Medien Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett (SFLB) has been entrusted with a reader acquisition campaign by Le Monde Diplomatique, the Zurich-based agency that already handles the weekly newspaper (WOZ), which includes the French monthly political magazine. The new order is not part of the WOZ budget, says CD Peter Brönnimann. Advertisements are planned in leading titles such as NZZ Folio and Du.

Packaging Mavex - the trade fair for material flow and packaging - starts in Basel on May 11.
WW: The Swiss packaging market has reacted rather hesitantly to the new trade fair concept. Dorothée Kössler: Based on the visitor and exhibitor surveys after the last events in 2001, it was clear that we had to react. We have merged specialist areas, eliminated overlaps and thus created synergies and made the target groups more homogeneous. Mavex is therefore not a redesign of an existing product, but a completely new trade fair with new content and a new name. New things first have to establish themselves. In addition, the industry is in a difficult economic situation.
With companies such as Model and SIG, the big names in the Swiss industry are missing from Mavex, and there are also gaps in the packaging materials.
As a Swiss trade fair, Mavex provides access to the Swiss market. For the companies mentioned, this is often no longer the most important market, so a trade fair presence in this market takes a back seat. Each supplier decides where to focus its market presence based on its strategic orientation.
Does this mean that the Swiss market is only interesting for niche players?
The domestic market is still important because of the large food industry. But the potential is much smaller than in Germany, for example. Accordingly, companies choose different market development tools.
What innovations can visitors expect?
We make the Mavex website available to exhibitors to present their new products. Unfortunately, not all exhibitors make use of this. You have to bear in mind that, according to surveys, visitors want to see new products first and foremost. Which additional target groups do you want to address with the realignment of the trade fair?
Compared to the 2001 events, the new concept does not address any additional target groups. However, combining the in-house topics of packaging and material flow in one event is more attractive for visitors. Remember that in medium-sized and small companies in particular, one person is responsible for both topics. The accompanying events are intended as an additional incentive to visit the trade fair. It is particularly important for product managers to see and understand the interplay between technology and design. As the person responsible for a product, they need to know what is technically feasible despite all the creativity.
pharmapack is on the program as an accompanying offer. The motivation for this is probably much more the location advantage than the creativity of this industry.
On the contrary: the pharmaceutical packaging sector is one of the most innovative in the industry. The technical production requirements, standards and regulations are much stricter and more detailed than in other sectors. Added to this are issues of user-friendliness and safety - for senior citizens and children alike. If you want to remain attractive despite these diverse requirements and regulations, innovation is essential.
WorldStar AwardsThe World Packaging Organization has been presenting its annual WorldStar Awards since 1970. The prestigious prize for outstanding packaging solutions is awarded in various categories. This year, the award ceremony will take place at Mavex. The jury will select 143 winners from several hundred entries from 30 countries. The winner of the President's Award will be announced at the award ceremony in Basel. The award-winning packaging will be exhibited during Mavex. In 2003, four entries received the President's Award - including SIG Combibloc, Germany. (la)
Dorothée Kössler, Exhibition Director Mavex
Interview: Luca Aloisi

As the new editor-in-chief of Weltwoche, Simon Heusser wants to "allow a certain serenity" after an era of polarizing writing.
He doesn't yet have a calling card as boss. But he already has a clear idea of how Weltwoche should proceed. "Simon Heusser wants to publish "ideas instead of ideology. But how uncolored is that possible for a title that has a globe divided into sections with all its political associations in its logo? "This is not an anti-political statement," Simon Heusser begins to explain his concept, which has been received with much interest in the communications industry. "It was a call for more competition of ideas and less prejudice."
Today, the market plays in a "brutal attention economy. Standing out with pithy comments made sense for Heusser because the Weltwoche brand had to be repositioned by his predecessor Roger Köppel. But: "That's now outdated. Now consolidation is the order of the day." After the successful turnaround, Heusser therefore now wants to "allow his newspaper a certain amount of serenity."
Anyone who talks to the new editor-in-chief of Weltwoche immediately senses his sparkling enthusiasm for his medium. The 37-year-old journalist is well aware of the lineage of editors-in-chief who have become figures. The paper has played a key role in German-language journalism since 1933.
The position as editor-in-chief was not a dream he had cherished for years - "but you grow into it, and once in a while an opportunity comes along". He is also interested in the commercial side of the media. "There's nothing more interesting than money flows. That's where you see the power structures."
Economic topics are to be strengthened in Weltwoche. "We live in a world of unleashed location competition." He also believes that the reader segments gained during the relaunch tend to be business-heavy.
As in the past at the Tages-Anzeiger, where Heusser wrote about social issues in the culture section, he wants to take a broad view of the economy and not just cover everything to do with stock market news. Weltwoche should analyze more what the social consequences of an economic development mean.
Such ideas explain why Heusser studied economic history. "You have to understand it a bit from the spirit of the times," he agrees. When he went to university in 1987, economists were "considered philistines." Today, he couldn't rule out studying economics.
In his dissertation, he examined the tension between political culture and European integration after Maastricht. "A topic that still remains very topical, especially for Switzerland."
His experience abroad is "very important" to him. Heusser also studied in the U.S. and at the London School of Economics and was sent to Germany by Köppel as a correspondent for Weltwoche. What fascinated him about America was its culture of open debate, for example on the Iraq war and the Bush administration. "You often don't see that from Europe."
Heusser says, "As a Swiss, you should leave the country every three years. A change of perspective like that is good for you." Here, he says, there is still far too often a "discourse conducted in confinement.
In this sense, Weltwoche is to become "an identity signal for readers. Those who carry it under their arm signal "that they stand by a modern, expansive Switzerland, dynamic and innovative.
Change of strategy: Simon Heusser focuses on "competition of ideas and less prejudice" at Weltwoche.

Andreas Panzeri

Launch Migros' in-house agency Exxtra Kommunikation delivers the campaign for the Heidi market launch. "The aim of the commercial was to play with Heidi's world and the associations that go with it without appearing kitschy," explains Exxtra consultant Michael Broglin. Accordingly, there are no Alpöhi, Geissenpeter or goats in the realization. The main protagonist is a renegade milk thief who falls off the cart of a young mountain maiden. The can rolls clattering down into the valley, followed by the blonde alpine maiden. The can only comes to a halt on an asphalt road. "Heidi mountain milk. Now in the valley too", the claim breaks up the alpine chase.
Blonde or not blonde?
Although mountain milk is at the center of the plot, the sporty Alpine maiden is associated with our mountain child Heidi by the time the story ends. When asked why the young woman is not dark-haired to match the product design, Walter Dworschak says succinctly: "The blonde Heidi was simply the best fit." The launch campaign, which includes advertisements as well as the commercial, is also being supported by radio, POP and a competition.
The latter will win a special kind of prize: a cow lease. The winner will be able to choose a cow on an alp in Graubünden, whose milk will be used to make mountain cheese, which will be presented to the lucky winner in September. A juicy detail: readers of the Migros customer magazine Brückenbauer who take part in the competition will have to work four hours on the alp to get their dairy cow. The coupon in the store, on the other hand, only mentions a lunch followed by a choice of cow.
Clever: The Heidi commercial plays with clichés without straining them.
(sk)

Apple Juice Is the advertising agency Unikat’s campaign for apple juice appealing, or does the revival of the age-old slogan leave a sour taste in your mouth? Please send your responses to www.werbewoche.ch/adrating
Riposa The ad raters’ opinion of the bedding ad from the Hochspannung agency is clear: it’s simply yawn-inducing.
Top 8.3%Flop 91.7%

Broadcasting rights SRG has acquired the broadcasting rights for the 2006 World Cup in Germany from the world football association Fifa and has the exclusive right to broadcast all 64 matches live for Switzerland. The package also includes post-production and archive rights as well as non-exclusive radio broadcasting rights. At the last World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002, SRG did not acquire the live rights for cost reasons.

Relaunch The French magazine L'Illustré has been relaunched. However, the old problems seem only partially solved.
Editor-in-chief Christophe Passer was not afraid to use big words when announcing the relaunch of his magazine L'Illustré: the mix of current affairs, people stories and services that his magazine will offer will be "unique". In fact, people will even "idolize" the redesigned magazine, predicted the French journalist in Ringier's in-house magazine Domo.
The Tribune de Genève newspaper from Edipresse was noticeably more reserved in its announcement of the "ambitious new concept" (in Ringier's own words): it spoke of a "change de peau", a change of skin. In plain language: a purely graphic refreshment. Now the facelifted magazine is here - and the verdict is rather sobering.
Fine fonts, subtle colors
At first glance, the slightly larger magazine (1.5 centimeters in width and height) is pleasing: The fonts on the front page and in the magazine have become finer, serifs and subtle colors dominate instead of black and white bold print as before. Ex-Miss Switzerland Melanie Winiger smiles invitingly - if a little demurely - from the front. Inside the magazine, the expanded table of contents signals a new tidiness. But on closer inspection, a question soon creeps to the fore: is this really the "nouvelle formule" as it is advertised?
Although there are new pages on the omnipresent topic of wellness, every major daily newspaper offers such additional benefits these days. Smaller changes in the service section, such as the new car page and travel tips, are hardly noticeable. What is striking, however, are the numerous archive photos - actually an absolute taboo for a magazine that claims to have an extraordinary visual language.
"No real change of concept "In general, it seems that Illustré still suffers from one problem: the magazine is a general store. What Daniel Pillard, Head of Ringier Romandie, describes as "resting on several pillars" is viewed much less positively by others. "The magazine wants to please everyone," says Peter Rothenbühler, editor-in-chief of Le Matin and formerly head of the very successful Schweizer Illustrierte for a long time. This leads to the result that the
illustrated news-reportage-people- and life-help-sheet conveyed an "undecided impression".
The head of the "daily people newspaper Le Matin" of Ringier competitor Edipresse has noticed a focus on people stories in most illustrated magazines in Europe in recent years. At Illustré, on the other hand, the first issue after the relaunch has not (yet) seen any real change in concept, except that the design has become a little more "feminine and sweet".
However, for Rothenbühler, a proven people expert since his time at Schweizer Illustrierte, it is clear that the human factor will continue to play a dominant role in the magazine market in the future, especially as reality and music star television and the society press are increasingly interacting. L'Illustré at least has one advantage in this area, which guarantees that the magazine will be noticed throughout the week: a 15-page integrated TV program.
Illustré relaunch: Surprisingly, there is no radical overhaul.

Patrick Steinemann

Budgets Eugster Kommunikation has acquired several new clients in recent weeks: the marketing agency from Rorschacherberg has developed a new corporate identity for the Frauenfeld-based printing and publishing company Huber (Thurgauer Zeitung) and for the Verein zur Förderung von arbeitsmarktlichen Maßnahmen (VFAM) in Seewen. The agency is realizing a new market presence for the architecture firm Hautle & Partner in Widnau and a new communication concept for the goldsmiths in Au SG.

Gastronomy The Basel restaurant "Zum Schmale Wurf" understands fusion cuisine in a different way: in addition to authentic dishes, guests are served fine courses for the ears, with the current concert series featuring various classical concerts at lunchtime on Sundays and public holidays. As a visual appetizer, the Ranz advertising agency designed the advertising material in the style of Uri Geller and created the matching musical spoon.

Competitions At the Clio Awards, Lesch + Frei was awarded a bronze statuette for the Zurich agency's "Stop" ad from the Road Cross campaign against drink-driving. The winners of the US Creative Awards will not be officially announced until May 18. Euro RSCG Switzerland, Matter & Partner, Publicis and Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett are also at least on the shortlist.

Packaging Adjusted product ranges and overcapacity are causing the packaging industry a lot of trouble. Now it is hoping to catch up. "The human mind is designed in such a way that it is more fascinated by appearances than reality." This is the opinion of none other than packaging expert Martin Amann, former Future Brand CEO and owner of the design agency Amann & Partner since the beginning of the year. His "successful step" into self-employment reflects the development of an increasingly globalized industry, which has reacted violently to the decline in consumption, both internationally and nationally, especially in the design sector. Many agency branches came under enormous pressure to save money due to reduced or canceled orders and were forced to centralize across national borders. Increasingly, packaging design was developed at the Group's headquarters, just as advertising was. Under the growing pressure to succeed, the developers were often guided by the fear of appearing more daring than the competition, especially when launching new products. In doing so, however, they served the uniformity on the shelves. This is despite the fact that the appearance of a product or brand has a significant influence on customer acceptance.
Only adaptations remained for the design agencies and their branches. This trend was overshadowed by the strong concentration in the most important client sectors of pharmaceuticals, food and confectionery. As a result, major international corporations gained a position that allowed them to reduce the number of suppliers and soon to request Internet tenders - specialized online purchasing platforms. The competitive pressure among manufacturers of traditional print products became correspondingly more aggressive. Their overcapacity combined with price pressure often led directly to insolvency.
"During the crisis, controllers have been given the power over the appearance of packaging," jokes Amann about the situation after years of streamlining, rationalization, centralization and uniformization. However, the fact that the cheapest route can ultimately result in a relatively expensive development is often discovered too late.
The emergency brake, according to Amann, seems to be gradually being released and giving way to a counter-trend. Marco Miani, Head of Training and Communication at the Swiss Packaging Institute (SVI), is also rather optimistic. Although the SVI has only been keeping industry market statistics since 2002, which is why no comparisons can yet be made, he says: "I am receiving clear signals from the market that the packaging industry is expecting a slight upturn in business. However, it is impossible to say who will benefit from the recovery and how quickly."
Consumption figures come from our neighboring country to the north. Each consumer there spends the equivalent of around 150 francs on packaging every year. The restrained growth in consumption has hardly affected the value, as it has been partly offset by socio-demographic trends and changes in consumer behavior: more single and very small family households and tight time budgets mean more and more convenience products. The industry is therefore expecting at least a stable trend. At present, Pierre Barth, Head of Marketing and Sales at Limmatdruck/Zeiler, sees hardly any positive signals coming from Europe's former economic engine, Germany. "Consumer sentiment in the eurozone is generally still subdued to unstable," he says. "Only innovations that add value can bring the hoped-for upturn to domestic companies," says Barth. As an example, he cites the company Emmi, which manages to export 25 percent of its output to the EU market despite higher raw material prices.
Following this example, Limmatdruck/Zeiler - number two among Swiss packaging manufacturers - has expanded its workforce and thus its expertise in the core business of packaging development despite the tight budget. It has entrusted selected partner companies with the physical production.
Booming beverage marketThe SIG Group, based in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, sees its strategic focus confirmed. The 151-year-old company recently disposed of companies outside its core business in order to concentrate on the promising beverage sector. "In fact, the growing beverage market is the main driver of SIG's growth," says Matthias Knill, Head of Corporate Communications at SIG. People around the world consumed 600 billion liters of beverages last year, and consumption is growing by six percent annually. The market for aseptic beverage cartons is growing by three to four percent annually.
"In certain markets, SIG can even grow beyond this figure thanks to new products." The curve has been even steeper at SIG Combibloc, which has grown by over ten percent in recent years. "This trend will continue in the future," Knill is convinced. As consumers are looking for more user-friendly closures and product-friendly solutions, more and more innovations can be expected here too.
The absolute perennial favorite, according to Franco Miani, is convenience. There is unlikely to be a revolution here. But now that the high expectations of quality and convenience have been met, packers seem to be focusing more on the variety and diversity of product packaging. In future, it will also be a question of offering something special and sensual to meet the growing expectations of spoiled consumers. This trend is particularly visible with premium products, for which more packaging is now fully accepted again.
Beacon of hope for the packaging industry: at least the beverage market is growing.
Luca Aloisi

Balance sheet Switzerland's largest media company stepped on the gas abroad. What some industry observers were already predicting for 2002 did not materialize last year either: Ringier is still the only major publisher in the billionaires' league despite its second consecutive decline. In the current financial year, however (after -2.1% in 2003), only a maximum of one minus percent is possible, otherwise the relegation to the sales millionaires will be serious.the geographical shift in Ringier's sources of income has become even more accentuated. The Swiss contribution to the surprisingly pleasing result is just under
10 percent has not shrunk nearly as rapidly as the Eastern European business has grown in the same period, namely by over a third. Since 2001, however, the proportion of sales generated in Germany has fallen continuously from 82.7% to a new record low of 73.2%.
If this pace of internationalization is maintained, every second franc is likely to come from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Serbia as early as 2006. Michael Ringier probably wants to "push the investments in 2004 and 2005, which skyrocketed last year due to foreign acquisitions, well below the cash flow level" (see interview on page 29). Nevertheless, he considers the above time horizon for the first fifty-fifty balance sheet to be "not unrealistic".
No joy in the printing sectorIn addition to the further decline in circulation and advertising revenues at almost all major Swiss newspapers and magazines in 2003, the publisher is particularly concerned about the local printing sector, where sales fell by 12.7 percent. According to Group CEO Martin Werfeli, the closure of the Winterthur printing plant in December contributed significantly to this decline. In contrast to newspaper printing, customer printing also suffered from persistent overcapacity and the resulting fall in prices.
The usual outlook at this year's balance sheet presentation was cautious to sobering. According to Werfeli, the much-vaunted upturn in the domestic advertising market is still a long time coming. "Our commitments in Central and Eastern Europe, on the other hand, should benefit from EU accession."
Oliver Classen