Relaunch for mainstreamer

 
Magazine The Swiss family wants to prevent difficult market forecasts and consolidate its position with a facelift and website. 
Since the turn of the millennium, the Swiss family has recorded significant growth in sales, subscriptions, reach and - for the last four years - also in the advertising market, according to those responsible. Time for a relaunch: "The good position in the reader and advertising market is the best moment for a design renewal," says SF Editor-in-Chief Daniel Dunkel. Art director Carmen Zanin, who is responsible for the redesign, has also made changes to the logo and removed the outdated "Spickel" in the title Schweizer Familie. For Dunkel, this is tantamount to saying goodbye to an era, and although the aim is to stick to the tried-and-tested SF fare in terms of content, a few changes have been considered to make the traditional magazine the most beautiful in Switzerland. The first thing that catches the eye is the generous visual language, in part with double-page photos and elaborate photo spreads. In terms of content, there are also new sections. Writer Milena Moser ("Die Putzfraueninsel") kicks off the magazine with a weekly column, and Aargau writer Alex Capus provides an exclusive historical series from the days of Madame Tussaud (a Swiss woman whose famous wax museum in London was merely the culmination of her career). The "Picture of the Week" is a Swissized section cribbed from Der Spiegel for surprising images of life in this country. For "Vereint im Verein" in the front section of the magazine, clubs that are as exotic as possible are invited to be portrayed and then, according to the marketing idea behind it, start to take a collective interest in the publication. The potential readership in Switzerland as a club country is probably inexhaustible.
Grossomodo remains true to its name and is therefore a classic family magazine. Unlike other publications, it explicitly excludes darker topics, sex and crime. "We want to offer our audience pleasurable, not gloomy, hours of reading and show the positive side of life," says Dunkel. In contrast to Schweizer Illustrierte from Ringier, which is dedicated to the rich and beautiful with a voyeuristic approach, Schweizer Familie is at home in the world of its readers.
However, the relaunch is also intended to prevent less optimistic forecasts for the future. Although the Swiss family is in good health, various indicators point to a growth trap: An ageing readership, falling renewal rates and rising subscription acquisition costs. A corresponding study has identified the 40 to 50-year-old "mainstreamers" (profile: domestic, conformist, conventional in behavior, sentimental, passive and habit-driven) as growth potential for the paper. So far, they have been deterred from reading it by the old logo, the name and the staid design. "If we don't do anything today, we'll have a problem with people under 45," says Daniel Dunkel.
 
The battle for this group is already raging, he says, referring to the Beobachter's increased focus on families (see page 17). The makers are also addressing this issue with a new Internet platform. With tips and services (also in cooperation with suitable partners), the aim is to bring together a growing number of interested people on the core topics of travel and leisure. In the medium term, it is hoped that actual communities will form on various topics and that the Swiss family on the Internet will develop into a community platform. "We want to start small with a forum," says Dunkel. The site was launched on September 20 on a trial and error basis.
René Worni
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No risk for the Schweizer family