To the point: This is how times change
Five years ago, *Werbewoche* published an interview with Eugen A. Russ, a publisher from Vorarlberg. He became known to a wider audience in Switzerland when he explained his business model at a Three Kings Day conference.
Russ had managed to seal off his small federal state against any media competition. He did this once with an excellently made product, the Vorarlberger Nachrichten, a newspaper that put its own readers at the center and was already interactive when all interactivity in the media was still a rarity. In addition, Russ operated with discounts of all kinds for subscribers. There was cheap electricity, the company had its own accident insurance, and subscribers could make low-cost phone calls with their own telephone company. These side businesses were primarily intended to strengthen reader loyalty. But Russ also made money with them. A few Swiss publishers were enthusiastic about the new ideas, but many were skeptical. Especially when it came to the side businesses, editorial independence was seen to be at risk. Asked by Werbewoche why Swiss publishers never warmed to ancillary businesses on a large scale, Russ said, "Maybe the economic situation is not so pressing that you have to think too much about such business models."
Things look different today: Interactivity and participation of the readership is normal at Current, and ancillary business has also become respectable. The furthest along in this respect is certainly Ringier, which relies on transaction-based online models and sees itself as a multinational integrated media company. But integrated doesn't just mean print, TV, radio, online and mobile. It also wants to be a strong player in the entertainment and Internet business.
The range of participations is broad. It ranges from Betty Bossy with its well-known kitchen helpers to Geschenkidee.ch, where you can get more or less everything from LED champagne glasses for CHF 14.90 to a weekend with an Audi R8 for CHF 3,300, to the new travel portal Etrips.ch, a joint venture between Ringier and Tui Switzerland. But Ringier also has interests in show business: It starts with Ticketcorner and then moves on to concert promoters like Good News or The Classical Company. Another mainstay is sports and artist management companies such as Infront or Pool Position, where Stefan Gubser, Sabina Schneebeli and Katja Stauber are marketed alongside Lara Gut and Xenia Tchoumitcheva.
