Gaby Neyer has also been working as a media planner at the Winterthur media consulting agency Konnex since January. Michel Bächtiger will join her in mid-March. They are the only employees to support the agency founders Peter Döbeli, Monica Jäggi and Ronny Schmid.
Daniel Suter, a PR consultant from Biel, was elected as the new Director of the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne on Tuesday. He is currently Head of Partner Marketing and Communication at Expo.02.
The Freiburg-based communications agency Reck MCC strengthened its team with Martine Amey-Vorlet at the beginning of March.
Jürg Bachmann, Head of New Media at St.Galler Tagblatt AG, is leaving the company at the end of March. He was involved in the development of Radio Aktuell and Tele Ostschweiz at St.Galler Tagblatt AG and was involved in the planning of online media.
On September 1, Swisscontent founder and CEO Bendicht Luginbühl will take over knowledge and trend management for the Golbach Media Group. He will be succeeded at Swisscontent Corp. by Editor-in-Chief Fredy Hämmerli.
At the end of June, filmmaker Samir will hand over the moderation of the program "CH-Filmclub" on SF DRS, which will be presented by Daniel Hitzig after the summer break.
Tsunshan Samson Ng joined the agency Diem & Partner as AD at the beginning of March.
At the beginning of May, Gisèle Ory will take over from Andrea Arcidiacono as Deputy Head of Press and Information at the Federal Department of Home Affairs.
As of May 1, Kurt Bühler will succeed Stefan Becker as Head of the Office of Communications in the Principality of Liechtenstein.

Since the beginning of the year, Publisuisse has been in charge of sponsoring SRG radio stationsBy Markus Knöpfli Since January, Publisuisse has been responsible not only for TV advertising, but also for sponsoring the twelve SRG radio stations - at least as long as this remains permitted by law.
According to the Advertising Statistics Foundation, around CHF 18 million was invested in radio sponsorship throughout Switzerland in 2000. The twelve SRG radio stations raked in around a third of this, namely around CHF 7 million (not including event and concert sponsorship).
While the sponsorship of SRG radio stations was previously the responsibility of the respective radio directors, they have now transferred the sponsorship area to Publisuisse as a complete package as of January 1. For two weeks now, Publisuisse has also had Beatrice Kniel (45) in charge of the newly established radio sponsorship unit. Kniel is responsible for sponsorship on all twelve SRG radio stations - with one exception: event and concert sponsorship remains with the broadcasters.
SRG spokesperson Josefa Haas justifies the switch to Publisuisse with the desire to offer radio sponsorship from a single source. Haas explained the fact that TV sponsorship, which is the responsibility of the programme directors, is not also being centralized with the already intensive contacts between TV and Publisuisse. In contrast, there had previously been no contact with Publisuisse for the advertising-free SRG radio stations, which is why a change was appropriate.
Twice as much sponsorship money possible for radio
Publisuisse Director Ingrid Deltenre also emphasizes that, thanks to the sale of TV advertising, her company not only has good contacts to clients with affinities to the electronic media, but also professionalism in marketing and pricing. According to the advertising brochure, the USP of SRG radio is its high reach and - oh irony! - freedom from advertising (see box). Publisuisse has already made price changes (i.e. increases) based on CPMs, which are based on Radiocontrol performance values. Here is a concrete example: Sponsoring a week of traffic information from Viasuisse on DRS 1 (41 broadcasts) costs CHF 42800. According to Publisuisse, the sponsor, who is mentioned once at the end of each program, receives around 25 million gross contacts per week. Individual packages are of course possible.
Deltenre assumes that sponsorship income at SRG radio stations can be increased. At Radio DRS in particular, where sponsorship has been operated the least professionally to date, she believes a doubling within two to three years is possible - thanks to higher prices, more orders, new customers and cross-media (radio, TV, teletext). The latter can now play a greater role at Publisuisse. One example of this is the broadcasts from Salt Lake City, which were jointly sponsored by Swisscom, Rivella and Chevrolet as a complete radio-TV-teletext package.
However, it remains to be seen how long Publisuisse can continue to manage radio sponsorship. After all, the current draft of the RTVA provides for the abolition of sponsorship for SRG radio stations. Conversely, the Federal Council has already indicated that everything will remain the same in terms of radio sponsorship.
Walpen turns words into action

Following the Federal Council's fee-splitting decision on January 23, SRG Director General Armin Walpen called for advertising on DRS radios in an initial statement - as a replacement for the fee shares to be ceded. In the meantime, he has also commissioned a study to shed light on how advertising on DRS radio would affect the rest of the advertising market. However, Heidi Ungerer, Radio DRS press spokesperson, did not want to say which German institute is carrying out this study, when it will be completed and whether it will be published.

Muse & Musse Regina Hubschmied
What was the last cultural event you attended?
Regina Hubschmied: The vernissage of Cole Morgan at Leupi's Art Place in Zofingen AG.
What are you reading right now?
Hubschmied: "A fine balance" by Rohinton Mistey.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Hubschmied: "Chansons douces, Chansons tendres". Because I didn't grow up with French lullabies.
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Hubschmied: I watch "Forrest Gump" at least once a year.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Hubschmied: Currently on almost every show.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Hub smith: www.whitehouse .org
What could you never do without?
Hubschmied: On time for myself.
What do you do in a free minute?
Hubschmied: Being with my son.
Love is ...?
Hubschmied: The radiant laughter of my baby boy.

What's a handbag doing on a woman's head, and what's in the bag of the long half-naked woman? We don't know, and we look at these accessory campaigns in bewilderment. It may be that during the creation of the Biasia campaign, Tim Burton's sci-fi film "Mars Attacks!" was topical, especially since in it nasty Martians cut off the heads of innocent people and conjure them up with other "underpinnings". It's much more difficult with the Bui model, which outwardly doesn't look like an alien - even if such clothing speaks for an extremely interesting spirit. Let's hope that the small handbag contains something warm to wear. Chandra Kurt [email protected]
Column

Suspicion
From Liz Sutter
Chapter 48 is devoted to the stain. Other chapters are titled "breaking point," "collision," or "fishbone. The whole booklet is a treasure trove of tricky and intricate things, a source of joy, of schadenfreude above all. It is entitled "Die Tücke des Objekts" and is the catalog for the exhibition of the same name, which was shown at the Museum für Gestaltung in Basel in 1991. The inconspicuous work is accompanied by a striking red ribbon bookmark. However, this was not fastened - treachery of the object - and is therefore immediately lost. Even more treacherous is the fact that the versatile book has no page numbers and thus no table of contents. So far, so original. It's just stupid that this hardly known publication, of all things, seems to be the secret model for many designers. How else can it be explained that in some printed products everything is done to withhold the content from the reader. Fonts are chosen that may look good but are certainly not easy to read, if possible in a color tone that contrasts only minimally with the background. And above all, page numbers are hidden in places where no one expects them. Transferred to houses, this would mean: You put the house numbers in stamp size next to the keyhole or right on the roof.
My petty and humorless reaction to so much creativity is only surpassed by my ulterior motives. At first, I simply suspected that readers were being taken for a ride. In the meantime, I fear that everything is much simpler: Just as women's clothes are mostly designed by men and food departments are set up by people who can't cook, reading material is designed by non-readers.
[email protected]
Liz Sutter is a journalist.
Business lunch

Not always a balsamic also acts like balm
Admittedly, I like Italian cuisine. After all, I grew up with it (at least 180 centimeters). That's why I didn't object when an advertiser friend of mine sent me the business lunch invitation by e-mail. Because he's smart, funny and charming, and we haven't been bored for a second. Anything but a greye mouse.
Rendezvous at the "Gallo Nero". Black rooster. This used to be a sign of quality for "Tschianti". Fortunately, the two chefs of the restaurant know that valid crus are also vinified elsewhere in Italy. A beautiful, full-bodied red from Calabria was served. Giovanni Annoscia used to present the menu to the guests, which sounds as if Raimondo Ruggieri himself was singing a little aria in praise of Italian cuisine. The lunch menu is impressive, and the prices (around 30 francs per plate) are no joke. The decision falls on a Tris di Pasta for both as Primo and on asparagus risotto for my counterpart, while I am served calf's liver, shredded, with fresh green asparagus and shaved Parmesan. And now the fun stops.
Because Annoscia drizzles 25-year-old Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena over calf's liver and asparagus from a small plastic bottle. Tough luck. Friends, this was no 25-year-old, ever. It wasn't this boiled-down wine from Emilia-Romagna, which spends the last few years before bottling in a mulberry wood barrel and is then examined by a strict jury (from which ADC could also learn something - recte dicis, Frank Bodin, on page 18) to see whether the bottle into which it is bottled is allowed to bear the coveted seal of quality. The balsamic in the "Gallo Nero" lay liquid on the plate, the 25-year-old has the consistency of a syrup and is of a penetrating aroma, which above all makes a tenderly roasted liver sweat again, not to speak of the green asparagus. Nevertheless: It tasted already, the liver, and the risotto presented itself perfectly "all'onda". Only the dessert was not better. The cassata lacked the candied fruits. The hint that the guests liked it without does not fit. A cassata must remain a cassata.
But all in all: a nicely situated location above the lake, cell phones may also be left on. Carlo Bernasconi [email protected]
Gallo NeroMühlebachstrasse 36
8800 Thalwil
Tel. 01 720 22 32
Parking 100 meters further up in the municipal parking garage

In addition, Managing Director Christoph Morach is leaving the online marketing firm Qualiclick. Instead of hiring a successor, Qualiclick founder Roger Lienhard plans to become more actively involved in day-to-day operations again. Lienhard’s new team consists of Roger Baur, who was appointed Head of Marketing & Sales a month ago, as well as Enrique Nunez (Technology & Website Management) and Thierry Knecht (Permission Marketing). Morach will continue to serve the company as a consultant.
Heike Findeis will take over as head of BertelsmannSpringer’s Swiss country platform at the beginning of May. She replaces the previous country manager, Beat Gründel, who is leaving the specialized publishing group. Findeis most recently worked at the Berlin-based Huss Publishing Group, where her responsibilities included magazine distribution and the new media division. BertelsmannSpringer also owns Media-Daten Verlag, which publishes *WerbeWoche*.
In early March, Martin Bahnmüller will become the communications director for the Integrated Services division at the electronics company Ascom. He previously served as head of group communications at Alu Menziken Holding.
Daniel Vollenweider joined Blue Spirit Communications AG in Schlieren in January as the head of the Advertising Unit's consulting group.
The sports magazine published by AZ Verlag is concluding its launch phase after two years. The current project manager, Rainer Kupper, is stepping down and will focus in the future on key account management for AZ Verlag in French-speaking Switzerland. Starting in early March, Jörn Freudenberg will take over operational management and responsibility for the sports magazine’s marketing.
The Wirz Group is spinning off its investor relations (IR) subsidiary. The two managing directors, Martin Meier-Pfister and Anja Stubenrauch, are acquiring 100 percent of the shares. They are taking over all clients and employees. Jost Wirz will remain on the board of directors of Wirz Investor Relations AG.
Corinne Gerber has been appointed TV media planner at the TV marketing agency Radiotele. She succeeds Marco Josi, who is moving to the SRG Research Department.
Susanne Dürrenmatt joined the consulting team at the Basel-based communications agency MRG Communications on February 1.
Miklos Hedrich, Head of Marketing and Sales at Profil.ch, is leaving Orell Füssli Verlag. His responsibilities will be handled by Project Manager Bruno Rhomberg going forward.
The advertising agency Trio is expanding its team to mark its 70th anniversary: Michael Kamm has been the new managing director since January, and AD Bill Crews joined the creative team at the beginning of March.

Free death notices campaign extended until the end of JuneBy Markus Knöpfli The Solothurner Tagblatt, the latest split of the Berner Zeitung, is struggling to gain a foothold in the advertising market - despite free death notices and the "Four for two" campaign. Things should look better in the reader market.
WerbeWoche has surveyed the advertising volume of the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST) over the last three months. According to the survey, the ST averaged one third of a page per day in December, two fifths of a page per day in January and one third of a page in February. For comparison: In the first few weeks after its launch on October 20, 2001, the ST still managed a good half a page a day (see WW 38/01). BZ advertising manager Michael Seiler disagrees: from the start to the end of February, he counted around half a page per day. Either way, these figures also include repetitions resulting from the "Four for two" advertising campaign that has been running since the launch. In other words:
The paid advertising volume is much smaller.
The discrepancy between volume and revenue is even greater in the case of obituaries. Because the ST did not receive any obituaries in the first six weeks after its launch, it offered them free of charge in December - a promotion that was then extended until the end of January and has now even been extended until June 30. In fact, WerbeWoche was then able to count 8 local obituaries in December, 15 in January and 10 in February. Seiler, on the other hand, averaged two local obituaries per day.
BZ Publishing Director Franziska von Weissenfluh is in any case "satisfied, because we are at or above budget everywhere". Also in the reader market. The first tranche of six-monthly free subscriptions is currently in the conversion phase, "but we are surprised at the high conversion rate", she says. She is already certain that the continuation of ST early delivery can be justified in Solothurn, Biberist and Zuchwil thanks to a "sufficiently high subscriber density". The municipalities of Langendorf, Bellach, Lohn-Ammannseck, Luterbach and Oberdorf will soon also receive the ST by early delivery, which is why the circulation will increase from around 14,000 to 21,000 copies.
Thurgau subscription war

The Thurgauer Zeitung has survived the first subscription renewal phase without a slump and, according to publishing director Urs Bucher, will have a slightly higher circulation certified than the 41188 copies a year ago. Its competitor Mittelthurgauer Tagblatt (MTT), the front page of the St. Galler Tagblatt (SGT) and also on the market since January 1, 2001, can only report 1800 annual subscriptions despite the autumn campaign. However, SGT publishing director Daniel Ehrat is hoping for a total of 2500 subscribers by the end of the year.

Less than a year after its takeover by the British marketing services holding company WPP, Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R), Zurich, currently the most creatively and financially successful Swiss advertising agency, is losing its management team: CEO Peter Felser, Executive CD Martin Spillmann, CD Peter Brönnimann, Rolf Zimmermann, Head of Strategic Planning, and CFO Michael Waeber are all leaving the agency. They cite the need for entrepreneurial independence as the reason. The differing views of the listed holding company and the local creative agency with regard to strategic and financial management had become increasingly apparent, they said. Bruno Widmer, Chairman of AY&R, however, emphasizes that there have been no restrictions imposed by WPP: "I have stood up for the culture of this agency for over 30 years. No one can seriously believe that I would support something that would jeopardize this culture." The collective resignation will take place at the end of May. "I am not worried. The agency can rely on a broad cadre of top people," says Widmer, who is forming the new management team in dialog with them.
When asked about founding a new super agency, Spillmann replies: "Drawing conclusions together does not mean that we will do something together afterwards, but the idea is certainly obvious." (ew)

Peter Wanner on his new multimedia project "Cooking "Since March 6, the AZ Media Group has been cooking up a huge panful of cooking topics with its multimedia project "Cooking". With the new magazine Kochen, the Internet site and the TV commercial, AZ publisher Peter Wanner is going to give the various established cooking titles a run for their money. That's already clear: Rüebliland is serving up a huge panful of cooking topics. Why do you think that your multimedia project "Cooking" will meet with sufficient appetite from the public?
Peter Wanner: Because there are still few multimedia projects on the subject of cooking. On the other hand, in Annemarie Wildeisen we have an editor-in-chief who already has a large fan base. Her books, which are also published by AT Verlag, are bestsellers. In addition, Ms. Wildeisen has already successfully gained experience on the Internet. Many recipes are accessed online. Together with the new cooking magazine and our TV presence, we are launching a good cause. We believe in that.
Is Kochen just a much smaller Aargau version of Betty Bossi, which is fantastically positioned with a circulation of 9,20000 copies? The cooking giant also has a magazine, a TV show and the Internet.
Wanner: It can't be the case that the whole of Switzerland cooks according to Betty Bossi's recipes. We offer an alternative that can still be made - more modern and in the style of Annemarie Wildeisen. We want to appeal to housewives who want to cook quickly and simply, but still well. Betty Bossi, on the other hand, is aimed more at traditional cooks.
However, the individual chef is hardly on the rise overall, rather the opposite is the case: convenience food is booming. What is your analysis of the consumer market?
Wanner: We believe in the effect of the Wildeisen brand. It has also made Chuchi a success. On the other hand, Chuchi has been struggling since she left, that's well known. We'll see how that develops. We assume that between 10,000 and 20,000 subscribers will switch from Chuchi to us within a short space of time.
They mainly want to draw an audience at Chuchi. Where else?
Wanner: Of course, our main aim is to attract new readers. But we will certainly also attract some readers from various competitors, such as Saisonküche, Le Menu or Betty Bossi. The latter may well be showing signs of fatigue in the meantime.
What circulation goals are you pursuing with cooking?
Wanner: We want to reach 40,000 to 50,000 copies sold fairly quickly - we should be there in a year or two. But we're not starting from scratch. All of our approximately 20000 Marmite subscribers also receive Cooking. We will gain more readers with targeted marketing measures and the awareness effect of Annemarie Wildeisen.
At what circulation will cooking reach break-even?
Wanner: Certainly at 40000 copies. Perhaps even before that, depending on how well or badly the advertising market develops. And of course it all depends a bit on what the competition does.
What are you most likely to earn money with, the magazine, the Internet or the TV show?
Wanner: We are already earning good money with Wildeisen's books. That first of all. But above all, we believe we can successfully establish the magazine. If we succeed, we will also earn good money with it. On the other hand, we see our presence on television primarily as a marketing measure at the moment. We only have a 3-minute spot there, which is of course not yet a real cooking program. But it could later become a real cooking show. But that hasn't been decided yet. Whether we earn money with the website depends on how much money we can charge for calling up recipes. We won't be doing that at the moment, but we will later. Once the site is established and running well, you have to be able to earn money with it. That is clear.
Speaking of earning money: Michael Ringier once said that he earns more money selling kitchen utensils via Betty Bossi than with some newspapers and magazines. Will you also get into this obviously lucrative business with pans, utensils and other appliances?
Wanner: This is a very interesting side business that could do well in cooperation with a magazine. That's why we will certainly also try to boost this business. However, this is not our first priority; we want to take care of the magazine first.
What proportion of sales do you want to generate with kitchen utensils?
Wanner: We have already budgeted something in the first year, but it is still minimal. However, as soon as the magazine is doing well, this ancillary business will come more to the fore. It is an important side business that we will keep a very close eye on.
One major flaw is obvious in the linguistic-national multimedia project "Cooking": the TV commercial can only be seen on Tele M1 and Tele Tell.
Wanner: Of course we would like to have a better presence on local TV. We will work in this direction. But we wanted to start now and then, in a second step, enter into talks with other stations. Then we'll see who else from local TV will jump on our cooking bandwagon.
Does the topic of cooking even fit in with the local TV scene, which is geared towards news? The cooking spot is programmed immediately before the news.
Wanner: Our cooking spot is scheduled three minutes before the start of the hourly program. We don't displace anyone at this position, because fillers such as program previews are scheduled here anyway. On the other hand, this is an attractive slot for us. Because people who want to watch the news often already zap into the program here. Interview: Daniel Schifferle

Thomas Lüber has revamped the Lesch + Frei brand in just under two years as Managing Director / The Managing Director of Lesch + Frei does not want to be seen as the originator of pompous slogans. They contradict his agency's credo: "Advertising is like flirting - you don't do it with a sledgehammer". And just as Thomas Lüber hardly ever says "New now! Thomas Lüber! Super!", he doesn't want to bludgeon anyone with advertising: "Of course, advertising has to stand out and be seen, but you can also try to do it in a friendly way. After all, nobody waits for advertising."
The 37-year-old came to these conclusions on his career path, which began with a school-leaving certificate. The guest appearance at the university's German department remained an episode. "I very quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to use language instead of just thinking about it," says Lüber, explaining his firm decision. To put it into practice, he started knocking on advertising doors. Ivan Scotti opened the door and allowed Lüber to enter the world of applied linguistics in 1986.
In the years that followed, his career revolved around the gravity center Lesch + Frei. Between detours to GGK Zurich and Lowe GGK, he was repeatedly drawn back to Zurich's Weinbergstrasse, finally joining Walter Tagliaferri as Managing Director in March 2000.
Since then, Lüber has made it his mission to return Lesch + Frei to the top ranks of Swiss agencies. The success is impressive: In 21 months, Lesch + Frei has acquired 17 new clients, including Finanz+Wirtschaft, Siemens Schweiz AG, Erdöl-Vereinigung and Brauerei Eichhof.
What is the secret of success? "There are no big secrets," waves Lüber away, "we have placed a lot of emphasis on strategic planning and brought a clear structure to order processing." At the same time, Tagliaferri put a lot of effort into getting the acquisition process up to scratch.
However, Lüber does not want to change the agency's profile. "We position ourselves as a creative agency with strategic expertise. That may sound boring, but it works well in agency presentations," jokes the Managing Director. His aim is to run an agency whose work promotes itself through its quality and brings its creators back into conversation with clients.
Despite all the strategic tasks, Lüber has not lost the fun of writing: "The best moment for me is when I sit in front of a blank page, when I can start to reinvent the world." He doesn't know the horror vacui of the blank page. "You just start spinning away. The page doesn't stay blank for long."
Bruno Amstutz

The Harbour Club stylized a symposium on event communications into a successful eventBy Andreas Panzeri How do I use an event for my communication? The answers at the Event Communications symposium ranged from relationship machines as event venues to Accenture Nights and the World Economic Forum as a global sales fair. A useful checklist for organizers of effective events was also presented.
"An event is not three-dimensional television, but active involvement of the participants in a communication." With this definition, Oliver Nickel, Member of the Management Board of Icon Brand Navigation, Nuremberg, summarized the core statements at the Event Communications Symposium. The event was organized by Zahner & Partner, AG für Kommunikation, Marketing und Events, St.Gallen. The event was hosted by the Harbour Club in Zurich's Limmat Hall.
This association of 50 leading corporate communications officers aims to provide an exclusive platform for exchanging ideas and professionalizing the corporate communications industry. The club succeeded in doing just that at this symposium. The six speakers were convincing with in-depth analyses and news about the superficially ever-widening trend wave of events.
Oliver Nickel illustrated the scope of the topic with a game of skill. The aim is to push white balls into various holes outdoors using an iron hook. If this simple game is played in a beautiful landscape by people in exclusive leisurewear, it is called golf. If the balls are pushed over worn plastic courses by noisy children next to the parking lot of a shopping center, it's called mini golf. It therefore depends on the emotional values with which an event is made tangible for the audience.
In order for a brand to be experienced sensually, an event for Nickel absolutely must continue where the brand has already been emotionally positioned in traditional advertising. In concrete terms: a company boss's love of jazz is by no means a reason for, let alone a guarantee of, advertising success with a sponsorship event at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, an event can achieve something if it actively integrates the targeted customers into a communication process, because "emotionally learned things are retained longer".
Thomas Sevcik used the example of VW's Autostadt in Wolfsburg to illustrate how this can work with a veritable relationship machine as an event location. In his presentation, the Creative Director of Arthesia, Berlin, with offices in Zurich and Los Angeles, looked for ways to "leave the background noise of communication" and make a lasting impression on his audience thanks to an event.
The Autostadt theme world, with its development costs of around one billion marks and over three million visitors since opening in June 2000, is not an easy model to copy. However, such think labs can also be realized with smaller budgets.
"Shocker" sends share prices soaring
With variations such as Deutsche Bank's Future Lab, the relationship machine can initiate and support transformation processes in a company. In this temporary lab in a factory building near Frankfurt, workshops, presentations, events and parties were held over a period of five months, enabling Deutsche Bank to communicate its expertise in the global e-world with great success.
With costs of 20 million euros for the lab, the bank's share value rose by 16 billion on the opening day. Sevcik calls such a communication effect a "shocker". If the project is designed for longer communication, as is the case with Autostadt, he refers to the second phase as a "carrier". The "carrier" is a think-tank-like project that has the freedom to communicate beyond conventional boundaries. In Switzerland, SwissRe has created such a "carrier" with its Center for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon.
Events only succeed with detailed planning
"Nobody buys a Bentley or even a new Audi after visiting the Autostadt," said Sevcik, because after a detached house, buying a car is the second-longest decision-making process of all purchases. In a society that has become more open, where in the EU a German can even buy his own car in Italy, the Autostadt experience with its distinctive presence is a constant factor in an increasingly less regulated market. "In saturated markets, I have to communicate by other means," said Sevcik, summarizing his idea of an "event combined with a certain intelligence".
An "event" organized by computer supplier Compaq also pushed the boundaries of convention. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2001 in Davos and 2002 in New York, Compaq distributed a pocket computer to all 2500 WEF participants. Thanks to Bluetooth technology and specially installed Powerpoints at all important meeting points and even in the hotels, WEF participants were able to surf wirelessly everywhere, call up WEF information, download presentations and send e-mails.
Compaq's aim was for politicians and top managers, as opinion leaders, to test the simplicity and advantages of these new devices from their own experience. The WEF had the target audience and Compaq had the infrastructure. "People were reached who don't normally deal with such things, but who are important for future thinking in relation to these new technologies," commented Adrian Mebold, Business Manager Mobile Computing at Compaq Computer (Switzerland), on the resounding success of his global "event".
Hans-Jürg Rufener from Rufener-Events explained with great expertise how such an event has to be thought through in much smaller detail. He showed how the first professional events 15 years ago have developed into today's "eventitis". Today, there are around 300 specialized event agencies in Switzerland. What they all have in common is that they can only make an event work "if the message is precisely defined", Rufener said. More on his checklist with the "golden rules" of event conception can be found on the new homepage www.ru fenerevents.ch.

The two youth stations Radio 105 and One FM have set up an advertising pool News Radio 105 and One FM set up pool
The new national pool will make it even easier for national companies to reach young people in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland at the same time, according to 105 and the Geneva-based radio marketing company Média One Contact SA. Joint sponsorship concepts can also be realized. Customers of the national pool will receive a 15 percent discount. According to Paola Libera, Head of Marketing at Radio 105, Clear Channel is not planning to take a stake in 105. As a reminder: in spring 2000, the out-of-home advertising giant acquired a 51 percent stake in Média One Contact SA and just under 20 percent each in One FM and Lausanne FM. The successful combination of radio and poster campaigns in the USA was also to be implemented in Europe.

Massive criticism of the creative competition leads to five demands to the Art Directors Club SwitzerlandThis year's awards of the Art Directors Club of Switzerland (ADC) have aroused the displeasure of Frank Bodin*. He sees the ADC's judging process as a creative illusion and calls for changes to the creative competition in a letter to the ADC board and WerbeWoche.According to its statutes, the ADC wants to improve advertising by judging it. This already questionable causal relationship raises the question of the quality of the judging process and the signal effect of the results on clients and young creative talent. If, as was the case this year, six out of a total of nine gold awards (groundbreaking advertising according to the ADC!) are economically irrelevant and very few of them have even the slightest chance at the advertising festival in Cannes, the 2002 result must be regarded as a disaster. Hence five demands to improve the jury and the credibility of the ADC. And this should perhaps make a contribution to improving advertising in Switzerland.
Demand 1: The ADC improves advertising by having a qualified jury.
According to the ADC statutes, up to 25 percent of all submitted works can be awarded bronze, 25 percent of these can become silver, and 25 percent of silver awards can become gold. This is a purely quantitative criterion and therefore total nonsense. Because judging primarily requires the ability to make decisions, i.e. qualitative criteria. The ADC does not define binding criteria, nor are many members in a position to formulate such criteria (this year there was not even agreement on the definition of the category "trade advertisements" [B2B]: of the 26 awards, 11 works are actual public advertisements). Is it primarily the idea that is honored or the still good appearance of the work? How do the criteria of a design jury differ from the criteria of an advertisement jury? How do you distinguish a fresh idea from a slightly less fresh one? There are hardly any criteria such as "1. innovative strategy, 2. fresh idea, 3. excellence in execution, 4. relevance for the target group addressed, 5. new standard in the advertising category".
Therefore: 1. qualitative criteria must be discussed and formulated for each category - criteria that are also published and set an example in the industry. 2. the system must be more sophisticated than the members: in a first round, the ADC members draw up a shortlist of precisely 25 percent of all works (mathematical average) as before; in a second round, a main jury of 23 members to be selected (each agency may only be represented once) then assesses the shortlist of all categories and awards bronze, silver and gold according to qualitative criteria; only the award-winning works will be included in the book, which will be thinner but more substantial in future.
Demand 2: The ADC improves advertising by applying international standards.
It is an affront that internationally award-winning works repeatedly fall by the wayside or only receive bronze. No jury in the world is fair, but if a jury is self-righteous and repeatedly ignores international standards, it disqualifies itself. The special case of Switzerland does not stop at the creatives either: no ADC jury presents as many awards as ADC Switzerland. And why is the ADC so vehemently opposed to the introduction of internationally proven jury rules (requirement 1 corresponds roughly to the Cannes procedure, only the mathematical average there is significantly lower)?
Therefore: "Advertising made in Switzerland" can only become a quality label if international criteria are taken into account. This is the only way Switzerland can perform better in Cannes. And only in this way will the Swiss advertising market be able to assert itself in global competition and not degenerate into a country of adaptation.
Demand 3: ADC improves advertising by recognizing relevant work; introduction of the category "Under CHF 25,000 and self-promotion".
A brilliant idea doesn't care how much or how little money it was placed for; nothing against creative achievements on a small scale, which as you know I also cultivate, but the inflation of the work produced en masse for the ADC is neither a sporting joke nor really big. Above all, they send the wrong message to young creative talent (how many juniors in our industry can come up with a funny erotic ad, but never a decent campaign?) and have long been damaging the ADC's actual cause and image with advertising clients. I assume that around 40 to 50 percent of this year's 232 awards were not even based on a media budget of CHF 10,000 or the placement was paid for by the advertising agency itself (including some work from our company...). This means that almost 50 percent of all awards are not relevant for the advertising industry.
Therefore: introduction of the new category "self-promotion and low budget" (under CHF 25,000 or at least under CHF 10,000). Borderline cases that do not wish to be classified in this category must provide evidence to the contrary by means of a media plan that the work has a media value of at least more than CHF 25,000. Anyone who wins an award in this low-budget category in the future has earned it hard and all the more honorably! And: these awards will be returned to the corresponding original category at the awards ceremony (audience ads, film, etc.), so that the procedure is compatible with the ADC of Europe. With the result that one or the other loses many bronze awards in one fell swoop, but the ADC gains credibility.
Demand 4: The ADC improves advertising by rethinking the admission criteria.
We know: Many ADC members, and therefore ADC jurors, have been involved in above-average work under above-average leadership. We also know that probably the majority of members are or were capable of developing a good campaign, but that does not mean they are capable of recognizing a good campaign. We also know that most members come from the same agencies, and the more members an agency has, the better its chances of winning a medal.
That's why future new members not only have to prove their involvement in fresh campaign ideas, but also be a personality; they therefore present their work in person to the admissions committee, where it quickly becomes clear how someone is standing - and thinking - despite having wet hands.
Claim 5: The ADC improves advertising by changing the ADC.
The creative Swiss currency - namely the ADC - can no longer be a yardstick at the moment. I am correspondingly disappointed, as I am one of the more ardent ADC preachers. My faith in the ADC has been shaken, as has my former pride in being a member. Improving the image of our clients is our bread and butter - but the club of leading creative minds has had an image problem for years. Correctly, these demands were sent to the ADC board in advance, in the hope of a signal. Not for the first time, the official response is completely unsatisfactory. It is also no secret that discussion in a wider public is not desired and is seen as a threat.
That's why excellent advertising is always different. It's high time the ADC finally changed. Frank Bodin
* Frank Bodin is a member of ADC Switzerland and CEO of Euro RSCG Switzerland.