Westside Stories

Customer communication at eye level.

A customer magazine that is anything but arbitrary and that does justice to the character of a special shopping center. This was the wish of the Swiss cooperative Migros Aare, which operates the shopping and experience center Westside near Bern. That’s how the Westside Stories came about.

Bern – The Westside Shopping and Experience Center is, as the name suggests, more than just a place to shop. The architecture of Daniel Libeskind’s office is already worth seeing: trapezoidal crystal structures that break the rectangular system of the buildings, sloping building walls and a wooden facade that opens towards the west. The architect saw his work as a structural landmark, a place that gives a special setting to the everyday. However, the Migros Aare cooperative as operator has also increasingly developed the center into an experience destination in recent years: with a diverse range of offers that goes far beyond shopping opportunities – and is to be marketed accordingly.
Firstly, with “packages” that put together bundles of special experiences for different customer groups: family outing with a visit to the swimming pool and cinema, cinema and cocktails, wellness for parents and a simultaneous leisure program for children, or shopping with styling and color advice.

On the other hand, the desire arose for a new customer magazine that should quite deliberately stand out from an advertising journal. SODA’s Marketing and Communications team therefore developed a design that is only marginally about shopping.
The focus is now on people and their experiences, flanked by editorially prepared topics. The texts deliberately avoid advertising messages in favor of quality content and a personal, empathetic approach.
The customer’s desired theme, “Trends,” forms a loose bracket for the content.
The design sends the visual signals of a coffee-table book: a clean, unfussy layout, an aesthetic, in some places artistic artistic in places, individually produced illustrations, and original details.

In this way, the booklet itself becomes an experience The booklet itself becomes an experience that you can take home with you: as a decorative element and as an entertaining read.The booklet is published in German and French.

CUSTOMER // Migros Aare Cooperative (Switzerland) Westside Shoppingcenter Bern
REALIZATION // 2022
TASK // Concept, planning, layout and editorial implementation of a customer magazine for the Westside shopping and experience center