BMW reinvents the wheel of advertising for the sleek little car - with a high-tech scavenger huntBy Andreas Panzeri Mini invasion in Barcelona: 21 teams of four from 17 countries took part in a fictitious agent game for four days. The Mini mission was followed by 100 media people from all over the world. Naturally, they all drove through the city in 121 eye-catching Minis. The marketing specialists at BMW Mini expect this to have "more effect" than traditional advertising - but at the same price.
A black van skids across the pier in the port of Barcelona with screeching tires. It is followed by a police car with flashing blue lights and sirens. The police officers lay out a spike tape. The van comes to a halt with punctured tires. Then a BMW Mini spikes over a loading ramp at breakneck speed and flies 20 meters through the air over the shipping containers.
Sam Cooper gets out of the car. A wooden crate is torn out of the van's cargo area. "Who's got the code?" he shouts. Then a great roar of joy from the Germany One team. With their "secret code", they are able to save six stolen paintings by American artist Peter Halley from imminent shipment at the last second.
Around 20 camera crews storm the scene for close-ups. There is applause on the specially erected grandstand in the port of Barcelona. There, over 300 other "agents", media people and marketing specialists, are thrilled by the Mission Mini showdown. "We get more bang for our buck with this event than with traditional advertising," Michael Kirsch, Head of Public Relations at the BMW Group in Munich, is convinced.
Later, people wonder whether this event, which turned into a Hollywood-like happy ending after four days, cost three or five million francs. No matter. Mission Mini was one of the most spectacular event marketing stories to date, organized by the Munich agency Avantgarde. The PR agency Ketchum, with over 1500 employees worldwide, took care of the media marketing. Among the 100 media people flown in to Barcelona were the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Irish Times, Playboy, Max, Der Wiener, Elle, TV Spielfilm and, of course, Automobil Revue.
World attention concentrated in one place
In 17 countries from Australia and Japan to the whole of Europe and Canada, 21 teams of amateur agents were recruited. In Barcelona, the teams each captured a BMW Mini. They had to use it to search for the stolen pictures of Peter Halley, based on a script by bestselling English author Val McDermit. An office with a computer and secretary was set up for each team in the disused North Station. Every hour, the secretary informed the agents of the latest tasks via cell phone. Guided by a GPS system, the teams had to find 44 locations in this crime thriller during the subsequent high-tech scavenger hunt through the city. In bars, galleries, train stations, attics and hotel rooms, 35 professional actors played the suspects. Whoever elicited the right tips from them during the interrogation could find the key to the stolen paintings in a safe deposit box shortly before the showdown in the harbor.
The idea for Mission Mini was developed at BMW Mini in Munich. At first, they thought of a "Mini around the World" style spectacle, in which a convoy of Mini drivers would compete in a rally around the globe. It was then realized that "it would be much more effective to concentrate the event in one place and invite the whole world there," says Adrian Riesen, Head of Mini at BMW Switzerland.
Looking for role models in the Catholic Church
In Switzerland, Star TV has been selected as Mission Mini's most important media partner. The PR agency Peter Bütikofer & Company took care of the other communication tasks. The competition was advertised in lifestyle magazines such as Forecast, Massiv and Kult. Paul Grau from Star TV came up with the idea of daily reporting. Using a satellite link, a team of eight reported from Friday to Monday for 5 minutes each day in the style of a live report from Barcelona, with hourly repetitions of this program on "Star News". "With this concept, we got the maximum possible effect out of Mission Mini in Switzerland," Riesen is convinced.
More than 700 candidates registered for the casting in Switzerland. BMW Mini considers this response to be "very successful". In the much larger German market, the percentage was significantly lower at 4,200 candidates.
BMW Mini now expects even more response from the reporting from Barcelona. "If you set everything against each other, you get a good cost/benefit ratio," says Corinna Broser, Group Manager at Ketchum. No wonder: nine international TV stations such as RTL, RAI 1, ORF, N 24, ntv, TV 3 from Ireland, City TV Canada and a team from Hong Kong reported extensively from Barcelona.
Traditional advertising is more expensive, but also has clearly defined messages. The communication surrounding the Mini mission also tried to convey these messages. Even more than a message, however, the aim was to convey a special feeling for this former cult car from England, which is now naturally also associated with a new image at BMW in Munich.
Universal artist Dieter Meier from the pop group Yello, who was in Barcelona together with
The presenter Claudia Lässer, who reported for Star TV, sees such concepts as the "future of advertising". It is not just a product that is shown, but motion and emotion. "Classic advertising with advertisements and commercials is only for lazy advertisers and entrepreneurs who are too lazy to deal with a product and its significance in society," analyzed Meier in Barcelona.
And he even makes a comparison: "Advertising should take a leaf out of the book of the Catholic Church, which has been selling a completely irrational product with music, images, clothes and smells for 1500 years, which is not very far removed from hot air. Modern advertising must create an aura, which in our modern society is more important than the product itself."

It caught my eye: A sneaker really is a feast for the eyes. Aerodynamic, airy, and a testament to timeless design. The shapely, cellulite-free butt of a woman wearing a thong could be described in similar terms—that’s probably what the Avia designers told themselves. Unfortunately, the website doesn’t explain this connection, but there are colorful cartoons to discover instead. What a bottle of cognac has in common with a shapely behind and a sneaker, however, is very unclear. It’s rare to find so many mysteries on a single page. It’s also rare to assume that a body part is a designer piece. Be that as it may: women who wear Avia have only themselves to blame and remain a mystery. Chandra Kurt
[email protected]
Column

Dress Warmly By Liz Sutter
Now, primary male sexual characteristics are also making their way into advertisements, as Chandra Kurt amusingly noted in WW 34/02. That was to be expected. Things were starting to get a little boring on the nudity front. No one gets upset about it anymore; no one finds it exciting anymore. At some point, even bare skin has been photographed and overused to the point where only a glimpse inside promises any variety. At least for food advertising, this opens up entirely new perspectives: Ari Pylorus, Mrs. Schneebeli’s pylorus: «I don’t let any right-twisted yogurts through anymore!» Or micro-photographs. So you can finally watch the liposomes ironing out their folds.
But enough nonsense: If there are no longer any boundaries that can be crossed with relish, all that’s left is the way back. And that—as is to be feared—will take us a long way back this time. We won’t notice the first signs, and above all, we won’t take them seriously. Just as we mostly laughed off political correctness—that warning shot from the U.S.—or dismissed the absurd excesses of anti-smoking campaigns with a shake of the head as typically American. Yet the total ban on smoking in public will come to us as well. We’ll probably end up sipping whiskey from teacups again and sending our daughters to girls« schools. The vice squad will be checking beds again at six in the morning, and the city council will pass a resolution to introduce separate umbrella stands. Even the »Underpants for Dogs” petition has every chance of being approved. Meanwhile, women will once again withdraw entirely from politics, preferring to stay home and crochet covers for bare table legs… The only consolation: things always turn out quite differently than one imagines. But one thing is certain: after Christmas, Easter will come eventually. So why not start hiding the eggs already?.
[email protected]
Liz Sutter is a journalist.
Business lunch

A Chef with a Chocolate-Sweet Touch: It’s narrow, it’s small, it’s wonderful. The Münsterhof restaurant is packed to the last chair leg every day. Downstairs, rustic yet well-maintained wood; upstairs, stylish burgundy leather armchairs and white tablecloths, complete with frescoes. Of course, on the first floor the tables are spaced more widely apart, making it ideal for business lunches—on the ground floor, however, you share a table with strangers, and that’s actually a good thing. It’s a highly sociable space, then. You can always wait until a table becomes available if you want to conduct an interview or engage in some lively conversation. Just to be clear from the start: without a reservation, you won’t get a seat here during peak dining hours.
But what makes this spot at Münsterhof particularly appealing is that Dieter Bruna is behind the stove here. Those who remember him will know him from «Didi’s Bistro» on Asylstrasse. Fans of his light cuisine were sad to see him go and are delighted to find him at his new establishment. His dishes are also featured on the lunch menu at very reasonable prices (just under 30 francs per plate), and the menu offers appealing à la carte options at affordable prices.
You can see this with the game dishes in November, for example. However, the plate of wild boar ragout in Nebbiolo with zucchini and olives was a bit too cold. Too bad. On the other hand, the gnocchi malfatti were excellent—they were hot and had been tossed briefly in butter. My dining companion enjoyed a meatloaf that was perfectly seasoned and tasted delicious. Another plus: The portions are satisfying without being excessive. The surprise at the end: Bruna also proves her talent as a cartoonist and decorated the chocolate cake in a regal fashion (see photo).
The wine cellar boasts a fine selection of wines by the glass, all at reasonable prices—half of the wines were harvested in Switzerland, and the rest (four white and four red varieties each) were sourced from abroad. You leave the restaurant feeling slightly tipsy but still in high spirits, fondly recalling the wonderful, prompt service and the feeling that you’ll be back here soon.
Carlo Bernasconi
[email protected]
P.S. This week, «Carlo’s Business Lunch Guide 2003/04,» published by Orell Füssli, will hit bookstores. It costs 29.80 francs, is based on this column, and features over 150 restaurants that are ideal for business lunches.
Münsterhof Münsterhof 6
8001 Zurich
Tel. 01 211 43 40
Finding a parking spot at Münsterhof is purely a matter of luck.
Evaluation

Food .......................4
Drinks ..................3
Operation ................4
Business factor ........4
5=top, 4=very good, 3=o.k., 2=naja, 1=flop

Nicole Steffen has launched the lifestyle magazine Lounge, which will also be available in German-speaking Switzerland from NovemberHead of the week "I didn't want anyone to snatch the idea from under my nose"
With the lifestyle magazine Lounge, Nicole Steffen has fulfilled a long-cherished wish. The trained decorator and interior decoration saleswoman slipped into the publishing business by chance. She actually wanted to become a stylist in the fashion industry, but then worked her way into the publishing business on the job alongside her husband Franck Steffen, publisher of the culture magazine Eveil Culturel.
The young woman and mother of a four-year-old daughter, who could easily pass for a model with her measurements at the shoots she organized for the two magazines Eveil Culturel and Lounge, loved to browse through foreign lifestyle magazines. She was frustrated to discover that there was nothing comparable in Switzerland.
Looking back, she says that the initial reactions from advertising and media agencies in German- and French-speaking Switzerland when she cautiously told them about her project for a Swiss lifestyle magazine were so positive that her dream of having her own magazine suddenly seemed within reach. Some advertising clients from the luxury goods industry even wanted to buy entire pages of advertising space without looking at the first maquette, the newly minted publisher recalls with a laugh.
However, there were also warnings that she must be a bit crazy to launch a new product in the current difficult situation on the print market. Nicole Steffen took the plunge anyway. She didn't want to take the risk of another publisher snatching the idea from under her nose.
This reflects her nature: always looking for new challenges. And her ambition: to successfully complete what she has started. Six years ago, she was faced with the decision to continue the cultural magazine Eveil Culturel in two languages. The French-speaking Swiss market was too small for the magazine. Because the Bernese woman is perfectly bilingual, Steffen put the fate of his magazine in his wife's hands because he wanted to turn his attention to other projects.
Nicole Steffen has subsequently turned the magazine into a smart publication that also introduces young readers to music ranging from classical to folk and pop. She has her daughter Lea to thank for keeping her feet on the ground despite her hectic daily routine in often funky surroundings. She doesn't just draw and do handicrafts with her in her free time. Because Nicole Steffen is also a fresh air fanatic, she spends time outdoors with her daughter whenever possible. But not for a walk, but on a bike with a trailer, into which Lea is unceremoniously loaded.
Anita Vaucher

After a year of preliminary investigations, the Competition Commission(ComCo) is now investigating "whether PubliGroupe is abusing its dominant market position" by discriminating against some competitors and blocking their access to the market through unjustified guidelines (see also page 17).The trigger for these ComCo activities is the small advertising intermediary Ad X in Zollikon. Ad X has been working in the advertising market for two years and had applied to its own titles and to the Association of Swiss Advertising Companies (VSW) for authorization as a professional intermediary and to be granted the Intermediary Commission (IC). "In 2001, we occupied 180 titles throughout Europe; we received the VK authorization from all of the proprietary titles, but not from the VSW," says Werner Baumann, Managing Director of Ad X.
This is significant. VSW unites the four wholly owned PubliGroupe subsidiaries Publicitas, Publimedia, Publimag and Mosse, which lease around 500 titles and control 65% of the advertising market. If Ad X books an advertisement in one of the VSW leased titles, it receives no commission - and thus does free work for PubliGroupe. Around 22% of Ad X sales in 2001 were not commissioned.
The reason for the VK refusal: Ad X does not fulfill the VSW guidelines. However, the VSW did not criticize a lack of professional competence, but rather the fact that Ad X had a volume mix of 80% to 20% instead of a volume mix of 50% classified ads and 50% commercial ads. Which plays no role elsewhere for the UK authorization.
It was clear to Baumann that PubliGroupe wanted to keep Ad X out of the advertising market via VSW. He therefore turned to the Competition Commission with a complaint. "PubliGroupe is an intermediary and lessor in one. It is not acceptable for it to dictate to its competitors via VSW how much turnover they have to make with which advertisements", he says.
Even if the Weko has not yet issued a binding ruling, the VSW guidelines are still wavering. This should also benefit other intermediaries who do not receive a VC from VSW. Even Baumann is surprised by the foreseeable effect of his complaint. "I didn't want to play the Winkelried of the industry, I just wanted to receive the VK from VSW," he explains (mk).

For the mobile provider's network campaign, Lowe revisits old brand worldsBy Luca Aloisi Lowe wants to showcase Orange's high network coverage with famously photographed landscapes and capture further shares for the mobile operator in an almost saturated market. The network campaign can also be interpreted as a return to the captivating brand world.
Latecomer Orange was the third mobile provider to enter the Swiss market in 1999, long after the first movers. With an innovative range of services and an impressive, sun-drenched launch campaign, Orange immediately succeeded in gaining unexpectedly high market shares in its launch year. This success was soon reflected in the clear selection of the Orange image as campaign of the year 1999.
High image share also for tactical campaigns
With happy people who exemplified free communication without barriers in a salt desert, and with a spherical, hypnotic soundtrack, the mobile communications company embodied the spirit of the times in its otherness. As a result, Orange achieved a high level of recognition within a short space of time.
No other campaign in the age of individualization has succeeded in creating such a strong sense of global belonging. Even sociology professor Kurt Imhof (WW 17/00) was impressed because the campaign "attempts to visualize human communication". As impressive as the landscapes was the marketing budget for the launch, which at 30 million francs was far higher than today's budget. Marcel Benz, Head of Advertising at Orange, does not want to disclose this, but specifies: "We have not changed our advertising budget compared to 2001."
Three years ago, the Challenger was the only one in the Swiss advertising industry to make an emotional impact with great images, but imitators from other genres soon followed suit, diluting Orange's brand world somewhat.
However, instead of presenting itself with striking service and low-price appearances, Orange also remained true to the eye-catching brand world in its tactical campaigns and thus positioned the brand via the product benefits. In order to continuously increase awareness and counteract the wear-out effect of the messages, the locations were changed every year. However, the emotional added value with which the consumer should associate the brand was retained. However, the handicap of the strategy is that the perception of the brand values lags behind the high level of awareness.
Taking the esoteric route to the Swiss Alps
The leaner the communication budgets of the telecom industry became, the closer the locations of the Orange umbrella campaigns moved to Switzerland. After the salt desert, the ice desert of Greenland. The untouched landscapes and the happy Greenlanders who laughed in the TV commercials and on the billboards for a year were replaced a year ago by a diversified brand image: on the one hand by Hong Kong scenes for the business platform and by people with strong characters in an English barber's store for the residential platform.
To emphasize the relevance of the brand in the crowded Swiss market, the advertising concept was adapted to the local market. Images of Alpine passes such as Albula or San Bernardino are intended to give the brand a new dynamic and, above all, improve the perception of its good coverage. "As neutral measurements show, our network coverage is on a par with that of Swisscom, and in certain places we even have exclusive coverage," says advertising manager Benz.
The latter was also taken as the starting point for the new implementation. Benz admits that it is of course irrelevant to many people whether they have reception in the forest near Hueb in the Bernese Oberland or not. But because the image of a Swisscom that can be reached anywhere is so well cemented among the target groups, this is the only way to counter the previous brand essence.
The team around CD Keith Loell and AD Simon Staub have allowed themselves two stylistic breaks: for the first time, there are no people in the sparse landscapes, but this is compensated for by the concrete poetry of lyricist Martin Stulz. In addition to the initial four print subjects, an equally genuinely dreamy TV and cinema spot is also being used.

Weltwoche will also be sent out to selected target groups as a trial in 2003.News Regular test mailings have already been carried out in the current year, which publishing director Uli Rubner regards as a great success. From week 51/02 to week 11/03, 30,000 test copies will be sent out each week. The advertising rates will remain the same despite the increased circulation.
TV4 sister will not appear until 2003 The fortnightly TV program guide originally announced by Vierwaldstätter Verlag for October will not appear this year. As publishing director Rüdiger Hahn explained to WerbeWoche, the launch of TV4's higher-priced sister is being delayed by various problems, some personal, some coordination-related. "The launch will now take place between January and March 2003," said Hahn. And adds emphatically: "It will come."
Tele Züri collects donations for children with cancer Together with the Child and Cancer Foundation, Tele Züri is organizing a donation marathon on 1 December. On this day, the Zurich broadcaster will be reporting live for ten hours from the children's hospital and the two collection centers in the studio and at Bellevue. The collection campaign begins at 2 p.m. and lasts until midnight. A total of around 40 Tele Züri employees will be on special assignment.
Konnex AG takes a bite out of the chocolate market Following the purchasing act study on dairy products, Konnex AG has now set its sights on the chocolate market. The results of the study are now available. The Konnex purchase act study sheds light on various aspects of the purchase act. It provides information on the interplay between the retail channel and the brand as well as the motivation that leads to the purchase of a product, places of purchase and much more. Over the next three years, it is planned to study eight different sectors and product groups.

Vogue readers have it better. The ad for the new Yves Saint Laurent perfume, M7, appeared exclusively in the French edition. The image features the first naked man ever photographed in such a frontal pose in an advertisement. The model is French martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber. The ad has sparked a storm of outrage in France. England even refused to print the ad. In Germany, the magazine industry has so far managed to avoid running it. Only the Süddeutsche Zeitung seized the opportunity amid the current advertising slump and featured the Adonis on a service page for informational purposes with this text: «Dear Monsieur Samuel de Cubber: We’re happy to print—ahem—you.» Against the misuse of post office boxes. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Swiss Fair Trading Commission are jointly taking a stand against the unfair use of post office boxes. They have developed a flyer that is being distributed throughout Switzerland to P.O. box holders and co-users, post office box holders, and companies registered in the Commercial Register. The flyer «Together Against the Misuse of P.O. Boxes» can be downloaded as a PDF file in all four language versions from the WerbeWoche website.
Win an SBB railcar. To mark the end of the SBB’s 100th anniversary, Jung von Matt/Limmat parked the grand prize for a contest—a 10-year GA travelcard—right in the garage of a single-family home. Of course, the prize doesn’t come with a new locomotive—otherwise, the winner would have to lay the tracks to the nearest station themselves. On the agency’s side, Alexander Jaggy and Urs Schrepfer put this eye-catching finishing touch on the campaign.
A single Swiss agency in the Gunn Report. In the Gunn Report—an analysis of 52 major international advertising awards—Wirz Werbung is the only Swiss agency represented. According to the agency, its «Together Against Violence» campaign made it into the top 100 most-awarded commercials. In his report, former Leo Burnett Chief Creative Officer Donald Gunn identifies the most successful agency networks, individual agencies, commercials, print ads, countries, production companies, and directors. BBDO—to which Wirz is affiliated—was named the best network. According to Allen Rosenshine, CEO of BBDO Worldwide, Wirz ranks among the top 15 most creative BBDO agencies, the report adds.
Alpenarena for ski enthusiasts. Over the past two winters, the Alpenarena Flims Laax Falera has established itself as a hotspot for partygoers. This season, the destination’s advertising campaign is returning «to its snow expertise,» as the agency responsible, Advico Young & Rubicam, puts it. The campaign highlights the wide range of slopes, lifts, and snowboard parks. Such an inexhaustible snow experience doesn’t come without consequences. A TV spot and the ad illustrate how, after hours of skiing, a ski enthusiast has not only worn out his gear but also left a lasting mark on the people around him.
The Queen is very amused. The Zurich-based agency Ruf Lanz won an award at the London International Advertising Awards in the category of unpublished advertising, or «ghost ads.» This award, presented for the first time, has apparently caught Prince Charles’s attention as well. He even served as a model for Ruf Lanz’s campaign. For the fictional Twinings tea with the lovely name “Prince of Wales,” Ruf Lanz depicts a cup with two handles that are suspiciously reminiscent of the real Prince of Wales’s protruding ears, thus perfectly capturing the British sense of humor. It doesn’t even need a tagline or a logo. Now that the test with the award has apparently been passed, the agency naturally wants to present its ad to Twinings Tea as well…
End on a dramatic note. The restaurant Du Théâtre has one major advantage: it’s called «Du Théâtre.» It’s a name that lends itself to exciting and memorable staging, true to the motto: turning dining into a theatrical experience. Publicis has now taken up this idea for a new campaign. The ads feature dramatized menu descriptions. Thus, the house specialty «Entrecôte à la Café de Paris» becomes «Murdered Beef with Herb Butter,» and the tender «Pommes allumettes» are touted as «Potato Sticks Thrown into Boiling Oil.» And for dessert, instead of vermicelles, there are «chestnuts pounded into a paste.» The campaign is being rolled out as a typographic design on B4-sized street posters, «Cards for free,» and restaurant posters. After the meal, guests receive a «Before-and-After» card showing them just how wonderfully a visit to «Du Théâtre» can affect certain parts of the body. “Bon appétit!” says CD Markus Gut.
Column

Is this the end of the media's navel-gazing?
Erich Welter, the founding editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), is credited with the following principle: «Nothing about the newspaper in the newspaper.» What he meant was that the press as an institution suffers when it focuses on itself. Welter was convinced that its task was rather to report on events of public interest and not on internal affairs within the institution. For a long time, this doctrine was the FAZ’s guiding principle, and it fared quite well as a result.
In the meantime, media self-reflection and self-promotion have thoroughly upended the press landscape—including that of the FAZ. A significant portion of the content for the mass media today arises from the media’s navel-gazing—which they then treat as a news event—or even from the media themselves generating the topics of their coverage. A good example of this is reality TV shows like «Big Brother» or «Deutschland sucht den Superstar,» in which the media engage in self-referential reporting in endless loops.
Newspaper publishers are also increasingly organizing forums on various issues of public interest—at trade shows and conferences, featuring readings, discussions, and presentations.
On top of that, during the Internet and media hype of the 1990s, publishers began promoting their products more and more aggressively. And because everyone was doing it, the media’s suspicious gaze turned with growing relish toward itself: they reported on one another, referred to one another, and engaged in polemics against one another. And that required space. It became fashionable to include media pages in the paper.
Not entirely altruistic: After all, media coverage often serves as covert—and frequently cross-media—self-promotion, or is used to get one over on the competition—and, not least, publishers hope to attract more attention from the advertising industry.
To cut costs, several German publications have since discontinued their media sections. There was no outcry anywhere—in contrast to the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s youth magazine *jetzt*, which was also recently discontinued, where young readers took to the barricades. The public’s interest in media self-reflection seems to have been massively overestimated…
It remains to be seen whether media outlets in the Swiss press landscape can hold their ground despite the sluggish economy. Officially, there is no talk of cutbacks yet. Read our article on page 18 for more on this.
Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

News Marketing exams made easy RR Verlag in Münsingen BE has published a revised edition of its "Marketing exams made easy" teaching aid, which is popular in the communications industry. The teaching material consists of seven individual booklets and is supplied in a practical archive box. The booklets were compiled by the two federally certified marketing managers Raoul Wanger and Roland Zosso and continuously optimized during their work as experts and lecturers. In addition to exam preparation, the work also serves as a reference compendium for marketing, communication and sales professionals. For exam preparation, 1500 check questions and answers are included. For the 3rd, revised edition, the work has been supplemented with a new solution grid for the efficient preparation of case studies. The entire teaching aid costs 178 francs or 49 francs for individual booklets. Further information is available at www.rr-verlag.ch.
Deadline for "die Klappe" 2002 is November 29
For the 24th time, the communications association .de is presenting its award for the best TV commercials and advertising films from German-speaking countries. The closing date for entries to this year's "Die Klappe" competition is November 29, 2002. Jury president Stefan Zschaler from Leagas Delaney, Hamburg, expressed his caution in the announcement: "Especially in difficult times, creativity is a real opportunity to widen the gap to the competition. Only very few take advantage of it. The 24th Klappe competition may therefore not be an opulent medal party", but anyone who is allowed to receive a 'Klappe' on February 8 deserves respect in two respects: for the courage to come up with an unusual idea and for the courage to act anti-cyclically. Further information and the registration documents for the competition can be downloaded as a PDF file from the homepage www.kom munikationsverband.de.

Affinity of advertisements with supporters in the "alternative culture "Best of Print Advertising The advertising hits 2002 from the Advertising Index of the market research institute Demoscope
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of WerbeWoche five times a year with an excerpt from the
Results from the Advertising Index (AX Print). This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. The top two rows contain the subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance among the relevant psychographic target group (see compass rose). The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. all four target groups, in the third quarter of 2002 are shown under the title "Top Three".

Affinity of ads among supporters in the "Christian camp "Best of Print Advertising The 2002 ad hits from the Advertising Index of the market research institute Demoscope
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of WerbeWoche five times a year with an excerpt from the
Results from the Advertising Index (AX Print). This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. The top two rows contain the subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance among the relevant psychographic target group (see compass rose). The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. all four target groups, in the third quarter of 2002 are shown under the title "Top Three".

The Competition Commission (ComCo) is cautious: legally correct, it has only found "indications" that PubliGroupe "holds a dominant position on the advertising market and abuses this to the detriment of its competitors and trading partners". The further investigation should show whether this is actually the case and "whether PubliGroupe is discriminating against its business partners and blocking access to the market for competitors": PubliGroupe hinders competition in the advertising business and discriminates against its competitors. This is clear from the 19-page ComCo report on the preliminary investigations. In the report, the ComCo states that current and future competition in the Swiss advertising business "must be regarded as low", not only because of PubliGroupe's market share of at least 65%, but also because its network of leases and holdings in publishing houses and Internet platforms is "virtually impossible for other advertising intermediaries to circumvent". PubliGroupe's degree of market dominance is even so high that it is in a position to "control the market behavior of other advertising intermediaries" via the VSW guidelines for the commissioning of professional advertising intermediaries (see also page 1). The Competition Commission describes individual guidelines, which can be viewed at www.vsw-as sp.ch/d/fs-dok.htm, as "artificial barriers to market entry" or "discrimination".
The Competition Commission also invited PubliGroupe to comment and examined whether it could objectively justify the restrictions. However, the ComCo's comments are devastating, describing PubliGroupe's arguments as either "inapplicable", "unhelpful", "unfounded" or "insufficiently substantiated". And it concludes "that PubliGroupe impairs or obstructs the advertising intermediaries in the commencement and exercise of competition", which "cannot be justified by objective reasons".
It is now unclear whether these impediments to competition are also "unlawful" within the meaning of the Cartel Act and therefore to be classified as "abuse". It is the task of the further investigation to clarify this. In addition, the ComCo wants to examine whether PubliGroupe uses its market power to influence media decisions made by agencies with the aim of favoring its leased titles. Thirdly, it wants to clarify whether one of the VSW guidelines is to be regarded as a price maintenance clause and is in breach of the Cartel Act. And finally, it wants to establish whether the company Ad X is an isolated case or whether other (sector) intermediaries are also excluded from VSW.
Georges von Csernatony, member of PubliGroupe's management board, comments on the Weko report in a seemingly relaxed manner: "I don't think the Weko understood exactly what this matter is all about. But perhaps we expressed ourselves incorrectly through our lawyer. Either way - we still have ammunition." Incidentally, the Competition Commission had already made similar preliminary clarifications in 1997 and 1998. That's true. This time, however, there is a qualitative difference: for the first time, further investigations are being carried out.
Markus Knöpfli

The Mittelland Zeitung is the hoped-for economic buffer for the AZ Media GroupBy Luca Aloisi In Aargau, the media world is still in order: because the AZ Media Group regularly prescribes itself purification cures, it is proving to be storm-tested in the economic downturn. With the cooperation in the Mittelland media region, it also created the third-largest Swiss newspaper just under a year ago. No loss of identity, but a gain for all four publishing houses - but above all for the Aargauer Zeitung and its group.
A cool, wet autumn storm is raging in the Säuliamt. The first stop on the AZ Media Group (AZMG) tour may be unusual, but it is no less attractive. While the church bell in Affoltern am Albis still waits a few minutes before it strikes seven o'clock, and at this hour you can only reach the answering machine at the head office in Baden, Ernst Oertle's wood-lined office is already a hive of activity.
Once a month, over coffee and croissants, the managing director of the Anzeiger from the Affoltern district reviews the business figures with Ueli Eckstein, deputy CEO of AZMG, and discusses the targets. "We're both early risers," says Oertle, apologizing for the early start. In addition to an early start, employer and professional background - both started their careers at Zürcher Oberländer - the two men also share a sense of business. And that has to be solid.
Eckstein's business credo - fortune favors the brave - is particularly relevant in the current crisis: "Cost savings were triggered at our company when others were only talking about them." The monthly meetings in the Zurich exclave of the Mittelland are short and productive. "A mainstay for territorial consolidation", is how Eckstein describes the twice-weekly newsletter printed in Aarau.
The Limmattaler Tagblatt defends AZMG's non-cantonal territories in the combat zone of the Tages-Anzeiger.
While the latter is feeling the effects of the commuter newspaper's triumphant advance, the two media foxes are predicting a positive development for the strongly anchored paper in the southern canton of Zurich thanks to future highway access to the Säuliamt.
No tactical preventive measures against Zurich publishers led AZMG into this niche. It was the widow of the former owner who gave the contract to the Wanner publishing dynasty from Baden. Oertle is certain that increased efficiency and - as with the other AZMG newspapers - proximity to the people guarantee success. After all, collective pages have also recently been produced for the Aargauer Zeitung in Affoltern a. A. "You need a feel for the local newspaper genre," says Eckstein, explaining AZMG's recipe for success, which also applies on a larger scale to the retort paper Mittelland Zeitung.
Back in his simple office with a view of the Baden city tower, the former centralist Eckstein readily admits that maintaining decentralized units at editorial and publishing level with a centralized superstructure is one of the most important success factors of the AZ Medien Group. "We believe in local spaces," he says, alluding to local editorial offices and sales, which are intended to ensure proximity to the reader and advertising market.
The positive response to the national bracket with a local section has not failed to materialize. However, the squaring of the circle means that the Mittelland Zeitung's jacket section, which covers national and international content, has a completely different character to the local sections. News about small animal breeding clubs and the new Spitex offices also make it into the columns.
The "local newspaper with national appeal" appears to be doing very well with this balancing act, which is common in the industry. At least this is documented by the high level of household coverage and the better consideration in the major media campaigns.
The publishers even seem to be coping quite well with the decline in mono editions - where commercial advertising is migrating away from the local splits. "The shifts are within a range that we expected," says Eckstein without gritting his teeth. When asked whether the thousand contact price (CPM) will now be adjusted downwards in the rate calculation for local splits, he says calmly: "In this market, the CPM is not the decisive factor, the absolute price is important here." All newspapers have been hit hard by the slump in regional markets. So they are all the happier that the move together under the Mittelland Zeitung umbrella came at the best possible moment. What's more, it has more than compensated for the slump in advertising.
Balance artist
in production and editing
Nevertheless, AZMG cannot avoid cost-cutting measures. On the contrary. "We are planning another round for the entire company; this is an ongoing process. We are not excluding the newspaper," says the second man behind publisher Peter Wanner. The aim is to save a total of five percent of costs. For example, 25 jobs were recently cut in the struggling customer printing division.
It is understandable that Eckstein prefers to focus on business areas in which paper and figures shine, on the AZMG magazines: with the exception of SportMagazin, which is on track with its business plan, all specialist magazines are clearly in the profit zone. Eckstein is most pleased about the lightning success of the latest new launch, Annemarie Wildeisen's Kochen. The electronic media, however, present a mixed picture: Despite record ratings, program and production streamlining, Tele M1 and Tele Tell are still posting losses.
And the "calculated loss of a marginal amount" at the azonline.ch Internet portal - which employs just four editors - is certainly acceptable. On the other hand, Radio Argovia is a very profitable branch, says Eckstein with satisfaction.
While Mittelland Zeitung's partner publishers had to make cutbacks in the editorial, printing and sales areas in order to optimize costs, advertising production was concentrated under the management of Michael Koller. His team on the first floor of the AZ high-rise building in Baden and in the neighboring central newspaper planning department produce 17 newspapers a day in addition to the advertisements.
In a makeshift room that also serves as a passageway - not exactly the ideal place for top-heavy production work - the three editors ensure the complex coordination of the pages with meticulous discipline and perfection. In return, they expect flexibility in dealing with the page quota from the pool of editors, who are spread across seven locations. Ruedi Mäder, business editor and member of the editorial board, has no trouble with the constant balancing. However, he too would have preferred to see one or two additional articles in the paper, but this was not possible for advertising placement reasons.
On the way to the editorial meeting at 11 a.m. on the 6th floor, he describes the change at AZ since the launch of MZ: "We want to sell our partner papers a strong jacket section so that they can concentrate on their local section." The departure from the Aargauer Optik was also accelerated by the thematic opening of the MZ. It has been recognized that the new cooperation pattern requires a completely different way of thinking about content from employees - but there are still problems with its implementation.
A wise decision to
Cooperation
At the Mantel meeting, scheduled an hour after the conference call for the cantonal section, the uncertainty about the rumored change of editor-in-chief is not noticeable among the department heads. The mood in the editorial office after the discussion with their boss Hans Fahrländer and CEO Peter Wanner is combative and determined, one hears between the lines. Not only the "information policy", but also the project to optimize capacity is weighing on the journalist team. "We're already running on empty," says media editor Kurt-Emil Merki, summing up the mood. Nevertheless, they are looking into whether further synergies could be exploited across all products without affecting the editorial autonomy of the individual media.
That may sound good, Merki says, but it would hardly be possible to put it into practice. He is one of the Zurich imports who joined AZ over a year ago and gave the former local paper an additional boost towards becoming a forum newspaper with national recognition. Merki is also aware that the local split is formally inferior to the first four frets, but it is precisely this different presentation that gives the liberal MZ its discreet charm. As a kind of compensation, the MZ is the only newspaper in Switzerland that produces a daily media page (see page 18).
Business editor Mäder does not hide the fact that the culture on the back page, sometimes additionally or exclusively on the second-last page of the first bundle, is relatively short and waits for the planned sixth bundle. "This is not a question of the economy, but of technical possibilities." Investments are already being made. So it's just a question of interpretation as to whether this refers to printing capacities or the culture department.
Newly appointed program director Ernst Meier has been investing more know-how and hope than cash in the local station Tele Tell since the beginning of November. Shortly before the interview, on his way to the meeting of the MZ management committee, he is still head of the AZ online portal. He launched the same portal two years ago with three other editors. Whether the fourth online position will be retained after his internal change is still open, he explains.
His wish list now includes more tangible key investments for the TV channel anyway. And it is still far from a safe haven, even though the head of e-media, Florenz Schaffner, has managed to stop the cash drain and improve ratings with three rounds of savings. A bus for live outside broadcasts is the most urgent investment for Tele Tell and Tele M1, says Schaffner with a view to the eagerly awaited fee splitting. Until fee money flows from Bern, the AZMG stations have to fight for audience success and reputation with a constantly tight budget. The signals that Tele M1 is receiving from the top management in Baden in its brittle industrial building in Aarau at least suggest that AZMG also wants to make its presence felt in the TV sector in the long term.
As clear as the management structure is at the local stations, it is more like a picture disturbance at the MZ construct. Arthur Tabeling, director and publisher of the Oltner Tagblatt, Bruno Imfeld, member of the management board of the Zofinger Tagblatt, as well as Urs Lüthi, publishing director of the Solothurner Zeitung, outdo each other with hymns of praise for the good relationship with Peter Wanner. Although AZ's partner papers work under a lease agreement with Publicitas, they have adapted to the mode of cooperation between AZ and the marketer. Of course, the joint strength is not played off against the "P". This can be seen from the fact that Roland Steffen, Director of Publicitas Aarau, also attends the meeting of the MZ management committee. "The decision in favour of MZ was a very wise one for the profitability of the products in the long term," emphasizes Tabeling. And Imfeld adds: "Even though we are now only producing the fifth edition, it is clear that we would be doing less well if we had continued with the old constellation (Neue Mittelland Zeitung)."
Media series 4th part

Following the publishing house reports from Tamedia (WW 32/02), Ringier (WW 35/02) and Edipresse (WW 37/02), we continue the series in this issue with a report on the mood at the AZ Media Group. This will be followed in loose succession by further inside views of more or less cyclical media companies until spring. The next visit will be to the Basler Mediengruppe on the Rhine (ww).