At war with the Wemf
René Schuhmacher, publisher of the consumer magazine *K-Tipp*, no longer has the circulation figures for his publications certified by WEMF, but instead by a notary.
Consumer press K-Tipp publisher René Schuhmacher no longer has the circulation of his titles certified by Wemf, but by a notary public.René Schuhmacher, publisher of his consumer info magazines (including K-Tipp, Saldo, Radiomagazin), no longer wants to have the circulation of his titles certified by Wemf. "It's a matter of credibility," Schuhmacher says. Although Wemf put new certification regulations into effect two years ago that are supposed to prevent cheating, as became known in the cases of the Winterthurer Landbote and Giornale del Popolo, Schuhmacher sees no reason to trust the new procedure. He is therefore having the conditions of K-Tipp & Co. certified by a notary public for the first time. For the first time, a lawyer certified the circulation figures of K-Tipp, K-Geld, Saldo, Haus & Garten, Gesundheitsmagazin and Radiomagazin last October. "We regret his decision," says Roland Achermann, circulation certification project manager at Wemf.
Ineffective finesAchermann defends Wemf's action. He does not see why a notarial certificate of conditions should be more credible than Wemf's approach. "According to the new regulations, we have every title checked by external auditors."
Schuhmacher counters that the certification is still based on the self-declaration of the publishers. And publishers could continue to have both sold and free copies certified. "De facto, nothing has changed with the new regulations." Schuhmacher considers the 50,000 franc fine threatened in the case of cheating to be ineffective in view of the marketing budgets of the major publishers. If, on the other hand, he made false statements to a notary, he would have to expect harsher sanctions. "I would then be clearly liable to prosecution."
Schuhmacher's decision to turn away from Wemf is not only due to criticism of its certification procedure. The consumer info publisher sees his flagship K-Tipp at a disadvantage compared to the competition because it was always included in the Wemf circulation statistics in the special press category - and not in the consumer, financial and business press category like its main competitor, the Beobachter. "For the advertising industry, we are invisible, so to speak, since it is largely oriented to Wemf's typology." Negotiations for a change in status were unsuccessful. The Competition Commission Weko also did not open proceedings despite a complaint by Schuhmacher.
Wemf does not consider itself responsible for questions of typologizing individual titles. According to Wemf's Achermann, they take the information from the Association of Swiss Advertising Companies (VSW) and stick to it.
Title Typology ControversialSince 2004, there have been defined title groups in the Swiss press landscape. This typology was developed by the Swiss Press Association (VSP) together with the VSW. The VSW Documentation Center under Stefan Gsell is responsible for the classification of the individual titles. For him, one thing is clear: "K-Tipp is not a popular magazine. You can ask anyone in the industry who you want, they would all confirm that." One person who has been asked is René Grossenbacher. The Publicom managing director was commissioned by Wemf to examine the classification of K-Tipp in the press typology - and came to the same conclusion as others before him.
Publishers have repeatedly asked him about ambiguities, says Gsell. To date, however, only K-Tipp has attempted to derive a problem under competition law from this. "The fact that the Weko saw no reason to initiate proceedings on this issue clearly shows that K-Tipp was obviously on the losing side with its request.
René Schuhmacher sees things differently. For him, Wemf, VSP and VSW form a cartel. Undeterred by the antitrust authority's decision not to take action in this matter, the K-Tipp publisher maintains: "The three of them undoubtedly have a dominant market position."
More bulletFive years after the last adjustment
of its appearance, K-Tipp is now getting another makeover. Publisher René Schuhmacher describes the gentle graphic relaunch as a "decluttering". In concrete terms, this means: more white space, a typeset with a larger throughput, which reduces the total amount of text by around five percent. Schuhmacher is convinced that this reduction can be implemented without sacrificing content. "We want," he argues, "to make reading easier." To this end, among other things, more tables are to be used as graphic supplements to the texts. The paper's title page header has undergone a "cosmetic" adjustment. Also new in the K-Tipp will be advertisements with a text link. The new format can be booked exclusively half-page for a surcharge of ten percent on the gross price. "There is a great demand for special forms of advertising," knows publisher Schuhmacher. The introduction of advertisements with a text link was a compromise that the company was prepared to make.
Nick Lüthi
Ineffective finesAchermann defends Wemf's action. He does not see why a notarial certificate of conditions should be more credible than Wemf's approach. "According to the new regulations, we have every title checked by external auditors."
Schuhmacher counters that the certification is still based on the self-declaration of the publishers. And publishers could continue to have both sold and free copies certified. "De facto, nothing has changed with the new regulations." Schuhmacher considers the 50,000 franc fine threatened in the case of cheating to be ineffective in view of the marketing budgets of the major publishers. If, on the other hand, he made false statements to a notary, he would have to expect harsher sanctions. "I would then be clearly liable to prosecution."
Schuhmacher's decision to turn away from Wemf is not only due to criticism of its certification procedure. The consumer info publisher sees his flagship K-Tipp at a disadvantage compared to the competition because it was always included in the Wemf circulation statistics in the special press category - and not in the consumer, financial and business press category like its main competitor, the Beobachter. "For the advertising industry, we are invisible, so to speak, since it is largely oriented to Wemf's typology." Negotiations for a change in status were unsuccessful. The Competition Commission Weko also did not open proceedings despite a complaint by Schuhmacher.
Wemf does not consider itself responsible for questions of typologizing individual titles. According to Wemf's Achermann, they take the information from the Association of Swiss Advertising Companies (VSW) and stick to it.
Title Typology ControversialSince 2004, there have been defined title groups in the Swiss press landscape. This typology was developed by the Swiss Press Association (VSP) together with the VSW. The VSW Documentation Center under Stefan Gsell is responsible for the classification of the individual titles. For him, one thing is clear: "K-Tipp is not a popular magazine. You can ask anyone in the industry who you want, they would all confirm that." One person who has been asked is René Grossenbacher. The Publicom managing director was commissioned by Wemf to examine the classification of K-Tipp in the press typology - and came to the same conclusion as others before him.
Publishers have repeatedly asked him about ambiguities, says Gsell. To date, however, only K-Tipp has attempted to derive a problem under competition law from this. "The fact that the Weko saw no reason to initiate proceedings on this issue clearly shows that K-Tipp was obviously on the losing side with its request.
René Schuhmacher sees things differently. For him, Wemf, VSP and VSW form a cartel. Undeterred by the antitrust authority's decision not to take action in this matter, the K-Tipp publisher maintains: "The three of them undoubtedly have a dominant market position."
More bulletFive years after the last adjustment
of its appearance, K-Tipp is now getting another makeover. Publisher René Schuhmacher describes the gentle graphic relaunch as a "decluttering". In concrete terms, this means: more white space, a typeset with a larger throughput, which reduces the total amount of text by around five percent. Schuhmacher is convinced that this reduction can be implemented without sacrificing content. "We want," he argues, "to make reading easier." To this end, among other things, more tables are to be used as graphic supplements to the texts. The paper's title page header has undergone a "cosmetic" adjustment. Also new in the K-Tipp will be advertisements with a text link. The new format can be booked exclusively half-page for a surcharge of ten percent on the gross price. "There is a great demand for special forms of advertising," knows publisher Schuhmacher. The introduction of advertisements with a text link was a compromise that the company was prepared to make.
Nick Lüthi
