Newspapers The tabloid test with Blick is also about Ringier's prestige project Neue Zeitung.
Normally, launch campaigns explain the benefits or added value of a new product. Not so the advertisements and posters created by Ringier's main agency GGK Zurich for the shrunken and stapled Blick: Instead of, for example, rejuvenating the old tabloid aunt or gaining elbow room, GGK doyen Hermann Strittmatter "advertises" with brittle claims such as "Blick remains Blick" or "Unmistakably the same". This signals that Switzerland's largest publishing house is initially concerned with reassuring existing subscribers and buyers or encouraging them to switch - and not with tapping into new segments. "The newspaper medium is simply a conservative consumer product," says division head Bernhard Weissberg, explaining this unusually defensive communication by Ringier standards. The Independent, which has been published in two formats with identical content since last October, was also based on this assumption. "Independent, too", the wonderfully ambiguous launch slogan of the first English quality tabloid, was a role model for Weissberg. He probably also considers the resulting jump in circulation - a whopping 18 percent from March 2003 to March 2004 - of the first mover in the British market to be worthy of imitation. By way of comparison, the Times, which followed two months later, only just managed to halt its decline in readership over the same period.
Aiming for 300,000 copies
However, the Blick strategists would not be satisfied with a stabilization of the circulation, which has been crumbling for years (currently 275275 copies). "We expect a slight increase in the medium term," explains Weissberg.
The aim is to return above the magical 300,000 mark, not least to support the Neue Zeitung (NZ), which has been firmly in the Board of Directors' pipeline since mid-March. The ambitious plan for a Swiss quality daily newspaper in compact format has recently been promoted directly via SonntagsBlick. Peter Glotz called compact newspapers that do not repeat the previous evening's TV news a "compelling" innovation.
World Compact inspired
NZ consultant Glotz was inspired to make this plea on his own behalf by Springer's tabloid experiment with the highly loss-making author's newspaper Die Welt (see interview). In Berlin, of course, they are hoping for a first-mover effect in the market of national opinion leaders. And in Switzerland, too, only one will really win in the end.
In view of the new, presumably more radical renovation of the Tages-Anzeiger planned for mid-2005, the NZ time window is still relatively wide open. However, you are never immune to unexpected gusts of wind in the Helvetian press.
GGK's format campaign is emphatically factual.
Oliver Classen

BPRA market statistics Unlike the advertising agencies, the Association of PR Agencies is also presenting a ranking this year: this transparency could become a competitive advantage.
Communication is their business. But when it comes to its own market statistics, the industry has to be careful: Legislative measures in the USA (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) also prevent a large number of advertising and PR agencies from publishing their business data here in Switzerland. As a result, no industry figures and rankings are available for the Swiss communications market. The only exception - even internationally - will soon be the Swiss Association of Public Relations Agencies (BPRA). The predominantly owner-managed agencies were recently able to present their current ranking - only two of 26 agencies had to step out of the limelight (see box).
Association President Ulrich Bollmann describes the fact that the BPRA can present representative figures for the Swiss PR market as a "happy coincidence". However, the ranking of agencies is more than just a coincidence: "It is absolutely important for our clients that we have a ranking like this," says Bollmann. The ranking list offers potential new customers in particular an initial point of orientation in the industry.
Will the BPRA ranking now become a serious competitive advantage on the Markom marketplace? It is possible, because it is now clear that there will definitely be no ranking of advertising agencies this year (and probably next year too): According to Walter Merz, Managing Director of the industry association Schweizer Werbe- und Kommunikationsagenturen (BSW), there will also be no survey of structural data and salaries in 2004. Merz does not expect the legal situation to change for another year or two. For the BSW Managing Director
the lack of a ranking is a "clear disadvantage". Like BPRA President Bollmann, BSW man Merz also mentions the orientation function of an agency ranking based on quantitative criteria for clients. Especially as a representative of an "industry with a reputation for not being very transparent", Walter Merz regrets that his own efforts to open up are now being "undermined by a US congressional decision".
For BPRA President Bollmann, it is not clear from the outset whether the difference in transparency between PR and advertising agencies will become a competitive advantage. According to Bollmann, its ranking does not represent an arrow in the BPRA's quiver to be used proactively. What is more important to him is that the publication of BPRA statistics is undisputed, even in a difficult economic environment: "Our members have to live with positive or negative figures."
As far as business figures are concerned, according to BSW Managing Director Merz, advertising agencies also have to make do with "facts" that cannot be glossed over. The fact that the phase without an advertising ranking coincides with an economically stagnating situation is only of limited benefit to the BSW: It is true that the gross operating income of advertising agencies also fell by 12 to 15 percent in 2003 compared to the previous year. And so, as Merz confirms, there are certainly individual members who are quite happy that there is currently no ranking. But the BSW managing director also knows: "Some agencies are only members of the BSW in order to be included in the ranking." The BSW is therefore endeavoring to be able to present an up-to-date, representative ranking list at international level as soon as possible.
Hoping for an upswing
However, it is still unclear when the communications industry will be able to present better business figures of its own again - in whatever form. According to a survey conducted in the fall of 2003, most agencies expect a slight recovery in 2004. The "gut feeling" of BPRA President Ulrich Bollmann also tells him that the bottom has been reached, "the only question is how long it will last".
Swiss PR market: less net turnoverThe BPRA statistics on the agency market in 2003 show that 29 agencies
are included - 26 of which are member agencies. New members are: Peter Bütikofer & Company, Zurich, Freicom, Balgach, Zahner & Partner, St. Gallen, Panta Rhei PR, Amriswil, In Marketing, Schwerzenbach, and Creafactory, Zug.
In 2003, total net fee income fell by 10.7 percent to CHF 73.8 million (2002: CHF 82.7 million). This was after the industry, which had previously been accustomed to growth, had already experienced a decline of
8.7 percent. The number of employees fell from 373 to 335. On the other hand, per capita turnover remained stable at CHF 22,000.
Trimedia and Burson-Marsteller are ranked 2nd and 4th in the current statistics, although they are not allowed to publish their business data for legal reasons (see main text).
In structural terms, the industry normalized somewhat for the first time in 2003: The long-standing dominance of the "Big Five" has waned. Nevertheless, there are still differences between the individual PR agencies.
big differences. While the leader Farner "only" suffered a loss of 12 percent, Wirz Corporate recorded a slump of more than 46 percent.
Contrary to the industry trend, a number of smaller and
medium-sized agencies, such as Freicom (+10.8%),
PR Access (+ 52.8 percent) or Panta Rhei (+ 12.2 percent). BPRA President Ulrich Bollmann explains this with the different organizational forms and core competencies of the individual agencies. In addition, the dependence on individual clients also plays a greater role in the results of medium-sized and smaller agencies. (ps)
Clear-cut: The BPRA ranking shows how Swiss PR companies are performing in the market.
Patrick Steinemann

The new celebrity magazine Schein has been optimized for quick browsing.
"We don't want to be a scene magazine," says Sacha Ercolani about Schein, his new free magazine. That would be nothing new: with Kult, the mother of the Szeneheftli has already morphed into an art magazine. But Ercolani adds: "We're not aiming for cultural or intellectual heights. Schein is more straightforward: Ten minutes of light entertainment for a broad audience is the goal. What's on offer is gossip about the younger Swiss cervelat celebrities.slim, striking, simple
Nevertheless, Schein has adopted something from Kult - the essentialism that advertiser Frank Bodin likes to preach in his Kult column. The magazine is "reduced to the max" in the best sense of the word. It is supposed to have a maximum of 28 pages, ten of which are reserved for advertising. The layout is simple and striking. Red title bars and blue boxed articles lead the reader's eye at high speed over the pages to which pictures of beautiful women have first lured him. The information content is so low that what is read can be forgotten just as quickly. The only exception is the cover story, in the pilot number an interview with ex-Miss Switzerland Jennifer Ann Gerber. It extends over several pages. This tempts the reader in a hurry to wrap up Schein for a possible later reading after all. Or for a second study of Ms. Gerber's photos ...
According to Sacha Ercolani, Schein has got off to a good start. The pilot number from the end of March already contained four and a half advertising pages. The first regular issue - to be published in mid-May - is practically booked out, he says. Since Schein does not have a full-time editorial staff, costs are low. Yet ad sales are not the only profit the creators make from the magazine. It also serves as a platform for their other activities. With his company Ersa Entertainment, Sacha Ercolani is primarily active as a music producer. Among others, for Gewendolin Rich, who has an appearance in the pilot number. The agency Visage, which will launch the "Ford Supermodel of Switzerland" competition in the first edition, will act as partner for reports from the world of models. Party organizer Carl Hirschmann was not only allowed to host Schein's launch event, but also to talk about his recipe for success and his affair with Paris Hilton in the pilot number.
With presenters Shiva Arbabi (Energy Zurich), Cécile Bähler (Viva) and Claudia Lässer (Star TV) as freelancers, Schein also has a cross-media network. Party photos are provided by the nightlife platform Tilllate.ch. A report on the celebrity show "People" on Sat 1 Schweiz also gave rise to a content cooperation for the first issue.
Six times a yearSchein appears six times a year and is distributed free of charge in German-speaking Switzerland. The 50000 copies are available in trendy venues, hotels, cinemas, boutiques, galleries and fitness centers. The main target group for the celebrity magazine is 20 to 35 year olds. The publisher is Ersa Entertainment in Kriens. Behind it is music producer Sacha Ercolani, who produces the magazine on his own. He is supported by a number of freelancers. The price per page in four colors is 5900 Swiss francs.
Lots of red, lots of blue and lots of heads: pilot number from Schein.
Stefano Monachesi

Magazines After an initial print run of 175,000 copies, the second issue of the German monthly magazine Cicero, which will be published on April 29, will only be printed in 1,400,000 copies.9,000 of these will again be sent to the home country of the parent company Ringier, with the newsstand share this time amounting to 5,000 copies. "We received three repeat orders from Switzerland for the April issue," explains publishing director Martin Paff. In addition, the 148-page magazine is now also available at some urban sales outlets in French-speaking Switzerland, as it was at the premiere, and according to Paff, the magazine for political culture is already posting "high four-digit figures" in the subscription section. The response from advertisers is also pleasing, with almost 30 paid advertising pages this time. With Omega and Strellson, Swiss clients are also represented in the current issue for the first time. Paff emphasizes that this is not thanks to Zurich, but rather to the company's own acquisition team.
(oc)

In Switzerland, 43,000 tons of sausages are eaten every year. This consumption is spread across 400 different types of sausage.food This and much more information can be found on the new website www.heinz-unverzichtbar.ch from 1 May. From the "Mitgrillzentrale" to a sausage guide, barbecue rituals, weather forecasts and the most secluded spots, sausage lovers will find all the tips and tricks they need for a barbecue.

Market research Swiss advertising sales rose by 2.5 percent in March. According to the Advertising Index Switzerland, a total of CHF 334.272 million was invested, with significantly more advertising than in March of the previous year in the retail (+17.8%), clothing/shoes (+12.7%), culture/leisure (+24.1%) and consumer electronics/photo/watches (+11.3%) sectors. Savings were made in office supplies (-29%) and administration/politics (-28.2%). The remaining sectors were at most 10 percent above or below the previous year

Internet The dating platform Partnerwinner.ch achieved a "clearly positive result" for the first time in the first quarter of 2004, but according to Tamedia, its subsidiary is in the black because its services became chargeable last October. The end of the free offer only had a minor effect on usage. According to Partnerwinner.ch, traffic fell from 20 to 18 million page impressions per month. The platform currently has 15,000 users.

Health insurance companies How does a health insurance company gain the trust of the customers of a competitor whose management has ripped off millions? Right, by presenting itself as a reputable company - a conclusion that seems logical even to marketing laymen. Not so for the commissioned advertising professionals and the responsible Provita. The former Sulzer company health insurance fund wants to use the fraud scandal involving the KBV management to create as many new dossiers as possible. However, it is trying to achieve this goal in a strange way: "We are attached to your health" - the verb in the slogan alone does not bode well. Of course, this "attached" is intended to create a link to the visual implementation. However, this would have been more credibly captured by a claim such as "We care about your health". After all, the décolleté shown with the Provita pendant raises at least as many questions as the KBV managers have asked francs: What, for example, does the bust size of a leather dominatrix have to do with health? Or is the KBV the official cash register of the horizontal trade? One thing is for sure: if we could insure unpalatable advertising ideas, it would be with Provita.
(sk)

Commuter newspapers The Federal Railways actually wanted to decide by the end of March whether 20 Minuten or Zisch-News (see WW 12/04) would be allowed to use their box locations in Central Switzerland. "It will probably be the end of April," is now the word from SBB. The Neue Luzerner Zeitung (NLZ), which wants to launch Zisch-News, has more information. "SBB has reservations about the exclusivity we want", says Managing Director Jürg Weber, which probably means that SBB is demanding higher fees for exclusive box locations than NLZ is offering. As a result, there is apparently a lot of haggling going on behind the scenes. Because SBB knows full well that 20 Minuten is coming anyway - and with it additional waste costs. Meanwhile, Rolf Bollmann, Managing Director of 20 Minuten, has recovered from the stress of the last-minute box tender. He is confident again and claims to have already "found a solution" regarding the print shop and describes its launch date as a "well-kept secret". In any case, Bollmann says: "We've done our homework."
(mk)

There are many celebrity cookbooks. But only one has been written by an entire family - "Benj's Mahlzeit", a culinary family project by father Helmi Sigg, mother Barbara, son Benjamin and daughter Laura, offering a wide variety of everyday recipes. They were pre-cooked and tested by the son, who is currently doing an apprenticeship as a chef with one of the stars of the guild and collects cookbooks in his spare time. The daughter has garnished the recipes with drawings. Mother took the photos, Helmi designed and produced the book. Available from www.helmisigg.ch/mahlzeit.

Oliver Classen on the positive aspects of the complaints boom.
The two self-regulatory bodies of the Swiss media industry are groaning under "an almost unmanageable workload": both the Fairness Commission and the Press Council recently stated that advertising and newspaper consumers have a veritable appetite for complaints - this is the price of the public attention that the two bodies have sought. This prompts Weltwoche to ask anxiously about the "degeneration" of our (thesis) journalism. And the NZZ suspects that the increasingly intrusive battle for attention in advertisements and articles is making media consumers more irritable.
Both interpretations sound plausible, but fall short and also lead down a false, culturally pessimistic path. Reflexive variations of the industry mantra "decline in quality" immerse the new willingness to protest in a gloomy fog rather than in the clarifying light of the present. One of its key developments and achievements is the seizure of power by customers and buyers - catalyzed by the Internet with its transparency and interactivity.
This new self-confidence clearly does not stop at the consumption of print products and the advertising that finances them. And that is a good thing. Because critical, committed and defensive readers, who no longer put up with every provocation and speculation, are an effective and valuable corrective for our rapidly and sometimes hollowly spinning media system. Those who grumble think for themselves - and in the medium term may be prepared to pay a little more for fair and competent information.
The WochenZeitung, for example, which has never been reprimanded by the Press Council or the Fairness Commission, could benefit from such a trend towards "ethical media consumption". The possibility that its clean slate, as Kurt W. Zimmermann suggests in Weltwoche, is the result of editorial tameness or lameness can be confidently ruled out.
> Oliver Classen, Editor

Cable networks Swisscom is launching a new attack on Cablecom's sinecure: having already tested the distribution of television signals via telephone cable, the telecommunications group is now also launching a range of digital TV channels for cable network operators. "Premium Digital TV" comprises various channel packages that have been put together according to areas of interest or languages. The cable network companies take over all or some of these channels from Swisscom Broadcast and equip their end customers with the necessary decoders.