Wottsch Werbig, man?
Oliver Classen on the media's portrayal of the Swiss in the Balkans.
Oliver Classen on the media incorporation of the Balkan Swiss Politically, immigrants from the former Yugoslavia have long enjoyed the special attention of the Swiss media. They are omnipresent on the tabloids as speeders, thugs or burglars. And even the NZZ Folio devoted its entire March issue to the "Yugos" - admittedly in order to present the unsavory SVP clichés in a differentiated way and thus question them.370000 nationals from the five successor states, who make up over 20 percent of the foreign population, are now finally being discovered as media consumers. For example, The Cover Media is opening and marketing the first Southeast European TV advertising window in Switzerland on Serbian and Albanian national television.
This means that local companies can now address this demographically and commercially important target group directly in their native language. Until now, the only way to do this was through outdoor advertising that was as graphic as possible.
Ringier is even going one step further and is launching a European edition of its Serbian tabloid Blic next Monday. Just under a quarter of the initial print run of 45,000 copies contains a Swiss editorial page and costs CHF 1.50 at local newsstands, i.e. 30 centimes less than Blick. A paradoxical circular argument: the Blic correspondent based in Zurich provides the newly founded European editorial office in Belgrade with daily stories that are printed in Frankfurt but are only read in Zurich and the surrounding area. It will be interesting to see whether this model works and - what's more - who books the first advertising pages of the Swiss split edition of Blic Europa.
As long as "Yugo" is still a dirty word, this requires not only innovative strength but also a little entrepreneurial moral courage. The Cover Media and Ringier are exemplary in demonstrating this rare virtue with their (certainly not altruistic) attempts to incorporate Balkan Swiss into the media.
> Oliver Classen, Editor
This means that local companies can now address this demographically and commercially important target group directly in their native language. Until now, the only way to do this was through outdoor advertising that was as graphic as possible.
Ringier is even going one step further and is launching a European edition of its Serbian tabloid Blic next Monday. Just under a quarter of the initial print run of 45,000 copies contains a Swiss editorial page and costs CHF 1.50 at local newsstands, i.e. 30 centimes less than Blick. A paradoxical circular argument: the Blic correspondent based in Zurich provides the newly founded European editorial office in Belgrade with daily stories that are printed in Frankfurt but are only read in Zurich and the surrounding area. It will be interesting to see whether this model works and - what's more - who books the first advertising pages of the Swiss split edition of Blic Europa.
As long as "Yugo" is still a dirty word, this requires not only innovative strength but also a little entrepreneurial moral courage. The Cover Media and Ringier are exemplary in demonstrating this rare virtue with their (certainly not altruistic) attempts to incorporate Balkan Swiss into the media.
> Oliver Classen, Editor
