The French revolution
Edipresse Edipresse is turning the traditional supply structures of the Swiss press upside down with publishing deals.
Edipresse Edipresse is turning the traditional supply structures of the Swiss press upside down with publishing deals A few years ago, the Swiss press took a first step towards improving its supply structures by switching from volume discounts to sales discounts. Although further steps were planned, they have not yet been implemented. Now Edipresse is forging ahead with the Top Conto. The market leader in French-speaking Switzerland is the first major Swiss publisher to introduce the publishing agreement. Instead of a contract for each title, there is now only one overall contract for all newspapers (24 Heures, Tribune de Genève, Le Matin, Le Matin Dimanche, the weekly agricultural newspaper Terre & Nature and various local newspapers) and one for all magazines (Fémina, Télétop, TV Guide and Bilan).
12 million francs. If the maximum discount was to be achieved for all three daily newspapers and the Sunday newspaper, a total sales volume of CHF 17.2 million would have had to be achieved.
Jobs already eligible for discount
The difference is not quite as great for magazines. Previously, a total turnover of 1.465 million francs would have been necessary to achieve the maximum discount of 15 percent for all titles; the new figure is 1.3 million. However, the comparison is flawed. According to Fabiana de Cassan, COO of Edipub, sales in Bilan are generally multiplied by a factor of four. Edipresse thus takes into account the fact that Bilan has a significantly lower page price than the other three titles. And since the business newspaper also has many advertisers who do not occupy any of the other titles, they would have fared much worse with the new regulation. According to Urs Donatsch from Publicitas Léman, similar factors will also be introduced for the local newspapers and Terre & Nature. Despite the new publishing agreements, advertisers will not have to do without combined discounts altogether. An additional discount is planned for advertising in 24 Heures and Tribune de Genève on the same day or in Le Matin and Le Matin Dimanche within the same week. This has not yet been finalized, but will be in the low single-digit percentage range. Advertisers in the Edipresse newspapers will continue to benefit from color surcharges that are integrated into the millimeter rate. And Edipresse has also been fulfilling a demand made by SWA Director Jürg Siegrist in Werbewoche (WW 32) for a long time: job advertisements are already entitled to the same discount as all other advertisements. And this will remain the case with the Top Conto.
Cheaper despite price increasesThe majority of national clients are likely to be cheaper next year, although some of the basic prices of individual Edipresse titles will be raised. According to Edipub CEO Marcel Siegenthaler, this was also the aim of the whole exercise. The main aim was to make advertising in French-speaking Switzerland more attractive in order to counteract the trend of removing French-speaking Switzerland from the media plans altogether. From this perspective, it is also possible that the model could be extended to other publishers at a later stage. But the model also opens up interesting perspectives within the publishing house. Why shouldn't all of an Edipresse customer's sales (including in the print sector, for example) be included in the discount?
In any case, the Edipresse model offers publishers in German-speaking Switzerland a whole host of ideas. In contrast to the fixed ad combinations and pools, it ensures that sales in one title are not split between two (or even more) contracts. All those publishers who are still looking for answers to the Metropool should take a closer look at this model before forming any supplementary pools. It would be particularly interesting for the NZZ Group. Its newspaper title structure is practically identical to that of Edipresse: A national daily newspaper including a Sunday edition and two regional dailies. With Publicitas taking over advertising management for all four titles from next year, it could benefit from the preparatory work it has done in French-speaking Switzerland and adapt the model accordingly. However, this is unlikely to be possible at the beginning of next year. The effort involved in introducing such a new type of discount structure should not be underestimated.
It would also be conceivable to extend the model to the entire press in Switzerland. This could start with the daily press, which is losing market share in national or regional language advertising campaigns. A contract covering all daily newspapers would offer advertisers far more advantages than splitting advertising volumes between individual titles and combinations. Publicitas is called upon to defend print sales in Switzerland.
Edipresse headquarters in Lausanne: unconventional ideas for the advertising business are hatched here.
The freedom to grant discounts to advertising customers: Edipresse is breaking new ground with Top Conto.
Ueli Custer
12 million francs. If the maximum discount was to be achieved for all three daily newspapers and the Sunday newspaper, a total sales volume of CHF 17.2 million would have had to be achieved.
Jobs already eligible for discount
The difference is not quite as great for magazines. Previously, a total turnover of 1.465 million francs would have been necessary to achieve the maximum discount of 15 percent for all titles; the new figure is 1.3 million. However, the comparison is flawed. According to Fabiana de Cassan, COO of Edipub, sales in Bilan are generally multiplied by a factor of four. Edipresse thus takes into account the fact that Bilan has a significantly lower page price than the other three titles. And since the business newspaper also has many advertisers who do not occupy any of the other titles, they would have fared much worse with the new regulation. According to Urs Donatsch from Publicitas Léman, similar factors will also be introduced for the local newspapers and Terre & Nature. Despite the new publishing agreements, advertisers will not have to do without combined discounts altogether. An additional discount is planned for advertising in 24 Heures and Tribune de Genève on the same day or in Le Matin and Le Matin Dimanche within the same week. This has not yet been finalized, but will be in the low single-digit percentage range. Advertisers in the Edipresse newspapers will continue to benefit from color surcharges that are integrated into the millimeter rate. And Edipresse has also been fulfilling a demand made by SWA Director Jürg Siegrist in Werbewoche (WW 32) for a long time: job advertisements are already entitled to the same discount as all other advertisements. And this will remain the case with the Top Conto.
Cheaper despite price increasesThe majority of national clients are likely to be cheaper next year, although some of the basic prices of individual Edipresse titles will be raised. According to Edipub CEO Marcel Siegenthaler, this was also the aim of the whole exercise. The main aim was to make advertising in French-speaking Switzerland more attractive in order to counteract the trend of removing French-speaking Switzerland from the media plans altogether. From this perspective, it is also possible that the model could be extended to other publishers at a later stage. But the model also opens up interesting perspectives within the publishing house. Why shouldn't all of an Edipresse customer's sales (including in the print sector, for example) be included in the discount?
In any case, the Edipresse model offers publishers in German-speaking Switzerland a whole host of ideas. In contrast to the fixed ad combinations and pools, it ensures that sales in one title are not split between two (or even more) contracts. All those publishers who are still looking for answers to the Metropool should take a closer look at this model before forming any supplementary pools. It would be particularly interesting for the NZZ Group. Its newspaper title structure is practically identical to that of Edipresse: A national daily newspaper including a Sunday edition and two regional dailies. With Publicitas taking over advertising management for all four titles from next year, it could benefit from the preparatory work it has done in French-speaking Switzerland and adapt the model accordingly. However, this is unlikely to be possible at the beginning of next year. The effort involved in introducing such a new type of discount structure should not be underestimated.
It would also be conceivable to extend the model to the entire press in Switzerland. This could start with the daily press, which is losing market share in national or regional language advertising campaigns. A contract covering all daily newspapers would offer advertisers far more advantages than splitting advertising volumes between individual titles and combinations. Publicitas is called upon to defend print sales in Switzerland.
Edipresse headquarters in Lausanne: unconventional ideas for the advertising business are hatched here.
The freedom to grant discounts to advertising customers: Edipresse is breaking new ground with Top Conto.
Ueli Custer
