Radio marketing The Publisuisse subsidiary Mediasense did not yet change the radio market as planned.
July 1 marked one year since SRG marketer Publisuisse entered the radio marketing business - not directly, but through its subsidiary Mediasense, in which the 16 stations of the Swiss Radio Pool (SRP) also hold a 49 percent stake. Bernhard Krättli, who as commercial director at Radio BE1 had long helped shape the radio scene and also commented critically on it, was chosen as managing director. Publisuisse, Krättli and SRP-Radios then stepped up with the claim to put an end to the previous predatory strategy of the marketers Radiotele (PubliGroupe) and IP Multimedia (Goldbach Media) as a weighty third force. The goal, Krättli said at the time, was to capture additional market share for radio as an advertising medium. Mediasense actually set a good example: for the first time, radios had a stake in their joint marketer, which nevertheless waived an exclusive lease. Even more: Krättli promised a uniform agency commission (AC) for all intermediaries, Mediasense included (!), provided they would book the acquired advertising via the Publiplan online booking platform. Publiplan had been made available by Publisuisse as an industry tool to simplify the handling of the radio medium. But today, one year after the market entry of Mediasense, disillusionment is spreading, especially among SRP radio stations. "The performance of Mediasense is not where it should be according to budget planning," states Beat Meyer, CEO of Basler Zeitung Medien, to which SRP Radio Basel 1 belongs. Although Mediasense became number two among radio intermediaries, it remained far behind market leader IP. This is surprising, since the company has SRP in its portfolio. In terms of reach and price per thousand contacts, this is probably the most interesting radio offering for national customers. In fact, however, the SRP is only booked relatively rarely via Mediasense and Publiplan. Which does not mean that demand is low. But market leader IP refuses to book the SRP via Publiplan (see interview with Michi Frank). If a customer nevertheless wants SRP, IP books the corresponding SRP radios individually - and by fax, as in the Stone Age. As a result, the SRP radios are not even doing too badly in terms of earnings at the moment. Some are at least holding their own at the previous year's level.
Financial injection for MediasenseNevertheless, no one is happy because, conversely, Mediasense is limping along: both Publisuisse and SRP-Radios have already had to grant the young start-up its first loans. Andreas Meili, representative of SRP-Radios on the Mediasense board of directors, is placating: "These additional funds are not very high, considering that we want to change market structures with our company that have grown over two decades." There is also "the clear intention among all shareholders to continue Mediasense in order to avoid a marketing monopoly in the medium of radio".
Something else gnaws at the self-confidence of SRP radios: Their company suffered an ideational setback. Instead of the intended market expansion, the trench warfare among the intermediaries became more aggressive. They chase customers away from each other in the best Wild West manner and put the radios under pressure. As is so often the case in this scene, loyalty to rates falls by the wayside. Some customers and agencies have already turned their backs on radio. Philip Hofmann, sales manager of Radio24 and TeleZüri, speaks of an "unsatisfactory and relatively muddled situation in the national advertising market". Only thanks to a focus on the local market and a new, motivated sales crew had it been possible to compensate for the lack of national sales. The managing director of another SRP radio station, however, is in despair: "The radio industry is screwed," he says.
No fear of taboosMediasense is not to blame for the desolate situation. The radio market has been sick for some time. But the market entry of the Publisuisse subsidiary has accentuated the development. Also because of some "construction deficiencies", as even the SRP radios themselves admit. The following main deficiencies are mentioned: The fact that the SRG holds the majority in Mediasense via Publisuisse reduces its acceptance in the market. In addition, the mediation commission granted by Mediasense is too low, making it unattractive for Mediasense competitors to actively mediate the SRP. Furthermore, thanks to Publiplan, Mediasense would gain detailed and, above all, one-sided insight into the booking strategies of its competitors. In short, a company that is set up in this way cannot take on the platform role it was intended to play. Working groups have therefore been formed to address these weaknesses. The fact that the matter is apparently being approached without taboos - even the SRP construct, which excludes various radios, is to be up for discussion - is hopeful. But because of the current licensing phase and the associated uncertainty about the future shape of the radio scene, no upheavals are to be expected at Mediasense for the time being. The uncertain situation is also not at all conducive to the morale of radio operators, but is rather one of the reasons for a lack of tariff compliance.
Markus Knöpfli
Thanks to market power, pressure and freespace?since the IP has given the SRP
books directly with the radios, bypassing Mediasense, the customer must pay the higher individual rate and cannot benefit from the pool discount - unless the IP passes the booking on to the customer at the pool price. "In this case, however, the question arises as to how it finances this in the long term. And there are legal questions, since offering below cost prices on a permanent basis can be unfair under the Unfair Competition Act," says Andreas Meili.Several variants of IP's financing model are being heard in the industry: The IP demands the same discount from the SRP radios for individual bookings as for pool bookings. Or it takes the right to book at the lower local rate. In addition, it is structuring the intermediary commission at the radios in such a way that it grows even with increasing sales. There is also talk of free space, which is granted to the IP. If this is not enough, the IP compensates the customer for the lost pool discount with a multiple of TV free space in the advertising windows.
Of course, hardly any radio station admits to its own disloyalty to the tariff. Only one operator admits off the record that it is cowering in order not to spoil things with the all-powerful IP.
You can hear it everywhere, including the agencies: IP is consolidating its leading role in the radio market by offering its customers TV freespace, if they, in turn, would entrust it with the radio volume. (mk)
SRP: Who's in - and who's outFollowing 15 FM radios.
today belong to the Swiss Radio Pool (SRP): Radio 24, Radio 32, Argovia, Basel 1, Basilisk, BE1, Capital FM, Canal 3, FM1, Grischa, Pilatus, Toxic FM, Zürisee and, in French-speaking Switzerland, the radios Lausanne FM and One FM.In contrast, a total of 20 FM radios remained outside the SRP door, namely Radio 1, BeO, Central, Freiburg/Fribourg, Munot, Rottu, Sunshine, Top and Energy Zürich, which is marketed by IP; in Ticino, Radios 3iii and Fiume Ticino; and in western Switzerland, Radios Chablais, Cité, Fréquence Jura, Jura Bernois, Lac, Meyrin, Rhône, Rouge FM and RTN. (mk)