From January 4, 2015, you will once again find news from the communications and media industry on Werbewoche.ch. The next printed edition of Werbewoche will be published on January 16, 2015. We would like to thank you for your loyalty and wish you a relaxing holiday season and a happy new year!

Picture: Keystone/Max Galli

Müller is Editor-in-Chief of the NZZ am Sonntag and will retire in 2016. His appointment as NZZ Editorial Director would, on the one hand, relieve the interim heads Luzi Bernet, Colette Gradwohl and René Zeller, and on the other hand, it would buy the Board of Directors time in the search for a successor to Markus Spillmann. René Zeller, along with Francesco Benini and Pascal Hollenstein, is being considered as a possible successor to Müller at NZZ am Sonntag - the change in leadership, which is due to take place soon anyway, would be brought forward with the interim solution.

The Sonntagszeitung knows from "well-informed sources" that "political battles of direction" are said to have taken place within the strategic management. As recently as Thursday, the NZZ board of directors emphasized that there had been no change of position at any time when BaZ editor-in-chief and Blocher sympathizer Markus Somm was asked to succeed Spillmann (Werbewoche.ch reported).(hae/Soz)

Image: Nzz.ch

The NDB's complaint was rejected, the press council announced on Saturday. The undercover research was permissible in this case because the experiment - as the journalists themselves called it - would not have been feasible without it. The public interest was also given. The journalists had followed NDB chief Markus Seiler in a car on his way to work, among other things. The goal of the research had been to "know what you can find out about a person without letting him know that you want to find out something about him," as the Woz wrote at the time.

Covert search permissible

NDB communications chief Felix Endrich then filed a complaint with the Swiss Press Council. The FIS criticized, among other things, that the journalists had not posed as such and had thus concealed their profession. However, the Press Council considers the undercover research in this case to be permissible. There is undoubtedly a public interest in finding out how easily people - and thus also the head of the FIS - can be observed, according to the decision of the Press Council. Because the journalists were only able to obtain this information by means of undercover research, there is no infringement of the "Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists" according to the Press Council.

Seiler website "no assembly

The NDB had also complained about the website that Woz had put online in Seiler's name. It contained texts, photos and videos about Seiler. The NDB criticized that the website could be described as a montage, but was not marked as such. The Press Council also rejected this part of the complaint: the website was not a montage, it simply illustrated the journalists' experiment. With the linking of the website to the "WOZ" article, it was clear from the outset that the question was how much could be found out about the head of the secret service. (SDA)

Leo Burnett: Woz monitors intelligence

According to the press release, the company now has 22 employees and the "Censhare" editorial and media database system, making it a cutting-edge provider of publishing services. Prior to this, he managed production at Metzgerlehner Worldwide Partners for three years and spent five years at Jung von Matt/Limmat, most recently as head of design.

Giovanni Bucca, who originally trained as a structural draughtsman, has also been a federally certified EFA printing specialist since 2011. As a new Wirz partner, he is delighted: "I see the opportunity to now also be a shareholder in Wirz as a personal appreciation of my work and person and therefore also as a very special, additional motivation."

Since Wirz was founded 39 years ago, it has been part of the corporate culture that senior employees can participate in the Group and its success as co-shareholders.

Thomas Städeli, CEO Wirz Werbung, is delighted about the additional Wirz partner from the ranks of his agency: "Giovanni Bucca has been doing outstanding work for Wirz for three years. The fact that we have now been able to gain our successful production manager as a shareholder confirms the attractiveness of our partner model, which is probably unique in the Swiss agency landscape. Every new member of management who becomes a partner also strengthens the entrepreneurial basis of the Wirz Group and thus the identification and motivation of the management level."
 

Advent is also the time when you can find small and large choirs all over the city. Everyone sings Christmas carols. Even the choir of the Swiss Federation of the Deaf, simply in its own way. And it's not just the people on the street who have been able to see exactly how, but can now also be seen online as a movie. On December 17, even familiar faces such as Ursus and Nadeschkin joined the choir and took part - in sign language, of course.

Responsible at SGB/FSS: Roland Wagner (Head of Communications), Tom Hofer (Head of Fundraising), Brigitte Daiss-Klang (Choir Director). Responsible at Leo Burnett Switzerland: Roland Buob, Pablo Schencke, Johannes Raggio, Peter Brönnimann (creation), Michael Gassler (consulting), Plan B Film (production), Chris Niemeyer (director).

From summer 2015, two new teams in German-speaking Switzerland and French-speaking Switzerland will provide all Tamedia news platforms with short, digital news under the name Newsexpress (Werbewoche.ch reported). Rupen Boyadjian has been working in the media industry for over six years. After studying social psychology and political science, he worked as a news editor at 20 Minuten between 2008 and 2011. From 2011 to 2013, he was employed as a news editor at Newsnet/Tages-Anzeiger, where he was deputy head of the newsdesk from summer 2013.

The 61-year-old Germanist and historian Urs Leutert began his journalistic career in 1978 at the former Radio DRS as an editor and presenter for information, tourism, cars and sport; in 1986 he took over as head of the sport department. In 1991, he moved to Swiss television: Urs Leutert became head of the sports department and a member of the management board. In 1997, SRG SSR also put him in charge of the Sports Business Unit, which he had initiated and built up - and with it the responsibility for implementing a uniform strategy in all SRG sports programs.

In the course of the merger of radio and television to form SRF, Urs Leutert succeeded in establishing a modern, trimedial sports department within a short space of time. His commitment over more than 35 years has been instrumental in shaping the current standing and status of sport within SRG's programs, as well as the high reputation of SRG sport in Switzerland and abroad, according to a press release. This high esteem is currently also demonstrated by the gold award of the International Olympic Committee for the best sports production of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and the Radio and Television Award of Eastern Switzerland 2014. Urs Leutert stands for diverse sports reporting based on the three pillars of "Swiss athletes", "sporting events in Switzerland" and "top international events". Urs Leutert has now decided to take early retirement at the end of 2015. By announcing his departure early, Leutert wants to give the company enough time to find a successor.

Ruedi Matter, Director of SRF: "Urs Leutert's retirement marks the end of an era: In his more than twenty years as head of department, he has given our sports program a profile that is second to none. Thanks to his tenacity and negotiating skills, SRG now has the largest rights portfolio in free TV. I would like to thank Urs warmly for his extraordinary commitment - and I am delighted that we now have a few more months of collaboration ahead of us."

Roger de Weck, Director General of SRG: "SRG SSR has the best sports offering in Europe. This is thanks in particular to Urs Leutert. He combines quality and continuity, conceptual thinking and drive, passion and more passion."

The song, in which 23 Swiss artists - including illustrious stars such as Pepe Lienhard, Francine Jordi and Luca Hänni - sing, bake, decorate and package Gschänkli together, thus breaks several records at once: "Since we added the downloads to the official Swiss hit parade (in 2007), there has never been a Swiss single that has sold more in the first week than the Migros Ensemble" says Andy Renggli, Managing Director of GfK Entertainment Switzerland, which is responsible for determining the official Swiss charts.

And that, too, was unprecedented: after just two weeks, "Ensemble" reached platinum status with over 30,000 downloads. By comparison, Pharell Williams' summer hit "Happy" took ten weeks. And speaking of happy: With the platinum record, Migros is also giving the celebrities a special treat, because not even Pepe Lienhard had previously achieved platinum status with his works: "I've already got a few gold, but this is my first in platinum," he says happily.

In addition to the success in the charts, it's also ringing in the donations account: More than 750,000 Swiss francs have already been donated, and with around 370,000 views on YouTube, the song has also gone viral. The Christmas song "Ensemble" - a joint production by Wirz and Hitmill - is available as a download on all major platforms. Donations can be made directly at Migros and on Migros.ch/christmas.

 

Joy at Zurich's Wolfbachstrasse: After years in the top 5, the Jung von Matt/Limmat agency secured first place in the Werbewoche creative ranking in 2014. The best list is published every year in the last print edition and ranks Swiss creative agencies based on their successes in the most important national and international competitions. In addition, the agencies are allowed to choose two out of eight competitions, which are included in the scoring. Jung von Matt is the only agency to have scored in all nine "compulsory" competitions - and was particularly successful at ADC Switzerland.

Alexander Jaggy, Executive Creative Director and co-owner at Jung von Matt/Limmat, is delighted with the successful end to the year - but he didn't expect the top position: "I have to admit, the amount of points in the final tally really surprised me." The 624 points were the result of heart and soul, a great working atmosphere and a healthy dose of fun, the reigning Advertiser of the Year told Werbewoche.ch. "I'm delighted for our team that we're at the top of the podium at the end of the year."

"You don't always have to be the best"

Leo Burnett Switzerland ranked second behind Jung von Matt/Limmat. After two years in a row, the agency from Aemtlerstrasse has been knocked off the top spot for the first time. ECD Johannes Raggio takes a sporting view of the blemish: "After two years at number 1, we are now in second place. There are basically only two things we can say: congratulations to Jung von Matt. And many thanks to the entire team at Leo Burnett Switzerland for an extremely great result. You don't always have to be the best - it's enough to be consistently very, very good." And that's the agency: since 2009, Leo Burnett has consistently ranked in the top three. That, Raggio says, is something to be proud of and will toast at Friday night's Christmas dinner. "Several times," he adds.

Third place goes to Publicis. After last year's steep climb, the agency successfully defends its place on the podium and establishes itself in the top trio. The Zurich agency achieved its 233 points thanks to strong performances in Cannes, at the Eurobest Festival of Creativity and at ADC Switzerland, among others. It is closely followed by Y&R Group, which is on the upswing again after two weaker years. CCO Markus Gut is pleased with the four places won. "Above all, because we participated in fewer awards and our prizes were won for large, relevant clients - Audi, Migros or Teleclub, for example," says Gut. The only downer for the Managing Director Creation: "It's a pity that more digital competitions don't count for the ranking." Gut alludes, for example, to the gold Y&R award at Best of Swiss Apps for UBS.
 

Rank	Agency	Points
1	Jung von Matt/Limmat	624
2	Leo Burnett Switzerland	542
3	Publicis advertising agency	233
4	Y&R Group	215
5	Wirz advertising	212
6	Havas Worldwide Zurich	127
7	Serviceplan Suisse	99
8	Call Lanz	86
9	JWT/Factory	67
10	FCB Zurich	54

Ruf Lanz and the Award Inflation

The ever-increasing "bizzare" amount of advertising awards, on the other hand, is a thorn in Markus Ruf's side. In his article in the current print edition of Werbewoche, the creative director and partner of Ruf Lanz is bothered by a "veritable award inflation." He argues that time should rather be invested in surprising solutions for clients, instead of "fussing with submission forms and case movies all day." As a result, Ruf Lanz took an award hiatus from almost all competitions in 2014. It's all the more remarkable that the agency still manages to make it into the top 10 of the rankings (8th place) with its few entries. The good news: Ruf reveals the five "lighthouses in the whole award flood" in his article. The even better news: All five are included in the ranking.

Thomas Häusermann

You can find the detailed ranking and the complete article by Markus Ruf in the current Werbewoche 23/2014, which arrived in your mailbox on Friday. If not: With a Subscription you will not miss anything in 2015. We are looking forward!

 

In Switzerland, more than 25,000 people have serious accidents every year. Those affected are often dependent on support and encouragement for many years afterwards. This year, Suva employees are once again foregoing a Christmas present and donating the amount earmarked for this purpose to the "Thérapole" foundation, which supports brain-injured people on their way back to life. The joint effort of Suva's employees can be seen on the pointed motif developed by Kreienbühl and Vogler. The motif is currently being used as a Suva Christmas card and in the electronic media.

Responsible at Suva: Daniela Bassi (Head of Communications & Marketing), Urs Schaad (Head of Marketing Communications), Mirjam Birrer, Sarah Gianesi (Communications Consulting). Responsible at Kreienbühl and Vogler advertising agency: Reto Vogler, Oli Kreienbühl, Marco Donada, Fabian Schiltknecht; Mathias Zuppiger (photography), Lorenz Wahl (image editing).
 

In it, they called for the closure of the printing center in Schlieren ZH to be abandoned. At the end of November, the NZZ Media Group announced that the printing plant in Schlieren ZH would be closed for economic reasons (Werbewoche.ch reported). A maximum of 125 of the 184 jobs will be affected. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung and NZZ am Sonntag will in future be printed at Tamedia's Zurich printing center. The NZZ media group's growth potential lies primarily in the digital market. Among the demonstrators were employees from the printing plant, the NZZ and NZZ am Sonntag editorial teams and representatives of trade unions. According to Brigitte Hürlimann, President of the Personnel Commission, the closure makes no sense either from a business or media policy perspective.

Charlotte Jacquemar from the NZZ staff committee and Urs Schweizer, Head of Printing and member of the Executive Board, handing over the petition to NZZ CEO Veit Dengler (Photo: Ennio Leanza/Keystone).

Abandonment of the print shop is a "strategic error"

The print shop has full order books and delivers outstanding quality. Strategically, Hürlimann went on to say that it would be a mistake to hand oneself over to the direct competition lock, stock and barrel, earning applause from those present. Hürlimann emphasized that the editors were by no means closing themselves off to the digital sector. But a print edition is always needed in parallel. After all, many people want to pick up a newspaper that has been produced in an "in-house print shop in outstanding quality".

CEO Veit Dengler said he would take the petition seriously and read it carefully. In the print sector, however, there is a simple milk carton calculation: "Printing costs are rising, income is falling. That can't go well." Dengler went on to say that he was responsible for the entire company. He hopes that a joint solution can be found together and not against each other.
find. The closure of the printing plant in Schlieren is subject to consultations with employee representatives. They have until mid-January 2015 to comment on the management's intended measures and develop proposals on how redundancies can be avoided. (SDA)