The second cut of the cord
P lease In times when even the NZZ is tied to Publicitas, the Walliser Bote is behaving anti-cyclically: it recently ventured into self-management.
P-Lease In times when even the NZZ is tied to Publicitas, the Walliser Bote is taking an anti-cyclical approach: it recently took the plunge and went it alone.Since September 1, the Walliser Bote (WB) has once again been published entirely under its own management. This means that the publisher's own advertising agency Mengis Annoncen, which previously only served the Upper Valais market, now has full responsibility for the title. Agency manager Jörg Salzmann explains the venture: "Like other newspapers, the WB has lost advertising volume in recent years, but primarily in the national market. In the Upper Valais, where we were active ourselves, we have increased in the same period. We now want to transfer this momentum to the national advertising market." However, this is difficult as long as the title is on a P lease. "When we contacted customers ourselves, P kept insisting on its exclusive rights in the national market."
Gains in the local market
The WB's emancipation is surprising because the paper is doing quite well. Since the peak year of 2000, its advertising volume has only fallen by around 20 percent - other titles have lost 50 percent or more in the same period. However, Salzmann is not prepared to leave this point as it stands. "If we hadn't been able to grow in the local market, our volume would have fallen more sharply," he says. The success in the local market has to do with the fact that Mengis Annoncen has changed the way it addresses customers.
While the company used to make do with direct mail campaigns, it has approached local customers more directly in recent years. "We were less active before," admits Salzmann. The growth rate in the local market was six percent in 2002 and another two percent in 2003. This year, however, we have now lost two percent. "But that still puts us at the same level as 2002," Salzmann states confidently.
He also points out another point: in 1998, at the beginning of the previous lease (see box below right), P 53 and Mengis Annoncen generated 47 percent of the WB's turnover. However, the ratio is now 50:50 and half of the national turnover comes from the Bern newspaper pool, of which the WB is a member. "We have analyzed our loss: It arose primarily in the leasing area," Salzmann summarizes.
The aim of Mengis Annoncen is clear: to at least halt the decline in WB volumes. But the question arises: How does Salzmann tackle the matter? The qualified publishing expert names three measures: Firstly, Mengis Annoncen has increased its sales force by one position - with former insurance agent Roger Kreuzer, who now works exclusively on the national market. "Secondly, Mr. Kreuzer is doing with national customers exactly what has already helped us in the local market: He approaches them, visits them and provides them with individual offers tailored to their needs," says Salzmann.
However, the company has already been unsuccessful with its own office in Bern or Zurich (see box below left). And as a third measure, the WB presentation is to be revised. This week, the WB website will also be launched at www.walliserbote.ch.
USPs must speak for themselves
Kreuzer does not have any bait-and-switch offers for national customers. The well-known USPs of the WB must speak for themselves: since 1996, its circulation has remained stable at a good 27,000 copies, and currently stands at 2,7354 copies. The readership has even grown steadily, from 49,000 in 1999 to currently 52,000. And the reach in the circulation area (WG 23) is a sensational 87 percent. "If you want to cover the Upper Valais, there's no getting around the WB," says Salzmann.
Valaisans are so free: the Bote runs the national advertising business on its own.
Sees advantages in going it alone: agency manager Jörg Salzmann.
Tentative steps towards independenceThe WB only tied itself to the P for the first time at the advanced age of 120. The reason: in order to merge with the newspaper "Walliser Nachrichten/Briger Anzeiger", it also had to take over the latter's contract with Publicitas. In return, the WB was able to increase its circulation from 5500 to 8500. As a result, the WB was leased for ten years.
In 1970, publisher Ferdinand Mengis took the opportunity to emancipate himself and founded Mengis Annoncen. From then on, the agency worked the local market in the Upper Valais, while P remained responsible for German-speaking Switzerland and the Lower Valais.
In the 1990s, this partial lease was also terminated, Mengis Annoncen took over the reins completely and even opened an office in Zurich. This step was unsuccessful, however, and in 1998 the agency withdrew from Zurich, and the WB again entered into a lease with the P on the national market - the one that expired at the end of August.
Cooperation with P remains partial "Although we regret the loss of the lease, contact with the WB has not been broken off," says Otto Meier, General Director of Publicitas. There is still a commission agreement and also a mediation agreement with P Sion for Lower Valais. And together with the Berner Zeitung, P will continue to take care of marketing and order processing for the Bern newspaper pool.
Meier: "The WB's decision to go it alone does not upset us." He also clarifies that it is quite common for publishing house and P employees to visit customers together, even in the case of director's titles. But it is not acceptable for a leased publisher to take over the processing afterwards. But that is exactly what the WB wanted. "In such cases, we would run the risk of publishers cherry-picking and only taking on the big customers themselves," says Meier. (mk)
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Gains in the local market
The WB's emancipation is surprising because the paper is doing quite well. Since the peak year of 2000, its advertising volume has only fallen by around 20 percent - other titles have lost 50 percent or more in the same period. However, Salzmann is not prepared to leave this point as it stands. "If we hadn't been able to grow in the local market, our volume would have fallen more sharply," he says. The success in the local market has to do with the fact that Mengis Annoncen has changed the way it addresses customers.
While the company used to make do with direct mail campaigns, it has approached local customers more directly in recent years. "We were less active before," admits Salzmann. The growth rate in the local market was six percent in 2002 and another two percent in 2003. This year, however, we have now lost two percent. "But that still puts us at the same level as 2002," Salzmann states confidently.
He also points out another point: in 1998, at the beginning of the previous lease (see box below right), P 53 and Mengis Annoncen generated 47 percent of the WB's turnover. However, the ratio is now 50:50 and half of the national turnover comes from the Bern newspaper pool, of which the WB is a member. "We have analyzed our loss: It arose primarily in the leasing area," Salzmann summarizes.
The aim of Mengis Annoncen is clear: to at least halt the decline in WB volumes. But the question arises: How does Salzmann tackle the matter? The qualified publishing expert names three measures: Firstly, Mengis Annoncen has increased its sales force by one position - with former insurance agent Roger Kreuzer, who now works exclusively on the national market. "Secondly, Mr. Kreuzer is doing with national customers exactly what has already helped us in the local market: He approaches them, visits them and provides them with individual offers tailored to their needs," says Salzmann.
However, the company has already been unsuccessful with its own office in Bern or Zurich (see box below left). And as a third measure, the WB presentation is to be revised. This week, the WB website will also be launched at www.walliserbote.ch.
USPs must speak for themselves
Kreuzer does not have any bait-and-switch offers for national customers. The well-known USPs of the WB must speak for themselves: since 1996, its circulation has remained stable at a good 27,000 copies, and currently stands at 2,7354 copies. The readership has even grown steadily, from 49,000 in 1999 to currently 52,000. And the reach in the circulation area (WG 23) is a sensational 87 percent. "If you want to cover the Upper Valais, there's no getting around the WB," says Salzmann.
Valaisans are so free: the Bote runs the national advertising business on its own.
Sees advantages in going it alone: agency manager Jörg Salzmann.
Tentative steps towards independenceThe WB only tied itself to the P for the first time at the advanced age of 120. The reason: in order to merge with the newspaper "Walliser Nachrichten/Briger Anzeiger", it also had to take over the latter's contract with Publicitas. In return, the WB was able to increase its circulation from 5500 to 8500. As a result, the WB was leased for ten years.
In 1970, publisher Ferdinand Mengis took the opportunity to emancipate himself and founded Mengis Annoncen. From then on, the agency worked the local market in the Upper Valais, while P remained responsible for German-speaking Switzerland and the Lower Valais.
In the 1990s, this partial lease was also terminated, Mengis Annoncen took over the reins completely and even opened an office in Zurich. This step was unsuccessful, however, and in 1998 the agency withdrew from Zurich, and the WB again entered into a lease with the P on the national market - the one that expired at the end of August.
Cooperation with P remains partial "Although we regret the loss of the lease, contact with the WB has not been broken off," says Otto Meier, General Director of Publicitas. There is still a commission agreement and also a mediation agreement with P Sion for Lower Valais. And together with the Berner Zeitung, P will continue to take care of marketing and order processing for the Bern newspaper pool.
Meier: "The WB's decision to go it alone does not upset us." He also clarifies that it is quite common for publishing house and P employees to visit customers together, even in the case of director's titles. But it is not acceptable for a leased publisher to take over the processing afterwards. But that is exactly what the WB wanted. "In such cases, we would run the risk of publishers cherry-picking and only taking on the big customers themselves," says Meier. (mk)
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