If you want to generate lasting traffic with web games, you usually have to dig deep into your pocketsBy Clemens Hörler Web games have also developed into a popular marketing tool in Switzerland. They are designed to give Internet users access to a brand or a company in a fun way.
Today, if you want to encourage consumers to visit your website repeatedly, you have to offer more than a static company brochure. Because such a brochure is about as sexy as white tennis socks with sweaty edges.
"In addition to information, interactive elements and entertainment are of central importance for a website that is intended to invite repeat visits," says Roland Bernhard, Director of Communications at Coca-Cola Switzerland. At www.coca-cola.ch, visitors can currently pass the time with two games.
As is well known, small can also be fine
But it's not just big brands that offer their visitors fun in the form of games: Maeder Fleisch, Basel, for example, has launched an online memory with farm motifs; users will soon be able to shear a virtual sheep. "Online games don't have to be huge, it's enough if they provide users with a little fun in between," says Francis de Andrade, co-founder of the Basel-based company Businessgames.
Online games are primarily intended to bring more traffic to the website and visitors into contact with the brand. If you combine the games with a competition, you can also win customer data or e-mail addresses. Games where the achieved score is measured and published additionally motivate players to visit the site again and again. Otherwise, games that are always the same can quickly lead to signs of fatigue.
Online Tamagochi: virtual piggy bank feeding
The ZKB and Swiss Milk Producers have chosen a different way to repeatedly lure players to their websites: On Zoink.ch, which was realized by FutureCom on behalf of ZKB, you can breed a virtual pig since April 12 and until the end of June. In order for the pigs to do really well and for the "breeders" to win a cell phone or a savings account with 200 francs, they have to regularly play with their pig, go to the movies and buy it clothes.
The ZKB also collects
e-mail addresses and data about players. According to Andreas Hauri, Head of Campaign Management at ZKB's Private Clients business unit, Zoink is the start of an online youth platform in the banking sector. At the halfway point of the game, 8,000 mainly young players had registered.
A four-digit number of internauts are preparing their cow for a trip to Mars on the website of the Swiss milk producers swissmilk.ch. This game by the company Beaulieu Software Sàrl also works on the Tamagochi principle and runs until June 30. However, such lengthy games carry the risk that the cattle will die virtually. Even weekly e-mails asking users to take care of their animals are usually pointless. (Where is animal welfare on the Internet?)
The online game fun is not quite cheap
Simple Flash or Shockwave games are already available for a few thousand francs. For a complex game, however, you have to shell out up to several hundred thousand francs. And the demands of Internet users are becoming ever higher. "Users compare Swiss sites with the international offerings," Bernhard points out. "But we often don't have the resources that are available in the giant U.S. market, for example."
At least as important as special effects are an original idea and a reference to the brand. In most online games, the brand is more or less discreetly visible in the background. For example, the virtual ice hockey players on www.feldschloesschen.ch dash across a playing field with a beer brewer's perimeter advertising, and the Zoink piggy goes to the movies cheaper thanks to ZKB. "The product may and should appear in the game, but the player must not get the feeling that he is watching a commercial," emphasizes Antoine Schaub, co-founder of Businessgames.
The manufacturer

Most large web agencies are capable of producing online games. However, the increased demand has also brought specialists onto the scene, such as the Zurich-based new media agency Cultimedia (www.cultimedia .ch) or Businessgames in Basel (www.business games.ch), which was founded a few weeks ago.

This year, 1222 (previous year 1092) candidates took part in the 18th Marketing Planner Examination. 1143 completed the exam, proving that the Federal Diploma of Marketing Planner is by far the most sought-after diploma in Switzerland. According to Jürg Berger, president of the examination board, not only the number of participants has increased. The average pass rate is also the best in many years. 771 male and female candidates (male share: 61 percent) passed the examination. This represents an increase of around 11.5 percent over the previous year. Of the graduates, 708 came from German-speaking Switzerland, 42 from French-speaking Switzerland and 21 from Italian-speaking Switzerland. This year, seven candidates were awarded grades of 5 and above: Katja Wiesendanger and Roger Maurer with 5.2 each, Beat Bärtschiger Haefeli and Barbara Ritz with 5.1 each, and Thomas Merkli, Pius Graf and Rosmarie Wieser with 5. The complete list of the 771 successful graduates can be found at www.werbewoche.ch.

With the privatization of the electricity market in Germany, new brands have emerged. Yello Strom is one of them. Advertising executive Bernd Kreutz has chronicled the history of this brand’s development in a 300-page book. This self-promotional work is also intended as reading material to prepare for the privatized Swiss electricity market. «So I Think Electricity Is Yellow» is available in bookstores for 73 francs. ISBN 3-7757-0920-7. Uster: BaZ Tries Out “20 Minuten” on a Trial Basis. As part of a pilot program, the 6,000 households in Uster will receive the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten for free via early delivery this week. The trial early delivery in Uster is being handled by the Basel Media Group through its wholly owned subsidiary Distriforce in Glattbrugg. Starting next week, Uster residents will be asked whether they wish to continue receiving the early delivery and are willing to pay the cost-covering fee of 50 francs per year (20 rappen per issue). If the response is positive, the publisher plans to expand the offer to other municipalities. According to publishing director Rolf Bollmann, 20 Minuten aims to reach more car commuters this way. Ultimately, however, Bollmann likely wants to test whether 20 Minuten, with its early delivery service, can increasingly replace the daily newspaper for readers.
The St. Galler Tagblatt sweeps the board. The St. Galler Tagblatt took home two awards at the inaugural European Newspaper Award: one for its exemplary front-page design and one for its typography. The European Newspaper Award is presented by three journalism trade journals: *De Journalist* (Amsterdam), *Medium Magazin* (Frankfurt am Main), and *Der Österreichische Journalist* (Salzburg). A total of 161 newspapers from 21 countries participated in the competition.

Carlo Schmid Becomes Astag President. Another leadership role for Carlo Schmid-Sutter: In addition to serving in the Council of States and heading Swiss Advertising, the Appenzell-based CVP politician will also lead the commercial vehicle association Astag starting September 30. The association’s delegates unanimously elected Schmid to succeed Charles Friderici, a Liberal from Vaud.
Clever use of construction walls. Construction workers instead of beautiful models—but with creative flair: Lesch+Frei is currently turning heads in Basel with an unconventional poster campaign. For Bucherer AG, Europe’s largest specialty retail chain for jewelry and watches, the agency has produced seven posters featuring scenes from everyday construction life to explain that the Bucherer store on Freie Strasse in Basel is currently undergoing renovation. What’s amusing is the play on the dazzling and sparkling names of the construction workers pictured. They’re named C. Ollier, P. Erle, G. Ucci, and R. Ado.
Glogger hosts a scandal-filled show. Star-TV lives up to its name: Its latest program is all about Hollywood’s cult stars. «Akte Hollywood» aims to showcase the passions and vices of famous actors and actresses such as Jayne Mansfield and Gary Cooper. The weekly show, which is based on material from the American TV network NBC, is hosted by Glückspost editor-in-chief Helmut-Maria Glogger.
TV producers Brainpool and Ronin are partnering. The German company Brainpool TV («Wochenshow,» «TV Total») is acquiring a 20 percent stake in Ronin Entertainment AG. The British-Swiss company Ronin was founded in 1999 by producers Robin Greene and Richard Hearsey (formerly of Pearson TV) and the Zug-based venture capital firm MYO Media Holding. In Switzerland, Ronin produced the game show «Champions» for TV 3. According to Bruno Seemann, a member of Ronin’s board of directors, the Zurich office is set to be expanded starting in August to handle the international distribution of formats from Ronin and Brainpool.
The Annual Report as a Historical Document. In its 1999 annual report, the Migros Aarau Cooperative presented not just dry statistics, but a historical document about today’s youth. Spanning 120 pages, it documents the lives of nine young people through countless scenes from everyday life. The photo story was shot at a wide variety of locations throughout the Migros world and was produced by the Communications + Culture Department of the Migros Aare Cooperative in Schönbühl.
Fisch Meier Direkt sponsors the piranhas. It wasn’t the fact that direct marketers sometimes pounce on consumers like predatory fish that prompted the Adliswil-based agency Fisch Meier Direkt to support the piranha school at the Zurich Zoo. Rather, the aim was to communicate the agency’s motto, «Seduction with a Bite,» said Managing Director Gilbert Fisch to WerbeWoche. Last week, in front of guests, he presented Zoo Director Alex Rübel with a symbolic check for 10,000 francs for the 40 feisty little fish.
A blank screen instead of money. TV plus, a second Basel-based TV project, still hasn’t raised the capital needed to launch. Initiator Klaus Kocher, former managing director of Tele Basel, had hoped to secure funding for his station by the end of April. He needs 1.5 million francs for upfront investments and 2.3 million francs per year for operations. Once again, Kocher is postponing the decision, this time until June 30. To be continued.
Decision Made on the Future of *Basler Woche* and *Stab*. On Wednesday, June 21, after the editorial deadline, the Basler Mediengruppe (BMG) made a decision regarding the future of its free publications, *Basler Stab* and *Basler Woche*. Beat Meyer, the BMG representative on the board of directors, declined to comment on new rumors that Basler Woche is to be discontinued. Everything points to the BMG planning to launch its own commuter newspaper and merge the two editorial teams.
Editorial

The Future Needs Roots Trend Guru: The word acts like a red rag to German sociologist and professor Holger Rust. «Clear Thinking Instead of Trend Rumors» is the title of one of his anti-trend books. With righteous indignation and biting cynicism, he castigates the «business shamans» who drive overwhelmed managers up steep mountain slopes or make them walk across hot coals (see interview on page 41). For Rust, the prototypical management guru is Gerd Gerken: exotic, esoteric, and quite expensive. A company has to shell out tens of thousands of francs to benefit from his insights.
Trend books on this topic are usually brimming with half-truths, mixed with scientific data, astrology, and self-help advice. But there are exceptions: Matthias Horx’s trend books are more than just simple how-to guides for managers. With ethnological meticulousness, he describes our everyday culture and paints an ironic portrait of society. In their book *Kult-Marketing*, David Bosshart and Norbert Bolz also show how our consumer behavior draws on patterns that are unaffected by either the Enlightenment or the rise of science. Bolz and Bosshart reinterpret classic concepts: shopping behavior mutates into a ritual, brands attain cult status, and a soccer game becomes a pilgrimage…
It is human nature to long to know the future in advance. And indeed, there has never been a time as addicted to news as our own. The more information becomes transparent and freely available, the more our dependence on trends increases. «No one can stop them,» Bosshart is convinced, «you can’t escape them—they’re simply there, and you have to try to find a smart way to deal with them.»
At a “trend conference” (sic!) in Zurich, to which Z Holding had recently invited him, Holger Rust said that the essence of innovation consists, in any case, only in keeping everything the same while using the most revolutionary means possible. The two positions aren’t actually that far apart, as the tension between tradition and trends remains paradoxical. After all, we cannot have the new without the old—the future needs its roots. Samuel Helbling

Introduction to Corporate Branding or the History of the Logo for the Sydney Summer OlympicsBy Werner Catrina The Australian aborigines provided the signet for the Olympic Games with their boomerang. FHA Image Design is responsible for the entire image system of the Sydney Summer Olympics.
"The irony is that a Melbourne design firm designed the logo for the Sydney Summer Olympics," writes The Australian newspaper. That sounds about the same as if a Zurich agency had designed the logo for the Basel Sample Fair; there has always been rivalry between the two Australian metropolises. A running figure composed of three boomerangs, including the lettering Sydney 2000, shows the logo for the upcoming Summer Olympics, which will hold the whole world in suspense from September 15 to October 1.
"Why don't you come over on Wednesday after work, and we'll have a glass of wine," Richard Henderson explains spontaneously when I call him from the hotel in Melbourne. The Group Design Director of FHA Image Design looks as if he has a lot of time on his hands, even though the company he runs with two partners employs sixty people.
FHA had to compete twice for the logo
At six in the evening, the studio at 123 Rosslyn Street in West Melbourne still looks like a beehive, and the iMacs shimmer in all colors in the large rooms of the converted old brick warehouse. Henderson, in his forties, picks up the journalist from the design stronghold of Switzerland at the reception and leads him into the meeting room, which is discreetly equipped with the latest high-tech and has the dimensions of a loft.
Trevor Flett (Creative Director, Marketing Strategist), Richard Henderson (Group Design Director, Design Strategist) and Jeff Arnold (Production Director) founded the company 20 years ago. The three initial letters of the family names resulted in the company abbreviation, which was retained, even though there has since been a change in the management team.
The Melbourne design firm had already won the campaign competition years ago that put Sydney ahead of the other Olympic bidders to win the Games. With this bonus, the team led by Richard Henderson entered the arena again to create the logo for the Summer Olympics.
The relaxed-looking design director remotely reviews cascades of designs on the large screen. "The first sketches are always done on paper," he explains, "because the quality of the lines is best on paper; on the computer, we optimize and retouch until the design is just right."
FHA entered the race with a very clear logo showing the Sydney 2000 lettering intertwined with the Olympic rings with a stylized hand above. This logo won, but a few days later the perplexed FHA team was told that the competition would have to be relaunched because one jury member disliked the proposal.
Designers inspired by the music of the aborigines
For better or worse, FHA knelt down to work again with four other invited agencies. "We said now more than ever, this is a challenge we want to win!" recalls Henderson. "My team worked on the Olympic logo at night and other jobs during the day."
The half-dozen graphic designers involved plastered the walls with Australian subjects, listened to Aboriginal music; Aboriginal-decorated stones and other objects were placed next to the screens for inspiration.
"We wanted originality and energy," explains Richard Henderson, "and we wanted a logo so simple you could draw it in the sand."
Thus the running athlete, composed of the boomerangs, distilled out, with which FHA once again outdid all other opponents. Critics, however, note that the Aborigines, who have been pushed to the fringes of Australian society, are being used as a fig leaf, so to speak. They even say it is cynical to misuse a symbol of the indigenous people as the logo of the Olympic Games in Australia.
One of the reasons for the renewed victory was that FHA created a comprehensive solution, the "total Brand". The image system encompassed the entire pallet from the poster to the logo for the sponsors to the T-shirt and the Olympic shopping bag. "I'm proud to show this process," explains Richard Henderson, "there was sweat and tears behind it, but also feelings of happiness. Some employees postponed their vacations, even risked their relationships by working all night."
As a nasty interlude, a lawsuit came out of the blue, claiming FHA Image Design had cribbed the boomerangs idea from its competitors. "For almost a year, we were out," Henderson recalls, "but then the accusations were debunked, they called us back in, and we were able to keep working."
To the logo with the running man, FHA created a second layer: five rings reflected in the water as a signet for Olympic Sydney, a city surrounded by water. These slightly blurred rings have been omnipresent in Sydney long before the Games, appearing as a signet in newspaper reports, fluttering on flags and neckerchiefs, and will probably forever be part of the city's corporate identity.
Image Guidelines as a bible for merchandising
As the first agency in the history of the Olympic Games, FHA first designed the campaign for the elimination that led to Sydney's victory as an Olympic city; then the logo and image system for the Olympic Games and also for the Paralympics, which will take place after the Summer Games.
The image system comes in a thick book, the "Image Guidelines"; clear, bold colors predominate. Henderson describes working for the Olympics as a marathon, where you don't look back, only forward. "We put in so much time because we want to show the world what we can do."
Six people worked on the Olympia logo and the full spectrum of its application, with each design always "going through multiple hands," as Henderson puts it. The budget for the job was tight, he explains, without naming any amounts, but in the end the effort will pay off for FHA.
Despite increasing international competition and rapid global networking, Richard Henderson is convinced that certain basic principles still apply. These include "dedication, patience, assertiveness, humor and, of course, the godsend of creativity.
50 international sponsors are throwing up a billion Aussie dollars, as the local currency is called here, earning the right to adorn their products with the logo. Local sponsors are pumping another half a billion into the big event, which will have the Global Village cheering along.
"What we've done is a global-brand image project of massive proportions," says the Group Design Director, "our strategy encompasses all forms of expression from packaging to ads and sponsorships to TV and pictograms to uniforms."
"Our work for the Olympics helps to show that design really does add value for clients," Richard Henderson holds as he walks out, "we don't do l'art pour l'art, the creative process is always ultimately tied to business. But we still feel the same thrill as we did 20 years ago!"
I ask Henderson if he lights so much fire because of the after-rest. He looks at me with surprise and amusement: "Our work is not for the museum! That's just the way it is, we know that everything we make ends up in the trash sooner or later."

Four new free advertising papers planned around ZürichThe Zürich region has had a new free newspaper called Zürich-Ost-Anzeiger (ZOA) for three months. Others will follow: in August, the Zürich-Süd-Anzeiger, and by spring 2001, offshoots in the north and west. All originate from the same house with the provisional name Media@Print (MP) in Bauma, Zurich. Leutenegger's concept is simple: he wants to cover the area around Zurich - but not the city - without any gaps. To achieve this, he delivers to around 60,000 households in each direction by mail, thus bypassing the stop stickers.
One day, each ad will appear once a month, with a different one every week. In this way, the 35-year-old can sell the sheets of his advertiser's cloverleaf individually or in a combination. Advertisers are thus given the opportunity to update or stop their ads from week to week.
Leutenegger does not cover the city of Zurich because, in his opinion, there are already enough leaves there. But that does not apply to the surrounding area. The already realized 16-page ZOA now has a circulation of 64,000 copies and covers the area from Kloten to Rapperswil. MP handles advertising sales itself; Leutengger leases only Kloten and Effretikon from Stumpp Media in Regensberg. A full-page four-color ad in the ZOA currently costs CHF 8030 gross.
In terms of content, the ZOA mainly offers advertisements and unpaid PR texts. Thus, Kloten Airport can present itself on one page each, other companies can present themselves and the tourist associations can announce their events.
Leutenegger's homepage (www.zoa.ch), on the other hand, offers little content and even yawning emptiness over long stretches.
Nevertheless, the concept has worked so far. According to Leutenegger, he has not had to add to any of the four ZOA issues published to date. On the contrary, according to his own information, he could have placed even more paid information in the latest issue than there was space for. Markus Knöpfli

The ZKG Advertising Monitoring provides a continuing fair weather forecast for the advertising industryBy Bruno Amstutz For the third time, the advertising agency Zogg Kettiger Gasser has launched a survey of leading Swiss companies on the situation in advertising. After two stormy years of budget reallocations, the signs are pointing to an upswing.
The study, entitled ZKG Werbemonitoring, was conducted by the Demoscope market research institute. A total of 300 advertising managers from the companies with the highest sales and the most advertising in German- and French-speaking Switzerland were surveyed. The topics ranged from the assessment of successful brand launches to the duration of collaboration with advertising agencies and the number of competitors invited to pitch.
Return to classic advertising
"It's about to start raining money," is one of the survey's interim findings. The reason for this optimism is the statement that 28 percent of the financially strongest companies are planning to increase their advertising budgets, by an average of 15.9 percent. Only four percent, on the other hand, foresee a cut in advertising spending.
In addition, 68 percent of the companies surveyed confirm that they have launched new products or services within the last twelve months. This speaks for a great dynamism of various economic sectors.
The situation for traditional advertising agencies appears generally favorable. However, cooperation with specialist agencies is on the decline. For example, 29 percent of the companies surveyed still commission a market research institute - 25.3 percent less than in the previous year's study. Cooperation with event and PR agencies is also on the decline. This could indicate a shift of resources to traditional advertising. Nevertheless, the stars are once again aligned favorably for PR agencies: 14 percent of the companies surveyed want to use PR agencies in their services in the future, only
4 percent, on the other hand, discontinue orders.
Annual survey as a tool for capturing trends
Oskar Gasser, co-owner of the Zurich advertising agency Zogg Kettiger Gasser, first commissioned the survey in 1998. "Until then, questions about dealing with advertising agencies were only asked by publishers," says Gasser, "and then it was mostly just about dividing up media budgets."
He sees the ZKG advertising monitoring as a longer-term project to help identify trends. The surveys remain comparable in essence, but are supplemented annually with topical questions.
Gasser sees 1998 and 1999 as stormy years in which many budgets were reallocated. The economic crisis reshuffled the cards in the advertising industry. Now the cards have been dealt, Gasser does not expect any major turbulence in 2001.
What the advertising monitoring also brings to light are huge areas lying fallow for advertising agencies: 29 percent of the largest Swiss companies handle their advertising exclusively internally, and the trend has been rising since last year. Oskar Gasser therefore also wants "missionaries to lead these stray sheep into the fold of BSW," as he writes in his evaluation. Gasser senses a multi-million budget potential in Swiss companies.

How the concert brand Blue Balls Music of Holding Weber Hodel Schmid got rollingBy Ernst Weber If only Urs Leierer could do something for blues, jazz and rock: Eight years ago, the then 28-year-old organized the Lucerne Blues Session for the first time. Today, the native of Meggen heads the concert agency Blue Balls Music.
It took the former advertising consultant just under two years to turn Reinhold Weber's idea into a brand, and thus into a company with a turnover of 3.5 million Swiss francs.
In May 1998, the head of the WHS Group, Reinhold Weber, had the idea that he could organize concerts under the Blue Balls Music label. Not even a month later, on June 3, the first of meanwhile ten Blue Balls Nights took place. Weber, who plays the guitar himself, had brought the American blues guitarist David Lindley onto the stage of Zurich's Kaufleuten restaurant.
Encouraged by the response of the blues evening, Reinhold Weber sat down with the organizers of the Lucerne Blues Session, Urs Leierer and Martin Vokinger, in August 1998 to discuss the foundation of a concert agency. The trio agreed to register Blue Balls Music as a GmbH (limited liability company) in the commercial register.
Weber contributed 51 percent
of the necessary capital and integrated the company into the WHS holding company. Leierer and Vokinger each took a 24.5 percent stake in the project. "But it's not capital but competence that sets the tone for us," says Urs Leierer, Managing Director of Blue Balls Music GmbH, domiciled in the WHS building in Zurich, since November 1998.
In the meantime, under Leierer's leadership, Blue Balls Music has developed into a concert brand in its own right: the public associates the label with coherent live acts by international blues, jazz and rock legends and by musicians who are known in insider circles as insider tips. The two blue spheres of the signet are reminiscent of the cosmic dimension, the infinite womb of the muse, in which they are embedded like planets in outer space. And
the shadow symbolizes the moment of inspiration: where the spheres touch their shadows, the muse kisses the world, so to speak.
Without sponsors no sound from Blue Balls Music
So far, the focus has been on making the brand known. The promotion of Blue Balls Nights was therefore limited to anchoring the brand and its logo. "The name Blue Balls meets with a musical ear: although young promoter companies like to be overheard, the name has quickly proved itself with the public and agents," notes Urs Leierer.
After a successful introduction, an emotional component was added to the appearance, which consists of the basic advertising media flyer, poster and advertisement: a photo of the star on stage is intended to get the viewer in the mood for the upcoming concert.
For the first time, a TV commercial flanks the print advertising. The 3D-animated 15-second film was produced by Primetime. The spot runs on TV 3. TA-Media AG has been a media partner of the concert agency since the early hours. The publishing house also supports the Blue Balls Festival, which takes place in Lucerne from July 21 to 29, by providing the organizer with advertising space and airtime. The spot for the Blue Balls Festival will also be seen on MTV.
"In this context, I have to say for once that we rely very heavily on in-kind sponsors. Without the goodwill of our media partners and the goodwill of our printers and lithographers, neither the Blue Balls Nights would come about nor would the Blue Balls Festival exist," says Urs Leierer, who in the same breath also mentions Swisscom, which has been the presenting sponsor of the Blue Balls Nights since the beginning of the year.
Taking the company in new directions
In order to increase the presence and consolidate the image of the concert brand, the previously independent, self-contained Lucerne Blues Session was renamed Blue Balls Festival. Sacha Huber, art director at WHS, Zurich, brought the nine-day, important European music happening under the visual hat of Blue Balls Music.
"The Zurich event now benefits from the awareness of the Lucerne event, and the Lucerne event from the awareness of the Zurich event," says Urs Leierer. As a further, less brand-related but more practical reason for combining the performances, the organizer cites the immense workload that could no longer be handled by a single person. Although the music fan can count on numerous volunteers, the Lucerne Blues Session association, support from WHS, Zurich, and Martin Vokinger, who does the booking, he still manages Blue Balls Music largely as a one-man show.
Furthermore, the merger took place in view of the increased commitment that Blue Balls Music wants to make in peripheral organizational areas. Leierer will use the capacity he has gained, for example, to include more events on the concert fringe, such as the world premiere exhibition "Dick Polak's Photography of The Rolling Stones Rock'n'Roll Circus," which can be seen during the Blue Balls Festival. However, Urs Leierer wants to earn the butter on his hard-earned bread by organizing customer concerts and touring projects. First events of this kind are a closed concert for Swisscom in September and the Swiss tour of the upcoming New York blues guitarist Popa Chubby.
Blue Balls Music does not intend to compete with the lions of the concert business, such as Good News. Rather, the marketing objective is to bring the biggest possible artists to the smallest possible audience.
In line with this credo, the Blue Balls Festival takes place in the suitable ambience of the Culture and Congress Center Lucerne, among others, but the Blue Balls Nights in the "Kaufleuten". Locations like the impersonal Zurich Hallenstadion are out of the question, although it could probably be filled with names like Peter Green, Robert Plant, Billy Cobham, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray or John Mayall.
"The Blue Balls Festival, which has been extended from six to nine days, has reached its optimum size," says Leierer, who expects 45000 visitors this year. And promises, "I will not expand it any further even if success demands it. The Blue Balls Festival should not become like the Montreux Jazz Festival."
Shawne Borer opens the Blue Balls Festival '00

The wife of the Swiss ambassador in Berlin, Shawne Borer-Fielding, has taken over the patronage of the opening evening of the Blue Balls Festival '00 at the Art and Culture Center in Lucerne. She will personally present world star Natalie Cole (USA) and her nearly 20-piece band on July 21.

Muse & Musse Martin Felix MeyerWhich cultural event did you attend last and why this one in particular?
Martin Felix Meyer: The new Tate Gallery in London. Because it is simply a must-see. And it's also worth it.
What are you reading right now and why?
Meyer: "Naked" by David Sedaris. Because my agency partner gave me the book. Then it's also a must-read. And it's usually worth the read.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Meyer: At the moment, I listen almost exclusively to the always loud CDs in my agency partner's car. But not with preference.
Which movie would you most like to see again and why?
Meyer: I would be happy if I had seen some films even for the first time.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Meyer: I don't even tune in.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Meyer: Egomedia.com - simply made clean.
Love is...?
Meyer: ...one of those concepts that you can't grasp.

Strategic tool from German company TV-Miles monitors viewer loyaltyThe German company TV-Miles believes its marketing system is revolutionary: TV viewers receive a five-lobster-sized piece of cardboard - known as a dot - from an advertising company. They stick it on the corner of their TV screen. The Dot contains a film that records the TV signal. The station that TV-Miles and the Group partner with broadcasts a special visible logo with the Group's programming and advertising. When the viewer later sends the Dot back to the Group, the recording can be used to check whether he or she has faithfully followed the program or zapped around. Those who have stuck with the program can take part in contests or other promotions.
TV-Miles sees the Dot as an efficient strategic tool for integrated marketing. The company offers Dot campaigns "turnkey for all partners," as Andrej Henkler, a member of the executive board, told WerbeWoche. This included creative work, implementation and placement. TV-Miles has patented the system worldwide and has already launched it in Hungary and Portugal. Around five million dots were circulated in each case. The next country is Spain.
TV-Miles plans to venture into the German market in the first half of 2001. "We haven't really looked at Switzerland yet," Henkler admitted. But the new private stations have certainly created an interesting market environment there. Stefano Monachesi

After the Cannes Press and Poster Award failed to find its way to Switzerland in 1999, Swiss advertisers also came away empty-handed at the Advertising World Cup 2000 in the category of posters and newspaper ads, despite 255 entries. No Swiss ad made it onto the coveted podium. The Grand Prix was won by Lowe Lintas London for the Whitbread campaign. The choice of the winner did not give rise to any discussion, as jury president Marcello Serpa, co-CEO and CD of Almap-BBDO Sao Paulo, emphasized to WerbeWoche. In general, the quality of the submitted works was very high, Serpa continued.Although the British won the Grand Prix. With 28 Gold Lions, however, the Brazilians have recommended themselves as the big conquerors in this category. The number of entries from the South Americans was also the highest with 1108 works (in 1999 they had submitted 772 works and won 19 awards). With silver and bronze lions, they came up with 57 awards. The English followed with 21, France with 13 and the USA with 10 golden cats of prey. Malaysia also made a good cut, picking up at least one Bronze Lion with 43 entries. There is no Swiss on the film jury that will award its prizes this weekend. (bf)

French advertising group Publicis has made a takeover bid for British agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Publicis will pay over three billion francs in shares.Fax Publicis buys Saatchi & Saatchi The new Publicis Groupe SA, in which Saatchi's owners will hold 30 percent, ranks fifth in Advertising Age's agency rankings with billings of 3.3 billion francs. Saatchi & Saatchi is to be known as
be managed as an independent network.
Nike Tenders Media Sportswear manufacturer Nike has re-tendered its media budget for Europe. A shortlist will be drawn up soon. Six years ago, Nike pulled its budget, which is now around 150 million Swiss francs, from CIA and distributed it among local supervisors. In Switzerland, it is with MC Media Company, Zurich.
Communications association: redundancies The Kommunikationsverband.de is to become leaner and more interactive. According to a member survey and industry experts, the association wants to focus on the web as a portal for specialist information. The administration will be outsourced, long-time employees of the office will be dismissed.
EU tobacco advertising ban wobbles The EU-wide advertising ban on tobacco products planned for summer 2001 is unlikely to come into force. In the opinion of the expert at the European Court of Justice, Advocate General Nial Fennelly, the internal market does not provide a legal basis for such a ban. The EU advertising directive is null and void, according to his legal opinion. The Court's ruling is expected in October.

Why were blue beans enclosed with the invitation to the NZZ event? Do the men like Tannen from Falkenstrasse want to shoot even harder in the future in the daily showdown for advertising customers?By Beat Fritsch It's all nonsense. Customers, acquaintances and friends of the traditional newspaper were able to attend a private performance of the play "Prairie Priest" at the Gessnerallee Theater in Zurich - in beautiful garden weather. The prospect of an evening in the theater may have deterred some potential guests.
At least there was a long aperitif before the performance, including catering in the cozy backyard, where the horse trough of the army stables used to be. Victor Imfeld from "Riesbächli" took care of the physical well-being, serving three kinds of risotto from the Parmesan loaf, spiced up with sausages. However, we have dined better at Victor's "Riesbächli" - you don't need Imfeld to cook a risotto. Anyway, most of us liked it. Nevertheless, it was a pity that he was not allowed to bring some goose liver and French cheese, the food budget could have been set a bit higher.
After all, 1999 was an excellent year for the NZZ. And 2000 started even better, said NZZ publishing director Tobias Trevisan, who welcomed the invited guests with a short and witty speech. In the past, everyone in the Swiss media scene had their own little garden, but nowadays there are truly Wild West manners, said Trevisan, referring to the theme of the evening.
In the classifieds market, new gold diggers have suddenly appeared who want to stake their claims. And in the traditional advertising market, the shooting is fiercer than ever. The print town is besieged by TV Indians and former pirates are making common cause with banks. The NZZ "sheriff" concluded his speech by saying that this was almost an upside-down world, since bandits used to rob banks.
The communication scene and the Wild West also found points of contact in the theater. After suffering a heart attack, the lyricist Rockford wakes up on the floor of his apartment, which has subsequently turned into the Arizona prairie. There Rockford meets a series of bizarre characters in Tombstone, until he has to face the question whether he has not already entered the eternal hunting grounds. The production by Niklaus Helbling with music by Markus Schönholzer and Martin Gantenbein is beautifully quirky and equally entertaining.
This was also the tenor of the visitors. The audience was well mixed and came from all over. Among the guests of "Sheriff" Trevisan and NZZ ad "Manitu" Marcel Kohler were Zurich advertisers Elfi and Viktor Rosser and Jolanda and Dominique von Matt, Pick Pay advertising manager Sandra Ulrich, Canon advertising manager Benno Leibbach, media specialists Delia Kümin Grumbach, Hélène Sonderegger and Christoph Meier, Jean-Marie Egger, who looks after the NZZ budget at Publicis, Beat Sinzig and Karin Reimann from the Basel agency Schneider Berthoud, Nicole Stamm and Angelika Wyss from the Solothurn agency IBL, or Darko Soolfrank from the musical Spacedream, who had news. The surprise success from Baden celebrated its finissage after five years - originally four months were planned. But there will be a new musical project and the approximate direction is already sketched. It will be interesting to see what the makers of Spacedream have in store for the future.
There was also news from Thomas Rüttimann, the former head of media at Metzger Lehner Briccola. He has set up his own marketing agency in Zurich Seefeld and came to the performance accompanied by his successor at MLB, Isabelle Vetter, and lawyer Daniela Eugster.
Beat Fritsch

visited the performance "Prairie Priest" of the Zurich theater group Mass & Fieber at the invitation of the Old Aunt from Falkenstrasse.
Whoever else makes it in the advertising industry is spotted at a wide variety of events in the scene. However, the editorial team decides who will definitely make it onto the coveted shortlist. Do you actually already have something to report? Then you seize times to the listener (01 296 97 98) or mailen you to [email protected]. Online, there are event tips at www.werbewoche.ch