By Beat FritschDear readers. Here is the report on the performance of the WerbeWoche team at this year's Ideé curling tournament, which you helped to finance via your subscription fee. Once again this year, we sent a mixed team onto the ice to defend the paper's honor. Dear known and unknown patrons, first the bad news: unfortunately, our team once again had an absolute slump in form at the worst possible moment.
And now for the good news! There were no injuries, and after the preliminary round the WerbeWoche team was in a fabulous 2nd place. This is what the hunting route looked like: First, we took revenge on the personal curlers for last year's defeat. Although only Fabrizio Milano from the 2000 team was still there, it was pretty good. Conclusion for the new personal skip Stephan Küng: Dried off! We then sent the gentlemen from the Aargau agency Robert von der Aare down the Limmat. Although we actually really liked the graying gentlemen: crushed 7 to 1! As a preliminary round dessert, we took on the Facts curlers with Nicole Costa, Kilian Gasser, Jean-Claude Plüss and the purchased skip Röbi Baier; after all, they were the winners of last year's tournament. And our toughest opponents to date - nevertheless: swept off the ice after a tough struggle!
Perhaps it was due to the waiting break before the final round or the heavy meal. The men from WerbeWoche also complained about a lack of fluids. Perhaps it was the pressure to succeed - only another win was enough to secure 2nd place. In the last game, the big collapse came and the stones slipped wherever they wanted. The painful loss in the final against the fourth-placed Conquestadors (Conquest Agency) threw us back to 7th place. This was at least an improvement on our second-last place (23rd) in the previous year's tournament.
What's more, dear team sponsors, things were slowly but surely getting expensive! As you know, an unwritten curling rule requires that the losers of a game are given a drink. And we had to spend, and not too little.
In addition to the many tournament sponsors who were present with their own teams, there were also guests of honor. For example, Monika Luck and Piero Schäfer from SW, jazz musician Robi Weber and headhunter Hélène Müller with Seiler-DDB-CD Markus Cavegn, who was so enthusiastic that he immediately wanted to register for next year's tournament. McCann-Erickson-CD Frank Bodin even spontaneously supported Michi Frank's team in their last game.
The winners were Paul's Curlers from the advertising department of Zürcher Kantonalbank, followed by Metropol with Urs Zeier and Team HBH on Ice from Angelica Hiltmann.
Thanks also to the tournament management under Heinz Egli and Monika Ducry, although they should perhaps occasionally check the draw for the preliminary round matches. It is strange that Persönlich and WerbeWoche have to compete against each other every time.
We therefore hope, dear sports patrons, that you will support the WerbeWoche curling team again next season, not least because of our pleasing performance. For our part, we will continue to train hard. And not just at the bar.
Skip Beat Fritsch

put together a fresh team after the lousy result at last year's Idée curling tournament - the two editorial volunteers Carole and Bruno were to blame for the debacle.
This time, our photographer Claudia Linsi (below), former shortlisted author Flavia Schlittler (above) and external support from trustee Dani Leemann (left) took part. The new team proved its worth and moved up a full 16 places in the final ranking.
Anyone else in the communications industry who slips and slides and pushes stones will be spotted at various events in the scene. Do you already have something
to report? Reach out
to the receiver (01 296 97 98) or to the keys (info@werbe
woche.ch). Event tips and further shortlist images are available online at www.werbewoche.ch

Swiss television DRS did not have a good year behind it: Swiss German television lost a total of 1.1 market share points to its competitors in 2000. Only thanks to attractive sporting events, which brought SF 2 a gain in viewership, was it possible to prevent an even more marked drop. But there is also good news from SF DRS. With its "Nickelodeon" program, SF 2 was able to make up more than four market share points among children and young people. page 24

More free newspapers coming to newsstands soon? by Markus KnöpfliThe fact that Kiosk AG now wants to distribute commuter newspapers on a trial basis has infuriated some major publishers. Return coaches are also being considered. At the same time, some publishers also sense opportunities for their free titles.
Daniel Sommer, Publishing Director of Basler Zeitung, describes Kiosk AG's attempt to sell commuter newspapers at its sales outlets from this week onwards as a "shot across the bows". Franziska von Weissenfluh, Managing Director of the Berner Zeitung, finds the approach "not very nice towards a long-standing partner", and Dietrich Berg, Publishing Director of the Tages-Anzeiger, also understands "a partnership relationship to mean something else". "If we thought this was good, it would be masochism, because we are the publisher with the most titles on the newsstand," says Ringier Group spokesperson Fridolin Luchsinger. And Willy Schib, Head of Regional Newspapers at NZZ, agrees: "Although it doesn't affect us too much, we're not very pleased."
The publishers are most annoyed about the late or lack of information from Kiosk AG. However, more fundamental criticism of Kiosk AG can also be heard here and there. If Kiosk AG gives away its products free of charge, it is no longer needed (Luchsinger). Newspapers are apparently of secondary importance to Kiosk AG, in contrast to chewing gum and souvenirs, for example (Schib).
Some publishers are also considering alternatives to Kiosk AG. However, such statements are little more than a wave of the fence post, especially as press sales via post offices proved to be unsuccessful a few years ago. "I'm rather skeptical," says Schib.
Kiosk AG has
Aroused desires
Eva Keller, Deputy Managing Director of the Swiss Press Association (CHP), also made representations to Kiosk AG. The issue will also be discussed by the CHP Executive Committee, Keller announces. "However, we were more surprised by the procedure than by the attempt," she says, recalling the free market economy. She also suspects that other publishers might also be interested in bringing their free titles to newsstands.
And this is exactly what they are doing. "We will be discussing this internally soon, because we want a level playing field for the Zurich Express," says Willy Schib, for example. According to Daniel Sommer, there are similar plans for the Baslerstab. Although this is already available at newsagents, it costs 60 centimes. Now BMG wants to know what the free edition would cost.
The Association of Swiss Free Newspapers (VSGZ) has also been listening closely: President Willy Grüninger, publisher of Schaffhauser Bock and Winterthurer Woche, therefore wants to talk to Kiosk AG. Grüninger knows that other VSGZ members are also interested.
Kiosk AG is "very open" to such collaborations, says its director Josef Jungo. However, he finds the accusations against his company somewhat one-sided. Among other things, Kiosk AG has invested 25 million francs in a system that can primarily be used to determine press sales on a daily basis. "We don't invest as much in any other product group as we do in the press."
In addition, publishers are offering subscriptions to their titles up to 70 percent cheaper than individual sales, "which makes life extremely difficult for us in individual sales". Finally, some publishers have entered into partnerships with commuter newspapers in the print or Internet sector. "Should we really just watch like a rabbit in front of a snake?" asks Jungo.

Noted: How wonderful that the carmaker Alfa Romeo has now also ventured into haute couture. After all, Versace produces plates and Armani makes stylish beds. How wonderful that the auto industry has also discovered cross-marketing. It’s a shame that it’s unclear whether the ad for the Alfa 147 is intended to appeal to female Alfa owners or rather to the female companions of Alfa owners. But one thing remains clear: a female torso is still a popular hood ornament.
By the way, doesn't the Italian radiator design also remind you of a loincloth? Maybe in the future, car fetishists won't just drive around in their metal phallic symbols, but will also wear the matching armor to go with it.
Chandra Kurt
Column: Abuse
From Liz Sutter
Between Epoisses and Tarte Tatin
Without further ado, she slipped her tax return under the man’s plate. She hardly knows her old friend Benni’s new boyfriend yet, but when do you ever get the chance to have a tax advisor over? After all, in the sauna, you don’t hesitate to point out that strange skin lesion in the kidney area to the person sweating next to you. Since you’re already naked, anyway. Besides, the woman is a doctor. You could tell that right away when you overheard their conversation. A quick consultation like that saves waiting time and phone charges, and it doesn’t cost the health insurance company anything either.
Decent people don’t do things like that, of course. Not to the hardworking segment of the population. They’d rather gang up on the artists, because they don’t deserve any better. If only they’d learned a normal trade instead of following some inner urge! And since that urge is known to be constant, 24 hours a day, it’s pure human kindness to pull out a piano stool for a pianist so she can work through her inner turmoil while the other guests sip Prosecco. Cabaret artists and comedians, who are invited to perform for free, can extricate themselves from the situation with a certain degree of elegance by strictly refusing to make jokes. There’s also no obvious object, no instrument, that you could shove into their hands. A microphone would be far too clumsy. Illustrators, graphic designers, and those in related fields, on the other hand, are all the more grateful victims. A piece of paper is easy to find, and if he or she makes no move to appear artistic, you send the kids up front. Who could possibly resist that? So if a designer or illustrator isn’t quite at their creative best, we should remember: Perhaps they were put to use—with the best of intentions—the night before in front of a gathering of guests.
Language Observers from Around the World
He could be seen from afar in his seclusion. Toward the end of his life, Symeon the Elder lived only on pillars: first five, then ten, and finally twenty meters above the ground. He usually stood there on one leg, in a trance, detached from the world. He rarely sat down or ate to keep his body alive, until he died in 459 A.D. According to legend, he turned to a corpse while standing upright.
Symeon became a role model for numerous ascetics (stylites) who, even in the Middle Ages, demonstrated their detachment from the world by living on pillars—and thus the possibility of transcending the world without leaving it. This utopia of life on a pillar is once again increasingly shaping the attitude toward life in Western society. The doctrines of salvation espoused by politics, business, and the church were not sufficient to bring us closer to paradise on earth. With every report of a catastrophe, the belief in progress proves more absurd, and the utopia has lost its appeal since the attempts by Hitler, Stalin, and others to bring it to life. What remains is the feeling of being at the mercy of a hopeless present.
A fantasy world, an ivory tower, cocooning, getting lost in late-night chats, in the web of webs. Or Julia Hill: She lived in the California redwoods for two years to protest clear-cutting. Meanwhile, countless young people on trains or on the street put on their Walkmans and counter the noise of the present with a counter-noise of their own.
Contemporary stylites are also increasingly using media to demonstrate their detachment from the world. Daniel Gallmann, for example, now paints only two subjects: mother and child, and landscape. He responds to the flood of information with voluntary restraint and pursues the idea of capturing the point where the end becomes the beginning again, so that he can discover «origin and destination in a single image.».
His fellow painter Roman Opalka began work on his final piece in 1965: on canvases measuring 1.96 by 1.35 meters, he counts from 0 onward. The first canvas went up to 35,327; the second began at 35,328. The work is titled «0–8.» Every evening, he takes a photograph of himself. And with each new canvas, he adds 1 percent more white to the black primer, so that, if he lives long enough, he will one day paint white on white.
By painting thousands of landscapes and millions of numbers on canvases, Gallmann and Opalka are sketching their own final self-portrait. Through this repetition, they capture not only the process of growing older, but also the fact that they are old: they have come to terms with life to the extent that they dare to call this work their last.
Beat Gloor
www.textcontrol.ch

Advico Young & Rubicam scooped two top disciplines at the 25th ADC SwitzerlandBy Luca AloisiThe air at the top is getting thinner. The lavish dice shower at the ADC 2001 was only concentrated on the biggest agencies. To the annoyance of some gold jurors, the iron broom wiped even very good work off the table too early. Strict selection and "over-regulation" led to heated discussions.
The ADC jury 2001 was not only characterized by the best advertising, but also by "over-regulation", as ADC Chairman Andreas Prokesch put it in his trenchant way. The Art Director Club's efforts to optimize the difficult judging process were clearly expressed in a number of dissonances. However, not all of the improvements could be put into practice.
The composition and size of the gold jury was reduced from twelve - corresponding to the number of category groups - to eight under the new mode, as only one jury president per agency was allowed to have a say in the final round. This made the eight-member panel seem almost informal, but this was only seemingly conducive to unity and clear decisions.
As in any good family, the members knew how to argue and make up in the best possible way. The first argument was not long in coming. For a start, two works that had won silver in several categories had to be withdrawn, as otherwise they would have violated the new rule that a work can only win one prize. This was a problem that caused tempers to flare.
While one camp had strictly adhered to the new statutes and now saw equal opportunities at risk, the others defended themselves with the argument that the term "work" was unfortunate because it did not specify whether idea or work was meant. The latter gave in after all and benefited from the open loophole - no rule without exception: all works that enter the race in the overall campaigns may also compete individually for cubes in the corresponding categories.
The ADC is also experiencing the difficulties of success
However, before it got that far, Andreas Prokesch emphasized in his introduction: "As long as I am chairman, the press will always be there." This is to counteract the rumor that the ADC jurors would only roll the dice in their own interests under the cloak of discretion. Only transparency and media presence - this year only perceived through WerbeWoche - can give the lie to such claims, he explained.
It is therefore not without a certain irony that the rain of dice, which was anything but abundant and homogeneous, was diametrically opposed to his ambition. Despite the well-intentioned open policy, this year's Würfelspiegel confirms the impression that only the elite or only those agencies that actually submitted their advertising work had any chance of winning an award at the Swiss Advertising Championships. This is something that is all too often forgotten: The ADC cannot in fact provide a comprehensive representative cross-section of the most creative advertising work in Switzerland, as only the entries are judged.
The club's chairman accepts that the ADC may be elitist, "but this should not be confused with arrogance". The fact that the association of leading creatives will have to live with such labels even more in future can hardly be avoided, considering that only those who have won bronze at least once in the last three years will be allowed to take part in the jury.
The 82 jurors in the bronze round now had to judge not only their own category, but several categories at once. "We hope that these more qualified and larger juries will result in a more representative and fairer judgment," explains Prokesch. Lobbying is largely ruled out at this level due to the evaluation with a points system on its own and without discussion, he says.
AY&R shines with
Tourism and hygiene
The ADC awarded 285 out of 1157 entries - 220 with bronze, 56 with silver and nine with gold. This means that the success rate among entrants remained the same: 43 of 141 entrants received an award. Of these, more than half are not represented in the ADC. In this way, the club wants to prove that you don't have to be an ADC member to win an ADC award.
The emphatic reference to the fact that numerous new names appear on the list of winners - "and from smaller agencies" - can only be read as an image correction. (Perhaps the aftermath of the ADC festival in 1999, when the advertising guild presented itself as a mafia clan in a self-ironic and complacent manner). If you take a closer look at the cube review, especially the gold and silver ranks, you will notice that hardly anything has changed in the Olympus of the most creative. Fewer agencies succeeded in setting new standards last year than in the past.
This year, Wirz Werbung (five silver and 14 bronze) and Wyler Werbung (eight bronze) no longer won gold. WHS, on the other hand, rejoined the ranks of the glorious gold diggers thanks to the audience ads for the web security company Open Systems. Publicis took two, McCann-Erickson and Guye & Partner one each of the coveted gold cubes. Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R) was the most successful gold hamster of the year with a total of four gold cubes.
The Gockhausen team scooped precious metal in the supreme disciplines: Advertising film and public ad for Hakle and overall campaign for Kuoni. AY&R shone once again for both clients: last year, the agency won gold in the overall campaign category for Kuoni subsidiary Helvetic Tours and Hakle has since established itself as an ADC perennial favorite. Thanks to its visual language and dramaturgy, which only offers one level of interpretation, as well as its humor, most of the gold jurors also believe that the Hakle spot "Scheibenwischer" has a good chance of winning at Cannes.
Not everything is shiny,
what is silvery
In contrast to categories in which works were awarded gold with a clear conscience and even with clear majorities, the gold jury in other disciplines such as direct advertising, photography/illustration/graphics or specialist advertisements was visibly dismayed or even shocked by the meagre silver selection. From "completely overrated" to "discrepant differences between the categories", the judges commented on some of the works that made it into the gold round.
Chairman Prokesch, who values a clearly recognizable level between the individual ranks, found this most difficult. "Many are mistaken if they believe that ADC gold jurors are calibrated to one opinion," he says in defense of the judging process. The fact that promising works were thrown under the bus at an early stage and caused additional head-shaking is nothing new.
In one case, the jury nevertheless felt compelled to reject a silver work by means of an exemption clause because it had also been entered in another category and had already been silver-plated there. Not enough of the inconsistencies: In the personal use category, a work was awarded a silver cube that had already achieved bronze in 1998. "It often happens that I receive 'posthumous' letters drawing attention to plagiarism and breaches of the rules. But it's rarely possible to investigate this properly because we have no means of doing so," says Andreas Prokesch. However, he knows from experience that those involved very quickly come to an agreement in private. Which saves everyone embarrassing situations.
ADC 2001: The gold winners

Publicity ads (individual motifs): AY&R with "Waage" for Hakle, Publicis with "The 300 richest Swiss" for Bilanz.
Public displays: WHS with "Immune System" for Open Systems.
Outdoor advertising (individual motifs): Guye & Partner with "Superman" for Arena.
Advertising film: AY&R with "windshield wiper" for Hakle.
Radio spots: Publicis, Zurich, with "Testfahrer Walti" for Sportplausch Wider.
Sales promotion: AY&R with "literature" for VBZ.
Public Service: McCann-Erickson, Geneva, with "Cindarella" and "Nutcracker" for the Zurich Opera House.
Overall campaign: AY&R with "Holidays where you forget everything" for Kuoni.
ADC 2001: Advertising agency ranking

Rank Submitter Awards Gold Silver Bronze Points Rank00 Rank99
1 AY&R 46 4 13 29 67 (2) (3)
2 Publicis 50 2 6 42 60 (1) (1)
3 WHS 29 1 7 21 38 (3) (2)
3 Guye & Partner 30 1 6 23 38 (5) (4)
5 McCann-Erickson 29 1 5 23 36 (4) (5)
6 Wirz Advertising 19 0 5 14 24 (7) (8)
(Gold = 3 points, Silver = 2 points, Bronze = 1 point)
The Facts Press Awards 2001

For the fifth time, a press jury - independent of the ADC jury - examined all magazine advertisements and presented the awards as follows:
Gold: Wyler Werbung with the "Rüebli" image campaign for the Aargauer Zeitung.
Silver: McCann-Erickson for Rama (Lipton-Sais).
Bronze: Lowe Lintas GGK with "VW New Beetle" for AMAG.

20 Minuten and Metropol are getting an additional distribution channel: Kiosk AGBy Markus KnöpfliThere's a stir: from February 5, the commuter newspapers
20 Minuten and Metropol can also be purchased at selected Kiosk AG kiosks. The latter wants to break through its monopolist image and hopes to attract more young customers.
The idea of (also) distributing commuter newspapers via kiosks is nothing new. Around a year ago, both 20 Minuten and Metropol knocked on the door of Kiosk AG, which belongs to the Valora Group. At that time, however, Kiosk AG gave a clear "no", "to protect the existing publishing houses", as Valora press spokeswoman Stefania Misteli explains today.
But this bastion of the publishers is crumbling. From February 5, Kiosk AG will also provide the two commuter newspapers with a dispenser space at selected kiosks and licensees (tobacconists, major distributors) - on a trial basis and for six months. According to Managing Director Urs Zeier, Metropol will be available at 30 locations each in Basel and St. Gallen, while 20 Minuten will be available at 60 kiosks each in Basel, Bern and Zurich, according to Publishing Director Rolf Bollmann. However, station kiosks are not an issue for either free newspaper for the time being.
But why this U-turn at the Valora subsidiary? "Since 20 Minuten and Metropol are also printed by Swiss publishing houses, we no longer have to be considerate," says Misteli firmly.
Selling more newspapers with commuter newspapers
According to the Valora press spokeswoman, however, a number of other considerations also played a role in the decision. Firstly, Kiosk AG wants to break through its monopolist image. Misteli says that it is often said that Kiosk AG is hindering the market with its powerful position. "But now we are showing that as a press distributor we want to guarantee freedom of the press."
Secondly, the commuter newspapers will make better use of the company's own sales organization. And thirdly, according to Misteli, Kiosk AG hopes to attract more young people to its sales outlets, a customer segment that is still underrepresented there, but definitely has purchasing power.
Another important point is that the already declining retail sales of daily newspapers have become more pronounced because of the commuter newspapers, which Kiosk AG has also felt (see WW 31/00). Misteli also confirms this. "We don't give out any figures", she says and emphasizes that the commuter newspapers have hardly any influence on the sales of magazines and other kiosk products. "Overall, newsstand sales have actually increased in the last year."
The expectations that the two commuter newspapers have of the trial are completely different. "We have currently reached our target circulation and are not looking for an additional distribution channel. With Kiosk AG, we are therefore simply testing whether we can reach our target audience better and more cheaply via the kiosks than with the means we have used so far," says Zeier from Metropol. And emphasizes: "We don't want to reach just anyone."
In contrast, Bollmann sees distribution via kiosks as a "supplement to traditional distribution". As the selected kiosks are all in well-frequented locations, but not at train stations, "we have the opportunity to reach more non-commuters such as housewives, internal commuters (pedestrians) or car commuters."
Both also assume that the newsstand presence of their titles is likely to cause a stir among publishers. Misteli takes a different view. "We don't expect emotions to run high."
And how will they react if other publishers get a taste for it and want to distribute their free titles via newsstands? "We are certainly open to this," says Misteli - and refers to the freedom of the press.
Comment

Revolution in the kiosk display
By Markus Knöpfli
Imagine that in the coffee aisle at Migros or Coop, alongside various types of coffee in half-kilo packs (five to seven francs), you now find a new variety - in smaller packs, but free of charge and with regular supplies.
Unimaginable. But Kiosk AG dares to do what Coop and Migros would never do. It is the first Swiss "wholesaler" to offer two products - daily newspapers - free of charge in over 200 "stores". Regular and fresh every day.
Seen in this light, this move by Kiosk AG is revolutionary. On the other hand, the expected protest from the united publishers is understandable.
But wait! Can coffee be compared to a free newspaper? Aren't commuter newspapers and their content more like an item of clothing that is only available in a child's size? If it's too short or skimpy for you, you'll leave it behind even if it's free. Everyone grows out of it.
Seen in this light, the move by Kiosk AG is "only" pioneering, while the expected protest by the united publishers seems somewhat overanxious.
But the comparison with the item of clothing also falls short. Because reading the newspaper and digesting information is work. And I don't always have the same amount of time or desire to do it. So, depending on the situation, I choose the menu that suits my available time, my hunger and my wallet. In other words: Kiosk AG is most comparable to a restaurant that also offers a small free sandwich on its menu - which would most likely appeal to children and young people. This is precisely the audience that Kiosk AG wants to appeal to more and more.
In this respect, Kiosk AG's move is innovative, but overdue. After all, why hasn't it already been offering even more youth-specific free titles (Junior, MEX or whatever they're all called)? Seen in this light, the expected protest from the united publishers sounds hollow and hypocritical. After all, they could have come up with this idea a long time ago. What's more, they're all eyeing the commuter newspapers' print jobs anyway.
So nobody should protest!

Muse & MusseAndrea Reinhart
Which cultural event did you attend last and why this one in particular?
Andrea Reinhart: The ADC anniversary gala, because I had a ticket.
What are you reading right now and why?
Reinhart: "Endlich Nichtraucher" by Allen Carr (with interruption at page 35).
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Reinhart: St-Germain.
Which movie would you most like to see again and why?
Reinhart: "The Matrix" big in the movie theater, since I've only seen it on DVD.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Reinhart: With everyone, actually.
What is your latest development?
coverage on the Internet?
Reinhart: www.komfort.ch (recommended club in Bern).
Love is...?
Reinhart:...indescribable.

Zurich exhibition on pre-war photography in Switzerland and GermanyUnder the title "Avant-garde - German and Swiss Photography of the 1920s and 1930s", Sotheby's Auction House is hosting an exhibition in Zurich. Around 60 works will be presented, including works by Hans Finsler, who taught the photography class at the Zurich School of Applied Arts in the 1940s and trained some of the most famous contemporary photographers, as well as other exhibits from public and private collections by Jakob Tuggener, Herbert Matter, Franz Roh, August Sander, Albert Renger-Patzsch and Anton Stankowski. The latter's work "Was ist wenn - Fotovarianten mit einer Schneiderbürste" (What if - photo variations with a tailor's brush), which is being exhibited in Switzerland for the first time, is one of the works on display. This is a series of 39 individual works.
With this exhibition, Sotheby's aims to showcase the avant-garde trends in Germany and illustrate their influence on Swiss photography at the time. The exhibition was conceived by curator Birgit Filzmaier. The main sponsors are the bank Lombard Odier & Cie and AXA Nordstern ART Versicherungen.
Chandra Kurt
The exhibition runs until February 9, 2001: Sotheby's Gessnerallee 1, 8021 Zurich. Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday 10 am to 4 pm.

Better available" display stand
From next Monday, the commuter newspapers Metropol and 20 Minuten will also be available at kiosks on a trial basis - is this a stopgap?
Andy Lehmann: A stand-up display. Basically, the better availability of any medium is a stand-up display.
What does the newsstand presence mean for the image of free newspapers?
Lehmann: At first glance, this is of course an upgrade, as they are in an established environment at the newsstand. On the other hand, this also puts them in a qualitatively different environment, which could make the limited potential of the two titles more visible. They could therefore become the Cinderella of the newsstand display.
And what does the kiosk presence change for you as a media planner?
Lehmann: Nothing yet. Not until there is a massive change in circulation. Another question is whether the readership will change.
What do you think?
Lehmann: Both titles are now read by commuters; the readers are young, urban and mobile. But the average newsstand customer is a different type of person, slower and more aware. This could lead to a dilution. In this respect, I'm not sure whether the newsstand presence is so good for both titles.
How will the other publishers react?
Lehmann: I assume with a huge protest. Up to now, the kiosk has been a point of sale, not a giveaway. What's more, the attempt will also awaken justified claims from other publishers with free titles. I certainly wouldn't want to be in Kiosk AG's shoes.
Interview: Markus Knöpfli

Because advertising ideas have a high degree of subjectivity, their quality cannot be determined objectively, but to ensure that the industry knows what good advertising is, members of the Art Directors Club (ADC) once again addressed this aporia at this year's judging of the best advertising work. And not just to celebrate the award winners at the ADC Gala in Albisgüetli. from page 10

Gérard Geiger, soon to be the highest-ranking Romand at Ringier RomandieHead of the week: "I'm anything but a pure marketing man"
When the Edipresse Group is looking for executives in French-speaking Switzerland, it usually goes on a recruitment drive to Ringier Romandie - this time it's the other way round. The new head of Ringier Romandie is Gérard Geiger, who is currently still head of magazines at Edipresse. Now that a whole series of Edipresse managers are former Ringier Romandie boys, an Edipresse man will be looking after Ringier Romandie as the successor to Gilles Marchand, who has been appointed head of French-speaking television. As a result, media managers in French-speaking Switzerland will soon be competing almost without exception with the publications they previously nurtured. If only that goes well...
Many Swiss journalists see Geiger as a pure marketing man. However, when asked whether he recognizes himself in this image, Geiger answers WerbeWoche with an unequivocal: "Pas du tout du tout du tout." If the Ringier Group was looking for a pure marketing man, it was mistaken. He had always been interested in "les chiffres et les lettres": the commercial and the journalistic.
The 40-year-old from the Valais canton capital of Sion has an illustrious name: The footballer Alain Geiger is his cousin, the glacier pilot Hermann Geiger was a brother of his father, who incidentally had 18 siblings (his mother only had 16). Like his uncle and cousin, G.G. was not lacking in energy: as a teenager, the Jesuit student went on an exchange to the USA. He then studied Lettres (phil. I) in Geneva. Because he needed money, he started working. Sometimes he had to walk dogs, sometimes stall during experiments, sometimes write articles for the Journal de Genève.
And that's how he got into the media. And because he liked it so much in the industry, he stuck with it. He worked his way up at Editions de la Tour in Lausanne, was in charge of the publication SQP (Swiss Quality Products), did public relations work for the Geneva Salon du livre et de la presse and managed the magazine Optima, where he also became familiar with German-speaking Switzerland. This is how he ended up at Edipresse.
The call from Ringier came as quite a surprise. "Of course I hesitated," says Geiger, "because I liked it at Edipresse." Ultimately, however, the desire to broaden my professional horizons once again prevailed. It is clear that there is not much time left for his family - a Geneva-based wife and two boys aged 9 and 13 - or for his hobbies (tennis, pre-Columbian art and jogging with his Dalmatian). But Geiger consoles himself: "Quality comes before quantity." May he be right.
Christophe Büchi

Jury President of the Direct Advertising I and Outdoor Advertising categoryJury President of the Direct Advertising I and Outdoor Advertising category
What is so groundbreaking about the Arena Fitness Center poster that it won gold?
: The poster is characterized by the fact that one picture says it all.
How do you rate the level in your category? Do you see any new trends?
Sennhauser: To put it bluntly, the level ranged from Zürichberg to Langstrasse, all three "S's" were present: shallow, sexy and super. A new trend is not discernible, but the expansion of an existing one: The classic image-text system has been replaced by strong images.
How is the quality of this advertising vintage in general?
Sennhauser: The work could have been even better and there were a few slip-ups. I'm afraid I'll have to tear a few pages out of my copy of the ADC Yearbook 2001.
Which works could have a chance at the World Advertising Championships in Cannes?
Sennhauser: The Arena poster, precisely because it is a visual idea and therefore internationally understandable.
What did you pay particular attention to when evaluating the work?
Sennhauser: As always, the image, the text and the idea.
The ADC is 25 years old: did you therefore set the bar even higher than usual? Sennhauser: No, we had to be careful that this bar didn't suddenly become a rubber rope that was stretched up and down individually.