Edipresse buys two Vaud regional newspapers from the Corbaz GroupBy Anita VaucherEdipresse has acquired the regional newspapers La Presse Riviera Chablais and La Presse Nord Vaudois from the Corbaz family in Montreux. The latest expansion of Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière's newspaper portfolio has yet to be approved by the Competition Commission.
"If I were Edipresse, I wouldn't even submit an application to the Competition Commission," sneered Jacques Richard, the delegate of the Board of Directors of the French publishing group Hersant, in an interview with dimanche.ch just two days before the surprising contract was signed between Edipresse and the Corbaz Group.
The background to his statement: Jacques Richard was so sure of himself that he announced in this interview that the Hersant publishing house, which had recently acquired the two Neuchâtel regional newspapers L'Impartial and L'Express, had made the publisher in Montreux an offer that he could hardly refuse.
But firstly, things turn out differently, and secondly, than you think. In the meantime, Jean-Paul Corbaz has sold the Corbaz family's entire share package to Edipresse and with it the two regional newspapers La Presse Riviera Chablais and La Presse Nord Vaudois. What is embarrassing for Richard is the not insignificant fact that Corbaz never received an offer from Hersant, as the latter confirmed to WerbeWoche.
The takeover of the Corbaz Group by Edipresse is all the more surprising as Corbaz declared in April that he was in no hurry at all to sell his company. His two sons were doing well in
company, and therefore there are no succession problems. In an interview with WerbeWoche (16/02), however, Pierre Lamunière sibylline declared that Edipresse would be happy to make an offer as soon as Corbaz in Montreux was up for sale.
Edipresse is considering a new station wagon for national customers
Lamunière has now acquired the objects of his desire - two other regional papers in Vaud - and only a negative decision by the Competition Commission (ComCo) could now put a spanner in the works. With the exception of La Côte - this regional newspaper was sold to Hersant last summer - the Competition Commission will determine that all titles in the canton of Vaud will belong to the Edipresse Group.
But the Edipresse patron is optimistic. When he recalls similar cases from the Swiss-German media industry that have recently been decided positively by the Competition Commission, he sees no reason why Edipresse's application should be judged negatively. Nor had Edipresse worked out an alternative strategy because it was actually certain of a favorable decision from Bern, Lamunière told WerbeWoche.
Pierre Lamunière wants La Presse Riviera Chablais and La Presse Nord Vaudois to continue to exist as regional newspapers, but wants to use the synergies with the large daily newspapers of Edipresse for the editorial content. In the advertising market, Edipresse could now offer an interesting combination for national advertising customers, which could pose a threat to the newspapers that are part of the Romandie Combi. Edipresse only obtained separate advertising acquisition for its titles from Publicitas at the beginning of this year.
Jean-Paul Corbaz has decided to sell his company because he sees no long-term growth prospects for it. In addition, future developments in the media industry, such as the advent of the Internet and electronic means of communication, would have required major investments in the near future. His company would not have been able to make these investments. The sale to Edipresse Verlag, with its extensive experience, know-how and not least its location in the canton of Vaud, was therefore the best solution for his company and therefore for the employees, Jean-Paul Corbaz said.
And if the Competition Commission should signal a Njet to Lausanne after all, Corbaz can still sell to the major publisher from neighboring France without any qualms of conscience.
Corrigendum

La Regione increasedIn this year's certification, the Ticino daily newspaper La Regione achieved a circulation of 32901 copies and not 32546 copies, as was reported in AdvertisingWeek number 14/02. Compared to the previous year, this represents growth of 1.2 percent for La Regione.

Messe Schweiz has commissioned Wigra Expo AG to organize the Basel Vacation Fair starting in 2003. Wigra Expo is the organizer of the Fespo tourism fair in Zurich, the Vacances, Sports & Loisirs fair in Geneva, and the Vacation and Health Fair in Bern. The licensing agreement between Messe Schweiz and Wigra is designed for the medium term. The goal of the agreement is to leverage synergies and optimize market-driven, customer-oriented platforms for the tourism industry. The Basel Vacation Fair takes place as part of the Mubaplus Experience Fair; the next edition will be held from February 21 to 23, 2003. Lovely’s up to something. Her spontaneous reactions to current events are increasingly becoming the trademark of the dairy cow Lovely. Whether Lovely is at a ski jumping event, the Street Parade, or soon at the Tour de Suisse—the creative team at Advico Young & Rubicam always comes up with an advertising concept that’s firmly rooted in current events for their cow, who’s sometimes hopping and sometimes dribbling. Now, on Mother’s Day, they’ve briefly turned the tables. Lovely, as a cute little calf in his younger days, surprises his spotted mom with a bouquet of lush green tulips.
Screen-up 2002 has been canceled. The Screen-up TV trade show will not take place this year. After four successful years, the organizers, RMB Switzerland and IP Multimedia, are canceling the event for financial reasons. The reason is purely economic, RMB press spokesman Jean-Claude Bruhin explained to WerbeWoche. Following the withdrawal of two of the largest exhibitors, TV 3 and Tele 24, the costs for the other TV stations would have risen significantly. In addition, the organizers wanted more content and fewer parties, which would have meant extending the event to two days—and that, in turn, would have made it more expensive. RMB, IP Multimedia, and their partner Publisuisse felt they were unable to cover these costs. It is uncertain whether the TV trade show will return next year. Bruhin: «I don’t want to pretend we’re just taking a break. If Screen-up is revived, it will be with a completely new concept.»
Little delights. The best of Germany’s up-and-coming creative talent between two book covers: «Sushi No. 4» is here. Every year, the Art Directors Club of Germany hosts its competition for emerging talent. A high-caliber jury led by ADC member Delle Krause awards the titles «ADC Talent of the Year» and «ADC Junior of the Year» in the two categories «Thesis Projects» and «Practical Projects.» The award-winning entries and other selected competition works are featured in the yearbook thanks to sponsorship from Stern magazine. Among this year’s trend-setting new ideas is a video still by Zurich-based artist Yves Netzhammer from his «statements IV.» The 142-page annual publication is published by Hermann Schmidt and can be ordered at www.typografie.de.
Econ Verlag Presents the Advertising Yearbook. The 2002 Advertising Yearbook from Econ Verlag has just been published. It provides an overview of advertising trends from the past year in German-speaking countries. The campaigns featured were selected from approximately 1,000 submissions. The Econ Verlag jury selected 37 industry winners, 7 category winners, and 4 grand prize winners from among these entries, who were each awarded a «Megaphon.» Switzerland is represented by Freiburghaus & Partner as one of the category winners. The 2002 Advertising Yearbook (including CD-ROM) is available in bookstores for 153 francs (ISBN 3-430-15024-8). The winning campaigns can be viewed online at www.jdw.de.
A farewell in style. For eight years, Weber Hodel Schmid (WHS) «provided the best advertising for the Tagi. »Now the Tagi is providing the best advertising for W,H,S,« reads the headline above a six-page feature in which the Tages-Anzeiger once again highlights the best »We’re staying on top of it« ads. Going forward, Guye Benker will manage the prestigious account. In return, WHS not only gets to use these six complimentary pages in the Tagi for some great self-promotion, but—as a consolation—will now also run ads for the SonntagsZeitung, published by Tamedia. WHS’s Tagi campaign is also available as a book titled »Life Is a Headline,” featuring commentary by various renowned authors.
Editorial

Copper Mines and Compliments: If creatives suffered from short-term memory loss, they’d have it easier—they could marvel at their own brilliant ideas and concepts every morning. Those fresh takes. Those surprising dramatic twists… But ever since ADC books and advertising archives have existed, the advertising world has had an elephant’s memory. The biggest challenge in everyday life is presenting the client with something that hasn’t already existed in this form. After all, idea theft is the gravest offense among advertisers. An accusation of copying always tarnishes the agency’s reputation.
Hardly a week goes by without our editorial office being inundated with accusations of plagiarism: claims that the idea, the entire layout, or the headline in this or that ad was stolen. Our stance in such cases: We don’t act as the “advertising police” and leave the investigative work to the relevant authorities, such as the ADC.
That is another reason why we do not have a «Copper Mine» section.
Clients, however, are unlikely to be interested in copied campaigns and advertising ideas: Advertising recall is brand recall, and uniform advertising trends ultimately jeopardize a brand’s image. There’s no cure for stolen concepts, similar colors, slogans, and motifs. Ultimately, advertising also follows the laws of fashion: it’s all been done before. Every thought is a further development of a previous one; every idea is based on another. Anyone who has once again been annoyed by a colleague who steals ideas can take comfort in Theodor Fontane’s words: «Plagiarism is the most sincere of all compliments.» Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

The Federal Council has no objections to an early liberalization of alcohol and interruptions advertising on radio and television, it writes in a statement on the plan of the Council of StatesNewsFederal Council: Yes, but to liberalization, to amend corresponding provisions of the Radio and Television Act (RTVA) even before its total revision. Based on a parliamentary initiative by Carlo Schmid, the Council of States wants to allow advertising for beer and wine on radio and television and to adapt the rules for interruptive advertising to minimum European regulations. However, the Federal Council reserves the right to make certain adjustments to the regulations in the overall revision of the RTVG.
New online advertising partnersThe U.S. groups NetRatings and DoubleClick are now working more closely together. NetRatings acquires DoubleClick's user survey unit AtPlan for $18.5 million; in return, research data from NetRatings and AtPlan will be integrated into DoubleClick's banner management offering.

According to well-informed Belgian sources, former Plakanda owner Peter Gmür is negotiating with multimedia marketer RMB International(RMBI) for the spin-off of RMB Switzerland. It is unclear, however, whether Gmür is also asking for the hand of the Austrian RMBI subsidiary. Gmür himself could not be reached by the time of going to press. It appears that Gmür is negotiating as a private citizen and not in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Clear Channel Plakanda (CCP); in any case, he had already "categorically" denied a role for CCP in the RMB negotiations in February. Gmür is repeatedly mentioned as a private investor because he is said to have made a fortune in the hundreds of millions from the Plakanda sale to Clear Channel. Gmür's name was rumored to be involved in the founding of Mediahaus Seefeld, Andy Lehmann's media agency. He was also named as a partner in Qualiclick (and recently owner of Adlink shares). Gmür does not comment on this, but he did not want to deny a partnership with Qualiclick to WerbeWoche a fortnight ago.
Thomson is now Europe's number 1 cinema marketer
Meanwhile, it is also certain that French electronics manufacturer Thomson Multimedia will acquire almost the entire network of cinema, TV, radio and online marketer RMBI (excluding Switzerland and Austria). On Wednesday, May 8, Thomson and RMBI shareholders, international cinema chain UGC (67%) and Belgian public TV company RTBF (33%), signed the change of hands agreement. A corresponding report in the Belgian daily La Libre Belgique was confirmed by RMBI and RTBF upon request.
The network sold comprises around a dozen subsidiaries in as many European countries. With the purchase, Thomson becomes the largest cinema marketer in Europe. Thomson has already sold RMB Germany (in December) and, in April, its TV operations in Spain - the latter to the Arbo Multimedia group. (mk)

Affinity of ads among supporters in "Yuppieland "Best of Print Advertising The 2002 advertising 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 with an excerpt of the results from the Advertising Index (AX Print) five times a year. This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. among all four target groups in total, in the 1st quarter of 2002 are shown under the heading "Top Three".

The SBB has come up with new ideas in its 2001 annual reportBy Andreas PanzeriWith a forecast section, the SBB wanted to set itself apart from the traditional pattern of conventional annual reports for once. 16 future scenarios were to supplement the mere retrospective of the past financial year - and also provide the railroads with internal material for further training.
"The fact that the 2001 Annual Report does not depict a single train is probably unique in the 100-year history of SBB," says Stefan Haas, Head of Public Relations at SBB, commenting on the new style. The 2001 Annual Report of the Swiss Federal Railways has been completely revamped graphically. "Our theme was the customers - and we pursued this idea radically," explains Haas.
Instead of everyday scenes from the course of the year at Deutsche Bahn, which are shown in various picture formats throughout the 60-page publication in the 2000 report, the 2001 annual report now has a concentrated picture section right at the beginning. The back chapters of the report contain only texts, figures and graphical tables.
The "opening credits" picture section shows portraits of numerous SBB customers in full-format photos. A short story has been knitted around each of these pictures in three-line legends. For example, a boy is enjoying the milk that is being transported by train with Cargo Domino to various processing centers in Switzerland.
A senior couple enjoy traveling with the GA travelcard. A student praises the fast train connections to university. A fruit merchant appreciates the fast transport of his citrus fruits from Sicily to the distribution center in Switzerland. A young woman travels by train to a spring weekend, another to the Street Parade and so on...
The importance of numbers for future development
However, the content of the new annual report is radically different from the graphic design with such artistic photos. On behalf of SBB, the Prognos Institute in Basel has developed 16 different future scenarios. These outlooks into the future paint a picture of possible traffic developments over the next 20 years. With this forecast section, SBB wants to set itself apart from the traditional structure of annual reports for once.
Instead of a mere retrospective of the past financial year and a sterile pile-up of facts, SBB wants to take the reader on a journey by rail into the not-so-distant future to celebrate this year's 100th anniversary of rail travel in Switzerland.
These futuristic transport scenarios are also used internally by SBB as food for thought in management training and further education courses. "They therefore also serve as a basis for discussion for the further development of the Federal Railways," explains Head of PR Stefan Haas.
Specifically, these visions deal with entrepreneurial freedom in the EU networks, various backgrounds to flexible planning, future forecasts for the development of passenger kilometers and the future of the Zurich economic area.
The people behind the report describe the "law of large numbers" as a "design experiment". This means that each chapter of the annual report begins with a graphically striking number. "SBB's size, range of services and market position bring immense numbers to light," the commentary states. In detail, the annual report shows that SBB carried out over 304 million passenger journeys in 2001, covering 13.3 billion passenger kilometers.
The newly designed annual report was produced by the agency New Identity Ltd, Basel, and managed in-house by the Communications department in Bern. The photographers were Donald Christie, Duc Liao, Gerhard Linnekogel, David Roth, Comenius Röthlisberger, Ursula Sprecher, Paul Wetherall and Kia Naddermier.

"Same procedure as every year?" - That doesn't have to be the case, say the authors of the book "Report of Annual Reports".book service: 24 Annual Reports This work documents 24 never-before-realized ideas for annual reports. The Stuttgart-based design studio Strichpunkt uses these fictitious annual reports to show that annual reports can communicate and support a company's corporate identity or brand mission beyond figures, data and facts. The fictional annual reports include Paradise AG by Adam & Eva as well as Amordata AG by Giacomo Casanova. The book, published by Hermann Schmidt Mainz, was awarded a gold medal (brochures/catalogs), a silver medal (graphic design) and an award (typography) in this year's ADC competition. "Report of Annual Reports", 132 pages, 38 euros, ISBN 3-87439-606-1, limited edition.
Reports on the netAround 250 annual reports are available centrally online at the web address www .consors.ch. Consors (Schweiz) AG has developed this service together with Edition Renteria and makes it available on the Internet free of charge. There are currently 469 reports from listed Swiss companies and 293 companies online, of which around 250 are annual reports. All documents are stored in their original layout, including photos, as PDF files and can be searched selectively by company, sector and publication date. The service is to be expanded on an ongoing basis.

Muse & MussePatrizia SerraWhat was the last cultural event you attended?
Patrizia Serra: Cirque du Soleil; always harmony and yet dynamic, colorful and yet stylish, the perfect duality in small things as in life, only much more beautiful.
What are you reading right now?
Serra: Terry McMillan (ed.): "Between Heaven and Earth". The great reader of African-American literature. Because it contains a glorious variety of first-class short stories.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Serra: John Coltrane's "Coltrane for Lovers", because it's so relaxing and dreamy and yet it's not elevator music.
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Serra: "Some like it hot", because you can laugh so heartily for two hours.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Serra: I always switch off the TV beforehand.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Serra: None, because I only "surf" specific pages.
What could you never do without?
Serra: To my family and my friends.
What do you do in a free minute?
Serra: Simply enjoy.
Love is...?
Serra: ...something without which life makes no sense.

(Values = "Supporters" index of the ad compared to the average of all ads in the industry; 1.00 = average = 100%)Best of Print Advertising The ad 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 with an excerpt of the results from the Advertising Index (AX Print) five times a year. This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. among all four target groups in total, in the 1st quarter of 2002 are shown under the heading "Top Three".
Cigarettes Philip Morris Filter Kings (Bosch & Butz) 1.3

Beverages Eichhof Klosterbräu Amber (Lesch + Frei) 1.2
Banks/credit cards Baloise Bank dormancy (Contexta) 1.8
ten/Post Auto Audi Allroad Quattro 1.6
Advertising Index

For the Advertising Index ad tests, a representative sample of around 800 people is surveyed in 8 survey waves. The respondent first completes a psychological test (50-item test) and then leafs through a booklet containing 45 advertisements. As when reading a magazine, they are free to linger over each advertisement for as long as they wish. Before turning the page, she rates the ad on a scale from 5 ("appeals to me a lot") to 1 ("doesn't appeal to me at all"). Supporters" are people who are "very" or "fairly" attracted by an ad. The acceptance of advertising determined in this way correlates strongly with other functions of advertising impact and is therefore suitable for benchmarking.
For the segmentation of the sample according to target groups, Market Radar uses a psychographic test, the so-called 50-item test. With the help of this test, the value orientations of the respondent are determined and assigned to one of the psychogram fields (see wind rose). The value orientations range from South (conservative) to North (progressive) and from West (outward-looking, materialistic) to East (inward-looking, idealistic).
Further information on the Advertising Index and the Market Radar is available from Demoscope. Planning support with the Advertising Index, the Radar and new
with the Print Advertising Monitor (PAM), Publimedia.

The new Weltwoche in magazine format judged by the industry "Courageous", "independent", "consistent" - the new Weltwoche in magazine format has received a lot of recognition. It is particularly praised for its simple elegance and the chosen typography. On the other hand, respondents were almost unanimous in their criticism of the lack of reader guidance. "The discovery of listlessness - the so-called new Weltwoche hit me - already weakened at the vernissage by these acoustically completely incomprehensible speeches including talk show (probably amplified via a Revox 20-watt home system with floor boxes) - like a low blow. I'm in convalescence. A title designed like a kiosk poster. Borer for the 20th time as a hook. A layout like a mixture of house newspaper and book. I still haven't finished the first issue and don't really feel like it. A highlight now and then, but that's just not enough."
"Brave, brave, this new Weltwoche, but the only right way to go. It has a lot of potential, especially in the highly competitive advertising market. The old Weltwoche has been clearly undervalued due to its readership and circulation figures. The new magazine format could turn things around. The product is unique in the German-language print media market. It is a newspaper in a modern and reader-friendly magazine format and a magazine with a serious newspaper feel. This makes it interesting for readers and therefore also for advertisers. I'm giving the new Weltwoche a chance because it has the courage to be completely new and offers a good environment for advertising placements in this 'format'."
"A different, new cover design, different advertising that does justice to the magazine - and success is guaranteed!"
"And suddenly it hurt me to say goodbye, because the old Weltwoche in newspaper format was as easy to read as the 'old Weltwoche'. The move to magazine format is nevertheless the right one from a market policy perspective. Because Weltwoche must remain unique - and it is. I think the content structure is good - although the topic sections should be better labeled. It is easy to read because it is well thought out and written. I think it's a shame that Hansjörg Schneider has to write from Bern again, and I wish Roger Köppel had gone one step further in his editorial. A minor point - I find the cover paper lukewarm and limp in its feel. Wrong for Weltwoche. I'm looking forward to the next issue."
"A bit of transatlanticism, a pinch of Spiegel, a Russian-inspired logo lettering in the style of the old Leipzig school, but still: I really like the new Weltwoche. I also like the thick, non-slip paper and the handy format. I have trouble with the overview, which wasn't a problem before with the structure of the frets. But then, nothing is like it used to be. I wish the new Weltwoche every success!"
"Köppel's weekly show is also worth a read in magazine format. Instead of gently renovating the old property, they put up a contemporary villa. But at least it's a complete success: beautiful, sharp, chic."
"The new Weltwoche is bold. Anyone who thinks and acts so consistently independently like Roger Köppel, doesn't pander to anyone and provokes superficial criticism - in my eyes, you simply have to be successful with a brand of such great quality as Weltwoche. In any case, we talked intensively about the new Weltwoche with our family last night. We enjoyed the content (commentary on an anxious Europe, Melanie Mecke's diary, Mama loves you), wondered about the choice of topics (can those eyes lie), found many familiar things again (Martin Suter, Linus Reichlin) and mentally 'put a lot of things to one side to read later'. In any case, we agreed on one point: the magazine format has a very decisive advantage: Weltwoche remains compact and can be picked up again by everyone at any time. It is not possible for individual bundles to disappear, and the presence is guaranteed for a week. And the most important point for me as our customers' media consultant: Our children (daughter 18/KV and son 22/student) have also discovered Weltwoche as a magazine. And that is probably the all-important goal of the new Weltwoche. What a comeback!"
"The beautiful typography makes you want to read it. The elegant absence of any design fussiness takes some getting used to, but is consistent. I find the absence of any reader guidance through structure and order more tedious - after all, in a magazine of 116 pages. Why are the main articles not even announced with page numbers? Oh yes, and the content? The Borer interview brings nothing new, but Eugen Sorg's piece on Saudi Arabia is a brilliant report. I'll save the rest for a four-hour train journey on Ascension Day. The problem that the new Weltwoche will have with me: I won't be traveling that long by train every week..."
"I don't like it too much, the new Weltwoche. However, I still have a little trouble with the reader guidance, if there was any. I was surprised by the relatively high number and wide range of companies advertising, which also documents the enormously high expectations of the new Weltwoche. I'm curious to see whether the creators will succeed in this balancing act between a new Weltwoche identity and the need to meet all expectations." Survey: Daniel Schifferle

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 with an excerpt of the results from the Advertising Index (AX Print) five times a year. This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that performed best among the entire sample, i.e. among all four target groups in total, in the 1st quarter of 2002 are shown under the heading "Top Three".

Matter & Partner puts stock market winners in the limelight for the investor magazine Stocks, published by HandelsZeitung, has been providing investors with weekly information on the stock market for over 18 months. Even after the boom years, Stocks has secured broad awareness among readers. The aim of the campaign designed by Matter & Partner and launched at the end of April is to expand this circle. Although a study shows that a considerable proportion of the Stocks audience are among the top earners, Daniel Matter and his team are focusing on the nouveau riche. Thanks to Stocks, they have made money so quickly that they are unaware of the comments of the old money aristocracy. page 6