The magic of paper

Statistics are available on almost everything in the Swiss media industry, provided it concerns traditional advertising media. The Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation is the top source, but only for press, television, radio, outdoor advertising, address books, direct advertising and "other". Its approach is based on the classic understanding of "advertising". The fact that advertising turnover in Switzerland is said to have fallen from its peak (2006: CHF 5.241 billion) to CHF 4.411 billion (2012), i.e. by 16%, can probably only be explained by the outdated definition of "advertising" (www.werbestatistik.ch/Urs Wolfensberger, Head of Marketing & Sales, WEMF, 5.6.2013). If there were a way to measure the total marketing expenditure of the - let's say 1000 - strongest companies in Switzerland, we would certainly be looking at an increase of over 16% in this period.

In the background is the fundamental change in business in most industries. Closely linked to this is the emergence of alternative forms of communication - I say "alternative", not necessarily "new". While everything has been chasing after social media for years, very traditional forms of communication that have been adapted to the new marketing approach are quietly doing excellent business. My prime example is corporate publishing: the production of corporate and organizational media according to the formula of successful consumer magazines and newspapers, but also multimedia and digital channels.

I see a lot of powerful new companies emerging in this area, all of which are flying under the radar of industry statisticians but have now reached a considerable height. A small, random selection: Arnold.Kircher- Burkhardt, BaselWest, Crafft, Infel, Medianovis, Primafila, Prime, Raffinerie, Swisscontent, Wirz Corporate... I see these companies growing (I estimate by 6 to 12 % annually). Above all, I see them becoming more and more export-oriented, not least under pressure from their top customers, the large internationally active Swiss corporations. I see great, inward-looking employee magazines, such as the one from UBS (from Swisscontent) - and above all I see lots of new customers: Museums, theaters, public administrations, charities, associations...

The more explanatory and intellectual the industry, the more complex the offerings, the greater the tendency towards corporate publications. The reinsurer SwissRe is probably at the top of the list, having already needed a 170-page booklet in 2001 just for the list of its specialist publications and, according to the trade magazine Horizont, had over a hundred corporate media at the time.

In the meantime, many of these media have migrated to the Internet - for cost reasons, of course - but some have also returned to the Gutenberg galaxy, to good old paper. In a large insurance company, where the future of the printed employee magazine was in question, an employee survey showed an overwhelming majority: We want our magazine on paper. Consumers of internal media also know or sense that the value of print media is far greater than any message on a screen.

Provided you have a clever sales concept, your own media are an important alternative to traditional forms of advertising. It is a truism that you can control content and forms of presentation with CP. The more complex the content (and the market services), the more appropriate corporate publishing is, as it has long been at home in the Internet world and allows multimedia solutions at reasonable costs.

What's more, corporate publishing is free of competition, it can be precisely timed to coincide with ongoing marketing campaigns (e.g. in highly branched companies), it maintains and revitalizes the brand, and in many places it also serves as a basis for interesting multimedia presentations. Even if a lot is invested in content and design, the bottom line will be very, very reasonable.

Karl Lüönd is a freelance journalist and author