Publicitas has now also broken with the Basler Zeitung

The reason: BZM was unable to warm to the new Publicitas business and tariff model - like Gassmann AG in Biel and Mengis Druck und Verlag in Visp (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Previously, anyone wishing to advertise in the Basler Zeitung (Baz) or the free newspaper Baslerstab could either do so via the Swiss-wide branch network of Publicitas - or via BZM Werbe AG, a subsidiary of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM). Recently, however, the first option has been closed, leaving only the option of booking via BZM Werbe AG. This can be seen in a full-page advertisement that BZM placed in the Baz on Thursday, November 3. "It's time to say goodbye to an old habit. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to book advertisements in the Baz and Baslerstab via Publicitas," it says on a black space.

Rebuffed in Basel

What is behind this? Publicitas, which is currently negotiating new agency agreements with many Swiss newspaper and magazine publishers and is also trying to implement a new business and pricing model in the market, has obviously been rebuffed by BZM. In return, it has now stopped brokering BZM titles. Publicitas customers who want to advertise in BZM titles will now be informed of the lack of a business relationship with BZM and will have to book independently with Baz and Baslerstab in future - or do without. Publicitas already does this with the titles of Gassmann AG in Biel (Bieler Tagblatt, Journal du Jura) and Mengis Druck und Verlag in Visp (Walliser Bote).

On request, BZM CEO Roland Steffen confirmed the assumption. "Our previous agency agreement with P expired on March 31, 2011. Since April 1, we have therefore been paying Publicitas the standard industry commission rate of 5 percent or 7 percent of the customer net. In October, P gradually stopped placing advertisements with BaZ and Baslerstab and deleted our titles from the database," he says. For this reason, the company has since written to all large and small customers and made them aware of the new situation. The full-page advertisements are also intended to inform occasional advertisers.

Publigroupe also sent a statement: "Unfortunately, Publicitas has not succeeded in reaching an agreement with BZM on a new, commercially viable model for the placement of advertising orders," writes Publigroupe spokesman Beat W. Werder. As a result, Publicitas has no longer been selling advertising space in the titles Baz, Baslerstab, Stellefant and Immofant since October 1, 2011. Werder notes, however, that Publicitas is "still interested in a cooperation with BZM that is contractually regulated and based on mutually acceptable conditions".

"Advertising war", "blackmail", "ultimatum"

Werder does not want to comment on the differences between BZM and P. Not so Roland Steffen, for whom Werder's words are "difficult to understand". The BZM CEO speaks of an "advertising war on the backs of the customers" and of "blackmail". There were never any negotiations about a new cooperation model, he says. On the contrary: on September 6, P sent a letter to BZM demanding that the latter agree to negotiations on a massively higher commission than before by mid-September. If the BZM refuses, the P will stop the mediation of BaZ and Baslerstab. However, BZM had not agreed to this. "We can't agree to such an ultimatum," says Steffen.

But why did it even come to this? Steffen explains it like this: at the beginning of January 2011, Publigroupe CEO Hanspeter Rohner spoke to BZM publisher Moritz Suter and offered him the prospect of full management on extremely favorable terms. However, P failed to submit its written offer on time, i.e. before March 31, 2011. "This only arrived towards the end of May, was almost half as expensive as announced and therefore also exceeded the costs of our own management," says Steffen. "We would have spent millions more." Accordingly, BZM rejected the offer in mid-June 2011 and then heard nothing more from P - until September.

The P wants about three times more than it pays itself

As is always the case when disputes arise between P and publishers, the main point of contention is the commission that the publisher pays P for each advertisement placed. This is also the case in the present dispute. The industry-standard commission rate of 5 percent and 7 percent respectively, which BZM has been paying P since April 1, is a good half lower than the previously contractually agreed commission - but the same as what P pays BZM when it places an advertisement with a title under P's management. "We don't pay P any more than it pays us," summarizes Steffen.

For P, which justifies its demand for a higher commission with its nationwide branch network, this is of course not enough. In its September letter, it therefore also demanded that BZM continue to commission the advertisements placed since April 1 in accordance with the expired contract - i.e. a good twice as high. And the new commission should then, as mentioned, be significantly higher again. But Steffen can only shake his head at this.

Around 12 million francs are at stake

Advertising Week asked the P for a statement on all this. But a "Njet" came from Lausanne. "We have no comment on the points you have raised," said Publigroupe spokesman Beat W. Werder.

The question remains as to how much advertising revenue BZM has received via the P to date. Steffen gives the following indications: In 2010, BZM generated a good 100 million in advertising revenue, two thirds of which came from BaZ and Baslerstab. In turn, P contributed "less than 20 percent" of this - i.e. a maximum of CHF 12 million.

Markus Knöpfli