English magazine demise highlights tough market

Established in 2007 by editors Sabine Schweizer and Jennifer Davies, Inside Switzerland was published quarterly at a domestic subscription cost of 35 francs per year. The magazine offered a diverse and sophisticated view of Swiss culture for the country’s English-speaking population, covering business, the arts, design, food and travel.

Succumbing to the same fate as countless publications across the globe over the last year, Inside Switzerland was a victim of the worldwide drop in print media advertising. It was reported last week by Swisster that advertising revenue for Swiss newspapers was down by over 20 per cent in 2009 on the previous year.

“Like other magazines across the industry, Inside Switzerland was affected by the reduction in advertisers’ budgets nationally and globally,” said a source at the magazine. “Unlike many other new magazines, Inside Switzerland was produced by a start-up publishing house, therefore much less able to withstand these forces, compared to say, a new publication at a large, established publishing company.”

As well as contending with the global economic downturn, attracting revenue became all the more difficult with clients unwilling to risk buying ad space in niche magazines, such as Inside Switzerland, a familiar story suffered by other defunct Swiss English-language publications in previous years including Cream, The Geneva Post and GEM (Geneva English Magazine).

“It was perhaps more difficult to convince advertisers of the value of the English-language market and its relationship to their products,” said the source at Inside Switzerland. “Despite lots of demographic info about expats in Switzerland, it seemed as though advertisers were a little wary of expanding into unchartered areas.”

A number of globally established magazines have folded in the last 12 months. International publishing house Conde Naste closed four publications in October 2009; others have converted to online-only services, including major UK mens’ magazine Maxim.

The online option, however, was deemed inappropriate for Inside Switzerland. “Undoubtedly, an increasing number of newspapers and magazines are making the switch to online and getting more readers," said the source.

"That works if it’s simply ‘pure text’ articles that you’re after, but Inside Switzerland’s design, style and look was also intrinsic to the overall product."

“A primary aim for Inside Switzerland was to combine excellent journalism and innovative graphic design – so the best vehicle for this was a print magazine format.”

Asked if the magazine would have done anything differently if they had their time again, the source said, “We’d have secured watertight long-term advertising deals and sponsorship before going into full production.”

English-language news for Switzerland can be found online at swissinfo.ch, World Radio Switzerland and genevalunch.com, as well as Swisster.ch. Surviving print publications in English include Hello Switzerland, Swiss Style, Geneva Times and World Radio Switzerland’s magazine OnAir, along with regional magazines such as Geneva Times and Zurich’s Swiss Edition.

A number of German or French newspapers have allocated sections in the past to English language news, such as the Tribune de Genève, Basler Zeitung and NZZ, but these services have since been shelved.

The most enduring English media in Switzerland must be Swiss News, the Zurich-based monthly that features an online presence as well. In a move to strengthen their position, existing subscribers to Inside Switzerland are to be offered a subscription to Swiss News as a replacement.

Remo Kuhn launched Swiss News in 1982 with its content geared towards the concerns and interests of Switzerland’s expat community. The magazine says it enjoys a circulation of 12,000 in Switzerland and employs an established team of editorial, design and freelance staff.

In his 28 years overseeing the magazine, Kuhn has witnessed the grim evolution of English-language media in his homeland.

“Switzerland has more print medias per head than any other country in the world,” said Kuhn.

“Competition is extremely heavy in the very small advertising market. English publications have never reached high circulations, due to restrictive and amateurish marketing by the small publishing companies and expats not being willing to spend money on an English publication."

“Small circulations can work if they target an interesting and specific group such as medical doctors, or golf players or owners of Ferraris. No big
Swiss publishing company has ever tried to go into the expat market,” he said, though Swisster, owned by Edipresse, is an exception.

The establishment of English-language parenting magazines such as The New Stork Times and Mothering Matters seems to confirm Kuhn’s views.

The longevity of Kuhn’s magazine is down to the man himself.

“I have personally subsidised it since the very first year,” he says, before offering sage words of advice to any ambitious publishers looking to establish their own English-language magazine in Switzerland.

“Find a patient and generous sponsor, or better, look for a job in a Swiss private bank, or even better, work the for Red Cross and do something rewarding with your time.”