"Harder values"
Alexander Theobald, head of Wemf Magazines, on Tamedia's new certification policy.
Wemf Magazine CEO Alexander Theobald on Tamedia's new credentialing policy.WW Who and what prompted Tamedia to change its credentialing policy?Alexander Theobald It was a management decision. We are still of the opinion that circulation is an important indicator for the advertising industry, but readership is even more important.
Why now of all times?
We also analyzed our sales channels according to the cost-benefit ratio. Some channels performed unfavorably. This means that we do not certify certain channels that would be approved according to Wemf.
However, this also shows that far too many promotional and trial copies were pumped into the print runs in previous years.
Particularly in the case of magazines, the proportion of promo
subscriptions high. You can save money here.
Declines of more than a quarter in circulation at Annabelle and over 22 percent at Facts are certainly not good for the image of these titles.
I wouldn't call it a slump. We are reporting tougher figures - the advertising industry can only welcome this.
Tamedia is thus also expressing its mistrust of Wemf's practice.
Not in the slightest. There are other publishers that are going in the same direction. The aim is to generate equally attractive readerships - but with smaller print runs.
Will the number of readers shrink in the fall in line with circulation?
Currently, our readership is even increasing slightly - for all of our magazines. We know this on the basis of interim evaluations that we receive from Wemf.
With this switch to "sustainable circulation", can we now expect Tamedia magazines to have more stable circulations in the coming years?
In future, we only want to report additions and disposals that correspond to developments in fixed-price subscriptions and kiosk sales.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle
Why now of all times?
We also analyzed our sales channels according to the cost-benefit ratio. Some channels performed unfavorably. This means that we do not certify certain channels that would be approved according to Wemf.
However, this also shows that far too many promotional and trial copies were pumped into the print runs in previous years.
Particularly in the case of magazines, the proportion of promo
subscriptions high. You can save money here.
Declines of more than a quarter in circulation at Annabelle and over 22 percent at Facts are certainly not good for the image of these titles.
I wouldn't call it a slump. We are reporting tougher figures - the advertising industry can only welcome this.
Tamedia is thus also expressing its mistrust of Wemf's practice.
Not in the slightest. There are other publishers that are going in the same direction. The aim is to generate equally attractive readerships - but with smaller print runs.
Will the number of readers shrink in the fall in line with circulation?
Currently, our readership is even increasing slightly - for all of our magazines. We know this on the basis of interim evaluations that we receive from Wemf.
With this switch to "sustainable circulation", can we now expect Tamedia magazines to have more stable circulations in the coming years?
In future, we only want to report additions and disposals that correspond to developments in fixed-price subscriptions and kiosk sales.
Interview: Daniel Schifferle
