Newspapers The new city tariff of the Berner Zeitung, and in particular its (non-)communication, is causing new annoyance: according to the tariff plan of the Berner Zeitung (BZ), the paper continues to offer a city tariff for local customers. But in contrast to other BZ split tariffs, which have increased by between one and three percent compared to 2003, the city tariff has become a whopping 31 percent more expensive. The reason is simple: as with the BZ total edition, since the beginning of January the additional service provided by the federal government has also been added here, except that this is not mentioned anywhere in the short tariff. There is also no information on performance (circulation). No wonder that not only national but also local advertising customers are astonished and angry. This is confirmed by Walter Althaus, Director of Publicitas Bern, who distinguishes between three reactions in this context: "Those who previously booked both BZ and Bund are happy about the discount. Those who only booked the BZ will be disappointed. And for customers who only advertised in the Bund, it's really bad, because the combination is much more expensive for them." The latter tend to look for alternatives, while the former BZ-only bookers tend to place smaller ads or less frequently.
Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertising Association (SWA), was also annoyed by the lack of information about the city tariff. He only found out about its existence shortly before Christmas and then only incompletely. Migros Aare, which can use the tariff in individual cases - such as branch openings in Bern - was not even aware of it this week. This (dis)information policy seems to have a system. Since November, BZ advertising manager Michael Seiler has left several Werbewoche inquiries about the city tariff unanswered.
Publicitas, on the other hand, provides offensive information: according to Althaus, the new BZ city split is made up of the entire Bund circulation (66,242 copies) and the 8,6429 copies of the BZ city edition.
Markus Knöpfli

Martin Spillmann is Advertising Man of the Year 2004 and someone who, despite countless domestic and foreign awards, has his feet firmly on the ground. The Egon Award winner believes that advertising needs more courage to show personality.
title - even at the time when he was still Creative Director and
Member of the Executive Board of Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R)
was. "In the ten years that Martin Spillmann has been with Advico in
Gockhausen, this agency was the most creative of all",
Ruedi Wyler, the outgoing Advertiser of the Year 2003, is convinced. Martin
Spillmann has always surrounded himself with good people, because successful
Advertising is always also good teamwork. That is the reason why
never been interested in a small agency of his own: "I'm not a
Lone wolf, I need people around me, and diverse ones at that,
Those with rough edges, who know their strengths and weaknesses."
Whether
he suspects why he has just now been chosen as the advertiser of the year
is? "Perhaps the readership of Werbewoche is more likely to choose advertisers who have
are self-employed, have their own agency and are entrepreneurs",
suspects Spillmann. Since July 1, 2002, he has been co-owner of the
Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett advertising agency - the agency that was founded in
economically difficult time without a client with 15 people
started. Today it has 15 customers, counts 28
employees, generates around 4 million Swiss francs
gross operating income and has just been selected by the German publisher Econ-Verlag as the
"Newcomer Agency of the Year 2003" (WW 1/04).

Late recognitionNaturally
Martin Spillmann, who turned 50 these days, is delighted about
this unexpected birthday gift. "Unlike the much
more important creative awards, being chosen as Advertiser of the
year is a recognition of the industry. This is a satisfaction for me",
he muses. At last, his Swiss colleagues are appreciating
his work, because abroad this has long been done - in the last
years, he was the only Swiss to ever win a prize at the Cannes Advertising Film Festival.
a gold, silver and bronze Lion for the TV commercials Médecins sans
Frontières, Hakle and Citterio won. And there is probably no
national and international jury of creative competitions, which have him
After all, he himself regularly acts as a juror.
As
At the beginning of 1989, the advertising agency Advico with the Swiss network of Young
& Rubicam - where Spillmann had already been AD since 1983 -.
merged, he moved to New York for three years to Young & Rubicam
to Madison Avenue. That's where his real career began, as he
had to hold its own among 1,600 employees, but was able to
constantly educate themselves and learn filmmaking from the ground up. The
Ascent from AD to CD was not long in coming, because nothing
Martin Spillmann finds it more exciting than chasing ideas and spending so long
tweaking solutions until the right one is found.
Hobbies like
Jogging, cycling or stamp collecting - he has not and does not need.
As a frequent reader, he is interested in culture and photography in particular.
interested. But reading is not a hobby for him. "Reading is like thinking
and design are simply necessary," he says. In New York he spent
his free time with his life partner Rita Hauser. She was previously
Consulting Group Leader at Aebi & Partner and then studied in
New York English literature. The two also married there and
had their first daughter Rebecca. Three years later followed the
second daughter Hannah. So today it is his family that keeps him in the
free time and helps him to switch off and recharge.
When
Spillmann tells about New York, a hundred stories come to mind. Like
Rita and he went on voyages of discovery that extended far beyond Manhattan.
reach out. He feels like a sponge, he says, absorbing everything that is
soaks it up in order to transform it into ideas later. He has stories in his head
imagined from childhood, for example during radio plays on the
Radio. "We didn't have a TV at home." Maybe he can
that's why we listen so well.

Earthy and cosmopolitanWhy
the family did not stay in New York is related to the fact that
the parents became aware, as the daughter was growing up, how
formative the mother tongue is. "Even if we use the English language
dominated, there were nevertheless always things in the emotional realm,
that you can express better in your native language," says
Spillmann. And on the other side of the ocean, there were the company's own
Relatives...
Spillmanns are based in Hedingen, Zurich, which is the
Säuliamt, their family tree can be traced back to the 15th century.
back. Martin grew up there as the youngest of four brothers
The first year of his life he grew up on a large farm, where not only farmhands and maids worked,
but also the sons, since the father fell ill at an early age.
Photographer graphic designerMartin
Spillmann learned from a young age how to tackle and pull,
to take personal responsibility and to be aware of oneself and one's feelings.
to trust. This gave him inner security and the courage to follow his own
Way to go. A path that perhaps not everyone always liked?
"Yes," he says with a laugh, "my best friend in the village at the time was a
'half' Pakistani, and I wore the longest hair in Hedingen."
For this
came the desire, not exactly commonplace for a farmer's son, to
Entrance examination at the Kunstgewerbeschule (today Fachhochschule für
Design and Art) in Zurich, which he passed with flying colors.
Why not? After all, his grandmother painted, and a cousin
was a pianist in the Hazy Osterwald band. The musical has in the
extended family Spillmann always had a place next to work.
Although
him the arts and crafts teachers after completion of the preliminary class on photography
because he scored the best grade in it, Spillmann was
Graphic artist. So that he could move to the city, he decided to
the 4-year graphic designer apprenticeship instead of for more years of school. The survival
he secured himself with night work at the SBB ... until his first
Girlfriend showed up and living expenses could be shared.
The
Even after completing his apprenticeship, photography has never quite
let go. With it he recorded the impressions of his numerous travels
which he undertook again and again as a young freelance graphic artist. Until he
first at Barlogis & Jaggi, later at the advertising agency BSSM
and in 1983, when he was almost thirty years old, he joined Young
& Rubicam settled down.
Knowing his love of travel
astonished to return to Zurich. "The offer from Hansjörg Zürcher,
the then Creative Coach of AY&R, to follow in his footsteps.
was too tempting," admits Martin Spillmann. And he has done it until
on the sale of Young & Rubicam's international network to
WPP never regretted it, although it never felt at home in the Gockhausen agglomeration.
"Either right in the countryside or right in the city," he says.
of the city..."

Work is a hobby and a privilege
Spillmann's own leanly organized agency allows him to better
focus on the core competence of making good advertising than in the
AY&R, which has grown into a conglomerate of companies.
When is advertising
good for Martin Spillmann? "When it arrives in the head and in the stomach and
triggers something. With good advertising, you can make a brand come alive.
A good advertiser must be able to keep the core message coming
and to stage it in such a way that it surprises anew.
Advertising is like playing chess or doing crossword puzzles. Again and again
it is the same game with always different, surprising moves.
That's why you can play it over and over again for a lifetime. Good
For me, advertising is a hobby for which I still get paid...
I'm going to be. That's why I feel my work is a great privilege."
That
Spillmann does not fear that he might one day run out of ideas:
"Those who live consciously and look around them stay awake and will always find new
discover and experience what a creative person can draw from again
can. That's why I'm pleased that we're in this beautiful, solid
brick building in district 3. Life pulsates here,
here you will find Swiss as well as foreigners, workers as well as managers,
neighborhoods as well as in pubs. And I am allowed to work with all those people as
partners who have been successfully supporting me for 17 years.
accompany."

"More courage!
actually nothing can go wrong. But as is well known, advertising is made
not for themselves, but for clients and their products. Has each
agency the customers it deserves? "I think so," says Martin
Spillmann and would therefore like to be the advertiser of the year for more
Plead personality: Have the greatness to be yourself instead of
pretending something, recognizing his strengths and weaknesses and from
to turn weaknesses into a plus. And to have the courage to
position yourself like a brand personality. Only those who position themselves,
can differentiate and stand out. And finally standards to
break through, question everything and look at it from a new perspective.
consider. There is only one thing advertising is not allowed to do: lie.
The quality of the
Truth, genuineness is important to him and runs like a red
thread through his entire life. Martin Spillmann does not have an idol, but he
has respect for every well-done thing. Whether that is ecologically good
Products from the farm are or well-made furniture, shoes
or even a literary first edition, where already the book cover is a
is in a class of its own - it is the genuine craftsmanship that gives it its
is important. Just like good advertising. He is convinced who
deals with quality again and again, lives better.
Votes for the election "For
me, Martin Spillmann is one of the best. As long as he is with Advico
Y&R, I have been following his creative work and especially
admired its continuity. At the time this was also the most creative
Agency. Of course, he had many good people around him and not everything
made himself. But he is a good doer and creator. His
award-winning campaigns for Kuoni, Hakle, etc. are in my mind the best
Reminder. In its own agency, the success story
obviously continued: The Feldschlösschen beer films count
Among the best I've seen lately."
Ruedi Wyler, Advertiser of the Year 2003
...
"Martin is the best partner I can imagine: highly creative, strategic
well-founded, takes people seriously and refrains from cheap
Showmanship. He has won practically all the advertising awards in the world
and has remained modest. So he will also be awarded the title of "Advertiser of the
year" will not change too much.
With that in mind, I look forward to the next 17 years with Martin."
Peter Felser, Co-owner SFLB
...
"Martin has passion, thinks big, has
Attention to detail, sets standards, is stereotype free and a team player,
listens, creates, laughs, sweats and yawns more than normal. He has
a sure taste, inspires, convinces, has around itself
enthusiastic talents, has Peter Felser, has Rita - happy
circumstances for a competitive, creative future for the brands of its
Customers through work that is a pleasure to see again and again. The applause
is well deserved. I hope he enjoys it - because he's humble."
Michael Conrad, Conrad Consulting
"Good
Advertising is a hobby for which I also get paid."
Martin Spillmann, co-owner of Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett.
Sarah Rieder

Bank marketing 31 regional banks started 2004 under the new umbrella brand Clientis. A challenge
for the communications specialists at Ramstein Ehringer Associates.
According to consumer surveys, regional banks have been able to distinguish themselves from large financial institutions in recent years: Values such as customer proximity, reliability and advice as well as the absence of affairs are appreciated, although earnings have suffered from the relatively expensive retail sector, a lack of cost synergies and limited capital market capability. After two and a half years of concept realization, 31 regional banks have now joined forces under the umbrella name Clientis. The aim is to jointly improve competitiveness and realize economies of scale by bundling volumes, IT and marketing.
The Group now has 105 branches with 747 employees and generated total assets of around CHF 14 billion and a profit of CHF 41 million in 2002.
Pitch winner Ramstein Ehringer Associates AG (REA), based in Basel and Zurich, was entrusted with the development, design and strategic direction of the new umbrella brand as well as the implementation of the integrated communication and marketing mix - from name development to the website. Co-owner Walter Ramstein: "For us, the initial situation was the proverbial green field, as everything had to be developed from scratch."
Attractive common denominator "The challenge for us was to integrate the 31 banks into the joint branding and identity process and to implement the concepts uniformly across the Group," explains Ramstein. The complexity of the project is due to the heterogeneity of the banks, which are scattered throughout Switzerland and remain independent. As different as their sizes are, so different are their portfolios and experiences. However, the goal was clear for all of them.
Hans-Ulrich Stucki, Director of Clientis AG: "The joint market presence is an integral part of our strategy. It increases awareness of the Clientis banks in the market and gives us a clear, independent profile as a group." This makes them much more recognizable than if each bank were to present itself individually with its own brand.
REA worked with the client to develop a brand that would express the consistent focus on the customer at all levels. The new umbrella brand deliberately integrates the traditional bank names. In this way, the regional anchoring is credibly continued and the previously familiar brand values are specifically transferred to Clientis.
The graphically shaped appearance does without the hackneyed key motifs of happy customers. The unifying trademark symbolizes a forward-looking dynamic and stands as a seal of quality for the banks networked within the Group.
With the aim of integrative standardization, REA has prepared all communication tools in modular form and content - similar to an industry standard. Those responsible at the banks were trained in workshops to implement the tools according to their own needs, but in a uniform manner across the Group. All elements are now practically ready to use - whether for the design of print media and advertisements, the annual report or for marketing campaigns and direct mails.
Uniform appearance: The 31 regional banks of RBA.
Luca Aloisi

Cinema Mediavision withdraws from Switzerland. Peter Gmür Beteiligungen AG has taken over the Swiss representation of the French cinema marketer Mediavision et Jean Mineur SA (MV) as of January 1, 2004. It is to be merged with the media marketing company Cinecom, in which Peter Gmür holds a majority stake. Mediavision's previous marketing organization, Mediapresse-Pub SA, based in Lausanne, will in future market the expanded portfolio of the Zurich-based parent company in French-speaking Switzerland as an independent agent of Cinecom, a transaction that is tantamount to MV's complete withdrawal from Switzerland. It restores a market situation that existed between 1995 and 1999, when Cinecom was also the only Swiss provider of cinema advertising. In 1999, MV put a temporary end to this monopoly by leasing the first Swiss multiplex cinema Balexert near Geneva (13 screens, 2,700 seats). In the years that followed, MV succeeded in signing contracts for a total of around 100 cinemas - exclusively in French-speaking Switzerland. In 2003, it achieved a market share of 55% in French-speaking Switzerland, but did not exceed 14% in Switzerland as a whole.
By 2002, MV had already reached its limits. Although a few more cinema leases were added, it was unable to win over any cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland, even though several new multiplexes were opened. In 2003, MV was unable to conclude a single new lease agreement.
Digitization was the death blowThis stagnation and the economic situation are probably the reason why MV is now pulling out of the Swiss market. The fact that Cinecom has pushed ahead with the digitization of its cinemas in recent months (WW 1/04) could be another reason. MV would have had to follow suit with high investments in order not to lose the favor of advertising clients and cinema owners. No comment was available from MV headquarters in Paris at the time of going to press.
Matthias Luchsinger, Managing Director and co-owner of Cinecom, suspects that the digitization project was the straw that finally broke the camel's back for MV, which was already running at a loss in Switzerland. "Even without digitization, MV had a deficit of millions in Switzerland. We have now taken over this deficit." Olivier Bloch, Director of Mediapresse, the advertising sales company commissioned by MV, only wanted to say this much: "The decision to withdraw was made in Paris. Apparently the Swiss market seemed too small for two providers."
Because Cinecom is taking on all MV obligations, the contract with Mediapresse will also remain in place. "This is more than just a must," says Luchsinger. In fact, he is transferring additional tasks to the agency, which remains independent and has represented press groups such as L'Agefi, Hachette, Burda, Promoeditions and Hersant for years, generating sales of CHF 20 million. From February 15, Mediapresse will not only manage the Cinecom cinema sector in French-speaking Switzerland, but also the advertising and program window of Sat 1 and the screen networks currently being set up. "Only the print sector is excluded; we remain competitors there," says Luchsinger. The background: Cinecom markets Teleclub's cinema magazine Close-up, while Olivier Bloch is publishing director of the free title Film demnächst/Avant Première.
Happy ending for allLuchsinger expects Cinecom to increase its turnover by 15 percent thanks to the 20 percent more cinemas. Hardly any personnel changes will be necessary. The current Cinecom representatives in French-speaking Switzerland, Michael Steffan and Daniel Beier, will remain responsible for contacts with cinema owners.
Mediapresse is also benefiting from the new situation. "C'est pour nous une excellente nouvelle", says Bloch, who expects to double his cinema turnover to 10 million francs.
"All offers from a single source "Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), assesses the new situation on the cinema market
positive. "For the medium of cinema, advertising clients now have just one point of contact and all services from a single source. That is an advantage." Conversely, "the new Cinecom monopoly means that we will have to monitor price developments in the cinema medium very closely in future," he says. Siegrist sees another plus point: because Cinecom is now digitally upgrading all cinemas, including those previously owned by Mediavision, clients will be able to save money thanks to the elimination of film copies.
will soon be able to expect cost savings everywhere. (mk)
Has a good laugh: Cinecom has been the sole leading actress on Swiss cinema screens since the beginning of the year.
Matthias Luchsinger, Cinecom.
Markus Knöpfli

Non-profit As a small, private organization, the Zodiac animal charity in Wil SG has been committed to helping abandoned, mistreated or injured animals for years. To support this commitment, the creatives at Publicis have developed a sensational campaign: a fiery appeal to keep pets in a species-appropriate manner, to neither mistreat nor abandon them and to preserve the habitats of wild animals. Using the crucifixion, which symbolizes the innocent suffering and death for the sins of mankind. The broad distribution of the campaign is made possible by the support of suppliers and media partners such as Tierwelt, 20 Minuten, Citylights AG and Christinger Partner.

Public transport Jung von Matt/Limmat emotionalizes the SBB brand with coherent poster subjects.
Last year, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) did not always run smoothly on the rails: Breakdowns, delays and accidents overshadowed the operating year. Nevertheless, SBB achieved a customer satisfaction rate of over 80 percent in a cash survey conducted in December. Ruth Mathias, Head of Marketing Communication at SBB, also confirms this high level of satisfaction. Life stations
The railroad performs even better in terms of awareness: everyone, i.e. around 100 percent, knows SBB. This is hardly surprising, given that the Federal Railways transport over 300 million passengers every year. Measured against the rather modest 3000 kilometers of the public transport network - 22,000 kilometers in total - this is a strong performance: around 87 percent of passenger kilometers travelled are on SBB trains.
The creative agency Jung von Matt/Limmat (JvM) has taken advantage of the fact that everyone who lives in Switzerland has sat in an SBB carriage at some point and associates it with very personal memories for its current image campaign. "We turn stops into stations in life, because everyone has a very personal connection to SBB," explains Rolf Helfenstein, JvM consulting group manager. Compared to other countries, the railroad is very strongly anchored in Switzerland and closely linked to the blue station signs.
Whether on their first school trip, a trip to an open-air concert or a romantic vacation in the mountains: the blue signs with the red and white logo accompany travelers through Switzerland. The creative team used exactly these signs as a key visual for the poster display that started at the end of January. Instead of SBB stops, they feature stations in life such as "Discovery", "Escape" or "Beginning". These are the only reference to SBB as the sender. Those responsible are convinced that the key visual will "inevitably be associated with the railroad" and have decided not to use it.
therefore on headline, copy or sender.
By and for people "We want to focus on people," says Ruth Mathias and specifies: "People, i.e. our employees, are behind SBB, and it is also people that we transport." The national image campaign is intended to stimulate the SBB brand emotionally by the third quarter of 2004.
In the last quarter of this year, a continuation will be used in view of the completion of the first stage of Rail 2000 (see box). The emotional values are to be replaced by "hard facts" about the expansion of services.
Rail 2000The Rail 2000 concept, which came into force in 1987 with a federal decree, aims to improve rail services nationwide.
public transportation: Shorter travel times, fewer changes, half-hourly intercity services, new trains and stations. In 1994, due to the underestimated budget, a division of the
project. The first stage should be completed by the end of 2004. This includes, among other things, the second double track
Zurich-Thalwil, conversion and expansion of Zurich station and the new Mattstetten-Rothrist line.
The costs amount to around CHF 5.5 billion, CHF 1.5 billion less than budgeted. The service concept for the second stage is currently being drawn up by the Federal Office of Transport and SBB and is expected to go out for consultation in 2005. (sk)
A big station for SBB passengers: the new SBB campaign aims to further strengthen public sympathy.
Public transport life stations: With its new campaign, SBB is fully on the romantic track >> page 13
Simone Keller

Agencies Mara Inan-Serio has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of the Universal McCann Zurich media agency, where she is now sharing client-specific budget responsibility with Heinz Bischof. Both are responsible for strategy and purchasing as "leads" together with the respective planner. The planners are now supported by an assistant in purchasing and administration.

Agencies WHS bankrupt and new agency owner Reinhold Weber is back with a peculiar headline for Annemarie Wildeisen's cooking, one of the first in a new series designed by Büro Reinhold. According to Weber, this and "actually all clients" have also remained loyal to his new agency. So there is no famine in the new offices on Weinbergstrasse. There is even a new client to report - Büro Reinhold itself. New business cards are needed in no time at all, not to mention all the other printed matter.

Newspapers La Liberté from Fribourg and Le Nouvelliste from Sion have signed a cooperation agreement that provides for an editorial exchange in the politics, business, magazine and sport sections. The partners also want to support each other in distribution in the respective sales areas as well as in purchasing and investments. However, there are no plans for mutual participation.

Erb bankruptcy The media service provider m&m has similar luck to the advertising agency Metzgerlehner (WW 1/04): m&m can also keep almost all the budgets of the bankrupt Erb Group. "We will continue to look after Hyundai, Suzuki and the detail operations, only Mitsubishi is open," says m&m owner Wolfgang Mecklenburg.This is because although the Alcopa Group has taken over the entire car division of the Erb Group, Mitsubishi Europe has now set up its own Swiss sales company and will not decide until the end of January with whom it will cooperate in future. For m&m, around a third of the ex-Erb budget, estimated at 20 million Swiss francs, is at stake with the Mitsubishi account.would Mecklenburg also set up a third agency for Mitsubishi after m&m (Alcopa) and mm&b (Emil Frey)? "No, that would be too expensive. Alcopa has nothing against joint support. However, if Mitsubishi insists on a separation, we would rather do without their budget."
(mk)

Billboards At 4067 square meters, the largest billboard ever to be hoisted up by helicopter has been presented to the astonished public in front of the north face of the Eiger. The record-breaking poster advertises Ariel's ski pass promotion, which is now in its second season and works with vouchers that can be found on every Ariel, Dash, Mr. Proper and Vizir promotional pack. The campaign was planned and realized by Procter & Gamble Switzerland together with Fabienne Marchand's promotion agency fm/Projects. The 3700-kilo poster was designed and produced by Christinger Partner in collaboration with Spühler Blachen and the Nüssli Group. A Heliswiss transport aircraft was used for the spectacular aerial campaign. The mega poster will later be turned into trendy bags that will be sold for the benefit of SOS Children's Villages.

The communications agency Unikat in Küsnacht announces two new clients. Unikat has been looking after the UBS Optimus Foundation since December. The foundation supports research and development projects all over the world, with "Children & Talents" and "Medical & Biological Research" as its core areas. Unikat is developing various communication tools for this purpose. The private bank Maerki Baumann & Co. has also been on the client list since January. The Zurich-based bank manages around CHF 5 billion in client assets and will carry out all securities transactions for Zuger Kantonalbank from mid-2004. Unikat's first corporate design measures will be seen in the spring.