More Than Just Image Transfer

WW: The Brander has been making waves online for a year now. What has stuck with you?
Olivia El Sayed: We launched The Brander in March 2011, initially with 15 feature stories that we had produced in advance. This initial collection has since been regularly expanded with new articles, and there are now 47 in-depth features online. Once published, the stories remain there. Over time, this creates a kind of visual reference work on brands and their creators.

How has the audience responded?
We get a lot of feedback, and that’s the beauty of being online: the feedback is very direct. We’ve noticed that, in addition to Switzerland, we also reach a large number of readers in Germany. Our second-largest audience is in the U.S., followed by the U.K. Our magazine is available in both German and English. Our statistics show a striking number of subscribers from Los Angeles and New York. We now have correspondents in both cities.

What can you tell us about click-through rates?
On a day when we publish a new story, we reach about 4,000 readers, and we currently record approximately 30,000 page views per month. That’s not a huge number, but it represents an interested, brand-conscious, and—above all—returning readership. What’s particularly striking is the time spent on the site. This is likely above average because both the articles and the photo galleries are very detailed. And thanks to our relatively short history, we’re still growing every month.

How is the magazine promoted?
We always send out a newsletter to our subscribers whenever we post a new story. We also use social media. Over the past year, we’ve also expanded The Brander to include a blog-style section within the magazine. There, we share fun ideas and inspiration from the world of branding with our readers every day. This gives us the opportunity to actively engage with our readers.

The Brander as a specialized portal: What has become of it?
The Brander combines the lifestyle of brands with a content-driven branding perspective. Theory and practice are brought together in a new way, and the topic of branding becomes an experience through the style of the articles and the photo spreads. We’ve noticed that our magazine has had a tremendous impact on our image. For example, we’re seeing more international applications for positions at the agency. And the quality of the applications has also improved: there are more and more applicants who share and appreciate our approach to branding.

What's next?
We want to maintain and further improve our quality, and remain independent. We feature brands whose stories or founders inspire us, and we are not a PR platform. While we receive many requests along these lines, The Brander would lose its value and character if we were to accept them.

Interview: Andreas Panzeri