Three daily newspapers in Schwyz are working more closely together: the March-Anzeiger, the Höfner Volksblatt, and the Bote der Urschweiz have signed a cooperation agreement. The goal is to consolidate and expand the regional newspapers« position in the canton, according to a press release. The partners will remain legally and economically independent. The contractual relationships of all three papers with the Chur-based Südostschweiz will also remain unaffected. The creation of a joint classifieds section for jobs and real estate is being considered. The March-Anzeiger (Lachen) and the Höfner Volksblatt (Wollerau) are published by Theiler Druck in Wollerau, while the Bote is published by Triner Druck in Schwyz. message in a bottle. Heidi cosmetics, a Heidi movie, a Heidi restaurant: The marketing of this personification of Swiss innocence is enjoying a resurgence in the 100th anniversary year of Johanna Spyri’s death. But now there’s a product on the global market »that reflects the values of Heidi’s creator«: The »Heidiland« mineral water captivates with its purity, »which is rarely found in other waters.« Heidiland Water Ltd. promotes the new table water with such lofty words. It is drawn »in the heart of Switzerland,« namely in »Heidiland” between Chur and Lake Walen. Starting in April, this premium water—bottled at a plant in Mels and enriched with natural oxygen—will be available in Switzerland. The Japanese are also said to be eager for the new water. Since a Saudi is a co-owner of the spring, exports to the Gulf region are also being planned.
APG is bringing its current campaigns online. Effective immediately, the Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG) is displaying current posters not only on the streets but also on its website (www.apg.ch). The «APG Posterboard» presents the themes of all ongoing campaigns each week, along with information on the client, advertising agency, and media agency. The Flash 4 Player is required to view the Posterboard.
ADC Bronze for WHS and AY&R. Weber Hodel Schmid Melle Pufe won a bronze award in the «Cultural Poster» category at the German Art Directors Club competition. Only three bronze awards were given out in this category. The award-winning posters promoted the Kurt Weill Festival at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Advico Young & Rubicam also won a bronze award. The «Container» ad for Flims/Laax/Falera was honored in the «Trade Ads» category.
Publimag launches MagCalc. Under the name MagCalc, the print marketing company Publimag is now offering a new online media planning and pricing tool. The program allows users to check prices and perform rough calculations for over 450 special-interest magazines and trade publications. MagCalc is currently available free of charge at www.magcalc.ch.
NEW FACES AT THE KLUBHAUS. The young Zurich-based agency Hesskiss has designed a new visual identity for the Migros Klubhaus concerts. Art Director Roland Hess and copywriter Tamás Kiss drew inspiration for their concept from the so-called «Sonata typeface.» Using elements of this typeface, including the bass clef, two heads have been designed. These key visuals will appear on all communication materials for the concert series, from the programs to the retailer’s shopping bags.
3. SWISS DM AWARDS. For the third time, the Swiss Direct Marketing Awards will be presented on Friday, April 27. The jury plans to award 29 gold, silver, and bronze awards from among the 290 entries. Eva Wannenmacher will host the gala. The evening’s entertainment will feature a musical performance by Phil and Tanja Dankner, as well as a fashion show by Anita Buri, Melanie Winiger, and Tanja Gutmann showcasing designer clothing. The awards night will take place starting at 6 p.m. at the Galleria/TMC in Zurich-Glattbrugg. Tickets can be ordered by phone at 041 785 55 56 or via [email protected].
NEW SIGNS IN CHEESE COUNTRY. With the arrival of spring, new highway signs have been installed in the Gruyère region. The billboards feature a little man emerging from a wheel of cheese. The aim is to promote the Gruyère region as an appealing vacation destination. What makes this campaign unique is that, depending on the season, the figures are equipped with skis, snowboards, hiking boots, or a mountain bike.
Editorial: The Chutzpah of the
Cantonal banks
The dogma of self-regulating markets is increasingly revealing itself to be the secular equivalent of providence. In place of the invisible God, whose intentions remain inscrutable, the invisible hand of market logic has stepped in. As current stock market events show, this hand is even more capricious and eccentric than the one that once guided Job.
Today, economic activity unfolds in an endless, self-perpetuating cycle—unplanned and blind to the future. Sociologist and systems theorist Niklas Luhmann is convinced of this. Stock market charts and forecasts of crude oil prices, growth rates, and other economic developments may be as mathematically sophisticated as they come in specialized journals, but ultimately they are hardly any different from reading coffee grounds. Rationality cannot be applied to economic activity because money, as the engine of the economy, finds its counterpart in human greed for wealth.
There’s a hangover mood on the financial markets. Fears of a recession are running rampant. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq, SPI, SWX New Market—everything’s on a roller coaster ride. Anyone venturing into the stock market right now needs some nerve. Even though the «mass escape from reality» (John K. Galbraith) has already given way to more realistic market assessments, it will be interesting to see how the cantonal banks—which, with their state guarantees, are a haven of security and thus of quality of life for many citizens—manage their initial public offerings in this grim stock market environment. How this will play out, for example,
St. Gallen Cantonal Bank in the
Set against the backdrop of a bear market,
See page 12.
Samuel Helbling

Ernst Schadegg, graphic designer in Gockhausen, has worked for Holderbank for many years and designed the Holderbank corporate design with the different colored bars in 1987. he also created the new label. What does the new label mean?
Ernst Schadegg: The red arc shows the global, cosmopolitan, but also the exact, precise. The two black bars indicate the H of Holcim.
Did Holderbank provide you with design or content specifications?
Schadegg: Mr. Schmidheiny told me that the new label had to be so memorable that a layman could draw it by heart after looking at it once. I've been working as a graphic designer for a long time now, but no client has ever told me so succinctly what they want.
As Holderbank's in-house graphic designers, they certainly had an advantage in the evaluation.
Schadegg: The Group organized a "blind competition" in which seven proposals from different graphic designers were shortlisted. Two of my designs ended up in the top two places. I think I know the company - its soul and its heart.
How do you rate the result?
Schadegg: The H from Holderbank, the C from Cement, it's all there. You can play with the logo - for example, you can cut it up a lot - and it's still recognizable. The logo will quickly become generally recognizable.
Interview: Werner Catrina

The soda brand Sprite takes the needs of US youth seriously in new commercialsBy Thérèse BalduzziWhile American commercials are increasingly relying on humor and parody, the Coca-Cola brand Sprite is moving away from this strategy after almost seven years. The latest campaign for the soda is a forum for young hobby rappers and was shot like a documentary.
The year-long "Obey your Thirst" campaign by Lowe Lintas, New York, featured a series of hilarious parodies of commercial clichés, from the "celebrity endorsements" in which celebrities drank Sprite while the cash register literally rang strong, to "tests" in which Sprite competed against a dishwashing detergent.
Since such parodies have become ubiquitous in advertising and because Sprite suffered a slight drop in profits last year, a completely new direction is now being taken. Lowe Lintas, New York, who is also responsible for the new "Voices of the Street" campaign, discovered the need of the targeted teenagers to be taken seriously and to be able to express themselves freely.
With the help of filmmaker Earl Griffin, six 30-second spots were created in which young people from New York, Los Angeles and Miami recount a personal experience from their lives in so-called "freestyle raps", i.e. raps without musical accompaniment. Although the young people are all representatives of the "urban youth" of the "inner cities" - two euphemisms used to describe poor, colored city dwellers - the stories revolve around absolutely harmless misadventures from their everyday lives and not about firearms, AIDS or drug addiction. In contrast, the documentary style gives the spots a raw, spontaneous and "real" feel.
In "Not too Sweet", African-American Joseph raps about his plans to go out, which fell through because he lost his money.
In "Crisp", Brandon, who is also black, explains why it is important to stay true to yourself.
The spot campaign is also accompanied by advertisements
Declared in "See through It
Hispanic Crystal as she looks through the mask of a "player" who is trying to impress her. In "Refreshing", Dante, who is also Hispanic, raps about a situation in which he felt threatened by a stranger until it later turned out to be an old school friend. In "Tart", Joey, who is black, describes how he behaved conspicuously at school to attract attention and what his behavior got him into. In "Absolutely clear", Scott, the only non-Hispanic white man, describes how he found his purpose in life.
The titles of the spots appear written out at the end. They tie in with the content of the "Freestyle" raps and stand for a characteristic of Sprite. The teens then each take a sip of Sprite, after which the old tagline "Obey your Thirst" appears. "Voices" is accompanied by a radio and print campaign and an interactive website.

According to reports in the German trade press, Weber Hodel Schmid (WHS), Zurich, has dropped out of the pitch for VW's new luxury car. Five agencies still remain in the running.NewsWHS: The end of the VW pitch?
The decision is expected by the end of April. WHS agency boss Reinhold Weber did not want to comment on the news. "Would you say anything about this if you had signed a standstill agreement?" Weber asked WerbeWoche.
Y&R worldwide for TamifluThe flu drug Tamiflu will be advertised outside the USA by Young & Rubicam (Y&R) in future. Y&R secured the consumer budget for Roche's drug in a pitch against five competitors. Y&R EMEA (traditional advertising), TME 360 (media) and Sudler & Hennessey Consumer Care (direct marketing) will be involved in the campaign, which will start in Europe and is expected to be worth 50 million dollars.
RTL Group: explosion in profitsRTL Group increased its profits by almost a third last year. Turnover climbed by 14.3 percent to 6.16 billion Swiss francs. The turnover of the German RTL Television increased by 10 percent to 2.25 billion Swiss francs, while profits rose by 35 percent to 389 million Swiss francs. The Group would like to acquire a majority stake in the German channels RTL 2 and Super RTL in the new financial year. "We want to consolidate what needs to be consolidated," explained a spokesperson.
An advertiser rules in CannesBernard Brochand, President of DDB International, has been elected mayor of the city of Cannes. Brochand ran for the conservative Gaullists. Although this is his first time in office, he is very familiar with politics as head of President Chirac's election campaign. As mayor, the head of the DDB also automatically becomes honorary president of the Cannes advertising festival.

StrikingShe grabs her right bosom and I grab my head. What, for Eva's sake, does Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent (Rive Gauche) want to tell us with this production? That his model didn't have to slim down to the bone? Or is the tactile contact to the breast the new distinguishing mark for YSL Rive Gauche wearers? Or maybe the model is just demonstrating the usefulness of the new creation: just like that, you can take care of it yourself without the whole dress having to end up on the floor.
A breast or a pair of breasts is still the most attractive when it remains hidden. Even if only slightly. That is, when it is left to the imagination of the viewer, how this female body part might look. By the way, chocolates share a similar fate. One gets the most desire for them immediately before the contact with the teeth. Then, when you do not yet know what is hidden behind the shell. That's why it's better to have one wrapper too many than one too few. And rather chocolates from the rive droite than anorexic models.
Chandra Kurt
Column

Soft chair
By Markus Ruf
"If it weren't for competitions every now and then, the world record in the 100-meter sprint would be 25 seconds today," a customer once said, explaining his decision to hold a competitive presentation. He saw it as a means of giving the agencies a leg up. The race was then won by a brilliant campaign, which even those who fell by the wayside (me, for example) had to admit. Lately, however, I've been having more and more doubts about whether you don't have better chances if you run comfortably in the midfield.
A major retailer invites agencies to present the most independent, modern and original concepts possible for the launch of its new private label. A few months later, moms, teens, rascals, babies, and kangaroos are winking at me everywhere, claiming for some inexplicable reason: "That's what makes it fun."
Another example, even more topical: A furniture store commissions several agencies to develop a fresh concept for its trendy range and demonstrate it using chairs, garden furniture. Three months later, the winning campaign hangs. It's full of heads photographed in Paris and puns that suddenly make me see my youthful sin "Fanta Morgana" (circa 1984) in a much milder light. Want a taste? A poster shows a southern-looking young man, accompanied by the headline: "I'm going to (name of furniture store) because my doctor says my chair isn't right." "Screw it," grumbles colleague R., who co-presented, and shows me his campaigns, which have been flushed. One of them is brilliant!
Maybe someone should organize an exhibition again, showing the best campaigns that have been shot down. Just like the Museum of Decorative Arts in Zurich did a few years ago with great success. I'm afraid, however, that today one would have to rent the World Trade Center for it due to lack of space.
Markus Ruf is a freelance concept designer and reigning Advertiser of the Year.
Language Observer

April 1
Franz Ferdinand Lives - World War In Vain!" This was the headline of a British daily newspaper on April 1, 1915.
Radio DRS broadcast an interview on April 1, 1970, in which a black broadcaster told how he had been caught using a new surveillance method of the then PTT. In the following days, license applications increased significantly.
And when the French television reported on April 1, 1974-.
The announcement that banking secrecy in Switzerland was to be lifted caused sweaty palms and unimagined nervousness among Parisian businessmen and diplomats.
Where does the sending into April come from? Is it remnants of a cultic spring custom? Is it due to the ancient turning of the year? Noah is said to have sent the dove out after the Flood on an April 1 to seek land. Judas is said to have been born on April 1. Or is April 1 an allusion to the Passion story, in which Christ is sent from Pontius to Pilate?
In 1540, monetary union was announced in Augsburg, Bavaria, for April 1 - but it did not take place, but was postponed indefinitely, which caught some financiers and speculators on the wrong foot. In 1564, the French king is said to have had the idea of moving the start of the year from January 1 to April 1, which would have turned all the gifts already made into joke gifts in tax terms. However, the story itself sounds suspiciously like an April 1 joke.
In 1702, Tsar Peter I brought a certain Johann Kunst from Gdansk to Moscow to build up a troupe of comedians at court. But Johann Kunst could not cope with the Russian actors, who got drunk to the point of unconsciousness every day. When the curtain rose on April 1, 1705, for the "Extraordinary Gala Performance," to which the tsar and distinguished Moscow society had turned out, there was nothing on the stage except a plaque with the inscription: "Today is April 1." Johann Kunst was dismissed on the spot.
Beat Gloor,
www.textcontrol.ch

For a change - the guys from Qualiclick thought - let's do a little event away from Zurich.by Beat Fritsch That's why the weekend before last, under the guidance of Qualiclick boss Christoph Morach, sales manager Bernie Kron and key account manager Roger Baur, customers and friends of the Internet advertising provider met at 8 a.m. at the valley station of the Crap Sogn Gion mountain railroad in Laax. Let's go for some fun snowboarding!
The Weisse Arena - as the ski area above the mountain villages of Flims, Laax and Falera is known - was first a foggy and wet arena that day and then a damp and cheerful one. But one thing at a time. Because of this - or perhaps precisely because of it - nobody let it spoil their mood. Some spent a leisurely Saturday in the hotel indoor pool, while the hardy ones headed uphill with a snowboard instructor in tow. And these brave ones were rewarded with a few, but ultimately sparse, rays of sunshine. On the other hand, snob Bettina Schmid almost got lost on the evening descent due to the sudden fog. But only after an elegant fall out of the narrow channel, a few meters further down into the middle of the most beautiful pine forest. But don't worry: the gentlemen were all there quickly and helpfully to lend a hand.
After their work was done, the boarders also treated themselves to the beautiful pool and sauna area at the luxury Signina Hotel with a clear conscience, or they went straight to bed. The evening aperitif was once again full of well-rested and relaxed people in a relaxed mood, but all with a huge appetite. There was (still) no complaining when Roger Baur announced that there was still a short walk to the selected fondue restaurant.
However, this pleasant walk turned out to be a veritable scramble. When it dawned on most of them that they had to climb up a rather steep deep snow slope, their enthusiasm slowly began to wane - they even threatened to cancel their first orders, panting and sweating. Only Giusy the shepherd dog (who was accompanied by MPG's Gerry Stadler) was able to see nothing but positives in the walk. While the hungry pack struggled up the hill, Giusy ran up and down the slope a good ten times in the same time. Well, you should be a four-legged friend in situations like this!
But once the finish line had been reached and everyone had warmed up again, the good mood returned immediately. No thoughts were wasted on the way home. This turned out to be uncomplicated anyway, because they always come down. After all, the nice landlady at Tegia Larnags gave us almost her entire stock of bin bags for the trip down. Some of us were able to toboggan down the slope sitting on them, while those who were already drunk (names are known to the editors) were put into the pavement sacks and rolled down the slope for the sake of convenience. By the way: at the bottom, everyone was twice as fast as the bitch!
As everyone was wide awake or at least halfway sober again after this sporting activity, we went to the neighboring disco for the obligatory nightcap. And some people are said to have left it very late. Rumor had it that late risers and early risers had been at loggerheads. Nevertheless, the whole gang was reunited for breakfast. Some of them were wearing sunglasses - not because it was so bright, but to conceal any dark circles under their eyes.
BEAT FRITSCH

traditionally follows the call of the mountains in March and heads to the snow-covered Alps to go snowboarding. It's very practical that the advertising party organizers stick to the shortlist author's vacation schedule and therefore also hold their events on and around the ski slopes at this time of year.
Anyone else in the communications industry on the mountain can be found at various events in the scene. Do you already have something to report? Pick up the phone (01 296 97 98) or get in touch (info@wer bewoche.ch). Event tips and further shortlist images are available online at www.werbewoche.ch

(4th quarter 2000)Affinity of advertisements with supporters in the "alternative culture "Best of Print AdvertisingThe advertising hits 2000 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 4th quarter of 2000 are shown under the heading "Top three".

Zurich agencies promote the IPOs of the St.Gallen and Lucerne cantonal banksBy Luca Aloisi 11 out of 24 cantonal banks (CBs) are listed on the Swiss stock exchange. Shortly after the Secondary Public Offering (SPO) of the Lucerne KB, the St.Gallen KB is now joining them. Suter Global Communication and Peter Bütikofer & Company made two different appearances to promote the partial privatization. With mixed results.
When the Zürcher Kantonalbank recently made negative headlines because of its bonus payments to the - exclusively politically elected - members of the Bank Council, the controversy was again used as an impetus to privatize the financial institution.
Public limited companies run purely under private law are a minority among the cantonal banks. Not for much longer, Hanspeter Hess, spokesman for the Association of Cantonal Banks, is convinced. This is because Berner KB, probably the first KB to draw national attention to the change in its legal form, has recently been joined by Luzerner KB (LUKB).
In contrast to the former, however, it was not LUKB's financial difficulties that led it to take this step. Rather, there were other reasons for opening up: easing the burden on the canton, greater customer loyalty through greater flexibility, increased trading opportunities with swap or cross-shareholdings in other public limited companies and structural change in the banking sector.
LUKB is currently not alone in going public. St.Galler KB (SGKB) also transformed itself into a similar form of company - a mixed-economy public limited company - just over a year ago and is now about to go public. Naturally, this will not happen without a great deal of advertising and PR support. After all, customers have to be
and above all
investors are attracted. This is because they must be able to live with the fact that, despite the new ownership structure, they will not be able to shake the canton's voting majority.
The anniversary year helped,
to strengthen the LUKB image
In 1999, the government council, as the largest shareholder, presented its partial privatization plans for LUKB in the consultation process. As a result, the go-ahead was given on March 12 for the retroactive conversion into an AG. As many Lucerne residents as possible were to become shareholders in the cantonal bank, as the bank not only wants to be anchored in the region through its business connections, but also through its ownership structure.
The narrow outcome of the referendum on partial privatization, which coincided with the bank's 150th anniversary last September, did not put those responsible off. "We felt that we had strong roots in Lucerne," says Daniel von Arx, Head of PR at LUKB, today.
"The aim was to win over the people of Lucerne as shareholders and convince the critics of the partial privatization," recalls Markus Schär, concept developer and consultant at the Zurich agency Suter Global Communications (SGC). The anniversary campaign with the new slogan "My bank - just right" laid a good foundation for this, as it fulfilled the sustainable positioning function for the identity process.
Even before the share placement, the PS share price, which rose by 15 percent, showed that the mood had indeed changed. Von Arx also attributes this success to LUKB's already good image capital and high share of mind. This grew even more with the proud anniversary presence in the media. Neither the bank nor its business policy were targeted by critics. Von Arx is convinced that "basically the two poles in the run-up to the vote did not differ in their goal, but in the way to get there". While he noted a latent fear among the opponents that LUKB would no longer be as good as before after partial privatization, the proponents hoped for an even better bank. The best starting position for the SPO public campaign.
Testimonials stand for the
LUKB's ancient roots
The placement was primarily intended for the home market, because that is where the emotional closeness is greatest. Hence the local color of the testimonial campaign, which ran in the Lucerne area with unknown Lucerne residents and five local business celebrities such as Trisa owner Ernst Pfenniger and Emmi CEO Fritz Wyss.
The umbrella slogan "My bank - just right" launched last year, which initially ran with the leitmotif "150 years with the people" as a baseline, was replaced for the SPO. With the target group in mind, the slogan "My bank" was reinforced with the ironic pun "I'm buying my bank": who has enough money to buy a bank? The leitmotif "Just right for my portfolio", updated for the share placement, implied the message for investors that is particularly important today: LUKB is a solid value with good future potential.
Typical city symbols as eye-catchers for equity investors
For financial analysts and institutional investors, the SGC creatives declined the same message in two national subjects by building a symbolic bridge between value and growth. Unfortunately, the visual realization of the idea lags behind. For example, the Kappelbrücke as a connecting element between a piano keyboard - music festival - and a PC keyboard or the Willisauer Ringli and CD-Roms comes across as rather old-fashioned and crooked. "There aren't many Swiss cities that can be localized by outsiders through branded articles or buildings like with these precisely positioned codes," Daniel von Arx defends the approach.
It is obvious that the financial institution wants to draw the attention of its clientele - including foreign private banking clients - to its own shares, especially with the qualities and tourist appeal of Lucerne.
Code transfer as cumbersome as the thick-skinned key visual
The agency Peter Bütikofer & Company took a completely different approach for the IPO of St.Galler Kantonalbank (SGKB) with an elephant as the key visual. But despite the uniqueness bonus, this also caused some head-shaking. First of all, local professional artists were invited to design 40 plastic elephants.
It was not the advertising medium that annoyed the artists, but the fact that they should have done their work free of charge. School classes stepped in as the lucky stopgaps, painting the "Easter animals" as part of a competition and seeing their creations displayed in front of SGKB branches from the IPO onwards.
However, the event is just a small piece of the mosaic in the large-scale advertising campaign that began months ago when the bank underwent a change in strategy with a view to partial privatization. Following the efficiency-boosting rationalization and reorganization, new structures and streamlining of the offering, SGKB had pitches made to communicate the change in strategy and spin-off of the private banking unit (St.Gallen Wealth Advisory) as well as the IPO on the banking and market side.
The Zurich pitch winner Bütikofer & Company created an independent image that reflects the new direction and has now achieved a high level of penetration with a considerable presence on all advertising channels, including green elephant tracks on sidewalks, an online game and several events.
Since the teaser campaign last fall, green elephants have been the main visual in the communication. The pachyderms were intended to underline the bank's positive values such as local roots and solidity, but also to counteract prejudices. "Many people don't believe that the bank is flexible and dynamic," says project manager Guido Müller von Bütikofer.
An intelligent elephant surrounded by bulls and bears
To capture this emotionally, the decision was made to use the elephant as an attention-getter and messenger of advertising attributes such as powerful, intelligent, attentive, agile and sensitive. The questionable semantic balancing act was not understood by everyone, as some marketing people in Eastern Switzerland point out.
Despite critical voices, the strategists seem to have lucked out with their visualization. In the current environment of uncertainty on the trading floors, the elephant as a symbol of the inexpensive value stock, according to Bank Sarasin, looks like a cynical answer - the only correct one - to the two mood animals of the stock market. Alongside bulls and bears, the likeable trunked animal cuts the best figure.

Objective: To draw the attention of readers and advertisers to the relaunch of Femina, the women's magazine for French-speaking Switzerland.Femina advertising media: advertisements in newspapers and magazines for French-speaking Switzerland and in media journals for German-speaking Switzerland, B4 and B12 posters, radio spots. Deployment: March to May.
Client: Edipresse, Lausanne; Responsibility: Anne Jan, Product Management Femina. Advertising agency: Publicis Lausanne; CD: Alphonse Garcia; AD: Pierre-Alain Brandt; Consulting: Raymonde Buehler; Photos: Thierry Bourdeille, Geneva.
Discussion see page 10

TSR boss Gilles Marchand on the competition and the young audienceAs he takes office, the new CEO of Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR), Gilles Marchand, announces a gentle reorientation. The basic tenor: TSR must focus even more strongly on the audience and the market. The previous TSR Head of Information, Philippe Mottaz, is being promoted to Director of IT and New Media, and you recently gave your "inaugural lecture" to TSR staff. What were the most important messages you wanted to get across?
Gilles Marchand: First of all, TSR is doing well overall. We hold around a third of the French-speaking Swiss market, even though the competition has tripled. What remains to be improved is the internal functioning of the station. We will be announcing a new program structure in September, and there will be further changes next year. Finally, I believe that we need to focus more on marketing. The interactivity sector will also be expanded.
If you ask around among TSR employees, you get the echo: Marchand communicates very well, but what he communicates is a bit overcautious. Apart from the promotion of Mottaz, there are few changes in the management structure. It is said that you wanted to create something new with the old crew.
Marchand: That's right. I deliberately refrain from turning everything upside down. Because this station is basically doing well. We don't have a fire in the roof. But I can't accept that I should be overly cautious. There are many innovations in the production area, for example. But as I said, I don't want to change for the sake of change. After all, you can ruin a station if you go in too fast.
You say that TSR is doing well. But if you look at the viewer figures, you can see that the channel's market share has been eroding slightly but steadily in recent years.
Marchand: Yes, but even so, TSR's performance is still very good when you consider that the competition has multiplied.
Who do you see as your main competition? The big ones or the small ones?
Marchand: Both. The most important main competitor is of course still the French station TF 1 with a 16% market share in French-speaking Switzerland. However, we also have diffuse competition from stations with small market shares, which together are nevertheless significant.
TSR has a problem with young viewers in particular, doesn't it?
Marchand: Be careful not to set the bar too high here. All the major European broadcasters have their core audience, especially among the over-40s. If you measure us against that, we do quite well, and better than our German-speaking Swiss colleagues, by the way. We have a loyal audience over 50, that's true. But we are also number one with the young. But of course we have to make sure that we attract even more young people. Not just because of their purchasing power. They are the viewers of tomorrow. We are taking this into account by creating a "jeunes" sector.
What do you see as the critical threshold below which it would be difficult for TSR to justify the license fees?
Marchand: I think we should already have a market share of
30 percent, otherwise we will get into trouble.
Don't you also have the problem that your staff tends to be over-aged?
Marchand: We employ 1,200 people from all age groups and we are constantly recruiting new people. But you are addressing a real problem. Let me put it this way: We have a monoculture in French-speaking Switzerland; TSR is practically alone in the audiovisual media sector. Our employees have no alternative. That's why many of them have been with the company for 20 or 30 years. The situation is very different from Zurich.
For years it has been said that TSR should help to create a biotope of independent TV creators. Not much has happened. Do you have any ideas on how this old postulate could be realized?
Marchand: We have some small production companies that we need to work with. Cooperation with France could also be intensified. But again, our market is very, very narrow. We are much smaller than the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
Speaking of German-speaking Switzerland, contact between TSR and DRS television is very sparse. Shouldn't something be done?
Marchand: There are discussions at management level; I don't have the impression that Schellenberg and I are worlds apart. But at the program level, cooperation is difficult because the TV cultures on both sides of the language border are very different. In my previous job at Ringier Romandie, I made the same observation at Schweizer Illustrierte and Illustré: it is difficult to work closely together on content.
You come from the private sector and now work in a parastatal television station. Is that a culture shock?
Marchand: No. I find it fascinating to work in public TV, because it's one of the last places where Swiss people of different colors come together. There are a lot of motivated people here. Of course, there is also a law of inertia here. But this is also at work in certain private press groups, for example.
And the switch from the written press to television - a culture shock?
Marchand: Yes and no. I realize that the basic activity is similar: you want to inform and entertain an audience as well as possible. But the means of production are of course completely different. I still have a lot to learn.
Interview: Christophe Büchi

APG launches Europe's largest indoor billboard at Zurich stationThe installation of a 60 square meter electronic billboard at Zurich station cost ten million Swiss francs. APG is using the world's latest quality for giant LED screens. Also unique in the world: the advertising spots are fed in centrally from a control center, and from 6 a.m. to midnight every day, travelers at Zurich main station will be able to shorten their waiting time with soundless advertising spots and information: A 60 square meter LED billboard, the largest indoor wall in Europe, now shows digital images in cinema quality.
The giant electronic poster was launched by the
E-Advertising AG, the latest subsidiary of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG), which calls its new generation of posters eBoard.
But the eBoard is just the beginning: APG is planning one or two more eBoard locations at Zurich main station, where 450000 people pass through every day. APG also expects eBoards to be introduced in other major Swiss railroad stations (Bern, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne) within a year. In the near future, APG would also like to offer a national and later an international e-poster network, primarily at high-traffic locations such as train stations, large shopping centers, stadiums and airports. The size of the eBoards is open from a minimum of ten square meters upwards.
Continuously updatable
Advertising messages
In addition to size and quality, the new technology offers advertising customers further advantages: Campaigns can be set up at extremely short notice. If a wholesaler realizes that it urgently needs to get rid of its asparagus before the expiry date, it can launch a campaign via eBoard on the same day. All that is needed is a text - or, if it's more elaborate, a clip in the appropriate video format. Advertising messages can also be updated during their runtime.
This is possible thanks to the software developed by E-Advertising, which can operate an unlimited number of eBoards worldwide from its own control center in Winterthur, initially via dedicated line and later via satellite. Comparable electronic poster sites abroad, on the other hand, have to be switched on individually on site, for example using a CD.
Two formats can be booked for e-advertising: the entire screen (full screen) at 61 centimes per second and an info island, which divides the screen with current information in SMS message style, at 51 centimes per second. These prices will apply from September; until then there will be an individual introductory offer. Markus Knöpfli

Following an intensive agency selection process, the marketing agency Eugster Kommunikation, based in Rorschacherberg, has been awarded the account for Charles Keller International Ltd. Account News: Eugster Wins Charles Keller Int.
its overall brand identity: corporate design, promotional brochures, and website. The company, headquartered in Wallisellen, specializes in the export of specialty vehicles for the oil production industry.
Polyconsult Bern Handles Multilink's Business The Bern-based agency Polyconsult AG is now handling all communications for the telecommunications provider Multilink. In the final round of the two-stage competitive pitch, Polyconsult prevailed over Grendene, Ogilvy & Mather AG, and CSM of Geneva.
New Clients for Festland The advertising agency Festland, based in St. Gallen and Zurich, is developing a new corporate design, a website, and a new concept for corporate communications for KD Labs. KD Labs operates in the field of electronic customer relationship management and data mining. Festland is also creating a new corporate design for the envelope manufacturer Sonderegger.
Trimarca Promotes Sports Gloves The Chur-based communications agency Trimarca is conducting a comprehensive marketing analysis and implementing a communication strategy for Snowlife. The Klosters-based manufacturer of winter sports gloves aims to significantly increase brand awareness in the consumer market through integrated communication (sales, internet, POS displays).