Merger of agency associations collapsed

Agencies The merger project with the working title "Swiss Leading Agencies" received little applause at the general meeting of the Association of Public Relations Agencies (BPRA). 16 members spoke out against the merger and four in favor, according to Peter P. Knobel of the agency of the same name. Only the large agencies had promised themselves advantages. According to BPRA President Ulrich Bollmann, the importance of integrated communication was questioned during the presentation of the project, as argued by the boards of the BPRA and the industry association of Swiss advertising and communication agencies. Bollmann emphasized to Werbewoche that no vote had taken place. Rather, the board had presented the project to the members in order to obtain a picture of the mood. It was self-evident that the BPRA board would not continue to work on projects that obviously had no chance of being approved. (sm)