End of patience
Op-Ed: "If job ad rates don't drop soon, advertisers could switch to other media," Jürg Siegrist warns publishers.
Guest commentator Jürg Siegrist warns publishers that if job advertisement prices do not fall soon, clients could switch to other media The Swiss Advertisers' Association (SWA) works well and constructively with the media, because without good advertising media there is no good advertising. Of course, this has its price, the only question is what it is. On this point, the SWA lacks any understanding of the situation of the advertising companies, which already pay the highest production and switching costs in Europe, especially in the case of the most advertising-intensive partner - the newspaper publishers. The new generation of printing presses will bring the newspaper publishers major savings. There is no reasonable explanation for the fact that the economy pays around CHF 26 million too much per year due to the price difference between advertisements and job advertisements. The fact that this is "historical" is of interest to industry historians at best.
On May 11, the SWA wrote to the Swiss Press Association and its individual members asking them to comment on the 2005 tariffs. In their reply, several publishers referred to the recommendations of their association. In September, a working group of the Swiss Press Association was to inform publishers about a new calculation model for job advertisements. However, the publishers' association informed the SWA on August 25: "As far as the actual pricing of job advertisements is concerned, we already stated in our letter of March 22, 2004 that the pricing of all advertisements, including job advertisements, is the sole responsibility of the individual publishing houses. The new pricing system will not change this. We cannot and do not want to influence this independent pricing of our members in any way."
In plain language: the price recommendation to which the publishers refer to the SWA still does not exist. This policy of deception and procrastination is only possible thanks to the concentration process in the media scene.
And this is not only taking place at a national level. Local publishers are also developing into multimedia providers and establishing regional monopolies. However, it is important not to overstep the mark, otherwise clients will no longer play along in view of the economic situation.
It remains to be hoped, also in the interests of publishers, that the opportunity for a sensible solution to the 2005 tariffs will not be wasted again. After all, there are certainly alternatives to the print media when it comes to recruitment advertising.
> Jürg Siegrist is Director of the Swiss Advertising Client Association.
On May 11, the SWA wrote to the Swiss Press Association and its individual members asking them to comment on the 2005 tariffs. In their reply, several publishers referred to the recommendations of their association. In September, a working group of the Swiss Press Association was to inform publishers about a new calculation model for job advertisements. However, the publishers' association informed the SWA on August 25: "As far as the actual pricing of job advertisements is concerned, we already stated in our letter of March 22, 2004 that the pricing of all advertisements, including job advertisements, is the sole responsibility of the individual publishing houses. The new pricing system will not change this. We cannot and do not want to influence this independent pricing of our members in any way."
In plain language: the price recommendation to which the publishers refer to the SWA still does not exist. This policy of deception and procrastination is only possible thanks to the concentration process in the media scene.
And this is not only taking place at a national level. Local publishers are also developing into multimedia providers and establishing regional monopolies. However, it is important not to overstep the mark, otherwise clients will no longer play along in view of the economic situation.
It remains to be hoped, also in the interests of publishers, that the opportunity for a sensible solution to the 2005 tariffs will not be wasted again. After all, there are certainly alternatives to the print media when it comes to recruitment advertising.
> Jürg Siegrist is Director of the Swiss Advertising Client Association.
