Le Matin boss Peter Rothenbühler feels completely acceptedThe only vote that counts for me takes place at the newsstand," comments Peter Rothenbühler on the internal vote of confidence, which did not exactly turn out rosy for him as editor-in-chief of Le Matin (WW 25/02). But he can be comforted: With the launch of the new formula, the tabloid's circulation increased by two percent within a year. For Rothenbühler, the events surrounding this vote are an anecdote that did not affect him personally, but had a negative PR effect for Edipresse externally, he told WerbeWoche. He does not feel that he has been called into question, as a basis of trust is created in joint discussions during daily work and not through votes of a consultative nature. He adds that he finds the majority of journalists to be motivated and cooperative. He is also aware that tabloid journalism is one of the most difficult areas. That is why he also trains his employees so that they can grow with this task. Rothenbühler also has the full backing of Pierre Lamunière in his position as Editor-in-Chief. The patron of Edipresse, who describes Peter Rothenbühler as a competent and experienced editor-in-chief, is personally opposed to such internal editorial votes. He was shocked that a strictly internal matter had been made public. However, he does not want to deprive the editorial teams of the opportunity to express themselves freely.
Perhaps the voting procedure, which is unusual for Swiss editorial offices, will soon be quietly abolished. After all, 20 employees abstained from voting and another 30 didn't even bother to give their opinion on the editor-in-chief's working style. Anita Vaucher

The St.Galler Tagblatt (SGT) is merging its two titles Bodensee Tagblatt (14,000 copies) and Mittelthurgauer Tagblatt (1,600 copies) in the canton of Thurgau at the end of September. This was confirmed by SGT Managing Director Hans-Peter Klauser on request. The SGT will also be given a new layout at the end of September. In addition, the new printing center in St.Gallen Winkeln will be put into operation. SGT Publishing Director Daniel Ehrat emphasized that the merger of the Thurgau newspaper titles was neither a cost-cutting measure nor a withdrawal in installments, but a change made possible by more modern printing technology. Although there will only be one SGT split in Thurgau in future, it will comprise at least 15,600 copies and have different sequences of bundles depending on the region. Ehrat did not want to confirm that the new title would simply be called "Tagblatt". However, he did say that "Tagblatt" would remain part of the name. The number of editors in Thurgau will remain more or less the same, but it is possible that some editorial offices will be changed. (mk)

The bilingual local radio station Radio Fribourg is receiving support from its creditors.News Gifts for Radio Fribourg They are waiving an amount of around 350000 francs. This will reduce the station's deficit for 2001 to slightly less than 270000 francs. In addition, the debt waiver prevents the station's own funds from falling below the permitted limit.
Pay-per-view at Cablecom Cablecom may offer its customers feature films for a fee. The Federal Council has granted the cable network operator a corresponding TV license. The company is planning a digital service called Cablecom Digital Cinema (CDC), in which current feature films will be broadcast on several channels at staggered intervals ("near-video-on-demand"). Customers only pay for the films they actually watch (pay-per-view). A monthly print magazine provides information about the program offerings. The launch of CDC is scheduled for mid-September.
Now there is only Simsa The industry associations Swiss Interactive Media Association (Sima) and SwissSoft completed their merger at the beginning of July. They are now operating together under the name Swiss Interactive Media& Software Association (Simsa). Previous names will no longer be used. The Internet address has also changed to www.simsa.ch.
Viva-Swizz sold The German Viva Group wants to acquire a majority stake in the Swiss music TV channel Viva-Swizz (see also p.25). It plans to increase its current stake from 44% to 96%. The founding team of Viva-Swizz will retain a symbolic shareholding of 4%. Viva and the founding shareholders signed an agreement to this effect last week. The agreement is subject to the approval of the Federal Council. The purchase price, which will be paid in cash, has not been disclosed. The local concept of Viva-Swizz is to be retained.

Polyconsult gives Postfinance sponsoring a new imageBy Anita Vaucher Swiss Post wants to strengthen the Postfinance product with a target group-oriented sponsoring commitment and at the same time communicate its intentions in an image-enhancing way. To this end, Postfinance sponsoring is to mutate into a brand that is increasingly present at cultural and sporting events. A task that Polyconsult solved with a great deal of proximity to life.
The Bern-based advertising agency Polyconsult has designed a comprehensive presentation for Postfinance. It consists of seven advertisements, a TV and cinema spot and a radio spot. The aim of this sponsorship campaign is to position Postfinance as a credible, versatile, human and innovative Swiss financial services company.
Polyconsult's market analysis revealed a picture in which the financial institutions' products are complex and abstract, convey little emotionality and are often barely distinguishable from the competition's offerings. According to the agency, sponsorship therefore plays an important role in the marketing mix of these companies, as it allows tangible experiences to be staged in a brand environment.
With its sponsorship campaign, Swiss Post is seeking to be close to the people and direct. The campaign is not aimed exclusively at young people. It picks up consumers where they like to be in their free time, be it at sporting events, games or on the muddy ground of various open-air festivals. The motifs provide a clear counterpoint to the mirror-smooth marble halls of the competition.
Natural-looking actors in lifelike situations
This difference is underlined by statements such as: "At Postfinance, we place less emphasis on marble, shiny steel and chic interiors. We would much rather welcome you where you prefer to be. Others call this sponsoring. We call it "customer service". The common key terms from the world of finance stand in contrast to the figurative translation. For example, Swiss Post understands "service" to mean putting someone in their place with a body check. The logo of the sponsored event is included in the advertisement.
To implement the concept, Polyconsult formed an interactive creative team in which everyone involved cooperated closely from the outset. Older generations at Polyconsult knew that the young target group that flocks to open-air events had to be addressed in their own language. However, the approach should not be ingratiating, say the owners of Polyconsult, René Maeder and Jürg Tscharner. The agency has proven its experience with young people, not least in a mailing in which the no longer young holders of a youth account were told with great sensitivity that they should rearrange their financial affairs.
For the latest campaign, the agency's elders delegated part of the task to the younger generation in the agency team. Graphic designers, photographers and filmmakers also live privately in the worlds targeted by the sponsorship. For example, it was possible to draw directly on people from their personal environment for the casting.
These people knew each other and their naturalness lent the campaign additional credibility. The filming, directed by the young Bernese film production team Wiseguys, was correspondingly uncomplicated. The film was not shot in pleasant spring or summer temperatures at an exotic location, but in February in the Bern area.
According to Polyconsult, the measures accompanying the individual engagements vary depending on the sponsorship agreement and range from advertisements in program booklets and special supplements in daily newspapers to TV spots on music channels and cinema spots on location. The recipients can also be addressed in a target group-specific manner through clever motif control.
AD Rating

Postfinance campaign
WHS drew the wrong card for the ad raters at the casino. The next round goes to Postfinance and its youth sponsorship. Serious votes are always in demand at www. werbe woche.ch/adrating.
Grand Casino Baden campaign
Top: 27,97%
Flop: 72,03%
Praise and criticism of ad-raters summarized at www.werbewoche .ch/adrating/comments

Pepperoni.ch, a magazine for art, culture and humor, will be published four times a year.News Pepperoni provides humor for reading On one hundred glossy pages, the first issue presents a collection of reports, satires and cartoons with the charm of a school magazine. Pepperoni is published in a print run of 10,000 copies and is distributed via newsstands and subscriptions. Behind the magazine are editor Stephan Haller and graphic designer Corinne Baggenstos from Baden.
Top Group with red figures The Eastern Swiss media group Top posted losses in 2001. Radio Top suffered a loss of CHF 1.25 million on a turnover of CHF 5.33 million, while Tele Top posted a loss of CHF 1.42 million on a turnover of only CHF 2.18 million. The losses were partly caused by the expansion into new concession areas and the launch of the format radio Top Two.
Bundesliga remains with Sat 1 The German Football League (DFL) and KirchMedia have reached an agreement on the broadcasting rights to the Bundesliga. Kirch will receive the rights for free and pay TV as well as multimedia for two seasons, with an option until 2005/2006. Sat 1 Switzerland will continue to combine the Bundesliga magazine "ran" with the live broadcast of a Swiss National League match.
Radio Aktuell in national pool Pool 2000 with the Bern (BE1, BeO, Canal 3) and Basel (Edelweiss, Regenbogen) modules will receive a new Zurich module with the Powerpool (Radio 24 and Radio Zürisee) as of July 1 - albeit only for six months. In addition, Pool 2000 decided on an eastern expansion with Radio Aktuell as a Plus variant. However, the pool is already considering contacting other radio stations in order to set up an Eastern Switzerland module to better compete with the One Pool (Hitradio Z, Argovia, Sunshine, 32, Top, Grischa/ Piz, Central, Ri).

At the 20th diploma ceremony for the marketing planner examination on June 29 in Bern, examination director Ruth Haab once again announced record figures. 1254 candidates completed the examinations organized by the Swiss Marketing Club, the Society for Marketing, the Swiss Commercial Association and the Swiss Employers' Association this year (previous year 1106). Among the successful graduates, 734 came from German-speaking Switzerland, 35 from French-speaking Switzerland and 19 from Ticino. A total of 788 passed the exam. The pass rate was 62.84 percent. The average age of this by far the most coveted professional qualification in Switzerland has risen in recent years and is now around 30 years old. As Jürg Berger, President of the Examination Board, points out, the marketing planner certificate is now required from the outset in marketing practice, whereas in the past people were asked whether they would be prepared to complete the marketing planner course when they were hired.
The organization of the exam has now taken on gigantic dimensions. The written exam had to be held simultaneously in five rooms in the exhibition hall in Basel. A total of 143 experts were deployed for this and another 247 for the oral exam. A total of 12742 marks were recorded. Seven candidates achieved an average of 5.0 or higher. These are Caroline Kaech, Murten; Cornelia Zahner, Zug; Daniel Jufer, Schwanden bei Brienz; Paul Eduard Baumgartner, Oberrieden; Richard Müller, Saanen; Dominique Heinicke, Zurich; Mélanie Meuri, Kappel SO. (pan)

In Workshop.02, the BSW is looking for fresh communication talentBy Luca Aloisi 25 ambitious career changers with a good background are to be introduced to the advertising and communication industry in a BSW workshop. The BSW hopes that this forward-looking measure will improve the image of the industry.
Budget cuts, downsizing, bankruptcies - the advertising industry has seen better times. But the industry association Schweizer Werbe- und Kommunikationsagenturen (BSW) is not burying its head in the sand and is embarking on a cleverly orchestrated "search campaign" in Switzerland and abroad: In full-page advertisements, it is looking for "talents for advertising", for potential career changers who want to discover their hidden skills at the first seven-day BSW Talent Workshop. The BSW is convinced that the inexpensive offer - CHF 1,600 entry fee - will bring fresh blood into the industry and at the same time have a positive effect on its reputation, which is not always flawless.
Skeptics suspect a diversionary tactic
The association proved how important the campaign is to it with its star-studded line-up at the Info Day: BSW President and Chairman TBWA Hanspeter Detsch said that the chances of finding talented people are greater now than in times of overemployment. René R. Hürlimann, Board Member Euro RSCG Switzerland, piled up key figures from better times and projected them into the future. Publicis CCO Jean Etienne Aebi, on the other hand, talked wittily about the fascinating business of ideas and concluded with a great Nike spot cascade, which is likely to devour almost the film budget of an entire Swiss advertising year. And Euro-RSCG CEO Frank Bodin explained why he has dedicated himself to top-class sports advertising. Afterwards, an equally prominent panel of three, moderated by workshop coach Urs Beer, outlined the ideal advertising starter.
Only just under 70 curious people attended the Werbergilde's presentation until the end. The subdued response probably reflects the interest in a crisis-ridden industry that has been discussing a door-opening course for years and now - at the worst possible time - suddenly wants to introduce it.
Behind closed doors, critical voices are therefore raising doubts about the effectiveness and seriousness of the course, which they see as nothing more than image polishing. But even this is of questionable value because it would require continuity, which is anything but certain with the Talent Workshop. The suspicion that the association wants to feign healthy industry dynamics and divert attention from internal quarrels - namely the decreasing willingness of many agencies to adhere to BSW pitch rules - is probably not entirely unfounded.
The new offer also seems strange because the job market for talented career changers is anything but dry at the moment, and because in small Switzerland, creative minds have almost always managed to get into advertising either directly or via detours - even without a stable smell. Frank Bodin and Dominique von Matt, co-owner and Managing Director of JvM/Limmat, are living proof of this.
BSW wants to send anti-cyclical signals with the workshop Detsch sees the project as a long-term task that is independent of the cycle. "We are investing in the future," he emphasizes. The aim is to make the advertising industry more attractive "for people with a good background" in order to attract them to a career in an agency.
Of course, the question of timing was discussed, admits the BSW President. "However, the Board of Directors decided that we would do it now more than ever." After all, it's about the quality of potential employees. And Cornelia Harder, Managing Director Publicis, adds: "The current economic situation and the tense competitive situation in the agency business do not release us from our obligation to promote high-quality young talent."
The ongoing economic downturn, which is causing the communications industry far more problems than stingy clients, was almost ignored at the Info Day. Most of the agencies' HR departments have prepared themselves for this scenario, as an ad hoc survey revealed: most BSW agencies currently have no need for additional staff. Those in charge note dismissively that they are "of course always looking for good people".
In contrast to such nice-sounding phrases, the BSW has made a binding commitment in the advertisement text: "The BSW agencies will not miss the opportunity at the end of 2002 to bring fresh and promising talent into their companies". However, BSW President Hanspeter Detsch does not want the full-bodied wording to be understood as a commitment on the part of the agencies. "We still have normal fluctuations. In addition, agencies today are in an international competitive environment in which it is crucial to have top people on board."
Detsch admits that this new path is "unconventional", but rejects the suggestion that it is a tool to attract career changers on favorable terms in order to land internship-like positions. It is much more about offering an alternative to the traditional educational pathways into communication.
Clarifying misconceptions about advertising agencies
Ultimately, the BSW is responding to the changes in the education system, in which the universities of applied sciences have increased competition with the relevant institutes such as the Sawi. The latter have not been able to keep pace with the rapidly changing requirements of the economy, says Detsch. He mentions planning and the creative sector, in which "a different rucksack is simply required today". This does not necessarily have to do with the providers, but with the education system, he complains.
BSW Managing Director Walter Merz does not see the "special introductory program" with the "comprehensive information package" as a diploma course anyway and therefore not as a Sawi competitor. In the workshop with case study, he wants to fill the backpack differently and above all with an insight into 13 renowned agencies: With information on the role of communication and the Swiss advertising market, brand management and strategic planning through to idea generation, creation and realization - albeit not in this order or with equal weighting. So there can be no talk of a quick fix, Detsch clarifies.
The aim of the program is to make the industry attractive to people who are filtered out in the assessment and have already gained know-how and experience elsewhere. In addition, the aim is to clarify vague ideas about processes in an advertising agency and thus offer a decision-making aid. In any case, "this is an attempt" to bring new thinking into the industry.
"At the end of the workshop, the visitor has got to know 13 agencies and the areas of strategic planning, consulting, creation and media and can definitely decide whether this is their career or not," says Merz. Workshop coach Urs Beer puts it in a nutshell: "With this experiment, we want to kick-start a new process for finding talent." This is not actually a training course, as one might assume, but a taster course.
Whether there will be another BSW talent workshop next year has yet to be decided.
It all depends on the success of the first experiment, but probably also on how long the Swiss advertising volume remains in the trough.
Net advertising sales in Switzerland

(excluding production costs) in CHF million
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Difference
Press 00/01 in %
- Newspapers including free newspapers 1850 1850 1926 2118 2250 2150 - 4.4
- Consumer magazines 264 229 243 337 379 346 - 8.7
- Trade press 357 365 397 380 404 390 - 3.4
Total press 2471 2444 2566 2835 3032 2886 - 4.8
Cinema 37 39 40 42 45 40 -
Radio (incl. sponsorship) 106 107 114 120 139 129 - 7.6
Television (including sponsorship) 343 370 402 486 520 494 - 5.1
Teletext 13 13 14 13 14 14 14 - 3.5
Outdoor advertising 448 447 468 502 592 603 + 1.8
Address books 121 121 118 128 150 155 + 3.3
Trade fairs and exhibitions 196 207 218 220 227 235 + 3.5
Promotional items 99 104 113 121 - - -
Total values collected 3735 3747 3940 4346 4720 4555 - 3.5
Direct advertising - - - 976 1061 1109 + 4.6
Total-Total - - - 5322 5781 5665 - 2.0

Net advertising expenditure down "only" 2 percent in 2001 - thanks to the return of direct advertising to the Wemf statisticsBy Daniel Schifferle For the first time after four years of an upward trend, net advertising expenditure fell in 2001, reaching CHF 5665 million. Only thanks to direct advertising, which was included again after a long absence, was the decline limited to 2 percent.
The last few years will be remembered as unique. While net advertising sales in the previous years increased by over 8% (2000) and over 10% (1999), the result turned negative in 2001. As the study carried out by Wemf on behalf of the Advertising Statistics Foundation shows, advertising sales fell by 2% or CHF 116 million to a total of CHF 5665 million.
According to project manager Rolf Blum, it is only thanks to direct advertising that there has not been an even more marked decline. It had been missing from the advertising statistics since 1996 because the relevant data was no longer fully available from all providers. Last year, transparency was restored - to the benefit of the overall result. Without direct advertising, the decline would probably have been significantly higher at minus 3.5% or minus CHF 165 million.
Net sales for the two previous years were extrapolated so that a comparison can also be made for direct advertising. This shows that, with growth of 4.6% or CHF 48 million, direct advertising is showing the strongest upward trend among the various media types. This clearly demonstrates in figures that direct advertising is gaining in importance in times of an advertising slump.
Positive results can be counted on one hand
Nevertheless, direct advertising is not the only form of advertising that managed a positive development in the gloomy past advertising year. One of the few fortunate exceptions was poster advertising, which grew by 1.8% or CHF 11 million. Address books were also up on the previous year, increasing by 3.3% or CHF 5 million. And the trade fairs and exhibitions segment also stood out from the generally gloomy environment with growth of 3.5% or CHF 8 million. Together, however, out-of-home advertising, directories and trade fairs and exhibitions only grew by a modest CHF 24 million. This means that the three together only increased by half of the growth generated by direct advertising alone.
As expected, the print media were hit hardest in 2001. They again fell below the CHF 3 billion mark, which was exceeded for the first time in 2000. With a steep loss of 4.8% or 146 million francs, they now stand at 2886 million francs. In percentage and absolute terms, this is the biggest loss for the press in the last ten years. The losses are spread across the various categories: Newspapers (including free newspapers and official journals) down CHF 4.4% or CHF 100 million, consumer magazines down CHF 8.7% or CHF 33 million, trade press down CHF 3.4% or CHF 14 million.
Among the daily newspapers, the small local newspapers (circulation of less than 10,000 copies) were hit hardest in percentage terms. Their sales shrank by 11.7%. In absolute amounts/figures, the large daily newspapers (circulations over 50,000 copies) suffered the most. They fell by 99 million francs.
Job advertisements also experienced a marked slump. While the growth rates in the previous three years were still regularly above 30%, 2001 saw a decline of 4.5% or 27 million francs. Nevertheless, the overall result from the job market of CHF 552 million is still the second best ever for Switzerland. Subscription newspapers suffered the most at minus 8%. At the same time, the free newspapers/official journals category increased by 85.6% or 18 million francs. This result is largely attributable to commuter newspapers, which were able to massively improve their sales from job advertisements.
Among the print media, consumer magazines felt the impact of reduced advertising expenditure the most. They even closed 8.7% or CHF 33 million below the previous year's result. In this group, the results differed greatly: general interest magazines lost 13.0%, financial and business publications were down by 6.0%, after having surged ahead by 39.2% in the previous year. At minus 3.6%, women's titles were the least affected magazine category.
TV advertising revenues below half a billion again
In percentage terms, radio was the hardest hit of the electronic media, falling by 7.6% or CHF 10 million in 2001 - after a record-breaking increase of 16.2% or CHF 19 million in 2000.
Television also suffered a severe setback, as it has already fallen below the half-billion-franc mark it passed for the first time last year - CHF 520 million to be precise. With the current minus of 5.1% or 26 million francs, TV still came to 494 million francs. On the other hand, the sponsorship of programs bucked the general downward trend, increasing by 13.4% or CHF 6 million to CHF 52 million. Teletext also showed stability - albeit only approximate, as the rounded figure of CHF 14 million in net sales hides a minus of CHF 3.5%.

Iwan Weidmann has been Creative Director at Grey Worldwide since AprilHead of the week "I can expand my general knowledge for a fee"
Iwan Weidmann has found his professional home port in Rüschlikon on Lake Zurich. Although he had actually planned to only sail the advertising seas without a permanent position. However, the 36-year-old could not turn down the offer to join Grey Worldwide as creative captain. "I've never really felt at home anywhere before," admits Weidmann, "but everything is just right at Grey: the people, the professionalism, the team spirit. I think I fit in really well here."
Since entering the industry as a junior copywriter at Advico Young & Rubicam, Weidmann has regularly shuttled between advertising agencies and self-employment. He also used his freelance phases to make professional forays into territories outside of advertising. He paid particular attention to television: Weidmann wrote broadcasting concepts for various stations, but also wrote questions for the "Millionaire Show" on TV 3. "Advertising has never let go of me, though. I can't walk through the streets and look past a poster indifferently," he says, explaining his return to the industry.
The times as a freelancer also showed limits: "If you have ambitions to accompany a client over a longer period of time and to go through a development with them, you have to be employed by an agency. And the best way to do that is, of course, as a CD," smiles the newly minted Creative Director. He is inspired by Anglo-Saxon advertising, which is creative but always focuses on the goal of selling. Above all, he likes the versatility of his profession: "I can expand my general knowledge in advertising, to put it selfishly, for a fee."
Weidmann has taken over his new position from Remo Garbini, who remains a partner at Grey Worldwide and will in future act as AD and concept developer. Both Garbini and Grey's Chairman Stefan Vogler are familiar faces for Weidmann. He remembers a pleasant collaboration at BT&V, the former agency of the Vogler brothers.
Weidmann continues to appreciate the good atmosphere in the agency and the skills of his employees: "As CD, I only have to take on a coaching role and steer things in the right direction. It's not necessary to tell people what to do - they know that themselves," he says, summarizing his experience of the first two months. The CD sees the main task as removing the scissors from his employees' heads. He doesn't want to impose his own idea of advertising on them any more than he wants to impose it on his customers. Because for Weidmann, they are kings. Bruno Amstutz

Wemf CEO René Schmutz on Monica, his planned rival product to Media FocusBy Daniel Schifferle Wemf is launching its Monitor of Investments in Classic Advertising (Monica) at the beginning of 2003. With this, Wemf wants to add the money side to its existing tools. Wemf CEO René Schmutz does not rule out a cooperation with Media Focus, but he does not see any concrete possibilities at the moment.
Monica is a clear challenge to Media Focus. Does Wemf want to shoot down Media Focus?
René Schmutz: You could perhaps interpret it that way. But it is not our aim to attack Media Focus. I have informed IHA-Gfk Managing Director Peter Hofer about what we are going to do. And I told him that we are open to collaborations - if they are possible.
Where would cooperation be conceivable? Wemf is planning a completely different type of data collection than Media Focus does.
Dirt: At the moment, I also have no idea what a collaboration could consist of. But I don't want to rule it out in advance. Our aim is not to shoot down Media Focus. The aim is to offer our customers a good service. If we can do that together with Media Focus, all the better.
Did you poach Hans-Jürg Gränicher from Media Focus?
Schmutz: No. We only talked about our latest project when Gränicher had already resigned from Media Focus.
Up to now, Wemf has surveyed net advertising expenditure once a year on behalf of the Advertising Statistics Foundation. Is that obviously no longer enough?
Schmutz: All our studies and statistics are intended for the advertising market. We create transparency through circulation figures and reader numbers. So it's only logical to show how much money flows into advertising more frequently than before. Statistics on advertising expenditure, which are updated weekly or daily, are an excellent addition to our studies on the money side.
What target group are you aiming for with Monica?
Dirt: media and advertising clients. Perhaps others as well, as will become clear in the course of the detailed work that now lies ahead. The advantage of frequent statistics on advertising expenditure: You can systematize the monitoring of the competition. This is an extremely interesting prospect, both for advertising clients and for the acquisition departments of the media.
How is Monica positioned in the other Wemf studies and statistics?
Schmutz: Monica should be compatible with the other studies. The possibility of networking is very important. For example, with Mach Basic. This compatibility will probably not be available from day one, but it remains our goal.
What costs do Monica users have to expect?
Dirt: There will probably be a subscription for access to the entire database. Access to a reduced data set that costs less is also conceivable. Differentiation according to time criteria is also a possibility. This would mean that up-to-date data would cost more than data from further back. We will now develop a model that is attractive to the market and enables us to generate the necessary revenue.
What does Monica show? Net or gross advertising sales?
Schmutz: That hasn't been definitively decided yet either. It will probably be gross sales for the advertising market. When comparing the media with each other, it would be net sales - the hardest measure of business success.
Why will Monica be better than Media Focus?
Schmutz: Media Focus records the advertisements, commercials etc. directly in the relevant media. We have a different concept. With us, nobody will add up advertisements, and nobody will sit in front of the TV and add up the spots. The basic idea is to transfer the available scheduling data directly from the publishers, TV and radio stations or poster companies into a database. This technology is cheaper because you can use existing data. In contrast to Media Focus, our data will also be more precise - because we will differentiate between paid advertising media and fillers. We already do this today with our advertising statistics.
It would make sense to combine it with the annual study on advertising expenditure published by Wemf on behalf of the Advertising Statistics Foundation. Is this planned?
Schmutz: That is not the main focus. Our study on advertising expenditure has a completely different concept. For the time being, it will continue as before. However, a collaboration with Monica is certainly conceivable at a later date.
What will the organization that you are now setting up for Monica look like?
Dirt: During the development phase, there will be at least three people. We will probably need more for operations. At the moment we are in the process of hiring someone for the back office. Together with this person, Hans-Jürg Gränicher, Stephan Wyss and I will then build the boat so that it can float. But it certainly doesn't need a huge organization.
The timing of the launch of Monica is surprising: while the advertising slump is forcing cutbacks all around, Wemf is expanding massively.
Schmutz: Additional studies make it cheaper to obtain the data. The reason: you can use the same data for different studies. When we launched Mach at the time, three studies were combined. The rationalization potential was around one million francs. One of our ongoing tasks is to continuously rationalize the expensive procurement of data. Monica is a further step in this direction.

Four weeks after setting up its own media agency, the German agency group Jung von Matt (JvM) has already reported its first budget win.account news JvM media agency wins first account The financial services provider AWD from Hanover is now relying on JvM Media after its previous account manager Zenith closed its Hamburg branch.
Simko advertises for Hennes & Mauritz Hennes & Mauritz Switzerland (H&M) is parting ways with its advertising agency Oasis-Advertising, Carouge, after several years of collaboration. Simko, Geneva, is now responsible for the creation, adaptation and realization of the Swedish clothing company's campaigns on the Swiss market. Mediaedge CIA remains the media agency.
Lowe Direct becomes a partner of Draft After the dialog agency Alex Schmid dissolved its partnership with the international network Draft Worldwide, Draft has formed a new alliance in Switzerland with Lowe Direct, Zurich. Draft and Lowe both belong to the US advertising holding company Interpublic.
Heimat launches Hornbach in Littau The German DIY chain Hornbach is opening its first Swiss branch in Littau LU this summer. The German budget holder Heimat, Berlin, is responsible for the launch campaign. It wants to position the DIY store as a "new player in Switzerland". Heimat is relying on advertisements, posters, radio spots and guerrilla campaigns. According to Werben & Verkaufen, street signs such as "Littau bei Hornbach" are to be erected at intersections.
Hoteliers renew corporate design To mark its 120th anniversary, the Swiss Hoteliers Association (SHV) is giving itself a new identity: from fall 2002, it will operate under the Hotelleriesuisse umbrella brand. The new design will be introduced gradually and was created by Atelier Grand in Sierre. Grand won a pitch against five agencies.

Effective January 2003, Frank Hubrath, currently editor-in-chief of TR7, will take over as head of the 3sat editorial department at Fernsehen DRS. Andrea Eberhard will become deputy director of the PR agency Dr. Peter P. Knobel AG. Jacqueline Wettstein and Daniela Obrecht joined the agency in early July.
Verena Baumann has been the new marketing director of Schweizer Illustrierte since July 1; Marco Vala will succeed her as brand manager.
The Küsnacht-based PR agency cR Kommunikation is expanding its Bern office with Markus Schneider, Sibylle Hänni, and Eva Künzi.
Tamedia CFO Patrick Eberle, who has also been a member of the media company's executive board since 1994, will leave Tamedia at the end of March 2003.
Lorenz Bruegger will join Espace Media Groupe in early July. He was previously the head of Ringier's customer contact center. Markus Will will take over his position there.