Concurrence pour Axel Springer

 
Business press A young publisher from French-speaking Switzerland is expanding - into German-speaking Switzerland and worldwide. In this country, Axel Springer (Switzerland) in particular has to adapt to the motivated newcomers from French-speaking Switzerland. 
On September 4, the time had come: the glossy business magazine Market.ch, which has been on the market in French-speaking Switzerland for five years, crossed the Röstigraben as announced with a German-language edition and its own editorial office in Glattbrugg. The publisher is Publibrands SA in Carouge, which until recently was still called Market Publishing SA. However, as the company now publishes two other titles in addition to Market.ch, it was renamed at the end of July. However, the majority of shares in the young publishing house are still held by the entrepreneurs Patrick Sikias, Raphael Dana and John Hartung.
Interesting distribution systemMarket.ch, which is published eleven times a year, started with a print run of 25,000 copies and regularly sells 21,000 copies in French-speaking Switzerland, has a sophisticated distribution concept: thanks to an exclusive partnership with TGV operator Lyria, 9,000 copies of the German-language edition are available in First and Business Class on high-speed trains, and a further 4,000 copies have been subscribed to by large companies for customers and employees. In western Switzerland, on the other hand, Market.ch already has 7,000 private subscribers, and the magazine is also the only Swiss business magazine available at Geneva Airport and on board seven airlines (including Air France).
In terms of its style and focus, Market.ch is likely to compete primarily with Bilanz and Stocks in German-speaking Switzerland. However, advertising manager John Hartung believes that he has benefited from the end of Facts in terms of advertising acquisition. At Market.ch, a 1/1 page in four colors in both language regions costs CHF 9,000 each, while the combination costs CHF 15,840. Hartung takes care of the acquisition himself, in German-speaking Switzerland he is supported by advertising manager Anna Lang.
A Market.ch issue currently comprises around 100 pages, a fifth of which is advertising. In terms of content, the magazine is divided into the sections Current Affairs, Marketing, Dossier, Saga, Innovation, Leaders, Finance and Lifestyle. Editor-in-chief Doris Gottstein is responsible for both editions, but separate teams work on the regional language editions - in French-speaking Switzerland under the direction of Muriel Delucinge. Gottstein and Delucinge each have the task of writing their own independent reports. However, when it comes to national topics and economic policy, they work together - the articles are then translated into the other language. For international economic topics, Market.ch has entered into a cooperation with the London-based business magazine The Economist, from which the magazine can take over a good dozen articles each year.
Internationally networkedUntil recently, the publishing house produced a daily business program in French-speaking Switzerland on the local TV station Léman Bleu. This had to be discontinued due to a lack of sponsors. Nevertheless, the company has new plans in the electronic sector - both nationally and internationally. "We have various ideas, but they are not yet ready to go," says Hartung.
At the beginning of the year, Publibrands also launched an English-language edition of Lineextension under the title Market500.eu. The magazine, which is published four times a year, is distributed by the Brussels-based organization Europe 500, which brings together around 500 companies. However, this concept does not seem to be working quite yet. In any case, the entrepreneurs are already considering publishing the magazine only once a year in book form and opening an online platform to supplement it, the content of which would be updated weekly.
That leaves Sur la Terre, the third title in the Publibrands portfolio: Expansion is also on the cards for this luxury and lifestyle magazine - initially in Switzerland, as a third edition for Gstaad will be launched at the end of the year following the existing editions for Zurich and Geneva.
This brand is also gaining momentum worldwide through the company Sur La Terre International SA, which has already published corresponding editions in nine capital cities and glamorous metropolitan areas as part of a franchising system. According to John Hartung, there are now two new editions in Greece, four editions in China and one each in Dublin and Marrakesh.
Markus Knöpfli