Column Where collective pusillanimity and journalistic pessimism reinforce each other, visions are nipped in the bud. Our airline is a striking example of this, and we are a funny bunch in our stuttering alpine reduit. We bemoan our hard fate in a guttural idiom. Oh, the crisis! Oh, the Iraq war. Alas, the conflict. We are sitting in the vale of tears, wishlessly unhappy and letting the media's pusillanimous Kkkassandras grind the rubber on our backs. The written press in particular has fallen into a negative spiral that only feeds on itself, the best example being Swiss. In a completely un-Swiss surge of confidence and courage, the phoenix has been made to fly again. And now our tailfin cross travels all over the world, reliably transports a million mostly satisfied passengers to their destinations every month and is demonstrably on its way to "destination excellence". And all this in the midst of the biggest crisis in the aviation industry.
Lufthansa and British Airways are grounding dozens of aircraft, which is accepted in the German and British media as an economic necessity. If Swiss does the same, the whole company is called into question. And journalists who can't tell a blackbird from an Airbus reproach the management, question profitability calculations and speculate about the imminent end of the project. What's more, they are calling for it.
I don't want to accuse them of intent. Just naivety. And a lack of awareness of the implications of their destructive view. If Swiss really does go under, they will have been right. But at what cost? The media have already failed once in the airspace: they criminally overslept the demise of Swissair. The sparrows had long been whistling it from the Balsberg, but nobody did any serious research at the time, in the run-up to the drama. Now we are heading
towards the next grounding of business journalism. Everyone is copying the same nonsense from each other. For example, the legend of the oversized long-haul network. Almost 70 percent of passengers are generated abroad. And nobody has ever said that UBS, Novartis or Nestlé have too small a domestic market.
But these are details. And Swiss will soon mutate from Cinderella to heroine - assuming a bit of an upswing. What remains is the unease about the selective perception of the media. And that of recognizing ourselves in their behaviour. We are trapped in our pusillanimity. We see the risk first and then the opportunity. We feel more comfortable in the low than in the high. We are not prepared to commit ourselves to visions. If anything, we want them delivered to our homes ready to go and without any effort. Like the Alinghi. It stands for Switzerland, which we are not prepared to accept. Just like Swiss. Everything clear?
> Walter Bosch was editor-in-chief of Blick, head of all editors-in-chief at Ringier Verlag and co-founder of the advertising agency Bosch & Butz. Since selling the agency in 1998, he has been an entrepreneur and consultant in Zurich and the USA.

Online advertising market Media Focus is trying to clarify: The gross online advertising volume reported for January 2003 is only provisionally correct. It is subsequently corrected upwards.372000 Swiss francs are said to have been generated by the online industry in January 2003, 66.4 percent less than in January 2002, according to Media Focus (MF). The fact that quantitative and methodological changes had been made in the data collection (see WW 7/03) was mentioned by MF managing director Lukas Zihlmann in his commentary, but he left his readers in the dark about the extent. He simply asked readers to "take a very differentiated look at the gross online figures for the next three months".No wonder that a storm of indignation broke out in the online industry after the figures were published. The figures were not correct, they were far too low, marketers complained. "It can't go on like this," also complained self-marketers. Reto Hartinger, Head of Marketing at Search.ch, described the figures as "nonsense".
On March 10, Jens Windel, MF Board Delegate, attempted to smooth the waters and create more transparency in a communiqué. The text was coordinated with online and self-marketers, who in return abstained from further additional comments. The attempt to speak with only one voice is laudable, but the text was noticeable for the prior haggling over the wording: it contained numerous convoluted and sometimes misleading formulations. However, the following conclusion can now be drawn.
Some own marketers are missing
The online volume of CHF 372,000 for January 2003 is made up of data from Adlink, Publimedia Webservices and ActiveAgent, and from the proprietary marketers Swisscom Directories, der Bund, NZZ Online, Basler Zeitung, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Msn, SevenOneMedia and Swissquote.ch. Important self-marketers such as Search.ch, Google.ch and Bluewin.ch, on the other hand, have not yet supplied any data.
"The January data are correct, but incomplete," concludes Jens Windel - because some large self-marketers are still missing. Negotiations are underway with Bluewin.ch and Google.ch, and Search.ch plans to supply the data soon. As soon as new data providers are added who also declare their data retroactively, the volume of January and the following months will be corrected upwards accordingly, he said.
Windel also notes that the reported values are now "gross invoiced" and correspond to the monthly processed order values of the individual marketers and self-marketers. The switch to exact time-based accrual, he said, will naturally lead to a temporary reduction in advertising volumes. "This effect will be neutralized within the next six months at the latest," Windel wrote. Because of these changes, moreover, "no trend comparison with the previous year can be made at the moment." In any case, the previous year's figures supplied were to be judged as "qualitatively inadequate" in terms of the new survey method.
Nevertheless, MF's online advertising trend will continue to include percentage comparisons with 2002 levels. Windel confirmed this. The reason: The volumes of the other media types surveyed by MF are also subject to ongoing changes, some of which are significant, and these are then explained to customers in detail. There, too, comparisons with the previous year are not dispensed with. But precisely because the MF gross expenditure statistics are subject to constant dynamism, it is important to always see the absolute Swiss franc amount in connection with the number of advertising placements, which are also shown in the statistics, said Windel.
Gave rise to heated arguments in the scene: The January sales figures for online marketers compiled by Media Focus.
Media Focus board delegate Jens Windel: "Insufficient prior-year figures."
Markus Knöpfli

At the beginning of March, Heinz Brenner founded the online agency Brenner Communications. He was most recently Head of Online Communications at Siemens Switzerland. ...
The former associates Ernst Gremlich and Matthias Fatzer are taking over the activities of the Zurich communications agency Büttler Associés and are now trading as Gremlich Fatzer Partner AG.
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Denise Meier, previously Head of Channel Marketing at Canon Switzerland, has set up her own business with Jade Communications.
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The former editor-in-chief of Cigar and publishing director of Salz & Pfeffer, Bruno Bötschi, is coming on board as entertainment editor at Express.
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Markus Gisler is stepping down from the Board of Directors (BoD) of media group Jean Frey AG at the end of the current term of office.
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After one year as Managing Director of Universal McCann, Frank Woday is leaving the media agency. His successor will be Heinz Bischof (photo), who will take over the management of the agency in April. Marco Rose will remain in charge of the Geneva branch.
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In spring, Hanspeter Detsch will step down as Chairman of the Board of Directors of TBWA Switzerland and retire from the operational business. He will also step down from the Board of Directors of the (BSW) at the next Annual General Meeting (see also page 8).
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McCann-Erickson Switzerland's creative team was reinforced by ADs Sara De Pasquale and Bruce Roberts as well as copywriters Heike Gross and Susi Kammergruber.
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Eva Grolimund will take over the management of Clear Channel Plakanda's Basel branch on April 1. She succeeds Hans Rudolf Keller, who is leaving the company for health reasons.

Publishers The Neue Luzerner Zeitung (NLZ) and Anzeiger Luzern (AL) are moving closer together: NLZ acquires a 30 percent shareholding in the course of a capital increase by AL Publishing houses Neue Luzerner Zeitung (NLZ) and Anzeiger Luzern (AL) are moving closer together: NLZ is acquiring a 30 percent stake in AL as part of a capital increase. AL publishes two free newspapers, Anzeiger Luzern and Luzerner Woche, for the city and agglomeration of Lucerne. According to Erwin Bachmann, Delegate of the Board of Directors of NLZ, the bundling of forces also aims to secure the position against attacks from new free newspapers.

In view of the negative development in the advertising business, the Group will not be able to avoid a further reduction in cost blocks, explained CEO Beat Meyer in the in-house newspaper Net. Readers, listeners and print customers should not feel the effects. Meyer wants to focus on services that are provided as "nice to have".

Last year, Swiss Television DRS received over 20 million francs from sponsorship for the first time. The exact figure for 2002 was not disclosed. In the current year, further contracts have already been concluded for programs and program slots that were previously not sponsored: "Puls" with Bico, "MTW" with Erdgas and the Wednesday series at 8 p.m. with Visilab.

The Zurich advertising agency Advertising Art & Ideas is developing a new CI and other communication measures for Käch Security. Runtal has also entrusted the agency with the mandate for its bathroom radiators.

The Zurich City Council has expressed a positive view of a possible youth radio station for the city of Zurich. In its response to an SP interpellation, it writes that a program must be provided that is tailored to the needs of young people in terms of presentation, word content and music offerings. The applicants for the concession would have to provide their own ideas, it continued. The city council rejects a regular operating subsidy.

In the article "Advertising rates at eye level" (WW 9/03), the 1/1 advertisement rate of the Express, which will be published at the end of March, was quoted at CHF 12284. However, this is not the basic gross page rate - which is 11167 francs and thus almost identical to that of 20 Minuten - but a page in the news section with a 10 percent placement surcharge.

Feldschlösschen's budget will now be managed by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett (SFLB), which was previously mandated by Contexta. According to the press release, SFLB impressed with an approach that "stands out for its beeriness".

Food Emmi's new aloe vera line is entering the wellness yogurt market with marketing power. The new "sensitive yogurt and drink" is set to achieve what its predecessor and sub-brand Aloe Vera 4plus failed to achieve: a breakthrough.
With a clever takeover strategy, Emmi has become Switzerland's largest milk processor and prepared itself for its next expansion step. As the saying goes: hunger comes with eating. Especially when the Swiss spoon up some yogurt. According to ACNielsen, the appetite of the Swiss has not only increased, but above all become more refined. The total consumption of yogurts rose by a further two percent in 2002. The consumer research company also notes that yoghurt connoisseurs are increasingly turning to top-quality products and prefer small packs (up to 250 grams). With an increase of 32.4 percent, premium yogurts experienced the strongest growth in sales, ahead of bifidus (+18%) and organic yogurts (+8.6%). In addition, the Swiss are among the most avid yogurt consumers in Europe: since 1999, they have consumed around 17 kilograms of the Bulgarian national dish per capita per year.
Sandra Wüest from ACNielsen explains the increase with
the many new launches by milk processors,
that meet consumers' desire for a more varied and healthier (yoghurt) lifestyle. This is the only way to defend, or at best gain, market share in the crowded dairy products market, where vertical shifts are rare.
In this fast-moving market, only those who correctly anticipate changes in eating habits and are always one step ahead of the competition have a chance of survival. These prerequisites must be played out with quality and a good distribution network.
Despite the many new products on the dairy shelves of the major distributors, Swiss consumers are very conservative when it comes to flavors: they prefer to eat natural yogurt (13.5%), while they opt for strawberry flavor only half as often (6.5%).
These preferences should help the new aloe vera yogurt from Lucerne-based dairy company Emmi to be a success. This is because the fleshy leaves of the desert lily Aloe Vera barbadensis Miller have a tart, fresh taste that comes close to that of a natural yogurt.
However, the added value lies less in the pleasantly restrained taste and more in the transfer of the product properties of the medicinal plant that the consumer expects from consuming it. "Unlike when it is applied to the skin, aloe vera is
as a foodstuff still far
largely unknown," says Torsten Fankhänel, Head of Advertising at Emmi. He can explain this mainly by the fact that aloe vera is only available as an expensive
juice is available in drugstores and pharmacies. But that could change quickly. "Aloe vera yogurt is a big hit in Japan, where a good one and a half million cups are sold over the counter every day," says Fankhänel.
Emmi therefore wants to stand for the original and the highest quality, so that later competitors cannot make life difficult for the Lucerne-based company and, above all, cannot dispute its image as an innovative brand. To achieve this, Emmi wants to conquer the Swiss market from abroad. In October, the Central Swiss company surprised the industry at the Intermopro trade fair in Düsseldorf with the launch of its new yogurt.
After the launch, the campaignEmmi's aloe vera yoghurt pots found their way into the chiller cabinets of several German grocery chains back in December. The launch campaign was only added afterwards. A few days ago, the dairy company repeated what it had successfully done in Germany and also started selling the product in its home market ("Dritte Kraft", Coop, Migros as a private label). As in the neighboring country, the only slightly higher price is intended to suggest the feel-good properties of the product.
Since Emmi, as a pioneer in the new field of the food wellness market, is aiming for "clear market penetration", rapid and clear positioning was essential. Accordingly, the communication goals envisaged a rapid increase in awareness - from zero to 80 percent in the target group within six months - and the consolidation of the brand value for Emmi. In view of the unusually short deadlines, the decision was made to implement the campaign in-house with an impact strategy. "The product had to stand out and the message - beauty comes from within - had to be communicated clearly and quickly," recalls Fankhänel. Photographer Duncan Blum managed the balancing act between beauty and product shots that still retained a food character. Fankhänel only used tried-and-tested ad design recipes for the realization. The relatively low level of knowledge about the plant is to be improved with accompanying PR activities.
With the "sensitive yogurt" based on aloe vera, first mover Emmi confirms itself as an innovative brand.
Nutraceuticals: wellness in foodThe trend in the food sector is clearly pointing towards convenience and functional food. Because these terms are increasingly being used to describe well-being, marketing is also crystallizing the health-promoting effect. Products with natural ingredients are preferred to those with artificial substances. Trend researchers are convinced that when it comes to food, the issue of youth
is becoming more important in all aspects: Specific effects such as anti-ageing, wellness or beauty are also playing an increasingly important role in food and are therefore influencing purchasing behavior. Although the promising market for nutraceuticals - a neologism made up of nutrition and pharmaceuticals - is opening up, these products are not being used as a substitute for food.
products are advertised as food, as health claims for non-medicinal products are prohibited. This needn't bother marketing communication, as a certain image transfer still takes place with the public. (la)
Luca Aloisi

Wirtschaftspresse HandelsZeitung will be published in a new look from the end of May, editor-in-chief Kurt Speck confirmed to Werbewoche. The "gentle renovation" is being led by former Blick editor-in-chief Peter Balsiger, who moved to Germany in 1989 and now works for the Springer Group, to which the HandelsZeitungs Group also belongs. Balsiger is supported by the Hamburg editorial design agency Redaktion 4.