Fewer carrots bring much more money
Free Newspapers Although AZ Medien merged the four Lenzburg-based Kromer Medien AG companies with the four editions of its *Aargauer Woche* (AW) a year ago, the *AW*’s circulation is now smaller but significantly more profitable than before.
Free newspapers Although AZ Medien merged the four Lenzburg-based Kromer Medien AG with the four splits of its Aargauer Woche (AW) a year ago, the AW circulation is now smaller but much more profitable than before. The territorial adjustment between AW and the Kromer titles Lenzburger Bezirks-Anzeiger (LBA), Der Seetaler/Der Lindenberg, Der Un-terfreiämter and Die Wyna took place last year with the aim of alienating as few customers and readers as possible. Consideration for partners of the Mittelland Zeitung was also necessary - this led, for example, to territorial agreements with free titles of the Zofinger Tagblatt, which in turn resulted in an AW circulation reduction of 25,000 copies. Today, AW continues to cover the four Rüebliland centers of Aarau, Baden, Freiamt and Lenzburg - the towns of Aarau, Wettingen and now also Lenzburg and the Seetal even as an official gazette with gross delivery. "AW budgeted a turnover of nine million francs for this year, compared to six million francs before the merger," says Marcel Suter, Managing Director of AZ Wochenzeitungen AG.
This increase was mainly possible thanks to the well-established LBA and Freiämter, previously AW had hardly made any sales in the Lenzburg area. "The merger also enabled us to massively reduce production and distribution costs," says Suter. He justifies AW's lack of presence in Fricktal with a lack of economic potential (resources) for a cut-throat competition. In contrast, AW covers the fiercely contested Olten (see box) via a combination with the Niederämter Anzeiger.
Total circulation: 186000
In the advertising market, AW continues to present itself with four, albeit modified, splits, while for readers it comprises six titles. The four splits in the advertising market are the Aarauer Woche (48250 copies), the Badener Woche (48270), the Freiämter Woche (25180) and the Lenzburger Bezirksanzeiger (28048). Together with the Limmat-Zeitung, which is published in Limmattal ZH, the new AW thus has a total of 186,000 copies.
Because the area covered by the Aarauer Woche split also includes Zofingen, the newspaper title is given a "g" for Zofingen readers and is called Aargauer Woche there - for better identification. The same applies to the LBA, which bears the double name Der Seetaler/Der Lindenberg in the Hallwilersee area. Kromer's Wyna, on the other hand, has been deleted without replacement, while the Unterfreiämter still lives on as a local association in the Freiämter.
The fact that the four Kromer papers were in-house titles has left its mark: Although the AW is leased by Publicitas, the Kromer sales crew remained active with the AZ weekly newspapers. It markets the LBA and the Unterfreiämter. Suter explains this as follows: on the one hand, they wanted to scare away as few customers as possible, and on the other hand, AZ Medien
advertising sales as the publisher's core business. Now that a sales crew has been taken over from Kromer anyway, "we certainly don't want to give away what we have".
The newspaper market in Olten is getting crowdedThe city of Olten is probably overcrowded in terms of free newspapers with the Stadtanzeiger (100 percent Publicitas), the Niederämter Anzeiger (NA, Widmer Druck), the Neue Oltner Zeitung (NOZ, Verlag Zehnder) and now also the Anzeiger für Gäu und Thal (AGT). But no one is thinking of giving up. NOZ and Niederämter Anzeiger claim to have hardly noticed the new competitor so far. The Stadtanzeiger, on the other hand, has noticed that customers are currently "trying out" the AGT, as advertising manager Stefan Wyser says. And at the AGT itself, Heinz Gander admits that the Olten pavement "is hard for an intruder" and that the additional costs are not covered. But the attention from readers, noticeable in competitions for example, is amazing, he says. (mk)
According to VSW statistics, the Aargauer Woche lost 69.6 percent of its advertising volume in 2002 compared to the previous year. Did so many customers jump ship after the integration of the Kromer titles? Marcel Suter waves it away: The decline in 2002 was so great because the volume was incorrectly reported in 2001: At that time, not only were the local volumes of the four splits added to the jacket volume, but the jacket volume was also counted four times. If one compares the volume of the new AW with the effective volume of the old AW including that of the Kromer titles in 2001 (without double allocations), the decline is a mere 8 percent. This is low compared to other free titles. Half of the turnover is accounted for by the complete edition and half by the local sections. In the complete edition, the price per millimeter is 2.43 francs, in the splits between 0.80 and 1.02 francs. (mk)
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This increase was mainly possible thanks to the well-established LBA and Freiämter, previously AW had hardly made any sales in the Lenzburg area. "The merger also enabled us to massively reduce production and distribution costs," says Suter. He justifies AW's lack of presence in Fricktal with a lack of economic potential (resources) for a cut-throat competition. In contrast, AW covers the fiercely contested Olten (see box) via a combination with the Niederämter Anzeiger.
Total circulation: 186000
In the advertising market, AW continues to present itself with four, albeit modified, splits, while for readers it comprises six titles. The four splits in the advertising market are the Aarauer Woche (48250 copies), the Badener Woche (48270), the Freiämter Woche (25180) and the Lenzburger Bezirksanzeiger (28048). Together with the Limmat-Zeitung, which is published in Limmattal ZH, the new AW thus has a total of 186,000 copies.
Because the area covered by the Aarauer Woche split also includes Zofingen, the newspaper title is given a "g" for Zofingen readers and is called Aargauer Woche there - for better identification. The same applies to the LBA, which bears the double name Der Seetaler/Der Lindenberg in the Hallwilersee area. Kromer's Wyna, on the other hand, has been deleted without replacement, while the Unterfreiämter still lives on as a local association in the Freiämter.
The fact that the four Kromer papers were in-house titles has left its mark: Although the AW is leased by Publicitas, the Kromer sales crew remained active with the AZ weekly newspapers. It markets the LBA and the Unterfreiämter. Suter explains this as follows: on the one hand, they wanted to scare away as few customers as possible, and on the other hand, AZ Medien
advertising sales as the publisher's core business. Now that a sales crew has been taken over from Kromer anyway, "we certainly don't want to give away what we have".
The newspaper market in Olten is getting crowdedThe city of Olten is probably overcrowded in terms of free newspapers with the Stadtanzeiger (100 percent Publicitas), the Niederämter Anzeiger (NA, Widmer Druck), the Neue Oltner Zeitung (NOZ, Verlag Zehnder) and now also the Anzeiger für Gäu und Thal (AGT). But no one is thinking of giving up. NOZ and Niederämter Anzeiger claim to have hardly noticed the new competitor so far. The Stadtanzeiger, on the other hand, has noticed that customers are currently "trying out" the AGT, as advertising manager Stefan Wyser says. And at the AGT itself, Heinz Gander admits that the Olten pavement "is hard for an intruder" and that the additional costs are not covered. But the attention from readers, noticeable in competitions for example, is amazing, he says. (mk)
According to VSW statistics, the Aargauer Woche lost 69.6 percent of its advertising volume in 2002 compared to the previous year. Did so many customers jump ship after the integration of the Kromer titles? Marcel Suter waves it away: The decline in 2002 was so great because the volume was incorrectly reported in 2001: At that time, not only were the local volumes of the four splits added to the jacket volume, but the jacket volume was also counted four times. If one compares the volume of the new AW with the effective volume of the old AW including that of the Kromer titles in 2001 (without double allocations), the decline is a mere 8 percent. This is low compared to other free titles. Half of the turnover is accounted for by the complete edition and half by the local sections. In the complete edition, the price per millimeter is 2.43 francs, in the splits between 0.80 and 1.02 francs. (mk)
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