Emil Bisig buys new furniture
Home Decor Magazines For 75 years, *Ideales Heim* has been keeping up with home decor trends—even without the “ideal” in its title. Now it has redecorated its living room.
Home magazines Ideales Heim has been following home trends for 75 years. Even without an ideal title. Now it has redesigned its living room. "For 20 years, I've been unsure whether you can work with a name like that," admits publishing director and co-owner Emil Bisig. For the expansion into Germany and Austria, the publisher Archithema replaced the title with the GDR touch with the more neutral Atrium. Despite the doubts, Bisig is sticking with Ideales Heim in the domestic market. The brand is well established, he explains, and renaming it would involve major risks. In addition, the somewhat dusty sound in particular has cult potential among the younger, urban target group. Bisig therefore prefers to wipe away the dust with a refreshed layout.75 years of survival in the trendy home market is not a matter of course. This is evidenced by the fate of competitors from large publishing houses that wanted to carve out a slice of the affluent market. In 1993, Ringier launched Privé, for which it made extensive use of Ideales Heim. Almost the entire editorial team was poached, says Bisig. But Ringier sold the magazine again in 1995, and in 1996 it was merged into Raum und Wohnen. Tamedia also relied on editors and advertising salespeople from Ideales Heim when it launched Annabelle Création at the end of the 1990s. The magazine, which was later renamed Annabelle Wohnen, was discontinued this summer.
For Bisig, the secret of Ideales Heim's success is not only its established brand, but also its willingness to invest in high editorial quality. And his excellent relationships in the neighboring country to the south: if you leaf through the new issues, you will notice the many advertisements from Italian manufacturers.
Competent content and a carefully cultivated appearance have secured the magazine's place in the reader market. It currently has a circulation of 27,200 copies. In readership surveys, the old-fashioned name proves to be a stumbling block. "People simply remember a magazine with 'Wohnen' in the name better, even if they actually read a different title," sighs Bisig. Mach Basic has five readers per issue for Ideales Heim - around 27 readers for the German Schöner Wohnen. Bisig: "If we were called 'Ideales Wohnen', we would immediately have 100,000 more readers. Without selling a single additional issue."
Stefano Monachesi
For Bisig, the secret of Ideales Heim's success is not only its established brand, but also its willingness to invest in high editorial quality. And his excellent relationships in the neighboring country to the south: if you leaf through the new issues, you will notice the many advertisements from Italian manufacturers.
Competent content and a carefully cultivated appearance have secured the magazine's place in the reader market. It currently has a circulation of 27,200 copies. In readership surveys, the old-fashioned name proves to be a stumbling block. "People simply remember a magazine with 'Wohnen' in the name better, even if they actually read a different title," sighs Bisig. Mach Basic has five readers per issue for Ideales Heim - around 27 readers for the German Schöner Wohnen. Bisig: "If we were called 'Ideales Wohnen', we would immediately have 100,000 more readers. Without selling a single additional issue."
Stefano Monachesi
