Lack of advertisers forces new economy title to quit after only ten monthsBy Daniel SchifferleThe burst new economy bubble claims another victim: Internet Standard fell far short of expectations in both the advertiser and reader markets and is therefore ceasing publication with immediate effect. Computerworld, also published by IDG, will inherit the Internet issues.
If only the planners had been a little slower this time, just half a year, the title would probably never have been launched at all (see also the editorial on page 2). The Internet Standard was planned in the heyday of the Internet hype. When it first appeared on August 18, 2000, the crisis was already deep (see WW 10/01). The stock prices of many New Economy companies had already begun their descent into the abyss.
Hans Ueli Kühni, a board member of IDG Internet AG, which published the Internet Standard, still remembers the untroubled days: "When the newspaper was launched, Internet was hype. The American Industry Standard, parent paper and model for the Internet Standard, also published by IDG, was as thick as the Bible at the time, such was the demand for advertising space." But that changed quickly.
In recent months, the Internet Standard has achieved a paid circulation of between 7000 and 8000 copies. According to Kühni, around 6000 of these copies went to readers by subscription, while 1000 to 1400 copies per issue were sold at newsstands. "We were actually satisfied with the development in the reader market," says Kühni. But sales were far below the 17,000 copies that were to be generated by the end of 2001 according to the original business plan.
New Economy advertisers are on stand-by The main reason for the rapid demise of the New Economy title, says Kühni, is the faltering advertiser market. "The crash of the New Economy meant that Internet companies became particularly reluctant to invest in advertising. One gets the impression that the New Economy has switched to stand-by when it comes to advertising," Kühni notes.
At the last moment, Internet Standard tried to turn things around. The recipe would have been to position itself more in the B2B sector. But there was no longer enough time to make this switch to the more promising business world. Kühni does not want to reveal how much money Internet Standard has lost in total. But he confirms that it is a single-digit million amount in the middle.
Is there even a need for a separate print product devoted exclusively to the Internet? "No, of course not," says Kühni clearly today. However, Internet topics are not to disappear completely from IDG. According to Kühni, they will be integrated into Computerworld. Subscribers to Internet Standard will now receive the magazine, which is also published weekly, as a replacement.

Goal: Awareness, branding, traffic, e-commerce.HP Store Advertising media: Fullbanner. Deployment: May 7 to June 10.
Client: Hewlett Packard. Advertising agency: Optimedia Switzerland (print campaign).

Goal: Awareness and brand building for youtrade through innovative and attention-grabbing advertising media.Credit Suisse youtrade advertising media: DHTML full banner.
Client: youtrade; Responsibility: Marcel Steiner; Bettina Wolf, Project Management. Agency: Eyekon, Zurich; Consulting: Simon Wirth.

The American outdoor advertiser Clear Channel has acquired a 20 percent stake in the German outdoor advertiser Wall AG via a capital increase.News Clear Channel joins Wall
Wall AG is 69 percent owned by company founder Hans Wall and son Daniel. Last year, the company reported earnings (before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization) of DM 37 million (up 14 %) on sales of DM 139 million. Clear Channel is also active in Switzerland: the world's largest outdoor advertiser owns Plakanda/AWI and holds 8 percent of Affichage.
Restless Zurichers at BMGThe three editors-in-chief, Ivo Bachmann (Beobachter), Fredy Gsteiger (Weltwoche) and Medard Meier (Bilanz), demand information in a letter about the dismissal Roger Berger, head of documentation at the Basel media group, had given to an employee of Dokumentation Zürich. It is feared that the job will be relocated to Basel. Because of the dismissal, two more of the total of four female documentalists, including the head, have resigned. In a letter, they point out that the Zurich documentation is being called into question and that the continuation of the paper archive is being made impossible.
Money 24 wobblesRoger Schawinski's planned stock market TV Money 24 must tremble for partner Cablecom. Cablecom boss Ueli Dietiker told the Tages-Anzeiger (TA) that a decision would be made in the next few weeks as to whether the cable network group would actually take a stake in Money 24. One must have the certainty that the business plans are also financially viable. When the license was granted in February, it was said that the broadcaster would earn 10 to 12 million francs a year, mainly through an associated Internet portal. If the partnership with Cablecom and its subsidiary SwissOnline does not materialize, the portal is also likely to disappear. Money 24 project manager Martin Spieler, however, now told the TA that, in the worst case, television could also be made without the Internet. Spieler did not commit himself to a start date - earlier there was talk of fall 2001.
Europe grows together in the mediaPrivate radio stations and TV stations from all over Europe want to fight together for their interests in the future. They have founded the European Association of Independent and Local Radio and TV Stations (CERTIL). Among the founders is Telesuisse, the association of Swiss private TVs, as its president Claude-Alain Stettler announced. It is still open whether the three Swiss private radio associations VSP, PSR and RRR will also join the European umbrella organization.
Canal Alpha+ without presidentClaude-Alain Stettler stepped down as president of the board of directors of the Neuchâtel private TV company Canal Alpha+ at the beginning of this week. He will still chair the AGM of the sponsoring company on June 26. Stettler had already resigned from his post as commercial director at Canal Alpha+ at the end of April (WW 18/01). The reason is a dispute with four new private shareholders who own the majority of the sponsoring company and who each claim a directorship, including that of Stettler.
Radio 105 enters into new partnershipsNew partnerships with Swisscom Mobile and Coca-Cola enable the youth station 105 to expand its programming. Swisscom Mobile presents three new broadcast formats: "SMS Charts," "Skydate" (dating show) and "Skyline Dancers. Coca-Cola supports 105 at the Züri Fäscht, at the Streetparade 2001 and also offers the music section "Celebrations Song".
Handelszeitung sells trade magazinesThe HandelsZeitung Fachverlag has sold its monthly magazines Logistik and Verpackung to the Bern-based publisher Edition Colibri. Edition Colibri sees the two titles as a "synergistic and logical complement" to its magazine Technische Rundschau. With the sale, HandelsZeitung is streamlining its range of trade magazines. In the future, the publisher wants to concentrate on the two tracks of management and financial information, explained publishing director Ralph Büchi.

File format developed by the software company Adobe Inc.Online ABC Acrobat
The document is saved with the exact layout and all fonts used and is displayed regardless of the reader's technical background. The
File can also not be changed. http://www.adobe.com/proindex/acrobat/main.html
Active XProgram developed by Microsoft for dynamic Internet applications. Competitor product to Shockwave and Java.
Ad deliveryAdvertising delivery of the ad server. See also Ad server.
Ad managementSuperordinate term for software-supported management of online advertising, especially banners.
Ad clickNumber of clicks on a hyperlink carrying advertising that leads to the advertiser's website or information.
Ad click rateThe ratio of ad clicks to page impressions is the efficiency criterion for online advertising. The ad click rate provides information on how many users actually clicked on the online advertisement.
AdForceThe US company AdForce developed its own ad serving technology.
www.adforce.com

There are things you know, but you don't talk or write about them in public. Even if they are commonplace. For example, about households that have to be dissolved or redimensioned after a death - and if you flip through the Tages-Anzeiger alone, that's certainly more than a dozen every day. Thanks to a clever placement of an ad - also in the Tages-Anzeiger - this taboo subject is presented to us in an emotionless and realistic way. Next to six obituaries, one quickly discovers, thanks to prominent writing, an invitation to a public auction at the Gantlokal. A treasure trove for bargain hunters. All right, but perhaps this ad would have been better placed on the market page than on the obituary page. On the one hand, yes, it's gratifying that items can live on after their owners have died, but with a dead person, after all, you wait a few days to take them to their final home. And when reading this ad, it is very difficult not to get the feeling that one is acquiring the belongings of Hans Mathys, Ruedi Adler or Thilde Henggeler-Vogel. Eternal rest to them, another place to the ad. Chandra Kurt
Column

A Mörgeli is never alone
By Thomas Lüber
Why don't students actually apply to be copywriters anymore? When, for example, the old octogenarians had had enough of all the classical philology stuff, the poor future prospects as gym teachers and the cafeteria rage after about three weeks, they, like all sensible intellectuals, looked around for a job where they could make good money, have beautiful assistants around them and still not have to do much more than they did at university. Or rather less.
They consequently came up and then into advertising, where for the time being everything went according to plan. Until the day the recession broke out. Advertisements shrank to the handy advertising format, but the coupons became bigger and the working hours longer, which has not changed significantly to this day. It's stupid when you're already in the business, can't do anything else and are plagued by fixed costs. It's good if you're still young, sitting in the university atrium and gnawing on your pencil.
Well aware that advertising is no longer a continuation of hanging around with other money, the hopeless students shy away from the agencies like the AD shies away from customer contact. That they nevertheless don't end up in the file boxes of the social welfare offices, but on the career ladder, is ensured by the SVP. Since the SVP has overtaken Swiss politics on the far right and will soon have more posts to offer than Blocher has millions, every student (female students not included for once) can easily set out on a great career, even if they are not very good at it. Mr. Mörgeli proves the correctness of my thesis with nice regularity in the National Council and in my favorite newspaper Metropol.
Which in turn shows that at least something hasn't changed until today: In the end, the antisocial elements all end up writing columns.
[email protected]
Thomas Lüber is Managing Director Creation at Lesch+Frei, Zurich.
Language Observer

The company strikes back
"Religious symbols in advertising are proliferating," I read in a book*. "An ad for the tobacco brand Samson now looks like Christ's resurrection on the Isenheimer Al-.
tar by Matthias Grünewald." In fact, however, instead of the light of eternity, the logo lion shines above the skyline and the sea in the aureole at Samson Tobacco. Above it is a quote - not from the Bible, but from Deep Purple: "Smoke on the Water."
The lion's mane is reminiscent of Purple singer Ian Gillan's hair. And the gap between hard rock and the Bible closes harmoniously, considering that Gillan played the part of Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar".
Rev. Jérôme Cottin originally earned his doctorate as an art historian. In his book "Dieu et la Pub" (God and Advertising), he examines the accumulation of religious symbols in the public sphere. In doing so, he treats advertising with a great deal of respect - as a mirror of people's desires and hopes, fears and (longing) addictions. His conclusion is: We are again in search of meaning. But we are no longer looking for the biblical message in church, but on the billboard. "Dieu et la Pub" has aroused more interest among the general population than in church circles.
Jérôme Cottin calls on the church not to let its symbols be taken away just like that - and gave me an idea. I called them, explained myself, things started rolling, the presentations followed each other like one day after another, I got to know the top people of the company, and truly, their budgets were subject to the grace of miraculous increase...
In marketing phase I (until 2004), we would like to sensitize the advertising agencies, which still show fear of contact and in some cases do not even want to admit that their campaigns contain biblical symbols and messages. Using the example of Benetton (children of all races in cream colors, large-format pictures as dramatization of central stations of human life), we will show that there are campaigns which, in their universality, could just as well advertise for God as for sweaters.
Phase II (from 2004) then targets the general public. In doing so, we expressly refrain from branding or even legally prosecuting sign pirates like Samson. On the contrary: We trust in the power and the strength and the glory of the Christian symbols and occupy them again with their original contents, so that every advertisement for Samson etc. from this point on is also advertising for the church again.
Behold: The church has done its conceptual homework. In the next few months, we will determine the lead agency. Please send applications to
[email protected]
* Jérôme Cottin: "Dieu et la Pub", Editions du Cerf, Paris

(1st quarter 2001) Affinity of advertisements among supporters in the "alternative culture "Best of Print AdvertisingThe advertising hits 2001 from the Advertising Index of the market research institute Demoscope
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of WerbeWoche five times a year with an excerpt from the
Results from the Advertising Index (AX Print). This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that
in the entire sample, i.e., all four target groups in total, performed best in the 1st quarter of 2001 are shown under the heading "Top three".

(1st quarter 2001)Best of Print AdvertisingThe advertising hits 2001 from the Advertising Index of the market research institute Demoscope
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of WerbeWoche five times a year with an excerpt from the
Results from the Advertising Index (AX Print). This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that
The best results for the entire sample, i.e. for all four target groups as a whole, in the 1st quarter of 2001 are shown under the heading "".

Bluewin, Switzerland's leading portal operator by far, must restructure its portal. Based on a market analysis, it is realigning its channels and online services to better meet the needs of end users and the interests of advertisers, according to a statement. New forms of advertising and better user-friendliness are to optimize commercialization. Savings are to be realized by cutting around 20 jobs.The reason for the restructuring is the earnings situation in the portal business, which continues to be below expectations. Concrete figures were not available, however. A spokeswoman answered the question of why Bluewin.ch was not booked more strongly by media planners despite a reach of over 50 percent: Online marketing has not developed as expected, and the Bluewin offering currently appeals to a target group that is too broad for advertisers' needs.
For this reason, the offerings of the former Woman channel and the newly designed Health channel, for example, are now being combined under Lifestyle. 55plus will no longer be continued. Instead, the computer channel will be expanded, and a new channel on cars and a platform on people and entertainment will be launched. New forms of advertising and microsites as channel sponsoring as well as commercial inserts in a range of newsletters are intended to help advertisers optimize their online media planning. Offers can be found at www.mediadaten.ch (mk).

In addition, T-Online Switzerland has appointed Matthias Gartenmann as its new Managing Director. He takes over from Günter Nierlich, who is leaving the Internet provider at his own request. COO Armin Zollinger and CFO Sigfried Hampel are also leaving T-Online.
FC Basel is creating the position of Head of Media and Public Relations next year. Josef Zindel, currently Head of Opinio Publishing of the Basel Media Group, will take up the post.
On June 1, a three-member committee will replace Anton Schaller as interim managing director of Tele Ostschweiz. The new management team consists of Patrick Senn, Editor-in-Chief, Peter Schwager, Head of Marketing/Sales and Management, and Stefan Schachtler, Production.
From June, Christoph Salathé will be the new head of the local and regional market of Basler Zeitung. He will also take on key account responsibilities. Salathé was most recently area sales manager at SonntagsZeitung.
Jacqueline Vils and Ursina Jeuch joined the Fisch-Meier-Direkt team as assistants at the beginning of the month. After a six-month break, Karin Kropf has taken on a part-time position in the consulting area.
Thierry Knecht is taking over the role of Head of Website Management at online marketer Qualiclick. Knecht, who has been working as a Major Account Manager for Qualiclick for a year, is taking over from Enrique Nuñez. He intends to focus more on business development and will oversee projects such as customer loyalty measures and the further development of advertising formats.

(1st quarter 2001) Affinity of advertisements among supporters in the "Christian camp "Best of Print AdvertisingThe advertising hits 2001 from the Advertising Index of the market research institute Demoscope
In cooperation with the market research institute Demoscope, Publimedia presents the readers of WerbeWoche five times a year with an excerpt from the
Results from the Advertising Index (AX Print). This index (see box) is a module of the Market Radar and measures the popularity of advertising subjects. In the top two rows are those subjects that achieved the greatest acceptance in the relevant psychographic target group (see wind rose). The three subjects that
in the entire sample, i.e., all four target groups in total, performed best in the 1st quarter of 2001 are shown under the heading "Top three".

The majority of media planners and even competitors from Basel and Zurich give the Neue Zürcher Zeitung's Sunday project a chance - albeit for very different reasons. "I believe that the NZZ project could well have a chance. The two Sunday titles in German-speaking Switzerland only reach a good third of the population, whereas Le Matin Dimanche alone has a reach of around 50 percent on the other side of the Röstigraben. In terms of figures alone, there is potential in the reader market, including in the reader segment that the NZZ wants to address.
The SonntagsZeitung (SoZ) will certainly be more affected by the two existing titles, but the Sunday press will be strengthened overall. This is because national titles are cheaper than normal daily newspapers. If this is also the case with the NZZ project, an expansion of the national press will certainly meet with interest from advertisers."
"I've been a core reader of the NZZ for 40 years and have been waiting for three to four years for a Sunday project like this to finally happen. I am convinced that it will be a success. Although the NZZ-Sonntagsblatt may cannibalize its own Saturday edition, the publishing house on Werdstrasse will probably have the biggest problems. The SoZ has not improved its quality in recent years, which is why the number of frustrated SoZ readers has increased. In the medium term, they might have migrated to SonntagsBlick (SoBli), but now they have a new perspective."
"The NZZ Sunday project is a difficult undertaking, just in terms of distribution. And the medium-term goal of reaching a circulation of 150,000 copies is ambitious.
With the existing two titles, the Sunday market is actually covered and it is hardly possible to generate more reach on Sundays. There will therefore be a cut-throat battle, with the SoZ coming under pressure and the SoBli could emerge as the winner.
I'm not very enthusiastic about a seventh edition of the NZZ. I need an intelligent newspaper on weekdays, but I personally prefer light fare at the weekend."
"The NZZ am Sonntag should stimulate both the readership and the advertising market. Tamedia's SoZ is so well positioned with its independent profile in terms of content and appearance that it can face the new competition with confidence. The fact that the NZZ now also wants to enter the Sunday market is an expression of the generally increasing need for information and shows that there is still potential. Thanks to the line taken by SoZ and its broad base with an interesting audience, our weekend title will also benefit from the movement in the market."
"In terms of the market, it is clear that there is potential: there are certainly readers who have not yet been picked up. What's more, with Blick, Tages-Anzeiger and NZZ, three titles can coexist well on weekdays, so this should actually also work on Sundays.
In the short term, the SoZ will probably lose some advertising and also some readers; whether this will remain the case in the medium term, however, remains to be seen. The SoZ is well positioned and currently reaches more decision-makers than the NZZ. Overall, however, the Sunday market will become more interesting, which will also help the two existing titles."
"I think the NZZ's decision is very courageous, but I'm not sure whether there are enough readers for a new paper. For Weltwoche, however, the paper will be a serious competitor in the advertising market. It must therefore position itself in such a way that it can hold its own next spring despite the NZZ project. In the reader market, on the other hand, Weltwoche will be less affected. Its readership is not too keen on a Zurich-based, free-minded product. Weltwoche has already formed an antithesis to a certain extent."
Bruno Blaser, Publishing Director
Blick Group:
"The project must of course be taken very seriously. Every other property is a competitor - regardless of its journalistic orientation. That's why we're not just shrugging our shoulders, we have to think about measures. I can't say any more details yet.
What will happen in the advertising market remains to be seen: It is possible that the Sunday press will be strengthened, but it is also possible that three titles will have to divide the Sunday budgets between them.
Distribution of the new paper will be expensive for the NZZ. It cannot be ruled out that we will offer it a hand with SoBli distribution; one should never slam the door. However, talks have not yet taken place, at least not at my level."
Survey: Markus Knöpfli