As the new Director of Publisuisse, Martin Schneider wants to expand the market share of TV advertising with innovative customer concepts. "I have to buy newspapers when I'm on vacation. I'm almost addicted to news and media products," admits Martin Schneider. One of these news items recently also applied to him. The former Head of Sales at Publisuisse has been promoted to become the new Director of Switzerland's largest marketer of advertising newspapers. The surprise was positive. "I felt a lot of support from the staff," says the delighted successor to Ingrid Deltenre, who was born in Solothurn in 1967 and studied business administration in St. Gallen. His first job was at Kraft Foods. There he was responsible for a chewing gum line in product management and got to know "all the classic marketing stories". When the position of assistant to the finance director became vacant at SRG SSR in Bern in 1996, Schneider applied because he thought "that you would get a very good national overview of the media business". He worked in this position for three years "more or less as an assistant" to François Landgraf. As Finance Director of SRG, Landgraf was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Publisuisse.
A reorganization of SRG also took place during this period. Schneider was appointed Head of Commerce and was responsible for developing and implementing SRG's commercial strategy. In this role, he was in close contact with the SRG SSR subsidiaries. "I carried out market research for Publisuisse and provided business management advice."
As a result, the then director André Hofer brought him to Publisuisse full-time. The company was diversifying. For example, an investment was made in RMB for the international business, but this was sold again before the major advertising crisis.
At the beginning of 2000, following Hofer's retirement, Ingrid Deltenre was elected as the new television director. She wanted to keep Schneider, and he wanted to stay because he "liked it very much" at Publisuisse. So he took over responsibility for the sale. And when Deltenre was appointed as the new director, Schneider was also at a turning point in his life - in short: he stood for election as her successor.
He was attracted to the position of Director by the fact that he had grown fond of Publisuisse and its employees. "We have a great company and are on the right track." Ingrid Deltenre has brought a strong "drive" to the company and has set the right course. Schneider wants to "guarantee a certain continuity" in this direction.
But he also has his own ideas: "I don't just want to increase Publisuisse's share of TV advertising. In terms of generic marketing for TV, I also want to expand the share of TV advertising within the overall advertising pie." He sees promotional advertising and industry-specific TV advertising concepts as one of many possibilities. "Today, more must be offered for the same or even less money."
In addition to the challenges, he was also attracted by the prospect of being able to "open up the focus even further". In addition to sales, marketing, finance and controlling are also an important part of his new role.
Schneider finds relaxation in sailing. There, however, he is "only a light sailor". His wife is the captain, as she has a sailing license. She is a partner in a Solothurn law firm, which is why the couple live in the ambassadorial city. However, commuting is no more time-consuming than spending an hour stuck in a traffic jam in Zurich. And if "an advertising party might take a little longer", Martin Schneider also has an apartment in the city on the Limmat.
Andreas Panzeri

Sponsoring III For two and a half years, Toyota has been sponsoring the success-spoiled FC Basel - at a bargain price.Toyota has earned a place in the marketing textbooks. What other sponsor could boast of having become the main sponsor of a sports club at such an opportune time as the Japanese car manufacturer? Timing is everything. When Toyota signed up with Basel Football Club (FCB) in December 2000, the club was in fifth place in the Swiss championship and had little to show for it apart from a great past with names like Karli Odermatt. Since the summer of 2002, everything has changed: championship title, cup win, qualification for the lucrative Champions League. And whenever the TV cameras whirred, the lens zoomed in on the jerseys of the FCB players and the prominently sewn-on Toyota lettering. "We took a certain risk in December 2000 and actually paid a lot for the circumstances at the time," admitted Oswald Kron, CEO of car manufacturer Toyota, in an interview some time ago.
The car manufacturer is said to have forked out a total of around four million francs for its three-and-a-half-year commitment. Net, nota bene. Additional bonuses for success were not included in the contract. An advantage for Toyota, as it turns out today: "Experts have calculated that our main sponsor is currently receiving ten times the value for what it is paying," says FCB President Werner Edelmann.
28000 visitors per match
Basel's president is probably not completely off the mark with his estimate. No other Swiss sports club has made as many positive headlines in the recent past as FCB. Even Vietnamese and Japanese newspapers reported on the Beppi club when it was one of Europe's best teams.
And ever since over 100,000 fans celebrated their team's title win in May 2002 on Barfüsserplatz until the early hours of the morning, one thing is certain: no Swiss club currently mobilizes more spectators and fans than FCB. Since the start of the new season, up to 28,000 supporters have been making the pilgrimage to St. Jakob-Park for every home game. And always there: Toyota.
Even when the players are on the road, they do so in a Lexus or Toyota. "They are obliged to drive up to official events in their Toyota or Lexus," confirms FCB spokesman Josef Zindel. Anyone who does not do this "will be penalized internally according to a clear
regulated 'catalog'", Zindel says verbatim. "Whereby the fines increase noticeably in the event of a repeat offense." It was not possible to find out how often the players have been fined so far.
Sexy Yakins
The FCB bosses are likely to have issued such warnings on many occasions: Players like Murat Yakin (a self-confessed BMW M5 driver) are reluctant to be forced into a rigid corset. But that's exactly what makes them sexy, interesting and therefore great image carriers. No wonder there are far more stories about FCB players in lifestyle and women's magazines than about other Swiss footballers. And you can already hire the brothers Murat and Hakan Yakin as advertising models from the sports agency Athletic Models, even though the latter will be wearing the jersey of the traditional Parisian club Paris St. Germain in the future.
Toyota can dispose of the FCB players free of charge. At least until the end of the 2003/2004 season, when the FCB main sponsor's contract expires. "We have already received clear signals from Toyota Switzerland that further cooperation would be welcomed," says Zindel. However, Toyota will no longer be able to get FCB as cheaply as it did two and a half years ago.
Classy company car for Christian Gross. The FCB coach received the Lexus RX300 on loan from Toyota a few weeks ago.
Toyota at FCBToyota leaves no stone unturned in its sponsorship commitment to FC Basel: Jerseys, perimeter advertising in the stadium, presence on advertisements (for example in the football club magazine Rot Blau), on autograph cards, on season tickets, in the match calendar and ticket pre-sales in Basel Toyota garages are just a small part of the appearance. In order to offer its VIPs a special service, the Japanese car manufacturer has set up its own box in the St. Jakob-Park, which is usually sold out, where 900 VIPs can be catered for. In addition, Toyota can call on FCB stars at the Geneva Motor Show or at dealer meetings, and can also arrange for
have their cars advertised. (af)
Annelies Friedli

Sponsoring IV UBS is one of the most successful sponsors in Switzerland. Christof P. Marti, Executive Director and Head of Sponsoring & Events at the big bank, talks about the joys and sorrows of a sponsor.WW The display of your company logo at the Locarno Film Festival has often triggered a whistling concert from the cultural chic. How do you feel about this "thanks"? Christof Marti: Of course every whistle is annoying. But you have to put it into perspective. Out of 6500 people on the Piazza Grande, maybe 100 whistle. 50 whistle because they don't like our sponsorship. The other half always whistle when others whistle. That leaves 6400 who welcome our funding of the event. This shows me that cultural sponsorship has become very well established in recent years. Our commitment, which has now also been understood by the cultural scene, is that we have absolutely no influence on the content.
Are you still aware of your position of power with so much selflessness?
Indirectly, by not renewing the contract if the project is no longer right for us.
During the crisis, such control mechanisms also appear to be used in sponsoring.
more strongly.
As we see sponsorship as an equivalent means of communication, we need to be able to check whether the investment has paid off or not. This question arises with every campaign, even in traditional advertising. Ultimately, it all depends on whether you believe in the statistical laws of advertising effectiveness control or brand monitoring. It is clear that both instruments only work in combination; after all, image values are also influenced by other factors such as good media reports, the absence of scandals and crises. It is therefore almost impossible to attribute changes in image among the various target groups to the contributions of the individual tools. In addition, our activities are qualitative and not quantitative.
In any case, the response to Alinghi's victory in the America's Cup was also quantifiable. Some criticize the fact that the bank
name sponsorship - i.e. a UBS yacht - could have had even greater marketing success. How would you respond to this criticism?
What journalists from certain newspapers are now suggesting, that UBS did not want a title sponsorship because of the risk, is completely unfounded. We were never even offered title sponsorship. A similarly hypothetical question could be: Why won't Coca-Cola be the title sponsor of the Fifa World Cup? Quite simply, because such a sponsorship is not available.
What were your advantages as a main partner?
While as a title sponsor you automatically have a high but passive media presence, as a partner you are forced to take relatively more activation measures. In return, you can influence these much more strongly. In this way, we were able to establish links with UBS brand values and increase our profile abroad. I am also convinced that our message has reached its target, and more effectively than through title sponsorship.
In the neighboring countries
Title sponsorship of infrastructure services is more popular than here. Why is that?
The Swiss market is too small for that. As a title sponsor, you exclude yourself from many other properties or possibly get in the way of other sponsors. While a German stadium, for example, is used to capacity with all Bundesliga and international matches, in Switzerland such an infrastructure has to be used more diversely. So what would it look like if the organizer of Weltklasse Zürich had to hold the event in a CS Arena? As a title sponsor, you are generally exposed to a passive media presence and therefore much more exposed, which often prevents small sponsors from participating.
UBS, on the other hand, is the title sponsor
of a youth orchestra. No contradiction?
No. As co-owner of the 112-member UBS Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra, whose members travel to Valais from 35 countries, we have enjoyed a high level of acceptance as a credible partner thanks to our willingness to take risks and our help since the orchestra was founded four years ago.
Are new, comparable projects more difficult today than they were four years ago?
The market has generally become tougher. On the one hand, because know-how has increased. Companies know exactly what they want and what they don't want. Sponsorship is no longer simply the darling of the company boss. On the other hand, projects have become disproportionately more expensive, with budgets and conditions remaining the same. Additional safety measures, growing expectations of quality and ticket prices at the ceiling are just some of the reasons. This does not necessarily mean that companies are spending less. UBS focuses on a small number of projects, but supports them with all the more extensive activation measures.
One gets the impression that UBS only engages in media-rich sponsorships.
The impression is misleading. It is true that UBS only sponsors culture and sport. However, we also support the environment, social issues and education very strongly, but not from our marketing funds. Which is why we adhere to the maxim "do good, but don't talk about it". These commitments are not exploited commercially; they belong in the area of corporate responsibility.
How will UBS's sponsorship volume develop in the coming years?
This varies from region to region - depending on the business model and strategy - and depends very much on major projects and the economic situation. In general, the budget is likely to remain stable.
In recent years, there have been major shifts in the
Sponsoring portfolio of your
financial institution?
With the merger of Bankverein and Bankgesellschaft in 1998, we had to re-evaluate the excessively large portfolio and make sensible adjustments. One plus one resulted in approximately one point four, which not only made economic sense. We now periodically adjust our commitments in line with our marketing and business objectives and terminate them when their life curve declines. A few, such as Weltklasse Zürich, Art Basel, the Spengler Cup or the Locarno Film Festival, have been at the top of the sponsorship life curve for over ten years in some cases.
And where does Alinghi stand on this life cycle for UBS?
The contract with Team Alinghi for the America's Cup 02/03 expires at the end of the year. We are currently negotiating what a continuation might look like, which we would like, but not at any price. After all, "Operation Two" is now completely different: Alinghi is now a defender and no longer sails in the Louis Vuitton Cup. In the best-case scenario, Alinghi will now compete in five regattas. The question now is what "replacement value" Alinghi can offer us.
After all, the venue is coming to Europe.
Yes, unlike Auckland, we would practically be present in our core market. The whole hospitality part would take on a completely different meaning.
With Alinghi, UBS also gained worldwide media presence.
Luca Aloisi

The Basler Zeitung (BaZ) will continue to be advertised by cR DDB in the future After nine years of working with the Basel advertising agency, BaZ decided in May to review its position and realign its advertising budget and put it out to pitch. The old and new account managers were able to prevail against Jung von Matt/Limmat and Lesch+Frei from Zurich as well as Schneider Berthoud from Basel. The new concept from cR DDB is based on modularity, is flexible and market-oriented, praised BaZ publishing director Daniel Sommer in a press release from the agency. The first works will be on display in September.

Helsana, Switzerland's largest health insurer with 1.4 million customers, has commissioned Wirz Werbung to handle its classic communications. The first works will already be on display in the fall.

Long-time co-owner and Creative Director (CD) Hannes Weber is leaving the Bern-based advertising agency Contexta. His shares will be taken over by the co-owners Bernhard Abegglen (CD) and Daniel Hartmann (consultant), who will each hold 50 percent of the 60-strong agency in future. Weber will remain on the Contexta Board of Directors. Paolo Tonti has been appointed as the new CD. ...
Cordula Nebiker, responsible for sales management at PubliGroupe subsidiary Intermag AG Basel since 2000, will be leaving the company at the end of September 2003. She will be succeeded by Alain Lamy, Sales Manager at Intermag.
...
As of August 2003, Alexandra Schneider will become publishing director of Schaffhauser Nachrichten, which she has been managing ad interim since March 1 of this year. In addition, the publishing house has nominated
Stefan Wabel as Head of Advertising Service and Christian Stamm as Head of Reader and Sales Marketing, further key positions have been filled with younger managers.
...
Roger Möschler has been Head of Marketing at Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG) since August 1, 2003. Ivan Schultheiss, formerly Head of Advertising at Weltwoche, takes over as Head of Key Account Management and, in a second phase, overall responsibility for APG's sales activities.
...
Paolo Placa will take over the advertising management of Das Beste and Sélection on September 1. He currently works as Head of Internet Research and a member of the management team at Publica Data AG in Zurich/Bern.
...
Alexander Schubert, previously Managing Director of FutureBrand AG, Hamburg, has been appointed sole member of the company's Management Board. At the same time, he will also assume the role of CEO of FutureBrand AG in Reinach, Switzerland. His predecessor Martin Amann has left both boards. Tom Breitinger was also appointed Executive Director of the Swiss FutureBrand AG.
...
Jürg Meyer, member of the Executive Board of Medianovis AG, will be leaving the company at the end of August. He will be succeeded by Ute Grossenbacher-Radicke, who will form the new Medianovis Management Board together with Daniel Steim from September 1.

Sponsoring II Despite costly Expo.02 appearances and the economic downturn, Migros and Coop continue to intensify their sponsoring activities and show a strong independent profile in the areas of culture and the environment. But the combination of commercial success and social commitment sought by Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler is still considered "state of the art" according to today's understanding of sponsorship. When he witnessed the founding of the Migros Club Schools in 1962, the last year of his life, terms such as image transfer and brand value were still unknown in this country. Nevertheless, the sustainability and continuity of Migros' socio-cultural commitment is unique, even by international standards. Migros spent a whopping CHF 123 million on its Culture Percentage in 2002. That is around twice as much as UBS is likely to have invested in its highly resonant Alinghi sponsorship. Perhaps a performance review, to which sponsoring activities are increasingly subject, would conclude that UBS had invested its money more efficiently because it was able to transfer a good deal of the Alinghi goodwill to its brand.
The problem with the Migros Culture Percentage is that it has become an institution. Many Swiss people now take it for granted like the Matterhorn or the Swiss Federal Railways. The result is a certain distance from the Migros brand. In other words, although the Culture Percentage strengthens the Migros brand, it is not necessarily relevant to sales. Migros is aware of the problem and therefore strictly separates its activities into sponsorship and the Culture Percentage in organizational terms.
Investment in eco-competence
Coop can shape its commitment more freely and without regard to the visions of its founders. Nevertheless, the up-and-coming and increasingly self-confident number 2 in the Swiss retail trade seems determined not to leave the image-enhancing field of socio-cultural commitment to its main competitor alone. The close linking of sponsoring activities with the increasingly ecologically oriented competence of the Coop brand appears to be an extremely clever move. In recent years, this brand has clearly established itself as the driving force behind the booming organic market in Switzerland. With a bundle of sponsoring initiatives, Coop is currently trying to consolidate its leading role in the areas of ecology and fair trade.
Over the past ten years, the retail group, together with Remei AG
In central India, we established the organic cotton project with the highest international turnover. Further agricultural projects in developing countries are supported in cooperation with the Max Havelaar Foundation. And just in time for the 10th anniversary of Coop-Naturaplan, the Naturaplan Fund was set up in spring 2003. Between 2003 and 2012, this fund will spend ten million francs a year - in addition to the existing benefits - to promote sustainable projects in the areas of nature, the environment and fair trade. The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick will receive a considerable portion of the money. With an annual financial injection of one million Swiss francs, the institute aims to establish itself as a world-leading research and innovation center by 2012. Other substantial contributions from the newly created fund went to the Swiss National Park, Bio Suisse and the Pro Specie Rara Foundation.
Both Migros and Coop invested enormous sums in their appearances at Expo.02 last year. With a contribution of around 18 million Swiss francs for the "Strangers in Paradise" project (a journey through the cultural diversity of Switzerland), Migros made a major contribution to the Expo.02.
of the most comprehensive Expo.02 sponsorships ever. Coop was present with the giant walk-in pudding "Manna", a reflection on the theme of food and drink.
Despite these efforts, Migros and Coop did not reduce their sponsorship activities in 2003. On the contrary, the sponsorship budgets were even increased slightly. Both major distributors pursue their more socially motivated commitment (Migros Culture Percentage, Coop Naturaplan Fund) completely independently of traditional sponsorship. There is a clear trend towards popular events in the areas of mass sports (Migros sponsors skiing and running, Coop sponsors swimming and running) and entertainment (open-air cinema, rock concerts, musicals, pop festivals). It only makes sense to promote such events with a "majority appeal" via the wide-ranging communication channels (e.g. the in-house print media such as Brückenbauer or the Coop newspaper) and, for example, to offer customers discounted tickets.
Sophisticated insider events
Increasingly, events for an insider audience, such as an avant-garde jazz concert or an author's reading, do not fit into this grid. It is also increasingly important that the selected sponsorship projects can be combined with other marketing activities. For example, Coop was the main sponsor of the Engadine Ski Marathon with a 50-strong team on site, organized a wheel of fortune game in the "Marathon Village", distributed 13,500 organic bread rolls to the runners and ran a VIP tent in the finish area.
Migros has a similar presence at the Grand Prix Migros. Thanks to this commitment, the talent factory of the Swiss skiing nation, where Pirmin Zurbriggen and Michael von Grünigen celebrated their first successes, is on the upswing again. Both major distributors are supplementing their commitment to popular sports with a pinch of "fun" and trend sports. Migros does this as the main sponsor of the "Monday Night Skate" in six German-speaking Swiss cities and the "Swiss Inline Cup" (SIC), the world's most important inline skating tour. Coop is involved in the beach volleyball scene with the Coop Beach Tour (in seven Swiss cities), a Junior Beach Tour and a tournament for top international teams (Worldtour Gstaad).
Sponsoring open-air events is very popular with Migros and Coop: brand logos can be prominently displayed.
Where the money goes Migros
- Classic sponsoring
50 % Sport (Alpine Ski Junior Grand Prix, running,
inline skating)
50 % popular culture (pop festivals, open-air cinema)
- Culture Percentage (expenditure in 2002: 123 million francs)
50 % Club schools
20 % Culture
10 % Leisure and sport
10 % Eurocenters
10 % Miscellaneous
Coop - Classic sponsoring
50 % Sport (running, swimming, beach volleyball)
30 % Culture (open-air cinema, Cirque du Soleil)
10 % Social, environmental ("The Cotton Campaign")
10 % Miscellaneous
- Coop Naturaplan Fund (around CHF 10 million annually from 2003) 100 % sustainable projects in the areas of ecology, fair trade, etc.
Thomas Vaterlaus

Column Restrained communication may seem to build trust on the surface. At its core, however, it is boring and reactionary, writes Kenneth Angst: "Every era has its esprit, its communication style, its leading class. The seventies, for example, were characterized by left-wing intellectualism. The arguments were ideological, conceptual and top-heavy, class- and culture-fighting. In the eighties, the gut rebelled against the head, the individual against the collective. Communication was highly personalized, narcissistic and sometimes egomaniacal, and in the nineties there was a dynamic symbiosis between materialism and hedonism, a norm- and rule-breaking, but ultimately social Darwinist coalition of market and individual anarchy. In the Ich-AG, anything that was fun and made as much money as possible was allowed. Above all, however, anything that created public awareness and social prestige - whatever that might be. Anyone who thought anything of themselves hired press spokespersons and PR staff, celebrated events, indulged in leadership rhetoric and bombarded journalists with tons of meaningless printed matter.
Today, however, we are under the spell of a never-ending economic, confidence and orientation crisis. A new, sometimes modest to humble, but often aggressive and opinionated conservatism of values is booming. Secure traditions are being proclaimed, but communicated with much greater restraint. After all, those who remain nobly silent make themselves more interesting, are less embarrassed and avoid the eternal clash of opinions. Instead of opening up and diversifying, the focus is once again on traditional strengths, competencies and truths. First create new facts, then have discussions again. In other words: marking instead of arguing, decreeing instead of arguing.
This behavior is a perfectly understandable reaction to the downsides of our late modern age, in which everything is subject to doubt and palaver. However, this does not change the fact that the new conservatism of values is ultimately boring and not only politically but also communicatively reactionary. Because the expansion of the social battle zone onto the battlefield of communication can no longer be reversed, and that is a good thing.
It is a good thing that active, comprehensive, convincing and therefore clever communication is essential if you want to make an impact and make a difference today. Whether as consumers, employees, investors, citizens or voters, people today are informed, selective and distrustful. They want to understand, participate and co-decide. Organizations and representatives that are still, or are once again, fiddling about this will sooner or later lose popularity, acceptance and success. The current conservative revolution will not change this. And that is a good thing.
> Kenneth Angst worked in the editorial offices of NZZ and Weltwoche and is now an independent consultant for political communication and public affairs.

Sponsoring I Companies are increasingly using sponsorship to counter consumers' weariness with traditional advertising. Events and product placements are giving the previously "silent" discipline a professional drive, with Mister Switzerland Robert Ismajlovic recently revealing in a magazine that he goes into a "shopping frenzy" in Coop City. If you had asked the beau about his favorite vacation destination or the Figaro of his choice, the answers would have been just as original: Malta and Gidor. Celebrity endorsement, in which celebrities are persuaded to make constructed brand-relevant statements, is generally summarized under the term sponsorship. According to estimates by the International Events Group (IEG) in Chicago, sponsorship generated a global sales volume of over 24 billion US dollars. And with a forecast growth of nine percent, sponsorships are likely to exceed the 26 billion US dollar mark in the current year. "This means that sponsorship has established itself as the fourth most important communication instrument after advertising, promotions and PR," says IEG Managing Director Laren Ukman with conviction.
On the rise worldwide
If the popular below-the-line marketing tool does not come across as contrived as in the example cited, the optimistic forecasts can be endorsed with a clear conscience. A prime example is the collaboration between Alinghi and UBS, which triggered an overwhelming international response and spontaneous national enthusiasm in crisis-ridden Switzerland. Even commercially critical contemporaries - often to be found in the cultural sector - no longer find it difficult to present themselves with their sponsors.
The latter have also come to the realization that the less influence they have as sponsors on the content of their commitments, the more credible and authentic the communication instrument appears. This is another reason why sponsorship generally shows fewer signs of saturation than media advertising and trade fairs. Advantages such as staging an experience or addressing customers in their free time emotionalize the sponsor brand on an exclusive advertising and relationship platform.
In view of the international figures, the negative development in Switzerland seems somewhat strange at first glance: The internationally active Fritz Kaiser Group Sports Consulting (FKG) in Vaduz estimated the sponsorship market at around 366 million francs in 2002, which corresponds to a 2.9 percent drop in turnover. On closer inspection, however, it is clear that the slump has hit media advertising much harder than sponsorship: the advertising statistics of Wemf AG recorded a decline of 4.8 percent in 2002.
However, because the concept of sponsorship is interpreted broadly both in common parlance and in specialist literature, trends should be treated with caution. In addition, empirical studies are still in short supply.
Obsolete country comparisons
One exception to the rule is the sponsorship study conducted by the GfS Research Institute in collaboration with the European Sponsorship Exchange (ESB), which is examining the future prospects for sponsorship by Swiss companies for the fifth time. According to the latest overview, the company managers surveyed expect expenditure to remain more or less stable - depending on the scope. If the study participants are to be believed, interest in local commitments appears to be waning in favor of international projects. However, sponsorship budgets with a regional and national reach are likely to remain the same over the next six years.
In the distribution of reduced communication budgets, sponsorship as an instrument retained its third place with a share of 11.8%, just ahead of public relations (11.4%), which has grown in importance. However, the lead would be even smaller if the event marketing share in sponsorship were filtered out more precisely. The trend in Germany appears to be moving in the opposite direction. There, the importance of sponsorship has risen steadily over the past five years. According to the study "Sponsoring Trends 2002" by the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich, sponsorship accounts for 15.3 percent of companies' communication mix. However, a direct comparison with Switzerland is not possible, explains Thomas Stalder, CEO and Managing Partner of Liechtenstein-based FKG, because the "club-like sponsorship scene" in Germany also shows networked expenditure in the sponsorship budget, which in Switzerland is distributed across the classic media channels and PR measures. It is clear that sponsorship and other communication instruments have come under pressure everywhere during the economic crisis. "And this applies to all areas of sponsorship," says independent communications and sponsorship consultant Elisa Bortoluzzi.
On the other hand, the distinguished expert knows that sponsorship money - especially for sport, culture and social affairs - has always been subject to fluctuations depending on the economic situation. The two strongest areas of sport and culture had to cede shares to social/environmental and media sponsorship in 2002, but were able to retain their top positions. The market is no longer prepared to fill the coffers of organizers of international projects with astronomical sums, is the reason given. "Broadcasting rights in particular will generate less income in future, as TV broadcasters will no longer be able to refinance these costs with income from traditional advertising," the sponsorship expert continues.
However, according to ESB Managing Director Hans-Willy Brockes, if you look at Swiss football, it is remarkable that a number of new contracts have been concluded: Axpo is the name sponsor of the Super League, Swisscom is the title sponsor of the Swiss Cup. Stalder from FKG sees great potential above all in lifestyle-oriented extreme sports, because these have their own culture with which the young target audience can identify more easily. There is even potential in cultural sponsorship. "This must and will take new creative paths in its implementation. Music and literature in particular have a huge potential for fascination - also for young people. This is both a challenge and an opportunity," says Elisa Bortoluzzi, adding that "the slogan 'do the unexpected' is often forgotten in cultural sponsorship".
From a macroeconomic perspective, the success or failure of a sponsorship project has a lot to do with social developments - and with consumer habits. These are influenced by a variety of factors, not least of which is the media. Who would have thought a year ago, for example, that a sailing crew from the Alpine country of Switzerland would be making headlines in the sports columns for weeks on end?
Does sponsorship work in the long term?
For the head of the European Sponsorship Exchange, Brockes, the Alinghi victory is an indication that sponsorship can certainly trigger short-term impulses - something that an (image) advertising campaign or other stand-alone measures, for example, can only achieve with difficulty: "The old wives' tale that sponsorship only has a long-term effect dates back to the time when people didn't dare to define clear sponsorship goals and also measure them."
Both Bortoluzzi and Stalder attribute the fact that sponsorship budgets are less dependent on economic trends to the fact that the contracts are usually multi-year and cannot simply be "cut" during a crisis: "Sponsorship is now seen as an instrument that influences both brand awareness and brand image and is therefore defined, targeted and managed for the long term. Careless, hectic measures could jeopardize a brand value that has been built up over the years with a lot of money." And: "It's easier to forego classic advertising measures before putting a well-established sponsorship project at risk and then accepting criticism from the public and the media," says Bortoluzzi. Brockes adds, almost heretically, that in contrast to traditional advertising, the benefits of sponsorship are now very well recognized. "However, the prerequisite is that the companies have a clear objective and monitor the success of the measures."
During the crisis in particular, more money is being invested in evaluating and researching the return on investment, and vice versa.
Stalder describes a current trend as saving on copyrights. As a result of the sluggish economy, sponsors are once again focusing more on what they get in return. "Today's sponsors want more for their money, specifically relevant services and not just additional hot air. Today, the sponsored party must actively develop additional added value for the sponsor," says the FKG manager, summing up the current development in the sponsorship market. "Thanks to decision-support tools such as SportsMaxx from FKG, sponsors have more power because they know the alternatives and can assess where they might get more for less money." Elisa Bortoluzzi observes something similar: "Larger budgets today focus even more strongly on those areas in which the sponsor can fully and exclusively make its mark." Swiss properties without a sufficiently high profile are therefore likely to find it difficult in future to attract financially strong, internationally active major sponsors.
Elisa Bortoluzzi is convinced that the pressure to save money during the economic crisis is driving the professionalization of sponsorship. This in turn should increase its acceptance in society. Sponsorship is facing a turning point. The importance that communication as such has gained due to corporate governance guidelines (CSR) will have consequences. "The discussion surrounding corporate social responsibility will lead to sponsorship being implemented more comprehensively in CSR projects, as we have already seen abroad," says Bortoluzzi.
For this reason, we should by no means look to the future of domestic sponsorship with complacency. It is true that Switzerland only plays a modest role in the country portfolio for major national and international brands as a result of advancing globalization. However, the threat of a sponsorship brain drain in the industry appears more serious. Although geographically small, Switzerland has enjoyed an edge in terms of know-how thanks to the presence of important international agencies. "At the end of the nineties, the sponsorship debate was much livelier. Today, we have to make sure that we remain attractive for sponsoring companies and associations. But many outstanding personalities in sponsorship are leaving the profession or going abroad. I see this as a greater danger than the current economic crisis and, of course, it also has to do with the fact that the career prospects for sponsorship specialists in this country are rather modest," warns Bortoluzzi.
New contracts are giving Swiss football a boost again.
Between promotion and sponsorship: Lovely goes to the consumer.
Golden rules for sponsors...
+ Clear target and target group definition
+ Integration of sponsoring measures in the overall marketing mix, including sales tasks
+ Regular success monitoring and evaluation of all commitments
+ Budget at least ten percent of the sponsoring budget for success monitoring and optimization
+ Respect the partner's integrity and do not interfere in their areas of competence
+ Always remember that success cannot be bought
...and sponsors
+ Always get precise information about the sponsor and know exactly how and how much value you can create for them.
+ Be critical of your own offer, i.e. always ask yourself what the sponsor gets out of my activities.
+ Since in sponsoring the service serves as a platform for the sponsor's investment, the sponsored party must know specifically what relevant and realistic value it can provide in return.
+ Total service orientation of the account team
+ Open up creative opportunities for the sponsor to activate a platform, but at the same time control the rights
+ Keep the sponsor's appetite for this communication tool alive with enthusiasm and professionalism
Luca Aloisi

Guest commentary A cut-throat battle is also raging among non-profit organizations. More and more NPOs are courting donors more and more professionally - and in doing so may be jeopardizing their credibility.a "Ziischtigs-Club" about Gillette's third blade, an "Arena" about the effect of Rivella green? Humbug. A "Ziischtigs-Club" about the Pro Infirmis touchers, an "Arena" about the Public Eye on Davos? The comparison shows the most important marketing trump card that NPOs can pull out of their sleeves: Their products - usually activities that are intended to change society in a certain positive way - are of public interest and generally free from commercial entanglements. The media can therefore focus on them without being suspected of being venal.
In consumer and capital goods marketing, product orientation has long been a dirty word. Something similar can be observed in the social marketing of NPOs: wrongly so. This is because communication at product level offers NPOs enormous opportunities. No other marketing strategy provides better services in terms of raising awareness and profile. Of course, there are risks involved: Pro Infirmis has also been criticized as a result of the widespread debate about its latest offer - touch therapists to meet the sensual and sexual needs of disabled people - and some donors have even turned away from it. However, the corporate goal of an NPO is not its own growth, but to drive certain social changes. And experience has shown that these are accelerated by the launch of new, controversial services and their public discussion.
If the Berne Declaration (EVB) spends 1,600 working hours a year to realize the Public Eye on Davos as a counter-conference to the World Economic Forum, this is also a product development. However, this is directly part of the donors' mandate, as the Public Eye serves as a tool for criticizing globalization, one of the core issues of the Berne Declaration. Product development is therefore of great benefit to the image without requiring any actual marketing effort.
Which brings us to the second trump card in NPO marketing: low-budget campaigns. Placing the marketing focus on the products and on low-budget measures is not a niche strategy in social marketing, but also the tactic of market leaders. The main reason: low advertising and administration costs are key competitive advantages in this market. Studies show that trust in the sensible use of funds is the most important prerequisite for any new donation.
An exploding marketing effort can lead to exploding income. However, it also contains a time bomb: if the efficiency and therefore also the credibility of an NPO is called into question by donors at some point, it will pay the price in the form of destroyed market opportunities in the long term. The current controversy surrounding "People Against Mines Switzerland", whose fundraising efforts devoured around 97% of the donations collected according to media reports, provides an impressive case study. However, it should be expressly pointed out that such excesses in Switzerland are, in my opinion, the absolute exception.
Conclusion: If the social concern is of good quality, high impact can be achieved in NPO marketing with a low budget. A wide range of marketing instruments can and should be used. However, focusing on your own products and their development as well as a low-budget approach are not old habits, but the expression of a clever mind.
Berne Declaration campaign to criticize privatization.

> Stefan Kessler is a board member of the Berne Declaration and co-author of the 1998 and 2003 donation market studies (to be published at the end of August). Until May, he was also a partner in One Marketing Services AG in Zurich.

The TV program supplement of Le Matin Dimanche will be relaunched on August 24. Instead of Télé-Top-Matin, it will be called Télétop in future and is set to mutate into a full-blown magazine.Télétop presents news and topics from the entertainment industry on over 60 pages in a new layout. The TV program takes up around two thirds of this space. The magazine's format will be adapted to that of TV Guide, the supplement to 24 Heures and Tribune de Genève. This means that in future, only one print copy will be required for the advertising combination of Télétop and TV Guide.

Radiocontrol In the first half of 2003, Radio DRS reached record highs in terms of listenership, while the figures for the private stations reached a record low.The picture is the same in all parts of the country: SRG stations are gaining in terms of reach and, in most cases, market share, while the foreign stations are losing ground. The private broadcasters are also suffering losses - with one exception, however: in Ticino they are even able to make slight gains. The latest figures from Radiocontrol show that the gap between private and SRG broadcasters is widening the most in German-speaking Switzerland. Radio DRS increased its reach from 63.3 to 65.4 percent and also increased its market share by 2.2 percentage points, although total radio usage fell from 124 to 121 minutes. With 2.812 million listeners per day and a market share of 63%, Radio DRS has thus achieved record figures since the introduction of Radiocontrol. In terms of reach, all DRS stations (with the exception of MW 531) have improved slightly. On the other hand, the average listening time at DRS 1 fell by four minutes and at MW 531 by five minutes.
The private stations are the big losers: they still have a total of 2.253 million listeners or a reach of 52.4 percent (-1.6 %). They have never been so close to the 50 percent mark. Because they also lost two minutes of usage, they still reach a
market share of 25.1 percent
(-1.3 %). The fact that foreign channels also fell further is little consolation.
There were only two real winners among the private stations that were able to increase not only their reach but also their listening time: ExtraBern - and at the bottom of the list - the cable station 32 Goldies. ExtraBern was apparently able to increase its listening time by five minutes to 41 minutes thanks to continuous restructuring in the last semester - at the expense of BE1, which was listened to for three minutes less. However, ExtraBern was by no means able to win the neck-and-neck race in Berne, as BE1 also made gains, namely by 5700 listeners. As a result, the gap between BE1 and ExtraBern has widened again in terms of reach, but in terms of market share the two are now only 0.1 percent apart.
Radio 105 was also among the winners, losing a good 6,000 listeners but increasing its listening time by seven minutes and increasing its market share to 0.5 percent. This is significantly more than competitor Virus, which only has a market share of 0.1 percent.
Radio 24 remains the leader in Zurich
The clear loser was Hitradio Z (selig), which lost 25,800 listeners (-12.4 %) and fell well below the 200,000 listener mark. Competitor Radio 24 was thus able to consolidate its position as number 1 among the private stations despite a slight loss of 2900 listeners, all the more so as numbers 3 (Top) and 4 (Argovia) also lost ground (-10.2 and -7.1 %).
The first half of 2003 was also a disappointment for Radio 32 and Central: Both made slight gains in reach (although still within the confidence range), but in listening time they lost six and eleven minutes respectively, which also reduced their market share. It is also worth mentioning the change in rank of Regenbogen, which swapped positions with Radio 7, falling from 16th to 22nd place (and vice versa).
The new survey is not without consequences for the advertising pools: The One Pool is losing reach and, above all, market share, the Pool 2000 has only just managed to maintain its previous level, while the City Pool has emerged slightly stronger from the last six months thanks to ExtraBern and Pilatus.
NRJ loses in French-speaking Switzerland
In French-speaking Switzerland, where radio usage increased by two minutes to 118 minutes, the RSR stations gained 1.1% market share, clearly at the expense of the private stations, which lost almost as much. The loss of foreign stations, on the other hand, remained statistically irrelevant.
A new situation has also emerged among the private stations: Nostalgie, which belongs to the NRJ Group and was previously the clear number 1 in French-speaking Switzerland, is now fearing for its position. Since the Radiocontrol measurement began, it has lost a third of its listeners, meaning that it is now only just ahead of Lausanne FM, which has increased both its reach and listening time.
NRJ has suffered a double loss: In terms of listening time, it lost four minutes, and its reach has reached an all-time low of 6,500 listeners. In view of the losses of the two NRJ radios, there are doubts as to whether the NRJ Group's new conceptual ideas for the radios Edelweiss/Basel 1 and Hitradio Z/Energy Zürich will also help to achieve corresponding success.
Other French-speaking Swiss radio stations also saw their reach fall, including Rhône FM, One FM, Fréquence Jura, Jura Bernois, Chablais and Canal 3. However, two of them, One FM and Fréquence Jura, were able to increase their listening time by five minutes each and, with 55 and 60 minutes per day, now achieve the best usage figures among the private stations and rank third and fourth among all stations in French-speaking Switzerland. Only RSR1 and Option Musique, with 100 and 65 minutes respectively, are positioned even higher in listeners' favor.
In Ticino, four minutes less radio was listened to each day (now 119 minutes). This decline in radio usage was clearly felt by all RSI stations as well as the foreign radio station Studio Star, which was listened to 8.5 minutes less. RSI 1 also lost reach and still has a market share of 51.7 percent. RSI 2 and RSI 3, on the other hand, were able to increase their market shares thanks to gains in reach. The leader among the private stations is still the Italian station RTO with 21200 listeners (-9.4 %).
Losses due to new satelliteThe cable station Radio Eviva fell from 86400 to 80100 listeners in the first semester. One might be inclined to think that this is a continuation of the decline seen in the second half of 2002 (-10000 listeners). However, Eviva Managing Director Alfons Spirig waves this away. This is due to a change of satellite, he says. "We switched from analog (Astra) to digital (Eutelsat Hotbird). Because Radio Eviva could not afford to operate Astra and Hotbird in parallel, we made this switch at the end of last year without a transition period." In addition, a number of technical problems had arisen in the run-up to the switch, which had repeatedly led to outages. (mk)
Radios German Switzerland (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003), net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in German-speaking Switzerland, Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 3896.0 100 3927.5 100
Time: 121 (127,119, 124)
Radio groups
Total SRG 2912.3 64.5 3009.7 66.8
Private CH 2313.6 26.4 2253.6 25.1
Abroad 1803.2 9.1 1761.4 8.1
SRG
Total DRS 2714.1 60.8 2812.6 63.0
DRS 1 1982.3 42.1 2032.5 42.6
DRS 2** 396.8 4.3 438.8 5.0
DRS 3 914.0 11.2 999.9 12.5
MW 531** 293.1 3.1 275.9 2.7
Virus 27.9 0.1 33.1 0.1
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
 1 Radio 24 253.1 3.0 250.2 3.0
 2 Hitradio Z 207.7 2.2 181.9 2.0
 3 Top 189.8 1.5 170.5 1.3
 4 Argovia 169.1 2.0 157.1 1.7
 5 Zürisee 157.7 1.6 149.2 1.4
 6 (7) Pilatus 138.1 1.5 144.8 1.6
 7 (6) Grischa/Piz 153.4 1.2 141.7 1.1
 8 (9) Radio 32 131.9 1.6 140.2 1.5
 9 (8) Basilisk 132.6 1.5 128.4 1.4
10 Central 120.7 1.1 127.7 0.9
11 Sunshine 117.2 1.2 116.5 1.1
12 (13) BE1 86.3 0.9 92.0 0.9
13 (14) ExtraBern 85.0 0.6 88.7 0.8
14 (12) Eviva 86.4 1.0 80.1 0.8
15 BeO 80.5 0.9 71.6 0.8
16 (21) Radio 7 (D) 63.5 0.4 70.2 0.5
17 Edelweiss 71.2 0.6 69.9 0.6
18 (19) Rottu 71.1 0.6 67.2 0.6
19 (18) Current 71.1 0.7 67.0 0.6
20 Radio Munot* - - 64.2 0.2
21 Canal 3 (net) 71.1 0.3 64.0 0.3
22 (16) Rainbow (D) 74.8 0.5 63.9 0.4
23 Freiburg (net) 61.0 0.2 60.4 0.2
24 Ri 52.0 0.3 51.5 0.3
25 (23) Radio 105 57.1 0.4 50.9 0.5
26 Emme 49.4 0.3 48.7 0.3
27 Radio L (FL) 38.2 0.1 37.2 0.1
28 Antenne Vorarlberg 33.5 0.1 32.2 0.1
29 Toxic.FM 31.9 0.1 32.1 0.1
30 triple 28.2 0.1 29.7 0.1
31 Tropic 26.9 0.1 26.4 0.1
32 32 Goldies 22.8 0.1 26.2 0.2
In brackets: Position in 2nd semester 02.
* collected for the first time
** DRS 2 and MW 531 take over the messages from DRS 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Romandie (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in French-speaking Switzerland,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 1241.9 100 1244.2 100 Time 118' (as 2/01, in between 115' and 116')
Radio groups
Total SSR 884.8 61.7 903.8 62.8
Private CH 717.2 23.1 709.6 22.1
Abroad 636.2 15.2 635.2 15.1
SRG SSR
Total RSR 760.8 54.3 775.7 55.4
RSR 1 536.6 37.5 573.4 39.0
RSR 2 99.1 3.7 95.5 3.4
RSR 3 142.6 4.6 130.3 4.2
Option Musique 194.7 8.6 196.1 8.8
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 Nostalgia (F) 98.6 3.0 95.8 3.2
2 Lausanne FM 86.9 2.8 92.5 3.0
3 Framboise 80.6 2.4 80.2 2.2
4 (6) RTN 2001 67.9 2.2 66.3 2.2
5 One FM 68.0 2.4 62.7 2.3
6 (7) Rhône 62.8 2.3 61.5 2.0
7 (4) NRJ (F) 75.3 2.0 61.5 1.5
8 Lac 59.4 1.6 61.3 1.6
9 Fribourg (net) 57.0 1.6 56.6 1.6
10 Fréquence Jura 56.3 2.1 53.7 2.2
11 Jura Bernois 51.6 1.6 46.6 1.3
12 (13) Europe 2 (F) 43.9 0.9 46.3 1.0
13 (12) Chablais 48.4 1.8 43.8 1.6
14 Thollon (F) 33.2 0.6 29.0 0.5
15 Canal 3 (net) 23.5 0.5 21.3 0.3
16 WRG FM 20.4 0.4 16.4 0.3
17 Meyrin FM* - - 4.5 0.0
In brackets: Position surveyed for the first time in the 2nd semester 02*
** RSR 2 and Option Musique take over the messages from RSR 1, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Ticino (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in Ticino,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 245.3 100 245.9 100 Time 119' (120,117,123)
Radio groups
Total SSR 206.5 81.3 207.5 81.3
Private CH 82.3 5.3 85.4 5.6
Abroad 129.7 13.4 127.7 13.1
SRG SSR
Total RSI 183.4 69.9 184.9 69.5
RSI 1 153.2 53.9 151.2 51.7
RSI 2* 27.8 7.2 31.1 7.6
RSI 3 50.8 8.8 53.2 10.2
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 RTO (I) 23.4 3.0 21.2 2.9
2 Fiume Ticino 17.7 2.2 16.6 2.2
3 3iii 14.3 1.8 15.0 2.0
4 Studio Star (I) 5.8 0.6 4.9 0.4
RSI 2 takes over the messages from RSI 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source: Publica Data
Unclear data situationSince May 12, DRS 3 has taken over the four-hour hit parade from the cable station Virus at the same time on Sundays; conversely, Virus has been broadcasting the four-hour hit parade on Sundays since May 12.
June 2, a total of ten hours of "Sounds" from DRS 3. This is a problem for the Radiocontrol system: when identical content is broadcast at the same time, it cannot always identify the station that the listener has actually switched on. The SRG research service therefore looked for a "scientifically correct solution". However, this has not yet been found, FD and Radio DRS announced on request. But to whom were the unclear listeners assigned in the data for the first semester of 2003? Due to vacation absences at the Research Service and at
Radio DRS was unable to clarify this. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli