Supercard over cumulus clouds
Customer press The Coop press has become a universal read in recent years. Now also for young people and men.
Customer press The Coop press has become a universal read in recent years. Only for women from the countryside or mothers, but uninteresting for all other family members - the image of the major distributors' customer magazines that is deeply rooted in the minds of media planners no longer corresponds to reality. This has now been confirmed in detail by a readership study conducted by the Barbara Domeyer Institute (d&s). It was commissioned by the number two retailer in Switzerland. The development of the Coop-Presse among young readers and men is particularly striking: the three regional language titles of the Coop-Presse have succeeded in significantly expanding their position, especially among the media-critical 14 to 24-year-olds. Whereas in 1994 more than three quarters of this age segment still described themselves as stoic "non-readers", in 2002 this figure had shrunk to less than ten percent. At the same time, the proportion of "regular readers" exploded from ten percent back then to 40 percent today.
The success with the next highest age group, the 25 to 34-year-olds, is very similar. Here too, the proportion of "regular readers" has doubled from around 20 to 40 percent - only just two to three percent of those surveyed in 2002 were still "non-readers" - in 1994, the last time the survey was conducted, this figure was still around 60 percent.
No less surprising is the pace of the advance among the male audience - they had traditionally left the reading of the Coop newspaper to their wives, probably because of the many special offer advertisements with which the shopping list was customized. But those days are also a thing of the past: instead of 20 percent (1994), today around 50 percent of men who receive a Coop newspaper at home describe themselves as "regular readers". In other words: eight years ago, more than 60 percent of men still identified themselves as "non-readers", but in 2002 this figure had shrunk to less than 10 percent.
Everyday topics conquer readers The reasons for the increased popularity of an ever-widening readership are obvious: the original purpose - a customer magazine highlighting promotions and new products on the shelves - is a thing of the past. The content of the Coop newspaper has been expanded into a thematic cornucopia from which the whole family can draw. Society, politics and health issues have been given a much more prominent place in it.
This was the right way to gain additional readers, as the study shows. One of the original core competencies of every customer magazine - "information about new products" - performed the worst. The most popular topics in the Coopzeitung, on the other hand, are those that are also carried by the paid press: "Reports, features, articles". The typical customer newspaper categories "Recipes/menu suggestions" or "Tips for everyday life", on the other hand, landed in second place.
on the back ranks.
No comparable study is available on the customer press of the number one retailer, Migros. Based on this survey, it is obvious that their editions still have potential to catch up. The Coop titles are picked up significantly more often than the papers from the Migros editorial offices. Accordingly, the Coop press has established itself over the past eight years with around 1.5 readers per copy. Not so Brückenbauer. Up to the year 2000, it was even ahead with 1.6 readers per copy. But from 2001 onwards, this figure plummeted to just 1.3 readers per copy - and has not budged since. However, this could soon change. Migros has now also decided to expand its reader marketing efforts (WW 17/03).
Turning the reader profile around in eight years: Coop titles.
The success with the next highest age group, the 25 to 34-year-olds, is very similar. Here too, the proportion of "regular readers" has doubled from around 20 to 40 percent - only just two to three percent of those surveyed in 2002 were still "non-readers" - in 1994, the last time the survey was conducted, this figure was still around 60 percent.
No less surprising is the pace of the advance among the male audience - they had traditionally left the reading of the Coop newspaper to their wives, probably because of the many special offer advertisements with which the shopping list was customized. But those days are also a thing of the past: instead of 20 percent (1994), today around 50 percent of men who receive a Coop newspaper at home describe themselves as "regular readers". In other words: eight years ago, more than 60 percent of men still identified themselves as "non-readers", but in 2002 this figure had shrunk to less than 10 percent.
Everyday topics conquer readers The reasons for the increased popularity of an ever-widening readership are obvious: the original purpose - a customer magazine highlighting promotions and new products on the shelves - is a thing of the past. The content of the Coop newspaper has been expanded into a thematic cornucopia from which the whole family can draw. Society, politics and health issues have been given a much more prominent place in it.
This was the right way to gain additional readers, as the study shows. One of the original core competencies of every customer magazine - "information about new products" - performed the worst. The most popular topics in the Coopzeitung, on the other hand, are those that are also carried by the paid press: "Reports, features, articles". The typical customer newspaper categories "Recipes/menu suggestions" or "Tips for everyday life", on the other hand, landed in second place.
on the back ranks.
No comparable study is available on the customer press of the number one retailer, Migros. Based on this survey, it is obvious that their editions still have potential to catch up. The Coop titles are picked up significantly more often than the papers from the Migros editorial offices. Accordingly, the Coop press has established itself over the past eight years with around 1.5 readers per copy. Not so Brückenbauer. Up to the year 2000, it was even ahead with 1.6 readers per copy. But from 2001 onwards, this figure plummeted to just 1.3 readers per copy - and has not budged since. However, this could soon change. Migros has now also decided to expand its reader marketing efforts (WW 17/03).
Turning the reader profile around in eight years: Coop titles.
56 percent increase in circulationBoth the Coop and Migros newspapers have continuously and significantly increased their circulation in recent years, with the Supercard and Cumulus customer loyalty programs bringing an unprecedented influx of members. Since 1994, the Coop-Zeitung has increased its circulation by 56 percent to 2129160 copies, while the Migros-Zeitung has grown by 41 percent to 2116005 copies in the same period. (dse)
Uses & Gratification Study 2002The readership analysis of the Coop Press carried out by the market research institute d&s is made up of several studies: Purchase Decision Study d&s (1997, 1400 respondents), 20-minute study "Kids - Teens - News" (2001, 660 respondents), additional module Coop Kids Study 10- to 13-year-olds (2002, 100 respondents). (dse)
Daniel Schifferle
