Polished to a high gloss
Trade press auto & technik shifts up a gear to leave the competition behind. The title becomes bilingual and undergoes a redesign.
Trade press auto & technik shifts up a gear to leave the competition behind. The title becomes bilingual and undergoes a redesign.
In January, auto & technik comes out of the service department with a fresh coat of paint and a rebored engine. The trade magazine for the automotive industry is starting the new year with a redesign. The front page has been redesigned, the fonts have been slimmed down and the layout has been loosened up. The change from four to three columns should make it easier to integrate images.
The basic image is to be retained in the redesign. "When you pick up the new magazine, you will still immediately see that it is auto & technik," says Editor-in-Chief Michael Rehsche. But this now applies to both outside pages: Instead of an advertisement, the back page features a
own front page for the new French-language section. This will comprise eight pages including advertising at the start.
The editorial content consists of articles specially researched in French-speaking Switzerland or complete translations of selected German articles. Rehsche wants to do without short résumés, as is sometimes practiced by the competition. The French-speaking Swiss section is maintained by bilingual freelance automotive journalist Denis Robert.
For the sake of advertisers auto & technik is taking the step towards French-speaking Switzerland in response to customer requests. "We were told that our advertisers would be happy with a French section, as some of them are active throughout Switzerland," explains Michael Rehsche. By expanding the language section, he hopes to attract more decision-makers from medium-sized companies in French-speaking Switzerland as readers.
In terms of content, auto & technik will continue on the course that Rehsche has set since he took office at the beginning of 2004: Technology will remain a mainstay, while reporting on economic topics will be increased. Rehsche would like to cautiously expand the politics section. Developments affecting the automotive industry will also be analyzed in auto & technik in future.
The editor-in-chief does not deny that this strategy can be seen as an attack on the new competition. Since this March, another monthly magazine, Auto & Wirtschaft, has recommended itself as a platform for the industry. However, Michael Rehsche emphasizes that he had planned the expansion of business topics long before the competitor entered the market. The first step was already taken in the spring: In view of the contracts to be negotiated between importers and garages for 2005, auto & technik reported increasingly on trade and sales.
Rehsche notes that the new competition has not yet had an impact on circulation. However, it has had an impact on the advertising market because Auto & Wirtschaft offers discount prices. "However, we do not participate in such a - ultimately harmful - pricing policy," emphasizes Rehsche. Instead, he relies on the quality of auto & technik's content. In addition to the relaunch, two new, competent journalists are to ensure this, replacing the departed specialist Harry Pfister in the technology section.
> auto & technik is a publication of Springer Science + Business Media, which also publishes Werbewoche.
Redesign: auto & technik with a new look from 2005.
Stefano Monachesi
In January, auto & technik comes out of the service department with a fresh coat of paint and a rebored engine. The trade magazine for the automotive industry is starting the new year with a redesign. The front page has been redesigned, the fonts have been slimmed down and the layout has been loosened up. The change from four to three columns should make it easier to integrate images.
The basic image is to be retained in the redesign. "When you pick up the new magazine, you will still immediately see that it is auto & technik," says Editor-in-Chief Michael Rehsche. But this now applies to both outside pages: Instead of an advertisement, the back page features a
own front page for the new French-language section. This will comprise eight pages including advertising at the start.
The editorial content consists of articles specially researched in French-speaking Switzerland or complete translations of selected German articles. Rehsche wants to do without short résumés, as is sometimes practiced by the competition. The French-speaking Swiss section is maintained by bilingual freelance automotive journalist Denis Robert.
For the sake of advertisers auto & technik is taking the step towards French-speaking Switzerland in response to customer requests. "We were told that our advertisers would be happy with a French section, as some of them are active throughout Switzerland," explains Michael Rehsche. By expanding the language section, he hopes to attract more decision-makers from medium-sized companies in French-speaking Switzerland as readers.
In terms of content, auto & technik will continue on the course that Rehsche has set since he took office at the beginning of 2004: Technology will remain a mainstay, while reporting on economic topics will be increased. Rehsche would like to cautiously expand the politics section. Developments affecting the automotive industry will also be analyzed in auto & technik in future.
The editor-in-chief does not deny that this strategy can be seen as an attack on the new competition. Since this March, another monthly magazine, Auto & Wirtschaft, has recommended itself as a platform for the industry. However, Michael Rehsche emphasizes that he had planned the expansion of business topics long before the competitor entered the market. The first step was already taken in the spring: In view of the contracts to be negotiated between importers and garages for 2005, auto & technik reported increasingly on trade and sales.
Rehsche notes that the new competition has not yet had an impact on circulation. However, it has had an impact on the advertising market because Auto & Wirtschaft offers discount prices. "However, we do not participate in such a - ultimately harmful - pricing policy," emphasizes Rehsche. Instead, he relies on the quality of auto & technik's content. In addition to the relaunch, two new, competent journalists are to ensure this, replacing the departed specialist Harry Pfister in the technology section.
> auto & technik is a publication of Springer Science + Business Media, which also publishes Werbewoche.
Redesign: auto & technik with a new look from 2005.
Stefano Monachesi
