Managing Director Karl Heinrich von Grote on industry associations and philosophyAfter many years of service to the industry association, ASW Managing Director Erik Sörensen is stepping down at the upcoming AGM. His successor is Karl Heinrich von Grote, who holds a doctorate in physics and is a qualified PR consultant. He prevailed against around 70 (!) competitors and wants to take the ASW further forward.Mr. von Grote, do you intend to change the policy of your predecessor, Erik Sörensen, in essential points?
Karl Heinrich von Grote: After four months on board, I cannot say I know the ASW in all its essential aspects. My view of things has been shaped by Erik Sörensen's introduction. Over time, it will gain in independence. In the process, the focus will certainly shift compared to previous years. However, the basic structure of ASW management will still be to recognize and satisfy member needs, to cultivate relationships with friendly trade associations, and to highlight ASW's own identity and strengths.
What made you apply for the job of ASW managing director?
from Grote: In the change of management trends in large companies, the research department, of which I was the PR man, was once again dissolved. Early retirement was the verdict. At the same time, the ASW was looking for a person with experience, drive and realistic demands for its management. The first meeting with the Executive Board revealed a challenging task that I could and wanted to identify with: raising my profile through personal commitment and consistent action. Now that I know the tasks here better, I see that it's true: I have a fantastic opportunity and challenging task here. And the people in the surrounding area are great. The chemistry is right and there are purposeful expectations in the room.
So you have joined forces with the vocal leaders of the ASW - but hopefully not in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement as a silent functionary at someone else's expense....
from Grote: Well, when riding the tiger, you can't fall down. This pleasure is not for the comfortable. The end of life is a deliberate shaping, a new departure from old constraints, creative vision of where life is happening, being exposed to the uncomfortable and the new. That's what I find in ocean sailing and in the ASW.
Where do you see the role of an industry association like ASW, i.e. an association of SMEs, alongside BSW, SDV, SWA, IGMA, Sawi, IGEM, SUISA, but also within SW? Can you decipher all these abbreviations without thinking?
from Grote: No, not all of them yet! Memory needs anchor points, i.e. experiences, networks, affects. I know Sawi as the host of the SPRI PR training in Biel. At the BSW, the SW and the SWA, I already know the managing director and the managing director, respectively, and I am beginning to recognize the similarities and the differences. Regarding the role of the ASW: It does not want to be a classic industry association, but rather an alliance. The differentiation from the BSW is not done with "small and medium". The ranking of the agency sizes of BSW and ASW shows a wide overlap. The ASW focuses on the specific commitment of the agencies managed by their owners themselves. This is what makes SME quality and, in turn, makes ASW agencies particularly attractive to SMEs. The ASW does not have the arduousness of dignity, but is agile, brisk, willing to take risks and very attentive internally and externally. It has a part in the concert of the associations, but not that of the kettledrum.
What could ASW move through its activities, in the Swiss advertising business or in politics?
von Grote: Why the conditional in your question? The ASW is already moving a lot. Many joint working papers of the BSW, SWA and the ASW bear the signature of the ASW. ASW is pushing the Internet presences of associations by setting an example. ASW has joined in the campaigns against unnecessary advertising restrictions. The ASW is involved in training institutions of the industry, namely in Sawi.
Your curriculum lists a career in industrial and high-tech operations. Hopefully you had nothing to do with genetic engineering or related applications?
von Grote: I see it in a differentiated way: Now genetic engineering is the epitome of evil. Before that, it was nuclear technology, and even earlier it was Galileo's findings. Let's wait and see what will come of it. In any case, man is his own project, in education, in personal development, in philosophy, sociology and politics, in science and technical application. If it is no longer about man and the nature that produces him, then evil is not far away. My career: Electron and laser beams for material processing and lasers for ophthalmology were my subject before I reoriented myself and changed to telecommunications.
At what age did you train as a PR consultant? What prompted you to do this after you already had a doctorate in physics?
von Grote: Erik Herzog was just about to take over the SPRI when I did the PR consultant. I was around my mid-50s, ten years older than the next oldest person in the class and almost a generation older than the average participant. I was by no means the only one in the class with a degree and a doctorate. Now Erik Herzog is a colleague in the SPRI-ASW office partnership. About my motivation: Life is learning, and the half-life of the actuality of my physics knowledge had long since passed.
Give me an example of how you want your slogan "culture means nurturing as opposed to power and violence" to be implemented.
von Grote: "Culture is nurturing" is a tautology. Only today the word culture has a different connotation. I want to point to the original meaning by the demarcation from power and violence. Culture is not always nice and empathetic. It should be determined. An example: To cherish a market with its diversity and competition means not to monopolize and standardize it with millions of advertising dollars or mergers. Or not letting business locations with their quality of life become desolate by reducing purchasing power, career opportunities, educational and cultural offerings. Interview: Beat Fritsch

The advertising partnership Zahn or Zimmermann, which has been in existence for two years, inherits three clients from the estate of the Zolliker agency Bosch & Butz.Victor Zahn and Marcus Zimmermann met at Hermann Strittmatter, where Zimmermann was Zahn's assistant. After the two Baslers went into business for themselves, Theophil Butz brought Victor Zahn into his agency as a freelance creative director. However, the joint venture, which was rented in the former building of the Swiss Electrotechnical Association (SEV) in Zurich's Seefeld district, remained in place. Otherwise, 36-year-old Marcus Zimmermann worked as a freelance art director for various agencies, including Bosch & Butz.
Following the dissolution of Bosch & Butz at the end of May, Zahn returns to Seefeld in full at the beginning of June. Not with empty hands: From Zollikon, the 43-year-old CD is bringing one to three employees in addition to three clients, and 35-year-old consultant Marcel Fankhauser as a third partner. "We didn't push ourselves forward," says Zahn, "but just mentioned that we were going into business for ourselves. In response, three customers expressed the desire to continue to be served by us."
Zahn does not want to name any names yet. However, he has already rented additional offices, and the colleagues from Zollikon will be employed by - or whatever the agency will be called. (ew)

The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) awards the best Swiss posters of 1999 and wants to rethink the competitionThe Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) awards the best Swiss posters of 1999 and wants to rethink the competition By Luca Aloisi
Even in the Internet age, the poster has lost none of its appeal, with a share of around ten percent of the advertising media market. But in contrast, interest in the DHA's design competition is declining noticeably. The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and sponsor APG are already considering a redesign of the competition conditions.
Whereas the four-member jury repeatedly identifies new approaches to solutions for cultural posters, especially in the B4 world format, and interest in participating in the competition is increasing, it is declining among designers of commercial posters.
In 1999, the share of commercials dropped from about half to about one-fifth. "The lack of interest in the competition is growing," regrets Othmar Casutt, director of the Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG) and member of the jury for the 59th Swiss Poster of the Year 1999 competition. Casutt sees the reason for this in the judging criteria, which measure the works exclusively in terms of how they have been designed and what graphic qualities they exhibit. The novelty and originality of an idea as well as the ability to convey a message are also taken into account. Other criteria, however, are excluded, such as the degree of attention a poster has achieved.
In addition, the guard rails for poster designers from the commercial sector have become much narrower, as they increasingly have to break down implementations that were mostly created for electronic media to the advertising medium poster. In such cases, the requirements are different than when the poster is used as the main medium of a campaign. This is why the EDI award is not as prestigious as an ADC award or an Effie prize, where these conditions are taken into account, says Casutt.
More awards despite loss of customers
The second bitter pill that the jury, chaired by president Pierre Keller, director of the Cantonal School of Art, Lausanne, had to swallow was the decline in the number of works. In February, 711 posters (1999: 758) were judged in the halls of BEAexpo, but this was still a better yield than the 646 submissions from 1998. The shrinkage was noticeable in the world format, which exists only in Switzerland. In this category, which is very popular with poster designers, 309 entries were submitted, almost 50 fewer than in 1998.
However, the stagnating response corresponds neither to the economic nor to the cultural significance of the Swiss poster. This contradiction was reflected in the number of award-winning posters. Despite the decline in the number of participants, 27 posters received awards in 1999, three more than in the previous year.
Those responsible for the competition - the organizer and sponsor APG and the patron Federal Office of Culture - want to counteract the stagnating interest with a package of measures. "In principle, the competition as it is now in terms of form and content will be reconsidered because it no longer meets the requirements of the times," explains Casutt. The annual event, which was born in 1941 and then tours Switzerland (info phone: 031 991 37 37), is to be given new impetus.
Today, posters from the cultural sector are most likely to tie in with the visualization art of the great poster artists such as Herbert Leupin, Celestino Piatti, or Donald Brun. In 1999, Niklaus Troxler and Ralph Schraivogel were among the contemporary graphic artists who, with their amazing realizations, are voted into the group of the best posters almost every year.
Hopefuls of high poster culture can be found in the colleges of design, where students mostly develop posters for their own exhibitions and for non-school clients. The Lucerne School of Art and Design won two awards this year.
A new development in the cultural sector was the creation of entire poster series on a single theme. Gerhard Blättler's four-part poster for the reopening of the Kunstmuseum Bern, for example, won the interest of the museum aisles and the favor of the jury. The poster for the Lucerne Theater, which originated from the Lucerne agency Velvet, is also based on the series idea.

How did people imagine the future in 1850? What did people hope for from «telephone communication» around 1900? What fears and dreams did the mass media—radio and TV—inspire in the 1950s? How is telematics, with its high-speed computers and global networks, changing our lives today? Answers to these questions will be provided from May 5 through July 30 by the exhibition «Dream Worlds of Communication» at the Kornhaus in Bern. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a series of events, will be further enriched by a presentation given by the well-known trend and futurist Matthias Horx at the opening on May 4. The exhibition is a co-production of the Museum of Communication in Bern and the Forum for Media and Design in Bern.Orbit/Comdex Launches PR Campaign. The Basel computer trade show Orbit/Comdex has commissioned three European PR agencies to handle its public relations and media work. In Germany, the trade show selected Fink und Fuchs in Wiesbaden; in France, Harvard in Paris; and in Italy, Fleischmann Hillert in Milan. All three are IT specialists, Bernd Schuster, head of communications at Messe Basel, told WerbeWoche. In Switzerland and Austria, Messe Basel itself is handling the PR work.
Consistency Amid the Confusion of Numbers. The three Zurich commuter newspapers—ZürichExpress, Metropol, and 20 Minuten—have finally agreed, at the initiative of Metropol Managing Director Urs Zeier, to collect readership data in a uniform and collaborative manner. Since Metropol and 20 Minuten are not yet included in the Mach 2000 survey, the three publishers now plan to pre-evaluate the first three months of the Mach 2001 survey and have the results published in the fall as part of the Mach 2000 report. They have recently submitted a corresponding request to WEMF. Until then, however, the three newspapers will continue to juggle their own data sets.
Communicating around the corner. Elvia Insurance is using the renovation of its headquarters on Bleicherweg in Zurich to send a clear message to passersby that it acts promptly when handling claims. A building facade poster measuring nearly 100 square meters, hung across the corner of the scaffolding, also references the renovation in its design. This one-of-a-kind poster was created by the Zurich-based agency Rüegg Werbung, which has handled the insurance company’s advertising since 1998.
Boy George is set to perform on 105. According to the station itself, the youth radio station 105 claims to have pulled off a major coup: Starting April 29, Boy George—the androgynous pop star of the early «80s (Culture Club) who was wildly adored by teens—will host a two-hour show every Saturday night featuring house, garage, and trance music from England. Boy George will also host the show »105 Clubversive” and report on the British music scene.
A shot at the balloon. Even before RTL/Pro 7«s Swiss window closed, *WerbeWoche* had heard that Hasli TV’s suspended license was set to be reactivated. »We’re currently dealing with the necessary paperwork,« René Isler, founding member and managing director of Hasli TV, confirmed back in late March, but asked that the publication of this news be delayed »in the interest of the cause.« That didn’t stop the SonntagsZeitung from reporting in its »Politohr« column over Easter that Hasli TV was in talks with Beat Curti. According to a second rumor in the *Weltwoche*, the grocer—who, through his company Medien Z AG, is also the most important partner of RTL/Pro 7 Switzerland—is said to have made an offer »behind closed doors« as early as the closure of the Swiss programming slot to continue financing the RTL/Pro 7 programming slot out of his own pocket. »That’s a typical trial balloon from the SonntagsZeitung. They let it float and then wait until someone shoots it down to get any possible denials,« comments René Isler on this latest rumor about his »marriage” to Curti.
Michel Comte launches a campaign for the ICRC in Zurich. «People And Places With No Name» is the title of a 300-page-plus photo book published by 46-year-old Swiss photographer Michel Comte as part of the ICRC’s large-scale fundraising campaign of the same name. The poignant work, which features photographs of people wounded in war and those in need, was recently unveiled at a book launch at the Galerie zur Stockeregg in Zurich, attended by Comte. The proceeds from sales—five francs per book—will be used to support ICRC activities in Afghanistan, Colombia, and South Sudan. In addition, an auction of photographs by the star photographer of the «People And Places With No Name» campaign, held at Zurich’s prestigious Kronenhalle restaurant to kick off the campaign, raised a total of half a million francs.
BOL is leaving Switzerland. Bertelsmann Online (BOL) plans to relocate its headquarters from Baar, ZG, to Munich this summer following the online bookstore’s initial public offering on Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt. Munich, as the hub of the publishing and music industries, offers a decisive locational advantage, said Heinz B. Wermelinger, CEO of BOL and designated chairman of the board of the new stock corporation bol.com AG. BOL Switzerland, meanwhile, will remain in the Zug suburb.
Werbal Wins Web Award. On Maundy Thursday, the Bern-based advertising and internet agency Werbal won the Webpage Award in the Art category for the Paul Klee Center’s website. According to Wired, the Webpage Awards are among the five most important internet awards in the world. Out of more than 600 entries from 21 countries, 137 projects were nominated for the top prizes.
Editorial

Tough Times for Neil Postman & Co.
Amid a constant flood of information, we must constantly decide: What is important? What can I delete? What do I need to keep? The world of electronic data unsettles us with its perfection and speed. Books, on the other hand, offer comforting clarity and tranquility. The more complex the world becomes, the more important books are to us, with their clear structure—beginning and end—their structured plot, and their protagonists and authors. At the end of the Gutenberg Galaxy, and even as the context changes, books have reliably provided guidance through the information jungle for over 500 years.
American Airlines (AA) has also recognized this: To celebrate National Poetry Month, it distributed poetry books to its passengers on international flights. Although poetry isn’t exactly the easiest literary genre, those books are flying off the shelves. The books are published by the American Poetry and Literacy Project in Washington, an organization founded by Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, who died in 1996. AA is not the first company to use poetry as a marketing strategy. Amtrak, VW, and Daimler Chrysler have led the way (see article on page 36).
Writing, as *Die Zeit* recently noted with its usual grumbling undertone, is once again considered young, cheerful, and sexy. A study commissioned by Bertelsmann and conducted by the Infas research institute in Germany concluded that reading is back in style: Since 1996, the number of avid readers has risen by three percentage points to 25 percent. At the same time, the proportion of young people and adults who dislike reading has fallen from 20 to 15 percent.
Tough times for Neil Postman & Co. Despite the information superhighway, the Internet, and reality TV: The world of media is not a one-way street; it remains multifaceted and does not follow a linear path, even if no one can say where the journey is headed. Samuel Helbling

Nine agencies share $185 million anti-smoking campaignBy Thérèse Balduzzi Last fall, U.S. agencies vied for the contract to run a nationwide anti-smoking campaign for the American Legacy Foundation, made possible by the $206 billion settlement of 46 state lawsuits against the tobacco industry. The result is called "Truth" and is the largest national anti-smoking campaign.
For its first year, the "Truth" campaign has a budget of $185 million. It was created by a consortium of diverse agencies in collaboration with teenagers and includes TV commercials, print ads, radio spots and the interactive website www.thetruth.com.
The basic idea is to advertise "Truth" like a branded product. One commercial, for example, shows three female teenagers trying out the latest miracle ointment against pimples in a bathroom. What begins as a harmless round of girlish fun ends tragically: after they have applied the cream to their faces, one of the three young women drops dead. Then an off-screen voiceover says, "Only cigarette smoking causes one out of three people to die from it." Another commercial tells a similar story with bungee jumping as the motif.
On the website, young people express opinions about the anti-smoking campaign, such as the question "Does advertising make people smoke or not?" "Totally. Advertising is effective, otherwise tobacco companies wouldn't invest millions of dollars in it," says 16-year-old Marin from Utah.
17-year-old Eric from California disagrees: "Most of the time, boys start smoking because everyone around them is smoking." On the website, young people are invited to submit music or video entries and lyrics that are about the truth.
Also part of the campaign is a "Truth Truck Tour" that will travel across the country and end at the World Tobacco Conference in Chicago in August.
A Multiethnic Campaign for the Melting Pot USA
The campaign aims to counter the tactics of cigarette advertising. Therefore, "Truth" is advertised as if it were a branded product. The concept is based on a campaign created by Miami agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky for the Florida Department of Public Health three years ago.
The agency is one of nine that make up the consortium. Other agencies include Bromley Communications of San Antonio for the Hispanic population, Burell Communications Group of Chicago for the African-American audience. To ensure the right tone is struck and the ads are placed in the right shows, numerous teens were involved in developing the campaign.

For Tele Ostschweiz, cooperations with other providers are still on the agenda, despite the expansion of its territory. Wolfgang Frei, Head of New Media at the NZZ, says this.Will a merger with Tele Top remain an issue for Tele Ostschweiz?Wolfgang Frei: A merger was never an issue, at most cooperation.
However, the St. Galler Tagblatt clearly spoke of program or company mergers on March 6.
Free: Company merger is wrong. Should we buy Tele Top?
That's what I wanted to ask you.
Frei: Cooperation talks are underway, but primarily for the advertising area. There has to be cooperation there, otherwise you're too small.
Are you thinking of an advertising pool?
Free: There are many possibilities: Window solutions, pool, joint marketing, joint broadcasts. This will now be discussed until around summer - not only between Tele Ostschweiz and Tele Top, but also with other providers in eastern Switzerland.
So you also talk to Schaffhauser TV and Tele Südostschweiz?
Frei: Above all with the people of Schaffhausen. Because there is also a media company behind it, which is not unimportant in the TV sector.
The Uvek considers two transmitters in the St. Gallen area to be economically feasible. You apparently do not.
Frei: Tele Top's core area remains Winterthur. Our core area of St. Gallen will therefore probably remain more of a peripheral area for them. Therefore, our survival or that of Tele Top does not really depend on their presence in St. Gallen. With St. Gallen, Tele Top can increase its potential, but that says nothing about the effective audience figures.
According to the Uvek, the territory expansion for Tele Top is intended to break up the monopoly situation in St. Gallen. Cooperations are therefore not desired.
Frei: A cooperation in the advertising sector is certainly something different than one in the news sector. Moreover, Tele Ostschweiz is seriously made and very open to other opinions. Nevertheless, if you want competition, you want pluralism of content. But this is - similar to newspapers - probably a naive notion: multiplicity does not necessarily bring diversity. Multiple weak that are similar or the same don't exactly promote pluralism. Interview: Markus Knöpfli

Two Swiss at the Young Creatives Contest in CannesBy Carole Koch Every year, the crème de la crème of the international advertising industry meet in Cannes. But with the Young Creatives Contest, the festival also offers a creative platform to talented no-names from all over the world.
Young, creative and English-speaking they have to be, the up-and-coming advertisers representing Switzerland at the Young Creatives Contest in Cannes, France. But that's not all: to separate the wheat from the chaff, the ADC/BSW creative school and WerbeWoche held a joint competition. The task was for teams of two, each consisting of a junior copywriter and an AD, to design and create an apt advertisement for the creative school.
Not a summer camp, but hard work
"Of the 14 entries received, we have now selected the five best," says Walter Merz, Managing Director of BSW. So in June, ten young Swiss talents will be able to pack their bags for the French Riviera and get a whiff of the big, wide world of advertising at the festival. "Our group will get to know the festival atmosphere there, see great work and make contacts," Merz adds.
Only every other year are the participants of the program sought through a creative competition. Otherwise, the entire class of the creative school can fly to the Côte d'Azur for three days free of charge. The whole thing is paid for by the sponsors Cinecom & Media AG, Publimedia, SAir Group, WerbeWoche and the creative school.
It's not a vacation camp but hard work that awaits the best Swiss duo in Cannes - namely AD Grischa B. Rubinick, JWT + Hostettler + Fabrikant, and copywriter Marc Rinderknecht from the Zurich agency Netvertising. While their fellow contestants at the festival will be able to enjoy the visual appeal of the submitted advertising films, ads and posters, they will be competing against international rivals at the Young Creatives Contest. This is no easy task, as around 30 delegations are now taking part in the competition. So far, no Swiss team has made it onto the podium - the first prize was taken home by Portugal in the last two years.
The ten newcomers had to fight hard for their ticket to Cannes, as the works were put through their paces by a six-member ADC jury. Their criteria: "An apt idea that is visualized as appropriately as possible," is how Hans Tanner, member of the ADC board, defines the requirement.
Although there was some discussion when it came to choosing a winner from the entries, the best ad was ultimately unanimous. "A beautiful idea that was implemented in a very classic way," commented the juror Barbara Strahm, AD at Wirz Werbeberatung, on the winning subject by Rubinick and Rinderknecht.
The jury also liked the ad that features advertising celebrities fishing for talent. "Here, however, we lacked the specifying headline," complains André Benker, the creative director, who is self-employed.
Equal good to equal bad ideas
On the whole, the works of the young advertisers did not cause any huge storms of enthusiasm among the jury: "The ideas are always about as bad to as good," says Benker. For Barbara Strahm, too, there was "nothing really outstanding among the submitted works. Nevertheless, all three jury members interviewed are confident about the winning team and their participation in the Young Creatives Contest in Cannes. However, none of them wants to get involved in more precise predictions.
The Young Creatives program will feature:

Grischa B. Rubinick (JWT + Hostettler + Fabrikant, Zurich)
Marc Rinderknecht (Netvertising, Zurich)
Denise Moll (Lesch + Frei, Zurich) Lukas Schmid (Lowe|GGK, Zurich)
Sebastian Hugelshofer (Bosch & Butz, Zollikon) Stefan Vetsch (Bosch & Butz, Zollikon)
Philippe Schwaar (FCB Leutenegger Krüll, Zurich) Antonio Lopez (FCB Leutenegger Krüll, Zurich)
Jürg Ernst (Lowe|GGK, Zurich) Marc Koller (Lowe|GGK, Zurich)

Publisuisse has appointed Richard Blatter as its new Head of Marketing Services as of March 1. In his role, the 31-year-old is responsible for the entire area of audience research as well as for the development of studies in the field of media research. The former Head of Marketing at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, Hermann Hasen, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Climax advertising agency with effect from April 10.
Two Basel exiles are joining the management team at Ckdt: Jürg Siegrist will take over as Managing Director for Marketing, Corporate and Logistics on June 1. Guillermo Garcia will take up his post as CD on July 1. The two will manage the agency together with Ellen Heitlinger.
Axel Rienitz has joined Com.factory as the fifth partner. The trained biochemist and journalist was previously Head of Communications at Novartis Crop Protection. Rienitz will primarily be responsible for consultancy mandates and the management of development projects.
Sticher Printing is strengthening its presence in Zurich: Patrick Bovay, an experienced print consultant, will be looking after customers in the Zurich area from May 1.
Publicom is growing and hires two new employees: Christian Möller joins the research team. Thomas Forsberg will take on tasks in the Corporate Publishing and Research divisions.
Klaus J. Stöhlker AG, management consultancy for public relations, has recruited Jörg Naumann as Senior Consultant.

According to a report in Blick, Presse-TV (PTV) is planning a 30-minute gay and lesbian magazine show called "Felix" on Saturday evenings on SF 2.Fax Presse-TV is making gay show host is Andrin Schweizer. On May 27, "Felix" will be on the program for the first time. If the pilot program meets with sufficient viewer interest, a regular monthly edition is planned starting in the fall. "Felix" reports on topics such as lifestyle, outfits, travel, sports and leisure. The venue will be the Zurich bar Cranberry. The show is produced by Basilea-Film, a subsidiary of PTV member Basler Zeitung.
Computerworld and PCTip at the top Wemf, on behalf of IDG Communications, investigated the reach of various IT publications in Swiss companies. The two IDG titles Computerworld and PCTip are among the most frequently used printed information sources among IT managers. Across all company sizes, Computerworld took first place, PCTip second. Among large companies, Computerworld is also the clear winner, ahead of C'T Computertechnik, Chip and PC Guide. PCTip is ranked fifth in large companies. In order to keep up to date in the IT sector, however, talking to other experts in general continues to be of particular importance. Overall, the IT trade press is only the sixth most important source of information.

How infectious joy at work led to a cultural sponsorshipActually, Reinhard Palm only wanted to have some postcards printed for his theater kiosk. But in the end, he held a luxuriously designed book in his hand: an opulent documentation of his favorite project, "Blutspuren 1 to 5".The theater man, interim director at the Zurich Schauspielhaus this season, was in possession of an entire box of photos of the production, in which director Rüdiger Burbach has combined eight of Shakespeare's historical dramas into five new plays in Reader's Digest style. It was a grateful subject for photographer Rainer Steinhart, who documented the production with his camera.
"That would make a nice book," said Rolf Weiersmüller of the Zurich graphic design studio Weiersmüller Bosshard Grüninger WBG AG. "We have to make something beautiful out of it," agreed his graphic designer Maria Jehle. And because they designed the book free of charge and out of sheer pleasure in the work, lithographer Jürg Trösch from Zurich-based Typolitho AG also wanted to make his contribution to "Blutspuren". The contagious sponsorship virus eventually spread to Otto Kern of Swiss Re. The reinsurers contributed the money for the printing.
With so much desire for a beautiful book, of course only the best could be good enough. "No fingerprints, as you usually leave on these black photo prints," the lithographer said. The pages were laminated for this reason.
The Shakespeare adaptation left a lasting impression in the 13-hour marathon. GGK co-founder Paul Gredinger was also enthusiastic about the performance. He said, "I prefer to watch very long things. An overview like that lets you discover the real art, and you even forget to nag over time."
The book "Blutspuren" from the Schauspielhaus publishing house is available at the Foyer bookstore in the theater. Andreas Panzeri

Federal Councilor Moritz Leuenberger wants more TV competition in eastern SwitzerlandBy Markus Knöpfli An end to the journalistic uniformity in St. Gallen: Tele Top may now break the Tagblatt monopoly in print, radio and TV. Tele Ostschweiz and Tele Südostschweiz may also expand, but they will remain smaller than Tele Top.
Last week's media release from the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (Uvek) on the subject of the eastern Swiss TV scene must have struck a discordant note in NZZ ears: The department expected "with the approval of Tele Top, an increased media diversity in the St. Gallen area, which today is economically dominated by one company." The Tagblatt Group, which in addition to the St. Galler Tagblatt also includes Radio Aktuell and Tele Ostschweiz, is majority-owned by the NZZ.
The fact is that the Uvek has granted Tele Top permission to broadcast its program in the districts of St. Gallen and Rorschach as well as in the half-cantons of Appenzell in the future, Tele Ostschweiz is allowed to expand its broadcast area in the Wil area and in the upper Rhine Valley as far as Sargans, and Tele Südostschweiz is given permission to broadcast its program in the lower Rhine Valley.
The Uvek rejected the extension of Tele Südostschweiz to St. Gallen because "the St. Gallen market is too small for three broadcasters. According to the ruling, the Uvek believes Tele Top is more likely to create a competitive situation in St. Gallen.
Combative tones from the Eulach city
The Uvek decision is also explosive in another context: On March 6, the St. Galler Tagblatt announced in a good half-page article that a merger of Tele Top and Tele Ostschweiz was only "a question of timing" for economic reasons.
Although talks have taken place between Tele Top and Tele Ostschweiz, Tele Top's interest is likely to have waned. In any case, harsh tones can be heard from the Top communiqué. "Due to the more than 15 years of experience of Radio Top and Tele Top with monopoly situations in other agglomerations", St. Gallen could "expect an enrichment of the journalistic content". Those who have been fighting for 15 years will not be so quick to throw themselves into the arms of the old aunt.
Jürg Bachmann, Managing Director of Tele Ostschweiz, assumes that talks with Tele Top will continue. René Wehrlin from the Federal Office of Communications also thinks so. Media diversity would not be achieved with a merger in eastern Switzerland, he emphasizes. But, "I personally think a merger is likely for economic reasons."
The new TV situation in eastern Switzerland

Tele Top TeleEast Switzerland TeleSouth East Switzerland Schaffhausen TV
Technical range 500000 220000 250000 36000
Telecontrol since February 2000 since March 2000 under negotiation no
Annual budget 2.5 million Fr. 4.5 million Fr. 1.5 million Fr. 1 million Fr.
current advertising rate Fr. 40.-/sec.* Fr. 30.-/sec.** Fr. 25.-/sec.* Fr. 17.-/sec.
10 broadcasts 10 broadcasts 1 broadcast (Mon-Fri) 9 broadcasts
*Tariff remains despite larger broadcast area **Tariff may be adjusted upward

Blick wants to be with readers before Metropol and 20 Minuten - Headline panel on commuter newspapersThe new Zurich commuter newspapers expect to break even in one to two years, while Blick is considering early delivery in Zurich as a defensive measure. These are the most important findings from a panel discussion in Olten.The panel, organized by the communications club Headline, featured five publishing directors: Rolf Bollmann, 20 Minuten, Urs Zeier, Metropol, Bruno Blaser, Blick, Ueli Eckstein, Aargauer Zeitung, and Joachim Tillessen of Neue Mittelland Zeitung.
The most important news: Bollmann announced that, according to the business plan, 20 Minuten should break even by the end of 2001 and repay its investments in four years. Zeier is more cautious; he expects Metropol to break even by the end of 2002.
Blick is thinking of counter-strategies: early delivery in the greater Zurich area is being considered. This would bring Blick to readers before they have a commuter paper in their hands. Blaser also said that there had not yet been any decline in retail sales. He recalled the situation in Hungary, where Ringier is present with a tabloid and Metro with a commuter newspaper. "We haven't had a drop in newsstand sales there in the last 18 months."
Eckstein and Tillessen were also relaxed. The two commuter papers are well made, but there are currently no effects in Aargau or Espace Mittelland, they said.
However, Zeier revealed that things are not always so relaxed behind the scenes: TA-Media had threatened to withdraw the contract from three of its suppliers if they also supplied Metropol. In addition, he waved the fence post: Metro Amsterdam had changed its concept after four months and had switched to
a national strategy. In Switzerland, however, there is no such intention. In another context, however, it became known that Metropol could be considering the Geneva-Lausanne area for another project... Markus Knöpfli