US film stars discover advertising as a subtle form of image cultivationBy Thérèse Balduzzi Pop and film stars have always sold themselves for advertising in America as elsewhere. But until now, in America, this has tended to be considered tasteless and has been tainted with the stigma of failure. Recent campaigns provide evidence that this perception has changed.
Actor Jeremy Irons and model turned actress Milla Jovovich loll about on magazine pages in Donna Karan dresses. Penelope Cruz walks in Ralph Lauren skirts, and Matt Dillon stood in front of the camera for Sketchers shoes. A whole host of stars were photographed for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group: Under the title "He (or "she") is a Fan", alternating ads feature: Dame Edna and Barry Humphris, violonist Vanessa Mae, TV star Jane Seymour from the series "Medicine Woman" and Martin Sheen, who plays the President in the TV series "West Wing".
The cosmetics landscape is hardly any different: Jennifer Lowe Hewitt advertises for Neutrogena, Heather Locklear for L'Oréal. Singer Faith Hill can be seen in ads for Cover Girl and Jessica Simpson in ads for Redken Fifth Avenue hair products. Sarah Jessica Parker, who shot to fame with her starring role in the hit series "Sex and the City", advertises Nutrisse skincare products, and Uma Thurman is the new face of Lancôme.
Advertising is sometimes good for cultivating your own image
In the past, stars were more willing to be photographed for campaigns in Europe and Japan. In the USA, they feared that advertising would damage their status because their artistic integrity would be questioned or the public would assume that a lack of commissions was the beginning of all campaigns.
Stars who had passed the zenith of their careers in particular, such as William Shatner ("Starship Enterprise") or former sports stars, gave themselves over to advertising, thereby reinforcing the prejudice.
These fears seem to have vanished: Uma Thurman and Matt Dillon are among the absolute Hollywood A-list. And Martin Sheen and Sarah Jessica Parker are more successful than ever before thanks to their hit series. Some explain the change by saying that pop and film stars are currently the biggest role models. Since fashion designers have been courting film stars and using the Oscar awards show as an unofficial fashion show, for example, film actresses have long since replaced supermodels as fashion presenters.
On the other hand, stars have realized that they can use well-chosen advertising campaigns to enhance their image. Campaigns for luxury products, for example, give themselves a touch of glamor and luxury. "It's PR in an elegant way," says Liz Dalling from the Los Angeles agency Special Artists, which places stars in advertising campaigns. Advertising also offers stars the opportunity to show themselves from a lesser-known side.
But even this wave is not without its critics: the agency Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners from New York, for example, has taken the opposite route in its new campaign for Revlon and hired unknown actresses instead of stars. This is intended to bring the ideal of beauty a little closer to consumers. The Los Angeles-based company L Report, which specializes in consumer surveys, has also found that campaigns featuring stars are more likely to trigger mistrust than trust among young people under the age of 30.

"A small but fine communications agency" Thomas C. Maurer on the opening of his communications agency in Berne
The former partner and managing director of Trimedia Communications, Thomas C. Maurer, has set up his own communications consultancy. On August 1, he will open his own agency in Bern "on a joint platform with media lawyer Franz A. Zölch".
What made you decide to become self-employed?
Thomas C. Maurer: The challenge and the desire to do something new and original. And to devote more time to my traditional field, consulting. Trimedia's fee volume has grown by around 70 percent during my four years at the agency and has reached a size that logically entailed a shift to acquisition and recruitment. In future, I want to focus more on quality than quantity and take a more serious approach to the mandates I choose myself. This has to do with enjoying my work - and is ultimately also in the interests of the client.
Did you notice a consulting shortcoming in Bern that made you choose the federal capital as the domicile for your communications agency?
Maurer: First of all, I think that it is becoming less and less important where you are physically located. I'm always everywhere and nowhere. We can meet with customers on shared electronic platforms, for example. I was already responsible for the Trimedia office in Bern and was on the management board of the Zurich and Lugano offices. As a result, I was in Berne about as often as I was in Zurich. I chose Bern for personal reasons and because my family lives here. Of course, I see a certain potential in terms of political PR mandates from the federal government. As I know my way around this area quite well and have already handled mandates for Trimedia from the FDJP, the FDFA and the FOPH, for example, I will certainly continue to do so in the future.
Who else is involved in the new communications agency besides you, and how many employees are you starting with?
Maurer: I am the sole owner and am only starting with one assistant. I am in talks with other people. But because my company is integrated into a pool, I'm not completely alone. I have the opportunity to get resources and support there.
You mention the joint platform with media lawyer Franz A. Zölch. Which areas will he be responsible for?
Maurer: First of all, this is a local and infrastructure platform. We will support each other in the acquisition and placement of mandates, with him looking after the legal side and me the communications side. In this respect, our services complement each other. You also have to remember that many legal disputes are ultimately communication problems.
What other synergies will arise from this close collaboration?
Maurer: In addition to connecting the two large personal networks, additional potential can be achieved in the areas of brainstorming and creativity in particular.
Which interface will you serve in addition to the political institutions?
Maurer: What I can already say is that I am still doing issues management and strategy consulting for the Basel Chemical Industry (BCI) in connection with the increasingly important problem of contaminated sites.
Will you also include private companies in your portfolio?
Maurer: Definitely. I am well anchored in the e-business scene through First Tuesday, for example. Companies from the IT and telecommunications sectors remain an issue, along with the healthcare sector.
Thomas C. Maurer & Partner wants to focus on strategic consulting and the positioning of companies and organizations. The networking of experience, expertise and creativity is essential for this. Where do you get the necessary know-how from?
Maurer: I have a little faith in myself. I have a lot of experience and a certain reputation in this field. And if you don't have the ambition to build up an agency with 30 people within three years, which I don't have, I think that's enough. I am convinced that there is a need and space for a discreet, small but fine communications agency.
You emphasize the special relationships that your agency has in the federal capital and in federal politics. Can you describe these in more detail?
Maurer: As a former federal civil servant and head of film promotion, later as a political television journalist and then also as a supervisor of mandates from various departments, I am familiar with the milieu and know many people from the administration and parliament.
In addition to individual advice and personal support, you also mention discretion as a trademark. Aren't these USPs that practically all PR agencies use?
Maurer: Yes. But as soon as an agency reaches a certain size, there is often a lack of personal advice. This is reflected in the constant complaints about our industry. During the acquisition and the great presentations, you see the big cracks, and soon only the second or third set turn up at the client's premises. And I clearly want to avoid this, because it does not lead to a far-sighted, sustainable business policy.
Elisabeth Zölch has an excellent network as a member of the cantonal government and Director of Economic Affairs. A potential source for your communications agency?
Maurer: Ms. Zölch is of course part of my personal circle of acquaintances. But that won't play any role at all in connection with the agency's acquisition activities. On the contrary: you have to be absolutely correct here - in our mutual interest. However, it is of course useful to know such people. For example, you can establish contacts more easily and directly for existing customers. For example, when it comes to investment decisions. But ultimately, the focus will always be on quality. The quality of the product. And also the quality of communication. Interview: Luca Aloisi

The Dutch company MediaMountain has established a new branch in the winter paradise of Switzerland. MediaMountain Schweiz GmbH aims to realize holistic marketing concepts for European ski resorts. Miriam Frisenda has taken over the management in Zollikon. The agency combines the placement of laminated advertising posters in A2 frames on the ski lift supports with a freeskicard network, for example in discos or après-ski bars, and arranges advertising space on the strategically placed LED displays. MediaMountain's constantly growing partner network includes Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, France and soon also Italy.
Following the start-up phase, the first pilot campaigns were launched last winter with Nike, UPC, Toyota and Rentenanstalt. The concept appeals to young, sporty consumers. In tourist resorts, however, families, business people and senior citizens are also reached: "Everyone who enjoys a relaxed ski vacation and has time to be captivated by advertising messages," says Miriam Frisenda with conviction.
The knowledge of a wide range of resorts and ski lifts enables a tailor-made package for the target group wishes of Media Mountain customers. According to statistics, more than 65 million people across Europe see the advertising message placed in this way for an entire winter season. (pan)

The Swiss casting agency Rent-a-Voice is now also available online. 20 exclusive and 70 of 200 freelance voice-over artists in four languages can be heard on the voice-over platform www.rentavoice.ch. The idea was realized by Managing Director Manuela Caranci. "In recent years, there has been a need for a freelance, organized casting agency in the Swiss post-production industry to compete with existing services," she says.Caranci has set up her own casting agency over the past 18 months and acquired around 200 freelance, independent voices from Switzerland and abroad. As the reference list shows, a large number of advertising agencies and producers are already booking their voice talents via Rent-a-Voice. Since the beginning of July, the desired voices can be selected at the click of a mouse. (pan)

By Markus Knöpfli The continuing cost pressure in the direct mail business has led Direct Mail Company, Epsilon and Swissmail to cooperate. The three companies, which distribute unaddressed advertising throughout Switzerland, have divided up their territories so well that a joint nationwide logistics system with 18 partners could be created by 2002.
Swiss Post, SwissMail (SM), a network consisting of 16 distribution organizations, and the 50 percent-owned Swiss Post subsidiary Direct Mail Company (DMC), together with its French sister company Epsilon, in which the yellow giant holds a 66 percent stake, distribute unaddressed advertising.
For three years now, DMC, Epsilon and the SM members have been working on dividing up areas with low litter density for cost reasons, so that only one distribution company is active in each area and then also takes on orders from the competition.
For the past year, however, these "territorial consolidations" have had an even more far-reaching dimension: in addition to Swiss Post, only one other "distribution organization" is to be active throughout Switzerland. A joint company, in which Swiss Post itself would be directly involved alongside the Swiss Post subsidiaries and the SM members (WW 46/00), was put on the table last year. However, this first model was rejected by the Competition Commission (Weko).
Only Basel and Geneva are still "unadjusted" areas
A second model without direct Post involvement is now on the table. According to this model, the territorial consolidations that have already begun are to be accelerated in order to at least realize joint logistics between SM, DMC and Epsilon - allegedly also with price agreements. However, there has already been resistance to territorial agreements in particular from the ranks of those SM members who, as publishers, need their organization for the distribution of their own newspapers and do not want to cede certain territories.
However, there is also a driving force on the SM side: René Bill, Managing Director of AWZ Bern and also President of the AWZ Group, which, with six members within SM, is a kind of state within the state. According to reports, he has given some recalcitrant SM members a choice in recent months: Expulsion or "territorial adjustments".
This brought grudging success. Apparently, only two areas are currently still "unadjusted": Basel and Geneva. In Basel, the Basler Mediengruppe (BMG) is looking for a solution for its Baslerstab distributor Distriba, but according to BMG board member Ruth Ludwig, this is imminent. In Geneva, it is likely to take longer because AWZ Genève is allegedly in financial difficulties and is also embroiled in legal problems with Epsilon. However, René Bill does not want to know anything about this; the director could not be reached at Epsilon.
Bill's whip has thus overcome the greatest resistance. At the SM General Assembly on June 22 in Valais, the ground was reportedly prepared for further cooperation with DMC and Epsilon. DMC apparently also had until June 30 to sign the relevant contracts. It is unclear whether this has happened. DMC director Markus F. Hof did not want to comment, and Bill once again does not want to know anything about it. He says that cooperation with DMC and Epsilon was not an issue at the AGM and that there is no cooperation model beyond the "territorial adjustments". He is particularly dismissive of price fixing. However, Bill did not know about the first cooperation model six months ago, but now confirms that there was one at the time.
One thing is certain: At least there are almost no more obstacles to joint logistics for the 16 SM members and the two Swiss Post subsidiaries at the beginning of 2002. It remains to be seen how this will be organized. And what the Competition Commission will say about it. However, Patrik Ducrey, Deputy Director of the Competition Commission, has stated that territorial agreements are not a priori inadmissible. If the go-ahead comes from Bern, it should only be a small step before DMC and Epsilon become SM members. DMC was already a member of the predecessor organization - until Swiss Post joined DMC. But time and cost pressure make some things possible.

What was the last cultural event you attended?Muse & Musse Simon Walter
Simon Walter: The circus, because I wanted to see the princess.
What are you reading right now?
Walter: Sibylle Berg, "Some people seek happiness and laugh themselves to death". Despair, madness and schizophrenia in small, digestible morsels.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Walter: "The Atomic Café".
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Walter: "Les rivières pourpres". In the hope of perhaps understanding the movie the second time around.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Walter: On the "Sandman".
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Walter: www.fjallfil.com. It's not necessarily new, but it's always funny.
What could you never do without?
Walter: Oxygen?
What do you do in a free minute?
Walter: No further questions.
Love is...?
Walter: ...excellent, absolutely fantastic.

In addition, Conrad Engler has joined the Basel-based communications and consulting agency Brauchbar Büchel und Partner (BBP) as a new partner.
Martin Somogyi, Head of Marketing at CS Group Zurich, and Christian K. Schneider, Managing Director of Karl F. Schneider AG, are new members of the board of the Zurich Advertising Club.
Effective August 1, Philipp Skrabal, who has been an Art Director at Matter & Partner since 1997, will become Deputy Creative Director.
The Board of Directors of Radio Emme has elected Jürg Schürch, the former vice president, as the new president. He succeeds Fredy Ruf.
The Swiss News Agency (SDA) is losing its head of marketing, Noël Scheiwiller, who will be joining a Bern-based media company at the beginning of August. His deputy, Grazia Siliberti, will take over as interim head of the marketing team.
André Moesch, the former program director of Radio Basilisk, will become the new managing director of the St. Gallen-based private radio station Radio Aktuell. Moesch will succeed Herbert Bosshart on October 1.
Sandro Rüegger has been appointed the new managing director of Tevag AG Basel and, as a result, the publishing director of TR7. He replaces Karin Schwarz. Martin Coninx will succeed Rüegger as head of marketing for the business magazine *Bilanz*.
Brigitte Schatzmann (43), publishing director of *Glückspost*, is leaving Ringier «due to differences of opinion regarding the direction» of the weekly magazine, Ringier states. Silvia Lepiarczyk, head of Ringier Magazines for German-speaking Switzerland, will take over her duties on an interim basis.

HEIER LÄMMLER makes summer the season of events with its Pro & Motion "My greatest strength is my versatility"
McDonald's instead of Mallorca, that would be really "cool" as a vacation destination, the six-year-old son was delighted when his father Heier Lämmler promised him that the whole family would soon be trying out the "Family Adventure Weekend" at McDonald's Golden Arch Hotel. "The boy's reaction showed me that my thoughts were right," says Lämmler.
From mid-September, a family of four will spend two nights and two days at the McDonald's first-class hotel near Zurich Airport for 390 francs, including various special offer admissions from Alpamare to the zoo. "The canton of Zurich is a huge theme park," says Lämmler, who has long been astounding guests with his unconventional gastronomic ideas. This has earned him the order "implement immediately!" from McDonald's boss Urs Hammer.
More than one million tray liners and flyers in all McDonald's in Switzerland are intended to publicize the campaign. The party to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the "AlpenRock House" was also a flash campaign. And for the repositioning of Churrasco, Lämmler served up an opening event in August as a topper for the soft openings of two Churrasco restaurants in the Steinfels area and at Winterthur railroad station.
Pro & Motion AG is the name of the Zurich agency with which Lämmler, who turns 50 this year, has developed into a reliable address for catering advertising and events as an "outlaw advertiser" on Zollikerstrasse.
Lämmler describes the shared office with Hans Walter Huggler's Impact Music, Andreas Vollenweider's manager, as a "BG in the sense of a shared flat like back in '68". The collective creative spirit blows through the offices in a noticeably friendly way. The tasks in this small agency, where Julien Witt and, since March, ex-Miss Switzerland Stéphanie Berger have also been contributing their special marketing and event experience alongside wife Kitty for accounting, are to be tackled "playfully".
"Today, as a small, flexible agency, we are right on trend", says Heier Lämmler happily of his Pro & Motion, "because my greatest strength is my versatility". One
A characteristic that he first tested with Freddy Burger's showbiz customers.
Commercial apprenticeship in an advertising and public relations agency. Orchestra secretary for Hazy Osterwald for four years. Four years as production manager for Jürg Marquard's youth magazine Pop. Three years each as a presenter at Radio Zürisee and then Radio 24: these are the stations that have enabled all-rounder Lämmler to say with conviction: "Not only youth, but also experience is a valuable asset in advertising." Andreas Panzeri

AY&R continues to tell Kuoni travelers where to go after their returnThere are easier burdens than continuing an ADC Gold campaign like the one for Kuoni with the same quality and equally high surprise effect. In the collective memory, the groundbreaking presentation - "Holidays where you forget everything" - was diametrically opposed to the astonishing bouts of mental absence of Kuoni travelers returning home. Launched in December 1999, the campaign succeeded within a short space of time in greatly enhancing the vitality and popularity of the brand and its degree of differentiation. Out of the blue a few weeks ago, however, the strengthened image was torpedoed and partially destroyed by the highly reputationally damaging smear theater of Kuoni's Board of Directors. The pressure on the advertisers' shoulders is therefore likely to have been twofold.
"We were aware of the expectations," say the two AY&R ADs Hélène Forster and Christian Bobst. With their strategy of not pushing the traditional media further, but rather using new advertising media to intensify the message, they have probably achieved their goal.
For example, suitcases left lying on luggage carousels at Zurich airport are doing the rounds and advertising with an unforgettable message. No less unusual is the imprint on the boxes of two pizza couriers. Hungry people are warned not to bite into the box by mistake.
Kuoni even advertises in the Schauspielhaus program booklet, which was first recorded on CD as a radio play by Marthaler's troupe: the actors, who have forgotten their parts after the Kuoni vacations, subtly aim for the audience's laughing muscles. Romeo can't even remember the name of his beloved Ju ... Jutta ... er, Mama? Luca Aloisi

Mobile Solutions AG in Dübendorf wants to usher in a new age of direct marketing with SMS codesWith MoCode, Dübendorf-based Mobile Solutions AG is launching a new direct marketing alternative to coupons, reply cards and 0800 service numbers. Similar to the mobile ordering options for CDs or DVDs via SMS - even if m-commerce will only play a marginal role for the time being - the technology company wants to usher in a more customer-friendly era in direct marketing. According to Daniel Aregger, Marketing and Content Director at Mobile Solutions, the new technology eliminates the time-consuming process of filling out, cutting out and sending in coupons, as well as the costly process of recording and processing the data. His solution provides for numerical codes on all kinds of advertising media and products. Consumers can use these codes to request further documents by simply sending the code to the MoCode center via SMS.
Spaming is out - permission marketing is in In view of the high cell phone density and easier contact with the logistics center, the provider is certain that the response rate will increase significantly even for promotions. Mobile Solutions is convinced that there are no problems with data protection.
"There are only 300,000 people in Switzerland who have registered their mobile number and address," says Aregger. Anyone who is not in this database is called by the call center and asked for the necessary data. It takes just under two minutes from the MoCode SMS to the callback. The collected data is not processed or distributed any further, but is handed over to the customer depending on the package - but never with the cell phone numbers. This prevents counterproductive spamming or trading with the collected data.
In addition to the fact that potential interested parties can be reached anytime and anywhere, Aregger sees further advantages in the spontaneous reactions that are encouraged and the lower inhibition threshold. Although only at the acquisition stage, negotiations are already underway with Samsung, Nokia, Siemens and Calanda. Luca Aloisi

On November 8, the Edi, the coveted award for commissioned films and commercials, will be presented for the second time.On November 8, the Edi, the coveted award for commissioned films and commercials, will be presented for the second time. After last year's premiere in Zurich's expensively remodeled Schiffbau, this year's Award Night is planned for the newly styled and also expensively remodeled Lake Side - the former Casino Zürichhorn. Once again, the program will be framed by film shows and a panel discussion with top-class participants. The head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), Federal Councillor Ruth Dreifuss, has already approved the list of participants for the competition jury. We can already reveal that Peter Brönnimann from Advico Young & Rubicam, Gockhausen, and Danielle Lanz from Ruf Lanz, Zurich, will be taking part from the advertising industry. More details will follow in the August 9 issue of WerbeWoche. The official announcement of the competition will also be published in that issue. (pan)

In two studies, 20 Minuten performs well compared to the other commuter newspapersBy Markus Knöpfli A study by Wemf and a study by three students at the University of Zurich attest
20 Minuten scores well with younger readers.
From January to March 2001, the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten had a reach (LpA) of 497,000 readers or 12.3 percent in German-speaking Switzerland. This is the result of the special study "Media-Analyse 20 Minuten 2001". It was compiled by AG für Werbemedienforschung (Wemf) on behalf of 20 Minuten Schweiz. No other titles were included in the survey, which means that comparisons cannot be made. A true comparison will only be possible with Mach Basic 2002. If the figures are confirmed by then, 20 Minuten would probably rank third among the Swiss daily newspapers.
According to this study, 52% of 20 Minuten readers are between 14 and 34 years old - a figure that no other title currently achieves with this target group. 56% are men, 53% have a medium and 22% a high level of education, 58% are in full-time employment, while 35% are in training or not in employment. 39% have an income of between CHF 4,000 and 8,000 per month,
33 percent earn more than CHF 8,000 per month. According to Rolf Bollmann, Managing Director of 20 Minuten, around 275,000 copies of 20 Minuten were distributed every day during the period in question, giving the title 1.8 readers per copy.
24 percent read "almost daily" for 20 minutes
Another study on the media behavior of Zurich residents was conducted by three students from the University of Zurich. The study is limited to the Zurich area and is based on scattered questionnaires, of which 842 were returned. The study is not representative, as there was a surplus of younger people among the respondents: More than 50 percent were under 35 years old. The genders were almost evenly distributed. The study is therefore able to provide some interesting information about the media use of young Zurich residents.
Print media is used by 77 percent of respondents, the Internet by 60 percent, radio by 58 percent and TV by 52 percent "almost daily".
36 percent of respondents read the Tages-Anzeiger "daily", 36 percent also read a free newspaper, 17 percent read the NZZ and 3 percent read Blick.
Of the free newspapers, 20 Minuten is read "almost daily" by 24%, ZürichExpress (ZE) by 18% and Metropol by 13%. At the same time, 70 percent of respondents use the free newspapers for a maximum of 15 minutes. By comparison, 60 percent use the purchased titles for longer than 20 minutes.
Eisenhut is the new Editor-in-ChiefMarkus Eisenhut (38) has been elected by the Board of Directors of 20 Minuten (Schweiz) AG as the new Editor-in-Chief of 20 Minuten. He is currently still working as deputy editor-in-chief at the Tages-Anzeiger. Eisenhut was previously Head of News at SonntagsZeitung and Head of Sport at Blick and SonntagsBlick.