GfK came away empty-handed with the contract, which was awarded to the British company Kantar. According to its own information, Kantar Media is the global leader in media measurement and measures TV ratings in over 40 countries. The slogan "local understanding, global knowledge", which Kantar Switzerland adopted, also sounded trustworthy. Perhaps too trusting, because Mediapulse decided to collect the TV data twice for just one month. Firstly for cost reasons and secondly for fear of having two different currencies.

Kantar began recruiting a completely new viewer panel. The first data collection started in December. At the beginning, there were a few errors in the data processing, some of which were beyond the control of Kantar or Mediapulse. These are things that are actually normal for such a large project. Mediapulse remained optimistic. After further delays and a canceled press conference, the time had finally come. The figures were to be published on February 18.

But then everything turned out quite differently. Chairman Marco de Stoppani had to announce that certain customers (broadcasters and marketers) had major concerns about the plausibility of the results. The differences to the 2012 data were considerable. The clients therefore demanded an external expert opinion. Until this new expertise is available, which should be the case at the beginning of March, Mediapulse is not allowed to publish any figures. De Stoppani did not want to say who had exerted pressure. He only said that it had come "from various sources, verbally and in writing, and also from lawyers". Legal action had not yet been taken, but the prospect had been held out. The Board of Directors buckled and decided unanimously that no figures could be published until the new expert report was available. The broadcasters and marketers will receive them for study, but the agencies will have to practice flying blind.

The credibility of research has suffered and the new figures will hardly be accepted after this debacle. It's going to be fun!

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

Deependra Pandey (left) and Alessandro Graf (right) co-founded the start-up Muvacon, which specializes in mobile websites and was awarded the Basecamp4Hightech prize, the canton of Bern's support programme for young companies, on 20 February.
 
Let's start with your offer. What is special about your approach?
Our solution is CMS-independent, optimized for practically all mobile devices, quick to implement, cost-effective and includes all important functions. Thanks to a software development team in India, we have affordable access to the latest and most innovative technologies. In addition, our design is very customer-oriented and easy to use.
 
What approach do you take when designing mobile websites?
It is very important for users on the move that the content is not the same as the content of the standard website, otherwise they will be overwhelmed with too much information. This is a disadvantage of the often-mentioned so-called responsive design solutions, which are also more cost-intensive. In the next step, we customize the content for our customers and their end customers, give the customer feedback on text and images and install the mobile website on the customer's server within two to three weeks.
 
You have already completed 17 customer projects and are in the process of acquiring more. What are the main reasons that are prompting companies today to make their own websites mobile-compatible?
This is the spirit of the times - most companies' customers are becoming more mobile and are on the move a lot. As a result, pretty much all marketing activities are aimed at mobile: whether newspaper ads, radio spots, word-of-mouth propaganda - everything happens on the move. Some want to be innovative and keep up with the times, others want to strengthen their customer loyalty or even attract new customers. However, there is a certain reluctance among companies. Most do not want to be among the first to take the next step. In addition, most solutions on the market require a change or even a redesign of the website, which in turn can be very costly. The mobile issue also means that some internal processes need to be rethought so that a company can focus holistically on mobile customers.
 
How do you perceive the awareness of the mobile issue among communication and advertising professionals, who often have a hinge function between companies and website producers?
We have already created mobile websites for an advertising agency from Switzerland and one from France, and we have established contacts with others. So far, I have identified two points of view: Some see the area as more of a pipe dream and observe this phenomenon with the same detachment as social media. Other agencies tend to use mobile measures for particularly innovative clients, but not yet for everyone. Almost all advertising agencies feel that they have practically only planned analog advertising measures for the last ten years. Now they have to realize that they need to integrate this new segment into their existing advertising measures in order to be able to meet customer requirements even more fully. That's why we work very closely with advertising agencies and advise them on all aspects of mobile, such as providing information on the latest technologies and trends and on the targeted use of mobile advertising tools. We are also very quick to implement our products and flexible in order to respond to any individual customer requirements.
 
How do you expect the mobile market in Switzerland to develop over the next few years?
There are around 312,000 SMEs in Switzerland. Of these, 94 percent in the high-tech industry sector and 86 percent in the modern service sector have their own website. A high number of small (80%) and medium-sized (93%) companies also have their own website. On the other hand, we have a very high smartphone penetration in Switzerland (3.6 million according to the latest findings). Almost 60 percent use their smartphone to surf the Internet every day. This fact will force Swiss SMEs to enter the mobile market in the near future. It is precisely this situation that calls for a solution that is customized, cost-efficient, attractively designed and functional - these were the considerations when developing our product.
 
What do you think needs to happen for the mobile market to continue to grow?
Companies should analyze how many visitors already visit or would like to visit the company website via a mobile device. They should then critically review their processes with a special focus on mobile. This is because many processes become more efficient and effective with mobile. And sources of error are reduced, for example when mobile payment is used. This holds great savings potential for companies. The smartphone can also increase customer loyalty. In order to fully exploit these advantages, a company-specific consultation is required that shows which mobile measures will help the company to progress and specifically equip it for the future mobile market.

Interview: Christoph J. Walther

March marks the beginning of spring, and this year it is also making itself felt in the publishing industry. More precisely in the Sunday market: On March 3, the St. Galler Tagblatt (SGT) launches its Sunday edition Ostschweiz am Sonntag (OaS), which together with the NZZ am Sonntag and Zentralschweiz am Sonntag (ZaS) form the new Sunday pool; on the same day, the Basler Zeitung exchanges its previous Sunday edition for Tamedia's Sonntagszeitung (SoZ), and on March 24, Südostschweiz Medien and AZ Medien merge their Sunday editions to form Schweiz am Sonntag (CHaS).

This spring awakening will lead to a shake-up in the Sunday market in terms of reach and rankings, with corresponding implications for advertisers (see article on page 19). But that is only one aspect. A second: the three big players - SoZ, Sonntagspool and CHaS - are all declared to be open to further partners This with the aim of deepening their own reach in the core areas or expanding geographically. This has already triggered a new dynamic, for example in Buchs (SG) and in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. However, the cooperation models look very different for the potential partners, which is why they are briefly broken down here.

Three models are available

- The CHaS offer consists of an advertising combo, which other publishers can join - provided they have a regional Sunday edition or decide to launch one. Then they also have the editorial mantle of CHaS, produced in Aarau, at their disposal, which they can take over in whole or in part. Südostschweiz am Sonntag is the first newspaper outside northwestern Switzerland to take advantage of this offer, which means that CHaS will no longer cover a contiguous area in the future. It is all the more interested in other partners.
 
- The Sunday pool unites three compact newspapers without regional splits. Other partners with their own Sunday editions can join the pool, but at least in the circulation areas of OaS and ZaS, another form of partnership is also possible, as the examples of Werdenberger & Obertoggenburger and Rheintaler respectively show (see Werbewoche 3/13): W&O and Rheintaler offer their subscribers the OaS with an attractive combined subscription - in the sense of reader loyalty. In turn, OaS can thus deepen its reach in the corresponding areas.
 
- The SoZ is taking a similar approach, as it is demonstrating in Basel. There are no plans for a regional split or editorial cooperation with BaZ on the Rhine knee, says publishing director Diego Quintarelli. "SoZ will remain a national newspaper. " BaZ also does not share in the advertising revenue, he said, but it can attach its job ad to SoZ in the Basel area. Quintarelli clearly denies rumors that the SoZ in Basel is being sold for only 18 francs. The fact is that Basler Zeitung Medien will buy the required 40,000 SoZ copies from Tamedia and can then offer them to existing subscribers at a freely chosen combination price. Currently, this amounts to 426 francs, the same as the current seven-day BaZ subscription and 37 francs more than the BaZ weekday subscription. The situation is different in Bern, where Bund subscribers pay only an additional 20 francs with SoZ.

The doors are open in Schaffhausen

The offerings of these major Sunday players have one thing in common: cooperation only makes sense if Sunday early delivery already exists or is being established. The examples of W&O and Rheintaler show: There are small publishers who are willing to invest in Sunday logistics. That's why Werbewoche asked 16 other local and regional newspapers how much interest there was in having their own Sunday edition or a Sunday partnership. The result:

- No response was available from 4 of the 16 titles requested: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, Tessiner Zeitung, Willisauer Bote/Wiggertaler Bote.
 
- Two of the titles approached already have a Sunday edition: Vaduzer Medienhaus AG (Liechtensteiner Vaterland) has already been publishing the free Sunday newspaper Liewo for 20 years, which is also distributed to all households in the Werdenberg area with its own early delivery organization. He is certainly open to a Swiss partner, says publishing director Daniel Quaderer, provided that the front and cover sections can be split. But he does not see a great need for action "at the moment". Schaffhauser Nachrichten also distributes Sunday news - but exclusively online. According to publisher Norbert Neininger, the editorial team is "training" for a possible seven-day print expansion. However, the time is not yet ripe for this. However, he is examining both possibilities - a Sunday edition of his own and also a cooperation with a major player. "We are talking most intensively with OaS, because we already have a job combination with the St. Galler Tagblatt," he says.

The Valais messenger is ready

According to director Marcel Geissbühler, the publishing house is also considering both variants for the Bieler Tagblatt and Journal du Jura. In addition, a bilingual Sunday edition has already been discussed. "But there is no project ready to go, because no business model has convinced us yet," he says.

The publishers of Bote der Urschweiz, March Anzeiger, Höfner Volksblatt and Sarganserländer have also repeatedly discussed entering the Sunday market - if only because they are part of the Südostschweiz media network on weekdays. Urs Kälin, publishing director of Sarganserländer, fears, however, that hardly any additional advertising revenue could be generated. "The volume will merely be distributed during the week," he says. Hugo Triner, publisher of the Bote der Urschweiz, can imagine a Sunday edition "perhaps in a few years," but according to surveys, subscriber demand is currently too low. And publisher Philipp Theiler (March Anzeiger/Höfner Volksblatt) is skeptical about a reader loyalty campaign in cooperation with a major Sunday paper. "That brings us no advantage, only higher subscription costs," he says.
 
For example, Gilbert Bühler, director of the Freiburger Nachrichten, the publication of his own Sunday edition is not an issue either. And cooperation with a major newspaper? "Never say never," he says, but immediately points to the poorly developed early Sunday delivery in the Sense district.

Kurt Hasen, Managing Director of the Valais Messenger (WB), is also aware of this problem, but he is currently discussing a combined subscription with the SoZ from the second quarter of 2013 - for WB subscribers in the conurbations of Brig, Visp and Naters. "Because an expansion of Sunday distribution is out of the question," he clarifies. After all, the Walliser Bote has just under 6,000 subscribers in the three agglomerations, while the SoZ only sells about 1,250 copies in the Upper Valais. So there is potential for them. And what does the WB stand to gain? "We have no benefit, but we want to offer our readers an additional benefit - a cost advantage thanks to the Valais Messenger," says Hasen. Whereby the SoZ would have to grant the subscription discount. Unlike the BaZ, he is not prepared to spend any money. Only the SoZ will be advertised in the WB. "But we still have to wait for the draft contract and the compensation model of the SoZ," Hasen adds.

Even the Volksstimme is open-minded

That leaves those newspapers that only appear two or three times a week - such as the Volksstimme in Sissach, the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung or the Botschaft in Zurzach. All of them have never thought about a Sunday edition - because of the costs. However, they are open to combined subscriptions with a major. "You can always discuss such things," says Walter Herzog, publisher of the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung. "It would be conceivable," says Bernhard Bürli, publisher of the Botschaft. Susi Quinter, publisher of the Volksstimme, is almost enthusiastic: "People like to read on Sunday, a connection might be a good thing," she says. However, a cooperation with AZ Medien would hardly be an option for her - because their Basellandschaftliche Zeitung and the Volksstimme are partly competitors. "The NZZ am Sonntag, on the other hand, could be a good fit for us," she says, "because we've always taken the quality of the NZZ as our model - simply broken down to the local market."

Markus Knöpfli

SoZ ad rate unchanged until mid-year As of March 3, around 40,000 subscribers to the previous BaZ Sunday edition will now receive the SoZ. Will this conservatively estimated additional reach of 80,000 people increase the SoZ advertising rate (currently CHF 29,440 for 1/1 4f)? "No," says SoZ publishing director Diego Quintarelli. "We will pass on the reach increase free of charge to our advertising clients in the first four months - as a thank-you for their loyalty over the past years." Starting July 1, 2013, on the other hand, the circulation increase of more than 20 percent will result in a 5 percent price increase, he said. "Nevertheless, this will once again make SoZ's price-performance ratio much more attractive," he added. SoZ had already increased its advertising rate by 5 percent as of September 2, 2012, justifying this at the time with the "circulation increase due to the cooperation with the Bund" in Bern (plus about 60,000 readers). (mk)
 

---

On the subject:

Sumptuous Sunday menu

With the market entry of Ostschweiz am Sonntag and the circulation increase of Sonntags Zeitung in Basel, the advertising offering on Sundays in German-speaking Switzerland will become even richer. At the same time, the weights are also shifting. From Ueli Custer

The 4B Group is a traditional Swiss company, now in its 4th generation, with headquarters in Hochdorf and branches throughout Switzerland. The family-owned company, active in facade and window construction, offers high-quality and innovative products such as the only Swiss Minergie renovation window made of wood-aluminum.

For the target group of homeowners, Metzgerlehner developed a brand campaign that not only serves to build up the image, but also sets accents in sales at the same time. The campaign combines the advantages of the outstanding product quality of 4B windows with an emotional benefit that can be used to differentiate the brand: The target group basically associates renovation with worries and uncertainty - worries about having to deal with complicated processes, that everything will be more expensive than planned, that dirt will be made, that deadlines will not be met, that work will be done sloppily or that damage will occur.

In this situation, the campaign aims to help the target group make a difficult decision - with a promise that can also be kept by the market leader 4B: Just like in a nice Hollywood movie, 4B promises a happy ending. Thanks to the patented product as well as the clean and gentle installation process, the target group need not worry. Because only 4B has the window with a built-in happy ending. This takes place when looking out into the garden. "With the leitmotif of the happy ending, a metaphor was chosen that stands for carefree happiness like no other and with which everyone immediately has a positive image in mind," explains CD Michael Rottmann. In addition to the three TV commercials, which were produced by Pumpkin Films and director Alexandra Fisher in "grandiose Hollywood style," the campaign includes many other advertising media such as online, ads, flyers and promotions. pan

 

Since SSF began broadcasting in the fall of 2007, the two parties have been exchanging images and rights and cooperating on production and distribution. SRG and SSF thus create a synergetic cooperation for both sides. SRG wrote this in a press release on Presseportal.ch. SSF, with its coverage of Swiss team and popular sports, offers a meaningful complement to the broad sports offering of the SRG channels, with Swiss athletes, major national and international sporting events in Switzerland and international events in focus, says Roger de Weck, Director General of SRG.

 

Lots of good news for APG shareholders. The most recent: a few days ago, the company's management, led by CEO Daniel Hofer, succeeded in exiting another foreign market. Specifically, APG was able to sell its company in Montenegro. This means that it is now only active in two Eastern European countries - Romania and Serbia. And that is where it will remain for the time being, even though Hofer actually wanted to leave Romania as a priority a year ago. The Romanian company, which is number 2 in the market, was on the verge of being sold several times, but in the end the (financial) conditions were not right, said Hofer. But the company was trimmed to the point where it is now operating in the black. "We are therefore relaxed, a sale is not pressing," said the CEO.

Write-offs in Serbia

The situation is similar in Serbia, where APG is the market leader, but took an impairment of 20.1 million francs on all goodwill and part of the contracts and completely revalued the company. Management is doing a good job and Mobiliar is "of Swiss quality," Hofer said. One consequence of these measures: APG's foreign business fell by a third to 20.5 million Swiss francs (still including Montenegro), contributing 6.5 percent to total sales (previous year: 10 percent). An addendum to Greece: The three remaining companies are in liquidation as planned, but according to Hofer, a definitive exit is likely to take up to three years.

Switzerland: Election advertising overcompensated in 2011

The second piece of good news is that despite the decline in sales abroad, APG was able to increase its total sales by 1.9 percent to 317.6 million Swiss francs - because it was even able to grow by 5.9 percent to 297 million Swiss francs in its home market of Switzerland. This is also remarkable because APG succeeded in increasing the additional sales of around 10 million Swiss francs generated in the 2011 election year with sales increases in all APG business segments. Swiss business thus now accounts for 93.5 percent of total sales (previous year: 90 percent).

The net result amounted to 52.1 million Swiss francs (+22.1 percent). The conversion of APG's own pension fund from defined benefit to defined contribution plans had a strong influence on this increase.

Digitization at a snail's pace

And the third piece of good news is that the company is now "very solid again". And according to Hofer, it is also completely debt-free. In 2012, the last 15 million francs of debt were repaid. APG also has a well-filled war chest. According to the current strategy of the board of directors, however, this money is not earmarked for new purchases abroad, but for investments in the digitization of Swiss billboard sites, Hofer said. Last year, APG invested 5.4 million Swiss francs, including in 43 e-panels in train stations. Such digitized panels currently account for a good 5 percent of APG's sales.

However, Hofer was unable to name any concrete investment projects on a large scale for the current year. Nevertheless, APG has pilot projects underway in various municipalities, including Zurich, where it won 90 percent of all billboards on public land in a tender last year. "But the digitization of billboards outside buildings is progressing more slowly than we thought," Hofer admitted to Werbewoche. There are still too many prejudices on the part of the authorities. APG is not pursuing flashing and garish digitization à la Time Square, but a quiet, softly backlit form at selected and well-frequented locations. Moving images as in the train stations are also not envisaged, but rather rigid poster subjects that can, however, be changed. In the distant future, this would enable APG advertising customers to pursue not only a broad-based but also a targeting strategy with posters. Digital posters could also be used to address different target groups at different times of day.

Population growth and mobility benefit APG

Incidentally, the CEO is "buoyed" by two developments in Switzerland: The increase in population and growing mobility. "We are benefiting from this, because it brings our areas more contact opportunities." In addition, APG is not only present on the roads, but also on buses, streetcars, and trains, as well as at POS, train stations, airports, and mountain railroads. It thus covers many areas of life (commuting to work, leisure time, vacations) - and does so around the clock. "As soon as you leave your house, you belong to our target groups," Hofer triumphed.

Markus Knöpfli

 

WW: What do you think about the debacle in general?

Brigitte Gubser, CEO ZenithOptimedia: The whole situation is highly unpleasant. The bad thing is that it needn't have come to this. With such major projects, things can quickly go wrong or take longer than planned, and we consider it highly negligent that no contingency plan was in place. Parallel operation of the old panel would have been a clean option for a transitional period in order to calmly eliminate the "teething troubles" of the new system.

Axel Beckmann, CEO MediaCom: Now everyone should calm down again. Everything has been said on the subject - even by people who normally never speak out (for good reason). Publicadata and the external auditors must now be able to do their job in peace, so that there are no further delays. The most important thing is that we have valid data at the end of March that is accepted by everyone.

Manfred Strobl, CEO OmnicomMediaGroup: The renewed delay in data release is a disaster for us. We assume that by the time the data is released at the end of March/beginning of April, around CHF 450 to 500 million of TV advertising print (gross) will have been placed in the market without control. Our customers have demanding targets with their TV campaigns. Without controlling the performance figures, we cannot check whether the targets are being met. We are eager to see what Mediapulse's position on this issue will be, who will be responsible, and what consequences will be drawn.

Monica Jäggi, Konnex: It was foreseeable that the introduction of a new TV measurement system would not be without problems. However, the fact that the problems took on such major proportions is - to put it mildly - surprising and incomprehensible. Kantar was chosen because it has experience in complex and small TV markets. It would be reasonable to assume that the company would be able to set up a panel in such a way that this small-scale nature could also be represented. Not to mention the technical problems of correctly assigning the acoustic measurement values. After all, it has not only been known since today that there are, for example, several stations that transmit the same program. The fact that individual broadcasters are now doubting the new surveys because they are noting major deviations from last year's data does little to strengthen confidence in the new figures. In view of the whole debacle, it would certainly have been more than sensible to keep the existing Telecontrol system running in parallel. But as we all know, hindsight is always the wiser. If the new metering system had worked right from the start, there would suddenly have been two currencies in this case. This would also have led to major discussions and uncertainties.

Urs Schwander, Head of Electronic Media Mindshare: The first delay was actually foreseeable for us and therefore not surprising. The only people who believed in a problem-free introduction of the new panel were probably only the people from Mediapulse. The further delays were then unpleasant. From our point of view, however, the path Mediapulse has taken is the right one. It is important that all TV market participants accept this new currency and can stand behind it.

What does that mean for your agency's TV planning?

Brigitte Gubser: At the moment, our hands are tied, but as soon as the data are published, very strict weeks are coming up. We have to quickly process all the ex-post analyses that have been pending since January and compare the performance figures with the planned figures. Then we have to talk to the marketers immediately about any performance compensation. In addition, it will probably be necessary to adjust numerous prebookings already released for the second half of 2013. This means a considerable additional expense for us, and one has to ask the legitimate question of who wants to pay for it!

Axel Beckmann: TV planning is not affected too much by this at the moment, because MediaCom creates the planning with its own forecast data anyway. Of course, we'd like to compare these with the actuals, but unfortunately that's not possible right now. That's not a big drama for a manageable period of time, but it shouldn't take longer than the end of March.

Manfred Strobl: Our business processes are massively impaired as a result. Our customers associate the release of data with the demand for the fastest possible delivery of the performance values. The concentration of the evaluation work in such a short period of time (after data release) means massive additional work for us.

Monica Jäggi: Planning and purchasing of the campaigns in the first half of the year still followed the usual "pattern". However, due to the lack of audience data, we do not have any means of checking the campaign development and initiating any corrections. At the moment, this reduces the effort required for campaign management. As soon as the TV data is available, the effort will of course increase massively. This is because not only will the campaigns of the first quarter of 2013 have to be analyzed within a very short period of time, but general market analyses will also have to be prepared in order to optimize the current campaigns and also to prepare the planning for the second half of 2013.

Urs Schwander: We plan blindly with the info we have, hoping for a safe and pinpoint load. Because we lack the navigation system, an important working tool for us during the campaign period. We can only make very limited campaign optimizations. Which is actually not acceptable. Who would want to fly in an airplane without navigation? It becomes problematic when there are delays for the second half of the year. The plan is to send data to the agencies on April 8. If everything goes optimally, that is shortly after the 2013 figures are published.

How do your customers react?

Brigitte Gubser: The entire market is very unsettled. Unfortunately, neither we nor our customers have any effective means of exerting pressure to force the publication of the data. But we are putting pressure directly on Mediapulse, because there is nothing to be said against immediate publication - there will be no other figures either way.

Axel Beckmann: Very different. We have the whole range from very relaxed to very excited.

Manfred Strobl: Our customers rightly react with complete incomprehension and check individually with their legal departments what options are available to them.

Monica Jäggi: Of course, none of our customers are happy about the fact that we are currently planning and accompanying TV campaigns blind-folded, so to speak. However, they see the whole thing quite pragmatically. They - like us - are convinced that the campaigns are working and supporting the achievement of the marketing and communications objectives, even if it is not possible at present to ascertain how high the media performance of the campaigns is.

Urs Schwander: The reaction of customers in the run-up to the changeover was fiercer than that to the current development. Last year, customers and we complained about the lack of dual operation. Not only because of the assurance of the numbers, but as an aid to better understand the new currency.

Do you or your customers reserve the right to take legal action?

Brigitte Gubser: We're leaving that open at the moment and will decide that in due course.

Axel Beckmann: We think this is unnecessary at the moment. The stations are performing, even if they cannot be evaluated at the moment. There will be winners and losers. In the case of over-delivery, this is free for our customers; in the case of under-delivery, all marketers have given performance guarantees, so that customers are well protected.

Manfred Strobl: There are customers who are currently considering legal action. In our view, it is an omission not to make the data - whose collection methodology and fundamental accuracy is probably no longer disputed - available to the customers' agencies.

Monica Jäggi: At present, nothing is planned in this regard.

Urs Schwander: No.

Survey: Pierre C. Meier

Michael Kaiser will assume operational responsibility for the whole of Switzerland with two locations in Zurich and Lausanne. The company announced this in a press release on Thursday. The new management team will expand services for international and national clients. Kaiser plans to develop and introduce additional services and thus optimize the overall cross-media offering.

Kaiser previously worked as a sales manager at Standard Service in Vienna (Der Standard) and is an honorary member of the Vienna regional board of the Wirtschaftsforum der Führungskräfte WdF. He studied political science at the University of Vienna and industrial engineering at the Technical University of Vienna, specializing in industrial business administration and project management.

The Board of Directors of MEC Mediaedge:cia Switzerland has also been strengthened with Klaus Nadler (CEO Group M Switzerland). Board Chairman Konrad Mayr-Pernek (Managing Director of MEC Mediaedge:cia Vienna) and Board member Julia Steffen (CFO of Group M Switzerland) remain in office.

MEC Mediaedge:cia Switzerland is part of the agency network of Group M Switzerland WPP and is represented by around 40 employees in Lausanne and Zurich. MEC is represented with almost 5,000 employees in 84 countries at 250 locations.
 

Non habemus papam - the Pope is out of the picture. He wants to withdraw into prayer and hide from the world, he says. That's great, but what makes him think that? Well, the great gentleman is 85 years old, an age at which most of his peers have long since been taken out of circulation. And he's tired. Yes, of course, the whole holy fuss is enormously stressful. But it's more likely that he's had enough of the world since he saw the last Swiss crime scene "Dirty Thursday".

Not because of the costume mumbo jumbo, the Pope thinks dressing up is great. After all, he himself walks around all day in a funny robe and red shoes. And a ridiculous little hat on his head. But this scene in which two women with each other ... "No, really, did you have to do that? And then DJ Bobo as a car wrecker - a great musician as a brute? Holy sacrament, that can't be allowed! Now I'm resigning!"

Habemus Flückiger

And you know what? The Pope is right: the crime scene wasn't that bad. But it wasn't that good either. Lots of superfluous stuff, very loosely or not at all interwoven with the storyline. Just the performance by DJ Bobo. Why? And Frank Bodin as a badly coiffed guildsman? Why? A birthday present from his daughter, reveals the Chairman and CEO of Havas Worldwide. But above all, it's probably clever self-PR. And why should the 7.78 million viewers who watched the crime thriller on ARD care (unfortunately, we can't yet find out how many people watched the dialect version on SRF 1)?

Most of the Swiss Tatort viewers probably didn't even realize the whole folly. The question remains whether that makes it any better. Is what is not effective superfluous? Are gags that only a few viewers notice and that have no dramaturgical relevance whatsoever dispensable, acceptable or even extraordinarily clever? Ha ha. Give yourself the answer.

Doubtful climax

The "sex scene" between Inspector Liz Ritschard and her carnival acquaintance - whose widely publicized still could also be a Beldona advertisement, yawn - almost seems to be an elementary part of Daniel Levy's story. But only almost. A little dash of eroticism simply had to be whisked into the successful Tatort cocktail. Why not something downright wicked: two lesbians in action. We haven't seen that before, at least not in Switzerland. The whole thing is announced a week in advance and, poof, everyone has a look (even in Rome). A real highlight. No wonder the Pope throws down the gauntlet.

Blessing from above

Speaking of which: good old Benedict certainly acted on a hint from above: According to reports in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, he actually bumped his head in his dark hotel room during a trip to Mexico and Cuba and sustained an open injury. A nod to the bedpost, so to speak. This was followed by his resignation.

The main thing is that the Pope doesn't take a television with him to his hermitage. Otherwise the shabby reality could soon catch up with him again. At the latest with the next Swiss crime scene, because the Egyptian belly dance television At-Tet is now unfortunately banned. At least the ladies in rosé and bleu cut a good figure.
 

Before joining Process in February 2013, Rudolf Rodenburg spent a total of nine years in London at Interbrand, Design Bridge, The Partners and Fitch Design Consultants, working for clients such as Anglo American, British Airways, Carlsberg, Emmi, Henkel, Novo Nordisk Healthcare and Pernod Ricard. Before becoming a brand consultant, he was Global Communications Director for SOS Kinderdorf in Innsbruck and held various management positions in Vienna, Budapest and Hamburg for the advertising agency Scholz & Friends. A native of the Netherlands, he holds a master's degree in business administration with a focus on marketing and market research.

Rudolf Rodenburg will lead the consulting team in Zurich as Consulting Director. He succeeds Carolin Versteeg, who left Process after more than six years at the beginning of 2013 to join Marché International as Sales & Marketing Director. At Process, Rudolf Rodenburg will bring an Anglo-Saxon understanding of brands, his international experience and a dash of Dutch charm, the agency said in a statement Thursday. His communications background and interdisciplinarity are expected to support Process' continued strategic direction.

Customers who log into the coffee house's network are allowed to read three articles a day from five different sections, including news, technology and business. The New York Times recently further restricted the free availability of its texts online and had around 668,000 paying subscribers on the Internet in December. Starbucks is the "ideal environment" for such an offer, the US newspaper said, explaining the agreement reached with the chain. (SDA)
 

WW: Why is Marti.Seiler now being renamed Marti Communications?
Peter Marti: After the takeover of Seiler Communications in 2009, I agreed with the founder and owner Herbert Seiler that he would devote all his energy to the good of the company during a transitional period of two years. This period expired on Dec. 31, 2011, and Herbert Seiler left the company. He is now 71. In addition, one must naturally ask whether a brand name that is just two years old is the stronger brand name than the "Marti" label. And this will soon be 30 years old. We have therefore decided in favor of "Marti".
 
Is the name change the end of an era?
Markets change and so do agencies. That's why I have constantly adapted my agency and thus my brand to the needs of the market and the current circumstances. Finally, I also feel committed to the truth. A brand should express what customers experience in their daily work with us. And that is the culture of an owner-oriented, cross-media communications agency.
 
What did the merger bring about retroactively?
It has certainly brought an enlargement. A strengthening of competence. Previously, Marti worked extensively with external partners in creation. Today, we do practically everything internally. Now the merged growth is to be consolidated.
 
How big should Marti be in the future?
One key issue is certainly the ongoing expansion of our cross-media expertise. When media are in a state of flux, so are we. That's why we've now massively strengthened our Internet operations. The existing people have been joined by additional ones as part of Feature Media. This is a specialized agency that has been managing digital campaigns and designing websites for five years. I was able to take them over on January 1. I have no plans to grow over-dimensionally in terms of quantity. Qualitative growth is crucial for me.
 
Is there a Marti style?
Yes, all our concepts include smart ideas based on the absolute return method. With all our clients, we develop communication concepts that also include cross-media tasks. This starts with questions of corporate responsibility, leads to strategic brand consulting, online marketing, PR and sales promotion. It is obvious that this broad spectrum poses very special challenges for our team in consulting and creation. In this area, we want to establish ourselves as the leading address in Switzerland, which is why we have also created a specialized business unit for digital communication, Feature Media.
 
Your agency's claim is "Smart Ideas. What can customers imagine by that?
A "smart idea" enriches everyday life with magic and feelings. Our main task remains the development of magical ideas. And especially in the cross-media environment, outstanding ideas are needed. That's why we cultivate a distinctive culture of ideas that includes questions of product design, media selection, distribution and, of course, communication. That's what customers want today: Ideas that guarantee success. And "smart" refers to our demand for cost-effectiveness. For many years, we have been working according to the Absolute Return method I developed, which guarantees cost-effectiveness and target achievement.
 
Which campaign are you particularly proud of?
I don't want to name any one of them. Every campaign, every customer and every action has its own unique value. We have been working for Subaru for over 30 years and for Lindt for 20 years. You have to prove yourself every day with fresh ideas and not rest on your laurels. But we have also developed solutions for other clients such as the Federal Office for the Environment, various shopping centers and retail stores, or Manpower, which have achieved quite remarkable successes. These are all mandates that go far beyond classic advertising and required special skills from my team.
 
How are things going in new business?
We were able to win some well-known clients for our agency. New is SIGG in Frauenfeld, Diethelm Keller Brands in Zurich, but also Ackermann, the Red Cross of the Canton of Zurich or additional areas of other existing clients. We also added Feature Media mandates from Cicor, Kramer, Koch Optik in the digital area. For 2012, we budgeted carefully and achieved this budget. And for 2013, we expect an increase of 10 percent in net operating revenues.

Interview: Andreas Panzeri