Career novel When an editor realizes himself through writing, it quickly becomes embarrassingThis book is real, but at the same time it is satire," we are informed in the foreword, or rather made to wonder. The fact that satire is by definition an exaggeration of the real seems to have escaped the author Robert Jakob - like many other things. The nameless first-person narrator in the "phrase-mongering novel for up-and-comers" (self-promotion) starts out as a small PR worm in the Zurich agency Zum letzten Schrei and then becomes an editor at the Swiss Handelsblatt(!). There, he stole ideas and texts and, as a sideline, became a ghostwriter, PR professional, stockbroker and finally the owner of several communications companies. Only then does he receive a pink slip from Handelsblatt. But he takes defeat in his stride, even when the SAir contract goes to "a Canadian branding specialist." However, the protagonist remains flat in his description of this parallel career, which is peppered with superlatives. He himself sees it completely differently. "I am the mastermind behind the revaluation of all values," he rants. And: "Nietzsche's complete edition and Musil's 'Man without Qualities' form a successful synthesis in me. But enough philosophizing." At best, one can agree with the latter. After all, the attempt to give the embarrassing figure a profile by borrowing from intellectual history must give anyone halfway well-read stomach cramps.
For pages, Jakob's nameless alter ego plays the psycho and motivational guru, whereby his wisdom ("If you don't leave the ground, you'll never learn to fly") is as banal as his linguistic digressions. Instead of "reject", he writes "send to the shredder", instead of "organize", he recommends "planting a structural tree". That doesn't sound like ghostwriting, but like middle school German. Finally, as a last resort, he has the mail stolen from the letterbox to take customers away from her. The agency promptly goes bankrupt, he buys it and - the dream of every short-changed person - puts his ex-boss out on the street.
So far, so trivial and laborious. It only gets interesting when you ask who is serving up such blandly cooked fare. According to the appendix, this Robert Jakob is a German doctor. Today, the former director of several life science companies sits on the editorial board of two renowned Swiss journals. That sounds respectable, and so you are amazed that the bluffer, who was allowed to realize himself at the Munich business publishing house Redline, is a simple editor at the specialist journal New Management in real life. Incidentally, this is published by the HandelsZeitung publishing group - which at least clears up some of the allusions.
> The Bluff. A dazzling career of Robert

Jacob. Redline Wirtschaftsverlag, Munich 2002.
163 pages, Fr. 27.50.
Francis Müller

Samuel Helbling on the redesigned WerbeWocheYou are holding the first issue of WerbeWoche with its new look in your hands. Anyone who - like us - regularly holds up a mirror to the media and communications industry would do well to take a look in the mirror themselves from time to time. As the leading Swiss weekly newspaper for advertising, marketing and media professionals, we feel obliged to continue offering the most attractive product on the market in the future. The new WerbeWoche is to be more clearly structured, easier to read and more reader-friendly. To this end, we have streamlined the magazine and reincorporated the many small innovations of the past few years into a consistent, clear magazine dramaturgy, revising both the look, including the logo, and the content structure. The renovated WerbeWoche has a modern yet classically elegant look. The cornerstones of the redesign include the revised newspaper head, the subtle use of color and a stringent page architecture. The two sections "Marketing & Communication" and "Media & Media" now each have their own front page. We have also introduced an "Opinion" page in the first section. This is intended to sharpen our profile and offer you more guidance in the ever-increasing flow of information. On the opinion page, you will find statements on relevant events, guest commentaries and columns by distinguished contemporaries such as Peter Glotz, Ulrich Saxer, Walter Bosch, Heribert Seifert, Kenneth Angst and Constantin Seibt.
We created the redesign in close cooperation with MediaGroup, Berlin, under the direction of Lukas Kircher. He and his team also developed the new concept for Tele, the Financial Times Deutschland and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
We wish you an inspiring read and look forward to your feedback.
> Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

Print When Esther Vilar published her now world-famous book "Der dressierte Mann" in 1971, it triggered a wave of indignation - not among men, but among women, who were fighting for better social status for women within the emerging women's movement at the time. The number one culprit was the man. Vilar's view is completely different: it is not men who exploit women, but the exact opposite. Vilar's thesis also seems to remain valid in advertising. Provocative photographer David La Chapelle shot a whole series of trained Adams for i-D to advertise Versace's vintage boots, among other things, and Fujifilm chained a lover boy made fun of by the female sex to the bed. It could be that Vilar's work simply came out 30 years too early. (ck)

The advertising agency Eugster Kommunikation, Rorschacherberg, has won the Basel-based kitchen studio Kuhn Design as a new client, whose remit includes the redesign of the over 50-year-old company's website and a campaign with advertisements and direct mail. Eugster Kommunikation will also be working for the newly founded management consultancy Efficiency Management in Seon AG. According to the entry in the commercial register, agency head René Eugster is a shareholder in the company, whose brand is to be established in Germany and Switzerland this year. The tasks include the entire corporate image.

Media After the first customer presentations, the launch date for Tamedia's prestigious "Express" project was leaked at the beginning of the week: the second Swiss commuter newspaper will make its debut on the Greater Zurich market on March 24. At the beginning of spring, a 30-strong editorial team, which according to publishing director Marius Hagger will consist of "almost half" of the existing crew, will ring in the fall for the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten, orchestrated by the "Newcomer Agency of the Year 2002" Hesskiss. Co-owner Tamàs Kiss is counting on the cross-media support of Tamedia products (probably with the exception of the Tages-Anzeiger). According to Kiss, the "colorful, lively introductory campaign" will of course depend on the tone of the "Express". With their Justie-
In addition to editor-in-chief Marco Boselli and Pascal Scherrer, the second editor, who is to be appointed by the end of the week, is also likely to have a say in the decision.
(oc)

The Federal Council has approved changes to the shareholding structure of Teleclub, Viva Swizz and Radio Eviva. Teleclub AG acquired the 40 percent package from KirchPayTV in mid-May, and Viva Fernsehen GmbH increased its stake in the music channel Viva Swizz to 96 percent at the end of June. At the beginning of February, the takeover of the folk music station Radio Eviva by Radio Central Holding AG was agreed. The local radio station is taking over Eviva shares from Goldbach Media, Radio Z AG and BC Medien Holding.

Party guests at the "Palais Xtra" in Zurich are currently advised to limit their beverage consumption. In particular, strongly diuretic liquids such as beer should not be ordered, as this could result in a nasty surprise in the toilet. This is because the latest issues of Facts magazine can be found in 16 of the club's toilet compartments - a backlog guaranteed. At least that's what the in-house agency Euro RSCG Switzerland is convinced of. And so that visitors to the toilets know straight away that they are better off going to another toilet in urgent cases, the agency has replaced the busy sign with the Facts logo.Facts readers simply like to stay seated for longer.

Tele Züri's teletext service can now also be used on the broadcaster's website, and the entire ZüriText content can be accessed in the browser not only by entering the page number - as on the TV screen - but also via hyperlinks. ZüriText includes the news offer from Tagesanzeiger .ch, a current weather service and a sports block, event information from the Züritipp online database, program information from Tele Züri and Radio 24 and an SMS flirt platform. According to a statement from the marketing company Belcom, an average of 100,000 viewers a week currently use Tele Züri's Teletext on their television screens.

The black cover of the original yuppie magazine and former Stern imitation from Hamburg's Milchstrasse proclaims that "Max is back", and the successful return to the old Max virtues includes the monthly publication frequency, opulent photo spreads and the extensive dissolution of the static section structure. A special treat for magazine fetishists is the "The second title" section created by the old-new editor-in-chief Christian Krug. Lucky to be able to declare such a killer motif your second choice! Only second Max choice after the comeback: Eminem.

Along with television director Peter Schellenberg, executive Heinz Kindlimann will also be stepping down. According to press spokesman René Bardet, he has yet to commit to a date, but it is assumed at Leutschenbach that the "Head of Design" will retire at the same time as his Jass colleague "Schälli". The resignation of finance boss Hans-Ulrich Schmutz is already official. His position will be "advertised as normal" in 2003. Schmutz's successor will be decided by the Board of Directors. The current head of SF Info, Walter Bachmann, is currently considered to have the best chances.

The Zurich-based advertising agency Jung von Matt/Limmat is providing overall communications support to the pharmaceutical companies Merck Sharp & Dohme-Chiberet and Essex Chemie AG for a joint product launch.new drug According to the agency, the product in question is a cholesterol-lowering drug. Jung von Matt was awarded the contract, which includes classic advertising, Internet and public relations, without a competitor presentation.

Investors and analysts have very different ideas about the tasks of an investor relations presentation than the responsible managers, according to a survey of 270 CEOs, CFOs and communication managers as well as 140 representatives of the financial community conducted by the Zurich agency Tangerine Communications. Listeners to a presentation expect facts above all else. In particular, the transparency of financial data must be increased. They place little value on persuasion, which is considered particularly important in companies. The study can be downloaded as a PDF file from www.tangerine-communications .com.