"Trade media have a high reader-sheet loyalty".

Trade media are still relevant as advertising media, but the quality requirements have increased. In 2013, the Swiss press generated net advertising revenues of CHF 1,615 million. Of this, 104 million Swiss francs or just under 6.5 percent was generated by the trade press. This is 5.6 percent less than in the previous year, and the deviation from the 10-year average is 12.5 percent. As the latest figures from the Stiftung Werbestatistik Schweiz show, specialist media have lost less of their appeal than other media in the print sector. The daily, weekly and Sunday press, for example, recorded a decline of 10.6 percent, while net advertising revenues in the general-interest, financial and business media fell by 8.4 percent last year."Print media have high importance"Manfred Strobl, CEO of the marketing services provider OmnicomMediaGroup, explains why trade newspapers and magazines are still used as advertising media despite the great competition from new channels such as social media as follows: "Print media will continue to be very important for the time being. Market shares may no longer be at the level of recent years, but the quality, reader reception and accessibility of specific target groups in particular are still the novelty of print. "These criteria would apply to an even greater extent to specialist media. "Trade magazines and newspapers generally have an even higher reader-sheet loyalty and are traditionally subject to a somewhat different usage structure and situation. Often these publications are already 'institutions' of an industry," says Strobl. "Here, professionals communicate on a B2B platform, and the quality of the editorial work is important for transparency and innovation in the respective sectors. "This also applies to advertising, he says, because the contextual environment and reader interest radiate onto advertisements and advertorials. In parallel, specialist media in the online display would gain in importance, as there is an increase in situational reading and mobile usage situations that the printed copy, unlike the computer or mobile device, can no longer cover. This channel is also important for Google searches, because if information cannot be found via a prominent search engine, it is less likely to be noticed.Advertisements do not annoyToni Vetterli, Head of Marketing at the industry organization Schweizer Medien, is also convinced of the effectiveness of the trade media as an advertising medium. He points to the campaign "Only an ad can do that," which emphasizes, among other things, that advertising in ads is not annoying, is more credible and cost-effective than other advertising, and gives readers time to absorb information.Publications in the trade press fulfill important functions in the professional environment as information, communication and advertising media. "Thanks to their content focus on specialist and thematic areas, their editorial competence and credibility, and their role as opinion leaders with high reader loyalty, they are important links between the participants in their specific market," says Vetterli.Advertisements in trade media: yes or no?A survey of Swiss companies shows that these arguments are relevant to the clients. However, whether trade magazines and newspapers are actually used as advertising platforms depends on other criteria. Prisca Huguenin-dit-Lenoir, Head of Corporate Communications at the Hotelplan Group, explains that the tour operator Hotelplan Suisse relies on national print titles for advertising. Trade magazines are not taken into account, as there is only one trade magazine left in the travel industry. According to Karin Heliopoulos, advertising and branding, Coop invests 60 percent of its advertising budget in print media, but mainly uses its own titles. "Since we always target end customers, we don't advertise in trade media," says Heliopoulos.The Swiss Alpine Club SAC, on the other hand, is dependent on sponsors and partners to implement campaigns, according to communications manager Heidi Schwaiger, and hardly ever places ads for budget reasons.Media mix is crucialOther companies advertise in trade journals because they value a good media mix. As Benno Estermann, Head of Public Relations at Siemens Switzerland, explains, Siemens advertises exclusively in trade media in the print sector. On average, 10 percent of the entire Marcom budget is spent on advertisements. "The advertisements are a useful addition to our activities on the online channels and our own customer magazines. Together with press work and personal communication with customers, we want to ensure an appropriate presence in the most important trade media and reinforce to our customers that they are relying on the right partner," says Estermann. Although print advertisements have lost importance in recent years, they are still important. Since a good mix between online and offline is necessary today, other channels are also used, he says, adding that it is important for Siemens Switzerland to have a regular presence at know-how platforms and events organized by associations and interest groups. In the case of trade media, activities are focused on lead media in the respective industries. "We select the titles in consultation with the individual business units and selected customers. Depending on the launch of a new solution, there may be shifts. In addition, the choice of titles is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, adjusted at short notice," says Estermann, adding that the main target groups are specialists, experts and technical decision-makers in a wide range of industries. Due to the very different areas in which Siemens is active, addressing a broad target audience is hardly possible and only makes sense for the company in rare cases.More advertising channels, constant advertising budgetAccording to Marketing and Communications Manager Bernadette Grossenbacher, a good media mix is also important for Electrolux. The company invests around 40 percent of its advertising budget in print media, of which 20 percent is spent on trade magazines. "In order for us to reach our target group, the media strategy and thus the media mix must be right," says Grossenbacher. In this context, the importance of good-quality trade media has increased somewhat in recent years. Peter Brun, Chief Communication Officer at Kuoni, explains that the proportion of print ads placed by Kuoni has decreased in parallel with advertising activities on the Internet, as advertising budgets do not automatically increase when more advertising channels are available. "As a B2C company in Switzerland with a clear sales focus among consumers, trade media only make sense where they correspond to the products of our brands. That's why we focus on high-quality magazines in the luxury sector," says Brun. These are particularly suitable for image advertising or an image campaign such as Kuoni carried out last fall with "Reise deinen Traum" ("Travel your dream"). "Direct product advertising that focuses on price works best on the Internet. Trade magazines are not suitable for this," explains Brun."Scattering loss relatively low"Competitor TUI Suisse invests between 2 and 3 percent of its total marketing budget in trade media every year. "Print is part of the multichannel marcom mix. We are active in target group-specific online and offline media," says Director Corporate Communications Roland Schmid. TUI Suisse most frequently advertises in tourism trade magazines for B2B communication, even though these have declined in number. Here, the scattering loss is relatively low, which is why they are well suited for communicating novelties, exclusivities and special features, as well as for reinforcing messages.Swisscom spends about one fifth of its advertising budget on print media, and less than 5 percent of that on trade newspapers and magazines. According to spokesman Konrad Merz, the importance of trade media in the print-online mix has remained constant, but has tended to move toward online. Since the focus is on the B2B sector, Swisscom advertises in industry-specific magazines from the banking and insurance sectors, he said. "We rely on print ads because this allows us to reach a very large number of potential customers in a specific target group with just a few selected publications," says Merz.High quality requirementsAs these voices show, trade media are still relevant as an advertising medium. However, in order to survive in the age of social media, where advertising is digital, mobile, interactive, sustainable and focused, trade newspapers and magazines must meet high quality standards in order to continue to be considered by clients.Author: Denise Weisflog