Marketer PubliGroupe achieved a net profit of over CHF 55 million in 2003, turning the Lausanne-based advertising group around after a loss of CHF 30 million in 2002 despite a 10 percent drop in sales to CHF 1.936 billion. Among other things, cost reductions and job cuts contributed to this, which enabled all operating areas to be in the black. The financial result was also very positive. (See also page 21/22.)

Oliver Classen on the "Ebayization" of advertising marketingEven if no exorbitant bids are received: It is certainly an ingenious PR coup that the small Munich-based digital TV station Hollywood Cinema is selling its advertising time to the highest bidders. It uses the world's most iconic and efficient marketplace as its channel: the online auction empire known as Ebay.
In this way, the German star TV equivalent not only bypasses the notoriously commission-hungry professional marketers; the supposed amateur also saves himself all official customer meetings and any
unofficial discount poker. Instead, the cheeky newcomer, which has also been available via satellite since mid-January, cleverly practices and propagates full price transparency.
But that's not all: Hollywood Cinema also uses the monopoly medium of the new popular sport for the ultimate market-oriented pricing of its spot packages and placements.
Of course: (budget) necessity is the mother of invention, even in advertising marketing. In the print country of Switzerland, however, the auction process has been around for a good three years. However, only in an institutionalized form - i.e. with
limited access - and only for the press and internet sectors. And since publishers are (still) exercising noble restraint, the auction service of Publimedia's "Admarketplace" has so far remained ineffective and meaningless.
Whether Ebay or Hollywood Cinema will be more successful
remains to be seen, of course. Nevertheless, local radio and TV marketers seem well advised to prophylactically implement appropriate
design their own platforms. Otherwise they could end up in the same position tomorrow as publishers are in today with classified ads. After all, the migration to the Internet knows no media boundaries. In this respect, the Munich auction campaign could even have a double signal effect
for potential imitators and victims.
> Oliver Classen, Editor

Corporate PublishingOnce again this year, Forum Corporate Publishing (FCP) surveyed its 50 or so members in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on the development of the industry and their assessment of the market. For two-thirds of the publishing companies surveyed, expectations for 2003 have been met. For 2004, 40 percent expect good prospects, while 47 percent anticipate average business and sales development. In Switzerland, such developments usually occur with a slight delay, FCP comments. "Corporate publishing has not suffered the same abrupt slump in Switzerland," explains Viviane Egli, Swiss board member of the Forum. A reactivation is already noticeable here in Switzerland. The pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, as well as banking and finance, are predicted to have the greatest potential. A detailed analysis of the survey in PDF format is available at www.forum-corporate-publishing.de.

Advertising statistics The advertising statistics for the Swiss press for January use the new, more detailed typology for the first time, with the large and medium-sized daily newspapers continuing their steep decline of 9.2 percent and 8.4 percent respectively in the new year. The small daily newspapers lost only 0.6 percent and the Sunday press 19.0 percent, with the discontinuation of Dimanche.ch having a significant impact. Overall, the volume of newspapers fell by 7.3%. By contrast, the general press reported growth of 9.2 percent. High gains were achieved by magazines and the program press in French-speaking Switzerland (78.3% and 50.0% respectively). In contrast, German-language products in the news and themed press and women's magazines increased by 16.7% and 16.1% respectively.

Regional TV The marketer Radiotele has updated its documentation on regional TVs and the tariff documentation for the first half of 2004 is now available as a PDF file or in printed form. It can be ordered at www.radiotele.ch in the Online Services section or downloaded from the web in the TV section.

TV advertising Advertisers are satisfied with the service provided by marketers. But not with the politicians. "The medium of television has improved in terms of services for advertisers," says SWA Director Jürg Siegrist. Gabriela Böcker-Flamm from Mediacom agrees: "TV has seen some positive changes." Ueli Custer, Managing Director of the Interessengemeinschaft elektronische Medien (Igem), also notes a "relatively high level of satisfaction" between TV providers and media agencies, as the latest version of the SWA's annually published list of demands shows: The wish list for the medium of television has become shorter. And the demands are primarily directed at politicians, hardly at TV providers. With one exception: the SWA would like to see SRG TV sponsorship and advertising from a single source - from the TV marketer Publisuisse. Today, TV sponsorship is managed by the SRG broadcasters themselves. But no one doubts that the SWA's wish will soon be fulfilled - by former Publisuisse director Ingrid Deltenre, who is now at the helm of SF DRS.
Proximity to the program desired
Böcker-Flamm also doubles down with a request to private broadcasters: They should use their scope for special forms of advertising such as product placement, "which are closer to the program", more creatively, she says.
The SWA has removed one item from its list of demands: A year ago, it had expected private TVs and advertising windows to provide a performance guarantee similar to that of Publisuisse. The reason: "The deviations between the forecast and reality are clearly too high for individual providers." The price-performance ratio suffers as a result. Today Siegrist waves this away: "This is no longer a top priority. The private providers have improved and also offer guarantees." Although the forecasts are no more reliable, the compensation (freespace) has become more generous, he says.
The SWA's biggest concern remains politics - with demands on the RTVA, which is currently being revised. Siegrist is calling for a redefinition of the public service - i.e. fee splitting. He wants more liberal regulations for advertising for beer and wine. "It is absurd that Feldschlösschen beer, which belongs to the Danish Carlsberg Group, is not allowed to advertise on Swiss TV stations, while the Carlsberg beer brand can be broadcast on German stations." However, special forms of advertising such as virtual advertising or split screens should also be permitted.
Another SWA criticism is directed at French-speaking Switzerland, where "private cable network operators, supported by the SRG, are successfully resisting the activation of M6 and other advertising windows". Siegrist: "Additional advertising opportunities are needed in French-speaking Switzerland. At peak times, such as now before the Motor Show, TSR's advertising space in prime time is too limited."
According to the SWA Director, radio and TV research also has a lot to do: It should be separated from the SRG and transferred to a foundation, as proposed as part of the revision of the RTVA. The SWA would like to have a say in the foundation in question. Siegrist expects progress on all these demands soon.
Igem has completely different concerns: it is keeping an eye on the possible effects of timeshift TV (time-shifted television) - via devices that are already available or via the TV program access via ADSL planned by Swisscom. Ueli Custer explains: "In collaboration with Publica Data and the SRG research service, we have commissioned a study that will examine the spread of these new communication technologies on an annual basis from now on."
Markus Knöpfli

Award Atelier Hürlimann & Friends, Stäfa, was included in the 2004 Yearbook of Advertising with a sponsorship campaign.Hürlimann & Friends accompanied the commitment of the hearing technology company Phonak to the Alinghi sailing team. Since its foundation at the beginning of 2000, the studio has already made it into the yearbook three times, which has been collecting outstanding advertising in German-speaking countries since 1964.

Media policy Large publishing houses should continue to be allowed to operate radio and TV stations.media policy Large publishing houses should continue to be allowed to operate radio and TV stations. The Swiss Press Association is calling for the articles on media concentration to be removed from the draft of the new Radio and TV Act. It backs this up with an expert opinion drawn up by media law expert Peter Nobel. The St. Gallen University professor comes to the conclusion that the draft partially lacks a constitutional basis.

Publishers In recent months, some major Swiss media companies have decided to switch from Apple's Macintosh to the Windows platform.Publishers In recent months, some major Swiss media companies have decided to switch from Apple's Macintosh to the Windows platform. However, the fact that it is still too early to throw the apple on the compost heap will be demonstrated by Apple at the "Driven by
Design". On March 29 from 10:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., the computer company and partners such as Adobe and Quark will be presenting their solutions for design and publishing professionals. Further information and a registration form can be found at www.apple.com/chde/pro

Moviegoers The cinema industry has no fear of the permitted parallel imports of DVDs, even though the official moviegoer statistics for 2003 will not be published until the end of February: A decline in the order of 1.8 million compared to the record year 2002 with 18.8 million visitors is practically certain. This is confirmed by René Gerber, Managing Director of ProCinema, the umbrella organization of the cinema and distribution industry. These figures include the open-air festivals, which boomed last year, and the decline is not surprising
While the NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) of February 8 linked the decline to the enormous increase in DVD sales and predicted further declines - in particular due to the parallel DVD imports that will be permitted in the future - the cinema industry itself has a more relaxed view of last year's decline. "The fact that last year did not match the record set in 2002 is neither surprising nor worrying in view of the hot summer and the range of films on offer," says Cinecom Managing Director Matthias Luchsinger. "With James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman and Harry Potter, 2002 simply had more cinema highlights to offer than 2003."
Growth expected
Gerber from ProCinema cites another reason: Cinema sales are recorded on a weekly basis. This means that a cinema year does not necessarily last from January 1 to December 31. For this reason, the 2002 cinema year had 53 recording weeks instead of the usual 52, which is relevant because a particularly large number of visitors - up to one million, according to Gerber - are counted in the New Year's Eve week. "If we were to deduct 500,000 visitors in 2002 and allocate them to 2001 or 2003, the statistics would look completely different," says Gerber. He therefore warned against comparing the development only with the previous year. There had already been a 10 percent drop in 1992, and yet visitor numbers had risen steadily (see graph). Luchsinger agrees, and expects another increase of five to six percent this year.
Nevertheless, the question remains as to the impact of future parallel imports. Gerber believes this will be minimal, as the cinema and film industry has agreed with retailers that DVDs of new cinema films will only be released some time after the theatrical release. Luchsinger is also confident: "The advertising for a film starts with its theatrical release, not with the parallel import." That's why the following still applies: "A movie that flops in the cinema won't work on DVD either." Moreover, cinema is a communal experience that cannot be imitated at home.
Cinema becomes cheaperThe takeover of Mediavision Switzerland by Cinecom makes the medium of cinema cheaper. There will be no price changes in German-speaking Switzerland, but prices will be 4.3% lower in French-speaking Switzerland. This also applies to bookings throughout Switzerland and when booking pools in French-speaking Switzerland. The existing Cinecom pools will remain in place, but have been supplemented with the corresponding Mediavision cinemas. Handling will be easier for national and local customers, as they will be able to book their film and slide campaigns in 475 Swiss cinemas via
customers will have a single point of contact with standardized prices. Mediapresse Pub SA, Mediavision's previous marketer, will manage the entire Swiss Cinecom portfolio for customers in French-speaking Switzerland. National orders already booked that extend beyond February 16 will be recalculated by Cinecom. (mk)
DVDs can't make up for the shared movie theater feeling.
Markus Knöpfli

Regional TV In Switzerland, the conquest of the audience continues. The gap is widening: while the audience for regional language channels and channels broadcasting from abroad hardly changed its TV menu in 2003, the local and regional TV offerings continue to gain audiences to a marked degree. However, Switzerland is divided when it comes to local television. While viewer numbers boomed in German-speaking Switzerland last year, individual broadcasters in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino even suffered declining figures, while the nationwide upward trend in German-speaking Switzerland was characterized by a robustness that indicates that the potential in the local TV markets is far from exhausted. TeleZüri saw the biggest increase, with a record gain of 26,200 viewers and a new audience of 50,3200 (average net reach). Second place in terms of audience growth goes to TeleOstschweiz (TVO), which nevertheless remains the weakest-performing station within the TeleNewsCombi (TNC) with an additional 18800 viewers to 99200.
The other top growth rates last year also went to the younger children of the Swiss-German local television landscape. This is proof that there is still considerable potential for them to catch up. TeleTop, for example, was able to increase its audience by over 16% within a year, gaining 14,100 viewers. At TeleBasel, the additional 15400 viewers led to an increase of over 15 percent. TeleTell was also one of the fast-growing offerings, with a double-digit percentage increase of 14900 viewers.
Seniors grow more slowly
On the other hand, some of the more mature channels did not increase quite as rapidly last year. Nevertheless, Tele M1's gain of 10,600 additional viewers indicates that there is still considerable potential for expansion. The same applies to TeleBärn, which was able to increase its audience by 5200 people in 2003.
There is no sign of the same consistent upward trend that has been seen in German-speaking Switzerland in the other two language regions. In French-speaking Switzerland, where the local television scene has gained much less of a foothold, Léman Bleu (LMB) has recorded a loss of 6900 viewers. This represents a striking loss of over 22% for the station, which is threatened with closure. A small consolation is the gain of the neighboring station TV Région Lausanne (TVRL), which has managed to increase its audience by 1800 people. Nevertheless, with a current total of 25,300 viewers, this channel also lags far behind the performance of the local German-speaking Swiss stations.
TeleTicino also performed less well. Contrary to the widespread upward trend, the station managed by Telesuisse President Filippo Lombardi also went into decline, losing a total of 1,300 viewers.
In one of the key indicators, the average time spent per viewer, all channels differ equally from one another. This value fluctuates between an outstanding 22.7 minutes for the leader station TeleZüri and a miserable 3.2 minutes for Léman Bleu, which documents the strength of the anchoring in the viewing habits of the target group like no other.
Discrepancy in visual fidelity
Overall, the Swiss-German broadcasters have consistently shown muscle in terms of usage intensity over the past year. The four stations TeleZüri, Tele M1, TeleTell and TeleBasel succeeded in retaining their audience for more than an additional minute. Only two local television stations in the whole of Switzerland have to report a decline in viewer loyalty. TVO lost 2.5 minutes to 8.9 minutes. LMB, which was already poorly used, fell by 1.6 minutes to a meagre 3.2 minutes.
The strikingly wide range in average usage also indicates that the coordination efforts between the individual broadcasters are far from complete. Only with comparable usage patterns can the local broadcasters gain further persuasive power in the marketing of their combined offerings.
"Lifestyle", "Swissdate" and "ZüriNews" (from left to right): TeleZüri's programs are at the top of the regional TV audience's favorites.

Daniel Schifferle

Barbla C. Schaerer is a new member of the management team at Trimedia Communications Switzerland.In her new job, Barbla C. Schaerer has already completed three pitches and new business meetings after the first few days. Yet the 35-year-old has only been Managing Director of Trimedia, Zurich, since the beginning of February. To this end, she strengthens the agency in the specialist areas of corporate communications, brand communications, public affairs and crisis communications. She is also responsible for the acquisition of new clients in these areas and is in charge of strategic planning and consulting for various large mandates.Previously, Barbla - the name comes from the Rhaeto-Romanic language - spent three years as a member of the management team at Farner PR. She worked for Frei & Partner for six years, where she was also a member of the management team and a partner.
At Trimedia, she also particularly likes the networking of the Swiss and the European. "You can really say Trimedia is the only agency with its own European network." Through its locations in Germany, Austria, France, as well as Belgium, it manages many mandates together. In addition, she likes the corporate culture at Trimedia. They represent the partnership values of a "network of friends.
The bridge-building qualities between analyzing, designing strategies, deepening messages, creating understanding, and working well with customers and employees: These are the tasks that interest Barbla C. Schaerer in her profession.
On the other hand, she loves entrepreneurship. "I like to make a difference and take responsibility."
Even when she was studying, she wanted to bring these two worlds together. She studied economics and psychology at the University of Zurich and graduated with a licentiate. But she also attended lectures in history, journalism and political science and, as a "holistic person," found this time very enriching. She later became a manager and financed most of her studies herself. At the asylum organization in Zurich, she looked after Bosnian refugees from concentration camps. "That was formative in human terms."
Perhaps it also fits with bringing the different worlds together that Barbla C. Schaerer is interested in falconry and attended a course with falcons, goshawks and golden eagles. Or enjoys driving vintage cars as a hobby. "If something interests me, then I feel the need to implement it."
This behavioral pattern had already shaped her in childhood, she says. "I learned early on that if I wanted something, I had to do something about it.
Today, Barbla C. Schaerer is also Vice President of the European Association of Political Consultants (EAPC). Among other things, this association organizes a large conference once a year with presentations on the latest campaigns, political communication and lobbying. "Basically, there is a public affairs aspect to many mandates," she says.
She can also perfect this on the board of the Griffith Club. This supports young footballers at GC, but is also a networking platform.
"Social skills are very important to me," says Barbla C. Schaerer, who is also a mentor at the University of St. Gallen, where she supervises a young student.
"In addition, silence in the broadest sense is also important to me," reveals Barbla C. Schaerer, who practices Tai Chi and meditates in her spare time.
Barbla C. Schaerer brings different worlds together.
Andreas Panzeri