Photography At the event of Swiss professional photography - "The Selection vfg" - the best are shown.
The Association of Photographic Designers (vfg) organized the competition for the sixth time. 476 works in the categories of advertising photography, editorial photography, fine arts and free with a total of 2700 images were submitted. The best 17 projects will be presented from May 8 to 23 in the exhibition "The Selection vfg" at the EWZ Unterwerk Selnau in Zurich. On the Opening Night on Friday, May 7, the magazine's
Photo Prize in the amount of CHF 10,000. An international jury of experts selected Stephan Schacher and Marcel Grubenmann as finalists in the advertising category.
Commissioned work for magazines
Stephan Schacher was born in Washington, USA in 1965 and now commutes between Zurich and New York, where he has his own studio. After graduating from high school in Lucerne, Stephan Schacher returned to America. The passionate climber first worked as a mountaineering instructor. He later studied Fine Arts & Photography in Passadena, California, where he also completed his Bachelor's degree. He photographed his first commissioned work for magazines such as Interview, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. In Europe, Schachers pictures were first printed in SonntagsZeitung, Magazin, Max and Tempo. Wolfgang Joop, Rita Süssmuth, the Dalai Lama and Christo have all stood in front of his camera for portraits. He has completed various advertising assignments for Coca Cola, UBS, Johnson & Johnson, Deutsche Post, Mercedes Benz and Orange.
Photos should tell stories
Stephan Schacher has traveled to over 30 countries for his photographs, including India, Mexico, South Africa, Bali, Australia, Hong Kong and Greenland. He is a member of the Art Director's Club Switzerland and won bronze in 2000 and gold in 2001 for a public advertisement. He is also considered the photographer of the Swiss national ski team. In 2002, Schacher designed a book with pictures from a trip through Mali, China and Brazil. Since 2002, he has been working on the book project "Cuties and Calories", with 70 portraits and 70 stills on the subject of "Food in the United States". He wants to tell stories with his pictures. For a development aid project, he has been looking for pictures of "poverty, AIDS, but also beauty" in Namibia. These will be exhibited at the Imagehaus gallery in Zurich from June 4.
Schacher's award-winning entries are from an annual report for Linde, a leading German company in the field of refrigeration technology. A portfolio by Stephan Schacher can be found at www.shocker.ch.
Reportage photography
The second finalist, Marcel Grubenmann, worked as a primary school teacher for a short time and became a self-taught photographer in 1986. Even back then, his goal was reportage. Grubenmann worked as an assistant to various photographers, including Leo Meier in Australia. His first own publications followed in a magazine. He then worked for various Swiss editorial offices. He also produced reports and portraits for Geo, Stern and The Sunday Times Magazine. "In contrast to the advertisements, the photos in editorial print products were printed smaller and smaller. What used to be double-page spreads have now become letterboxes," says Marcel Grubenmann, explaining his switch to PR and advertising. He has been working in this sector since 1990 and is "very enthusiastic about how the photos are handled much better here, for example with a more careful layout". What he appreciates about advertising is the conceptual collaboration with the client and customer. Grubenmann: "When photographers are 'only' briefed by artbuying, they know too little, as too much information is lost along the way." Genuine key visuals would be created if something was also conveyed to the customer between the lines.
Photos should stimulate thought
Grubenmann mainly works on annual reports and image campaigns for clients such as UBS, SUISA, Nestlé and DuPont. He also "invests" in his own projects. These should be as visually dense as possible "far from time and cost pressure". Since 1996, Grubenmann has been creating an image of Switzerland seen through the symbolic lens of parades, demonstrations and processions - a portrait of a "country in a spirit of optimism, full of movement and visual wit."
Grubenmann's award-winning entry for Selection shows photos of faraway countries and exotic people. "Today, television does this work for us photographers," he says. However, this has finally freed him from only showing what is in the picture. "Now I can condense, omit and draw attention." His photos should not only entice you to look, but also make you think.
For the visual appearance of the UBS Optimus Foundation, he suggested a red desk as a symbol for children and education. To illustrate the current annual report, he spent three weeks traveling in South Africa with his local companion Siphiue. "Despite extensive research, I relied primarily on conversations on the road when looking for locations." He was looking for places and young people that are typical of South Africa and characteristic of the foundation's commitment. Marcel Grubenmann's portfolio can be viewed at www.grubenmann.biz.
Images for annual reports of a refrigeration technology company by Stephan Schacher (left) and a foundation active in South Africa by Marcel Grubenmann.
The photos are intended to tell stories and stimulate thought.
Andreas Panzeri

Portfolio The Basel-based transport and logistics company Gondrand is the latest addition to Zahnzimmermannfankhauser's client list, and the Zurich-based advertising agency came out on top against several competitors in a multi-stage presentation. It was commissioned by Gondrand to develop and implement a brochure concept. Following an agency evaluation, the traditional Swiss company Lahco Bade-moden also opted for Zahnzimmermannfankhauser.

In the "Poster of the Year" competition - organized by the Federal Department of Home Affairs together with the APG - the jury did not award a main prize this year, explaining that none of the works submitted were able to meet the high standards, said jury president Lorette Coen, explaining the unanimous decision. The economically uncertain year 2003 had clearly left its mark on the advertising industry. A large number of companies had reduced their budgets and merely adopted existing concepts instead of launching new campaigns. This has led to a decline in the number of subjects submitted and has also had a negative impact on the wealth of ideas.

Balance sheets Espace Media Groupe increased its consolidated profit in 2003 by 2.8 percent to 23.2 million francs, thanks to favorable influences in the non-operational area, as the Bern-based media group announced. The operating result (EBIT) fell by 10.8 percent to 22 million francs, sales by 5.9 percent to 219.2 million francs. At the same time, operating expenses fell by 5.4 percent. The detailed annual report will be published at the end of May.

Business models The bankruptcy of Cracks for Kids raises questions about cooperation with long-term partnersThe facts are well-known and alarming: the children's Sunday newspaper Cracks for Kids (CfK), launched by ex-Tamedia publishing manager René Gehrig with a lot of passion, equity and partner goodwill, ran out of steam after just three months. A flop with a signal effect, because in the current risk- and innovation-hostile press market, financial and idealistic key supporters are becoming increasingly existential, especially for niche projects. The Internet magazine Anthrazit has just proved this once again, so the question remains: were the three long-term partners Migros, Zurich Insurance and Media Markt, which were widely advertised in advance and suggested stability, unable or unwilling to prevent this crash? In view of 900 bruised subscribers - some of whom were recruited by Zurich representatives - and an already unsettled advertising industry, the end certainly casts Gehrig's mentors in a bad light.
No deficit guarantors
"As is usual with sponsorship contracts, we had no insight into the books," explains Claudia Haueter, Deputy Head of Marketing Communications at Migros. The hiring decision also came as an "extreme surprise" to her. For the investment in the first quarter - almost CHF 100,000 according to Werbewoche research - the company received the agreed equivalent value, "which is the end of the matter for us". Haueter has learned from this short commitment, which was deducted from the national advertising budget, "that we should probably have contributed too much oxygen to the 'snuff' of this interesting but obviously underfunded project from the outset".
Media Markt and Zurich Insurance, which support the annual budget of around four million francs to the same extent, have also come to this conclusion. Through their distribution of CfK, however, they have paid a higher image price than Migros. They defend themselves against the accusation that they also use quarterly thinking in sponsoring and dropped Gehrig too quickly. "Booking advertising space for a year in advance doesn't guarantee a deficit, even if that's how it might have been understood from the outside," clarifies Media Markt CEO Guido Renggli. Zurich spokesperson Olivier Michel agrees and adds: "It was not us, but the publisher who drew the consequences from the disappointing figures." In other words: The contractually stipulated exit clause was not applied.
The CfK father was certainly not deliberately misleading his sponsors. Nevertheless, the rhetorical plussing of three simple annual bookings with an option to extend until the end of 2006 raised false expectations in some quarters. Conversely, the advertising market is increasingly demanding certain minimal guarantees. Innovators therefore have no choice but to play their cards close to their chest.
And what did Gehrig learn from his crash landing? That "in addition to guaranteed advertising space, many extra support measures are needed. That's the only way it works today" - if it works.
In the bin: The end of Cracks for Kids shatters dreams that sponsors would have to rescue a print product from a crisis.

Oliver Classen

Museum The Swiss Museum of Transport is launching a campaign by Soldini Bienenfeld to raise its profile and increase visitor numbers Everyone knows it, but very few people think of visiting it again: the Swiss Museum of Transport (VHS) in Lucerne. However, this sobering conclusion from visitor surveys is only one reason for the decline in admissions over the years. "Both the number of museums and the range of leisure activities on offer have increased," says Beat Heuberger, Head of Marketing at the VHS, explaining the problem. With around 720000 visitors last year, the Swiss Museum of Transport remained the most visited museum in Switzerland despite a decline of a good 14 percent. The sharp decline is partly due to the summer of the century, but the VHS also recorded record figures in the Expo year 2002. Zurich wins against Lucerne
Beat Heuberger is convinced that the decline in visitor numbers can be reversed. Indications of this are the evaluations of the first quarter of 2004, which show "very positive signs". The VHS intends to promote a long-term turnaround through the innovative product itself and with marketing measures. The latter are to be covered by a brand campaign, the budget for which was put out to tender last year. The concept from the Zurich agency Soldini Bienenfeld won out against competition from the city of lights.
The new claim "Swiss Museum of Transport. Open for explorers" is intended to remind Mr. and Mrs. Swiss that they can find answers to questions about transport, mobility and communication at the VHS. The creative duo Frank Bienenfeld and Mark Soldini used these questions as the basis for the seven poster subjects and four TV commercials. While the implementation in print is rather corporate, the films appeal to the laugh muscles: People from the street are asked to explain a technical phenomenon. Simple questions such as "What is the difference between analog and digital?" quickly stump the initially self-confident interviewees. In print, the creatives refrain from repeatedly depicting the people. Instead, they illustrate the questions with everyday objects as eye-catchers.
New sponsors, new power This kind of umbrella campaign is unique in the history of the SMT. Whereas previously - for financial reasons - advertising was only project-related, the new sponsorship partners SBB, Swisscom, APG and SRG enable both the production and distribution of the measures. A similar campaign before the contracts were signed at the end of last year would have been just a drop in the ocean, as Heuberger explains.
The Swiss Museum of Transport also managed without public funding until the early 1990s. However, the deteriorating economic situation, the decline in tourism in Switzerland and the growing range of leisure activities put the VHS under severe pressure. Since 1993, the canton and city of Lucerne as well as the federal government have been subsidizing the museum's operations. However, at around two million francs a year, these only account for ten percent of the annual income. The VHS continues to generate the rest itself. A motion submitted to the Council of States in 2003 calls for the Federal Council to include the VHS in the Musée Suisse Group's concept. The SMT is to be entrusted with the collection and communication of cultural heritage from the areas of mobility/transport and communication and this mandate is to be enshrined in the draft federal law on a foundation for the Swiss National Museum. However, a lot of water will still be flowing down the Reuss before a corresponding regulation is in place.
Swiss Museum of Transport The idea of creating a transport museum was born in connection with the 1939 national exhibition in Zurich. In 1942, the Swiss Museum of Transport Association was founded in Zurich - still the sponsor and operator of the VHS today. However, the museum projects could not be realized either in the city of Zurich or in the surrounding area.
In 1950, the city of Lucerne made the current site available to the association free of charge. Nine years later, the VHS opened its doors. Around 80 percent of the construction of the facility was financed by federal funds. In the following years, the VHS expanded its range of services to include
various halls and attractions. Today, the Swiss Museum of Transport comprises the museum section and the commercially operated area, which includes the Imax movie theater, the Highflyer stand-up balloon, the museum store and the restaurants. (sk)
"Open for explorers": The Swiss Museum of Transport answers everyday questions.
Answering everyday questions: How the Swiss Museum of Transport wants to attract more visitors again >> page 8
Simone Keller

Aids love games with a condom, represented by pictograms: These posters mark the start of the 2004 Stop AIDS campaign. Unfortunately, the use of condoms is still not a matter of course in the red-light district, according to the Federal Office of Public Health. The aim of the campaign is therefore to encourage clients to use condoms consistently. The idea with the pictograms was conceived by cR, Basel.

Magazine Swiss is not emerging from the turbulence. This is having an impact on its customer magazine. "Swiss increases load factor", "Swiss jets better filled": these were the headlines about Swiss passenger statistics in the first quarter of 2004. The reports are also positive for Swiss Magazine, the Swiss airline's in-flight magazine. Nevertheless, the reach potential of the magazine, which is published ten times a year, is declining. Last year, Swiss carried 10.7 million passengers, this year it is likely to be around 1.5 million fewer. At 2.1 million, the first quarter was already 19 percent down on the same period last year. The reason: the improved Swiss load factor was primarily achieved by reducing the fleet and canceling routes. Consequently, the circulation of the Swiss Magazine was reduced by 23 percent (see below right).
Reluctant advertisers
"The headwind increased once again in 2004," says Marcel Wernli, referring to the falling passenger numbers, the economic situation and the investigation into former Swiss CEO André Dosé. Wernli is Managing Director and owner of Swiss Inflight Media (SIM), an agency in Basel that exclusively publishes the Swiss Magazine and all other
Swiss' in-flight media offering. Despite the turbulence at Swiss, Wernli does not sense any customer rejection of Swiss or its magazine. "They are not negative, but more cautious. Long-term advertising bookings have decreased," he says.
Nevertheless, Wernli sees a glimmer on the horizon: if the advertising market recovers in the second half of the year, Swiss's membership of One World is resolved, the discussions about the loan for the airline come to an end and no new turbulence arises, "then we are confident".
Nevertheless, according to Wernli, 2003 was "contrary to expectations, a very good year. Swiss was profitable with its magazine." In fact, SIM was still expecting to be in the red a year ago. "We had a lot of international campaigns and benefited from the fact that Swiss companies do a relatively large amount of business abroad," says Wernli, explaining the positive result. He puts the 2003 advertising volume of the magazine at 260 pages. "One
higher added value" was also generated by four-page publicity reports, which were introduced for the first time last year. This year, however, Wernli is only expecting a "marginally profitable" result.
Adjustments to Swiss change
The Swiss in-flight ambient media segment, which accounts for around 40 percent of SIM's gross revenue, is currently facing a reorientation. Simply because food on board Swiss is no longer free of charge, SIM has to adapt its offer accordingly. Another reason is the loss of destinations. "This will have an impact in this area
lead to price reductions," says Wernli. In return, however, he wants to align ambient media more flexibly and better to target groups (Economy, Business, First Class) and to European and international flights in future.
Falling circulation, stronger applauseWhen it was launched two years ago, Swiss Magazine had a circulation of 120,000 copies (double issue: 160,000 copies). A year ago, it was increased to 130000 and 180000 copies respectively.
Since the beginning of 2004, only 100000/130000 copies have been printed. The print run is not Wemf-certified and does not appear in the Mach-Basic.
However, the bilingual magazine (German/English) takes part in the European Media Study (EMS), which is carried out every two years. The 2002 study showed that Swiss Magazine had 290000 readers on European flights and 110000 readers on international flights. The average reading time was 26 minutes. Swiss Magazine is also the winner of the Best of Corporate
Publishing 2003: It was voted the best German-language customer magazine in the tourism and lifestyle industry group. A four-color advertising page currently costs 23,000 francs gross. (mk)
New boss at Swiss Inflight MediaRoger D. Müller, the previous Managing Director of Swiss Inflight Media (SIM), left the company on April 16 to pursue a new career. Marcel Wernli (photo), the sole owner of SIM, has now taken over the reins. Another new member of the SIM acquisition team is Hans Maurer, former Crossair sales manager. Another person is still being sought.
In addition to SIM, Marcel Wernli owns Inflight Media Marketing AG (IMM), based in Basel, which exclusively represents around 60 airline magazines in Switzerland. Clients include the magazines of Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Indian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Egypt Air, American Airlines and Air Canada. (mk)
Showpiece: Swiss's in-flight magazine is regarded as the industry leader.
Markus Knöpfli

Cooperation The commuter newspaper 20 Minuten has commissioned Swisscontent with the production of its "Business" section as of May 1. In view of the new cooperation, the content provider has strengthened its team of around 20 people with two experienced news and business journalists. The business pages form an important part of 20 Minuten, according to a press release. In terms of readership, they followed immediately after the general news.

Column To achieve mass media presence, our servants of the people sometimes seem to use any means at their disposal. In the case of Dosé, even that of pre-information or misinformation. On March 7, 2004, almost to the day, it was the second time that a leading Swiss personality had stumbled across an article in SonntagsBlick. In spring 2001, the then Swiss ambassador in Berlin, Thomas Borer, was recalled by his superior, Federal Councillor Josef Deiss, head of the FDFA, following a SoBli report on an alleged affair. This time it was the CEO of Swiss, André Dosé, whose confidence was withdrawn by his Board of Directors. The day before, the paper had reported that an investigation was being launched against Dosé over the crash of a Crossair plane in November 2001, and this time, too, the headlines fell on fertile ground, particularly in Berne: According to newspaper reports, it was Peter Siegenthaler, head of the Federal Finance Administration, who took the initiative on the Swiss Board of Directors that ultimately led to Dosé's departure.
It is well known that authorities and politicians are compliant tools of the media. The Dosé case also showed in an alarming way how uncontrolled chatter comes out of the mouths of federal and national councillors as soon as a microphone or camera is within reach.
For example, CVP President Doris Leuthard told the "10vor10" reporter that Dosé's departure was connected "with the accident in Überlingen". (Two planes collided there in 2003, which had nothing whatsoever to do with either Crossair or Swiss). Meanwhile, her SVP council colleague Hans Kaufmann spoke of the fact that "criminal charges have been brought against Mr. Dosé ad personam", although at the time of his statement it was not even certain whether an investigation would take place. (Incidentally, no criminal charges have been filed to date.) And FDP Federal Councillor Hans-Rudolf Merz even dared to make the bold claim that the departure of the Swiss CEO - in the midst of his company's fight for survival - was "a good step".
So instead of moaning about the evil tabloids that have claimed another innocent victim, as is usual in such cases, it is better to ask who the perpetrators are here. Is it the media, which brings an issue to the fore and may lack professional competence and distance? Or the politicians, who are on the spot with (pre-)quick statements without any precise expertise, just to catch a few headlines or moments in front of the camera? In this case, it seems clear that the politicians have caused by far the greater damage because they have once again undermined their credibility.
The Swiss Board of Directors has now also learned that being compliant with the media does not pay off. What was meant to be a liberating move turned into a boomerang: the supervisory body was scourged up and down the country for hastily triggering the departure of its own CEO without a credible replacement. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung put it in a nutshell with the statement: "Short circuit".
However, it would also be short-sighted to take the Dosé case as proof that the media's influence on politics and business must always be negative. The current discussion about exorbitant management salaries shows that the opposite is also possible. When Credit Suisse Group, for example, announces that it will no longer be offering salary incentives in the form of options in future, it shows that it sees the media as a sensor.
takes the public's feelings and displeasure seriously.
Conclusion: Dealing with the media correctly is a balancing act. It requires judgment and backbone. Board members and politicians who lack this quickly turn from perpetrators into victims of the media. Through their own fault.
Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency Contract Media. He provided André Dosé with communications support during the start-up phase of Swiss and when he announced his resignation.

Magazine "Everyone has a monopoly on their own view of the world", write ex-FAZ edelweiss Florian Illies and Amélie von Heydebreck in the first edition of their eponymous magazine for art and life (starting circulation of 50,000 copies). Of the 132 pages in total, without sections and columns, around 25 are probably paid for. Most of them are paid for by auction houses and galleries. Consequently, the majority of the elegantly written and styled stories are dedicated to their products and protagonists.

Corporate Publishing Beauty Alliance Schweiz AG is a group of around 50 companies from the perfumery sector (pharmacies and drugstores), and to optimize its corporate communications, Beauty Alliance Schweiz commissioned Denon Publizistik to redesign the women's magazine "Beauty Look", which has been in existence for around a year. The magazine is now published under the name "BeautyLife" and highlights current trends in the beauty industry. BeautyLife is published three times a year with a print run of 50,000 copies for direct mailing and four times a year with a print run of 2,500,000 copies, with 200,000 magazines being enclosed with Schweizer Illustrierte.