Internet radio Visitors to the 20minuten.ch website can decide which music DJ Radio will play next year by specifying whether they want to listen to different styles 24 hours a day, from time to time or never. DJ Radio promises to listen to your wishes in full - at least that is CEO Egon Blatter's New Year's resolution.

Corporate Communications The Migros Cooperative Zurich wants to intensify the dialog with its employees, which is why CEO Peter Birrer had the Viel Migros staff newspaper redesigned and expanded. Rico Brazerol, Managing Director of the agency Contract Media Publishing, was responsible for the design, concept, content and production. Migros Zurich employs around 10,000 people.

Samuel Helbling on the real and imagined media sick in SwitzerlandJournalists, as the sociologist Niklas Luhmann once remarked, like to constitute the public sphere by describing the "phantom pain after amputations": the desolation of cities due to industrialization, the assassination of a king, the voting out of a federal councillor. As the last link in the chain, from the typesetter to the printer, journalists feel the loss that the transformation of their own working world brings. As the year drew to a close, nothing came as easily to the lips of journalists as the word "press crisis". For a professional group that lives by the cynical slogan "only bad news is good news", it would be superhuman not to paint their own suffering in the brightest colors. There is no doubt about it: circulation and advertising trends are not making publishers happy. And so they too are joining in the lament and openly calling for the sweet poison of state subsidies. Just a year ago, the then president of the Swiss Press Association rejected a media article in the constitution because he rightly feared that the opinion-forming press in particular would lose its independence as a result. Today, the same lobby group is demanding 150 million francs. The fact is, however, that the existence of no established Swiss media company is seriously threatened. According to Media Focus, the newspaper industry is doing about as well in terms of turnover as it was in 1997 - except that it was living well back then. Six years later, it still has potential. Even titles that were declared dead are flourishing again. Under Roger Köppel's leadership, the struggling Weltwoche has regained its sex appeal and is now the talk of the town. Everyone wants to read the original version of what is being hotly debated across the country and repeatedly quoted in other media. And anyone who knows us journalists knows that no colleague refers to the work of a competitor without need. In other words, Weltwoche offers a USP that no one in the trade can ignore. Such self-centeredness of the media is not only an invention of Niklas Luhmann, but also the formula of every successful brand owner in our media society. This is especially true for media brands, which constitute them in the first place.> Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

Newspapers Weltwoche articles are not only good advertising for Weltwoche, they are currently also good advertising for WochenZeitung (WoZ): This advertisement by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett parodies an earlier advertising idea by the Guye Benker agency for Weltwoche and reverses the argument. The day after the Federal Council elections, the creatives placed the tear-out of Blocher's beatification by Weltwoche editor-in-chief Roger Köppel as a slightly doctored advertisement in the WoZ. In order to ensure media concordance, the copy stated that an annual subscription to the last independent weekly newspaper in Switzerland was worthwhile as compensation for Weltwoche.

Regional press The PresseKombi 27 will be restructured at the beginning of 2004, with the Zürichsee newspapers and the Einsiedler Anzeiger leaving the advertising combination and forming the new Kombi Zürichsee Glarus Einsiedeln with the Glarus Anzeiger Fridolin. The remaining titles Südostschweiz Glarus, Südostschweiz Gaster und See, March-Anzeiger and Höfner Volksblatt will be supplemented by Sarganserländer and Bote der Urschweiz.

It was not a good year for Edelweiss: two examples of this rare species disappeared from the market forever in 2003, namely Baselbieter Radio Edelweiss and the Swiss-German women's magazine Edelweiss. A bitter loss when you consider that, according to the electronic telephone directory, there are only 88 entries under this flowery name anyway. The majority of these are restaurants, sports stores or boutiques, but it makes sense that a florist, a laundry, a lighting company and an airline also have the floral rarity in their name. The media and advertising sector is only weakly represented: What remains is the Zurich advertising agency Edelweiss, a Ticino CD publisher and the French-speaking Swiss sister paper of the faded Ringier-Postille. The latter, however, cannot be found in the electronic telephone directory. At least not under "Edelweiss". An indication that this little plant is also threatened with death? Hardly. It's more likely that someone at Ringier was overzealous when they cleaned up the address garden after the end of Edelweiss Deutschschweiz. (mk)

What alternative instruments will allow comparisons and orientation in the sea of advertising agencies in future if the ranking of the Association of Swiss Advertising Agencies (BSW) lacks any basis for assessment? While in 2002 the agency Publicis topped the BSW list with the highest gross operating income, ahead of AY&R and Lowe (WW 10/03), it has been known for months that the agency charts will no longer exist in their current form. The reason for this is the US Sarbane-Oxley Act, which threatens managers of listed US companies with prison sentences if they publish false business figures for subsidiaries. In Switzerland, almost all BSW top ten agencies are affected. BSW is in good company in its search for a valid alternative. The European umbrella organization met at the beginning of the week to discuss new criteria and make a political push, although the chances are slim. Nevertheless, BSW wants to decide on the form and criteria of its ranking list by the end of the year. The medium-term goal remains "to publish transparent business figures again in three years' time", says BSW Managing Director Walter Merz. There is a persistent suspicion that some agencies have discovered a welcome protection against the disclosure of their figures in the US law. How else can you explain the fact that even their group companies sometimes present detailed business figures on their investor relations sites? Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), will not miss the BSW ranking, as gross operating income is not the measure of all things. The success of an advertising agency can also be measured by the award yield, its new business and references. Whatever criteria are used to compile hit lists: For all those who are not vying for the top spots, they are debatable from the outset. And so the frustration over the crisis has also affected the industry rankings, which were previously beyond reproach. The creative ranking, in which the agencies Publicis, Ruf Lanz and Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R) performed best this year, was called into question (WW 43/03). No less criticized was the advertising market study (WW 41/03), which in turn showed a completely different ranking: Jung von Matt/Limmat with Publicis ahead of Wirz. The Media Research Group ranking was criticized for being unrepresentative and non-transparent, showing only a top 20 list and excluding the statistical confidence interval a priori due to the pragmatic evaluation. Despite all claims to a "fair" agency ranking, the question must be allowed as to whether the next BSW ranking will square the circle. That seems doubtful. The only certainty is that advertising clients will have to assess additional pieces of the puzzle when choosing an agency in future, and whether rankings are poison for advertising agencies is ultimately up to them to decide...

Luca Aloisi

Gattungsmarketing Publicis brings books and posters together to promote literature - and APG. For once, the poster does not present a short message, but an entire book. Nevertheless, this kind of action is called generic marketing. The campaign was realized by Publicis, the in-house agency of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG). Several successful campaigns have already been created for the outdoor advertiser on Theaterstrasse: Angie Becker, the missing animals or the unknown museums - all campaigns that caused a lot of talk. This time there is a lot to read. Building on the principle of the poster USP - efficient advertising impact - the creative team led by CD Markus Gut and copywriter Roy Spring has ventured into a media balancing act. For a joint campaign, the advertisers bring together two media that could not be more different: The poster seeks the viewer's quick glance in the public space, while the book, which promises haptic pleasure, is intended for more private, intimate moments. Poster story(ies)
"It is precisely this difference that makes it so appealing to combine books and posters for once," says CD Markus Gut. And so Publicis "published" the first "poster book" in the middle of pre-Christmas Zurich. The outdoor market leader in Switzerland had the novel "Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran" by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt put up in its entirety in busy locations, but two shorter texts by Thomas Hürlimann ("The Riddle of the Spirit Level") and Hansjörg Schneider ("Jesus on the Hüninger Reef") also invite readers to read, in line with the motto: "Every poster tells a story." The aim of the campaign, adds Publicis copywriter Roy Spring, is also to encourage people to read - which also pleases the cooperation partner, Ammann Verlag. First and foremost, however, the advertising agency wants to show "the versatility of the medium in public spaces".
Every poster a story: Publicis campaign for posters and APG.

Carlo Bernasconi

The stock markets have anticipated the longed-for economic upturn: the Dow Jones broke through the psychologically important 10000 mark again after almost two years, and the Swiss stock market index has climbed by 20.5 percent since the beginning of 2003. Communications groups also benefited from this trend. The world's largest network, the Omnicom Group (in Switzerland including TBWA, DDB, BBDO and OMD), has gained 27.6 percent since the beginning of the year, while the second-largest Interpublic (including Lowe, McCann Group, FCB Leutenegger Krüll) has lost around six percent since the first trading day of the year. The British WPP Group (including AY&R, Mediaedge|CIA, JWT+H+F and the Ogilvy Group) was worth ten percent more on December 15 compared to January 3, 2003. The French Publicis Group (including Publicis, Optimedia, Saatchi & Saatchi) can also rejoice, with an increase of over 20 percent in the same period. The other French company, the Havas Group, also shone (Euro RSCG), number six worldwide in terms of billings: its shares climbed by around 14 percent in 2003. The Swiss business is unlikely to have had much influence on the share price. (la)

After 109 million fewer advertising francs rolled into the media in 2002 than in the previous year, an even more rigorous round of savings is on the horizon for 2003. "We expect a further decline of two and a half to three percent compared to the previous year," says Lukas Zihlmann, Managing Director of the market research institute Media Focus. This would bring advertising expenditure down to around 3660 million francs. The decline in the second half of 2003 was probably less pronounced than in the first half, but by the end of October the slowdown was quite marked in some of the top ten sectors compared with the same period last year: service providers (-15.2%), the IT/office sector (-12%) and vehicle and finance companies (around -9% each). The leisure/tourism sector was the only one to spend more money on communication (+ 12%). "It is not easy to make a forecast for the new year. In general, the signs for the development of advertising expenditure are positive. However, the whole thing is on relatively shaky ground," explains Zihlmann. In the ranking of the largest Swiss advertising clients, the race seems to have already been decided after the first ten months: Migros with CHF 181.2 million (+17.7% compared to the same period last year, January to October) ahead of Coop with CHF 164.9 million (+6.2%), Swisscom with CHF 42.6 million, Masterfoods and Unilever. With its bulging pockets, Migros is likely to overtake its Basel competitor at the top of the list of advertising clients.
(la)

Parties What do footballers do who also like to throw parties? Of course, they found the "FC St. Pauli Bar", which is how a group of football enthusiasts turned to equally committed party organizers who hold parties under the label "FC St. Pauli Bar" in various locations and venues in Eastern Switzerland. What these parties are primarily about is illustrated by the drinking kicker that Jung von Matt/Limmat came up with: Football and drinking. The motif primarily fulfills an image function and points to www.fcstpaulibar.ch, where the next party dates are announced and photos of past events are posted.

Screens Swiss Post is having 100 multimedia terminals installed by the end of January The Internet, electronic payment transactions and new competition for parcels and letters are leading to lower footfall at post offices and redundancies at Swiss Post. Swiss Post now wants to counter this trend with a pilot project. By the end of January, it will have installed 100 full-height terminals in 75 post offices - a mixture of Internet café, PostShop and multimedia. The vandal-proof devices are equipped with a camera, microphone, loudspeaker, keyboard, touchscreen and ADSL line. They enable postal customers to send e-mails - even with photo attachments, short videos or audio greetings - store in the PostShop, call up news and surf the Post.ch portal - all free of charge. Anyone who wants to surf the Internet in general can do so, but will have to pay one franc for five minutes of surfing.
The terminals are also equipped with a second screen at head height. On the one hand, it serves to draw postal customers' attention to the new e-kiosk. This screen also displays news, weather forecasts, information on Swiss Post products and advertising. TerminalCompany in Zumikon is responsible for content and advertising acquisition. It is also the company that provides, installs and operates the devices. Swiss Post designates the locations and provides the ADSL connections.
"This trial will run until the end of 2004," says Andreas Windler, Head of E-Business in the Post Offices and Sales division at Swiss Post. The aim is to maintain or increase the frequency of post offices. However, Swiss Post is also hoping for additional sales - through the sale of third-party products and content on the terminals.
(mk)