Output is everywhere
Internet The party portal Usgang.ch is growing beyond Zurich. Goal: national advertising campaigns.
Internet The party portal Usgang.ch is growing beyond Zurich. The aim: national advertising campaigns People like to party just as much in Bern as in Zurich. The nightlife platform Usgang.ch, founded on the Limmat in 2000, is taking this into account and expanding into the most important German-speaking cities in Switzerland. A dedicated page for St. Gallen was launched on May 7, followed by Lucerne, Basel and Bern on a weekly basis. "Each of these cities has its own strong party scene," says Karim Zekri, explaining the expansion. Zekri is in charge of business development for the platform, which has long since grown from a student project into a flourishing company. Expansion beyond the Zurich region
should ensure further economic growth. "We are only really interesting for the advertising market when we cover German-speaking Switzerland," says Zekri. In the longer term, there are even plans to expand into French-speaking Switzerland.
However, Zekri believes that users are not interested in a national portal: "A person from Basel is not interested in what's going on in Lucerne." That's why each regional Usgang.ch page has its own local event information and party photos and is managed by local scene experts. Usgang.ch offers advertising customers both regional and national bookings, as well as the combination of individual sites.
Usgang.ch generates part of its income through event promotion. "I compare this to the classified advertising business of newspapers, which they often manage themselves," explains Zekri. The second mainstay has always been online advertising campaigns, which are brokered for the platform by the exclusive marketer Publicitas webservices. According to Zekri, the clientele ranges "from B for BMW to Z for Zurich Insurance". According to its own information, Usgang.ch has so far recorded around 130000 unique visitors per month and over 10 million page impressions. From May, usage will be measured by Wemf's Net Audit so that customers can be provided with reliable figures.
Usgang.ch is financing its expansion entirely from its own funds. According to Karim Zekri, the party portal is in the black and has almost doubled its turnover in recent years. The company employs eight permanent staff in Zurich, and is now adding two per regional site. The 50 party photographers receive an expense allowance.
Over the next few weeks, the expansion, which will be accompanied by a redesign of the site, will be publicized to the party people. Instead of traditional advertising, Usgang.ch is relying on word of mouth and guerrilla measures. For example, Chinese fortune cookies were recently distributed in front of selected clubs, which contained an advertising slogan for the portal instead of an oracle saying. But the best advertising is probably still the party photos themselves, which bring the party from the night before back to life.
Stefano Monachesi
should ensure further economic growth. "We are only really interesting for the advertising market when we cover German-speaking Switzerland," says Zekri. In the longer term, there are even plans to expand into French-speaking Switzerland.
However, Zekri believes that users are not interested in a national portal: "A person from Basel is not interested in what's going on in Lucerne." That's why each regional Usgang.ch page has its own local event information and party photos and is managed by local scene experts. Usgang.ch offers advertising customers both regional and national bookings, as well as the combination of individual sites.
Usgang.ch generates part of its income through event promotion. "I compare this to the classified advertising business of newspapers, which they often manage themselves," explains Zekri. The second mainstay has always been online advertising campaigns, which are brokered for the platform by the exclusive marketer Publicitas webservices. According to Zekri, the clientele ranges "from B for BMW to Z for Zurich Insurance". According to its own information, Usgang.ch has so far recorded around 130000 unique visitors per month and over 10 million page impressions. From May, usage will be measured by Wemf's Net Audit so that customers can be provided with reliable figures.
Usgang.ch is financing its expansion entirely from its own funds. According to Karim Zekri, the party portal is in the black and has almost doubled its turnover in recent years. The company employs eight permanent staff in Zurich, and is now adding two per regional site. The 50 party photographers receive an expense allowance.
Over the next few weeks, the expansion, which will be accompanied by a redesign of the site, will be publicized to the party people. Instead of traditional advertising, Usgang.ch is relying on word of mouth and guerrilla measures. For example, Chinese fortune cookies were recently distributed in front of selected clubs, which contained an advertising slogan for the portal instead of an oracle saying. But the best advertising is probably still the party photos themselves, which bring the party from the night before back to life.
Stefano Monachesi
