Mobility This will please King Kraska: This winter, the city of Zurich is introducing free public transport: for four months, all services in zone 10 of the 1,100 means of transport operated by the Zurich transport network ("I'm a free streetcar too") can be used free of charge. Under one condition: Anyone who wants to be driven around as a state-recognized fare dodger must in return deposit their car's license plate in a ZVV vault for the same four months. The planned submission dates for the license plates are October 28 and November 28. A stand is to be set up at Zurich Paradeplatz for the "License plates for ZVV season ticket" exchange. However, regular users of the ZVV will not have the chance to exchange their license plate number for a ZVV season ticket.
bike vignette in exchange for a free subscription to the streetcar, bus and boat services, as the transport association readily admits when asked. Unlike telecoms companies, where existing customers can also benefit from loyalty to their provider with subscription campaigns for free cell phones, ZVV does not yet reward such customer loyalty. And King Kraska could care less about that.
(pan)

Guest commentary The animal world shows how down-to-earth and at the same time lucrative social journalism can be today, writes Francis Müller.
In the colourful advertising market of Tierwelt magazine, you can find pretty much everything a reasonably civilized contemporary needs. The offer ranges from Kalashnikovs and castration pliers (for boars) to safety underwear and dental operations in Hungary to military kitchens and women from Poland looking to get married. While the media industry is experiencing epochal gnashing of teeth, "crisis" seems to be a foreign word at the Zofingen publishing house. Tierwelt is even recording growth rates - both in terms of advertising and copies sold. In 1993 the certified circulation was 62757 copies, in 2003 it was 71867; in 1992 Tierwelt had 142918 classified advertisements, ten years later almost 40,000 more. Founded in 1890, the title stands for a Switzerland beyond any urbanity. It is a manageable, archaic world in which the number of sheep or tractors one owns represents one's wealth. The magazine is published week after week by the Swiss Society for Small Animal Breeding. The association's spirit is also reflected in the editorial content. The sections are called "Rabbits", "Carrier Pigeons" or "Bird Breeding", and while society journalists are preparing to grow old as cab drivers or sausage stand operators, the paper reports cheerfully and successfully on topics such as "Teenage problems with barn swallows" or "My horse sweats so much! And when an article bears the headline "Aerial acrobats in action", it refers not to daredevil pilots, but to the aerobatic pigeon meeting in Perlen, Lucerne.
Despite such journalistic gems, the animal world is probably bought primarily because of the advertisements. A used car dealer from Oberaargau, who has since emigrated to Thailand, once confessed to me that nothing would work in his business without this organ, especially when it comes to the often tricky purchase of vehicles. So it is not only offered, but also sought: Teeth ("...but they have to be made of gold"), machine guns ("Looking for Uzi!") and partners ("Sandra, 41 and faithful, looking for animal-loving man to steal horses together"). No one seems to mind that Sandra's ad is between the offers for compressors and an emergency power system. After all, the world is full of contrasts.
Gold, weapons and love - these are the threads from which the big stories are woven. So it's thick mail that flutters through thousands of letterboxes every week. The magazine's own advertising puts it in a nutshell: "The animal world has a bird every week." A magazine that would have to be invented if it didn't already exist. But what creative mind would come up with something like that?
> Francis Müller is a freelance journalist and writes for the NZZ am Sonntag and the Financial Times, among others.
Times Germany.

Fashion marketing Tom Ford has the luxury twist down pat. As a gifted designer and part-time line extension star, the "sexiest gay man alive" - according to Rita Wilson, wife of Tom Hanks - is shaping the everyday life of the haute élite like no other. Gucci boss De Sole incorporates Tom Ford's lucrative inspirations into the entire multi-brand family and its advertising. It's not just lingerie, trouser suits, watches and bags that bear the Texan's signature. He also uses the finest materials to create yoga mats, dog baskets, G-spot hairstyles and, most recently, babies. Even with the latest Gucci creation, the exquisite target group can be sure that only the most exquisite components are good enough. It is easy to distinguish from cheap pirated copies: The original is guaranteed to be house-trained and weaned. The charming fashion accessory - available in ivory white and chocolate brown - can only be combined with any wardrobe to a limited extent. However, the prestige factor of the Gucci baby is on the rise thanks to falling birth rates. (la)

City marketing Who will be awarded the contract for 250 new poster sites? If the city council has its way, Lucerne will soon have a new poster concept. This is to be advertised in the cantonal gazette this week. Poster companies will then have until November 21 to submit bids. A total of 250 poster sites on public land are involved. A contract is unlikely to be awarded before the end of the year. In addition, delays are to be expected anyway, as the unsuccessful company can appeal the decision. This is what happened in Basel.
There is also plenty of controversy in Lucerne, as the new concept bears the signature of the Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG), but was updated by Hans Ulrich Imesch's Institut für Ganzheitliche Gestaltung in Zurich, as Daniel Bernet, a member of the legal department of the Lucerne city building authority, explained.
Moreover, the submission is not voluntary. Last year, the Competition Commission urged Lucerne to invite tenders following a complaint from APG competitor Clear Channel Pla-kanda (CCP). Originally, the city simply wanted to renew its 90-year contract with APG and also integrate the billboards on private land, even those of CCP, into a concept.
(mk)

Advertising statistics Swiss newspapers recorded 11.6 percent less advertising volume in September than in the same month last year.Advertising statistics Swiss newspapers recorded 11.6 percent less advertising volume in September than in the same month last year. The decline is below the average for the first three quarters (13.5%). All newspaper types reported losses. Free newspapers are an exception (+5.4%). Swiss magazines slipped by 16.9 percent overall, but with fewer individual issues than in the previous year (143 compared to 157). Consumer magazines in German-speaking Switzerland were the only category to increase slightly (+0.6%).

On January 1, 2004, the Nestlé food group is handing over all media mandates in the Swiss market to Optimedia in Zurich, a concentration that will allow Nestlé to reduce complexity in this area in view of its large brand portfolio, according to a press release.

Airlines Advertising that takes off is now being offered by the airline Nordavia in Hamburg. With a new film, for example, a Boeing 737 can be designed as an all-round advertising space, eliminating the high costs of encapsulating the aircraft. The film can withstand all turbulence in the air without damage. Nordavia has been in the air charter business for 30 years and flies from all major airports in Germany to the most important vacation destinations in the Mediterranean. Advertising is also possible for numerous other airlines via the newly founded marketing company Nordavia Air Promotion

Under the title "BOP - Best of Press 2003", the advertising agency Publimedia presents the best advertising campaigns in the world that received awards at the Cannes International Advertising Festival (IAF). 66 campaigns and 135 subjects were awarded gold, silver or bronze in June. The 136-page booklet also presents all 204 Swiss entries. "BOP" is available in German and French. Publimedia has been the marketing and media partner for the Press & Outdoor category of Cinecom, which acts as the Swiss office of the IAF, for five years. "BOP" can be ordered at www.publimedia.ch for a nominal fee of CHF 50.

Column The fact that advertising also has a moral is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of advertising. So it's high time to create talking value here. But the shrewd moralist immediately asks: "What morals?" And: "Who enforces them?" The answers are simple: advertising has an advertising (r)moral, and it is enforced by itself. Morality, because it is merely moral, is as incapable of taming advertising as it is of taming the arms industry if the latter does not keep up with it. Advertising does indeed do this. It is kind to animals, children and recently even senior citizens. It helps everyone to do something good for themselves and others by encouraging everyone to do something good for themselves and thus for the economic cycle and therefore for us all. The moral of the advertisers, the cheeky, creative craftsmen and women, is therefore also that of all of us. It would not only be highly counter-productive to seriously protest against this with posters and commercials, but also lack solidarity, as it would be to the detriment of the industry, which sticks together "like a big family" (Andreas Prokesch).
In contrast to our everyday morals, which are usually inconspicuous and simply come across as decency, reliability and - well - honesty in a reasonably calculable way, advertising morals are always full of pleasant surprises. Even public relations - if it adheres to the popular maxim "Do good and talk about it!" - has no comparable surprise value. Unless, of course, it wraps up the events it organizes, such as charity bazaars of all kinds, with some additional moral splendour. Advertising morality, on the other hand, especially today's postmodern morality, adheres to aesthetics, even creates them: aesthetic added value for the benefit of the general public. No more advertising, no much too loud blaring for any obscure products as in the early days of advertising. Rather a consistent and - why not? - daring marriage of the good and the true with the beautiful. Only spitters consider such a marriage inadmissible.
To ensure that any black sheep are also kept in check, a body with the rather old-fashioned title of "Fairness Commission" also acts as an authority for advertising self-regulation in Switzerland. Its thoroughly commendable set of rules not only promotes goodness in this (commodity) world, but also chivalry towards the fairer sex. One entrepreneur advertised his slimming treatment with the - appropriately illustrated - unspeakable before and after scene of a couple dancing: "Her husband used to be ashamed of her, but today he is so proud!" Hence the pillory of fairness principle no. 3.11: "Gender-discriminatory advertising exists in particular if it portrays the person embodying a gender as an object of subjugation, subservience, exploitation, etc."
And for those who, despite the threat of ostracism, are still not spitting with the publication of their offence, a new initiative by the Brussels EU Commission, which also standardizes the shape of European cucumbers, now makes sense. It condemns "stereotypical representations of men and women". Is someone talking about "hypocrisy"? Which other industry will cast the first stone?
> Ulrich Saxer was a professor of journalism at the University of Zurich and
Professor of Sociology of Communication in Lugano.

Advertising The German advertising market owes a positive, albeit not yet stable, trend to individual sectors of the economy: according to Nielsen Media Research, 280 million euros or 2.4 million euros were spent on advertising in the first nine months of the current year.
percent more in advertising than in the previous year. In Switzerland, the turnaround is still a long way off. According to Media Focus' latest analysis, gross advertising expenditure had increased by
3.9 percent or over CHF 90 million lower than in the previous year. If the advertising volume of Wemf AG is used as an indicator for the entire industry, no improvement can be expected: This also fell in the ninth month by 11.6 percent compared to the previous year.

Commentary With the death of Neil Postman, a prophet of popular cultural criticism who was primarily concerned with the penetrating power of his fundamental criticism has passed away, writes Samuel Helbling.
Anyone who doesn't know his name will at least have heard the titles of his relevant works: "We're Amusing Ourselves to Death" or "The Disappearance of Childhood". The recently deceased American cultural critic Neil Postman painted a picture of the downfall of the West and the USA with media impact like no other. Today, people are no longer being softened and incapacitated by totalitarian ideologies, but by total TV entertainment. This was the verdict of his grimly culturally pessimistic indictments of our TV-dominated culture in the 1980s. In Postman's own words: "Television was not created for idiots - it creates them." The media professor and bestselling author constantly warned against the trivialization, tabloidization and infantilization of society through the brave new media world. The problem with commercial television is that it presents every topic as entertainment. Postman's critical analyses of television seem strangely antiquated today, even if his judgments are gratefully received by left-wing and conservative cultural pessimists and are still widely circulated. A sober assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of visual communication was not his thing. Consequently, he refused to use PCs and
e-mail and always wrote his pamphlets with a pen. The media apocalyptic did not want to admit that media entertainment can also be informative and argumentative, that popular TV programs are not just a distraction. But TV content not only has a meaning and therefore not only an effect; it is not always controllable and can certainly be emancipatory or even subversive by creating meaning and identity for certain groups in society. Popular TV programs do not always function according to the intentions of their producers.
Postman's fundamentalist criticism of the media and television is based on the well-known theory of manipulation. It sees the audience only as victims of sophisticated media strategies. Anyone who argues in this way ignores the fact that the mass media are part of reality and that we can also see through how they work. Anyone familiar with media history knows that the more good advice the media were given, the less they were impressed by it. After all, viewers also decide what they want to see. What they don't like is mercilessly zapped away. In the competition for attention, ratings and reach determine the existence or non-existence of broadcast formats. Nobody is forced to be bored to death in front of the TV.
The audience is not so easy to educate, manipulate or enlighten. They know that no major TV event such as "MusicStar" or "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" can take place without their active participation by pressing the phone button. They manipulate the medium in order to assert their wishes and have fun. It knows that the medium of television has become plebiscitary. Those who do not submit to the will of the audience are punished with a withdrawal of love, while those who comply are rewarded with good ratings.
> Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

Below the line direct marketing is becoming increasingly important for many companies. To ensure that the mail reaches the customer, the product must be convincing and the mailing must be attractively designed.
Yes, the critics are right: they still exist, the horrible mailings. We still often sit stunned in front of advertising letters of the worst kind and wonder who will send the reply card back after this "pleasure". But there is also another trend. A trend towards direct brand communication that not only leads to immediate success, but also leaves a lasting positive brand image in the minds of those who do not respond immediately. The archive in your head
"We believe that good advertising costs no more, in general terms, than ordinary advertising, yet over time it becomes priceless." This is a quote from Sir Frank Lowe, founder and Chairman of Lowe & Partners Worldwide, one of the largest agency networks in the world. A statement that not only applies to classic TV commercials, advertisements and posters. It also includes all forms of direct marketing in particular.
In the "business to business" sector in particular, it is well known that many people archive well-made mailings in case what they offer might be relevant to them at some point. Consumers simply store them in their heads. Bad mailings rarely make it there. Creativity in direct marketing should therefore not only focus on immediate response, but also take into account the important image factor. After all, there are people who may not respond to mailings until two years after they have been sent. By buying in a store somewhere what was offered at the time or perhaps another product of this brand. Because they remember the visual and textual messages of well-done direct marketing activities. However, such purchase decisions do not appear in any mailing evaluation.
Not all fun goes down equally well with everyone. But everyone likes to have fun. Sometimes all it takes is a single sentence on a small card to accompany the laminated glossy brochure and customers will be running to the boutiques. Sometimes, on the other hand, bonus stamps, prize draws, stickers, raffle tickets, free gifts and the like have to be used in combination to enhance the value of goods that would otherwise go unnoticed. Direct marketing in particular offers the opportunity to create an advertising medium with targeted stimuli for a limited circle of potential customers.
design. However, in order to develop a feel for the effect, you first have to take a close look at the offer and the recipients. Because even below the line, the good is the enemy of the great. You must not be satisfied too quickly.
The fact that creativity in direct marketing is becoming more and more important is also shown by the fact that the renowned advertising festival in Cannes is no longer above awarding its coveted Lions to successful work in the field of direct marketing. Direct advertisers are now allowed to compete alongside the big classic advertisers. A small step up from our below-the-line existence, so to speak. In any case, Howard Draft, Chairman and CEO of the global agency group Draft, took to the lectern in Cannes last year with a great deal of irony with the words: "Barbarians at the Gates: Direct comes to Cannes." And he predicted a rosy future for commercial communication that combines creativity with efficiency for advertisers worldwide.
This year, Switzerland only won one of the coveted Lions in Cannes. And this was won in the Direct category of all things. It was won by Euro RSCG, Zurich, with "Messband - Abspecken lohnt sich" for the Zurich fitness studio Arena 225.
The vouchers for a trial training session at this high-priced club were produced here in the form of a measuring tape. Ingeniously, this shows a few centimeters too much. This advertising material was distributed in a parking garage and restaurant that matched the target group. A small, subtle idea that achieved great things. And proof that creative below-the-line measures can even ensure a better line, in addition to all the other benefits.
It will be interesting to see what else direct marketing will conjure up in the future. From media networking and interactive television to mobile communications and talking posters, there are still a few surprises in store for us.
A small idea that made a big impact: a mailing campaign for the Arena 225 fitness studio designed by Euro RSCG won gold in Cannes.

Successful direct marketingAt the end of every successful communication is the result. A good result is achieved when the following three points are taken into account: Offer, consumer insight and the big idea.
- Offer: When direct marketing is supposed to sell a bad product, it often ends in sad mailings that cause great damage to the industry. A good offer, on the other hand, can unleash enormous creativity in all those involved.
- Consumer insight: Consumer insight is brought to light in dialog with the client. This is based on an understanding of the respective market and target group. Market research and data profiling are helpful. If you manage to formulate a precise brief for the creative teams, you are already halfway there.
- Big idea: Crystal-clear consumer insights form the breeding ground for the development of the big idea that can make direct marketing in particular so exciting. Only those who come up with a groundbreaking creative implementation will succeed with their work.
Barometer turns highAround 60 percent of Swiss direct marketing companies expect sales to rise in the second half of the year, while only 7.8 percent expect
losses. This was the result of the Dialog Marketing Barometer, which the
industry associations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the first time. 63 members of the Swiss DM
Association took part.
In the first half of the year, only 33% recorded growth, which means that the market developed more weakly than in Germany (+37.8%) and Austria (+48.4%). 22.2 percent of companies recorded lower turnover. The number of employees remained constant at 60.3 percent of Swiss companies, rose at 19 percent and fell at 15.9 percent. Despite the positive outlook, only 15.9% of companies intend to hire more staff in the second half of the year. The evaluation of the
Dialog Marketing Barometer can be downloaded from the website of the German
Direct Marketing Association (www.ddv.de). (sm)
Christian Hansen is Managing Director of Lowe Direct, Zurich. He is a member of the jury for the Swiss Dialog Marketing Prize and was a juror at the
this year's "Lions Direct" in Cannes.