Rohner allows speculation
Publicitas At the P Publishers' Conference, Hanspeter Rohner made a brash appearance. He left many questions unanswered - and room for speculation. But visions and answers are needed.
Publicitas At the P Publishers' Conference, Hanspeter Rohner made a brash appearance. He left many questions unanswered - and room for speculation. At the Publicitas Publishers' Conference on June 13 in Thun, PubliGroup CEO Hanspeter Rohner made a bold statement. On the one hand, he announced that he had terminated the framework agreement with Tamedia at the end of 2007. Negotiations were underway. "But if we can't reach an agreement, we'll have to do without Tamedia," said Rohner. However, he did not elaborate on what this would ultimately mean. Would Publicitas no longer even place advertisements for Tamedia titles? Even if this is what the clients want? Or was this just a threatening gesture? A second statement by Rohner made people sit up and take notice. "The days when Publigroupe was the Mother Teresa of Swiss newspapers are over," he said. The extent to which he sees P as a benefactor was again left to the interpretation of the audience. Obviously on purpose. Because Werbewoche, which contacted him by e-mail about the two statements, did not receive any explanations from Rohner either.
Reactions to Rohner's comments varied among the publishers. There were neither questions nor objections at the conference itself. However, most participants did not seem to take the speech too seriously. One, who did not wish to be named, dismissed it primarily as "loud shouting". "I bet Tamedia and Publicitas will agree on a contract in the end," he added.
Erwin Bachmann, Board Delegate of LZ Medien, also speaks primarily of "exaggerated rhetoric" and that the soup was probably not eaten as hot as it was served. A more casual response comes from Rüebliland: "What did Hanspeter Rohner actually want to tell us?" asks Ueli Eckstein, Head of Print Media at the AZ Media Group, with a grin. In any case, he doesn't want to get involved in interpretations.
And Hanspeter Lebrument, who had himself represented at the conference, even puts himself in front of the Publigroupe CEO: "I don't want to comment on my friend Hanspeter Rohner," says the Südostschweiz boss and publisher president.
Here and there, especially among publishers managed by Publicitas, Rohner has also met with cautious approval. "If Rohner meant that the P is stepping up its commitment to directorial titles again, then that is definitely a positive thing for us as a long-standing P partner," says Marcel Geissbühler, Head of Media at Biel-based W. Gassmann AG (Bieler Tagblatt/Journal du Jura). Did the P ever take on the role of Mother Teresa? "Certainly not in our case," Geissbühler defends himself.
The P is well compensated "Neither are we," says Urs Bucher, Publishing Director of the Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ). The TZ has been working under its own management since the beginning of the year, before that it was part-leased. "I always had the impression that our relationship was based on performance and consideration and that this was not too tight from the P's point of view," says Bucher. "In any case, she has never babied TC." It is possible that this was more necessary with smaller titles, Bucher adds.
However, this is far from the truth: "The P was never a Mother Teresa for us," emphasizes Fritz Lötscher, publishing director of the Entlebucher Anzeiger (circulation: 8800 copies). He does not hide the fact that the P generates 30 to 35 percent of his newspaper's turnover - thanks to partial management for the national market. "Small newspapers need an advocate, otherwise they can't get large-scale advertisements," he explains. But this is not free. "The P is not badly remunerated for its marketing," says Lötscher, who is also chairman of the "Luzerner Landzeitungen" advertising pool (also leased by the P).
Self-confident big playersAnd what about the big players, such as the Edipresse newspapers: Are they supported by the P? "No, we are not the orphans of the P," counters Théo Bouchat, Head of Edipresse Switzerland. Edipresse is a fairly large customer of P and is neither in a begging situation nor does the company need a mouthpiece. Rather, the relationship between Edipresse and P is always "negotiated on a business-oriented basis".
This is also the case at the NZZ. Nevertheless, Markus Ehrle, head of the NZZ advertising market, does not simply dismiss Rohner's thesis of "Mother Teresa". "Publimedia, which previously acted as a promoter of the print genre, is actually making a huge effort with 2,500 titles in its portfolio," he says. And he will know: Until just under a year ago, he was Marketing Director of this very Publigroupe subsidiary.
"Although it is a profit-making company, Publimedia also does things that - viewed in isolation - are not actually worthwhile, but which are of benefit to it and the press as a whole," continues Ehrle. In view of the trend towards direct booking discounts and self-direction, Publimedia must now consider what to do if it is no longer adequately paid by the publishers. "In any case, the NZZ as a directing partner is not unhappy if the P changes its policy and represents us more strongly in negotiations with customers," says Ehrle.
Two years ago, there were already tough negotiations between Tamedia and Publicitas that dragged on for more than a year. At that time, Tamedia had terminated the agreement for the advertising commission - but only for Tages-Anzeiger and SonntagsZeitung (SoZ).
When the new contract came into force retroactively from mid-2005, there was actually only one change to the content - to the bonus arrangements. The bonuses that Tagi and SoZ have been paying Publimedia since then are no longer purely dependent on turnover, but also on market share. At the time, Tamedia argued that P was not entitled to bonuses if it merely kept pace with market developments. However, as soon as the P made up ground for the Tamedia titles - even with falling sales - its efforts were to be rewarded. This bonus regulation has also applied to all other Tamedia titles since 2006. It is therefore likely that Publigroupe will now want to raise precisely this point for discussion again.
Markus Knöpfli
Reactions to Rohner's comments varied among the publishers. There were neither questions nor objections at the conference itself. However, most participants did not seem to take the speech too seriously. One, who did not wish to be named, dismissed it primarily as "loud shouting". "I bet Tamedia and Publicitas will agree on a contract in the end," he added.
Erwin Bachmann, Board Delegate of LZ Medien, also speaks primarily of "exaggerated rhetoric" and that the soup was probably not eaten as hot as it was served. A more casual response comes from Rüebliland: "What did Hanspeter Rohner actually want to tell us?" asks Ueli Eckstein, Head of Print Media at the AZ Media Group, with a grin. In any case, he doesn't want to get involved in interpretations.
And Hanspeter Lebrument, who had himself represented at the conference, even puts himself in front of the Publigroupe CEO: "I don't want to comment on my friend Hanspeter Rohner," says the Südostschweiz boss and publisher president.
Here and there, especially among publishers managed by Publicitas, Rohner has also met with cautious approval. "If Rohner meant that the P is stepping up its commitment to directorial titles again, then that is definitely a positive thing for us as a long-standing P partner," says Marcel Geissbühler, Head of Media at Biel-based W. Gassmann AG (Bieler Tagblatt/Journal du Jura). Did the P ever take on the role of Mother Teresa? "Certainly not in our case," Geissbühler defends himself.
The P is well compensated "Neither are we," says Urs Bucher, Publishing Director of the Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ). The TZ has been working under its own management since the beginning of the year, before that it was part-leased. "I always had the impression that our relationship was based on performance and consideration and that this was not too tight from the P's point of view," says Bucher. "In any case, she has never babied TC." It is possible that this was more necessary with smaller titles, Bucher adds.
However, this is far from the truth: "The P was never a Mother Teresa for us," emphasizes Fritz Lötscher, publishing director of the Entlebucher Anzeiger (circulation: 8800 copies). He does not hide the fact that the P generates 30 to 35 percent of his newspaper's turnover - thanks to partial management for the national market. "Small newspapers need an advocate, otherwise they can't get large-scale advertisements," he explains. But this is not free. "The P is not badly remunerated for its marketing," says Lötscher, who is also chairman of the "Luzerner Landzeitungen" advertising pool (also leased by the P).
Self-confident big playersAnd what about the big players, such as the Edipresse newspapers: Are they supported by the P? "No, we are not the orphans of the P," counters Théo Bouchat, Head of Edipresse Switzerland. Edipresse is a fairly large customer of P and is neither in a begging situation nor does the company need a mouthpiece. Rather, the relationship between Edipresse and P is always "negotiated on a business-oriented basis".
This is also the case at the NZZ. Nevertheless, Markus Ehrle, head of the NZZ advertising market, does not simply dismiss Rohner's thesis of "Mother Teresa". "Publimedia, which previously acted as a promoter of the print genre, is actually making a huge effort with 2,500 titles in its portfolio," he says. And he will know: Until just under a year ago, he was Marketing Director of this very Publigroupe subsidiary.
"Although it is a profit-making company, Publimedia also does things that - viewed in isolation - are not actually worthwhile, but which are of benefit to it and the press as a whole," continues Ehrle. In view of the trend towards direct booking discounts and self-direction, Publimedia must now consider what to do if it is no longer adequately paid by the publishers. "In any case, the NZZ as a directing partner is not unhappy if the P changes its policy and represents us more strongly in negotiations with customers," says Ehrle.
Two years ago, there were already tough negotiations between Tamedia and Publicitas that dragged on for more than a year. At that time, Tamedia had terminated the agreement for the advertising commission - but only for Tages-Anzeiger and SonntagsZeitung (SoZ).
When the new contract came into force retroactively from mid-2005, there was actually only one change to the content - to the bonus arrangements. The bonuses that Tagi and SoZ have been paying Publimedia since then are no longer purely dependent on turnover, but also on market share. At the time, Tamedia argued that P was not entitled to bonuses if it merely kept pace with market developments. However, as soon as the P made up ground for the Tamedia titles - even with falling sales - its efforts were to be rewarded. This bonus regulation has also applied to all other Tamedia titles since 2006. It is therefore likely that Publigroupe will now want to raise precisely this point for discussion again.
Markus Knöpfli
