Local strategy in the Zurich Oberland
On November 6, Zürcher Oberland Medien will launch five small-circulation weekly newspapers. With this move, the media company aims to establish a stronger foothold in the local market.
It has the same format as a commuter newspaper, but even at first glance it is clear that the free newspaper Regio.ch is not intended for commuters: the new newspaper, which will be published once a week in the Zurich Oberland from November 6, has much longer texts than a classic commuter newspaper. If you take a closer look, you can also see differences in content: Regio.ch articles have a clear local focus; world events do not feature in this printed product - or only if they are directly related to the people in the five Oberland regions of Illnau-Effretikon, Uster, Pfäffikon, Wetzikon and Rüti. "The region in a nutshell" is the subtitle of Regio.ch. This is also meant geographically: there is a separate Regio.ch edition for each of the areas mentioned, covering the largest town in each case as well as the surrounding four to five municipalities. And all of these editions, with a total circulation of 89,502 copies, will in future be distributed free of charge on Thursdays and delivered to letterboxes early.
The five Regio.ch editions are published by ZO Wochenzeitungen AG, a young subsidiary of Zürcher Oberland Medien (ZOM), which also publishes the daily newspaper Zürcher Oberländer (ZO). Until August, the company was still called Kiebitz Verlag AG. This is no coincidence. Kiebitz is a small weekly newspaper that was distributed for the last time this week in the municipalities of Illnau-Effretikon, Lindau and Brütten. Kiebitz already belonged to ZOM, but will now also supply Kyburg and Weisslingen as Regio.ch issue 1. The circulation will increase from 9,500 to 11,510 copies. The Kiebitz logo will complement that of Regio.ch for another two months, after which it will disappear.
A second title, the Wetziker Spiegel (11,000 copies), also owned by ZOM and previously only published monthly, will be integrated into the Regio.ch concept. This title will also disappear, but the corresponding Regio.ch issue 4 will be expanded to include the municipalities of Hinwil, Bäretswil, Seegräben, Gossau and Grüningen. The circulation here will increase from 11,000 to 22,817 copies. In the three remaining small regions of Uster, Pfäffikon and Rüti, however, ZOM is launching new newspapers, all of which should also function as official publication organs for the respective municipalities if possible. Whether this will succeed remains to be seen. Apart from the municipality of Illnau-Effretikon, which has cooperated with the Kiebitz to date, there are still no commitments. Apparently, they want to wait and see how many readers there are first.
The five Regio.ch editions are published by ZO Wochenzeitungen AG, a young subsidiary of Zürcher Oberland Medien (ZOM), which also publishes the daily newspaper Zürcher Oberländer (ZO). Until August, the company was still called Kiebitz Verlag AG. This is no coincidence. Kiebitz is a small weekly newspaper that was distributed for the last time this week in the municipalities of Illnau-Effretikon, Lindau and Brütten. Kiebitz already belonged to ZOM, but will now also supply Kyburg and Weisslingen as Regio.ch issue 1. The circulation will increase from 9,500 to 11,510 copies. The Kiebitz logo will complement that of Regio.ch for another two months, after which it will disappear.
A second title, the Wetziker Spiegel (11,000 copies), also owned by ZOM and previously only published monthly, will be integrated into the Regio.ch concept. This title will also disappear, but the corresponding Regio.ch issue 4 will be expanded to include the municipalities of Hinwil, Bäretswil, Seegräben, Gossau and Grüningen. The circulation here will increase from 11,000 to 22,817 copies. In the three remaining small regions of Uster, Pfäffikon and Rüti, however, ZOM is launching new newspapers, all of which should also function as official publication organs for the respective municipalities if possible. Whether this will succeed remains to be seen. Apart from the municipality of Illnau-Effretikon, which has cooperated with the Kiebitz to date, there are still no commitments. Apparently, they want to wait and see how many readers there are first.
ZOM Publishing Director Konrad Müller describes the reason for launching the five micro-regional newspapers as follows: "We want to retain the reader market and gain additional market share in the advertising sector, particularly among small businesses, SMEs and associations. In this way, we want to distance ourselves from the competition from the city of Zurich." So is Regio.ch a response to the regional edition of the Tages-Anzeiger in the Zurich Oberland? Yes, says Müller, although the idea of dividing the market into small sub-regions has been maturing at ZOM since 2004. But one thing is clear: instead of attacking the Tagi head-on and wearing itself out, ZOM would rather consolidate its local foundations and try to secure the reader and advertising market in its own core area in the long term with three media - the subscription-based ZO, ZO-Online and Regio.ch.
Konrad MüllerThe experiment is interesting, but it remains to be seen whether it will work out. Müller expects Regio.ch alone to generate a total turnover of 2.9 million francs in its first year - and a "small loss". He also anticipates a cannibalization effect: "Regio.ch is likely to eat up around 600,000 francs from the ZO, which is why the actual additional turnover will probably only amount to 2.3 million francs," he says. But that doesn't worry Müller. "I'd rather have competition in-house than lose sales to the competition."
But that is not the end of the story. As soon as Regio.ch has established itself, Konrad Müller also expects good reach figures. He is assuming one reader per copy (LpE) at the start. "We hope to reach 1.5 LpE by 2010," he says. A third of these expected 130,000 readers are likely to be younger people, Müller assumes. This should make a combination of Regio.ch and ZO interesting. Even if it is still a long way off, such a combination is already being offered - with a 10 percent discount on the two individual tariffs. For the time being, however, local customers are likely to be particularly interested in the individual Regio.ch editions, which can be combined as desired.
Markus Knöpfli
Wait and see
If you look closely, you will notice that ZOM has left out two small regions in the ZO circulation area - namely the lower district of Uster and the Tösstal. In fact, it has decided not to publish a Regio.ch edition there, even though this would make sense in terms of the overall concept. The reason: similar newspapers already exist in both areas, the Glattaler and the Tösstaler. The Glattaler, with a weekly circulation of just under 26,000 copies, is owned by Zürcher Unterland Medien, with which ZOM is closely associated with the Zürcher Landzeitung. And the Tösstaler is published three times a week with almost 4,500 copies and is owned by Buchdruckerei Turbenthal. "The two will first see how our project gets off the ground for a year and then decide whether they want to join," says Konrad Müller. (mk)
Historically grown
A closer look at Regio.ch reveals another specialty: The Illnau-Effretikon edition has the highest rate of all the splits - but the smallest circulation. This comes from the Kiebitz, says Konrad Müller. "It's just a historically evolved rate." The other editions are different: There, the prices are based on circulation and (expected) reach. (mk)
But that is not the end of the story. As soon as Regio.ch has established itself, Konrad Müller also expects good reach figures. He is assuming one reader per copy (LpE) at the start. "We hope to reach 1.5 LpE by 2010," he says. A third of these expected 130,000 readers are likely to be younger people, Müller assumes. This should make a combination of Regio.ch and ZO interesting. Even if it is still a long way off, such a combination is already being offered - with a 10 percent discount on the two individual tariffs. For the time being, however, local customers are likely to be particularly interested in the individual Regio.ch editions, which can be combined as desired.
Markus Knöpfli
Wait and see
If you look closely, you will notice that ZOM has left out two small regions in the ZO circulation area - namely the lower district of Uster and the Tösstal. In fact, it has decided not to publish a Regio.ch edition there, even though this would make sense in terms of the overall concept. The reason: similar newspapers already exist in both areas, the Glattaler and the Tösstaler. The Glattaler, with a weekly circulation of just under 26,000 copies, is owned by Zürcher Unterland Medien, with which ZOM is closely associated with the Zürcher Landzeitung. And the Tösstaler is published three times a week with almost 4,500 copies and is owned by Buchdruckerei Turbenthal. "The two will first see how our project gets off the ground for a year and then decide whether they want to join," says Konrad Müller. (mk)
Historically grown
A closer look at Regio.ch reveals another specialty: The Illnau-Effretikon edition has the highest rate of all the splits - but the smallest circulation. This comes from the Kiebitz, says Konrad Müller. "It's just a historically evolved rate." The other editions are different: There, the prices are based on circulation and (expected) reach. (mk)
