It's too early to rejoice for 20 Minuten CEO Sacha WigdorovitsBecause many free readers were double readers and consumed both Metropol and 20 Minuten, the readership legacy for 20 Minuten will be limited. Only in the classifieds market does Sacha Wigdorovits, member of the Board of Directors of 20 Minuten Schweiz, expect additional revenues in the short term.the green Metropol boxes are empty, 20 Minuten has lost its most important competitor. Are you satisfied?
Sacha Wigdorovits: I am partially satisfied. The market has decided which newspaper is the better one. But we have only won one battle, not the war. We know that we have to keep working hard.
What legacy do you expect for 20 Minuten in the reader market?
Wigdorovits: According to Wemf's latest readership figures, Metropol had 50,000 readers who were not double readers. We expect that at least some of them will read 20 Minuten in the future. In the short term, we will probably gain between 20,000 and 30,000 readers. If you compare this with our figures from last year - according to Mach Basic's special evaluation for the first half of 2001, 20 Minuten had 50,000 readers - then the growth is still very limited.
How many copies did you increase the circulation of 20 Minuten by?
Wigdorovits: Following the closure of Metropol, we increased our circulation by 30,000 to 40,000 copies. We normally reduce our circulation during the vacation season. We will now analyze whether the circulation increase will be enough when the vacations are over. We will certainly not print as many additional copies as Metropol had at the end, namely around 120000.
Are the prospects in the advertising market more productive?
Wigdorovits: We expect the situation in the classifieds market to improve. Metropol had destroyed this market with its dumping offers. That is now a thing of the past. In contrast, Metropol was no longer present in commercial advertising. So there will be nothing for us to inherit there either. At least not in the short term.
And in the long term?
Wigdorovits: In the long term, I also expect an upturn in commercial advertising. If reader numbers increase, this will also have a positive effect on the advertising side. Because, for example, you can increase advertising prices without negatively affecting the price per thousand readers. But an increase in readership only becomes visible in readership research after a long delay. For example, the Mach figures published next September will be based on a period that ended in March. The effect of the Metropol hiring will therefore only be visible in Mach Basic 2003. We are therefore reluctant to make any predictions about what the discontinuation of Metropol will bring us in the area of commercial advertising. We have no illusions about this.
But even 20 Minuten is still in the red.
Wigdorovits: If the first half of 2002 had not been so catastrophic, we would have had the chance to close the year in the black. I don't believe we will see a recovery until the second half of the year. That's why we will still miss the break-even point this year. It took Blick almost ten years and SonntagsZeitung eight years before they were in the black.
How certain is break-even in 2003?
Wigdorovits: If nothing dramatic happens with the economy in the second half of the year or in 2003, then we should be in the black in 2003.
According to media planner Wolfgang Mecklenburg, this will no longer happen. He predicted in the NZZ that 20 Minuten would also soon be discontinued.
Wigdorovits: Who is Wolfgang Mecklenburg? Interview: Daniel Schifferle

Muse & Musse Nicole Schranz
What was the last cultural event you attended?
Nicole Schranz: Theater sport after Keith Johnstone. Improvisational theater - the perfect surprise!
What are you reading right now?
Schranz: "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, as I have already seen the play with enthusiasm at Theater Spektakel.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Schranz: Alicia Keys, "Songs in A minor".
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Schranz: "Todo sobre mi madre" by Pedro Almodóvar, great actresses, a volcano of colors and emotions.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Schranz: I don't know, I slept through it.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Schranz: www.komik-ensemble .ch
What could you never do without?
Schranz: On water: from Valser water to the ocean.
What do you do in a free minute?
Schranz: Dancing (Jazz Funk).
Love is...?
Schranz: ...atoms that spin faster and faster.

Off to the mountains with the guys from Qualiclick: Managing Director Christoph Morach and Marketing Manager Roger Baur invited to the Weisse Arena around Laax last weekend.By Beat Frtisch Baur, who already organized such weekends for customers during his time at Sport, introduced this nice winter tradition also at Qualiclick.
On Friday, the guests who had arrived were able to get a first impression of the alpine town when, after check-in, they were able to make use of the wellness facilities at the hotel. In the evening, it was time for home cooking: Charbonade and "hot stone" in the Laax "Posta veglia".
Saturday morning in the morning, the remaining guests arrived to immediately armed with snowboard or skis to rush to the mountain. Unfortunately, the current wave of influenza decimated the field of participants a little, but the weather was lucky. In the course of the morning the sun began to show itself, and from noon on there were no more excuses to indulge in the Schümli-Pflümli in the mountain hut.
Jennifer Best from OMD Zurich-City, who turned out to be a snowboard talent, and Katja Maurizio, who put the board back in the corner after five minutes but then spent the whole afternoon with the ski coach, showed their sporty side. Andi Hess from Forecast was seen briefly at the snow bar. He soon went back to the hotel for a rest, having arrived more or less directly from his own bachelor party. Rumor has it that since that night he has developed strange aversions to whipped cream, stretch limousines and half-naked women.
In the evening, everyone showed their sporty side, after either the bathing area with giant whirlpool or a nap had provided new strength. Fondue fun was the order of the day, but only after a quarter-hour walk steeply uphill to the "Tegia Larnags". The braver ones were packed with plastic bobsleds, because for dessert a toboggan race downhill had been arranged. Rules - none! Everything was allowed, from a jump start to a merciless pushing off the slope. The latter, however, was done by the racers themselves anyway, because the finish slope in Laax is just as murderous as the one on the Lauberhorn. Andi Hess and fellow skier Katja Maurizio were the first to reach the bottom, although both were almost thrown out of the sled on the finish slope. The unlucky prize went to Dave Jäger, who with co-pilot Judith Brändle landed in the middle of a puddle of water in the run-out.
We continued to the "Rider's Palace", where the hottest parties take place in Laax. From the VIP bar you had the best overview of the DJs from the London cult label Ministry of Sound, who are guests in the White Arena this winter. The excellent connections of Andi Hess then opened the doors to the real VIP party in the suites on the upper floor of the "Rider's" to the night owls. There one met among others the people of the promo agency Mosaik, Daryl H. von Däniken of Mariamedia, Joko Vogel of Vogel Szene-Marketing or Matthias Lietha and Lobi Phala of Blushin Pink. The hardcore faction among the Qualiclick guests (all names known to the editors!) just made it back to the hotel before dawn.
Beat Frtisch

with sled and nose helmet, which however only brought a placement in the midfield at the Qualiclick sled downhill in Laax. Because there was no official ranking, being there was more important for once. All those who courageously (or without any common sense) plunged downhill on these things deserved an award anyway.
Those who sled around in the snow or on the party floor, sometimes skidding, are located at a wide variety of events on the scene. Do you already have something to report? Reach for the handset (01
296 97 98) or into the keys ([email protected]). Event tips as well as further shortlist pictures are available online at www.werbewoche.ch.

Following the collapse of the deal with Jean Frey AG, Ringier Verlag plans to launch a weekly newspaper.News Ringier provokes with its own weekly newspaper
The project is based on the considerations that were made for Weltwoche, Group spokesperson Fridolin Luchsinger was quoted as saying in Blick on Wednesday last week. Luchsinger told SDA that the plan was to produce a magazine in an oversized format. Instead of glossy, a hard, special newsprint is conceivable. The target audience is "people who like to read a lot", which means that the company is interested in the market of Facts, SonntagsZeitung and NZZ am Sonntag. Rudolf Bächtold, previously Managing Director of Weltwoche at Ringier, will be in charge of the project. A decision on the launch of the project is to be made in three months. It remains to be seen how serious Ringier is about its own weekly newspaper. Ringier usually prefers to keep projects under wraps.
Advertising market continues to shrink The volume of advertisements in Swiss newspapers fell again in January. The year-on-year decline amounted to 15.9%. At 45.1 percent, job advertisements recorded the biggest loss to date. Weekly newspapers were particularly hard hit, with job advertisements falling by 63.0 percent, according to Wemf's advertising statistics.
Agefi acquires stake in Success & Career The business media group Agefi Groupe has acquired a 47% stake in Success & Career. The small publishing house publishes the bilingual career guide "Objectif Emploi", which has an annual circulation of 22,000 copies. It also operates a career platform on the Internet. By joining Success & Career, Agefi wants to reach more young managers and students. To the same end, the launch of a new website with new services and strong added value is planned for April, the company announced.

»It caught my eye, dear Mobiliar—because I instinctively liked your ad campaign so much, I immediately applied it to the new Mini Cooper campaign as well…« That’s what comes to mind as I look at this Mini ad from the renowned Hamburg-based ad agency Jung von Matt. After all, Mobiliar has long been aware of how the Mini’s mesmerizing appeal is currently being marketed—especially since Zurich-based Publicis has been promoting the insurance company with accident reports for over four years now. The concept is simple and popular: TV spots, posters, and print ads feature sketches and accident descriptions submitted by policyholders. These accounts not only amuse insurance employees but also satisfy our need for schadenfreude. In contrast to Mobiliar’s advertising, an image of the Mini Cooper dominates the ad space, along with the headline: »Is it love?” Is it love? Perhaps—especially if you believe that love is blind—you might conclude that it must be copper after all. Chandra Kurt [email protected]
Column

Just Wrong
From Anna Esposito
When times are tough, churches fill up and budgets shrink. The lament in the advertising industry is reaching a crescendo. A lack of faith in long-term brand building and a frantic search for creative ideas that can be immediately translated into higher sales and increased visitor numbers characterize everyday life. At least as fascinating is the challenge of trying to combine lofty image goals with pork belly promotions in a small classified ad. When times are tough, people like to fantasize about a career change. Advertisers then typically become managing directors of wineries, toy with the idea of buying a good restaurant, and have always wanted to write a bestseller or a screenplay—or both. So, during such discussions about the future of a frustrated communications professional, I find myself virtually at the Bellevue tram stop: people switching careers, changing paths, moving up, moving down, and newcomers everywhere. I, too, am not immune to such thoughts; every now and then I wonder what it would be like if advertising no longer existed—simply eliminated by a planned economy that has finally renounced the allure of communication. My subconscious gave me a nice dream about it. I was in a retraining program to become a career counselor. The entire spectrum of subjects—from psychology to coaching to positive thinking—was drilled into me. After passing the exam, I was stationed in one of those fancy GDR-style administrative offices to carry out my duties. Row after row of people at a crossroads stood outside my door: Swissair pilots, stock market analysts, *Weltwoche* editors, Ringier consultants, TV-3 hosts, ABB accountants, e-commerce pioneers, Expo.02 architects. And for all of them, I had the right advice ready: Become an advertiser, folks, become an advertiser.
[email protected]
Anna Esposito is a copywriter and co-owner of Brot und Spiele, Zurich.
Business lunch

A gentle tinkling and clinking in a club-like atmosphere
Some swear by the Hotel Baur au Lac, while others prefer to dine at the Dolder Grand Hotel—these two five-star hotels, one by the lake and one in the mountains, each have their own loyal fans. I also prefer the hotel by the lake, partly because of its location; here, in the summer, you can quietly pore over important business documents in one of the city’s most beautiful garden restaurants without immediately being served a place setting with four forks and knives. In the summer—which doesn’t seem far off—it’s a spot in a class of its own.
In winter—well, okay—the guys and gals working under Chef Maurice Marro in the kitchen and wine cellar just have to make up for the lack of outdoor dining. The business lunch at Rive Gauche is both fun and worthwhile. For one thing, the tables here are nicely spaced apart, and if you don’t want to sit on the bamboo chairs, there’s a comfortable bench along the walls. The dark paneling lends a touch of English club style—something else you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the city. The service staff, skillfully managed by Arlene Mülli, is impeccably dressed, has multilingual manners, and—is quick on their feet.
«Nothing to complain about.» The polyglot guest once learned that this is the highest compliment a Berliner can bestow on the kitchen and the wine cellar. That certainly holds true for the Rive Gauche. Sure, some might grumble that there’s no real three-course business lunch in the fifty-franc range. Let them just go to the Restaurant Français and pay 69 francs for a «déjeuner» à la carte. But there, you’d have to stuff a broomstick into your suit before sitting down to eat. And then act the part, too. You don’t have to do that at the Rive Gauche.
The kitchen changes its menu to reflect the season and offers «classics from around the world.» These include, for example, a Piccata Milanese for 39 francs, which has become the restaurant’s best-seller. Also on the menu: beef stew with mashed potatoes—as well as more exotic dishes, such as couscous with seafood (served with too much broth for my taste) or octopus carpaccio (this time served with a bit too little extra virgin olive oil), can be found on the menu. A few desserts round out the culinary offerings, such as a lemon cake (12 francs).
Admittedly, that hadn't always been the case. In the past, the F&B management experimented with fusion cuisine under the motto: "Even a Chinese person can fry rösti here, as long as they're allowed to mix in a few soybean sprouts." Fortunately, these oddities have been taken off the menu.
It goes without saying that the exceptionally well-maintained wine cellar from the restaurant’s own winery replenishes the stock at Rive Gauche. Currently, there are 14 wines by the glass on the menu, all served from seven-deciliter bottles. It’s also a nice touch—a small final note—that the restaurant asks guests to turn off their cell phones. Instead of a frantic cacophony of beeps, one hears a dignified murmur, the clinking of cutlery, and the gentle clinking of glasses. Carlo Bernasconi [email protected]
Rive Gauche Tal-/Börsenstrasse
8001 Zurich
Tel. 01 220 50 60
Parking: It's a matter of luck at lunchtime and in the evening

Originally, consultants Lucius Leonhardt and designer Raphael Baumann were to become partners in the Zurich CD/CI agency Külling Partner Identity, but no satisfactory solution could be found with the existing partners. This prompted the two management members to leave the agency. "We had already been toying with the idea of setting up our own business and implementing our own vision of an agency," says Leonhardt. Immediately after leaving, they founded Facing Ltd in Zurich, an agency for the development and visual implementation of brand awareness concepts. Their first client was no less a project than the Coop corporate branding, for which they had been the main managers at Külling Partner Identity from the outset. In addition to the Basel-based retail giant, the three-person agency's portfolio also includes NZZ, KPMG Fides Management and the Zurich Opera House. (dz)

At Immagina, advertising is created in the middle of a vineyard in MendrisiottoBy Luca Aloisi Three years ago, former photo reporter Adriano Heitmann founded the small agency Immagina in the Ticino town of Stabio. Thanks to its large network and high level of image expertise, the small agency has already achieved notable successes.
Probably no small agency would allow itself to be described with the often pejoratively loaded label of forest-and-meadows agency. Adriano Heitmann, founder of the three-person Immagina team, has no problems with the location of his agency and at most clarifies the description. After all, his office is actually located in a Ticino vineyard: "We work in a converted winegrower's house above Stabio," he says and immediately opens a parenthesis: "Not only are our large photo studio and atelier located there, the attic is also the venue for cultural activities such as concerts, tastings, meetings, exhibitions and workshops."
From photo reporter to sedentary advertising concept developer
As unconventional as this Ticino networking concept may seem from a Zurich perspective, it explains Heitmann's generous approach to communication most aptly. For him, communication must have an attitude of generosity. This should be conveyed both internally and externally for the client. If you focus too much on the return on investment, you are unlikely to attract new customers, let alone find new sources of inspiration. Especially not here, in remote Stabio. Although the nearby airports of Agno and Milan mean that you can be on the northern side of the Alps or anywhere else in the world within a short space of time, he is not trying to minimize the distances, but to make a virtue of necessity.
Formerly a self-employed photojournalist who raced around the globe and found his way into advertising as a career changer, only clients and large agencies who are convinced by Heitmann's work come to him. There are quite a few of them and, something the Ticino native is particularly proud of, hardly any two from the same industry. Adriano Heitmann, who until the 1990s did photo reportages and portraits for magazines and newspapers such as Geo, Merian, Stern, Schweizer Illustrierte, NZZ, Die Zeit or the Italian Airone, now looks after a completely different clientele: from the noble Chianti wine estate Castello di Ama or the international horse race St. Moritz White Turf in 2000 to the Ticino fashion house chain Monn and the world's leading precision tweezers manufacturer Rubis.
Rubis in particular is doing well in the portfolio, as the company is led by CEO Fides Baldesberger. She was named the first female "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young in 2001.
The 51-year-old Heitmann interprets his mandate broadly. Much of what goes beyond his core competence - the visual conception and implementation stage - he hands over to freelancers, most of whom he finds in his huge international network of contacts, which he established while still a much-traveled journalist.
Artistic vein shapes form of communication
It is not uncommon for him to succeed in bringing his visions into an astonishing and coherent form with a melange of ideas from various independent fields. Take Rubis, for example: he was awarded the German Design Prize 2001 in Frankfurt for his product packaging - a transparent, slit piece of plastic tube in which the innovative aluminum tweezers are neatly stored and yet still visible.
His harmonious combination of fashion and art was equally successful: in the sophisticated catalog trilogy, which made waves beyond the cantonal borders, he wove together Ticino architecture, then the expressionist Marianne Werefkin and finally Rolf Gérard, costume designer and set designer of the Metropolitan Opera New York, with the clothes of the Monn fashion store. Heitmann's exemplary visualization of his clients' intentions is also demonstrated by the brochure designed by GGK, Zurich, for Ticino Turismo in 1999, in which Heitmann's photos went into a huge print run.
It was not only his marriage to the famous Mexican art photographer Flor Garduño ("Witnesses of Time") or his collaboration with star architect Mario Botta, for whom he produced an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, that shaped Heitmann's versatile way of approaching commissions. His family life with two children, which took him away from the fascinating profession of photojournalist and tied him more closely to his Ticino roots, also influenced his work.

Felber Kristofori & Pinzon discovers the ultimate security for SiemensFive bodyguards guard da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", a whole school of sharks cavort in the "moat" around a skyscraper: with striking alternatives to everyday security solutions, the young Zurich agency Felber Kristofori & Pinzon (FK&P) has created an astonishing campaign for Security Systems from Siemens Building Technologies. It is one of six Siemens divisions. Just over a year ago, the company reorganized itself according to core competencies. FK&P was invited to the competition presentation and, in addition to a new corporate identity (Group Style), has now also been given the task of realizing the international campaign. page 10

In the canton of Vaud, doctors, midwives, and physical therapists will continue to be prohibited from advertising their services. The Vaud Grand Council has rejected the corresponding legislative amendments even on second reading. The cantonal government’s proposal had already been rejected during the first reading in January. Euro RSCG Geneva launches InternetUnit. The Geneva-based advertising agency Euro RSCG Balladur & Giger has launched its own Internet division. Operating under the name Euro RSCG Interactive, it will offer full-service solutions for interactive media. It is collaborating with Euro RSCG Interactive Lyon (France), which has been active in the Internet market for six years.
Everything you could wish for. With a little extra cash, you can make your wishes come true without asking anyone’s permission. With prize amounts ranging from 5 to 50,000 francs, there’s plenty to win with a Roulette Express scratch-off ticket. For example, the wish to see the world through rose-colored glasses. This campaign is now featured on B12 and POS posters. Client: Seva Lottery Cooperative Bern, Andreas Guggisberg, Marketing Director, Sabine Dombrowski, Product Advertising. Agency: Freiburghaus und Partner BSW, Barbara Bürgy, Sue Buri (Consulting), Sabine Zaugg (Copy), Fabian Wicki (Art Director/Graphics), Simon Freiburghaus (Creative Director). Photo: Stock.
Swiss Traveler is available on Swiss. Starting in April, passengers on the new Swiss airline, Swiss Air Lines, will be able to enjoy a new in-flight magazine on scheduled flights. Titled Swiss Traveler, it will be published ten times a year under the direction of Regina Maréchal-Wipf, who has been responsible for Crossair’s in-flight magazines for the past seven years. The design of Swiss Traveler is currently being developed—but not by Tyler Brûlé, who had expressed interest in the project in interviews, but rather by «talented Swiss graphic designers,» as Regina Maréchal explained to WerbeWoche. Another in-flight magazine for charter flight passengers will follow in May. The newly founded in-house agency Swiss Inflight Media AG will be exclusively responsible for marketing Swiss’s in-flight publications going forward. The managing director of the new agency is Roger D. Müller, who previously served as advertising director for Crossair’s in-flight magazines.
Roses without thorns. Even a sausage, when photographed just right, can serve as a testament to love-struck emotions. What if no one invites you out for dessert—or even dinner—on Valentine’s Day? The «Vordere Sternen» at Zurich’s Bellevue promises a substitute for that satisfaction. DDB Zurich has created a clearly ambiguous POS poster for Valentine’s Day. This one-of-a-kind poster is said to have drawn above-average long lines in front of the grill stand on February 14—which, of course, reveals quite a bit, but not everything, about the high concentration of singles in Zurich, the city of advertising.
Molly is promoting Tivoli. Is this just nonsense, or an idea pulled out of thin air? In fact, Miss Molly went to the hairdresser just because there’s now a petting zoo at Shoppi&Tivoli! Goats, sheep, and rabbits have spruced themselves up especially for the audience, just as the Wyler advertising promises children in funny ads and indoor posters—just like in a fairy tale. Everyone thinks it’s great that the kids can now accompany their moms shopping in Spreitenbach instead of heading east. CD Ruedi Wyler, who until now had advertised exclusively for the other major shopping center, was approached by Shoppi&Tivoli for the second time to design a campaign for them. «I turned them down the first time, but since Glatt scaled back its advertising efforts, I agreed.»
Image-building instead of combat gear. Environmental issues, terrorism, AIDS, hunger, and natural disasters are issues that affect not only specific regions but all of us. Against this backdrop, the UN serves as a forum where all countries can discuss and address problems together. Refusing to have a voice in this «world parliament» is like Schaffhausen refusing to be represented in the Council of States. Those who refuse to have a say cannot bring about change—and certainly cannot prevent it. Based on these considerations, Publicis won over the initiative committee for UN accession (www.uno.ch) with the idea of a separate, large-scale campaign. Publicis promotes the UN without the usual «yes» or “no” slogans. The image speaks for itself. A close-up of the pattern on a combat or camouflage uniform reveals a map of the world. The text accompanies this with nothing more and nothing less than the call to action: “Let’s talk to each other instead. UN.” The campaign, which rises above the trench warfare of typical referendum campaigns, can be seen in newspapers and magazines as well as on billboards. Art: Ralf Kostgeld, Text: Jean Etienne Aebi, Graphics: Simon Kassewalder.
PiAr Forms Alliance in Western Switzerland. The Zurich-based communications group PiAr and the Western Swiss PR agency Pielken & Partners in Gland, VD, have formed a strategic alliance. Going forward, they will offer their services in both language regions. Through the new office in Gland, Eurocom—the investor relations agency belonging to the PiAr Group—will also offer its services in French-speaking Switzerland. At the same time, Pielken & Partners will take over representation of the Geneva-based PR agency brand CBR (a PiAr subsidiary) in French-speaking Switzerland. PiAr is part of the Euro RSCG network.
A Renewed Appetite for Spending. Despite the events of September 11, the Swiss are looking to spend more money this year. This was revealed by the «Pulse» consumer panel, which is conducted regularly by the advertising agency McCann-Erickson. After a period of hesitation in the months following the terrorist attack, the January figures show a return to the levels recorded before September 11.
Editorial

The inheritance will probably be meager
Empty TV channels, deserted newspaper stands—if you look back on the last six months and all the media startups that have fallen by the wayside, it’s easy to slip into a mild depression. In a crisis, anything that isn’t viable gets cut. That’s a truism that has now also led to the end for Metropol. The more active and innovative publication has come out on top.
Anyone who wants to reach a sufficiently large audience in the highly competitive print media market has to pull out all the stops. In this regard, the multimedia project 20 Minuten held the better cards from the very beginning.
However, even for 20 Minuten, there’s hardly any reason to celebrate. Although it has won the battle against its archrival, the gains are meager and the war is far from over: 20 Minuten expects to gain no more than 30,000 additional readers. Even fewer
The effects will be noticeable in the advertising market, and if at all, only after a long delay.
It was a gamble. The commuter newspapers knew that from the start. Just because certain formulas are successful somewhere else doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily meet the needs and characteristics of local markets. In print media, more than anywhere else, the saying “All business is local” holds true. The Metropol disaster confirmed this with crystal clarity.
Metro International is already rushing from the Swiss debacle into its next uncomfortable situation. Delivery of the editions launched last Monday in Paris and Marseille was severely hampered. Unions, in an unholy alliance with the left-liberal press, ensured that the newspapers barely made it to the public. It’s possible that Metro was too naive in its assessment of the local conditions here as well. Daniel Schifferle

An obituary for the publishing new economy phenomenon MetropolBy Oliver Classen Metro International is once again increasingly committed to the profitability of its own group. The shareholders will be pleased, because the Zurich experiment with the commuter newspaper in the green metal box has sunk tens of millions into the Zurich lake basin.
"The Swiss economy on the upswing again" is the latest headline on Metropol's green metal boxes, which have been abandoned since last Thursday. Given the plight of the ad-financed paper a week ago, what sounded like an irrelevant self-commanding formula now looks like a cynical epitaph on a green background. And the associated distribution boxes look like memorials to a publishing new economy phenomenon that has brought Zurich 55 jobs as well as tons of waste paper. But unlike the inventory, these are unfortunately not transportable. Computers and office furniture are already on their way to the Paris branch that has just opened.
In terms of mobility and flexibility, the smart Scandinavians are increasingly succeeding in translating the Ikea and H&M model into the newspaper world. Only profitability is still a problem, as Metro International posted a pre-tax loss of 84.1 million dollars in 2001. This is significantly more than the loss of the previous year (68.5 million dollars). In any case, too much for investors skeptical of media companies. Of the 20 Metropol editions currently published, just four are in the black (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Prague, Budapest). That's a start, but nothing more.
The Group has suffered lasting damage to its image
But as we all know, green is the color of hope. However, the managers of the listed parent company Metro International have lost exactly that, at least for their particularly cost-intensive Swiss subsidiary. For a good two years, Chairman and CEO Pelle Törnberg watched from his company jet (in which he commutes daily between the now 14 Metro countries) as first Urs Zeier, then Lawrence Kenny and finally Robert Gustavsson sank tens of millions into the Zurich lake basin.
Now Törnberg has turned off the money tap for his local representatives at the behest of some large investors who were getting restless - presumably shortly before they would have turned off the dollar pipeline. There is no other explanation for the abrupt and, above all, image-damaging end to the prestige battle with arch-rival 20 Minuten (yellow metal boxes), even by Metro standards. Wherever the two rivals meet in future (initially in Paris, but soon perhaps in Germany), the Schibsted subsidiary 20 Minuten will pull the Zurich trump card out of its sleeve. This will give it an edge in terms of trust with local authorities and potential partners, which could be decisive for success.
More important than any competitive disadvantages, however, is Törnberg's clear signal to shareholders that Metro International intends to fulfill its "commitment to the key factor of profitability" more consistently than before. After all, this first plant closure since the debacle in Newcastle, England, in 2000 is nothing more than a reassurance pill for investors.
The publishing sorcerer's apprentice promises his idealistic and financial mentor, the stock market, to pay more respect to its requirements and expectations from now on. And thus officially concludes the youthful Sturm und Drang period of a new economy company that one cannot and does not really want to imagine as an adult, security-conscious industry player.

The book "Kribbeln im Kopf" offers a new brain tool for advertisers and clientsBy Andreas Panzeri The new book "Kribbeln im Kopf" by Mario Pricken can be described as an ideas coach. His creative cookbook for practical use is aimed at teams in advertising agencies and communication professionals. It focuses on methods for developing lead and campaign ideas.
This almost 300-page creative bible contains no advice on designing creative layouts or texts. Instead, the textbook, written for communication professionals, spans a useful and meaningful arc from briefing to idea evaluation. In "Tingling in the head", idea generation is structured by a clicking questionnaire with 200 questions that can "bring exciting impulses to every meeting".
The author has worked out and formalized these questions from 10,000 award-winning campaigns. For example, he asks: How can the product advantage be presented without words? What would nobody dare to say about the product? What images are created if the description of the product benefits is taken literally?
The answers to the 200 questions are visualized in the form of well-known advertisements, posters and commercials. For example, dogs sitting on a tree like cats in an advertisement for Whiskas, answering the question: How can a product benefit be presented by turning something familiar into its opposite?
The headline: "Annoy the neighbors, turn it down" advertises a radio station on the poster. This idea arose from the question: How can the benefits of a product or service be emphasized through a contradictory statement?
Finding ideas does not mean evaluating them at the same time
The "Handbook for brilliant ideas" thus provides an "insight into the alchemy of creative thinking". The book makes the thinking strategies of top creatives transparent by basing its content on countless conversations with creative people. "We do what we do best, mostly unconsciously, and creativity is intangible in many ways," say these interviewees such as Stefan Sagmeister, Johan Kramer and PJ Pereira.
Nevertheless, the authors of the book "Kribbeln im Kopf" manage to formulate some tangible tips. For example, a briefing should be written as a declaration of love for a product. Goals should be formulated as questions: How can you design a direct mail so that it conveys the message in the form of a game? The following rule is certainly also correct: Idea generation must be consistently separated from idea evaluation. Or how would you like your ideas to be presented at the next creative meeting? Sabotaged, ridiculed or simply ignored?
Here, the book, which is also provocatively designed in terms of content, advises "opportunity thinking as a mental switch": What would my aunt or Mick Jagger, for example, say about the proposed advertising idea?
It's better to take a break if the meeting stalls
Well-known and therefore hackneyed phrases such as "The client would never accept the idea" are unfortunately still part of the meeting culture in many teams, says author Mario Pricken. Pricken, who lives in Vienna, gained his experience over many years in various agencies and has been running successful creativity training courses for advertisers, designers and clients for four years. And what he also wanted to say to the reader: Stay tuned, because many really new ideas only come 90 minutes after the end of the creative meeting. So take a break if the meeting comes to a standstill.
"Top ideas take time. The more you deal with the product, analyze it, look at it from all perspectives and play with it, the more effortlessly high-quality ideas will flow," Pricken concludes. Anyone who deals intensively with the product and starts a creative meeting with a clear formulation of objectives has already covered most of the way to a solution. This is demonstrated in the book with the systematic analysis of more than 270 award-winning campaigns from all over the world, in which the thinking strategies of advertisers are presented in an easily comprehensible way. The book with ISBN 3-87439-582-0 is published by Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz.

Ernst Grab steps down, Otto Meier steps upBy Markus Knöpfli 2001 goes down as a bad year in the history of PubliGroupe. Only the PubliDirect division was able to make gains. Although sales are expected to continue to decline in some areas in 2002, the overall figures are expected to be in the black again.
In 2001, PubliGroupe's consolidated sales fell by 4 percent compared with the previous year to CHF 2.614 billion. Excluding the acquisitions made, it would even have fallen by 9 percent. With the exception of the PubliDirect division (advertising in telephone directories), which grew by 16 percent, all the group's divisions recorded a decline in sales.
The PubliPresse division, which generates around 70 percent of group sales and comprises the advertising business in Switzerland, suffered from the slump in job advertisements and generated 4 percent less sales. Publicitas Promotion Network (PPN), the advertising business abroad, lost 20 percent, partly because entire campaigns were canceled after September 11. Online activities lost 39 percent.
PubliGroupe promises that the exceptional costs which led to the marked group loss of CHF 185 million (see p. 1) will not be repeated in 2002. The current year should close with a profit again. However, new growth is not expected until the end of 2002 at the earliest. PubliPress is even expecting a further decline in sales of 2 percent, while PPN's sales are expected to stabilize at the previous year's level.
In addition to the previously announced resignation of PubliGroupe CEO Jean-Jacques Zaugg (who will be succeeded by Hans-Peter Rohner), there will be another prominent departure at the top of the group: 57-year-old Ernst Grab is stepping down as head of the PubliPresse group division and intends to take on board mandates outside PubliGroupe. He already has a few: since January 1, 2002, he has been Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hess Holding, which includes Valser Mineralquellen. Grab's successor will be the former Publimedia director Otto Meier (50).
Grab worked for PubliGroupe for 12 years, initially as Assa General Director. Last year, he spun off the Swiss business of online marketer Real Media and integrated it into PubliPresse. PubliGroupe sold Real Media to its competitor 24/7 Media last year in connection with the slump in online business.
Grab currently sits on around two dozen boards of directors within PubliGroupe, including Vogt-Schild, Akeret AG, Wemf, Swissclick and Rudolf Tschudi Holding. Grab will relinquish these mandates, the majority of which will then be taken over by Meier.