Direct mandate The personal care group Braun has entrusted BBDO with its global creative account without a pitch. Braun originally wanted to invite account holder Lowe, London, and Ogilvy & Mather to a competitive presentation, as reported by the US industry service Adweek. After Lowe declined to participate, the pitch was canceled. At BBDO, the New York office is taking the strategic lead. AMV BBDO in London and BBDO Düsseldorf are also involved in the creation.

Obituary Hans Dubach, a personality in Swiss advertising, is dead. A tribute by Peter Leutenegger* It was only in December that it became known that Hans Dubach had died on October 8, 2003 at the age of seventy. The former owner of the Dubach advertising agency in Wallisellen, now FCB Leutenegger Krüll, was one of the most colorful figures in Swiss advertising for over two decades. Unconventionally straightforward and fighting against every trend, he was able to make his mark time and again in the early years of his career. His credo, "when the advertisers say that's the way to do it, I do exactly the opposite", hardly earned him any recognition in the relevant advertising circles. But he did receive some praise from his clients at the time, as well as the realization that there are probably also anti-recipes for well-functioning advertising.
The successful Bico twins with their "tüüfa gsundä Schlaaf", still fondly remembered by some, came from his creative kitchen, as did the shirt-sleeved campaign for the cabinetmaker Hermann Zürcher from Bassersdorf with his slogan "Ich bi immer no no da". And one of his best campaigns at the time was the green dachshund Eugen for the Grundig brand. A dog with character, wit and a good dose of impertinence - just like his inventor.
Headstrong agency patriarch
Hans Dubach often referred to himself as "en Buur", which he was not, but to whose down-to-earth and woodcut-like thinking he felt strongly drawn. Indeed, he flirted with his rural streak and skillfully staged it in presentations and appearances. The fact that he was able to differentiate himself even more clearly from the scene advertisers, who were so alien to him, increased his pleasure. And former assistants can tell you a thing or two about the fact that these legendarily staged performances by the agency patriarch were not always easy to sit through.
Hans Dubach retired from advertising at the beginning of the nineties. Abruptly, definitively and without a farewell tour. Surprising for some, understandable for those who knew him better, just staged.
Hans Dubach was one of the great personalities in the history of Swiss advertising and left hardly anyone indifferent during his almost thirty years as an advertiser. His death revives these memories. What remains is a faint smile at what we experienced together.
* Peter Leutenegger, co-owner of the agency FCB Leutenegger Krüll.

Agency Lowe GGK Vienna brings all wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Lowe network in Eastern Europe under its umbrella, with the Lowe agencies in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland now reporting directly to the Vienna management. According to the industry service Horizont.at, this makes Lowe GGK Vienna the largest Lowe agency on the European continent.

Weekly newspaper The editorial team of Cracks for Kids, the weekly children's newspaper, is once again complete after several quick departures shortly after its launch, with editor-in-chief Mario Aldrovandi and previous editors Claudia Imfeld and Martin Müller being joined by Corinne Bünzli, Vesna Stimac, Beat Michel, Mike Weibel, Ewald Mathys, Dino Caracciolo and René Zeyer. On March 1, Georges Müller will join the team and take over René Zeyer's position after a transitional period. Marc Bodmer (Multimedia), Valeska Jannsen (Consumer Corner) and Marianne Siegenthaler (Mirror) also join the Sunday newspaper for children and young people as permanent members of staff.

Award Guye Benker's opinion campaign for the Tages-Anzeiger has been chosen as the winner in the Media and Communication section of the 2004 Advertising Yearbook, making the Zurich agency the only Swiss winner in this year's section. The yearbook has been documenting outstanding work in German-speaking countries since 1964. Inclusion in the publication is decided by a jury of experts.

This first comprehensive handbook for doctors and clinic managers presents advertising laws and bans just as clearly as medical market research methods or the psychology of patient behavior.> Marketing and advertising in medicine. Successful strategies
for practice and hospital by Frank Elste. Springer Verlag, Vienna 2004. 372 pages, 74 Fr.

Motorrad Suzuki Switzerland made the villain the star of its motorcycle advertising in 2003. And scored big in the market. "This is how you make enemies" was the slogan last year when the Suzuki hero took his mistress's lapdog for a ride. To the great delight of the public - and Frankonia AG, the general importer of Suzuki. Because the snappy commercial paid off. "By July 2003, we had already sold over 1000 more motorcycles than in 2002, our best year to date," explains Frankonia boss Roland Müntener. By the end of the year, Suzuki had sold over 50 percent more motorcycles than the ambitious budget plan had envisaged. Michael Schmid, co-owner of the responsible marketing and advertising agency Ammarkt, explains the rapid upswing as follows: "The cinema spot gave the brand the contour it lacked until a year ago.
Market studies revealed that the Japanese motorcycle suppliers in particular hardly differed from one another. "But motorcyclists identify strongly with their brand. And since the heart of a rebel beats in every motorcyclist, our communication strategy was obvious," explains Michael Schmid. As a supplier of fast motorcycles, positioning the company as a sporty rebel in the market was the obvious choice. A change of course, but one that demanded some courage from the client. But the risk was definitely worth it. That's why we want to continue in the same vein this year.
How to make friends
The new Suzuki hero has, of course, changed. Whereas last year the Suzuki man was still railing against the dictatorial wife, the 2004 edition of the Suzuki rider - a dentist - is acting as the savior of the weaker sex.
Because a slimy patient in the dentist's surgery is getting into the assistant's pants, the dentist resorts to the old rope trick when pulling teeth. Instead of throwing the door into the hinge, he sits on his Suzuki, to which he has attached the rope - and accelerates decisively. And this is probably representative of the Japanese motorcycle brand, even in 2004.
Suzuki rider - a dentist - as savior of the female sex.

Martin Smith

Newspaper The globally active commuter newspaper publisher Metro International launched new editions in Denmark, France and Spain at the beginning of February.Metro was previously represented on the Danish market in Copenhagen and Aarhus. The new edition covers ten more cities with a circulation of 40,000 copies. The fifth edition was launched in France. In Lille, 30,000 copies are distributed daily. In Spain, Metro is launching two new editions, with 50,000 copies in Valencia and 20,000 in Alicante.

Internet The eBund, the website of the Bernese daily newspaper Der Bund, has been given a new look, the editorial content has been slightly expanded and the link to the print edition has been strengthened. The editorial team was increased to 280 full-time equivalents. The administrative and commercial area was completely outsourced to Espace.ch in connection with the cooperation between the Bund and the Berner Zeitung. eBund and Espace.ch now appear with the advertising combination Espace Sites, which is marketed by Adlink and will be shown in Wemf's Net Audit in future.

Market research Young people in Switzerland have 40 million francs of pocket money per month at their disposal - this is one of the results of the youth barometer that marketer Radiotele has been conducting for more than three years. In collaboration with the research institutes IBSF and IHA-GfK, viewers of the music station Viva Schweiz (children and young people) are continuously surveyed about their wishes, fears and consumer habits. Anyone interested in taking part in the study can contact Radiotele in Bern or IHA-GfK. The 2003 results are available from [email protected] for a fee of CHF 250.

Clips The Zurich-based multimedia agency dCTRL is producing two videos for the exhibition on the pharaoh Tutankhamun at the Basel Museum of Antiquities, which will be shown between April 7 and October 3. dCTRL designs a Flash website for Christian Scherrer, professional sailor and Alinghi crew member, which goes online in the spring. With the St. Moritz Match Race, the agency is looking after another sailor. It is also designing a Flash-based website for the Engadine regatta.

Keystone photo agency enters the royalty-free business. On its new website www.photofree.ch, the photo agency offers photos at a fixed price. After a one-time payment, they can be used as often as desired. The pictures can be downloaded or ordered as ready-made CD-ROMs. Payment is by credit card. Target groups are in
primarily small and medium-sized enterprises, but also media. For advertising agencies, Keystone has improved the offer on www.keystone.ch: With a new search mask, all news images can be filtered out from the outset.