Advertising in media as a statement?

Newspapers in Switzerland used to be politically positioned. Only over time did more and more so-called independent press products appear. This was because reach played an increasingly important role. Today, the mainstream media try to reach as many people as possible - regardless of whether they are on the right or the left. The weekly newspaper WOZ or the Weltwoche of SVP National Councillor Roger Köppel. Among the relevant press titles today, however, there is no paper with a party-political orientation. "That wouldn't be possible because it wouldn't be commercially successful as the customer base would be too narrow," says media journalist Rainer Stadler.

"There are sheets with an explicit ideological basso continuo, such as the NZZ or The Weltwoche." According to Stadler, the orientation of the Tamedia titles and the CH-Media newspapers is more diffuse. But with regard to the selection, processing and commentary of topics and events, trends can still be recognized: "The Tages-Anzeiger is to the left of the center, the SonntagsZeitung to the right of it." Quite left-wing orthodox The weekly newspaper on the road, which is not bound by party politics. As the ex-NZZ-However, as Mr. Mann goes on to say, it is already the case that newspaper offers in this country must be made in such a way that they reach across all political camps.

Sozi writes for The Weltwoche

However, it is not so easy to determine which medium has which political color. SVP National Councillor Roger Köppel denies to m&kthat his weekly magazine has a politically right-wing orientation: "That would mean that we only publish articles that can be classified as politically right-wing." And that's actually not true, if you think of former SP President Peter Bodenmann, for example, who has been working for The Weltwoche writes. "There is no general political line that our authors have to obey," continued publisher and editor-in-chief Köppel. "Anything that is interesting is allowed."

The Basel Newspaper under the aegis of Markus Somm was said to have had a right-wing bias. "Somm's journalistic attitude still lives on in the local section today, as far as I can tell from Zurich," says Rainer Stadler. But Markus Somm, like Roger Köppel, waves it away. He has repeatedly been accused of this, but it's not true: "We were at the BaZ quite broadly positioned politically."

In March, Somm will launch the new Nebelspalterwhich he took over at the end of 2020 (Werbewoche.ch reported). First, the digital platform will be relaunched, then the print magazine will be taken care of. The idea of the future editor-in-chief is a completely new profile for the traditional brand: "We will not only bring satire, but above all news, research and information." The new Swiss news platform will have a clear center-right positioning.

Digital media with a clear profile have good cards today, says Markus Somm. This is particularly evident in the USA. Today's SonntagsZeitung-columnist cites the US digital media as an example Huffington Post, Daily Wire or Politico on. "Even with the New York Times there are no surprises for the readers. You actually know what you can expect from every author." Markus Kramer, Managing Partner at Brand Affairs, sees the danger of private individuals or institutions in Switzerland buying more and more media titles and then influencing what is published and what is not. "This loss of objectivity in the media could gradually become more and more of a reality in this country."

"There is no general political line that our authors have to obey" - Roger Köppel

The right target audience

The political thrust of a newspaper or news portal apparently no longer matters to the advertising industry today. "Good journalism should scrutinize and critically examine economic, social and ecological issues," says Nathalie Diethelm, CEO of Havas.

The Weltwoche as an example, deliberately works via "counter positions" and likes to break the mainstream mindset of the otherwise center-left media landscape. WOZ and Republic on the other hand, deliberately presented a more left-wing perspective, while the major titles aimed for a "more balanced presentation". Diethelm's conclusion: "There is no magic formula - but in my opinion, politically exposed titles are still justified and definitely enliven the media landscape."

For the majority of Havas' customers, it doesn't matter whether they find their target audience in a left-wing or right-wing medium. "There are relatively few customers who express clear preferences here," says Diethelm. The fear of contact with consumer magazines is more pronounced. The media agency does not plan one title or another for its clients. First and foremost, they address the relevant target group, the end consumer. Nathalie Diethelm also sees no danger that a brand itself could be perceived politically if it presents itself in a certain medium. "As long as it is not a pure 'party paper' - which in my eyes neither the WOZ still The Weltwoche I consider a brand presence in a somewhat politically tinged title to be unproblematic," continues the Havas boss.

That the WOZ is a left-wing newspaper is no secret, says Camille Roseau, who works at the Weekly newspaper is responsible for marketing and advertising. "However, this is certainly a driving force behind our work, in addition to the high journalistic quality of our newspaper." It is central that the WOZ independent of parties, associations and patrons. "The WOZ is never partisan, but it is definitely partisan: it takes sides where it deems it necessary and remains skeptical of all political programs," explains Roseau.

Customers are politically neutral

"Interest in products and the resulting purchases are not driven by party affiliation," says Benjamin Moser, Head of MediaCom Switzerland. In the vast majority of cases, his customers would also remain politically neutral unless they were obviously pursuing political goals, such as a political party. "To find the right target group, we use much more effective consumer data, which is based not only on demographic data but also on attitudes, interests, etc." According to Moser, differentiating between political camps would be counterproductive.

"Customers don't want to work in extreme environments, such as at Breitbart... emerge." - Benjamin Moser

However, almost all of the media agency's clients would attach great importance to not working in extreme environments, such as with Breitbartto appear. In some cases, however, customers do have preferences for individual newspapers. "Here, however, we should differentiate between the preference of the advertising brand and that of the decision-maker on the customer side," explains Benjamin Moser. "Ultimately, a person always makes the final decision about the environments, so there can be a personal decision bias here, even if it is not in the interests of the brand."