An advertising tango for .ch

 
As national advertising manager for the new .ch, Stefan H. Böni also wants to act as a bridge builder between customers, publishers and editors. 
 
He was born in a cab in the middle of the '68 riots in Basel. "My mother didn't make it to the hospital." Nevertheless, everything turned out well. Stefan Böni is therefore exhilarated, but relaxed, that he can now be present once again at a similarly quick birth in the middle of the newspaper riots of 2007. This time, however, no longer in a cab, but in an open-plan office of 1100 square meters. Here, on the night of September 19, the first cry of the youngest child in the Swiss newspaper world will be accompanied by the joyful cries of 60 employees. Sacha Wigdorovits is the proud father of .ch. As midwife or publishing manager, Caroline Thoma has been taking care of everything necessary at Thurgauerstrasse 60 in Zurich since the beginning of the summer. "I think it's cool that we can start something new here in a completely empty space," says Böni happily. When we interviewed him, the room didn't look very furnished - but it was full of eager anticipation. The first employees, such as Sales Manager Peter Kümmerli, are rushing through the rows with their cell phones, as if the first newspaper had to be delivered tomorrow to the 430000 households from St. Gallen via Zurich, Bern and Basel to Lucerne. The birth pangs here are nothing new for Kümmerli either. He organized the installation of the newspaper vending machines for the first SonntagsBlick 30 years ago.
Kümmerli, like Böni, the 40 members of the editorial team who will soon be arriving and the 20 from the publishing house, some of whom are already active, all work at the same wooden tables, which were supplied by a carpenter exactly as required. "The furnishings here are simple but practical. The complete openness between all workstations also enables extremely short communication channels," explains Böni. With such a start from 0 to 100, the responsibility of each individual is great, so that everyone "not only gets their little garden up and running, but also manages to adapt it to the other gardens".
As advertising manager, Böni has been in the process of contacting all possible customers and large agencies since the beginning of August. In his presentations, he shows that many new ideas are also possible with the new publishing property. The initial three appointments per week have now become at least fifteen. Nine out of ten are positive. "We have reservations, bookings and discussions for collaborations over a longer period of time."
Böni believes that the advertising industry is "extremely interested in new alternatives". The sales manager also sees the fact that he can offer .ch not only as a newspaper but also as an online medium from day one as a great opportunity for his work. Böni also sees the 100 colporteurs who distribute .ch over several weeks and the newspaper stands as new "media" that can be used creatively. "We can reach customers on different and very specific levels. We can create something new and provide advertisers with a platform for unusual ideas."
Böni previously sold the ads for the NZZ Folio. "A dream job. I worked around the most beautiful pearl of the Swiss advertising industry." But somehow he just felt like a stoker on the "Queen Mary". Böni had to make sure things moved forward. "But I couldn't help set the course." Böni therefore sent off his application the day after the first concrete report in the NZZ am Sonntag about Sacha Wigdorovits' new project. "I was tempted by the adventure again."
In addition to the NZZ Folio and a diploma in marketing planning, Böni also had two successful years in management at Publimedia. From the very beginning, he was responsible for an annual budget of CHF 40 million in the upper accounting department. During this "great time", he was also able to learn "a lot of essential things" for his trade. "I saw the presentations of almost every print title in Switzerland. I not only learned how to do it - but also how not to do it." Böni sees a newspaper title as "something very lively, where a lot of love and commitment goes into it, from the layout designer to the reporter". And an advertising salesperson should also be able to convey this to their customers. "Sales is my passion. I like to get other people excited about a product."
But Böni not only has a wealth of experience in publishing, but also in the general development of various new companies. In 1998, he was involved in the founding of Jobpilot in Switzerland and witnessed how the Swiss start-up with a turnover of CHF 35,000,000 per year grew to CHF 6 million and was ultimately sold internationally to Monster via Adecco. What Böni liked about Monster was how he was able to experience "American entrepreneurial spirit with a lot of enthusiasm, freedom and creativity" in a Swiss company.
Böni entered the world of work with an apprenticeship as an electroplater at Swissair. However, he never worked in this profession. Perhaps the fact that he spent the first four years of his childhood on a Rhine ship between Basel and Rotterdam and the rest of his youth on a farm in the Bernese Oberland had a lasting impact on his life. In any case, the electroplater quickly switched to the more varied catering and tourism industry with guest appearances in Turkey, France, Spain and the Philippines. At 21, Böni "really wanted to do something creative" and founded his first event company. He organized parties, brought the legendary band Steppenwolf to the Bärenmatte in Suhr for one last concert in Switzerland and also organized DJ Bobo's first big concert with MTV at Halle 36 in Baden. Overnight, Böni managed the logistics for the catering services at Zurich Airport for all those affected around Halifax. In the south of Turkey, he was enticed to set up the entertainment with lots of action and fashion shows for a large hotel. In the Philippines, Böni founded his own diving school and taught there himself for a year.
When he had had enough of the daily walk on the white sandy beach and the sun always shining the same way, at 27 he felt the time had come for a new phase in his life. In Switzerland, Böni caught up on his KV, became a marketing planner and then taught at a computer school instead of underwater, until his path led him to Jobpilot.
What the passionate cook and tango dancer particularly likes about .ch is that the new newspaper wants to broadcast a lifestyle similar to that of the NZZ am Sonntag. Böni is also pleased that the editorial team wants to research its own stories and not simply print the same SDA reports everywhere. "As a reader, you can ultimately tell whether the newspaper wants to offer me something or simply sell advertisements," says the advertising manager, who also wants to be a bridge builder between customers, publishers and editors at .ch.

Andreas Panzeri