The trailblazer
Andreas Waldis is to identify new business models across divisions and countries as Project Manager "New Media" at Ringier.
Looking to the future, with a
the most accurate filter possible is almost impossible. What is in five
years really successful? Where does a business model lie dormant that
not only promises a great idea, but also a return on
Invest? Answers to such questions are being sought at the Ringier publishing house by a
new
New Media" committee.
Project manager since this spring
is Andreas Waldis, the former Head of Marketing & Sales at
Ringier-TV. The part-time bassist of the soul band "Captain Funk and
the Starships" should thus have a dream job in the largely still
undiscovered universe of new media.
Ringier already generates a third of its revenues in the
abroad. What is interesting in these markets is that the
developments take place with a time lag. Ideas that have already been
saturated market for a long time, other countries still have
Potential. "In many eastern states, you could still have a print title
launch. But because everything happens so quickly, you also have to
in the new media sector," says Waldis.
There are a lot of ideas in a creative company like Ringier. The
Project Manager New Media should now recognize these and use them for the
Bringing the right people together for realization. This function of the
mediator is one of the reasons why Waldis is so popular with corporate
Communications.
He actually wanted to start out as a lawyer. After two years
but the appeal of this course of study was over. He was more fascinated by advertising.
At various small and medium-sized agencies in Zurich, he was able to work "from
from the bottom up", trained as an advertising assistant at Sawi and
Finally, he completed the Swiss Federal Diploma in Advertising Management. With
Burkard & Partner ended his career on the agency side in 1998 at
rank of deputy managing director. In this
five-man operation, he "did almost everything and learned a lot".
The relationship of trust with customers has led to the
advertising company could also do more and more "almost management consulting".
Waldis discovered his "interest in strategy".
Of course, he was able to live out this forward thinking even more directly on
client side. This was followed by four years as Head of Advertising at Kuoni. The
travel industry was more of a coincidence, although Waldi's affinities with the product
could certainly demonstrate. He earned his degree as a "Seasonal
Flight Attendant". For him, this "bolting Europe" is also a
It was an instructive experience, especially in terms of teamwork,
when a fully occupied course several times a day according to the then
Swissair standard had to be catered for.
At Kuoni, Waldis has developed the campaigns "Holidays where you have everything
and Helvetic Tours with Advico. Besides
brand management at Group level also includes direct travel sales
Netto with us. Initial experience with the new
media, because online marketing, which has just emerged
was established with him. "The travel industry was one of the pioneers in the
Net."
Shortly before the fatal events of September 11, Waldis resigned from the tour operator.
"The store was running smoothly and I wanted something new." On the
following sabbatical trip from Los Angeles across the USA he was
then often the only tourist. "Traveling alone and male - that made
I was suspicious," he recalls. He felt more liberated on a
second trip through Mexico. There, however, a call from Marc
Görtz back to the reality of the professional world.
The Managing Director of Ringier TV wanted to strengthen marketing.
"Media is exactly the area that is still on my CV.
is missing," Waldis said happily. So in 2002, as a member of the
management at Ringier-TV. Waldis signed
responsible for marketing and sales. "The backbone of a program
in private TV is very often sponsorship," Waldis realized.
A
exciting task: 14 programs - and all of them need partners, finances
and image: How do I see a brand in a particular program? Where
there are sections in the program in which a brand can be well integrated.
without appearing artificial and, in the best case, following the formula "1 +
1 = 3", namely: a good program with a good partner,
so that the viewer also gets something out of it, if this partner with
is there. Waldis liked the fact that in this business he was "always
I was allowed to "maintain contacts" at a high hierarchical level.
Ringier's investment in Sat 1 Switzerland has given Waldis many new opportunities.
vessels. He is proud of "People", for example, or
"Celebrations". "In a traditional print house like Ringier, television is a
exotic area," explains Waldis. As one of his important tasks
he therefore saw "the hinge functions into the parent company". This included
Key Account Marketing - today organized as
"Cross-media solutions". Increasingly important for customers
tailored projects with cross-media solutions that are implemented across several
divisions of Ringier. "Win-a-house" for Credit Suisse or "The
Family of the Year" for Vögele are successfully networked cases.
It hits him every four years. "Where can I do more in the future?
work strategically and build something new?", was now last year
the question when Waldis wanted to change once again. The opportunity
Thomas Trüb and Marco Castellaneta have offered him the opportunity to
of the "Ringier 2010" project. Where is the journey going? What does a
Media house in the future? Where is there a need for action? How to deal with
the generations that follow? How is distribution changing?
People have been talking about the "new media" for ten years. Now they are here.
Among the possible techniques for using a medium on the move
Waldis will soon see the e-paper alongside his cell phone.
This is also combined with moving images.
Ringier wants to be "very much involved in such developments right from the start".
be". The buzzword "communities" also has an important future:
How can an existing title be extended in this direction?
And what new brands are needed?
Andreas Panzeri
