Trial balloon in ascent
Side business With its rock CD campaign, Blick wants to stabilize circulation, but earn nothing. At least for the time being.
Side business With its rock CD campaign, Blick wants to stabilize circulation, but earn nothing. At least for the time being.
On January 22, Ringier was the first of the German-speaking Swiss publishing giants to awaken from its slumber. Since that Saturday, the Blick newsstand has been offering a weekly change of rock CDs to collect - for an extra CHF 8.10 each. The principle that Italian newspaper houses have been relying on for years (and German ones since the beginning of 2004) has thus also reached the media country behind the seven mountains: stabilizing circulation through more or less exclusive supplements.According to newspaper boss Bernhard Weissberg, the strategic goal is therefore "not - or at least not yet - to generate substantial additional revenues", as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, for example, is doing (see box). The local market is "probably also too small" for this. In terms of circulation, however, the live experiment launched without prior market research quickly had an effect. Of course, this will not be quantifiable until the end of March, when the pilot project, which is due to expire at the end of this week, has been evaluated. It will then be decided when further campaigns will follow. And with whom.
Blick's key partners for its five rock CDs, whose content was selected by music editor H. Elias Fröhlich and loudly promoted in his own paper, are the music publisher EMI, which is responsible for production and both its own and third-party licenses, and Valora. According to Karin Rüeger (publisher) and Markus Rohr (editor), however, there is still potential for optimization in both areas. Specifically, the two project managers are "thinking about expanding the distribution network and getting better conditions from partners". This is in view of the fact that exclusive direct sales to subscribers have already resulted in over 100,000 CDs being sold, which according to Rüeger is "beyond all expectations".
According to Rohr, another insight from the long-considered, but then rather spontaneous action is how unreservedly and smoothly those responsible for commercial and journalistic matters at Ringier work together. "We certainly benefit from the fact that Blick has fewer concerns in this regard than, for example, the Tages-Anzeiger or even the NZZ."
The advertising pressure built up via TV, radio, own titles and POS presence also contributed significantly to the success. However, the budget allocated for this was reportedly kept within a framework that suggests that further such measures to attract and retain readers can be expected in the near future. When asked by Werbewoche, those responsible for the project confirmed that "further campaigns are already in the pipeline".
In other words, as a market innovator, Ringier wants to exploit what economists call the "first mover advantage" - to stabilize circulation, but in the medium term probably also to open up a third source of revenue called ancillary business.
Süddeutsche doubles down with "Cinemathek" On February 26, the 50th and final volume of the "SZ-Bibliothek", which was launched a year ago, will be published. According to the publisher, almost 10 million books have been sold to date. At the end of June, the
license rights to the literary works. Until then, Süddeutsche Zeitung intends to sell a further two million units - as before, also via the Swiss book trade. In 2004, this ancillary business brought the Munich-based quality paper additional revenue of well over 20 million euros.
SZ CEO Klaus Lutz is even targeting additional revenues of 30 million euros for the current year. Among other things, a follow-up project based on the successful editorial and sales concept of the SZ library should ensure this jump in sales: on March 5, the Süddeutsche Zeitung will include the first of a total of 50 DVDs. The 600,000 copies of Visconti's classic "The Leopard" will be free for subscribers and newsstand buyers, while the subsequent films (including five DVD premieres) will cost 9.90 euros each. (oc)
Heavy: Sales of Blick Rock CDs exceed expectations.
Oliver Classen
On January 22, Ringier was the first of the German-speaking Swiss publishing giants to awaken from its slumber. Since that Saturday, the Blick newsstand has been offering a weekly change of rock CDs to collect - for an extra CHF 8.10 each. The principle that Italian newspaper houses have been relying on for years (and German ones since the beginning of 2004) has thus also reached the media country behind the seven mountains: stabilizing circulation through more or less exclusive supplements.According to newspaper boss Bernhard Weissberg, the strategic goal is therefore "not - or at least not yet - to generate substantial additional revenues", as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, for example, is doing (see box). The local market is "probably also too small" for this. In terms of circulation, however, the live experiment launched without prior market research quickly had an effect. Of course, this will not be quantifiable until the end of March, when the pilot project, which is due to expire at the end of this week, has been evaluated. It will then be decided when further campaigns will follow. And with whom.
Blick's key partners for its five rock CDs, whose content was selected by music editor H. Elias Fröhlich and loudly promoted in his own paper, are the music publisher EMI, which is responsible for production and both its own and third-party licenses, and Valora. According to Karin Rüeger (publisher) and Markus Rohr (editor), however, there is still potential for optimization in both areas. Specifically, the two project managers are "thinking about expanding the distribution network and getting better conditions from partners". This is in view of the fact that exclusive direct sales to subscribers have already resulted in over 100,000 CDs being sold, which according to Rüeger is "beyond all expectations".
According to Rohr, another insight from the long-considered, but then rather spontaneous action is how unreservedly and smoothly those responsible for commercial and journalistic matters at Ringier work together. "We certainly benefit from the fact that Blick has fewer concerns in this regard than, for example, the Tages-Anzeiger or even the NZZ."
The advertising pressure built up via TV, radio, own titles and POS presence also contributed significantly to the success. However, the budget allocated for this was reportedly kept within a framework that suggests that further such measures to attract and retain readers can be expected in the near future. When asked by Werbewoche, those responsible for the project confirmed that "further campaigns are already in the pipeline".
In other words, as a market innovator, Ringier wants to exploit what economists call the "first mover advantage" - to stabilize circulation, but in the medium term probably also to open up a third source of revenue called ancillary business.
Süddeutsche doubles down with "Cinemathek" On February 26, the 50th and final volume of the "SZ-Bibliothek", which was launched a year ago, will be published. According to the publisher, almost 10 million books have been sold to date. At the end of June, the
license rights to the literary works. Until then, Süddeutsche Zeitung intends to sell a further two million units - as before, also via the Swiss book trade. In 2004, this ancillary business brought the Munich-based quality paper additional revenue of well over 20 million euros.
SZ CEO Klaus Lutz is even targeting additional revenues of 30 million euros for the current year. Among other things, a follow-up project based on the successful editorial and sales concept of the SZ library should ensure this jump in sales: on March 5, the Süddeutsche Zeitung will include the first of a total of 50 DVDs. The 600,000 copies of Visconti's classic "The Leopard" will be free for subscribers and newsstand buyers, while the subsequent films (including five DVD premieres) will cost 9.90 euros each. (oc)
Heavy: Sales of Blick Rock CDs exceed expectations.
Oliver Classen
