The Swiss Federal Administration spends 62.5 million francs a year on public relations. 432 people are employed in communications roles. This is according to a recent report by the Federal Finance Administration. Converted to full-time equivalents, the breakdown is as follows: Information 114, Public Relations and Publications 28, Internet 37, Secretariats 39, for a total of 218 full-time equivalents. The costs for mandatory publications, translations, and internal communications were not included. The largest cost drivers are printing costs billed by EDMZ (10.5 million) and commissions and fees paid to advertising and PR agencies. In the future, in-house editorial and conceptual work is to take precedence over more expensive external contracts, provided that internal resources are available.Oh, how elitist the NZZ (advertising) is! The following sentence recently appeared in an ad from the NZZ campaign: «Some things become clearer more quickly when information is presented precisely, analyzed lucidly, and communicated persuasively.» For heaven’s sake, what on earth does «lucid» even mean? The generally well-educated *WerbeWoche* journalist simply looks it up in the *Duden* dictionary of foreign words: «lucid [Latin]: rarely used to mean »bright« or »transparent,’” it says. Aha. With such rare words, the average reader gets left behind. You can sense the intention and recall: “Convincing,” “lucid”—those were the comments on the ordeal of NZZ Board Chairman Eric Honegger.
SDV LAUNCHES NEW SPECIALIST GROUP. The Swiss Direct Marketing Association (SDV) has established a new specialist group for the Internet and e-commerce. Erwin Schnee (ADIM Agency for Direct Marketing AG, Hünenberg) has been elected to lead this specialist group. Guido Wietlisbach (WBO OgilvyOne AG, Zurich) was named the new SDV vice president. He is considered the future president of the association.
CATCH THE SPERM. The Federal Office of Public Health is targeting web users with its Stop AIDS campaign: «Catch the Sperm» is a game that anyone «at risk» can play on the website www.stopaids.ch. In the game, players «immerse themselves in a fascinating three-dimensional world,» as Aids-Hilfe Schweiz describes it. Here, sperm swim around with a cheeky and irresistible look. But HIV viruses are swimming around here, too. Skilled players collect points that they can use to win one of the popular Stop AIDS mouse pads each week. The game was developed by Phenomedia AG.
PUBLICIS STEPS IN TO HELP. Tens of thousands of onlookers gather each year for the Sechseläuten, a tradition through which the people of Zurich bid farewell to winter. The Zurich-based advertising agency Publicis is located right next to the Sechseläutenwiese. From its offices, one enjoys a magnificent view of the event. This year, Publicis wants to share this privileged view with a few guests, a fact it revealed to the select few through a humorous invitation: «Fire Safety» is the headline of a card designed in the style of emergency instructions. The invitation is tied to a contest in which the winner is whoever accurately predicts exactly when the «Böögg’s» head will explode.
VBZ IS HOSTING A POSTER CONTEST. In the city of Zurich alone, 750,000 passengers ride the VBZ Züri-Linie every day. «It’s worth designing a tram poster that catches the eye and gets noticed,» says VBZ in its call for entries for a competition seeking the most creative tram posters. VBZ TrafficMedia invites clients and advertising agencies to participate. The awards will be presented in December by an independent panel of experts. The grand prize is a free display of 800 tram posters for two weeks, valued at 13,000 francs. All tram posters booked for display between May 2 and December 31, 2001, are eligible. For more information, contact www.vbz.ch/ trafficmedia

Radio HerzSchlaG is distancing itself from Radio Aktuell. HerzSchlaG, the St. Gallen University (HSG) student radio station, which has received a one-month broadcasting license from the Federal Office of Communications (valid from May 1 to May 30, 2001), will also be allowed to air five minutes of advertising per day. Originally, the founders planned to collaborate with Radio Aktuell for advertising sales. However, due to the current political debate in the canton of St. Gallen regarding the Tagblatt Group’s monopoly, HerzSchlaG now wishes to position itself more independently from Radio Aktuell and, according to Managing Director Michael Rohmeder, is seeking another sales partner. Radio Aktuell, which has paid a contribution of 100,000 francs to the HerzSchlaG supporting foundation, will continue to be represented on the foundation’s board.
Expo.02 Sponsors Form a Consortium. Nine sponsors of the Expo-Arteplage Biel have joined together to form a consortium. They aim to help ensure that Expo.02 can build on the success of previous national exhibitions. The group consists of Credit Suisse, IBM, Migros, the Swiss National Bank, Swisscom, Swissmem, SwissRe, the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks, and «Zürich» Insurance. According to a press release, the consortium intends to leverage synergies in both organization and content and maintain close contact with the city authorities of Biel.
Editorial

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
A 1960s romance: He, the nice neighbor next door, with a neat, greasy quiff and a cigarette hanging casually from the corner of his mouth; she, a Hollywood starlet, with raised eyebrows and a Pepsodent smile. Only one thing clouds the picture of their cozy togetherness—the contrived question-and-answer exchange: «Mind if I smoke?»—«Care if I die?»
It has long since ceased to be just these kinds of anti-tobacco campaign posters that are making life difficult for the tobacco industry. Allegations of supporting cigarette smuggling, lawsuits seeking damages, political donations, and ethically questionable practices—such as systematically denying tobacco’s carcinogenic properties—are tarnishing its image and carry at least as much weight as the threat of an advertising ban. If voters were to decide on the same issue today—eight years after rejecting the twin initiatives—the result would likely be different. Even experts view the tobacco advertising ban, which was struck down by the European Court of Justice, as merely a brief respite. After all, if the Canadian model—which features graphic medical images as warning labels on cigarette packs—takes hold, and terms like «mild» or «light» are banned, the tobacco industry will have its back against the wall. Given the damage to its image, arguments such as rigorous self-restraint in advertising, the cigarette as part of our cultural heritage, as a major source of funding for the AHV, or as an advertiser—just barely in the top 20, and on a downward trend—could lose all credibility.
One can forgive the assertion that the product presentation for cigarettes needs to be creatively improved, as emphasized by Peter Paetzel, head of marketing at Philip Morris Germany. The «no comment» from Philip Morris’s Swiss headquarters regarding its decision to drop the Marlboro Cowgirl remains inexplicable. Are they waiting to see how smokers react? Or is the new artist campaign for Parisienne Blue (page 10) the right response to Marlboro’s “Cowgirl Blues”? One thing is already clear today: traditional marketing concepts for cigarettes have had their day. Luca Aloisi

February was a weak advertising month compared with the same month last year, according to Mediafocus surveys: Overall, gross advertising expenditure in commercial advertising was only 0.9 percent or CHF 2.7 million higher.Print media performed very differently: Newspapers recorded a decline of 2.1 percent (minus CHF 2.7 million), and general-interest magazines lost as much as 4.3 percent (minus CHF 2 million). By contrast, the selection of trade magazines increased by 8.8 percent (plus 1.4 million Swiss francs).
TV stations are minimally (plus 2.4 percent) above the previous year's level, while radios have suffered their second setback in the current year (minus 5.9 percent). Teletext also took a dive (down 6.1 percent).
Among the winners were the cinemas, which reported a double-digit increase in gross advertising expenditure of 23.3% (plus CHF 647,000). And the billboard companies more than made up for their miserable January, posting a 14.8 percent increase in February. Online advertising is still on the rise, increasing by 37.9% or 349,000 Swiss francs. It had already recorded an increase of 24.2 percent in January.
In the first two months of this year, gross advertising expenditure was 2.2 percent (up CHF 11.8 million) higher than in the same period last year. Online advertising (up 31.4 percent), cinema with an increase of 20 percent, trade magazines (up 9.8 percent) and TV with an increase of 8.5 percent are the winners among the media so far.
So far, radio stations in particular have suffered a decline of 8.2 percent, while newspapers are down 0.4 percent on the same period last year. At least a minimal increase was recorded by general-interest magazines (up 0.6 percent), and teletext and posters are still 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent better off. Markus Knöpfli
Gross advertising expenditure by media

February 2000/2001 in comparison
in 1000 Fr. 2000 in 1000 Fr. 2001 +/- %
Daily newspapers 127 908 125 224 - 2.1
Publ. journals 46 304 44 291 - 4.3
Trade journals 15,874 17,278 8.8
TV 55 579 56 907 2.4
Radio 10 154 9 553 - 5.9
Cinema 2,774 3,421 23.3
Teletext 1 655 1 554 - 6.1
Poster 29,551 33,925 14.8
Internet banner 920 1,269 37.9
Total 290,721 293,422 0.9
Source: Media Focus Hergiswil (NW)

The perception of ads has much less to do with placement than with sensory impressionsBy Wolfgang KoschnickLeft or right, color or black and white, inter pares or
on its own? The placement of ads, but also factors such as color, size and content quality are part of advertising effectiveness research. Which, however, despite (or perhaps because of) numerous analysis results
does not produce unity.
The idea that advertising has a particularly powerful effect if it is placed in a favorable location persists in the advertising industry. But where could such a spot be? And why should one and the same advertisement achieve breathtaking success in one place and go down the drain without a sound in another?
Advertisers believe that an ad works much better at the top right of the page than at the bottom left, and even at the bottom right it works even more than at the bottom left - the corner of absolute advertising eclipse. Even advertisers who have studied advertising effectiveness in depth believe this. And even those who ask themselves critically-self-critically why this should be so, then say: "Place the ad on the top right, please." Not because they think it will have a stronger impact there. But you never know. And it certainly can't do any harm.
For a long time, advertising wanted nothing to do with psychology
Historically speaking, placement is the first and oldest question ever asked in advertising research. In the early nineties of the 19th century, the first psychologists began to investigate the "effect principle of advertising". To this end, they used rudimentary quantitative methods to explore the role of ad placement.
In 1892, for example, advertising psychologist Bernhard Wities ran several identical ads in different places in a newspaper and found that an ad on the last page brought in four times as many inquiries from the advertiser as one in the middle of the paper.
This was, so to speak, the first more or less controlled test in direct response advertising. Another test from 1894 determined for an ad placed at regular intervals that the third and fourth publication in each case had a stronger effect (i.e. triggered inquiries) than the first and second.
This early research by German advertising psychologists, however, was for the cat. No one was interested in it. Especially not the advertising industry. At the beginning of the
At that time, it was still considered absurd in Europe to implement any scientific findings at all in business management. At that time, it was still considered absurd in Europe to implement any scientific findings at all in business management. Applied business and industrial psychology did not gain a foothold in Europe until around 1910. In the 1920s, a tentative bridge was built between science and business.
Qualified laboratory tests with
elementary psychology
Even in 1920, Heinrich Niklisch, one of the founders of business administration in Germany, noted with resignation that "even today, psychologists apologize to their readers when they make reclamation the subject of their study."
Even then, the Americans had a head start over the Europeans. In the U.S., since the turn of the century, scientists such as Harlow Gale, Walter Dill Scott and Daniel Starch had been studying the effects of ad elements such as design, size and placement.
In Europe, Hugo Münsterberg, in his book Psychology and Economic Life, echoed the American studies, lamenting, "The economic world annually donates millions to the ads in the upper right and millions to the ads in the lower left, and knows nothing of the fact that one has double the value of the other."
As a representative of practice-oriented psychotechnology, Münsterberg used quantifying laboratory experiments. He was influenced by the elemental psychology developed by Gustav T. Fechner and Ernst Heinrich Weber in the 19th century. In contrast to holistic and Gestalt psychology, elemental psychology assumed that all mental processes and contents such as perception, memory, consciousness can be interpreted by assuming small units (i.e., elements) that constitute the contents and processes of the psyche as independent and indivisible building blocks. Simplified, the mental whole results from the sum of its parts.
Therefore, elementaristic psychology was based on the assumption that perception is the sum of physical external stimuli, and therefore the strength of sensations can be calculated on the basis of the strength of the stimuli. The comprehensive perception is composed of smallest physical elements. Sensations are in a constant, calculable relation to the strength of the physical stimulus from the environment.
Weber's law (or Fechner-Weber's law) derived from it assumed a constant and calculable relationship between the strength of the stimulus, which could be determined by physical methods, and the sensation, the intensity of which had to be scaled by the experiencer himself. Today, this is therefore called the "classical constancy assumption". Since the corresponding investigations were concerned with the relationship between psychic and physical intensities, this research direction was also often called psychophysics.
The "sledgehammer advertisement
celebrates resurrection
In its early days, advertising psychology in particular was strongly influenced by elemental psychology and investigated the relationship between the size or placement of an advertising medium and its attention. For advertising psychology, this led to the conclusion that a sufficient quantity of strong physical stimuli in constant repetition must generate strong associations and sensations in those being advertised to and thus guarantee advertising success.
In order to examine the advertising success of individual measures within the framework of an advertising campaign, the elementary psychology school was content to examine the stimulus strength and conspicuousness of isolated partial aspects such as the size of the advertisement, its placement on the page, its color design, its attention-grabbing effect, and more, and to automatically draw conclusions about its advertising impact and sales effect.
Since, according to this oldest theory of perception, only the physical stimulus was of importance for the advertising effect, advertisers were advised to use the most stimulating advertising media possible: large, colorful, loud, often repetitive. The resulting advertising style was not unjustly called "sledgehammer advertising." Nowadays, it celebrates a cheerful resurrection, albeit under the pretext of advertising pressure: in order to be heard at all in the loud din of manifold and diverse advertising, one must drown out the droning of the others. There is no other way to make yourself heard.
Left or right? - Can
you can safely forget
The studies begun in the twenties were eagerly continued after the Second World War. More generally, recent research has increasingly shaken the premises of elemental psychology in particular, until finally a point was reached where factors such as format, size, placement were assumed to have minimal to no influence even in the best cases.
A typical study of this kind was the large-scale study by Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Hamburg, on "Measuring the Effect of Advertisements. It was first conducted in 1972 and repeated in 1996. Result: On average, a viewer remembered 1.8 ads on the right-hand side and 1.7 of the ads on the left-hand side. And ad recognition was 38.2 percent for right-page ads, 37.7 percent for left-page ads. The study analyzed this by unaided recall and ad recognition when presented with booklets.
All this does not exactly suggest that the placement of ads plays an impressive role in the impact of ads. The findings on the placement "at the front" or "at the back" of the magazine are quite similar: In the case of current magazines, spontaneous recall actually decreases the further back in the magazine the ads are placed. However, this is no longer the case for women's magazines. In women's magazines, ads are most strongly remembered in the last sixth of the issue.
Finally, the aided recognition shows the same picture for both groups of magazines: A systematic dependence on the placement further in front or further behind is not recognizable. In principle, all modern studies have come to similar conclusions.
The current issue of the magazine Stern alone has findings on ad ratings from more than 6,000 ad copy tests. That is quite a large number. Findings on placement: 44 percent of respondents were able to recognize the ad on the right-hand side (recognition), 43 percent the left-hand side. In unaided recall, the ratio is as high as 28 to 26 in favor of the left side.
Copytests are an unsafe survey method
Even Helvetic media makers have not let go of the question of what influence placement effects might have on advertising impact. A copy test conducted by Ringier in the run-up to the Qualitative Media Study (QMS) and MACH 90 from November 1988 to January 1989 with a total of 994 advertisements for 15 magazines from German-speaking Switzerland and Suisse romande came to the conclusion that the widespread view that the use of a magazine generally decreases towards the back was unfounded.
For example, the full-page four-color ads showed the following picture: of the 300 ads included in the test, 99 were in the first quarter, 57 in the second, 54 in the third and 90 in the last quarter of the individual issues. However, the attention paid to the ads was roughly at the same level in all issue sections.
Most of these findings were also confirmed in a long-term comparison of copy test results from the magazine Hörzu from 1982 to 1998, most recently published in 1999 under the title "Qualitative Resonance Analysis". This revealed the following points in detail:
Influence of placement in the issue: The recall values for ads in both halves of the issue (front issue section versus back issue section) are almost the same. There are slight differences in the individual format/color groups. Once the ads in the front issue section perform slightly better, once those in the back issue section.
The reason for these deviations is probably the composition of the test ads in the individual groups. On the one hand, there are more attractive ads in the front section, on the other hand more in the back section. For example, the double-page four-color ads in the rear section of the magazine featured more food ads, which achieved above-average recall values.
In the case of the full-page four-color ads, department store ads were disproportionately included in the front section of the issue, thus raising the average. But the non-uniform picture of the respective deviations also confirms that the ads are equally well remembered in both halves of the magazine.
Influence of placement on the double page: The results of the Hörzu copy tests also confirmed that right-page ads are not generally better remembered than left-page ads. Only in the case of the three-quarter-page four-color ads did the left-hand ads show significantly poorer recall values. In this group, however, there was an increase in the number of pharmaceutical ads, which overall had a below-average recall level and thus dragged down the average.
Influence of placement on cover pages: Ads on the second cover page (U2) are not remembered better than the average ad. Ads on the third (U3) and fourth cover page (U4) show slightly higher recall values. It could not be determined whether this effect was caused by the exposed placement in the magazine or by an increased occurrence of large, very advertising-active brands in the collection of test ads on this placement.
Two aspects cause somewhat queasy feelings in the pit of the stomach for the critical observer of the findings:
Practically all the fine studies that have always found that all the places in a newspaper or magazine are equally good have been carried out by publishers or their marketing organizations. It is in the economic interest of the organizers of these studies that exactly this and nothing else came out. This is highly suspect.
Second, these findings come from copy tests. And these are a rather crude and unproductive research tool. Methodologically, these are
a recognition procedure (so-called starch test) using original booklets or original advertising media (usually advertisements), i.e. the original booklet method (through-the-book technique). The interviewer presents the respondent with one or more of the advertising media to be tested or with a complete newspaper or magazine or brochure, goes through it with him page by page and asks for each individual page, each individual editorial article, each individual advertisement whether the respondent can remember having seen or read it (claimed readership).
In this way, it is determined step by step which parts of the editorial section or/and the advertising section were observed and read in part or in full. In the second step, copy tests often cover parts of the advertising material and ask respondents to state which details of the covered parts they still remember. The respondents are asked to recall specific details such as the name of the advertiser, the company name, the headline, a slogan and the like (proven readership, proven recall).
Of effective importance is the orientation reaction
But why do you need elaborate copy tests when you can also follow the actual reading process on a page in minute detail with the help of an eye movement camera? Eye-tracking cameras are used in psychobiological research into advertising impact and thus represent a completely different approach from elemental psychology. They assume from the outset that advertising impact is the result of the activation effect of external stimuli. And this is actually already clear from the premise: placement is not a strong stimulus that could trigger great activation. What is important is the quality of the stimulus and what is important is that a stimulus triggers orientation reactions. But where it is placed is completely irrelevant.
The human body has a specific activation system that controls human activity and promotes the processing of individually relevant stimuli. The activation effect of stimuli depends on physical properties as well as cognitive and emotional properties of the stimulus material. For example, physically strong stimuli (loud, bright, the color range yellow, orange, red) are considered strongly activating.
An elementary reaction to activating stimuli is especially important for information reception: the orientation reflex - a short-term reaction following the presentation of the stimulus. It adjusts the organism to the stimulus, sensitizes the information system and increases the supply of information from the entire environment. The orientation reflex is largely automatic. It is determined by these characteristics of a stimulus: Intensity, color, size, novelty, uncertainty.
Color in particular triggers strong orientation reactions and leads to increased information absorption. Elements that stand out due to their colorful design cause an orientation reaction on the part of the viewer and attract the eye. Similar reactions can be expected from all stimuli with strong activation potential.
In ads, the strongly activating elements are thus fixed around 40 percent more frequently on average than the weakly activating elements. Information absorption is also correspondingly higher for these elements.
More frequent fixation of the activating elements also leads to better recall. Colorful illustrations activate more strongly than small-print text deserts. Readers absorb the information better: mind you, the information contained in the image itself.
The design exerts a strong controlling influence in the orientation phase. How the reader's gaze explores a page in the first second depends to a large extent on the "architecture" of a page. Even if a visual stimulus template receives longer attention than another, this is not per se an indication of higher effectiveness.
A viewing time of two seconds can therefore be very long for an ad that is only intended to keep the name of a brand in the consumer's mind. For a complexly designed ad with many design elements, two seconds can be far too short.
So if readers spend two seconds looking at an ad's eye-catcher, which is irrelevant to the ad's advertising goals, the ad fizzles out ineffectively despite the long viewing time. All in all: Eye-tracking research has found no evidence for any placement effects. The biggest chimera of popular ideas about the effect of ads has burst.
Placement effects of magazine ads- A full-page four-color ad placed opposite a full page of ads yields on average a 5 percent higher attention value than an ad placed opposite editorial text.
- A full-page black-and-white ad versus a full-page ad yields an average of 12 percent more exposure.
- The higher the number of ads in the closed ad section, the greater the benefit to the advertiser of having their ad placed opposite another ad.
- A placement in an editorial section close to the product yields 10 percent more attention than a placement in a non-product editorial environment.
- Editorial color pages are opened more frequently than black-and-white pages and thus increase the attention paid to advertisements.
- The larger the number and the closer the ads in a product field are placed next to each other, the higher the ad exposure of each ad in that field.
- Ads on the fourth cover page achieve 20 to 30 percent more attention than those on the inside of the magazine.
Placement effects for ads in daily newspapers - ads on the left or right page have equally good chances of attracting attention.
- An ad is just as well placed in the bottom half of a newspaper page as in the top half. Placement according to this point of view has no influence on the ad impact.
- Placement alone under text is no more effective than next to other ads.
- An image in the environment of the ad does not distract the reader. On the contrary: a lively editorial environment with pictures has a more positive effect than a pure text environment consisting of long editorial articles. In a lively editorial environment, the reader's eye searches for interesting articles, and the ad therefore tends to remain longer in the reader's field of perception.
- The day of the week on which the ads are placed also has no effect on the impact of the ads. On average across all product areas, no differences were observed in the ad impact of the individual days of the week. Readers read the newspaper with equal attention on all days of the week.
- Whether an ad is placed on the back page or the inside page of a newspaper section makes only a minor difference. There is a small advantage with ads on inside pages.
Placement effects in the electronic media
Placement effects can also play a role in electronic media. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the USA has investigated the significance of the placement of an advertising spot within an advertising block and the effect of different TV spot quantities on the effect of the individual spot in the block, and has made the following findings:
- The influence of increasing spot numbers within an advertising block has a different effect depending on the positioning of the spot. The first spot in a block has an advantage over the following ones. However, it is often the last spot in a block that attracts viewers' attention again.
- The influence of increasing spot numbers on the effect of a spot depends on the "quality" of the spot. Spots that strongly interest viewers due to the nature of the product or the design are always "immune" to increasing advertising pressure in a block. However, spots that do not arouse the viewers' commitment can be negatively influenced in their effect by increasing advertising pressure.
- Viewers very quickly learn the pattern by which their favorite programs are interrupted by advertising. They then have the opportunity to avoid the advertising. This effect varies for different types of programs. Programs that viewers tune into frequently are much more subject to this effect than programs that people watch only occasionally. On average, the number of spots in a block exerts a decisively strong effect.
Further literatureA further literature list on the subject of "Placement effects in advertising" can be obtained by readers from the editorial office of WerbeWoche (info@werbe woche.ch). The list contains a list of the most important publications and studies on this topic and is sent by e-mail.
What are copy tests good for? Copy tests are usually conducted as posttests, but also as pretests to assess the advertising effectiveness of alternative advertising concepts. With copy tests, it is generally assumed that the contact probabilities determined with their help have higher validity (validity) than the pure query models using lists or title cards.
However, there are considerable doubts about the correctness of this assumption. Since numerous distorting influences have had an effect on the recall values determined by copy tests, their results are primarily informative about the impact and design strength of the advertising medium itself, as well as about the receptiveness and willingness of the persons addressed themselves.
R. Fletcher has demonstrated with the help of eye-tracking procedures that respondents' statements about their own reading memories and their actual reading behavior diverge strongly, in both directions: Some respondents reported remembering passages they had not read at all (overclaiming), and others could not remember passages they had nevertheless read (underclaiming).
How advertising really worksWith this article by Wolfgang J. Koschnick, a specialist journalist from Allensbach, WerbeWoche continues its series of articles on advertising impact (Part 4).
Each article in this episode aims to provide answers to burning questions about the current state of knowledge on the impact of advertising. This should also be seen as an invitation to the readers of Advertising Week. If you have any questions about aspects of advertising impact, please send them to us ([email protected]). We will be happy to answer them to the best of our knowledge.
In selecting topics for this series, Wolfgang J. Koschnick can draw on several hundred scientific studies on advertising impact that have been published in Germany and abroad over the past 50 years.

In addition, Flavia Schlittler is now responsible for art buying at Seiler DDB Zollikerberg, Seiler DDB Bern, and Ckdt. The 37-year-old brings her experience in production and communications to the Seiler creative team.
The AZ Medien Group has finalized the succession plan for Christian Stärkle: Effective mid-August, Florenz Schaffner will be appointed Head of Electronic Media. He currently serves as Head of Communications and a member of the Executive Board at Schweizer Fernsehen DRS. He will be responsible for Radio Argovia as well as the regional television stations Tele Tell (Lucerne) and Tele M1 (Aarau), and will also serve as managing director of Tele M1. In addition, Roland Baumgartner, who previously served as deputy managing director, has been appointed the new managing director of Radio Argovia.
Maike Juchler will take over as publishing director of IDG Communications AG in Zurich in April. In this role, she will be responsible for the magazines *Computerworld* and *PCtip*. Juchler previously served as publishing director at *Wir Eltern*. The third Swiss IDG publication, *Internet Standard*, is published by the independent division IDG Internet and will continue to be headed by Claude Settele.
The advertising agency IP Multimedia (Switzerland) has rounded out its sales teams. Mehmet U. Inan has taken on the role of Account Management Director for Radio.
Eric Lehmann, president of the SRG, took over as director of Provins in early April. Lehmann will continue to serve as president of the SRG despite his new responsibilities.

For its fifth birthday on April 23, Blick Online is being revamped. In terms of content, Blick Online is now focusing on continuously updated NewsNews Blick Online now with zhol and sobli
(from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and increasingly on audiovisual elements. The previously independent websites SonntagsBlick Online and Zürich online (ZHOL) will be integrated into Blick Online. ZHOL will be called CityBlick Zürich and will focus on local aspects. The concept envisages an operational business unit with 30 employees, including 24 journalists. Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief will be André Maerz. The editorial management of Blick Online will be taken over by Richard Schmidt, that of CityBlick Zürich by Urs Padel. The unit, which is financially detached from the print product, aims to break even in 2003.
Ad Link markets Fernsehen.ch
The online marketer Ad Link now owns Fernsehen.ch in its portfolio. Fernsehen.ch presents TV program data from over 105 European broadcasters. The TV program can be accessed four to ten weeks in advance and is updated every ten minutes.
Ebookers.ch with more traffic
Just in time for the Easter vacations, the Swiss branch of the online travel agency Ebookers launched an advertising campaign in the print media of German-speaking Switzerland. Ebookers is very satisfied with the results of the campaign, which was designed in-house: "Since the first day, we have recorded up to four times more visitors to our website on the days of publication and a marked increase in flight bookings," explained marketing manager Matthias Thürer.
illustrazione ticinese goes to tredicomThe publisher Tredicom SA in Lugano takes over the advertising management of Illustrazione Ticinese from Senger Media AG in Zurich. Erhard Grütter is responsible for consulting and handling in German and French-speaking Switzerland. He has been responsible for the Ticino title for over 20 years at Senger Media AG.

Muse & Musse Michel Corbaz
What was the last cultural event you attended?
Michel Corbaz: A concert of the high school and college
Orchestra of Lausanne in Vevey, where my daughter played the violin.
What are you reading right now?
Corbaz: A very theoretical book about chess, because playing chess is something very rational and creative at the same time.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Corbaz: "Concert by the sea" by Oscar Peterson.
Which movie would you most like to see again?
Corbaz: None, I prefer to spend my time creating new
Movies to discover.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Corbaz: "Qui veut gagner des millions?" by Jean-Pierre Foucault.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Corbaz: A new image database.
What could you never do without?
Corbaz: To music.
What do you do in a free minute?
Corbaz: I'll count to sixty.
Love is...?
Corbaz: ...like advertising:
convey a dream without
while having the guarantee of getting something in return.

Babylon launches an intermedia dialog projectBy Ernst WeberIt is not entirely out of the air to characterize the current media situation as a modern version of the Tower of Babel: Confusion reigns because everyone is affected by the development, but no one can say exactly where it will lead. Now a cross-media project with the meaningful name Babylon 1.7 holds out the prospect of transparency.
Babylon 1.7 is a cross-media project to promote open dialog about the current media situation. The communication platform set up by a Babylon working group consists of a print object entitled "Declaration of Love for the Media" and an interdisciplinary, interactive web object www.babylon 17.ch.
While in the print object, which will be published three times a year for the time being, guest authors provide input for the debate, the website represents a forum in which a constructive, transparency-creating discussion about the modern Babylonian confusion is to be raised in the current end-of-print discourse.
The project was initiated by designer Robert Krügel and freelance copywriter Roland Müller. The two decided to realize the idea in the presence of Christoph Müller, co-owner of the prepress company Typolitho, in an emotional hour, says Marianne Egli, owner of the PR agency Union 3 and member of the seven-member Babylon working group, which supports the project as a sponsor "with know-how, hard work and money.
Putting the communicative aspect above the commercial aspect
The commitment of this working group, made up exclusively of people associated with commercial communications, is all the more astonishing given that Babylon 1.7 is an experiment: None of the participants knows exactly what it will become.
The Babylon Working Group sees itself as an open circle that wants to grow in the knowledge that the development of media is an open process. The vision is not to disentangle the confusion around old and new media, but to be able to illuminate as "one among many voices from the most diverse perspectives how the various media worlds mutually fertilize, compete and generate something new," according to a statement. "The joy of the media, when you see a whole world opening up there, is what makes you want to get involved," says Marianne Egli.
A sample booklet in the form of a carrier bag, which physically presents the project for better understanding, met with lively interest at this year's Leipzig Book Fair. Well-known writers and media luminaries such as Negro Ponte from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have already pledged to support the intended discussion with their own contributions.
However, Babylon 1.7 shall neither
a priori become an intellectual outpouring, nor otherwise degenerate into a detached story: "There really should be room in this vessel for everything that belongs to a comprehensive media discussion," says Marianne Egli.

The winners and losers of the 2001 Wemf circulation survey at a glanceby Daniel SchifferleThe latest circulation figures from the AG für Werbemedienforschung (Wemf) prove it: there have been some changes in the densely populated Swiss print media market. This is dramatically demonstrated by the Tages-Anzeiger and the commuter newspapers. But the wind also blew strongly upward for newspapers and magazines in some places.
Commuter newspapers have taken quite a beating from some Swiss German newspapers, as the Wemf-certified circulations for 2001 show. Contrary to the fears of many publishers, however, the losses were limited to the two titles most firmly anchored in the commuter newspapers' catchment area, the Tages-Anzeiger and the Aargauer Zeitung, and to the Blick. The Tages-Anzeiger has been hit hardest, losing 4.2 percent of its circulation, or a good 11,700 copies, in the first full year since the new free newspapers came into existence. Never before had Tamedia AG's flagship lost so much circulation in one year.
For René Gehrig, Head of Publishing Marketing at Tamedia, however, the marked slide is no surprise. "It was already clear to us with the launch of the commuter newspapers that the regional newspapers in the catchment area would be most affected," he said. Fears that there would be a drop in circulation due to the experience with commuter newspapers in Norway have fully materialized at the Tages-Anzeiger.
And Gehrig expects another loss "in the same order of magnitude" for the current year. The Aargauer Zeitung also attributes its circulation loss of 1.5 percent or 1550 copies to the new free newspapers. The new competition has had a particular impact along the Dietikon-Baden-Lenzburg-Aarau axis. In the cantonal capital of Aarau, the "area-wide home delivery of Metropol" also had a negative impact on the Aargauer Zeitung, according to the publisher's management.
Blick has just escaped the growing trend toward free reading with a black eye. Its circulation shrank by just 1.5 percent, but in absolute terms this still amounts to 11,700 copies.
The current certification means a sigh of relief for most of the other newspapers in or on the fringes of the commuter newspapers' catchment area, where fear of losses had also spread among them at the start. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung proved to be resistant. In its first full year with the commuter newspapers, it actually increased its circulation by 0.3 percent. And the Winterthurer Landbote, also in the catchment area of the commuter newspapers, held up well with a circulation gain of 1.8 percent.
But the German-speaking Swiss newspapers did not do badly in the race for the favor of their readers in other respects either. Both SonntagsBlick and SonntagsZeitung, as well as Berner Zeitung and Bund, were able to make slight gains. The business titles even achieved steep circulation gains. The highly profitable Finanz und Wirtschaft again grew by 8.9 percent. This means that the financial title has increased its paid circulation by more than 6,000 copies in just three years. Cash was also clearly on the upswing with a 2.1 percent increase in circulation.
Last year, on the other hand, was a disaster for Die Weltwoche. Its circulation plummeted by 8.8 percent or 8,000 copies. With the second biggest plunge in the paper's history, the slight upward trend of the previous three years was brutally halted.
Weltwoche's publishing director Uli Rubner justifies the worrying paper's renewed slide with a departure from the previous mass marketing strategy. "Instead of increasing circulation at any price, part of the marketing funds were reallocated to strengthening the brand." (See also WW 13/01.)
ZürichExpress also benefits from commuter newspapers
No worries plague the free newspaper ZürichExpress (ZE). Its circulation has grown by 4.4 percent or almost 8,500 copies. And this despite, or rather because of, the commuter newspapers. René Gehrig interprets the fabulous upward trend as follows: "A market for free newspapers has developed in the greater Zurich area, from which ZE is also benefiting."
The first official circulation figures for the commuter newspapers are still awaited in vain, because both 20 Minuten and Metropol further expanded their distribution areas in the second half of last year. However, the moment of truth for both titles will come in the fall, when Wemf publishes the latest readership figures for the Swiss print media. Until then, only the print circulation is available as a guide, which for both is around 310000 copies.
Although western Swiss newspaper publishers were not plagued by commuter newspapers, there were nevertheless creaks in the woodwork of some titles. Le matin dimanche, the daily newspaper, suffered particularly.
lost 3.3 percent, or more than 7,000 copies, and the weekly edition of Le matin was also in decline, losing 3.4 percent, or just over 2,000 copies.
Theo Bouchat, head of publications at Edipresse, relativizes this by saying that it remains to be seen whether the loss is to be taken in full. At the moment, a judicial investigation is underway into a person who regularly looted newspaper boxes.
It's quite possible that the slip will be corrected somewhat, says Bouchat. The other major newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland did not fare particularly well either. Both 24 heures and Tribune de Genève suffered losses of 1.3 percent each. But smaller titles such as L'Impartial, which lost 3.6 percent, and L'Express, which sold 2.6 percent fewer copies last year, were also clearly in reverse gear.
Upward and also downward trends in the magazine markets
The magazine markets were also characterized by some turbulence. Das Beste again suffered heavy losses. Circulation of the German-language version published by Reader's Digest (see also page 3) fell by a further 1.5 percent, while the French-language edition slumped by as much as 6 percent. Once again by
Glückspost, whose circulation has also been crumbling for several years, fell by 3 percent. And Automobil Revue also continued its downward slide at virtually the same rate as the previous year, with a drop of 5 percent.
The women's titles on both sides of the language border also had a difficult time. Edelweiss, which is only a few years old in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, has already lost a slight amount of circulation. Annabelle's circulation also fell by 1.7 percent, which is considerably less than in the previous year.
Meyer's, which continued to lurch even in the year of its relaunch, was badly hit. This time, it fell by a whopping 9.8 percent, or more than 11,000 copies. For publishing director Maya Ziegler, the dive is a consequence of the magazine's radical repositioning. "We are now making a news magazine for family and business women, a completely new style in which many older readers can no longer find themselves," she says.
As a result, many older subscribers who still identified with the conservative fashion and pattern booklet canceled their subscriptions. But Ziegler is "very happy" with the new concept and convinced that it is the right recipe for the future.
Up there, down there:
Tamedia in a state of flux
The figures for Facts also came as a surprise. Although its circulation had already grown only weakly in the two previous years, the fact that this time it dived by 3.2 percent or
3360 copies is painful. But René Gehrig does not see the first circulation loss since the launch as an indication that Facts may already have reached the ceiling.
"The slippage is an effect of more intensive marketing in the launch phase. The circulation is now merely being adjusted," says Gehrig. The latest trend, however, gives cause for optimism again. Gehrig: "Since Hannes Britschgi has been editor-in-chief, the return of mailings and the conversion rate of trial subscriptions have increased."
Tamedia hit the brakes last year with its previous circulation worry child, Schweizer Familie. After last year's drop of 10 percent, it has now even managed a razor-thin gain. A minor sensation, because classic family titles are a difficult legacy in the magazine portfolio of publishing houses. "The once again increased utility value and the focus on the areas of nature and health are catching on," says a pleased Gehrig.
In addition to the problems mentioned above, however, the magazines as a whole also had a lot of good news to offer. Various titles that were no longer so young, such as Du, Tierwelt and Wir Eltern, showed new freshness with growth of over 3 percent each. The junior in the German-speaking Swiss magazine market, Gesundheit-Sprechstunde, even managed a jump of 13.3 percent or almost 9,000 copies. And Puls-Tip was also right on target in the still steep upward trend in health topics. With an additional 7400 copies, or an increase of 5.3 percent, it profited only slightly less than Gesundheit-Sprechstunde.
There is already positive news from the youngest children in the magazine market. René Schuhmacher's Saldo, the advertising-free competitor to K-Tip, was certified for the first time and sold 1,4,275 copies at the first attempt. On the other hand, K-Tip circulation fell by 0.8 percent for the first time after years of growth. But this is not yet a cause for concern, because with almost 379000 copies, K-Tip remains the sovereign leader among Swiss magazines.
Although not yet the leader among the publications of the HandelsZeitung publishing group, the investor magazine Stocks is not that far away either. In the first provisional certification for the months February to March 2001, the baby magazine of German-speaking Switzerland comes to 26996 copies - only 10,000 copies less than its big brother HandelsZeitung, and that already at the tender age of five months.
The friendly climate for economic issues was also felt by the Bilan in Western Switzerland, which, after diving in the previous year, was now up 3.3 percent.
Incidentally, the latest magazine editions in French-speaking Switzerland present themselves as a roller coaster. Animan, along with Sélection, stood out as striking losers. Both lost a steep 6 percent. Bon à savoir with
Meanwhile, 5.5 percent plus and Générations with even plus 6.8 percent were in top form.
Finally, in Ticino, the development is so stable that the view across the Alps hardly brings anything new. All three Ticino dailies sailed solidly in the market with slight gains. The free titles Il mattino della domenica and Illustrazione Ticinese even went up by 2.3 percent each.
The decisive factor for media planners are the readership figures for Mach Basic. We can therefore look forward to this second act in the annual spectacle of print media figures, which will follow in the fall. Then also including commuter newspapers.

This date is dreaded by the two existing Swiss golf titles: On April 27, the publisher St.Galler Tagblatt launches the first issue of its new golf magazineThis date is dreaded by the two existing Swiss golf titles: On April 27, the publisher St.Galler Tagblatt launches the first issue of its new golf magazine called Drive (see also WW 45/00). The circulation of initially around 10000 copies is to reach readers by subscription and via newsstands.
Back in December of last year, when WerbeWoche first reported on the new magazine project from eastern Switzerland, the dust was already rising. Both the publishers of Golf & Country and Golf Suisse lamented that there was not enough room for another golf magazine in either the audience or the advertising market. Both therefore feared a new cut-throat fight in the (still) small Swiss golf market.
The new drive is aimed at a broad audience. The experienced club player should feel addressed just as much as the beginner who is working towards course maturity at the public golf facility. Drive wants to report on what's happening in the international and national golf scene, but also focus on the rapid development here from an elite sport to a leisure activity accessible to everyone.
Last but not least, the Swiss golf clubs, which are extremely courted by the existing golf magazines, should also receive a lot of attention - combined with the hope, of course, of getting a foot in the door with this clientele, which is so important for success. (dse)

WellCome goes to the top of mind with the Gold Bunny promotionAround one million Gold Bunnies in various sizes will hop over the counters in Swiss shopping bags this Easter and, as a product line, put a sugary double-digit increase in sales in Lindt & Sprüngli's nest - according to the forecasts of the Product Manager responsible, Monika Baumberger. A surprising detail: the success story does not come from the chocolate stronghold of Switzerland. Although the Swiss are by far the world champions with almost twelve kilograms of chocolate consumed per capita (2000), the idea originated in Germany. To the delight of the post-war generation, Lindt & Sprüngli Germany launched the "Snow Bunny" a good half century ago. Marketing refinements such as the golden packaging or the red ribbon with the bell transformed it into the Gold Bunny and positioned it in the top quality segment, which corresponds to the premium character of the Kilchberg-based chocolate manufacturer. Since its release on this side of the Rhine in 1994, Meister Lampe in his golden dress seems to feel quite at home here in Switzerland.
But despite product quality, strong brand management and successfully increased brand awareness, the Gold Bunny - if only because of its dimensions - does not find it easy to stand out in the constantly growing Easter specialties range. In addition, the aim is to push the Gold Bunny as the flagship for Lindt's Easter range.
In addition to advertisements, TV commercials and sponsoring, the Zurich agency WellCom has developed a multilevel promotion concept that will be launched two weeks before Easter.
has rolled in. With this, WellCom intends to
Increase awareness and impulse purchases of the Gold Bunny, emphasize and reinforce the image of the manufacturer in a celebratory environment, and generate addresses through the Smart Contest.
To achieve this, the advertising team with media partnerships (Blick, il caffè della Domenica and Radio NRJ) has cast an even finer net nationally for "Die Goldhasen sind los" campaign. The elements gold foil and bells act as stoppers. Even the promo teams tour Switzerland with one-armed bandits in bunny look. So it's hardly surprising that the main prizes also turn up in hopper style - with a true-to-the-original bell on the back of the smart car. Luca Aloisi

Take a closer look—there’s more to this ad than meets the eye. Because it doesn’t just tout the benefits of Iglo tagliatelle. It’s much more than that. It opens the door to a very special kind of fotoromanzo. In it, the viewer gets a glimpse into the everyday lives of Holger and Max, a perfectly ordinary gay couple from Germany. Gay Brother sends its regards. Want to know which websites the guys like to visit most or what their favorite photos are? No problem. Iglo makes it possible. And suddenly, even the most conservative housewife realizes that her voyeurism runs so deep that she doesn’t mind seeing two men munching on the same plate of tagliatelle (hopefully al dente!) and sharing their lives together. As long as they’re only living it out on the internet, that’s okay, right? As we all know, though, there’s a little voyeur in all of us… So if you want to see what the two lovers’ cozy corner looks like, log in at www.holgerundmax.de. Bon appétit. And don’t let any false inhibitions hold you back—Iglo isn’t watching you. Chandra Kurt
Column

The Blocher
of the year
by Martin Lanz
Playing at being Indians on the Jura pastures costs us four billion francs every year. You and I are the ones paying for it. Every now and then, a soldier dies. Sometimes he loses just an eye. Sometimes a leg. One for peace, one for the beloved fatherland—we can rest easy.
But now the military doesn't know what to do with itself anymore. No one really poses a threat to us. Shit. To keep from becoming completely obsolete, the military wants to go abroad. Anyone who wants to can go there and tinker with conflicts.
That's exactly what creates a conflict. Because I'm in favor of any kind of openness. But I'm against any kind of military. And most of the time, I'm against Blocher. But right now, I could just give him a hug!
If the military has no business being abroad, if it isn't allowed to contribute to peacekeeping, if it just hangs around here at home,
-If they're allowed to fart and shoot off here, where it makes absolutely no sense and pollutes the air and ruins the landscape, then the military is simply pointless. Irrefutable logic.
Mr. Blocher knows that. But he can’t say it at the Albisgüetli. Otherwise, he’ll be stoned by the active-duty soldiers. So he says something they want to hear. Switzerland belongs to us. And our soldiers belong to Switzerland. And what happens outside Switzerland is none of our business anyway. Certainly not our soldiers’ business. Applause!
Blocher is delighted. He knows he’s smarter than they are. That this will allow him to abolish the army. That it will save a lot in taxes. That he’ll become a national hero. That he’ll receive the Nobel Peace Prize. And that he’ll be voted “Blocher of the Year.” Because he’s realized that advertising isn’t just about a little concept. Intelligent advertising sometimes takes winding paths. Successful advertising is always simple advertising. But behind it often lies complex thinking. Mr. Blocher, I’m snapping my heels together. I salute. Briefing understood. Attack launched. Army. About face. March!
[email protected]; Martin Lanz is a freelance copywriter and director of the
Creative Academy Zurich (KRAZ)
Language Observer

But quite the opposite
Some words survive only in their opposite meanings. Take “Unfug,” for example. It derives from “Fug,” which still exists in the phrase “mit Fug und Recht.”.
changeable, inconsistent
freak out
tangible
unstoppable
continuously
boned
outstanding
tame
requires
made do
misled
descriptive
Bill, the
Chalance, the
straight through
pleading
perceptible
heard
Your Most Honorable
shapely
Fug, the
ghostly
Intercom system
Part, the
dangerous
Eerie, that
joint
Rhymes
Monster
vermin
drawn
A person with a refined palate
Grossod
beneficial
Hold, the
Small-mouthed
Counter-propaganda
lovely
Lope, the
imitative
useful
Poden, the
estimable
A guilty look, the
to amuse oneself
Tax Collector
breastfeeding
Consistencies
reprehensible
Low Season
hilarious
fearless in the face of death
deceptive
Tugut, the
nauseous
Overseas ship
excellent
to be fed up
Foreignization
Underwear
to be underwhelmed
open to improvement
euphemistic
downplay
hoped
organize
entrust
pre-frame
Wenigsauf, the
durable
wirsch
numerous
Beat Gloor, www.textcontrol.ch

European advertising clients and media agencies express their views on online advertisingBy Thomas BrenzikoferA European study of advertising clients and agencies shows that online advertising has great potential. However, a great deal of education is still required before it has secured a permanent place in the media mix. The clickthrough rate is apparently less decisive for online advertisers.
There is no hangover in online advertising after the web hype: This is the conclusion of the Online@-trend Europe study by Infratest Burke Incom, Munich. It was commissioned by the German online advertising marketer Adlink. It is based on a survey of 130 advertising clients and 130 media agencies in Sweden (40), Germany (60), the UK (60), France (60) and Spain (40).
65% of clients and 83% of agencies are of the opinion that online advertising will grow strongly. However, online advertising will not be established tomorrow, but only in five years according to clients, and only in four years according to agencies. This assessment is also supported by the fact that over 50 percent of both agencies and clients do not know exactly how to embed online advertising in the media context.
Only one trend seems to be emerging, at least among the agencies. Due to the speed of the medium and the target group affinity with younger user groups, online advertising is still most likely to be associated with radio and cinema. However, around a third of respondents also mentioned the similarity to print advertising. Television plays a smaller role. This is all the more surprising given that many user studies to date have shown that television consumption decreases as internet consumption increases.
The number of clicks plays
not such a big role
On the other hand, there is a consensus on the effectiveness of online advertising. Almost 100 percent of respondents are convinced that online advertising increases website traffic. However, the majority of clients, but also almost half of the agencies, do not even know the average click-through rate of an online campaign.
Accordingly, only just under half of clients and even less than half of agencies use the pay-per-click ratio as a decision criterion for booking a website. For most, the reach and visits as well as the price per thousand contacts are the deciding factors.
Almost 100 percent of agencies state that clients rarely reject online advertising when it is recommended as an advertising measure. The majority of agencies have also already drawn up a media plan, but have not yet received the green light from the client to implement it. The study therefore concludes that many online budgets are still in a state of limbo.
The reason for this is that clients lack the most important research data, for example on target group reach. Market-accepted planning and analysis systems are also missing. At the same time, the study assumes that online advertising budgets would increase by leaps and bounds if the necessary prerequisites for decision-making were in place.
The situation is different for agencies. There, significantly fewer than
50 percent say that they lack the necessary analysis tools. The study identifies this as a deficit in the transfer of know-how from agency to client and concludes that online advertising will only find its permanent place in the online advertising mix once the uncertainty has been overcome where final decisions on media investments are made.
The effectiveness of online advertising has been recognized by agencies and clients. Nevertheless, most of them are still in the pioneering phase and consider online media to be a field of experimentation.