Thomas Walliser (53) is responsible for the further expansion of the leading culinary lifestyle magazine in Switzerland. In this country, Falstaff has been distributed as an independent magazine with a print run of 26,000 copies since 2014 and, according to WEMF, has been the best-selling magazine in the "Wine & Culinary" category for years. In addition to the ten annual issues, there are numerous specials, such as the recent special issue on "Food Zürich" or on Basel as a city of gourmet delights. Falstaff offers an extensive and wide-ranging digital offering on the topics of wine, travel, culinary arts, lifestyle, and design, as well as numerous guides that provide tasteful orientation for gourmets.
Before the end of this year, Walliser will be responsible for the launch of the design magazine Falstaff Living by editor Angelika Rosam and will publish it in Switzerland. The first issue of the magazine for interior design, style and trends will appear as early as November 2022. In 2023, six issues are already scheduled to appear in Switzerland, as well as the premiere of Design Guide Switzerland. The Swiss edition of Falstaff Living will open up a new premium environment for the advertising industry with an attractive mix of national and international content.
In addition to new print and digital products for the Swiss market, the media expert will launch the elite "Falstaff Gourmet Club" and establish top-class events and galas for affluent clientele and epicureans. The increased commitment in Switzerland is to contribute significantly to the further growth of the Falstaff media group, which last year recorded a sales growth of 36.8 percent and is aiming for sales of around 30 million Swiss francs this year.
"Thomas Walliser brings not only extensive media experience and an excellent network, but also entrepreneurial skills to Falstaff. With his strategic expertise, he will further expand Falstaff's leading market position," publisher Wolfgang M. Rosam is convinced.
"Falstaff has enormous growth potential with its content quality and expertise. Together with the experienced editorial team around Benjamin Herzog and Dominik Vombach, we want to whet people's appetites in Switzerland even more for the finer things in life," says Walliser.
Thomas Walliser was born in Mosnang in 1969. He started his professional career in 1994 as Managing Director of Luxo Asa, before moving into the media industry in 2008 as CEO and owner of Boll Verlag. He served as publisher of the magazines "Wohnrevue," "Edelweiss Travel," "Places" and "Modulør." In 2017, he sold his publishing company and took over the management of NZZ Fachmedien within the NZZ Media Group. In 2019, he was appointed head of specialist media at CH Media as part of the joint venture. In 2021, he founded his company ELap Communication. Since that year, he has held a stake in Rinspi and serves as president of Design Preis Schweiz, on whose management board he is also active. With his companies, he advises leading brands in the design, furniture and media industries.
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The Falstaff culinary lifestyle magazine has a total circulation of over 140,000 copies. Now Falstaff also wants to position itself in the global world of gourmet food as a strong brand around the topics of wine, travel, culinary, luxury, and lifestyle. In the course of this further development, innovations are also planned in Switzerland.
In this country, Falstaff has been distributed as an independent magazine since 2014. In 2020, Falstaff Switzerland was the best-selling magazine in the wine and culinary category on the Swiss magazine market for the fifth year in a row.
Now another expansion is on the horizon, which is the responsibility of Philipp Bitzer. The experienced publishing professional took over the management of Falstaff Switzerland from Nicole Steffen at the beginning of November 2021. Also new to the management team in Switzerland is Sophie-Marie von Haugwitz. Born in Austria, she has extensive experience in international wine marketing and will support Bitzer in marketing and key account management as Director of Marketing for the growth strategy in Switzerland. Among other things, the publication rhythm of Falstaff will be increased to ten issues starting in 2022, according to a Falstaff press release.
Philipp Bitzer was born in 1967 and studied humanities at the University of Zurich. He came into contact with the media world at a young age and wrote for various publishing houses. After a professional detour into the world of the moving image, he moved to Neuchâtel around the turn of the millennium, where he was department head of "Expo.02" under Martin Heller as well as the Palépo founder and current mayor of Nyon, Daniel Rossellat. From 2003, he returned to German-speaking Switzerland and, at the same time, to the media world, and since then has managed several Swiss trade publishers, focusing in particular on the subject areas of construction, living and furnishing, as well as gastronomy and the hotel industry. In 2018, Bitzer took over the publishing and journalistic management of Marmite Verlag in Zurich, where he was responsible, among other things, for the popular magazine Marmite, the professional publication Marmite Professional as well as the "marmite youngster" gastronomy competition.
Sophie-Marie von Haugwitz was born in Austria in 1991 into an Austrian wine family and thus rooted in the Austrian wine world from childhood. She completed her studies in Business Management at King's College in London. In London and Singapore, she was responsible for wine listing in top gastronomy for several agencies. In 2018, she moved to Germany to join Wein & Vinos in Berlin. As product marketing manager, she developed communication and sales concepts in wine marketing. Before joining Falstaff, she developed a digital marketing strategy for Cascade Edel Hausrat in Lucerne, among other things.
]]>According to a press release, Falstaff is dedicated to the world of delicious and beautiful things. A luxury magazine with a combination of well-researched articles, a high level of journalism and a particular focus on style, aesthetics and design aims to secure a place in the Swiss market.
The publication was launched in Austria in 1980 as a wine and gourmet magazine. Wolfgang M. Rosam took over Falstaff in 2009. The communications professional gave the magazine a comprehensive relaunch and expanded into Germany in 2010. Falstaff Switzerland aims to be the ambassador for Swiss food, drink and travel culture throughout the German-speaking world, as the press release explains. The magazine is now published eight times a year in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. All content is also available online. In addition to the print edition of the magazine, the publishing house publishes renowned wine, restaurant and hotel guides and organizes exclusive events such as wine and champagne galas.
In the first Swiss edition, wine journalist and author Martin Kilchmann portrays the entrepreneur and wine lover Silvio Denz. An article on the 50 best wineries in Switzerland is also written by Martin Kilchmann. Martin Jenni, the well-known journalist of fine living, writes about local cuisine. He reports on the "Renaissance of offal". A total of around five articles per issue deal with Swiss topics. The editors-in-chief of the Austrian edition, Peter Moser, Hubert Hacker and Marlene Auer, are also responsible for the Swiss magazine. The Swiss edition has a circulation of 40,000 copies and 150,000 copies for the entire DACH region. The magazine costs 9.50 francs.