MA Leader 2011: Who decides what?

If you want to know where and on what basis the "Leader" target group makes its decisions, what it is interested in - whether professionally or privately - and which sources it uses for information, you will find comprehensive answers in the MA Leader. This makes it an indispensable tool for marketing, communication and media. No other Swiss study maps the target group "executives" so comprehensively by also taking into account their role as decision-makers. The MA Leader is therefore one of the few instruments that also creates transparency in the business-to-business market and enables targeted communication with the premium target group of "leaders".

Of course, all this has its price, which the publishing houses, which are under severe cost pressure, have to pay. The decline in the number of titles participating in the MA Leader from 51 in 2009 to 38 in the MA Leader 2011 is rather ominous. Although Computerworld in German-speaking Switzerland and the titles Edelweiss and Top Matin in French-speaking Switzerland have been added, titles such as Basler Zeitung, Finanz + Wirtschaft, Geo, Agéfi and others are missing from the MA Leader 2011. The titles Facts, Cash and Le Matin Bleu were still more or less successful market participants in 2009 and took part in the MA Leader 2009; today they are history. Under these circumstances, the future of the MA Leader is highly uncertain, as it is losing relevance as the number of participants decreases.

Speaking of Edelweiss: What prompted the women's magazine from French-speaking Switzerland to participate in MA Leader 2011 - de facto as the only women's magazine surveyed in the study? Although the proportion of women among the leaders in French-speaking Switzerland is significantly higher at around 26 percent than in German-speaking Switzerland at 17 percent, this results in a relatively limited target group potential of 18,000 female managers. Patrick Zanello, Publishing Director of Edelweiss, comments: "From the next issue, Edelweiss will be published with a new layout and will therefore have a higher-quality positioning and focus even more strongly on the luxury segment. The MA Leader is ideal for our market positioning, even if the foreign titles are missing. In addition, we were and are pioneers in many areas - including as the first women's magazine in the MA Leader!" Edelweiss wants to tap into the market of luxury-oriented women aged between 30 and 50. But perhaps the relaunch is also a way of differentiating itself from a possible market entry by annabelle in French-speaking Switzerland - together with its small but very successful sister 20 Minuten Friday. Or perhaps also against Edipresse, which is launching encore! in May 2011, the lifestyle magazine of Le Matin Dimanche, which will appear on the first Sunday of each month with a focus on topics such as travel, gourmet, living and fashion. Whatever the case, the western Swiss market is on the move. We will stay tuned.

The ranking of Swiss-German titles in the MA Leader 2011 among the leaders remains almost unchanged compared to the MA Leader 2009: NZZ Folio is in first place with a reach of 44 percent, followed by Magazin (41.5%) and SonntagsZeitung (35.3%). Thanks to the withdrawal of Geo from the MA Leader, Panorama Raiffeisen was able to position itself in the top ten (see chart Top 10 titles in German-speaking Switzerland). In French-speaking Switzerland, Le Matin Dimanche leads the top ten with a reach of 41.2 percent, followed by L'Hebdo (34.9%) and 20 minutes with 31.5% (see chart Top 10 titles in French-speaking Switzerland).

In terms of affinity with the top leaders, the specialist media are clearly in the lead: in terms of Switzerland as a whole, Schweizer Bank is way out in front with an affinity of 177, followed by Handelszeitung with 153 and io new management with 147. NZZ is the only daily newspaper in the top ten with an affinity of 135 with the top leaders (see chart Top 10 titles affinity top leaders). Karin Jost

MOST IMPORTANT NEW FEATURES OF THE MA LEADER 2011

The MA Leader 2011 questionnaire was expanded and adapted in the following areas in particular:

The socio-demographic characteristics now include the place of education for the first 12 years of schooling (Switzerland, Europe, overseas). The age of the company was also newly recorded for self-employed entrepreneurs and freelancers so that start-up companies can be identified. Adapted to the changes in location-independent media usage habits, the location of Internet use (at home, at work, on the move via public Internet access, on the move via smartphone, iPhone, etc.) was also surveyed in a differentiated manner. The topic of "paid content" was also expanded further with the question of willingness to pay for individual articles or subscriptions on the internet or for apps. The watches section with information on brands is also new: In addition to brand awareness, ownership and purchase intention, 27 new watch brands were surveyed. In addition, MA Leader continues to collect data on around 40 car brands and 30 airlines. The questions on attitudes were also greatly expanded to include quality awareness for consumer products, clothing, consumer electronics and technical devices. In addition to the appreciation of quality and price, the leaders were also asked about sustainability and the importance of the latest technology. Individual lists on consumption and possessions were adapted to reflect current market trends. In the area of valuables, for example, respondents were now also asked about the ownership of tablet PCs and e-readers.

MA LEADER 2011

Basic population
The population of the MA Leader 2011 - like that of the Leader 2009 - is based on the "Swiss Labor Force Survey 2007 (SLFS)" conducted by the Federal Statistical Office. There are a total of 302,000 leaders in German- and French-speaking Switzerland; 233,000 of these leaders live in German-speaking Switzerland and 69,000 in French-speaking Switzerland. The top leaders are a subgroup of leaders with additional qualifications. There are 103,000 top leaders in total; one in three managers in Switzerland is therefore a top leader.

Participant title
A total of 38 individual titles, combinations and complete editions. Some titles were surveyed in both language areas.

Definitions Leader:
resident in German or French-speaking Switzerland, at least 20 years old, employed full or part-time (at least 50%), decision-making authority in at least one area of the company, gross personal annual income of more than CHF 100,000

Top leader:
Criteria similar to Leaders, except: personal gross annual income of at least CHF 140,000 and at least one personal employee. For self-employed entrepreneurs, freelancers, senior executives/civil servants and academics in the private/public sector, additional qualifications apply to both the group of Leaders and Top Leaders.

New survey model
Until the 2009 survey, the entire interview was conducted by telephone (CATI). With the MA Leader 2011, respondents were given the opportunity to complete part of the questionnaire online (CAWI) for the first time, and two thirds of all respondents made use of this option.

Survey area
German- and French-speaking Switzerland
Survey period
September 27 to November 28, 2010

Field work
ISBA GmbH, Hamburg (evaluations), LINK AG, Lucerne and Lausanne (sample, fieldwork and evaluations)

MA Leader sponsorship
The MA Leader is conducted by Wemf AG für Werbemedienforschung on behalf of the participating titles and publishers. MA Leader 2011 was developed in close cooperation between Wemf and the "MA Leader 2011" project group. Wemf is responsible for the research design.

Forms of publication
Product brochure with the most important results (free of charge) or code card for NEXT>LEVEL (subject to a charge) for detailed analyses without media planning. Available via Wemf,
[email protected]. Evaluations including media planning are possible with a data and program license (annual or daily license).