Fritz Schlecht/SHL, the renowned manufacturer of contract furnishings based in the Black Forest, has entrusted Soldini Bienenfeld with the revision of its existing brand strategy and, as a first step, the Zurich agency will also design a new image brochure for Fritz Schlecht/SHL.

Syna - which claims to be the third-largest trade union and is active in the industrial, commercial and service sectors - has commissioned Flowcube to advise it on its communications. To this end, various communication tools are being integrated and used internally and externally.

Under the title "Sponsoring 2003", Sawi offers a practice-oriented training course with a special focus on event marketing, which can now be completed with the "Sponsoring Manager" certificate. Candidates are required to prepare a practical sponsorship concept or work in another area of sponsorship. The course has been offered for eight
It has been offered by Sawi and the Swiss Sponsorship Association (Saspo) for many years and is the only official training course in this increasingly important specialist area of marketing communication. What is new is that Saspo merged with Faspo (Fachverband Sponsoring und Sonderwerbeformen) in Germany in January 2003. The courses have also been extended from 9 to 12 days. The course costs 4450 francs. Courses start on May 20 or October 21. More information is available from course leader Hans Zollinger (phone 01 738 20 25) or from Sawi in Biel.

The 2nd Biel/Bienne Communication Days will take place on May 8 and 9. The conference is sponsored by the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) and the city of Biel/Bienne. 8 May will focus on the future of telecommunications, while 9 May will be devoted to electronic media and the topics "How is the public service interpreted?" and "Sources of news in war and peace". Speakers include ProSiebenSat1 CEO Urs Rohner and SRG President Jean-Bernard Münch as well as Ibrahim Helal, Editor-in-Chief of al-Jazeera, and Chris Cramer, President of CNN International Networks. Further information can be found at www.comdays.ch.

Photo agencies The American photo agency Corbis will be represented in Switzerland by the Ringier documentation Bild (RDB) as of April 14.Ursula Steinegger will be responsible as Product Manager for the new division. Corbis was founded in 1989 by Bill Gates and, according to a Ringier release, is the world's second-largest picture agency, with more than 71 million images, photographs, illustrations and film clips. It includes archives such as the Bettmann Archive, Hulton-German, Outline, Sygma, TempSport, Saba, State Russian Museum and the National Gallery in London. In August, Corbis Westlight and Corbis Sharpshooters will be added. RDB itself owns an image archive with 10 million photos.

Magazines Weber Hodel Schmid writes effective advertising letters to the editor for Glückspost. "Here they come again with a Typo advertisement. And now, after Koch(en)magazin, for Glückspost too", Reinhold Weber can already hear the mockery of the competition. In-house, Weber Hodel Schmid (WHS) is not at all afraid of this criticism. The creatives at WHS are really proud of the new idea with a campaign in the form of letters to the editor. And even if the lifestyle society hardly wants to admit it, around 450000 readers in Switzerland read Glückspost every week. And the trend is rising. This makes the magazine the number one in its genre and, with a circulation of over 170000, it is one of the firmly established titles in the Swiss media landscape. This good fortune is set to increase. "Circulation and readership figures are to be increased," says consultant Dominik Mätzener, explaining the assignment from Ringier.
It was given to Glückspost editor-in-chief Helmut-Maria Glogger. And he is the undisputed head of the paper. It was therefore soon clear to WHS that he should also be the "heart" of the new campaign. "The relationship between Glogger and his readers is a very special one," Weber is convinced. The editor-in-chief not only embodies competence when it comes to celebrities. Glogger is also a "good friend" to his readers. A lively exchange of letters bears witness to this. And WHS has made this dialog between the magazine and its readers the nucleus of the new Glückspost campaign. You could also call it people-to-person communication.
In reality, WHS answers a fake letter from Glückspost readers every week on behalf of editor-in-chief Helmut-Maria Glogger and designs it as an advertisement. These letters may be inspired by real reader inquiries. They may be questions about Liz Taylor or Princess Stefanie. But also questions about dating classifieds or competition prizes. The full-page advertisements are each drawn by Helmut-Maria Glogger and the new claim "Herzlich, Ihre Glückspost".
WHS copywriter Glogger
The ads will initially only appear in Ringier titles. Another budget advantage of this campaign is that the Typo ads can be produced very cost-effectively. Glogger himself will write around a third of the ads. These epistles will feature his dog Forty as well as other personal events from the life of the editor-in-chief and his family. The remaining 66 percent of the letters to the editor will be written by WHS copywriters, who will be able to give free rein to their emotions and draw on the full range of their imagination. As an internal gag, the agency has had business cards printed for all these ghostwriters with the new first name Helmut-Maria.
The letters to the editor should be based as much as possible on current events and reveal a lot of fate. An analysis of the readership of Glückspost has shown that people who feel unobserved are the first to read the stories of fate in a magazine.
According to WHS, the fictitious letters to the editor can also refer to the possible content of the next "Glückspost". It would be nice if the advertising letters with real responses from readers could lead to a long-term correspondence. "This campaign is open to any form of momentum," says Reinhold Weber. Running gags with allusions to real people are also called for.
The book to the letter to the editor
And if Weber's idea threatens to get out of hand in a controlled manner, WHS may even want to publish a book with the collected correspondence of the Glückspost at an advanced stage of the campaign. In any case, the agency on Seestrasse is delighted with the new contract. "We have no reservations about it," explains Weber.
The campaign is also aimed at advertisers, because "the paper is for
completely undersold the advertising," says Weber. The budget switch from Tages-Anzeiger to SonntagsZeitung would have "freed up the agency to open up to other media".
And in the foyer of WHS, Glückspost is of course now tucked away in the newspaper rack right next to the NZZ and Facts.
Andreas Panzeri

Wemf circulation statistics I: Newspaper market All major daily newspapers suffered a sharp drop in circulation last year, with the latest circulation figures for Swiss daily and weekly newspapers down by tens of thousands of copies according to the latest Wemf survey. Blick alone lost 5.5 percent of its circulation, Tages-Anzeiger 6.2 percent. Only a few titles were able to achieve modest growth. Only Der Landbote provided a surprise: under severe pressure from 20 Minuten in its home region of Winterthur, it was not only able to maintain its circulation, but increase it (+2.8 %). According to Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung, the major titles lost a total of over 100,000 copies last year. For the first time, the big circulation hemorrhage is no longer attributable solely to the free newspapers. As expected, this time it is the Sunday market that has been shaken up by the NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS). The circulation figures of SonntagsBlick and SonntagsZeitung, which have been stable for years, have collapsed for the first time: Both lost around 43000 copies combined. And what is particularly surprising is that the biggest losses were not suffered by SonntagsZeitung, as was almost unanimously assumed in advance, but by SonntagsBlick (minus 24,000 copies).
"Of course we knew that we wouldn't be completely spared by the NZZaS either. When there are so many free copies on the market, it leaves its mark on everyone," explains Bernhard Weissberg, Head of Newspapers at Ringier. He attributes the fact that his paper has become the unexpected loser on the Swiss-German Sunday newspaper market to the bleak economy. "When people cut back, it's poison for newspapers, which have to sell a large proportion of their copies at newsstands and in boxes."
NZZaS did not hurt so much
According to Tamedia newspaper boss Jürg Brauchli, only a good half of the 19,000 lost SonntagsZeitungs copies are on the NZZaS account: "Because of the uncertainties with Swiss, we no longer had their copies authenticated." In addition, a switch to "sustainable editions" has been initiated (see also page 23). "We are reducing the trial subscriptions and focusing on one or, if possible, two-year subscriptions."
Ringier was shaken up even more. Blick's losses exceeded those of the Tages-Anzeiger by over 2000 copies. This slump means that Blick has fallen below the 300,000 mark for the first time in many years. Only SonntagsBlick remains above this magic threshold.
The Giornale del Popolo has recorded a significant decline: the Ticino daily newspaper has lost almost a quarter of its circulation. Publishing director Matteo Oleggini also links the loss to the newspaper's separation from the diocese of Lugano. Under the new ownership constellation, the circulation has been "tidied up" and a stronger focus has been placed on "sustainability".
After the circulation losses of the commuter newspapers, the losses of the print titles are now home-made.
Two or three years ago, the circulation of the business press shot up in step with share prices - now the massive loss of confidence in the economy and the stock market is hitting these titles with astonishing force. The five most important business publications in German-speaking Switzerland have seen a combined decline of over 30,000 copies. In total, a decline of over 15 percent. Bilanz and Cash suffered particularly drastic losses - over 7,000 copies each. Financial publications such as Stocks and Finanz und Wirtschaft also lost circulation like never before. With a drop of 2,500 copies, HandelsZeitung fared the least badly. (dse)
Tops and flops(deviation from previous year in %)
Slow motion +11.4
Weltwoche +7.2
PCtip +7.1
HealthConsultation +6.0
Cucina di Stagione +3.3
Bieler Tagblatt +3.2
Fit for Life +2.9
The Landbote +2.8
Swiss family +2.7
We parents +2.6
Basler Zeitung -5.0
Le Matin Dimanche -5.2
View -5.5
Pegasus -6.0
Tages-Anzeiger -6.2
Revue Automobile -6.4
WoZ weekly newspaper -7.0
HandelsZeitung -7.1
SonntagsBlick -7.1
Automobile Review -7.3
The best -7.3
Sélection -7.8
Pulse tip -8.3
SonntagsZeitung -8.6
Cash -11.0
Finance and economy -12.1
Balance sheet -14.6
Bolero -17.0
You -19.3
Stocks -21.7
Facts -22.4
Giornale del Popolo -24.3
Annabelle -26.3
Dimanche.ch takes a break
The Sunday market in French-speaking Switzerland is going its own way: After Le Matin Dimanche, Dimanche.ch has also discontinued home delivery - but at the same time doubled the number of sales boxes. In this context, Ringier Romandie's Sunday paper does not intend to notarize again until next year, "once the Wemf rules for calculating the number of copies sold in boxes in particular have been changed", Ringier Communications states. However, the Dimanche.ch print run of 6,7,700 copies "only" confirmed by a notary this time is close to the Wemf counting method. (dse)
Daniel Schifferle

Radio Pool's task force is looking for alternatives The modules of One-Pool, the combination of Radios Z, Argovia, Top, Sunshine, Central, Grischa, Ri and 32, are giving rise to internal discussions. Grischa has the most problems. "We are satisfied nationally, but the eastern module simply doesn't work," says Hanspeter Lebrument, head of Grischa owner Gasser Holding. In Modul Ost, Grischa is linked to Ri, Central and Top. However, Roland Baumgartner, Argovia boss and pool spokesman, believes that the problems can be solved. And is already looking ahead: Not only modules, but also radio pools in general are up for discussion. "The longer they are used, the less important they become," he says. That is why a radio task force under the leadership of the Swiss Private Radio Association (VSP) is looking for alternatives to pools, which may already be presented at Radioday. (mk)

Magazine marketing Does a successful product need advertising? Only to a limited extent, advises agency Guye Benker of Weltwoche - and develops a low-profile appearance with reading samples for the high-profile magazine. The Hemingway epigone from Zurich's Jean Frey House was denied access to the heart of the Gulf War - like Karl May, the "war correspondent" only made it as far as wild Kurdistan. On the other hand, Roger Köppel has done extremely well on the domestic media front in his first year as editor-in-chief of Weltwoche. According to the latest Wemf figures (see also page 21), the intellectual pragmatist has more than exceeded his targets.
With a 7.2 percent increase in circulation to almost 9,100 copies, Weltwoche has overtaken Facts and at the same time proved all skeptics wrong who predicted the magazine concept would fail. It may be argued that Köppel only saved the struggling weekly with unorthodox methods and offensive liberal morals. The fact that he and his team correctly interpreted the signs of the times by spicing up the understatement of the opinion-forming institution with subtle glamour and a polarizing, lateral agenda and turning it into a trendy brand is resented by many heirs of 1968.
The fact remains: since the relaunch in magazine format last May, the Weltwoche team has succeeded in increasing its general reach by more than a third and in the 14 to 34-year-old segment by 80 percent. Publishing director Uli Rubner is not only pleased about the rejuvenation and expansion of the readership; the reach among employees with management functions grew by 16.3 percent and among top managers by 8.3 percent. She also clarifies: "What others are now catching up on by streamlining their circulation, Weltwoche anticipated a good two years ago. That is why we are now growing on a healthy basis. The relaunch was the catalyst to make people realize more quickly that Weltwoche has embarked on a new and independent path in terms of content and structure."
Rubner does not want to say how profitable this path actually is or whether the turnaround will be achieved this year as planned. "We ended last year better than budgeted and are ahead of plan in the reader market this year, while we were right on track in the advertising market until February. In March, however, we fell short of the advertising budget for the first time."
Its success is also reflected in the negative echo that Weltwoche's uncompromising style has received in various media. Peer Teuwsen, deputy editor-in-chief of the Tages-Anzeiger magazine and long-time colleague of Roger Köppel, interprets the criticism as a sign of the weakness of Weltwoche's competitors. But not all readers are currently taking part in the demanding high-wire act. The call by an SP spokeswoman to boycott "war-mongering media such as Weltwoche and NZZ" had consequences. "We had around 100 explicit cancellations in connection with our stance on the Iraq war," confirms Rubner. "But the fact that we continue to grow shows me that many people want a paper that also takes unpopular positions and asks uncomfortable questions."
Luise Diem, Managing Director of the media agency OMD Zürich See, sees this as the reason for the success: "With the new Weltwoche, a serious title finally meets the needs of a younger, discerning target group that has hardly been served to date." Teuwsen praises the "packaging": "Its layout is brilliant and it has a very good visual language." For Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief of Media Trend Journal, this makes it a weekly magazine "that requires attentive reading. You actually still have to 'read' Weltwoche to have read it". On the other hand, Teuwsen fears that Weltwoche is "making itself predictable with its 'columnitis' and the ideologization of certain content".
This is likely to hit the makers of the paper hardest, as they want to enhance the core of their brand - breadth and openness at a high level - in a surprising way every week to keep readers interested. For the advertisers of the in-house agency Christoph Guye and CD André Benker, Weltwoche has certainly fulfilled these conditions. So good, "that the best advertising for Weltwoche is Weltwoche itself," says Guye, explaining the basic idea behind the new campaign: "The Product is the Hero.
Advertising reduced to absurdity "Product communication must also be constantly new and surprising," says Guye, looking back on three appearances in the first year of the collaboration. The copy campaign that has just started demonstrates nothing other than an update of the basic promise to come up with exciting articles every week.
Advertisements consistently refer to the editorial articles, for example on the last page: "You have just read 72 pages of good advertising for Weltwoche." Half-page or full-page reading samples are intended to draw the attention of competitors' readers to Weltwoche in a similarly unagitated way. As a novelty in press advertising, tear-off blocks are used in streetcars and buses. The take-away reading samples are taken from the current issue. In cinemas, where Weltwoche is targeting readers for the first time, the typo-spot takes the campaign completely ad absurdum: "The best advertising for Weltwoche is the current issue of Weltwoche." Artistic pause. "Then this is probably not such good advertising for Weltwoche." Q.e.d.
Weltwoche is the best advertising medium on its own behalf.
Luca Aloisi

Religion marketing It is written in an easily understandable way and can certainly be read with God's blessing: The Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) is launching its own newspaper, 4telstunde für Jesus, with a circulation of 500,000 copies and a name reminiscent of the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten. 4telstunde für Jesus is intended to provide basic information about the Christian faith in an exciting and catchy way," says the press release of the mainly free-church evangelical association. The newspaper has a colorful and casual design and is distributed free of charge by Christians "wherever volunteers are available". The first issue is published before Easter and includes a foreword by Pastor Ernst Sieber, an interview with top Swiss snowboarder Ursula Bruhin and statements by Swiss church leaders on sex, money and the apocalypse. Further issues are planned for the Day of Prayer, Christmas and Easter 2004.

The Basel-based pharmaceutical group Roche has entrusted the Zurich-based communications agency Zogg Kettiger Gasser (ZKG) with the first tasks for the slimming product Xenical in the Swiss market, and with Dreieck Leasing AG, the agency also looks after the second-largest leasing company in Switzerland and, with the Conseil Interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux, the communicative interests of Bordeaux wines. ZKG co-owner Max Winiger recognizes the fruits of important strategic decisions made last year. For example, ZKG has expanded its PR department and set up a pharmaceutical department.

Commentary The collective slump in circulation is causing further damage to the image of the press. Whether the Swiss press is experiencing an epochal structural crisis or a mere cyclical slump is highly controversial within the industry. What is clear, however, is that the disappointing Wemf figures, or more precisely their tendentious communication, are grist to the mill of public doomsayers, who are also to be found in newspaper editorial offices, where writers are happily sawing away at the branch on which they themselves are (still) sitting. This is paradoxical, but not reprehensible. Unless, that is, the bogeyman chant about the loss of importance of print journalism is orchestrated with circulation figures instead of the much more relevant reach figures in this context. This is not only the case at the Berner Bund, where the current certification is lightly interpreted as an indication of the "further erosion of the Swiss readership".
Experience shows that newspapers and magazines may be bought less in times of crisis, but they are read all the more intensively and by more people. Alexander Theobald, Head of Magazines at Tamedia, also pointed this out in a recent interview. And with regard to his problem child Facts (-22%!), he added: "Even here, readership is growing slightly."
Such corrections are necessary, but are only heard in specialist circles at best. The general public, on the other hand, believes the myth of exponentially increasing disinterest in paid newspapers. In order to prevent this misinformation from becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, there is an urgent need to counteract it through communication. And not just as part of "professional generic marketing for the reader market", as Daniel Kaczynski announced in this newspaper for the fall. But immediately.
It may be that the unpleasant Wemf decision caught the newly appointed CEO of the Swiss Press Association on the wrong foot. However, instead of their new chief lobbyist, Hans Heinrich Coninx or Michael Ringier could have had a word of clarification themselves. Their respective annual press conferences would have been an ideal platform for this. But there, the two major publishers merely represented their own particular interests. Anything else would have been surprising - and would therefore have had a great impact on the media. So the overdue image work for the Swiss press remains purely a matter for the associations.
>Oliver Classen, Editor