A virtue is made of necessity
How Bookstores in German-Speaking Switzerland Attract a Lot of Attention on a Minimal Advertising Budget
How Swiss German booksellers achieve high awareness with minimal advertising budgetsBy Carlo Bernasconi Swiss German booksellers have a hard time: their profits are so slim that advertising is hardly worth thinking about. Nevertheless, even smaller booksellers, who are also involved in a communications profession, dare to take the step of building a strategic brand image and spend between two and three percent of their sales on advertising.
In fact, business studies of small and medium-sized bookstores have rarely produced positive results in recent years. No wonder that the topic of advertising is more of a taboo than a must in these ranges struggling for survival. The situation is different for large bookstores. They have recognized the tune to which the retail trade will dance in the coming years: Advertise or die. For one simple reason. The products (books) are the same in all establishments. 80 percent of the books come from the Federal Republic of Germany - as a retailer, you can only differentiate yourself by building a strong brand image.
One of the first to recognize this is Jens Stocker of the Bider&Tanner bookstore in Basel. Located on Aeschenplatz, just off Basel's 1-a location, Freie Strasse, he will be doubling his store space these days. He will announce this expansion with posters and advertisements in the Basler Zeitung. Stocker, a trained Sawi advertising manager, will skip radio spots: "We're focused on print, if only because of the industry."
Stocker is one of the booksellers in the industry who packs a punch when it comes to advertising. So powerful, in fact, that his agency Hess & Müller has to stop him. Copywriter Tom Seinige comments: "Stocker is an innovative spirit."
Bookstores must focus on continuity
ADC member Seinige has been running image advertising for Bider&Tanner for two and a half years "in a relationship of trust based on partnership", and with the same appearance: mainly outdoor advertising and streetcar posters.
But bookmarks in the bookstore specializing in English-language and travel books are also used. And extremely successfully. In a professional judging of bookstore advertising, organized by the German industry magazine Buchmarkt, these bookmarks won a bronze award. The reason given by the jury for this choice: they are convincing because of "the surprising, creative and endearing idea".
Booksellers have yet to be convinced that such use does not have an immediate impact at the checkout. Seinige is of the opinion that "it takes a certain incubation period" before the return on investment is visible at the checkout. Admittedly, this maxim applies less to the Internet bookseller Bertelsmann Online (BOL), for example, says Marketing Director Andreas Németh, who concentrates on radio and TV spots and has to spend a lot of money on advertising because he is still working on building up the brand: "Either you go in immediately after seeing or hearing the spot, or you don't," says Németh.
Does only online advertising bring immediate response?
BOL assumes that many surfers also listen to the radio and are directed to the homepage by the spot. Particularly important for Németh is the banner placement on the Bluewin portal. There he has replaced the Internet department of the bookstore Orell Füssli. The online advertising is
important for BOL because it brings immediate response, which "you don't see in the ad," says Németh.
Ursula Weber, Communications Coordinator at Orell Füssli Buchhandels AG, would disagree. She considers her campaign for the homepage with half-page ads in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung to be successful. Weber also extends her communications efforts to advertising at the point of sale, i.e., in the store. "We employ our own decorator who creates worlds around a book without smothering it," she says. Unlike Bider&Tanner, she focuses her advertising activities on the individual books and works with the advertising and DM agency Alex Schmid AG for Orell Füssli's advertising presence. "For us, the focus is clearly on the individual book," Weber emphasizes, "because each book has its own character." This is an advertising philosophy that the St.Gallen bookstore Rösslitor also supports - albeit with different advertising media. Rösslitor CEO Martin Brühwiler also focuses on image advertising and putting the book at the center. Rösslitor has employed the Rorschach agency Erat Thoma & Herzog to handle its advertising. Copywriter Hank Sulkowsky links the individual book to the St.Gallen leader's appearance. "It's about triggering a sense of wonder" when Rösslitor posters are hung in the city of St. Gallen or slides are shown in movie theaters. "We imagine the headline and look for a book title that fits it," Sulkowsky adds.
Budgets are by no means a creative stumbling block
The fact that Erat Thoma & Herzog, like the other agencies that serve booksellers, have to deal with smaller budgets doesn't bother Sulkowsky at all. "That's no problem for an advertiser if you have a good idea," he says in a tone of conviction, forging a virtue out of necessity: "The low budget is the strength of the campaign. Our agency service mainly consists of research," says the copywriter.
Bider&Tanner posters as sought-after home decor
The restriction to text as an advertising medium is a challenge in its own right for Tom Seinige. The fact that he and his client mastered it so well can be seen, on the one hand, in the fact that Bider&Tanner customers would like to have the posters in their homes. "In Basel, Bider&Tanner is the bookstore with the funny sayings," says Seinige about the impact of the image.
At the very least, it inspired Katja Muchenberger from the Jäggi wholesale bookstore to also remind the people of Basel of the Jäggi stores with an image campaign. It's clear to her that this campaign was meant to inspire a desire to read. "Lesch+Frei implemented the assignment as I had envisioned it," says the advertising and communications manager in Basel, who has been in office since May.
For CD Thomas Lüber of Lesch+Frei, almost everything was already clear before the briefing: Jäggi had already booked the poster sites and the budget was also fixed from the start. "If the briefing is not fixed on solving problems, advertising becomes a broad field," says Lüber. No problem for him and his consulting team.
For him, the fact that the solution ended up being a text has to do with the medium of the book: "The text is closer to the medium and you have to get involved with it. Solutions with pictures were also available, but "the idea of the text is stronger than the picture," says Lüber - and something else: it could be implemented concisely. Because in the end, Lesch+Frei advertises with what the entire print industry wishes for, whether newspaper, magazine, or book: "Have fun reading."
In fact, business studies of small and medium-sized bookstores have rarely produced positive results in recent years. No wonder that the topic of advertising is more of a taboo than a must in these ranges struggling for survival. The situation is different for large bookstores. They have recognized the tune to which the retail trade will dance in the coming years: Advertise or die. For one simple reason. The products (books) are the same in all establishments. 80 percent of the books come from the Federal Republic of Germany - as a retailer, you can only differentiate yourself by building a strong brand image.
One of the first to recognize this is Jens Stocker of the Bider&Tanner bookstore in Basel. Located on Aeschenplatz, just off Basel's 1-a location, Freie Strasse, he will be doubling his store space these days. He will announce this expansion with posters and advertisements in the Basler Zeitung. Stocker, a trained Sawi advertising manager, will skip radio spots: "We're focused on print, if only because of the industry."
Stocker is one of the booksellers in the industry who packs a punch when it comes to advertising. So powerful, in fact, that his agency Hess & Müller has to stop him. Copywriter Tom Seinige comments: "Stocker is an innovative spirit."
Bookstores must focus on continuity
ADC member Seinige has been running image advertising for Bider&Tanner for two and a half years "in a relationship of trust based on partnership", and with the same appearance: mainly outdoor advertising and streetcar posters.
But bookmarks in the bookstore specializing in English-language and travel books are also used. And extremely successfully. In a professional judging of bookstore advertising, organized by the German industry magazine Buchmarkt, these bookmarks won a bronze award. The reason given by the jury for this choice: they are convincing because of "the surprising, creative and endearing idea".
Booksellers have yet to be convinced that such use does not have an immediate impact at the checkout. Seinige is of the opinion that "it takes a certain incubation period" before the return on investment is visible at the checkout. Admittedly, this maxim applies less to the Internet bookseller Bertelsmann Online (BOL), for example, says Marketing Director Andreas Németh, who concentrates on radio and TV spots and has to spend a lot of money on advertising because he is still working on building up the brand: "Either you go in immediately after seeing or hearing the spot, or you don't," says Németh.
Does only online advertising bring immediate response?
BOL assumes that many surfers also listen to the radio and are directed to the homepage by the spot. Particularly important for Németh is the banner placement on the Bluewin portal. There he has replaced the Internet department of the bookstore Orell Füssli. The online advertising is
important for BOL because it brings immediate response, which "you don't see in the ad," says Németh.
Ursula Weber, Communications Coordinator at Orell Füssli Buchhandels AG, would disagree. She considers her campaign for the homepage with half-page ads in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung to be successful. Weber also extends her communications efforts to advertising at the point of sale, i.e., in the store. "We employ our own decorator who creates worlds around a book without smothering it," she says. Unlike Bider&Tanner, she focuses her advertising activities on the individual books and works with the advertising and DM agency Alex Schmid AG for Orell Füssli's advertising presence. "For us, the focus is clearly on the individual book," Weber emphasizes, "because each book has its own character." This is an advertising philosophy that the St.Gallen bookstore Rösslitor also supports - albeit with different advertising media. Rösslitor CEO Martin Brühwiler also focuses on image advertising and putting the book at the center. Rösslitor has employed the Rorschach agency Erat Thoma & Herzog to handle its advertising. Copywriter Hank Sulkowsky links the individual book to the St.Gallen leader's appearance. "It's about triggering a sense of wonder" when Rösslitor posters are hung in the city of St. Gallen or slides are shown in movie theaters. "We imagine the headline and look for a book title that fits it," Sulkowsky adds.
Budgets are by no means a creative stumbling block
The fact that Erat Thoma & Herzog, like the other agencies that serve booksellers, have to deal with smaller budgets doesn't bother Sulkowsky at all. "That's no problem for an advertiser if you have a good idea," he says in a tone of conviction, forging a virtue out of necessity: "The low budget is the strength of the campaign. Our agency service mainly consists of research," says the copywriter.
Bider&Tanner posters as sought-after home decor
The restriction to text as an advertising medium is a challenge in its own right for Tom Seinige. The fact that he and his client mastered it so well can be seen, on the one hand, in the fact that Bider&Tanner customers would like to have the posters in their homes. "In Basel, Bider&Tanner is the bookstore with the funny sayings," says Seinige about the impact of the image.
At the very least, it inspired Katja Muchenberger from the Jäggi wholesale bookstore to also remind the people of Basel of the Jäggi stores with an image campaign. It's clear to her that this campaign was meant to inspire a desire to read. "Lesch+Frei implemented the assignment as I had envisioned it," says the advertising and communications manager in Basel, who has been in office since May.
For CD Thomas Lüber of Lesch+Frei, almost everything was already clear before the briefing: Jäggi had already booked the poster sites and the budget was also fixed from the start. "If the briefing is not fixed on solving problems, advertising becomes a broad field," says Lüber. No problem for him and his consulting team.
For him, the fact that the solution ended up being a text has to do with the medium of the book: "The text is closer to the medium and you have to get involved with it. Solutions with pictures were also available, but "the idea of the text is stronger than the picture," says Lüber - and something else: it could be implemented concisely. Because in the end, Lesch+Frei advertises with what the entire print industry wishes for, whether newspaper, magazine, or book: "Have fun reading."
