More female in the advertising market
Magazines Four years after its circulation turnaround, *Die Schweizer Familie* is getting a makeover. However, changes to the editorial concept are off the table.
Magazines Four years after the turnaround in circulation, Schweizer Familie is being refreshed. The new Schweizer Familie is to be brighter, more cheerful and more modern. The magazine from Tamedia will appear in a new look for the first time on May 13. The fonts will be lighter, the pictures will have more space. With opening pages for the individual sections, reader guidance will be improved. "We are adapting the design to the needs of our audience," says Editor-in-Chief Daniel Dunkel. That's why Schweizer Familie will not only be fresher, but also a touch more feminine. Indeed, the proportion of women in the readership has increased to 60 percent since the subscriber base of the discontinued Meyer's was taken over last year. According to Dunkel, Tamedia has been able to retain 50 percent of these subscriptions.
This is the fourth time in a row that the Swiss Family has shown a slight increase in circulation in the Wemf certification, by 1.6 percent to 162555 copies. In small steps, the magazine is regaining what it lost at the end of the nineties: After a refocus on young families in 1994, circulation fell from over 200000 to little more than 150000. The relaunch apparently drove away regular readers without attracting enough new ones at the same time. "Our audience reacts very sensitively to repositioning," former publishing director Roland Wahrenberger later told Werbewoche. Only a return to the 35+ target group in 2000 was able to stop the decline.
Sticking to the target groupThe redesign is in no way intended to shake up the tried-and-tested concept. "We're sticking to the target group," emphasizes editor-in-chief Dunkel. This is precisely where he sees the secret of the magazine's success, on which hardly anyone in the media industry would have placed a centime five years ago. "The editors of Schweizer Familie know their readership and deliberately write for them." In the past, many journalists would have used family magazines as a transit station and dealt with the topics without heart and soul. But a good garden report requires as much commitment as a report on the Federal Parliament.
In the reader market, the Swiss family has regained its support with this approach. Dunkel is dissatisfied, however, with its anchoring in the advertising market. "Schweizer Familie is growing everywhere, but not in the advertising market," complains the editor-in-chief. It is true that the magazine was the only Tamedia print title to increase its sales in 2003, by 1.5 percent to 34.6 million Swiss francs. But according to Media Focus figures, gross advertising revenues of 10 million Swiss francs remained half as high as those of sister magazine Facts - even though Swiss Family has almost 30 percent more readers, according to Mach Basic.
"We are not perceived enough in the agencies," says Dunkel. The Swiss family has an image problem. Its name is misunderstood and referred to a very traditional image of the family. But the magazine defines the concept of family much more broadly and is aimed at a more open-minded audience than the title suggests.
To change this, the publisher is accompanying the relaunch with an advertising campaign in the ad market. A pitch is currently being made among four agencies. In the next few weeks, a decision will be made as to who will be allowed to help the refreshed Swiss family gain more attention.
The redesign of the Swiss family takes into account the high proportion of women in the readership.
This is the fourth time in a row that the Swiss Family has shown a slight increase in circulation in the Wemf certification, by 1.6 percent to 162555 copies. In small steps, the magazine is regaining what it lost at the end of the nineties: After a refocus on young families in 1994, circulation fell from over 200000 to little more than 150000. The relaunch apparently drove away regular readers without attracting enough new ones at the same time. "Our audience reacts very sensitively to repositioning," former publishing director Roland Wahrenberger later told Werbewoche. Only a return to the 35+ target group in 2000 was able to stop the decline.
Sticking to the target groupThe redesign is in no way intended to shake up the tried-and-tested concept. "We're sticking to the target group," emphasizes editor-in-chief Dunkel. This is precisely where he sees the secret of the magazine's success, on which hardly anyone in the media industry would have placed a centime five years ago. "The editors of Schweizer Familie know their readership and deliberately write for them." In the past, many journalists would have used family magazines as a transit station and dealt with the topics without heart and soul. But a good garden report requires as much commitment as a report on the Federal Parliament.
In the reader market, the Swiss family has regained its support with this approach. Dunkel is dissatisfied, however, with its anchoring in the advertising market. "Schweizer Familie is growing everywhere, but not in the advertising market," complains the editor-in-chief. It is true that the magazine was the only Tamedia print title to increase its sales in 2003, by 1.5 percent to 34.6 million Swiss francs. But according to Media Focus figures, gross advertising revenues of 10 million Swiss francs remained half as high as those of sister magazine Facts - even though Swiss Family has almost 30 percent more readers, according to Mach Basic.
"We are not perceived enough in the agencies," says Dunkel. The Swiss family has an image problem. Its name is misunderstood and referred to a very traditional image of the family. But the magazine defines the concept of family much more broadly and is aimed at a more open-minded audience than the title suggests.
To change this, the publisher is accompanying the relaunch with an advertising campaign in the ad market. A pitch is currently being made among four agencies. In the next few weeks, a decision will be made as to who will be allowed to help the refreshed Swiss family gain more attention.
The redesign of the Swiss family takes into account the high proportion of women in the readership.
Stefano Monachesi
