Beverage market The Swiss thirst for iced tea is growing. From August 2002 to July 2003, ACNielsen registered an increase in turnover of 4.7 million francs (+3.4%). This means that the iced tea market has risen from 131.4 million to 143.3 million francs (+9.1%) over the past three years. Some attribute the flood of tea to the summer of the century, others to advertising: according to Media Focus, spending on the popular drink increased even more: from 4.1 million (in 2000) to 4.6 million francs this year up to August 2003.

The Basel-based pharmaceutical group Novartis wants to relaunch its Sandoz brand on the German market and accompany it with an advertising campaign, according to the trade magazine Horizont, in which Publicis Vital, Euro RSCG and Ogilvy Healthcare are taking part. As Novartis has already announced, the Group's generics division will in future be called Sandoz worldwide.

Regional television ZüriPlus has solved its biggest problems: the expired concession has been bridged and the bottleneck with the premises has been resolved.All bad things come at once: Peter Steinmann, head of regional broadcaster ZüriPlus, is not to be envied. In addition to cramped premises and a tight budget of just CHF 1.2 million, the regional TV station, which was only launched at the end of March, was now threatened with closure. The reason: the station had failed to submit an application in time for the renewal of its license, which expired on August 26.
The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) had to reach into its bag of tricks twice to resolve the dicey situation and avert a broadcast interruption. As an immediate measure, it hastily issued the local broadcaster with a 30-day license, as is normally the case for short events. But that was not the end of the trembling, because on
September 26, this deadline had also expired. A new exemption therefore had to be found. OFCOM has now granted the broadcaster a so-called transitional license for a further three months.
Cable space is at stake
Although this solves ZüriPlus' biggest problem, the matter is not yet completely over. One way or another, the station will have to do without terrestrial broadcasting in future. This is of key importance, as it was terrestrial broadcasting that opened the door to Cablecom's cable network. According to the Radio and Television Act (RTVA), all stations that can be received with average antenna effort must be switched on (Article 42 RTVA, "must-carry rule"). However, because the end of terrestrial broadcasting means that the "must-carry rule" can no longer be applied, cable broadcasting must also be renegotiated.
Cablecom spokesperson Stephan Howeg did not want to answer "at the moment" whether ZüriPlus' hard-won cable slot is now in danger again. "Because the license application is pending, I can't comment on this," he explains, adding that "as long as there is a valid legal basis, we will continue to broadcast the channel."
Meanwhile, the station boss is not worried that
something could go wrong with the upcoming new concession. "The new concession is on the right track," says Steinmann. In any case, the majority of positive responses from the consultation process that he has received point in this direction.
Moving fever
However, the regional broadcaster has already overcome another important hurdle to its survival. The crew is currently moving into new premises in Wallisellen. This means that the notoriously cramped conditions at the previous location in Dübendorf - only 120 square meters of office space were available - are now a thing of the past. "At the new location, we not only have four times as much space as before. For the first time, we now also have room heights that make studio productions worthy of the name possible," Steinmann continues. "We've certainly got rid of the look of very small television."
At the same time, however, an important prerequisite for the further expansion of the station is now in place. "Because more than the twelve people we currently employ wouldn't fit in at the old location," explains the station boss. At the moment, the editorial team is already working on projects for new programs. Nevertheless, Steinmann is cautious about getting too carried away. "We're not making any leaps, our aim is to take small but steady steps."
The former pentathlete clearly rejects speculation that the station could soon run out of money.
"On the one hand, we have been able to pay all our invoices up to now. On the other hand, the number of invoices that we can issue to our customers ourselves is increasing." The thought of giving up has never been as far from his mind as it is now, explains Steinmann. He recalls with particular satisfaction the many critical voices that gave the station just two months when it was launched at the end of March. "We have now already exceeded that by a factor of three."
In addition to ZüriPlus, the children's program "Mummi" can already be seen on eleven other local stations.

"ZüriPlus has no shortage of popular formats: since its launch at the end of May, the station has had "ZüriStar", a talent show along the lines of the hit show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar". However, although 144 video clips featuring young wannabe stars have already been filmed and broadcast as part of the first round, there has been no public response to date.
Did the broadcaster miss an opportunity because it paid far too little attention to its presence in other media? "Maybe we really did miss out on something," admits Steinmann. At the same time, however, he points to the second round that the talent show is now entering. This means that the throttle will now be turned up a little. However, he also expects a boost for his own show from "MusicStar", which started last week on SF DRS. "You're sure to see people there again who are already on our show." The big
The final of "ZüriStar" is scheduled for March 2004. (dse)
Daniel Schifferle

Special interest Michael Rehsche is the new editor-in-chief of Auto & Technik, taking over from Stephan Hauri at the beginning of 2004, who is leaving the industry magazine at the end of October. Rehsche began his career in 1966 at the "Tagesschau". From 1988 to 1991, he was editor-in-chief of Auto Illustrierte. He is currently responsible for foreign affairs and business at Automobil Revue. (sm)

In collaboration with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents readers of Werbewoche with an extract of the results from the Advertising Index (AX-Print) five times a year. This index (see below) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertisements. The boxes on the left and right show the ads that were most popular with the relevant psychographic target group. The three subjects that performed best for the entire sample, i.e. for all four target groups as a whole, are shown under the title "Top Three". Best of NorthwestAffinity of the ads among supporters in "Yuppieland"
Gold (146) Arkina Beauty (Advico Young & Rubicam)
Silver (144) Jean Paul Gaultier Fragile/Classique
Bronze (133) Nissan New Micra (TBWA/Switzerland)
(ww)

Restaurant guide One notices the intention and is not amused, although Publicis CD Markus Gut assures us that the advertisement for the 2004 edition of "GaultMillau" was also designed with a wink and takes aim at sentences such as "No thanks, I already sinned yesterday". The Bible for believers, the food guide for sinners? As if believers don't sin and sinners aren't also believers. Lenin already saw through the nasty tricks of the founders of religion and spooned up his minestrone where upright socialists (and atheists) stood at the stove. The ad picks up on last year's motif, when an anonymous person took a big bite out of hunger, and supports the sale of the 576-page restaurant guide from Ringier. ...

Newspapers Despite Weko, Espace Media is sticking to the Bund timetable The rescue model for the Bund is being subjected to an in-depth review by the Competition Commission (Weko), which will take a maximum of four months. There is therefore concern that the decision may not be available in time for the planned cooperation date between Berner Zeitung and Bund under the Espace Media umbrella on January 1. Albert P. Stäheli, CEO of Espace Media Groupe, explains that the in-depth examination by the Competition Commission will not change this timetable. "We will launch our two-title model as planned on January 1, even if the actual takeover cannot yet be completed." A delay would be unacceptable in view of the extremely difficult economic situation at the Confederation - and because of the advertising market. "That is why we are now applying to the Competition Commission for provisional enforcement," says Stäheli. This would give us the opportunity to introduce the Bernese model on time. Either way, the planning work and the necessary investments in the infrastructure will continue at the current pace, and Espace Media Groupe was not surprised by the Weko's verdict. "Based on the Competition Commission's previous practice, it was clear that a Bern model would not be waved through without in-depth examination," explains Stäheli. Precisely because the Competition Commission is already very well documented about the Bern newspaper market, he expects the special audit to take significantly less than four months.
Stäheli cannot imagine a negative decision. "Because then there would be a great risk that the current owners would stop the covenant." At best, certain conditions would have to be expected, he says.
(dse)

Script, the professional association for copywriters, is holding another round of certification for its professional register on November 17, requiring interested parties to submit three of their own texts for testing. Script explains why freelancers should have themselves tested and agencies should register their copywriters in a PDF document that can be downloaded from www.scriptweb.ch. Application documents can be ordered from the office (contact@ scriptweb. ch). The deadline for submitting work samples is October 31.

In collaboration with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents readers of Werbewoche with an extract of the results from the Advertising Index (AX-Print) five times a year. This index (see below) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertisements. The boxes on the left and right show the ads that were most popular with the relevant psychographic target group. The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. all four target groups, are shown under the title "Top Three". Best of SoutheastAffinity of the ads among supporters in the "Christian camp"
Gold (160) Migros Electronic 3 years (MGB/Pucci, Sulzer)
Silver (141) Logitech Wireless Freedom
Bronze (126) Wander AG Gerlinéa - Oriental rice dish (Advico Young & Rubicam)
(ww)

In the course of a strategic realignment, Bossard Kommunikation was entrusted with the development of a new CI/CD for Lucerne-based Trescor Treuhand AG, and the Lucerne-based agency developed a comprehensive package of advertising measures based on the new concept.

The Zurich agency Meta Design has been entrusted with the brand development by Arevos, a new provider of software solutions for private banks based in Zurich. Meta Design was selected from five agencies following a pitch. To launch the brand, the agency is developing the logo, the brochure concept, a corporate presentation and the website.

Alpenbitter Appenzeller is a "tasty, pleasant, independent and unmistakable alcoholic drink for people who have found their own taste and style", says the advertising agency FCB Leutenegger Krüll about the herbal juice of its client from Appenzell. After two years of "abstinence", Alpenbitter is to be advertised again with basic communication. To this end, the agency displayed some Appenzell slyness: the effect of the Appenzeller can be sniffed out on a fragrance card. Bitter for seasoned lovers of the herbal liqueur: The advertising material is alcohol-free.