"Brand Wall Street is almost like a medal"
HandelsZeitung publisher Ralph Büchi on his hopes for the WSJ brand—and where the newspaper will position itself in the future.
WW: The
HandelsZeitung is doing quite well, and the last relaunch was not so long ago.
three years ago - why are you now creating a new concept?
Ralph Büchi: It's true:
Our reach is stable, and in the advertising market we are one of the
market share winners. This is precisely why the time for a
New concept that we have been planning for a long time, now favorable. Because such
Comprehensive changes are better achieved from a position of strength.
implement.
WW: The cooperation with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) plays a central role in the new concept. How does this work?
Ralph Büchi:The
WSJ entered into partnerships with us and other European newspapers
- per country per exclusive partnership. We deliver up to
three articles in English to wsj.com. Publish vice versa
we publish WSJ articles on our website. Since May 3, we have been translating
additional WSJ articles, customize them and print them weekly on
two clearly marked pages.
WW: What does this collaboration cost?
Ralph Büchi: The parties have agreed not to disclose the mutual compensation modalities.
WW: It is very unusual for a newspaper to give the logo of a publishing partner space in the newspaper headline.
Ralph Büchi: The
WSJ plays a very important role for us - both in terms of image and
in terms of content. This is how we get first-class international news that makes it
enable us to recognize global trends earlier. The WSJ brand has
but it also has an important symbolic power, it stands for financial competence.
We can now apply some of this to the 145-year-old HandelsZeitung
transferred. The fact that we are also an important Swiss company in the Dow Jones
correspondent also benefits our reputation. We therefore carry the
Brand Wall Street Journal almost like a medal.
WW: The HandelsZeitung is now called "Schweizer Wochenzeitung für Unternehmen und Finanz". Is this a farewell to SMEs?
Ralph Büchi: We
never saw ourselves as an SME newspaper, but always as a newspaper for decision-makers
- regardless of whether they work for SMEs or large companies. The
structure of our readership proves this, it reflects the structure
of the Swiss economy. We are building the financial sector
because with
We have identified a strong need among our readers for in-depth information on investments and the financial markets.
WW: However, HZ is now moving closer to Finanz und Wirtschaft (FuW).
Ralph Büchi: No.
I would say that HZ remains absolutely true to its line. We
are taking a qualitative step to deal with the increasing complexity of
to be able to keep pace. However, we will be able to keep up with economic
continue to deal with the entire breadth of the issue, i.e. always also the strategy
or the marketing of a company and never
exclusively the shareholder perspective.
Markus Knöpfli
