Advertising doesn't stay young forever:Prepared long in advance, Zurich-based advertising agency Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R) has reorganized its management. After almost twenty years, Urs Beer (54) will hand over the chairmanship on July 1 to Peter Felser, who previously headed the Strategic Planning and New Business departments. "After intensive years in various agency constellations," says Urs Beer, "I decided last year to refocus my activities." In the future, the outgoing managing director will be available to the agencies of the AY&R Group as an active board member in the context of individual project and coaching tasks. Peter Felser will be replaced by Rolf Zimmermann. The 38-year-old, who also holds the newly created position of Impact Director, was previously Client Service Director.
The consulting groups and various service departments will report to Martin Kronenberg. The 35-year-old former Client Service Director will be given the competencies of a Managing Director.
There is no change at the top of the creative department: The entire department continues to be headed by Creative Director Martin Spillmann, who at 46 is the oldest of the new management team.
The Finance Department, on the other hand, will be entrusted to 41-year-old Michael Weber as of the end of August. Weber replaces the previous Chief Financial Officer, Otto Spirig (48), who is taking on a new professional challenge after ten years.
Chairman of the Board of Advico Young & Rubicam Switzerland remains Bruno Widmer, Chairman AY&R Europe. The reshuffle is taking place under Peter Felser's chairmanship. (ew)

BTM launches commuter newspaper Berner Bär, Bund and BTM consider cooperation with 20 MinutenBy Markus Knöpfli In Bern, the Bund has been awarded the concession for the Anzeiger Region Bern. Berner Tagblatt Medien (BTM) is responding by publishing the commuter newspaper Berner Bär. And 20 Minuten is continuing to work on its Bern project, with which BTM and the federal government are considering a cooperation.
In Bern, the cards are currently being reshuffled when it comes to free newspapers. The Verein Region Bern (VRB), an association of the city of Bern and around 20 surrounding municipalities, has been heavily involved. It has awarded the federal government the concession for a new Anzeiger Region Bern. The reason: the federal government had promised at least CHF 200,000 more in concession fees. In concrete terms, the VRB expects to receive CHF 3.7 million a year, around CHF 1 million more than before. From January 1, 2001, this gazette with official publications is to be delivered free of charge four times a week to all 75,000 households in Berne and twice a week to 58,000 households in 14 other municipalities.
The new Anzeiger will replace the Anzeiger rund um Bern (ARUB) published by BTM and the Stadtanzeiger from the federal government. The VRB had opted for a joint paper in newspaper format because the dispute over the Anzeiger had resulted in the loss of around CHF 500,000 a year in concession income, particularly for the rural communities. The dispute between the federal government and BTM broke out in 1995 when the federal government was awarded the city gazette concession. At the time, BTM launched the Tagblatt der Stadt Bern as a competitor, to which the federal government responded with a large weekly circulation of the Stadtanzeiger to the ARUB in the surrounding municipalities.
BTM merges Tagblatt and Berner Bär
BTM is now reacting to the VRB decision by merging the Tagblatt and the Berner Bär from the fall and launching a new free newspaper entitled Berner Bär, which will be published two to four times a week in and around Bern. According to board delegate Albert P. Stäheli, the initial circulation will be 150,000 copies, but the newspaper-format paper will then be expanded into a commuter newspaper with 200,000 copies, which will also be distributed by colporteurs in Burgdorf, Thun and Langenthal. A juicy detail: advertising acquisition for the Berner Bär will be handled by Publimag, and for the new Anzeiger Region Bern by Publicitas. Both are wholly owned Publigroup subsidiaries.
Two to four free Bernese titles are possible from the fall
In addition to Bund and BTM, 20 Minuten is also involved in Bern: Project manager Sacha Wigdorovits has already appointed Blick journalist Dieter Liechti as managing editor of the Bern edition. And former Berner Bär publisher and editor-in-chief Hans R. Amrein is helping him make contacts in the Bern region.
However, this does not mean that there will actually be three free newspapers for the people of Bern from the fall - there could be two or even four. Metropol is being considered as a fourth provider, but they are keeping a low profile. However, a reduction to two papers would probably occur if Berner Bär and 20 Minuten were to cooperate. According to Stäheli, talks are taking place between him and Wigdorovits, but it is not yet clear whether
everything is still open. BTM is always willing to discuss cooperation in the printing sector. However, Albert Stäheli described the statement by Chairman of the Board Charles von Graffenried (WW 20), according to which BTM had been offered a stake in 20 Minuten, as false.
Talks are also taking place between the Bund and 20 Minuten, as confirmed by publishing director J. Pepe Wiss. But what is being discussed? The federal government had to promise the VRB that it would not publish a competing newspaper to the Anzeiger, and a merger of the Anzeiger and 20 Minuten is prevented by the cantonal advertising ordinance, which prohibits editorial content in advertisements. But for Wiss, the last word has not yet been spoken.
Are NZZ and 20 Minuten cooperating in Bern?
But even if a cooperation does not materialize, one thing cannot be ruled out: namely that the Bund owner NZZ will join forces with 20 Minuten in Bern in order to benefit from the advertising revenue. While 20 Minuten and NZZ did not want to say anything about this, the VRB is aware of it. However, such a merger would not fall under the non-competition clause agreed with the federal government, said deputy VRB managing director Isabelle Meyer.
But it would probably have far-reaching consequences in Zurich, where the NZZ holds a 40 percent stake in the Zürich Express. A rift with its partner TA-Media there, which in turn holds a 49 percent stake in the Berner Zeitung, could not be ruled out in this case.
City-Kombi takes shapeThe contracts for the City-Kombi between the new Berner Bär, Zürich Express (ZE) and the yet-to-be-created counterpart in Basel are in draft form, according to Stäheli. The Kombi is scheduled to start on September 1. The ball is currently in Basel and Zurich's court. No one at the Basler Medien-Gruppe (BMG) could be reached by WW. ZE publishing director Heinz Krebs explained that a final decision on ZE's participation would be made at a board meeting on June 8. A combined participation is 90 percent certain. An extension of the combination to Lucerne, St. Gallen and Winterthur will only be considered once the contract between ZE, Berner Bär and BMG has been signed.

Almost all media continued to grow in March - only cinema dippedThe upward trend in gross advertising investment continued in March with an increase of 17.2 percent - not quite as fantastic as in February (+23.4 percent). Consumer magazines had the highest growth rate (+35.3 percent). The other print media also enjoyed strong growth: newspapers invested 11 percent more in advertising, and the selection of trade magazines considered even 22.5 percent more. In the electronic media, growth was less pronounced than in the previous month. At 14.3 percent, the increase in television in particular was lower than forecast. But radio also had to be satisfied with an increase of "only" 14.1 percent in March, and teletext also did somewhat less well this time with an increase of 8.3 percent. Poster advertising did encouragingly well (+19 percent). The only exception to the general upward trend was cinema advertising, which saw a sharp drop of 14 percent. The reason: advertising time restrictions.
In the case of Internet banner advertising, which is newly included in the statistics, no comparison with the previous year is possible, but gross sales are pointing upwards month by month. For the current year, Media Focus is forecasting a total volume of 15 to 20 million Swiss francs.
Cumulatively for the first quarter, gross advertising revenues were 13.9 percent higher than in the same period last year. The increases are remarkable for practically all media categories: general-interest magazines 23.8 percent, trade magazines 15.9 percent, TV 15.2 percent, radio 38.6 percent, teletext 14.6 percent, billboard 26.4 percent. Only cinema advertising suffered a loss of 10.6 percent compared with last year's record result. (dse)
BRuttower expenditure by mediaMarch 1999/2000 in comparison
in 1000 Fr. 1999 in 1000 Fr. 2000 %
Daily newspapers 144,844 160,748 11.0
Publ. journals 54 236 73 387 35.3
Trade journals 17 509 21 447 22.5
TV 58 999 67 450 14.3
Radio 10 419 11 887 14.1
Cinema 5 292 4 549 - 14.0
Teletext 1,392 1,507 8.3
Poster 32 456 38 623 19.0
Internet Banner - 1 613 -
Total 325 147 381 211 17.2
Source: Media Focus Hergiswil (NW)

Weber Hodel Schmid must fight to keep the Smart account. The manufacturer, Micro Compact Car (MCC), has put the international account—previously managed by Weber Hodel Schmid’s Smart Factory in Zurich—up for a pitch. In addition to WHS, participants include Mercedes« in-house agency Springer & Jacoby, as MCC press spokesperson Florian Moser confirmed to WerbeWoche. WHS has already lost the budget for the German market to Springer & Jacoby. The Hamburg-based agency prevailed over WHS Berlin in the DaimlerChrysler sales organization. WHS Vienna and Berlin receive awards. At this year’s Creative Club Austria awards ceremony, a campaign by WHS Vienna for the Viennese homeless newspaper Augustin was stripped of its gold medal due to—as Creative Director Andreas Putz asserted—unfounded »suspicions of plagiarism.« Now, the »Bettdecke« ad from this campaign has been honored by the Association of Austrian Newspapers (VöZ) with the title »Ad of the Year” in the Social Advertising category. Furthermore, the “Wiener Schnecke” won a silver award at the ARD Awards for the best radio spots. A radio campaign by WHS Berlin for the Sandler car dealership was honored with a silver Ramses Award.
WARNING: POSTER BOMB! When a bomb threat was received last week at the Swisscom store on Zurich’s Füesslistrasse, the surrounding buildings had to be evacuated, including the vegetarian restaurant Hiltl. The threat turned out to be a false alarm. Probably out of relief, managing director Rolf Hiltl had the idea to turn the incident into a marketing opportunity and had Wirz Advertising create a poster joke overnight about the not-at-all-funny event. The very next day, a “vitamin bomb” dressed as a strawberry was promoting the vegetarian restaurant at the site of the non-event.
New IGEM Executive Board. The Association for Electronic Media (IGEM) has reorganized its executive board. Urs Renner of The Media Edge, previously vice president, succeeds Matthias Luchsinger as president. The new vice president is Michael Frank of Belcom. The heads of the working groups, who previously served on the board without voting rights, are now full members (Peter Döbeli, Stephan Küng, Pierre C. Meier, and Bea Winter). Ingrid Deltenre has joined the board to represent the SRG programs, following Publisuisse’s accession to IGEM two weeks ago. One seat on the board remains reserved for a representative from the internet sector.
399 SWISS ENTRIES IN CANNES. Cinecom, the Swiss office for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has reported record numbers: Swiss agencies submitted 399 entries for the advertising festival on the Côte d’Azur (June 19–24). That’s 72 percent more than in 1999. The submissions are concentrated in the traditional categories of Press & Poster (255) and Film (120). In the Cyber Lions new media category, entries are competing
15 entries. Nine Swiss entries are competing for a Media Lion for innovative media strategies.
The St. Galler Tagblatt is restructuring. The St. Galler Tagblatt Group is responding to the growing importance of electronic media and has therefore created a «New Media» division. Jürg Bachmann, previously managing director of Tele Ostschweiz, will take over responsibility for this division. Bachmann’s duties at Tele Ostschweiz will be assumed by a marketing director—to be named—and Tele Ostschweiz editorial director Patrick Senn.
Fines Register for Bikers. Every year, spring brings with it the new «Sportplausch-Wider» campaign. This year, too, the two creatives Markus Ruf and Markus Gut are back with ironic ideas. In addition to the eye-catching “organic doping” tips (see p. 31) and the six new radio spots featuring the fictional test rider Walti, they’ve put together an email in the form of a fine register for cyclists that fits even in the tightest cycling shorts. Under the title “So Your Bike Doesn’t Cost Too Much Even After You Buy It,” cyclists learn just how much their traffic violations will set them back—from cycling while intoxicated to insulting police officers to turning without signaling.
Neue Luzerner Zeitung in Top Form. The Neue Luzerner Zeitung posted by far its best results in the last three years for 1999. Revenue rose by 13.1 percent to 127.7 million francs, while net income increased by nearly half to 6.8 million francs. The Central Swiss company also recorded a substantial increase in cash flow, namely by 47.1 percent to 25.3 million Swiss francs. The strong annual results are largely attributable to the booming job market, which was the main driver behind the 33.3 percent growth in advertising space. But the Neue Luzerner Zeitung also ranked among the top Swiss print media in terms of commercial advertising, with a growth rate of 6 percent.
GIVING CUSTOMERS A LITTLE SURPRISE. Not only the Migros Cooperative Federation but also the regional cooperatives are making a splash in the world of communications. True to the motto «Small gifts keep friendships alive,» the Migros Lucerne Cooperative distributes a small gift to its customers six times a year at the Zugerland shopping center. These gifts are attached to B12-sized posters; 5,000 packages or units of gummy bears, sunscreen, sunflowers, or chocolate beetles are handed out each time.
Screen-up 01 Still Without Publisuisse. The third Swiss television trade show, screen-up 01, organized by the TV marketing agencies IP Multimedia (Switzerland) and Cinecom & Media, will take place on October 19, 2000, at the ABB Hall in Oerlikon. According to a survey conducted by the organizers, «the majority of stations» have announced their participation. However, market leader Publisuisse will once again not be attending, even though it joined the Interest Group for Electronic Media (IGEM) at the end of April. Managing Director Ingrid Deltenre explained the cancellation by stating that, following Publisuisse’s entry into IGEM, the time until screen-up was too short, and furthermore, such an appearance was not budgeted for. However, the company is open to participating next year.
NEW BRAND LOGO FOR SAAB. Saab Automobile is introducing a new brand logo. The design is intended to more clearly illustrate the values of the Saab brand and is an evolution of the earlier symbol, which was introduced in the mid-1980s. Saab is the abbreviation for Svenska Aeroplan Aktienbolaget, which means Swedish Aircraft Company. The company has also been building cars since 1947.
The new emblem will be introduced with the 2001 model year.
Editorial

Warm-shower guy, guy who pees sitting down, womanizer
For some mysterious reason, the word “trend” has acquired a somewhat shady connotation in this country. “Trends are pure nonsense,” claim the regulars at the bar. A similarly resentful tone can be heard from many university professors. They argue that trends do not meet scientific criteria and are based solely on subjective perception. With righteous indignation and biting cynicism—at times bordering on sectarianism—the German sociologist Holger Rust, for example, lambasts trend researchers as charlatans and con artists, calling for clear thinking instead of trend-mongering.
Americans take a more relaxed approach to this: Across the Atlantic, trend research is a recognized part of the consumer goods industry. And it’s been successful. It’s certainly no coincidence that the American economy has far outpaced the European economy in terms of innovation…
We struggle with the culture of change. We have a hard time tolerating what is lighthearted and playful. We long for certainties, eternal values, and depth. Essentially, it’s all about
trend research involves a kind of ethnological examination of our own culture. Through the eyes of trend researchers, society views itself. Matthias Horx, for example, meticulously describes trends as «cultural exercises in adaptation to changing circumstances.».
On May 18, the
The 5th German Trend Conference took place (see p. 16). The conference was organized by Trendbüro Hamburg, which recently published the *Szene-Duden* in collaboration with the venerable Mannheimer Verlagshaus. The dictionary includes words such as *Schlampenschlepper*, *Sitzpinkler*, and *Kaltduscher*. When youth-coined terms like these find their way into a leading standard reference work on the German language, it may be an indication of growing acceptance of trends.
The latest edition of the Duden is also available online at www.szenesprachen.de and is set to be updated through various chat forums. If that isn't a cultural revolution, I don't know what is!
Samuel Helbling

CEO Stephan Burckhardt is leaving Allschwil-based advertising agency Ckdt Communications. Burckhardt took over the former Allcom together with two partners in 1996. 100 percent of Ckdt was sold to Seiler Com Holding last year. Now Burckhardt wants to move with his family to Ireland or the USA. The new CEO of Ckdt is Herbert Seiler, who is turning the management upside down. Of the old team, only Ellen Heitlinger remains to manage the Healthcare division. New additions are Jürg Siegrist, previously head of consulting at Euro RSCG Zurich, as Managing Director for Corporate and Marketing Communication, and Guillermo Garcia, previously at Impiric Zurich, as Creative Director. Next year, Ckdt is to move from Allschwil to Basel, in as central a location as possible. "Until now, I had to turn on the GPS every time I wanted to go to Ckdt," Seiler complains.
Seiler does not want to change anything about the agency's overall concept. After the move, Seiler Com Holding owns two similarly oriented Basel agencies, Ckdt and cR Communications. However, the question of an adjustment or even a merger does not arise because of the shareholding structure: Ckdt is a sister agency of Seiler DDB within Seiler Com Holding, which owns cR as a subsidiary.
Seiler was angered by the claim in the business magazine Cash that customers and employees were running away from Ckdt because of Burckhardt's departure. Seiler: "None of that is true."
At least for new customer Bell, the management change led to uncertainty. Marketing Manager Hans Reutegger: "It seemed strange to us that all our contacts were leaving the agency." However, a new invitation to tender is not being considered until next year at the earliest. (sm)

Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière criticizes the Swiss Federal Competition CommissionIn an interview with WerbeWoche, Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière explains his criticism of the Swiss Federal Competition Commission. The Commission has not yet understood that only large and strong media groups have a chance of surviving in the mega-merger wave that is underway worldwide (see also page 19).At this year's annual press conference, you dealt out vicious verbal blows to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission. The scolding was triggered by problems at Edipresse in Geneva. What happened?
Pierre Lamunière: A year ago, we wanted to take over some small neighborhood newspapers. We had to go through a veritable paper and form mill to get approval. But this is just one example. Look at what is currently happening in the Bern area: The Berner Zeitung group wants to expand a little, and the Competition Commission is making a huge deal out of it. That's completely absurd. The Swiss media groups can hardly grow any more. But you have to be able to grow in order to have a chance in the future.
Other countries also protect competition in order to prevent monopolies and dominant market positions.
Lamunière: Sure, but the other countries are much bigger. In the US, the situation in the American media market is crucial, and this consists of hundreds of millions of people. We, on the other hand, are seven million. And the Competition Commission also divides the Swiss market into language regions. Even worse: it uses the regional markets as benchmarks and examines, for example, whether there are dominant positions in the Bern area. It's as if the American competition authorities wanted to ensure that no dominant market position emerges in the south of South Carolina.
Would it be better to just let things run their course? Lamunière: You have to let competition run its course. You see, it's completely wrong to regard the press and media market as a closed market today. In the future, the press, TV, telecom, computer, Internet, etc. sectors will grow together more and more. Groups such as Microsoft, Warner and Telefonica are forging mega-mergers; the old boundaries are falling. If Switzerland wants to have a chance, the large Swiss media groups must be free to carry out mergers without having to fill out forms for five months beforehand. Because this delay alone can be fatal.
At the PK, you said that Switzerland needs perhaps five large and strong media groups. Who do you count among them? Edipresse, Ringier, TA-Media, NZZ Group, Basler Zeitung Group?
Lamunière: Maybe the Berner Zeitung group, maybe others. I haven't thought about it that carefully. But we can't just think about the big publishing groups. What matters to me is that if Switzerland wants to have a chance, the big publishing groups, as well as Publigroupe and Swisscom, must be able to grow and merge. But what is happening these days? They are being limited - allegedly because they are dominant or threaten to become so. When I hear that Edipresse is supposed to have a "dominant position", I have to laugh.
But you are dominant in the press world in French-speaking Switzerland? Lamunière: Once again, you can't look at the press market separately. It is quite possible that foreign operators of specialized TV channels will one day also offer print products in Switzerland: In a few years' time, the TV set will be linked to a printer. Something similar is happening in the online sector: Internet sites will increasingly also offer print services. The convergence of the Internet and the TV set thanks to the technology of the French-speaking Swiss company Kudelski ...
... whose boss André Kudelski sits on the Edipresse Board of Directors ...Lamunière: ... that's right, this convergence means that the boundaries between image and text, between press and TV and Internet, are becoming increasingly blurred. For example, the Journal de l'Horlogerie now also offers a video version on the Internet. This is the future. But the Competition Commission has not yet understood this. It's mainly lawyers who sit there. When lawyers deal with media issues, it rarely comes out well.
The blurring of boundaries probably means that Edipresse is thinking more and more about diversification in the TV sector?Lamunière: Our strategy is clear: we don't want to make television for the general public. A participation à la TV3 is absolutely out of the question for us, "télévision généraliste" doesn't interest me. But I could certainly imagine getting involved in a special-interest channel.
Will Edipresse generate any diversification steps internally, so to speak, or are you thinking about shareholdings and takeovers? Lamunière: I am by no means ruling out takeovers and shareholdings. All means that could strengthen our position are being studied. I assume that we will be able to announce one or two operations by the end of the year.
We are excited! Mr. Lamunière, thank you very much.
Interview: Christophe Büchi

Today, we are all life entrepreneurs in the "Ich AG," according to the résumé of the 5th German Trend DayBy Oliver Classen More and more people see themselves as flexible life entrepreneurs. What does this change in consciousness and structure mean for our social, economic and creative resources? How does such an "I AG" think, work and consume? The 5th German Trend Day in Hamburg provided initial answers to the question "How do we do business in the age of the Ich AG?
The longest entry in the recently published "Dictionary of Scene Languages" is devoted to the term "Warmduscher" and its countless synonyms. Warmduscher (vulgo: spiesser or softie) is the trendy slang term for those contemporaries who are not tough and hip enough to succeed socially and economically. As a result, successful people today consistently take ice-cold showers, pee standing up, and don't care about their environment any more than is absolutely necessary. All others (men) are "seat peeers," "considerate" or simply wimps. According to unconfirmed rumors, you can also recognize this uncool species by the fact that they smoke "mild strain", "because life is already hard enough".
Is the era of the
Cold shower on?
Young linguistic creations like these are seismographs of changing social values. They provide a better indication of what's hot and what's not than fashion. The task is to reduce these often diffuse tendencies to a concise term that can be translated as directly as possible into marketing strategies: This is what the Hamburg Trendbüro and its founder Peter Wippermann see as the central task of trend research. At last year's 4th German Trend Day, Wippermann & Co. presented "Scientification," a communication and product design that, with yogurt names like LC1 and silver-colored cars, is already largely mainstream and thus out of trend.
The latest creation from the Zeitgeistlabor, which was founded in 1992 and is also responsible for the above-mentioned scene lexicon, is "Ich AG," which, according to the above measure and ironically shortened, could mean something like "cold showerers. 350 advertisers, market researchers and marketing managers wanted to know more precisely who and what is behind this flowery designation - and came to Hamburg for the 5th German Trend Day to be brought up to date on the latest consumer wishes and customer needs by nine proven trendsetters.
Intangible qualities
decide
Anyone expecting concrete instructions for action was initially disappointed by Norbert Bolz's opening presentation on the "economy of the invisible" (vulgo: New Economy). Suspected in academic circles of being a pop philosopher, the professor of communication theory expressed the view that the success of brands and products in the future will depend much less on their real goodness than on virtual qualities such as image and style. "The economic system of the West is in the midst of a conversion from substance to function, from the what of goods to the how of communication," Bolz said. He also observes a reversal of the relationship between means and ends: Whereas previously people with business ideas (ends) sought people with capital (means), in post-capitalist society it is the other way around.
This assessment was confirmed by Shobhna Mohn, CEO of Bertelsmann Valley, one of those incubators that try to help startups get off the ground with venture capital and know-how. According to Mohn, young Internet entrepreneurs aspiring to a place in Bertelsmann's business incubator must not only have enthusiasm and "a very unique story" (or business idea), but above all the ability to tell it so convincingly that first the financier and later also the customers can identify with this story. "Mohn's motto for successful new business can be summed up as follows: "Only self-marketing that offers a sense of purpose paves the way to entrepreneurial independence.
For Sebastian Turner of the Berlin advertising agency Scholz & Friends, too, the general trend in society is toward entrepreneurship. The father of the famous FAZ campaign "Kluge Köpfe" ("Smart Minds") describes the signs as overwhelming: In the seventies, the public sector was still the most sought-after employer, in the eighties the blue chips then took over this role, and in the nineties finally the consulting firms. Today, however, up to two-thirds of business graduates want to become self-employed.
As a further indication of the recent change in mentality, Turner sees the indeed remarkable fact that this year, for the first time, there will be more shareholders than trade unionists in Germany.
The galloping economization of the individual is also turning the labor market upside down. The fact that human capital, unlike other forms of capital, cannot change hands is forcing companies to reorient themselves in a way that trade unionists would never have dreamed of, even in a drunken stupor: "It's no longer the customers who are the most important assets, but the employees," says Turner, summing up a development that is being further reinforced by the drop in the pill count.
Even today, a Pixelpark programmer is valued at 10 million marks by the stock exchange. Compared to such sums for young "high potentials," the transfer fees for professional soccer players look downright modest.
Self-invention becomes
to the duty
Trendbüro head Peter Wippermann opened his trend diagnosis, entitled "From Deutschland AG to Ich AG," with a quote from the Schröder-Blair paper of 1999: "We want to transform the safety net of entitlements into a springboard of personal responsibility," it says about the objective of Europe's new social democracy. This political program, which itself sets trends instead of preserving traditions, has far-reaching social and psychological consequences for the individual. While the "soft individualists" (born between 1966 and 1977) still had the option of self-reflection, the "I AG-ers" born in 1978 or later are forced to constantly reinvent themselves, according to Wippermann. In a culture unified by global media and brands, people want to set themselves apart and stand out again. However, the construction of a marketable identity that satisfies the emotional need for originality and authenticity requires sophisticated self-branding. With this thesis, Wippermann varied the general obligation to individualize already stated earlier, which ultimately leads to a "conformism of otherness" (Bolz). This phenomenon is taken into account by those suppliers who try to emotionalize and personalize their mass-produced goods with simple but effective tricks.
Mass customization
Dee Dee Gordon, who flew in especially from Los Angeles, presented two such products that young people use specifically to manage the I brand: the iD Shoe from Nike and the Swiss web fashion store
skim.com, which provides its goods with the individual e-mail addresses of its customers. "Style customization" is what the trend pioneer calls the rejection of prefabricated branded articles and the new fun of self-design. "Just-for-me products are the future - and it has long since begun," Gordon knows from her field research of 500 kids worldwide for her trend agency LookLook. In other words: Consumers are less interested in the products themselves than in communicating about them.
The illustrious audience had already heard a similar formulation of the same finding hours earlier from Norbert Bolz. This repetition allows two conclusions: Either trends like this are so "hot" that they inevitably appear more than once at such a conference. Or trends are born through such formulaic repetitions reminiscent of incantation rituals. Either way, the organizers should be pleased that their "Ich AG" - which is already being quoted without quotation marks from Spiegel to FAZ - has meanwhile found its way into common parlance. After all, the career of the Warmduschers also began that way.

Medien Z is in the red - because of its involvement with RTL/Pro7 SchweizRTL/Pro 7 Schweiz has a future - if given the time." This sentence can be found in the 1999 annual report of Medien Z Holding AG. The special thing about it is that the report was not written until RTL/Pro 7 Schweiz had already been discontinued. This is evidenced by another sentence that even appears twice in the report: "After seven months, on March 24, 2000, the program window had to be definitively closed because, despite being the most successful private Swiss program offering, the results fell significantly short of the expectations and objectives of the shareholders." All in all, reading the report, one gets the impression that Medien Z, which held a 16 percent stake in RTL/Pro 7, is resentful of the decision to close it down.
Be that as it may, the decision in any case leaves deep traces in Medien Z's 1999 balance sheet in the form of highly red figures. The investments made and the associated dissolution and liquidation costs of around CHF 2.5 million were written off as far as can be estimated in the 1999 financial year on the basis of the holding company's 16 percent stake.
Accumulated loss despite profit after provisions
This resulted in a balance sheet loss of 684088 francs. This is all the more serious because Media Z was able to report a profit of a good 600,000 francs in 1998, after provisions of 65,000 francs.
Despite the deficit, 1999 was an "excellent business year" according to the press release of Medien Z with its wholly owned subsidiary Radio Z. It also feels that it is "well equipped for the future" for its activities in the electronic and digital media market.
Despite the TV debacle, the company continues to cite "innovation, increased strategic partnerships and a willingness to embrace change" as factors in its success.
Medien Z, which markets the RTL, RTL 2, Pro 7 and Kabel 1 channels via IP Multimedia, has a 30 percent stake in Radio Ri and a 20 percent stake in Radio Eviva. It also holds 40 percent of the new electronic publishing company Swisscontent Corporation.
Markus Knöpfli

TV 3 boss Jürg Wildberger focuses on authenticity for "Big Brother "Soon there will finally be one in Switzerland: The "Big Brother" house will soon be installed by Endemol B&B in Glattfelden and is expected to bring TV 3 constant ratings.The award for "Big Brother" marks the end of a long poker game. Was it so hard to negotiate the price of the show down to TV 3's possibilities?
Jürg Wildberger: The financial aspect wasn't the point, we had been in agreement on that for a long time. The rope pulling was about the production modalities and the rights. In particular, the Internet, an enormously important platform for "Big Brother," proved to be a tough sell.
But there are clear indications that TV 3 has had to slim down in other places in order to be able to afford "Big Brother": "Lust und Liebe" and "Liebe auf den ersten Blick" are being canceled - two shows that you counted as trend-setting formats just a few weeks ago. Why the change of heart?
Wildberger: The two shows have insufficient marketing potential, and they can hardly be refinanced even in the longer term. Instead, we're launching the strong adventure show "Nur einer kommt durch" on Saturdays at 8pm. And together with "Millionaire" and the Basel pop singer Nubya as the new host of "Cinderella," we guarantee constant ratings.
Thanks to the cooperation with Endemol, the production company Bichsel & Burger (B&B) can now offer all of the approximately 400 Endemol TV formats in Switzerland. Does TV 3 have preferential access rights to them?
Wildberger: There is no exclusive contract with B&B Endemol. These formats are open to all Swiss TV stations. But we do, of course, have the exclusive option for new editions and further developments of "Big Brother" and "Millionaire.
Is there no way around Endemol, e.g. with their own variations of those successful recipes? This would eliminate the expensive rights payments.
Wildberger: We have various producers in Europe who ride the "Robinson" wave and offer copies. But that's not our style. After all, there's an enormous amount of development work behind "Big Brother. And apart from that, Endemol generates most of its income from production. The licensing costs for the idea have only a minimal impact on the total costs.
Authenticity was said to be the top priority on "Big Brother. But in the RTL 2 version, there are many indications that scriptwriters are behind the daily happenings and discussions in the container settlement. How will that play out on TV 3?
Wildberger: Life in the "Big Brother" house has a high degree of momentum that defies manipulation. With the discussion topics and weekly tasks, there is a minimal possibility of intervention from the outside. The selection of the participants is crucial for the dynamics.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle

Which cultural event did you visit last and why this one in particular?Muse & Musse Sascha Fanetti
Sascha Fanetti: Stan Maxwell's Lounch at "VARIO" - who was there knows why.
What are you reading right now and why?
Fanetti: "In the Name of Honor" by Anonymous (Joe Klein) is a hoot.
Which CD do you currently prefer to listen to?
Fanetti: Crazy Penis, because it keeps what the name promises.
Which movie would you most like to see again and why?
Fanetti: "Fightclub," especially the scene with the Vileda glove.
What TV show did you fall asleep during the other night?
Fanetti: "Dr. Stefan Frank", the doctor women trust.
What is your latest discovery on the Internet?
Fanetti: www.paper.state51.co.uk
Love is ...?
Fanetti: ... still quite a lucrative business.

It was almost like a fairy tale, the ambience in the Mühle Hunziken in Rubigen near Bern, where the communication scene of the bear city was invited last week.Die Zweite im Bund By Beat Fritsch
The Bund, in cooperation with Publicitas Bern, organized the big bash with food, wine and song.
It's like a fairy tale because the Mühle Hunziken is one of the weirdest concert and party venues in Switzerland. The furnishings are so mixed and out of the ordinary that you could imagine yourself in Dr. Caligari's cabinet of curiosities. A Bebbi larva grins from one corner, next to it are two statues of the Madonna (one Catholic and one American), in the middle of the gallery there is a (functioning) toy organ, in the garden a petrified Bart Simpson sits on the fountain next to a sculpture of the original Camel camel, and above the entrance a fully mechanical squirrel greets you.
If you stroll through the crazy location with your eyes open, you will be amazed by all the discoveries. For fans of the bizarre, a visit is always worthwhile.
The reasons for celebrating were also fairytale-like, as Bund publishing director J. Pepe Wiss announced in his speech. The first Bund Festival had already been a huge success, which alone was reason enough for a new edition. In addition, more than 4,000 pages of advertisements had been sold for the first time last year, the circulation had increased - in short: once again there was joy. Willy Schib, who represented the NZZ, which has a stake in the Bund, was also pleased. And even more so, of course, for the people at Publicitas Bern, who played a major role in the success. Raoul Wanger, head of the Bund publishing department at the P, was certainly on top of things. And the P ladies Judith Ritter and Françoise Schädeli also seemed to feel visibly at ease.
Also in a party mood were Bund advertising manager Isabel Coello, Jeanette Rieder, head of subscription services, Bruno Zürcher and Ümran Öztok from advertising marketing, and Bund sales manager Michael Sutter.
BSW President and Publicis Managing Director Cornelia Harder had a happy reunion. Beat Mühlemann, now Head of Communications at Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, and Estée-Lauder Marketing Manager Vera Lüchinger were two former colleagues at the table.
The cigar connection also got its money's worth, especially Röbel Riesen, who was almost unrecognizable behind a thick wall of fog made of the finest Cohiba smoke.
No wonder, the visitors were doing well. Not only drinks and smoky stuff were of the finest and available à discrétion. For the catering, the Eventmakers company had six of Bern's most popular restaurants: the Lorenzini, the Du Théâtre, the Landhaus, the Krone, the Kornhaus and the De la Casa. The guests feasted until after midnight and drank for much longer.
But only very few guests had taken the advice to arrive by public transport to heart. The parking lot in front of the mill was full, the specially organized shuttle buses rather empty. Fortunately, no bad news arrived until today - in contrast to the party of Absolut Film, where a latecomer got stuck in a control and had to walk home. The unlucky guy has exchanged his driver's license for a streetcar ticket for the next few months.
So, once again: If you have to go to a party, better go by trolley bus!
Beat Fritsch plunged into the Bernese advertising pie and unexpectedly met Bart Simpson, the darling of all young advertisers, in the magic garden of the Hunziken mill.
Those who usually enjoy themselves at the parties of the communications industry will be located at the most diverse events of 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 fast to the listener (01 296 97 98) or mailen you to [email protected]. Online, you can find event tips at www.werbewoche.ch

The Zurich agency WBO Dialog is taking over the DM unit OgilvyOne from Grendene Ogilvy & Mather retroactively as of January 1. In return, O & M Europe is taking a stake in the new agency WBO OgilvyOne. However, the majority of the shares will remain with the current owners Daniel Brüngger and Guido Wietlisbach. Worldwide, the Ogilvy Group is owned by communications multinational WPP (including JWT, Conquest, Young & Rubicam).Brüngger and Wietlisbach expect the deal to improve their perception among major clients. There, the agency decision is often made on the basis of name recognition due to a lack of market knowledge. "We are the second-largest Swiss DM agency; nevertheless, as an owner-managed company without an international network, we repeatedly encountered limits, especially in terms of acquisition potential," says Brüngger.
Other reasons for the merger include the creative expertise of OgilvyOne agencies, especially in Germany, Spain and the USA, and the realization that decisions on DM budgets for major clients are increasingly being made at international level.
New additions to the management team are Daniel Noll as Chief Financial Officer and Barbara Dürst as Client Service Director. In the current year, the agency, which works for Swisscom, Die Post and Helsana, among others, aims to achieve a BBE of around CHF 4 million. (bf)