Bargetzi stops bonus

 
PubliGroupe I The head of Publicitas Switzerland has stopped the bonus for P Basel, which has caused unrest. 
"A report in Werbewoche on account bonification at the P branch in Basel has caused some unrest in the market. Some publishers have even contacted us to find out whether or not we are fulfilling our obligations in terms of loyalty." These are the opening words of an email that Thomas Bargetzi, CEO Sales Switzerland, sent to several publishers on January 25. He was responding to a WW article published the day before, which reported on a new type of loyalty bonus ("account bonus") from Publicitas Basel: Depending on turnover, it promised its existing customers a rebate of up to 3 percent on all advertising orders placed via P Basel. To this end, it concluded corresponding agreements.
Bargetzi emphasized that "doubts regarding our contractual compliance are unfounded". However, in order to avoid any misunderstandings, he had "decided immediately after becoming aware of and reviewing these agreements that we would no longer offer account bonification in this form".
The e-mail is revealing in several respects. It shows that the new man at the helm of Publicitas Switzerland can intervene quickly and courageously. However, the fact that he only did so after the WW article appeared, even though he had been contacted by WW a week earlier, indicates that Bargetzi learned the wording of the agreements from the article. Because he only acted after it appeared: On the morning of January 24, he declared the matter P-intern "a matter for the boss" and instructed his employees not to provide any more information. A few hours later, he ordered the bonus to be stopped. The reason can be guessed: Bargetzi, currently primarily occupied with the restructuring of P, probably only realized on 24 January that the text of the agreement did not meet his expectations. In any case, he admits in his email "that the agreements on account bonification were not implemented as originally intended".
Bargetzi's criticism of the implementation casts a skewed light on Jürg Räber, previously Director of P Basel, and his deputy Otto K. Walter - they had implemented and also signed the agreements. But it would be too cheap to hold the two long-serving employees solely responsible. After all, PubliGroupe's top management had been aware of the P Basel agreement since the end of November. Its CFO Andreas Schmidt, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM), was confronted with the agreement by the BZM Board of Directors at the time. However, according to BZM CEO Beat Meyer, PubliGroupe has yet to respond. In short: Schmidt was informed, but he and the PubliGroupe management do not seem to have taken the matter seriously. But perhaps PubliGroupe is too busy with "more important things" and has lost its grip on the situation.
Either way, Bargetzi feels compelled to make it clear in his e-mail that the backdown on the bonus should not be understood as a withdrawal from Basel.
Incidentally, it is unclear how many publishers received Bargetzi's mail. But Werbewoche knows that both the recipients and those who have not been contacted include own titles and titles on P leases. It is also clear that BZM, which has been waiting a long time for an answer, has not yet been informed by Bargetzi. However, it remains to be seen what the customers who signed the contract with P Basel have to say about Bargetzi's e-mail. According to the text, the bonus agreement can be terminated at the end of 2008 at the earliest.
Markus Knöpfli