Invitation to a shopping spree
Lounge is a welcome niche product for the luxury goods industry
Lounge is a welcome niche product for the luxury goods industryThe new lifestyle magazine from the small French-speaking Swiss publisher Artist Edition SA has been eagerly awaited. The bilingual magazine, which is also looking for an audience in German-speaking Switzerland, has now seen the light of day at two presentations in Lausanne and Zurich. Lounge adds a cheerful splash of color to the rather gloomy overall economic picture - but still needs to improve in terms of content. media experts and advertisers unanimously praised the layout, the typography and the quality of the photos. Above all, they pointed out that the aesthetics corresponded to the sister product Eveil Culturel - the bilingual music magazine from the same publishing house. "A lot for the eye," said Flo Kernmayer from Hermès Communication in Geneva. Christine Barnaud from Mediaedge|CIA was taken with the original fashion photos in combination with designer furniture.
However, they are more cautious when it comes to assessing the editorial content. It is difficult to make a judgment based on just one issue. Although the material meets the expectations of lifestyle magazine readers, it certainly needs to be developed further, says Barnaud. Sebastien Fabi from OMD Nyon is also of the opinion that the texts need to be a little more substantial. However, he finds the balance between image and text successful and reader-friendly.
However, the English-language résumé at the end of the magazine is a problem. Fabi sees this summary more as a language link, as Swiss-German and French-speaking people often communicate in English. Laurence Saas from Micom Carat in Zurich considers an English summary to be meaningless for readers in Switzerland. She also finds it a shame that this résumé is visually inferior to the aesthetic standard of the magazine. However, Lounge publisher Nicole Steffen is pursuing a completely different goal with the English-language summary: in future, Lounge will be available in airports and distributed on airplanes.
Mediawoman Saas has noticed a great need for advertising platforms such as those offered by Lounge among advertising clients in the luxury goods sector. International advertising clients do not understand why there are so few glamor magazines in Switzerland. From this point of view, Lounge is an excellent niche product, Steffen is convinced.
Anita Vaucher
30000 targeted
However, they are more cautious when it comes to assessing the editorial content. It is difficult to make a judgment based on just one issue. Although the material meets the expectations of lifestyle magazine readers, it certainly needs to be developed further, says Barnaud. Sebastien Fabi from OMD Nyon is also of the opinion that the texts need to be a little more substantial. However, he finds the balance between image and text successful and reader-friendly.
However, the English-language résumé at the end of the magazine is a problem. Fabi sees this summary more as a language link, as Swiss-German and French-speaking people often communicate in English. Laurence Saas from Micom Carat in Zurich considers an English summary to be meaningless for readers in Switzerland. She also finds it a shame that this résumé is visually inferior to the aesthetic standard of the magazine. However, Lounge publisher Nicole Steffen is pursuing a completely different goal with the English-language summary: in future, Lounge will be available in airports and distributed on airplanes.
Mediawoman Saas has noticed a great need for advertising platforms such as those offered by Lounge among advertising clients in the luxury goods sector. International advertising clients do not understand why there are so few glamor magazines in Switzerland. From this point of view, Lounge is an excellent niche product, Steffen is convinced.
Anita Vaucher
30000 targeted
Lounge, magazine for lifestyle, design, living & music - as the subheading specifies - is distributed with a circulation of 30,000 copies in western Switzerland and - from November - also in German-speaking Switzerland. The first issue was enclosed free of charge to subscribers of Eveil Culturel, also an Artist Edition title. Four to six issues are planned for 2003.
