Angela Merkel can really only do everything wrong during her time in government. Overcoming the financial and euro crisis requires sacrifices and compromises on all sides. German citizens have to dig deep into their pockets. Anyone who has to make, implement and justify decisions in times like these must not shy away from making themselves unpopular. Angela Merkel has achieved the feat of making more friends than enemies as crisis chancellor, as the election results show. Whether you agree with her policies or not, it is worth studying her recipe for success in detail: Angela Merkel wins through trust and not through vision.

Angela Merkel is disrespectfully referred to as "Mutti" in the media. Viewed in a gender-neutral way, the writers expose themselves with this term. Which politician would they call "dad", let alone "mom"? Nevertheless, there is a kernel of truth in it. While Peer Steinbrück presents himself as a blustering patriarch, Angela Merkel focuses on concern for the future well-being of Europe and therefore Germany. She conveys a sense of security and the confidence that it is worth swallowing bitter pills on the road to recovery. The election of Angela Merkel is a message to the paternalists: power for the sake of power creates mistrust. What is needed are women and men who are trusted to put the well-being of the people at the center in a so-called maternal way and thus legitimize their leadership role.

In stormy times, you want crisis-proof personalities at the helm. Angela Merkel remains calm, repeats her messages clearly and simply and does not allow herself to be shaken by any headwind, no matter how strong. What some interpret as stubbornness, her voters see as resilience. The domestic political winds in Germany are rough, the currents from the Mediterranean countries ice-cold. The Chancellor reacts neither offended nor lachrymose. In a calm voice, she explains why she believes painful measures are necessary to overcome the crisis.

Progress in science requires an unsentimental departure from old certainties and theories. Physicist Angela Merkel brings this experience to her work as a politician. She has consistently pushed through a modernization of the CDU. On her way to the center, she is shaking up political creeds, seeking proximity to citizens and focusing on concrete solutions. What she was accused of in the election campaign as lacking profile is appreciated by her voters as pragmatism. She does not read Sunday sermons, as would be expected from a representative of a Christian politician. She names problems by name and offers solutions to overcome them, from her perspective without claiming objectivity.

On election night, there was already talk of a Queen Merkel. In recent years, she has indeed followed her royal path, but this reaction is evidence of great insecurity and paralysis. Neither superhuman grace nor a humble nation should be the result of Angela Merkel's choice of personality. On the contrary, her success obliges her to engage in open democratic debates in which critical questions are taken on board and interests are taken into account. Her role will be that of a mediator. It will not be possible to build up trust by playing down, obfuscating and devaluing. Angela Merkel will have to prove that her communication is not just rhetoric. The election in Germany shows the way forward for a modern political discourse: There can be excellent arguments about the perception of problems and the blueprints for solutions. You can no longer simply score points in Germany with ideological trench warfare. The debate is about the competition between credible recipes and trustworthy personalities. Voters will be watching with interest to see how politicians from all parties intend to win their trust over the next four years. Then, in the next election campaign, they too can simply state: "You know me."
 

Nine medals were once again awarded at this year's rating event on September 19. In the overall ranking, Swisscom took gold ahead of Kuoni (silver) and Geberit (bronze). The Design category was won by Geberit ahead of Kuoni and Valora. In the Value Reporting category, the same places were awarded as last year: Swisscom Gold, Straumann Silver and Credit Suisse Bronze.
 
The same names have appeared in the top twenty to thirty annual reports for years. It seems that the quality of their reporting is not particularly contagious, as the rest of the 234 annual reports assessed are rated mediocre at best by the juries. Prof. Alexander Wagner from the Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich, for example, believes that only 59 of the annual reports assessed have sufficient information content. And Peter Vetter, President of the design jury, takes the same line. "The design quality of printed reports has steadily declined over the years. And anyone hoping that this would be compensated for by the quality of the online version will be sorely disappointed."

Exemplary integrated print-online approaches

Good online solutions for business reporting are rare, and harmonious interaction between the two channels of print and online is even rarer. Some of the examples of the top reports stand out from the runners-up. The laudator of the second-placed Kuoni report, Michel Gerber, President of the IR Club, spoke of "an excellent balance between playful animation and user-friendly information transfer in the online version and overall creativity in a relaxed manner that does not overwhelm the reader". It is to be hoped that the Swiss Annual Report Rating will help to ensure that the seeds of creativity and transparency continue to spread. The examples of this are on the table. The top 12 companies in this year's rating share a sure instinct for professional communication.

Andreas Jäggi

Photos of the award ceremony (PDF)
 

The winners at a glance
 
Design (print and online)
1st place: Geberit
2nd place: Kuoni
3rd place: Valora
 
Value reporting
1st place: Swisscom
2nd place: Straumann
3rd place: Credit Suisse
 
Overall ranking of annual reports
1st place: Swisscom
2nd place: Kuoni
3rd place: Geberit

Swiss start-up Rayneer, which won the Venture 2012 business plan competition organized by ETH and McKinsey, is bringing music TV back to screens - and making it interactive. Users log in via Facebook, Rayneer recognizes musical tastes via the profile and automatically creates a personalized music TV station free of charge.

"For users, our platform is absolutely free; for this, we have contracted Goldbach Audience for monetization," explains Oliver Flueckiger, CEO and Co-Founder of Rayneer. Advertisers can target their audience accurately via in-stream video ads in the app or on the online platform. Rayneer.tv achieve, according to a company statement on Thursday.
 

In the science magazine "nano", Karin Lanz gets to the bottom of everyday and scientific myths. To do this, the 36-year-old from Basel arms herself with all the studies she can find and sets off to the laboratories - to the scientists - and asks questions. Her journey of knowledge also takes her to Switzerland: the soon-to-be mother of two elicits everything she needs to know about "learning during sleep" from the scientists at ETH. And at the Collegium Helveticum, she uses a pain experiment to explore the question of whether women are the better sex. Lanz's dog, Jack Russell Terrier Janosch, also plays the leading role in the first episode on the subject of "Are dogs really as clever as their masters like to think?

Second son "on the way"

The heavily pregnant Lanz, who is in a relationship with restaurateur and entrepreneur Cédric Schweri, is also doing well in her private life. They are expecting their second son in November. She is happy that the "Wie jetzt?" programs have been shot for this year. This will allow her to focus on her pregnancy and her family. "We're all really looking forward to our second son. In contrast to my science-based work as a 'How Now?' presenter, I rely entirely on nature and my instincts during pregnancy and childbirth." Of course, the season was filmed in spring and summer, when Lanz was already pregnant but not yet heavily pregnant.
 

Where does this unnecessary, inefficient and annoying false advertising come from? Not only is the expensive advertising money spent in vain, but it often makes the advertised product unappealing and annoying. I have tried to develop theories that could explain this phenomenon. How is it possible that many experts produce a poor or incomprehensible result from a task they are given?

Theory A: A client organizes a pitch with six agencies. The management wants the company's image to be modernized, younger and more appealing. The 40-page brief from the marketing department contains many different things. Among other things, it also states that an unprecedented, creative, bold solution is expected.

The six agencies each present three solutions: one rather conventional, one that was developed by creative team B, but which is not necessarily convincing. For the sake of agency peace, this creation is also presented as solution no. 2. The third solution is a highly creative, avant-garde, quirky campaign. Everyone involved presents three solutions because they don't know what the client really wants. This is where the problem begins. After the pitch, the client's marketing department discusses and evaluates the 18 proposals.

Problem 2: In the end, 3 solutions out of 18 are presented to the management. Among them is the solution from creative team B. The CEO judges two solutions to be far too modern. Team B is the winner, only the headlines need to be changed and the logo needs to be much larger. The result is bad advertising.

Theory B: The car dealer is plagued by sales problems and is nervous. The agency, where he is the biggest customer, has to come up with an advertising campaign to boost sales. The brief includes every conceivable advantage that needs to be communicated to consumers. From the Eurobonus to the leasing option to the coffee during a visit, everything should be presented concisely. On a third of a page for cost reasons. We know this kind of bad advertising only too well. The agency is not thrilled either. But it is their biggest customer, and the latter is satisfied.

Theory C: Many small SMEs only have a small advertising budget at their disposal. Instead of delegating the task to an advertising agency or an experienced creative team, let the young sales representative take over. After all, he knows his way around Photoshop. That way you save money and can place two additional ads. This advertising is not noticed. So you save money for nothing. More theories follow in the next issue. As an FCB fan, I don't have to tell you my pick of the week.

Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, inspirer and, for over a year and a half, also a mocker for Werbewoche readers. Please send any relevant information to [email protected]
 

For around two years, ViznerBorel has been communicating for Switzerland's third-largest retailer with the message: "Denner - One for all". The new, large-scale advertising campaign for Denner's wine range and online wine store thus logically promises that Denner is "one for all wine lovers," as Lajos Vizner and Guillaume Borel explain. This promise is supported by the new, comprehensive communication campaign. In this campaign, Denner does not use wine experts to explain to consumers why this wine is better than that one. Instead, Denner lets its customers have their say. These "wine experts" are prominently featured in all advertising materials of the campaign. Enjoying wine is first and foremost a matter of taste. Based on this idea of customer evaluation, an overall campaign has been created that can be seen throughout Switzerland on TV, in the cinema, online, and in the print media.

Customer rating as a marketing tool

The core of the campaign designed by ViznerBorel is the new rating system introduced on the online store www.denner-wineshop. ch rating system. This allows Denner customers to rate and comment on all wines in the familiar 5-star system. Online rating of Denner wines has been possible since April of this year, and already a total of more than 20,000 ratings and comments have been made. This rating system, or rather the Denner "wine experts" and their personal and honest comments, are in turn at the center of the communication campaign.

Customer ratings on the portal www.dennerwineshop. ch as a marketing tool plays an unmissable role not only online but also in all kinds of classic media. In addition to the "Grosser Weinliebhaber" (the Denner wine magazine with a wealth of background information), the "Kleine Weinliebhaber" (the detailed brochure providing information on the extensive range) is now also published with the integrated wine ratings of Denner customers. In addition, various advertisements are placed in which, on the one hand, the winemakers have their say and, on the other, a large number of Denner customers give their comments on the wine of their choice. And great emotions for Denner wines are also aroused on the screen.

Great cinema for wine rating

In a TV and cinema spot by Stories and directed by Michael Fueter, the Denner customer rating is dramatized in an emotional way: What a single customer rating on www.denner-wineshop.ch can trigger in a picturesque wine region like Tuscany is depicted here in images reminiscent of great Italian cinema films. Accordingly, the commercial also works with subtitles. The spot as well as all other advertising material can be seen throughout Switzerland since mid-September. blab
 

The visitors are no longer just celebrities, models or designers, rather the number of fashion bloggers who share the well-known "first row" at fashion shows with influential fashion journalists has increased. Online, too, fashion blogs are currently running at full speed, blogging, posting, sharing and linking for all they're worth. But this blogger invasion doesn't just apply during Fashion Week, because today fashion blogs rule the world of fashion on the Internet. Anyone and everyone can join in and start a blog, all they need is Internet access - and off they go. There are countless blogs and new ones are added every day. But let's be honest: what are fashion blogs really good for?

They write about all sorts of things, from lifestyle and design to beauty and fashion trends. The bloggers, who are mostly young women, publish the latest trends in short articles, announcing what they are currently wearing or where they are at the moment. The intended side effect? Companies and organizations become aware of fashion bloggers and send them promotional gifts in the hope of an entry in the blog.

Chiara Ferragni is a real fashion blogger star. The Italian runs a successful blog under the name "The Blonde Salad" (www. theblondesalad.com). She has over 1.3 million followers on Instagram (@chiaraferragni) and a whopping 370,000 fans from all over the world on Facebook. Of course, there are also some very successful international blogs in the Swiss fashion scene. For example, Sandra Bauknecht's blog (www.sandrascloset.com) caught my eye. The Zurich native has been investing a lot of time and effort in her internationally renowned blog for several years now. She is of course also represented on Facebook and Instagram (@sandrascloset).

In addition to these now quite professional players, there is an abundance of self-portraying amateurs. Small stages for self-presentation in countless possible and impossible poses. A tragedy of the vanities. Many turn out to be rather useless. Everyone can have their say, add their two cents, and suddenly everyone becomes a fashion expert. All too often, the writers get lost in too many topics and the website becomes confusing. Sometimes an article about cosmetics here, sometimes one about a store opening there. The main thing is to take part. The bottom line is simple. Even in the Web 2.0 era, quality content unfortunately remains thin on the ground. Or in other words: "You,re not deep. You,re not intellectual. You,re not an artist. You,re not a critic. You,re not a poet. You just have internet access."

Manuel P. Nappo, Director of Studies CAS Social Media
Management HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich.
www.fh-hwz.ch/smm
 

I come back from a wonderful trip to Venice and the big shock is waiting in my letterbox: no, no back taxes, no fine, no notice of termination. But my beloved NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) with a disfigured face. Oh dear! The paper is now promoting itself as "NGZaS - Neue Gesellschafts- Zeitung am Sonntag". And advertises it with a woman in a jogging suit and headscarf standing around in the water, an indefinable fish creature and other subjects where the connection to the message is sought in vain. A big "Huh?" slips onto my tongue. And tears well up in my eyes. Because I see a loud, cheap typeface that is harder to read than the old NZZaS font. And a society bundle that looks like a 20-minute issue in tabloid format: "Take me on the bus and leave me there after three stops." What's that all about? I'm canceling my subscription!

Good things stay the same

Take a deep breath! Calm down! As a media journo under 40, I should approach innovations with an open mind. So let's take a closer look: The big shock is now followed by the big disappointment: the typography (used for the first time worldwide - the reader wonders why ...) and the structure of many pages make reading difficult. This may be okay for online, but the print version is moving closer to the tabloid, closer to the daily newspaper. Not nice, but you'll get used to it.

But what's the point? Because the content hasn't changed much. Fortunately - or unfortunately? Fortunately, I find the reports by Christoph Zürcher, the commentaries by Beat Kappeler, fortunately, as always, reliably well-founded politics and economics. Fortunately also the colorful marriage reports, my weekly dose of voyeurism. And, nicely, "Background" has been expanded. Unfortunately, however, the "new" NGZaS offers nothing really new. Well, they have come up with a few small containers. But they are more about design than content. More people are allowed to express their opinions, which is not necessarily a gain, depending on who is granted this right. There are more puzzles than before. That pleases s'Grosi. Since the quiet departure of Jeroen von Roijen, the accompanying style magazine has been strangely flabby and lacking in spice. Unfortunately, the relaunch hasn't made up for anything here.

But above all: What message does it convey when a newly appointed society newspaper makes the society section "small" and tabloid-like? Tendency: downwards. I would have found it more appropriate to retain the format and develop surprising content that could easily keep up with the esteemed NZZaS quality. A newspaper is not a magazine. And if you take it or some of its bundles with you everywhere, it has nothing to do with the format. It has to do with the content.

Divorce hurts

And now what? Cancel the subscription or not? The only thing that's really new is the face of the NZZaS. But that no longer reassures me, it suddenly disappoints me. Because in return for making the effort to get used to the new, less elegant look, I would have expected a few exciting contents, sections or containers that are not available anywhere else. On the other hand, you don't immediately get divorced when your partner comes along with a new hairstyle. If he still behaves decently otherwise. But if you cheat on me again, dear NZZaS, then we're through!
 

As an employers' association, Cafetiersuisse supports individual restaurateurs and works to improve the political and economic conditions in the industry. The association is also the point of contact for everything to do with coffee.

For the 75th anniversary congress on September 27, 2013, Rau Werbeagentur designed the anniversary logo and the invitations in the form of a poster as well as the newsletter.

Responsible at Cafetiersuisse: Julian Graf (Managing Director); Responsible at Rau Advertising Agency: Richard Rau (CD/text), Andreas Konrad (AD/text), Mauro Dimitri (consulting), Oliver Rau (overall responsibility). Illustration: Magicgroupmedia.

Tamedia, the major distributors Migros and Coop, and Ringier together achieve 50.6 percent of all contacts of those titles covered by the MTJ (see box "Basic information" on page 2). The other half of the reader market goes to Axel Springer and NZZ (5.2% each), Konsumenteninfo (4.9%) and AZ Medien (3.4%). The remaining 30.7 percent is distributed among a large number of titles from smaller publishers (see chart "Market Shares Whole Switzerland"). In the old MACH Basic, Tamedia, Ringier and the two major distributors still held less than half of the market. Contributing factors were Ringier's new Landliebe, which was reported for the first time, on the one hand, and gains by commuter newspapers due to better accessibility to young people, as well as significantly higher reach of the two major distributor titles in French-speaking Switzerland, on the other. Thanks primarily to 20 Minuten, the free share of all Tamedia titles is 52.7 percent. It is second highest at the NZZ Group with 30.2 percent, while Ringier has 19.9 percent. It cannot be calculated for AZ Medien, as it does not have its free titles surveyed by MACH Basic, with the exception of Stadtanzeiger Olten.

NZZ and Springer on a par

In German-speaking Switzerland, Tamedia, Ringier and the two major distributors account for not quite 50 percent. As the chart "Market Shares German Switzerland" shows, three of the four medium-sized publishers play a greater role here, as they are heavily or entirely active in this language area. Here, too, the NZZ Group and Axel Springer are virtually on a par. However, the fact that the German publishing giant no longer reported its two program titles TVvier and TV2 also contributed to this. In addition, the number of readers of Beobachter Natur was significantly lower than before. The same can be said for NZZ Folio. In French-speaking Switzerland, the titles of the big players reported in MACH Basic generate as much as 59.1 percent of all contacts. Tamedia is clearly ahead with 28.8 percent. At 6.3 percent, Konsumenteninfo has a clearly higher value here than in German-speaking Switzerland.

NZZ will become stronger

If we focus on the daily and Sunday press market, the picture becomes much more extreme. Tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ Group hold more than 80 percent of the market in Switzerland as a whole and in German-speaking Switzerland. Tamedia is the dominant player, especially in French-speaking Switzerland, where it holds more than three-quarters of all contacts. With regard to the market share of AZ Medien, it should be noted that the readership of the total edition (i.e. including the regional edition of Graubünden) was used here for Schweiz am Sonntag, since the title is only reported in this way. Its market share of 9.9 percent is therefore also due to a small extent to the former Südostschweiz am Sonntag. The NZZ Group will certainly increase its market share in a year's time, because figures for Ostschweiz am Sonntag will be reported for the first time then at the latest. In addition, the St. Galler Tagblatt and Neue Luzerner Zeitung have been strengthened by the takeover of parts of the Südostschweiz Group. The Landbote, which now - subject to approval by the Competition Commission - belongs entirely to Tamedia, will not have a significant impact on the ratios in view of only 60'000 contacts.

Ueli Custer

This enables the psychographic positioning of products, brands, services, shopping channels and press media. In addition, information is gained about the value attitudes of (potential) product users.

In this way, it is possible to determine, for example, what distinguishes people who like to spend beach vacations from hiking tourists. The following findings in this regard emerge from the Mach Radar 2013 figures published today:

Beach vacations higher in the course

Beach vacations are very popular with the Swiss population. 54 percent of the people surveyed in the Mach Radar 2013 study named seaside vacations as their favorite type of vacation. Hiking vacations, on the other hand, were cited as the preferred type of vacation by only 29 percent of respondents.

Beach vacations popular with hedonists

Respondents who say they like to spend seaside vacations often exhibit extraverted traits, have a tendency toward hedonism and are not averse to material values. They tend toward a generous consumer style and high media consumption. A pronounced brand awareness is widespread in this target group.

Hiking tourists tend to be price-sensitive

People who enjoy hiking vacations, on the other hand, tend to be conservative and introverted. They tend to reject ostentatious possessions, excessive ambition and striving for prestige. On the other hand, the aspects of price and service quality play an important role for people in this target group when buying goods and services.

 

Judith Hardegger has worked in the Sternstunden editorial team since 2009 and presents the "Sternstunde Religion" program. Since the beginning of this year, the doctor of theology has also been an author of religious programs on Radio SRF 2 Kultur. Before joining what was then Swiss television, Judith Hardegger worked in print journalism and adult education.

The previous editorial directors Norbert Bischofberger and Hansjörg Schultz are stepping down at their own request, according to a press release issued on Thursday. Norbert Bischofberger wants to devote more time to his family. He will remain with the program as editor and presenter. Hansjörg Schultz is stepping down from his position as Editorial Director of Religion Radio in order to concentrate fully on editing and presenting programs such as "Kontext", "Perspektiven" and "Musik für einen Gast" from 2014.

SRF Kultur is taking the resignations as an opportunity to merge the two editorial teams organizationally. As of January 1, 2014, the Sternstunden TV and Religion Radio editorial teams will become a convergent editorial team responsible for television and radio broadcasts and working as a trimedial SRF competence center for religion, integration, philosophy and cultural documentaries. Head of department Franziska Baetcke says: "Our colleagues from the Sternstunden and Religion Radio editorial teams have been working closely together since the convergence. It is therefore only a small step to merge the teams. Together, they can better emphasize the topics of religion, integration, philosophy and art, which are important for SRF's profile."