After the press reported the threat of mass layoffs among the Beobachter staff and Editor-in-Chief Ivo Bachmann told the SonntagsZeitungs that his team was prepared to go to extremes, the management of Jean Frey AG reacted promptly last Monday. However, after a marathon meeting with the Beobachter crew and a plenary meeting with the staff of all titles, there was only a thin communiqué: negotiations about an isolated sale of the Beobachter were ruled out. The Beobachter crew had been guaranteed compliance with the editorial statutes, full editorial independence and subordination to the collective labor agreement, and Bachmann was unable to provide any further assurances to the Beobachter team. "We have agreed not to make any further comments." And Swissfirst also announced that it was no longer allowed to provide any information.
Bilanz editor-in-chief Medard Meier, the only person from whom information could be obtained before the editorial deadline, contradicts an article in the NZZ am Sonntag according to which the Bilanz editorial team had also spoken out against the private placement of Jean Frey AG. "Nine out of ten members of the Bilanz editorial team can live with this, because it is much more important for all of us that we know who will own Jean Frey AG." However, Meier demands: "Every shareholder who acquires a stake of more than five percent must be disclosed."
Walter Bosch, representing a European private equity fund and other investors with an interest in Jean Frey AG (WW 10/02), has "no joy" in the confusion among observers. Nevertheless, the fund is still "interested" in buying Jean Frey shares, said Bosch. Like other investors, the fund is still waiting "until the smoke has cleared". The subscription period does not expire until March 27.
Bosch believes Swissfirst's decision not to sell Beobachter separately is the right one. "This stock belongs to Jean Frey AG. And as long as it is there, Jean Frey AG is also interesting," he says. Keeping the Beobachter is "a basic prerequisite" for investing in the publishing house.
What if the Beobachter editorial team carries out its threat and resigns collectively? Bosch reacts gruffly: "If the editors want to willfully jeopardize the product, they should just quit. The Beobachter would be in crisis, but it could still be continued - even with other people. The rights and subscriber base would remain with Jean Frey AG." (mk/dse)

The first European Portfolio Night is launched in ZurichThree Zurich women working in communications companies are launching Portfolio Night on April 4. The aim of the event is to promote contacts between photographers, photo agencies and art buyers. The people behind Portfolio Night are Monica Pozzi, a graduate ETH architect and owner of a film production company in New York, Rea Eggli, who runs the cultural agency swissandfamous, and Danielle Stutz, art buyer at Wirz Werbung. The initiative was triggered by the realization that contacts between art buyers and photographers tend to be distant and are often limited to telephone conversations or occasional meetings.
The Portfolio Night is intended to help bring photographers and photo agencies together with art buyers, art directors, picture editors and agents, who can then exchange ideas and make business contacts. "Of course, personal contact also facilitates customer loyalty," adds Rea Eggli. Similar events that have already been established in New York serve as a model.
100 photographers in the Blue Hall of the Löwenbräu premises
The Zurich version should attract agencies and advertising experts from all over Europe and ideally even from the USA, according to the initiators' declared aim. There is already a great deal of interest from abroad, at least among agencies: eight agencies from England, Sweden, Holland and Germany as well as one from New York are currently on the list of participants, including big names such as Lundlund and Bransch. These will be joined by agencies from Switzerland, and young Swiss individual photographers will also be given the opportunity to present their portfolios. In total, the works of over one hundred photographers will be on display and can be admired.
The test balloon will be launched on April 4 in the Blauer Saal on the Löwenbräu site in Zurich. The success of the premiere will determine the future of Portfolio Night. The organizers have set themselves the ideal goal of repeating the event every six months.
Only time will tell whether the photographic nights will always take place in Zurich or whether they will go on tour as a roadshow. "However, Zurich is the ideal location," comments Rea Eggli. "The city is centrally located in Europe and has a good reputation when it comes to the quality of advertising." Bruno Amstutz

Striked up Ouch cheek! How do I cross this water now?" The woman wrapped in canvas will never tell us. Perhaps because Gucci suffers from acute flatulence? What we see only evokes associations with a lot of hot air...and it has to come out. Fashion-conscious people, of course, interpret the ad quite differently, especially since reaching for the buttocks means wearing Gucci. While Prada got by with the little red stripe, the competition uses much more aggressive identifying marks. So, let all winds blow, because gone are the days of looking out into the world with folded arms. Chandra Kurt [email protected]
Column

Bad reputation, my ass By Thomas Lüber
Why is it that only advertisers write about the bad reputation of advertisers? Probably because our image is so self-evidently bad with everyone else that they spend their time on more important things. For example, zapping away from commercials.
But there is hope. I've discovered a demographic group where we advertisers go down mega well. I don't mean tax commissioners or cocaine dealers, and I certainly don't mean journalists, even though they portray us from time to time as interesting, even essential, personalities. This has nothing to do with appreciation, however, but with the fact that the media, unlike their consumers, are dependent on advertising. No, nowhere else does the advertiser have such a bad reputation as among journalists, who, as we know, would never prostitute themselves like their copywriting colleagues.
So, who really likes us from the heart now? Children. I have conducted an intensive series of tests to find out why this is so. The result: we are similar. Like them, we spend most of our time filling sheets of paper with amateurish sketches of an ideal world. Like them, it always occurs to us at nine o'clock in the evening what we still have to do urgently. And like them, we also like to connect with like-minded people in associations, to which, however, we give nice expressions like Art Directors Club and don't just say kindergarten.
Just how far admiration goes is illustrated by the story of Leonie and her breakground scuffle, in the course of which
the defeated boy threatened, "If you don't stop right now, I'll call my neighbor, because he's a policeman." To which Leonie replied with a contemptuous smile, "So what? Then I'll get my neighbor. And he'll be an advertiser, in the case."
[email protected]
Thomas Lüber is Managing Director Creation at Lesch+Frei Zurich.
Business lunch

In this academy every guest is a professor
A full-grown carnivores know: As the Easter date approaches, cravings for a fragrant roasted kid stir as if by magic. There is only one address for this in Zurich: the "Accademia-Piccoli". Isidoro Mora, who always looks young and could be Placido Domingo's brother, has the delicate pieces prepared the way they should be: in the oven, olive oil and a few splashes of white wine on top, salt, pepper. Nothing more. He serves them with fried potatoes and vegetables. Just the smell coming out of the car...una vera meraviglia.
Of course, a 500-gram piece of meat is not enough for a business lunch. That's why, for several years now, the menu has always been the same: the starter has to be spaghetti frutti di mare. It's like a fresh breeze from the Mediterranean. Olive oil is heated in a pan, then the chef sprinkles some racy pepper on the oil, adds a few pieces of tomato, lightly steams the sauce, tosses in mussels and other sea creatures and a handful of spaghetti. It's these downright brilliantly simple dishes that give so much inimitable fun to eat when you serve up uncompromising quality.
At the end of the three-course meal, there has to be a Tourte Saint-Honoré. The steeply rising chocolate leaves and the light and fragrant mocha cream cover the walls of the stomach and end the meal. Afterwards, admittedly, there is at most room for an espresso and a grappa.
The wine list also pleases amateur oenologists, because Mora makes sure that some trouvailles are hidden among the bouteilles. Let's discover Calabrian and other wines from the still undervalued south of Italy! The prices are not moderate, but not overpriced either. Those who want to splurge on supertuscans - be my guest! It has always been a bit more expensive for philistines to mime showing off. But you don't have to here. After all, the excellent service knows the wishes of a regular clientele or - if there is a need for oenological knowledge - knows how to interpret bacchanalian cravings correctly.
And where is the hair in the soup? One could very well argue that the fried potatoes should not be braised in the voiture because they lose their bite. They belong in the dry heat.
Is that it? That's it.
No pain, no gain. The three-course lunch, including wine, mineral water, and caffè con grappa, adds up to a good 250 to 300 francs - for two. That's just the way it is: you only live once, but you always want to dine so well under Max Gubler's tableaux and admire the plaster ceiling. Everything is carefully cared for and cherished. Cell phones, dear business lunchers, may not be heard ringing here. The reception, we are assured with a malicious smile, is bad anyway. Carlo Bernasconi [email protected]
Accademia PiccoliRotwandstrasse 48
8004 Zurich
Phone 01 241 62 43
Parking spaces on Bäckerstrasse are a matter of luck.

The Keystone Cannes Open poster competition is establishing itselfBy Andreas Panzeri After 20 entries at last year's premiere, 46 works have already been submitted for this year's Keystone Cannes Open poster competition. The team of Moritz Staehelin and Gian Andrea Maurizio have been awarded a trip to the big festival in Cannes.
With the contest for young creative talent, the Keystone photo agency wants to make advertisers aware that more than 10 million images lie dormant in its archive. Participants in the competition were allowed to draw on this treasure for the design of their posters. However, mainly news pictures and snapshots of celebrities were selected.
Obviously, the advertisers are not yet primarily looking for factual shots, which Keystone would also like to promote, in an archive. As chance would have it, the 46 works are
four US presidents had to serve as advertising models. John F. Kennedy, for example, recommends Berlin pancakes from the Swiss bakery. Elvis advertises clothes from the Brockenhaus and Karl Lagerfeld for children's fashion. Prince Charles comes out as a skateboarder and the Pope, with his decorated belly, preaches about the qualities of a quirky tattoo store. "The temptation to work with celebrities is of course great. It's not that easy to do in everyday working life," said jury member Markus Ruf.
However, the conditions for the competition participants were similar to those in the real world when it came to customers. All posters submitted had to be designed for real companies and approved by them. Condoms, skateboards, hairdressing salons and trendy fashion labels were therefore the most popular products or "clients" for the participating graphic designers and copywriters, who were not allowed to be older than 30 for this competition.
The winning poster by Moritz Staehelin (text) and Gian Andrea Maurizio (AD) from Zurich, on the other hand, advertises carrot juice from Biotta, which was also viewed positively by the realistic agency professionals on the jury. Nevertheless, the jury's decision was very close. A frivolous idea featuring Bill Clinton and Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger as condom users, as well as father and son Bush advertising Pater Test, an anonymous paternity test option, also caused lengthy discussions among the jury right to the end.
The visual language is clearly in the foreground
As in 2001, the jury consisted of Simone Fennel, Matthias Freuler, Dani Comte and Markus Ruf. When asked about their impressions, Fennel said that not all the possibilities of computer graphics had been exhausted in the processing of the images. Freuler was struck by the cheekiness and humor in most of the posters. Comte noted that, in view of the international competition in Cannes, communication was primarily through visual language rather than words.
As with the launch, the competition was once again organized by the Jung von Matt/Limmat agency with Daniel Meier, Simone Künzler and Salomé Zuest. The winning team will fly to Cannes in June to take part in the competition for international stars. Keystone is sponsoring the flight, the hotel and the festival pass. Plakanda makes it possible for the young talents to advertise themselves and their cooperative customers prominently on Weinbergstrasse in Zurich.

Muse & Musse Catherine PurglyWhat was the last cultural event you attended?
Catherine Purgly: The federal election on March 3. Because it was important.
What are you reading right now?
Purgly: "The Picador Book of African Stories", bought in the Central Book Shop in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Purgly: "Volume 1" by DJ Crazybeat.
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Purgly: None at all. There are too many good movies for that that I haven't seen yet.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Purgly: At "Viktor's Late Program".
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Purgly: www.carwinner.ch
What could you never do without?
Purgly: To breakfast and reading the SonntagsBlick.
What do you do in a free minute?
Purgly: Clean your glasses.
Love is...?
Purgly:...the most beautiful thing ever.

Dutch agency Hunterskil Howard Marketing and Communications has opened an office in Geneva.The business-to-business communications firm already has offices in Eindhoven, Amsterdam, Brussels and Eastleigh (UK). From Geneva, Hunterskil Howard can more efficiently serve several clients that have their European or international headquarters here, according to a statement. The agency's client list includes Novartis, Lucent, Nissan and Sony. In addition, new clients are to be acquired in Switzerland. Hunterskil Howard Geneva is headed by Account Manager Ben Bezemer, with support from Managing Consultant Wim van Nunen from Eindhoven. (sm)

Ex-advertiser and Ringier consultant Walter Bosch is considering buying Jean Frey shares from Swissfirst for a European private equity fund, he told WerbeWoche, confirming a report in SonntagsBlick. Bosch has represented the unnamed London-based fund, which invests exclusively in media projects, for a year. "Strategically, an investment in Jean Frey AG would make sense," says Bosch. Whether it would also be financially worthwhile is currently being clarified. Bosch himself assesses the share price as "not beyond good and evil" (see page 15). However, a prerequisite for an investment would be a "significant minority stake" and the opportunity to influence the strategy, "otherwise we are not interested". Bosch denied that he was working for the Apax investor group, as well as the assumption that he was being used as a Trojan horse for Ringier. Bosch emphasized that as a former Weltwoche editor, Bilanz columnist and publishing director of Ringier, he was able to assess the risks of Jean Frey AG. "This publishing house has great opportunities if you do it right," he said. It is important that people who understand the business are involved in the decision-making process. Bosch added that "his" fund calculates a return on investment of five to seven years, "which should be enough for Jean Frey AG." (mk)

Pascal Schaub has been Head of Strategic Planning at Publicis since DecemberHead of the week "Only holistic advertising thinking can create a complete advertising world"
There are good reasons why Pascal Schaub has remained loyal to Publicis for almost ten years. For example, the locational advantage of working between the Odeon, Opera House and Utoquai. Or the short commute to work that he lo-
cker by bike. The most important thing, however, is that he feels both comfortable and professionally challenged at the Zurich advertising agency: "Publicis not only offers the charm of small cells, but also the necessary basis of a large agency to tackle the tricky tasks of big players in the market," says Schaub.
After ten years as a copywriter and concept developer, he switched to strategic planning two years ago. He justifies this with the general development of advertising: "Strategy needs lateral thinkers. Only interdisciplinary, holistic advertising thinking can create a complete advertising world." Not only implementing a campaign, but also being able to develop a holistic strategy from the outset was as appealing to him then as it is now: "The holistic aspect is the logical development of integrated communication. I find this particularly exciting, because it's the future of advertising," he says with conviction. That's why he didn't hesitate to take over as Head of Strategy last December.
What does he want to achieve in the future? "Continue to have lots of sex and laugh a lot," says Schaub with a grin. And within the agency? "Continue to grow thanks to new tools, especially in the area of holistic communication. Because 'advertising' can't always afford to be just 'classic'."
In the industry, Schaub enjoys freedoms that he did not have in his previous job as a journalist. After completing a degree in German, history and philosophy, he first wrote film reviews and lifestyle reports for various newspapers. Two years later, he quit: "I found that the copywriter is a far more honest liar than the journalist." Before Schaub switched to advertising, he experienced its power first-hand when he performed with a theater group in various Swiss cities: "The number of viewers was closely linked to the number of posters put up and varied painfully," he recalls.
Today, the 39-year-old enjoys his free time with his daughter alongside his new professional challenge and the increasingly sporadic nightlife. She has just learned to walk. Conveniently enough, she was in H&M when her mother, a stylist, and father, a trend researcher, were inspecting the spring collection, which the little girl obviously found hilarious.

More and more traditional advertising agencies want to compensate for declining BBE with dialog marketing activitiesBy Luca Aloisi The BSW ranking shows it clearly: while the revenues of traditional agencies fell by an average of 5.6 percent, dialog marketing agencies recorded impressive growth in the crisis year 2001. And the forecasts are still good. However, more and more traditional advertising agencies are breaking into the market.
Anyone who calls the Foundation for Consumer Protection to order an advertising stop sticker for their letterbox is referred to the SDV. At first glance, it is surprising that the Swiss Direct Marketing Association, which organizes the unpopular direct mail advertising agencies, is responsible for the so-called Robinson list of advertising refusers and the mailing of advertising stop stickers (Mach Basic 2001: 24.7% of all Swiss households). However, self-regulation is only one indication of the efforts being made to show how serious the direct marketing industry is about getting away from its dirty image.
The BBE growth rates for this advertising sector were more helpful in this context. Although they are not systematically surveyed by the association, it can be concluded from observations of the advertising environment that they have risen more sharply than those of traditional agencies. Perhaps this development explains why the battle for prestige and reputation around the "waistline" of the advertising industry has subsided. The below-the-line scene, often ridiculed as hard sellers, has been able to make steady gains at the expense of the "top-heavy" above-the-line agencies.
And so, despite the economic downturn and dotcom bankruptcies, it is not only in Switzerland that an increasing share of the advertising budget is rolling into the DM agency coffers. One downer for SDV President Heinz Rohrer, however, is the fact that he is unable to document the boom: Because Swiss Post has not kept statistics on DM matters for a good five years, reliable figures are not available.
The sector can consider itself more fortunate in Austria, where, according to the industry association DMVÖ, a survey by the postal service and the industry is planned from mid-2002. The situation is most transparent in Germany. There, the German specialist Oneto one.de, based on Deutsche Post's DM Monitor, has identified a clear shift in the media mix over the past few years.
Whereas just five years ago, a good 70% of advertising expenditure was spent on traditional media, today an equally large proportion of expenditure goes on non-traditional advertising. In turn, clients invest a large proportion of their marketing budget in direct dialog with customers and potential customers: 21 billion euros compared to 32 billion euros spent on traditional advertising.
The German Direct Marketing Association (DDV) reported at the end of February that the majority of direct marketing companies recorded rising sales even in the weak economic year 2001 and started the new year optimistically. "Due to strong cost pressure and falling communication budgets, companies are increasingly focusing on efficient customer dialog," says DDV Managing Director Holger Albers.
"The future belongs to brands that are capable of dialog. Brands that bundle their budgets into TV commercials, for example, will have a very difficult time in the future," continues Albers. This is why Karen Weisshaar, Head of Communications at DDV, sees the market situation as a "historic opportunity to drive DM forward".
In Switzerland, where every second advertising franc is already spent on dialog communication, dialog marketers have seized the opportunity. DM is no longer limited to letters, reply letters or coupon mailings, but uses a multi-channel system that has made dialog even more targeted and efficient thanks to state-of-the-art communication technology - and not just online.
Heinz Rohrer, who presides over the 150-member industry association, mentions the buzzwords: customer relationship marketing (CRM), permission marketing, cross-media packages and interactive marketing. "We have gained importance right up to the boardroom level," Rohrer explains confidently.
Although he has no reliable statistics, Rohrer is certain: "The weighting has shifted in favor of dialogue marketing by an average of 5 percent annually in recent years." The DM associations cite tougher competition as the reason for this shift in emphasis, which has brought the targeting of target groups and the measurement of advertising effectiveness to the fore.
The constellation could not be better thanks to new media
Rohrer has also noticed an increase in customer retention marketing methods, which have become more important than acquiring new customers. Experience shows that acquiring a new customer is around seven times more expensive than maintaining an existing customer. And because the argument of minimizing wastage is once again gaining in importance when budgets are tight, the logical consequence for many advertisers was to reallocate their budgets. Lowe Direct, for example, takes this attitude into account and recommends doing one without leaving the other, because "5 percent greater customer loyalty brings 25 to 125 percent greater returns".
However, it is above all mobile communication technologies and the increase in online dialog components in the
B-to-B and, somewhat more slowly, in the consumer sector, which, according to the SDV President, will ensure that development remains dynamic in the coming years.
Factum Managing Director Valentino Mauriello has his own explanation for the industry's growth: because very few independent DM agencies are connected to functioning international DM networks, they are more dependent on local orders. This leads to more aggressive customer acquisition and retention. "Customers are not shoveled at us," says Mauriello. In his view, independent DM agencies also work in a more success-oriented way because, unlike DM units or traditional agencies, a significant proportion of their income is often made up of performance bonuses.
The Publicis Group, which acquired the industry leader Fisch Meier Direkt (BBE 2001: plus 2.8 %) just over a year ago and thus gained an important DM pillar, takes a different view. "DM agencies usually don't have a mandate like traditional agencies, but work more on a project basis," says Publicis CEO Fredy Collioud, explaining the different composition of income.
He also does not share Mauriello's point of view when it comes to local business: "A good 85% of the major Swiss agencies work for national clients that they acquire themselves. They have never been able to grow beyond the clients brought in by the network." Co-owner and management board member Gilbert Fisch takes the same line: "It's illusory to believe that you can go to a client with a dialog label and get a budget. Those days are definitely over."
Guido Wietlisbach, founder and Managing Director of WBO OgilvyOne, confirms that the ongoing professionalization of DM agencies has also increased client demands. Thanks to the acquisition of Swisscard, his agency believes it will be able to maintain its previous annual growth rate of 20 percent on average in the current year. Lowe's DM business unit, which was founded two and a half years ago (2001: plus 10 %), has also been hit by growth fever and has only unofficially achieved its goal of becoming one of the top five Swiss DM agencies. Managing Director Christian Hansen is planning to set up his own company this spring. Even if their BBE then continues to flow into the parent company, Hansen hopes that as a DM agency, they could aim for a "legally valid" medal position in the BSW ranking. The chances are good. "We expect growth this year to be on a par with last year," says Hansen.
Swiss DM crack Fisch stays sober even during the boom
Gilbert Fisch is not blinded by the boom euphoria and claims provocatively: "DM is growing, but most of the new volume is bypassing the DM agencies." Many companies produce DM in-house or with less professional partners; efforts are often abandoned after a few failed attempts, he explains. In addition, all catalogs and household scattering, including production costs, are still added to the DM measures. "However, none of these expenses go to the agencies. And this will not change."
In addition, the term dialog marketing is being stretched to the limit. "For me, advertisements with a domain address or telephone number have nothing to do with dialogue unless a clearly recognizable offer triggers a reason to act. These communication tools still belong to the classic ones," says Fisch. He therefore believes that the SDV is deluding itself and choosing the wrong optics. He bets: "If we have five DM agencies in a few years that generate over 15 million francs in BBE like the traditional large agencies, then I'm wrong."
The second strongest dialog marketing agency, the owner-managed Alex Schmid AG, can look back on a "very successful business year", according to management member Marie-Françoise Ruesch. The agency attributes the steep drop in BBE (2001: minus 46 %) at the Swiss Draft Worldwide agency to the spin-off of its subsidiary Art Direct. New impetus at Alex Schmid AG was provided by an increasing number of brand development orders and integrated, multi-level dialog concepts.
The brand credos of DM agencies such as "We create results", "Whoever is number 1 has a conviction" or "Customers through dialog" reflect a central need of many advertisers: In uncertain times, short-term customer response seems more urgent than long-term image cultivation. The unwritten law that DM has hardly any image potential has also been shaken.
Creativity and dialog are not mutually exclusive
Ruesch sees the fact that established DM agencies were overtaken by the units of traditional advertising agencies at last year's Swiss DM Award as an organic process. Rather, this is the result of new jury regulations that value creativity more highly in order to position the competition itself more attractively. Ralf Doller, member of the management board of Alex Schmid AG, was not surprised that mailings aimed at gimmickry, which were barely integrated into the overall communicative concept, received several awards.
Nevertheless, the playful approach was a lesson for the DM industry. "Dialogue agencies have improved their approach to brands in recent years because they have also noticed that creative DM measures that cover the broad brand mantle of a creative image campaign are more successful," explains Doller. There is a growing realization that creativity and dialogue are not mutually exclusive and that the rule that only classic advertising is image-building often proves to be wrong. Fredy Collioud also sees DM as an increasingly important element in brand management. "We wouldn't be able to work with a DM agency that only does technology and response at the drop of a hat," he says.
The rethink not only led to budget reallocations, but also increased the self-confidence of dialog marketers. Many are therefore convinced that traditional advertising media will increasingly take on the role of flanking measures.
However, the gold-rush mood has the "flaw" that it calls new competitors to the marketplace. Valentino Mauriello is amazed at the sudden DM competence that some traditional advertising agencies are claiming, because "until recently, selling was a red rag for them. Image was their thing." Mauriello is quick to call this misleading clients. "I hardly know any traditional advertisers who can really be described as dialog marketers with a sound background."
SDV President Heinz Rohrer is aware of the concerns of various DM agencies who fear a reduction in quality due to the intrusion of traditional advertising agencies into the flourishing DM garden. But this does not seem to shake his liberal attitude: "It will not work without integration. Only the sensible combination of both disciplines - traditional and direct measures - can be successful in the long term." This puts him in good company with the US advertising guru David Ogilvy, who predicted this development as early as 1983: "Direct response will lose its special position and be integrated into the range of services offered by general agencies."

The Tns Emnid Institute delivers the first market study on promotional products in EuropeThe business with promotional gifts and articles remains unaffected by the general crisis. At the 40th PSI trade fair of the Präsent Service Institut GmbH in Düsseldorf, the market research institute Tns Emnid presented a study on the promotional products industry. Until now, only limited, mainly unstructured data was available on this sector of the advertising industry.
The study is based on a survey of manufacturers, retailers and users of promotional products and provides basic information on sales structures, the importance of promotional products in the communication mix and product categories. The survey focused on Germany, but seven other European countries, including Switzerland, were also included.
The results attest to a positive future for promotional products and a structural change in the product range. While cheap, widely distributed mass-produced items such as lighters and pens are currently being sold, manufacturers and users have identified a growing demand for custom-made and individually tailored high-quality products.
Retailers and manufacturers of promotional products are positive about the future development of overall sales. The industry is most optimistic in England, where 75 percent of respondents believe that sales will increase. In Germany, the figure is 61%, while the Swiss are the most skeptical in a country comparison: Only 38 percent of retailers and manufacturers expect sales to increase, while 50 percent think they will remain constant. However, only 10 percent of respondents think that overall sales will fall.
The users - companies that use promotional products in their communication mix - also paint a positive picture of the industry: 38.2% of those surveyed in Europe stated that their companies' expenditure on promotional products had increased in recent years, 44% reported that it had remained constant and only 14.6% stated that it had fallen. For the future, most European users expect spending on promotional products to consolidate: 60.8 percent want to maintain current budgets, 18.4 percent want to increase them and 17.8 percent are likely to reduce spending. Bruno Amstutz

The 2002 edition of the Swiss Press Handbook is on the market.Service PR & Media Directory 2002
Thanks to a new format, the 532-page book has become clearer. It now also includes all listed companies. The indexes include press offices, PR agencies, directories of the general press and trade press, electronic media, services and freelance journalists. Edition Renteria SA in Zurich (www.renteria.ch) has further expanded its Internet presence with new services: QualityMail/-Fax and Medien-Mail/-Fax now also offer personalized e-mail and fax mailings. 135 francs, ISBN 3-85858-015-5.
Fact Book The new Fact Book 02 has been published. With this workbook, the Forum Corpo-rate Publishing aims to highlight the diversity of modern corporate communication and provide its customers and members with inspiration for their daily work. The Forum Corporate Publishing is Europe's largest industry association in this discipline. The factbook can be ordered at www.forum-corpo rate-publishing.com.
Radio and TV data The Radio and TV Media Data 2002 handbook is now available from The Cover Media. The brochure provides an overview of rates, discounts, pools, broadcasting areas and more for private radio and TV stations. It is available free of charge at [email protected] or fax 01 430 06 11.
Koschnick on the web In addition to the media lexicon and the lexicon of brand names, www.medialine.de, the B2B website of the news magazine Focus, now also provides the "Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Marketing". The marketing reference work by WerbeWoche guest author Wolfgang J. Koschnick offers definitions, explanations and explanatory notes on around 40,000 keywords in addition to German/English translations. Access is free of charge.

Rive Gauche is the name of a new advertising agency at 17 Avenue de la Prairie, just behind the train station in Geneva, which was founded by two former employees of the Lausanne agency Publicis, which has since been closed. Alphonse Garcia, Managing Director, and Pierre-Alain Brandt, CD, got to know each other at Publicis in Lausanne and therefore know their strengths and weaknesses inside out. Together, they want to offer innovative and holistic concepts and increase their clients' return on investment with unconventional advertising campaigns. For Alphonse Garcia, joining forces with Pierre-Alain Brandt is already the fourth partnership he has entered into after his time at Publicis. TBWA Switzerland is also involved in the Rive Gauche agency, establishing a link to French-speaking Switzerland for the first time.
With the agency name Rive Gauche, the two founders allude to existentialism as a non-conformist way of life. In the 1950s, it was considered a hotbed of creative people of all stripes in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the circle of writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (av).