Make four out of one
Newspapers: Local Focus Is Key: With the relaunch of 24 Heures, Edipresse aims to strengthen its local presence.
Newspapers The region is the trump card: With the relaunch of 24 Heures, Edipresse wants to strengthen its local roots. 24 Heures, the Lausanne daily newspaper, will appear for the first time on Saturday in a new look and with four regional editions. The media house Edipresse is thus completing the integration of La Presse Riviera Chablais (Montreux) and La Presse Nord Vaudois (Yverdon), which it acquired at the beginning of 2003 with the purchase of the Corbaz Group. The two regional newspapers will continue to operate with the same editorial staff as the front pages of 24 Heures. Two further editions will serve the city and region of Lausanne and La Côte, the shore of Lake Geneva between the cantonal capital and Geneva.
24 Heures - Région La Côte may be published depends on the decision of the judges. The French media group Hersant wants to prevent its competitor Edipresse from using the geographical name "La Côte", as a Hersant title is already published under this name in Nyon.
Edipresse publishing director Pierre Buntschu is optimistic in an interview with Werbewoche: "La Côte is not a brand name, but the name of a specific region. The judges who will have to rule on this are also aware of this." However, the decision will be accepted - whatever the outcome.
Last Thursday, Hersant obtained a super-provisional injunction preventing Edipresse from using the controversial name until the Vaud cantonal court has heard the case on Tuesday (after the editorial deadline). Apart from this legal dispute, however, everything is going according to plan with the 24 Heures relaunch on Saturday.
"Global strategy" for VaudThe restructuring of the Lausanne title is far more than just a facelift. "The relaunch is based on a global strategy for our print media in Vaud," says Pierre Buntschu. After all, according to the Edipresse publishing director, over forty percent of the population of French-speaking Switzerland are potential readers of 24 Heures. The daily newspaper will remain committed to regional reporting in the future; this is to be further strengthened with the relaunch. This focus on regional identity has already been clearly implemented in the edition for Lausanne and the surrounding area. The local editorial team has left the Edipresse headquarters on Bahnhofstrasse and moved into its own premises in Lausanne's old town, directly opposite the former editorial offices of 24 Heures' predecessor La Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne.
The split editions are headed by four editors-in-chief, who are responsible for the content of the second edition. The strategy also includes supplementing the existing local edition of La Presse with the launch of the weekly free publication Presse Hebdo. However, regionalization is not limited to the newspaper medium. There is already close cooperation between the local television stations and 24 Heures. "Some of the television producers are already taking part in the editorial meetings," says Buntschu. With Edipresse's recent declaration of intent to found Vaud TV AG together with the television stations TVRL, Canal Nord Vaudois and ICI TV, the Lausanne media house has underlined its cross-media ambitions in regional reporting.
Editor-in-chief Jacques Poget will remain in charge of 24 Heures as before. One of his deputies heads the central department, which is responsible for the newspaper's first edition. This will appear identically in all four splits. The editorial teams of the split editions only have a say in the design of the front page and the local sports pages. It is hoped that the new formula will keep those subscribers who see the disappearance of "their" newspaper as a loss.
Less expensive in the overall packageThere are also technical innovations at 24 Heures. Edipresse is working on the introduction of a standardized software solution for the production of all of the publisher's Swiss titles. 24 Heures was already connected to this company-wide database and editorial system before the relaunch. In terms of personnel, the restructuring was cost-neutral and there were no redundancies. On the contrary: according to publishing director Pierre Buntschu, some additional jobs were even created in the local editorial offices.
For advertising customers, too, almost everything remains the same - albeit with extended options. For example, all four regional splits can be booked individually. The rates for the split editions of the former "La Presse" newspapers remain at the current level. Those who advertise in the complete edition pay almost a quarter less than if they previously included 24 Heures and the two Corbaz titles. The reactions are obviously correspondingly positive. "Both large and small customers are satisfied with the new situation," explains Pierre Buntschu.
The redesigned 24 Heures newspaper with new regional editions.
Nick Lüthi
24 Heures - Région La Côte may be published depends on the decision of the judges. The French media group Hersant wants to prevent its competitor Edipresse from using the geographical name "La Côte", as a Hersant title is already published under this name in Nyon.
Edipresse publishing director Pierre Buntschu is optimistic in an interview with Werbewoche: "La Côte is not a brand name, but the name of a specific region. The judges who will have to rule on this are also aware of this." However, the decision will be accepted - whatever the outcome.
Last Thursday, Hersant obtained a super-provisional injunction preventing Edipresse from using the controversial name until the Vaud cantonal court has heard the case on Tuesday (after the editorial deadline). Apart from this legal dispute, however, everything is going according to plan with the 24 Heures relaunch on Saturday.
"Global strategy" for VaudThe restructuring of the Lausanne title is far more than just a facelift. "The relaunch is based on a global strategy for our print media in Vaud," says Pierre Buntschu. After all, according to the Edipresse publishing director, over forty percent of the population of French-speaking Switzerland are potential readers of 24 Heures. The daily newspaper will remain committed to regional reporting in the future; this is to be further strengthened with the relaunch. This focus on regional identity has already been clearly implemented in the edition for Lausanne and the surrounding area. The local editorial team has left the Edipresse headquarters on Bahnhofstrasse and moved into its own premises in Lausanne's old town, directly opposite the former editorial offices of 24 Heures' predecessor La Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne.
The split editions are headed by four editors-in-chief, who are responsible for the content of the second edition. The strategy also includes supplementing the existing local edition of La Presse with the launch of the weekly free publication Presse Hebdo. However, regionalization is not limited to the newspaper medium. There is already close cooperation between the local television stations and 24 Heures. "Some of the television producers are already taking part in the editorial meetings," says Buntschu. With Edipresse's recent declaration of intent to found Vaud TV AG together with the television stations TVRL, Canal Nord Vaudois and ICI TV, the Lausanne media house has underlined its cross-media ambitions in regional reporting.
Editor-in-chief Jacques Poget will remain in charge of 24 Heures as before. One of his deputies heads the central department, which is responsible for the newspaper's first edition. This will appear identically in all four splits. The editorial teams of the split editions only have a say in the design of the front page and the local sports pages. It is hoped that the new formula will keep those subscribers who see the disappearance of "their" newspaper as a loss.
Less expensive in the overall packageThere are also technical innovations at 24 Heures. Edipresse is working on the introduction of a standardized software solution for the production of all of the publisher's Swiss titles. 24 Heures was already connected to this company-wide database and editorial system before the relaunch. In terms of personnel, the restructuring was cost-neutral and there were no redundancies. On the contrary: according to publishing director Pierre Buntschu, some additional jobs were even created in the local editorial offices.
For advertising customers, too, almost everything remains the same - albeit with extended options. For example, all four regional splits can be booked individually. The rates for the split editions of the former "La Presse" newspapers remain at the current level. Those who advertise in the complete edition pay almost a quarter less than if they previously included 24 Heures and the two Corbaz titles. The reactions are obviously correspondingly positive. "Both large and small customers are satisfied with the new situation," explains Pierre Buntschu.
The redesigned 24 Heures newspaper with new regional editions.
Nick Lüthi
