Round profit without end
By Beat Fritsch
By Beat FritschThe saying has long since established itself as a running gag on TV: Boring series and feature films fill the gaps between the exciting commercial breaks. The same applies more and more to private radio stations. An analysis of the award-winning spots in the Golden Ear competition at Miller's Studio in Zurich Seefeld, but also of morning radio consumption, supports this unpleasant assumption. Even if spot copywriter is not yet the advertising dream job, the quality of commercials has improved significantly.
On the other hand, the supporting program around the commercials is becoming increasingly dull, not to mention the even more dull moderation. However: According to reports, it is no longer just the average listeners among the advertisers who are fed up with the musical mishmash of morning joke-phone terror and other sucky lattisms, as an almost representative survey of guests at the Golden Ear revealed.
Bruno Oetterli, for example, head of Radiotele and thus the top marketer of Swiss private radio stations, prefers to listen to DRS 1 early in the morning, according to a reliable but very discreet source. The shortlist tip for better listening enjoyment is to switch to stations with a 3 at the end, regardless of whether they have the prefix Couleur, SWF, Ö or B in their name. Listening to DRS 2 in the morning has almost achieved cult status.
The winners of this year's Stocks Awards ceremony, which took place at the Lake Side Casino Zürichhorn, could have been showered with gloating in advance. The stock, the analyst and the research bank of the year were chosen there. "The best stock will be the one with the lowest price decline within a year, and the best analyst will be the one whose predictions were wrong only 50 percent of the time," was the prediction of the regular financial prophets. Far from it: those "stock market professionals" among the "cleaning lady investors" should actually be beaten up. They are still under the mistaken impression that the stock market is primarily a one-way street to the top since their savings are tied up in shares and funds.
As on the global financial markets, the mood at the Stocks Awards has also been better. In the past, it was still possible to splash out on the dream profits realized the day before instead of dwelling on problems such as dwindling confidence or declining economic figures. But it wasn't quite so bad after all: as champagne consumption increased - and there was still enough money for that - the mood also improved.
Once again, the evening's highlight was the presentation by event manager Bettina Möhr and Stocks editor-in-chief Reto Lipp. They led brilliantly through the program and will probably soon have to be lured with higher salaries. Otherwise they will move to a TV station or into show business. In any case, some people who call themselves professional presenters could take a leaf out of their book.
At the Edi.02 awards ceremony in the old streetcar depot in Oerlikon, the jury's motto was probably "awards to the usual suspects". The winners were those who can also be found on other podiums, be it on the Cannes shortlist, at the ADC or other creative competitions. Among the names of the agencies responsible are Ruf Lanz, Advico Young & Rubicam and Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett, while the production and post-production companies include Condor, Pumpkin, Frame Eleven, Absolutturnus and Das Werk.
The Edi party actually went quite well. However, the hall emptied indecently early for a promotional event and long before midnight, which could have something to do with the fact that people had to pay for their own drinks. The party was better than the last Edi award ceremony, where the gala seating stifled broad-based communication from the outset. But it still didn't come close to the first edition two years ago. The Schiffbau venue at that time simply exuded more urban charm than a mundane streetcar workshop.
Fast laps were the order of the day in Spreitenbach at the end of the week. Under the direction of Touring-Magazin and its marketing manager Reto Kammermann, you could feel like a little Schumi on mini-bolides. The 2nd Rock 'n' Race Night was announced, which was almost crying out for a repeat after last year's success. However, the roar was kept to a minimum, as the electrically powered go-karts in Spreitenbach purred more like slightly aged house cats - not a trace of tiger in the tank anywhere. More like a tomcat in the battery...and a worm in the computer system, to further appreciate the animal kingdom: After the first elimination heats, all lap times were lost due to a PC glitch. The system had to be restarted, and the kart drivers who were already exhausted from the training and qualifying runs were called up again. Go-karting may look so relaxed and easy from the outside - but for untrained contemporaries, the whole thing really works the muscles!
Beat Fritsch
On the other hand, the supporting program around the commercials is becoming increasingly dull, not to mention the even more dull moderation. However: According to reports, it is no longer just the average listeners among the advertisers who are fed up with the musical mishmash of morning joke-phone terror and other sucky lattisms, as an almost representative survey of guests at the Golden Ear revealed.
Bruno Oetterli, for example, head of Radiotele and thus the top marketer of Swiss private radio stations, prefers to listen to DRS 1 early in the morning, according to a reliable but very discreet source. The shortlist tip for better listening enjoyment is to switch to stations with a 3 at the end, regardless of whether they have the prefix Couleur, SWF, Ö or B in their name. Listening to DRS 2 in the morning has almost achieved cult status.
The winners of this year's Stocks Awards ceremony, which took place at the Lake Side Casino Zürichhorn, could have been showered with gloating in advance. The stock, the analyst and the research bank of the year were chosen there. "The best stock will be the one with the lowest price decline within a year, and the best analyst will be the one whose predictions were wrong only 50 percent of the time," was the prediction of the regular financial prophets. Far from it: those "stock market professionals" among the "cleaning lady investors" should actually be beaten up. They are still under the mistaken impression that the stock market is primarily a one-way street to the top since their savings are tied up in shares and funds.
As on the global financial markets, the mood at the Stocks Awards has also been better. In the past, it was still possible to splash out on the dream profits realized the day before instead of dwelling on problems such as dwindling confidence or declining economic figures. But it wasn't quite so bad after all: as champagne consumption increased - and there was still enough money for that - the mood also improved.
Once again, the evening's highlight was the presentation by event manager Bettina Möhr and Stocks editor-in-chief Reto Lipp. They led brilliantly through the program and will probably soon have to be lured with higher salaries. Otherwise they will move to a TV station or into show business. In any case, some people who call themselves professional presenters could take a leaf out of their book.
At the Edi.02 awards ceremony in the old streetcar depot in Oerlikon, the jury's motto was probably "awards to the usual suspects". The winners were those who can also be found on other podiums, be it on the Cannes shortlist, at the ADC or other creative competitions. Among the names of the agencies responsible are Ruf Lanz, Advico Young & Rubicam and Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett, while the production and post-production companies include Condor, Pumpkin, Frame Eleven, Absolutturnus and Das Werk.
The Edi party actually went quite well. However, the hall emptied indecently early for a promotional event and long before midnight, which could have something to do with the fact that people had to pay for their own drinks. The party was better than the last Edi award ceremony, where the gala seating stifled broad-based communication from the outset. But it still didn't come close to the first edition two years ago. The Schiffbau venue at that time simply exuded more urban charm than a mundane streetcar workshop.
Fast laps were the order of the day in Spreitenbach at the end of the week. Under the direction of Touring-Magazin and its marketing manager Reto Kammermann, you could feel like a little Schumi on mini-bolides. The 2nd Rock 'n' Race Night was announced, which was almost crying out for a repeat after last year's success. However, the roar was kept to a minimum, as the electrically powered go-karts in Spreitenbach purred more like slightly aged house cats - not a trace of tiger in the tank anywhere. More like a tomcat in the battery...and a worm in the computer system, to further appreciate the animal kingdom: After the first elimination heats, all lap times were lost due to a PC glitch. The system had to be restarted, and the kart drivers who were already exhausted from the training and qualifying runs were called up again. Go-karting may look so relaxed and easy from the outside - but for untrained contemporaries, the whole thing really works the muscles!
Beat Fritsch
went in search of particularly noteworthy top performances at the countless events held last week. These were awarded by the Golden Ear Association for the best radio spots, by the investor magazine Stocks for the share and analyst of the year, by the Swissfilm Association for the best Swiss advertising and commissioned films and by Touring magazine for the best go-kart drivers.
We find out who meets in the communications scene at parties and aperitifs at various events in the industry. Do you already have something exciting to report? Pick up the phone (01 296 97 98) or hit the keyboard (info@werbewo che.ch). For event tips and occasional shortlist images: www .werbewoche.ch
