New board of directors seeks happiness in synergies with the gastro-purchaser Horego AGGastro cheeky badger Daniel E. Eggli would have every reason to turn over in his grave, because his Salz & Pfeffer is now rowing in the same boat with a gastro-purchasing company. Together with the new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Robert Meier Sr., who was officially installed by the Extraordinary General Meeting (AGM) last week, a new strategy is also taking hold in Salz & Pfefferland. The 55-year-old Meier is also Chairman of the Board of the gastro-purchasing cooperative Horego AG. His declared intention is for Eggli's leaves to work together with the company he has built up. "A lot can be achieved by exploiting synergies," says Meier. He expects the greatest benefit to come from the advertising sector. The frequent boycotts of advertisers, which Eggli had been facing, will soon be a thing of the past. Salz & Pfeffer is less susceptible to blackmail with the powerful Horego AG behind it. "Our high purchasing volumes will protect us from repression in the future," says Meier optimistically.
Turning away from the Eggli bite - tamed course is the order of the day
Meier came to the president's chair of Edition Salz & Pfeffer unexpectedly. He had been an old friend of Eggli's since their years of training together. During this difficult time, the Eggli family asked him to take matters into his hands.
However, he fails to provide transparency regarding his financial involvement in Salz &Pfefferland. According to his contract, 53 percent of the votes are transferred to him. He does not say how high the shareholding actually purchased is. Meier also emphasizes that there are no financial or entrepreneurial links between Horego AG and Edition Salz & Pfeffer.
In addition to the market power of Horego AG, the announced new course at Salz & Pfeffer is likely to be of particular importance for the promised better climate with advertisers. A "de-egglification" will be carried out step by step, said publishing director Romeo Brodmann. The departure from Eggli's ideals, however, only elicits shrugs from the other gastro titles. "The decisive factor for success will be how autonomously the editorial team of Salz &Pfefferland will be able to work in the future," says Urs Frischknecht, editor-in-chief of the management magazine H+G Hotel+Gastgewerbe. The raison d'être is threatened if the previous positioning is now abandoned.
After Daniel E. Eggli's death in March 2001, things went haywire in Salt & Pepperland. There was talk of "naked chaos". In September, the dispute between the Eggli family and the old Board of Directors culminated. As a result, in addition to board president Sikander von Bhicknapahari, the veteran members Helmut Koch (delegate) and Richard Altdorfer also took their hats off. Only Eggli's daughter Désirée remained from the old board.
Horego AG is particularly well represented in the new composition, because in addition to Robert Meier Sr., the newly elected member of the Board of Directors Peter Rudolf von Rohr (Sursee) also works for the gastronomy buyer. Also new to the board are Eggli lawyer Jürgen Wagner (Constance) and Christian Schmid (Zurich), who is also a member of the board of BertelsmannSpringer (Switzerland).
The publishing house is basically healthy, but a rough wind is blowing in Salt & Pepperland, too, says Brodmann. At the end of the year, advertising revenues will be 20 percent below budget. Brodmann emphasizes, however, that a capital increase is not necessary. In general, the mood at Pfefferland is upbeat after the successful rescue. "The long-lasting uncertainty as to whether we would still be around tomorrow has now disappeared.
Daniel Schifferle

Heidelberg aims to optimize dialog marketing strategies with digital printingBy Luca Aloisi Dialog marketing remains a growth market despite or because of the economic crisis. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG believes it has found the key to even more successful one-to-one marketing in variable digital printing. However, Swiss dialog marketing agencies are still skeptical about this model.
"Digital printing is booming," said Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG - or simply Heidelberg - in last year's company profile. At the shareholders' meeting, however, the world's largest provider of print media solutions had to announce a savings program amounting to 200 million euros in order to remain profitable. The share price, which has fallen to around half of its high for the year, reflects the business outlook.
But despite the economic downturn, the 152-year-old company is optimistic and on the lookout for further potential target groups. The latest target of its marketing efforts are advertising agencies and their printing partners. What their digital color press offers in almost offset quality must sound like music to the ears of the DM specialists: customized mailings using digital printing. A product that Heidelberg and Kodak launched as a joint venture in 2001.
Digital printing to promote long-term customer loyalty
According to Holger Reichhardt, Head of Marketing at Heidelberg, many players are still too little aware of the opportunities and competitive advantages of variable data printing. "Particularly in this day and age, when every marketing euro is discussed several times over, the focus must be on the efficiency of measures," said the CEO at a media event in London. There, Heidelberg presented the use of the digital color press as an instrument of a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.
There are good reasons why the presentation was moved to the cosmopolitan city. Customized digital printing already enjoys a much higher profile in the UK than on the continent and is part of sophisticated DM strategies.
Duncan Stokes is Creative Services Director at Ogilvy One UK. He has already gained experience with variable data printing on the NexPress in his campaigns.
Stokes, whose agency runs an average of 50 to 60 DM campaigns per week, described two cases in which the local adaptability of an umbrella strategy was key. These included an assignment for the pharmaceutical multinational Glaxo SmithKline, which involved the Europe-wide introduction of a nicotine cessation program.
Noticeable cost reductions thanks to digital printing
From production hubs in Ireland and Holland, 14 million different support leaflets were sent out in eleven different languages to launch the product in six countries within six months and increase the quit rate among smokers from 3 to 10%. "In addition to demographic data, we also included data on personal smoking behavior, reasons for quitting, expected barriers and other points in the program," explained Stokes, explaining that this was not even the most difficult part of the seven-step program.
Eight Ogilvy offices had to constantly adapt the print workflow, timing, logistics, coordination and content to the respective circumstances. Looking back, he notes: "Processes and costs are 50 percent lower today compared to the starting year 1998. Back then, we were still working with conventional laser machines." He attributes this cost reduction to digital production technology, which has not only made dialog with existing and potential customers faster, but also more effective.
Stokes is convinced that digital printing could significantly optimize online dialogue, which has already greatly improved market communication, in terms of effectiveness and sustainability. The management consultancy Etronixx, Frankfurt, provided a CRM example from Cebit. Visitors to the trade fair were able to put together their own personal Audi TT roadster on the Internet using a car configurator. The next day, the individualized colour brochure with the relevant information was in the mailboxes of interested parties.
According to a study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Munich, this form of permission marketing increased response by up to 300% in a pilot project. It is obvious that this not only suggests greater effectiveness and sustainability, but also greater customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Still a lot of convincing needed on the customer side
Even in Switzerland, where mass mailings to atomized target groups are associated with high wastage, the use of digital printing in the DM sector would make sense. If only there weren't hurdles such as unused database marketing, excessive data protection regulations and overcapacity in print shops that prevent cost-covering volumes in variable digital printing.
Ernst Schmocker, Head of Digital Sales at Heidelberg Switzerland, knows many marketing managers who are enthusiastic about the new solutions offered by the NexPress. However, he has only been able to install three machines since the market launch in Switzerland at the beginning of 2002. According to the business plan, ten would easily be possible under normal economic conditions.
However, it also seems illusory to him that advertising agencies will now jump into the sales gap and immediately acquire a new business model with the new printing technology. It is questionable whether agencies could produce mailings more flexibly, quickly and cheaply under favorable circumstances with the integration of printing. Guido Wietlisbach, Managing Director of Zurich-based Ogilvy One, sees NexPress most likely in the specialized customer service sector, "because such a system would extend the value chain too far, even for large Swiss agencies".
"Stick to your last," says Christian Hansen, Managing Director of Lowe Direct. His agency has often produced digital mailings for clients such as Qualiflyer and Orange. However, the agency's strength lies in a completely different area. As the overcapacity in the printing industry has led to a buyer's market, conditions are easier to negotiate, which means that "customers usually turn to the production service providers themselves," says Hansen.
Gilbert Fisch, Managing Director and co-owner of Switzerland's largest DM agency (Fisch Meier Direct), seems to be part of a minority that is taking up the cudgels for the increased use of digital printing in the DM sector. "For many traditional agencies, individualized offer mailings fail due to a lack of understanding of the additional work involved in their production," says Fisch, explaining the reluctance among agencies.
He is also aware of the enormous effort involved in customizing. Nevertheless, his agency is already working on corresponding pilot projects for customers, which he hopes will greatly improve value creation. However, he is not yet sure when the concept will become established. The change in awareness must first take place at the customer's end, which still requires a lot of persuasion, says Fisch cautiously.
Digital printing in Switzerland

The third NexPress 2100 goes into operation in Switzerland on November 1. Buysite, Basel, is the only provider in its region to offer individualized digital printing of small to medium and partial print runs with completely variable image and text content within hours. Other providers are: K2 Digitaldruck in Lucerne and Novoprint-Speed in Nyon. (la)

The Zurich-based advertising agency Fünf Freunde was commissioned by Mobitel to launch its customer magazine Inside.Etat-News Fünf Freunde for Mobitel Mobitel is an interest group of over 40 specialist cell phone retailers in Switzerland.
WHS cooks with Wildeisen The AZ Medien Group has commissioned Weber Hodel Schmid (WHS) with the advertising and promotion for the magazine Kochen. The Zurich advertising agency prevailed in a presentation. The direct marketing agency Pancom, which pitched together with WHS, is responsible for the direct advertising. Kochen, which is published under the direction of Annemarie Wildeisen, was launched in spring. At the beginning of June, the group took over competitor Chuchi from the Meyer publishing house. It now has a circulation of 90000 copies.
TBS Identity advertises for Esbatech The Zurich-based communications agency TBS Identity has won the entire account of the biotech company Esbatech. Founded in 1998, the company develops analytical methods that rapidly test the efficacy of pharmacological agents. The mandate includes corporate and marketing communications.
Orange UK goes to Mother The mobile communications group Orange has awarded its UK advertising budget to the London agency Mother. WCRS, which had already advised Orange at the launch, M&C Saatchi and Bartle Bogle Hegarty lost out in the pitch. The previous account manager, Lowe, voluntarily handed back the CHF 100 million budget in September in view of a planned agency audit. The fact that Orange UK has chosen an independent agency should be a good sign for the Swiss budget holder Lowe Zurich. Its predecessor Euro RSCG had to relinquish the account last November, one year after the British agency change, without a pitch.

Hesskiss strengthens Tele Züri's local expertise with a branding campaignFor a long year, there was radio silence at the Zurich local TV station when it came to self-advertising. Now, however, Tamedia has come up with a new branding campaign for Tele Züri at a cost of 300,000 Swiss francs. Tele Züri is to make a name for itself again as a provider of topics and thus become a topic of conversation itself - with viewers, but above all with advertisers. And as positively as possible.Although, according to the Head of Sales and Marketing, Tarkan Özküp, ratings as well as reach have continuously improved - "viewer records are constantly being broken, and revenues increased by 30 percent in the second semester" - times are anything but rosy. Advertising revenues have not developed in line with popularity, but in a decidedly cyclical manner. With an eye on its own stock market price, however, Tamedia prefers to keep Tele Züri's business figures to itself. However, a clear picture emerges from the marching plan, according to which the broadcaster aims to "break even by 2005": Like all other Swiss local and regional stations, Tele Züri is still deep in the red.
Not red, but blue eyes are now to help balance the books and raise awareness to new record levels. After testimonials, the sensory organ now plays the leading role.
In Hesskiss' campaign, oversized eyes - Tele Züri's camera lenses - illustrate access to the soul of the Limmat city. "With this, Tele Züri is saying that its journalists are present everywhere in the greater Zurich area and also see more," says copywriter Tamás Kiss. The headline "Mir gsehnd meh" underlines this claim.
In order to achieve an effect, a "very good" poster is planned. Whether this will be so capillary that the message tips over into a "Big Brother" mood is as open as the continuation of the campaign signed off by Christian Stärkle. Following the new strategic direction, the station intends to focus more on B-to-B in the coming year. "We will keep our presence undiminished via media partnerships," explains Özküp. Luca Aloisi
Ad Rating

Advertising naturalism
The ad raters have buried the Italo coffin carpenter without complaint. How much "back to nature" should there be in advertising? "Comfort food" in - cynicism out? Brilliant sociological and psychological statements are always in demand at www.werbewoche.ch/adrating.
Striking
Top: 73,11%
Flop: 26,89%
Praise and criticism of ad-raters summarized at www.werbewoche .ch/adrating/comments

At the 16th Munich Media Days, there was some clever complaining and cool calculationsBy Oliver Classen The paint is off, the engine is sputtering, but the bodywork - genuine German workmanship - is indestructible and continues to pull the lurching wagons of the economic train forward: that sums up the mood at this year's industry summit. None of the German publishing house and broadcaster bosses, almost all of whom were present, wanted to admit to a structural crisis.
We are delighted that the publishing city of Basel will be hosting the Swiss-German Book Fair in future. But the media metropolis of Zurich would also soon need its own industry get-together. This is the kind of thought that prompted those from Switzerland (Ringier, NZZ, SRG and Bakoman employees) to make the pilgrimage to the Munich Media Days last week. Elmar Ledergerber, who could learn a thing or two about efficient business and media promotion and the generation of "manager traffic" in Italy's northernmost city, would be in demand here.
Although the official key question was "Where will the media growth of the future come from?", at the lecterns and behind the scenes of the 72-hour "get-together", the focus was just as frequently and fiercely on location policy and distribution battles. In his opening speech, Edmund Stoiber, Bavaria's Minister-President and still an election campaigner, stated that the dual broadcasting system would probably not exist without the bourgeois parties in general and his Free State in particular.
As an advocate for the communications industry and private television, he said he would now campaign for a general ban on advertising for fee-financed broadcasters "in Berlin, which is currently more backward-looking than ever". Urs Rohner, Swiss head of the Munich-based ProSieben/Sat-1 family, also criticized "a scandalous imbalance" on the following podium and eagerly supported his father with figures: According to these, ARD and ZDF's fee income has increased since the beginning of 2001 by the same amount as the private broadcasters' advertising money has melted away, namely EUR 600 million.
Most recently, RTL boss Gerhard Zeiler, who is based in red-green-governed North Rhine-Westphalia, emphasized that complete freedom of advertising for the "state distortion of competition" would create thousands of new jobs in the private media industry. This was probably a reminder to his and all other SPD state premiers of their election promises. After all, success is virtually certain: "The BBC in England has shown us how it's done, we just have to follow suit."
Stoiber's schadenfreude and Burda's brown suitcase
Aha, Munich sees itself as a film and television city for the time being, that much was quickly clear. So it was no wonder that Stoiber, whom Der Spiegel once called "the blonde hatchet", received applause for his sardonic remark that the media, which until recently had been "know-it-all" in their judgment of the "bitter Kirch insolvency", were now in a financial pickle. Now they should put their own house in order. Of course, the crisis-ridden national newspapers were addressed, above all the SPD-affiliated Süddeutsche Zeitung. Its managing director Dirk Refäuter countered the following day with an appeal to the 5500 congress participants (2001: 5200) to finally concentrate on their economic duty after the embarrassing political freestyle.
Concrete business opportunities and threats: Hubert Burda, who is known for being particularly innovative, cited several of both from his brown briefcase ("my mobile filing cabinet"). According to him, the biggest threat at the moment comes from Brussels, which has a penchant for regulation. Should the EU consider further advertising restrictions, the Munich-based publisher (Focus, Bunte) believes that the diversity of European newspapers and magazines is "more seriously threatened than ever before".
Burda, who knows the EU climate well as president of the association, fears an ideological domino effect. Because if a left-liberal lobby had its way, cars, pharmaceutical products and even toys would soon be listed on the index after tobacco and alcohol. But as we learned in German class: "Where there's danger, there's salvation." The educated Burda knows his Hölderlin as well as he knows the online market. His rather anti-cyclical hope is a commercial combination of print and Internet. "This is where the exciting forms of advertising of the future lie."
From cue to scapegoat
However, it wasn't just suffering and gossip that could be heard in the elegantly converted handling halls of the former Riem airport, but also the occasional hearty laugh. For example, when the deputy managing director of the Stuttgart-based Holtzbrinck publishing group, Michael Grabner, proudly announced to the Booz Allen media consultant, Adam Bird, that he had been "clean" for a good year now and had not regretted it for a single day. You could literally see the well-behaved consultant gradually realizing that this meant "consultancy-free".
McKinsey & Co, who sponsored and moderated almost half of all 80 specialist events this year, had a difficult time this time. Some reformed media managers scolded their ex-sponsors more or less explicitly, along the lines of "We are now footing the bill for your seductive expansion and diversification concepts".
Even Bertelsmann board member Arnold Bahlmann took part in the cheerful consultant bashing. He even expressed the view to a representative of the New York money house Morgan Stanley that the investment banks bore a good deal of responsibility for the current situation due to the many debt-financed acquisitions in the communications industry. Bertelsmann simply has a lot to say in view of the high equity ratio and the relative freedom from debt of its company.
Springer's editorial "change management"
Apart from settling old scores, there was often hardly any room for future scenarios. A pity, after all, nowhere else do so many media makers sit together as at this autumnal industry event. However, when there was talk of concrete measures to overcome the crisis, the buzzword "change management" was regularly mentioned. Springer boss Matthias Döpfner vividly illustrated what this means, apart from abstract concepts such as "structural adjustment" or "cost efficiency", using the editions of Die Welt and Berliner Morgenpost that he had brought with him. The merger of their editorial teams had not only saved the Group 100 jobs, but had also "improved the quality" of both newspapers. The "MoPo" is now leaving the national field "quite calmly" to its big sister paper and is once again concentrating more on its regional competencies.
"Unconventional means sometimes produce unexpectedly positive results", with these words Döpfner encouraged his colleagues to rethink taboos and try out somewhat more radical tricks "right now". RTL editor-in-chief Hans Mahr, who was being touted as the successor to Urs Rohner at arch-competitor Pro7/Sat 1 on the fringes of the summit, sounded the same horn and called for "a concerted slim-fast cure" for the German media industry, which has become sluggish.
However, according to Mahr, even the boldest wellness program is of no use if the regulatory framework conditions put a damper on any innovative spirit. Of course, Focus editor-in-chief Helmut Markwort didn't let this rhetorical pass go unused and quickly doubled down: "After September 11, we in Germany now also have September 22 to digest." Of course, this Munich poison dart also had the second edition of the red-green coalition in its sights. Instead of the urgently needed economic signals, this time the Media Days primarily provided signals of political change. In Germany, after the elections is always before the elections. In this respect, Switzerland undoubtedly has a real locational advantage for once.

It’s clear that Larry Clark has found his style. He’s particularly taken with skateboarders, who, in his opinion, exude far more vitality than 100 Hollywood actors. An interesting comparison, isn’t it? Especially when you consider that Larry’s «discoveries» are guaranteed to be snapped up by the Hollywood film industry after they’ve portrayed themselves in a Larry film à la *Bully* or *Kids*. The father of «heroin chic» hates advertisers because they copy his trashy style to sell clothes. When approached by the trend magazine *The Face*, he sells his finds to photographer Steven Klein, who styles them in a contemporary way. Well, I’d rather go skateboarding after all… Chandra Kurt
[email protected]
Column

Dominik Imseng's Poor Writing: What's so bad about telling a story? What's so bad about guiding the reader through a landscape, then through a village, and to a house where a father lives with his son, and next door lives a daughter with her husband, and the son and daughter fall in love, or
They don't fall in love either: The main thing is that a story is told; the main thing is that it's always clear who's speaking; the main thing is that you never find yourself wondering: Is this a book, or is it some kind of giant puzzle book?
You guessed it: I’m currently reading a novel by a young Swiss author. Here’s the blurb, so you’ll understand what I mean: «The harsh light of the south brings out the outlines of their parents» shadows. Entangled in nameless misfortune, Juan Antonio and Pepa realize…”
Yes, life is a tragedy, I’d like to call out to the author: The best thing to do is read and write; the rest really doesn’t make any sense. So let’s escape into a world of few words and meaningful gestures, let the baker hand us some bread that’s still warm, let’s catch a chicken and drink some wine with it. Because life can be that simple. And a book so poorly written: the handle of a spoon, for example, is «grasped firmly»; someone gets «glowing cheeks and an equally vivid imagination»; and what, pray tell, are we to make of sentences like: «In his heart, nothing remained but the warm wind of a passing storm that had decapitated the poppies.»
We shake ourselves off and then simply close the book again.
See? Nothing's happening.
By the way: No, the novel isn't by Zoë Jenny. I only read authors who actually smile in photos sometimes.
[email protected]
Dominik Imseng is Creative Director at McCann-Erickson Switzerland.
Business lunch

Not raw and not delicious. There’s no accounting for taste. A healthy culture of debate is essential for the mind to evolve, for new insights to be gained, and so on—one could go on and on about the philosophical aspects of gastronomy. The fact is: there are two ways to eat spinach—cooked or raw. «Semi-raw» isn’t the same as “half-cooked,” and when semi-raw spinach is served, I have to resort to comic book vocabulary: “Guhhh.” This happened at an otherwise beautifully decorated restaurant at Augustinergasse 25 in Zurich.
I’m not a fan of restaurant chains and corporate dining concepts that aim to optimize contribution margins through centralized purchasing and other services. I don’t begrudge the owners of Bindella (with its mellifluous, eco-friendly tagline “Terra Vite Vita”) the fact that they make good money this way; on the contrary: Fortune favors the bold—and I deserve a decent lunch.
But that wasn't what was on offer at the «Cantinetta Antinori.» The cappellacci (stuffed, flat pasta shells with wide rims) did arrive at the table with a generous ricotta filling, but the marjoram sprinkled over the sparse drizzle of hot butter had just as little place here in terms of flavor as the few grains of rice on the edge of the plate. The herb simply isn’t suited to accompany cooked pasta. Period. The ricotta, meanwhile, would have benefited from the addition of a flavor enhancer—for example, finely grated lemon zest, but only from the top surface of the peel.
Second course: Sea bass with spinach and pan-fried potatoes. The fish was perfectly filleted and pan-fried (boneless—kudos!), the spinach… but let’s leave that aside for now, and the potatoes were nice and crispy. Hmm, is something missing? Exactly—a nice, light sauce. So you wash down the course with plenty of white wine. And that’s where Antinori has the advantage of its in-house wine shop.
Right now, the waitstaff (who, by the way, are in pretty good shape at «Antinori») are shaving thin slices of truffle onto pasta and risotto. I don’t like to order the white Alba truffle at restaurants—you really have no idea how long it’s been stored in rice or somewhere else since it first saw the light of a Piedmontese morning. If it’s supposed to be served fresh, it has to smell as if there’s a leaky gas line in the kitchen. Prices for white truffles are currently hovering around 3,000 francs per kilogram—but in restaurants, not just at «Antinori,» the prices of the dishes remain at about 8,000 francs per kilo. Do the math.
Carlo Bernasconi
[email protected]
Cantinetta Antinori, Augustinergasse 25
8001 Zurich
Tel. 01 211 72 10
Evaluation

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

The umbrella organization Schweizer Werbung (SW) has compiled a set of eight arguments against restricting commercial communication, especially in tobacco advertising.Service Arguments against advertising bans The umbrella organization Schweizer Werbung (SW) has compiled a set of eight arguments against restricting commercial communication, especially in tobacco advertising. According to SW, advertising bans do not reduce consumption, harm the economy, are hypocritical and undemocratic. The argument can be downloaded as a PDF file from www.werbewoche .ch.
Pepper launches trend dossiers With Pepper Paper, the Zurich-based information agency Pepper is launching a trend dossier on a specific topic. It is based on the evaluation of international media, studies, market research results or new products and services. The target audience includes decision-makers in marketing, product development or at a strategic level, as well as media professionals. Pepper Papers are also produced exclusively, excluding competitors. The topic of the first issue is the pop music industry.
ADCE book is here
Top European advertising can once again be admired in the yearbook of the Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE). Only campaigns that have found favor with the local club of creatives are even considered by the ADCE jury. Finalists and winners (including 10 Swiss) are presented in the yearbook that has now been published. The book can be ordered for CHF 75 from ADC Switzerland (Oberdorfstrasse 15, 8001 Zurich or [email protected]).
4th Herzberg Conference on Journalism
The 4th Herzberg Conference of the "Quality in Journalism" association on November 12 will focus on the question of what publishers can and should do for journalistic quality. Hans Heinrich Coninx (Tamedia), Peter Wanner (AZ Medien Gruppe), Urs Lüdi (Thurgauer Medien) and Michael Ringier will provide answers to this question at the Hotel Bern in Bern. Further information can be found at www.quajou.ch.

Matter & Partner gives the Beobachter an image of outstanding social competenceBy Andreas Panzeri The new Beobachter campaign from Matter & Partner uses four subjects and a cinema spot to show Beobachter readers developing "more cleverness for everyday life". Instead of playing bad cop, the Beobachter wants to offer more life advice in future.
Based on the slogan of the last campaign "There are already enough observers", the new management team at Förrlibuckstrasse apparently agreed that enough observations had now been made. "Take matters into your own hands" is the new and continuing call to the readership. Jean Frey AG is secretly arming itself early on against a possible competitor from Ringier.
The main message of the new image campaign is based on the realization that certain people simply know more about everyday matters. They can talk about health insurance, they know how many deductions are possible on their tax return. They know how to move house efficiently and how to avoid being ripped off by love text messages. These people are all attentive observers and readers of the service booklet of the same name published by Jean Frey.
According to the latest readership survey by Wemf AG für Medienforschung, there are 1045,000 "Beobachter" readers in Switzerland. They obtain their information from 335226 printed copies. According to Mach Basic, there were more readers a year ago, and the survey for the year 2000 showed even better figures.
Nevertheless, the magazine, which celebrated its 100th birthday this year with a big party, can still be called the most widely read magazine in German-speaking Switzerland. The slight decline in readership figures could be attributed to the increased coverage of consumer topics in other media and direct competition from magazines such as Saldo and K-Tipp.
The Beobachter now wants to stand up to these competitors by also focusing more on general topics in the future. Under the new editor-in-chief Balz Hosang, the Beobachter wants to be perceived more as a "normal" magazine in addition to its advisory function.
A toolbox full of life help
This is why the subjects of the new advertising are not the typical observer stories - such as how to test health insurance companies or save taxes. CD Daniel Matter from Matter&Partner wants to use his advertising to present more entertaining help for everyday life in a popular way instead of help for emergencies. "Help for life instead of a policeman" is the new slogan or, slightly modified, "The observer, your friend and helper".
The new Beobachter is intended to offer the reader something like a toolbox or "cleverness for everyday life".
The new Beobachter campaign demonstrates this cleverness with four subjects, each of which features an amateur who knows better than the respective professional. The customer in the garage demonstrates to a baffled mechanic how to really repair the engine. A cleaning lady explains to a group of managers what she doesn't yet know. A psychiatrist lies on the couch instead of his patient and his "case" listens to him.
The heroes of the campaign and the readers of the Beobachter are therefore "competent in all situations".
The newly appointed Beobachter editor-in-chief Balz Hosang has already had a decisive say in the style of this new advertising. For him and the publisher, it is "a fundamental problem" that the Beobachter is underestimated in the media world. "Advertisers don't find it sexy to advertise in the Beobachter. At most, they place ads for health products," says advertiser Daniel Matter about the image, which is now to be rejuvenated in parallel with the Beobachter's new layout.
New image welcome, new positioning not
A rather quirky movie spot also fits in with this. In this one, the animation specialists from Frame Eleven were allowed to "work their magic once again", as Matter puts it. Instead of filming properly, photos from the ad shoot were used in the cunning low-budget production.
The scene involving the desperate car mechanic and the much cleverer customer was thus assembled as a weird story from photographed individual images and underscored with crazy sounds from the garage. The "competence in all situations" is brought to the screen in this slapstick style in a rather exaggerated but effective way.
Matter & Partner has been advertising for the Beobachter for eight years. In the last campaign, which was somewhat cheekier in print, the agency on Zurich's Sophienstrasse attracted attention, for example, with a police officer wedged under a windshield wiper like a fine notice or with a caretaker's wife hanging on a washing line.
Today, Matter interprets this as support for a pointing finger image, which the Beobachter now wants to move away from. However, the publisher does not want this image change to be understood as a complete repositioning. "We have continuously adapted to current developments in the past," explains Head of Advertising Cornelia Brunschwiler.
Matter & Partner's concept for this campaign was not "advertising for advertisers", as Daniel Matter himself describes his work. It wanted to target real customers, namely young people who want to "take the reins" and subscribe to their own Beobachter for the first time after starting a family, for example.
The cinema spot is running in various cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland. The advertisements have been appearing in selected magazines such as Magazin, Folio, Facts and TR7 since the beginning of October. There are no posters for budget reasons, but the campaign is accompanied by Internet banners. The reader campaign will soon be followed by a separate advertiser campaign.

Service Sponsoring Award announced Faspo, the professional association for sponsoring & special advertising forms, has announced the 10th International Sponsoring Award. It takes over the organization of the industry award this year from the previous organizer Kommunikationsverband.de. Outstanding and exemplary sponsoring concepts in the categories sport, culture, media and public sponsoring, which were converted in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, are distinguished. The closing date for entries is October 24, with the awards ceremony on November 20. For more information and tender documents, visit www.faspo.de, call 0049 40 6095 0833 or [email protected].
Cannes Lions soon with spot archive The International Advertising Festival in Cannes is launching an archive for advertising spots on the Internet (archives.canneslions.com). In cooperation with the advertising and press monitoring service Xtreme Information, new spots will be made available on an ongoing basis in addition to previous Cannes Lions participants. At launch, the archive will include 70000 commercials. Access is subject to a fee. The offer is primarily aimed at companies: A user license for up to ten people costs 1200 pounds per year.

Boxx builds Berndorf's image on colors without haste and hasteBy Ernst Weber Clear words have a quick effect, calm colors have a deep and long effect. Boxx, Zurich, is therefore taking a whole four years to position the Littau-based table outfitter Berndorf as a quality-conscious company on the market.
The approach is surprising and stands in contrast to the impatience of advertising, which would rather see its goals achieved yesterday than tomorrow: Zurich-based advertising agency Boxx suggested that outfitter Berndorf advertise one product group per year and integrate it into a color-coordinated communication structure.
The concept, which took the client's budget situation into account, was successful. The small agency won the mandate in a pitch in 1999. The product range of the company based in Littau LU includes cutlery, porcelain and glassware for households, hotels and restaurants as well as systems for food distribution in communal catering.
The same harmony should work for all areas
The corporate design developed by Boxx assigns a basic color to each product group, which is used in various harmonious shades. On the one hand, the colors are used to fill the entire surface; on the other hand, the appearance is characterized by photographing the staged product groups in these shades. The appearance also achieves typographic consistency.
There are mainly psychological reasons why the presentation focuses primarily on the colors and only secondarily on the rational campaign content. There is no compelling reason to add a color to the products.
"The colors are emotionally and aesthetically based. The idea is to communicate the same harmony across all areas," says Christoph Stähli, CD at Boxx. In addition, the color scheme has unmistakable metalogical traits.
Colors can scream, so they are not mute
Just as the individual colors flow into one another in a rainbow, the colors in the Berndorf presentation delimit the individual product groups and simultaneously cancel them out. The result is the image of an organic product range consisting of autonomous parts of equal value. An inner cohesion is symbolized, and therefore a consistent level of quality awareness in all divisions. This statement is additionally supported by the clarity of the layout. It also gives the viewer the impression that the manufacturer takes particular care with its products.
The interplay of the generally bright colors, the balanced, in no way overloaded layout and the relaxed manner of the argumentation (" with this longevity") also gives the impression that one is dealing with a friendly and open company.
This impression is reinforced by the fact that the image has developed over a period of around three years. This development was not disrupted by campaigns that changed at short notice and tried to communicate the same content in different ways again and again. The customer has been able to watch the image grow, so to speak.
Gebhard Arnold, Head of Marketing at Berndorf, confirms that the company's presence is actually helping it to achieve its goals. "Over the past few years, we have been able to penetrate additional sales channels and we are now the No. 1 in Switzerland for cutlery."
Color images leave deeper traces in the memory

Scientists Felix Wichmann from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen and Karl Gegenfurtner, Professor at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, have demonstrated in a series of experiments that people remember images of natural scenes better if they are in color. However, the higher memory performance only occurred with motifs that had not been altered in color. The test subjects did not remember false color images any better than black and white images (ew).

The business magazine is 25 years old and is planning a relaunch in MarchWhen editor-in-chief Medard Meier explains the Bilanz concept, he compares the flagship of Wirtschafts-Medien AG to an aircraft carrier from which various planes (or special issues) take off. This year alone, Bilanz has launched 20 specials and five books in addition to its monthly magazine. Some of these, such as the recently published luxury lifestyle special, are available separately at newsstands. The anniversary issue, on sale from October 29, can only be purchased together with the regular November issue. On the other hand, Manager-Bilanz, for example, is only available to subscribers. However, the Bilanz highlight is and remains the main issue number 12 - with the rating of the 300 richest Swiss. On
The newsstand sells around 30,000 copies, double the usual newsstand circulation.
The special editions must be financially self-supporting. This is ensured by advertisements, but sometimes also by sponsors (Manager-Bilanz). Elke Zappe, Managing Director of WM AG, no longer tolerates a loss-making special.
For example, the car balance sheet was discontinued - the competition from car show supplements is too great. The SME balance sheet has also been stopped. According to Zappe, a new concept is in the drawer, but they are still waiting "for the right time". However, there is no lack of actual new attempts: a wine special will be published for the first time in December, and further special editions on lifestyle topics are being considered.
Only "slightly shaken"
Balance sheet reader confidence
Part of the Bilanz concept is also the "Bilanz Business Talk", which can be seen seven times a year on Presse-TV. There have been various expansion plans in recent years, including a daily program. However, these are currently on hold. However, Zappe wants to increase the reach, which is between 2.5 and 7%, to a constant 7% by the end of 2004.
In business terms, the balance sheet is not an ocean liner, but a ship on the Rhine. "WM AG is an SME," says Zappe: 38 permanent employees turned over around 21 million francs in the 01/02 financial year, a good two million of which came from sponsors. The return amounted to around 10%.
According to Zappe, the current short year will be even more successful. Next year, however, the figures should remain in the black overall according to the budget, but it is already foreseeable that Bilanz, like other business publications, will lose reader confidence. Although Zappe speaks of "only slightly shaken confidence" in the case of Bilanz, its circulation has already reached its lowest level (55,733 copies) since 1993 - the year in which it swallowed up Politik&Wirtschaft magazine. And according to Zappe, circulation will continue to fall.
At the same time, readers are also likely to drop out, as a total of 21,000 readers have already put the Bilanz aside in the last two years. This is not (yet) dramatic, because with 440000 readers, the magazine is around a third better off than Cash or NZZ. And of the leaders, the magazine reaches 42%.
However, Zappe is determined to navigate her ship back towards the magic number of 60,000 in terms of circulation. To this end, the aircraft carrier is to be overhauled with a relaunch in March. Focus groups led by former Tamedia manager Kurt W. Zimmermann are currently analyzing the situation. Publitest market research is also being consulted.
It remains to be seen what conceptual or even journalistic changes will be made. However, Captain Zappe wants Bilanz to make greater use of the advantage of longer research times and return to its "lighthouse function". In addition to renovating the hull of the ship, this will probably require the crew to refresh their knowledge and build a strong tower foundation with solid craftsmanship. Markus Knöpfli

Creative people counter the economic hangover with romantic imageryThe Orbs "Little fluffy clouds" was the anthem of the late nineties. The kitschy soundtrack accompanied the launch of the new Beetle and became a symbol of identity for rave culture. Experiments and ironic refractions of romance, freedom and love were the order of the day in advertising: many pushed from the middle-class Christian camp into the yuppie or alternative scene, where the consumerist clientele waited for the latest gadget. Everything is different today: in a tough economy, instant sales are in demand. To achieve this, the advertising industry is reaching deep into its idyllic picture box: Motifs convey a cozy feeling of coming home. Trend researchers see confirmation in the accumulation of trust-inspiring images in advertising. page 20