatJürg Siegrist, Director of the Association of
of the Swiss Advertising Association (SWA) accepts the decision of Blick readers. "For me, however, it's still the content that counts and not the format," he says. He welcomes the modular system for the advertisements.
David Honegger, CEO of Mc Cann-Erickson, believes that the smaller format is better suited to Blick: it is a newspaper that most people read on the move. However, Honegger is surprised that Ringier needed a test phase at all. And as CEO of an agency that currently counts 20 Minuten among its clients, he jokes: "The advantage of the tabloid is that you can now hide Blick even better in the Tagi or NZZ."
Andy Lehmann, Managing Director of Aegis Media Group Switzerland, is not unreservedly enthusiastic about the small look. "I would have liked a larger tabloid, like the original Cash was," he says. But this way, Blick runs the risk of being compared even more with 20 Minuten. In addition, Ringier's move in terms of format seems reactive and exudes little self-confidence.
However, he finds the move to a smaller format logical and attractive for advertising clients. However, implementing the content is a "challenging exercise". "I believe that there will be a completely new newspaper, whereby the editorial team will have to radically rethink and rebalance." Readers are hardly aware of this in view of the "Blick bleibt Blick" campaign. "From this perspective, the big challenge for Ringier is still to come," says Lehmann.
Basler Zeitung: A page is a pageUnlike Blick, Basler Zeitung is only just changing its culture section to tabloid on September 4. The rate has not yet been finalized. "At the moment we are still working on the pricing for the advertisements," says BaZ publishing director Daniel Sommer. "However, we are currently assuming that the price of a 1/1 page in the broadsheet and magazine sections of our newspaper will be the same." A page is a page, its advertising impact is not reduced because it is smaller. Sommer: "There are also large and small television sets, without this having any influence on the advertising prices for
TV commercials." (mk)
Blick: The verdict on the tabloid format is divided, the reactions to the ad rates are clear.
Markus Knöpfli

Market research The customer base is becoming increasingly important. Whereas in the past advertising was primarily concerned with building awareness and image, a survey of 339 media decision-makers conducted by the Bauer Media Academy has now come to the conclusion that the focus of marketing in future will be on maintaining and intensifying existing customer relationships. Accordingly, the advertising goals of "increasing customer loyalty, brand loyalty and repurchase rate" (76%) and "sales" (57%) are more important to the respondents than the classic goals of "image" (52%) and "awareness" (36%).

Internet More than 2,700 Swiss schools already have free Internet access - a great success for the education system and for Swisscom's "Schools on the Internet" campaign. The three leaders Swisscom, Apple and IBM have now launched the joint "Schoolkit" campaign to provide even more pupils with up-to-date and practice-oriented computer and Internet lessons in the future. In addition to the free broadband connection, complete computer systems are also being offered for a limited time at uniquely favorable conditions. For the mailing to the relevant committees, the creative minds at Contexta went back to their own tools: a case, filled as full as possible. In the modernized version, not only the computer mouse finds its permanent place. The fact that new learning objectives require new teaching aids is also evident in the gadgets: a ballpoint pen with a "loading" indicator and a "delete" eraser.