Trevisan also goes fishing on Sundays
With its planned Sunday edition, the NZZ aims to attract new customers and readers
The NZZ wants to attract new customers and readers with the planned Sunday paperBy Markus KnöpfliThe ship of the "old aunt" NZZ is setting sail to go fishing for the first time with an independent Sunday title in the advertising and reader market. One of the captains is Tobias Trevisan, who has experience with new launches from his time at Tamedia.
When the NZZ launches its announced SonntagsZeitung project next spring, it will probably take this step not least because the launch triumvirate includes Tobias Trevisan alongside Felix E. Müller and Thomas Häberling. As Publishing Director Newspapers, he is not only in charge of publishing issues, he also brings know-how and intimate knowledge from the early days of SonntagsZeitung (SoZ) and Facts from his time as Publishing Director at Tages-Anzeiger. When asked about this, Trevisan is evasive and says: "I am sure that our team is capable of bringing the project to fruition."
The national title in newspaper format is aimed at a target audience via early delivery and newsstands which, according to Trevisan, is above the other two titles in terms of level of education and sophistication. Information on the content and design of the paper is somewhat vague. Trevisan will not comment on the size of the editorial team or the color scheme of the magazine. In the medium term, however, it should reach a circulation of 150,000 copies - as much as the NZZ's domestic circulation. Nevertheless, Trevisan wants to generate readers for the new paper "mainly outside the NZZ readership".
Market expansion or cut-throat competition?
He wants to achieve this through market expansion and double readership, but above all through displacement. "The future readers of NZZ am Sonntag are probably primarily SoZ readers today. It would therefore be surprising if the SoZ circulation were not affected," says Trevisan. Nevertheless, he also believes that an expansion of the market is possible. Both Sunday titles currently have a reach of only 40 percent in German-speaking Switzerland, while Le Dimanche Matin alone has a reach of around 50 percent in French-speaking Switzerland.
In the advertising sector, Trevisan wants to "address new segments that do not book NZZ on weekdays, but rather advertise with SoZ, the regional press and in magazines". This will "possibly cost SoZ frequencies, but no campaigns", he says; the daily press, however, will probably lose campaigns.
The organization of Sunday home delivery is still unclear. The obvious solution would be to award the contract to Zuvo, in which NZZ and Tamedia each hold a 50 percent stake, but Zuvo has an exclusive contract with SoZ for Sunday delivery. The same applies to other contract organizations outside the greater Zurich area. However, Trevisan does not consider a contract with Zuvo to be impossible. "We know the legal situation, but have not yet held any talks," he says. The "worst case scenario" (own contract organization) was also assumed. He even wants to look into joint distribution with SonntagsBlick.
When the NZZ launches its announced SonntagsZeitung project next spring, it will probably take this step not least because the launch triumvirate includes Tobias Trevisan alongside Felix E. Müller and Thomas Häberling. As Publishing Director Newspapers, he is not only in charge of publishing issues, he also brings know-how and intimate knowledge from the early days of SonntagsZeitung (SoZ) and Facts from his time as Publishing Director at Tages-Anzeiger. When asked about this, Trevisan is evasive and says: "I am sure that our team is capable of bringing the project to fruition."
The national title in newspaper format is aimed at a target audience via early delivery and newsstands which, according to Trevisan, is above the other two titles in terms of level of education and sophistication. Information on the content and design of the paper is somewhat vague. Trevisan will not comment on the size of the editorial team or the color scheme of the magazine. In the medium term, however, it should reach a circulation of 150,000 copies - as much as the NZZ's domestic circulation. Nevertheless, Trevisan wants to generate readers for the new paper "mainly outside the NZZ readership".
Market expansion or cut-throat competition?
He wants to achieve this through market expansion and double readership, but above all through displacement. "The future readers of NZZ am Sonntag are probably primarily SoZ readers today. It would therefore be surprising if the SoZ circulation were not affected," says Trevisan. Nevertheless, he also believes that an expansion of the market is possible. Both Sunday titles currently have a reach of only 40 percent in German-speaking Switzerland, while Le Dimanche Matin alone has a reach of around 50 percent in French-speaking Switzerland.
In the advertising sector, Trevisan wants to "address new segments that do not book NZZ on weekdays, but rather advertise with SoZ, the regional press and in magazines". This will "possibly cost SoZ frequencies, but no campaigns", he says; the daily press, however, will probably lose campaigns.
The organization of Sunday home delivery is still unclear. The obvious solution would be to award the contract to Zuvo, in which NZZ and Tamedia each hold a 50 percent stake, but Zuvo has an exclusive contract with SoZ for Sunday delivery. The same applies to other contract organizations outside the greater Zurich area. However, Trevisan does not consider a contract with Zuvo to be impossible. "We know the legal situation, but have not yet held any talks," he says. The "worst case scenario" (own contract organization) was also assumed. He even wants to look into joint distribution with SonntagsBlick.
