The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, and at the same time many media people are coming out of their state of shock. The media industry needs to reinvent itself: The best of digital media must be combined with the success factors of traditional media. The self-confidence of content producers has been seriously shaken in recent years: Search engines make use of their services and monetize them through advertising revenue. The crisis has shown: This calculation does not work out for everyone. Content producers are faced with a large selection of distribution channels and therefore also revenue channels. Publishing experts cannot cope with today's tasks using yesterday's recipes. Media experts and media managers must now deal with the diversity of business models in order to successfully manage the complexity of tomorrow. They are expanding their skills in order to solve the challenging tasks of the convergent media world.
Linking digital and traditional media
The Media Institute has been training publishing and media specialists on behalf of the Swiss Press Association for over twenty years. It systematically reviews the strengths of existing programs and links them to the requirements of tomorrow's media industry. The focus is on the development of journalistic media, their production and distribution as well as their positioning in the user and advertising market. The courses systematically deal with the production and value creation process. Press, radio, television and online are covered in all their forms. The Media Institute takes a consistent 360-degree view of the multimedia world.
Participants in the Media Institute's events come from all media companies and interfaces in the media industry. Lifelong learning is a matter of course for them: all generations of the media industry can be found on the courses. They attend the courses, conferences and seminars in order to deal efficiently with current developments. At the Media Institute, they are not confronted with a corporate culture, school or consultancy philosophy. Instead, they gain an insight into the various strategies and their implementation. In a short space of time, these encounters with professionals offer a wide range of experiences that can be incorporated into their own professional activities the next day.
Problem-solving skills in a complex environment
Job profiles in the media industry are being redefined: Technological innovations are changing production processes and task portfolios. The launch of new products, reorganizations and cost-cutting projects, mergers of media companies and the introduction of newsrooms demand a great willingness for interdisciplinary cooperation. Openness, innovation, speed and professional and communication skills are required from all those involved. Those who have trained in these requirements in an inter-company course are well positioned. The Media Manager course, which starts at the end of August, offers the ideal framework for the systematic development of skills that are essential for solving problems in a complex environment.
From professionals for professionals
The change affects the Media Institute itself. Thanks to its good networking with the Swiss media industry and international specialist bodies, it is able to continuously map current developments and anticipate innovations. During the Epiphany Conference and the Trend Conferences, topics such as newsroom, paid content, social web, semantic search, digital distribution platforms and media law are discussed in depth by high-profile speakers. Studies on media trends and media budgets provide exclusive data. The publication of dossiers, association and specialist publications documents the debates on the development of the media industry.
The Media Institute has continuously updated its training and further education courses and made them more flexible: The Media Specialist and Media Manager courses conclude with federal examinations. The higher vocational training model corresponds to the requirement profiles of the industry and the expectations of the course participants. Experienced professionals from the fields of editing, production, distribution and marketing meet here to discuss current concepts and applications in the media industry with lecturers from the sector. They have a wide variety of educational backgrounds, from apprenticeships to university degrees. Many have already completed various training courses. They are used to constantly adapting their educational backpacks to current requirements. The examinations are geared towards the skills that are required of managers in their day-to-day work. The qualification profiles are described in detail in the guidelines. By obtaining the federal certificate or the federal diploma, they hold an important trump card in their hands: as media professionals, they have proven their commitment, knowledge and competence.
Flexible solutions
Those who wish to further their education in individual areas can attend the course modules individually. The course sections "Media offer and production", "Media marketing" and "Management in media companies" can now be completed with a certificate. Seminars such as "Media industry compact", "Entry into the publishing industry", "Management task, what now" and sales training round off the offer. The Media Institute offers flexible solutions that are tailored to individual needs.
Josefa Haas

Classifieds In the classifieds market, PubliGroupe is building a bridge between online and print. A competence center is being set up for this purpose. "We are working on the basis of a clear customer need," explains Andreas Göldi. The web specialist heads PubliGroupe's new Classifieds Market Key Account Unit. Thanks to a survey, Göldi knows what classified advertisers want above all from the print media: Simple handling and multimedia offerings. The new competence center, which runs under the working title "Classified House", aims to offer both. Customers are primarily professional advertisers, such as job agencies, real estate agents and garage owners. From summer 2005, they will be able to plan, book and bill advertisements on online platforms and in newspapers from a single source. According to Göldi, the service includes consulting for global solutions on the one hand and automation for individual placements on the other.
Göldi estimates the number of professional advertisers at between 1,000 and 2,000. With this customer base, the "Classified House" is expected to account for around a third of PubliGroupe's classified sales. Last year, this would have amounted to around 110 million francs.
PubliGroupe intends to invest in the new business unit in line with its importance. CHF 7 million has been earmarked for the current year. The existing online planning and scheduling tool "My Publicitas" is to be expanded. However, there will only be a few new jobs - "a single-digit number", says Otto Meier, General Manager of the PubliPresse division, to which the "Classified House" is affiliated. Most of the 40 employees were already working as specialists for classified advertising and online technology at PubliGroupe. This includes project manager Göldi: until last fall, he managed the business of Namics, PubliGroupe's Internet service provider. His place of work is mainly at the headquarters of Publicitas in Zurich. A branch office will also be set up in Lausanne.
Differentiated solutionsThe competence center offers services not only to advertisers, but also to online platforms and publishers: in addition to brokering advertisers, it also offers software solutions for handling and presenting advertisements. With these "white label" solutions, PubliGroupe remains in the background and the publishers operate under their own brand. Such a concept has already been implemented with NZZdomizil.ch in November.
With the "Classified House", PubliGroupe is attempting to extend its dominant market position in the press landscape to the Internet. According to Otto Meier, contracts already exist with some online classified platforms and others are to be added. According to legal clarifications, these plans are not a case for the Competition Commission, emphasizes Meier. After all, it is only an internal reorganization. However, a stronger position on the Internet could influence future Competition Commission decisions on PubliGroupe takeover plans.
Competition revivedWith Media Manager, Xmedia Annoncen AG is also marketing a tool that advertisers can use to design a print ad from their online ad and place it (directly or via Publicitas). It is already being used by Scout24, Homegate and Mediaswiss (Gate24.ch).
Managing Director Thomas Schwabe is not worried by PubliGroupe's (P) plans: "This shows that we are on the right track." Customers today are primarily looking for the (cost-saving) route from online to print, where Xmedia already offers a proven solution. Schwabe does not see P as a direct competitor: "We also supply them via the Media Manager." P General Director Otto Meier sees it the same way: "We will be competitors and partners at the same time." (sm)
"We are working on the basis of a clear customer need": Andreas Göldi, Head of PubliGroupe's new Classifieds Market Key Account Unit.
Stefano Monachesi