Managers, listen to the signals!
Subscribers to the business press will also receive the October issue of *Bilanz* as a digital audio magazine. Readers will decide whether the pilot program, sponsored by Sunrise, will become a regular feature.
Wirtschaftspresse subscribers also receive the October issue of Bilanz as a digital
audio magazine. Whether the Sunrise-sponsored
pilot goes into series production is for readers to decide.
Those who can't read should listen. However, the first Swiss business magazine for listening is not aimed at the blind or illiterate, but on the contrary at managers who no longer want to do without multi-page background articles (such as the monthly "Man of the Week") despite time constraints. For publishing director Uli Rubner, the new Bilanz CD is also "the ideal accompanying medium for the car or train journey between two appointments"; and for sponsor Sunrise, whose "corporate jingle" separates the individual articles, obviously a welcome image polish. 37,000 copies of the free silver disk, sonorously discussed by ex-Tele-24 presenter Christian Handelsman, are enclosed with the subscription edition. A further 8000 sound carriers will be sent to Sunrise's business customers, together with their customer magazine and an advertisement for the balance sheet. With this acoustic added value, Rubner hopes to expand the subscriber base and reduce the "currently somewhat high LpA value". To this end, in addition to selected, large chunks of text such as the Centerpulse story "Operation Hüftschuss", the first Hör-Bilanz also entices listeners with a small bonus track: former editor-in-chief Medard Meier presents himself and his editorial in interview form for once.Apart from the unmistakable presence of Sunrise Business Solutions, the one-hour gadget, designed by the below-the-line agency Additiv, is an advertising-free zone. Rubner is unwilling to say how much the first edition cost Jean Frey Verlag, but adds that she is "very satisfied" with the financial contribution from her telecoms sponsor. And that whether and how this experiment will be continued depends on the results of a reader survey immediately following the mailing.
NZZ Folio not a role model
Two years ago, the NZZ Folio already gained experience with the dubbing of journalistic quality content and its distribution. At the suggestion and expense of a (now defunct) CD production company, four digital acoustic editions of the monthly supplement were produced and advertised in the parent newspaper via its own website and a few advertisements - albeit at retail prices. According to publishing director Ueli Oswald, the fact that the exercise was quickly called off was not due to the price or the modest advertising. "The Folio is aimed at avowed readers, so an additional product like this simply doesn't fit into the concept."
It is therefore no real omission if the Bilanz boss "did not study this immature attempt by the NZZ more closely", as she freely admits. Rubner, on the other hand, closely observed the audio offensive of the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit (WW 24/03). For the past three months, its highlights from all departments have been available to download as MP3 files from the Internet. This offer, which will soon be subject to a charge for non-subscribers, has recently been supplemented by monthly best-of CDs, which currently cost twelve euros individually and 50 euros for a six-month subscription.
Weltwoche in MP3 format?
Rubner, who is also commercially responsible for Weltwoche, believes that both models are "in principle quite transferable" to the reinvigorated intelligence organ of the Jean Frey publishing house. However, she will only consider expanding or differentiating the audio commitment after positive feedback from the reader survey, which starts next week. Of course, the publisher should bear in mind that the balance sheet shows a much older and less
more experimental audience than Weltwoche. On the contrary, its drastically younger and trend-conscious readership seems predestined for the zeitgeist and community effect of an elite magazine in MP3 format. And as the Hamburg example shows, the distribution of mobile players could also earn additional money on the side.
NZZ Folio failed the reader plebiscite on the audio magazine: The Bilanz CD has yet to pass the market test.
Oliver Classen
audio magazine. Whether the Sunrise-sponsored
pilot goes into series production is for readers to decide.
Those who can't read should listen. However, the first Swiss business magazine for listening is not aimed at the blind or illiterate, but on the contrary at managers who no longer want to do without multi-page background articles (such as the monthly "Man of the Week") despite time constraints. For publishing director Uli Rubner, the new Bilanz CD is also "the ideal accompanying medium for the car or train journey between two appointments"; and for sponsor Sunrise, whose "corporate jingle" separates the individual articles, obviously a welcome image polish. 37,000 copies of the free silver disk, sonorously discussed by ex-Tele-24 presenter Christian Handelsman, are enclosed with the subscription edition. A further 8000 sound carriers will be sent to Sunrise's business customers, together with their customer magazine and an advertisement for the balance sheet. With this acoustic added value, Rubner hopes to expand the subscriber base and reduce the "currently somewhat high LpA value". To this end, in addition to selected, large chunks of text such as the Centerpulse story "Operation Hüftschuss", the first Hör-Bilanz also entices listeners with a small bonus track: former editor-in-chief Medard Meier presents himself and his editorial in interview form for once.Apart from the unmistakable presence of Sunrise Business Solutions, the one-hour gadget, designed by the below-the-line agency Additiv, is an advertising-free zone. Rubner is unwilling to say how much the first edition cost Jean Frey Verlag, but adds that she is "very satisfied" with the financial contribution from her telecoms sponsor. And that whether and how this experiment will be continued depends on the results of a reader survey immediately following the mailing.
NZZ Folio not a role model
Two years ago, the NZZ Folio already gained experience with the dubbing of journalistic quality content and its distribution. At the suggestion and expense of a (now defunct) CD production company, four digital acoustic editions of the monthly supplement were produced and advertised in the parent newspaper via its own website and a few advertisements - albeit at retail prices. According to publishing director Ueli Oswald, the fact that the exercise was quickly called off was not due to the price or the modest advertising. "The Folio is aimed at avowed readers, so an additional product like this simply doesn't fit into the concept."
It is therefore no real omission if the Bilanz boss "did not study this immature attempt by the NZZ more closely", as she freely admits. Rubner, on the other hand, closely observed the audio offensive of the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit (WW 24/03). For the past three months, its highlights from all departments have been available to download as MP3 files from the Internet. This offer, which will soon be subject to a charge for non-subscribers, has recently been supplemented by monthly best-of CDs, which currently cost twelve euros individually and 50 euros for a six-month subscription.
Weltwoche in MP3 format?
Rubner, who is also commercially responsible for Weltwoche, believes that both models are "in principle quite transferable" to the reinvigorated intelligence organ of the Jean Frey publishing house. However, she will only consider expanding or differentiating the audio commitment after positive feedback from the reader survey, which starts next week. Of course, the publisher should bear in mind that the balance sheet shows a much older and less
more experimental audience than Weltwoche. On the contrary, its drastically younger and trend-conscious readership seems predestined for the zeitgeist and community effect of an elite magazine in MP3 format. And as the Hamburg example shows, the distribution of mobile players could also earn additional money on the side.
NZZ Folio failed the reader plebiscite on the audio magazine: The Bilanz CD has yet to pass the market test.
Oliver Classen
