Ménage à trois
Arc Presse, a new type of newspaper consortium for Western Switzerland, is starting small—and can be expanded.
Regional press Arc Presse, a new type of newspaper association for French-speaking Switzerland, is starting small - and can be expanded.To explain to German-speaking Swiss how they should categorize the new association of the daily newspapers L'Express, L'Impartial and Le Journal du Jura (JdJ), Jacques Matthey resorts to a comparison: "Arc Presse works like the Mittelland Zeitung," says the director of Société Neuchâteloise de Presse SA (SNP), publisher of Impartial and L'Express. There are indeed parallels: Since February 6, the participating titles from Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Biel have been published with an identical layout, a joint jacket section, with the uniform "Arc Presse" label and with a combined rate. The new umbrella brand even forms a prominent part of the newspaper headers.
As with Mittelland Zeitung (MZ), the existing printing sites will remain in place and the publishing houses will continue to be independent. However, unlike the MZ, Arc Presse has had financial and personnel ties from the very beginning. For example, the JdJ publisher W. Gassmann AG has held a 9.5 percent stake in Philippe Hersant's SNP (albeit for some time). Publisher Marc Gassmann also sits on the board of directors there. However, there is no reverse shareholding.
Other differences to the MZ: At Arc Presse, some of the cover section is produced in Biel (sport) and some in Neuchâtel, and there is no central editorial office. In addition, the brand will hardly appear in the national advertising market, but will be integrated as a new module into the existing combined structure of French-speaking Switzerland. This is based on the duo, the combination of L'Express and L'Impartial. Thanks to Arc Presse, this can now be supplemented with the JdJ. The trio can in turn be extended with the Quotidien Jurassien in Delémont to form the 4x4plus estate. And finally, together with La Liberté and Le Nouvelliste, the four form the Romandie Combi (ROC).
All of these station wagons will remain, although Arc Presse was originally intended as a quartet to replace the 4x4plus. But the Quotidien Jurassien (QJ) did not want to join. The trio could now have used a dumping strategy to try and force the renegade QJ into the Arc Presse boat. But Marcel Geissbühler, Head of Media at W. Gassmann, waves it off: "We're not fighting against anyone, we want to stay in contact with QJ." His colleague Matthey agrees: "Arc Presse is not in competition with other combinations." After all, you benefit from them yourself. As the ROC reaches half of French-speaking Switzerland in terms of population, this brand serves the national market. The 4x4plus is primarily a job combination, while the Duo is offered exclusively to regional customers.
And how is Arc Presse positioning itself? "Also as a regional offering, but we don't expect any major shifts from the Duo or the 4x4plus," says Geissbühler. "We hope that we can stimulate the local market and thus contribute to increased sales - thanks to our innovations." He is referring to the introduction of fixed formats and the joint layout. The latter enables new special offers in the three titles, such as header fields or topic-specific placements. He emphasizes: "Arc Presse is not just a station wagon. We have gone much further and created something that is new for French-speaking Switzerland."
ExpandableThe name Arc Presse
stands for the Jura Arc. But for the time being, the new network is just a patch in the Jura. But that hasn't stopped SNP and W. Gassmann from getting started, in the hope that the new cooperation will not only win over customers, but also other potential partners - the Quotidien Jurassien or La Liberté and Le Nouvelliste. "It is quite conceivable that we will expand our partnership. We are open to anything that makes sense," confirms Marcel Geissbühler. And Jacques Matthey adds: "We're starting small now, but remain open to other partners if they want to join us of their own accord. We're not forcing anything on them." Markus Knöpfli
As with Mittelland Zeitung (MZ), the existing printing sites will remain in place and the publishing houses will continue to be independent. However, unlike the MZ, Arc Presse has had financial and personnel ties from the very beginning. For example, the JdJ publisher W. Gassmann AG has held a 9.5 percent stake in Philippe Hersant's SNP (albeit for some time). Publisher Marc Gassmann also sits on the board of directors there. However, there is no reverse shareholding.
Other differences to the MZ: At Arc Presse, some of the cover section is produced in Biel (sport) and some in Neuchâtel, and there is no central editorial office. In addition, the brand will hardly appear in the national advertising market, but will be integrated as a new module into the existing combined structure of French-speaking Switzerland. This is based on the duo, the combination of L'Express and L'Impartial. Thanks to Arc Presse, this can now be supplemented with the JdJ. The trio can in turn be extended with the Quotidien Jurassien in Delémont to form the 4x4plus estate. And finally, together with La Liberté and Le Nouvelliste, the four form the Romandie Combi (ROC).
All of these station wagons will remain, although Arc Presse was originally intended as a quartet to replace the 4x4plus. But the Quotidien Jurassien (QJ) did not want to join. The trio could now have used a dumping strategy to try and force the renegade QJ into the Arc Presse boat. But Marcel Geissbühler, Head of Media at W. Gassmann, waves it off: "We're not fighting against anyone, we want to stay in contact with QJ." His colleague Matthey agrees: "Arc Presse is not in competition with other combinations." After all, you benefit from them yourself. As the ROC reaches half of French-speaking Switzerland in terms of population, this brand serves the national market. The 4x4plus is primarily a job combination, while the Duo is offered exclusively to regional customers.
And how is Arc Presse positioning itself? "Also as a regional offering, but we don't expect any major shifts from the Duo or the 4x4plus," says Geissbühler. "We hope that we can stimulate the local market and thus contribute to increased sales - thanks to our innovations." He is referring to the introduction of fixed formats and the joint layout. The latter enables new special offers in the three titles, such as header fields or topic-specific placements. He emphasizes: "Arc Presse is not just a station wagon. We have gone much further and created something that is new for French-speaking Switzerland."
ExpandableThe name Arc Presse
stands for the Jura Arc. But for the time being, the new network is just a patch in the Jura. But that hasn't stopped SNP and W. Gassmann from getting started, in the hope that the new cooperation will not only win over customers, but also other potential partners - the Quotidien Jurassien or La Liberté and Le Nouvelliste. "It is quite conceivable that we will expand our partnership. We are open to anything that makes sense," confirms Marcel Geissbühler. And Jacques Matthey adds: "We're starting small now, but remain open to other partners if they want to join us of their own accord. We're not forcing anything on them." Markus Knöpfli
