At the "Mountain Village Hideaways" the user's Facebook friends - or optionally a few locals - hide behind windows, between door gaps and under roof gables. Meanwhile, birds chirp from the roofs, a fountain splashes in the background and the sun shines. During the search, Giachen the Capricorn is at the user's side as a motivating coach with pithy comments. If all the friends are found, the main prize is a week's vacation in a mountain village in Graubünden.

Responsible at GRF: Gaudenz Thoma (CEO), Gieri Spescha (Head of Corporate Communications), Mike Frei (Corporate Communications), Fabian Weidmann (Product Management). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy (Executive Creative Director), Samuel Christ, Livio Dainese (Creative Director), Alain Eicher (Text), Claude Eberhard, Maurus Zehnder (Art Direction), Melanie Sellmann, (Screen Design), Deborah Herzig (Art Buying), Nicolas Schobert, Roman Meister (Consulting), Notarmon Buchli (User Interface), Cubera Solutions (Programming).

Even the Wall Street Journal, whose readers are more likely to be interested in stock market tips than the journalistic profession, received over 195,000 likes on Facebook. Like countless other media outlets, Zurich's Tages-Anzeiger also jumped on the topic and announced online: "People would obviously rather become an executioner or a sewer worker than a journalist, who has the judging in common with the executioner and the clarifying in common with the sewer worker. ... We now know: The profession is actually the very last one. According to the latest survey conducted by the CareerCast job board over the past 25 years, journalism ranks 200th and last. It is followed by lumberjack and soldier. It's more popular to kill people and trees than to write about them." 

The fact that the ranking was not a survey at all and that it was "only" about newspaper reporters, i.e. not journalists in general and therefore not about TV presenters, talk show hosts or even editorial writers, no longer played a role. Like most of the other comments on the matter, everything else was pretty predictable: there was a lot of self-pity about the stress of the job and the miserable pay, but it wasn't really that bad after all. And on closer inspection, journalism is - despite all this - still one of the most beautiful professions in the world.

However, it is precisely this closer look, which should actually be part of the core of journalistic virtues and professionalism, that has once again been lacking. The ranking proclaims sheer nonsense, at least to the extent that it has been proven that newspaper editorial offices almost everywhere in the world can hardly resist the rush of young people, however much print media may be the dinosaurs of the media industry. Nevertheless, the CareerCast "study" has been printed and linked to thousands of times. Hardly any professional journalists seem to have asked themselves whether the creators of the rankings deliberately put newspaper reporters at the bottom of the list - for the simple reason that they know the industry pretty well and are able to realistically assess the Pavlovian reflexes of journalists.

It is frightening how easily journalists fall for the PR industry's attention maximizers and how unreflectively and unprofessionally they spread gross nonsense if there is hope that it could generate circulation or ratings. Journalists today are better trained than ever before and many degree courses and journalism schools now also give them an insight into the PR kitchens - which is urgently needed if the dwindling number of journalists in editorial offices is to hold their own against the growing superiority of public relations workers. They now prefer to call themselves "communications managers", which somehow ennobles them compared to the "workers" they no longer want to be. And it is also treacherously honest, because it bluntly postulates who the real managers of public communication are now - no longer journalists, editors-in-chief and their leading media. It is best to avoid them - or to provide them with such sensational fodder that they are literally forced to report.

Red Bull has brought this principle to perfection. It took years and cost the lives of several extreme athletes before the mainstream media finally addressed the cynical nature of this marketing machine. And strangely enough, the scandalization has so far gone surprisingly lightly for Red Bull - perhaps because at least at this point a few not-so-stupid journalists have noticed: Whenever they point the finger at Red Bull, three fingers point back at themselves.
 

Today we are still at the same stage. Silence reigns in the forest and you can tell that none of those involved have even a rudimentary command of crisis communication. On the contrary. Everyone is in hiding. They don't want to hear anything, see anything or say anything. The familiar three little monkeys send their regards. Everyone is hoping for the longed-for miracle, no one dares to make demands. 

Perhaps some major advertisers (or broadcasters who agree with the figures) should initiate a lawsuit, because the situation is becoming increasingly untenable. Okay, the advertisers have a performance guarantee in case the sometimes poor viewer figures actually turn out to be true at some point. The only question then is when these compensation spots can be broadcast at all. There are not unlimited possibilities in prime time and no customer will accept it if their commercials have to be broadcast at 3 a.m. in the morning. That can be expensive.

The attitude of OFCOM is completely incomprehensible. Where is its supervisory function? Things are simply being allowed to slide. At least that's how it appears from the outside. But even here, the ability to communicate a crisis is certainly not there.

Professor Matthias Steinmann has now also spoken out (thanks to Nick Lüthi and Monsieur Digital from the blog Good Morning Media Switzerland). For those who don't know, Steinmann was the head of research at SRG for many years and the inventor of the previous Telecontrol and still current Radio Control system. A man with immense experience in the field of TV research. But anyone who thinks that he is pointing out methodological problems for personal reasons is wrong. Steinmann is now retired, renovates castles and, after long legal wrangles with GfK, there is no reason for him to denigrate a new, different system. The details of Steinmann's comments can be found at our website to find. If you are interested in the issue, please take a look, as Steinmann makes a number of important points. These include points that could perhaps serve as an interim solution to the debacle.

Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
 

Total Audience 1.2: Combined usage figures for printed and digitally published press content are available for the third time. The largest titles have been able to massively expand their reach in some cases. However, the question arises as to whether this study really helps the market.

Like its predecessor studies, Total Audience 1.2 provides gross and net reach figures for combinations of paper and digital usage. It also shows the users of both offerings as well as the exclusive users of one or the other offering. In contrast to MA Strategy, it provides results at currency level as readers per issue (LpA) or unique users per day (UUpD), week (UUpW) or month (UUpM). Holders of a corresponding license can calculate individual socio-demographic profiles. Media plans, on the other hand, cannot be calculated. However, this would hardly make sense due to the very incomplete selection of titles.

The (surveyed) reach of the printed press titles and the structural data come from MACH Basic 2012-2 and therefore represent the average for the period from April 2011 to March 2012. The information on the use of digital offerings comes from NET-Metrix 2012-2, which reflects usage in the second quarter of 2012, i.e. after the print survey was completed. Every two years, some of the respondents also take part in an online follow-up survey following the MACH Basic Interview. It is designed so that the results can be directly linked to the NET-Metrix-Audit web statistics data, which in turn forms the basis for the NET-Metrix profile survey.

The current study includes data from daily newspapers, the two Sunday titles SonntagsBlick and NZZ am Sonntag as well as Beobachter, Bilanz, Handelszeitung and PCtipp. In the following observations, we therefore limit ourselves to the daily press market, which is at least halfway complete, and use the correct comparative value of unique users per day (UUpD) for online usage.

Big gets bigger

The chart "Total use of daily press offerings" shows the number of exclusive print and web users as well as double users for all reported titles. The chart does not include 20 Minuten, which only reports its figures nationally. A presentation in this chart would therefore give the wrong impression. With a total of 2.248 million net contacts, 20 Minuten reaches more than twice as many users nationally as Blick and Blick am Abend, both of which have just under one million net contacts in just one language version. Their print reach increases by more than half due to the inclusion of digital users. This is by far the highest increase of all the titles reported (see chart "Reach growth of daily press through digital offerings").

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also achieved a high additional reach thanks to its digital offerings, with growth of around 40 percent. With total usage by around 400,000 people, it is even just ahead of the combined editions of the Berner Zeitung and Bund. In contrast, the position of all other titles has not changed due to the inclusion of digital usage. It is also clear that only the four top-ranked titles can really improve their reach significantly by including digital usage. At just under 14%, the increase for 20 Minuten national is comparatively low. However, at around 9 percent, the proportion of dual print/digital users is highest for this title (see chart "Usage distribution of daily press offerings"). This is followed by Blick and Tages-Anzeiger with around 8 percent each, Blick am Abend and Tribune de Genève with around 7 percent each and Basler Zeitung with a good 6 percent. The lowest proportion of double users is Le Temps with just 2 percent. It is difficult to say whether and to what extent this is related to the paywall that was introduced some time ago.

No offensive marketing

In the knowledge of the increase in reach through digital offerings, at least the major titles should offer a package that enables total digital usage on a particular day of the week, but this is only being approached tentatively and not offensively. At Blick, Managing Director Caroline Thoma went on record shortly before her departure: "The fact that there are still few to no integrated offers is due to the fact that the majority of agencies plan on a channel basis, there are no intermedia comparisons in terms of metrics and customers are often skeptical about online - because there is (still) no proof of advertising effectiveness." However, the Blick Group has been offering the service of customized packages for some time. And mini cross-media offers have been created for small customers. In addition, every customer can open a joint contract for print and mobile.

Marcel Tappeiner, publishing director of the Tages-Anzeiger, has a similar view. He points out that the requirements for the respective media genre are too specific for national campaigns. Combined offers, on the other hand, are negotiated individually - if they are requested at all. He sees the future of such combined offers primarily in the local market. In his view, the total audience is sufficient for a general view of the performance of a media brand. For concrete media planning and pricing, however, the key figures are not sufficient, especially for online.

At NZZ, the answer already shows that not only the agencies think in terms of channels. Both Remo Baumeler, Head of Advertising Market NZZ Network, and Stefan Bai, Head of Advertising Market NZZ, had to be consulted in order to answer the MTJ's questions. They also point out that print/digital packages are put together individually according to customer requirements.

The furthest along in terms of overall marketing is 20 Minuten, which merged its sales a year ago. But here, too, there are no all-inclusive combination packages - although the BrandyDay promotional offer and the combination of print with tablet and mobile placements are available on request.

Who wants Total Audience?

To summarize, it can be said that research has probably laid an appropriate foundation. But neither agencies nor publishers have drawn any conclusions from this. The agencies argue that print and online are two different media with completely different modes of action. An argument that cannot be dismissed out of hand. But this is the case with every type of total audience. One can therefore ask oneself whether this is the right approach at all. In this respect, the MA Total Audience provides important food for thought before the WEMF launches a comprehensive hub concept. After all, TV, radio, posters and cinema also have a different effect and function than print or online. The potential users of a hub study should definitely be included in the development. Otherwise, this model will end up like the QMS quality media study around 20 years ago, which was loudly demanded by all advertisers and media experts in the run-up to its publication, but disappeared without a trace after its publication. This must not happen with the hub concept.

Ueli Custer
 

The new Digital Advertising & Services division, which is part of the Digital division, focuses on the following four areas at Tamedia:
1. ensuring a common strategy in the digital advertising market,
2. centralized provision of digital advertising services such as ad operations,
3. evaluation, implementation and operation of necessary technologies such as ad servers or RTA systems and
4. marketing of cross-title products such as performance, targeting or pool products and the best possible monetization of advertising space not sold directly by the company's own titles.

WW: When it comes to automated trading, or real-time advertising (RTA), Tamedia has so far been reluctant or even dismissive. What is your stance on this and when will something happen?
Stephan Obwegeser: Real-time advertising is a topic that we are looking into and are generally open to. It is crucial for us to have control over our inventory and transparency about our customers on digital trading platforms and marketplaces. We do not blindly place our advertising inventory in any networks where it is not clear who is buying what and at what price. We want to know what price our customers ultimately pay for their presence on our platforms. And we want to know who our customers are. From today's perspective, the private exchange approach seems to make more sense to us. To this end, we are seeking and exchanging ideas with the relevant market participants. In my view, it makes sense to find the broadest possible consensus in the Swiss market as to where and how which volumes are traded. We need to ensure that we meet in the same marketplace, because a transparent market can only be created if supply and demand meet in the same marketplace!

Publishers in France are already working successfully with private exchange platforms, and media companies in Denmark have also recently organized themselves in this way. The experience of PPN, a similar initiative that is now only supported by Tamedia, does not bode well for joint solutions in the Swiss market.
There are certainly examples of well-functioning joint solutions in the Swiss market. Take IG SwissAdServer, for example - here, many publishers have decided to work with the same ad server solution. As a result, measurement differences in delivered advertising media have been significantly minimized. Or online research. Together we agreed on Net Metrix as the official institution for the certification of online reach. With regard to private exchange platforms and the topic of RTA/RTB, the starting position is similar. And I am sure that we are in agreement with other publishers on the relevant points and that the signs are therefore good for a joint market solution. The question is what is possible with such systems and what individual requirements publishers have in terms of transparency, pricing, etc. I think that there is still far too little understanding in the market of what is actually possible. If someone simply wants the cheapest traffic, different rules will apply than if a customer is looking for a certain reach or a targeting offer. We don't want to sell our inventory below value or find ourselves in a market in a few years' time whose rules we don't want to play by.

This is a concern often voiced by publishers, that they then sell below the value. But nothing is sold below the specified floor price...
...yes, exactly. Being able to set a minimum price, for example, is one of the requirements we have. (Interview: Christoph J. Walther)

Advertising Week subscribers read here the complete interview. 

 

Video content providers will thus have the option of charging users a monthly fee. Google wrote this in a blog post late Thursday. The video platform works with 30 content providers, including "Muppets" producer Jim Henson and the promoters of the Ultimate Fighting series.

Soon, however, Youtube also plans to launch a self-service platform that allows users to create subscription channels. The fees can be set by the providers themselves and start at 99 cents per month. The providers can also decide whether or not they want to run advertising.

Youtube now has more than one million channels that generate revenue. Until now, this was only possible through a share of advertising revenues. The platform supports the development of channels with professionally produced content to complement television.

For new users of paid channels, a free trial period of two weeks is planned, Youtube explained. Until now, users have had to subscribe to the channels via a PC - but they can then also watch them on a smartphone, PC or TV connected to the Internet. (SDA)

 

On behalf of the British TV industry association Thinkbox, the marketing consultancy Data2Decisions analyzed the word-of-mouth effects of 36 retail, financial and beverage brands. The study focused on the interaction between paid media (paid advertising activities), owned media (company-owned media such as websites) and earned media (online and offline brand conversations by consumers). Data from various sources was merged for the study, including the YouGov Brand Index, the Brandwatch Social Media Monitor and surveys by Keller Fay's word-of-mouth specialists. Econometric methods were used to analyze which additional brand conversations companies initiate with their marketing activities. This refers to conversations that go beyond the normal word-of-mouth level - resulting from past marketing activities or seasonal factors, for example. 

First of all, it can be seen that the majority of conversations about brands take place offline - in person or on the phone (95 %). Only 5 percent of brand conversations take place online and on social media. Additional discussions about brands are mainly triggered by paid media activities. According to the study, a total of 72% of additional brand conversations between consumers are initiated by paid advertising activities. TV advertising is particularly effective: more than half of the additional brand-related conversations (51 %) are attributable to TV advertising. Online advertising triggers 12% of word-of-mouth activities. Other advertising activities such as print advertising (4 %), outdoor advertising and direct mail (2 % each) as well as cinema and radio advertising (1 % each) have a much smaller influence on consumer conversations. In addition to these traditional advertising activities, other factors that stimulate word-of-mouth are PR measures and events (19 %) and changes to products and services (9 %).

However, TV advertising is not only a powerful lever for stimulating conversations about brands, it also has an effect over a longer period of time. In the week following a TV impulse, word-of-mouth activities only decrease by 15 percent, and in the third week the activity level is still 72 percent of the initial level. Thanks to this "carry-over effect", TV advertising can make brands a permanent topic of conversation.

In addition, the study shows that TV advertising also makes a significant contribution to consumers using the company's own communication platforms: 47% of additional visits to brand websites are directly stimulated by TV advertising.

There is also an indirect effect, as a further 18% of the additional traffic is due to word-of-mouth effects. Here too, other activities such as online advertising (10 %), PR (8 %), outdoor (6 %), print (3 %) and radio advertising (2 %) or the company's own Facebook presence (2 %) have a much weaker effect than TV.

Interestingly, TV advertising is also a key influencing factor in terms of corporate reputation (52 %). PR, brand news and events are significantly less effective in this respect (24 %).

Clemens Koob

Key Facts

• Paid media is responsible for 72 percent of all additional brand conversations above the basic level.
• TV advertising has the greatest stimulation effect (51%). Online advertising follows at a considerable distance (12%) ahead of print (4%) and outdoor (2%).
• TV advertising also has a lasting word-of-mouth effect: the activity level in week 2 after activation is 85 percent, in week 3 it is still 72 percent.
• TV advertising also generates traffic to the brand's own websites (47% of additional traffic). Online advertising (10%) or the brand's own Facebook page (2%) generate significantly less traffic.
• TV advertising contributes significantly to a positive corporate reputation (52%).
   

A picture of dead children after an Israeli rocket attack in the Gaza Strip is press photo of the year 2012. The photograph by the Swede Paul Hansen shows a funeral procession in Gaza City last November. In the foreground of the picture, men hold two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her three-year-old brother Muhammad in their arms. Both children are dead. In the background, the father of the little ones, who was also killed, is being carried on a stretcher. The family's house had been destroyed in the rocket attack. The mourners were on their way to a mosque. Hansen shot the photo for the newspaper Dagens Nyheter. 

In total, the jury honored 54 photographers in nine categories. One Swiss photographer also received an award: Dominic Nahr took third place in the "General News Singles" category. His photo shows the mutilated body of a soldier smeared with petroleum on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. The 29-year-old Magnum photographer had shot the picture for Time magazine. Dominic Nahr has been living in Africa since 2008. He gave up a safe life to shoot pictures against oblivion. An oil pipeline explodes. Soldiers from the north and the south engage in a cruel battle. A short time later Nahr stops at the same place and shoots the picture with which he wins the prize a year later. But he finds the term voyeur completely out of place: "Often I'm the only photographer who captures these events."

As is already tradition, the exhibition with the award-winning images will be presented again this year by the Keystone picture agency in the Papiersaal in Zurich's Sihlcity. More than 400 guests were able to attend the passionate opening speech by Arnold Hottinger as well as the honoring of the winning photographer Paul Hansen. The former NZZ Middle East correspondent Hottinger emphasized the importance of "stirring critical images" and appealed to humanity during times of war. Hottinger also called for rethinking prejudices: "People in the Middle East want to show themselves. Neither as strangers nor as victims. They want to be perceived as human beings."

Jann Jenatsch, CEO of Keystone, is also impressed by the award-winning photographers. "The World Press Photo 13 exhibition aims to provide a platform for conversation and discovery, and to show people the indispensable work of press photographers." (pan)

 

Sandro Prezzi: The former Managing Director Switzerland at MEC and current partner at Unlimited also lectures on "Integrated Communication" at Sawi and at the HWZ. In his young "motorcycle years", he himself completed various training courses at Sawi and at the MEC Navigator Academy.

The launch of the start-up could not have gone better. More than 2000 people celebrated "The Vernissage" on April 25. The event featured an exhibition in the Sihlpost temporary building in Zurich, as well as music and entertainment in the Rio Bar on the other side of the Sihlbrücke. Admission was "by Invitation only" via word of mouth and of course Facebook. 

At the "Vernissage", curated and organized by Oliver Scotoni and "Shark" Dogan, 15 representatives of the Zurich "scene" - restaurateurs, actors, models, DJs, artists and graphic designers - showed their favorite Instagram photo. These cell phone pictures were transformed into acrylic paintings in the format 150 cm × 150 cm by renowned, but for this show anonymous artists from "Brush & Sons".

In addition to the art, which was generally enjoyed, the special thing about this event for Sandro Prezzi was the activation of the target groups. Due to the composition of the "artists", 15 communities could be activated at the same time. Thus, the happening also became a showcase of the who's who of the Zurich scene. In addition, a new Mercedes Benz model, the CLA, was presented in an artistic and discreet manner.

Customize Unlimited was not creative enough

For the launch of the new CLA four-door coupe, the "Untamed Installation" campaign was created internationally, an exhibition in Paris that was launched with a competition where people could upload as "untamed" a photo as possible on Instagram and were invited to the vernissage event in Paris as the winner. There, all submissions were shown via 3-D mapping projection in a white room.

"For us, that was somehow too little," says Sandro Prezzi, who was tasked with activating CLA's target groups in the area of art. "We saw a great need among the target group to stage themselves and to do so in a real, authentic and more sustainable way, not just digitally."

This is how the idea "Win your Instagram as a 1.5-meter acrylic painting" came about with Brush & Sons and the activation involving 15 celebrities as well as "The Vernissage". Unlike the international competition, here the Brush&Sons painters themselves elevate the contributors to artists and their Instagram photos to an art form. The artworks will then be shown as part of the Contemporary CODES "Brush" exhibition from July 19 to August 17 at the Europaallee Remise in Zurich.

As could be seen from reactions from the "scene" and feedback from the guests, Mercedes-Benz took a good step forward in terms of sympathy among the target groups it was aiming at. The brand enabled social moments with relevance for the "scene" and their environments. Prezzi is convinced that the competition running in Switzerland will now reach a much more precisely played target group via the community it generated. "We were also able to introduce the new car to our discerning guests in a very discreet and accepted setting. Mercedes- Benz was able to stage itself in a stylish, sympathetic and relevant way. We call this concept brand staging. Internationally, it's called branded content or brand staging," says the communications expert, summarizing the recipe for success.

"Many brands are struggling to gain a foothold, especially in the segment of urban, sophisticated lifestyle target groups aged over 30 to just under 50. In many cases, there is a lack of relevance and acceptance," Sandro Prezzi has analyzed. In the future, he wants to actively offer new solutions in this market gap with Unlimited. "As a specialist in the field of media, I have planned and bought billions of contacts in the course of my career. But also had to realize that it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve the necessary impact. Fragmentation and digitization make this a big challenge for many advertisers, financially as well. That's why people are thinking about more direct ways to reach the target groups," says the versatile Prezzi with conviction.

After his beginnings at Publicitas, on the publishing side, as consulting group manager at Publimedia in Zurich and Zenith Optimedia, he spent five years as Managing Director Zurich at Mediaedge. cia. After that, Sandro Prezzi led MEC as Managing Director Switzerland until spring 2013. "We've achieved a lot in the last few years, and with the new client wins we've brought the agency back into the top 3 in Switzerland." At the same time, however, Sandro Prezzi noted, "After 7 years at MEC and over 12 years in international media agencies, I was ready for something new again."

The ideal combination

During this phase of the reorientation, various conversations with Oliver Scotoni took place. Prezzi had already worked with the inventor of Rundfunk.fm several times before. And since Scotoni also found the constellation of implementing ideas together with a new partner extremely exciting, they finally joined forces to form the Unlimited agency on May 1, 2013. The third member of the group is Harun Dogan, who has made a name for himself beyond the scene as an urban and street artist under the name Shark, but also with his design agency "Raw Cut. For example, as curator and artistic director of the exhibition series "Grafik". The fourth partner is Nadja Stäubli, who has attracted attention beyond the country's borders as a photographer, active DJane, artist and designer - most recently with her label "Schönstaub" for high-quality design carpets.

"We are a team of experienced and well-connected creatives from the fields of art, music, cinema, design and lifestyle," explains Sandro Prezzi, who, as a graduate communications manager, is responsible for consulting and, as managing director, for the management of the agency.

Together, the quartet offers "tailor-made and target group-oriented solutions. For their implementation, further individually specialized subbrands are to be created in the future in addition to the existing products Rundfunk.fm, Cinema Unlimited, Brush & Sons, The Vernissage.

At Brush & Sons different artists provide their arts and crafts qualities, but remain anonymous. Brush & Sons is thus an arts and crafts manufactory "entirely in the style of the Dutch schools such as Rembrandt during the Baroque era".

Today, the talents can also be booked for design tasks in the hospitality industry or architecture. "With Brush & Sons, we have a pool of specialists in a wide variety of styles. The respective quality control is guaranteed by Shark as curator and artistic director ", explains Prezzi.

"We create content that is tailored to the needs of the target group, we are quite strict in our interpretation and hardly allow ourselves to be restricted - just Unlimited," says Prezzi about the strategy of the start-up. He therefore does not see his company as a classic event agency, "which implements according to order, with the focus on the client". The more creative offering is called "quality content," and that has its limits in terms of marketing possibilities. "If it becomes too flat, it will be ignored by the target group and is therefore not in the interest of the client. After all, the bait should taste good to the fish, not the angler."

The party goes on

"Since Oliver Scotoni brings his products and projects to the new company and has always been committed to quality, we can already show well what we mean by quality content. " Rundfunk.fm shows impressively how a "radio station" can become an urban cult happening with international broadcasting. Based on the claim to play only the best quality music, Rundfunk.fm has managed to become the beat and rhythm of a city with all its components, i.e. location, gastronomy, atmosphere, activities such as flea markets, for 30 days at a time. 300 boutiques, hairdressers, bars, etc. now use the sound of Rundfunk.fm.

Scotoni's "Cinema Unlimited" will also be integrated into the new constellation in the future. In this new edition of open-air cinema, the audience can enjoy the films via radio headphones. With sound as a radio signal, open-air cinema also becomes possible in completely new locations, which can also be in the context of the films being shown. In 2012, for example, "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" was shown at Oberen Letten, which, with its past as a drug center, provided an impressive backdrop for the film evening. This summer, 70 events are planned in Zurich alone, not only in Frau Gerold's garden but also in the Mythenquai swimming pool and in Sihlcity.

An important element of the business model of "Unlimited" is that the agency develops its own ideas and products without being commissioned to do so, aligns them with target groups and only then specifically seeks commercial partners for financing.

The commitment to art for Mercedes will continue in the summer with the "Brush Magazine" campaign. In July and August, Zurich will be able to see the "world's first magazine" that is "exclusively painted. On 6000 square meters in the remise of the Europaallee 100 pages of a magazine are produced, which the spectators can walk through. All "pages" are 1.3 meters × 1.7 meters and hand-painted. "This gives the edition of the magazine - there will be exactly one copy, the original."

The advertisements, some of which can still be booked, are also realized by Brush & Sons in oil, acrylic, watercolor or pencil drawing, depending on the requirements. At the heart of the "magazine" are paintings, photographs and texts on the theme of "Rock 'n' Roll". These paintings will be created by renowned artists and will be sold afterwards. The photographs are painted analogously by the Brush&Sons artists, the texts are designed by graphic artists and also painted by hand.

The mega-event brings together three projects, "Brush," Rundfunk.fm and Cinema Unlimited, which freely interpret the theme "Rock 'n' Roll" in a dynamic program of events. Around 80,000 visitors are expected.

Andreas Panzeri

 

Agreed, that alone would not be worth a social media column. After all, this is 2013, and it should go without saying that the strong football clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich also have a strong social web presence. Nota bene, Real Madrid and Barcelona are number 2 and 3 of the "Most Valuable Soccer Teams" (and Dortmund in 14th place). But that's another topic...

The topic here is how this year's Champions League semi-finals produced a clear winner, also from a social media perspective. But right from the start: Real Madrid has a good 50 million fans on the Facebook and Twitter platforms. FC Barcelona has around 58, Bayern Munich has just under 7 and Borussia Dortmund not even 3 million fans. Based on these figures, the Spaniards are socially far ahead of the Germans. In terms of quality, however, the Germans play in a different league, both on the pitch and on the social web. Once again, numerous likes and high follower numbers are not proof of outstanding social media activities. Unfortunately, the opposite is all too often the case, and the biggest aren't always the best. When I look at the Twitter streams of the Spaniards, I am overcome with boredom.

Their monologue-oriented way of communicating reminds me of online news, and I could just as well read it on Blick.ch or something. But social media is there to provide background information, for example to provide the loyal fan base with "backstage photos" and, above all, to enter into a dialog with the community. That means replying to the fans and reciting their tweets. For the thousandth time - it's social, not media. While Bayern Munich eagerly create hashtags and ask the community to share their joy via second screen on Twitter, for example "Where are you watching tonight,s big clash? Tweet us a pic using #Packmas" or re-tweeting photos of fans from around the world under #Miasinmia, there is nothing from Barça to suggest social enjoyment. The engagement rankings also reflect my feeling; the entry with the highest engagement rate during the semi-final matches came from Borussia Dortmund (4.3 %), and the second came from Bayern (4.0 %). Funnily enough, the Madrid post featuring Ronaldo only managed to generate 0.5 % engagement, despite being liked more than twice as much at first glance.

The days of self-righteous communicative tiki-taka are over. Anyone who manages to create meaning with their social media presence and inspire their virtual fan base in this way can also be declared the winner offline.
 

Take a look around and see how unskillfully and boringly advertising tries to promote us. With a few exceptions, advertising communication consists of over 90 percent garbage. My ex-partner, Walter Bosch, claimed this 30 years ago and received no praise for it. But it hasn't improved one bit. 

If we were to listen to Hayek Junior, who is becoming more and more likeable, then the advertising industry would also have to hire and train one apprentice for every 12 employees. That would be good. But that's where the problem begins for me. Do these masters still exist who are able to teach a young person how to reduce things to the essentials, create witty texts, a surprising visual language, a long-term strategy, the effect of a poster or the right media strategy? When I look at the whole result of advertising, I have my doubts. I have my doubts that the still existing, capable advertisers could do this, but have to fulfill the wishes of the customers for economic reasons.

My theory: Jung von Matt has set an example and founded an academy for young talent. Unfortunately, the ADC creative school is only for people with an apprenticeship certificate. Michael Conrad's Berlin School of Creative Leadership is trying to turn the marketing bad guys around. At the arts and crafts schools, recently called academies, teachers teach graphics, mostly because it didn't work out in real life. There are also exceptions. The SAWI is a disaster.

The profession of graphic designer is no longer passed on properly. Even back then, when I trained in the graphics class in Basel, many of the teachers went straight from graphics school to teaching without any practical experience. The exceptions were the painter Theo Eble, the graphic artists Donald Brun and Armin Hoffmann. But the most important thing is that you at least give these people a chance. I can find zero entries on the Internet under graphic design apprenticeships.

I think school, academy or practice, the main thing is that the most capable and best take on the training of young people. If the once proudest profession, being a Swiss graphic designer, is no longer worth anything, then we will be exposed to an even more amateurish advertising mess.

My stand-up is Hayek's claim and also the new Swatch commercial. The latter is on the product and on point. "Same same and yet different."

Please send any useful information to [email protected].
 

It took around 42 years from the first ideas for urban expansion in Bern-Brünnen to the opening of the Westside shopping and experience center. The ground-breaking ceremony in autumn 2005 marked the start of what was then the largest private construction site in Switzerland. The Migros Aare Cooperative founded Neue Brünnen AG to realize the project. This company commissioned star architect Daniel Libeskind to realize the project as part of an international competition. Westside was opened in October 2008. 

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Westside has now given itself its first facelift. Westside wants to position itself as a modern, unique, approachable and inspiring shopping and experience center - "a second living room that invites you to linger", as the creatives at the Bern-based 360° agency Republica explain.

In addition to various specialists, Republica was commissioned not only to develop a new branding, but also to design a new CI/CD and a new emotional visual world for each of the five areas. In addition to shopping facilities, Westside is also home to the Bernaqua water park, various restaurants, cinemas and a hotel.

Republica has developed new icons for all areas and created an emotional visual world. "Realizing a project on this scale is not only a huge privilege for us as an agency, but also an opportunity to implement our 360° approach," says Chris Morgan, Creative Director and Managing Partner at Republica.

For the realization, Republica was also actively involved in the "Ambiente" working group, which was responsible for the structural redesign of the Westside. The task here was to develop a new navigation and signage concept. Republica supported all these innovations with numerous communication measures. The team led by Chris Morgan focused fully on Westside's new digital strategy. In addition to a new website, the center also has a new app and touchscreens. The core of the digital campaign is an elaborate web film. "Mr. West - the film" shows the adventures of a man who set out to move into Westside. Who would give up a 9000 square meter apartment with a pool, water slide, spa, cinema, restaurants and, of course, numerous stores?

The first episodes show how a peculiar contemporary makes himself at home in the shopping center, gets to know people and falls in love with them. Everything is going perfectly, were it not for someone who is a thorn in Mr. West's side. To draw attention to the series, film posters, trailers on Tele Bärn and various portals as well as on screens in Bern railroad station and Westside are being used. (pan)