Cautiously to cautiously positive
P-Strategy Not only the media agencies, but also the publishers are grappling with PubliGroupe's new strategy. Differently.
P strategy Not only media agencies, but also publishers are grappling with PubliGroupe's new strategy. "All players in the value chain between advertising clients and media providers, i.e. advertising agencies, media agencies, intermediaries and marketers, must fundamentally rethink their roles." With these words, PubliGroupe CEO Hanspeter Rohner explained his new strategy on March 28. Publishers are also affected by this, as PubliGroupe has so far been clearly on their side in the value chain. This could change, but Christof Nietlispach, publisher of the Wohler Anzeiger (with a P lease), is hardly worried about this. "The new cross-media strategy won't change much for us, because print will continue to be the main source of sales in the local area," he says. Small businesses hardly have cross-media budgets. The only danger is that P will drift away more and more and neglect small publishers because of its own interests. "That's why we would prefer it to stay with print," says Nietlispach, who is one of the representatives of small publishers on the board of the Swiss Press Association.
It sounds a little different in Basel. Matthias Hagemann, publisher of Basler Zeitung, welcomes PubliGroupe's "new approach". Not so much because it is now focusing on cross-media, but "because the PubliPresse division, which is important for publishers, is in need of reform, which is now being tackled." On the other hand, he finds it "normal" that P wants to occupy new fields in the changing value chain. The "Alinghi effect" is just one example of the major changes: Large companies are relying on sponsorship commitments, which bring a lot of media presence but cause advertising budgets to shrink. The fact that PubliGroupe is trying to get into the consulting business, for example, suits his publishing house in that it is also looking for new areas of business.
"As a publisher, I expect PubliGroupe to position itself in such a way that it can optimally fulfill my marketing needs," says Daniel Hofer, Publishing Director of NZZ. He therefore sees the reorganization of P as an opportunity that could trigger a new dynamic and lead to an expansion of the range of services for all market partners.
The cautious attitude of the small publishers and the rather positive opinions of the large publishers seem to reflect the mood in the Swiss Press Association. This is confirmed by publisher president Hanspeter Lebrument: "The local, mostly print-based publishers regret that the P is no longer purely print-oriented, while the large multimedia media houses are in favor of at least parts of the new strategy." In addition, not only the P, but also the larger publishers, even those with P leases, are increasingly pushing into the consulting business, such as Basler Zeitung Medien, AZ Medien or his Südostschweiz media group. "There is currently a certain amount of disorder in this market, and we don't yet know what the new order will look like," he says. This will depend not least on the advertising clients.
Markus Knöpfli
It sounds a little different in Basel. Matthias Hagemann, publisher of Basler Zeitung, welcomes PubliGroupe's "new approach". Not so much because it is now focusing on cross-media, but "because the PubliPresse division, which is important for publishers, is in need of reform, which is now being tackled." On the other hand, he finds it "normal" that P wants to occupy new fields in the changing value chain. The "Alinghi effect" is just one example of the major changes: Large companies are relying on sponsorship commitments, which bring a lot of media presence but cause advertising budgets to shrink. The fact that PubliGroupe is trying to get into the consulting business, for example, suits his publishing house in that it is also looking for new areas of business.
"As a publisher, I expect PubliGroupe to position itself in such a way that it can optimally fulfill my marketing needs," says Daniel Hofer, Publishing Director of NZZ. He therefore sees the reorganization of P as an opportunity that could trigger a new dynamic and lead to an expansion of the range of services for all market partners.
The cautious attitude of the small publishers and the rather positive opinions of the large publishers seem to reflect the mood in the Swiss Press Association. This is confirmed by publisher president Hanspeter Lebrument: "The local, mostly print-based publishers regret that the P is no longer purely print-oriented, while the large multimedia media houses are in favor of at least parts of the new strategy." In addition, not only the P, but also the larger publishers, even those with P leases, are increasingly pushing into the consulting business, such as Basler Zeitung Medien, AZ Medien or his Südostschweiz media group. "There is currently a certain amount of disorder in this market, and we don't yet know what the new order will look like," he says. This will depend not least on the advertising clients.
Markus Knöpfli
