The "Swiss Brands" magazine
A proud representation of Switzerland at the Expo 2010 world exhibition in Shanghai/China.
From May to October 2010, "Swiss Brands" by Primafila AG and China Communications will represent Switzerland as the official magazine in the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai and at other distribution locations in Shanghai and China. The ambitious project has come a long way.
Spring 2008: The consulting agency China Communications and the corporate publishing agency Primafila AG in Switzerland decide to publish a magazine called "Swiss Brands" for the first time to coincide with the Shanghai World Expo 2010. An ambitious project: co-branding publishing with the proudest Swiss brands. The biggest challenge is to ensure targeted and quantitatively affordable distribution. And: it has to be interculturally appropriate for the Chinese readership on the one hand and for the "Swiss Brands" partners to be won over on the other.
Skepticism, an inviting dummy and paved distribution channels
Autumn 2008, economic crisis: the majority of potential "Swiss Brands" partners contacted wave goodbye for the time being. China is not in focus at the moment, they have other concerns. Nevertheless, media designer Horst Moser in Munich, a long-standing business partner of Primafila AG, creates an inviting dummy based on the concept. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)/Presence Switzerland shows initial interest in the concept for the high-quality "Swiss Brands" magazine, and after a few months, in spring 2009, the FDFA/Presence Switzerland signs a contract with Primafila AG; an important part of the distribution is now secured through the planned presence in the VIP area and sales in the pavilion store in the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai. Switzerland Tourism is formulating a small but qualitatively interesting distribution in China (a good 5000 copies). Thanks to the cooperative attitude of printing partner Ringier International in Shanghai, the distribution solution for the planned print run of 150,000 copies can be completed: A personally addressed mailing to 50,000 top decision-makers in China, distributed in 40 five-star hotels in and around Shanghai, will be organized with Ringier
agreed. With the dummy, the still skeptical Swiss companies with activities in China will now also be presented with media data. Stories in the sense of a fully formed corporate
Publishing is possible in addition to classic advertising appearances.
19 "Swiss Brands" partners
Summer and fall 2009: Talks with potential "Swiss Brands" partners are in full swing. China Communications and Primafila AG listen to the needs of Swiss companies operating in China and identify opportunities for interesting stories. In the end, 19 partners from French- and German-speaking Switzerland from the consumer goods, business development and tourism sectors are won over for the innovative joint project. Most of them have ordered a story. Of the total of 68 pages, only 9 pages have been booked by six partners for advertisements.
During the winter months, the stories of the "Swiss Brands" partners and other magazine articles are realized in Switzerland and China. Faithful collaborators of Primafila AG and China Communications begin to work: Alberto Venzago photographs a fascinating series of pictures of landscapes for three mountain railway regions, illustrator David Boller creates a manga with a new Heidi for Shanghai 2010, and the Chinese ambassador in Bern gives his time to talk to the Chinese journalist (there are not too many of them in Switzerland) about innovations and economic products in the canton of Bern as well as his personal preferences in and around the Swiss capital. Conductor Muhai Tang shares his preferences for Swiss culinary delights with the editors. Each "Swiss Brands" partner's contribution is conceived and implemented with intercultural sensitivity, whether it is a sustainability project such as the "Green Roofs" in China (the Swiss pavilion also has such a green roof!), pocket knives demonstrating Swissness, pans or the new business class seat that is being tested for "Swiss Brands" at Zurich Airport by the young circulation specialist Dr. Zijiang Yang, who is currently working in Bern. The foreword by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, is a special honor.
An intercultural team
Zurich - Zug - Munich - Beijing - Shanghai: story after story for the new magazine is created in close and well-coordinated collaboration. Simon Wong in Beijing, in the office of China Communications and Primafila in China, develops the Chinese cover typography to match the design from Munich and the concept and photography from Switzerland and ensures the production interface to the printing plant in Shanghai. In the last three weeks of production, work is carried out almost around the clock, made possible by the locations in the different time zones: The Chinese editorial team and (for the shortest texts in English) also the English editorial teams in Switzerland and the USA put the final touches to the now proudly designed pages - and on April 1, all 19 partners give their approval for printing after 24 hours without any problems. On April 2, the draft is already with the project manager at Ringier Shanghai, who still has to submit it to the authorities before printing. In the meantime, the online version of the magazine (www.swissbrands.org) is being pursued in Zurich.
Despite all initial resistance, "Swiss Brands" is a unique intercultural corporate publishing product: a co-branding presence from Switzerland for a discerning Chinese readership and clientele.
Spring 2008: The consulting agency China Communications and the corporate publishing agency Primafila AG in Switzerland decide to publish a magazine called "Swiss Brands" for the first time to coincide with the Shanghai World Expo 2010. An ambitious project: co-branding publishing with the proudest Swiss brands. The biggest challenge is to ensure targeted and quantitatively affordable distribution. And: it has to be interculturally appropriate for the Chinese readership on the one hand and for the "Swiss Brands" partners to be won over on the other.
Skepticism, an inviting dummy and paved distribution channels
Autumn 2008, economic crisis: the majority of potential "Swiss Brands" partners contacted wave goodbye for the time being. China is not in focus at the moment, they have other concerns. Nevertheless, media designer Horst Moser in Munich, a long-standing business partner of Primafila AG, creates an inviting dummy based on the concept. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)/Presence Switzerland shows initial interest in the concept for the high-quality "Swiss Brands" magazine, and after a few months, in spring 2009, the FDFA/Presence Switzerland signs a contract with Primafila AG; an important part of the distribution is now secured through the planned presence in the VIP area and sales in the pavilion store in the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai. Switzerland Tourism is formulating a small but qualitatively interesting distribution in China (a good 5000 copies). Thanks to the cooperative attitude of printing partner Ringier International in Shanghai, the distribution solution for the planned print run of 150,000 copies can be completed: A personally addressed mailing to 50,000 top decision-makers in China, distributed in 40 five-star hotels in and around Shanghai, will be organized with Ringier
agreed. With the dummy, the still skeptical Swiss companies with activities in China will now also be presented with media data. Stories in the sense of a fully formed corporate
Publishing is possible in addition to classic advertising appearances.
19 "Swiss Brands" partners
Summer and fall 2009: Talks with potential "Swiss Brands" partners are in full swing. China Communications and Primafila AG listen to the needs of Swiss companies operating in China and identify opportunities for interesting stories. In the end, 19 partners from French- and German-speaking Switzerland from the consumer goods, business development and tourism sectors are won over for the innovative joint project. Most of them have ordered a story. Of the total of 68 pages, only 9 pages have been booked by six partners for advertisements.
During the winter months, the stories of the "Swiss Brands" partners and other magazine articles are realized in Switzerland and China. Faithful collaborators of Primafila AG and China Communications begin to work: Alberto Venzago photographs a fascinating series of pictures of landscapes for three mountain railway regions, illustrator David Boller creates a manga with a new Heidi for Shanghai 2010, and the Chinese ambassador in Bern gives his time to talk to the Chinese journalist (there are not too many of them in Switzerland) about innovations and economic products in the canton of Bern as well as his personal preferences in and around the Swiss capital. Conductor Muhai Tang shares his preferences for Swiss culinary delights with the editors. Each "Swiss Brands" partner's contribution is conceived and implemented with intercultural sensitivity, whether it is a sustainability project such as the "Green Roofs" in China (the Swiss pavilion also has such a green roof!), pocket knives demonstrating Swissness, pans or the new business class seat that is being tested for "Swiss Brands" at Zurich Airport by the young circulation specialist Dr. Zijiang Yang, who is currently working in Bern. The foreword by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, is a special honor.
An intercultural team
Zurich - Zug - Munich - Beijing - Shanghai: story after story for the new magazine is created in close and well-coordinated collaboration. Simon Wong in Beijing, in the office of China Communications and Primafila in China, develops the Chinese cover typography to match the design from Munich and the concept and photography from Switzerland and ensures the production interface to the printing plant in Shanghai. In the last three weeks of production, work is carried out almost around the clock, made possible by the locations in the different time zones: The Chinese editorial team and (for the shortest texts in English) also the English editorial teams in Switzerland and the USA put the final touches to the now proudly designed pages - and on April 1, all 19 partners give their approval for printing after 24 hours without any problems. On April 2, the draft is already with the project manager at Ringier Shanghai, who still has to submit it to the authorities before printing. In the meantime, the online version of the magazine (www.swissbrands.org) is being pursued in Zurich.
Despite all initial resistance, "Swiss Brands" is a unique intercultural corporate publishing product: a co-branding presence from Switzerland for a discerning Chinese readership and clientele.
