The guesswork surrounding the future owners of Hitradio Z, which is up for sale, is over: neither the management, nor Roger Schawinski, nor anyone else close to the company will be involved. No. The radio owner Goldbach Media is making a big splash: None other than the French radio giant NRJ is buying a 50 percent stake in Hitradio Z. Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler told WerbeWoche that it had been agreed not to disclose the purchase price of the stake. He added that the company had found its ideal partner in NRJ. Hitradio Z expects strong synergies from the joint venture. With NRJ, Goldbach Media has also gained a strong big brother in view of Tamedia's rapid advance in the radio market, said Kappeler, adding that personnel changes at Hitradio Z are initially only planned in the Board of Directors, where NRJ will take two of four seats. There will be no fundamental changes to the name or positioning of Hitradio Z.
However, an important argument that Kappeler had put forward a month ago as a reason for the sale of Hitradio Z - as a Swiss-wide radio marketer, you cannot also be the owner of a station - has not been redeemed with the sale of only half of the company. "That's true," says Kappeler, "but the gain in know-how outweighs this disadvantage."
With 300 radio stations in nine countries, NRJ is the largest player in Europe. In Switzerland, NRJ holds a 24 percent stake in Radio Edelweiss and broadcasts into French-speaking Switzerland with the NRJ and Nostalgie stations. There it also operates the marketing company Regie Networks Léman.
NRJ's participation still requires the approval of OFCOM and the Competition Commission (dse).

The media group is holding on ironclad to its minority stake in Radio PilatusBy Markus Knöpfli As is generally known, radios are changing hands at lightning speed. It is therefore surprising that the internationally active media group Ringier, of all companies, is holding on to a small share in Radio Pilatus. And this despite the fact that it no longer pursues a regional strategy.
The fact that Ringier only wants to operate nationally in Switzerland, or at least on a regional language basis, was an immediately obvious explanation for its exit from the Neue Luzerner Zeitung (NLZ) in June. The sale to NZZ, which was thus able to acquire a 33 percent stake in LZ Medien Holding, was only logical. Ringier also exited the sales organization belonging to LZ Medien.
Not so at the local private radio station Pilatus. Switzerland's biggest media group continues to hold a stake in the local
of 18.2 percent and is also represented on the Board of Directors through Bruno Blaser, Head of Blick/SonntagsBlick. Blaser's colleagues on the board come from the retail giants Coop and Migros and from Luzerner Kantonalbank (10 percent each). LZ Medien, the largest shareholder with 36.4 percent, provides Erwin Bachmann as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, while Leo Fischer (ex-Cablecom), who holds 15.4 percent, serves as Chairman.
In media poker, you don't gamble away a joker without necessity
If you ask Ringier, you won't get an illuminating explanation for holding on to Pilatus. "The station is highly profitable and the stake doesn't hurt us, so we're staying in until further notice," says COO Martin Werfeli. Which doesn't quite answer the question, because the stake in NLZ was also profitable.
Bruno Blaser is also cagey. He merely points out that it is "very complicated" to sell shares at Pilatus because all other shareholders have a right of first refusal. Nevertheless, Blaser's statement points in a direction, because a pre-emptive right only poses a problem for a seller if he doesn't want to give the pre-emptors higher shares - or if he wants to favor an outsider.
Tamedia is the main potential buyer, all the more so because Radio Pilatus belongs to the City Pool together with the three Tamedia radio stations 24, Basilisk and ExtraBern. But why should Ringier do this favor for its competitor Tamedia? In addition, Tamedia recently sold its small and only indirect stake in Radio Pilatus: It quietly sold a 3.3 percent stake in LZ Medien to the NZZ.
There is talk from insider circles of a counter deal, which is officially denied everywhere. Did Tamedia hand itself a free hand for the relaunch of the Express? Or for the city pool strategies?
However, the NZZ could also be interested in Ringier's share - in order to have a direct say in the station. Beat Lauber, responsible for regional media at the NZZ, waves it off. In the NZZ strategy, each region is regarded as a separate market, which is why investments in a regional media holding company make sense, but not in the individual media belonging to it.
The only one to openly declare his interest in a Pilatus stake is Markus Ruoss, head of Radio Sunshine, the number two station in central Switzerland. The reason: LZ Medien holds a 16 percent stake in Ruoss' radio station, which he would like to buy back but cannot. The Ringier share would be a great bargaining chip. But even if Ringier were to offer a hand, the other Pilatus shareholders, who all want to keep their shares, would hardly do so.
Ringier therefore seems to be holding off on the sale and waiting for a suitable deal in which it can pull the Pilatus trump card out of its sleeve
Radio Pilatus is refreshed

Radio Pilatus started its 20th year of operation on December 1. To mark the occasion, the claim "the best mix of the 80s and 90s and the super hits of today" will be replaced by "we play the hits" at the beginning of 2003. For the newly produced layout package, Radio Pilatus is working with the Austrian production company Foster Kent, which developed the acoustic design for Ö3 and Antenne Bayern. In its music profile, Pilatus continues to focus on current and catchy hits. Pilatus managing director Joachim Freiberg describes the changes not as a relaunch, but as "refreshing." Nevertheless, they are to be widely communicated with a campaign consisting of four subjects by the Lucerne advertising agency Künzle. (mk)

By Beat FritschAs always at the end of November, since the revival of the Idée jazz bar four years ago, it was "Let's jazz!" with the Idée-VfW last Thursday. The event has now regained a permanent place on the Zurich advertising scene's event agenda and attracts more and more visitors every year, with visitors and organizers from the Association for Advertising Communication agreeing that this year's jazz bar was the best in a long time. The success was probably not least due to the change of venue. For the first time, the event took place in the "Herb" bar & lounge club in Zurich's Seefeld district. An ideal choice, as it turned out. Previously, the jazz concert had been held at "El Lokal" on Gessnerallee - but this year the advertisers were no longer welcome there, as they no longer fitted in with the concept, was the succinct reason given for the exclusion.
However, a better venue has now been found in "Herb" anyway, said Natalie Schneider, Idée's project manager for the jazz event. The collaboration with "El Lokal" had been very complicated and mostly chaotic. In "Herb", on the other hand, the two managers Louise and Katharina Ilone are two catering professionals who were much more cooperative than the previous host.
The move also resulted in changes to the food. For the first time, we worked with the well-known event manager Judith Morf for the catering; and here, too, everyone was satisfied with what was on offer.
Of course, the help of sponsors is essential for such an event, as Natalie Schneider expressed in her welcoming speech. Tarkan Özküp, Marketing and Sales Manager at TeleZüri, and Yvonne Müller, Publishing Manager at KI Media with the radio magazine, made generous contributions to ensure that three young bands from the Winterthur Zurich Music Academy could once again be engaged. The partnership with Hanspeter Künzle from the Zurich Jazz School department has proved its worth since the revival of the Jazzbar four years ago. Once again, the up-and-coming musical talents sensed their chance and gave it their all... it could be that one or the other guest will have a band engagement for an event next year. Sooner or later we will be hearing from the individual musicians anyway, because the three jazz combos performed at the highest level.
In addition to the music sponsors, there was also a special round of applause for Renato Schena and Beppo Genovese from Star Plakat, who generously offered the drinks for the welcome aperitif. And Publimedia, where Markus Ehrle and Daniel Strobel were responsible, also received a "big hand" for sponsoring the food. Not forgetting other generous donors such as Clear Channel Plakanda, Condor Communications, Time-System, the NJP recording studio and Drucklade, without whom it would certainly not have been possible to hold the jazz bar. Especially in this day and age, which is characterized more by savings hysteria than generosity, such sponsoring efforts deserve special praise.
The audience, which had a great time until late in the evening, included ZKB advertising manager Bernadette Grossenbacher, Marlise Schneider from Union-3-Communications with her husband Urs Schneider, owner of the Mediaschneider agency, Koni Künzli from Outdoor Media, Roger Baur from AdLink, Carlo Steiner from Publisuisse and Irene Ackermann with her boss Andreas Meili, head of electronic media at Tamedia.
Last Friday's ASW Gala was another big get-together for the advertising industry. Over 120 people from ASW agencies as well as invited guests of honor, such as Monika Luck and Piero Schäfer from SW, SWA Managing Director Jürg Siegrist and former ASW Managing Director Erik Sörensen and his wife Rose Sörensen from Sörensen Management Services, gathered at the "Triibhuus" in Zurich-Altstetten. The events at "Triibhuus", a mixture of nursery, tropical hall and event restaurant, are run by "Turm" host Toni Navarro. He also supplies the fine grape juices and brandies that flow down the throats there. It's all very Spanish, which is why for once not grappa or cognac, but various brandies were served with the coffee.
The official part of the event was deliberately kept moving at a brisk pace; after all, ASW President Diego Bally also prefers relaxed table talks to long-winded speeches. As a result, more attention was paid to what was officially said, which must have pleased André Heinzelmann in particular. His studio Heinzelmann was admitted to the ASW this year. He was presented with his membership certificate by board member Markus Diener in front of a respectfully silent audience - a rather exceptional occurrence among advertisers.
And the announcement of next year's ASW General Assembly on Lake Lucerne - an anniversary event, nota bene, as the Alliance is celebrating its 40th anniversary - should also have reached everyone's ears.
Beat Fritsch

was "in the mood" for jazz last week and was also in the Altstetter Dschungel. Events that are organized year after year by two of the most important Swiss communication associations: The traditional Idée jazz bar of the Association for Advertising Communication took place for the first time at the "Herb" - and the "Triibhuus", which the Alliance of Swiss Advertising Agencies ASW chose as the location for its gala, is also being reported on for the first time. Both events were considered a complete success by the organizers and guests.
We find out who meets in the communications scene at parties and aperitifs at various events in the industry. Do you already have something exciting to report? Pick up the phone (01 296 97 98) or hit the keyboard (info@werbewo che.ch). For event tips and occasional shortlist pictures: www .werbewoche.ch

Ringier Romandie relies on Swiss content for the men's magazine Type and risks boredomBy Sabine Lüthi With Type, Ringier Romandie is entering the world of men's magazines. The magazine offers a lot of calculation, even more clichés and yet 30 pages of advertising. The luck of the brave or the beginner? The answer will be provided by the domestic competition in March.
Three flips, four pages of Tyler Brûlé. One empty swallow. If the interview with the trend guru at the start of the first issue of the French-speaking Swiss men's magazine Type doesn't even appeal to women, what about the supposed stronger sex? Is the battle for male attention at the newsstand not yet tough enough? Then why not a 50-page special on James Bond: the US magazine GQ is leading the way.
For Type, on the other hand, a Swiss aspect must be visible in every story and every picture. This drastically restricts the choice of topics and makes the glossy product (initial print run is 80,000 copies) not exactly exciting, let alone surprising. All the same, subscribers to the Ringier magazines Edelweiss and L'Hebdo receive the magazine free of charge.
Nevertheless, Ringier deserves credit for launching a men's magazine despite the poor economic data. As the little brother of the women's magazine Edelweiss, it shares a noble appearance with its older sister as well as its origins.
The cover with Ken and Barbie in the chairlift is somewhat reminiscent of PR-heavy inflight titles or the latest PKZ fashion catalog, fur department. With just under 100 pages, Type is too thin (also in terms of content) to be considered a substantial magazine and too transparent to appear mysterious.
A lifestyle-oriented general store without a USP
Do emancipated Swiss men today really still want to read that 80 percent of them don't know what a clitoris is (a conversation between three women about the first time with every new man)? Or do they really have to be told by fashion journalist Brûlé that they dress "assez choquante"?
But Type has actually dedicated himself to the beautiful, traditional and capital-intensive side of being a man. That would be: fast cars, expensive watches, high-snobiety in the Swiss mountains and seven wellness resorts in French-speaking Switzerland - all presented in a chic, no-frills snack style. Articles worthy of the name, on the other hand, are rarely indulged in.
Regardless of this narrow focus, editor-in-chief Renata Libal raises all kinds of expectations in the editorial. Type is a companion, a friend and a confidant, thanks to whom life becomes more amusing, more interesting and simply more beautiful. None of this is included in the six francs you pay at the newsstand, at least in the first issue. On closer inspection, the suspicion grows that not only Libal, who also chairs the Edelweiss editorial team, but also the other contributors only produce type when they have done their homework. This is indicated not only by the unkind style, but also by the fact that the editorial team is made up of journalists from various Ringier titles "who enjoy the Swiss lifestyle" (media release).
There is also no recognizable image philosophy of its own. No wonder, as the photos, which are far too small, are clearly subordinate to the advertising. And the models look into the camera as if they have been waiting ten minutes for the releasing click of the shutter. Even the Howell shoes are photographed in such a way that you can only guess at their style, and the "dossier" on the new après-ski fun bores you for five pages with undercooled drawings instead of entertaining you with atmospheric snapshots.
The competition is already dragging its feet
If, despite these obvious teething troubles, Ringier's newcomer is nevertheless successful, Switzerland's largest publishing house will probably be tempted to bring Type to readers on this side of the language border four times a year. Initially, however, two further French-language editions are planned for 2003.
Meanwhile, the competition has not been asleep: "Bo - Bolero for men" will be published for the first time on March 7, 2003. And Eric Valette, head of Audace Publishing (including Profil Femme), is already working on a successor to Untell, the men's magazine that was discontinued in February. This promises even more and hopefully deeper insights into the world of men and answers to the difficult question: do men really want to be entertained like this or perhaps in a completely different way?

Following an agency evaluation, Helsana has entrusted the Zurich-based crossover agency Angelink with a project account.account news Angelink wins Helsana mandate It is promoting a new web-based service for corporate customers for the health insurance company, which is to be launched in spring 2003. Angelink's know-how in the orchestration of online and offline measures spoke in its favor, according to a press release.
Solvias hires Lucky Lack The Basel-based high-tech company Solvias has chosen Lucky Lack as its advertising agency. Solvias was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from the Novartis pharmaceutical group. It offers a wide range of chemical, physical and biological services for clients in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, chemical and food industries as well as for authorities and institutions. The first implementations are to be seen this year.
Trimarca has designed an Olympic stadium in Beijing The Chur-based agency Trimarca Kommunikation has been commissioned by the architecture firm
Burckhardt+Partner, Zurich. The office was commissioned by the Organizing Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to build a stadium following an international competition. Trimarca is creating presentation charts and project brochures for the planned "Wukesong Cultural and Sports Center Beijing".

Versus positions the Küschall wheelchair brand with a global advertising campaignby Simone Keller Advertising for or with disabled people is often fraught with prejudice, and many implementations are often controversial. Versus goes beyond the classic role models for the Küschall wheelchair brand and shows disabled people in their normal everyday lives.
Since December 2000 at the latest, the Swiss population has been confronted with a new image of disabled people: In its image campaign, the organization Pro Infirmis showed self-confident people who "do not allow themselves to be hindered". According to a 1997 health survey by the Federal Statistical Office, 790000 people live with a disability in Switzerland. While previous fundraising campaigns for disability organizations often portrayed people with disabilities as pitiable, Pro Infirmis and the agency at the time, Metzger Lehner Briccola, set new standards in this market - standards that had a lasting effect.
Take the Basel-based full-service agency Versus, for example. Following a pitch, it was commissioned by Invacare AG to reposition the Küschall wheelchair brand. Founded by Rainer Küschall, the brand stands for designer wheelchairs that are characterized by their lightness and functionality. The "Competition" chair even earned the tetraplegic in New York the Museum of Modern Art's design prize.
Versus leaves the usual cliché behind for Küschall
"People who opt for a Küschall usually buy a second wheelchair," explains Versus CD and management member Filippo Muscara. A study commissioned by Invacare shows that Küschall customers buy a wheelchair that is adapted to their current life situation and special needs. People with walking disabilities who have just been confronted with their fate are influenced by doctors and therapists when choosing a wheelchair. The level of insurance premiums, which vary from country to country, also plays a key role when buying a wheelchair.
In addition to the CI and logo, the campaign launched in October also includes brochures and advertisements and is aimed directly at consumers for the first time. The aim is to increase awareness of Küschall at an international level and communicate the associated customer benefits.
The CD admits that visualizing these messages was a balancing act. After all, the target audience should be addressed as normal customers of a consumer product. According to Muscara, most wheelchair manufacturers rely on the image of the device or the classic role model "I'm disabled, you're not" in their communication.
Clear and simple speech, only for disabled people
In the realization, the Versus creative team deliberately avoids exclusion and shows people "in an everyday situation for which the corresponding wheelchair model is specially suited". The black and white, posed photos by Heino Heimann may appear sterile to the non-disabled viewer. Muscara: "We have depicted situations that everyone knows, but that everyone experiences individually. The abstract photos leave room for the experience and the associated personal ideas." The campaign is also clearly aimed at people with disabilities. Muscara is pleased to report that they also responded very positively to the new image at the Rehacare trade fair, where it was presented.
But even the most functional wheelchair is useless if many restaurants, stores or means of transportation are inaccessible. A report commissioned by Pro Infirmis and compiled by the Federal Statistical Office provides some estimated figures: According to the report, 87 out of 19,000 restaurants are wheelchair accessible, and only half of the 3,600 SBB train carriages have a wheelchair compartment. The initiators of the popular initiative on equal opportunities for the disabled, submitted in 1999, are seeking to remedy these shortcomings. The proposal was rejected in the winter session on the grounds that it would have unforeseeable financial consequences. It is expected that the sovereign will have to decide on the referendum in the coming 'European Year of People with Disabilities'.
The campaign will be implemented over a planned period of two years in the following countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Greece, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, the USA, Argentina, Japan and Eastern Europe (sk).

News Marketing Communication Yearbook Already in its 13th edition, the Marketing Communication Yearbook 2002 is published. "Nowhere else published top stories and editorials on new forms in marketing communication make this classic the standard work for every marketing and communication professional again this year," writes Yearbook Editor-in-Chief Urs Seiler. The 280-page work is published by Künzler-Bachmann Medien in St.Gallen (www.kbme dien.ch) and costs 59 Swiss francs. The book presents international award-winning advertising campaigns, case studies, trends and practical tips ranging from "call centers as crisis hotlines" to outdoor advertising and multi-channel marketing.
Swiss DM Prize 2003 announced For the fifth time, the Swiss Direct Marketing Association is launching its competition for the best direct advertising. Creative works whose primary communication objective is to elicit a measurable response from the target group may be submitted for the Dialog Marketing Prize (DM Prize). They must feature a clearly articulated and compelling call to action. The deadline for entries is January 31, 2003, and the awards ceremony will be held on April 11. For more information, contact Christa Niklaus of Fisch Meier Direkt at 01 711 72 27, e-mail: cniklaus@fischmei er.ch or on the website www.dm-preis.ch.
Clio Awards 2003: Entry deadline now open for entries to the international Clio Awards creative competition. The deadline for entries is January 15, 2003, and the awards will be presented on May 19 and 20. Entry documentation is available from the Swiss Advertising and Communications Agencies Association (Eva Dinner, tel. 01 361 37 60, e-mail: eva.din [email protected]) or from the organizer's website, www.clioawards.com.

Publicis travels into the forests of Transylvania for the ZVV night networkBy Luca Aloisi Just on the day of the international timetable change, the Zurich Transport Network (ZVV) is launching its night service. From December 15, party people will be able to stroll from location to location every two hours at the weekend. The source of inspiration for the launch lies far away from Zurich in the darkest corner of Transylvania.
Anyone familiar with downtown Switzerland knows that Zurich's weekend nights are as undead as Abraham Stoker's character Count Dracula. And not just since the Street Parade, the "Long Night of Short Stories" or the "Night of Museums".
So far, however, only those night owls who have been able to travel to and through the party city by private vehicle have been truly happy. It is no longer the police hour that determines when the magic is over and the return journey has to be made, but the timetable of the night buses. However, this restriction will come to an end from mid-December.
From the middle of this month, the "nocturnal" upgrade of the ZVV will bring Zurich's millions closer together between dusk and dawn. In order to provide access to the most important nightlife centers in the canton of Zurich, four
S-Bahn and 32 bus lines with 850 stops are served around the clock. A flat-rate surcharge of five francs is intended to cover the costs of this unique service.
Publicis positions the ZVV offer in the best MTV style
ZVV project and communications manager Hans Wälty calculated a potential target group of around 200,000 people for the canton alone - mainly young people between the ages of 16 and 25 and the young at heart. In order to win over this audience, which experience has shown to be rather skeptical about public transport, for the new offer, marketing manager Caspar Sträuli and Hans Wälty had a brochure printed in a print run of half a million copies and shot a "wild commercial".
However, this will not start until mid-January, one month after the expansion of the range. "In this way, we are avoiding the Christmas rush and hope to attract more attention afterwards," says Wälty, explaining the strategy of using cinema spots and advertisements.
For the campaign's advertising idea, the creative team led by Chief Creative Officer Jean Etienne Aebi was guided less by hard facts and more by the wildly romantic image of the most famous nocturnal creature. Under the motto "Live like a bat - first flutter around, then hang out", Publicis developed a core idea that is as astonishingly logical as it is eye-catching and could have cult potential with the target audience.
At the heart of the campaign are the passengers in the suburban train carriages. According to Stoker's legend - according to which vampires can turn into bats - the passengers adopt the spooky behavior of these creatures when they enter the night trains and, with a skillful roll, swing themselves up to the ceiling of the carriages, where they stick with their feet.
The screenplay was impressively realized by director Marc Schölermann and cinematographer Ekkehart Pollack. With their dynamic film language, rapid editing sequences and gothic scenography, they have succeeded in transferring the hypnotic effect of the notoriously light-shy Count of Darkness to Zurich's bus and rail network, even without Transylvanian mountain landscapes.

Espace Media Groupe pits free newspapers against the Mittelland ZeitungBy Markus Knöpfli The battle for readers and advertising customers is raging more fiercely than ever before in the Mittelland: Espace Media Groupe has opened a new front and now wants to follow the daily newspapers by shaking up the market in Solothurn and now also in Olten and Zofingen with free newspapers.
With the free distribution of the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST), exaggerated discounts and bait offers, Espace Media Groupe (EM) has been pursuing a competition-distorting predatory strategy in the Solothurn area for over a year. These accusations were made by the long-established Solothurner Zeitung (SZ). They were the basis of a complaint against EM to the Competition Commission (Weko). Last week, however, the ComCo discontinued its preliminary investigations against EM. It saw no evidence of unlawful conduct under antitrust law in the market presence of the Berner Zeitung and its Solothurner split.
But EM didn't even want to wait for the Weko decision. It was so sure of its case that it struck the next blow against SZ and its partners in the Mittelland-Zeitung (MLZ) association two weeks ago, but this time at the free newspaper level.
EM has owned Solothurner Woche (SoWo, circulation: 74467 copies) for several years now. Its circulation area is congruent with that of two official advertisers of the SZ publisher Vogt-Schild/Habegger (VS/H). A year ago, the SoWo merged with the Anzeiger für Gäu und Thal (AGT, 20848 copies) to form the Jurasüdfuss-Kombi (JSFK).
Will the newspaper war be
Olten's banks of the Aare decided?
The disadvantage of the Kombi, however, is that it only just reaches the gates of Olten, but does not cover the city itself. For this reason, the JSFK decided that the independent AGT should extend its coverage area by
January 1, 2003 to Olten. In addition, the Allgemeine Anzeiger for the Zofingen district ("Arbiger") was acquired as a combined plus variant. The JSFK will now reach 108,000 households. In the Plus version, it will even reach 130000 copies. With this geographical expansion, the JSFK-Plus now covers an area from Grenchen to Zofingen at a price per millimeter of CHF 1.80, which largely corresponds to the scattering area of SZ and its MLZ partners Oltner and Zofinger Tagblatt.
In the region, the JSFK is therefore seen as a further challenge to MLZ. "It's not that at all," says SoWo Managing Director Paul Galli. The Kombi was practically imposed by the freeway link between Solothurn and Biel and was built in Gäu-Park at the request of national customers. "This has nothing to do with the European Championships," says Galli, who is, however, a member of the company management.
The AGT advance to Olten has also stirred up a lot of dust in the city of Aare. Four papers are already making life difficult for themselves there. Firstly, there is the daily newspaper Oltner Tagblatt (Dietschi AG), which is the official publication organ together with the free weekly Stadtanzeiger Olten (100 percent Publicitas). The town is also covered by the Niederämter Anzeiger from Schönenwerd and, for the past five years, by the Neue Oltner Zeitung from the Zehnder publishing house in Wil (SG). Hannes Röthlisberger, co-owner of the advertising agency Regio Annoncen in Langenthal, shakes his head: "I don't know what the AGT was thinking, there's no room for four advertisers in Olten," he says. Nevertheless, he gives the JSFK a chance: "It's not a bad combination, the SoWo is rooted and popular."

Vogt-Schild/Habegger wants to react quickly "if necessary"
In the course of the AGT advance to Olten, the scoreboard maps in this region will also be redistributed elsewhere. The previous Trio 32 combination and the Olten ring will be dissolved as they no longer make sense. The Quinto 32 will become the Quattro 32 without the AGT, and the South-West Ring (AGT and Arbiger) will now be called the Oltner Kombi. Last week, AGT also received its first tit-for-tat: Stadtanzeiger Olten announced that it would be expanding its distribution area into AGT's home territory to Oensingen as of January 1.
But how does VS/H, which feels directly attacked, react? "We are working on an answer," says its director Rudolf Rentsch, referring to his good contacts with various advertisers who have now been scared off by AGT - in particular the Stadtanzeiger Olten. Urs Lüthi, responsible for the advertisers at VS/H, is more relaxed. The previous JSFK had already had no impact, so he does not fear any consequences for the SZ or MLZ as a result of the Plus variant. "But we will keep an eye on it. And we have something in the drawer that will be implemented quickly if necessary," he says.

Potential partners of the traditional Bernese newspaper wave goodbyeIn three months at the latest, Beat Lauber would like to (or rather: must) present his Board of Directors with a restructuring concept for the Bund that is ready for a decision. However, the regional newspaper boss of the NZZ Group, which holds 80 percent of the ailing capital city newspaper, did not want to reveal more than this time horizon when asked by WerbeWoche. No wonder, as all candidates for a partnership have so far given him the cold shoulder. However, a cooperation is apparently urgently needed due to steadily increasing losses. For Georges von Csernatony, chief strategist at Publicitas, which already holds a 20 percent stake, an increase is out of the question, as is any publishing activity. The "P" has always been happy to help out with its oldest leased title. "However, any further involvement would have to be based on solid financial arguments, and as far as I know, these do not exist."
The CEO of the Basler Mediengruppe, which was recently mentioned by Cash as a potential NZZ local partner, is of the same opinion. Even though the group is always keeping its eyes open for investment opportunities for the Jean Frey proceeds: "We have learned our lessons from the Zurich adventure; a new edition in Bern is not currently under discussion," Beat Meyer clarifies. And Peter Wanner, publisher of the Mittelland Zeitung, feels so little affected by the NZZ's woes that he considers a statement from the outset to be superfluous.
Zurich closing ranks in Bern as an alternative?
But perhaps the search for a partner is just a clever ruse to divert attention from more immediate and far-reaching alliance plans. Wouldn't it be plausible for the NZZ, for example, which is under pressure to make savings, to incorporate the Bund into the Berner Zeitung, which is 49 percent controlled by Tamedia, in order to at least keep a foothold in the Bern market in the longer term? It is no coincidence that Beat Lauber says that "almost anything is conceivable" at the moment.
Oliver Classen

Publicis once again takes sports retailer Wider off the beaten trackWith soft bandages, you only get bruises in the highly competitive sports retail sector - and certainly don't earn a golden nose. This realization has shaped the advertising behavior of Peter Wider, owner of Sportplausch Wider in Wallisellen, for eight years. Margins can only be defended with a sophisticated communication policy. Wider therefore invests his time and money in building and maintaining the store as a brand - while most sports stores continue to concentrate on product promotion.Wider and the agency Publicis have built up the image and awareness of the store with a mixture of classic and event-oriented advertising and promotions. The strategy puts all its eggs in one basket and appeals to the target clientele: the main thing is to have fun.
The weirder the performance and the more striking the message, the more differentiated the band becomes. The sometimes infantile nonsense that the CDs Markus Gut and Markus Ruf have come up with so far has occasionally deliberately crossed taboo boundaries. Their advertising thus rebelled against all things adult in line with the target group and acted as a source of humor even in deadly serious times.
Mockery of family sponsorship
For the winter sports season, too, "we are advertising the ski and snowboard offer in an unusual and very playful way," says Markus Gut. On the one hand, the already award-winning "Stierli-Sport" radio spots are entering their third season with five new episodes. Gut is convinced that these will make even better use of the medium's possibilities. In one spot, anti-hero Heinz Stierli reads out his letter to the editor, which was not printed by the Walliseller Boten. In it, he pours so much scorn and shame on his rival Wider that the radio spot was drowned out with beeping noises due to the offensive content.
The advertisements and posters are all about ridiculing sponsorship. This encourages everyone to look for their own personal sponsor for sports equipment.
These can be: Mother, father, grandpa, grandma or godfather. The idea was followed through consistently, right down to the giveaways: sponsor fabric stickers that can be stuck on the newly purchased ski or snowboard jacket.
Sportplausch Wider thanks customers and participants of its ski day with another example of "good taste" and thinks of the "sporty" time after skiing: "So that you can also glide beautifully during après-ski" is written on the sachets of "Flutschi" - the original gliding cream from Orion-Versand.
The fact that the Art Buyer has been
The fact that this gag is covered up with advertising emails for dildo promotions and the like is what we call an occupational hazard these days.
Luca Aloisi

Sawi presented a round table discussion on the question "Education without borders? "By Andreas Panzeri Future professionals in the communications industry will follow modular training paths. This insight dominated a Sawi round table discussion. Education experts agree on two consequences: Switzerland's path lies between the Bologna Declaration and the Pisa study, and an "educational island of Switzerland" must not be created.
The traditional career path of apprenticeship, studies and employment is a thing of the past in today's job market. Instead, lifelong learning is now the order of the day. But how should this learning be organized in the future in a Europe without borders?
"When it comes to education, we have to align ourselves with Europe - whether we like it or not," said Jürg Engi, Chairman of the Sawi Executive Board, on the topic of "education reform". Several such programs are currently being implemented in this country and in our European environment. At federal level alone, twenty commissions are working on reforms to the education system in Switzerland.
"Creating transparency" was therefore one of the aims of discussion leader Alfred Zwygart, consultant for innovation in education and culture. He was joined by other experts Christian Aeberli from Avenir Suisse, Rivardo Ischi, Secretary General of the Swiss University Conference, Rolf Peter from the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology, Iwan Rickenbacher as a member of the University of Applied Sciences of the Canton of Aargau and Fredy Sidler, Secretary General of the Swiss Conference of Universities of Applied Sciences.
"The new higher education article in the Federal Constitution is intended to ensure the holistic management of higher education policy and thus effectively meet the challenges of international competition and the knowledge economy," was written in a paper for this location discussion. The Bologna Declaration, a joint declaration by European education ministers, is the counterpart to this in the European Higher Education Area. Its main aim is to get a grip on mobility. This declaration formulates measures to achieve greater compatibility and comparability of higher education systems in EU countries.
In order to improve international competitiveness, comparable degrees are to be introduced in the European higher education system with the Bachelor's, Master's and doctorate levels. To this end, a credit point system will be introduced and mobility will not only be guaranteed but also deliberately promoted, for example through the recognition of periods spent abroad. One possible points system is the European Credit Transfer System for the recognition of academic achievements. This system, which has become known as the Erasmus program, is intended to guarantee the recognition of academic achievements at other universities. Switzerland cannot stand on the sidelines of these developments. "We must not create an educational island," Engi demanded energetically.
Pisa study increases pressure on education reformers
This is also the view of the Rectors' Conference of Swiss Universities, which is already drafting a corresponding directive. However, since the transfer of the former Erasmus program to a newer Socrates program, Switzerland has only been involved as a "silent partner", since as a non-EU or EEA country it was also unable to conclude a bilateral agreement with the EU in the field of education. When implementing the Bologna Declaration, solutions are therefore required to facilitate the seamless integration of these reforms into the Swiss higher education landscape.
In Europe, more than one million students have spent one or more semesters at a university outside their home country through these mobility programs since 1985. In Switzerland, only 10,000 students have studied abroad for at least a semester with public funding since 1992.
These figures seem modest in view of the fact that the Swiss economy is also under increasing pressure from international competition. No secret can be made of the fact that Switzerland now only ranks
17 in the Pisa study. "That puts pressure on us. But nothing changes without pressure. We have a reform backlog," explained Iwan Rickenbacher on this situation.
Reform backlog recognized, but the money is not (yet) flowing
In Switzerland, only 18 percent of young people go to university and 25 percent attend a university of applied sciences. Abroad, many more young people opt for higher education. "There is a disastrous gap here," the participants agreed. In addition, the financial subsidies to our higher education institutions have fallen by 30 percent in recent years compared to the overall budget development. Today, there is only one professor for every 100 students.
"A lot is happening in terms of reforms, but we have a funding problem here," said Ischi. "Our goal must still be to train the best," demanded Christian Aeberli from Avenir Suisse.
"We are facing up to the situation and know that things cannot go on as they have for the last 32 years," Engi also explained with regard to the situation at Sawi. "Our school needs a new positioning." Between the pressure to reform and the hectic pace of reform, however, he noted that Sawi's budget has increased by twelve million francs in the last ten years. "We are market-oriented and are therefore taking the full risk," said Engi. "A lot of good is created in the Sawi self-help organization - without laws. That is the wealth of federalism, the fruitful chaos," commented Rickenbacher.
Hardly any young trainees at the round table discussion
In Switzerland, six billion Swiss francs are spent on vocational training every year. Two billion of this is provided by the public sector. The remaining four billion comes from the private sector. At another level, the federal government is demanding 17 billion for research. The cantons, on the other hand, prefer to spend more money on basic education. So where should the reform path lead? Looking to the future, the panel welcomed the Bologna reforms. "But Swiss students should also be able to use this internationally," the experts demanded. Another demand goes to the universities of applied sciences, which must introduce the internationally recognized Master's degree.
A second buzzword that has high hopes for the future is modularization in vocational training. The module as the basic element of a modular system is a self-contained learning unit that stands alone and is completed with a certificate of competence. This module can lead to various diplomas if several modules are combined as partial qualifications. In principle, this flexible system is intended for higher vocational education and training qualifications.
Around 60 interested people attended the Sawi round table. Most of them were in the category of training brokers. There were hardly any young people to be seen talking about the future of our training.
Internships wanted

The economic situation is having an impact at various levels. Sawi is also still lacking 12 internships for the 31 participants in the day school for planners in marketing communication. "In recent years, demand has always been much greater than the number of interns available," says Jürg Engi from Sawi. Due to the economic situation, advertising agencies are "very cautious" with their offers.
The course graduates have excellent theoretical training and a sound technical background. "After six weeks in an agency, these people are fully employable as additional assistants," says Manfred Kranich, member of the management team at Sawi. The wage costs for trainees are around 3,000 francs. Work starts on April 1. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. The contact person at Sawi is Miriam Koubâa. She can be reached at m.koubaa @sawi.com (ww).