Südostschweiz: New concept, new layout
On Tuesday, January 20, the daily newspaper *Südostschweiz* will be published for the first time with a new concept and layout. The relaunch is part of Somedia’s media brand strategy.
In the future, the name Südostschweiz will stand for the four channels newspaper, radio, television and online, but they will continue to be produced independently. It is more than a complete overhaul that Südostschweiz is undergoing with its three editions for Graubünden, Glarus and Gaster& See. It is almost a new newspaper that will appear for the first time tomorrow, Tuesday. At the heart of the concept, which was largely developed by the editorial team itself, is the effort to find a sustainable response to the rapidly changing market conditions.
According to the statement, Somedia is convinced that it can achieve this with a product that, on the one hand, provides more background and classification on the most important news and focuses more on social issues. Both the relevance and the user value are to be increased. However, the focus will remain on reporting from the region. However, this is also to be deepened: fewer topics, but these are to be illuminated, described and commented on from several sides. Consequently, the two newspaper alliances are no longer divided into a regional and a national alliance, but into a news alliance and a life alliance. The extensive omission of news items that were already available free of charge on all channels the day before is compensated for in the digital edition of Südostschweiz with active elements that lead directly to the corresponding section on suedostschweiz.ch. The launch of a multimedia app is scheduled for the end of March.
A color system facilitates navigation through the newspaper. This is given great weight by a novel tiling principle already on the front page. The congenial graphic implementation of the concept comes from the kitchen of the Berlin layout studio Einhorn Solutions, which was also responsible for the redesign of Die Welt, among other things.
The new Südostschweiz is the first step in the new media brand strategy of the Somedia media house, which also includes Werbewoche. The newspaper, radio, television and online channels will be united to form the Südostschweiz media family by the end of March - in parallel with the move into the new media house in Chur. This will also appear visually as a single entity. Planning for the content of the four sub-media takes place at the central news desk in Chur.
Read all about Somedia's new media house and the relaunch of Südostschweiz in the current print edition of Werbewoche. In the interview, CEO Andrea Masüger reveals, among other things, why a Berlin agency was chosen for the redesign. Subscribers read the detailed version of the interview also online.
