René Hürlimann, CEO of Euro RSCG Switzerland for 20 years, is stepping down. The 59-year-old, who has been planning his departure since 1997, is making way for younger people: Frank Bodin and Otto Spirig. "Since I became self-employed with my agency Hürlimann Marketing und Kommunikation in 1971, I have aimed to be free of obligations by the age of 60 at the latest," says the outgoing CEO, who will now become self-employed again as a consultant and take on a number of board mandates.
An initial attempt to replace Rudolf Schürmann and Bernhard Bauhofer did not go according to Hürlimann's expectations. However, he is now convinced that he has filled the management positions with the right people.
The appointment of Frank Bodin as Executive Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors is entirely in line with the wishes of the long-standing CEO, who expressly wanted the current Creative Director of McCann-Erickson, Geneva, as his successor and new number one. By placing Frank Bodin at the head of the Swiss members of the network, René Hürlimann, who will remain on the Group's Board of Directors, is setting a creative agency course.
Bodin, who has received over 200 national and international awards, has led the Geneva branch of McCann-Erickson Switzerland out of creative obscurity and into the circle of BSW Gold agencies over the past four years. "I opted for a new perspective, not against McCann-Erickson, Geneva, in whose development I have invested a great deal of heart and soul," says Bodin. He accepted the offer from Euro RSCG out of a desire to design not just campaigns, but an entire agency network that is active in various communication disciplines. At 38, Bodin is the youngest chairman of a BSW top ten agency.
The second vacancy filled by Otto Spirig resulted from the departure of the previous COO (Chief Operating Officer) Peter Strub, who is leaving the agency at the end of February.
Otto Spirig is taking on the role of COO and CFO (Corporate Finance Officer) at Euro RSCG Switzerland. "I see it as a great challenge to lead the Euro RSCG Group in Switzerland with a creative person like Frank Bodin," says Spirig, who began his career as a chef, then worked as a personnel assistant and financial accountant at Jet Aviation and later managed a hotel business. Because "the hotel industry was not an ideal environment for a family with small children", the father of four joined Advico Young &Rubicam in 1982 to work in advertising, where he has held the position of Corporate Finance Officer since 1989. (ew)

Felix Gretener, Media Planning AG, Zurich.display "Two francs do matter"
Do you consider the ad-financed free directory assistance service that Pearsoft is planning for Switzerland to be a setup or a shutdown?
Felix Gretener: It's a display, because the information is expensive. If I can save the two francs, I don't mind having something whispered in my ear for ten or fifteen seconds.
What characteristics must such advertising have in order to achieve its goal?
Gretener: People want information quickly. Anything that delays the desired information is annoying. That's why the communicated message must be short and concise. In addition, the advertising messages must be varied so that someone who consults this information frequently is not repeatedly presented with the same spot. That would be a turn-off.
Can advertising for whose consumption one is compensated have a positive effect at all?
Gretener: I think so, because we are used to the omnipresence of advertising. In this day and age, anyone who says they want to live without advertising has to get a one-way ticket to the moon or Mars.
For which product groups could you most likely imagine such advertising on the phone?
Gretener: That would certainly be a good thing for advertising short-term offers. I'm thinking of last-minute offers from travel agencies, for example. But such short spots could also be particularly useful for announcing events, such as exhibitions, a new film or a sporting event.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle

Fru Hazlitt, European Sales Director at Yahoo, on the opening of the Swiss sales office Yahoo is regarded as one of the last rocks in the stormy surf of the new economy. The Internet giant is pursuing a European expansion policy and will in future offer itself as an advertising medium in Switzerland without the detour via online marketers. At the opening of its own sales office in Zurich's Seefeld district, European Sales Director Fru Hazlitt provided information about Yahoo's plans. How important is Switzerland for Yahoo in Europe? Fru Hazlitt: Switzerland is the first country without its own Yahoo site to have a sales office. We have our own sites in eight European countries and are represented by online marketers in ten others. In Switzerland, we have been represented by online marketers for longer than in most European countries, and this is the first country in which we are investing and setting up our own office. Why is Switzerland so important? Hazlitt: There are four reasons: Firstly, the proportion of Internet users in Switzerland is already at 34 percent, which is very good. Secondly, many users here already use Yahoo. Thirdly, we look at the local advertising market to see whether it is active and of high quality. This is the case in Switzerland. Fourthly, many major brands have their headquarters in Switzerland. We want to conclude major pan-European deals from here. Companies like Nestlé or Credit Suisse are more difficult to win as clients for international projects if you don't have a local presence. Nevertheless, Switzerland is actually a small market. Hazlitt: It is a small market, but the Swiss have... money! Yahoo is present in most Western European countries. What does the further expansion strategy look like? Hazlitt: We have already set our sights on Eastern Europe. We are negotiating with partners who will represent us there. Eastern Europe is a completely new market and we need to understand it first. That is why we are trying to develop Eastern Europe via external sales outlets for the time being. Is Europe becoming more important as a market than the USA? Hazlitt: Definitely. The Americans have done a fantastic job of developing the Internet, and Europe is still lagging behind at the moment. But by 2003 there will be more users in Europe than in the USA. In terms of cell phone usage, however, Europe is ahead, and that is also an important aspect. I think that in the next two years, network access via cell phone will become very important. Are there fundamental differences between the American and European markets? Hazlitt: E-commerce has a different status in America. In the USA, there is a credit card culture and people are used to making purchases by phone or mail order. Europeans have more reservations about this. Americans are also less skeptical about security in e-commerce. They are used to making purchases by phone with credit cards without leaving a signature. Is the Internet also better integrated into the advertising industry? Hazlitt: In the US, the Internet has now become part of the traditional media mix. Most traditional advertising agencies have large online departments. In Europe, the Internet is still largely left to the specialists. This will also change when agencies realize that they can earn money with the Internet Does Internet advertising have a future? Hazlitt: Around 80 percent of Yahoo's revenue is generated by advertising. I think this proportion will remain very high. Many people are skeptical about whether advertising on the Internet works at all. Of course it works, but I think more is expected from Internet advertising than from any other advertising medium. The advantage of internet advertising is that you can get people to actively do something. Nobody knows whether a poster will persuade someone to make a purchase. But you can check whether someone actively uses a website through a banner. The Internet has huge growth potential as an advertising medium. Is it still mainly companies from the new economy that place advertising on the Internet? Hazlitt: That's changing, and I'm glad about it. Many old-economy companies now think that they need to be present with web advertising, but are not clear about how. Yahoo is now being asked by traditional companies how to design advertising on the Internet. That's a good start. Isn't the Internet also limited in its potential as an advertising medium? Banners, for example, will always remain relatively small. Hazlitt: Who says that banners will still dominate in two years' time? I believe that the advertising possibilities on the web will probably only be ten percent exhausted. New technologies will also make new forms of advertising possible. How does Yahoo intend to assert itself against the European competition? Hazlitt: We have an established and very well-known brand. The Internet has been around for almost six years and we have been there from the beginning. This gives us enormous advantages. We have the experience, the know-how and, above all, a large audience that is growing every month. In addition, although we are an American company, we always fill key positions outside the USA with locals who understand the local market. Will only a few global players survive the competition? Hazlitt: I wish I knew that. But it's very likely. And Yahoo intends to be one of them. Interview: Bruno Amstutz

The Velvet creative agency creates a new cult object for the headThe Lucerne art scene has a new must-have: a woolly hat with the Velvet label from the creative house of the same name. Last November, the Platform for Contemporary Art (PZK) opened a series of exhibition cycles at the ITA Gallery in Lucerne. The Lucerne agency Velvet was invited to take part in the first show on the theme of multiples alongside artists from Central Switzerland. The woolly hat created by AD Eva Schätti in the Velvet colors red and white was on sale for ten francs during the exhibition. In this way, 200 pieces were sold and put into circulation. What was designed as an art object soon began to develop considerable momentum of its own. The multiple contribution found admirers above all among the other exhibitors, who presented their bright lacquer stoves, light blue deer trophies or stuffed ladies' stockings in the ITA gallery. Just for fun, they had a colleague take a photo of them with the caps on or over their heads. The Velvet team then used these pictures to produce postcards, which were placed in various trendy bars and clubs to promote the current exhibition.
This was the first stroke, but the second followed immediately. Velvet designed the exhibition poster for another part of the cycle under the motto Eros, with the cap at the center, of course. This time it is worn by a topless young woman who hides her face under the cap. The original picture was exhibited as a contribution to the theme.
And what's next? Jürg Schaffhuser can't say anything definite yet: "The topic for the sequel is still open. Various projects are being discussed, but the context for their realization is still missing. However, we are looking forward to the third episode ourselves," reveals the Velvet co-founder.
Anyone visiting the city on the river Reuss in the near future should not be surprised if they encounter an excessive number of Little Red Riding Hoods, male and female, on the street. After all, a cult object is there to be shown off.
Simone Keller

Competition among job platforms on the Internet has grown enormously over the last two yearsThose were the days in 1996 when SwissWebjobs and Humanline were able to work the online job market without much competition. Today, there are around 70 platforms offering their services on the data highway. Currently, around 15 to 30 million Swiss francs are spent each year on job searches via the Internet, with an annual increase of 100 percent. Experts believe that in a few years almost half of the annual CHF 500 million spent on print advertising will be shifted to the web. "The newcomers to the market, such as Jobline and Stepstone, will not have an easy time catching up with the old players, Jobs.ch, Topjobs.ch, Jobscout and Jobpilot," says Daniel Moschin, CEO of Jobpilot, with conviction. Mark Sandmeier, Head of Marketing and Sales at Jobs.ch, also speaks of a market shakeout before the end of 2001. Meanwhile, Stepstone is countering with the announcement of a new platform for 40 million euros and is investing heavily in TV advertising. Print publishers are also clearly getting involved in the battle for online ads with their own platforms.
A first prominent victim is to be mourned
While some are able to address a certain job segment, such as management positions, with services covering the entire spectrum of personnel recruitment, internationality and focus, others offer attractive conditions. For example, Jobclick, the job platform of NZZ, Basler Mediengruppe, Edipresse and Publigroupe, offers the simultaneous placement of print and web advertisements.
However, there are already the first victims in the bidding for the favor of job providers: The Scout Group, majority-owned by the BHS Group, is to take over London-based Topjobs, which has a well-established subsidiary in Switzerland. Topjobs became illiquid two years after its lucrative IPO. Christopher Nokes, CEO of Topjobs Switzerland, admits that it was an expensive learning curve. Accompanied by immense advertising campaigns, branches were set up in the USA and Australia - and closed again with massive losses.
It remains to be seen whether and who will suffer a similar fate. What is certain is that the positions will be taken this year.
Carmen Gasser

Factum, the new owner, wants to resurrect the magazine before the summerby Daniel SchifferleIn May or June, the Musenalp Express (MEX) is to be resurrected - with a lower publication frequency, a new distribution structure and a partner yet to be found. The Zurich-based direct marketing agency Factum hopes to achieve the success that Ringier failed to achieve with its youth magazine.
The Musenalp Express is here to stay. The MEX had changed hands several times over the past five years without ever getting back on a green branch. Ringier finally took over the magazine in the summer of 1998 - and had big plans for it. But in December 2000, the company had to admit that the market size and potential of MEX had been overestimated at the time of purchase, which is why the decision was made to sell (WW 42/00).
Now the problem child has landed at the Zurich direct marketing agency Factum. However, the magazine is an old acquaintance for them. Back in 1995 and 1996, when the Postille was still owned by Color Media (Fotolabo Group), it was responsible for its marketing. She knows the joys and pitfalls of MEX at close quarters.
Factum also feels at home in the age spectrum addressed. This is because the company, which specializes in publishing marketing, was initially mainly involved in the children's and youth sector when it was launched over twelve years ago. Titles such as Weltbild, Hoppla or Benni came out of Factum's kitchen, a company that is well versed in the youth market. And yet, or perhaps precisely because of this, it relies on MEX.
What Ringier failed to do, the small agency wants to achieve
In any case, the founder and managing director of Factum, Valentino Mauriello, is not deterred by the negative experiences Ringier had with MEX. "A large publishing house is not the right organization for smaller plants like Musenalp Express," he is convinced.
A compact company like Factum, which deals with media marketing on a daily basis, has better cards in its hand. In addition, in recent years, when Factum has also been marketing publishing products in Germany, Austria, Poland and the UK, it has gained know-how that is now very useful. Mauriello: "In these countries, there is sometimes more practice in bundling target groups into forums and marketing them successfully."
And that is exactly what Mauriello intends to do with MEX. The magazine, which was last published last December, is set to celebrate its comeback next May or June. However, with various new features that have only just been outlined. One thing is already clear: the central constants such as distribution, publication frequency and positioning will have to be reorganized to give the magazine another chance.
Slimmed down and with a new sales partner
One of the fundamental problems is the cost of postage. This is why Mauriello is focusing on co-marketing with a company that is active in the youth and young adult segment. "H&M, Nike or an internet company - there are plenty of companies that could jump on board with a product like the MEX," says Mauriello and is optimistic that he will soon find his ideal partner.
Another topic that needs to be analyzed, according to Mauriello, is the publication frequency. "Do we publish the magazine ten times, as has been the case since the takeover by Ringier, or do we go back to six issues?" Another weakness of the magazine that he wants to iron out is its positioning. "The old MEX had too diffuse a readership," says Mauriello. "You can't write an article for 13-year-olds and then expect 25-year-olds to be interested in it too." In future, the magazine should therefore move away from kids and towards young adults. Mauriello's reasoning: "They already earn their own money and are therefore more interesting for advertising."
Nevertheless, he does not want to abandon the previous editorial concept. MEX will continue to fill its text columns predominantly with submissions and lyrical attempts by its readers.
However, something will certainly be different at MEX this year: the website. Mextown.ch, the associated site that Ringier only launched in August with a lot of marketing noise, would also have been available. "However, our cost-benefit analysis showed that a separate, leaner version would be the better solution," says Mauriello.
However, there is still a naming problem with the Mex.ch address, which has already caused Ringier to fail: there are two municipalities in Switzerland with the name Mex, one in the canton of Vaud and one in Valais. Mauriello believes that Ringier has probably given up too early and remains optimistic: "I am sure that we will find a sensible solution."

FCB Wilkens promotes OlympusNewsFiat consolidates media at Starcom
Fiat is pooling the global media budgets of the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands at Starcom Mediavest. Starcom already looked after Fiat in several European countries, in Latin America and in the Pacific region. The BCom3 agency has now been given eight further markets with billings of around 150 million dollars, which were previously handled by local agencies. Carat remains responsible for France and three other markets. In Switzerland, Fiat will be managed by Adplus in Zurich, which belongs to Starcom Mediavest.
The camera manufacturer Olympus has entrusted FCB Wilkens in Hamburg with its European budget for consumer products. FCB won the pitch for the multi-million budget against Lowe Lintas and DDB. The previous budget holder was Y&R. Olympus is planning a launch campaign for a new digital camera.

Publicis Frankfurt flies on Qantas The Frankfurt branch of Publicis is the new lead agency for the Australian airline Qantas Airways. It will position the brand throughout Europe and coordinate advertising activities. Local Qantas agencies will continue to organize campaigns and below-the-line measures.
njet to advertising interruptions
The Russian parliament has decided that feature films on Russian television should no longer be interrupted by advertising. The Duma, the Russian lower house of parliament, passed a bill to this effect. Children's and educational programs as well as religious programs may also no longer be interrupted by commercial breaks. The bill, which was passed by 275 votes to 73, was mainly supported by the Communist Party.

The Jura-based industrial company Tornos is going public with a Dorland campaignThe new IPO will cost the communications agency between 300,000 and 500,000 Swiss francs on average (excluding materials), Ernst & Young calculated in Finanz & Wirtschaft. It is not known how much Tornos, the world's leading manufacturer of single-spindle and multi-spindle automatic lathes, will pay for the image developed by Dorland. The implementation, however, is. The central idea is the outperformance of the still private company, which was portrayed with a great deal of humor for the industry. The surprising subjects in the rather dull world of investment campaigns are five employees who, like the company, have outgrown their clothes. Even CEO and delegate of the Tornos Group Board of Directors, Anton Menth, took part in the photo shoot in a tight suit. The print campaign is intended to create a high level of awareness for the IPO. page 14

Star Plakat is allowed to exclusively market advertising on gas pumpsBy Markus KnöpfliSince January 2001, the small outdoor advertiser Star Plakat has been bigger by one gas station offer: On behalf of Alvern GmbH in Hamburg, the company is now allowed to exclusively market advertising on gas pumps in Switzerland.
At the beginning of the year, Star Plakat took over the exclusive marketing of gas pump advertising at Swiss gas stations. The dwarf among outdoor advertisers (turnover in 2000: CHF 3 million) thus represents the German company Alvern GmbH, which is developing this new type of advertising throughout Europe and has also brought it to Switzerland in recent years.
On 86 square centimeters
A message for drivers
Nozzle advertising consists of 86 square centimetre advertising spaces (so-called fill boards) that can be attached to the nozzles of petrol pumps. As the nozzle has to be deliberately picked up and inserted into the fuel nozzle when filling up, the advertising medium can be used to address the target group of car and motorcycle drivers in a targeted and relatively intensive manner: The approximately three million car drivers in Switzerland fill up their tanks an average of four times a month.
At present, advertising can already be booked on fuel nozzles at a total of 405 Esso, BP, Tamoil, Avia, Agip, Agrola and Coop petrol stations in Germany. Star Plakat is also currently in negotiations with Shell, Migrol and Elf. The petrol stations that can currently be booked are spread across these three language regions - 209 are located in German-speaking Switzerland, 125 in French-speaking Switzerland and 71 in Ticino. The petrol station networks of the respective oil companies can also be booked individually. The price per month and pump is CHF 12.
A combination dispensing gun poster is still a dream of the future
Star Plakat, which has launched a petrol station poster network in the past two years (WW 46/00), can now offer another advertising medium for mobile target groups in the form of petrol pump advertising. However, it is not yet possible to combine gas pump advertising with posters. This is mainly because Star Plakat has so far only been able to place posters at Migrol petrol stations. However, it is not yet possible to advertise at these petrol pumps.

Media Baier and Kreussler part ways
Petra Kreussler, Managing Director of the Zurich media agency Robert C. Baier, and Rolf Altwegg, who has been with Baier since the fall, are going their own ways. In the form of a management buyout, they are taking over all of the agency's employees and clients with retroactive effect from January 1, 2001 and founding a new company under the name The Generation Media AG. The reason for the separation: differences over the shareholding and the strategic direction. "We simply didn't find each other," says Kreussler. The Generation Media will move into its own offices on Alfred-Escher-Strasse in Zurich in mid-March and "offer a high-quality full media service as well as specialties such as media seminars or media back office for independent media consultants", adds Kreussler.
Baier, surprised by the pace of development, will realign himself. He won't reveal exactly how until mid-March. "I will concentrate on specialties such as media auditing," said Baier. He was the first person in Switzerland to set up his media agency in 1974, years before Vincent Banderet and Wolfgang Mecklenburg followed suit. (dse)

Most of the time, it's just WW columnist Michael Barney's head that's on display. A copywriter at Lowe Linta's GGK in his day job, he's now showing up to model for a campaign the agency is doing for CS Youtrade. "It's not the first time I've modeled for a campaign," Barney says. Two years ago, he rummaged through garbage bags in worn-out clothes outside the Zurich department store Globus for a Caritas campaign. Now the columnist presents himself wrapped in fine cloth - but without the beautiful Claudine, whom he always courted in his columns in a polite, old-fashioned and sympathetic manner. "She really exists," Barney reassures all column readers, Frank Bodin included, "but she didn't want to be in the picture," he says - and winks twice. Once for himself and once for the beautiful Claudine.MIRROR OF SOCIETY. The article is about "The great pension reform" in the Spiegel of February 12. It hardly takes place, tells us in addition the diagram on the title page of the news magazine. And this design could trigger a new trend, or better yet: a true revolution. In a world already totally flooded with the stimulus word "visual," Spiegel once again relies only on the word. Let's see whether the image concept "In the beginning was the word" will also find words of praise at the next Berliner Type.
PLAQUE ADVERTISING BETWEEN 1920 AND 1960. Until the beginning of July 2001, the Swiss National Bank in Zurich is exhibiting Swiss factual posters from the twenties to the sixties. They come from the collection of the Zurich Museum of Design and Art (MfGZ) and show a poster style that practiced a factual view of merchandise advertising. A recurring secondary element was a hand, which had the purpose of signaling the feeling of the product and reaching for it. The MfGZ will be a guest in the shop windows of the Swiss National Bank with three exhibitions throughout the year. Flaps for Advico Young & Rubicam, Publicis and André Benker. At the TV commercial and advertising film festival "Die Klappe", Switzerland won three out of 17 flaps. The two golden flaps both went to Germany (to Jung von Matt, Hamburg, and Heye & Partner). But Advico Young & Rubicam won a silver flap with a Kuoni spot. Bronze went to Publicis, Zurich (Swisscom Mobile), and André Benker (Käseorganisation Schweiz).
NOT FROM CARDBOARD. Since the beginning of February, the Swiss packaging landscape has been home to an antediluvian creature that can take on a wide variety of guises. The changeable creature called IWIS was first sighted at Pack IT '01 in Basel. It consists of six corrugated cardboard parts and is intended to demonstrate the high flexibility of this packaging material. The idea was hatched by the Erlenbach agency Eclat in connection with a presentation it designed for the Swiss corrugated cardboard industry's interest group (IWIS).
NO MEGAPHONE FOR SWITZERLAND. In the Megaphone 2001 competition organized by the Advertising Yearbook, 1,000 works from around 300 agencies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol were judged by a jury of 17 independent experts from the advertising and media industries. There were three winners in the Campaign of the Year category: Heye & Partner was honored for a TV appearance for McDonald's and for the overall work the agency has been doing for McDonald's since 1971. Springer & Jacoby received a megaphone for the Mercedes E-class ad and for the A-class TV spots. Also winning an award was a print campaign by London-based advertising agency E-fact.Limited and its sister agency Springer & Jacoby, Hamburg, for Deutsche Telekom's telephone directories. Ad of the Year was an ad for Kraft Ketchup by Ogilvy & Mather, Frankfurt. Scholz & Volkmer won the title of Website of the Year with the design of the www.cyber pirates.com website.
EditorialHands off the horror advertising!
From the middle of the year, all cigarette packs in Canada must bear shock images. There are 16 subjects to choose from: pictures of mouth cancer, black lungs or smokers' legs,
(see article on page 10).
For militant anti-smokers, the case is clear: if you want to warn people about the dangers of smoking, the best way is to show them a close-up of a smoker's leg with festering ulcers - as detailed, colorful and disgusting as possible. Then their hair will stand on end and they will never touch a cigarette again...
Think again. Shock therapy with horror images is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it leads to a defensive blocking of perception: In all non-smoking campaigns, it has been shown time and again that moral and fear appeals are not very effective.
In addition, there is the ambivalence in dealing with addictive substances. Their consumption is always in the area of tension between taboo and taboo-breaking. Everything that is banned by our civilization is fascinating. This provokes - to quote a word from the moral expert Friedrich Nietzsche - the "courage to do the forbidden". Painting the devil on cigarette packaging usually has the opposite effect, especially among young people - who are the primary target of the anti-tobacco campaign: it is precisely the demonization that makes the difference that counts.
It is to be feared that Canada will serve as a model for similar laws around the globe. We can only hope that the FOPH, which is rightly praised worldwide for its pioneering Stop AIDS campaign, will not be seduced by the tobacco devil...
Samuel Helbling

Muse & MusseMarco Catini
Which cultural event did you attend last and why this one in particular?
Marco Catini: "Blushin' Pink" - because it was highly recommended to me. But I didn't like it that much, despite the nice accompaniment.
What are you reading right now and why?
Catini: *The 131½ Lives of Captain Blaubär* by Walter Moers. Not only does the author have his own distinctive drawing style, but he’s also a great storyteller.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Catini: "Fântomas - Amenaza al Mundo."
Which movie would you most like to see again and why?
Catini: "Fargo" - because Steve Buscemi is just good.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Catini: TV doesn't work as a sleep aid for me, unfortunately - I can zap for hours without getting tired.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Catini: More of a rediscovery: www.joecartoon.com
Love is...?
Catini: ...something incredibly beautiful.