The Uster Media Center - in particular Win4U as lead agency - was commissioned with the development of a new corporate identity for the city of Uster. In addition, the Media-Center was awarded the contract by the
Standortmarketing Uster for the realization of an image brochure.

Local newspapers The Bote vom Untersee, the official gazette in the Steckborn district, will also take over publication for the Diessenhofen district from January 2004, when the local Anzeiger am Rhein ceases publication. In the Friday edition of the Bote vom Untersee, publisher Martin Keller wrote that the newspaper will in future be called Bote vom Untersee und Rhein. Werner Sigrist, publisher of the Anzeiger, justified the closure of his newspaper with economic reasons and a lack of succession planning. The Anzeiger am Rhein has a paid circulation of 1418 copies, while the Bote vom Untersee sells 3815 copies, according to Wemf. Both papers are published twice a week.

CEO Kaspar Loeb is leaving the advertising agency DDB Zurich at the end of November.
The new Head of Consulting and member of the Executive Board will be
Roland Weiss, previously Client Service Director at Euro RSCG Zurich.
The position of CEO will no longer be filled.
...
The Bern-based advertising agency Contexta is further expanding its creative department. At the beginning of 2004, Jürg Brechbühl becomes the third Creative Director (CD) alongside Bernhard Abegglen and Paolo Tonti. He also joins the management board. Brechbühl previously worked at Advico Young & Rubicam and later at Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett.
...
Tereza Stäheli and Sebastian Rundy have set up their own business.
made. The former creatives of Inhalt & Form have founded an advertising agency in Zurich under the name Acapulpo Communications. Acapulpo enters into an office partnership with Action Agency.
...
The brothers Livio and Fabian Consiglio have founded the company Pubblicità Autowerbung in Rottenschwil AG. Like the Zurich-based You-ad, it markets rear windows as advertising space. In its start-up phase, the young company is concentrating on the Bremgarten-Wohlen region.
...
At the beginning of December, Roland Kühne takes over the management of the
Customer Contact Center (KKC) of Ringier in Zofingen. He replaces Markus Will, who has been in charge of the reader market for Ringier magazines since October. Kühne has headed the Mediamat department (newspaper vending machines) since January 2001 and was responsible for the integration of Journamat AG, which Ringier took over at the beginning of this year.
...
Amos Winteler becomes the new editor-in-chief of Radio Basel 1 at the beginning of January 2004. Alex Klee, who has been editor-in-chief since 2001, leaves the station at the end of the year.

In its November issue, Agencies Campaign speculates about a merger between Aegis and WPP. The recent, unexpected departure of Aegis Media Europe CEOs Bruno Kemoun and Eryck Rebbouh triggered suspected talks between the agency groups. Both had worked for Aegis plc for 18 years. The British trade magazine writes that the background to the resignations could have been talks between Aegis and WPP about a possible merger. "Such speculation has surfaced from time to time in the past," explains Andy Lehmann, CEO of Aegis Media Group Switzerland (Carat/Vizeum), which was launched last summer. No further information on the rumor was available from the WPP Group in Switzerland either. "We are not aware of anything", says Urs Rueb, Managing Director of Mediaedge|CIA. "This is speculation," explains Mindshare Managing Director Cosima Giannachi regarding merger plans. And she adds: "I cannot comment in detail." (dse)

The Comedia and Impressum unions, on the other hand, are demanding a 3% increase to compensate for inflation, rising health insurance premiums and productivity trends. The negotiations were broken off without result, meaning that an arbitration tribunal must now decide.

Media The trade journal GWA (Gas Wasser Abwasser) will be managed by Jean Frey Fachmedien from January 2004. GWA is the official publication of the Swiss Gas and Water Industry Association (SVGW) and the Swiss Association of Wastewater and Water Protection Professionals (VSA). It is published monthly with a circulation of 3600 copies in German and French combined and is read by 21000 specialists.

Publicis becomes the new agency for PostShop, the point of sale for third-party products in Swiss post offices.Publicis becomes the new agency for PostShop, the point of sale for third-party products in Swiss post offices. The Zurich advertising agency
came out on top in a pitch. An image campaign is planned with classic advertising on television, in print and on the radio, as well as accompanying measures. The aim is to make the stores in the post offices known to a broad public.

Entertainment Swiss Television DRS has presented new additions to its entertainment program for 2004. The satirical program "Punkt CH" replaces "Viktors Spätprogramm" on Wednesday evenings, while four friends discuss God and the world in "Flamingo", also on Wednesdays. On Saturday evenings, SF DRS broadcasts "VIParade". Presenter Sven Epiney tests six celebrity candidates for their suitability as "Superheidi or
Megapeter".

Karl Gerstner is showing his painterly work at Haus Konstruktiv, which leads to the interface between art and science. Karl Gerstner describes his first works in the field of Constructive Art as "head births after a head creation nine years ago". The first of these creations saw the "light of day" in the 1950s. Since then, this light as the primal element of all art has been constructively altered time and again. Karl Gerstner, who is close in spirit to Max Bill and Richard P. Lohse, realized his first artistic works in the field of commercial art. From 1949, he designed advertisements for dyes and blotting papers for doctors for the Basel-based chemical company Geigy, "a popular medium for pharmaceutical advertising at the time". At that time, shortly after the war, there was still a reactionary mood. "There was a lot of resistance to anything new," Gerstner recalls. On the other hand, there was "a great deal of idealism among young people, but they hardly got a chance". One of Gerstner's new concerns back then, and also later in advertising, was: "Bringing aesthetics into everyday life."
The rest of the story is well known. Together with Markus Kutter, Gerstner designed an artistically diverse event for Geigy's 200th anniversary in 1958. The collaboration resulted in the founding of the Gerstner and Kutter agency - advertising, graphics, publicity - on January 1, 1959. After the twelve-tone musician Paul Gredinger joined for the product design department - which was later fashionably renamed design - the legendary advertising agency GGK was created in 1963.
Together with Kutter and Gredinger, Gerstner repeatedly took visual communication in advertising to heights comparable to art in the 1960s. The exhibition in Zurich still bears witness to this innovative design today with works for Langenscheidt, Ringier and Swissair, among others.
In the 1970s, Gerstner withdrew more and more from the GGK, worked freelance again and primarily made art. With more than a dozen publications, he also emerged as a critical analyst during this time.
Gerstner had already organized his first exhibition in 1957 in
Zurich. His "complete works" at the time comprised eight pictures. This group is now on nostalgic display once again at Haus Konstruktiv. Gerstner had the objects made in a precision engineering workshop. His idea was that the moving pictures should be actively perceived or changed by the public. However, no one dared to intervene in art in this way at the time. "In retrospect, the idea of change was a failure because people expected something definitive from an artist," Gerstner said at the vernissage.
One aspect of this finality can indeed be discovered in his work - albeit in a different sense. In his graphic work, Gerstner attempted to "translate Einstein's ideas into pictures" - as a kind of "naive painting" based on the realization that the universe is endless. The infinite could be pursued endlessly in his Constructive Works.
The exhibition "Karl Gerstner. Artist, Author, Graphic Designer" will run until February 22, 2004 and a further book "Review of 7 Chapters of Constructive Images" will be in the stores before the end of the exhibition.
Karl Gerstner attempts to "translate Einstein's ideas into images".

Andreas Panzeri

Media policy A year ago, the Competition Commission (ComCo) launched an investigation into PubliGroupe for possibly discriminating against competitors. After a year of preliminary investigations, the Competition Commission announced on November 6, 2002 that it had found indications that PubliGroupe was "unlawfully restricting" competition among advertising intermediaries. It therefore opened an investigation to clarify "whether PubliGroupe is abusing its dominant market position" by discriminating against some competitors and blocking their access to the market through unjustified guidelines. So much for the ComCo's suspicions. Specifically, it concerned the intermediary commission (IC), which PubliGroupe only pays to intermediaries if, among other things, they have a volume mix of 50 percent classified and 50 percent commercial advertising and a business volume of CHF 1 million or CHF 100,000 in leased titles from the Association of Swiss Advertising Companies (VSW).
Today, one year on, deputy ComCo director Patrik Ducrey comments on the current state of affairs: "We are in the middle of the investigation. PubliGroupe has answered an initial comprehensive questionnaire. We are now carrying out further surveys with other market participants. We will certainly need a few more months (...) how much exactly is difficult to say.
say." Incidentally, "other market participants" refers in particular to advertising and media agencies, which were also included at Ad X's suggestion.
"The matter could drag on"
It's business as usual at PubliGroupe. According to Georges von Csernatony, member of the PubliGroupe management, "two or three" intermediaries have been re-commissioned in the last twelve months, but "not a comma" has been changed in the guidelines. "We're certainly not doing that now," he says. And adds: "We are convinced that we have a good dossier." Moreover, PubliGroupe reserves the right to all legal remedies. "However, the matter could drag on for another two to five years," says von Csernatony.
Werner Baumann, Managing Director of Ad X, is also aware of this. "As long as the investigation is ongoing, I have to accept that we won't receive any VK from the "P" lease titles," he says. But at least something has changed at Ad X: The company has been able to expand its customer base to over 30 and is now also showing the required volume mix. Ad X also works for advertising and media agencies. "But the commercial turnover is still not enough to qualify for UK authorization," says Baumann.
Ad X is now a member of the Association of Swiss Advertising and Media Sales Companies (Sava). However, there has been little support for the Ad X issue, "because it only affects some of our members," says President Max Küenzler. However, there have been contacts with VSW and PubliGroupe for years, and they also work together in the training and technical areas (ad transmission). "However, this has less to do with the Weko investigation than with a personnel-related opening at VSW," says Küenzler. Even a merger - for example under a joint association umbrella - is not ruled out. However, this is not currently a priority, says the Sava President.
PubliGroupe Director Georges von Csernatony: "We have a good dossier."
Markus Knöpfli

Energie Polyconsult shows that Energie Wasser Bern can do more than just supply electricity. Our contribution.", the agency Polyconsult AG in Bern is launching an image campaign for Energie Wasser Bern (EWB). Apparently, Bernese consumers have little idea about domestic amenities. About the fact that EWB is also an attractive telecom provider thanks to its own fiber optic network, for example. "The task of the current campaign is to eliminate this knowledge gap," says CD Jürg Tscharner from Polyconsult, summing up the task. It should also be remembered that heat from waste incineration in Bern covers over ten percent of the city's heating requirements. In short: EWB offers numerous environmentally friendly energy services.
Light for night owls
Seven subjects with stylishly photographed and slightly abstract "customer situations" in all areas of application thematize the various contributions that EWB makes in and around Bern. The concrete proof on the posters and in the advertisements is provided in the form of images and text directly from the EWB beneficiaries: District heating for Bern railroad station, telecoms for Valiant Bank, energy consulting for the Hotel Schweizerhof, public lighting for late-night homecomers. For example, Polyconsult illustrated the natural gas sector with a picture of a man reading a newspaper. The headline explains: "Your evening off. Our comfort."
Anyone whose curiosity is piqued can finally find out in the text that follows that the Morillon estate in Bern is heated with natural gas in an environmentally friendly way. The headline "Your training. Our refreshment." touches on the topic of water. The agency depicts a BSV handball player taking a refreshing shower. "Your way home. Our escort." reminds the people of Berne that EWB uses its electricity to light 350 km of roads, making them safer.
The posters and advertisements will be placed in the cool and dark days of November to match the theme.
Soft and cuddly ads from Polyconsult for Energie Wasser Bern.
Andreas Panzeri

Publishers With three new heads and two new key departments, the Swiss Press Association is gearing up for the battles ahead. His first official act as head of the newly created Press Promotion department will be "a thorough read-in", says Josef Zihlmann. The fact that he is not a lawyer by training, but a journalist (and Germanist), is unlikely to do the editor-in-chief of the Willisauer Bote any harm, as he is taking over the most complex and probably also the most political of all the dossiers of the Swiss Press Association (CHP). In addition to diplomatic skills, this Herculean task requires above all a good ability to react and stand firm - skills with which Zihlmann believes he is "well equipped." The new member of the ten-person committee, originally intended by CHP President Hanspeter Lebrument (Mediengruppe Südostschweiz) to be the "Minister of Labor", will be actively supported by NZZ Director Marco de Stoppani (Legal) and AZ Publisher Peter Wanner (Lobbying), who, like Lebrument himself, both have a seat in this key department. As suspected (WW 33/03), the latter will in future devote himself to strategic relationship management with politics and business. Due to the upcoming legal decisions (media article and RTVG revision), Wanner's new department will probably play a decisive role next year.
Wanner's detour to Bern
The Aargau-based Lebrument intimate will therefore not only gain prestige from the foreign minister's office, but also a considerable amount of time and energy, which his own company, which is not currently bedded on roses, is likely to lack. All the more so as CHP Managing Director Daniel Kaczynski leaves no doubt to Werbewoche that the creation of this now ninth department is less about one-off par force missions and more about a "continuous presence" - in Bern and wherever else it is needed.
The third newcomer to the publishers' board, which was reconstituted at the end of last week, is Tamedia CEO Martin Kall, who replaced former president Hans Heinrich Coninx. He replaces Lebrument as Head of the Distribution department, which is hardly surprising given that the company is still working hard on a self-delivery model that is independent of Swiss Post. Although the mammoth project has now been outsourced, Tamedia's Chief Logistics Officer Hirzel is and will reportedly remain in charge. And he already reports to Martin Kall anyway. What could be more obvious than to use such entrepreneurial synergies for the association?
Doing the hard work: Wanner, Zihlmann, Kall (from left).
Oliver Classen