Is a tabloid display a half-measure?
Newspapers What are the benefits of tabloid and broadsheet ads? one thing is clear: prices are coming under pressure.
Newspapers What are the benefits of tabloid and broadsheet ads? one thing is clear: prices are coming under pressure.
After the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ), the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) will also have a tabloid bundle from September 4. However, it will not halve the size of the Regio-Bund, but will create a new culture and leisure bundle. The first three fascicles will remain in large format (broadsheet). At least for the time being. "The mixed format leaves all our options open," says BaZ publishing director Daniel Sommer, adding: "As a reader, I could well imagine further sections in tabloid format." As publishing director, however, Sommer also has to ensure that BaZ remains compatible with the other Swisspool partners, as the smaller format could result in a drop in sales. According to Sommer, a full-page tabloid advertisement in the BaZ will be cheaper than a full-page broadsheet advertisement - it is still unclear by how much. The normal BaZ millimeter rate will apply to smaller ads.
The Kulturbund offered itself as a guinea pig: It contains hardly any Swisspool advertisements and generally few full-page ads, which is why the Tabloid decision will hardly affect the advertising market and sales.
But this raises a question that is of interest beyond the BaZ: Does a full-page ad have less "value" in tabloid format than one in broadsheet format. "The opinions of the agencies differ on this," Sommer has learned. While some emphasize that tabloid only covers around 50 percent of the broadsheet area and therefore the subjects have to be shown smaller, others emphasize the better manageability and overview. Smaller advertisements are also more likely to be enhanced on a tabloid page.
Massive tariff reductions
However, those who attribute a reduced advertising impact to tabloid seem to be in the majority. In any case, Le Matin already reduced its rate by 25 percent when it switched to tabloid in 2001. And AZ will reduce its rates in the new regional bundles by as much as 28 to 33 percent. This does not correspond to a linear reduction - relative to the reduction in area. "Nor is it necessary," says AZ publishing director Ueli Eckstein, adding: "A study on the advantages or disadvantages of these formats would probably come up with roughly the same attention and advertising impact values for both."
Ringier has experience with two formats at Blick and SonntagsBlick (SoBli). According to publishing director Bruno Blaser, no customer has ever had a problem with the advertising impact of one format or the other. However, he also charges a 33 percent lower CPM for the smaller SoBli than for Blick. "However, it was not the format that was the decisive factor, but the rates charged by competitors in the Sunday and daily newspaper market," says Blaser.
And how is Ringier tackling this issue in view of the possible trial with the tabloid-Blick? Has Blaser proposed the same rate as for the Broadsheet-Blick? He only says: "Several tariff variants are being discussed." So it will be interesting to see what Ringier's philosophy will be.
Markus Knöpfli
After the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ), the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) will also have a tabloid bundle from September 4. However, it will not halve the size of the Regio-Bund, but will create a new culture and leisure bundle. The first three fascicles will remain in large format (broadsheet). At least for the time being. "The mixed format leaves all our options open," says BaZ publishing director Daniel Sommer, adding: "As a reader, I could well imagine further sections in tabloid format." As publishing director, however, Sommer also has to ensure that BaZ remains compatible with the other Swisspool partners, as the smaller format could result in a drop in sales. According to Sommer, a full-page tabloid advertisement in the BaZ will be cheaper than a full-page broadsheet advertisement - it is still unclear by how much. The normal BaZ millimeter rate will apply to smaller ads.
The Kulturbund offered itself as a guinea pig: It contains hardly any Swisspool advertisements and generally few full-page ads, which is why the Tabloid decision will hardly affect the advertising market and sales.
But this raises a question that is of interest beyond the BaZ: Does a full-page ad have less "value" in tabloid format than one in broadsheet format. "The opinions of the agencies differ on this," Sommer has learned. While some emphasize that tabloid only covers around 50 percent of the broadsheet area and therefore the subjects have to be shown smaller, others emphasize the better manageability and overview. Smaller advertisements are also more likely to be enhanced on a tabloid page.
Massive tariff reductions
However, those who attribute a reduced advertising impact to tabloid seem to be in the majority. In any case, Le Matin already reduced its rate by 25 percent when it switched to tabloid in 2001. And AZ will reduce its rates in the new regional bundles by as much as 28 to 33 percent. This does not correspond to a linear reduction - relative to the reduction in area. "Nor is it necessary," says AZ publishing director Ueli Eckstein, adding: "A study on the advantages or disadvantages of these formats would probably come up with roughly the same attention and advertising impact values for both."
Ringier has experience with two formats at Blick and SonntagsBlick (SoBli). According to publishing director Bruno Blaser, no customer has ever had a problem with the advertising impact of one format or the other. However, he also charges a 33 percent lower CPM for the smaller SoBli than for Blick. "However, it was not the format that was the decisive factor, but the rates charged by competitors in the Sunday and daily newspaper market," says Blaser.
And how is Ringier tackling this issue in view of the possible trial with the tabloid-Blick? Has Blaser proposed the same rate as for the Broadsheet-Blick? He only says: "Several tariff variants are being discussed." So it will be interesting to see what Ringier's philosophy will be.
Markus Knöpfli
